I have turned over a new leaf in persistance. I’ve set up a list of smart mailboxes in my mail program, which is apple’s Mail. Every Monday I go down the list and send a short email to every booking person on the list. They get an email from me every week.

It’s usually super short. Here’s an example, sent to Lea from Evening Muse in Charlotte:

Hi lea! Happy monday! Hope you are great!

Sometimes I write a haiku. Sometimes I draw or just include a pretty or funny picture, but they are going to hear from me every week. So far this is the best way I have come across to get people’s attention and get them to book me. I type out each letter by hand, though, it’s not just a form letter that goes to all of them. It takes me an hour or two to cover the bases each monday, but I have gotten great results from it.

Just today the booking contact at the Loft in Columbus GA commented on my persistence as he was booking me for next Saturday. He got nine weeks of my monday email before he cracked and offered me a slot, haha! If you’re reading this Brad, thanks for being a good sport!

Some people don’t ever respond, but no people are ever going to respond if you don’t contact them. I try to soften the blow of the repeated emails by writing each one by hand, and making each one different and fun, because hey, I’m in this because I love it. Yes it’s a business, but I do it because I love it, and people should be able to see that when I communicate with them.

Wow, what a night. I drove in to the club at around 7:30pm in what could be called, without any hesitation, a torrential fucking downpour. Visibility on the interstate was 100ft or so, I’d say. I was basically just following the headlights ahead of me because I couldn’t see shit.

It had been raining all day, and I knew it was going to hurt my turnout if it didn’t slack off. Not only did it not slack off over the course of the day, it actually began to rain even harder.

Once off the interstate in the neighborhood of Virginia Highlands, I found myself driving through streets awash in 3-6″ of water. Puddles were even deeper, and the cars driving through them threw huge plumes of water into the air. I wondered idly if the water was high enough to get into my tailpipe and choke out the engine as happened to my old volvo wagon a few years ago, but I got lucky.

I made it to the club and brought in my gear. No one was in a chatty mood, as all three bands knew they were in for a night of zero turnout, no money, and carrying expensive moisture-sensitive gear through the rain.

For the second time in as many gigs, I discovered that my show time was thirty minutes ahead of what I had been told it was, so people arriving late would see the second half of my 45 minute set. Sigh. These things do happen.

Luckily for me, I am friends with and a big fan of the staff of the Ten High, and they always make playing there enjoyable and awesome.

At fifteen minutes to show time I ran upstairs to see about going down the street a block for a latte, and I met at the door a big group of my friends who had slogged through the rain and shitty weather to come see me play. That was so awesome. You guys are the best! It was so great to see them, and it didn’t stop there!

As the show went on, probably twice that number of people filtered in and checked us out. It was so, so great. I can’t even tell you how much you guys kick ass. My drummer Pico even made the gig, and he and his girl had a baby two days before!

Big thanks to the following people for being so awesome and supporting me: Jon Morrison the greatest living bass player known to man, Mike “Pico” Lamb the incredible drummer who is now a father, Mellie, Holly, Scott, Stephanie, Amy, Amanda, Brooke, Anna, Lindsay, Stuart, Vicky and David and everyone else who was there but with whom I am not on a first name basis.

These people came out on a night when tornadoes were ripping central Georgia apart like a fat kid opens a bag of chips. Fuck yes!

Thanks guys!

NOTE: This entry now includes a recent update at the end (10/26/07)!

I have been trying out this website called Sonicbids for about six months now, and after a lengthy evaluation, I have decided that it sucks, just like all the rest of the websites directed at musicians. I know this is a generalization, and there may be one awesome musician website out there that I don’t know about, but you know.. I don’t know about it.

See, when an artist wants to play at a particular venue, they send what’s called a press kit. A press kit contains a cd of your music, maybe a video, a bio, a photo of you and your band, press clippings… stuff like that. Promoters and talent buyers look at these promotional materials to try to decide if they want to book you or not. They’re a necessary tool.

These kits cost money to send out, and most people seem to think it’s a good idea to send a shitload of these out to every club in the world in hopes of getting booked everywhere. If you’ve ever been in a talent buyer’s office, you’ll immediately see the heaping pile of these forlorn packets from dreamy musicians heaped somewhere. Probably near a trash can.

This is similar to walking down the street and asking every girl you see if she will have sex with you. Maybe one in a thousand will say yes. Maybe one in a hundred. No matter what, though, you’re going to have to ask a LOT of chicks, and if it costs you a couple of bucks a pop to ask each girl (as it does to send a press kit), you’re going to be spending a lot of money.

So, where Sonicbids comes in is they have a system for you to set up an electronic press kit, or EPK, on their website. Then all you have to do is send a link to your EPK to the promoter or talent buyer, and they’ll be saved having to toss your disc and photo and shiny folder away, and you’ll be saved your couple bucks postage and whatnot.

It seems like a great idea, and it’s a pretty easy sell, mostly because people don’t want to sell themselves the old fashioned way, which is to make contacts and shake hands and so forth. They’d much prefer to email 100 promoters a link to an EPK and hope they all bite.

Well, chances are they’re not going to. I admit an EPK like this is a good idea for a regional or national level act who already has interest in them, so they can send the link to clubs who already know who they are instead of a hard press kit, but for us wee indie folks it’s not worth it. It is my impression that the majority of Sonicbids userbase is comprised of small indie people like me who cannot benefit from their services.

Additionally, Sonicbids works out deals with festivals and clubs to offer you what seems like an exclusive line on getting booked! Hey, neat! If I join Sonicbids I can get on all these awesome festivals and get entered into all these contests and shit! This is true, but each one has an entry fee between 5 and 30 dollars. So, in addition to the money you pay Sonicbids just for the account, you take a $5 or $25 hit to submit. Ouch! And since there are fourteen million users on Sonicbids and they’re all paying that money and submitting their EPK just like you are, the competition is enormous, and there are usually only one or two slots on a festival reserved for Sonicbids artists.

I had the opportunity to hear observe the general mutterings surrounding one artist who won a slot on a music festival aboard a cruise ship and it was not positive. They were regarded as undeserving by the other musicians and the crew. This may not always be the case. I can only speak from this one experience.

I have submitted to probably twenty different festivals [In truth, 8 as pointed out by Amanda at Sonicbids -jim] and contests and I haven’t gotten a single one. Not one. The only one I came sort of close to getting anywhere with was because I knew people at the company running the contest, and I ended up not winning because the bands who won all cheated their asses off, as I heard from an unnamed source. It really sucked because I was doing great and winning for most of the contest, but the cheaters took over, and it could have been easily prevented. Sonicbids allowed the cheating, however.

So basically, if you are a small indie artist and you are trying to build your touring, do it the old fashioned way. Get in a good room in your home town and play it every six weeks and promote your ass off. When you’re packing that room, then branch out to some neighboring towns and repeat. Build concentric circles. Put asses in seats. Build a network of contacts. There really is no other way.

Later on down the road you may be able to save some money by sending Sonicbids EPKs to venues and promoters with whom you already have some relationship. I don’t know, honestly. I’ll let you know if I like it any better when I get there. Don’t even think about using the Promoter Drop Box feature, though.

Here’s the letter I sent their support folks:

To whom it may concern:

Guys, I just don’t think Sonicbids is for me. Maybe if I type out my worries about it to you you can point out where I’m going wrong with your system and put me on the right track again. Here are the prioblems I have:

1) There are too many submitters.
Because Sonicbids is so easy to use, lots and lots of people are on it and they all submit to the same festivals you do. That means you’re basically awash in a myriad sea of submissions. You’re probably even less distinct as a submitter when you blindly send an EPK than you are mailing in a regular old-fashioned press kit.

2) It costs too much and provides nothing.
I guess Sonicbids saves you money if you just email your link out to people, but for the most part, I use it to submit to festivals and contests and so forth, and these cost $5 to $20 per submission. In six months of submitting my butt off I have gotten zero to show for it.

3) You allow cheating.
The only thing I had a chance of winning I got into because I had a contact at the promoter, and I didn’t win that one because all the other contestants cheated on your contest and you allowed it. That sucked. I promoted my ass off the old fashioned way. Also, the contest polling software didn’t work on the most popular browser for macs (Safari). I know most people use PC’s but most music people use macs!

4) The spam.
Guys, knock it off with the emails please! In 6 months I have gotten 72 emails from you. Come on! That’s three per week! Some of these are thank yous for submitting and receipts, but most are not. The vast majority are not.

I have put in a lengthy evaluation of your service, and my conclusion is that it’s worth it for regional to national level acts who send out a lot of press kits, but the smaller indie artists like me are getting kind of preyed upon.

I will be telling my friends about my experience with you and warning them not to use you until they get to a point of moderate success with a touring band, and never ever to use the promoter drop box.

Is there any way I can just put my account on hold until I need it later? I may want to use it again when I get to the level I’m talking about, so it’d be great if it could just go into deep freeze or whatever until I get there, but right now I don’t need it and it’s sucking up resources.

Thanks for reading,
Jim Hodgson
http://www.jimhodgson.com

I got a response a few days later, but am just now getting around to including it, thanks to Benjy from Sonicbids posting a comment here. Here’s what Amanda, the Sonicbids rep replied with:

Hi Jim,

Thank you for your email and for expressing your concerns and feedback about Sonicbids. I am happy to offer some suggestions regarding your feedback and help you to better understand your account and EPK and how to use it more effectively.

In your first feedback, you mentioned that sending a physical press kit will actually make you more noticed and stand out more and I have to respectfully disagree with that. Sending out a physical press kit has much more risks than sending out an EPK. The EPK provides a way to send out your press kit in a more professional, easier, and effective way. I have heard of artists who submitted their EPK to a promoter who needed a last minute band and they got it because their press kit got their before all those who mailed them in and it was easier for the promoter to review it.

One of the best features of submitting an EPK is the security you get that you definitely do not receive with a physical press kit submission. Promoters are contractually obligated to review every Sonicbids submission that they receive. This insures that your submission will be reviewed and not just thrown in the trash before it is even seen (promoter are not guaranteed to review your physical press kit, provided they did receive it and it was not lost in the mail). The physical press kit is also less organized than the EPK, as the promoter can lose pieces of the physical press kit but can’t with the EPK.

Our Promoter Relations team is in constant correspondence with promoters, assisting them with running their opportunities effectively and efficiently. If you ever have any questions or concerns regarding an opportunity, it is always best to try contacting the promoter directly, but you can also let us know, and our Promoter Relations team may be able to expedite the correspondence.

In your second feedback, you mentioned that the submission fees were too high. In some cases, you may find an opportunity that has a submission fee higher than you planned to pay. Please keep in mind that these submission fees are set by the promoter to be equal to or less than the cost of sending out the physical press kit. If a festival has a submission fee of $20, this submission fee usually still applies to those submitting physical press kits, only those submitting physical press kits also have to factor in the costs of supplies for creating the physical press kit and postage for mailing it out. We also encourage that promoters use the submission fees they receive and apply it to their event or for compensation to selected artists.

The submissions fees and the subscription fees are two separate entities. Your subscription allows you to build, edit, and email your EPK as much as you want whenever you want, saving money and time over physical press kit costs like CD duplication, supplies, and postage. The submission fees are set by the promoters themselves, and they are generally equal to or less than the cost of sending out a physical press kit.

You mentioned that the EPK can save you money using the “Email My EPK Out Now” tool and you’re absolutely right that this is a very valuable feature available only to active Sonicbids members that can save you money. Don’t overlook this tool as this is a way to send your EPK for no additional cost to anyone with an email address. If you’re spending time or money on sending out physical press kits to promoters and booking agents, this tool can be a huge value for you.

I am not sure exactly what cheating you were referring to in your feedback, but if you can please provide more specific information regarding this, I am happy to clear up any confusion you may have or look further into any opportunity that you have questions about.

Remember, it is always best to build a relationship with the promoters you connect with through Sonicbids and always best to contact a promoter directly before submitting to an opportunity as it will help you to address all your questions and concerns and help you determine if this opportunity is the right one for you to submit to.

I noticed that you have only submitted to 8 opportunities that you say you have come out with nothing to show for it. Remember, there are hundreds of other opportunities you can submit to in the “Promoter Drop Box,” and you can proactively search for opportunities using the “advanced search” tool to narrow your search by location, date, and genre. The “Promoter Drop Box” is a resource for our members to reach promoters with specific opportunities, but there is no obligation to use it. Not every opportunity is for everyone, and you are encouraged to contact the promoter directly to ask any questions before making a submission. In most cases, contact info can be found on the opportunity’s website.

Again don’t overlook the “Email My EPK” tool, “Community Forum,” and “Artist Search” tools as these are great ways of connecting with other artists, managers, promoters, and bookers.

With the emails, as a member, you have full control over what emails you receive from Sonicbids. We want to get appropriate announcements out to our members, but we don’t want to inundate them. You can select to receive or not receive messages by logging in to your account, clicking “edit profile”, and selecting the settings you prefer under the area labeled “options”.

If you are still interested in canceling your account, here’s how:

1) Log into your account with your username and password. (If you have a multi-user account, please click on the artist account you’d like to cancel.)
2) Select “Subscription Information.”
3) Click where it asks if you’d like to cancel.

***If you’d also like to remove your email address from our distribution lists, you’ll need to take these additional steps***
4) Go to the “Edit Profile” section of your account
5) Un-check any appropriate option boxes and make sure to save changes.

Your account is only accessible by you. Complete that cancellation page and you’ll be all set. Remember — you’ll still be able to send out your EPK through the end of the subscription term you’ve already signed up for, so even if you’re performing with a different band or under a different name, you can just update your EPK to reflect the new information. No need to cancel or start a new account.

If you feel that there is something we could do to improve your Sonicbids experience and keep you as a member, please let us know. We always welcome and learn from feedback from our members.

Hope that helps. Let us know if you have any further questions. If you need a quick answer to your question, check out the “Support Center” of your account for access to the FAQ and Quick Tip sections.

Best Regards,
Amanda

===============================
Have a question? Get Answers here: http://www.sonicbids.com/epkfaq
Not a member yet? Take a tour: http://www.sonicbids.com/tour
===============================

Musicians. Promoters. ONE Way To Connect.
http://www.sonicbids.com

Amanda J. Czaja
Artist Relations Representative
Sonicbids
580 Harrison Avenue, 4th Floor
Boston, MA 02118
Tel: 617-275-7247
Fax: 617-275-7223
support@sonicbids.com

I thanked her for her message and left it at that. They seem like nice people, really, and it’s clear that they care what people think of them, but I still don’t think Sonicbids is worth it to indie artists at all unless they’re at the level where sending out press kits is taking a large bite out of their pockets. I’m talking regional to national touring level.

—UPDATE 10/26/07—-
This is by far the most popular page on my site, so it appears that this has had some impact, and for that I am grateful. I have now let my sonicbids account lapse.

In the intervening months since I wrote this, I am glad to say that my relationships with promoters and club owners has grown markedly. I always bring up this subject with people like that to pick their brains. Almost to a man, they say they check MySpace instead. It’s got everything your Sonicbids page has, for free (even with video), and it shows them how good you are at pimping yourself out because it’s got the number if friends you have.

I don’t mean to say that the number of friends you have on myspace is indicative of how big a draw you have at any given show, but if you have a lot it at least shows that a bunch of people have heard about you.

I attended the Atlantis music conference not long ago, and there were people from Sonicbids there, talking up their service to no end. You can’t fault them for this, it’s just good business, and as I’ve already said, they seem like nice people. The only thing was, Corey Smith’s publicist was on the panels too, and he blew up from myspace. As it happens, his drummer is a friend of mine, and Corey’s got a rabid, huge following.

I don’t know anyone who has blown up from Sonicbids. I’m sure the Sonicbids folks can think of a few, but I don’t know of any.

I’m also pissed because I submitted to Atlantis through Sonicbids and guess what! I was not selected. To be fair, the panels at Atlantis were really cool, and it was cheaper to get in by submitting through Sonicbids, so they did get me a deal there. It would have been nice to play alongside my buddies at our hometown festival, but hey, that’s how it works. I guess they felt they could do without my half dozen screaming fans.

Also, at the time I wrote this the Sonicbids folks suggested to me that I should spend some time on the Sonicbids forums meeting people and doing gig swaps and so forth. I had to concede that I had not tried that, and in due time I gave it a full swing.

It is, in my experience, a forum full of people all shouting at once about their band. What else could it be? This is the internet, after all. There may be someone out there who has had success with connecting with other bands on the Sonicbids forum and hooking up for shows and whatnot, but I would equate this to internet dating. Sure, you might meet the perfect person for you, but you’re also going to meet a lot of people who are unable or unwilling to meet people face to face.

Conclusion: Paying Sonicbids is no substitute for hard work, promotion, and networking in the real world. Save your money!

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!