Many bands and musicians are chasing a goal that is intangible at best, and perpetually unattainable at worst.  They want to “get big.”  There’s this unspoken definition of “making it big” and just by saying those three words, people think they have a general understanding of what that means, and that it’s what they want.  The fact this “making it big” has become an actual goal for people shocks me.  It’s vague, its a moving target, and there are no specific steps you can take that are guaranteed to help you achieve it.  That doesn’t really sound like something I’d want to spend my life trying to attain.  How about you?

In contrast, take the goal that’s the bane of many young musicians… and something people might hear from pressuring parents…. becoming a doctor… It might be the last thing you want to hear from your parents, but the truth is that’s an attainable goal.  Maybe not for everyone, but at least it’s specific, there’s a definite finish-line, you KNOW when you’ve achieved it, and with a little research you could probably figure out what steps need to be taken in order to achieve it.  There’d be some years of schooling, specific courses, some tests, and an internship at least.  Then, if you pass all those obstacles, you could become a doctor, and achieve the goal.

“Making it big” is a sentiment, not a goal.  Keeping with the doctor example, imagine you’re a kid in high-school who does want to become a doctor (a very noble profession for people who want to pursue it) and when someone asks you that dreaded question, what do you want to do with your life, you reply “I want to save people.”  That’s not a goal, it’s an emotional sentiment, and a noble aspiration, but it’s the same as saying “I want to make it big.”  It doesn’t really say anything specific.  There’s a billion ways to “save people.”  Becoming a doctor is one of them.  But it’s a quantifiable, and attainable goal.  Not necessarily easy, but that’s why not everyone who goes to med-school actually become doctors, and it’s why not every band is going to become successful, regardless your definition.

Try to think in more quantifiable terms and apply that to your music career… don’t just grasp at straws, and don’t chase intangibles.  Set new goals for yourself.  There’s long-term goals… I want to have a song I write become a hit song played all over the radio.  I want to get nominated for a Grammy.  I want to sell-out a concert at my hometown arena.  Those are very difficult, long term goals, but at least you’d know when you’ve achieved them!  But also consider that future doctors also have in-between goals… like passing midterms, or landing internships at their hospital of choice.  So as a band, set in-between goals for yourself too… things like… I want to play 50 shows in 25 states by the end of next year.  Or, I want to sell 5,000 downloads of my song.  I want to create a mailing list of 10,000 fans.  (note I said 10,000 FANS, not 10,000 people…. big difference).  I want to double my merch-dollars-per-head in the next six months.

Quantifiable goals will help focus your efforts, plus give you some satisfaction of accomplishments along the way, which will only motivate you further, to set more goals, and accomplish more things!

There are a lot of bands registering for Twitter these days, and while the subject of this post is not specific to Twitter, it certainly was inspired by what I’ve seen a lot of while spending time using the service.  I know I’ve touched on this topic briefly in one of my previous posts, but I feel this particular behaviour needed a post of it’s own.  The behaviour I’m talking about, is “broadcasting.”  This is when a band (or a person) uses the internet as an outlet to send outward one-way communications.  Something like “NEW SONG NOW POSTED ON OUR MYSPACE” is a broadcast.  Sure, it’s informative, but it’s not engaging at all, and it doesn’t make the most of the opportunity that having friends/followers listening to what your saying presents.  And when this is the ONLY type of communication being sent, and in the worst case scenarios, the same message is being broadcast repeatedly, with no other types of messages in between, the offending communicator ends up doing themselves more of a disservice than they would by deleting their account and keeping quiet.

The feeling that type of communication engenders in the listeners is one that tells them the band doesn’t care about them at all.  At least, not beyond needing some attention paid to them, and they don’t care from who.

In this modern age, attention is fleeting, and it is PRECIOUS!!!  Someone who follows you has gone out of their way to click on (or search out) your profile, and then click again to request to follow you (or subscribe to your email list, or friend you on Myspace, or what-have-you)… and while a few clicks don’t seem like a lot of effort, they really are.  Because that person didn’t have to bother at all!  That means you’re speaking to someone who wants to hear what you have to say.  Unless of course, you followed/friended them first, and they’re reciprocating to be polite.  Those people need to be treated with respect too, but while they have said it’s okay for you to send them your messages, they may not be your biggest fan (yet!), so keep that in mind when communicating and don’t presume anything.

The bottom line is, just because you’re online, it doesn’t mean the unspoken rules of conversational behaviour go out the window.  Respond to people who say something to you, answer people when they ask you questions, don’t just broadcast your promotional messages all the time.  Treat your listeners with respect, and take good care of the attention they are giving you, because it’s very easy for them to give their attention to someone else.

Listening to what your listeners are saying – responding, asking questions of them, and engaging them in conversation are things you can do to make the experience they get from listening to you, much more rewarding for your listeners.

And then they’ll listen to you even more.

Would someone please think of the environment?

Indie bands, why not do your part to help save the Earth… you could stop making fancy elaborate press packages to mail out to unsuspecting record labels, agents, managers, etc.  They don’t need a printed two-pocket folder emblazoned with your band logo, or paper copies of all your lyrics, biography or printouts of all your online press.  They also don’t need copies of your CD, stickers, swag, or hard copies of your band photos.

If you must send something out to these people, (and my real recommendation is to spend your time connecting with fans instead) send an introductory personal email (or phone call) requesting permission to send a follow up email that would contain a link to a place online where your music can be heard.

Myspace pages are still very useful for this, as you can put everything in there that would be in a press kit, but it’s all digital.  There’s no large email attachments needed (don’t send mp3 attachments as most companies have strict email filesize limits and music files end up clogging inboxes), plus the folks can see how many friends you have (don’t fake it, let it grow organically), how many plays you’re getting (don’t use boosters, they don’t fool anyone), and get an overall feel for what you’re all about.

All without killing a single tree.

I was recently watching a fascinating documentary called “Connected: The Power Of Six Degrees”  that focuses on a growing field of science called Network Theory.  It’s origins stem from the celebrity-game “Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon” that challenges people to connect two seemingly random actors through the movies they’ve been in and via their co-stars.  The documentary focuses on how the world is much smaller and more connected than we ever thought it was.  They even perform an experiment on the doc, where 40 random people around the world are given the task of getting a package delivered to a specific Harvard University Professor, the caveat being you can only send the package to someone you know, who you think can help you get the package closer to the target recipient.  Then that person has to send it on to someone they know, and repeat the process until the package arrives at the intended person.  In the documentary, four of the 40 packages mailed, actually end up arriving at the Harvard professor’s office, including one that originated from a random woman living in a small village in Africa.  The documentary delves into how network theory can potentially help the world accomplish such widespread goals as combat terrorism, prevent viral pandemics, cure cancer, and more.  It’s a really fascinating documentary and I highly recommend everyone watch it any way possible.

Relating the topic of the documentary to the subject matter of this blog, it’s easy to see how the network theory principles outlined and demonstrated in the documentary can be applied to music marketing.  The package experiment truly proves that by spreading something organically, step-by-step throughout your network, it is very possible to reach a great number of people.  By travelling along a bridge that exists between you and your contact, then hopping onto a bridge that exists between them and their next contact, and continuing that process repeatedly, along these pre-existing bridges, it seems that it’s possible to reach almost anyone and everyone in the world.  Given that, it would seem that focusing on the network to which you’re already connected (friends, family, co-workers and fans), and creating something they then feel compelled to share with each of their networks is a very effective method of spreading your message.  It would seem to be far more efficient to strengthen and utilize the network connections that already exist, than to try and build new network connections where ones didn’t already exist.

It may seem obvious, but why not try spending your energy creating something remarkable that your current network truly wants to spread, and then help motivate them to do so?