When people start looking towards technology to help them organize their music careers it usually means they are finding it difficult to manage the process using the traditional address book, notebook or even an Outlook style application. All the technology in the world probably won¡¯t do you much good if you are only performing live a few times a month and aren¡¯t looking for more exposure. But if you are looking to perform as often as possible and manage your music career from the road, a digital solution is the best method for achieving those goals.

You can only saturate your local market for so long before you start to cannibalize your fan base. Eventually you will either need to expand your performance radius or simply reduce the number of local live music shows that you play. Attempting to play out more and do more traveling initially really only means one thing; reaching out to more possible opportunities simultaneously. The more live music talent buyers with your product in their hands the more likely you will book more performances. If nobody has your CD and press kit, all you can really do is sit around and wait for the phone to ring. But you can only follow up so many times with the same buyer before you are considered a nuisance; so maximizing your time also means constantly pursuing new opportunities. You should set goals in terms of how many new talent buyers you will send your info to on a weekly basis.

The old adage that it¡¯s not what you know but who you know, obviously holds true in the music industry. When you need a gig in Lincoln, NB it is helpful to know what local live music venues and how to get in touch with the talent buyers. But identifying possible gig opportunities in new markets is really just the tip of the iceberg. The real work starts once you find a location that seems like a good fit for your act. There are a whole series of activities that need to be religiously executed to effectively contact a talent buyer, book a gig, notify your team and fans, prepare for the road and promote the show to the local media.

FINDING MUSIC BOOKING & PROMOTIONAL CONTACTS

To be able to book gigs successfully all you really need is persistence and organization. Booking live music events requires the same set of skills and resources, whether you are an agent booking music or an artist booking your own music. It also does not matter whether you are booking music locally, regionally or nationally. You will essentially need the same skills and tools to be effective.

The first place to start is to collect contact information for locations that hire live music performers. You need as many of these as possible to increase your success potential and you also need as much information (phone number, styles of music, capacity, contact name etc.) about the location that you can get your hands on. Below is a list of some good places to start:

Alternative newsweeklies like the Village Voice or the Boston Phoenix can be a great source of local venue listings. Every major market in the country has an independent weekly publication and most of them can be found online, check out Alternative Weekly Network. Sometimes the ads alone are enough to determine whether or not your act is appropriate for a particular venue. You will still need to get in touch with the venue however to find out their booking policies and get the right contact name for the talent buyer.

Printed music industry directories are an incredible resource. These directories tend to list everything from venues to record companies to managers and back again, so it is easy to get overwhelmed. Make sure you pick the one that is right for you and that¡¯s going to help you accomplish your goals. Take a look at the Galaris Music Directory, The Indie Contact Bible or the Musicians Atlas to get a sense of what is offered.

Your peers and heroes are really the best place to find venues appropriate for your band. Ask your friends that are in bands or go out to meet bands that share similarities with your sound. When asked, most will gladly share with you when the best time to reach the buyer is or exactly how to pitch your act to get gig. It¡¯s a safe bet that they are usually interested in telling people about all of the venues they have played so don¡¯t be afraid to whip out a pen and piece of paper. The more names and numbers you can get your hands on the more possible gigs you can lock down.

KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR MUSIC BOOKING EFFORTS

So you have now scoured the web, bought every music directory and harassed every touring band you know. At this point you probably have an incredible collection of venues, colleges, festivals and press contact information. You most likely have pages full of notes, emails with referrals and spreadsheets covered with names and numbers. But now what? The key is to be able to effectively organize all of your newfound contacts in a way that maximizes your opportunity with each one of them.

Software or web based applications such as Act, Outlook, or Onlinegigs are all efforts to help you centralize your business related messages, upcoming tasks and important contact information. Handheld versions such as a Filofax, or a Palm Pilot can also suit many of your needs. Whatever method you choose, be sure to get as many of the following features as would apply to your specific needs..

• Complete and total access to all of your important contact and business information in one location
• Multiple, archived backups of your information in case of data loss or equipment failure
• Reminder system for upcoming activities and tasks
• Integrated email & fax messaging with message tracking and search
• Customizable to better suit your specific industry
• Remotely accessible from any internet connection
• Ability to easily share your information with others
• Pre-loaded with a directory of industry contacts

Next you will need to either import your address book or do some data entry to get all of this the information into one place. From here forward you should get in the habit of storing data for every contact you do business with in this location. Every phone number, every email, every call, every meeting etc. This one tool becomes your address book, your task list, your reminder system and your file cabinet. .

When you complete a phone call, make some notes about what was said and store it with the contact you had the phone call with. It sounds simple enough, but trying to remember what hundreds of talent buyers told you during your last phone call is next to impossible. Similarly a record should be created for every upcoming task you need to complete. A list of venues that need to be called, packages that need to be sent and press releases that need to be generated and so on.

The best tools in the world however can¡¯t help anyone if there isn¡¯t a steady system of upkeep and interaction. Task lists need to be viewed and cleaned up, contact information constantly needs updating and old correspondences need to be filed away. A sound system of centralization and organization is the key to being able to work as many opportunities as possible at the same time. Now you can send out as many CDs as you want and open up more and more possibilities with an effective and organized follow up system.

THE IMPORTANCE OF ISSUING PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS

After a few months of working your task list religiously, following up on every CD and persisting until you are specifically told ¡°Not interested¡±, you should be ready to book a few gigs. Many an agreement has been made based on a phone call and a virtual handshake, but if you want to live without headaches, I suggest you get in the habit of sending a written agreement for every gig.

The story usually goes like this: you sent the CD in January, to finally book a gig in April for this upcoming August. It¡¯s just a Tuesday night for 100% of the door, a place to stay and some food, but it¡¯s a much-needed stop over between Colorado and Nevada. You call a week before the gig from somewhere in Texas and the club has never heard of you. What¡¯s worse, there is another band booked on that night and the other band has a confirmed written agreement.

For gigs that are low to no-dough deals, you should still send a written agreement. Email is the easiest method because you can easily send the same message over and over until you get confirmation. Faxing is also relatively easy but having to send a snail mail agreement more than once can be a hassle. Your goal here is to constantly remind the talent buyer of your agreement and put all of the details in one place. The higher the dollar value on the agreement the more diligent you should be on insisting on a signed copy.

Check out Faxwave, they will give you a free Fax-to-Email phone number. This gives you the ability to have a buyer physically sign your agreement and fax it back to you, but instead of receiving a traditional paper fax, you will get an electronic copy of the signature in any email inbox that you choose. This eliminates the likelihood of agreements or faxes slipping through the cracks. Most venues book a ton of talent and have their own problems keeping the information straight.

PROPERLY PROMOTING YOUR SHOWS

Now that you have been diligently sending out CDs, doing follow ups, landing gigs and issuing contracts; you need to be sure to update your fans as well as the local press about upcoming performances. If you have never played before in a particular market, then most likely nobody in that town has any idea who you are. And why would anyone come out to see you play if they have never heard of you before and have no idea that you are even playing. What you really need is some press or at a minimum just a listing with the local radio and print music calendars.

Your first step is to put together all of the contact names, fax numbers, email addresses etc. for the local media outlets in a 30-60 mile radius of your gig. Then you will have to prepare a professional and concise press release. A good release should be able to convey all of the pertinent information on one page. Radio stations and newspapers get flooded everyday with hundreds of releases; they do not have time to read numerous pages that outline your band¡¯s Zen philosophy or all of your bass player¡¯s musical influences. Keep it to the point or they will not read it all. Keep your layout clean; do not use multiple fonts and font sizes or too many colors and graphics.

Make sure your release has a section with the performance details that is easy to pick out and includes: Performance Date, Band Name, Venue Name, Full Address, Phone, Website, Ticket Price, Set Times, Age Limit and any other bands on the bill. Also be sure to include your personal contact information: Contact Name, Phone, Email, and Website. If someone needs to get in touch for a photo or an interview, you want him or her to be able to find you quickly and easily.

Here is where your CRM (Contact Resource Management) program really comes in handy. You could take the time to create numerous, personalized press releases for each press contact you have found. This could take you days depending on the size of the market. If we are talking about New York City, it could take you months. But if you have the proper tools like we outlined in the section above, you should be able to create one template and just click ¡°send¡± to issue a release, personally addressed, by fax or email to hundreds of contacts all at once.

GETTING PREPARED FOR A MUSIC TOUR

Once you get on the road, someone can use the itinerary to advance your shows. Every venue needs to be called a week or so before the gig to confirm any last minute details. Getting into the habit of advancing your shows is the only way to eliminate any surprises. Sound systems blow up, venues close down, and liquor licenses get pulled. The alternative is more frustration than it is worth. Every band needs someone that can take on another simple task or two. This one is simple but arguably one of the most important.

THE ALL IMPORTANT WEB PRESENCE

The importance of having your own website can never be stressed enough. This means something like www.bandname.com as opposed to a simple page or two on someone else¡¯s domain. Web-space is cheap and plentiful, if you want to be perceived as professional, you should start with the website. In the process of building your site you will also inadvertently be putting together the necessary materials for your press kit.

Pictures, press clippings and audio are a must. At least one band shot and a few handfuls of free, downloadable, full version songs. Your press should be relevant and current; no one really cares if the Osh Kosh Herald wrote a review of your first emo-core band, three years ago. You should also have bio info on the band and its members, a page for posting tour dates and your contact information on EVERY PAGE. Lastly, fans should be able to sign up for your email newsletter directly from your front page. Most hosting companies will offer this type of service, but if you need a greater degree of automation, check out Arrow Email.

It is crucial that you maintain your site, add new things to it, and change it around. Tour dates should always be kept up to date and old dates should be archived but viewable. This is your window to the world and when people look in they are more likely to listen to your music if they like what they see and hear right away. If you want to put a music player on your site, you should let the visitor turn it on. Having a music player start up suddenly when surfing at work or in a public place can be annoying, especially if the volume is turned up too loud.

CONCLUSION

In today¡¯s music industry the barriers to entry are almost insurmountable. The average band will most likely never get played on mainstream radio or MTV. But to believe that this means they will never have a career in music is just short sighted. There are plenty of independent musicians that make a living thru touring, CD sales and merchandise sales. These mavericks represent everything DIY and grassroots. They are living their dreams through their art and understand the power of organization and information. To achieve any level progress in society we are constantly standing on the shoulders of giants. Running a music career is no different, we all need to do our part to help those just getting started to benefit from the lesson we have learned through the years.