Electronic Press Kit 
What I’ve noticed is that successful bands have either an internal band member or a manager(not necessarily with a music background) pushing for better and better live shows. They keep the band busy enough with a balance of gigs that help their career and earn some money for a start. Next they advertise on social media combined with really pushing it hard to increase their following and they invest in awesome merchandise. If they are actually good and they invest in the right radio tracker it can help build momentum for larger and larger tours.
One thing I learned about Radio, newspapers and TV is that if you invest a little into advertising all the players come out to cover you. For example if you pay one or two radio stations all the radio stations will show up trying to earn your next advertising dollars. For your 1-3k that you pay one radio station you get 3 radio stations out covering you.
Advertisers love to start to give ads to people that may buy one in the future.
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Buying adverts in the UK VERY rarely results in coverage in the paper/on the station. Here, the division between advertising and journalism is a cherished separation (and long may it remain so).
That applies to the print media and Radio, though not to online outlets.
Getting coverage on local/regional radio and in regional newspapers is much simpler. Find out the staff journalist who covers the subject and contact them direct. They’ll be eternally grateful.
(When I started out as a hack, one of my first columns was the music crit for the paper: I got all the free albuyms and singles and I got to cover gigs. I’ll never forget seeing the East Side Torpedoes for the first time (after they’d called me and asked me to cover them). Superb band, brilliant singer, sadly they never made the "big time, but they are still gigging around the region 40 years later, and I like to think I helped them on their way).
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I worked in a studio for a while that was recording and labeling Country acts (though I prefer Rock), and promoting them on radio tours that meshed with their regional touring gigs. I wasn’t on the inside track, but it looked like they were able to book their acts on the radio stations on a particular day on the morning show or whatnot, to promote the show (and album release) that night. AFAIK this was free and the radio station was happy to promote locally performing acts to their listeners.
I used to hear this all the time way back in the day of “real” Rock radio, where the music act that was performing in town would sit in with the radio DJ for an interview. Those were wild and crazy times! It may not work like that anymore, but it’s possible those resources still exist if you go out and get them. And some of them may be free if you schmooze somebody, or as Paul says if they think your music may get bigger and you’ll end up advertising on their station.
Agree. It’s better if the person is a band member because it’s one less body to pay.
Any journalist will tell you this. Radio stations (unless its talk radio) are not journalists and they follow no such division.
Here is a story from this year with my studio. I bought $150/ month advertising in a moderately big newspaper. In fact it wasn’t even in the newspaper it was in the online edition that no one reads. I bought it knowing that I would get nothing from it. At the time I said to the advertising person that I know that I will get nothing from the ad and that I know that the advertising department and the “journalism department” have nothing to do with each other and I would like to see some coverage of my studio at some point through out the year. Sure enough 1 month before my contract ends I get a 2 page article in the newspaper that did get results. As well a the CBC radio network in Canada pick up the story and I ended up doing a radio interview. After these two events interest in the studio has been crazy. I followed it up with about $200 a month in google ads. So all in I am paying $350 advertising. If you’ve ever bought a 15 minute interview on radio you’ll know that the most is about $10,000. I got it free because I was a story. The 2 page newspaper article would have been about $2000. So $12000 worth of advertising cost me $1800.
When I ran festivals I would pay one radio station for advertising, Usually a small market radio station that would get me nothing. All the big boys follow the little guys and they all showed up doing live broadcasts of the festivals. I usually paid about $2000 for radio and would get 5 or 6 different radio ads and 2 or 3 television interviews that would have cost $25000 or more. This is how it is done. Make them think you will advertise with them.
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I started out as a journalist in 1974 on local newspapers and worked my way up to work on the most famous newspaper in the world, The Times. Until ill health forced me to quit, I worked as a reporter there.
On my way, I worked for three other National newspapers in the UK.
As “any journalist will tell you” Paul, you should always check your facts. Journalists do. And the reputable ones refuse to have their work linked in ANY way to advertising, for to do that would be compromise the impartiality of what they wrote.
Your anecdote is a sad reflection of the state of US Radio, US business and you. NOT the world, Not journalism.
Now, what was it you were saying?
I need to be up front with you guys… us Frontliners are in a completely different league to some of you guys. We get paid between £150 to £200 per gig, so forking megabucks out for advertising is out of the question! Last year we and some other local bands did a free mini-festival for a local dab music radio station, Flash, and I gave them a free 15 min interview… probably one of our best ever performances! The play local band’s originals too!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Paul, we will certainly look at certain avenues that you have mentioned using our meagre budget!
That’s what I thought. Have you contacted your local BBC station? One way onto the air with them is to arrange a charity event where you do a gig and push the cash to a charity. If the station is like my locval (BBC TEES), they’ll grab you for airtime. You’ll publicise the charity and yourselves to hundreds of thousands of local listeners for absolutely no outlay.
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Stick to what you are good at, don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Strive to play gigs that pay double that amount, make sure you’ve got a shit hot merch table, and make sure that anyone who wants to order online can do so easily.
As I said, you’re already doing what you need to do, you just need to scale it up.
If you’re acting like a small pub band that will often even play for free, why would you expect to sell loads of albums? Start playing the role of a big band, develop that “big act” mindset.
edit: I should add, your product actually needs to be good. I mean, nobody is going to buy an album that is essentially crap. Leave no stone unturned in the quest to make your product as professional as you can. Although you’re not one of the ‘big boys’, your product has to match up to them if you want sell stuff.
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Have any of you actually implemented or achieved anything from all these cliche ideas being thrown around?
I’m asking because all of this looks good on paper, but in reality, it’s hopeless. It’s a dated philosophy. Albums? CDs? Press kits? Radio stations? LOL! People do not care about buying music anymore. Many people don’t even have CD players anymore. Streaming pays nothing. Get paid for your gigs - if you can, get paid for merch, stay very interactive with whatever meager fan base you can possibly build, keep your day job, Accept the fact that recorded music is a value-less background distraction now. It’s just the times we’re in. It’s not 1978 anymore. People don’t sit and listen to albums. Your single best bet is what you’re already doing - sell your shit at your own gigs. People are easily distracted and have lots of options.
Speaking of cliches. Haven’t seen you round in a while.
Streaming pays something unless I imagined it.
Radio exposure can increase gig quality.
Charted in late 2000s using these “cliche ideas”.
Oh, and where ya been Greg?
Right? I just knew someone would bite with their giant “success story”
Mostly disinterested. Just keeping to myself, playing a lot, writing, recording, etc.
[quote=“Greg_L, post:31, topic:1131, full:true”]
Have any of you actually implemented or achieved anything from all these cliche ideas being thrown around?[/quote]I have, I wouldn’t be offering the advice otherwise. Perhaps you would like to tell us about your own experience in this area.
[quote]I’m asking because all of this looks good on paper, but in reality, it’s hopeless. It’s a dated philosophy. Albums? CDs? Press kits? Radio stations? LOL! People do not care about buying music anymore. Many people don’t even have CD players anymore.[/quote]Based on what? Your own opinions? Or do you have any stats to support this? CDs are 50% of the market. What do think people are doing with them after they buy them? Using them as coasters?
[quote]Streaming pays nothing.[/quote]Pretty much, yes.
[quote]Get paid for your gigs - if you can, get paid for merch, stay very interactive with whatever meager fan base you can possibly build,[/quote]How is that different from the advice already given?
[quote]People don’t sit and listen to albums.[/quote]Again, based on what?
[Quote]Your single best bet is what you’re already doing - sell your shit at your own gigs.[/quote]Again,how is that different from what has already been posted?
God, really? Then I’d be just another guy on the internet thinking his own personal experiences are law. I try to not be that guy. I don’t like that guy [quote=“AJ113, post:34, topic:1131”]
Based on what? Your own opinions? Or do you have any stats to support this? CDs are 50% of the market. What do think people are doing with them after they buy them? Using them as coasters?
[/quote]
CDs are 50% of the shrinking market. Yay for that!
You are woefully out of touch if you think people actually sit and listen to albums like they used to. They don’t. You ever see all those kids walking around with earbuds? They’re not listening to albums. They’re listening to streaming playlists. The single is king again. The album is dead.
You don’t have to argue with me as a default action.
No, you’d be another person offering the value of your experience. That’s how this world works.
[quote=“Greg_L, post:35, topic:1131”]
I try to not be that guy.
[/quote]I’ve noticed. Your preference is to spout off baseless assertions, but that’s cool, we’re all different.
[quote=“Greg_L, post:35, topic:1131”]
You don’t have to argue with me as a default action.
[/quote]My default action is to challenge unevidenced, baseless bullshit.
[quote=“Greg_L, post:35, topic:1131”]
CDs are 50% of the shrinking market. Yay for that!
[/quote]Ah, so you agree. In that case please answer my question: What do you think all these people who buy CDs are doing with them?
There’s no value in it if you only want my input to knee-jerk argue with it…as we have here. That’s how the internet works. [quote=“AJ113, post:36, topic:1131”]
I’ve noticed. Your preference is to spout off baseless assertions, but that’s cool, we’re all different.
[/quote]
See above.[quote=“AJ113, post:36, topic:1131”]
My default action is to challenge unevidenced, baseless bullshit.
[/quote]
See above again.
For the very few people buying CDs, I think they’re ripping the one maybe good song off of it and adding the song to a random playlist. That’s what happens. Deny it if you must, because you really want to.
You REALLY need that, don’t you? I know you do. Lol.
Sorry. I don’t understand. I haven’t had any “giant success story”. Have you?
You don’t have teenage kids then. You don’t know how they lay awake at night on the night before their favourite artist releases their new “album”.
And then, yes, they play a collection of their favourite acts new songs. Probably not in the order the artist placed them on “the album”. And, yes, they mix em up with other tracks they like, probably from another favourite artist’s album which they waited up all night to hear premiere.
Out of touch? Indeed you are.
Approximately 1.5 billion CDs sold every year, a $6 billion market, how can that possibly be interpreted as ‘the very few people buying CDs’? Do you even bother to check your facts? Or do you just spout off the first piece of bullshit that enters your head?
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Oh grow up for fuck’s sake. I’m taking issue with you because you’re talking unevidenced bullshit. Try talking from a point of knowledge that you have gained through actually having some experience on the subject. If you don’t want to be challenged, stop posting baseless shite that is clearly designed to do nothing but stir up a commotion.