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Relief From The 4th Quarter Panic Attacks
By Tim Sweeney (www.tsamusic.com)
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It’s
that time of year again when I get hundreds of panic based emails and
phone calls from artists who haven’t accomplished what they want or think
they should have. I call the disease "The 4th Quarter Panic Attack".
Artists like everyone else, make themselves New Year’s Eve resolutions that this year they are going to be serious about their careers. While thousands give up or forget about their promises to themselves once every day life kicks in, some do move ahead recording new songs and even pressing new CDs. While many artists feel they need a new CD every year, they forget the fact that it will probably be destined to fail or be a disappointment just like the last one. While they are quick to say I need a new CD because the new songs are better, the old songs don’t represent the band anymore, we have played them too many times or something similar, they have forgotten the fact that they haven’t finished promoting the current CD sitting on the floor in their bedroom or garage. The truth is that until they learn how to effectively promote their existing CD, their music career really isn’t going to accomplish the goals they set for it.
The main contributor to this disease is that artists are full of “misinformation” they have been exposed to by other people. Most believe that they have to promote their CDs nationally to get greater sales or attention from record labels. They have to promote themselves outside their home market for the people at home to appreciate their music. Or my favorite, you can’t accomplish anything late in the year, so you better wait until January to start to do anything.
Stupid! The simple fact is that most artists fail because they have not done the basic things they need to to have their music career succeed. Dealing with reality instead of living in panic is the first step to the cure.
While it is true that if you haven’t been actively promoting your music to radio or the press before this time of the year, it is probably not a good time to start. Unless, you already have a previous relationship with them. However, for most artists this is an ideal time to accomplish extremely important “foundation” items or elements that they may not have focused on before. Here are some remedies to help cure you from this disease if you begin to show sign of it.
1. As I have preached for years, focus on your home market and those around you that you can properly promote your shows in and play on a monthly basis. It should go without saying and you should have learned by now, that more than 70% of your CD sales are at live shows and the clubs you want to play in, book 2-3 months in advance. To put in simply, start booking now for dates in January and February.
2. Get rid of your Press Kit. Finally focus on creating an Artist Profile that will best represent you to radio, retail, press, clubs and online.
3. Incorporate your new Artist Profile into your web site. Take out the elements of your sites that have either limited or kept you from getting the sales your music deserves. Delete MP3 Files and replace them with streaming audio files. Put insights to your songs next to them, etc.
4. Set up for advance promotions once you have the right tools (a retail ready CD, an Artist Profile and a proper web site). Send your Artist Profile and CD to smaller clubs where you can or hope to, sell out by giving out CD samplers the week before. Research which radio stations have sales impact in stores and online before you waste CDs on stations that broadcast to no one. Figure out which reviewers at targeted publications are the right ones. You can learn this by reading past reviews and articles they wrote on other artists in your format. Research which stores in your target markets have a good section of your genre of music and will take your CDs on consignment. Learn which web sites have active readers or subscribers and can motivate CD sales.
Make use of this time of the year to accomplish the basic elements you need to build a proper foundation and give yourself a chance to succeed. While it is a good idea to make a marketing plan, it should only be 3 months in length to allow you enough flexibility to take advantage of new opportunities you don’t currently see.
Don’t give up because you feel you haven’t accomplished enough in the past. You can’t worry about changing the past. Focus your efforts on what you can do right now. Not months from now.
If you use your panic as a source of motivation versus reflection on what you should have done, you will find that your music career will be going forward.
Contact me when you are ready to move your career forward. www.tsamusic.com
Tim Sweeney
Artists like everyone else, make themselves New Year’s Eve resolutions that this year they are going to be serious about their careers. While thousands give up or forget about their promises to themselves once every day life kicks in, some do move ahead recording new songs and even pressing new CDs. While many artists feel they need a new CD every year, they forget the fact that it will probably be destined to fail or be a disappointment just like the last one. While they are quick to say I need a new CD because the new songs are better, the old songs don’t represent the band anymore, we have played them too many times or something similar, they have forgotten the fact that they haven’t finished promoting the current CD sitting on the floor in their bedroom or garage. The truth is that until they learn how to effectively promote their existing CD, their music career really isn’t going to accomplish the goals they set for it.
The main contributor to this disease is that artists are full of “misinformation” they have been exposed to by other people. Most believe that they have to promote their CDs nationally to get greater sales or attention from record labels. They have to promote themselves outside their home market for the people at home to appreciate their music. Or my favorite, you can’t accomplish anything late in the year, so you better wait until January to start to do anything.
Stupid! The simple fact is that most artists fail because they have not done the basic things they need to to have their music career succeed. Dealing with reality instead of living in panic is the first step to the cure.
While it is true that if you haven’t been actively promoting your music to radio or the press before this time of the year, it is probably not a good time to start. Unless, you already have a previous relationship with them. However, for most artists this is an ideal time to accomplish extremely important “foundation” items or elements that they may not have focused on before. Here are some remedies to help cure you from this disease if you begin to show sign of it.
1. As I have preached for years, focus on your home market and those around you that you can properly promote your shows in and play on a monthly basis. It should go without saying and you should have learned by now, that more than 70% of your CD sales are at live shows and the clubs you want to play in, book 2-3 months in advance. To put in simply, start booking now for dates in January and February.
2. Get rid of your Press Kit. Finally focus on creating an Artist Profile that will best represent you to radio, retail, press, clubs and online.
3. Incorporate your new Artist Profile into your web site. Take out the elements of your sites that have either limited or kept you from getting the sales your music deserves. Delete MP3 Files and replace them with streaming audio files. Put insights to your songs next to them, etc.
4. Set up for advance promotions once you have the right tools (a retail ready CD, an Artist Profile and a proper web site). Send your Artist Profile and CD to smaller clubs where you can or hope to, sell out by giving out CD samplers the week before. Research which radio stations have sales impact in stores and online before you waste CDs on stations that broadcast to no one. Figure out which reviewers at targeted publications are the right ones. You can learn this by reading past reviews and articles they wrote on other artists in your format. Research which stores in your target markets have a good section of your genre of music and will take your CDs on consignment. Learn which web sites have active readers or subscribers and can motivate CD sales.
Make use of this time of the year to accomplish the basic elements you need to build a proper foundation and give yourself a chance to succeed. While it is a good idea to make a marketing plan, it should only be 3 months in length to allow you enough flexibility to take advantage of new opportunities you don’t currently see.
Don’t give up because you feel you haven’t accomplished enough in the past. You can’t worry about changing the past. Focus your efforts on what you can do right now. Not months from now.
If you use your panic as a source of motivation versus reflection on what you should have done, you will find that your music career will be going forward.
Contact me when you are ready to move your career forward. www.tsamusic.com
Tim Sweeney
Tim Sweeney is an independent music consultant. He is one of the music industry's most highly sought after experts in the areas of artist development, radio promotion, record distribution, retail marketing and publicity. He has helped dozens of record labels both major (Columbia, Epic, MCA, Revolution, Hollywood, Capitol, Mercury, Polygram, Warner and their sub-labels) and independent (Restless, Skunk, Screaming Goddess, among others) develop some of their most promising and successful artists of all time.
For more information on Tim's seminars, books and artist consultation, please visit his website at www.tsamusic.com