The July 15th post informed you “How to Organize an International Tour”, but now it’s time to learn how to promote a sustainable tour or individual concert once you’re booked. Believe it or not, this isn’t a difficult process, rather it takes a lot of creativity, patience, and a strong will to reject old habits. Let me explain the “reject old habits” comment for a second. A giant trap for bands when they go overseas is the assumption the music industry is the same no matter where you go. Really? So what you’re telling me is you would promote a concert the same in the swamps of Louisiana as you would in eastside Manhattan. If you even want to argue this……..so long, farewell, and good luck in your soon to be short-lived career. The differences in promoting a show in the U.S. alone is overwhelming, but can you imagine the complexity when you jumping from country to country within Europe. Each one represents a different culture, different musical trend, different fans, different ideas, and different behavior. I’ll teach you some ways to maneuver past these issues in order to create a beneficial experience while playing music around the globe. Before diving into “5 Ways to Promote a Concert Overseas”, lets get the updates over with first.
§ 1 – News Updates
§ 2 – Updated Contacted Information
§ 3 - 5 Ways to Promote a Tour Overseas
§4 – Upcoming Blogs
§(1) – NEWS UPDATES
Sticking to tradition, I have a few quick comments on the upcoming book series An Outsiders Guide: How to Market and Promote Your Band in ______. This has been a project I’ve been working on for some time, and I’m excited that three of the books will be released this fall. To recap, the books will serve as a guidance tool for indie level bands on how to market/promote their band in a target country. The books will also highlight step by step instructions on setting up international tours in a specific country. The first three releases are specific to SWEDEN, ITALY, and CANADA. As I’m ecstatic about all these releases, the CANADA project has proved special. In all the book series, I’m flanked with a team of industry professionals who act as contributing authors. The CANDADA series has me connected to Andre` Doucette. Believe me, Andre` is about to deliver amazing insight not only as a Canadian music genius, but also as an engineer, mixer, and producer. Andre` was recently honored as the ‘Most Popular Producer’ by the London Music Awards in Canada. As an engineer at London Ontario’s Charter House Studios (www.charterhousestudios.com) Andre` is exposed to Canadian bands of all levels. His input on the Canadian music scene will prove a giant asset for readers. Also on this particular project is travel guru Mark Ratay who has traveled to 9,301+ countries. I may be off on that calculation, but lets just establish that Mark is an absolute travel expert and understands the ins/outs of different cultures and can make organizing trips a synch with his input. Finally, the book will also reveal input from Xavier Frascogna. If there is a fantasy league draft for entertainment attorneys, Xavier (or my Dad), would be my pick. As the author of best selling Billboard book This Business of Artist Management, you can’t receive better insight from a music industry veteran. Once again, be looking for the books this fall, read, enjoy, and go promote your band in global markets!
§(2) – STAY CONNECTED
For those that haven’t noticed, I’ve again condensed all the separate sites to make staying connected with industry news much easier. Go to à www.FrascognaMusic.com and use the STAY CONNECTED section to link to Twitter accounts, MySpace Music, Facebook groups, LinkedIn, etc… Enjoy.
§(3) – 5 WAYS TO PROMOTE A TOUR OVERSEAS
Setting up a tour outside of your home country is a challenge, but promoting a concert (or concert series) in a country other than your own is an outright monster. The trap many musicians fall into is that they assume promotion is a universal language. Wrong. As some promotional methods may prove consistent in particular markets, you must remain flexible in order to adapt with new techniques. As I said before, would you promote a concert the same in New York as you would Louisiana? How about Oregon and Alabama? Better yet, how about Ireland and Italy? Clearly the answer is “NO”, so keep this in mind as you proceed. Here are 5 basic steps to follow in order to simplify the processes.
- Reject the old school methods of promotion
Imagine you’re a band in Florida that gets a gig in France, how will you promote the show? If you resort back to the Florida methods you’re trouble. What was the plan….hang concert posters? Buy newspaper advertisement? Many of the traditional methods of promotion don’t work internationally simple because of the distance involved. You can’t fly over to France for a day to hang concert posters. You can’t send them to the venue and ask them to put them up. This isn’t something you can monitor and will have no idea if they actually do it. Economically speaking, traditional methods of promotion will not work when distance enters the equation. When you find yourself generating promotional ideas that seem like old hat, STOP, and think if it will make sense from an economic standpoint.
- Use Social Media to Identify Your Fan base
Chances are you will be amped about the opportunity to play out of the country, but in reality you’ll know little about the actual market in which you’re playing. If this is the case, use networking sites like MySpace Music to research the scene. If you’re an Indie Electronic band, narrow your MySpace search to identify bands in the particular country that perform the same genre. At that point, turn into a stalker! View a bands MySpace friends and monitor the age and gender of their fans. Once you can gather some information it makes tailoring your show to hit a certain demographic much easier.
- Use Social Media to Promote a Concert, However do NOT Depend on It.
As it may be extremely beneficial to promote shows thru Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, etc.. it has little positive effect when heading to a different country. A couple reason why - you don’t have fans in the new country, so you’re not going to have an online media following that will be beneficial. Sure this may look cool to talk about your upcoming Italian tour on your Twitter account, but it really only bounces around with your domestic friends. The chance some untapped fan in Italy will stumble upon your Twitter and say: “Ohhh hell yes, Band X is coming to Naples next Thursday. I’ve never heard them, nor do I know anyone that has heard of them but man I’ve got to hit up that show” is highly unlikely. Rather, use social media as a way to wet a fan’s appetite, and promotion thru repetition. Even though Italian fans may not know who you are, if they constantly see the bands name popping up on Twitter & Facebook it will peak their interest.
- Set Up Radio Interviews (or web interviews)
Radio isn’t completely dead! Radio promotions is often one of the easiest promotional tools for international artist, yet the least used. Setting up radio interviews typically proves unproblematic for international bands, and can be a bullfight for domestic groups. Why? International bands are interesting to domestic customers. Radios will be inviting to hear your story and why you chose to tour in country X, they will love to participate in product giveaways, and will probably play your music. International musicians add a bit of sex appeal that domestic groups don’t possess. Interesting stories for radio equals increased listener base, which ultimately means higher advertising rates. Benefit from this model.
- Get a Local Contact
You need someone on the ground that can work. Bands that are located a thousand miles away can’t be effective with promotion. Not only is it essential from a promotional standpoint, you need someone in country X that can navigate the legal red tape that often times bands aren’t aware of. Getting a contact isn’t a difficult process. Locate the local music blogs, music stores, radio stations, or post job links in music marketing rooms on LinkedIn. I promise you someone will emerge that can help. Keep in mind, you’re not looking for long term representation, rather someone who can help for a particular tour/concert. Remember, gaining a contact in country X allows you to quickly accomplish Steps 1-4
§(4) – UPCOMING BLOGS
August 15th I’ll expand the international tour topic even further. Step 1 is setting up a tour (accomplished), Step 2 is promoting your tour/concert (accomplished), Step 3 is to actually marketing your music in order to generate global sales. Until then, enjoy www.frascognamusic.com for constant industry updates.
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