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Podcast

Practical Tips for the Music Business We’re providing practical tips to help independent artists get paid doing what they love.

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Radio Part 1 ‑ Strategy

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Transcript

Simone Henry: Hey everybody. Welcome to another Practical Tips for the Music Business. How are you doing Kevin?

Kevin James: I'm doing fine. And how about you Simone?

Simone: I'm doing great. It's been a great day. It's almost fall here. Actually no, I think it is fall.

Kevin: Yes it is. It don't feel like it though.

Simone: No it doesn't feel like it, it has been hot. OK everybody, on today's show we're going to begin our topic on radio. We're doing this topic in two parts. The first is about radio strategy. The second will be maintenance.

Before we get to get to that, we wanted to tell you what's been going on with The Christian Jukebox lately. We've been doing our September promotion sale. It's almost over because it's almost... This is the third week I think, in September and so we've lowered our prices of course they were already low and some very savvy artists are taking advantage of them.

So it's been really, really cool. It's been really good. We may do another show on promotion in the future and go more in depth on the options we offer at CJB radio and TheChristianJukeBox.com. We love your suggestions.

Also another thing that I wanted to talk about was the Basic Foundations Show that comes on every Wednesday at 12 Noon Eastern time, that rebroadcast on CJB radio. Kevin and I are members of the panel.

So, when you tune into Basic Foundations, you can ask us questions. Ask us anything, put us on the spot. They've been putting Kevin on the spot the last couple of weeks and that's been pretty fun.

Kevin: Oh, oh, oh. And now they're saying it's fun? [laughter]

Simone: Yeah because you never know what he'll say.

Kevin: That's not good. That is not good. Not good at all. I just wanted to take it back home what you were talking about the Basic Foundations. Yes, Basic Foundation is a very, very good show. It's a very good show. For all you independent artists out there who really need to learn more about the industry in depth, you really need to be tuned in Wednesdays at 12 o'clock Eastern time on CJB radio.

Now go ahead Simone.

Simone: That's good. I'm glad you said that, because I forgot to tell him what the Basic Foundation Show was about but you covered it.

Kevin: That's why am here.

Simone: Yeah, see. [laughter]

Simone: OK everybody it's time to get to the main topic: strategy for your radio campaign. The first step is to look up stations. Kevin you want to talk a lot of it about that?

Kevin: Sure. What you need to do, we say looking up stations... Well if you're doing gospel music then you should be looking at gospel stations. If you're doing gospel music, look up gospel stations. All right. Get you a list. I'm pretty sure they follow the same... "Kevin, we already know that."

[laughter]

Kevin: But we have to do this for the show. OK, I have to do this for the show.

Simone: You never know what they know.

Kevin: That's right. [laughs] But yes, you have to look up the stations. The thing to do is choose about, let's start off with about 10 stations because the next step is to listening to the station. You want to have enough stations but not too many. So look up about 10 stations at the most.

Simone: When you're listening to the stations, why are you listening? What are you listening for? What should they listen for?

Kevin: What you're listening for is the type of music that your station is playing and whether or not your music is going to fit that station's format. Now a lot of artists been to PD at CJB Radio. A lot of artists sends us music without listening to the station first. What happens? Well, a lot of music that comes into CJB radio, it do not fit CJB radio format, so that was a waste of energy, time and everything else because we are not going to play the music. Always listen to the stations first to make sure you are sending your music to a station that fits the style of music that you are playing. You have a better chance of getting played. All right?

Simone: That is true. Especially if you are sending CD's to the station. You are also spending your money and your time putting your packages together so you want those to go to the right station.

Kevin: That is right. That is definitely true. Now, is we down to number three or is it some...

Simone: Yes, we are.

Kevin: We are at number three. Number three: List the stations you are sending your music to. Well, that is definitely true. You should be checking all protocol for each one of the stations. What are you saying, Kevin?

Well, you need to find out: What do the program director...what avenues you have to take to send your music in. With CJB radio, the only thing we ask you to do is send your mp3 files at 128 and what else? Oh, you have got to make sure the music is tagged. All stations has its own protocol, right or wrong.

Simone, do you have something?

Simone: That is right. Some stations may say they want just emails or they want a package in the mail or some want press kits. They want the whole kit and caboodle.

Kevin: Not the whole kit and caboodle! [laughter]

Simone: Yeah, they may want everything you have got. Whereas other stations may just want a CD and if you have your bio and nice pictures and other things and your contact information on the CD jacket then that is all they need. Whereas other stations want a full press kit with all kinds of different things. You have to find out exactly what each station wants. Oh, one thing I wanted to go back to, Kevin, because some people may not know what a PD is.

Kevin: OK, program director. All right. That is the one who programs the station.

Simone: Right. So that is not necessarily the DJ that they hear on the air, right?

Kevin: No. But, the program director is the most important one of them all. Why? He programs what music is going to go on the station. Some stations have a music director and some have the music and a program director. But if the station has a music director then you send your music to the MD, the music director.

Simone: OK.

Kevin: OK? All right. But if not, you send it to the program director which is probably wearing two hats: the program director and the music director. The music director picks the music out, listens to your music, and say: Well, I think this is good. This sounds good. The program director takes your music and he puts it where it should be on the stations. All right? They just got some more valuable information just taught them the meaning...

Simone: They should did. There is one other thing, too. You said128. What does that mean?

Kevin: Whoa, Simone. You are getting deep.

Simone: Hey, I am just making sure we tell all the folks what they need to know. You never know what they know, right?

Kevin: That is true. That is definitely true. It is going to be the quality of the music that is coming through an mp3. If you are sending mp3 files, the bit rate is something up on your... when you recorded, something says bit rate. Some people send like 64, and 64 just sounds like an AM station. 128 is CD quality. That means that when the music is played, it's going to sound just like a CD. But, the better quality is 320. So, that is like radio quality. Terrestrial radio will not accept any mp3s under 320. All right? This is for terrestrial radios. If you send them an mp3 file, make sure the bit rate is 320. OK? But most Internet radio stations take 128. All right? Was that enough, or do we need more?

Simone: I think that was good.

Kevin: That's good, OK.

Simone: They should understand that, right?

Kevin: I hope so.

Simone: [laughs] OK, number four was build relationships with program directors and/or radio personalities.

Kevin: Take me out to lunch.

Simone: [laughs]

Kevin: That's what it means! Come by and take me out to lunch. Call me up and say, "Kevin, would you like to go out to lunch today?" That's how you do it. Building relationships with the program director, the music director. Or, if you have a personality, most people now, DJs, I don't know why them DJs. I'm sorry, I see DJs, and they're not DJs anymore.

Simone: Oh, that's an old term. So now they're "radio personalities", is that right?

Kevin: They're radio personalities.

Simone: Or, "on air personalities".

Kevin: There you go, let's use that term. "On air personalities". Because I look there and I see "DJ". But, if you want to take your "on air personality" out, now, let me tell you about that. Because there's only a certain on air personality that can actually have control of your music being played, and that one is one who has his own show. OK? I hope you understand that. Don't go and send in all this stuff to all of these on air personalities, because they cannot play your music. They can't do it. Even though, in fact, nowadays, on air personalities don't even play music, so you'll be wasting your time. So the people that you really need to build relationships with are program directors, music directors. Well, you can take the personalities out also.

Simone: Yeah, they don't want to be left out, huh?

Kevin: Yeah, yeah, let's not leave them out. So you can do that also. But what I'm trying to say is that radio personalities at some stations do not have any control over the music that is played. So you have to look into all of that. OK?

Simone: Now, how do you know if they have their own show? How can you tell? The radio personality. How can you tell if the have their own show where they're responsible for the music that they play?

Kevin: Well, number one, you're going to know because if you go to certain station, any Radio One station, you know for a fact, you should know, anyway, none of the personalities have their own show. They have no control over the music.

Simone: They have to play the music that the station is playing, right?

Kevin: Right. That's where the program director comes into play. If you have a program director at that station, believe me, the radio personalities do not have control over the music that is being played. All right?

Simone: OK. All right.

Kevin: So you need to be in relationships with PDs, MDs, and if you want to do the college thing, yeah, I think the main people you really need to build relationship with. I just don't like to leave the personalities out. Because some of them are big. Like Yolanda Adams. She has influence. So, if your music comes across, she might have enough influence to say, "Listen, I want this played on my show." So I don't want to leave them out because some do have some influence on getting your music played.

Simone: All right. It may work better at a station that is not part of a network.

Kevin: Right. Oh, see, Simone, you know some things.

Simone: I'm learning. I'm learning from you.

Kevin: Yeah, but you're learning fast too.

Simone: OK. So number five.

Kevin: Number five was, choose less than 20 stations to send your music to. All right? As I was saying at first, at the beginning, I was telling everybody that you should choose 10 stations. This type of campaign is for independent artists, OK? Because 20 stations is too many stations to keep up with. It's just too many. So, choose about 20 stations to send your music to, and try not to send your music to 20 or more stations. Hold on, wait a minute. I don't know who wrote this. [laughs] "Choose less than 20 to send your music to."

Simone: Try not to send your music to more than 20 stations. I guess that's what it should say.

Kevin: More thatn20 stations. You see? It's just all in love. It's all in love. All right. OK, so what we had tried to say is minimize the number of stations where you send your music. It's going to be easy to maintain. That is true. Because, after this, then it comes down to where you have to maintain all of these stations, and 20 of them is just too many. But, if you have a radio promoter, if might be a little different. So this is only if you're doing it yourself.

Simone: Right, because a radio promoter could probably do more that 20 stations if they have a team that their working with, right?

Kevin: Yes, yes. So true, so true, so true. OK. Next thing, Simone.

Simone: All right, number six, pick a region. Especially if you're going after terrestrial radio. Right?

Kevin: Oh, yes, yes. Well, I don't know. Washington is a small area, but I don't know if it's small when it comes down to a region. But, that is true. A region is when you have, pick one for me Simone.

Simone: What do you mean? Like, say, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia?

Kevin: And Virginia.

Simone: And Virginia. OK, so that's a good region.

Kevin: Let's take them for instance. And what you'll do is, you'll pick them out. Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. All of them are right there together. What you do is, you're going to go to each one of those states, you don't have to go, just look it up, and find out the stations that fits the style of music that you have. That is playing the style of music that you have, anyway. It's better if you pick a region than to try to send your music all over the world because you're not going to be able to maintain it. It's hard to maintain. Do you have anything to say on that, Simone?

Simone: Sounds good to me.

Kevin: Well, anything else that you would like to know about your radio strategy?

Simone: Well, the next show is going to be about maintenance. You've covered all the tips we had for the strategy for today. But the next show will be on maintaining. Once your music is out there, and you've sent it to the stations, then how do you maintain that relationship? How do you continue servicing those? So we'll talk about that in the next show.

Kevin: OK.

Simone: Yeah. OK?

Kevin: OK.

Simone: So, we want to remind everybody before we go to join TheChristianJukebox.com and join our mailing list, or, sign up the sell your music by clicking "Artist Backoffice" at the top. What else should they do Kevin?

Kevin: Click on the CJB Radio logo to listen to, that's right CJB Radio station.

Simone: That's right! Thanks for listening everybody. See you next time.

Kevin: God bless you. Bye, bye.

Simone: Bye, bye.

7 Tips For Building A Fan Base

To listen to the audio, click here.

Transcript
Simone Henry: Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of "Practical Tips for the Music Business." How you doing Kevin?

Kevin James: I'm doing fine. How about yourself Simone?

Simone: I'm doing great. I'm looking forward to this episode.

Kevin: What are we talking about today?

Simone: We're going to be giving the folks seven tips for building a fan base.

Kevin: Wow.

Simone: Isn't that great.

Kevin: That is great, fan base.

Simone: Yes, it's very important. They all need it.

Kevin: Yes they do.

Simone: OK. So but before we get into that we want to give you some information about what the TheChristianJukebox.com is doing. What we've been doing the last couple of weeks since we last saw you. And we wanted to kind of give you some information on how to make the most out of your membership. So I have a list of things here, and as it turns out, its eight things.

OK, first of all. When you join the TheChristianJukebox.com, put a link on your website back to your artist page. As an artist when you're selling your music, you get your own personal page. And when you log into your artist backoffice, you'll find code under “Links and Logos” for you to be able to post those links on your MySpace page and on your website, and even tell your friends on Facebook.

Kevin: Yes.

Simone: Also, tell your friends and fans where they can download your music. So when you are doing your fliers and different things like that. And you're putting iTunes and Amazon on there put the TheChristianJukebox.com logo on there as well. If you need help, we're here. Give us a call anytime. Another thing you can do, forward our email newsletters to your friends and fans. Especially if you're in the newsletter or if your album cover shows up. They love to see what you're doing and all the lovely attention that you're getting.

OK, number four. Browse the site to find fellow TheChristianJukebox.com artists and begin networking with them. You never know, you may find other artists who will be great mentors for you.

Number five. Purchase an ad or commercial on CJB Radio or a banner ad on the TheChristianJukebox.com to keep your name and your face and your music in the minds of our visitors and listeners.

When your music isn't playing on CJB Radio or any other radio station, people can still be able to see you. They still have that image of you in their minds. Listen to CJB Radio. And, number seven. Join the TheChristianJukebox.com group on Facebook and network with us, and other artists that you'll meet there. And other industry people.

Number eight. Send us feedback. We love to hear from our artists. Tell us how we're doing. What you like to see. What you find most helpful, and what would be helpful that we're maybe not providing. Maybe there's something that you need that is not on the site right now and we could help you out with that. OK, so that's my list of eight things of how to make the most of your membership on the TheChristianJukebox.com.

Kevin: That is so great Simone. That was great.

Simone: Isn't it wonderful?

Kevin: Yes it was, yes. And please everyone use all of the tips she just gave. What it's going to do is it's going to increase your sales. Alright, it sounds like all the tips that you had were to increase sales. And that was great.

Simone: Right, and get you... and get some attention. OK, and it goes right along with our topic for today.

Kevin: And.

Simone: Our main topic today.

Kevin: That is.

Simone: Seven tips for building a fan base.

Kevin: Wow, I love it. Seven tips to building a fan base.

Simone: Right.

Kevin: And just building that fan base remember one thing. The fan base, that's your consumers. They're the ones who's going to be buying your project. So you're going to want to do a great job of building a huge fan base. It's very important.

Simone: Right, and they'll not only be buying the music but also coming to your events.

Kevin: Yes, that's right.

Simone: The concerts.

Kevin: That's right.

Simone: And if you're offering other merchandise like t shirts, pens, cups – whatever else your doing. Those are the people who will be buying those things as well.

Kevin: Great, Let's go on.

Simone: OK, tip number one. Be authentic, be you. There is no one in the world like you.

Kevin: That's right.

Simone: Right.

Kevin: That is true. So don't go and try to act like Kirk Franklin or Donnie McClurkin, or Yolanda Adams or somebody. Be who you are, and that is a great thing.

Simone: Awesome tip.

Kevin: I love it.

Simone: OK, number two. Use social media to properly engage your target market.

Kevin: OK, stop right there. Can you explain that to them?

Simone: What social media is?

Kevin: Well, just explain... Yeah, explain the whole social media and the proper to engage your target market.

Simone: Well, social media... And when we say social media we're talking about sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Shoutlife.com – sites like that where you can interact with your target market on a daily basis. Some people even do hourly updates. You give short little updates about what you're doing, how your day is going. You're having short little conversations with different people. You build a friends lists and you're interacting with those people. Some social sites allow you to send out emails to all of your friends at once. You can post events. Say you're going to be sharing the stage with some big artist. You can put in an event and invite all your friends to come. And then they in turn can invite their friends, and they invite their friends.

You can share videos with your friends. There's so many things that you can do with social media – which is why it's taken off so well.

Kevin: Yes it is.

Simone: Because it's this great way of interacting with people and having conversations with people.

Kevin: Yes, and speaking of conversation – that is probably one of the main points on the social media. Don't go to Facebook or Twitter and try to just sell your project. Engage and try to find out who your listening audience is or who your fans are. Have a conversation, like you were saying, Simone. Have a conversation with them. Don't just pop up there and say: "Listen, I got a CD for sale." So, kind of bring them in gradually. Alright.

Simone: That's a very good tip. The reason why you don't want to just sell, sell, sell is because you want to engage them and develop a genuine love for who they are. And then they will have a genuine interest in you and in what you have to offer. So then you don't have to sell them so hard because they'll have that interest in you. They'll begin to love you and like you. So then you don't have to sell them as hard. They'll just buy it anyway because they like you so much.

Kevin: That's great.

Simone: Right.

Kevin: Yes, I love it.

Simone: OK, tip number three is kind of along the same lines. Social media is give and take. What does that mean?

Kevin: What does that mean Simone?

Simone: Well, that means you're giving to others and they're giving to you. So, social media is a great way to meet other artists and interact with them. Help them and they will help you. And you can all cross promote each other's projects and each other's events. And share, and the more you give to them, the more they'll give to you, and the more you'll gain. And the better off you'll be.

Kevin: Yes, and another thing about cross promotion. A lot of people probably don't like to do it but if I'm having an event, or if you're having an event, I take my event and I put it on my page, or you have an event, and I'm having an event, you put my event on your page. Get it right, right? You put my event on your page. You see it's called cross promotion, and you see how it crossed me all up just then. I just got crossed up.

Simone: [laughs] Yeah, I saw that.

Kevin: I just got crossed up on cross promotion. But that's what cross promotion is. You're having an event, don't be like "oh, I can't. I'm not going to cross-promote with him, because he might get more sales than me." Really, all in all, it's going to help you. It's going to help you in the long run if you cross-promote. I just got crossed up but yeah, cross promotion. Go ahead, go ahead, you know.

Simone: [laughs] I know. And I think they'll know.

Kevin: OK.

Simone: All right. Number four. Give it away.

Kevin: Give it wait, wait, wait. You said, do what?

Simone: I said, "give it away."

Kevin: Give it away. So we're about to give away something for free?

Simone: Exactly.

Kevin: Well you have to explain this one, Simone. Let's go.

Simone: It can be a little scary. It's a little nervous. It makes people nervous.

Kevin: Yes, it got me nervous.

Simone: Right. I know because it takes a lot of money, and time, and effort, and blood, sweat and tears, to put your project together. You get to write just the right songs, and you pay a lot of money to the producer to make sure it's mixed very well and everything. And you want to get a return on your investment. And so, here I am saying, "give it away." But, in this day and age, giving away music is a very good thing, because it attracts new fans. Not just the people who have loved you all your life: your mom, and your dad, and your sisters and your brothers, and your church family. And we're not saying to just give away your whole CD or your whole project, all the time. You can be really creative with it. Do little promotions. Have people show you their websites with your link on it or something, and give them a few songs off the project. Be creative with it. But when you get your music out there, those folks who have downloaded your music or gotten a free CD are going to share it with their friends. And the more people who are listening to it, the more fans you're getting.

Kevin: That is great. I love that, I really do. And another thing, once you give that music away, and this is our tip number five: stay in touch with the fans. Don't just give the music away. When you give it away, make sure you get their email address or something so you can stay in contact with them. You've got to stay close to your fans. Stay close to them, provide them with information: where you're going to be performing, and stuff like that. So when you are giving away your music, don't forget. The purpose is to gain a fan. What you do is you give away your music, they give you that email address.

Simone: There you go.

Kevin: Right?

Simone: Yes. There's that give and receive concept again.

Kevin: Right. And I think we covered two tips just in one tip. We covered like three I think. We covered the give away, you stay in touch you have to stay in touch, standing close with your friends, making sure you're giving them information on what you're doing, your performance, if you have T shirts, anything, you let them know you have T shirts for sale. And you're going to collect emails. Why? Well, when you give away that music, make sure that is one of the stipulations for you to give away the music. That's it.

Simone: There you go. That's right. And make it easy for them to give you their information. Collect business cards at your events. Have somebody pass around a bowl for them to put their email addresses or their business cards into. If your fans aren't maybe say they're not older people who aren't business owners or anything, and they don't carry around business cards have little slips of paper and pens so they can write their email addresses, and have them drop it in a hat or box or bowl or something. And do it during the performance. Say you're doing it during an intermission. You can even be creative with it. Do a drawing on the email addresses and give away a CD, or have them write down their favorite song, their request, with their email address, and then you pull out the one and you can sing that person's favorite song.

Kevin: That was great. That was great. Because I was going to say the same thing. While you're doing your performance, make sure you have a table with your CDs on it. Also, have a couple of sheets of paper where people can come and put that email address on your list, OK? So it's going to build up a lot more fans that way also. During your performance, make sure you always have CDs. I know you're going to have some CDs there. But also, have a couple of sheets of paper, with their name and their email address, so you can stay in contact with them. Right?

Simone: That's right. And that was tip number six, right?

Kevin: Right.

Simone: All right, we're down to the final one!

Kevin: The final tip [makes drum roll noise] .

Simone: Number seven.

Kevin: Number seven!

Simone: Team up with other artists, to open for them at their events.

Kevin: I think that's a great idea also.

Simone: It's a good one?

Kevin: Yes. Yes.

Simone: And back to that give and receive concept. Say you're opening for another artist who is maybe doing their CD release party or something like that. Then their fans may just become your fans too.

Kevin: Whoa, that's right. That is right. And vice versa. Don't forget. We don't want you to think this is a one way ticket here.

Simone: That's right.

Kevin: This goes two ways. What we're talking about, we're going to go back to that cross promotion. I got it right this time, see?

Simone: Got it right!

Kevin: I didn't get crossed up. But, it goes back to cross promotion, and what number seven is actually telling you is to cross-promote. You team up with another artist. You open up for that artist, that artist comes and opens up for you. So everyone gains something. I love it, Simone. Continue on.

Simone: It's wonderful. Well, that's our seven tips for building a fan base.

Kevin: So that's all for today?

Simone: That's all for today.

Kevin: Oh. Well, tell them what they can look for on the next time.

Simone: All right. Next time, our topic will be radio.

Kevin: My subject.

Simone: Yes. This is Kevin's subject, so you have to be here for the next time.

Kevin: I love the radio.

Simone: OK? And we're going to break it up into two parts. Part one, we're going to give you tips on radio strategy, like how to set up a radio campaign. OK? And, part two, we're going to give you tips on radio maintenance. Now that you've got your campaign, you've put that campaign into place. Now how do you maintain that and stay in contact with those radio stations, and get the most out of that campaign? OK?

Kevin: You don't want to miss this one. No you don't.

Simone: No you don't.

Kevin: And don't forget, if you're an artist, and you should be, of course, if you're listening to this. You have to be, right? No question. Come on, Kevin, did I get crossed up again? I don't know.

Simone: No, I don't think so. I think, you know, just remind people.

Kevin: Don't forget. Don't forget to go to TheChristianJukebox.com because you want to put your project in our store, OK? I'm going to give you that web address again. TheChristianJukebox.com, sign up and put your project into our store.

Simone: And, also listen to CJB radio.

Kevin: CJB radio baby, radio. The number one.

Simone: You're listening to Kevin James do his thing.

Kevin: That's right. That's right.

Simone: Every afternoon, the afternoon praise party, right Kevin?

Kevin: That's right, no question. And until the next time, I've got to get up out of here.

Simone: [laughs] We'll see you next time. Bye bye.

Budgeting for Promotion

To listen to the audio, click here.

Transcript
Simone: Hello and welcome to the first episode of practical tips for the music business presented by the team here at The Christian Jukebox. I'm Simone Henry.

Kevin: And I'm Kevin James.

Simone: We're gonna tell you a little bit about ourselves before we get started with this first episode. I'm the owner of The Christian Jukebox, I have a Bachelor's degree in business and IT from Morgan State University in Baltimore. I've been working as a web programmer for the Maryland state and federal government for about 11 years. I've been recognized several times for my programming and customer service skills and I'm using those skills to bear for the artists we serve hear at the Christian Jukebox. Now Kevin's going to tell you a little bit about himself.

Kevin: My name is Kevin James, I graduated from Howard University in Communications. I have over 25 years in the music industry. I work with EMI Records in the A&R department. I also worked as a road manager for a lot of your major hip hop and R&B artists, D'Angelo, I've worked with Garth Brooks. I've also worked on a lot of major tours such as Hopeville, Sister Sister tour featuring Yolanda Adams, also I've worked with numerous independent gospel artists and now I'm here at CJB Radio.

Simone: Awesome. Now Kevin and I are bringing our experience and resources in business and music to help independent artists. While we're working with the artists on the roster of the Christian Jukebox we saw the need to educate artists about the music industry. There are shows, podcasts and books about the music business out there, but we felt that there was a need to give our artists more practical information that's easily digestible that they can use right away. We want to show artists how to use internet tools as well as the traditional applications available for accomplishing their goals. Ok that's enough about us. Now let's get into the main topic for this episode. Today we're talking about budgeting for promotion. We're talking about after you've recorded your project and ready to out it into the market. How do you budget the costs of everything you'll need as far as putting your project out there. Kevin.

Kevin: Well Simone the first thing I think is you should have had your project already budgeted before we even got to this point. I'm sorry to tell you that but it should've been budgeted before you even recorded the project. Alright just want to let everyone know that. I know a lot of artists go into the studio, record projects and don't even know where they going to get the money from to finish the studio and so forth so there's a problem already before the recroding is even finished, alright so I just want to let that be known. Before you record your project, always come up with your budget for your whole entire project. Since we have a lot of artists who have recorded projects and they still don't have a budget we're going to let them know how to get a budget for your promotion. Alright? Ok. Now the first thing that we should start off with is websites. I'm going to let Simone talk about that because that is her area. Simone.

Simone: Ok. Let's see. For your website, what are you going to need? You're going to need a domain name. What's a domain name? A domain name is your address on the web. It is “myname.com,” “myname.org,” “myname.biz” that is your domain name. You can get a cheap domain name at godaddy.com. Ok? So that's your first thing your going to need. You can get a domain name long before you have your website done or developed. You want to get your domain name first because it has to be unique and a lot of the good ones go quickly. Ok? Then, once you're ready to get started on your website, its time to buy hosting. I also buy hosting at godaddy.com because again, its cheap. Hosting is where the web files live. So when you go to a website and you see the pages and you see pictures and you can download music and do this kind of other stuff, all of that stuff, all of those files are hosted on a computer somewhere. That's whats called hosting. If you're not tech savvy yourself, and you don't want to build it yourself, you can either hire a designer or go the less expensive route and use a web development service or some sort of a content management service such as web site by the night, Joomla, or word press. Word press is especially recommended because its free and it comes with several templates and plug ins that are easy to install, that are also free. Now you're website won't be flashy at first, but it will be presentable when you use one of these tools. It'll be laid out very nicely, ok? And that's what you want, you want something professional and that's presentable to give you a web presence. And also you want to show up in the search engines so when somebody goes to google and googles your names you want your website to come up, ok?

Kevin: great information. Don't forget one thing. What we're telling you is don't go and purchase this in the beginning. This is just the budget. Write all of these prices down. This is really just research. Go and research all of this, get prices for all of this stuff and write it down. Ok so don't just got there because Simone said to. Don't just go out and purchase all this stuff before you even get your budget started. Alright?

Simone: Compare prices, definitely. So that's what you're going to do when you're researching. You're going to compare prices and see what people offer and pout the prices in your budget that you think are worth it and are services that do what you need them to do, alright? The may not necessarily be the cheapest thing, but that gives you the most value for your buck.

Kevin: Another thing, a lot of people see a lot of cheap things and they've probably said “that's real cheap so I'm going to go and get it” but really its not going to do you any good so you have to be careful with going with the cheapest thing all the time. If its not going to do you any good, for instance why go to a website that has contemporary gospel and you're a traditional gospel artist? It doesn't make sense. So even if the price is five dollars, most of the people that visit that site like contemporary gospel, they don't like traditional gospel so make sure you go to places that is accepting your gene, alright?

Simone: Ok, so along with websites....

Kevin: EPK.

Simone: Presskits.

Kevin: Electronic presskits, not just any presskits, but electronic presskits, that's what time it is today. Everything is electronic and across the internet. EPK's basically is, what would you say it is Simone?

Simone: Well, its a presskit online. I think it is a kind of dynamic way of presenting yourself to industry professionals. They can see who you are at a glance. They get to sample your music, they can see you perform if you have videos posted, they can contact you very easily with the web form that is on your presskit, quickly view your bio, and also see some photos of you.

Kevin: So basically it is your resume. Thats right its your online resume. An EPK. Remember the same resume that you gave to those people to get a job, well this EPK is just about the same exact thing.

Simone: Your resume for the music business.

Kevin: And we can pick up one for free now, not all of them are free, but this website does give them to you for free. Whats is the website Simone?

Simone: epresskitz.com.

Kevin: And it is free.

Simone: Ok so that's about e-presskits. What's the next idea?

Kevin: Well I think the next thing that we should go into is print media. Now in you hometown you have a newspaper. Go and find out how much it will cost to take out an ad in your local newspapers. Go and see how much its going to cost you to get in all of the newspapers alright? That is very critical.

Simone: And you don't have to buy a huge ad, but something that is noticeable.

Kevin: But don't forget newspapers. Next thing.

Simone: Ok well while we're talking about print media, why don't we talk about magazines?

Kevin: Some of our big magazines we can't afford, they're probably like $2,500 just for a little business card so the thing to do is go to your online magazines, there a few of them that are online. Simone, can you tell me a few of them?

Simone: Well let's see, how about gospel synergy, that's based out of Chicago, there's Blessed which is based of Atlanta, GA and AC360 which is a magazine specifically for independent artists and musicians.

Kevin: Make sure you seek out all of these places and see how much it costs to take out an ad or how much it'll cost to put your banner into their magazine. The next thing we're going to talk about is eblast. Eblast services, we have a few people that do eblast services so you really have to look online for them. The Bell report, Sheila Bell, she does the eblast reports. A great resource. Black gospel promo, one of the leading eblasting services, who else Simone?

Simone: Well there's 3HP, they give good deal on eblasts.

Kevin: One thing about this, this is another thing. I was saying earlier make sure you research who you are dealing with. With the eblast services, found out who you're audience is, who do they cater to. They may not cater to the same people that like your music. So you ave to make sure you do research on the people that are doing the eblast. Make sure you do that.

Simone: A good way to do that is to call them and ask them some questions. How do they get most pf the emails on their list? Are these people opting in themselves or are they harvesting emails from websites?

Kevin: Next thing. Let's go into banners. The thing with the banners is there are a lot of websites that you can stick your banner on and your banner is your project cover, or some type of sign that it's you.

Simone: Or something that will carry a link back to your website o maybe a store that sells your music. That's what you want, you want links back to your site or back to wherever your music is being sold.

Kevin: One thing I've always said is remember before you put up a banner anywhere, make sure you do your research, ok? Find out what the site is going to offer you, meaning in people. Do your people like traditional gospel? You have to ask. Make sure you do your research on this. Isn't that right Simone?

Simone: That's right. The same thing with the next item. Radio spots.

Kevin: Radio, that's my area. Yes, radio 30 and 60 second spots. I really truly think that 30 and 60 second spots are critical to a project. Every time that your record isn't playing, that spot is playing, so say you buy 500 spots just imagine every time my record is not playing, my record is only playing two times a day, but my spot is playing like 12 times a day. So every time my record isn't playing, the people are still hearing my name and snips of my music. So its very critical. Once again, research radio stations that you put your ad on. Don't just put your ad anywhere. Research the radio station, make sure their playing your style of music so that the people that are listening will go and buy your product. Anything that you would like to say Simone?

Simone: Well I think that was a great tip because you know that we get a lot of music from people who we can't play because we don't play that style of music so a lot of people don't listen before they send their music so you're basically wasting your time and the radio station's time so you do want to spend your time wisely, listen to the radio station first before you send your music to them and before you buy a commercial on their station. You want to target very well.

Kevin: Now the next thing, do not buy promotion in pieces. I personally don't think that it is effective, at all. Its just not good. If you're going to spend 200 dollars in promotion, then you're gonna come back and spend 6 more six months down the line, then your record has probably died out, no one wants to hear it and another record has already come and taken your place, and you really waste your money and the promotion is going to be no good. So make sure what you do is take your money and save it up until you reach that budget price. Say you come up with a budget price of 3,000 dollars. Until you get 3,000 dollars do nothing. Just wait until you get the whole budget money together.

Simone: Also, keep in mind on this budget that you're probably going to need to buy some of these items more than once or let your ads run for several months at a time leading up to your album release. Do it several months ahead so that ad can run for a while before your release because say you're doing an eblast. The person may get your e-mail one time and ignore it but if they get it two or three times , they may decide to sit up and take notice. Right?

Kevin: Correct, that's a great tip. Well, let's get ready for next week. We have to go.

Simone: Ok. Well next week's show we're going to talk about how to build a fanbase. So you definitely don't want to miss that show.

Kevin: I'm Kevin James.

Simone: And I'm Simone Henry. You've been listening to Practical Tips for the Music Business.

Kevin: Buh bye.