STARTING A BAND

SOME PROVOCATIVE IDEAS

Don't start reading this and say 'what a weird way to set up a band'.  I have deliberately included some non-conventional ideas to showcase other ways of doing things.  Even if you only get one good idea out of it then it is worth reading.  Don’t be put off by ideas that are different to yours as the approach is deliberately intended to be a bit provocative.  I hope you can find value in some of the ideas especially the section on getting radio play.

RESEARCH

I once did some work for a band that told me they never really went to see live bands themselves and that when they went out it was to dance music venues. They could not tell me what made for a good live show as they had almost never been to one!  Amazing, they play in a band but did not go out to see bands.

Go to all of the venues in your area, check out the size of the stage, format of shows, what gear do the bands have, length of sets, who are the audience and why are they there. Get a feel for the other bands. Who are the most popular bands and why? 

This is basic market research. It might help to read a good book on marketing while you are at this stage.

Identify your target demographic. When I ask a band who their target demographic is sometimes I get an answer of: “Everyone really.”  If this were truly the case then advertising their gigs in the Financial Review would be just as effective as advertising in Drum Media - I think NOT. 

Demographics are much more than age and gender.  They could include:  social grouping, marital status, employment status, entertainment habits, 'tribe', ethnic group, religious beliefs, political views, hobbies etc.

BUDGET

You can't start and run a business on no money.  A band is a business so you need some capital and the business skills to run a small business.  There are expenses that include:  rehearsal rooms, a web site, some sort of demo CD to send to agents and bookers, registration of a business name, registration of your Internet domain name, equipment, merchandise, graphical design, advertising and other promotional activities.

There are ways to cut costs by doing things like:  hosting your web site on a friend's server, rehearsing in your parent's rumpus room, doing your demo in a friend's home studio and getting the graphic design is done by a friend studying it at TAFE.  You are still going to need thousands of dollars, mostly spent on promotion, and lots of friends.

If every person in 5 piece band contributed $20 per week to the band account then you would have something to work with.  Over a year this would be about $5,000 for a 5 piece band.  Just make sure the band book keeper doesn't spend it on drugs or getting his car fixed.  "But I needed it!"

Money invested in bands is very high risk investment.  There is no guarantee of a return.  

THE INTERNET

Check out my page about the Internet.  I am not going to repeat it all here.  But have your own web site, work a couple of the social networking web sites that have a demographic appropriate to your music and work the Internet into your business model.   

THE INCOME

So how much money are bands around Sydney making?  A capitalist would say:  "Exactly what they are worth."  After all, in a door deal if you can pull 500 people to every gig each paying $20 each then you are grossing $10,000 per gig and even after GST, agent, manager, promotion, PA and support acts you are doing well.  However, you may need to have had a few hit records to get this sort of pulling power.

If a venue has 150 punters go through the door each paying a door charge of $10.  Total collection is $1500 from which the venue may take $1 per punter to cover costs such as advertising. So there is $1350 for the band, from this we deduct:

From the $282 net to the band you have to divide that between the members after paying PAYE tax, superannuation, workers compensation etc. 

I bet you are wondering why the GST is only $31.  Your net GST figure is $135 less the GST you claim back on the invoices of the agent, manager, posters, support acts etc.

Did I mention your band will probably need an accountant too?  The days of pubs paying the act in cash from the till with nothing declared to the Tax Office or Social Security are long gone.

MAKING UP A NAME

Think up a name and do a search for it using several search engines on the Internet.  If it comes up then you may not be able to use it.  Go to www.nic.net and check whether www.newbandname.com is available.  Or go to www.ddns.com.au and check if www.newbandname.com.au is available.  There are other options like www.newbandname.cc or www.newbandname.tv too.  

Domain Name registration has emerged as a cheap and modestly effective way of securing a band name internationally. Certainly much less costly (but not as effective as) international trade mark registration. (Less than 1% of the cost).

KEY MEMBERS

Early in the life of your band you have to get together with the key members. These include: The lead singer; the song writer and key instrumentalists. These roles can be all held by one person or several people.  Until you have this core group you don't have a band you have an idea.  The act will be much more stable if the key members are brothers/sisters or at least friends who have been close forever. The key members should have a shared commitment to a common goal.

Just look at how many successful bands have two brothers at their core.  Oasis, The Angels, INXS, Van Halen etc.

It saves time if you write and record a simple demo of your first group of songs with your key members before recruiting the rest of the band.  If you recruit first and the writing period takes too long people will lose interest.  If about 15 songs are written and there is a basic demo when people join they will have a better idea of what they are joining and will know if they share the same artistic vision.  The new band members will be able to build their instrumental parts around the skeleton of the song you have written.

RECRUITMENT

Look for reliable people with a similar artistic vision and skill levels.  Set their expectations so they are not expecting instant success.  Working an act up, doing your first gigs, building a reputation for the great show you are doing, recording and releasing material all takes time and money.  I have seen people quit bands after 3 months because things weren't moving quickly enough for them.  Getting a new band started from scratch takes time but if you get everything right things can move very quickly.  You might still be playing the Hopetoun Hotel after 4 years and 3 months later be playing the Superdome - such is the effect of a hit or two.

Before recruiting the band I would do the following to get things started quickly:  

1. Write the first 15 songs and produce a basic demo of them.  It is very important that the demo just be the bare bones of the songs.  If you are trying to recruit a guitarist only put the most basic guitar line down so he feels he has creative input to the product rather than feel like he is playing in a covers band.  Let vocalists change words around too for the same reasons.

2. Have an "audition kit" consisting of a CD with your 15 demo songs on it and "lead sheets" or chord charts with words, chords and melody on them.

Other things that make for a good band member are:  excellent interpersonal skills, high emotional intelligence, quality equipment, transport, a day job, being a 'stayer' not a 'quitter', and being emotionally robust so they can bounce back smiling when shit happens - and it will from time to time.  Drug users, drama queens, people who are broke and shift workers can cause big problems.

If your band is chasing success in the charts then you should think about investing most of the earnings from the band and more back into the promotion of the band until you have a hit.  Playing in a band is NOT a good way to make money until you have a hit.  If you want to make money from performing music - form a duo and play covers in RSL clubs. 

PUT ON A GREAT SHOW

It is a tough world and you have to be good to survive.  Much of live band music market share has been lost to the DJs with the doof, doof music.  Two guitars, bass and drum bands where the guys just stand on stage looking at their feet are boring. Give us something with a decent groove we can dance to.  Give us a stage show we haven't seen before.  Give us some new sounds using samples, computers and electronic percussion.  You, yes YOU, should be at the cutting edge of modern music bringing us the sounds of tomorrow.  Push the edges of the envelope musically and culturally.  Otherwise, the punters will stay at home and watch Music MAX on Foxtel and get cheap beer from their own fridge. 

The pop stars of tomorrow will sound nothing like the stars of today.  The big stars of tomorrow will have new sounds not just repackaged old sounds.  How long will it be before I can see a band that only plays virtual modelled instruments on computers controlled by guitars, keyboards, electronic percussion surfaces, laser harps and sensors on dancer's bodies?  When will a band permit an audience to control filter sweeps on instruments by putting their hand through light beams above the crowd?  We live in an age where new music technology is coming out every day and yet I still see young guys trying to make it with tired old sounds and crap vocals.

Innovate or die.  Sydney band Toy Death showed us you can push the edges of the envelope a long way and still get gigs.  It has to be musically relevant not just weird.  It has to be good music.

If you play shows before you are ready they may be bad shows that haunt you for years.  Get a good show together, video a dress rehearsal and watch it for things that can be improved.  Record and listen to rehearsals.  It is amazing how different the experience of listening to a band is to actually playing in one.

TRANSLATING A GOOD VIBE INTO MEGA-FAME

There is one and only one way:  HITS

First you need several thousand people out there who have had a positive EXPERIENCE of your music.  People can EXPERIENCE your music via gigs, radio, TV, MySpace.com, YouTube.com, your web site or an interesting review.  Without several thousand people with a positive EXPERIENCE there will be no one interested in buying your music.  Advertising can not sell music.  People become interested in buying your music from the experience.

Once you have a vibe happening in the media from your live work you have to record and release a "radio friendly unit mover".

Because you have the vibe happening radio will listen.  It will get you in the door but it has to be "radio friendly" for radio to play it.  You can keep the live vibe happening for about 2 years while you put out your recorded products but unless you get that hit it will never really happen for you.

The bottom line is YOU have to sell your music.  Not the record company - YOU.  Just like actors doing interviews before a new movie comes out.  They are selling the movie.  You have to go sell your music through gigs, interviews, press releases etc.  This is actually the main reason why the record company signed you, not what it sounded like but, YOUR ability to sell YOUR music.

GETTING RADIO PLAY 

The first points are that commercial radio is profit motivated and the music they put on is research driven.  They don't care about you or your music they care about ratings which leads to advertising which leads to profits for share holders.  They might play music but they are not in the music industry they are in the media industry.  With all their talk and advertising they don't actually play that much music.

Research includes:

• The number of requests the radio station gets.

• Telephoning people at random from their target demographic and playing them the 8 to 10 seconds of hook and asking their opinion.

• Responses from focus groups.

• Looking at what other radio stations are playing.

The material you send them has to be really good.  Well recorded, well presented and a professionally mastered CD.
It has to be commercially viable for the to play and fit within their format.

MMM will be rock
FOX is dance etc

At community radio it is the announcers that make the decisions of what is played. At commercial radio it is the Music Director that makes the decisions. Send your CD and 1 page bio to them by name (do your research on their web site and over the phone so you know their names).

For public radio send the material to each announcer by name. Put their name on each CD.

Send 2 copies in jewel case for the library and mark them LIBRARY COPY.

WHAT SHOULD THE PACKAGE CONSIST OF?

The CD and a single piece of paper with the band BIO consisting of your story, a photo, your web address and gig listings. Package it so it won’t get damaged in the post. Include your 1 page bio with every CD. Do not include press clippings or any other shit with it.

Sent 1 to the Music Director, 1 to the Program Director, 1 to each announcer to create awareness, 1 to each of the program producers and repeat the servicing of the Music Director 4 times in 4 weeks (he is your main guy). Follow up people with a few phone calls and nice e-mails linked to full MP3 versions of your songs.  Be respectful of people and their time.

You could end up sending 50 CDs to each radio station.

Research the radio station carefully. Listen to them to make sure you fit their format.  Don’t bullshit to yourself, do you really fit their format? Is your stuff really radio ready?  Go to their web site and get the programs, e-mails and names of relevant people. Once you have done your home work ring the radio station to fill in the missing bits.

Don’t waste money on elaborate packaging of the CD but a professional looking CD with good artwork will do it. A home burned CD with your details on it in texta are NOT going to get interest. Go for glass mastered, full colour printed CD and quality art work.

Put contact details: Phone numbers, e-mail and web address on the CD surface and sleeve and Bio. Due to the number of submissions things get mixed up and if the can’t separate them then the whole lot goes in the bin.

Post them to commercial radio because if you take them in personally you won’t see anyone without an appointment. Public radio is happy to see you personally.

HAVE A RECORD DEAL OF SOME SORT

You have got to have some sort record label or distribution deal behind you so people can buy the song if they like it.

MP3’s

Nova are happy to get short MP3’s – just the hook of the song. Then have a link to the rest of the song on a web site.

MAJOR’S RECORD COMPANIES SERVICE RADIO OVER THE WEB

The Major record labels service radio stations from their web sites and it loads the song and all it’s details straight into their Maestro system (a type of software). The download contains all the details for royalties etc.

Satellite radio is taking off in the USA. This gives people access to 50 or 100 different radio stations on a subscription basis. The leading network is Serious network and Howard Stearns is on it.

RADIO PLUGGERS

There are people who are best mates and have real influence with all the relevant decision makers … BULL SHIT!
There are a few good ones but most are of dubious value. Many of them charge big money but they are just considered pests by the people who count. They are often worse than useless.  I have met people who have spent thousands of dollars with radio pluggers and have nothing to show for it. (In the 1970's the Mafia guys in the USA were effective radio pluggers...)

OTHER SUGGESTIONS

Get your fans and street team to ring the radio stations and request the song. Ask them to ring all radio stations on the list you give them (complete with phone number once per week and request your latest song). Ask them to pass the e-mail on to friends and have them do it too.  Remember too many calls from the same people are obvious.

PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION

What will make you different to the other bands?  Or what makes you different from any other pretty girl/boy who can sing?  Think about what will set you apart and why people will want to see your act over all the other entertainment alternatives.  A good creative answer here will make a big difference to the long term success of your band.  Great examples of this include:  Kiss, Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, Spice Girls and the Blue Man Group. 

If you can't think of a really good answer to this question, one that you are passionate about, I would have to wonder if you are in the right business?

COSTUMES, CHOROGRAPHY AND SET DESIGN

Just wear jeans, runners and a dirty t-shirt.  Then stand there like posts.  That will get great reviews in the media, get the word of mouth happening and propel you to success NOT!

PROMOTE

The Music Business is more about effective self promotion than singing or playing an instrument.  If you are musically challenged but a great a promoter of music a record company will more than happily help out musically if you can sell it.  

If you don't self promote no one else will do it for you and no one will end up hearing your music.

GRAPHICAL IMAGES

Have a consistent visual image designed by a graphic artist. Include: Logo, posters, CD covers, fonts, T-shirts, business cards, stickers, web site, back drop and everything else. (Don’t take inspiration from a trademark as this can lead to nasty legal problems if they are too similar.)

Agents will want posters for promoting gigs. Go to a poster selling shop and find the best looking poster that could be relevant to you and have your graphic artist design your poster around this.  Not the usual 5 people standing there like a police line up.  Make it so cool people will want to take it home and put it on their walls.  The major difference is that your posters will be like other band posters and include space to write in details of gigs at the bottom.  Check what size poster your agent wants before printing them.

Here is the check list:

• Logo - a graphic that may or may not include your name - keep it simple - Think St George Bank and the Green Dragon logo

• Name Logo - if your logo does not include your name you need standard fonts etc. that does.

• Band colours - Use it in advertising, your logos, on your CD, paint your guitars in those colours or at least use Contact and incorporate those colours in your stage costumes.

• Band font - use it on all advertising, web sites etc. Make sure it is available for both PC and Mac.

WEB SITE

Your web site is a highly cost effective promotional tool and should include:  News, copies of press releases, MP3 versions of your songs, your bio and high resolution photos of yourself for use in the media. Have B&W and colour options of photos. Your bio, press kit and demo could be nothing more than a business card with your web site on it.  

How easy is it for journalists to cut and paste from your web site into their story making a few changes as they go.  Then download a high resolution picture of the band into their article.  The easier it is for them to do it the more likely they are to do it.  Have a 'secret web site' just for the media like this:   www.myband.com/media    Perhaps have a password for this page.   Don't have a link from the main web site to the media site because media don't want to print things that are already public knowledge.  Put a bunch of very high resolution photos for media use here too.

Use your web site to collect e-mail addresses of people who would like to be notified of upcoming gigs. Sell merchandise from your web site. Record the traffic on your web site as it will be of interest to agents and A&R.  Like I said before, don't settle on a band name say, Lemon Twist, unless you can get the matching Internet Domain Name eg.  www.LemonTwist.com.au 

MERCHANDISE

Have attractive, designer quality merchandise. A cheap t-shirt that looks cheap, will never be worn and makes you look cheap. Something that is quality, sexy and attractive will make that person a walking billboard for you. Other merchandise can include: coffee mugs, nickers, caps, candles, signed photos & posters, mouse mats, stickers, fridge magnets and calendars.

If you are giving away your music for free as MP3 files on the Internet then perhaps the merchandise is the only product you can make money out of.

These things make good gifts to music reviewers, radio programmers and agents as it keeps you in their face.

INXS made more money for themselves out of selling T-Shirts than records.

I am interested in your feedback.  Please feel free to e-mail me on:  info@digitalharmony.com.au

Copyright © 2005, 2007, 2008  Mark Ellis