By Corey Bray

Your band might have a creative sound and a lot of talent, but if you don’t have a solid marketing strategy, you aren’t likely going to be getting outside of your mother’s garage anytime soon. The first step to developing a sound marketing strategy is to do a little basic market research. Although it is helpful to have a manager and a team of promoters to help market your band for you, chances are you will probably have to learn to do a lot of this leg work for yourself until you can afford a team of professionals to take over the bulk of this part of the music business for your band. In the meantime, understanding your local music industry is an important step towards a more successful music career for the members of your band.
Mastering your local music industry starts with evaluating who your band is and what venues you should be playing in. So, getting your hands on a basic list of venues in your area that host live talent is a good starting point. Often there is a local area publication for most cities that makes this information publicly available. From here, you need to isolate the particular venues in your area that hire bands for gigs that play your type of music. Once you have narrowed the choices down to a list of appropriate venues, then you will want to start visiting these venues and take some notes on what it takes to get your band hired. You will also want to take notes on what goes on in each venue. Who is the owner, who works behind the counter, who are the regulars, is it a rough joint, and which nights are scheduled for live shows etc., etc., etc.. It’s helpful to keep a computer profile on each establishment you would like to play in for your personal reference. Remember, you are not just an entertainer, but you are also a business person and a representative of the venues that hire you. And if you want venues to hire your band again and again, it is a good idea to learn to interact professionally and competently with both the staff and the patrons. So, you might have a computerized listing that looks something like this.

Name:
Joe’s Night Club

Location:
3974 Spikeheart Lane
Atlanta GA, 34091

Phone:
770-335-CLUB

Owner:
Joe Prescott” JP@Joe’sclub.com

Staff:
Jack Taylor: Door man
Jimmy Joseph: Bouncer
Jeff Daily: Bar Tender

Regular Patrons:
Andrew Mills: Amills@aka.net
Kate Lemon: Katelem@riverside.com

Comments:
Joe does not advertise gigs and expects bands to do their own advertising.
He seems to be more pleasant if you return his calls promptly.
He mentioned that our pres kit didn’t look very professional (We will want to check into that).
Live bands play every Tuesday and Saturday nights.

Jack says that Joe doesn’t always pay bands what he promises.

Andrew likes it when we play Satriani covers (Remember to throw in a couple next time).

Kate is a big Rush fan (We don’t know any Rush tunes, but maybe we should learn one and add it to our third set).

As you learn more about a venue and the people who frequent it, it is useful to update your information about that establishment. Of course, you will learn through trial and error how much information you really need to keep on hand about a venue, but the more you know the easier it is to avoid problems and insure that things go smoothly when you perform. It also helps when you make the necessary improvements to your band, which both improves your professional image and often works to impress the guy responsible for hiring local talent at the venue. It’s little things like this that other bands fail to do that will give you the competitive edge. Knowing that Andrew likes Satriani covers, for example, helps you to immediately improve your image among your fans, if you give them what they want. Remember, people like Andrew and Kate are paying to see you play, so in part keeping them happy can go a long way towards improving your overall job security, if Joe sees that you keep his regulars satisfied and returning from week to week.

Beyond the bars and parties, there are also key music industry professionals who are involved in other aspects of the music industry in your area. Sound engineers, producers, radio announcers, and the like. You should make it a point to keep tabs on these individuals as well in your informational data base. You never know when you will need the services of a competent sound engineer, or when going out of your way to greet a radio announcer will have that announcer talking positively about you on their show the next time they are on the air. Building solid contacts and getting free advertising like that is all part of what is involved in mastering your local music industry.