There are 2 ways to get ahead in your local scene and be one of those few bands that is always in the major support slot conversation:

1. BE THE BEST BAND IN YOUR GENRE: This is the most obvious yet probably the toughest way to approach becoming the preeminent band in your genre locally – securring top of mind for major supports, festival spots and good gaurantees for your own shows. This takes more work, more writing, more ditching of weaker music and promoting and marketing than anyone else. But what if you’re a top tier band but not an outright “clear choice” in your local scene, well then we should be looking to:
   
2. BE THE MOST RESPONSIVE: Essentially this means that you’re band is quicker to return calls, quicker to return emails, quicker to help local bookers find bands for line-ups outside your genre, quicker to return contracts, quicker to get your marketing out and happening etc etc. Put more simply, you’re band is the first choice because your Yes means Yes, and your No means No. 

In my experience as a former booker for national level acts; other than pure talent, the most important factor in choosing local supports for touring acts was their overall responsiveness! Period! As a manager, agent, booker, promoter etc you normally have dozens of open ended shows that need wrapping up, and getting a quick (and definitive) Yes back from a local band is such a great help!

So in conclusion make sure your band has a system for last minute commincation (text, FB msg chat, etc), you have an all access calendar, you have a list of definite YES and NO gigs, and finally, you have a person who can say Yes and/or No to certain types of opportunities without having to triple check with every member of the band.

Rock on people!

@joshdiymusic

PRESS PLAY ABOVE 

DIY Music Movement Podcast Episode 28: My Interview with special guest Brian Thompson

In this very special Episode of the DIY Music Movement Podcast I’m joined by Canadian based Music Marketer | Speaker | Podcaster and Social Media Expert: Brian Thompson from ThornyBleeder (dot) com

Brian and I have a solid 30 minute chat about the value of Podcasting as communication medium, how bands can use Musicxray (dot) com to enhance their career, and also how important it is for bands to be highly responsive.

I’m bloody happy with this episode, Brian is a very smart yet down-to-earth guy, and he delivers supreme value in this episode! We touch on some really actionable concepts that loads of forward thinking bands can get stuck in to :-)

Also mentioned in this episode: Seth Godin and Tribes, Steven Pressfield, Blue Yeti USB microphones and Soundcloud hosting.

Enjoy it everyone. I sure did!

@joshdiymusic

FB.COM/DIYMM

Ever wondered if Twitter is right for your band? If so, check out the video below.

15 Minute Band Builder Module 9.1.2: Twitter for Bands

Twitter Quick Tips

1. Retweet great posts – but ensure you check out any links, articles and videos first
2. If you want to publicly reply, but only to another user and your mutual followers, put @otherusersname up first in your post
3. To give public credit to another Twitter user/users put the @otherusersname in your post at any time
4. To Direct Msg someone on Twitter you both need to follow each other
5. Leave 20 > 30 spare characters in your posts to allow for RT’s (Retweets), and mentions etc
6. Be polite, be respectful, be engaging and TURN UP ON A REGULAR BASIS!
7. Anything less than 4 posts per day is probably not going to be enough to fully leverage Twitter as your primary engagement platform – for that type of posting use Facebook and G+

For more FREE: 15 Minute Band Builder Modules CLICK HERE… 

@joshdiymusic 

Press Play on the video below to get up to speed on the basics of YouTube music marketing.

We cover:

• Setting up a vanity URL
• Video titles and using keywords
• Setting up your meta-tags (tagging)
• Picking an eye catching Thumbnail image, etc

PRESS PLAY NOW

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PRESS PLAY ABOVE TO LISTEN TO PODCAST EPISODE

7 Keys to great support bands  (DIY Music Movement Podcast Episode #27)

1. Be appropriate and complementary to the headliners audience (professionally, stylistically, emotionally & attitudinally).
2. Be responsive and be gracious (respond quickly, be decisive & say thanks)
3. Be interested in, work to understand, and commit to, the marketing requirements of the show/run/tour etc.
4. Have a relaxed a accommodating manner – and have an understanding of all available show details before the day and/or night of the show.
5. Be committed to the success of the show on the night (share your audience, help the headliner wherever possible, watch the bands that play before you and don’t lump too many questions on the headline band if they’re not 100% able to help).
6. Take part in the post-gig-work (packing down merchandise, packing down gear, loading out and meeting and interacting with punters, social media engagement etc).
7. Share all appropriate positive feedback from the show/tour etc with the headliners and/or their team (social engagement, fan testimonials, press etc).
8. The bonus: give as much thanks as you can to the headline band and their audience for the chance to play with, and for them :-)

Enjoy the episode guys, tell your band/muso mates and rock on!

Ps. You can find info and links to previous Episodes here…

PRESS PLAY ABOVE FOR THE AUDIO VERSION OF THIS POST. 

Last night I saw Coheed and Cambria live, supported by Circa Survive. Two of my favourite existing Progressive bands and lets just say, they blew my head clean off. In fact I had to wait til just now to write this short post, head being off and all…

What I’m hoping to convey here is this; If you want a quick shot of musical inspiration or just a boot in the you-know-what, I can’t think of any other better way than seeing some great bands, really taking it in (goosebumps and all), and then going away and using that energy to create your own musical momentum. Don’t be jealous, don’t be overwhelmed and please don’t give in to what Pressfield calls the resistance – just be energised!

So basically I’ve come away with this:

“Seeing great live bands (that you love) on a regular basis is the single-highest-leverage activity I can think of for inspiring a struggling muso.”

I hope you guys feel the same thing next time you see a great live act! And keep in mind, the bands don’t have to be international touring acts (like Circa and/or Coheed), inspiration could just as easily come from the amazing busker down the road if you stop, take a moment to absorb the full experience, and then go away ready to create :-)

@joshdiymusic

Ps. If you have any other ideas regarding getting out of a musical funk, fighting the resistance and executing on your creative goals, I’d love to hear about them below in the comments or on the DIYMM FB page.

Music Marketing doesn’t have to be hard! Just watch this video and put “the hub and spoke music marketing model” into practice. I’d love for you to sign up to my (awesome as shit) email list in the video itself, but if you don’t want to just hit SKIP THIS STEP. @joshdiymusic