Artist Management – Artists & Bands Seeking Representation

by Jeremy Rwakaara Indie Managers Association At least a dozen times a day, I receive a phone call or an email inquiry from an artist asking: “how do I find a manager to represent me?” or “do you know any managers in (pick a state) who can manage me?” or “how do I go about finding a manager?” I often respond that the appropriate question is: “when should I consider being represented by a manager?”...

8 Reasons Why a Band or Artist Needs a Manager

by Jeremy Rwakaara To most musicians, the enduring image of an artist manager is a caricature of a heavy-set, unkempt slob of a man, stuffed into a 2-sizes-too-small, off-the-rack department store suit, chomping on a cheap smelly cigar while sliding a greasy hand unceremoniously into the back pocket of a starving artist. Surely, somewhere in the vast landscape of the music universe, such malice exists. The vast...

10 Things to Do Before You Release Your Album

Copyright 2007 Jeremy Rwakaara Following are, in no particular order, 10 important things you should do before you release your album: 1. If you are hiring musicians (background singers, instrumentalists, etc.) to play on your album, you will need to make sure they fill out a musicians_release_agreement or talent release form. This agreement is not necessary for musicians that own their own record label, are...

Problems Getting Your Mixes to Sound Right? 10 Tips for Better Mixes

Copyright 2007 Jeremy Rwakaara With the widespread availability of affordable computers and powerful software for music mixing, the average musician is now able to set up a reasonably decent home studio on a relatively small budget. Even though the software is extremely powerful and versatile, what seem to be missing are tips on how to get a great mix. So, without any more fanfare, let us get right down to the 10...

Outrageous Music Marketing Ideas

by Bob Baker I’m not sure exactly what triggered it, but recently my mind started popping with creative, off-the-wall ways to promote your music. So I jotted down some notes and am sharing them with you in this article. I’ll let you determine whether these are truly “outrageous” ideas. But one thing is for sure: They certainly aren’t the traditional things that most musicians think...

Marketing Lessons From an 8-Year-Old Girl

by Bob Baker One morning not long ago, when my daughter was 8, I was driving her to school when she asked me to cue up a very familiar song on the CD player. If you have kids, you know that children often love repeated exposure to stuff they like. They’ll contently watch a favorite movie over and over again, driving the adults in the house batty from the repetition. Well, one of her favorite songs is...

The Power of Personality

by Bob Baker When you promote yourself via e-mail or with the words you use on your web site, you have a choice. You can be straight-forward and matter-of-fact (also known as bland and boring). Or you can communicate with pizzazz. Case in point: My friend Gregg Hopkins plays in a band called The Melroys. He could have sent a run-of-the-mill e-mail to promote a recent show, including the rudimentary club name,...

Four Ways to Attract More Music Fans FasterFour Ways to Attract More Music Fans Faster

This article is excerpted from Bob Baker’s Guerrilla Music Marketing, Encore Edition. Attracting more fans. Admit it, that’s what music marketing is all about — getting more people to come to your shows and buy your CDs. And hopefully, getting a lot more people to do those things. Why else do you work so hard to travel and play as many places as you can? For what other reason do you meticulously...