Music Powered Strategies | Music Powered Strategies

Wow,What a Show !

On February 25, 2012, in Live Performance, by admin

That’s the response you’d love to hear as an artist or a band. What a feeling to know that your music and live show experience is connecting with your audience and fans. If you haven’t heard it before you may just be a few steps away.

The first step always involves perfecting your music followed by sitting down with your band or your music business team to plan your show i.e. set list, transitions, lights, sound, etc. But the purpose of this article is meant to highlight an often forgotten step, the post-show review.

Let me give you a few suggestions as to how to work towards that end.

1.) Post Show Team Meeting

Yep, the first step is to get together amongst yourselves to talk through how the performance went. What worked well, what didn’t, ideas for improving the next show, etc. Doesn’t have to be a formal event. Just remember to do it!

2.) Video Your Show

Have someone on your team, a relative, or a trusted fan tape the show. What better way to check out the details and what happened that you didn’t realize.

3.) Ask your Fans

Make sure you get some constructive criticism. Ask some different types of fans from one of your “groupie” fans to someone who you’ve never seen at a show till now. Be ready, and ask for, some honesty vs. the typical “you’all sounded great..”.

4.) Talk with the Venue Staff

Folks working at the club can provide some great input since they tend to see a wide variety of bands. Make sure you ask them what they’ve liked or not liked about other performances in addition to your own.

5.) Ask other Bands

We all have favorite bands who we think are really taking it to the next level. I’m sure they didn’t start out that way. Ask them what has worked for them and how they got to where they are. Also, for bands that are on the same lineup for the night, ask them what they thought about your performance.

6.) Invite your Mentors to a show

Mentors are invaluable and usually provide the best advice. If you don’t have one…get one!

7.) Seek advice from Promoters or Booking Agents

These folks have seen all types of artists or bands and can give you some great advice. Be ready for the truth.

8.) Seek Professional help

No, I’m not talking about the medical kind. Seek out folks who are experienced in producing or directing shows, whether it be the musical variety or from a dramatic perspective. Their knowledge in how to style a performance can give you invaluable tools for your shows. Here are a couple of ideas on folks to seek out in this area:

http://www.caricole.com/

http://www.onstagesuccess.com/

What other ideas have worked for you in developing your on stage performance? Share your thoughts.

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4 Ways for Music Venues to Create Community

On February 6, 2012, in Music Marketing, by admin

If you’re like a lot of businesses, you’re still contemplating how to become engaged with your customers via the various online and social media tools available today. It’s much cheaper than paying for print or other forms of media, i.e. radio, tv, etc. and can be just as effective if not more so. For others, they’re using online media but it tends to primarily be for self-promotion type communications.

Music venues are no different. So, what are you waiting for?

If you’re overwhelmed with the idea of spending too much time, or getting bogged down, with the world of online, don’t. Start by focusing a few minutes each week on 2-3 areas. For example, pick 2 days a week to spend 30 minutes on your website, Facebook, and Twitter. Then, add more time or tools as needed and as you become more comfortable. Stay focused and don’t let all of the available tools and information overload you and you won’t be overwhelmed.

So, as the Black Eyed Peas song goes..”Let’s get it started..”. Here’s a few ideas to get you thinking:

1.) Listen – Ask Your Customers Questions:

One of the first keys to social media is listening to your customers. How many of you are doing this? ( I don’t see many hands raised). Ask them a question to get there thoughts on what they’d like to see at your club, what they like about your place, things they’d like to see changed, new bands they’d like you to showcase, etc.

2.) Engage – Respond to Posts:

You don’t have to respond to every single person that posts but let a few know that you’re listening to them. They may be speaking for the majority. This is critical. I can tell you from experience that I tend to pay much less attention to businesses who don’t seem to care about their customers. Also, you’ll catch what I call blind spots, i.e. poor customer experiences that you’re not aware of.

3.) Create Community – Include Customers in your Business

How do I do this you say? Well, there are lots of ways. First, let me say, make sure your clients are aware of your online and social media presence. Publicize it on your menu’s, blackboards, website, etc.

Second, here’s a few thoughts. Create a contest for new additions to your menu or to come up with the name of a new dish, provide discount specials for customers that follow you on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Foursquare, etc., ask your patrons to send in pictures from when they’re at your place, feature long-time customers on your webpage, ask them about up and coming bands they’d love to come see, and the list goes on.

4.) Provide Value/Content

This is key! If you’re not providing value you’re going to lose your connection to your community. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What might they like to hear about from you?

As a coffee shop, there is a lot that people don’t know about coffee, where it’s grown, how it’s harvested, it’s impact on local economies, etc. As a restaurant, there are probably some recipes or cooking techniques that you customers would love to know.

As a music venue, tell them about some of the behind the scenes activities that go on, some of your favorite memories of great bands that have appeared at your club, the issues your facing in your city as a music club, how your customers can help and support the club or bands, or provide some video interviews with bands that are appearing at your club, Tweet a “during the show” special after a show starts, and the list goes on.

WARNING: Too often, all I see on news feeds are self-promoting type announcements. Boring… It’s great to know about specials, etc. but after a while people tend to turn it off if all they see is another “come buy this..” announcement. Listen, Engage, and Develop Community.

What’s venues, clubs, restaurants do you follow that do a good job with developing their community? What fresh ideas have you seen them use?

Here are some other great articles to help you:

From legendary music venue to social media powerhouse: A case study of The Roxy Theatre

Social media changing the nightlife

Social Media Marketing: 5 Restaurants That Get It

Restaurants, Bars and Social Media: Match Made in Heaven

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9 Reasons You Don’t Stay Focused on your Music and the Business

On October 21, 2011, in Goals, by admin

Having problems staying focused these days on developing your career? I can totally understand. Between people calling or stopping by, meetings, practice, gigs, things to do, information overload, etc., you can lose your way or your career can stagnate.

So, let’s think of why this is happening, how to put some structure to our day and put our career back on track. These ideas can just as easily be applied to your music or the business side of life:

1.) You’re not finding time to clear your head.

- Yep, we all need time to “chill”, relax, and clear our head of all the clutter.

2.) You don’t make room for some “thinking” time each day to review your goals and think through your schedule for the day.

- Initially, if you don’t have any goals, this may take a little more time, but the idea is to set aside a few minutes to remember why your doing this and to keep you on track.

3.) You don’t pick a manageable number of compelling, clear, and specific Goals.

- I’d suggest maybe only having 2-3 initially. You can add more as you become more adept at staying on the right path. Clarity drives action. If you have a very good reason for accomplishing the goal then it’ll get done. The question to ask yourself is “How important is it?”.

4.) You haven’t created a small number of weekly actions for each goal.

- Again, maybe 2-3 or less. Focus on making progress no matter how small. If you try to tackle to much you’ll probably get frustrated with not making much progress, if any.

5.) You haven’t assigned a time on your calendar, and an owner if needed, to work them each week.

- There’s not much to say about this one. We haven’t to put the effort in it to get things done..

6.) You don’t look at your Goals each day.

- Print them out so you, and your band mates, can see them each day. Put your daily focus on where you want to go.

7.) You aren’t reviewing your overall progress.

- Similar to 5.) above but this is more of a monthly review. You may have achieved your goals, or need to alter there course.

8.) You aren’t holding yourself Accountable.

- How do I do this you ask? Well, tell a friend, a family member, or a mentor about your goals and ask them to bring them up from time to time. The act of just telling them once will provide some internal desire for accountability.

9.) You’re not having fun.

If this is the case, then here’s a couple of questions for you:

Do you have too many goals or actions? If so, cut back.
Are you not interested in working on your goals/actions? If not, then you need to re-evaluate their importance to your career and either re-assess their value, hire someone to do them or re-evaluate your career choice.
Sorry about the last one there, but it’s true. Follow your passion not the money. If it is your passion, then contentment will come because you’ll be loving what you do!

What are some other ways you’re staying focused on your career?

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Make A Difference Monday: Thanks Central Texas !

On October 18, 2011, in Make A Difference, by admin

It’s been a brutal summer. Between the drought and the wildfires it’s been tough on a lot of folks in Central Texas. On Monday night, several folks came together to put on a benefit for those affected by the massive fires that spread through the region over the last several weeks.

What an awesome night for so many to give of their resources, their time, and their energy. From the entertainers, to the sponsors, to the crews, to the fans. You can read more about the evening in this article from the Austin American-Statesman.

As we move on, there is still much to do. Many homes were lost, many memories destroyed, many families trying to recover. I urge you to come along side the community and a family whether it be with your financial resources or your time. You can contact the Austin Disaster Relief Network to find out what opportunities are available to make a difference.

Take care! Have an awesome week!

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Make a Difference Monday: Go Kid Rock!

On October 10, 2011, in Make A Difference, by admin

In today’s online version of Billboard Magazine there was an interesting article about Kid Rock planning a Fall Charity Tour in which charities in the tour city will benefit from some of the proceeds. The charities will be selected by Radio Station partners in each city.

I really commend Kid Rock for trying something like this and taking some risks with this project. As many of you know there are a lot of expenses involved in a tour, large or small. I really hope it brings out music fans to support the tour, as well as, their local charity. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Projects like this will take some creativity, having some partners involved, i.e. Compuware, the Detroit Pistons, and local radio stations in this case, and a genuine desire to make a difference through your platform or brand. But, isn’t it worth it?

Give us shout and let everyone know what you’ve been working on to support a cause or help a community. I’d really like to hear what kind of different and unique projects are out there.

Have a great week!

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Does Music Have Power?

On October 3, 2011, in Make A Difference, by admin

That’s the question. I know it does. I think you do too. And so does Dustin Welch.

Cheatham Street Warehouse owner Kent Finlay, left, and musician Dustin Welch are offering songwriting workshops for veterans at the music venue in San Marcos. Finlay manages the honky-tonk and is also a songwriter. Welch, who writes songs as well, teaches the workshops Monday evenings. 'Musicians that have been a part of this get so much out of it, too,' he said.

As part of our “Make A Difference Monday” features I thought I’d highlight this article by Ciara O’Rourke in today’s Austin American-Statesman. It’s a great article about how Dustin is using his gift of songwriting to help some local veterans learn how to get their thoughts on paper, write a few lyrics, and develop a song. For most, this is a time to reflect, to heal, to share. I applaud Dustin for sharing his gift with others, for helping them to develop theirs and for making a difference in someone’s life through the power of music.

So as we start our week, I ask you to think about how you might use this powerful gift you’ve been given to help others. Several of you probably are already. For others, what’s eating at your heart that’s waiting for you to take the first step. It could be the kids at the school down the street. It could be the single Mom next door who loves to listen to your music. It could be the elderly man you see at the bus stop each day. It could be your friend who has cancer. Don’t wait any longer. Take that step.

Please share what you’ve been doing with your musical gifts. It will inspire and prompt many of us to do the same.

Have a great week!

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6 Resources to Kick Start Your Music Marketing

On September 24, 2011, in Music Marketing, by admin

Let’s set the scenario. You have a band. You’re performing on a, hopefully, regular basis. You’ve decided you and the band are going to DIY’it for a while and handle the marketing activities yourselves. You’ve set up a website and created accounts for social media marketing tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, etc. Ok, so far so good.

But, now you’re thinking, where do I go from here. We’ll get into more details in future articles but for now I wanted to highlight several excellent resources to guide you in your music marketing. These are by no means the only resources available (and I’m sure I’ve missed several good ones) but I can personally vouch for the books or blogs listed below.

1.) “How To’s” for using your Website and Social Media tools (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)

Ariel Hyatt and Carla Lynne Hall have written an excellent book, Musician’s Roadmap to Facebook and Twitter, guiding musicians, or any business owner for that matter, through using the power of the web and the tools available for building awareness, connecting with your community, and creating “Calls to Action”.

2.) Engaging Marketing Ideas

Some of the best books on music marketing tactics have been written by Bob Baker. Two of his classics are Guerilla Music Marketing Handbook as well as Guerilla Music Marketing, Encore Edition.

Bob has been in the music business for several years and teaches a Music Marketing class through Berklee Music online program, which I highly recommend.

3.) Developing “eye popping” Content and Engaging your Fans

Content Rules, by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman is one of my favorite books that I’ve read dealing with online marketing. It gives several great examples of how to create content, what not to do, and examples of what businesses have done to to engage and inspire their customers or followers.

You may also want to subscribe to their newsletter at Marketing Profs for other marketing ideas or information.

4.) The Ultimate Tour Handbook

Tour: Smart by Martin Atkins is considered by many to be the “bible” of music touring. It has tons of advice from industry leaders who have “been there, done that” giving advice on how to prepare for a tour and what pitfalls to avoid. Don’t leave home without it !

5.) Great DIY Tool and Advice

The Topspin platform has been much discussed as soon as it was launched. They now feature a Berklee Music Online course to help guide you through concepts surrounding DIY music marketing and use of the Topspin platform.

Whether you use the platform or not I would highly recommend you follow Topspin’s blog and read some of their case studies. They are very willing to share the information they’ve learned over the years concerning music marketing and connecting to your fan base.

6.) Learning from Industry Leader

Artists House Music is an awesome site that has loads of industry interviews across a wide variety of topics. This should be a frequent stop for you to learn from industry experts and those that have many years of music business experience.

7.) Awesome Music Business Blogs

Here’s a few other blogs that feature a lot of different articles about music marketing or the business side. You’ll learn a lot from staying in touch with these sites:

Hypebot

Music Think Tank

Miccontrol

Musician Coaching

What other resources have you found extremely valuable in marketing your music business? Let us know and share with others.

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Has your Monday Made a Difference?

On August 22, 2011, in Make A Difference, by admin

One of the reasons that I am so intrigued by music is that it is such a powerful and emotional medium. It can motivate us, it can soothe us, it can encourage us (for you “Eye of the Tiger” fans), it can get us fired up (think pre-game basketball music), etc. I could go on but you get the drift.

One of the reasons I decided to get into the music business was to create opportunities for using music to be an encouraging force in making a difference in people’s lives. As part of that, I’ve decided that every Monday I’m going to highlight different ways that we can make a difference in people’s lives through music. I’m going to borrow the phrase that you’ve heard before and call it “Make A Difference Monday’s”.

If you’re already using your music, and your time, to help a group of people or an organization, I applaud your efforts. That’s awesome. Please keep it up and encourage others to do so. Also, I’d really appreciate you sharing how you, or your band, are using your music to “make a difference”.

As the school year starts across country I’d like to give you a few ideas as to how you can help school kids where you live. Unfortunately, the arts can be the first place for school districts to look to cut funding. So here is a few ideas to get you thinking:

Volunteer to be the band director (or maybe as a sub)
Offer to teach lessons to kids who can’t afford them
Organize your fans and friends to have an instrument drive to collect instruments for the school.
Volunteer to play at the school for programs, special needs classes, etc.
Give a one day seminar on what it’s like to play in a band.
Play a joint show with music students from the school (the kids would love that !)
Donate the proceeds from one of your shows, albums, etc. to a school program in your area.

What other ways have you helped the music programs in your community?

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Help? 9 Ways to….Help Another Band

On July 27, 2011, in Music Marketing, by admin

Were you ever helped along in your musical career?

More than likely you were. We all need help along the way. Our success in life depends upon our family, friends, and, most of all in the music world, our fans.

So, let’s stop thinking about what we need for a minute, and think what can we do to help out a fellow band. The list of things you could do is numerous but here’s a few ideas:

Tell Your Fans. Send a Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ message. What better way to spread the word.
Post a newsflash or blog post on your website letting your fans and followers know about an up and coming band and their next show, new CD release, etc.
Invite the band members to join you for a song or two during one of your shows.
Be a Mentor to the band. We all appreciate advice, especially from those who are where we want to be.
Tell Venue booking agents about the band.
Let them have one of your show times, particularly if you have a residency slot.
Take them on tour with you.
Tell other bands about them.
Buy them lunch. A new band is almost guaranteed to be low on cash and hungry.

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Wow,What a Show !

4 Ways for Music Venues to Create Community

9 Reasons You Don’t Stay Focused on your Music and the Business

Make A Difference Monday: Thanks Central Texas !

Make a Difference Monday: Go Kid Rock!

Does Music Have Power?

6 Resources to Kick Start Your Music Marketing

Has your Monday Made a Difference?

Help? 9 Ways to….Help Another Band

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