Post-Show Procedures: 8 Things Every Band Should Do After the Performance

Do you have a post-show plan? Is there a set of procedures that you work on after each performance? Or, does your band simply work on the next upcoming event – the next show, the next rehearsal, time in the studio, etc.?

In almost every professional endeavor, there is some kind of routine or review period to measure performance or follow-up with customers:

• In sports, the coach diligently sits down with the entire team to review footage of the previous game. Team member celebrate successes and most importantly, look for areas of improvement.

• In corporate business, the board of directors and executive staff look over stock performance and make decisions to keep their shareholders satisfied.

• In the arts, performers carefully review each element of the show to see what delighted audiences and what could use work.

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How Artists Should Deal with Auto-Renewing Contracts

It’s easy to fall into the routine of scrolling past terms conditions agreements without thinking much about them. However, they can often affect the future of your music, where it can be released, who controls it, and how it can be distributed. For example, a licensing agreement can change how future revenues are received (or waive future royalties entirely); a contract with one distributor might limit future opportunities with another; some sponsorship agreements will bind you/your band members to one specific type of product. These are all instances when you are limited by the choices made without full consideration of long-term effects.

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How Bands Can Break Into New Markets

One way to grow your music’s reach is to break into new markets. This could be taken a number of ways: new geographical areas (cities, states, countries, etc.) or simply new audiences in general (by demographic, interest, psychographic, etc). Before you try and expand your reach through new markets, it’s important to take a few things into consideration:

• Return on Investment: What is the cost or effort required to break into this market? Is the return on investment worthwhile or would you be better off using those resources to grow an existing market?

• Goals: What kind of role will this market play in your S.M.A.R.T.E.R Goals?

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An Honest Review of the All-New Sonicbids EPK System

Today, I was checking out a Sonicbids EPK that was emailed to me. Much to my surprise, the layout for a Sonicbids artist profile completely changed – there was no quick bio, music player on top, or a useful set of links (press, stage plot, etc.). Instead, I found a Pinterest-like layout with navigational tiles. I thought it was just some lame option that the artist chose, but decided to check using my own band’s profile.

This is what I found:

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12 Angles to Get Your Music More Press

Getting more press is one of the most important parts of your music career. It helps your industry buzz, gets you better gigs, lands bigger sponsorship relationships, expands your audiences, and builds your music’s credibility. So how do you get more reviews or your work highlighted?

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What Bands Should Know About the Myspace Relaunch

If you haven’t received a notice or saw the posts, Myspace has relaunched with an all-new look. I found my email invitation in the spam folder. So what does this star-studded relaunch mean for musicians?

Probably nothing.

Myspace has tried multiple times to resurrect itself, though it was unsuccessful each time. We’ll see if Justin Timberlake and loads of money can make it work this time.

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How to Work With Music Industry Contacts

It’s no secret that often in the world music, it’s more about “who you know” than what you know. The industry generally favors pre-existing relationships, whether you are looking for a venue, a sponsor, a review on your new album, or a slot at SXSW. Like it or not, networking can make or break an act.

Focus on taking a few steps closer to your goal by working on your contacts a few minutes each day. Here are some of my favorite tips on networking:

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6 Things You Can Do With $100 That Will Change Your Music Career

Money. Let’s face it: most artists aren’t very good with it. Most of us don’t have much to invest into our music career (relatively speaking), and when we do, we tend to throw it at some random opportunities without a larger strategy in mind.

Take, for instance, submission fees to music festivals. Each year, thousands of artists spend over $100 in application fees or subscription costs to EPK sites, in hopes of getting a show at SXSW, CMJ, Bumbershoot, or other large festivals. Personally, I think festivals are overrated in terms of importance for your career, but if you really want to get in, try reading this guide: How to Get Into SXSW.

You can easily spend $100 on strings, picks, or sticks. You could even buy a cheap electric guitar. Or, if you were riding in my tour bus, $100 almost covers the gas from Portland, OR to Seattle, WA.

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How to Suck at Asking for a Sponsorship

For some reason, I’ve been getting a lot of emails this week from artists asking me to sponsor them directly. I’m guessing it’s a combination of me writing about the subject and laziness where they don’t realize that I don’t provide those services directly, I simply provide tools for artists to aid them in that area.

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Trends in Booking Shows

Every few years, promoters and venues begin trying new ideas to make their show successful:

Pay to Play

In the 80’s, “pay to play” was a trend that forced artists to pre-sell tickets for their shows to help made up money lost for shows with a low turnout. This is something that still continues today (especially in Los Angeles, where the movement was birthed) and in the UK. The concept is pretty simple: you guarantee to sell a certain number of tickets for your show. However, if you don’t meet the quota, you’re personally liable for the difference. In most cases, even if you sell the prerequisite number of tickets (it can be 15-50 tickets or more), you only get paid a fragment of whatever you sell above the agreed minimum (usually 50%), not the entire batch of sales.

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How Do You Get Someone to Read Your Email?

I love this meme. I can still hear the AOL sound clip in my mind saying “You’ve Got Mail!” Back then, email was such a phenomenon (especially through AOL), that a film plot with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan was built around the concept. Not long after, email became so common and inundated with spam that most users end up ignoring most messages that come in.

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Creating an Unstoppable Kickstarter Campaign: Start With the Fans

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on Fire. He was launching a new podcast series called “The Great Business Experiment: Kickstarter.” It featured interviews with ten successful Kickstarter campaigns to talk about what worked, what was learned, and what can be done for the future. 

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Could You Handle a Full-time Music Career?

Many artists I know tell me that they’d love to be able to do music for a living, to make their band a full-time occupation. Often times, my initial reaction (that I usually keep to myself) is asking, “Really? What would you do?”

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In the Music Industry, the Best Form of Revenge is Success

Rejection. It can sting. Whether it is a promoter or a record label who doesn’t want to give you the opportunity to shine or it is a critic who writes a bad review of your music, the reality is that sooner or later, you’re going to face rejection. How you deal with that rejection can ultimately determine your success.

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