BTTV BLOG

Tap into some the $1 billzo bucks floating around out there and hook up a sponsorship already. Is it selling out? Could be if the brand in no way aligns with anything your about (think Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs if your Earth Crisis). But even small companies are looking to get behind a band that’s working hard and touring. It lends authenticity to their brand and you will get some cash and free stuff. Or not, and just go at it alone. Up to you.

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Over $1 billion is spent on sponsorships every year in the music world.

As one might expect, most of that money goes to mega tours, huge music festivals, and to artists who have already found success. But the subject of securing sponsorships comes up often in my work with independent bands, and the key to obtaining your share of that pot of gold is knowing your audience, knowing how you can benefit a company that might sponsor you, and being creative with your ideas. It is easier than ever to figure out who your audience is, at least in terms of their age, gender, and location. If you have a Facebook page, a Reverb Nation account, or something along those lines, you can access that data with a few mouse clicks.

Unearthing more in-depth details about who your fans are can be slightly trickier, but if you start with certain specific questions, you can at least make educated guesses. Where do they shop? What are their hobbies? Do they buy music online or at record stores? The more questions like these that you can answer, the better your pitch will be when talking to sponsors.

Read more @ We All Make Music

Perhaps another good excuse to beef up that merch table with a few more goods. Maybe even lock up that online store you’ve been putting off.

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Everything may be going to bits-and-bytes, but it turns out that fans still love something tactile. Not only that, they’ll pay premiums for packages that include collectibles like colored vinyl, signed lithographs, and whatever else fits the audience.

The proof? According to information shared with Digital Music News, a whopping 75 percent of Topspin revenues involve some sort of physical product. “We’re beyond the one-size fits all product world – thankfully,” said Topspin CEO Ian Rogers, discussing the numbers at New Noise Santa Barbara. “What we see is, 50 percent of what we sell is digital, and 50 percent of it contains something physical. The 50 percent that contains something physical is 75 percent of revenues, or more.”

via Digital Music News

It’s time for tour! Just getting to this point takes a ton of work and doesn’t happen for every band on the planet. You’ve got some shows booked (hopefully) and maybe more on the way. You’ve got your merch ready to sling and of course your band is crazy-tight and ready to kill it. Now it’s time to gas up the van, head out and let the cards fall where they may. Right? Wrong. You’ve got more work to do.

Huge thanks to Austin Powell for the interview and post today on the Austin Chronicle. If you are at all intrigued, continue on to read a little more (you’ll need to scroll down a little).

Hey…a big thanks out to Launch787 for covering BTTV and mentioning the pledge drive today! Oh happy day. If you live in Austin, stay inside today…103 degrees…crazy-time.

Huge thanks to Tolly at Austin Eavesdropper for helping to spread the word about BTTV and our pledge drive! Also, stay tuned as we are crafting a bit of an online store where you can buy a bunch of BTTV stuff.

We did a quick interview with Jon from “Tour:Smart”. He asked few and we answered. You can read up right here. Then Kelly from Union Records who found us through Kickstarter gave us and the pledge drive a nice shout out.

Thanks to all the people who’ve backed our project so far! Word spreads and it is good.

So many links in the post. Jeez.

We reached out to the BTTV masses for ideas on how to make BTTV better. They hit us back with all sorts of suggestions and we’re going to make them happen!

Before we do, we have to raise a little cash to hire the programmer and designer to make our dreams reality. Thus we have started the BTTV Pledge Drive!

If you do pledge, you’ll receive a BTTV tshirt and/or a limited edition poster. Check em’ out below.