This sounds interesting. Fandemic is going after the show’s that a lot of bands dread. The ones where you end up playing 10-20 people, half which are your friends or the other bands. They’re still working on getting a database together and will launch with providing info on more “well attended” shows. In the long run, they aim to help us discover those that go undiscovered. We shall see…the app goes live in about 2 weeks. Stay tuned….
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Music fans have plenty of options when it comes to finding live music around town, not only online but using apps such as SongKick. However, Fandemic is the first we’ve heard of that’s focused specifically on bands who typically play to their girlfriends, boyfriends, the opening band, and maybe, if they’re lucky, a few actual fans.
“I really wanted to fill that void, of ‘Where do I go on a Saturday night to hear some jazz music,’ and to create a platform for the local artists in each city,” said Joseph Zambrano, founder and creator of Fandemic, a $1 iPhone app set to be released in about two weeks. “I want to target those bands that are playing for an audience of 10 to 20 people, and trying to get to that next level.”
We love some “how to” stuff so here’s one that we found in the old “drafts” folder from earlier this month. Some good tips here. Click through to We All Make Music for the full list.
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There are several factors that may influence a poor turn out to your performances. It may be a wide range of happenings, or it may “only take ONE … to keep you from packing the house.”
In the latest issue of Indie Connect Magazine, there’s an article by founder and CEO Vinny Ribas called “50 Reasons People May Not Be Coming To Your Shows.” As you’d expect, it’s incredibly thorough, and to tease it, we thought we’d share ten bullet points.
* (5) You play too many slow songs. This might work in a piano bar, but in many venues promoting an upbeat, happy atmosphere is imperative. It can be fatal if people are falling asleep at your shows. Evaluate and revamp your set list and insure that you keep the pace alive and moving.
* (6) You haven’t given your fans a reason to come to your shows by creating some form of anticipation. You can hold an online contest and announce the winner at your shows, or announce that you’re going to play new songs that you’re working on for your next CD and you want their opinions. Play ‘Don’t Forget The Lyrics’ with one person who claims to be a real fan (use your original songs). Give away free mementos at your shows. Give your fans a real reason to be there!
So some crazies decided to use Reddit to promote some upcoming shows. It appears to have worked. Yes, there are complaints that it’s too “gimmicky” or whatever, but in short it shows some solid creativity. Plus, it was basically free…which we all like, yes? The link clicks through to their Reddit page where other ideas have been crowdsourced. Go get some and blast off!
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So I want to get other people’s successful ideas for promoting shows. I’ll give two that worked for us. Post more of your own so we can all steal from each other.
1. Snuggies. I know, I know…it sounds stupid. People freaked out about it though and word spread like wildfire. “They’re giving away 2 snuggies at the show with their logo on it!”. It was so lame that people loved it.
2. Free Breakfast. This was an all day festival that we made a good chunk of money off tix sold through an online link. We found a caterer that wanted to promote their business and help us out. I set it up so that if people texted a certain google voice number after buying tix from our link , they would get on the list for a delicious omelet, potatoes and coffee. We got most of the actual food donated and filled 100 slots probably sold 75 tix with 25 freinds/fam.
Lets hear your ideas.
Edit: There’s several people complaining that these promotions are gimmicks. I just don’t see it that way. It’s too damned easy for people to stay home and play videogames/watch a movie. You have to entice them to come and so they’re reminded how awesome live music is. Once you do that, they don’t need the “gimmicks” anymore and you’ve built yourself a fanbase.That is all.
Really interesting interview from Hypebot about what the public is willing to pay for when so much of what music is about is so easily had for free. What are the scarcities that still remain? What and how much are people willing to pay? Lots of good questions and answers. Worth it, yo.
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This is part two of my interview segment with Hannah, who is the writer behind File Sharing Represents New Generation. She could very well be the new music consumer, depending on who you ask. I found her short essay online and thought it was be an interesting take on the current happenings in the music industry – from the perspective of someone not as deeply as entrenched as most of us. In part two, Hannah shares her thoughts on how the free flow of music has benifited artists and what fans are willing to pay for.
What are fans willing to pay for? If they won’t pay for digital downloads of music, how else are they planning to support the creativity of artists? In what instances do you feel inclined to buy music, compensating an artist?
Hannah: Fans are absolutely willing to pay for concerts. And all this is not to say that we will absolutely never download legally from iTunes, etc. We will, if we can’t find another easy way. Really, it’s all about accessibility.
If someone we know knows how to get it for free, then of course we will do that. But if it’s easier to log on and buy it, we’ll do that too.
Fans are also willing to listen to ads; Pandora has ads now, and many websites like HypeMachine have limits where you can’t skip through songs. That, in addition to being a restriction that we are willing to put up with, also exposes us to stuff we wouldn’t necessarily listen to otherwise.
Some times it’s about the connection you make. Keep it intimate, engage your crowd…but by no means do you need to be the Pope. More insight from MTT.
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If there’s one thing I learned from my former years playing in houses of worship, it’s that the Sunday morning experience is designed for maximum effectiveness. Granted, some churches are more finely tuned than others, but the principles of your average worship service should apply to every single concert you play. Start with an engaged crowd. Even if it’s just the first row or two, a well-timed “Hallelujah!” now and again will get the cold crowd to warm up a little. Appeal to all five senses. Studies have shown that we remember events better if all of our senses are engaged. The Church, in its various forms throughout the millennia, has evolved to adopt this level of impact.
Record a “live” record? Yes, it may be a bit out of reach for the average band. Unless you befriend the sound guy/gal and they have it with in their means to give you a board recording. If you happen upon that option it can give you a “scarce” product to sell or giveaway. Eventric lays out how this plays into fan building via memory prompt. Kind of like how a certain smell triggers your memory. Like the smell of beer and cigarettes…or yak butter.
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It is the sum of the fan’s moments that resonate for them, the waves of energy that surround a point in time that sweeten the harsh tones of a bad recording, reduce the feedback and carry them along on a different journey than a quantitative checklist of tone, tune and rendition. In this context the live album isn’t a yardstick of sound quality or even adrenalized performance; it is simply a memory prompt, an invitation if you like that has a buildup to and a letdown from a specific moment in time.
Fans will associate this event with a drink (a Malibu, a Drambuie, a hot pocket, etc.) to which they were addicted at that period in life. They’ll savor that drink while they listen to their shitty live recording of your show wearing the smelly concert t-shirt they bought from you (but never washed because a bead of your sweat dripped on the left sleeve) to round out the experience.
This is more on the consumer side of things but helpful all the same. 8 interesting sites/apps for staying on top of what shows are coming to your town. Worth checking out and from Make Use Of too!
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Thanks to the web, you should never have to miss a beat. There are umpteen ways to follow your favorite artist, band, or even get advance notice of an upcoming concert. There are apps like Songbird or Last.fm which keeps you updated if any favorite band is playing in the area. Now, ever since Google mashups gained ground, I have become bit of a map freak. So I am heading to these eight websites which help to track bands and upcoming concerts with some help from maps.
