Marketing

[john]

Hey

I guess most of you will have spent at least some time promoting your music in the real world and/or online. I thought it would be worth discussing and comparing notes.

For example

guerilla marketing versus paid services?

Do you plan a campaign, or do you just start promoting somehow?

Is there any coordination in your promotion activities?

Do you set aside a budget specifically for marketing and promotion?

What sort of techniques/services do you find worthwhile?

What doesn't work?

Don't feel you have to stick to the questions above, they're just intended to get you thinking about the subject!

Cheers

John

[saheart]

Interesting questions, here are my answers

guerilla marketing versus paid services?

Guerilla. My record label is grass roots, and I find it easier to keep track of what is done when I do it myself.

Do you plan a campaign, or do you just start promoting somehow?

Plan. With my artists I'm practicing "virtual management" through a forum like this one, and we established our schedule a year in advance where all promotion activities have been outlined in a detailled plan. Makes things more fun that way.

Is there any coordination in your promotion activities?

Yes.

Do you set aside a budget specifically for marketing and promotion?

Not yet..evantually maybe.

What sort of techniques/services do you find worthwhile?

Regular blogging, youtube, myspace, mp3 host communities etc, all those at once.

What doesn't work?

Link exchanges with other artists, sitting on our ass and waiting for hits to come in.

[john]

Thanks for the reply!

One point I would make, while link exchanges with other artists might not bring in much in the way of direct hits, they make up for it in terms of helping search engine rankings.

anyone else care to share?