Indie Music Success Stories

Here's more wood to throw on the independent path fire, courtesy of two items posted recently at GarageSpin.com.

According to this post on the Prefix Mag blog, indie band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah -- based in Brooklyn and Philadelphia -- has sold 17,000 copies of it self-released debut, all thanks to word-of-mouth.

"And while major-label artists make only about a buck a record, the Clap guys are making a whopping eight dollars per disc -- putting their take so far at more than $130,000. Not too shabby for an album recorded for less than ten grand and distributed by the band itself via countless trips to the post office."

And across the pond, this story in The Telegraph:

"Traditionally, bands have been forced to use radio play and record company marketing to create a buzz around their music, but the Arctic Monkeys, a Sheffield-based guitar band, built a committed following of young fans well before being noticed by the music industry."

Yup. Musicians are taking their music to the people like never before.

What have you done today to create music worth getting excited over ... and to find the people most likely to be excited by what you create?

Create a FREE Music Podcast

If you're hooked up with GarageBand.com, you may already know that the site just announced a new free service. Take a look at Gcast.com and you'll see that you can now create and host your own podcast via GarageBand.

I went ahead and tested the service by setting up a page there for my Artist Empowerment Podcast. I posted one of my earlier shows plus a newer one with more marketing tips material along with some killer songs by GarageBand-hosted artists Chris Gallagher, Heidi McCurdy and Denny Blake.

The GarageBand podcast deal is pretty quick and easy to use. In addition to basic podcasting, you can also record podcasts by phone, encourage other sites to embed your podcast onto their pages, and have fans sign up for email alerts.

I think I'll combine this new Gcast page with my own hosted Artist Empowerment Radio podcast page (which I also publish for free using a combination of Blogger, FeedBurner and OurMedia), along with a streaming version at Live365.

You should probably do the same with your original music podcasts. The more places people can access your songs, the better your chances of connecting with fans.

Meet Obstacles (and Go Around Them)

I'm a big fan of Curt Rosengren and his Occupational Adventure blog. A couple of months ago, he wrote two great posts on overcoming fear and steering around obstacles -- a topic that most musicians can learn from.

In Fearless choices, not fearful choices, he writes ...

It's so easy to stop with the assumption that it can't be done. Rather than assuming that [our goal] is forever out of our reach -- based on either past experience or beliefs we have absorbed along the way -- we can stop and ask ourselves, "OK, if it doesn't work this way, how else could it work?

And in a post titled Develop a 5 to 1 habit, Curt explains ...

When I talk to people about pursuing their passions in their careers, I often encounter an endless litany of "reasons why I can't." It seems to be wired into us to look for obstacles and declare them reality.

One of the ways to change that perspective is to develop a 5 to 1 habit. For every obstacle you recognize, commit to writing down five ideas for getting around that obstacle.

Great attitude. Roadblocks are rarely eternal or insurmountable. Most of what holds creative people back comes from within -- a false perception, a weak belief, a negative expectation.

These disempowering ways of thinking can be deeply ingrained. So you may at first have to force yourself to think in more optimistic terms. Stick with it and you'll eventually think less fearful thoughts automatically.

Thought nugget: Don't buy into the music biz obstacles you encounter. Find another route. If you can't work your way through or over a speed bump, find a creative way to drive around it. And keep going.

A Different Way to Tour

I just received an e-mail from a realtor pal and it got me thinking about unique exposure opportunities for musicians. It seems a number of houses in the same neighborhood have just been renovated and are now on the market for sale. To draw potential buyers, the realtors involved are having a house tour.

But the focus of this tour isn't only on the houses. To make things interesting, each house will host an exhibit by a fine artist and live music from an area musician. Cool idea.

Thought nugget: Anywhere that a group of people gather, it's an opportunity to get your music into the ears of potential new fans. Don't think about nightclubs, coffee shops and traditional venues only. Think in terms of opportunities to reach groups of people.

What other events and venues might apply? How about singles events, bingo nights, haunted houses (since we just celebrated Halloween), tenant appreciation parties at apartment complexes, art exhibit openings, or strip mall sidewalk sales?

The possibilities are limitless. Think about it. Then act on your ideas. Talk to people, make some calls, and make things happen!

Name That Tune

Your mission: Create a name for Werner John's distinctive style of music. That's the challenge being issued by my friend and fellow author Marcia Yudkin on her new web site, Named At Last.

The reward: If your entry is selected as the best new name, you'll win $100 and a shot at becoming a professional namer. The best name will sound great, fit the music, convey its intended essence and make a positive connection with the target audience.

Anyone, anywhere, any age may enter. And you can submit as many name candidates as you like. The contest closes at midnight, Dec. 31, 2005. Marcia will choose the top ten entries, and from these Werner will select the winner.

So visit NamedAtLast.com/contest.htm and start naming names!

Guerrilla Music Marketing, Encore Edition

Posts to this music promotion blog will be light for the next few weeks. Why? For the next month or so I'll be focusing my energies on finishing up the sequel to my most popular book, the "Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook."

The new book is called "Guerrilla Music Marketing, Encore Edition: 201 More Self-Promotion Ideas, Tips & Tactics for Do-It-Yourself Artists." It will be filled with 200-plus pages of innovative and inspiring ideas -- an entire collection of creative, kick-butt marketing tactics that I've written since the first Guerrilla Music book was published.

The only thing is, none of this newer material has ever been available in book form. Until now.

Here's the cool part (if you're interested) ...

If you pre-order the book by November 4, 2005, you'll get your name and web site (or band/company name) listed in a special Indie Music Supporters Section of the book. Which means you'll be exposed to thousands of people who will read the book for years to come.

Plus, to show my thanks, I'm springing for shipping (to the U.S. and Canada), personally autographing each copy, and throwing in a couple of extra cool music marketing titles to boot.

Complete details can be found at

www.bob-baker.com/buzz/encore-music.html

I'm really excited about this new title. That's why I want you to know about it and have a chance to get your hands on the book as soon as it rolls off the presses.

To your success!

Still More Outrageous Music Marketing Ideas

In the first part of this post (which was actually a followup to an earlier post on creative promotion ideas) I shared a few "outrageous" ideas on music marketing. Here are a few more examples to get your mental wheels turning.

My pal Lee Mueller points out that more artists are releasing CDs with bonus material. "I know that Wilco featured a bunch of QuickTime videos, documentary stuff, live performances, as well as a launch to their web site with a code that allowed the consumer to download four extra songs," he says. "Kings of Leon and Flaming Lips both had similar multimedia bonus material."

Lee continues, "A nice treat would be for an artist to offer a 'guest list' pass. On the CD, there would be a web site launch that would take me to a page where I would put in a unique code -- verifying my purchase, of course. I would enter my name, city, etc., which would match my location with an upcoming tour, notify me of the dates, and then verify my name will be on the guest list. That would rock."

Indeed! Three more cool ideas:

Lynn Julian (aka Cookie Cutter Girl) wrote a song called "Get the Picture" that is basically an Internet dating ad. "I run a contest every gig to win a date with me," Lynn explains. "Fans must sign up on my mailing list. The single is on over 500 TV and radio stations, so they feel like it's a big prize to win too."

Jimmie Vestal has written songs that reference certain restaurants and tourist attractions in the southeast U.S., and even a gourmet steak sauce called Bald Head Diva. Of course, he makes these establishments aware of the exposure and tries to set up promotional opportunities with them.

Finally, Pixie from the band Cuir Bleu posted this blog comment: "My band does electronica with a fetish slant, so we're planning a corset fashion show for an upcoming gig." Great example. Find a way to add an extra dimension to your events -- a dimension that reinforces your identity and the type of music you play.

Lots of smart ideas here. So, are your wheels turning yet?