How to Use Facebook Events to Promote Your Shows/Tour

If you’re like me, you’re bombarded with Facebook event invitations everyday. Most of them are for events out of town and I end up blocking/ignoring the people or pages that continue to send this spam out. However, every once in a while, I get a great reminder of something: an old friend playing a show in town, a birthday party, a wedding, and so on. It’s not all bad. So let’s talk about how you can use Facebook events properly to promote your gigs. Follow these steps:

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Just When You Feel Like Throwing in the Towel - Don't!

If you are an original artist, of any kind, I’m sure there are times you get immense pleasure from what you do.  I’m sure there are other times when you get incredibly frustrated. And yet other times when you begin to doubt yourself.  It’s completely normal to compare yourself to what is already out there; but don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because the “established” art that is out there currently, and “liked” by the masses, is better than your work for that reason alone.  Or that your original work isn’t as good, because it doesn’t have thousands of fans, comments every few seconds, and invitations to large awards shows. 

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Mining a Niche and Sticking Together - What We Can All Learn from Post Rock

Given how difficult it is to ‘make it’ in music, it’s easy to see every other musician in your area or genre as a competitor. However, as has been pointed out by some commentators already (notably ?uestlove) it’s actually a much better idea to unite with like minded musicians rather than ignore them at best, or sabotage them at worst. Simply put, some of the greatest acts ever to emerge came from a ‘scene’, whether accidentally or deliberately created.

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Put a Ring on her Finger- The Social Web & Music Marketing are Married

The world is moving at a faster pace than ever, and technology is the cattle driver of the modern world taking us all to magnificent new lands. Innovation is changing the way we live our lives on what seems like a daily basis. The landscape for which/where/how we do business is in constant motion. The challenge is no longer ‘how do we get there’ its ‘teach me how to drive.’ I am a heavy enthusiast for the marriage between tech and business.

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Are You a Beggar or a Rockstar?

What I’m going to write about is what I consider to be the biggest fundamental difference between artists who thrive and artists who struggle to survive. It’s a mindset, a paradigm, a way to view the world. Most bands out there are looking for support. They want you to help them out. Vote for them in a contest. Go to their show. Buy their CD. By you contributing to their cause you will get them far enough to get their big break. When they get their big break then they will have made it and other people will be there to give them all the resources they need and they’ll live happily ever after. There’s just one small problem with that model: It’s an illusion that will keep you trapped until long after all of your dreams are gone. It’s a fundamental misinterpretation of the way that money and value work. This strategy will no sooner make you successful then it will a beggar….

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