The best way to keep track of what you have and haven’t done is to keep everything in one place and keep updating it.

It certainly doesn’t need to be complicated.

Start building your own band Contacts database or spreadsheet.
Put everything into one simple spreadsheet and give the pages the following titles.

Get yourself a copy of The Unsigned
Guide and start filling in your Contacts database with everything to do with your band.
Keep adding to it and before long you’ve got your mailing list growing, your contacts expanding and everything band related in one manageable place...the roots of Band & Music Management.

Songs/Releases:
Details of all your songs, names/working titles, consider for (self) release?, live, worth taking into studio, has been mastered, suitable to send off for adverts?

Record Companies:
Suitable record labels to approach, by genre and working ethos, people you know

Publishers:
Other than sales of recordings, all commercial uses of your music Ad/Synch Agencies: Music for TV, film and advertising

Local Venues:
List of local gig venues, promoter/booking contact details, gig dates, how many tickets sold Out of Town Venues: Start to steadily build out of town venue contacts. See The Unsigned Guide for how to develop non-local venue and promoter contacts.

Promoters:
List of promoters not based at one venue that do interesting events, clubs and ‘other’ things!

Festivals:
List of who you’ve contacted about playing the festivals. The Unsigned Guide lists all the music and band festival promoter/booking contacts. Most festivals run unsigned stages, competitions e.g. Glastonbury Unsigned, Road To V. What time of year to submit your demos etc.

Regional Press:
Contact the press titles nearest to where you live. Give them a story to do with your music.

National Press:
Hard to crack but get your National Press contact lists together and start sending demos.

Websites:
Social networking sites, webzines, blogs reviews, in-bound links to get traffic to your site

Random Music Industry:
Sound engineers, potential managers, accountants, van hire companies etc.. other music industry contacts

Fans:
Your mailing list. First name, surname, email address, phone number, postal address should do it. Keep people informed of gigs and releases.

What we’ve spent:
Basic budgeting. Band/music related expenditure. Who’s paid what. Rehearsal room, studio costs, band photography, mastering, buying CDs, Jiffy’s, postage etc.

What we’ve earned:
Sales of releases (digital & physical), royalties, gig ticket sales etc.

For more information, check out The Unsigned Guide.