often-overlooked promotion strategies you should be using to market your music (IV)

Continuing from last week’s article…

Street smarts

Here’s a good example of a fresh angle for a compilation CD. Clay Dog Records put out Street Dreams, a collection of music from some of Chicago’s more visible street musicians – recorded live at the corners and subway stops they frequent.

Lesson: if you put together a compilation, make sure there’s a logical and appealing thread that holds it all together. Saying “Here’s a bunch of cool bands” won’t cut it. But a lot of cool music centered around a common theme might sell.

The same thing goes for promoting a single artist. Always keep your identity consistent. When people see your fliers, post cards, CD artwork or website, they should know without a doubt that it’s all coming from the same artist. You can do this by keeping your logo, typefaces, and the tone of your wording consistent. This might seem bland and repetitious to the person designing the material, but if you always change the look and feel of your marketing, you will confuse your fans.

What would you rather have: a lot of people who know exactly what your music is about, or a lonely portfolio of disjointed press kits, photos and artwork?

College band payoff

The Dirges is a band made up of students who attended Pennsylvania State University. The band’s three independently released albums sold a total of 10,000 copies in three years.

“Think about it,” says guitarist/ keyboardist Steve Bodner, “ten thousand people graduate from this college each year and move to places all across the country. We go right along with them.”

Are you taking advantage of the college market?

Music promotion on wheels

Organic Records has a specially designed flatbed truck that travels city to city to gain exposure for its artists. The acts can perform live right on the truck or simply give away samplers and promotional items from it at special events.

Can you develop a fresh method of exposing your music to new groups of people?

Sunny skies in the forecast

Artist Bryan Duncan released an album called Blue Skies. To make the most of the album title, his record label ran radio spots sponsoring weather reports in key regions of the country. Duncan also did radio interviews during which he read the local weather forecast on the air. You can bet there weren’t many other artists taking this approach.

Is there anything about your CD title or band name that can be transformed into a creative marketing strategy?

Cover up

Tired of being denied radio airplay because stations prefer to pump out familiar music to the masses? One solution: Stop fighting and go with the status quo. Australian band the Clouds received some attention when it recorded a cover of Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman.”

“It’s a beautiful song,” says bassist Patricia Young. “Not only that, it’s a lot easier to pick up airplay with familiar material.”

Might there be a cover song that you can put your own fresh spin on?

Thinking outside the box: On a recent trip to the library, I checked out Jay Conrad Levinson’s book Guerrilla Marketing Attack. Like the other books in Levinson’s “Guerrilla” series, this volume is packed with dozens of usable business-building tactics.