I understand why it seems important to help bands learn about business and marketing.  More and more artists have to (or choose to) maintain more control over their affairs for a longer period of their career.  The landscape of the industry is shifting and changing at a really rapid pace.  The tools that independent musicians have access to today cause there to be more new music than ever before.  Making your band stand out among the throngs of other bands all fighting for a share of the public’s attention seems like a major challenge.  I get it.

But in reality, things are not as they seem.  Yes, bands do need to learn about the music industry and the way it works, who to trust, the way deals are structured, how agents get paid, how to know who not to trust, publishing issues, etc.  Those are all really important.  But when it comes to applying brand-marketing tactics to independent musicians, ignoring product development is a huge, yet often-made mistake.  Any marketer will tell you that in 2012, marketing begins at the product level.  Creating a product that’s remarkable is the biggest challenge for a company and a great amount of resources are spent on it.  Yes, there’s some Seth-isms in there, and if you’re a musician who wants to learn more about cutting edge business marketing, he’s a solid go-to.  But if you’re in an unknown band and you’re scouring the internet for tips on how to make your music stand out in today’s crowded marketplace, consider this:

Cutting through the clutter is easy when you’re music is incredible.

When I started writing this blog it’s goal was to hopefully inspire unknown bands down a path of more effective self promotion via the incredible game-changing opportunities available online. Technology and music intersected to provide true independence. Not independent in attitude or in genre, but by its true defection of ‘not being dependent on anyone else.’

Now, there are a million and one blogs telling new bands how to tweet, what to post, what new idea will help you use a web app to make someone like you on Facebook etc. many of them give good advice, and I’d like to think my blog has some good stuff as well, buried in the archives. But many of those sites are giving bad advice, offering bands all sorts of tips, tricks, and “get fans quick” schemes. There is now so much focus spent on promoting and marketing your band, and how to run your band like a business, and growing your “b(r)and” (a term I’ve come to hate) there’s enough things a musician could do they’re now able to distract themselves with make-work long enough they’ll never write another song again. And that’s a problem.

Cutting though the clutter is not a marketing problem. It’s a musical one. And the #1 reason a band isn’t being talked about is not because they’re failing as marketers. It’s the songs, or the live show, and the lack of quality therein.

The technology is now a given. Bands know how to get the message out. Not to say I won’t ever talk about technology again, but for now at least, it seems the more pressing issue is about needing to be a real band, with great songs and a great live show. Three things many online resources for musicians simply assume you’ve taken care of already. Don’t assume that.

Be a real band, write great songs and play the hell out of them live. Because even though the tools change, and the landscape shifts, the desire for quality music has not gone anywhere.

It’s all about the music. Focus on that. I am.

It’s 2012. Technology has completely revolutionized what it means to be an independent musician. It’s liberating, for those that are capable. It’s terrifying and frustrating for those that aren’t. No longer are there any restrictions from you being able to get your music to a potential worldwide audience. The hard part is to make sure what you’re putting out there is ready for that worldwide audience.

If you’re not as big as Drake, not blowing up like The Weeknd, not selling as much as Adele… it’s not because people don’t know about you, and it’s not because you’re not shouting loud enough.

It’s because people aren’t telling others about you.

So why is that?

We all know being in a band comes with a hefty dose of competitive feelings towards other bands.  Whether it’s jealousy over who’s getting booked as who’s opener, or who is blowing who off the stage, who’s getting signed, who’s not, etc… bands are very often comparing themselves to other bands.

The problem I find, is most times bands are comparing themselves to their local contemporaries, or their friends bands.  Why is this a problem?  It’s a comparison of accomplishments, and rarely a comparison of skill.

If a band truly wants to constructively compare themselves to others, in efforts to improve their status, I would start comparing yourselves to world class bands.  Get live performance DVDs of the biggest and best bands in the world who are in your genre (and some who aren’t!), and study them.  Strip away things like expensive production, lighting etc and focus on how that band sounds, looks, and performs…Go see those bands live, listen to their songs, try to figure out what is making them a “world class band”… Study their faces, their stage presence, their performances, their techniques.  Hold your band to that high of a standard too.  Don’t settle for anything less.

Work towards being so good you could blow the biggest bands in the world off the stage.  And don’t worry about the other local bands.  Instead, you can just be cool, support them and be proud of them.

All the best to everyone for 2011, and I hope everything you’re working toward comes to fruition this year.  I’m sure many people made New Years resolutions to work on improving one thing or another, and since it happens to be New Years Day, you can get away with it, but how about this… starting now, what if you treat every single day like it’s New Years?  That way any day can be the day you start working harder to accomplish your goals.

You don’t have to wait until a New Year begins to start working on something.  You just have to start.

Too many musicians are waiting for the money.

“If only we had the budget for more production, our stage show would be sooo much better.”
“When we get signed, we have the best idea for a music video that’s going to blow everyone away.”
“If we could afford to hire big named producers, we’d have better songs too.”

Here’s the thing… creativity doesn’t cost anything.  There’s probably at least three ways a band could improve their stage show without spending a dime.  No one (except Kanye) is spending a ton of money on music videos, it’s all about the creative IDEA behind it.  And if a songwriter just kept writing more songs, the new songs would start to get better than the old songs.  At least in a way.

And, the number one reason to not wait for money to come and save you, is… there’s going to be another band who isn’t waiting.  They’re out there DOING something about it.

And between someone who’s waiting, and someone who’s doing… you know which one’s got a better shot at getting the money in the end.