What is marketing? Marketing is the entire range of activities that involve increasing your exposure in the market that you have chosen. This exposure then needs to lead to sales. These sales might be for CDs, DVDs, digital products, books, concerts, merchandise etc. It includes but is not limited to advertising, promotion, public relations, sales, endorsements, articles, interviews, establishing contacts etc.

A typical musician runs hot and cold in this regard. He or she gets enthused about marketing and works very hard … for a couple of weeks. Then, nothing for months…

Ben,

I am a veteran jazz guitarist, born in Chicago but based in suburban Philadelphia.

I appreciate how you handle sensitive topics related to the Art of Jazz.

Being in this business for a long time as a musician, educator, author and lecturer, I have a somewhat different take on the subject of jazz musicians and audiences. Though it’s easy to blame the media and they deserve some of the blame, I think the biggest problem lies squarely on the shoulders of jazz musicians and the jazz community.

This community has never promoted or marketed their art and craft at the level or with the same intensity as other musical idioms. This is not to comment one way or another on the musical significance of jazz versus rock – country vs pop etc.

As an example, country music has an enormously popular and important tradition called Fan Day. This is basically a big convention for the fans to meet, up close and personal, their country music idols. Autographs are given, merchandise is sold, pictures are taken. I have never seen a country artist resist this tradition or complain about it. They recognize that without the fans, they would have no career.

Country music plays to the fans and seems to show a genuine interest in them. I understand the differences between country and jazz but jazz still must be marketed with consistency and enthusiasm. The musicians have to do their part in promoting and marketing their art and craft. I am talking about traditional forms of jazz not “smooth jazz”.

Jazz shares many of the same issues with classical music. There is too often a distance and certain type of elitism that prevents audiences from getting “close”.

I hold out great hope for the future because of the “new” music business – the “cyber marketing” and all the tools that are available to jazz musicians across the world.

Chuck Anderson
“Audience Friendly, Progressive Jazz Guitar”
www.ChuckAndersonGuitar.com

If interested, I’d love to send you copies of two of my CDs as well as one of my books. It deals with the subject of development within the music business, the individual and within the artistic community. The book is titled “Music Pursuing the Horizon”
—-
Chuck Anderson
www.ChuckAndersonGuitar.com
chuckandersonguitar.blogspot.com

What is marketing? Marketing is the entire range of activities that involve increasing your exposure in the market that you have chosen. It includes but is not limited to advertising, promotion, public relations, product creation, merchandising, endorsements, establishing contacts etc.

A typical musician runs hot and cold in this regard. He or she gets enthused about marketing and works very hard … for a couple of weeks. Then, nothing for months.

What you need to do is to set aside time every day for something … anything … that would promote you and your work. It’s a good idea to follow some simple advice from the exercise world and the diet world. Do what you can maintain. In other words, it’s a lifestyle more than an emergency event.

The more you do, the more you will develop an attitude, a momentum. Soon, the process will be natural. It becomes something that you don’t even have to think about, to do.

When this happens and continues to happen, you’re on your way!

Musicians and entertainers are not supposed to chase club managers around, negotiate contracts or even collect the money. They should be spending all their time developing and polishing their skills as performers. Yet, the majority of up and coming artists spend the majority of their time spinning their wheels in the frustrating search for work, for publicity, for recognition. Could this be one of the reasons that we have relatively few quality acts today? I think that this is a major contributing factor.

It’s not that talent doesn’t exist. It’s not that the drive or the ambition of artists are lacking. It’s not that people are not trying. It’s that there has been a complete collapse of the internal business of music. Changes in the industry have certainly contributed to this problem. But the real problem seems to be a lack of interested, committed people to work in the industry.

A case in point is the agency business. A music agent is a person that pursues and hopefully, gets work for artists. For this effort, they receive a commission. At one time, this business had prohibitive expenses associated with it. Phone bills and the mailing expense of promo kits mounted up. But today, you can get unlimited phone calls across the country for $39.95 a month. EPKs (Electronic Press Kits) have eliminated the publicity pictures, the bio, the credits and the demos (CD or DVD). They have also eliminated the mailing expenses associated with these items.

So what does it take to enter the agency business? … A phone and access to the internet! From there, select your artists in the genre that you want to pursue and begin.

What are the music business graduates doing when they graduate from college with their degrees? It’s not obvious to me!

Without agent Sol Hurok, Andres Segovia probably wouldn’t have had a career. There are many examples in music history, where agents have been responsible for the development and prosperity of an artist’s career!

Derek Siver, founder of CD Baby has recognized this need and is beginning a business called MuckWork. I am 100% behind Derek and his new business endeavors.

Check Derek’s new endeavors at http://sivers.org

Why they are in music at all is a mystery to me. My only guess is that it beats working for minimum wage.

It’s obvious that they don’t study or practice or do anything other than exercise their egos in front of the public. The fact that they have audiences is either a tribute to their marketing skills or a general insult to the listening public.

There is a silver lining to this sad story. I once thought that there was a correlation between talent and success. Instead, I’ve replaced that theory with another theory – and it is generally optimistic! Don’t worry about being good enough or having any talent. Don’t worry whether or not you can recruit adoring fans. Anyone can find a niche for whatever they do. And with some effort, you can turn that niche into a fan base with income to follow.

Your conscience should be your only barometer and without any conscience the sky’s the limit!

Determine a Direction

Before even considering contacts, one must develop abilities and determine a direction. Whether this involves formal study or self teaching is inconsequential. The important thing is that the physical ability to perform is developed along with the creative sense and the sensitivity of the ear.

At whatever point the individual feels that he is ready to pursue a specific direction, he can begin his search for contacts. The most important fact to remember in this search is that you must locate the contact not the reverse. Though you may disagree, the contact has less to gain than you do, at least initially. You are vitally interested in yourself and your future. The contact is typically not that interested. Thus, the pressure is on you to make the moves. You do not have to be born into contacts. You do not have to live next door to a contact. You do have to open a strong, definite line of communication between yourself and everyone with whom you come into contact. If you are shy and reluctant to express yourself, you must work on overcoming this problem. Though it does require an effort, it is well worth it.

Those who accept all commercial work to the exclusion of any other musical pursuits have usually made their decision in favor of income and a degree of stability. Those who turn down all commercial work in favor of artistic pursuits have made quite another decision. For some this decision has led to income and stability but only for very few. For the majority, the decision has prevented them from achieving financial rewards and those things which society equates with success. If the individual has made the decision that finances are unimportant to him and if he can remain immune to society’s pressure, he will be free to pursue his art in peace.

The progress of the band suffers and you suffer! The chain is as strong as its weakest link. But you don’t know how to handle this problem. After all, it’s your friend, maybe your best friend.

This is your first test of developing an attitude of professionalism – or at least seriousness.

If your “friend” won’t put the effort into improving, you should replace him or her in the band. Don’t let some misguided sense of loyalty stop you from doing what you should do. It’s not fair to you to be held back by such an individual.

If this individual is truly a friend, go to the movies with him or her. Hang out, eat meals together, go to a ball game.

Be a friend but don’t let it interfere with your future!

If you don’t approach your music as a serious endeavor, it will not be taken seriously. Is music your full time career or is it a hobby? The answer to this question is central to your decision as to how you should approach the business side of it.

Think of any business, product or service. They all have one thing in common. They promote, they advertise, they sell. This is not a violation of your internal commitment to the arts and creativity. On the contrary, it’s what makes you a professional as opposed to a hobbyist. Playing music as a hobby is fine. These comments are more addressed to professionals and those who want to be professionals.

Creativity creates your product or service. Then, you have to introduce it to the public, find your audience and provide something of value.

This is simply a mind set. Learn to think business after you have created your service or product.

Your reward will be the opportunity to indulge your passion while making a living.