This article was written by Scott DeMarko at Sweetwater.  Over the next few months, we’re publishing an entire series of articles in the Lounge from Sweetwater along with contests and prizes. Keep your eyes peeled and check back often!

We focus a lot on the proper cables and gear for recording and live sound, but perhaps we should take it beyond that. If you’re a new band looking for the next big break, how do you go about it? What steps do you have to follow for fame, glory, and a little money in your pocket?

As a live sound engineer and someone who has promoted, produced, and DJ’d over 150 shows a year, I’ve seen it all from rock bands gone wrong to hip-hop superstars losing their minds. I’ve also seen the very best-of-the-best entertainers make their way to the top and making some very good money. How does $1,500-$5,000 for a Saturday night gig sound? Let’s talk about some steps to get you those gigs and more importantly, the fans that are going to take you to stardom.

We’ll assume you have a band, you’ve been practicing, and you hopefully have invested in some decent equipment. Now it’s time to get out of the garage and go for it! What’s your first move? In my opinion, the first move is to record a 3-5 song demo. If you can invest a little money here getting good studio equipment, or finding someone to properly mix and master the tracks, it could make all the difference. But let’s assume you don’t have any budget to work with. I have had a lot of success with the many new portable recorders on the market such as the Edirol R09HR. Rather then going into long- winded detail on how these work, check out this link for ideas and solutions in portable recording devices: http://www.sweetwater.com/feature/recorders/. A recorder like this can be used to make a quick and easy demo that won’t cost much at all.

Once you have your demo songs recorded, your next step is to focus on getting fans. First, hit the web. I would suggest starting with setting up pages on the major music sites. Then set up a master website such as “yourbandsname.com” to point your fans to all those sub-links. Websites that are great for promotion and for getting your name and music out there include: sonicbids.com (of course!!), friendster.com, reverbnation.com (one of my favorites for their promotional tools), myspace.com, and facebook.com. If you’re looking to setup a domain for your band I recommend checking out www.godaddy.com for registering your domain. For web hosting, I have used powweb.com for over 10 years with much success. (Their packages are incredibly cheap, yet offer what you need as a band or artist – room to grow!) As I was writing this article I was sent a friend request for a new artist that incorporates exactly the fundamentals of a good promotional page. Check out www.myspace.com/veronicaballestrini and her main site www.veronicaballestrini.net as perfect examples of a properly set up promotional artist page with links to various other promotional tool pages.

Once you’ve got the online world covered, find all the area promotional newspapers, music magazines, online music forums, entertainment magazines, etc., and start to promote your group. I recommend sending out a new press release every week with what’s happening in addition to providing locations to find you. It seems funny to me but most bands and artists don’t take advantage of the free listing pages that newspapers and entertainment magazines provide for promoting upcoming events. Take advantage of those once you start getting booked, so you stay booked! In most areas it’s not the nightclub owners or managers that are booking new groups but area promoters. Dig in and find out who the top promoters are in your area. Typically the best person to ask is the sound guy or DJ at the local venue. They work with dozens of artists and shows and could be very important in helping you get in touch with the right people. I’d also suggest you get business cards and freely distribute them.

Here is a simple idea that’s a big win: Set up a voicemail box for your fans to call and find out where your shows are, and allow them to leave you feedback if they’ve seen your previous shows. Something like this typically runs around $60 a year. It’s easy to setup a Skype personal phone number and voicemail, as an example, and then you can check your voicemail from anywhere in the world. (www.skype.com)

It’s very important to have merchandise available to sell and give away at events. Check out www.cafepress.com and www.zazzle.com for easy sites you can use to create custom shirts, skateboards, stickers, etc.

In closing, the factor you should really remember is promoting your music and your group is just like promoting any other product. Think about how a fast-food chain is marketed and get as excited about your music as they do their burgers. Find new outlets to get your message out there. Are you advertising with every possible venue, with every possible newsletter? Did you consider the many apartment complex’s and neighborhood associations that send out mass newsletters monthly and charge pennies for ads? There are many possibilities and outlets — remember that getting famous and making big money is all about word of mouth. Promotion is key.

Hopefully these ideas and tools will help you get started on your path to success!

Scott DeMarko is owner of Trend Planet Entertainment a promotional company in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that assists new artists in finding venues and gigs as will as setting up the proper promotional tools to keeping their name in the public eye. With over 10 years experience as a professional club DJ and artist, Scott has played in many unique settings with national, regional, and up-and-coming artists and always enjoys networking with anyone looking to grow in the industry. He has been in Sales with Sweetwater since 2004. Reach him at scott_demarko@sweetwater.com.

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