Music Marketing Fundamentals

Music Marketing Fundamentals


In the music business you may be selling a variety of different products or services: CDs, performances, lessons, recording services, management services… the list is long and varied. But to some degree, what you are really selling is yourself, and what your customers are buying is not just a piece of music or time in a studio, but an experience or a feeling. Marketing experts know that people buy things because of how it makes them feel, and they buy the most from people or businesses with whom they have a relationship. While this applies to nearly all businesses, understanding this is a key to success in the music business.

Sales and marketing are huge subjects which can be studied for years. You can earn degrees, become a marketing guru, study the subject your entire life and still never run out of things to learn. But let’s distill this down to its essence and understand how it applies to you.

First of all, you often hear these two terms together: Sales and Marketing. What is the difference? If we look at departments in larger organizations, the marketing department creates interest in a product or service, while the sales force closes the deal and collects payment. As an independent in the music business, you will probably need to handle both. Let’s look at what this really means.

Marketing is the message you are presenting to the public. It is what creates interest in an idea, and can take a number of forms including advertisements, performances, airplay, websites, email campaigns, social media, blogs, etc. Sales then uses the interest or information collected by Marketing to find and qualify leads, make calls, create relationships (very important!), have personal meetings and ultimately get someone to buy something.

While many musicians are uncomfortable with selling, we must admit a simple truth about what we do: to achieve monetary return from participation in the music business, you must understand sales and marketing. Of course, you can hire someone to handle this for you and, in fact, that can be a good idea. But do not ever think that sales and marketing are unimportant. They are central to your success in the music business.

We’ll discuss a few of the most important principles and see how they apply to music.

Know your market

As you go along in your music career, you will likely find that certain people gravitate to you and your music or service, while others don’t. Those who do are the best indicators of your market, and making an honest assessment of who they are, what their likes and dislikes are, and where and how they shop for music or services is a crucial step in learning how to better present to them whatever you are selling. Whenever possible, try to collect information about your market, as well as about people who don’t want to buy what you are selling. This way you won’t waste time trying to sell to the wrong market. For example, send out a survey to your fans. Ask questions. Your audience will see that you are interested in them and they will tell you about themselves – maybe more than you bargained for! Don’t forget, people love to talk about themselves, so give them the opportunity.

You can’t please everyone

If you define your potential customers as “Everyone that likes good music!” any marketing expert will tell you that you’ve got a problem. Of course, we all want everyone to like what we do, but that seldom is the reality. You may have heard the term “Niche Marketing.” It is definitely the marketing strategy of choice these days, and for good reason. Musicians sometimes bristle at being pigeonholed, and we’ve all heard stories about heavy-handed record label executives that stifle an artist’s creativity, expecting them to crank out formulaic hits that fit whatever is the current fashion. But the truth is that it is nearly impossible to run a marketing campaign and create successful sales by trying to appeal to everyone.

This is true in all levels of the music business. For example, a common mistake of novice songwriters is to try to cram everything into one song – lyrics that cover love, anger, hope, politics, surfing and bling all in one song are just not going to work. A recording studio that tries to cater to hip hop, classical, metal and country is going to have some problems getting new clients and keeping existing clients happy.

In contrast, a focused business model is much easier to handle and can improve your chances for success. Since sales and marketing are the tools that keep the financial engine humming, keep the sales and marketing efforts focused as well. Personal power guru Tony Robbins succinctly stated: “Where focus goes, energy flows.” In other words, keep both your marketing strategy and your targeted customer base well-focused and the resulting energy will be like two streams feeding a river. The flow becomes unstoppable.

Competition

Although most musicians do not consider themselves as participating in a competitive field, some awareness of what else is out there and what is and isn’t working will certainly be helpful. Not that we should mimic anyone else. Just look at it, see if it is useful and if it is, then adopt it in a way that is in line with your personal style and direction. Everyone borrows ideas and there is nothing wrong with that, as long as you don’t take someone else’s ideas word for word and pass them off as your own. At the very least, we can learn from others.

There is great value in modeling yourself after successful musicians or businesses, especially in the early stages. When you learn an instrument, you probably have a favorite player whose style you copy then integrate into your own. So too with marketing. For example, there was a time when music videos were brand new. It soon became apparent that there was great marketing value to having a video on MTV. Most bands copied this idea and made videos of their own, understanding that if they didn’t, it was unlikely they could compete.

Sales is a cycle

Customers seldom make purchases without repeated exposure to an idea or product, which is part of the job of marketing. Most sales and marketing professionals identify 7 or 8 steps in a sales cycle. There is an abundance of information on this subject, so I encourage you to explore further if you are in charge of selling your product or service.

At a minimum, a typical sales cycle consists of the steps outlined below which are illustrated with some examples of how they fit the music world.

1. Initial prospecting – This is the process of finding potential buyers for your product or service. This may include finding clubs that feature folk music, finding stores that sell independent jazz CDs, looking for labels that feature hip hop acts, or finding recording clients that need a recording studio with a great piano. Again, do not cast too wide a net. Soliciting a good list of very well-targeted potential customers is much more profitable than calling every name in the phone book.

My label often gets calls from Rap and Metal bands looking for a record deal. Is there anything about my label that indicates that we release music in these genres? No. Not only is it a waste of everyone’s time, but the caller has to bear the disappointment of an unqualified rejection. Ten well-targeted calls will yield better results than a hundred random calls. Also, I highly recommend keeping a good notebook or using an Excel spreadsheet to track calls and results. The advantage of using software like Excel is that once your data has been input, you can generate mailing labels, letters, keep a log of emails, etc. There are plenty of methods you can use. A simple notebook could work as well. Just be sure you are organized.

2. First Contact – When you have a good list of leads together, then it is time to make that first call or send the first package. Email inquiries are okay, but my feeling is that they can be easy to ignore or get lost in overcrowded inboxes. Unless someone is very specific about email being the preferred method of contact, try a phone call. There is still no substitute for person-to-person contact, even in this digital age. At this stage of the cycle, you may be able to set up an appointment or get permission to send a demo, but if all you do is gather information for the next stage, then that is fine as well.

3. Qualification – At this stage, you should be armed with a little more knowledge about the potential buyer from the earlier stages, and you may be able to make a better decision about how likely they are to actually buy your product or service. If you called a club with a 10-foot performance area offering $150 for a band to play, and you have a 12-piece funk orchestra, then very likely that club should be scratched from your list. This is a good time to start taking more detailed notes in your notebook or tracking log. Data you gather now will help you in later cycles at both this stage and those above. If a common theme in your notes keeps appearing with successful sales, then that is good actionable information for future sales and marketing efforts.

4. Presentation – Once you have qualified a potential buyer, it is probably time to send them a presentation or arrange a meeting. This is a big step. It is the first multi-sensory impression they will get from you. While the initial phone call or email may be the true first impression, the Presentation stage is where they hear your music, see your photograph, read your reviews, see or hear samples of your work and perhaps meet you in person. Remember that from the customer’s perspective, sales are largely an emotional decision, and if a product appeals to and engages more of the senses, then it will be more potent, for better or worse. Interpersonal skills are very important at this stage, and if you don’t have them, you need to acquire them or find someone who will handle the meeting for you.

5. Objections – This is the stage where the potential buyer will bring up concerns or objections to what you have proposed. It is in this stage that the faint of heart may fail. It is very hard to hear something like “I don’t think your music is right for our label” or “We really need a manager with more experience than you.” The successful entrepreneur does not falter at this point, because these statements may or may not be entirely true. They may be tests to see your response; they may be incorrectly stated; they may be surmountable; or they may be honest and direct. The thing to do is find out more.

Let your customer talk a bit more and see if you can address the objection with a solution. Maybe the objection of lack of experience can be countered with your willingness to work hard and with more focus. Maybe the big label has a sub-label or a publishing arm that your music would be suited for. Certainly, in some cases, two parties may truly just not be right for each other. But you want to be sure because you shouldn’t lose an opportunity just because you didn’t try.

6. Re-approach – If the Objections stage did not result in a definitive refusal, then the customer is essentially asking you to come back with a re-tooled proposal. You are being given another chance to make an impression. Now is the time to really understand those initial objections. If you truly believe you are a fit for this customer, then find a way to prove it.

My label has a line of CDs that sell quite well in bookstores and eclectic gift shops. But when we first pitched our CDs, we heard many objections that went something like this: “We don’t really carry CDs” or “We haven’t had great luck with CDs in the past.” We were sure our product would appeal to the customers of these shops so we framed it in a way that appealed to the buyer. We called them “lifestyle” products, offered a free countertop display stand and convinced store owners these CDs would sell as a gift item or impulse purchase. The cover art was interesting and the descriptive information was intriguing. All we needed to do was get it in front of customers. In some cases, we offered an easy return policy, or free shipping for the first order. In most cases, a little concession here or there or some convincing ideas garnered from earlier conversations resulted in both sales and steady customers.

7. Closing – Closing is the point in the process where you get the “Yes” or have someone sign on the dotted line. There are hundreds of books, seminars and high priced business coaches that all discuss the art and craft of closing. The essence of closing is in the question that many musicians are afraid to pose. “So can we pick a date for my band to play at your club?” or “Can we start you out with an order of 12 CDs?” or “We’d like to be a part of your label. How can we make that happen?” These are all very direct questions that require a direct answer. If the answer is a definite “no” then accept it and move on to the final stage. If it’s a “yes,” then congratulations! If it’s a maybe, then you will need to revisit some of the previous stages.

8. Getting referrals and not burning bridges – Just because someone refuses to buy your CD or book your act does not mean it’s a total loss. First of all, never burn any bridges in the music business. You meet the same people on the way up as you do on the way down so, at the very least, you never want to have mistreated anybody. Sure, I have occasionally taken a stand and told a few people what I really think…but only after serious provocation and concluding their behavior truly warrants hearing my uncensored two cents!. But in over 30 years in the business, I can count the number of times I’ve done this on one hand.

If a customer is not interested in your product, you can always ask for a referral. Show that you respect their knowledge of the business, and that there are no hard feelings. Have your questions already formulated: “I understand that we are not a great fit for your venue, but I wonder if you might recommend a place that might suit us.” People usually like to be asked for their opinion or help. Nine times out of ten, when I ask for a few names from a non-buying customer, I get more than I asked for. Suddenly the sales dance is over, and you are just two music business people talking about their favorite topic. You now have made a friend, and don’t be surprised if they end up being a future customer.

Coming next month: Marketing is about Relationships