Mimic the Artists You Respect

Dec 03

Mimic the Artists You Respect

Brad Yoder & his lucky hat

Follow the artists you love! Why? Because it’s maybe the easiest way to get new ideas on how to promote your music. It’s worth it to mimick artists who have a similar style as you do..and artists who are slightly abover your current success level. I’ll explain why below. Here are some specific details and practical examples…

Visit your favorite artists’ website and myspace. Why?
Here’s an artist I mimick almost religiously: Brooke Waggoner. I’m on her myspace at least 5x a week. I read her blogs, add her ‘friends’ as my ‘friends’. And listen to her music. Why? Brooke and I have similar styles but she gets roughly 5x more hits on her page per day so I figure I have something to learn from her. We both encorporate soft but strong vocals, piano pop, and heavy use of the cello. I add her friends b/c I realize they are likely to like my music. (p.s. be personal when adding strangers. don’t just go on a click-add rampage. leave a note or something. It will increase the likelyhood of the the addee visiting your myspace and listening to your music)

Brooke also changes her default picture regularly thus increasing traffic on her page

When I was first starting out as a musician, I visited Brad Yoder’s myspace page alot. He’d been playing out in the music scene much longer. So I would find out where he was playing, then contact those places to book myself there as well. It was very effective. Thanks Brad!

Subscribe to their e-newsletter. Why?
Subscribing to your favorite artists email lists is just a simple way to keep you aware. It’s probably most effective to subscribe to newsletters of fellow local artists to know what upcoming events are happening in your area. I actually follow Brianna Lane’s newsletter b/c she gives me good ideas like

offering ringtones of my songs to fans (haven’t done this yet)
using SayNow to leave voice messages directly in fan’s voicemail. (this is cool b/c some people are just too lazy and like things spoonfed to them. sigh)

Google them online. Why?
When my CD released, I googled Brooke Waggoner’s name all the time. I found her CD Reviewed on tons of sites and blogs all over the web. So that was my starting point. I dug around on each site and found the appropriate contact information for CD Reviewers. I then contacted these reviewers and asked if they would consider reviewing my CD as well. Some editors didn’t respond, some responded and said they weren’t interested. Others wrote back and asked me to send over my press kit. Woohoo! Reviews followed. Because Brooke is an indie-piano-pop artist I knew some of these reviewers were likely to dig my style of music as well.

p.s don’t google Madonna’s name and try to get a review in People Magazine or something. Be practical!