We are a free informative website that provides music marketing and music promotion tips, tools, and resources to those who are passionate about having a career in the music industry. Some common sense information, maybe. However, marketing and promoting your music can be a very overwhelming and time consuming process. PromoCraze was created to guide those who are just starting their music career and remind those who have been in the music business for years on some important steps you should be taking to advance your music career.

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Gig Salad connects event planners with event service providers. For a nominal fee, you can get gig leads with:

• NO Hidden Costs
• NO Finders Fees
• NO Commissions
• NO Gig Lead Fees
• NO Booking Fees

Membership Packages:

FREE

• Get listed in 5 categories
• Receive instant lead notification

Standard $11.99/month (Recommended)

• Get listed in 15 categories
• Upload audio, video and photos
• Receive instant lead notification

Premium $19.99/month

• Get listed in 20 categories
• Upload audio, video and photos
• Receive featured placement
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Create a listing on Gig Salad and immediately appear before potential clients who will contact you directly for bookings. Get Started Here

Some reasons, benefits, and tips for having a personal website to promote/market yourself and your music include:

It’s professional!

Having your own website not only shows everyone that you’re very serious and passionate about your music career, but it gives your name and image a far more professional look.

You’re in control!

It becomes your own business when you have a personal website. It puts you in complete control of what content and advertisers you want your visitors to see. When using social networks such as MySpace, you’re placing your content to someone else’s business. Though these are great resources for promoting, they should initially be used for networking to drive fans to your own website. Where would your fan base find you if the social network(s) you’re using closed tomorrow?

It’s not that expensive!

First thing you’ll need to purchase is a domain name (example: www.yourname.com). The average cost for a domain name is around $10 a year. We recommend using Namecheap. Then you’ll need to register with a host. Yes, there are free web hosting services available. However, services like these can cause pop up banners/ads on your site, and don’t have reliable tech support. We recommend using Hostgator. You can get a plan for around $9 per month, or sign up for 3 years and receive it for around $5 per month. They have excellent tech support and offer a site building tool for beginners.

$$$$$!

You can create a virtual store on your website to sell your music and personalized gear. If you choose Hostgator as your host, they have an e-shop set up tool available that’s great for beginners. So there’s no need to be a webmaster to start your online music business. It’s just a matter of putting time into it and following directions.

Some benefits of social networking include:

• 99% of the population is a part of the trend.
• It’s FREE promotion!
• Enables you to market your name, music, shows, stories, reviews, merchandise, and photos worldwide.
• Increases your visibility, which in turn leads to new fans and opportunities.
• Keeps you connected with fans on a personable level.

Social Networking Tips:

Get involved with numerous sites (highly recommended). Why?

• Your current fans, potential fans, and opportunities you’re seeking may be involved with one network and not another.
• It will increase your web presence. However, keep in mind that this involves time, so don’t take on more than you can handle. If you get involved with too many, you won’t receive the maximum benefit because they won’t be maintained properly.

Build your fanbase by connecting with your current friends, fans, musicians you like, and with groups, labels, venues, and radio stations affiliated with your genre. For additional tips on this process, check out our Building & Maintaing Your FanBase page.

Keeping your pages updated is extremely important (blog about new projects, add new photos, change up your playlist, or simply comment about your day). This will show your dedication, and keep your fans coming back because they’ll feel more connected to you.

Don’t spam! It’s okay to share a new release or show date with your network, but there’s no need to post it a million times. This can seem pushy and get annoying. Also, if you’re spreading the word about something by leaving it on your fans personal page or via message, don’t do so by posting a graphic. These are often ignored because they appear copy/paste like. Use this approach by being more personable.

Tips For Selling Music Online

• When becoming involved with an online distributor, make sure you’re entering a non-exclusive agreement. In short, this means you’re giving them permission to distribute your product, but you will keep ALL rights to any of your work that is submitted. If you don’t understand an agreement or have any doubts, ask an entertainment lawyer.
• In order to sell a release to an online distributor, it needs a UPC assigned to it. You can obtain this by going through a CD duplication company for a fee of approximately $20-$50 (never pay more than $50). We highly recommend becoming involved with either SongCast or TuneCore. Both services charge typical (affordable) fees to distribute your product to major online retailers, and as a member, your product will be assigned a UPC free of charge.
• Sign up for a PayPal account (a personal account is free). They are an online banking system (a leader for transferring money online), and most download sites/distributors offer or only except this as a payment method.
• Promote, Promote, Promote!

SongCast Music Distribution

• SongCast is a music distributor who delivers music to iTunes US, iTunes Japan, iTunes UK/Europe, iTunes Canada, iTunes Australia/NZ, iTunes Mexico, Rhapsody, Amazon MP3, Emusic, Napster & MediaNet (MediaNet delivers music to iLike, Tesco & several other online stores, which will all be included as well).
• You don’t give up any rights to your music. You maintain the rights to your music and recordings at all times.
• You will earn an average of $6.00-$7.00 per full length album sale or anywhere from 60-70 cents per track. Artists and Labels maintain 100% of All Royalties.
• If your album does not already have a UPC Barcode, one will be generated for you at no charge.
• SongCast membership is $5.99 per month. This is not charged per album, but per account. You can have an unlimited number of albums in your account. SongCast also charges a onetime setup fee of $19.99 per album or $9.99 per single. This charge covers the time and expense of encoding your audio tracks, converting and processing your album artwork, and managing your albums with the download retailers.

TuneCore Music Distribution

• TuneCore places your music into digital retailers such as iTunes, AmazonMP3, Zune Marketplace, Rhapsody, eMusic and others for sale.
• TuneCore does not own your songs, your masters, your copyrights, or the rights to any art work, band photos or music videos you submit. You maintain all ownership and control of all your rights.
• TuneCore takes none of the money from the sale of your music. You get it all. For the iTunes U.S. store, you receive $0.70 per song sold individually and $7.00 per album.
• If you don’t have a UPC/Barcode, no problem. TuneCore will make one for you free of charge.
• TuneCore fees are as follows – Single (one song) to all stores: $9.99/year, Ringtone (one pre-cut ringtone) to all stores: $9.99/year, Album (2 or more songs) to all stores, with a distribution credit: $46.99 for the first year and only $19.98 for each year thereafter.

Types Of Merchandise You Can Sell Or Distribute

• Clothing
• Posters
• Buttons
• Business Cards
• Hats
• Matchbooks
• Magnets
• Sweatbands
• Coasters
• Backpacks
• Patches

Creating Your Merchandise

Your personal merchandise is going to be one of your most effective marketing tools, so it’s extremely important to make it appealing to consumers. You should put a lot of effort towards creating your image and logo. It’s something that should reflect your sound and show who you are as an artist. You can create this yourself, or look into graphic design companies. If you’re on Regardless, this is definitely something that you should put a lot of passion into.

Purchasing Your Merchandise

A great thing about this personalized merchandise is that it can even be affordable to musicians on a budget. There are many great companies out there that are dedicated to helping musicians and who offer awesome package deals on gear. You can order from most of these companies online by simply submitting your logo to them upon purchase, and within days your merchandise will be shipped directly to you.

Where To Sell & Distribute Your Merchandise

Musicians should take the time to sell and distribute their merchandise both online and on the street. Online sales can be done directly from your personal website(s) and is a very convenient method. You can use secure transaction sites like paypal for this process. You can also notify your fan club members when new merchandise becomes available and offer special package deals to them to boost your sales. Street sales and distribution are extremely important. This is something every musician should do because it’s going to give you a personal connection with potential fans. A few places to target are: your shows, music festivals, college campuses, concerts happening that support your genre, and bars.

Here are some tips for making a demo:

Stand Out

Representatives affiliated with the music industry receive tons of demos, so it’s extremely important that yours is unique and stands out. The recipient is more likely to take you seriously as an artist and listen to your demo if the image is appealing. If it’s sloppy, it will probably just get tossed.

Keep It Short

Demos are not a full length CD. They are just a taste of your music and should only contain 3 of your best songs.

Quality

If your demo is professionally recorded, awesome! However, it’s not necessary. Yes, it’s extremely important to make your demo sound as good as possible, but most representatives don’t expect to hear professionally & recorded material on demos.

Be Original

Put original work on your demo. Your original work will show the recipient who you are as an artist and whether you have an identifiable sound. However, if there’s a cover song that you perform that always gets the crowd going at your shows, then it’s acceptable to place it on your demo, but try to keep your demo as original as possible by not adding more than 1 cover song.

Best Comes First

Keep in mind that the recipient may not listen to your whole demo, or even a whole song. That’s why it’s important to put your best song first. Try to avoid placing a song first that takes longer than 30-40 seconds to reach the chorus.

Making A Press Kit

Press kits are simple to prepare, but every musician should put a lot of passion into it when creating one. The more appealing and professional the press kit is, the more attention it will receive from the recipient. You can make this yourself or hire a service to assist you. Press kits should include:

• A cover letter. Be personal and address the letter to a specific person. Introduce yourself and explain why you sent them your kit. Include your artist/band name, logo, and business card if you have one. Also include your personal contact information such as name, address, phone number, email address, and a website URL if any. Note: your contact information should be listed on every page of your kit.
• A short bio about yourself, your music, your achievements, and your goals. This should be brief and no longer than one page. If in a band, include a little information about each member.
• Your best photo. It’s recommended to send an 8×10 professional photo that’s in black and white with a glossy finish. Your contact information should also be included on the bottom of your photo.
• Press clippings and coverage. Any positive press that you’ve received from reviews or past performances. Don’t get carried away. Pick your top five clips. If you don’t have any, because you’re just getting started, don’t worry. After all, you’re sending out the kit to generate press.
• A list of past performances and scheduled shows/tours. Again, if you don’t have any to list, because you’re just starting out, don’t worry.
• Your CD or demo. If sending a demo, make sure it’s good quality, has no more than three tracks, and has your best song first. If you don’t have the song titles and times listed on your demo cover, be sure to list them on a separate sheet and include it in your kit. Place your contact information on your CD or demo. Click here for more information on making a demo.

Sending A Press Kit

• Once your press kit is complete, remember to update it with new press, photos, releases, and performance dates. This kit will be an effective tool for your music career, so it’s important to put a lot of effort into keeping it updated.
• Be sure to place your kit in a professional envelope. Print out labels for the address and return address. It looks more professional than simply writing it out.
• Make sure the recipient knows that you are sending them your kit. Don’t just mail it out before discussing it with them.
• Once sent, If you don’t hear back within a week or two, follow up with them to see if they received and reviewed your material. If you don’t receive an answer, keep trying until you get one and remain polite. The best way to go about this is by sending them an email. You should only call if they’re expecting your call. Otherwise, it can seem pushy. Following up can greatly benefit you, but will sometimes require a lot of patience.

If you’re ready to start performing live, below are some tips for booking gigs:

Start Locally

It’s every musicians dream to tour nationally, but it’s best to start locally. Become familiar with local music venues and festivals that support your genre. Also, network and stay in contact with other musicians that currently play in your area. A lot of times they need opening acts.

Have Your Press Kit & Demo Ready

It’s important to have a press kit and demo ready to share with whomever you’re going to be contacting about performing. This will show them who you are as an artist and what type of crowd you’re going to attract. Click here for information on what to include in your press kit.

Contact & Follow Up

Contact the venue and/or agent and try to set up a face to face meeting (recommended). If they’re crazy busy, they’ll more than likely ask if you have a press kit to send. Respond by letting them know that you’ll send it out right away. If you don’t hear back within a week, follow up with them to see if they received and reviewed your material. If you don’t receive an answer, keep trying until you do and remain polite. Following up can greatly benefit you, but will sometimes require a lot of patience.

Keep Track

Create a booking sheet to keep track of who you’re talking to and booking shows with. Include things such as: venue name, agent name/contact info, date/time of show, payment information, and any performance requirements (if any).

Getting The Gig

Congratulations! You got the gig! Ask the agent if they have few minutes to go over a few gig details with you. Follow your booking sheet and get as much information as you can. You won’t be able to fill out some of the things until the night of the performance.

Performance Contract

Performance contracts aren’t always needed, but are very good to have. This contract will be an agreement between you and the venue discussing the conditions for your performance. Here are some things that should be included in the contract:

• The venue name and address.
• The date and time of your performance.
• The amount you’ll be paid and when.
• Any performance details (special requirements).
• Sound/lighting (have deducted from your earnings if required to pay).
• Selling and distributing Merchandise (can you sell merchandise at the venue).
• Both parties must sign the contract. Make a copy to give to the venue and keep one for your records.

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