Thursday, April 16, 2009

To The Fans

THIS BLOG IS FOR THE FANS OUT THERE WHO HAVE BEEN WITH ME OVER THE YEARS, TO GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING AND WHY, AND TO INCLUDE YOU IN THE PROCESS.

A LOT HAS CHANGED IN OUR MUSIC INDUSTRY SINCE I RELEASED AND TOURED THE "LET THEM BE LITTLE" ALBUM. I CAME OFF THE ROAD IN ORDER BUILD MY OWN MUSIC COMPANY WITH THESE OBJECTIVES:

1. WRITE AND RECORD NEW AND FRESH MUSIC FOR YOU, INCLUDE YOU DURING THE PROCESS, AND TO EVENTUALLY TOUR AND PERFORM AGAIN IN YOUR LOCAL AREA

2. TO HELP OTHER SINGERS AND SONGWRITERS IN YOUR LOCAL
COMMUNITY BY GIVING THEM A ROAD MAP,THROUGH A SERIES OF BLOGS
BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE IN THE INDUSTRY.

3. TO PROMOTE AND CALL ATTENTION TO BUSINESSES THAT ARE TAKING AN ACTIVE ROLL
IN THE HEALTH AND WELL BEING OF OUR CHILDREN AND OUR
COMMUNITIES, USING MUSIC AND FAN SUPPORT TO HELP BUILD THEIR BRANDS.



THESE ARE MY MAIN OBJECTIVES. ALL I NEED IS YOUR PARTICIPATION AND SUPPORT AND WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS AND OUR COMMUNITIES, AND WE'LL HAVE A BLAST DOING IT TOGETHER.

I HAVE LAUNCHED A NEW SITE AND I NEED YOUR HELP TO GROW OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY. I ALSO WANT YOUR FEEDBACK AS TO HOW I CAN MAKE THE SITE BETTER IN REACHING THESE OBJECTIVES.

ALSO, I AM MAKING PLANS TO RECORD A DVD IN NASHVILLE IN FRONT OF A LIVE AUDIENCE OF APPROX. 250 PEOPLE THIS YEAR
CELEBRATING 20 YEARS IN THE BUSINESS.
POST COMMENTS ON MY SITE IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BEING THERE,
AND I WILL GIVE MORE DETAILS LATER.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Sponsorships

Finding the right sponsorships in your local community will have a lot to do with your popularity. Your music and your live performance must be reactive, creating a buzz around your local scene. Get to know everything you can about the fans you have and stay connected, building your online community. Keep track of valuable info, such as the average age of your fans, what's the female to male ratio, what do they do for a living, or where do they go to school, where do they shop? Take this information and meet with local merchants such as a skateboard shop, a local music store, a coffee shop, a t-shirt shop, anyone you think your fans may do business with and work out a trade with them.

Why do you need sponsorships? Sponsorships allow the band to expand its brand, fund the music projects and upgrade tech. and transportation needs, in order to move into bigger venues in surrounding markets. What's in it for the sponsor? The band offers personal appearances for the sponsor, sharing its community of fans and bringing exposure to the sponsor’s products, helping to create new customers for your sponsor. If you are to succeed, you must apply your creativity in areas outside of music. I realize this may not be as fun as playing the gigs, writing and recording the music, but the power in our industry has shifted back to the artist, and you either step up and claim this empowerment and take control of the business of music, or else you will lose this golden opportunity to own and control your music.