Artist Survival Manual V
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VII. PROMOTION MAKES YOU A SUPERSTAR
In this section, you are going to learn that there are two things the artist cannot ever do without. The first is independent radio promotion and the second is consistent publicity and promotion of his/her career to the various country music trade magazines. I can’t say enough about how important it is to achieve credibility through getting your records charted in any magazine. Some of the important charts that track independent records other than Billboard, Radio & Records and Gavin are the Pacers Independent Radio Network and the AIRA Country Radio Charts. Don’t forget that there are only about 35 new slots in the national charts for records to enter the survey each month. In order for you to be one of those individuals, you aren’t going to get “lucky.” You’re going to get in those charts through hard work and promotion. The independent promotion team is the first step to a nationally charted independently charted hit record.
A. INDEPENDENT RADIO PROMOTION
Most of the artists that record in Nashville, don’t even know how records
get played at a radio station. They are so uninformed of the overall process of promotion
of records that they really expect to come to town, go into the studio, and take their new
songs home and be an immediate success. How wrong are they?….they are dead wrong!.
Radio stations are businesses just like any other business. They have a chain of command. At your local radio station you will either find a program director or music director that makes the decisions on what to play. They are unlikely to play local artists. Most of the radio stations in country music today have a short play list and it’s getting shorter all the time.
Please don’t expect any help or cooperation from your local area stations. If you get any at all, it will be the exception to the rule rather than the rule. An artist is almost always without honor in his/her own area. I am constantly besieged with phone calls from artists who want to know how to get their records played. The best approach is to "hire" an independent promotion firm to call on your behalf and get the record played. These firms have a staff of people who call radio stations every day of the week. They know the program directors and music directors personally. They can get your record played when no one else can.
Part of the problem that artists are having world-wide is that radio is going exclusively by a short 30-35 single record play list that is provided for them by syndicators. These syndicators control radio stations hundreds of miles away and tell the station exactly what they can play and what they can’t play. It’s almost impossible to get into these markets with a new artist, a new label or anyone who isn’t on a major label and has a record in the Top-40 survey nationally. All things come to those who are patient and are willing to work for the recognition it takes to get radio airplay. This is going to change in the future. You can place your bets right here that if country radio doesn't start playing more than 30 records all day long, and especially some of the older artists like Johnny Cash, George Jones, Willie Nelson, and others, that country radio is going to get in a lot of real difficulty and many stations will go to an "Americana" format or "Indie" format.
An artist has got to realize that in order to compete in today’s radio markets, his song has got to be incredibly good, his production has got to be superior to all others, and the money he spends in getting his single record promoted should equal about seven yes, that’s what I said, seven times that which he spends on production. If the average major label country album is now costing a minimum of $150,000.00 here locally, (indie albums are costing $25,000.00) and you figure that a major label is now spending approximately $500,000 in promotion to break a new act’s first single, you are going to have to be extremely diligent in hiring your special promotions team.
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Independent radio promotion is different from the label promotion that is going on at your label. What some major label artists don’t even realize is that your career is only important in the long run to you! If you stumble along the way and are pegged a loser by the industry, who wants to associate themselves with an artist whose records are not doing good at radio. So, the independent promoters that you surround yourself with are very important.
Label promotion people are forbidden from manipulating the charts in any way. Only independent radio promotion people can get involved in the specifics of asking radio programmers to put your single record in a special posture chart wise. When a label promotion person calls a radio station, he is asking about the label’s roster as a whole. When an independent radio promotion team is calling radio, he/she is asking about one single artist and one single record and they can get as specific as they want. The industry has well said, that without independent radio promotion on a record, even the major artists suffer from the competition and soon find it hard to continue on to the number one spot in the national charts. Independent promotion people are the "gunslingers" of the radio world. They are only concerned with getting their clients record played as often as possible.
B.. PUBLICITY & PROMOTION GUIDE FOR THE NEW ARTIST
This next section in the manual is the most important section you’ll ever read as a new artist. You cannot forget to be responsible for your part of the contract with your record label. For the next 14 months, you’ll have something to do each and every week on this guide to getting your career in the hands of a major label.
One of the things that impresses me the most about Reba McEntire is her dedication to doing her own radio and television mail responses. She often takes the entire day and answers all of the radio and television responses that come to her office. She doesn’t ever quit working toward the goals of staying in front of her audience. That comes from a sense of knowing that other people cannot be responsible for your own destiny. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail! An artist that fails to work his plan will guarantee his plan will fail. Work your plan and the plan will work!
The promotional plans that will be laid out for you in the “ARTIST MONTHLY PLANNER” in this book will be divided into quarterly approaches. The first quarter after you record, should be spent on getting all of your promotional items together to launch your local, national and international promotion campaign. The second quarter should be spent on getting local media attention both in the press, at radio and on television. The third quarter should be spent on getting to the national media, getting your thank you’s out to the reporter panel at radio and submitting your package to national television outlets for consideration. This quarter should also be spent on following up all of the local work that you have done and re-establishing your contacts with the national media and now reaching out to the international community with your press kits.
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The final, fourth quarter of the year should be spent on obtaining entertainment representation from a qualified entertainment attorney in Nashville to compile your history of success from the past year and get your project submitted to the major labels for consideration. Don’t be upset if you are turned down by some of the entertainment attorneys in Nashville who don’t have enough time to pitch you to the labels. Keep on trying and you’ll get one who’s interested in getting you some formal answers from the major labels as to where you stand in the mad rush to the majors during signing months which are during January, February, and March of every year. If you need a list of entertainment attorneys that our management company recommends, than you can request that list from us and we'll send it to you completely "free of charge," for logging on to our web site. You can also call the Nashville Bar Association for the same list and they will charge you $35.00 to give you the names of at least three attorneys over the phone or by fax. Know that the "Artist Monthly Planner” will keep you busy! Do not send your credit card information over the internet to anyone unless you are on a "secure and encrypted" site. Your Microsoft 6.0 internet explorer software will warn you if the site is not "secure." Each person must meet with his/her own attorney and determine if the music business is the right and proper thing that they should involve themselves in for the future. Only you and your lawyer can make these decisions together.
It is the stated legal policy of our business, that we do not make any agreements with any artist or anyone else verbally. All business transacted by our company is handled through contracts and any employee, agent or representative that deviates from this stated public policy is in violation of the company's stated business policies. These business policies are for the safe and ethical handling of our client's business requests, payments and agreements. As always, our advice is to consult with your producer or attorney before making any major decisions where your career is involved.
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ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
A GUIDE TO THE COMING YEAR
Important Things To Do List
Retail Price Included
© 2004-2005
© All Rights Reserved
Robert D. Metzgar, author
Do not copy this promotional planner
For sale or distribution without the permission of the author.
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ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
After You Record:
Artist time line/Phase two begins
Month 1: Preparing promotional items
*Footnote: remember that for our purposes the calendar months of November & December do not count. These are the months that the charts are frozen and artists are in the studio recording their projects for the next year! Just think about it like this. Record in November & December and do your promotions during all of the other calendar months of the year!
Month 2: Producing promotional products
Month 3: Planning & preparing your publicity
Month 4: Polishing local promotion & publicity
Month 5: Proceeding with state publicity
Month 6: Promoting on the national level
Month 7: Publicizing your career internationally
Month 8: Participating in media events
Month 9: Performance of the national release
Month 0: Pitching the artist to the labels
Month 1: Perpetual follow up & thank you letters
Month 2: Packaging the act for next year
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ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
MONTH 1:
1. Artist “live” performance pictures shot
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MONTH 2:
1. Artist compiles complete list of all local media outlets
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MONTH 3:
1. Artist “live” promo pictures are now ready in black & white
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MONTH 4:
1. Artist should now have a “reference CD” finished and in hand
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MONTH 5:
1. Artist mails his “promo” kits and news releases to all
state fair board showcases buyers
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MONTH 6:
1. Artist sends thank you post cards to all of the national breaker
market stations
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MONTH 7:
1. Artist goes back in their tickler files and follows up the
most important media contacts that have not responded.
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MONTH 8:
1. Artist’s tracking firm should have debuted the record
on a national level and the artist’s single should be
showing in the Top-150 hot-country singles charts
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MONTH 9:
1. Artist will want to put together a file of letters and comments
on radio stationary of all the radio stations that he possibly
can get to write him a recommendation. Really all you
need to send to the major labels are letters from at least
one local station, a couple of stations state wide, and a few
stations with some national prominence.
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MONTH O:
1. Compile a list of all the major labels in Nashville, Los Angeles,
New York, Texas, and Florida and submit a letter asking
for permission to submit a package of material to be
considered by the A & R department
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MONTH 1:
1. Artist data list should have been completed during this
first year of development.
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MONTH 2:
1. Artist prepares new promotional items for next year
Artist Time Line/Focus on preparing promotional items
2. Artist professional “promo” pictures developed for fans
3. Artist compiles his notes for his professional biography
4. Artist researches background for his professional biography
5. Artist gets his personal logo designed for future use
6. Artist lays out his business cards, letterhead, & envelopes
7. Artist designs his ad slicks and posters
8. Artist gathers information for his first news release
9. Artist has his promotional packet printed
10. Artist works on lay out of his “retail” products
11. Artist lays out his cassette cover with graphics
12. Artist lays out his compact disc unit with graphics
13. Artist lays out his poster campaign for personal appearances
14. Artist compiles his personal performance & data list
15. Artist begins his research for his local, state, and national
contacts in radio, television, newspapers, press associations
16. Artist applies to join a performance society such as ||ASCAP || BMI || SESAC
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist Time Line/ Focus on producing promotional items
2. Artist gets names, addresses, phone numbers, and fax
numbers of all local radio, television, newspaper,
magazines, and press associations together
3. Artist compiles complete list of all state media outlets
4. Artist gets names, addresses, phone numbers and fax
numbers of all state radio, television, newspaper,
magazines, and press associations together
5. Artist compiles complete list of all national media outlets
6. Artist gets names, addresses, phone numbers, and fax
numbers of all national radio, television, newspaper,
magazines, and press associations together
7. Artist assembles this contact list into a format for mailings
8. Artist prepares his first news release and “promo” packets
for his local media outlets
9. Artist is carefully monitoring the responses he gets to his promo
materials so that if there are changes that need to be made,
then the artist can make them prior to mailings beginning.
10. Artist prepares “artist question list” for his local media outlets
11. Artist completes the oversight and production of all of his
promotional items that are going to be sent out in the next
few months and has them printed and on hand in their
final, completed form
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist time line/ Focus is on preparing your own publicity
2. Artist “stills” for his fans are now ready in 8 x 10 color
3. Artist biography should be finished and revised if there were
any mistakes in it discovered on the local level
4. Artist news release is ready to be sent to the local media
5. Artist business cards are ready
6. Artist mails his “promo” kit to all local media outlets
7. Artist prepares answers to “media question list”
8. Artist sends his first publicity mailings to local media outlets
9. Artist accepts “live” interviews with media on local level
10. Artist is doing any/all television telethons or charitable events
11. Artist “retail” products should be ready from manufacturing
12. Artist is compiling research for personal appearances
13. Artist sends thank you letters to all local media outlets
14. Artist compiles list of potential “fan club” memberships
15. Artist compiles list of potential corporate sponsors locally
16. Artist compiles list of potential corporate sponsors nationally
17. Artist compiles list of state fair board showcases
18. Artist compiles list of potential booking agencies for future dates
19. Artist compiles list of potential venues
20. Artist prepares to release publicity materials to state media
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist time line/focus polishing local promotion & publicity
2. Artist should start on the local level going in person to those
local media outlets that will allow airplay of the single
3. Artist should do as many local “live” interviews about the
single release as possible
4. Artist should also concentrate on “live” interviews at any radio
station within the area that wants to cover the release of
the single record which happens next month
5. Artist should mail his “promo” kits to the state media this
month in anticipation of the single release coming out next
month
6. Artist should prepare to take and answer state media outlets
calls and questions
7. Artist should give consideration to hiring a national tracker for
the single record release
8. Artist should prepare a “media question list” for all the
state media involved in publicizing their career
9. Artist should prepare any commercial retail ads for placement
in the national media announcing the arrival of single
10. Artist concentrates on getting his local, state, and national
media campaigns going prior to the release of single record
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist time line/Focus is proceeding with state publicity
2. Artist mails his “promo” kits to all potential venue selections
listed in the IEBA International Entertainment Buyer’s Association Directory
in his local area
3. Artist mails his “promo” kits to all potential corporate sponsors
on the local level, state level, and prepares his mailing to
sponsors on the national level
4. Artist accepts “live” interviews with all of the above outlets
and sources
5. Artist is making an effort to concentrate this month on doing
any “live” radio interviews, telethons, or media events that
the publicity is generating
6. Artist should submit their application to the CMA Country Music
Association to become an associate member
7. Artist should be receiving confirmation that they are a member
of ASCAP/BMI/ or SESAC so that their royalty payments
will be sent to them
8. Artist should submit their applications to play the state fair
board showcases and make plans to showcase nationally
in Nashville during one of three major showcase events
9. Artist should receive confirmation that their original songs
have cleared their performance society and are ready to
be surveyed as the single release is being promoted
10. Artist should be prepared to participate in the various national
events that are associated with country music such as the
radio seminar, fan fair week, country music week, and CMA
awards week
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist time line/Focus on national publicity
2. Artist sends “promo” kits to all national media outlets
3. Artist sends second news release concerning the release of the
national single record to all of the radio, television,
newspapers, press associations on all three levels
locally, state wide, and now nationally
4. Artist national single release is distributed this month by the
record label and the artist’s schedule should be heating up really good by now with calls coming in from the local, state, and national level.
5. Artist responds to all the various media outlets that are calling
or contacting him personally
6. Artist should be moving his “retail” products to various
individuals who are wanting to purchase tapes, compact
disc units, T-shirts, etc.
7. Artist should be hearing from various fair board showcases,
venues, and other individuals that he’s contacted. Again,
remind yourself that the fewer mailings and letters you
send out, the fewer responses you will get back. Keep that
name out there constantly and lay the BS on ‘em eternally.
8. Artist should be getting ads in the various radio oriented
tracking magazines, hearing from his independent radio
promotional people and should have numbers on the single
usually 3-4 weeks after the single is mailed nationally.
9. Artist should be getting his “live” show together and polishing
his performances for various venues that are scheduled
10. Artist should see some type of national numbers on their
single release before the month is out and know if they
should proceed with their career in the business
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist time line/Focus on international publicity
2. Artist must be persistent and constant in his news releases
and mailings on a yearly basis. Every three months,
during the year, radio, television, newspapers, magazines,
and press associations should hear from you at the same
time that your “fan club” newsletter comes out. It’s
all part of keeping the public informed about who you
are and what you’re doing
3. Artist should be also addressing his international fans who are
just as important. This month sit down and compile a
list of the most important contacts for your music in Europe,
Japan, and various other countries
4. Artist should have several thousand names, addresses, phone
numbers and fax numbers in his data base by now.
Constant maintenance and mailings and adding additional
contacts to your data base are essential to keep the career
moving forward.
5. Artist should be compiling a complete list of major labels
and contacts at the national level for an all out campaign
to get signed to a major label during the next year
6. Artist should be preparing their songs for their national“live” showcase performance in Nashville
7. Artist should be following up each and every contact, sponsor,
or person who can further their career either through more
publicity, more promotion, or more financial assistance
8. Artist prepares a third news release to all of the various
outlets letting them know the progress of the national
single record, whether the artist was nominated for any
awards, what the chart numbers were, and results for year
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist time line/Focus on participation in media events
2. Artist should make a concentrated effort at writing each
and every reporter station and encouraging them to
participate in playing the record
3. Artist should develop a “what they are saying about” promo
piece to use in his behalf from the comments that have
been made in various media outlets
4. Artist sends out the final news release to all the various media
outlets and gives radio, television, newspapers, and press
associations the chart specifics on the national single
release
5. Artist distribution will be completed on the national single
and the record label will be doing the reservicing on the
singles to the non-reporter stations
6. Artist should be performing at any/all venues and taking every
opportunity to expose the music and the “live” performance
to other media outlets
7. Artist should prepare a formal “query” letter to the various
major label A & R departments and the major label subsi-
diaries for presenting their tape and packet for considera-
tion in the following year.
8. Artist should continue to monitor local airplay, regional ,
and national airplay to make sure that this single is going
to work for him
9. Artist should prepare to record another two song single re-
lease with their label for next year’s process which will
mirror this process in it’s entirety.
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist time line/Focus on the performance of single release
2. Artist needs to put together a file of letters from fans that have
listened to the artist’s recordings, and bought them. This
is as important as the letters from radio
3. Artist needs to put together a file of any/all endorsements that
he has received from local businesses and particularly from
any television station or venue that he has played. What
you’re doing is getting all of the evidence together to prove
to a label that you are a “viable” country act that will make
money and do well at a higher level of involvement
4. Artist needs to get a letter from his fan club president showing
how many members and how they have responded to the
artist’s performances and products this year
5. Artist needs to have a complete picture for the major labels
and if the first year’s results are not good enough for the
artist to feel comfortable going into the majors, then another
year of work should be done and more seeds sown until the
artist feels in his heart of hearts that he’s ready to approach
the majors with his accomplishments on the local, state,
and national level.
6. Artist should furnish a video reel to the labels of any/all of their
television performances on local television, telethons,
morning shows, night shows, showcases, and especially
any appearances made on CMT, or other country
music related television networks
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist time line/Focus on pitching the artist to majors
2. Compile a list of the major label subsidiaries in Nashville,
Los Angeles, New York, etc and submit a letter asking
for permission to submit a package of material to be
considered by the A & R department
3. Compile a list of all of the major independent labels in
Nashville, Los Angeles, New York, and etc. and submit
a letter asking for permission to submit a package of
material to be considered by the A & R department
4. Artist then submits his entire compilation of media reports,
artist product and all of the various items mentioned in
the preceding pages to those labels for consideration
5. Artist will wait patiently for a response and ask each and
every label in their presentation package for a personal
interview with the A & R staff or the privilege of putting
on a showcase for those labels that are interested
6. Artist hires an entertainment attorney in Nashville to represent
them to the various labels who are going to make offers
7. Artist then signs with the label that makes him the best offer. If there are no offers forthcoming, then he
simply starts at month one and begins that whole process
over again for next year until he does get the attention of
a major label. In the meantime, the artist should enjoy
the success that he is having at the local, state, and national
levels.
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist time line/Focus on perpetual follow up & thank you’s
2. Artist should be much better aquainted with the industry
and now’s the time to check back to see if all of the
proper thank you letters were mailed and received
my the industry people you’ve been in contact with.
3. Artist data base should be organized to reflect all of the
various involvement from the local, state, and national
level.
4. Artist should have purchased by now all of the various
directories that will help him to expand his influence
on a national level.
5. Artist must perpetually write, call, and do his follow-up
thank you letters or the artist will simply be lost in
the ocean of other people out there trying to break
out into the national arena
6. Artist should have some strategy meetings with the label,
the radio promotion people, and publicity people and
get prepared to tackle the same tasks for the coming
year and even do a better job.
7. Artist will need to refine his promotional products to reflect
the titles of his latest single release or new song that he’s
going to be promoting in the coming year.
8. Artist should take the constructive criticism of his most
trusted friends in revising his goals and making plans for
re-packaging the act during the down time of November
and December and get ready to launch out again in the
new year with a new single, and better promotional efforts
9. Artist may want to consider hiring a professional firm to
shoot a concept video in the coming year to be distributed
to CMT,and the various video outlets nationally
ARTIST
MONTHLY PLANNER
IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO LIST
Artist time line/Focus on packaging the act for next year
2. Artist produces new publicity for the coming year
3. Artist plans and prepares better distribution of his
“promo” materials for the coming year
4. Artist polishes the local image with local media outlets
5. Artist proceeds to distribute new promo materials in
the same sequence that was used last year, using
the same guidelines
6. Artist promotes a new single nationally, and if there
was no national tracking firm on the record last
year, the artist should definitely hire a tracking
firm to work the new single release for them
7. Artist will promote the single internationally on an
even wider scale this year and perhaps tour
8. Artist will participate in every television, radio, and
media event that he can possibly book on his
calendar in the coming year
9. Artist should shoot a “concept” video of the next single
single release to be distributed nationally to television
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© 2004-2005 Capitol Management
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