Turning names into fans

In a previous post I revealed the most important secret for being successful in the music business is capturing and then wisely marketing to the names, email addresses, and zip codes for the people who comes to your shows, your web site, your MySpace page and more.

As promised, this month I’m going to talk about turning names into fans .

The names that you have captured are the people who can make you a prosperous future in music or put you behind the counter at Blockbuster Video. So you need to take care of them...turn them into fans.

How? You need to get personal.

No, I’m not talking about the little chickadee that you get personal with as she’s tuning your flute during one of the breaks.

When you capture a name....within the first week send a email thanking them for signing up, visiting your site etc.. Let them know that you appreciate them and wouldn’t be able to make a living in music without them. Don’t hesitate to be humble....put down the rock star persona for just a moment to recognize that without the fans you just might have to adopt the “Starbuck’s barista persona”.

Go out of your way to make everything you do with your email list, web site, any contact with the names you capture have a personal touch. Professional, knowledgeable, but personal.

Each week send them an email. Don’t just put the dates, times and location of where you are playing. Sure you want to put that info in the email. You want them to come out to the gigs. But you want to convey more.... you want to be personal....like each and every one of them is a friend. You really should think of them that way. They will have a lot more to do with your making a living in the music business than many of your “friends.”

Each week as part of the email, have a different person in the band (if you are a band) write a paragraph or two about what is going on in your career and sign it. Let them know about song writing, recording sessions, trying to get a deal, radio play, birth of your kids (the ones you know about,) buying a new guitar, and more. If you give folks a chance to be part of your life and career, many of them will love you for it, be loyal, buy your stuff and assist your career in ways you can’t even think of now.

Your web site should be fan friendly with some sort of personal communication between you and the person coming to your site. Make it easy for them to get in and stay. Whether it be a personal greeting letter for low bandwidth or a welcoming video for high....thank them for coming to see you right up front.

If you have a message board on your web site be sure that someone in the band responds to questions and comments. Give folks a chance to sign up to be part of your formal fan club. We’ll discuss the pros and cons of FREE vs charging for the fan club and a lot more about web sites, in a different column. Joining the fan club should have lots of benefits...discounts or free downloads, merchandise discounts, special fan club only performances or meet and greets, advance ticket sales. Make them the ultimate insiders with contests for back stage visits and monthly chats. Set up a “putyourbandnamehere” chat group on Yahoo, MSN or other site specifically for fan club members. Once a month on an advance scheduled time have one or more band members join the chat for personal insights about what is going on with you and your fans.

There is a lot more....but that’s a start. Be regular, professional and above all....be personal in all ways you interact with your fan base. Get started now. It will pay off for you.

PS. Take good care of your “flute tuner” too. From personal experience I have seen an artist who “blew off” a flute tuner after a few rendezvous's, that later suffered cause the “flute tuner” had the ear of the “head” of A&R at a major label. Seems he liked having his flute tuned as well.

The Business of Music....Bettering Your Odds

So you’ve decided that your life’s work is being a musician (substitute songwriter for musician if you choose.) You feel the call to live your life as a musician.

You've got real talent. You've mastered your instrument, practiced, played in front of mega audiences and honed your craft.

I've got some advice for you. The best advice I can give you about making it in the music business.

Be Realistic about the Odds
But, first we’re going to talk about the realities of the music business. I do this to help you prepare. I’m not trying to discourage you or talk you out of your dream, even though the first few paragraphs might make you think that.

There are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people in this country alone, who would like to make their careers in making music. Then there are the people in other countries,. There are plenty of them I can assure you. I get several packages a week from artists all over the world looking for help with their careers. In the US and the rest of the world there millions who share your dream.....you know the lyric...”money for nothin’ and the chicks for free.”

A small percentage of the people who have the dream also have talent. A smaller percentage have real talent that makes them stand out....BIG TALENT.

Not all the people who want to make their living with their music are going to be successful.

I know, that’s not you.....you’ve got the karma...you play like a god....you can sing....you look good....your talent grows exponentially by the day. Here is the first revelation. There are a lot of people with BIG TALENT who will never succeed, because talent is only part of the equation that leads to success.

A fact of life is 99.9% will not succeed, they will have to give up their dream. Some will continue to play but will be forced to take other jobs to live, and most will give up music all together. You must face the fact that the odds of you living your dream are pretty dismal.

About a year ago I was having breakfast right before a big music conference and a waiter at the Waffle House in Nashville (Music City,) asked me “How do you get a musician off your porch.” The answer was “pay him for the pizza.”

There are a lot of “musicians” delivering pizza, working at Blockbuster or Wal Mart to put food on the table , because there are a lot more musicians than opportunities.

Let’s look at this a little closer so the picture gets a little clearer. We’ll take just one genre of music for a moment.

There are 35,000 song writers living in Nashville, Tennessee. That’s not counting the musicians, just songwriters. And that doesn’t count the country songwriters who don’t live in Nashville. If each of those songwriters only writes one song per year that’s 35,000 songs. There are about 100 songs each year that make the national country charts.

You can figure out the odds by yourself, of writing a country song and have it be a hit.

If you are serious about making “musician” your life’s work you must face the facts that the odds are against you....just being able to make a living playing music.

To sign a major label deal, tour internationally, and be a “STAR” your odds are much worse.

Now the music business is changing, and there are those who predict that it will be a lot more opportunities for more musicians

I think changes are coming....not as fast and or as much as I see quoted in lots of articles on the net, but changes are coming, over time.

Even with those changes, a lot more people will have the dream than will make the dream a reality. And lets face it, even if the net does level the playing field some, the folks who spend a million dollars are going to get more accomplished than those who spend a couple of thousand.

It doesn’t hurt to dream the dream that you are going to be discovered....that a major label will put big money behind you....and you will become a STAR!

Just don’t forget, while you’re dreaming.... to work hard on the business of music and not just the art of playing good music. Because working on the business of music will help you be successful at every stage in your career.

If the editors of this publication allow me to write this column in future months I’ll discuss these changes in more detail. These changes will give more people more opportunities to have a career in music. But the changes make what I am about to reveal to you even more important than ever before.

Every step of the way in your career, you are going to need to be smarter in business than your fellow musicians.

Earlier I mentioned I was going to give you the most valuable information for anyone wanting to make their living playing music.

Here it is. The bad news is......the secret isn’t about music. It’s about business.

You should get the name and other information of every person who ever comes to your shows. You also should capture the information of everyone who visits your web site or your profile on MySpace, or any of the other music/social sites.

That information is GOLD to you.

Don't wait. Start doing it today. If you can find someone who will do a good job of doing it for you (girlfriend, brother, sister, groupie, fan) then pay someone or do it yourself.

Don't make the mistake of announcing from the stage, " Please come over to the table and sign up for our list" Very few people will do that. You want someone to go to every table in the place and hit up all the folks standing around and at the bar too!

And if there is a turnover in the crowd, go around and do it again.

An established principal of direct marketing is that it is easier to get money, get more money from a customer, than getting someone new to buy from you. The information that you get...those names etc., you will make your living from them the rest of your career if you work it right, they are your existing customers.

Working Bars
When you are polishing your talent, if you are old enough you will probably be working in bars. Working in bars these names become invaluable to you. Here is a fact to learn about the bar business. See 99% of bars don’t care very much about your music...what kind it is and how well you play it....bars care about whether you put bodies in the door. Will you fill up their establishment with people who will eat, drink and tip the staff.

A mediocre band that can put 500 party people in the place will get booked again and again before a great band that makes great music but only brings in 100.

That's why bands that do covers play bars a lot more (and often make more money) than bands that mostly play their own originals. The normal bar crowd doesn't know your originals. They come to dance to songs they know and drink. It's easier for them to have fun if they know the songs.

So if you want to play your originals you want to have the bar full of people who know your stuff.
How do you get people to show up at your shows? You take the information that you collected and email the people. Tell them you need to see them at the show. Make them feel special.

And each and every time you gig you go around from table to table and around the room to gather even more names.

Merchandising
Merchandising is a great way to raise the extra money you need to pay for recordings, preparation of demo packages etc.

And, everyone wearing a t-shirt or cap with your name on it is free advertising and a great way to expand the number of people who are aware of you.

The person who goes around and gathers your names can also sell merchandise at the gigs (but not to the exclusion of getting the names.)

But you shouldn't stop there. You have to sell to your direct marketing customers. Who are they? They are the accumulated list. When you communicate with your email list be sure to offer specials on merchandise. You add to your merchandising total sales by selling to your list.

Touring
As your talent and ambitions grow, you may want to tour, or at the very least to play outside your regular locales so that you can add new folks to your fan base.

Before you head out...check your list to see if you already have folks from the areas where you are heading. You can contact them to help pave the way for you, invite their friends, put up posters, be your advance street team.

When you play in a new area you need to have someone collecting names there too! Next big tip! Be sure to play in the same area/ place again within 45 to 90 days and email the list gathered from your last gig. Put more bodies in the place so the venue owners can see that your crowd is growing. You can bet they will have you back again. And encourage these folks not only to return but to bring their friends. And some of them can be recruited to be on your street team, letting even more people know about you and your music.

Putting out a CD
If you decide to put out a CD or a single, you can promote to your fan list to get them to go the record store (if you have distribution) or to your web site to buy. If you are going after radio play you can get your fan list to phone and email the radio station asking them to play your music.

You can ask your fan list to go to sites like Yahoo Music and rate your music highly. You can also get your fan list to help spread the work about you and your music on MySpace and other music/social sites.

Going after a label
Having a large fan list will help you when you are trying to generate music label interest. Today, few labels are willing to invest in artist development. As they cut costs the artist that has already built a fan base and communicates with them will be much more valuable to them. They realize that building a fan base can be a costly thing to do for them...but if you already have done much of the work then all they have to do is expand on it. Show them an active fan base, one that goes to your gigs and buys your CD's. It gives you points over the act that can't demonstrate them come with a fan base.

I'll say it one more time for emphasis. Here's the best advise I can give you about making it in the music business.

Where are you going to find people to help you reach for your dreams? From the names that you gathered at your shows.

Build a list. Be sure to sort it by state and city.

Communicate with them. Offer them special deals. Have a chat session set up so you can interact with them.

The guy playing on the stage with you....he won’t be the most important person to your being successful. In fact....some of the most important people to you being successful will never set a foot on the stage.

The most important person to your future just might be the person getting the names of people who come to your shows. A close second will be the administrator of your web site/fan club.

This item was adapted from one originally published in Saint Louis Sound, a magazine which promotes live music in Saint Louis, Missouri....in the USA.

Mamas and Papas

I wrote this after the death of Denny Daughtery, one of the Papas.

---

I was a student at Ohio University in 1966, and Entertainment Editor of College Forum Magazine, a national college publication. To raise awareness of the magazine and to raise money the publisher sponsored a concert with headliners, the Mamas and Papas, at OU.

Because I was a musician, active in the business, I was given responsibilities for the event which including selecting the opening act and hosting the Mamas and Papas.

I had recently performed a show with an act fromFranklin, Ohio, that I thought would be a novel opening for the show. I hired Gary and the Hornets for the opening spot on the Mamas and Papas show and had a contract drawn up with their mother, as Gary (the guitar player) was ten years old. His brothers, Greg (bass) who was 12 years old, and Steve (drums) who was six, made up the rest of the band. They had just released a song, “A Kind of Hush,” which was getting some airplay around Midwest radio stations. As I recall this was prior to the release of the same tune by Herman’s Hermits.

Came the night of the concert and I was excited, not only to meet the Mamas and Papas, but to see how the crowd would take to the opening act. Most of those in the audience were college students. The announcer introduced them and the three boys walked out on the stage and a strange silence came over the crowd, followed by laughter. The crowd thought it was a joke.

Backstage, the Mamas and Papas had arrived. Being a musician of the era I was no stranger to states of altered consciousness, and it take me long to see that all four were “under the influence.”

John was aloof at first. Later he became more vocal and conversational, though he would often get lost in his train of thought and end up in a different conversation than he started.

Michelle was up against a wall, almost cowering….obviously not having a good trip…she was mumbling and seemed to shrink away from anyone who tried talking with her.

Cass was having a great time, jovial, funny and obviously horny as she was propositioning almost anyone in pants.

Denny was went from very quiet to very outgoing and back to very quite. He was quite friendly though and we had a chance to talk a little about his starting his musical career in Canada and how he had met and starting working with the others.

Meanwhile, out on the stage, Gary and the Hornets had taken the crowd by surprise. Although they were just kids, they played together very well, these kids could rock!!! Little by little the crowd had gotten into these three kids playing damn good music, and by the end of their set they had completely won the audience over. They went off the stage to a standing ovation of clapping, stomping, screaming and whistling that lasted five minutes.

Apparently this didn’t sit very well with the Mamas and Papas. They were announced and came onto to the stage within a few minutes of the Hornets exiting, faster than we had expected.

Once on stage they gave a very good performance with their hits but exited in less than 25 minutes. They walked off the stage and into a waiting car, without even coming back for an encore.

The crowd, as you might guess, was not happy.

And I learned that night, the W.C. Fields adage about never going on stage after children, was oh so true.

Charles “Max” E. Million

CEO, American Eagle Recordings

Years later when my own career took off I moved to LA. One of the places that you could always find a party was the house owned by John and Michelle Phillips.

James Brown and I

James Brown is dead. An Entertainment Icon of Giant Proportions. Thought I would share my personal story about James Brown. It comes in three parts.

1. The show.
When I started playing music in high school James Brown was one of my idols. I was a lead singer and did my white boy best to be like James. I listened to James Brown Live at the Apollo over and over again, buying multiple copies as I wore them out. When I had publicity photos taken I even had one done on my knees singing Please Please. I was pretty lame of course in being a white boy trying to emulate a giant.

Went away to college at Ohio University to be a journalist and still played music on the weekends. I started writing for a national college publication called College Forum Magazine and since I was a working musician opening for some major acts they gave me the title of Entertainment Editor.

James Brown was doing a concert in Columbus, Ohio, about 100 miles from OU and I decided it was too great an opportunity, I had to try to interview him. I made contact through his organization and showed up on the designated evening at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium (if my memory serves me ) as excited as I had ever been.

Some of his people introduced themselves and took me back stage to meet members of his band. They shared some of their experiences but most were pretty guarded. As the time approached when the show was supposed to begin I was given tickets to sit out front and enjoy the show. As I was walking from the back to the seats I noticed that the tickets were in the 22nd row, and I turned around and went back to guy who gave me the tickets and protested. I wanted to be right in front. I told him when I did other interviews that I had been given front row seats. He looked at me and said...No, these are the best seats for you. I argued and argued but he held firm that the seats in row 22 was where I should be. He said I'd understand better later.

Brown put on a fantastic show, one of the best I have ever seen (and I've seen hundreds.) About the middle of the show, two very large black men appeared on the stage and stood on either side of him and grabbed James by his upper arms. He stuck his hands out and the men on either side of him lifted him up and started from one side of the stage and moved toward the other side. He was giving his fans a chance to shake his hand and/or to touch him. It was almost a riot. The people in the first 15-20 rows moved en masse toward the stage....everyone trying to get to him. Later that night I commented on it to him and he showed me his arms. From the elbows down he had new scratches and old scars from people who just had to touch him and tried holding on.

Had I been in the front row.....who knows what would have happened...but it probably wouldn't have been good.

2. Interview Attempt.
After the show was over I had to wait over an hour for James to clean up and come out to talk with me. The crowd had left and security went through the auditorium making sure everyone was out.

A couple of chairs had been set out on the stage for the two of us to talk. After what seemed like forever he came out and sat down in the chair and I began to talk with him. I hadn't gotten started into anything meaningful before a woman came out of nowhere...running as fast as she could....and attached herself to the star....holding on for dear life as she kissed him, proclaimed her love, then protested and cried as she was being pulled off him and taken out.

No sooner had they got her halfway out of the auditorium than another woman came running and then another. Brown had to leave and go back to the dressing room as security went through the auditorium again, looking for other stragglers. This time they had brought in a dog to help them.

After about 20 more minutes we tried again. James came out and sat down and we had just exchanged some comments about women wanting to meet him. Once again out of nowhere came a woman and then another desperately trying to get to him. Security caught the first one but the second one got to him and wrapped herself around him. It took a lot of work to get her pried off.

At that point we gave up trying to do the interview there. He told me to go to the private jet terminal in Columbus where he had his plane and we would do the interview there.

3. Interview at the Airport
I headed toward the jet terminal in my car and as we approached the terminal a big limo passed by. I guess James saw me in the car because the window came down and out popped James. As he passed he had tilted a bottle of wine straight up and was guzzling down the contents. This later proved to be funny because in the interview he told me he didn't drink.

I did my interview at the terminal. James was bigger than life, and he had no small ego. When I asked him "Do you think that you are the Negro equivalent of the Beatles?" (Ok so it was a stupid question) Brown stated "No, I won't say Negro because I might be segregating myself, I'll just say I'm THE MAN."

The thing I remember most about the interview itself was something that I touched on in the interview that afterwards took on a much larger significance.

I had asked Brown about his civil rights efforts. At the time other black entertainers had gotten a lot of press about their efforts and there had been some criticism that he was not doing enough.

Brown's reply was "I haven't been to many marches but I've made the bigger ones. I'm a level cat; I believe in right and wrong and I take part in what I believe. Like the march in Jackson, Mississippi. I was there. I had the biggest part in the whole thing. I had to fly back to Cincinnati that night to do a show. Really, I'm not big on marches; I don't believe in walking." And that was the end of our discussion on his civil rights efforts.

After the interview was done, the pilot of Brown's plane came over to me and said, "Let me tell you something that he won't, but you can't print it."

He related to me that Brown decided he wanted to go to Jackson and take the band on the plane to perform for the marchers. But they were not close to Jackson and they had to be in Cincinnati on the night of the march. Brown's plane was built to hold eight and the band was much larger than that, so the pilot told him that he couldn't do it...and Brown asked why. He was told that there were too many people to fit on the plane. Brown asked if he pared down some people and got them on the plane would he be able to get the plane off the ground. The pilot told him yes but he still couldn't do it cause the FAA would take away his license. Brown asked how long would his license be suspended? The pilot told him probably for a year. Brown asked him how much he got paid a year to fly him around and was told $50,000 (remember this was the 60's.) Brown wrote him a check for $50,000 and told him to be ready to leave in two hours. They went to Jackson and played for the marchers, and didn't get caught. So, the pilot offered Brown the check back but was refused. "You took the risk...you earned it."

It was an experience I will never forget. I got a chance to talk with and share some time with one of my idols. I have had the opportunity to meet and spend time with a lot of greats because I was in the entertainment business myself. Few have stuck in my mind like the few hours I spent with James Brown.

I am a pack rat. After I wrote this, I dug around to see if I could find the original article that I wrote, and sure enough I still had it. The following is the story I wrote, originally published in 1965 or 1966 for College Forum Magazine after my interview with James Brown. Give me a break it was 40 years ago....OK?

In an average month, he will give away some 5,000 autographed pictures and 1,000 pairs of James Brown cuff links, will wear 120 freshly laundered shirts and more than 80 pairs of shoes. He will change his performing costume 150 times and will perform over 80 hours on the stage - singing, dancing, and also playing at least 960 songs on one or more of eight instruments. He is, as well, songwriter, choreographer and designer of clothes for himself and his entire cast.

His shows are sung with military precision and Brown is his own logistician. There is a two ton truck for instruments and gear, an elegantly fitted-out bus for the cast and crew, and a private Cadillac limousine for himself. He also has his own eight passenger jet. The stakes are very high. With the show playing all but 60 nights a year, the gross can fun as high as $3,000,000.00 annually, and out of this, James Brown is good for more than $250,000.00.

With all this, the five-foot six-inch, 135 pound singer has become something of a folk hero.

We witnessed hundreds of his fans waiting hours in the cold to get a glimpse of their idol. We got our interview in a secluded spot of a private air terminal. Even there, James Brown could not get away from his fans. People came from working on planes so that they could get his autograph.

The College Forum interviewer was standing in front of James Brown holding a few sheets of paper when James Brown lifted the papers from his hand. After looking them over for a second, he handed them back and the interview proceeded.


Brown: Oh! Those are your questions.

CF: Yes, now all I need are the answers. A lot of top Negro entertainers have worked in the civil rights movement. Your name has not come up in the newspapers or magazines with reference to civil rights; how do you feel about this?

Brown: I haven't been to many marches, but I made the bigger ones. I'm a level cat; I believe in right and wrong and I take part in what I believe. Like the march in Jackson, Mississippi. I was there. I had the biggest part in the whole thing. I had to fly back to Cincinnati that night to do a show. Really, I'm not big on marches; I don't believe in walking.

CF: A lot of British groups have said that you are their favorite entertainer.

Brown: I like the fellow personally, and they like me. There's only one group that I've paid any attention to because they do so much more. That's the Rolling Stones.

CF: Do you think you influenced them in any way?

Brown: Well, they're doing all my stuff.

CF: Do you think you are the Negro equivalent of the Beatles?

Brown: I won't say Negro because I might be segregating myself. I'll just say I'm THE MAN!

CF: Have you ever done a European tour?

Brown: Yes

CF: How did you go over in Europe?

Brown: The number one entertainer over there!!

CF: Did you get the same kind of reaction that you get here?

Brown: Worse. In Europe, the police don't carry guns and they don't have anyting to keep the kids back with.

CF: What U.S. city do you most like to play in?

Brown: No favorite city, but I'd rather work in my own home town, Augusta, Georgia, because of past memories.

CF: Would you rather play a concert in a city or on a college campus?

Brown: I love college campuses. I like to do a show and have everybody understand.

CF: What is the biggest night club you have ever played in?

Brown: The Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. It has 2,500 seats and we've had it filled for two weeks. On the strip in L.A. they just mention my name and they sell it out. I don't like night clubs. I owe a lot to may audience and kids can't see me in clubs. (This is in reference to age laws that restrict minors from places where liquor is sold.)

CF: What would you say made you a success?

Brown: Number one, you've got to like people, and then you've got to appreciate them; they made you.

CF: I noticed that in your concert you got right down in the audience. A lot of groups won't get near their audiences.

Brown: Let me show you something.

Editor's Note: At this point James Brown unbuttoned his shirt sleeves and rolled them up to show our interviewer his arms. From the elbows down they were covered in small scars.

CF: Did you get those from people grabbing at you like I saw them do tonight?

Brown: Yes. Every night I get them. But I go ahead anyway because my audience made me and I owe this to them.

CF: How many performances do you do a year?

Brown: In a year, about 350. I don't work 350 days, though; some days we do more than one show. I end up working about 300 days a year.

CF: When do you have time to do all your choreography?

Brown: Once you are a professional it only takes five minutes to work up a new routine.

CF: Watching the show I noticed that when you moved, everyone moved.

Brown: They (the band) would move even if I didn't move, because everyone knows what they are doing.

CF: Does it take them long to learn it?

Brown: No, this was imbedded in their minds many years ago. I drive the cats so hard that they become a part of me. They have to be part of me or they can't do it.

CF: Who do you think has had the most influence on your career?

Brown: My manager, Ben Bart - he has helped shape my career; he had the Ink Spots, Little Willie and Della Reese before me. His counseling has kept me at the top.

CF: A lot of your background has been in gospel; do you think it do you think it has influenced your work.

Brown: I sing soul, and soul starts in church.

CF: You certainly have your own style....

Brown: ....You've got to have. I design my own clothes and hairdos. I could sell this (referring to the clothes he was wearing) to a million companies, but I'd rather let the people have it for nothing. They'll associate it with the name. There comes a time when it doesn't mean much to make more money. I've made all the money I need; now I want to make friends. I once saw Johnny Mathis in New York when he was top cat. He was walking down the street and nobody bothered him because no one recognized him. When I go to New York I've got to have a police escort. It's because I'm my own cat. I'm an individual. People look up to me because I have my own clothes, hairdos and style.

CF: There was a rumor that the song "Don't Be a Dropout" was paid for by the National Council on Education.

Brown: No, I went out on a limb and did it myself. I got in touch with the Vice President, but he turned me down. Then I did a show in Washington and I introduced the song there and it got so many adults and kids going my way that the Vice President came to see me. Now I'm on the Vice President's Council on Education.

CF: What would you say is the one accomplishment you are most proud of?

Brown: It's hard to say. I guess when I think about it there's only one thing. One day when I was a kid reading a history book, I said to myself, "One day, I 'm going to be in one of these books." I made history while I'm living and will be remembered after I'm dead.

I fill Madison Square Garden; fighters don't even do that.

The one thing I'm most proud of is that once I was a shoe shine boy. Now I stand on the steps with the Vice President of the United States equally. In fact, I've got more fans than he does, and that's the truth.