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Meeting
people is a big part of the music industry. You have to
remember that as a musician you are always selling a
product - yourself, your band or your CD. To be a
successful musician you need to organize your contacts and
keep in touch.
Contact Lists
There are a number of ways
you can track information. The simplest is to keep a
separate notebook or address book for your contacts. Each
contact listing should include the standard stuff: name,
company address, e-mail, telephone number, and web site
URL. I would also take a few minutes to jot down where you
met the person and any notes covering what you talked
about. These notes can be used to jog not only your memory
of meeting the person but also theirs if you contact them
at a later date.
Other musicians are often a
good source of information on contacts. But don't let
yourself be swayed by another musician's opinion of these
contacts. Everyone in the music industry has different
interests and opinions. As a result, a contact may treat
you and your band entirely differently than another
musician. In other words, collect the information and make
your own assessment of the contact.
Don't limit yourself when
collecting contact information. Always include fans or
even people who are not in the music business. Remember
you may be playing in their hometown soon and will want to
send out an e-mail alerting them to your show. Music
promotion is about getting heard.
If you are at all digitally
inclined, I recommend creating an electronic contact list
using word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail or database
software programs. It can really help save time by
allowing you to search for and sort information. You can
quickly create specialized mailing lists for people such
as agents, venue managers and even specific zip codes for
the areas in which you are performing. Using a contact
list has a few other bonuses, if you can remember notes to
a conversation but can't remember the person you spoke
with, just search your contact list for key words and
phrases. Software programs that are part of a suite also
make it very easy for you to do mass mailings.
Business Cards
If you are a musician, you
are in the music business. Treat it like a business and
get business cards. Include your contact information,
e-mail address and web site URL on your business cards and
always have them with you. Hand them out, post them on
college campus bulletin boards and in music stores and
clubs. Get creative - you never know when someone is going
to be intrigued by your name or logo and look you up on
the Internet.
Mailing Lists
Mailing lists and e-mail
lists can keep your fans and contacts up-to-date on news
and events for your band. You can maintain your e-mail
lists in most e-mail software programs. Keep these lists
current. Spend a little time after a gig adding and
editing e-mail addresses. Include your family, friends,
fans, other musicians, agents, reviewers and
representatives on your lists.
Often musician-oriented web
sites have tools for creating e-mail lists. Remember that
if you are sending out newsletters or performance
announcements, make sure people have a way to opt out of
receiving future news from you. In this day of e-mail
overload, you don't want to turn people off by
"spamming" them.
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