Band Business Money Tips

New company, SellaBand, helps bands make money by letting fans fund them like they are purchasing shares of stock on the stock exchange.

You, the Band, share a bio/info page about your band, and others choose to help fund you to make more money. If you raise enough money, SellaBand will even provide you with a producer, an A&R rep and covers the cost of making 5,000 CDs. Revenue from CD sales and ads on SellaBand.com are split among the company, the artists, and the investors (your fans).

This is a win-win situation for you to make money, build fame, help your fans make money (as well as make them bigger fans of you) and improve your band’s success with Music Production, can be yours with the help of SellaBand.

SellaBand is worth your time to investigate. Check them out at:
http://www.sellaband.com

For a powerful firsthand insight, get hold of the video “New York Doll – The Movie”.

On the video, in the bonus features, Morrissey (of The Smiths) has a twenty-minute interview that shares the story of the real group “The New York Dolls”. It shares an amazing insight into the incredible pop songs (as they are believed to be by many people) that this band created. It also shares the tragedy to the fact that they didn’t get to enjoy the benefits of making a living off of their wonderful contribution to the pop music world.

The New York Dolls and New York Doll - The Movie - Interview with Morrissey (of The Smiths) is worth investigating.

Making good music isn’t enough. It is a sad truth that there are more people who can create incredible music then there are people you will ever hear of or see make a living at it. Why? Because of the simple skills of business… So many people, in some way or another, never get around to learning some simple business skills to help them make money with their music or band. Nor do they add people to their band team to do the business side of their work for them.

I agree that not everyone should be business savvy. However, if you want to make a living at playing or creating music… It is important to add people to your band (build a team) that are business savvy.

Through my life so far, I have seen some pretty amazing musicians all over the world. Even when I was in Russia some years back, I met and hung out with an incredible pianist singer that not only could play cover tunes, but also create music on the fly. With this known, he also was a very powerful performer and could work small and large crowds comfortably. The only difficulty he had was that it was a difficult time in Russia, free enterprise wasn’t that safe an adventure and business type personalities were not around to help him build his team.

Just as you look for and choose a Bass Player, Guitarist, Singer, Drummer, or whoever else you need for your onstage band… Choose various business band members that work off-stage to help you. Your Band isn’t just the group onstage in the spotlight.

Take advantage of the all of the simple choices you can make… Build a good Entertainment Business Team around your band, and learn some business basics for yourself so others don’t take you advantage of you. Make a living at playing and creating music.

When building a fan base you will need a method to communicate with them on a regular basis. Make sure you build a solid email mailing list and have a great newsletter. Set up a newsletter and allow people to sign up via your website, and at every show you play. You might even include some incentives to sign up for your newsletter.

Invest in some buttons or stickers which you will give away for free at your show when people join the mailing list. Your newsletter is a critical and direct form of communication with your fan base.

Make sure to use your newsletter to inform fans of your tour dates, new songs and studio updates. Keep the newsletters to a bi monthly schedule. You don't want to over do it and have your fans unsubscribe and you don't want them to forget about your upcoming shows either.

If you really want to be innovative try setting up a text message mailing list. When people join your email mailing list ask for this information
Name
Email
Phone Number
City & State

Add all your emails to your newsletter and organize phone numbers by city and state. With these phone numbers you can create text message newsletters by city. So 24 hours before you play a show in Seattle. You can send out a text message to every fan in the Seattle area to remind them of your show. I haven't seen anyone really do this effectively yet. But it will become the norm in the next few years.

Posted By Alex @ 12:00 AM, Sunday, September 10th, 2006, on the Artist Tips Blog on iSOUND.COM

One of the first goals a band should shoot for is to make it big in your state. Bands that do well in a state tend to get national recognition. Here are a few tips on creating some buzz around your band.

Play as many local shows as you can. Get to know all the good local bands and team up with them to put on shows in different cities in your state. Go on weekend tours. If your in Washington State for example. Play in Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, and then head over to Eastern Washington and play the Tri Cities & Spokane.

Look for opportunities to team up with local business's or non profits. Non Profits love the help and they have many more resources at their disposal and are more likely to promote the event via media outlets.

Perform at as many high schools or colleges as you can. These are actually rather easy to set up. It is more about finding the right person to talk to. Once you know who is in charge of booking shows for various school activities you'll be all set. Ask to play any festivals, school assemblies, parties, freshman orientation, back to school & end of school year events.

Every state and community has local websites dedicated to the state local scene. Find all of these local state communities where you can promote your upcoming local shows and band news. You can find local state communities on livejournal, myspace, yahoo groups, etc.

Get to know the influential people in your community. There are people in every scene that are naturally popular, they are trendsetters and people gravitate to them. When they speak people listen and they can sometimes make or break a band. When they say "this band rocks, or they put on an awesome live show" people will buy the album and will show up the show. So look for those kids, get to know them, and be sure to give them a free CD or invite them to a show.

Finally get as much press as you can. Make contacts with the local high school newspaper editors, college newspaper editors, zines, regional newspapers, radio stations, and local tv programs. Send you press release out atleast twice a month to these media contacts, you don't want to annoy them with emails everyday. The press release should look and sound as professional as possible. If writing is not your thing then you will need to find a friend preferably an aspiring publicist or english major to help you out. Here are some examples of press release's we have received in the recent weeks.
http://www.isound.com/music_news/392
http://www.isound.com/music_news/394
http://www.isound.com/music_news/390
http://www.isound.com/music_news/381

When you send out your press release include tour dates, CD release parties, CD reviews, when the band enters the studio, accomplishments like sales figures or when you hit #1 on the iSOUND chart etc. Don't be afraid to Invite the local media to review your CD, and come see you live. Be sure to always include them on the guest list.

Create a local state buzz and national buzz will happen.

Posted By Alex @ 12:00 AM, Monday, September 25th, 2006, on the Artist Tips Blog on iSOUND.COM

Top 10 Highest Paid Musicians, Year 2005-2006:

1. U2 – Pay: $110 Million
2. Rolling Stones – Pay: $90 Million
3. The Eagles – Pay: $70 Million
4. Andrew Lloyd Webber – Pay: $56 Million
5. Bruce Springsteen – Pay: $55 Million
6. 50 Cent – Pay: $41 Million
7. Paul McCartney – Pay: $40 Million
8. Celine Dion – Pay: $40 Million
9. Neil Diamond – Pay: $35 Million
10. Elton John – Pay: $34 Million

(Source: Forbes, 2006, http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/53/Compen_Salary.html )

Think of what you naturally have to offer… What, instantly, would you say is a quality or skill that you excel at? Make sure you bring it to the stage and to your persona as a performer. This is what will make you memorable and easily described to others. This is what will sell you with out any extra effort.

Look at the video shown below this and notice what this young girl brings to her performance. I know it is offbeat and a little out there, however it is memorable and easily captivating.
[youtube]kMTx2vd527w[/youtube]

If your not using MySpace as a Musician you are missing out on the benefits…

See:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music

I know bands and independent musicians that promote themselves and build massive communities using MySpace (fans). Even if you aren’t a band yet and you are a songwriter, solo musician, or DJ. There is Power in the Networking ability on MySpace. It is worth using. And if you are already using it, are you using it the way you really can?

Go to MySpace Music and see what you can get.

Have fun and make money.

- Eric

An incredible and precise article called, “Five Mistakes Band & Label Sites Make”, was written in 2004 and still has power now. You can find the original article at:

http://www.43folders.com/2004/12/06/five-mistakes-band-label-sites-make/

It is worth reading.

The key mistakes pointed to are:

1. Too Much Flash Programming used - (It becomes to much to watch and finding information and products on your Band’s Web Site is hard).

2. Lack of mp3 metadata – (All the information about the song people download needs to be there in the saved file, including your website and email address so they can get more Music from you easily).

3. Too Artsy – (Keep your web site design clean and easy to navigate. Make it easy for your fans to get your lyrics, mp3’s, band information and products).

4. No Way to Search Your Web Site – (Have a search capability for your website so your fans can find what they want - Now. Google offers a good free one to search your site. It’s offered through Google’s AdSense Program. See: https://www.google.com/adsense/?hl=en_US&sourceid=aso&subid=ww-en_US-et-ads&medium=link ).

5. No Way to Communicate with You – (Make it easy for people to contact you and communicate with you on your Band Web Site. Include your phone number and email address, and respond when they email).

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Follow these simple steps to make you easier to find, learn about, and buy from.

Keep Building Your Greatness.

- Eric

The Keyword of:

MUSIC

Was searched for 2,592,610 times in this last July, 2006.

Having a band puts you in a very popular business with a large demand. Do you have a website for your band? Do you have the word MUSIC for one of your Keywords? Are you selling things on your site? There will be people who love what you have to offer...

Check out the amount of searches people are making per month on your keyword topics at:

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Enjoy!

- Eric

On the Internet you can sell to more people than just those in your local area. You can sell to people around the world. The British Pound is worth about two times the American Dollar right now. Imagine if you found an interest in your band in Britain or even just in some of the products your band sells on its website… You could sell your items and make more money for each sale.

When people think of the phrase “Transfer Money Overseas”, they forget how they can transfer more valuable money overseas in the direction of their own home bank account. Sell your products online so that you can benefit from selling overseas (even while you sleep).

- Eric

Today the website, "HowToBand.com", went live kicking off the beginning of the support I'm going to give all those that are starting or building bands and who want to be good. I want you to succeed. You deserve it.

I have a passion for music and performance, and I want to help others enjoy and flourish in that world.

Talk to you soon,

Eric

I've know too many people and friends that have struggled to get their bands going. And, they fought with their schedules with another primary job to build their cash flow while working with their band. Whenever I could, I would sit down and consult them with to help them build cash flow with their band so they could eliminate their other employment. Some people used the skills I gave them to grow, however many people forgot what I told them and others didn't understand.

Since I've successfully worked as an entertainer and built companies, I knew that I needed to put some of my skills into a book.

Today, I'm happy to say that the book I made for all of you who are building or starting a band is ready for you to use. It is here for you on Lulu.com.

Use it. It will help you get money in your pocket and free your cash flow concerns.

Talk with you soon,

Eric