How would you promote a band online?

They are not the fans you want to communicate with anyway. If a fan does not care enough about your band to stay updated with latest news and gigs then they aren't a very big fan of your band to start with.

To say social media is not the best way to connect with fans these days is silly. You are missing the boat big time. Just because it hasn't worked for some people does not mean it is not effective. The way you use social media will determine how effective it is for you and your business.

We share a lot of interests with our friends and so connecting with new fans is going to happen a lot faster on a site like Facebook when people see their friends connecting with your band.

But, are they communicating effectively? Are they really communicating with fans? Is the communication all one-way? Are they boring fans with stuff they don't really care about?

It is said that something like 90% of new businesses fail. But, what often isn't considered is, how many of those failed businesses had a business plan? How many had sufficient funding? How many researched demand and price points and profitability prior to getting started? How many people just think, hey, this seems like a good idea and jump into something without a clue?

So, if 90% of businesses fail, does that mean no one should ever try to start one? No. It just means that, to better your chances of being in the 10% that don't fail, you want to really do some research and legwork and collect all the info you can rather than jumping in for the sake of jumping in.

Likewise, when you say that this article claims bands lose fans the more they communicate with them, that's about as useful as saying 90% of businesses fail. They may simply be communicating poorly.

Instead, look for success stories of bands that have grown their fan bases through effective communication. What did they do right? Don't worry about what the majority may be doing wrong; look for what the minority is doing right.

I certainly wouldn't avoid using social media simply because others are failing at using it effectively.

Post a (music) video response to some popular music videos, preferably ones with many views.

Errrrrr .... Come up with ideas?

I warn you, this is going to be a bit long, but I've honestly racked my brain trying to come up with some things to help. I'm not a musician, and I'm from a different generation, so obviously my scope is a bit limited, too. All I ask is that you keep an open mind and please read all the way through before passing judgment on anything I have said. I hope all this helps:

Not to be a smart-aleck, but obviously quite a number things, or you wouldn't be asking here. A publicist and/or marketer would have already been on the job by now, utilizing his knowledge and, even more importantly, connections, and you would be seeing the results by now. That's why all the major labels have a publicity and a marketing department.

The publicist manages the public's perception of the artist. He's the one that tells you things like, "Don't write things like that on Facebook. People will realize you're just normal, and then they won't listen to you anymore. Instead, you should say this or this." Or even, "Look, if you want to sing country music, then you can't wear dresses on stage unless you're women. It won't fly with any country audience." Stupid examples, I know, but you get the point. He keeps you from doing things that will hurt your image, and tells you to do things that will improve your image.

The marketing department is in charge of getting your name out there, just like we are trying to help you do now. For the most part, marketing is the same regardless of your industry, type of band, etc., it's just that sometimes some methods will work better than others in certain situations.

You can try to mimic the results of these professionals if you wish, of course, but in all probability you will not achieve the same level of results because you are not a professional. If you're band is serious, it might be time for you guys to take it the next level and invest in a professional management agency, who will then take care of all these things for you.

Honestly, I really don't think that matters.

Everything still goes back to IM 101. Doesn't matter what the product is (in this case, your band), the principles are still the same.

As in most other IM endeavors, a lot of new people think that if they put up a page, the audience will come. I think you're seeing the results of that now.

Everyone here has given you the same social media answer for a reason: because that's the best answer for a band, especially Youtube.

But I think the question you really meant to ask was 2 posts ago:
As in most other IM endeavors, a lot of new people think that if they put up a page, the audience will come. I think you're seeing the results of that now.

Since you're a band, you first need to brand yourself, and social media marketing is by far the best way to go since you rely on your social rankings and the feedback of your fans.

But you also want to bring in new fans, too, which obviously is also very important.

I'm from a different generation, and don't know a lot about alternative music, so this is where your own experience comes in...

Before you were a band, when you were just a fan, where did you go (online) to hang out and interact with other fans of alternative music? Where did you go to find out about all the latest up-and-coming alternative bands? Those same places are where you should be focusing your attentions.

Here is a list of the Top 10 Alternative/Indie blogs. See if you can get your band listed in each of these:

The Top 10 Alternative and Indie Blogs

Next we do the same with Alternative/Indie forums such as these:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=1218&bih=564&q=alternative+and+in die+forums&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=

There also other types of sites that cater to Alt/Indie bands:

Alternative Press

Best new indie rock music, top new songs, popular rock bands, best new album releases, free MP3s, playlists & mixes

There are also paid inclusion sites such as this. If you have the money, you are guaranteed a slot:

PureVolume™ | We're Listening To You

Create a Wiki for your band.

While sales may have slumped, Myspace is far from being dead. Music pages are still the mainstay of their business.

And don't forget about the other video sites out there, as well. They may not be AS big, but but they still have huge numbers of people coming in every day.

And finally, and perhaps most important of all, press releases. Which a professional marketer would have known to do almost immediately, but that's because he's already been through these other things enough to know that a lot of times this is the most powerful way to put out an announcement about anything, including a band.

And if all else fails, post what you need here to find someone to drive targeted traffic to your page:

http://www.warriorforum.com/wanted-m...king-hire-you/

Sorry to take you through all this in a round-about way, but since you're obviously a new marketer, and are wanting to try and do this yourself, then you need to know how to leverage ALL these types of sites.

And finally, the part you don't want to hear but is true, nonetheless:

A professional music marketer, on the other hand, being highly experienced, would have a giant list already compiled and at his disposal of all of these such places and many, many more, sorted in every way imaginable, and a contact list with names and personal phone numbers of someone in every one of those places. And because they all know each other, they exchange 'favors' for each other all the time.

Trust me on this: They can get you in places you can NEVER get into by yourself. It's a very exclusive club.

It seems like a lot of bands 'just got lucky', when actually things turned around when they hired a manager who was smart enough to know the value of good, professional publicists and marketers familiar with the current music scene.

And why don't you have your Youtube channel listed in your signature box? That's a huge amount of free publicity.

I've spent the better part of an hour reading, searching, organizing and writing, so I truly hope at least some of this pays off for you.

Good luck to you and your band mates, JoesMillions.

What is the name of your band, btw? I'd like to know in case I ever get to hear you on the radio or tv.

I love Pomplamoose. They got the Toyota commercial cause of it.

I'm only going to use my songs for videos. This does prove that you need overly entertaining videos to get your videos shared.

#2. His story isn't new, just pointed out. Bands have been doing this for years, remember MP3.com?

#3. The indie bible has all her contacts.

That's one thing I'm not going to do... cover songs. Just not an option cause I like to stay original.

Online is actually more effective than tours now. Tour revenue has been falling drastically. What should blow them away is the song writing and studio recordings. Have that, and the rest is practically handed to you.

Check out what billboard said about bands doing too many updates. Not good at all for fan retention.

It does make it a little more difficult when you start out, but once you get a few, it almost grows by itself if you maintain it.

One good way to get new followers is to join other similar band pages w/ your page, and then leave comments. Every time you comment, you automatically leave a link back to your fanpage. People will follow the link, and if the music is similar will likely "like" your page.

But also - facebook advertising is a good way to get a good kick-start. You don't have to keep the ads going but long enough to get things rolling.

I'm not going to bandhandle for fans on a street corner or malls. That's not apart of my image.

I'd also like to skip all the kid talk about finding a hook. Give me some good ideas to market online. I want to stand out, not be like every other band on facebook bandhandling.

I just had to chime in here...

1. JoesMillion - Wearing all of the hats isn't impossible, true -- it's just not very intelligent. Can Mr. Amazing do it all? Sure, but the truth is, nobody can juggle all of the balls all of the time. Imagine just one ball slipping - they all come crashing down. Good luck with that.

2. You said "It's not that hard to pick up a phone you know and build a relationship for anyone." LOL - What rock to you live under? If you call me out of nowhere or send me a solicitation email uninvited - "click goes the phone and delete goes the mail." Building relationships takes time and I can tell you from experience - being introduced by someone who recommends you and who already has a relationship is soooooo much easier.

3. Earlier, and this is probably why I feel compelled to even bother commenting, you said Facebook and social media sites wasn't good for bands and that your quoted article stated something like "...fans lost interest when they realized the band wasn't that interesting." or something like that. Uhm... errr... the Social Media site didn't fail, the band did. If you don't create some mystery or controversy or mission, reason, or purpose in your band or music - how can Twitter or Facebook be blamed. Duh.

4. You said "Besides, if my music is good, it would be better to build relationships directly. Most bands fail cause of bad management, or lack of. I can manage my own stuff a lot better than anyone else." Wow... sorry man, but you are either really inexperience, super egotistical, or like... what? 17 years old?

Here's something to thnk about... kinda similar to music. Maybe you can find something of value here?

My art is collected in many corporate collections around the US... I was the President of the Board of Directors for a very successful non-profit arts business and I've seen artists come and go - many of them.

One thing that I saw however, many, many times - was artists who couldn't get representation from galleries who just didn't feel that their art was marketable.

Not that the art was bad or anything, just not marketable.

I've also seen really great artists who wanted to put their art in solo galleries dedicated to their art only.

So, what did these artists do?

They started their own galleries!

Seems logical enough, right? But it's not.

Creating art, like playing music, is a creative thing. Most artists I know are really good at being creative.

Managing a business, paying bills, doing taxes, marketing, legal requirements and insurances, leases, administration, sales, talking to businesses in a suit all cleaned up and during business hours to present the latest art works, getting buyers, setting prices, blah, blah, blah,....
well... these are NOT creative, they are stiflingly NON-creative.

And, to date I have seen only two of my friends or fellow artists succeed at owning and running a gallery - both have full time managers and sales staff and accountants.

It's a totally different set of tools needed - the disciplines are not even close.

All of the other artists came to HATE owning a gallery... it took so much time and energy away from creating art.

In fact, they couldn't create art anymore, they just didn't have the time and when they did - all of the creative juices were gone.

All failed to succeed as gallery owners eventually, but the two above with resources who were smart enough to OWN the galleries and hire experts to run them.

Managers in music are there for a reason - artists would run their own businesses in the ground for the most part and ruin any hope of their success. Ego doen't make for success.

And... any great business owner is smart enough to hire experts better than he is to do what they do better than he can do it.

Sure, you can do all of the things, so can many entrepreneurs, that doesn't mean it's intelligent to do so.

Play your drums, rip your lead, bone your base, blow your horns and sing your songs - alone. Tell me... just can you do all of those things, does that mean you should be a one man band?

Anyway... stick to what you do best, outsource or hire experts to do the rest.

Life is so much better in the end and you'll grow exponentially closer to achieving your wildest goals if you do.

After more than 27 years of brick and mortar business and art - that's what I've seen anyway. Hope it helps you keep it in the middle of the road, those soft shoulders are hell if you get stuck in 'em.

I'm working with a guy right now called SJ at SJ - Official Music Website and he is a former attorney who decided he wanted to get out of that and do what he has always wanted to do, which is make music.

He has full control, maintains full rights and calls all the shots. Just get some good solid contracts drawn up and then look for help.

I can't believe people are still offering someone like you advice.

*Smacks forehead*

You utilize the medium known as YOUTUBE and REVERSE ENGINEER those who have crushed it.

It's easy to tell someone to promote on YOUTUBE....seldom is there ever a strategy given.

I am going to give you two specific examples of two artists who are radically different....and not just in terms of genre.

And RULE NUMBER ONE......."differentiate or die".

Do what the masses of asses do and you will get buried in a sea of YouTube obscurity........

Have the courage to do it the Frank Sinatra...YOUR WAY.....and you MIGHT have a shot....and that's all you can hope for.

FYI.....talent is NOT necessarily a prerequisite.

Because I can't post videos or links.....here are two radically different "artists" to study and reverse engineer.


1. Terra Naomi.....started her career on you tube.

2. Soulja Boy......this rapper who appears to be loathed by fans, critics, and his peers is laughing all the way to the bank.

I am also privy to some info on him in terms of his GOOGLE PARTNER STATUS....AND LETS JUST SAY HE IS MAKING WELL OVER 6 FIGURES JUST FROM YOUTUBE REVENUE.

His early videos were HOME MADE , HERKY JERKY, AND MOST WOULD SAY SUCKED.....which is why once again.....those who think slick and polished is the way to go...might rethink their position......


Oh yeah.....I'm no Rap Critic......but as of today Soulja Boy has had over 554,984,462 UPLOADS......RAP THAT! THAT'S OVER HALF A BILLION WITH A B.

And I happen to know he's paid 10 cents for every "comment" left which is why the "haters" are making this guy even richer.

Can this guy rap? How the hell do I know. Is he "loved"? Is he talented? Well the masses seem to say no. Does he make MAJOR BANK.....OH YEAH.

Read between the lines.....and those ugly videos from back in the day....grainy black and white looking like they were shot with a flip cam (cuz they were) worked.....very well.



peace, Vegas Vince

Dude, Cassettes are only a fad, you've gotta send the 8-Track.

If you are not doing this for the money, then why are you worried about how to market yourself?

Marketing costs money, but you don't want to make any back, so you won't be able to do it for long.

If you want viral overnight exposure, then you need a viral overnight product... So is your music good enough to accomplish what you want?

"The Asteroids Galaxy Tour" achieved overnight success.... After 3 years of hard work... (Learn more about their success here.)