Promoting your band in the middle of a worldwide quarantine seems really hard – but there are ways forward, more than you might think. As I look around in my role as a music marketer I have seen some strange successes. People are starting to put stuff together, especially in Scandinavia which is where I’ve drawn a lot of these ideas from.
So what I wanted to break down for you guys was three core things you need to be focusing on to promote your band. These include direct engagement on socials, stripped down live streams and perhaps most importantly, documenting your process. Let’s dig in!
3. Direct Engagement On Social Media
This is the big one for a lot of people out there. More people than ever are spending their entire day on social media. On top of that they are bored – so why aren’t you making a point of reaching out and talking to those people? Everyone is looking for a bit of entertainment right now, your band can be that for people.
For any band right now I would strongly recommend you start interacting on Twitter and in Facebook groups. Both spaces are underutilized and give you more opportunities to interact with people directly. They foster community, and god only knows that we need community more than ever right now.
2. Stripped Down Live Streams
I think that a lot of bands are really overthinking their quarantine live streams. Obviously people don’t want to break their social distancing and others that are willing to take the risk find that the logistics are really challenging. So why not just run a live stream that is super stripped down and basic? These seem to be the ones doing best!
So sit down with your acoustic guitar and bang out a few of your songs to a live stream. Rehearse them a bit on an acoustic first, but you’re going to get much better results for your time investment this way than if you are trying to get the band together and run everything through an interface yada yada yada. People love this stuff, especially if it feels spontaneous!
1. Documenting The Process
One thing I have preached via my educational instagram channel @MattBacon666 has always been a culture of ‘document don’t create’. In other words – don’t worry about making beautiful quarantine content, just show people how you create and what you are doing to stay entertained. People are curious to see your life – show them!
Just be open to having a camera taking pics all the time. It’s hard I know – especially this deep into quarantine when depression really sets in, but it’s a huge part of what makes this meaningful, that we are showing each other what we are going through, so that when we get to the and we have some sort of memento of the madness.
Concluding thoughts:
In brief – there are ways to get eyeballs on you. My main piece of advice I can give you is look around your community and see what’s working. However from my observations these ideas of direct engagement, stripped down live streams and documenting the process seem t be the ones that are most effective for helping push a band through this insanity.
Matt Bacon is a consultant and A&R man specializing in the world of heavy metal. Having worked with everyone from Glam Rock icon Phil Collen of Def Leppard, to post Black Metal titans Alcest, by way of legendary thrashers Exhorder as well as labels including Prophecy Productions and Ripple Music, he has dedicated his life to helping young bands develop. Having started his own blog at the age of 14 he views his career in artist development as ‘a hobby that got out of hand’. In 2015 he formed Dropout Media in order to better support the artists he loves. We sit here now, years later with countless tours booked, records released and deals signed, and loving every minute of it.
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