Obscure But Effective Band Advertising Options

Once your band has established what can be termed a "following," there are a few free advertising tricks that you can utilise with only a little effort in your part. Some may theoretically cost your band money....but.....where better to invest in return on your bands ingenuity along with its obvious talent.


The most blatant and effective free advertising that I have seen stems back to the days of the old blues bands in the States where they would either sit outside the venue that they were performing in that night, slap-bang in front of their poster. The other, for the more financially lucrative, was to drive around the block of the venue that they were performing in that night. Again, the band/artist poster being clearly visible.


These two 'advertising stunts' actually work better away from your home town....they've heard you before, remember? The Rolling Stones are perhaps one of the best examples of this, driving around a block performing their latest songs. Obviously they were playing at a local stadium....they are The Rolling Stones, after all.

Having partaken in the aforementioned advertising exploits, there are two important factors that I would suggest to you. Firstly, if performing directly outside your venue, only perform for approximately half an hour and do it during lunch hour. The second and to my mind the most important, is to do a 'practise run' with the truck, driver and P.A. system in order to give him and your band the 'feel' for what is right, pace-wise and sensation-wise. As good a driver the truckie is, you will still feel like you're on a small ship. NEVER let this show. Do whatever it takes.


The final piece of free advertising is something of an obscure one....but it works better than you will initially know.


After every every fourth album that your band releases, run a campaign. "Download all four albums and receive a free t-shirt." This can be done quite easily. From the profit of selling four albums in one hit, you can afford to send each fan who participates. This can be tracked by your website designer and/or manager.


I can hear cries of "....But we're losing money!...." No you're not. When was the last time anyone randomly downloaded four of your mp3s?  Even after the expense of creating the t-shirt (which is zero and the cost of posting it to the lucky recipients you are not only financially better off but the advertising benefits have a huge ripple effect. Not only do these fans tell their friends of this great deal and free t-shirt, they will be wearing your bands t-shirt too. BRILLIANT advertising. Hint: keep the t-shirt design basic with your bands name prominent. 


I suggest Audiolife for t-shirt creation advertising and the cheap postage option. Both are excellent qualities offered by the company.


These are but three advertising options that are both obscure and come at minimal cost and time on your bands part. At the end of the day, you will reap the rewards from these advertising options.


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Playing A Free Gig

Early in ones musical career, playing a free gig is almost a given....almost. There are are numerous festivals, fete's and so forth screaming out for bands to donate their time (and musical talent) as a draw-card to their particular cause.


If your band hasn't performed your first paying gig then performing a 'freebie' is a good idea but don't make a habit of it. Advise the organisers that this is your only free gig. Additionally, you can but ask if you may headline the event. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.


This free performance can gain you so much exposure (if you perform a blazing set) that paid offers will soon be coming your way. Treat the free gig as free advertising. Try, if permitted, to have your bands banner behind you when you perform.


Some events require only one band to perform. If you happen to be that band, capitalise. Chances are you'll be playing a longer set than the customary 20-30 minute set with the 'crowd' quite often being passers-by on their way around other attractions at the event. Again, capitalise on this. Give each passer-by a nod, smile, wink and so-forth. Humorously change a word if you happen to be performing a cover song. Use every trick in the book as this is your time to make a memorable impression.


Many moons ago the band that I was with had a significant and loyal following. A local promoter asked if we would play a free 20-minute set at a major outdoor event. Due to our following I, as manager, had a few requests. These requests included headlining the event, having our own road crew, lighting crew, sound engineer, a 10-minute gap between ourselves and the previous band (thus ensuring we went on at dusk to capitalise on the light show and having our bands banner clearly visible behind us). 

The promoter instantly attempted to negotiate. By that stage of our career we didn't negotiate, thus we rejected his offer. We did, however, attend the event and were appalled by the lack of professionalism by the performing bands and lack of organisation by the promoters. Bands were sitting on the grass immediately in front of the stage & haplessly lugging their equipment onto the stage before the band on-stage had finished!
Additionally, it took the sound engineer most of each bands act to get the sound remotely listenable and the lighting appeared to have been set up by Stevie Wonder. The crowd of just over 2,000 began leaving just over half way through the event.


The following year, the same promoter approached me with the same proposition as the year before. This time, he had a contract ready to sign which included every request that I had proposed.


We went on at dusk with our crew at the helm. No-one saw us before we hit the stage. We played our hearts out.


A few days later I received a call from the promoter thanking our band and that the crowd was estimated to be around 4,000.

In conclusion, when approached to perform a free gig, bookmark this page, refer to it and weigh up your options. Performing a free gig should not be written off without due consideration.


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Start Local And Start BIG

Although this entry is aimed at newly-formed bands, there are several aspects that can be utilised by more established bands.


Prior to any bands first gig, there are several things that can be done prior to that all-important first booking. Your band should have more than enough material to see you through an entire performance. This is a 'given.'


Being 2010, it is now possible to have your own CD recorded. This process is outlined in my book, "Online Music Traps." Your album should obviously consist of original material. At this stage, bare in mind that this album is not primarily focussed on directly making money. Indirectly, however, your CD can lead to countless financial opportunities later.


Dependent on your finances, give a copy to local record stores, live venues, radio stations and anyone that you can think of who has influence within the local music industry. Ask for their opinion once they have had sufficient time to listen to your CD. Giving a CD to a 'known' music lover at a local live venue works well. Back in my band days we used tapes and would 'accidentally' leave them in prominent places where music-minded people may equally 'accidentally' find them.

In the case of your first CD, make sure that your bands name is prominent. Go bold! People are more likely to be drawn to an obvious visual 'tag.'


Once your band secures its first gig, your imagination and dedication should be "turned up to 11."


Visit the venue and check-out the layout and acoustics. Speak to the manager if you're able to finalise terms. Ideally, a contract should be signed by the two parties. Have business cards and posters at the ready. If finances don't allow for professional glossy cards and posters, photocopies of well-presented items will do just fine.



Give as many posters to the venue as they wish. Posters can be further distributed to record stores and any other local retailer willing to help. Don't overdo things and have your band being questioned by the police due to inappropriate 'posting.' Having said this, it's quite an innocent mistake for one of your photocopied business cards be left in a phone booth,local bar, etc. Accidents happen.


Once all of your 'physical' advertising has been done, all that is left to do is your word-of-mouth advertising. I remains the best form of advertising. Fellow band members and I would, when in a different town or city, locate a poster of ours and stand in front of it, talking the band. No-one knew we were in the band back then. It  worked a treat until we became 'known.'


You may find yourself employing these strategies for some time but if you stay true to yourselves, they will hold you in good stead for your future music career.


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Get Your Music Discovered On The Internet

In this entry will briefly address what is out there for the independent musician to connect with their fans, namely the internet.


As you may know, my book "Online Music Traps" deals with this in great detail. The difference between the book and this blog entry is that I intend to give a brief overview of the means by which the independent musician can utilise the internet. If you wish to delve deeper and get the full story then I highly recommend grabbing "Online Music Traps."

First things first; Blogs. There are many such sites. This is an internet name for a diary. You can even add your own on your web page. They are how you give your fans a piece of your soul. The daily/weekly ramblings of an suffering artist or crazy superstar. In addition, since these are likely to be one of the most regularly places you write, they can get you noticed by Google if you do a little bit of research regarding layout, keywords, their positioning and so forth.

Facebook is an opportunity that simply can't be overlooked. Since mid-2009 until May2010, it's popularity in the global 'sharing' stakes has risen by 10% to 35%.This is an immense shift.At the moment (2010) this is the king of the internet social sites. It has an almost arrogant disregard for musicians and their wishes. It is said that people go here to meet friends and get news. Not to search for new people. It is not to be ignored simply because it is the largest. Have a presence there. Most importantly, have a fan page there. A fan page is where people can join the club without having to wait for your approval. Thus you can just push out info to anyone who wants to listen.

Hubpages is a place for you to place articles about what you think is useful. It is probably more likely that your fans, management, P.R, team (more likely to be your best friend under the cool title of P.R. manager) would write these. They take some writing ability. These should be knowledgeable and mention you in subtle ways. This can get you noticed by the industry and industry followers.
 This is the one place you could get people to listen to your music for free without sending them to your webpage. At the time of writing, Myspace is having discussions on what it is going to do with this particular service. Meaning, they have no idea if they can find a way to make money out of it. 

Skype, Msn and Yahoo are just messenger platforms. The thing with these is that they have webcam ability. I have a feeling that this webcam phenomenon, though it was one of the earliest developments on the web, is not even close to being really developed. 

Squidoo has been nicknamed the great "Lens". I think this is supposed to indicate a thing through which people will view you. It is not dissimilar to Hub pages. You can post many things to this. You can put things from across the various social networks into this as well as post articles. It You can put things from across the various social networks into this as well as post articles. It is an overall look at everything you think your fans should know, see, read and hear.

Twitter takes some getting used to. What is important about this? Well it is such an individual item that there is no real competition. For this reason almost everyone works with it and not against it. You can use it to post across the board. You can connect your other social sites to it. Post once on Twitter and it is instantly beamed magically to all of the other sites. And you can try to gain those all important followers.

Your website is your own personal web real estate. The one place that you can, if you know how, do what you want. It is your calling card, your living room, your own magazine. It is as much part of your image as your clothes. If you can't dress it well, then do not show it. It is also one of the places you can make money. Not the only place but possibly the best for you and easiest to control.

Xing is a business oriented site. Although a friend of mine said he had to leave because of all the others trying to 'chat up.' I find it is great place to interact with the business community. The People with the real money. Your manager should definitely be part of this. It is the internet Golf course.


YouTube is the all Seeing Eye. Here you can post your videos. It is the other place you can get your music heard and even better, get yourself seen. If you want to perform, this is where you can show your possible fans what you look and perform like. But be careful. It may be where they see your downfall. It has a great ability to attract people. It reaches two senses, sight and hearing. So double whammy. Don't forget to post your website address all over this. 

This is a small list, dear reader but is nowhere near 'the' list. That list will appear as a fullyy-fledged book....which at present has a name smd s few scribbles here and there.

Make Cash Aside From Music.

The vast majority of independent musicians know how difficult it is to make a decent wage from their music whether it be from digital downloads, performing live or a combination of both. Many independent musicians work 'regular' jobs which lessens the drive to earn a sustainable wage from their music.


As you may or may not be aware, I am in something of a more unusual position than most independent musicians. In June 2009, I finally got around to retiring from my 23-year career as a State Registered Nurse on mental health grounds. There went my 'stable' income. Additionally, as a seasoned live performer, I refuse to go down that road again due to cynicism towards the music industry and most people involved in it.


What was I to do? The solutions were immediately quite obvious. Firstly I completed and released the album, "Catharsis,"....all fifteen tracks of it. It was my first 'concept' album. This opened the floodgates for me to not only blog the album but to do spread it as far and wide as possible.I also shot two YouTube videos of tracks from the album, 'Dear Artist' and 'Crooked.' The results were astounding. Until the release of my latest album "Redemption," which can be downloaded with the additional bonus to fans of a discount voucher, "Catharsis" had been my highest selling album. Album sales of "Catharsis" continue to rise almost a year after release. 


This was/is all very well but I had another trick or two up my sleeve.



I have enjoyed writing poetry, short stories and so forth for as long as I can recall. I began blogging 'seriously.' Prior to retiring from nursing I had been blogging in a rather random manner; basically whatever sprung to mind when thought of musical weren't at the foremost of my mind. I did a little research as I had seen ads pertaining to earning money by using adsense in an astute and non-obtrusive way in my blogs. To me it seemed (and still does) simply a matter of marginally re-wording what you want to convey without compromising content. Not exactly rocket-science.


Long-story-short....if you have the time and are a writer, give adsense serious consideration. It works.



I was then approached, almost on queue, I received a mountain of emails from disgruntled independent musicians about their dilemmas with regard to being constantly bombarded with 'requests' from numerous distributors encouraging them to upgrade their account to a 'paid account' and all the exposure and so forth will pour in.


I was 'curious' for want of a better word so undertook extensive research and followed up countless emails from these disgruntled members of independent music industry. My curiosity moved into 'annoyance.' This annoyance led me to write a book on the matter, "Online Music Traps." Not only has the book been met with open arms and critical acclaim, it has helped me to pay more than a few bills.


More recently I have joined EzineArticles and have been honoured by being recognised an 'Expert Author.' Although the site is a non-paying site, the traffic and recognition that I am receiving already is as humbling as it is astounding.


This is merely my story. 


Being musical generally lends itself to you having another artistic outlet, be it poetry, photography, art and so forth. Why not harness this gift that you have? You have nothing to lose for a start and the worst that can happen is that you don't make any cash that you've enjoyed doing anyway.


If any single person takes one single piece of my advice, give it a little bit of time and let me know how you get on. I'd love to hear how you get on.


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