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Podcast #2: Tim Booth of James

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Donal Scannell interviews Tim Booth in the second installment for the podcast. Tim Booth is a singer, dancer, and actor. He is best know as the singer of the band James. Listen in to hear what he has to say about life, dance, and music.

 

 

 

 

Podcast Host:

Donal Scannell
Donal co-founded Gigstarter as a crowdfunding tool for planning and funding tours. Described as the Kickstarter for gigs, the web tool is a way for concerts to be crowd funded by fans. Donal is also creative director at production company Scanarama.

A Look at Hiring an Artist Manager

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Having an artist manager helps in many ways. They help take care of the business part so that the artists can work on the creative part. They have plenty of connections to help you out and push you forward in the industry. You just have to make sure you are ready for one. They usually don’t come cheap and even rarer, come free. You want to make sure that you aren’t just starting out when looking for an artist manager. It won’t be worth spending the little money you have on a manager when there is nothing for them to work with. Make sure to have a few shows behind you and some songs recorded before hiring a manager. It’ll give them a chance to look at what you have and how they feel with you. You want to make sure there is a connection with them and sometimes music is the only connection to start off with. It’ll also help find the right kind of manager to get that will mesh with the music well. They will be able to help you more if they work in with others in your genre.

If you don’t have the money to afford a manager, you can always have a friend help out. You might have a friend who knows some things when it comes to the industry, or at least have enough enthusiasm to look up anything in the industry to help. If they believe in you and enjoy your music, they might be willing to do it for free. Not everyone will do it for free, but they might be cheaper than a well known manager. They will gain experience and you will be able to focus on your music.

If you have the money to hire a manager with connections, it would really help. Make sure to find the right artist manager for you. If you are looking for someone to help more with booking, look for a manager who has connections with venues and promoters. If you want someone to help more with finding labels, look for someone who has connections in that area. Some of these managers might work cheap if they really believe and enjoy your music. It’s not always easy to find, but they are out there.

Once you decide to get a manager, make sure you connect with them. It’s like hiring a new band member. They will most likely be spending a lot of time with you figuring things out, going on tours, recording, etc. Make sure they are someone that you can be honest and open with. The artist and manager need to be open with what they both want and how they can work to help each other. It should never be left to just one side to get things done. Both sides need to be realistic about what the other can do and everyone must be honest with what they can and cannot do at that time.

Looking for managers isn’t always easy. Try asking around at shows. The best ways to find managers is by asking the bands you perform with. Some might already have one and can give you a referral about a great manager or their manager might be able to refer one to you. Other artists will give you honest opinions on the people they work with. Having the artist introduce you to an artist manager will be a great way to start a conversation with a probable manager.

When trying to get the attention of an artist manager, you want to treat them the same way you would a label. Send them music samples, demos, information about yourself/band and music, and anything else you would send to a label. Once you send an email to an artist manager, give them time to respond. You want to give them a little follow up, but you don’t want to be too strong.  Give them a week or two before sending a follow up, but make sure to be respectful and not too pushy. If you do get a response, make sure to be respectful, kind, and humanly no matter what the response is from them.

If you find an artist manager that you are willing to work with and who is willing to work with you, make sure to make up a contract. If it’s a friend that you decide to work with, you can all make up your own terms that you mutually agree upon. Talk things out and don’t get angry. If you guys can’t agree on a contract and things you agree with, don’t work together. If it’s with a known manager, they will have lawyers and have more terms that might be better to get legal advice for. Either way, make sure that everything is agreed upon before you sign anything.

An artist manager is great to have to help out. You want to make sure that you are established and know what you want before even looking for a manager. There are so many different types out there and you want to make sure you find the right one for you and your band. Not everyone is going to work for everyone.

Podcast #1: Moby

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Donal Scannell shares his first podcast as he talks to DJ, musician, photographer, author, and animal rights activist, Moby. They talk about everything from music to lifestyles and everything in between.

 

 

 

Podcast Host:

Donal co-founded Gigstarter as a crowdfunding tool for planning and funding tours. Described as the Kickstarter for gigs, the web tool is a way for concerts to be crowd funded by fans. Donal is also creative director at production company Scanarama.

Purchasing Fans

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Every artist wants a big number of fans. Looking at those numbers on social media gets everyone excited. The artists feel important and new people to the music, as well as labels and talent agents, see big numbers and think there is something going on with the artists. There are a couple of ways to get these numbers on social media, including purchasing fans. You have to be careful about how you go about getting fans, though. Just make sure you stay connected with the fans who truly like your music.

Paying for Fans:

An easy way that a lot of artists think work is purchasing fans. There are plenty of people out there who will do it for the artists. You will pay a ton of money for them to find people who are willing to follow you for a certain amount of money. There will be some people who do this and will call or email to get you to sign up with them. If you decide to get “fans” this way, make sure to do as much research on the person as you can. There are plenty of them out there that will scam you for money and not actually do anything.

The problem purchasing fans is there’s no connection and most of them, if not all of them, won’t do anything but follow you. You want to make sure there is actual interaction with that many fans. It is true that the first thing people notice when they look at your social media accounts is how many likes and follows you have. But the second thing they will look at is if there’s any kind of interaction with those fans. Are they “liking”  posts, commenting, re-tweeting? If you have thousands of likes and follows, but no interaction, labels and venues will notice. It is hard right now with so many pages out there for anyone to see everything you’re posting, but you want to make sure there are some connections happening.

Free Fans:

Getting fans the old fashion way will take longer and won’t be as easy, but it will be worth it more in the end. It will show how much work you put into your music and fans. There will be more interaction and will catch the eye of the people you want it to. Labels and venues will be more impressed and see all the work you’re putting in. Your page will be filled with genuine fans who will want to share your music with others and want to share what you’re posting. 

There are websites out there that will help you purchase fans and you can get fans on your own. Really think about what you want to do before you decide to “purchase fans”. A lot of people will notice if they are real or fake numbers. There are a lot of scammers out there, as well. Make sure to do a lot of research first. The numbers may look good in the emails, but looking up reviews on them will let you know how they really are. Getting fans without that kind of help won’t be as easy, but will help way more in the end. The fans will be true and genuine and will be helping you gather more fans. 

 

Making Money in the Industry

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Making money doing what you love is never easy. Most have to have at least one other job while they have their passion as a side job or even just as a hobby. There are a few things that you can do to help make money with your music, whether it’s writing for yourself or being a song writer for someone else. It’s always good to keep your mind open when trying to make money. Try something different and exciting that will get peoples’ attentions and make them want to support you. I will be talking about a few things that might help, but always think of new and exciting ways to generate money, especially since it’s very easy to download music for free.

Merchandise:

Selling merchandise is a great way to create money. Everyone wants to show off their support for bands that they love or for bands that they just found out about. They will wear shirts and pins to shows and on the street, which will get others around them interested in checking you out and will mean that they will purchase things as well. It’s very easy to buy and sell merchandise anywhere. You can sell at shows, but you can also sell online in many different ways. There’s always social media you can sell on as long as you have a PayPal account, multiple websites that help you sell online, as well as selling on your own website.

Live Shows:

Live shows are always great to get money at. As noted above, you can sell your merchandise at shows, but you can also make money in other ways. Some venues will pay you for playing there, others will let you set up a tip jar on stage where anyone at the show can donate money while you’re performing. You can also put a tip jar on your merchandise table for anyone who would like to donate more money or still show monetary support if they cannot purchase anything.

Another great form of “live shows” are to do it online. It’s not exactly “live” but you will be live streaming and performing live for fans. Streaming sites, such as StageIt, will let you set a price for a live streaming a concert and your fans can pay to see you perform from all over the world.

Crowdfunding/Pledge Music:

There are multiple forms online to have fans donate money to your music. Things like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo will let people donate money to your cause if they feel connected to it. Sites like Patreon help artists support each other and have fans support them as well. Patreon usually has it where you have something to give to the person who donated the money. Doesn’t need to be anything big, just something small to say thank you. I believe it’s always good to give back to those who help out. If you can do that while they’re donating, it would help so much.

Exclusives:

Having something extra for fans will make them more excited about purchasing things. You can have certain songs be free, but if they want to be able to download a special video from the band or an exclusive song, then they’d have to pay for it. Make it seem special. Having a few songs free for listeners to check out and download before purchasing the album will make them able to listen to you and want more.

Cover Shows:

A lot of bands don’t care for doing cover shows and would rather play their own music, but most (if not all) bands who do cover gigs will get paid. Most places would like to hire performers that sound or can at least perform popular songs. It gets the crowd excited and want to people to show up. It may not be the best o most popular around performers to do, but it is a good way to get some money and sometimes even be heard by someone in the industry.

YouTube:

YouTube is a great way to get money and to be heard. A lot of venues and even labels go to YouTube to see what you’re about. It shows how many people are listening to you, what you can creatively do with the music in terms of writing and music videos if you have any, and they will be able to see your music persona and how people react to it. YouTube also has ads that will generate money overtime someone watches one of your videos. You can decide which video you’d like the ads to be on and will generate more income. Yes, the ads are annoying, but it’s not going to stop anyone from listening to you. Performers all over have gotten signed thanks to YouTube and many that haven’t been signed yet are getting paid through the ads.

Sponsorship:

Having someone sponsor you is a great way to have money. Whoever is sponsoring you will donate money to whatever you need, whether it be to go on tour, buy new merchandise, help with recording, or getting instruments. You may not always be able to use the money as you want, but it will help pay for the important “business” things so that when you do make money from sales or anything, that will be your money and you won’t have to worry about business expenses. Sponsors also make it easier to get booked at shows and at festivals. You both can help each other out and booking agents will notice.

There are plenty of ways to make money doing what you love. You just have to keep an open mind and be creative. These were a few ideas that may help, but should only be a starting point for trying to make money with your music. Some are not as popular as others and some are very easy to do. You just have to find out what works best for you and your music, as well as for you fans.

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