Here's a great article written by Kelly Warren from CD Man
SO YOU’RE PLANNING A CD RELEASE PARTY…
You would be amazed how often I get a phone call like
this: “We’re
almost finished mixing our songs and we have a release party booked for next
weekend. How fast can we get our CDs made?”Unfortunately
this scenario happens all too often, and it’s the reason why I decided to impart
a few thoughts about it.
Don’t book your CD release party until you’ve got your CDs in-hand
and you’ve given them your stamp of approval, because having a CD release party
without CDs is a disaster. Right?
If you’re organized
and well-prepared, the CD manufacturing process can be surprisingly quick but
you have to be ready for potential delays such as graphic design issues or even
data flaws in your content master. I certainly can’t fault artists for being
excited about unveiling their shiny new CD, but many times that excitement
causes the artist to overlook important planning details.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking your CD Release Party
is supposed to be the first time that anyone sees or hears your CD. Why do major
record labels and movie studios promote their new releases in advance of
actually releasing them? Imagine a big blockbuster production silently appearing
in stores or theatres without the benefit of advertising, artist interviews,
rave reviews, public appearances and press junkets. If the release isn’t hyped in
advance by promotion, who is going to know about it? Who is going to care? Who
will be lining up to buy it? The same thinking applies to your CD release
party.
Your CD is only new once so take advantage of this great
opportunity to promote yourself and your music - the purpose of which is to
drive loads of people towards your release party. The time you spend waiting
for your CDs to be manufactured is the perfect time to create a detailed plan
about what you’re going to do when your discs arrive.
• Once you’ve got
your CDs in-hand pick a release party date that gives you plenty of time for
promotion (between 4 and 12 weeks is common for an indie-band) and doesn’t
compete with other major events in your town – because you don’t need
unnecessary competition stealing away your crowd.
• Write out a
schedule for your event’s promotional/marketing campaign. Set targets, goals
and completions dates for different tasks with everything building up and hyping
your big event - kind of like the election campaign prior to election day.
• “WIIFM”: What’s In It For Me? This is the
philosophy to keep in mind when you’re trying to attract new fans (ie: customers).
Remember, the event is for the fans… not the band… so provide lots of reasons
why people should be excited about attending.
• Targeting Fans: There
is absolutely no point spending time, effort and money to promote yourself to people
who won’t like your music. Find out where your type of crowd is (on the street,
on the internet, in print publications) and then saturate those areas with
interesting promotions. Leave lots of reminders about your ‘big show’ using posters,
handbills, display ads, CD artwork, band photos, banner ads, articles/reviews
and interviews with local college or school newspapers, websites, entertainment
magazines, regional radio and television interviews. Exhaust all potential
avenues.
• Targeting Media –
This takes a lot of what is called “advancing” and requires you to have your CDs
in-hand. This is the most commonly missed opportunity by new recording acts.
Research local
media outlets and figure out who the right people are to talk to for reviews,
interviews and even personal appearances. Call them and ask permission to send
them your press-kit for consideration. Be friendly and polite, and follow-up
with them. Collect as many reviews/interviews as possible and constantly update
your press-kit with them to make it even more impressive. Ask them if they
would be available to attend your show as an MC or VIP and, if so, you can
advertise this fact and gain additional credibility and reasons for
fence-sitters to attend.
• Artist/Sponsor
Alliances: There are local businesses who will want to take advantage of having
all your fans together in one place at one time… music stores, clothing stores,
skateboard shops, printers, etc. Contact them and see if they are willing to offset
some of your promotional costs (like posters and hand-bills) or if they will
offer some prizes or give-aways in exchange for advertising or on-site access. Even
consider getting another band involved with your party to help sell-out the
room and split-up the costs.
Keep in mind that the
vibe at a sold-out show is 10-times more exciting than having every second chair
empty, so if you do a good job creating awareness about you and your new music
you should be able to create expectation, excitement and anticipation for your
upcoming release party. Don’t blow it with poor planning… and don’t risk having
your CDs show up a week after your party.
Kelly Warren is an independent musician and a
Sales/Marketing representative at www.CDman.com. Contact Kelly directly at kellyw@cdman.com or call toll free 1-800-557-3347. CDman is a proud member of Music BC.
