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Online Marketing for an Indie Band?

Posted by Cliff on from the RIAA?-we-don-need-no-STEEKING-RIAA dept.

nometa asks: "I'm working with an indie band, and despite excellent reviews, a great album (produced by Sylvia Massey of Tool fame), and excited responses by crowds whenever we play, it seems near-impossible to get past the 'gate-keepers' of the music industry. Majors (and several indies, sadly) don't see a pretty boy band, push for fluffy singles over good songs, and generally act like they still have clue about what people want. We've had great success, however, on our websites selling CDs and pulling in new fans, and would like to push online music marketing further. Do any Slashdot readers have suggestions for pushing our music out further online?" We all know the problem with today's music industry, this is not the place for that horse-pill. Instead let's focus on how an independent music group can go out there and make it on their own, and do so using existing technology (including the Internet), to its best potential. So what suggestions do you have for young, aspiring bands who want to make their music, and not sell their soul in the process?

7 of 514 comments (clear)

  1. Uh...you did it by waldoj · · Score: 5, Funny

    Weasel your way onto the front page of Slashdot? :)

    -Waldo Jaquith

  2. Campus Net-Radio by overshoot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Give samples and distribution rights to University LAN stations. A lot of University campuses have their own inside-the-firewall Net radio and are starved for material.

    --
    Lacking <sarcasm> tags, /. substitutes moderation as "Troll."
  3. Don't use their model by Frankenmoro · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Make your music FREE (for personal use)! If you signed, you wouldn't get much for your music anyway, sheer .1 cents on each CD. All of your money will come from merchandising and shows. Tour, tell people to dl your MP3s (they will) and spread them to their friends. Make sure you post when you'll be in an area on your websit. You'll make it. This is the OTHER thing the labels are afraid of...

  4. I have said it MANY times before... by garcia · · Score: 5, Informative

    There are two EXCELLENT resources for distribution of music on the Net.

    FurthurNET and etree

    I *only* support, monitarily, musicians that allow the FREE distribution of their music to their fans...

    etree relies on a mailing list and FTP servers to distribute music whereas FurthurNET relies on P2P (in a format much like Limewire, etc).

    If you really want your music to go out and don't want to have to pay HIGH bandwith costs, I suggest one of these two methods.

  5. Allow taping by jcoleman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Allow your audience to tape and trade your concerts freely.

    The Grateful Dead did it. Phish does it. Dave Matthews Band does it. U2 does it. Radiohead does it. Metallica did it. Note that I just named six of the top grossing concert acts ever. Combine that with a heavy touring schedule, and assuming your band is decent enough to draw an audience, they will rake in the dough.

    However, if your band expects to make their primary income from record sales, you're gonna have to bend to the will of the record companies. Fact of the business.

  6. Re:Skip Intro by schon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Suggestion #1: Don't make people click through layers to get what they want

    Make that #2.

    Suggestion #1 should be: DON'T BE A 'TARD AND REDIRECT SOMEONE TO WWW.MACROMEDIA.COM IF YOUR BRAIN-DEAD JAVASCRIPT DOESN'T DETECT A FLASH PLUG-IN - ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ALREADY HAVE THE PLUGIN INSTALLED

    To the Band:
    I'm always looking for new music, especially independant bands (that's where most of the 'innovation' in music comes from today), and I buy direct from indie band's websites frequently.

    I tried going to your website, expecting to see what you're all about, and maybe being able to sample some of your music - if it was good I'd have no problem buying some CD's, and if very good, some other merchandise.

    Instead, your web site tells me that you don't want me as a customer, because you sent me to another site, which has NOTHING to do with you

    If you're looking to become more popular, don't send people away from your website.

  7. OR, just buy your market share by mckwant · · Score: 5, Insightful
    These guys sink millions upon millions of dollars into focus groups and various other forms of research to determine what music is going to be the most popular.
    I thought about this a bit, and they don't really have to. Follow me down this road...
    • ClearChannel has a playlist of exactly X songs on their "pop" stations.
    • Because they can own (virtually) all the radio stations in a given market, they can break them out as they see, assigning one to pop, one to classic rock, one to hard rock, etc., etc..
    • Given that, there's no competition for "pop" music.
    • Given THAT, those X songs in the playlist ARE the top X songs in the pop demographic, practically by definition.

    No market research, just raw ownership of the airwaves and, by extension, the markets.

    R.I.P. Rev 105 in Mpls. We knew not what we had.

    --
    ceci n'est pas un sig.