What Unsigned Bands Can Learn From Disney

Last weekend, I was speaking to a music manager who was bemoaning his band’s lack of new music. “We have no new story” he said. The band in question have 19 tracks on Spotify and a host of video content. If got me thinking, what can we learn from Disney?

Disney understands that a good story is always a good story. They also understand that once they have a good story, they have an endless new audience for that story. Disney marketeers ensure each new generation is exposed to the story by allowing them to see it in the format of the day.

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Fans Not Fame. A New Way To Promote Independent Music

When I started managing The Daydream Club in 2012, the band and I had a clear idea of what success meant. We needed a record label, radio play, a ton of live shows, glowing press reviews, these things combined would deliver critical acclaim, fame, album sales and income.

We were not naive, and had our eyes open from the start. We knew major label revenues had always been built around popular music for the masses. There was a clear template that worked and that wasn’t going to change. We were fine with this, while we quickly realised One Direction fame would allude us, we still believed there was enough room as a mid-tier artist to forge a sustainable living from music. 

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The Evolving Role of Social Media For Bands & Brands

Social media has changed the music marketing landscape forever. While it’s easy to be impressed by the scale of an artist’s social media footprint, both marketeers and musicians need to continue to look behind the numbers to understand the value of social media and how it can be further enhanced.

With last week’s Social Media Week in London, and having just held MEC’s second Music Week looking at the changing role of social, data and brand partnerships, I took the opportunity to speak with three emerging bands – MALKA, The Daydream Club and The Microdance – to find out their perceptions of social media and the future role for brands.

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Promoters Promote & Musicians Invite.

Sometimes it’s important to take a step back and remind ourselves what we want from live music. Mark Knight is the founder of Right Chord Music, a company set up to bring the discipline of brand marketing to band marketing. In this article Mark critically examines the way grassroots live music is promoted. Mark identifies the roles of the key stakeholders and suggests how they could work together more effectively in the future.

Let’s start by reminding ourselves what is important.

What musicians and managers want from live music:

• An opportunity to grow their fanbase

• A chance to showcase their new material

• At atmosphere conducive to great live music; sound, lighting and staging

• An appreciative and respective audience who want to listen to their music

• Fair compensation for the entertainment they provide and / or opportunities to sell their music

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“Pay For It, Or Lose Us – The Challenge Facing Independent Musicians

“Pay For It Or Lose Us” The Microdance’s Alex Keevill highlights the challenge facing independent artists.

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The Music Marketing Manifesto. Ten Principles For Success

1. Write, record and play high quality music

It seems like an obvious thing to say, but everything starts & ends with the music. If the songs are poor, the recording is bad, and the live show is dull don’t expect to make a living from music.

2. Continue to only deal in high quality

Some of the best new bands and artists are let down by terrible videos, bad photography and shocking design. Yes it is fickle, but judging a book by it’s cover is a reality. When you are choosing which artist to review, book, or even sign you are invariably drawn to the most attractive presentation. So why not increase your chances of being heard? Remember, you can have the best music in the world but if nobody listens ,you get nowhere.

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