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How To Promote A Local Concert

The following post was created by Jeremy Boyum, bass player for Shadow Of Whales. We were planning to publish a guide like this for some time now, and lucky for us the team at Muddy Paw PR was able to find a talented and well-spoken artists to help bring it to life. Enjoy.

It was getting late. At this point, I was going to get maybe three hours of sleep before I had to wake up, bring my son to school and run off to work and do this all over again. It was cold – okay it was only like 30 degrees, but that’s cold for Texas okay?! – And I wanted to go home. But I couldn’t go home, because if I quit now, I could be missing out on that one person who would become the next Shadow of Whales super fan. Maybe we would have an awesome conversation about the state of the industry or maybe their favorite band was Relient K too. Maybe they would join the street team and come up with innovative ways to help us promote. Maybe I would run into the president of Sony and he would be so impressed that we got on a national radio campaign! I couldn’t give up, not until the job was done.

If you’re in a band and you’re really serious about growing your audience, one of the biggest things you can do (aside from writing good music) is PROMOTE YOUR SHOW! Legitimately promoting your show with hard work and smart work can be time-consuming and very challenging, not to mention you’re sacrificing some of your money and blood, sweat and tears to make it happen. BUT, if your dream is to play your music in stadiums and arenas one day, you’re not going to get there by just being in existence. You have to spread the word!

I fully recognize that there are already articles that talk about this subject. My goal is to shake loose some of those creative juices that work so well in your musicianship to really take your promotion game to the next level. You ready?

ONLINE PROMOTION

Most articles talk about promoting your concert online, so I’m going to just do a quick walkthrough to recap:

FACEBOOK EVENTS/ADS

When most of your audience is still just your friends and family this is pretty vital. Unless you want to play to an empty room, you need to let your friends know what’s good!

I would definitely suggest experimenting with ads if you haven’t already. As unfortunate as it is that Facebook screwed musicians with their algorithm, you just don’t have much of a choice. If you are really against Facebook, then you are going to have to work extra hard to make sure your friends know about your show. After you send out Facebook invites send EVERYONE you invited personal text or Facebook messages, or give them a call. (Calling or text messages are better) The more personal you are the better, especially with your friends.

TWITTER

Believe it or not, Twitter is a really great way to get the word out about your show. Especially if you’re opening for a major touring band. You can gain a lot of new followers by tracking the artist you’re playing with, engaging/retweeting their tweets and engaging with their fans so that you can tell them “hey, guess what, we’re actually playing with that band.” (Pro-tip: look up Twitter advanced search)

If you’re playing a festival, most of them have trackable hashtags that they use to broadcast the message. They coincidentally also use Facebook events and a lot of people engage with it. You can post on those event pages… Just saying, be a part of the conversation and make some friends.

ONLINE EVENT CALENDARS

Most cities have them. DO512.com for instance in Austin, in addition to the Austin Chronicle and local newspapers with calendars. It’s also very important to utilize Bands in Town and Songkick. Bands in Town ports to a lot of popular social media and you can link your bands Spotify account to Songkick. Meaning, if someone’s listening to your band on Spotify they can also see if you’re playing a show in their area.

Make sure you’re doing the work online, it’s really important. If it feels meaningless just think about the fact that your band’s name is in more places on the internet which means people searching keywords on Google are more likely to find you. (This is especially useful if you’re at a stage where you don’t have a website or large following on social media) There are also often spam *cough* I mean “other” sites that track things like this so when you do this work it’s more often than not being duplicated on to other sites without you having to do anything extra.

GRASSROOTS PROMOTION

Flyers

Nowadays flyers are actually a pretty big advantage because it’s not something bands are doing as often. I think that might have to do with social media making people lazy. Social media was never meant to replace anything that people do on a day to day basis to promote their business. Social media is meant to be an EXTENSION of a business/band/brand. At the end of the day you still have to be out there and on your grind both online and offline.

Flyers are also a huge turnoff for a lot of bands because:

  1. If you’re not good at design, don’t worry. It doesn’t have to be amazing, hand draw something if you really have to and then bring it to a local print shop and have them make copies. The money will be worth it if you stay consistent. Just make sure your band’s name is on the flyer and easily readable. The most important thing about handing out flyers, especially in the beginning, isn’t necessarily promoting your event. It’s promoting your brand. The more people see and hear your brand’s name the better. If it’s surrounded by your kick-ass concerts or the new single you put out then it makes it look even better.
  2. If you want flyers that are both within your budget and also really high-quality, I ALWAYS get my bands promotional material printed at www.bandposterprinting.com. They’re the best! They are super affordable for what you get and what you get is awesome. Not to mention they have fantastic customer service. I don’t even care that they’re on the other side of the country from us, they’re still cheaper than FedEx/Kinkos and PostNet!
  1. It can be bad if someone doesn’t take the flyer or they insult you. The other day one of our street teamers was handing a flyer to someone and he said “no, I don’t want your flyer. But I can help you.” He then snatched the rest of the flyers she was holding in her hand and threw them in a nearby garbage disposal. Needless to say she was pretty upset, so was I, what a jerk! No one wants to be rejected and that can make it hard to stay motivated. BUT;
  2. On the other hand, that very same night we met so many awesome and very nice people that connected with us on social media, and several of them ended up coming to the show we were promoting. What’s more is the venue saw us promoting and we gained a lot of respect points from them. You never know what’s going to happen but if you don’t try then you’ll never know.

So where do you hand out your flyers now that they’ve been printed?

Do some research online, or ask around for what bands are playing in your area. Even if they’re semi-large local acts, you can attend the concert and in between bands playing, introduce yourself to people in the audience, have a short conversation with them, mention YOUR band and the fact that you’re playing in the area soon. With major touring bands coming through town, they’ll always have a lot of promotion and there will usually be a crowd waiting outside before doors even open. Use this to your advantage. They can’t go anywhere so walk up and introduce yourself to every single person in line and tell them about your event. In addition to promoting at other concerts look for heavily populated areas near where you’re playing. In Austin, a lot of our venues are on 6th street. On Saturdays after 10pm, they barricade the streets surrounding 6th because there are SO many people there getting drunk at all of the bars that the sidewalks just can’t hold them. (Pro-tip: alcohol makes people more willing to accept your flyers more often than not. Not that you won’t get rejected but your chances of acceptance are certainly higher.)

If you’re younger and held under parental guidelines that keep you from driving downtown (or if you don’t yet have the ability to drive downtown yourself) hand these flyers out at your school. When I was in high school I played in a band called iTEM84 and we would make four flyers on one page, make as many copies as we felt we needed, then cut them in to four quarters and gave some to our friends to help us hand them out. We’d hand them to everybody roaming the halls between classes, put them in lockers, on bulletins, on cars in the parking lot and any other place I was allowed to post them up. Much like people waiting outside concerts, these students have nowhere to go and often times nothing to do, so why wouldn’t they want go to your concert or at least check out your band’s music?

Posters/Stickers

Again, these don’t have to be super fancy, just do your best to make your name very recognizable. When you print posters and put them around town, try your best to post them in blocks of four (Either in a line or a square/rectangle) unless the space only allots for one. This might not yield immediate results but it’s really important to stay consistent. Imagine the first, second, third or fourth time you see something you might just pass it by. But you see it a fifth time and finally decide, you know what I keep seeing this logo/name everywhere, I need to check this out.

Also, this always looks good to the promoters and venues. Even if your show at this point ends up not having a super great turnout, they’ll see that you put the work into it and be a lot more willing to give you another show than if you were to sit on your hands and pray.

Street Team

Handing out flyers can be hard but the good thing is that you don’t have to do it alone. Ideally if you’re in a band you would be doing it together, but even if you’re not, you can always ask a couple of your most dedicated fans to go with you and share in both the pain and the excitement. Remember those friends you were inviting on Facebook? Ask the ones who truly believe in what you’re doing to help you out one night. Give them a free shirt or free ticket entry for helping out. What this does in addition to helping you promote is it gives them more stake in your success and they’ll end up sharing you more to their friends as a result because they feel like they are more a part of what you’re doing.

GET CREATIVE!

Work on your pitch when handing out flyers, see what works and what doesn’t work. Work on your poster design and grow your street team. Have group events with them when promoting and go out to eat/hang out with them. Think of ways you can utilize these people as billboards for your cause, especially if they’re the ones offering to do so. Think about it, is it more effective to see one guy in plain clothes handing out flyers for his next show? Or would there be more impact if there were ten people all wearing the same shirt, handing out the same flyer talking about how great this one band is? There’s tons of room to explore here!

Keep thinking of different ways you can attract people’s attention. For one show we recently promoted, we took a page out of the Warped Tour/Festival handbook. Often at Warped, you’ll see bands with handmade pole-signs that have their band’s name, the stage their playing and the set time. In similar fashion we made a 17×8.5×11 styrofoam box with battery-powered LEDs and a PVC pipe. We covered it with paper that had our ‘Shadow of Whales’ logo on it and the show information. We carried this thing around 6th street and downtown Austin while it was flooded with people and as we walked around we would see people not only look up at the sign but then read it OUT LOUD! We had people yell at us from rooftop bars and ASK us to tell them what it was about.

Former Taylor Swift manager, Rick Barker says “if you want to sell 500,000 albums, you need to meet 500,000 people.” I know we’re talking about promoting your concerts but the concept here is the same. If you want to have more people at your show, you need to meet and share your music with more people. The only way to do that is to get out there and grind it out. You don’t need to make this a massive success on day one. 500,000 people is a LOT of people to take on all at once. But maybe you could meet 10 people in one day, maybe 50? As Warren Buffet says “No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.” Take small steps and implement new strategies as you master learned ones. Start with mastering online promoting, then master posters, then stickers, then flyers, then street team. Before you know it you’ll have a whole crowd of people at your shows that you just met through promoting. If you stay consistent, stay coachable, and work hard, I guarantee you it will be worth it in the long run. Most importantly, do not EVER give up!

With a passion for creating music and spreading hope through friendships comes Austin five-piece, Shadow of Whales. (For Fans Of: The Killers, Franz Ferdinand). They are all songwriters, they all love music, and more importantly, they all love people. Their debut self-titled EP charted on CMJ‘s Top 200 and has seen regular rotation at Starbucks Coffee across the United States and Canada. They have performed at several festivals including the Vans Warped Tour (San Antonio), Heart of Texas Rockfest, and South By So What?! Festival, and have shared the stage with names such as Courage My Love, Mayday Parade, Circa Survive, Jonny Craig. They just released their new single, “Roots” which you can listen to HERE, and are currently running a Patreon, offering fans exclusive tracks, merch, discounts and more. Grab your download of “Roots” HERE.

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The 6 Unspoken Rules of Soundchecking

This post is the latest in our ongoing content collaboration with SonicBids.

So you’ve just spent hours cramped up in a dirt-laden, odor-soaked van along with your bandmates who happen to share those very same qualities. You’ve twisted and turned your way through the (often less than) glamorous back roads of the US and endured everything from traffic jams to bad weather, Baltimore, and that fast food meal that didn’t sit so well. Ragged and weary, you finally arrive to the venue for tonight’s gig. A faint smile gently appears on your face as you now get to escape the confines of that hellish four-wheeled environment and finally relax. Unfortunately, that’s the last thing you should be doing.

Getting to the venue means preparing for soundcheck, a ritual that all too many bands pass off as time to goof around before the show. If you’re serious about a career in music, you should know that a proper soundcheck is the essence of a good live performance. Take it just as seriously as you would the gig later that night. To make your life easier as well as the venue’s staff, there are a few unspoken rules to follow during the course of the soundcheck. Follow them, and your performance will only benefit.

1. Load your gear in quickly and efficiently

Sounds like common sense, right? Well, a lot of these unspoken rules are, yet few people manage to follow them. Whether the venue has staff helping you or not, it’s in everyone’s best interests to get your gear inside. Stop eyeing that burrito joint across the street, and don’t worry about missing happy hour at the bar. Work now, play later. Soundcheck is stressful enough without the added effect of the time crunch. More time to set up means a more relaxed atmosphere for everyone. Contrary to popular belief, relaxation is actually a good thing. Aside from good work ethic, getting your gear inside quickly is just safer. Unless you have one of these, keeping your gear in the van exposes it to theft, among other things.

2. Treat the staff like professionals

It doesn’t matter if they’re graduates from a prestigious audio school or just some pimple-faced teens from around the corner. Your sound is in their hands. They may not be onstage, but they sure can have a role in how you guys sound when you’re up there. That being said, it’s best to treat these people with respect. Without them, live music wouldn’t exist and that annoying feedback sound we all just love so much would cease to disappear. Unless you’re a huge rock star… actually, that doesn’t matter either. No matter what level in your career you’re at, it never hurts to treat the crew with respect. In fact, let’s just add treating everyone with respect to the list. How bad can it really be?

3. Soundcheck with the same song or two every night

Big-name acts have the luxury of just jamming for hours until their desired sound is accurately dialed in. However, when you’ve got 15 minutes and a few other impatient bands after you waiting to get their turn, efficiency is the key. Playing the same song or two every gig for soundcheck will help speed up the process. You’ll be familiar with how that song should sound onstage, which will allow you to hone in on your levels with lightning speed. Try to pick some well-rounded songs that exhibit both a balance of vocals and instrumentation so the sound engineer can get a feel for the music better.

Just as a side note, don’t be that guy who soundchecks at level three volume and turns it to 11 come show time. This isn’t Spinal Tap, and plus, nobody likes that guy.

4. For goodness’ sake, keep your cables organized!

This isn’t your parents’ garage where that tangled mess of cables will fly. I don’t care if your unique methodology of organization “just works, man” – be a professional about it, and wrap your cables properly. Showing up to a venue with a box of cables that has to be untangled before anything can be done is no way to go about business. You’ll save time, frustration, and the longevity of your cables’ lives if you learn how to wrap and store them properly after every gig.

For those who don’t know how, grab some popcorn, your favorite teddy bear, curl up on the sofa, and watch this lovely instructional video.

5. Figure out the backlining situation ASAP

Backlining is a beautiful moment when two bands can put aside their personal differences and share their gear, all for the sake of a smooth-sailing show. When it works well, it’s a masterpiece of artistic cooperation displayed by the seamless transition between set changes. This graceful craft is completely worthless if you wait until the last minute to discuss it, though. Soundcheck is the time to do it. Whether you’re letting someone use your gear or potentially using theirs, have a quick talk before the show so everyone will know what to do. Five minutes before your set is not the time to be scrambling around for your drum set because you thought you’d be covered.

6. Relax efficiently

Yes, soundcheck is a time to work and not relax, but there’s a way you can go about the process with a cool, calm demeanor. No need to run around like a chicken with its head cut off. Just keep your head down, do what needs to be done, and play it cool. Finding that perfect balance of urgency and relaxation will not only help the soundcheck go smoothly, but will put you in the right state of mind for that upcoming performance.

As stated before, most of these tips aren’t mind-blowing secrets, but if practiced diligently and regularly, it can help make a fun and challenging career that much easier.

LINE

Anthony Cerullo is an avid keyboard player, writer, and world traveler. He has spent the past few years touring the US in bands, and now finds himself exploring the musical spectrum that various countries of the world offer.

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Focus On These 6 Things If You Want To ‘Make It’ In Music

In a recent episode of the 100 Words or Less podcast, guest Tom Mullen (of Washed Up Emo) bring up a great point about “making it.”

11:54 “If you don’t know where the basement show is, you’re disconnected, because that’s what’s next or what’s really happening. So if you’re out there and you’re in a band, find a basement show… don’t aspire to get on the Ernie Ball Stage.”

Yes, your name at the bottom of the list of 100 other bands in next year’s Warped Tour announcement will look cool, but if that’s what you’re shooting for you’re toast.

Here are a few better places to focus your efforts.

1. Be the band that people want to help and hook up all around your local community. Show up for their shows, even when you’re not playing. Not everyone in every local band will be your best friend, but be a good member of the local music community. Buy other band’s records, travel to their shows, talk them up. Don’t do this so when of those bands “break” they’ll hook you up, but do it to be a good human being.

2.Get out there and book some shows in other states. Playing in front of new crowds won’t win you 100s of fans per show, but it might land you one or two, and you never know – they might become your new best friends.

3. Just as you shouldn’t yell “we got shirts for sale in the back” in between every song when you’re playing out, you shouldn’t make every message on social media about you. Before you post anything, reply to 10 fans. Don’t RT them: reply to them. After you’re done with that, talk about a new album you love, or a good band you saw at your last show. Do this for months, and on occasion, sure – announce a show, or a pre-order. At that point you won’t have numbed your online audience to a never ending barrage of “LOOK AT ME” messaging (like every other band out there).

4. Help other bands. Again, it’s better when we do it together. Element 101 took an unknown band out for their first out-of-state show many years ago. Who was the band? My Chemical Romance.  When one band succeeds, we all benefit. 

5. Make your own thing. Spotify sucks. No one buys albums. So and so band is dumb. That one promoter won’t book your band. Save your breath, time, and energy.

I got talking to Joe from Flintface recently, who is around my age and filled with much wisdom, and his words echoed in my soul: make your own thing. Make your own luck, your own tour, your own show. If you have a social media audience of 10,000 and an email list of 500 people from all the shows you’ve played in the past two years, you won’t need to rely on “getting signed" or being picked for a shitty side stage to “make it.”

6. Don’t talk shit with people you don’t know. If you’re trying to break into the industry, don’t speak negatively about any band, label, or outlet – you just never know who might work with who! I’ve seen this too many times. Someone says, “X band is the worst,” and then someone in the group says, “oh, really? My partner manages them.” GULP.

So don’t be disconnected. Be a part of something good, and if nothing is there, MAKE IT. Above all, work on being an awesome person that people want to work with and you won’t even need to grovel to play some sponsored side-stage.

LINE

Seth Werkheiser is the quiz master of metal trivia at Skulltoaster. He’s also the founder of some music sites you may have heard of, including Noise Creep (2009) + Buzzgrinder (2001). He’s anti-Facebook, anti-clickbait, and anti-growth hacking. You should most definitely follow him on Twitter. Yes, right now.

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PRO TIP: Think Twice Before Attacking Your Peers

If there is one thing we can probably all agree on about life on the internet it’s that those who fuel the content generation machines that keep the web buzzing with viral sensations love nothing more than drama. It can come in any form, from political to celebrity, as long as its captured on camera or in sound bites. Those bits of media are then uploaded, streamed, remixed, and shared on a plethora of clickbait hungry blogs hoping to grab a few more easy clicks from someone else’s pain. It’s a long-running and admittedly sick trend, but a trend nonetheless, and earlier today one of metal’s best underground acts were found cashing on our collective love for all things dramatic.

Partnering with the fine editorial team at Faster Louder, the member of Thy Art Is Murder released a collaborative feature on the popular music blog detailing the best and worst bands they have toured with up to this point. The list named several artists, praising some and trashing others, all with seemingly no concern for public or professional backlash that may occur. The band highlights 3 genre peers as being ’the worst,’ each of whom have fans around the globe and international touring experience, as well as 3 they consider ‘the best.’ While those regarded in high standing are certainly given some well-deserved praise, the acts the band chooses to look down upon are essentially bullied for an entire paragraph. Volumes, for instance, are referred to as follows:

The “homies.” The billionaire rich kids. Their dad is like some Grammy-award winning producer. Fully don’t like these dudes that much. The last time I saw the singer I told him I was going to beat him up, real bad, to his face.

There is also an allegation of wrongdoing on the part of someone associated with the band, as well as a story of a near physical altercation from a previous tour.

The band given the worst treatment is Within The Ruins, a metalcore act found on Victory Records, who Thy Art Is Murder claim “fully suck.”

While there is certainly nothing wrong with having an opinion or sharing it, the members of Thy Art Is Murder are not doing themselves any favors by conveying their thoughts and feelings in this way. The band comes across as bullies at best, and at worst they appear to be cocky assholes who believe the best way to raise awareness for what they are doing is by stepping on bands who have shared time with them on the road. Nothing could be farther from the truth however, as it is the bonds built through working in music that ultimately propel artists and professionals forward. The music community is surprisingly small, and everyone knows someone who knows everyone else. When you talk poorly or act out of line towards someone or some group, there are repercussions down the line the offender may have never thought possible. Maybe the person who books Within The Ruins also heads up a major festival that now will never work with Thy Art Is Murder, or perhaps they rep a band that would have otherwise served as a perfect tour pairing. Now the possibility of that happening is gone, and for what? A few clicks?

If I had a say in the happenings of Thy Art Is Murder I would urge them to consider finding a new publicist, as the person who encouraged them to create this feature obviously did not have their best interest in mind. The popularity of their rant against other bands will fade within a day, but the damage done from trashing their peers may linger for the rest of their career. The situation could be made better with an apology, but given the brash way the band described those they consider ‘the worst’ I doubt we will be hearing anything akin to “sorry” from them in the near future.

Let this be a lesson to all artists: Tearing one another down is never going to help you get ahead. You might grab a few fleeting bits of attention, but the longterm impact of publicized negativity is rarely good for business. As your mother always said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say a word.”

James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.

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Advice: Ready Yourself For Big Hits

Ryan Adams Tweeted to his 695,000 followers about Christopher the Conquered, an independent artist in Iowa. A CD was passed along to him, and he liked it so much he shared with his followers.

After one week these were the results:

Website Page Views – 2489 Views
Youtube Videos: 1653 New Views
Soundcloud: Single from Album – 572 Plays
Facebook: 82 New Likes
Instagram: 40 New Followers
Twitter: 31 New Followers
Spotify: 28 New Followers
Email Newsletter: 12 Signups
Internet Sales (Not including iTunes, Spotify, etc. – that takes a while to get those numbers): $86

He went on to write that he got some press on Noisey and PureVolume but, “those other press bits wouldn’t amount to much.” Ahhh, 2015!

Some of the comments on this Reddit post wondered, “well, how can I buy it?” Here was this enormous buzz and no way to actually sell this new album. The best time to answer that question is before you get a big hit.

What can you learn from this?

1. Always make it clear how you can buy something.

Getting someone to your site in 2015 is a miracle, so make it super easy for anyone – ANYONE – to be able to buy your music. That means links to iTunes, Amazon, BandCamp, whatever.

2. Make snagging emails a priority.

I know, I know. Email isn’t as sexy as SnapChat and Twitter, but you will always have these emails, even when those social media wonders fade. Sure, those 82 new Facebook likes are always nice, so long as Zuckerburg let’s your posts be seen by 10% of them.

3. Make your social media links visible.

Some people do Twitter but don’t do Facebook. Some people don’t do either, but they love Instagram. Make sure you have these linked in one space on your site.

4. Read Austin Kleon’s ‘Show Your Work.’

http://austinkleon.com/show-your-work/

You won’t get a rush of traffic everyday, but when you do, it’ll be nice if your site / social media / email list is already stocked with great content. Getting in a habit of showing your work (and not just latte art, or guitar pedals) will pay dividends down the road.

Getting your online stuff in order now helps with both a flood of traffic, and also for when that music writer or editor happens upon your site. Remember, to out run a bear you only have to run faster than your friends. Same with this music thing – good presentation goes a long way when everyone’s attention span is measured in seconds.

Seth Werkheiser is the quiz master of metal trivia at Skulltoaster. He’s also the founder of some music sites you may have heard of, including Noise Creep (2009) + Buzzgrinder (2001). He’s anti-Facebook, anti-clickbait, and anti-growth hacking. You should most definitely follow him on Twitter. Yes, right now.

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Tips For Negotiating Your Next Management Contract

Our friends at CDBaby ran this really great feature on negotiating management contracts that we are now sharing with you. We’ve probably shared the information below with dozens of artists in recent weeks, and we encourage you to do the same. We believe education is the key to success in music today.

A masterclass on music contracts

Attorney Steve Gordon is running a fantastic series on Digital Music News about music contracts — 11 different kinds of music contracts, to be exact.

Each article in the series dives into one of those types of contract (record deals, synch licensing, band agreements, management deals, etc.), and starts with the premise that there is no such thing as a “standard” agreement, but that negotiations tend to begin with a form set of terms.

Gordon says:

Often, there are two versions of a form agreement: one that represents the best interests of creators, including artists, songwriters, and producers, and one that represents the best interests of the companies that do business with them, such as record labels, publishers, and managers.

It’s important to understand whose interests are being protected in every aspect of your contract because, in Gordon’s words, “these parties typically have adverse interests.”

The management contract

In one of these posts, Steve Gordon breaks down two versions of a management contract (you can actually scroll through the contract and view his point-by-point commentary): the pro-MANAGER management contract and the pro-ARTIST management contract.

In “the old days” (the  20th Century), a manager’s primary goal was to get a band signed to a label (hopefully with a big advance), and to then act as a liaison between the label and the artist (advocating for the interests of the band).

Now that labels are way more risk averse and don’t want to sign acts until they’ve proven they can build a fanbase and earn money, the role of the music manager has changed dramatically.

Manager are now taking on many of the responsibilities of a label (securing distribution, working more closely with publicists, promoters, and booking agents, etc.). In some cases, more responsibilities means more items to negotiate in a contract. And, of course, all the old questions still need to be worked out too: who gets to make the decisions, who gets paid what, how do you hold one another accountable, and how long is the term of your agreement?

These are just some of the considerations to make when negotiating a management contract.

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Advice: Adding (The Right) Members To Your Band

Hello, everyone. Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to spend on our blog. The post your about to read is part of our long-running artist advice series, and like many of the posts in this column the entry you’re about to enjoy was written by a band with experience in the topic at hand. This week’s guest authors are Fox & Cats, a promising young pop rock outfit from Texas with a new record titled ‘Ampersand’ due out next month. Click here to learn more about the band and their plans for the future.

When Nicole and I decided to play music together as Fox & Cats we actually intended to play as a four-piece. When we found it difficult to find reliable people to fill the extra spots we ultimately agreed to press on as a two-piece.  This turned out to work really well for us for quite a while. We only had two minds collaborating on the project, which made it easy to set out clear ideas when it came to song writing. It also made it extremely easy for us to travel around. All of our equipment fit perfectly in the back of Nicole’s Toyota Tacoma, so we never had to worry about parking a trailer or taking multiple cars out to shows. 

Being a two-piece also gave us a bit of an edge for our live shows. People seemed to be drawn to the fact that it was just the two of us up there making all that noise. It wasn’t until December of 2014 that we finally started playing with the idea of adding other musicians in to the mix again.  Being a two-piece had its perks, but there’s just something so satisfying about a driving bass line to fuel a song. I also have this habit of hearing lead parts that should be filled by guitar and keys in my head when we write and play shows, which creates this hole that I feel compelled to fill.  So, we had a show booked at Scout Bar in Clear Lake, Texas for The Texas Buzz award ceremony and we decided this show should be special since we were nominated for two categories and had been fortunate enough to be asked to play.  For the first time in almost 4 years we performed as a four-piece and it was extremely satisfying to hear the parts I knew should be there but hadn’t been before.

Since then we’ve continued as a three-piece, keeping our friend Chris Dunaway on bass.  We’ve already been working on new material and it’s very clear how much creative freedom having an additional member will allow us.  After all, some of the best songs ever written are fueled by badass bass lines. Just imagine ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ by Queen without that sweet, sweet bass. Having an additional member on full time is also a huge help when it comes to touring and playing shows. Hauling around gear, dealing with merch and making long drives between cities can be quite a handful with just two people. It has definitely given us some perspective and allows us to truly appreciate having another set of hands.

The biggest challenge when adding additional members to a band is finding people who share the same musical vision and who also are able to fit in and get along well with the current members on a personal level. That’s the main reason it’s taken us as long as it has to add new members to the band. We truly got lucky with Chris and we hope to continue to grow and build our live sound as we move forward

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Automation Will Not Make You A Star (But It Might Help)

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the beginning of a new week here on the official blog of Haulix. We are thrilled to know you have chosen to spend a few minutes of your time with us. This is the final week of August and we have done everything in our power to plan content that helps us end the month strong. Today, we’re taking a look at automation and how it may or may not be the answer to every problem you have.

This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

The internet and the idea that automation will somehow save us all have long walked hand in hand through the world of business. Automation is the older of the two, with a history that dates back to the beginning of the 1900s, but it’s just as feisty today as ever before. The birth of apps, which came about as a direct result of the internet, created countless new paths to automation success for consumers and entrepreneurs alike. You can find apps to wake you up, send you reminders, check your blood alcohol content, check your blood sugar, track your steps, track your pregnancy, control your television, control your stereo, control your car stereo, start your car, pay bills, and a million other tasks – big and large – in between. The one thing no app can do, however, is make you a successful musician. They can help you, yes, but they cannot do the real work for you. 

What’s the real work? Good question.

In the last six months I have been sent press releases for apps that automate everything from tweeting and updating social networks, to booking, keeping track of merchandise stock, songwriting, and even responding to fan emails. Yes, you can even automate fan engagement in 2014. Welcome to the future.

I would never discourage the use of automation, but like all the best parts of life it is something that is best when used and experienced in moderation. We may one day reach a point where machines no longer need people in order to make the world spin, but for the time being there are limits to the capabilities of even the best coded device, especially where creativity is concerned. The key to success today is not only being talented, but also possessing a personality that people want to experience. This goes for fan engagement, as well as the way you interact with members of the music industry at large, and there is no machine or app on the planet that can handle that task.

If you want to simplify your life, embrace the apps that make it easier for you to focus on creativity and engagement, but not those that try and replace actual conversation with pre-selected responses. Automated booking may sound like a good idea, just like the idea of an application that can help you write songs with better rhymes, but neither will help you actually improve your skills as an artist or business person. In order to do that you have to get your hands dirty a bit, and by that I mean you need to risk messing up if you ever want to grow. Those who play in arenas today one day performed for the wall of their bedroom and whatever stuffed animals were within earshot. Eventually, they took it upon themselves to get the word out about their efforts, and over time – with a lot of hard work – people began to take notice. As they continued to work, things like songwriting and communication became second nature because it’s what those individuals chose to focus on day in and day out. You can reach that point too, but it takes time. 

Even more important than the need to better your business skills, however, is the need to remember that fans come first. This is a fact that should be cemented into your longterm memory alongside your first Christmas and the name of that pet you loved as a child that mysteriously went to ‘greener pastures’ when it reached a certain age. Fans are the lifeblood of your career, and without them all the automation in the world will not be able to get your name in front of influential industry professionals. You need to set aside time to engage with your followers on a regular basis, and you need to make an effort to let them know you care about the feedback they have to offer. Listen to them and, when time allows, reply to them as well. As your popularity grows it may become increasingly difficult to respond to every message of support you receive, but you should still make an effort to let those who give up a part of their financial stability to support your dreams know their sacrifice is not a mistake.

As sure as I am that the world will continue turning I am confident there will be even more apps promising crazier types of automation in the years ahead. I don’t think it’s all that hard to imagine an app that records songs, masters them automatically, then within minutes submits that recording to every major online retailer. That’s just one of a million possibilities, but unless it somehow allows you to be a better creator or promoter then what is the point? Quantity means nothing without quality, just like messaging means nothing without substance, and machines do not create substance. We do.

If you want to get ahead in this business you need to put your music and fans first. If there are apps that make it easier for you to do that then you should most certainly consider using them in your day to day efforts. That said, if you come across apps that promise to forge connections that would otherwise require actual human interaction it’s far better to do the work yourself. Machines can do a lot of things, but they cannot use a personality they do not possess, and it’s personality that ultimately makes someone a star.

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How To Kill Your Band #7 – Down With The Sickness

Hello and welcome to the seventh installment of Eric Morgan’s How To Kill Your Band. This column offers advice to up and coming artists from the perspective of a professional musician who has thrived with and without label support over the last decade. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

An Introduction:

I’ve been in the music industry as an artist for nearly 10 years now. In that decade I’ve achieved nearly all of my childhood music dreams, but I’ve also made just as many mistakes that run over my mind before I fall asleep each night. A wonderment of how a few different decisions, rerunning in hindsight, would work out in some alternate universe. This ever creeping determinism is a fallacy I’m quite aware of but one that I will never completely shake, though it’s these experiences I’ve learned the most valuable lessons. These are the things I’d like to share in a series of mini-blogs I call How To Kill Your Band.

Part 7 – Down With The Sickness

On the road you’re going to roll the dice quite frequently. Sleeping in sketchy parking lots, never washing your hands, loading gear while simultaneously resisting knife wielding St. Louisans trying to rob the 50” plasma TV you just won the night before in a raffle while watching the Super Bowl in a Tulsa, OK Hooters because the show snowed out. It’s tour and it’s a kind of a weird thing to want to do and taking risks is sort of a necessity. Our modus operandi was always to find ways to limit the downsides i.e. putting new locks on our trailer, depositing cash every couple days, leaving way too early for the next venue etc. But sometimes probability catches up with you and things get shitty. Sometimes you decide to eat at a DQ Grill.

On a beautiful spring day in 2010 we were heading eastbound on I-90 from Buffalo on our way to Holyoke, MA and I suddenly felt a slight urge to use the bathroom. Per usual, I made a request to our rod hog Patrick Jeffers to stop at the next exit. Driving along in our dependable Chevy things started to feel unevenly heavy. Then just completely wrong. I’m now in a deep sweat yelling at Jeffers that we need to find an exit or pull off into the woods. Fortunately we opted for the 6.0L V8 that helps him channel his inner Dale and we top 90 mph before spotting the dirty gas station oasis in the distance – I’ve never been more relieved in my life.

That ordeal concluded, it was smooth sailing to Massachusetts. Except 15 minutes later I get a very familiar feeling in my stomach. How could this be?! Immediately we rush to a rest area and this time I’m not just feeling heavy down low, I’m now upchucking at the same time. For the next 100 miles I repeat a pattern of vomit and diarrhea at the same time every 15 minutes like clockwork.

By the time we get to the venue in Holyoake, I’m very worried about my health. I’ve spent hours expelling liquids from every orifice to the point that I’m just a dripping bag of bile. Jeffers made the decision to drop the trailer and have our vocalist, Justin Brown, rush me to the closest hospital while they loaded in the equipment. We roll into the emergency room and explain the situation to the receptionist before sitting down in the seats closest to the restroom. It doesn’t seem too busy, only a few other people waiting, so I’m fairly confident I’ll get in and out with some type of medicine before we are scheduled to go on that night. A couple hours go by and my condition is getting worse. I’m still puking and pooping every couple minutes and I’m getting very weak and dehydrated while slightly starting to worry for my life. It’s getting closer to the show start and I’m realizing there’s no way I could possibly play a show in this condition. I’ve never missed or canceled a show due to sickness but it’s just not possible. I’d literally be pooping my pants on stage.

A half hour before our set time I still haven’t been able to see a doctor so Justin decides they’re going to try and play as a four piece so we’ll at least earn our guarantee. I was super bummed that I had to miss a show due to illness but I’ve never been more proud of the other guys for stepping up and going through with the show as a four piece. Just for perspective, we had always been and recorded as a three guitarist band. Literally two weeks before we had to let one of our guitarist go in the middle of the previous tour. Jeffers and I had just crammed three intense guitar tracks down to two and now it was just going to be one. But he got up on stage, without a chance to even think the parts over, and straight killed it.

After twelve hours of wilting away in the waiting room I finally get called back to see a doctor. After 20 minutes I was told I had viral gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and both upper and lower intestines. That’s pretty much all he did because he didn’t prescribe medication or put me on an IV to deal with the severe dehydration. I stumble out of the ER with a new word for the describing the worst I’ve ever felt and a $700 bill. The band decides to meet up with Attila at a nearby motel and get a room with the night’s guarantee so I can have a bed to sleep in.

What I didn’t know was that during the set Justin announced deadpan to the crowd that I had died. So after another night of horrific amounts of expulsion we meet up with the other bands in the morning who are all shocked to see that I am infact alive. We also learn from a local that there’s another ER nearby that has a policy of no wait times over two hours. Great. With the help of a little dopamine I was able to hold down enough fluids to play the next nights show and started recovering after a couple days. It was without a doubt the worst I’ve ever felt in my life.

Four days later, Jeffers got it.

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Haulix Advice: How To Deal With The Fact Your Band Is Breaking Up

Hello again! We are in the midst of a completely unplanned ‘Advice Week,’ and so far the feedback from our readers has been overwhelming. We hope to continue helping guide you through the ins and outs of the music industry in the months ahead, but today we’re going to talk about the end of your career and how you can ease the pain of saying goodbye. If you have a suggestion for a future installment of this column, or if you have a question you’d like us to tackle in the weeks ahead, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. You can also find us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

It is a hard fact to face, but just like everything else in life your group’s career in music will most likely one day come to an end. You could perform solo until you die (if that interests you, familiarize yourself with the life of Levon Helm), but it’s relatively safe to say your band will be calling it quits long before your AARP card arrives in the mail. When that happens you need to be prepared to share that decision with fans and others who are emotionally (or financially) attached to your efforts, and today we’re going to highlight a few essential steps that need to be taken in order to smoothly transition from band back to individuals who share a common bond in music.

Before we dive in it’s important to remember that every break up is different. Just like romantic entanglements that eventually fizzle, the inner-workings of groups are complex, and when it comes time to for that entity dissolve there are guaranteed to be broken heats along the way. You cannot please everyone or possibly hope to make it okay with diehard followers, but by following the three steps below you can ease the pain enough to bow out with your integrity in tact.

1. Always make an official announcement.

The responsibility of sharing your decision to quit playing music with your fellow band mates is entirely on you (the band). The only thing worse than a band break up on fans is living in fear the band they love may have fallen apart without even thinking to give notice to those who supported them throughout their career. Sit down with everyone who is still on good terms and craft an original, heartfelt message to announce the end of your time together. People need closure, and in order to have that they first need information. Give it to them.

2. Be honest, and do whatever you can to explain your decision to part ways without playing the blame game.

We all know of a band or two who parted ways on less than admirable terms, but whenever stories like that make headlines it tarnishes all the successes the group shared while together. People will always remember the way you said goodbye, so it’s important to make your announcement as informative and positive as possible. Sharing your news with fans should not be a time for finger-pointing, but rather a reflection on everything you have experienced together and a reveal as to what you each plan to do in the future. Through your musical endeavors together you have forged countless relationships the world over with people who believe in the emotions expressed through your art to such a degree they almost consider you friends, and as such they feel invested in your lives. They want to know everyone is better off for the change, and it’s your responsibility to help them feel at peace with the news. You, or at least your art, has potentially become a staple in their daily routine. Leaving things on an argumentative or otherwise sour note will spoil that connection for many who once felt close to your music.

3. Say thank you. A lot.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve been together a month or a decade, go out gracefully. There are many bands in the world, but for the time you existed people chose to give you their time (and money), and it’s important that you let them know their dedication was appreciated. Your creativity may have given you a dream to chase, but it’s because of their support that you were able to accomplish anything in this business at all. Your dreams were realized because of them. It may be over now and sure, there may be some hurt feelings, but for a fraction of their lives and yours you were connected. Don’t take that for granted.

(This column was made possible thanks to creative input from Jen Appel, founder of The Catalyst Publicity Group.)

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