The Let it Burn Blog

Getting Started Is Everything

Tue, 29 May 2012 09:54:54 -0400

This is a nice little blog article about something I have to cope with everyday. Relevant for everyone who has 2 jobs or intensive side projects and needs to motivate themselves to being productive after “Feierabend”.

How to get signed... sort of.

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:46:00 -0400

One of the most agonizing questions in the music business is which bands get signed by a label and why. Agonizing because there is a good number of bands who are trying really hard to meet the record companies’ criteria without really knowing what that is. We’ll here’s a few hints….

First of all you should internalize what a record label is actually doing: selling records. This is (or at least should be) the main motivation of every record label, no matter if indie or major, the impetus of all their actions. Sounds very logical, however most bands completely forget about that when getting in touch with labels. The either think of labels as some kind of “musical welfare organisations” or “fame-making magicians”.

Wake up, this is a business. It might be a bit nicer than other industries, yet still, there’s a lot of money, competition and hard work involved. Anyway, here’s some inside information that might help you and your band to avoid making a dick out of yourselves.

No record label would ever sign a band that…
…sucks (your music is a product and the label is the merchant who has to sell it. If the product sucks no marketing strategy in the world will help to solve this problem, If you’re not sure whether your band sucks or not just ask a stranger who is familiar with the music style you play but not your band. Don’t ask your friends or family who constantly tell you that “you rock”, anyway. If your band sucks indeed then take it like men and get better.)

…has no live experience (this is a tough one but if you haven’t got a list of a couple of dozens noteworthy upcoming and past shows - OUTSIDE your hometown! - or the reputation of an extraordinary live act, you’re probably not gonna attract too many labels, no matter how great your music is. Touring is still the most effective promo you can do and labels want to see that you’re doing your homework.)

…are not networked (one thing is for sure: you’re not gonna make it all on your own, you need partners, and these partnerships do not end with a cool record label. Ideally a band is closely connected with a booking agency, a management (I am talking of someone who is actually helping you and not 90% of the managers out there who only schmooze you in constantly telling you that you’re the best band in the world, which is no help at all), a whole lot of local promoters, some press people and, last but not least: fans. You won’t be able to create such a network with a snap of the fingers, so you better start networking now instead of complaining that noone cares about your band.)

…has no style (sure, it always depends on the definition of “style”, take Kvelertak for example, they look like a bunch of hobos, but that simply fits their music and attitude. However it is impossible to “sell” a band or its products, if it’s not attractive to anyone. The harsh reality of most A&Rs daily routine is that they look and the bandpictures first and if it doesn’t “work” they won’t even take a listen.)

…shows no appreciation (even at bigger record companies you still find a lot of highly dedicated people who actually like what they do and care a lot about music. So whenever a band comes along that does not know anything about the label or any of the bands they are currently working with (and on top doesn’t give a shit about it, anyway) it will be very hard for them to find a label that is willing to invest time and money in them. Just one example for “not appreciating”…)

…is not truly dedicated (Every musician thinks of himself as the most dedicated human being to ever walk the earth since Jimi Hendrix and constantly repeats well-known flowers of speech such as ‘I would do anything for…’, ‘It’s always been my biggest dream to…’ and ‘I am simply made for…’. Well, there’s A LOT of bands who talk the talk and only VERY FEW who actually walk the walk. I could write a whole column about this topic, maybe I should do this soon, but spending a weekend in your comfortable van that daddy gave you to play 2 shows and for the first time in your life sleeping for 4 hours instead of 9 is not what I mean when I talk about “dedication”.)

…is not organized (Everyone is very understanding that you want to play music and not keep books or revise contracts. However self-organisation is the most basic requirement to even start talking to labels. You don’t have to know everything yourself - find partners (see above) - but in the end your band is as much of a business as the label is and you should at least try to face them at eye level.)

…to be continued.

vicemag: As anybody with an internet connection can’t fail to...

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:38:00 -0400

vicemag:

As anybody with an internet connection can’t fail to have noticed, Dre and Snoop resurrected Tupac on stage at Coachella on Sunday night. Luckily they didn’t have to resort to a series of elaborate pulleys or some kind of Illuminati black magick, they took the Red Dwarf route rather than the Aleister Crowley route and used a hologram. Thank god they also had the kind of budget that meant it wasn’t just a poster from Camden Market of Pac and a weed leaf that moves when you walk past it, so it actually looked fucking great (and presumably really, really creepy to all the people at Coachella who were tripping balls).

So I think we can all agree that it was good, so good, in fact, that it was possibly the best thing that’s ever happened in the history of the world. But like all the best things in life, although the short term pay-off was a moment of perfect bliss, the long-term ramifications could, in time, come to tarnish it. So here’s a list of ten things the music industry SHOULDN’T do now that it has hologram technology at its fingertips.

#1. The Music Industry Shouldn’t Go into Retromania Overdrive

In his latest book, music theorist Simon Reynolds states that our culture is wedged fast in a state of “Retromania”, and is “in love with its own past.” Reynolds argues that this is detrimental to new music (though anyone who’s listened to Ed Sheeran, Reynolds’ favorite pop act of the last decade, would argue that new music ain’t up to all that much anyway). Basically, we’re stuck in purgatory between “Lionel Sings Country” and Chase & Status, and now that there is no section of pop’s past rendered inaccessible by death, there’s a chance there’ll be even less space for new music to exist in.

It’s not hard to see how that might affect live music. Think it sucks having every festival you go to swamped by fat dads who are only turning out to see whether or not J Mascis can still shred? Wait till grandad’s fingering grandma in the cheap seats at Brixton Academy as the holographic Don McLean Weezer hired to open up for them recreates the memory of their first kiss (and a dog jumps through a hoop on fire or whatever else it is that happens at a Weezer gig).

#2. The Music Industry Shouldn’t Get Rid of “Artists” Forever

There’d be so much fucking money in music if it wasn’t for those pesky “artists” with their “royalties” and “creative control” letting the side down. But now they have holograms, the big cheeses might decide they don’t need to deal with the pretensions and unreliability of real people any more. Instead, they could package off a recorded show from 1974 and tour it all over the world. Sure, people might pay less, but there’d be no overheads and no performance fees. The live music junket would be reduced to a handful of traveling salesmen traversing the globe with a projector and some CD-Rs in a box. No more rock and roll excess. No more sky-high carbon footprint! Oh no wait, that sounds fucking terrible, so please refrain, music industry.

#3. The Music Industry Shouldn’t Let Axl Rose Die

If you are one of those people who’s stupid enough to think that Axl will rouse himself from whatever Viper Room coke vortex he’s in to get on a plane and headline a metal festival in Rotterdam, you’ve probably been let down a few times. But if the music industry abuses this new technology, Axl might not even have to pretend that he’s thinking about showing up any more. But while you’re tucked up in bed with all your favorite songs from The Spaghetti Hologram? still ringing in your ears, spare a thought for poor Axl—the man uses the illusion that he remains a functioning performer to keep the most precarious of grips upon reality. If the music industry takes that away from him, he surely would not last long.

#4. The Music Industry Should Not Preserve All Artists at Their Peak

Pac? Yes, he deserves it. Ditto, say, The Clash in the Summer of ‘79. The Teardrop Explodes doing “Reward” on Top of the Pops. Tin Machine. With hologram technology, you can have all your favorite performers at the peak of their powers forever, but is that really what you want from life? Remember, death is a natural process. It’s important for artists to die, otherwise you’re putting pressure on every living band to be perfect for thirty years and everyone knows there will only ever be one Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

CONTINUE

I’m a big fan of do’s and dont’s and these are very good ones.

Demo Submission Fail pt.62

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 06:17:26 -0400

Goddamnit! Before your throw your email text into google translator you better throw it into a shredder…. This demo submission email arrived the other day. As always all personal data has been X’ed out but I do not promise to keep this service up forever.

———————————————————-
Hallo,

Wie geht es Ihnen?

Mein Name ist XXXXXXXXXXX.

Meine Band XXXXXXXXX gerade unser neues Album mit dem Mentoring-Hilfe von Jim Vallance.

Jim Vallance hat mit Bryan Adams, Kiss, Aerosmith, Tina Turner und viele andere Künstler gearbeitet.

Wir sind die einzige unabhängige Band mit ihm zu arbeiten, die viel sagt.

Wir suchen aktuell für unsere neues Album zu veröffentlichen und ich wollte es Ihr Etikett zu senden.

Wir haben mit Pennywise, Gob, Unwritten Law, The Ataris, Die Mannequin, und vielen anderen Künstlern innerhalb der gleichen Gattung tourte.

Klicken Sie auf den Link unten, um das Album zu laden.

Vielen Dank für Ihre Zeit und Überlegung,

XXXXXXXXXXXX
———————————————————-

(Become an) iTunes Producer

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:33:00 -0400

(Become an) iTunes Producer :

I am deeply excited where this will lead us after all….

Spotify über alles!

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 11:17:15 -0400

Today the world’s leading audio streaming service Spotify launched in Germany. Regarding the fact that Germany is one of the biggest music markets in the world it was about time. Make a good guess who fucked it up…

Most of you are already familiar with this new way of music consumption through other services such as Simfy, Deezer or Rdio. 16.000.000 Songs available all at once, all for free (oh well, nothing ever REALLY is for free. See below.) satisfying the wildest music appetite from acid jazz to djent metal.

When registering to Spotify you will quickly find out about their (unholy) alliance with Facebook. If you want to use Spotify you have to be part of the social web kraken (well, who isn’t already?). Facebook and Spotify have agreed upon a close partnership when it comes down to the social aspect of listening to music. It’s easier than ever before to share your band music taste with all your friends and force them to your haunting tunes. Yippee-ki-yay!

So this is all for free? Well, almost. There’s some banner ads and after 6 months your listening pleasure is restricted to 10 hours a month and a total of 5 plays per song. That’s not much. My count for “Still” by Jupiter Jones is currently around 65 plays for example. Fortunatelly I have bought this song on iTunes, it’s all mine, so I can continue my languor. As an alternative to the free version of Spotify described above, they offer the following plans:

UNLIMITED: No ads: 4.99 / month
PREMIUM: No ads, unlimited plays, offline music: 9.99 / month

So here’s the dilemma: Even if you chose the premium plan which even allows you to download your music to listen to the songs offline, you still don’t OWN them. If this is what you are looking for you should move back to iTunes. Spotify claims that of their 10.000.000 users about 1/3 are paying customers using either the unlimited or the premium plan.

And what about the labels and bands? Spotify has (almost) signed an agreement with the Gema (that’s the music rights organisation which is in charge for a whole number of YouTube videos that are “not available in your country”, a.k.a. “the enemy” for most music lovers) to guarantee a percentage for every download and stream is being paid to the rightsholders or their agents (bands, labels, publisher). That should be something like 0,006 Euro per song stream. Doesn’t sound much but just imagine how often Lady Gaga or Dj Ötzi are being streamed every day. Well, these negotiations are taking forever which is the reason why Germany is among the last countries to launch Spotify.

Bottom Line? Since Spotify offers a free plan, too, I encourage everyone to at least check it out. Streaming music instead of carrying it around on your old fashioned harddisks is the undenieable future. However I would be cautious about buying a plan. Without a ubiquitous and solid internet connection using Spotify can be really annoying and if you decide one day to move on to another service all your music (even if you have downloaded it) will be gone. With iTunes’ revised audio preview of 90 seconds per song, there’s no need to use Simfy if you just want to “check out” an album or track.

Demo Submission Fail pt.25

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:13:00 -0500

This 12MB email just landed in the Let it Burn Records mailbox. The translation below does not even come close to how ridiculous this demo submission. Actually I shouldn’t have crossed out he bandname. Unbefuckinglievable!

——————————————————
hey,
wir sind XXXXXXXXXXX und haben eine Band……..wir haben auf eurer seite gelesen, dass ihr gerne ein paar demos hättet die ihr euch anhört(finden wir echt geil).
Wir spielen Hard Rock bis Metal haben jedoch keinen Sänger und machen deshalb instrumental Stücke.
Wir würden gerne eine Kritik hören…..cool wäre wenn ihr was hättet wo wir featuren könnten oder ein Sänger der mit uns ein feature aufnehmen könnte.
Im Anhang findet ihr ein paar Songs.
LG,
XXXXXXXX

Attachment: <5.The masturbating elevator chicks(Black!White).mp3><6.Thích Qu£ng éc.mp3><12.4 Adriana.mp3><2.I have dream.mp3>

Translation to English (I tried my best):

——————————————————
hey,
we are XXXXXXX and have a band…. we read on your site that you would like to receive some demos from us to listen to them (that’s awesome!).
We play Hard Rock to Metal but we don’t have a singer, that’s why we are sending you instrumentals.
We would like to hear your feedback… it would be cool if you had something to feature us or a singer that would record a feature with us.
Find a few songs attached.
Best wishes,
XXXXXXXXXXX

Attachment: <5.The masturbating elevator chicks(Black!White).mp3><6.Thích Qu£ng éc.mp3><12.4 Adriana.mp3><2.I have dream.mp3>

Facebook goes Timeline - The good, the bad, the ugly

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:36:09 -0500

Talking about Facebook… You might have taken notice that the new timeline feature (well, it’s more of a general redesign than just a feature) has been finally rolled out for “facebook pages” as well. What does this mean for your beloved band-page?

1.) The Header is back
Remember Myspace? Now you can integrate a giant header graphic showing off all your band’s amazing corporate design… or just show your ugly faces. Still, one of the biggest let-downs when moving from myspace to facebook, not being able anymore to personalize your band-page, is now gone and forgotten. Skoal!

2.) Apps are gone
Well, not really. But they have moved from the left navigation panel (which is gone entirely) to the upper right. They’re actually still in an ok position, however they forfeith importance. You can still add as many facebook apps to your band-page as you wish but only four (!) of them will be shown at first sight and they compete with standard facebook page features such as “Likes”, “Photos” or “Notes”. Chose wisely. Bandpage, Reverbnation, Bandsintown, etc. are in serious trouble now.

3.) Landingpage is gone
This one’s even tougher for 3rd party facebook app developers. Before the relaunch it was possible to define which page would be the first one to be shown if you don’t like a band yet. Not anymore. From now on every facebook page has the timeline as “homepage”. However there’s some cool features to adjust your timeline, just keep on reading…

4.) Pinning but not Pinterest-ing
You now got the possibility to “pin” on post to the top of your page. This feature is still very limited not comparable to the social web’s latest hype Pinterest but still a good thing. As for bands I suggest having one posting with your current shows, latest video or upcoming release pinned on top of your page. Furthermore you can “highlight” certain posts which will be enlarged over the whole width of the content area. Looks nice and is very effective, too.

5.) The idea of a “timeline” in general
Being treated in a smart way, the timeline can be the ultimate interactive band-history. If you use it to highlight the most important steps in your career (you must not post meaningless things anyway), work with consisten wording and strong visual elements, it will be the greatest pleasure for your fans to grub in your past and get an idea where you’re coming from.

6.) Messages
Yes, another thing that we all missed very much since myspace’s demise: messaging. You’re finally able to send messages directly to a band. It’s gonna be a bit of an overkill for people like me who run 3 facebook pages and more but from a user’s point of view (just imagine the dozens of promoters who want to book your band!) it’s a very good thing.

7.) Admin panel
Last but not least Facebook has redesigned its admin panel. It got a lot more usable and it’s way easier to have a real-time overview of likes, messages, events and so on. Neat and functional.

Oh, by the way, if you happen to see a whole bunch of very old, meaningless postings on the very top of your page, don’t worry. If you visit a facebook page being logged in with your private profile (even if you’re an admin) the timeline of your band will be shown differently to every user, depending on who you’re friends with and what they posted in the past. No chance to control that but keeping you timeline clean and informational, none embarassing outdated posts will ever rise to the surface.

It’s good to see that facebook hasn’t forgotten about all the bands (and brands) in their network. However I am very disappointed that they did not solve the “music player” problem yet. There’s been shitloads of rumor about music integration in facebook but nothing spectacular has happened so far.

Bands: Please don't overstress Facebook! (How to NOT promote your band)

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:19:56 -0500

I guess I am something like a “heavy user” when it comes down to Facebook. Not that I post extensively myself but with over 700 “friends” and equally as many pages that I follow, I am obviously using this tool a lot and most of the times I really enjoy myself doing it.

However it is quite obvious that bands (also businesses, brands and other page-owners, but they’re not even half as desparate as most bands) tend to extensively abuse our beloved Social Media stronghold for a new weird kind of “self-marketing”. It reminds me a a lot of the friend-collecting-virus that Myspace infested once. The result was that bands connected with bands and 15.000 friends on Myspace basically just meant that you either used a friend-adder-tool or that you basically had no life and spent nights after nights to add all those pages yourself.

Oh yeah, I’m off the point. The social web and facebook in particular is a complex matter. Most people don’t understand the various technical, social and emotional processes that persuade people to “like” your band, not even most self-proclaimed Social Media Managers. However bands invest a considerable amount of time to promote themselves on Facebook. Most of them with one predominant result: comprehensive annoyance.

Here’s a little subjective How-To-Guide for Bands on Facebook:

If you haven’t got anything to say, shut the f*** up.
I’m dead serious. If you’re a boring person your band postings will be boring, too. That might be because your band itself is boring. Maybe you should find a new hobby but in the meantime stay away from Facebook.

(More than) One posting a day keeps the Likers away
I love to find out about band-news on Facebook. However most bands tend to post basically every unrelevant piece of information. Dr. Social says that’s what Twitter is for. People want to read REAL news. Announcing a new tour? Got signed to a label? Have a new video on YouTube? Albumstream? Lineup change? You got it.

“Give us a like and you can hear our songs” - Eeeehm… no.
There’s a mean logic error in this strategy. How can you ask for someone to like your band/music before getting the chance to listen to it?! If you’re only hunting a figure to boost your ego instead of attracting real fans you should install a visitor-counter on your website and press F5 all day.

If you have “big news coming tomorrow” then don’t post about it today
Tease me, please me… Announcing news that are most likely going to happen in the near future is very odd. I know your plan is to thrill people and fill them with excitement but in reality no one gives a “F”. Save your breath until something is actually happening.

What’s that stupid question again?
Yes, you’re right, the social web is about interaction but who would ever be interested in the answers to “What did you guys have for breakfast?” or “coke or pepsi?”? Just try to avoid empty buzz and in so make people believe your are doing something meaningful like writing songs or practising.

Songwriting is (still) rocket science

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:29:33 -0500

After the breakup of my band I took a break from playing the guitar and writing music for a couple of weeks to make sure I do not rush from one thing into another. I wanted to make sure that this is still what I wanted to do with my spare time. Fortunatelly my hunger for writing and playing music was bigger than ever before and so I happily (re-)stared working on songs.

Not being in a band anymore and also growing up as a musician and music fan my approach to songwriting was way more open minded than it used to be in the past. In fact I diminished most of my previous barriers and boundaries and tried to focus on the essentials that make up a great song, no matter what music-style or genre. Let me share some learnings I experienced lately:

1.) Take your time. I know this sounds odd but songwriting is something that will never work out if it happens in a rush. Make sure you have at least a time frame of 5 hours, mute your phone and close your email-client.

2.) Don’t aim too high. Face it, your song is most likely not gonna be the next “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or “Paranoid”. It might not even be a full song but only a couple of fragments in the end but that’s perfectly alright because you can and should always:

3.) Share your music with others. There’s only very few musicians who play and understand more than one instrument fluently. If you’re a guitar player the input from a real drummer or bassist is essential to get the most out of your song. Playing with others is also the only possibility to “feel” your song.

4.) Gear up. The fewer technical barriers you have, the more you can focus on the creative part. So if you need a certain software or hardware of if your instrument is giving you a hard time, go and buy some new stuff even. New gear is also a top motivator!

5.) Musical Jettison. I know you have heard this so many times before but LESS IS MORE! Keep in mind that there are other instruments, too (Vocals in the first place). Let your song breathe. In addition to that it is counterproductive in almost every genre to add too many parts and ideas to one song. Just pick the best and make sure they fall into place. Therefore also embrace the next hint:

6.) Unlearn your skills. Yes, you are a very talented musician, probably the best in town, but for writing great songs your musical skills might stand in your way. Most of the biggest hits ever written have the most pathetic riff(s) and harmonies (from a musical point of view). Usually the magic happens through the interplay of various instruments and not through the virtuosity of one.

7.) Write, write & write. The more songs you write the better they get. The routine won’t destroy your artistic creativity, it will more likely smooth the way to implement your ideas. If you happen to start picking over the bones by using old riffs for new songs at one point it’s perfectly alright.

Well, even if you internalize every single point there’s still one thing that’s more important than anything else when it comes down to writing amazing songs: Unconditional love for music. If your heart is not in it and if you’re not having fun writing and playing music you’ll never come up with one single great riff.

A few thoughts on Rick Rubin...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:46:54 -0500

Slayer, Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash, Adele, LL Cool J, Danzig, System Of A Down, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Mars Volta, The Gossip, Linkin Park, Rage Against The Machine, Weezer, Neil Diamond, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Gogol Bordello, Run-D.M.C..

Nuff said.

The time has come... Digital music downloads outsell physical sound carriers

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:42:00 -0500

Not too long ago I blogged that digital sales make up 40% of total album sales in the US already. This figure was from 2009. A couple of days ago the results of 2011 have been published and guess what?! For the first time since the emergence of digital music, digital sales outsell the physical ones by 50,3%! Check this out:

But what do these figures mean in detail? As you can see there’s still twice as many album CDs sold than digital albums. However it is the singles and eps that made the change. No surprise if you ask me. A CD single never made any sense in my opinion. It is over-expensive, the artwork is cheap, there’s no booklet and in most cases there’s just one “real” song + a couple of half-assed remixes. Why should anyone pay 4-6 Euro for that? Most singles sell for 1.99 - 2.99 on iTunes and if you only want your “hit” you never pay more than 1.29, in moste cases 0.99.

An interesting side effect of these developements is that vinyl sales grew by over 36%! Vinyl is becoming a reliable nieche in music sales but I doubt that the same thing will happen to the CD once it’s days are finally gone. There’s nothing cool or nostalgic about Compact Discs, they’re gonna be treated like VHS-cassettes one day.

Oh, and in case you didn’t know: The best selling artist in 2011 was Adele (albums and single tracks, physical and digital). It makes me happy to see that she sold more albums than Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga together.

Big news: MERCH is the new MUSIC!

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 06:38:07 -0400

Inspired by a short facebook-conversation from last night I decided to point out (again) the importance of merchandise for a band / musician and - more importantly - hand over a few hints how to increase merch sales.

No need to beat around the bush: The golden times of the music industry are over. A long and complex catenation of ignorant decisions, conservative behaviour, mental stagnation, ignorance and most of all greed has lead to a constant decrease of revenues from music sales. Since most record labels are thinking strictly economically this lead automatically to a worsening of deal offers for bands who are aggrieved even harder.

Usually bands have to cover recording costs, artworks, instruments, practice place rent, a tourbus, gas money, internet domains, social media tools and so on. So what can you do, apart from playing shows, to at least break even with your band? That’s right: SELL STUFF!

Noone has a better presentation area for merchandise articles but bands at shows. Noone reaches more dedicated and enthusiastic buyers and noone can react on “market demands” as fast and individually as a bands. Here’s how to make the most of it:

1. Create something great!
Before you can start selling merchandise you need to produce it. Usually it starts with a list of products you want to offer (anything goes), then you have to take care of artwork(s) (make sure this job is consigned to a professional!), sorting out lot size and finally finding manufacturers who print/create your stuff in best quality for a reasonable price. Sounds easy prima facie but there are dozens of things that can go wrong. Since this topic could make up another 1 or 2 blog entries just a quick pointer: Aim high and don’t compromise (especially not when your great ideas and concepts actually cost money, and they WILL).

2. Get organized!
Yes, running sales sheets and keeping track of your goods in stock is a pain in the ass. But at the end of the day (…or of the show) it definitely pays off to know exactly how many items have been sold, what items / sizes are left, what stuff has been given away for free and by whom and most of all how much cash you earned from your various merchandise articles.
When booking shows you should also make sure, that 1.5 - 2.0m lighted merch space is available. Most promoters don’t realize (or remember) that bands bring merchandise and need a suitable place to set it up.

3. Display is everything!
Your products are surely amazing, but cds with broken trays in a shoe box, buckled posters and crumpled t-shirts on a crate of beer will not make anyone pay attention, much less BUY. Get some cloth hangers and a rope. Bring all kinds of hooks, nails, clamps, fastenings, etc. to the shows. Every venue is a new challange to play (your merch) to the gallery.
Create some eye-catching cd-holders, print “Our New Album!” and “36 Songs On This 7inch!” info-stickers. Make a clearly laid out and transparent pricelist. Show off what sizes of your shirts are available and what textile you print on. Just try to create your own mediamarkt or h&m store, nothing is over the top as long as you arrest attention.

4. Bring a roustabout!
It’s not as cool as playing in a band but I am sure there are a lot of people in your circle of friends who are willing to go on tour with you as the band’s “merch dude”. Free entrance to the show, free booze & food and maybe even a hook-up (there’s VERY reliable statistics that merch guys get more women on tour than the drummer, the bassist and the guitar-player combined!). If you can afford to pay your mercher, do it. If not, try to decoy him with the hard facts just mentioned: booze & girls.
Seriously, you definitely need a reliable helping hand when you want to run your merch business professionally. Make sure your merch guy is involved with the creation of your products (see 1.). He has to know EXACTLY what articles you sell, how many items you have in stock and how much they costs (wholesale & resale).
The merch table has to be built up before the doors open (start early, take all the time you need) and it has to be watched while you are on stage. Your merch has to be (un)loaded and packed without causing any damage (on a 3-week tour every cardboard box sooner or later tears apart, so you better get metal boxes and other durable gear) and nothing must be left at the club after the show (sounds weird but it happens all the time).

5. Design a comprehensible price policy!
This is the boring business part, so I will cut this short. Offering your goods too expensive is bad (especially since the profit margin of t-shirts for example can easily be up to 200-300%). But offering your stuff too low-priced is even worse. It will make your whole merch table appear like a sleazy junk shop. Here’s a rough outline for prices:

T-Shirt (1-color): 10,00 - 12,00 EUR
T-Shirt (multicolor): 12,00 - 15,00 EUR
Longsleeve: 15,00 - 18,00 EUR
Hooded Sweater: 25,00 - 30,00 EUR
Hooded Zipper: 30,00 - 35,00 EUR
CD/LP: 10,00 - 12,00 EUR
Pins, poster, sticker, patches: 1,00 EUR or free with another purchased item

(These prices refer to regular club shows in most European countries. They do NOT work at big festvials or shows on other continents such as North America)

6. Make special offers!
People LOVE making good bargains, so satisfy them! You can give discounts (“Buy 2 CDs and get a shirt for free”) or built merch-packages (“CD+Shirt for 20,00 EUR”), but there’s no limit to your creativity. Set a time limit for your special offers and keep track which ones acutally work and which don’t. Also make sure you display them well at your merch tabel (see 3.).

7. Advertise and promote!
Make use of every chance to tell people about your awesome merch and where it’s available. Post your shirt designs on Facebook and Twitter a couple of days before the tour/show. When on stage tell people to come by your merch table, grab some free stuff (stickers, posters, etc.) and hang out with you. Make sure your merch guy (see 4.) is an open minded, friendly and charming person. Simply try to make “buying a shirt” an awesome “shopping experience”.

Last advice: Since moste bands do not play more than 40-50 shows per year I also suggest you put up an easy to use online-shop such as bigcartel or a simple paypal-store. In so doing your merch is not dead capital and you can make some bucks inbetween the shows.

Best wishes for your continued success and a prosperous merch business!

Greed is the knife and the scars run deep

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:06:16 -0400

Greed is the knife and the scars run deep

Onesheet - Easiest online presence for bands

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 05:50:27 -0400

I just recently came across a great new tool called “Onesheet” (www.onesheet.com) which basically is nothing else but www.about.me just for bands. All relevant info at a glance in one page. Great!

Since the death of myspace, bands are having a hard time representing themselves on the internet. Facebook did not do too much to fill this gap, neither does google+. There’s no such thing as individual “band profiles” (at least not with all features bands and fans would expect) in the Zuckerberg-Universe and google+ currently does not allow any companies, brands or organisations at all. Tools like purevolume, reverbnation, iLike, artistdata, etc. are either too fragmented or put the focus on one single service instead of offering a holistic solution.

It only takes 1 minute to set up a band profile at onesheet.com. You can instantly show off some tunes, pictures and videos alongside connecting with the social web. If you’re in a band, give it a try!

How to boost your band-career: Split up!

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 03:48:54 -0400

Most of you will have taken notice by now that my band The Blackout Argument will split up this year. It’s a sad and unexpected thing, especially since almost everything was going very well for us at the moment. I am currently sorting out and planning the things we still want to do before we disband (which are quite a lot) and - of course - figuring out my own future as a musician.

One thing that really suprised me is the impact of our farwell-posting. There’s been literally hundreds of emails, pm’s and replies of people telling me how sad they are that we split up and how much they love The Blackout Argument. I got messages from people I haven’t talked to in years who told me that they’ve been the biggest fans of my band since day one. We also got 5 (!) new show offers in only one day and an endless list of fan-requests concerning the routing of our farwell-tour. Short: The interest in The Blackout Argument was hardly ever as high as it is now after telling the world that we’re gonna split up.

So where’s the point in that? Is it more fun to care about a band that is actually dead? Is it the myth of “only the good die young”? Or is it everyone hoping for a comeback next year? I don’t really get it…

"Auf fremden Arsch wird der Faule fleißig."

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 07:06:47 -0400

“Auf fremden Arsch wird der Faule fleißig.”

- (via rev-of-ev)

Bands on Facebook (How To)

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:43:01 -0400

I just recently found a quite good blog entry with loads of hints for bands how to “act” on Facebook. Most of these are not big secrets, however 90% of bands I know fail on Facebook. Read this and be enlightened: http://mashable.com/2011/07/11/bands-facebook/

Digital Sales? Look overseas!

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 06:21:00 -0400

40% of all record sales in the USA in 2009 were digital… Another 2-4 years and we might have the same numbers at European music markets as well. Note to self: rethink distribution and marketing strategies. For more information check blog.nielsen.com

UPDATE for 2011: Here are some up-to-date figures from 2011. The trend continues.

* Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” became the first digital song to sell more than 7 million tracks on March 20.
* On July 3, Eminem’s Recovery became the first digital album to sell more than one million units; Adele’s 21 is on track to surpass a million units next week. Through the first six months of the year, Adele has the biggest selling; album of the year, digital album of the year, physical album of the year and digital track of the year.
* 21 by Adele, has sold 2.5 million album sales, 1.5 million physical albums and 992,000 digital album sales while “Rolling in the Deep” has been downloaded more than four million times.
* Adele’s 19 is the biggest selling catalog album of the year through the first six months of 2011.
* Lady Gaga’s Born This Way experienced the biggest 1st week album sales of 2011 with 1,108,000 units – the biggest 1st week album sales since 50 Cent’s Massacre in 2005. The album sold a record 662,000 digital albums in the first week of release.
* “E.T.” by Katy Perry tops the chart for best selling digital song for the first six months of 2011 with 4.1 million downloads.

Fight emails! Now!

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:46:45 -0400

Fight emails! Now!:

We’re drowning in email. And the many hours we spend on it are generating ever more work for our friends and colleagues. (Here’s why) We can reverse this spiral only by mutual agreement. Hence this Charter…