How to Be a Band Promoter
Being a band promoter is like being a one person cheer squad, and in the beginning it can be for a team that no one’s heard of or is interested in seeing play. Your job, however, is to change that. As a promoter you’re to get the band mentioned anywhere possible, heard wherever music is played, and seen in as many venues as you can find. It’s a tough field to enter, with no training readily available, but with a great deal of research and footwork, you just may be able to find a band willing to take you on board.
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Instructions
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Seek out opportunities to make yourself an expert in marketing, public and media relations, and advertising. Take courses or seminars on the subject whenever possible, as these are the basis for most of your work as a promoter.
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Pick a single music genre in which to specialize. Familiarize yourself with the genre in your region. Go to concerts in the area, especially smaller ones. Get to know the local promoters and seek out an internship with one or more of them to get to know the job from the inside. Meet those who can help you in promoting clients in the area, from booking agents to PR people and music reporters.
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Talk to band members and get to know the music scene from their point of view, learn what their concerns are about being promoted, and how their current promoters are handling the job. Once you feel you have a good handle on what’s required for the job, find a band among those you’ve developed a good relationship with that is unrepresented or underpromoted by their current representation, and offer to handle their promotion for them.
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Create a variety of promotional material for the band for different situations. Have the band create a short demo CD containing three or four songs that demonstrate the band’s range. Develop a full press kit for the band that includes the demo CD, biography of the band, photos, lists of past and future gigs, and contact information for occasions when you want to provide as much information as possible to someone about the band. Put up a website for the band that expands on the information available in the press kit for easy, up-to-date information on the band.
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Establish a connection with the band’s fans online. Create a mailing list that fans can join from the website. Post pages on social media sites about the band, and use social media to develop an official communications stream between the band and its fans.
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Advertise the band wherever possible, both online and off. Talk up the band to online bloggers, music reporters and podcasters. Establish channels for the band on video streaming sites online and make available for viewing any music videos, interviews or other promotional material the band has available. Offline, meet with those you networked with to set up PR opportunities. Speak to reporters to setup interviews with the band, talk to radio stations to get the band’s music placed onto the playlists.
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References
Resources
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