I work every sunday on a 99x event called Unplugged in the Park, and I have been trying to get the powers that be to let me play there. I gave the host a copy of my disc.

He listened to it and he said he liked it, but I don’t have a firm date from him yet, so tonight I sent him the above drawing to help move things along.

I don’t know if this is a good technique or not, but time will tell. Who doesn’t like unicorns?

My email said:

Matt I’m going to be out of town this week so I won’t see you at the park, but I drew the following image for you so you’ll think fondly of me when it’s time to pick bands for the rest of the year. As you can see, it’s you and a unicorn being friends. Now that’s teamwork!

See you in two weeks!

UPDATE: I mentioned this to Matt yesterday and he loved it. He says he’ll put me on as soon as they can find a headliner. Rock!

So, my roommate and friend, who is the assistant to a reasonably well known artist, advised me that I should really get a publicist to help get the word out about my CD. That sounded like a good idea. She had one particular firm in mind that she works with with her artist, so she put me in touch with them. I think it’s always best to work with someone who knows you in some way, even if it’s roundabout.

My roommate had me call the owner of the company. I was in kind of a hurry because I had my CD release only a month away and I felt like I needed all the help I could get, as always. I finally heard back from the owner’s assistant a few days later. We chatted a bit but nothing firm got said. I found that a bit peculiar, but whatever.

A day or two after that, i got this email from the assistant, Jen:

Hi, Jim.

I forgot to ask you if you would send us a copy of your new CD. Tara would like to take a listen so she has a better idea of your work.
Many thanks!

Jen

I wrote back that friday and said sure, but I got distracted that day, so I asked if I could just bring it by hand in an email on Monday. She said okay, and gave me directions. Their office is down town, approximately ten miles from my house. I didn’t have my CD back from the duplicators yet, so I just took her a burned copy with a label on it that I printed at home. I figured they just wanted to listen to it, so it wouldn’t make a big difference, and besides I was in a rush because I only had a few weeks. This was a mistake.

I found their offices and parked. I called jen to tell her I was there, but the person I spoke to said she was in a meeting and couldn’t meet me right now. So I hung out on the sidewalk for a bit. Finally, a girl peeked out the door and took the disc from me. I thought I would probably come inside for a minute and say hello and meet everyone, but the girl just said “Thanks!” and went back in.

My coffee, my flip flops, and myself were left to our own devices on the sidewalk. We went home.

I didn’t hear anything for a week, so on June 26th I sent this:

Hi Jen! Just wondering what’s going on. Have you had a chance to listen to the disc yet?

Hope you had a great weekend!

She wrote back later that day, after she talked to Tara, the owner:

Hey, Jim.
I talked to Tara about your release and she said we wouldn’t be able to take
you on as a client under such a short timeframe as our schedule is very
full.
I do have the CD and Paula in my office will listen to it. She takes first
listen to all music we get in.
I’m sorry we can’t do more right away but let’s keep in touch about any
near-future opportunities.
Many thanks and have a great week!
Jen

Hm, okay. I felt like I had wasted two weeks of four between starting to contact a publicist and my CD release at this point, not to mention a drive down town, so I sent the following email. I felt like I was doing everything I could to supply them with whatever they needed to help me and nothing was happening. I had money and I wanted to pay them to help me!

Okay, I still need things like reviews and any and all attention I can get from my project, but I must say I don’t feel that my business is particularly welcome. I’m not going to play a single gig and stop there. What I need is a team to lend their expertise for the life of my career.

So, thanks anyway, I guess!

I figured that was that. I told my roommate about it, and she said she’d make some calls and see what’s up. I got this email later on June 26th:

Sorry…I think my email came across in the wrong tone. What’s your number?
I’d like to call you.

Jen

I didn’t really want to be called, I just wanted to exchange some money for some attention for my project. I replied:

Hi Jen! It’s cool. If you guys are interested going forward then I am too. I know you guys run a good operation because my roommate recommended you, and she’s no fool. I’m just at the beginning of a long haul and I want to know that people are as interested in me as I am in succeeding, as I’m sure you can understand.

I have absolutely zero idea how to market an operation like this, so I’m in need of a group like yours. If I can’t find anyone I have to learn how to do it myself, and that will take too long. :)

For future reference, my number’s xxx.xxx.xxxx

So, okay. I figured it was just a bgi misunderstanding, but we were back on track now. They would help me in exchange for my money after all. All that went down on Monday June 26th. A few days later I was at rehearsal and got a call from Jen. She said she was sorry if she came across the wrong way. I repeated that it’s totally fine and I’m completely a novice, I just need help and I want someone to help me get going. The phone call ended great, and I felt like I was back on track again with their operation.

I didn’t hear anything form them for two weeks, so I sent them this email on July 12th:

Hi Jen!

Just wondering how everything is going. We talked about moving forward but I’m not sure how to proceed from here. Perhaps you have some suggestions on how I can get us started!

Thanks in advance!
Jim

She replied later that day:

I saw on your website that the CD Release went great! That’s killer!
Do you have another show scheduled in town?

and I sent this back that same day:

Not yet, my next dates on the books are out in portland/seattle area. I’ll definitely let you know when I get something in town again. I dont really want to spend a lot on promoting these far flung shows because I don’t know when or if I can get back to that market. I’m really just doing it to go see some friends and hopefully offset the trip costs with some CD sales.

I could really use reviews and things like that just to boost general awareness. Of course you know much more about this process than I do. Should that wait for another gig in town?

I heard back from that email on July 20th:

Hey Jim.

Sorry if I’ve come across as being wishy-washy with your project. I’m
playing the role of conductor and your CD is making its way around the
office. It’s on the boss-ladies desk now and I’ll be better able to give
you some direction once she listens to it.

Do you already have the CD packaged with case art or are you planning on
sending it out without that? I ask because the copy you sent me didn’t have
anything.

Jen

I realized then that it was a mistake to take over the burned copy of the CD. I thought at the time that my relationship with them would be that of a client, so it wouldn’t matter as much. Turns out you have to court the help of a publicist when you are a small operation, even though you are going to pay them to work with you. Your appearance matters, they may not take your project on if they don’t like you.

I replied the same day:

Hi Jen. Thanks for getting back to me. I must seem like a pain. I guess I’m just new to working with publicists. Mellie says I expect too much and that these things take time. I certainly am impatient, as anyone who knows me will tell you, so I defer to her greater experience.

Yes I have CD art. I did the layout myself as I have some experience with Illustrator and I like to save a buck here and there when I can. You can see it on my awarestore page here:
http://www.awarestore.com/index.php?op=view_item&item_id=15212

I just didn’t have the CD back from the duplicators when I brought that by your office. I was in a rush to get moving and I thought a burned copy would do, but I guess that was a mistake. I should’ve waited for the more professional finished product. If it would be helpful or beneficial, I can bring a few of the real deals by. They are shrinkwrapped cardboard sleeves. I have this theory that you’re better off producing EPs every year or so and always having a new story to tell than you are doing a full LP every three years, especially since people buy music by the song anymore. As such, I don’t sweat things like 4-panel liner notes and so forth.

You’ll have to excuse me, this is my first solo CD. I really have no idea what I am doing unless it involves the actual music. I’ve never started or marketed a business before. :)

I just booked another in-town Atlanta date at Smith’s on 8/31 opening for Sam Thacker, so that’s coming in just over a month after I get back from Seattle. I also have a contact at Southeast Performer who says he will review my disc for me, so I’m working that angle as well. Wheels a-moving!

I didn’t know what to think at this point, but I did feel like an idiot for the burned CD thing. I didn’t hear anything back until today, July 31st:

Hi again!

You certainly are not a pain.

Your CD made a good impression in the office but I’m sorry to say that we are not going to be able to take on your project. As much as we support local musicians and love to be a part of their journey, our roster is really busy and we lack the time and manpower to do a thorough job right now. The last thing we want to do is take on a project and not give it our full attention.
I hope you can understand where this decision is coming from. Please feel free to keep us in the loop on upcoming shows and your progress.

All the best to you and your journey.

Jen

Well, shit. I feel like I really did something wrong. I don’t know if they didn’t like my disc, or if the burned CD thing hurt me, or if I’m just not well known enough, but I’m out of luck, so it’s back to square one on the getting publicity for myself deal. I’ve exhausted the leads I can think of, and they have been okay, but I was hoping to get some help.

Like I said, they got their contacts somehow, which means I can do the same thing if I put my mind to it, it’s just going to take a long time because no one knows who I am.

Anyway, that’s what happened when I tried to get a publicist. If you are trying to get one also, I highly recommend you contact them WAY in advance of anything you want promoted, and don’t take them any non-professional materials like a burned CD.

Okay, so I have this core belief, and it is basically that if you never, ever give up, someday you will make it, especially if you have realistic goals. So, If that’s true, we can conclude that I will someday make it.

If I do, I’d like to be able to help other people by telling them how I did it. This will serve as the first post where I talk about things that have or have not worked so far for me. If you are also a performer or a band, perhaps you will benefit from my mistakes and triumphs.

So, firstly, LPs versus EPs. I decided to make a 5-song EP instead of a full-length record for several reasons.

One, it was cheaper to record only five songs by a lot. At my level you can count on paying around a grand per song to cut the tracks and mix them. That’s at a studio that runs around $35/hr, which is about what you can expect to pay for an up and coming studio, i.e. one that is at the same level in its career that you are. Mastering, duplication, and art are extra. In the end a full LP would have run me around $20k, whereas I only have around 7 or 8k in my EP. it should be lower, but I halfway tracked a few songs that didn’t make it.

Two, I think it’s better to have your five best songs on the disc than all 10 of your songs, because some of them inevitably will be better than others. Chop out the crap ones. You can do it!

Three, I don’t think people buy albums anymore. I think they buy by the song on iTunes, so who cares what the rest of the record is?

And finally, I want the price point to be low. I sell my EP for $5 in person and $6 online. I like that it’s cheap. I want everyone to buy it, and I don’t expect to make that much on the disc. What I really want is to be able to pack venues.

I also elected to use a cardboard sleeve for my disc because I think jewel cases are neat but useless. When I buy a CD i run it into iTunes and immediately lose the jewel case, and I bet a lot of people do too. That saved me some cash, and I think it was a good choice. Duplication only ran me around $.85 per unit, and a jewel case would have been more like $1.50 or so, plus the added costs to get the art together for all the extra panels. If I want people to see more visual art from me, I will post it here on my website for almost free and save that money on duplication.

I have tried to contact a few PR firms to help me get the word out about my project, because I believe in the power of advertising. They have been zero help. I guess it’s like trying to get a bank loan if you are destitute. Because I am unknown, they don’t want to work with me. If I were known, I wouldn’t need them. Paradox.

It’s been really frustrating to me because I don’t understand it at all. I have money that I want to pay them for their service and they can’t really be bothered to get back to me about it at all, and I was even recommended by a current client who works closely with them. Some of their clients are friends of mine, and I said as much to them when I first started talking to them.

I thought it might just be the one firm, but I tried to contact another one and never heard back there either, so I guess it’s everyone. So, that avenue that seemed like a good idea isn’t.

Like I said, this is frustrating, but at the same time they got their contacts somehow, which means I can make my own if I try. I just thought that spending some money on a real publicist would help me get a head start, but I was wrong. Down the road it may make sense, but for now it doesn’t.

Someone I respect very much told me that the most important thing I could have is management. I tried talking to some people who manage my friends about doing some work with me, but they also didn’t make anything happen. Same problem, I gather. You have to already have omething going for anyone to want to get involved, even if they are a close friend. That’s important, so I will type it again.

You have to already have something going for anyone to want to get involved in your project, even if the person you want to get involved is a close friend. Even if you already work together in another capacity and you bust your ass for them. Don’t get discouraged by this. Expect it and keep going. I’m telling myself as much as I am telling you.

Sometimes I get very, very tired. I sweat through my clothes on a daily basis because the things I do to support myself find me doing serious manual labor in the hot sun pretty often. It’s tiring to bust your ass and not be able to get anyone to help you with your dream, but you can only keep going. Don’t give up!

Be in the scene. It’s worked well for me to meet as many artists as I can and trade CDs with them. I already have a good network of musicians as friends because I have been playing a long time, but it’s important to network with these people as much as you can.

Oh, and record a good CD. You must, must, must have a disc on hand that is representative of you and what you can do. As hard as it is to get people to pay attention to you, it’s nearly impossible unless you have a tactile product they can hold in their hands.

Okay, that’s it for now. I have to shower and hit the sack. I have another day of assbusting ahead of me tomorrow!

Check out the awesome fortune cookie fortune I just got on my annual birthday eve chinese dinner!

I love love love chinese food from this one restaurant, but I only eat it once a year on the day before my birthday, and look at the AWESOME FORTUNE that I got this year!

Man, I am so stoked!

Tomorrow: Medieval Times and Stripclub birthday party! Hell YEAH!

Please pardon me while I wreck my CSS to make it prettier in the future. Thanks!

Ugh, I hate you IE.