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Posts Tagged ‘Music Marketing’
Friday, May 28th, 2010
What is your brand and what is branding? In the case of what I will be talking about today, your brand is your band, act, music or business and all elements that go along with it such as designs, costumes, websites, social networks, merchandise, albums, etc that make you marketable as a product to the public. Branding is the process of unifying all of those elements in a way that will give your fans a consistent image of what and who you are. Your core brand is your bands logo and overall identity that lets your fans know who you are and should always stay the same. For example, the band KISS and their tours, albums and merch may have had branding themes but the basic KISS brand still shows through in their logo and costumes, which is recognizable. That is not to say that it would be inappropriate to change colors, or even tweak your logo a bit from release to release but especially while you are building your fan base it would be a good idea to keep the logo and any unique identity (like KISS and their costumes) the same. That said, your branding elements may and should change to fit the relevance of your project, and keep your fans interested in coming back to your sites and your shows. Remember that we live in a time where we are bombarded by stimulation all day every day and that means your fans need to remember you and not get bored. Keep each album release fresh and with proper presentation. Match your gigs and tours to follow the theme of your latest release. Consistency throughout the life of your “product” is important so that your fans are conditioned to think of you when they see a trigger.
In this post I want to give you a quick outline of a good workflow in creating your brand. If you are managing your project yourself, this should give you a good guideline to stay sane while putting it all together. How we do our project management is just a starting point, so use it as a guideline and not hard rules.
Here’s the flow…
Conception
In the conception phase you should think about what the ultimate goal is. If it is an album or something creative based, it may be appropriate to get the bulk of the recording done so you get an idea of what the theme of the album is going to be. Basically, don’t paint the baby room pink before you know if your having a girl. If you are launching a tour, is it in support of an already released album? If it’s a general promotion or for an event like SXSW, what are we hoping for as the end result? It’s a good idea to sit down with your band, group or yourself and outline all of your concepts and goals. Write everything down, no ideas are wrong and by the end of the meeting funnel everything down into your overall concept.
Building Blocks To An Action Plan
At this point, it is time to get your action plan together. What outlets are you wanting to target like social networks and web, physical promo at events, etc). Work through all the items you will need to fulfill the concept section by section. Are you doing web promotion? If so, on what websites and what creative work will be needed (web banners, bios and press releases, etc)? What design work needs to be done on for physical promotion, and how are you going to do the promotion (street team or yourself)? For tour branding, will you need backdrops, banners, costumes? What is your layout for the merch table? For your products, what are you manufacturing (USB, CD, DVD, Merch) and what design and development needs to be done to complete them? Break down all of these into blocks and create a road map for completion in your action plan. This will help you to determine who you need to bring in to complete all the tasks and help you to stay on schedule throughout the process.
Find The Team
Once you have your action plan ready, then you can find the team to bring it to completion. You may need graphic designers, web monkeys, manufacturers, PR/marketing reps, street teams, and so on. A lot of times a band will do these these functions themselves. That is cool, but remember the importance of staying focused on what your good at and let the pros handle the rest. Picking your team is potentially the most important part of the whole process. If you are going to have anything manufactured it is really important that the people heading up your design work know how to follow the manufacturers specs for production (that sounds really basic, but 9 times out of 10 we kick back artwork because a designer did not follow directions). It would be a good idea to make sure that everyone meets before the project starts so they can discuss any needs and can spare the introductions when its time to get work done.
Set The Timeline
You have assembled the team so now you can put out the action plan to all parties and look at what the reality of production is going to be to accomplish the goal. Obviously you may have a deadline at the very beginning (a tour date, an event, etc) but if at all possible it will be much better to allow your team to give you their opinions on turnaround times for each item, look at what can be done simultaneously, add a little padding and set your date. Remember that for projects that require marketing like a CD release or tour, it is best to have at least 60-90 days just to promote the finished product. That is not to say that you have to finish everything and then have an additional 60-90 days. You can prioritize the creative that will need to be finished to start marketing first and then task your team to finish up the creative work needed to manufacture and finish up the project.
Creative Production
Now it’s time to hit the ground running. Your team is on board, you have your deadline and now you need to begin the creative aspects of your project. Creative production involves designing of the digital and physical promotional material, writing of content, bios and press releases, and development of your social networks, blogs, website. This is also the time that you will be creating any mock-ups and designs for your album release and/or merchandise. Remember to prioritize your creative to fit the timeline you set so you are ready for marketing and manufacturing. This is also a good time for your recording mixing and mastering to be wrapping up.
Marketing/PR
Depending on your goals, you may have decided to offer a pre-sale on an album or need to start promoting your tour. With that in mind, you will want to start marketing as early as possible, and it never hurts to create your own hype during conception. Once your creative team has put together the elements you need to get started, your marketing team (or you) can take over in promoting your project. If you are doing a CD release, your PR person may need pre-release CD’s in which case you would need that physical production done at this point. You can use this time to handle your physical production, which we will talk about next. If you are doing pre-sales, you can use the marketing phase to gauge how much quantity you need to produce.
Physical production
While you are plugging away at the marketing, your design team should be finishing up everything the manufacturers will need to begin production. This also means that all your audio or video needs to be ready to go to manufacturing as well. This phase is pretty self explanatory, CD’s will start pressing, shirts start printing, and USB drives start loading. Once they are all ready you will need to stage all of your pre-sales to ship on launch day or be ready to walk out the door on tour day.
Launch/Release
The final stage is your launch day! You have worked your butt off up to this point and if all went as planned you are on time, under budget and you have a killer product.
Branding is an important part any band. Hopefully this post gives you a good starting point on how to tackle it on your next release or tour. In future posts we will explore the details of branding, including tools to help you run your brand, examples of good and bad branding, and taking your brand to the next level with fan interactive branding like iPhone apps and private social networks.
Tags: Branding, CDs, DVDs, Fan Marketing, Graphic Design, Logo Design, marketing, merch, Music Marketing, PR, promoting yourself, Release Management, retail manufacturing, social media, USB Flash Drives, Web Design, website
Posted in Branding, People Love CDs | No Comments »
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
WMC 2010 DJ Spin-Off
The WMC 2010 DJ Spin-Off will be held on Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 (Beat Matching) and Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 (Scratching) at The Eden Roc Beach Resort & Spa Ocean Garden Poolside with celebrity hosts and judges and DJs from all over the world mixing and scratching their way to the top. Because of the exponential growth and success of the WMC DJ Spin-Off, we had to split the competition into two days!!! Celebrity judges will decide who has what it takes to own first place. If you are a DJ who thinks you can put up some weight, a label head scouting new talent, or a fan of DJ competitions, join us for the WMC DJ Spin-Off where you can truly witness the Art of the DJ.
Prizes to be provided by leading audio and apparel manufacturers.
ENTRY DEADLINE: Friday, February 26, 2010
DOWNLOAD THE WMC 2010 DJ SPIN-OFF APPLICATION FORM
Guidelines for entry:
• All entries must include a completed application, entry fee ($25.00),
bio, and demo (CD or Tape format).
• DJs may enter both Beat Mixing + Scratching competitions.
• Demo’s must be no longer than 5 minutes in length and must be
reflective of the DJs prospective performance.
• Submissions are subject to approval.
• Demo material submitted will become the property of WMC
and will not be returned.
• No submissions will be reviewed after the deadline.
No last minute entries or substitutes are allowed.
• All judges’ decisions are final.
• DJs must bring their own headphones to the competition.
Send to:
Winter Music Conference
3450 NE 12th Terrace,
Fort Lauderdale , FL 33334
ATTN: DJ Spin-Off
For any additional inquiries email: info@wintermusicconference.com
Tags: Artists, CDs, DJ, Music Marketing, music news, promoting yourself, street promotion, Winter Music Conference
Posted in Music Industry News | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
MTV Games is hoping to goose sales of its flagging “Rock Band” series with a new service Tuesday that lets average users upload and sell videogame versions of their own music.
The service, known as the Rock Band Network Store, may offer a few minutes of fame to rudimentary garage bands by allowing millions of game players to access their music.
But given the technical know-how needed to format a song for the game—which may require users to hire a pricey third-party developer—the service could wind up serving mostly as a promotional platform for established acts with deeper pockets, rather than the typical shower singer.
“Rock Band” and its rival, “Guitar Hero,” are two of the most successful videogame franchises to debut in recent years. But sales of both titles have slowed significantly in the past year, with combined sales in 2009 of $224 million, according to an estimate from Wedbush Morgan Securities—less than 50% their level in 2008.
Until now, most of the music available for play on either game has consisted of a limited number of songs, mostly by major acts like Nirvana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Beatles.
With the new service, unknown bands are seeing their chance to get in on the act. But popular groups not quite big enough to make the “Rock Band” playlist are also preparing material for the do-it-yourself upload store, including Creed and Evanescence, each of which has sold tens of millions of albums in the past decade.
“We expected this to be an initiative that would appeal to unsigned artists,” says Paul DeGooyer, MTV’s senior vice president for electronic games and music. “What was surprising to us was how many artists with hit records have offered themselves up.”
The Rock Band network has been running in a private, invitation-only testing mode since September. For now, it is to be available only to users of the Xbox 360, made by MicrosoftCorp., which was also MTV Games’ partner in building the Rock Band Network. MTV is part ofViacom Inc. The network eventually is to be made accessible to users of other game systems, like Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3.
Preparing a song is complicated, and involves preparing an array of specialized digital sound files, lyrics, transcriptions and even instructions for virtual camera angles, lighting and choreography for the animated characters that perform the music within the game itself.
It has already spawned a cottage industry of companies offering to format recordings, for fees that can get steep. These contractors, with names like Rhythm Authors LLC and RockGamer Studios, typically charge $500 per minute of music.
Other costs involved in creating a song include the purchase of an Xbox 360 console, “Rock Band” game discs and instruments, as well as a subscription to an online Microsoft game-development “community” that costs about $99 a year.
Rock Band Network lets users set prices anywhere from 99 cents to $2.99 a song. The company retains 70% of the sale price, with the rest going to the user. Given the figures, musicians must be fairly confident they’ll sell real numbers of songs to justify their investment.
Sub Pop, a prominent independent record label, is paying various contractors to prepare 25 songs that it plans to upload to the store—all of them by acts among the label’s most commercially successful.
Those include the Shins, whose 2007 album “Wincing the Night Away” reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album-sales chart; comedy-music duo Flight of the Conchords; and indie-rock stalwarts like Mudhoney, Sleater-Kinney and the Postal Service.
Sub Pop was the original record label of Nirvana, but much of that band’s catalog is already available for “Rock Band.”
The label is treating the undertaking as a serious creative endeavor. It hired a prominent record producer, Phil Ek, to mix the music before delivering it to the contractors who format it for the game.
“At $3 apiece nobody’s looking to ‘Rock Band’ as a discovery tool,” predicts Tony Kiewel, head of artists-and-repertoire at Sub Pop. “That’s not going to happen,” he says.
From: WSJ.com
Tags: Artists, Bands, downloading, helpful tips, Labels, music, Music Marketing, music news, promoting yourself, rock band, video games, Wall Street Journal
Posted in Music Industry News | No Comments »
Monday, January 18th, 2010
It’s 2010 and time to start thinking about the annual festivals that will benefit YOU. All around us we hear that this is the year to make a big push and get heard- we want to help with that. As a Musician, Label or Entertainment/Media business, it’s pretty important to attend at least one music festival a year. SXSW and WMC are two of the big starters that are coming up fast. We’re hoping to enlighten you on how important it is to prepare, not just show up. There are so many ways to conquer a festival- high rollin’ networker, party animal, on the cheap or go with the flow. Whatever reason you’re going, there’s a way to be prepared and Eternite Media would like to be your go-to source for exploring your options and fulfilling the promotional decisions you make.
It is important to get your marketing and promotional plan started early. When you work with us, you will be covered in every area that you need, and even more than you thought. Eternite Media offers design and printing solutions for simple business cards, intricate flyers, logos or branding for your entire realm of products. We are able to replicate or duplicate your CD and DVD with basic black print or full color thermal. Paper printing options like digi-paks, one page inserts or full booklets can work in a package with a jewel case or even a clear poly sleeve. Merchandise is also a classic advertisement for your brand’s success, including T-shirts, buttons or stickers- all of which are a constant reminder of you to all your fans. We can put together whatever you need- any propaganda materials big or small and can even ship it directly to your accommodations.
CD Duplication Promo Packages
Opener (basic package)
- Silver Duplicated CDR
- Black Thermal Text Print On Disc
- White Paper Sleeve
100: $81.00 (Normally $108.00)
250: $202.50 (Normally $270.00)
500: $345.00 (Normally $460.00)
Resident (mid package)
- White Duplicated CDR
- Full Color Thermal Print On Disc
- 1 Panel 4/4 (Full Color) Paper Insert
- Clear Poly Sleeve
100: $156.60 (Normally $174.00)
250: $380.25 (Normally $422.50)
500: $621.00 (Normally $690.00)
Headliner (premium package)
- Replicated (manufactured) CD
- Full Color Offset Print On Disc
- Full Color 5″ Jacket
- Wafer Seal
500: $589.00 (Normally $660.00)
1000: $746.00 (Normally $840.00)
2500: $1617.50 (Normally $1825.00)
(DVD packages available upon request)
BONUS WMC/SXSW Specials:
25% off select Printing services
Promote your shows, get the word out about your new release, or just build your fan base! Take advantage of high quality printing services for business cards, flyers, stickers, 2″ buttons and banners.
40% off all Merchandise
Make a statement and toss out t-shirts during your shows or help pay for your trip by selling screen printed merch. Either way your fans will do the advertising for you to build your name recognition and it’s a great way to increase your profit margin. Screen printed shirts, hoodies, hats and more. We offer apparel from American Apparel, Hanes, Gildan, and other top brands.
((AA, hanes and Gildan logo))
We are super excited about all the cool stuff you will be ready to hit your fans with this year! Don’t waste any time and drop us a line at info@eternitemedia.com to order.
Stay connected on our Twitter, Facebook and MySpace for resources, blogs, and suggestions on making the most out of your festival experience at SXSW or WMC.
It’s 2010 and time to start thinking about the annual festivals that will benefit YOU. All around us we hear that this is the year to make a big push and get heard- we want to help with that. As a Musician, Label or Entertainment/Media business, it’s pretty important to attend at least one music festival a year. SXSW and WMC are two of the big starters that are coming up fast. We’re hoping to enlighten you on how important it is to prepare, not just show up. There are so many ways to conquer a festival- high rollin’ networker, party animal, on the cheap or go with the flow. Whatever reason you’re going, there’s a way to be prepared and Eternite Media would like to be your go-to source for exploring your options and fulfilling the promotional decisions you make.
It is important to get your marketing and promotional plan started early. When you work with us, you will be covered in every area that you need, and even more than you thought. Eternite Media offers design and printing solutions for simple business cards, intricate flyers, logos or branding for your entire realm of products. We are able to replicate or duplicate your CD and DVD with basic black print or full color thermal. Paper printing options like digi-paks, one page inserts or full booklets can work in a package with a jewel case or even a clear poly sleeve. Merchandise is also a classic advertisement for your brand’s success, including T-shirts, buttons or stickers- all of which are a constant reminder of you to all your fans. We can put together whatever you need- any propaganda materials big or small and can even ship it directly to your accommodations.
CD Duplication Promo Packages
Opener
(basic package)
- Silver Duplicated CDR
- Black Thermal Text Print On Disc
- White Paper Sleeve
100: $81.00 (Normally $108.00)
250: $202.50 (Normally $270.00)
500: $345.00 (Normally $460.00)
Resident
(mid package)
- White Duplicated CDR
- Full Color Thermal Print On Disc
- 1 Panel 4/4 (Full Color) Paper Insert
- Clear Poly Sleeve
100: $156.60 (Normally $174.00)
250: $380.25 (Normally $422.50)
500: $621.00 (Normally $690.00)
Headliner
(premium package)
- Replicated (manufactured) CD
- Full Color Offset Print On Disc
- Full Color 5″ Jacket
- Wafer Seal
500: $589.00 (Normally $660.00)
1000: $746.00 (Normally $840.00)
2500: $1617.50 (Normally $1825.00)
(DVD packages available upon request)
BONUS WMC/SXSW Specials:
25% off select Printing services
Promote your shows, get the word out about your new release, or just build your fan base! Take advantage of high quality printing services for business cards, flyers, stickers, 2″ buttons and banners.
40% off all Merchandise
Make a statement and toss out t-shirts during your shows or help pay for your trip by selling screen printed merch. Either way your fans will do the advertising for you to build your name recognition and it’s a great way to increase your profit margin. Screen printed shirts, hoodies, hats and more. We offer apparel from American Apparel, Hanes, Gildan, and other top brands.
  
We are super excited about all the cool stuff you will be ready to hit your fans with this year! Don’t waste any time and drop us a line at info@eternitemedia.com or 323-284-4733 to order.
Stay connected on our Twitter, Facebook and MySpace for resources, blogs, and suggestions on making the most out of your festival experience at SXSW or WMC.
Tags: American Apparel, Artists, banners, black thermal, booklet, buttons, CDs, clear poly sleeve, demo CD, Digipaks, Duplication, DVDs, entertainment business, flyers, full-color offset, full-color thermal, Gildan, Graphic Design, Hanes, hats, jacket, jewel case, Labels, Logo Design, merch, music, Music Marketing, musician, paper sleeve, printed insert, Printing, promo products, promoting yourself, Replication, screen-printing, single-color silkscreen, South By Southwest, stickers, street promotion, sweatshirts, T-shirts, wafer seal, Winter Music Conference
Posted in Announcements, South By Southwest, Winter Music Conference | No Comments »
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