Band Press Kits

(Deviantart.Net, 2013)

Band Press Kits are an important part of an artists or bands career and sometimes, dependent on how well they are put together, can mean success or failure. Band press kits are used for a variety of things including music promotion, music publicity, booking agents, and band promotions. There are many things that make a press kit successful; however, in my opinion, in order to achieve that success there are a few guidelines that you should always follow.

One of the first guidelines that I would always follow when making a press kit for an artist that I am working with is to ensure that you include a detailed biography about the artist or band. This biography should include every member of the band as well as an in-depth look into each of their backgrounds. The more detail you go into, the better; however, refrain from making the biography’s more than a paragraph or two per-member. By giving the reader a insight into the background of the band, it allows them to have a better grasp on who you really are, and who you can potentially grow to be.

The second guideline that I would follow to ensure the success of your bands press kit would be to include a band picture as well as a Demo CD. If your band does not have both of these items done yet, I would refrain from presenting a press kit to anyone in the industry as it comes off like you are unprepared. According to Artist House Music, the band’s picture should capture what someone would expect when listening to the music. No matter how visually appealing or well laid out the press kit is, the demo is most important part. If the demo you have is not professional sounding or is presented incorrectly, you’re sunk (Aritst House Music, 2013). The companies you are submitting these press kits to want a “product” they can mold and market right off the bat and without those two items, your band becomes a so-called employee that still needs training, of which they are not looking to hire.

The third guideline would be to ensure that you include your booking and contact information. Be sure to incorporate the following information in your press kit; Multiple Contact Names and Phone Numbers, E-Mail Addresses, Fax Numbers, and Web Addresses. This information is a vital part of any press kit simply because it is a means of communication for the “buyer” to contact you about your artist or band.

Finally, what do you do and how long do you wait after you have submitted your press kit to contact the “buyer”? In my opinion, follow-up calls should be done about two weeks after you have submitted your press kit. According to Entrepreneur, these follow-up calls allow you to ensure that the person actually received the press kit as well as allowing the recipient to ask questions or schedule an interview. Sometimes giving the appropriate people a follow-up call will improve your chances of success (Entrepreneur, 2002).

There are many different things that you should pay attention to when you are preparing a press kit. However, by being well prepared and insuring that all the information is included in a professional manner, you and your artist will have a bigger chance of becoming successful.

References

Artists House Music. (2006). How Do I Create a Press Kit. Retrieved on September 9, 2013, from; http://www.artistshousemusic.org/expert/how+do+i+create+a+press+kit

Deviantart.net. (2013). Band Press Kit Image. Retrieved on September 9, 2013, from; http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs47/i/2009/229/5/1/Band_Press_Kit_by_emtgrafico.jpg

Entrepreneur. (2002). The Ingredients of a Press Kit. Retrieved on September 9, 2013, from; http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/57260

An Artist's Online Presence

For this month's blog posts I would like to get back to my overall theme in hopes that my pointers will be able to help artists as well as their managers become even more successful. 

In today’s world there are many things that affect the overall success of an artist; however, I believe that one of the most important is the online presence they have. According to Meylah, the three most important reasons an online presence is important to an artist are; to share and promote your work, for others to share your work, and to sell your products. In my eyes, the online presence of an artist directly represents who they are, what they stand for, and how they would interact with their fans real world. An artist in the industry that is doing a great job of this and is a good example that artist managers could use to improve their own artists online presence is, none other than, John Mayer.   

 

(Billboard.com, 2013)

John Mayer’s current online presence is on par with other artists in the industry and is just something else that he has perfected. He is active on all of the social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. He interacts with his fans on Twitter and Instagram by having contests that allow them to win something that he personally mails or gives them.  He has a total of 5.7 million likes on Facebook and had over 58,000 people talking about him when I accessed his page. This just shows you that he has a successful online presence simply because his fans are active and talking about him on a daily basis. He has fewer followers on Twitter and Instagram; however, he lets them into his personal life, which entices his fans to remain loyal and feel as if they are closer to him. His YouTube channel not only features music videos and live performances, but also has some of his personal interviews and practice sessions. Finally, his website was really impressive because it included a lot of interactive material for his fans to view and listen to for free of which included; videos, photos, interviews, gave insight on whom he supports and donates too, and allows fans to listen to his music for free.

Overall, his online presence is really good in my eyes; however, there is one thing I think he could improve on. The main thing that I believe John could do to retain current fans would be to give live q&a sessions once a month or every few months. These sessions could be held exclusively for those whom currently have his album or could be used to entice others to become new fans. He could also turn these live q&a sessions into live streams of his bands practices or sound checks even. These live sessions would be a great way for him to get people to come out and experience the real thing.

For the artists that I personally develop, I would begin building their online presence as soon as they had content such as music, interviews, and live performances available to post. The main reason for waiting until they achieved those few things is simply to allow their fans instant access into who they are musically and individually. The small following that the band gathers in their beginning live performances will allow their online presence to potentially explode by word-of-mouth or, by what we call it now days, social sharing.  

The main lesson that I want my readers to take away from this is that by having a good online presence and interacting with your fans routinely you will slowly, but surely, have more and more success. The connections you make online are some of the most important an artist can make, that will attribute to further entice fans to come out to live performances and experiencing it first hand. Paying extra attention to your fans online by providing them with videos or interacting with them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites could lead to 100 more ticket sales. I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like much, but in the long run it could turn in 100 into 10,000.

References:

Website: http://johnmayer.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnmayer

Instagram: http://instagram.com/johnmayer

Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnmayer

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/mayermusic

Berkley Case Book. (2009). John Mayer. Retrieved on September 9, 2013, from; http://berkleecasebook.blogspot.com/2009/03/john-mayer.html

Billboard.com. (2013). John Mayer Image. Retrieved on September 9, 2013, from; http://www.billboard.com/files/styles/promo_650/public/media/john-mayer-650-430.jpg

Meylah. (2012). 3 Reasons Why and Online Presence Is So Important for Artists. Retrieved on September 9, 2013, from; http://meylah.com/meylah/3-reasons-why-an-online-presence-is-so-important-for-artists

Body Language and Negotiations?

This week I have chosen another T.E.D. talk that has influenced, inspired, and allowed me to become more successful in negotiations. In the T.E.D. Talk, “Your Body Language Shapes Who You are,” Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist, shares her insight on how you can improve your image to others as well as the way you feel about yourself simply by changing your posture.

As mundane as this might seem, the way you hold yourself up or approach people directly affects the way others see you as a person. This could also inadvertently affect the decisions they decide to make during your negotiations. One of the best tips that Amy gives during this talk is before you enter a negotiation or a meeting for the first, second, or third time, you should spend around two minutes “power posing” with your arms out like you just won a race, head confidently lifted high, and standing as tall as possible. According to the Huffington Post, research has shown that the same dominate body language used for that 120 seconds allows for a 20 percent increase in testosterone and a 25 percent decrease in the stress hormone cortisol. Ultimately, doing something that simple prior to a negotiation or meeting will make you feel much more powerful.

Another great tip that Amy brings up is if you are someone that is shy or just don’t believe you can improve your overall presence, she explains that you shouldn’t “Fake it until you Make it,” with these tips, but to “Fake it until you Become it.” Instead of being an actor whom just plays a role for the time they are behind the camera you will eventually become that person because the faking that you are doing becomes natural part of you.

Many of you are wondering what application, if any, this has to the live entertainment industry, right? In the past, prior to negotiations, I always had a weird nervousness feeling in my gut, which caused me to feel like I was the littlest man in the room with potential inventors or clients. However, after watching this video and trying the simple “power posing” concepts before a negotiation, I came into it felling much more confident. According to Pon Staff, managing your presence and that of others included in the negotiations, you will gain control over the level of success that you as well as your group have. This is super important when negotiating with others because it allows them to see that you are confident in your product which could in turn yield more money or a better contract terms.

Take 20 minutes of your time and watch this entire video! I hope that it will inspire you and give you the extra confidence you need in your next negotiation, job interview, or first date!

Resources:

Huffington Post. (2013). Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are. Retrieved on July 9, 2013, from; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-cuddy/body-language_b_2451277.html

Program On Negotation. (2012). Who’s Watching? How Onlookers Affect Team Talks In Buisness Negotiations. Retrieved on July 9, 2013, from; https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/meeting-facilitation-daily/whos-watching-how-onlookers-affect-team-talks-in-business-negotiations/

WordPress. (2013). Ted Talks Image. Retrieved on July 10, 2013, from; http://advadvisor.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/ted-talks.jpg

Youtube. (2013). Amy Cuddy: Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are. Retrieved on July 10, 2013, from; http://www.youtube.com//Ks-_Mh1QhMc