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PWR LABEL DEAL INVESTMENT CRITERIA CONTRIBUTE / SPONSOR / INVEST |
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While many books have been written about the music business and all it entails, we’d like to offer a few basic concepts to help you get started in achieving your music ministry objectives. A Special Word for Aspiring Musicians about Recording Realize that whatever your music aspirations may be, you are going to need to get into the recording studio. If you are looking to expand your live performance gigs, a demo CD is your business card. If your objective is a major record label deal, you will need a demo of the highest quality. If you want to self-market a 12-song CD, you will need to record a master. If you want to offer your music for downloadable sales, you will need the track. Getting your music in front of people--be they fans or those who might hire you--is what it is all about! MARKETING 101: With all the competition for the music listener’s attention out there, it will take more than just good music to stand out from the crowd. Successful musicians know the importance of the use of professionals and the impact a unified, multi-faceted marketing and promotional plan can have. Never underestimate the importance of things like quality photography, an artist bio, press releases, your CD cover, flyers, merchandise, a web site, or a music video. Read on... Overview. Okay, so you have this great demo CD with a few of your best songs, or you might even have a full length CD you’d like to sell. Your sound has enough potential that you have landed a spot on the playlist of a local radio station, and your music is available online through one or more fee-based music download sites. You’re playing regular gigs and have a loyal following of fans. And you think you are ready to start knocking on every door you can find. But are you? Well, you are going to need a few other key marketing tools to accompany your musical creation if you want to maximize your chances of success in this industry. Web Presence. In this day and age, a web presence is virtually a requirement for any musical artist. MySpace is a given, as are certain other music showcase sites. But you will also want to have your own custom web site to help build band identity through photos and stories, inform people of how and where they can hear your works and give interested parties the ability to communicate with you by real e-mail. Enhancements include the ability to download samples of your music and to order your full-length CD, whether through your own site or a link to an appropriate online source. Flash animation is a nice touch if you have the budget, and a message board is a great way to involve your fans and obtain feedback. But remember, your goal is not to win awards for cutting edge use of technology or to wow the viewer with the latest internet gizmos. Your web site should have one objective: to help spread the word about your music. Begin by registering your own domain name and then create a web site to be used as a base in your marketing and promotional efforts. You should also devote attention to providing online exposure to your site through search engine registration and the establishment of other useful links. When the time comes that you need more cutting edge content in your site or other enhanced web services, there are many outside design and other firms that can assist you. PR & Publicity. While you, the artist, must lead the efforts to obtain favorable press and other publicity, experienced professionals with computer databases should be employed to assist you in sending out press releases and planning other publicity-seeking activities. These types of services will be custom-crafted depending on your individual needs and circumstances. Press Kit and Artist Photography. Like a web site, a press kit (also referred to as a “promo package” or “artist bio”) is an absolute necessity. It is used not only for sending to the press, but, along with your demo CD, as your business card for places you want to go within the music industry. You will want to assemble written materials and photos in an attractive package that will showcase you in the best light, and then arrange for printing as many as you may need. You may wish to create a digital version of the material on CD or DVD that can include your music and even video footage, if your budget allows. At a minimum, your press kit should be downloadable from your web site. CD Cover Design, Other Graphics, Merch and Promo Items. Don’t underestimate the power of quality CD cover designs and other graphics like band logos and flyers. And for shows or tours, your merch table should include artist promotional items like T-shirts, caps, posters, stickers, etc., and of course, your CDs. This is also a chance to be creative and offer unique items of interest to your fans. This is an area where a professional can be of major assistance. Music Videos. The visual impact of a music video cannot be underestimated, so if your budget allows, take advantage of this awesome medium. Your video should be streamed from your MySpace and web site, and can be a part of your press kit and other promotional materials. Consider including it with your CD as an add-on benefit. Internet Radio Airplay. Radio continues to play a huge role in bringing exposure to new bands and artists and their music. Combining the successful aspects of the traditional radio format with the reach and availability of the internet (who DOESN’T have a computer or I-Pod?), streaming radios stations allow select artists to put their music where it matters most: in front of a specialized listening audience and in front of those in the music business sitting at their desks searching for talent. Be sure to take advantage of this excellent resource. Self-Promotion: The Most Important Component. Without a doubt, the single most important component of your marketing and promotional plan is good old -fashioned self promotion, and lots of it. Knocking on doors. Sending out demos. Making phone calls. Sending out e-mails. MySpace comments, messages and bulletins. Getting paid gigs if you can, and otherwise playing for free whenever you can. Getting all your friends and family to talk you up. Hitting the chat rooms. The list is endless. But if you truly want to make an impact (and a living) in the music business, you’ll need to eat, sleep and breathe it 24/7/365. Self promotion is a lot of hard work. Give up television and surfing and other worldly pursuits and time-wasters. With a little luck, some prayers, continuously improving on your talent and a lot of patience, it can happen. Maybe you’ll just supplement your income. Maybe you’ll make a living at it. Maybe you’ll even score the big one. But no matter what, the best advice we can give you is to follow your heart and your passion, and try to do something good with your music and message. The worst that can happen is that you’ll be able to say that you at least tried and gave it your all and hopefully impacted some lives in the process That’s far better than looking back some day when it’s too late and wishing you had. A Special Word About Our Deals Every once in a long while, a band or artist comes along with so much potential that we are willing to invest our own resources to helping further their ministry. For these rare situations, we might cover all or a portion of the costs of recording an album and provide a custom-tailored package of other services, such as those described above, to help you put your music into the marketplace. While every deal is structured differently depending on the musician’s situation and our available resources at the time, they are all designed to create a “win-win” situation for the musician and the label. You bring the talent and we bring the resources, and together we pursue your ministry. Depending on the deal, funds may be provided for a music video, tour support, CD packaging & duplication, marketing & promotion, artist management, etc . We may assist you in pursuing a major record label deal, arranging a concert tour, or simply providing you complimentary recording, putting you on one of our web radio stations, setting up some showcases and providing you with your other marketing tools. In any event, the arrangement will involve our commitment of a certain amount of resources to you free of charge, in exchange for a tithe of your future music-related earnings for a period of time. So, to the extent you achieve commercial success, we share with you in the fruits of that success through a reasonable and simple percentage arrangement. In other words, like you, we are willing to devote some of our time and resources now in the hopes of greater rewards in the future--a partnership so to speak. Unlike some of the major record label deals you may have heard about, our arrangement will be very straightforward with no hidden legalities that come back to haunt you. We become ministry partners by funding significant up-front costs for you and equipping you with crucial tools for furthering your music ministry objectives. You then use these tools to help market your music to labels, distributors, venues or consumers, while chipping in to support our program in the process. If you are blessed with huge success, your tithe will give many more Christian artists the same opportunity that you had. Learn more about our deals here.
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