In this article I give my best advice of what to embrace and what to avoid after 20 years in the biz. I hate talking about myself, I truly despise it, so here is my bio that you can either read or ignore completely:
http://geoffbyrd.com/bio/
When I was starting out as a musician, social media did not exist. Also, it was really hard to find any mentors that would take you under their wing and guide you along through the pitfalls and the triumphs. It would have been nice for someone to tell me that ignoring both extremes is often best. Don't take the critics or the super fans all that seriously, it really doesn't matter that much in hindsight. If the critics had the talent or the balls to get on stage and put out original music, they would. They don't, so they criticize those who do.
It's also important not to let all the praise go to your head either. You do it because you love it, NOT because somebody you don't even know thinks you're a rock god because they like your hair style and the way you sling your guitar low on your hip. Take both with a grain of salt. But let's get to the good stuff. Take my advice completely, use one or two of the tips here, or ignore every word I say. It's totally up to you. Like I said, I just wish I had somebody giving honest advice when I was starting out, which is what I'm trying to do for you right now.
Build and maintain your OWN website. Social media isn't enough and it's too restrictive. You'll make more money off your own website than you will any other platform. Also, be SURE to create an old school email mailing list! So important. These will be your hardcore fans. It will also be the way you sell the most music and get people into what you're doing. An email list is also great for crowd funding projects and to let your fans peek through the curtain provide them with exclusive looks behind the scenes.
Only use up to 3 social media platforms maximum to promote your music. It's about quality NOT quantity. You can't build a unique community on 24 different platforms and be active on all of them, Let's be honest. Pick your favorites and care about people you interact with by choosing depth over sheer numbers.
Spend 90% of your time doing music and 10% promotion of said music, not the other way around. Writing, playing live, practicing, & recording: these are the reasons you got into music. Do NOT let all your time go toward marketing and getting people to shows. Either let someone else handle that or do it sparingly. You'll make WAY more money getting a corporate advertising job or a marketing position at Nike if you want to spend your time doing that kinda corporate, cold, cubicle bullshit.
You are a musician because you want to live your life outside the box right? So stop trying to hammer those square pegs in round holes. Doing too much marketing derailed my career and if I had to do it over again, I would take this advice more than any other thing I say in this article. It is profoundly true.
Your desire to be a star is trivial and ego driven. Your music is more important than your ego. Always serve the song. The music comes first. Don't do this to be famous, do it because it makes you happy to play music, be with the band, and express yourself in full color out in the world. Every god damn YouTuber and reality TV star wants a limelight for what? What do they have to say really? Nothing. It's boring. Just be totally authentic and let the cards fall where they may. Also, fame is a trap. It truly is. Music won't let you down but the business WILL.
Fuck what other people think, do you. It is SO refreshing when bands focus deeply on their craft NOT their image. Again, marketing, promotion, the cult of personality, image and PR is not the cool part of rock and roll. Showmanship is important and having a theme is great, putting on over the top shows is awesome, but getting caught up in image OVER music is boring, trite and eventually, people will see through the facade. Instead of believing in the hype, put the time in and make your shit TIGHT.
Make your goal to be better and more compelling live than your record. Don't copy it exactly. And try to avoid the other extreme, where you never practice and then play some half assed, improvised show. Make your live experience totally unique from the experience of listening to your record. They are two totally different art forms. My advice is to be great at both but make them totally, distinctly, their own thing.
Don't sign up for any music websites or promises of fame and fortune, ever. The only sites I found worthy of paying money to was CDBaby and Hostbaby.com. All this other Taxi nonsense and songwriting contest promotional crap where you pay to play? Avoid it like the plague. It's just nerdy programmers and marketers playing on naive musicians' desire to "make it" and "be famous" and musicians have no idea that their own psychology is being played like a fiddle. Their entire business plan is basically to vampire off your desire to win. Sad but true.
You don't need a "Publisher" right now. Sign up for ASCAP or better yet BMI (ASCAP kinda sucks). Sign up as a writer AND as a publisher. These are two distinct things. Sign up now and worry about the rest as you crank out music. Hire an entertainment lawyer for one hour and have them help you figure out how this works. I got over a thousand placements on film and TV. I wrote 3 theme songs for TV shows. And I got my songs on other artists' albums. But I made more money from placements than I EVER did from playing live or doing anything else for that matter.
Forget radio. The morning zoo attitudes and the gatekeeper vibe is SO annoying. Their power is dwindling. Radio doesn't really matter that much anymore. But, you might find cool people here and there by trying this one technique. Email the "program director" and cc the "music director" of each station you'd like to be played on.
Say this pretty much exactly: "I'm an independent musician and I know how busy you are, but I wanted to ask your permission to send you an mp3 of my new single. Let me know if it's ok to send it your way." If they say "sure, go ahead and send it!" Send them just ONE song via mp3 using old school email; the single you decided upon.
Along with your song, say something like this: "thank you for your time and attention, we truly appreciate that. Who knows! Maybe you'll dig it and give us a spin. Either way, much love and thank you for supporting independent music!" If it works, it works. If it doesn't, oh well. I've had pretty good success with radio play by doing just that. But radio is dying for sure so don't worry about it too much. But be respectful if you DO decide to reach out. There are always cool Program Directors who actually care about artists and music and are worth their salt. But they are rare.
The only agent, manager, or publisher you need is yourself unless you're selling out venues consistently and selling tens of thousands of albums already. Otherwise, do it yourself and take control of your own destiny. Getting a manager is the fastest way to break up a band or derail your entire career. But again, use the 90/10 when dealing with the music to promotion ratio. The music business totally sucks. Music is awesome. Huge difference.
The only agent worth his or her salt these days is one that can get you placements on film and TV and do it regularly. If they have that kind of juice, it's worth 25%-50% but don't let them take your artist cut, just 25-50% of publishing and only for when they get you placement, not for the life of the song. When you look back after 20 years, you'll realize that the music, the camaraderie, and the fun you had doing it was the important stuff, not the money or the elusive butterfly of fame if you ever get that far.
The piano player/keyboard player is always the weirdest person in the band even though they seem like the most "normal" on the outside. I don't know why this is, it just IS.
When you are writing your album, do NOT worry about what your fans will think, what the critics will think, or what anyone else will think as you're writing. Let your inner voice and your intuition guide you, otherwise you're not making art, you're selling out. No one else will know but you. Hold the integrity of the music high my friend.
When you're in your 40's you probably won't have the energy to do this so make your 20's and 30's all about it and go hard! There are exceptions of course, but for the most part? A music career will start in high school and end when you're 40. I'm not saying this to be a dick; I'm sure you can prove me wrong. But there is some biology to back up what I'm saying. I'm just trying to motivate you while you're young and remind you to savor every moment and embrace the day.
Playing music takes WAY more energy than non musicians have any idea of. In my personal experience, writing music and recording became more and more fun, while playing live became more and more of a burden. After 1,200 shows, I got burned out from playing live. I could take it or leave it at this point. But I can't wait to write and get into the studio. This might be exactly opposite for you, so take that for what it's worth.
Don't get involved with groupies. Once in a while? That's rock and roll. All the time? "don't dip your pen in the company ink" is the most polite way I can think to say this. But try to limit your base instincts at least a little OK? A little drama before and after the show is fun, a lot of drama after EVERY show is fucking annoying.
Find two other bands that you respect and book shows with them consistently. One band can only make so much of a dent. A two band bill is great, but it can get a little repetitive for your fans. THREE bands can take over a city. Respect the power of that kinda love. Don't be too competitive, this will sour all the fun and ruin everything! No back stabbing or passive aggressive subversiveness or you'll ruin it. Align your band with two other great bands and you'll all succeed together off of that collaborative energy. The tide raises all boats. You can literally take over.
Only play once a month in your home town, play as much as you want OUT of town. Any more than once a month and you'll limit the attendance of your audience and bore them. Always leave them wanting more. Also, keep your set to 25-45 minutes if you want your audience to grow. This is called "Showcasing" and it heightens the value and purpose of your shows.
Play big, dramatic rock concerts that are staged well with lights and a good sound guy/girl and play each show like it's your last! Do that once a month, watch what happens. Never play shows that are 2 or 3 sets unless you want to be background music, or you really need the money, or you're the house band. One set where you give ALL your energy and a laser focus beaming out to your audience works best! And every show, introduce at least ONE new song. I suggest doing one cover song per show, max, if you're an original band. And please, don't be a shoe-gazer. Play OUT to the audience and interact with your bandmates. It's not JUST for you.
I think songs are better with one or two writers. Trying to write as a band just gets too convoluted. Also, you'll need a leader when you go into the studio but don't be a tyrant, that gets old REALLY quick. It's such a cliche.
If you're not having fun, what the HELL are you doing? It doesn't mean every moment will be fun. It doesn't mean you should ignore hard work. I'm just saying once in a while ask yourself, "is this fun right now?" Try to use that filter to get you back on track when you derail. It's not that serious, that's what makes music whimsical and awesome. If you're having fun, the rest of the guys in the band probably are too. If you're stressed, they are likely feeling the pressure too. Always remember to have fun OR spend your time making more money elsewhere.
Don't waste your time and energy worrying about how many people show up to your live gigs. Promote them on your social media platforms, and every show, give your mailing list a heads up, and other than that, do whatever presents itself at the time but don't stress about it. It is a total waste of time. This is ego you're dealing with here (again) so yes, do what you can but don't worry too much about how many people show up. Just go up there and DESTROY. That will get people to the next show.
Don't listen to some ass hole like me, do it your own way! The only reason I'm giving this advice is to help you avoid pitfalls and embrace solutions, but deep down? I know you'll just have to learn by trial and error. I hope this helps a little though, otherwise, why the fuck did I write it? Much love and music y'all.
Check out my music, art, and handcrafted orgonite at http://geoffbyrd.com/