Cut Through the Noise: 3 Simple And Effective Ways for Musicians to Get Noticed

Smart musicians know that their career depends on building a loyal relationship with as many fans as possible. But before you can start to build that relationship, you have to get people’s attention…

So how do you cut through the noise?

Well, here’s a simple rule: What stands out gets remembered and talked about. What blends in gets forgotten - or worse - goes unnoticed.

Click to read more ...

Band Interview Tips: How to Make the Most Out of Your Interview

If you do a scan online, you can find many articles about how to interview a band and what kinds of questions to ask a band, but there aren’t many things about what bands can do to prepare for and leverage an interview. I’ve done a fair share of them, both as the interviewer and the interviewee, and wanted to share some experiences with you so you can maximize the interview.

Click to read more ...

What Publicists Need From Musicians – Guest Post by Anne Leighton

Posted By: Michael Brandvold (Michael is a 20 year music marketing veteran who has worked with unsigned indie bands and international superstars. Michael owns Michael Brandvold Marketing a site dedicated to providing tips and advice for musicians.)

This is a guest post by Anne Leighton.

The best, savviest musicians listen to their publicist’s expertise.  Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and Tower of Power’s Emilio Castillo pay attention to what I tell them when I disagree, find a wrong fact in their bio, or if they NEED to do an interview during a vacation.  They also tell me when something needs to be fixed.  We’ve never had an argument.  Sure, we’ve all made mistakes that were based in misunderstood e-mails or my faulty research for an address. All my artists have missed interviews, but we rebound and reschedule.  We’re human.

Your publicist interfaces with you: the media, other world and industry tastemakers, or gatekeepers to get you more known in your career.

We work together.  Whether it’s you or Ian, artists have to realize the type of coverage (radio, print, TV, internet) they will receive in conjunction with where they are at the time of their album’s release.  If you’re at Lady Gaga’s level, most everyone will devote space and time to you.  If you had hits more than three to 40 years ago, selected national outlets might be interested, but chances lie more in local print and radio. If you’re still determined to wake up early in the morning, you could get some local TV coverage.

Click to read more ...

Keep Shooting High-Definition Music Video and Related Material

Here’s another reason to shoot high-definition video that’s connected to your music-related ventures:  Demand for short, interesting, compelling, non-explicit, music-infused, high-quality, high-def content is going to be driven by the digital signage industry.

I have been doing some work for a venture that’s focused on digital signage. Here are some stats to consider:

• Digital signage is going to be an explosive growth (exposure) opportunity - with over 500-million connected screens predicted to be in the market by 2013.  
• The combination of all the impressions generated by all the connected digital signs - already makes digital signage one of the largest impression-generating networks on earth.

Since the average exposure (time) to digital signage is relatively short, music videos are perfect for digital signage loops.  Expect new mass-exposure opportunities to grow out of the digital signage networks over the next twenty-four months.

Question:  Do any MTT readers have high-quality music videos that they feel are under exposed?

About Bruce Warila