How to Promote Your Music – Do You Need Financing to Promote Your Band?
If you are looking for ideas on how to promote your music, you might be thinking about all of the things necessary to get your music out there. You want to make a demo, or make cds, so you need money for manufacturing. You want to play live shows, so you need money to travel. You want to sell merchandise at the shows, so you need money to buy promotional items like t-shirts and cds. Everything you can think of to promote your music takes money. But how do you promote your music when money is tight and you can’t afford to do all of these things? Do you really need financing if you want to promote your band?
Actually, you will need a little money to promote your music, but maybe not as much as you think. Now is the time to think outside of the box. If you want to promote your band, but don’t want to wait for financing, you’ll have to really prioritize spending. Don’t waste money on things like cds and t-shirts. In fact, don’t even waste money on making cds right away.
Okay, so now you’re probably thinking: how do I get my music heard if I’m not even spending money on cds? Easy! Most people have Ipods or Mp3 players on their phones nowadays. If you’re short on money, put your music on the internet. This way, you can save your money for things like travel expenses. When you play a show, hand out flyers with your website or Facebook address on it. People will visit — some of them might visit as soon as you hand them the address. Then, even if you don’t hand out a flyer to every person at the show, they will probably Google you as soon as they leave and find your site. They’ll download your music, and if you have it for sale digitally on your site, you’ll make some easy money that cost you very little up front. That means more money to go to shows and find MORE people who will love your music.
Bonus Tip: Use social networking like Facebook and Twitter to promote yourself and interact with your fans. They’ll love you for it, plus they’ll recommend you to their friends, who will recommend you to others. Once you hit the critical mass phase of social networking, you’ll have more fans than you can even count. Don’t you think a record label will stand up and take notice if you have thousands of Facebook or Twitter fans? It could take even less time than you think if you network. Plus, it’s FREE.