Unsigned Musicians - Network & Resources Blog | SeeJoeRock.com

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While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior. ~Henry C. Link
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Brought to you by: Ty Cohen

9. FAILING TO CREATE MERCHANDISING OPPORTUNITIES

CD sales are just a fraction of the earning potential for artist like yourself these days… So at this point if you are not doing so already, I highly suggest that you start designing t-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, coasters, calendars and other products other than, or in addition to your CDs to sell at shows and on your website.

Keep in mind that your fans literally want a piece of you, and in this day and age they expect it. Choose appropriate merchandising opportunities that reinforce and promote your brand when you make your offering. Remember ABM…. Always Be Marketing!

8. NOT ESTABLISHING THEIR BRAND

If you don’t know your brand you can’t reinforce or promote it and you can’t expect others to know who the heck you are, right? Right! It’s not enough to be “very talented” or “good” these days…. In fact that stuff matter very little.. Sorry, but it is the truth. Differentiation is the key to your success and will enable you to stand out in a marketplace that’s over saturated with music artists. What makes you different? What do you have to offer that others don’t? What do you stand for in terms of values, philosophies, and ideas? What causes do you stand behind? Can you answer these questions? More importantly your fans should be able to answer these questions if you’ve branded yourself correctly. Investigate your core values and build your brand around them. People need to know what you can deliver and what they can expect from you.

7. MAKING A FOLLOW-UP CD AFTER FAILING TO EXPLOIT THE FIRST ONE

Every year a CD is sent to me by an artist whose debut CD I absolutely loved…and then I don’t review their follow-up CD because it pales in comparison. Why does this happen? Because they recorded new material too soon. As long as artists continue to perceive their new music as their best music, I imagine they will always make this mistake. There’s no point in making a new CD if you have not fully exploited your first one - especially if you took your time to create it.

Remember your music is NEW to everyone who hears it for the first time, even if it is Ten years OLD to you… Keep marketing your music, now matter how “Old” you may think it is and even when you have “New” stuff… Market both, double the music, double the sales, double the amount of money you’ll make right?

6. NOT BUILDING A COMMUNITY

There’s just one thing that makes an artist a success: an audience. Do you have one? It consists of fans who comprise your community. Community support is - and always has been - a MAJOR factor which makes or breaks careers.

Social networking sites now give music artists like yourself the chance to collect, share, and distribute information in ways that are both constructive and cheap. Unfortunately, many artists don’t take proper advantage of this stuff. If you are successfully cultivating your music community (i.e. forging relationships by giving people incentives to want to see you live or buy your music) you should be able to fill a small to medium sized venue with relative ease. Social networks must be used to consistently inform, engage, and entertain your fans to earn their loyalty. Build your community, and your community will help you build your career.

5. NOT IDENTIFYING YOUR AUDIENCE

Who is your audience? How old are they? What level of education do they have? Where do they live? What magazines/newspapers/books do they read? What movies do they go see? What websites do they visit? This is called “demographical” information (demographics for short) and major record labels spend fortunes to get this information for music artists. It helps them to better “serve” (read: market to) fans. Everyone is not your target audience. Your target audience has a personality, a temperament, likes and dislikes. It’s YOUR job to know what they are and knowing this will help you to better capture and market to them.. Remember ABM

4. NOT DEVELOPING YOUR STAGE SHOW AND PERFORMANCE SKILLS

Performing live has been the bread and butter of the music industry since its beginning. The music artists who fails to develop his/her stage show and performance skills will flounder. Your ability to connect with your audience - and maintain a long term relationship - will be based on the worthwhile experience that you provide them with at your shows. If you can do that they will track you down at even the most obscure venues to be a part of it, AND tell their friends about it as well.

3. NOT PUTTING FORTH A DECENT MARKETING EFFORT

The old music industry adage is “production rich, promotion poor.” It still holds true today. It’s a common belief that the marketing budget for a CD project should be two to three times the amount of the production budget. Every CD project should have a marketing plan which enables music artists to reach their marketing objectives. What are your objectives? Fame? Fortune? Critical acclaim? Attention to a cause you support? Artistic innovation? Know your objectives before you attempt to market your project.

2. NOT HANDLING YOUR BUSINESS

Anyone who attempts to sell a CD or have someone pay to attend their performance is doing business. If you are doing business, it must be handled correctly. The first step is to acknowledge that business is not about having fun or being cool; it’s serious. A business consultation with an entertainment attorney or experienced industry professional which revolves around the question, “What business should I be aware of handling at this point in my career?” would be an excellent investment of time and money.

1. NOT KNOWING THE MUSIC BUSINESS

There is absolutely no excuse for not knowing how the music business operates these days. The Internet is just bulging with free information on every aspect of music industry operations. What ever you need, it’s there and Google will help you find it. From detailed instructions on how to register copyright forms, to document court cases that offer remedies on how to get out of a contract. In addition, the rapidly increasing number of online classes about the music industry makes it easier to get the specialized knowledge you need. Failure to understand how the music business operates at this point is simply a sign of laziness.

And Here is a bonus …. Not Believing in YOURSELF!

Hopefully you will be able to avoid these mistakes which can often result in frustration that leads to many music artists never reaching their full potential and enjoying the success that they / YOU truly deserve by right… Or even worse…..Giving up on their dreams.

Never Give You, YOU Have What it Takes… Sometimes the greatest obstacles you’ll ever have in this business will be YOU (and what you think and believe about yourself)… So Again I Ask that You NEVER GIVE UP on Yourself.