Write 3 Paragraphs To Promote Your Band?

click to enlargeDo you feel passionate about a recent Metal or Hard Rock release? Did you just go to a show last night? Want to plug your band on RockMyMonkey? Well just make sure you are registered. Then shoot us an email at rockmymonkey@gmail.com and ask to be switched up to a writers account (we need to set your permissions). Then submit your cd or show review. No, you can't review your own band's cd. This is open for local (every band is local somewhere) and unsigned bands to write about national touring artists. I only ask for 3 respectable paragraphs. You can even make the headline something like "Fartknockers Review The New Samael Cd Lux Mundi" or something. For those new to the site, Fartknockers is my made up name I use as an example. No relation to any real band called Fartknockers. If you need help registering, posting the review, or anything else connected to this offer, please post your question here in the comments, send us an email, or post the question on our Facebook page HERE.

You can post about live shows, cd releases, or dvd releases. Notice how I didn't say music dvd releases? Yep, you can talk about recent movie or tv dvd releases as well. This is only open to actual band members of actual real bands. This is not open to guys who hide behind computers playing with Fruity Loops. If you are not a live BAND we don't care. This can be Rock bands, Metal bands, Punk bands, Industrial Bands (must have guitars), and all the ten billion sub-genres of these styles. What is not allowed however are  Rap, soft rock, rapcore, country, techno (no guitars means you probably suck), or gospel choirs. Of course nothing racist, but if I have to say that you are probably too stupid to figure this out anyways.

Why am I doing this? I need content (articles/reviews) from people who are passionate about heavy music. We get well over ten thousand visitors a month. You need FREE ways to promote your band. This costs your band nothing but time. Seems like a great deal for both. So let's get busy promoting your band already!

Can Metal Have A Sense Of Humor?

click to enlargeSo I was talking to this band a few days ago about ways to promote themselves. One method I brought up was the E-card. Put something funny on it and people can hit the share link on Facebook and spread the name of your band around on it. All it takes is a standard JPG made through Gimp or Photoshop, then you add one funny joke a day. They thought that would make people think they were not a serious band. So I brought up the Black Label Society video Overlord. They thought that Zak Wylde could get away with that because he was already established. Ok, so that means the The Damned Things video for We've Got A Situation Here is out too I guess? But what about all the home movies Pantera compiled for their dvd releases? What about Type O Negative doing a fake live cd in the studio with Origin Of Feces? Was Type O Negative not a serious band? Was Pantera not a serious band?

So here is my thoughts. As with most things, it's all about balance. No you don't want to go on stage with a clown hat. Don't do your press photo while picking your nose or showing your bare ass to the camera. I honestly wouldn't have a band that isn't established do a video that's comical either. Posting videos of the band off stage goofing around however would be great. Using an E-card with a joke on it to get people to check out your music is fine. Pretty much as far as I am concerned as long as the lighter side of the band is only shown off stage and away from the actual music I see no problem with it. In fact it let's people know the band is human when they get off stage.

So the message here is to not be so paranoid about your tough Metal image. Be yourself. People like bands they can hang with and showing you have a sense of humor might make people be more comfortable with the band overall. Everything in life is about balance and when to sh9ow the lighter side of band member personalities is no different.

What is a band's responsibility when it comes to a show?

Eric And Michael of TatarusPlease note that this is part 3 in a series of articles I started on Saturday. Part one is HERE. Part two is HERE. Please read those first or some of this might not make complete sense.

So today I want to tackle 'What is a band's responsibility when it comes to a show?' Because if we don't stir the pot, who will?  Now I am pretty sure I will piss a few people off with this one. The reality is that local bands stay local for a reason. With all due respect to Don 'Wicked D' Harrison (Don and I have some great debates and are both very passionate about this kind  at Network Or Die, if you get a gig with Metalica or AC/DC it will be well worth it, you will gain new fans, and people will remember you. Now don't for a second think that if you get one lucky gig playing for some massively huge band that you can pack the local stadium yourself. In any marketing adventure you can expect between one and ten percent of a return. Opening for a bigger band is just that. It is a marketing method. If this was so futile and fruitless why do labels and managers pay tons of money to get their bands on bigger tours? There is a pay off. Now don't cough up some huge amount of cash or sign some contract where if you don't sell all your tickets you end up owing the promoter. CLICK HERE for yesterdays article for more on why that is a bad idea.

Wade Campbell of Inside The GatesNow of course there is a reason why so many promoters do the ticket pre-sale. Most bands are lazy. Lazy bands are one of the things that fuels Pay To Play. It's the reaction to lazy bands that do nothing to promote themselves. Hungry bands move forward. Lazy bands stay local. Sure you can do nothing but get on stage and play. You can cop an attitude and not do a damn thing to promote yourself, but you will be left behind playing to the same 20 people every single night. If you want to move forward it is your responsibility to promote yourself. The band managed by RockMyMonkey played their 4th show ever opening up for Lynch Mob. Tatarus were all set to just open. They approached it with the full humility a band about to play their 4th show ever should. Problem is that they are also young and full of energy, so they outsold one of the bands and ended up bumping them. Because of this they had to scramble and lengthen their set. They didn't plan to play that higher exposure slot with a longer set time. Well, now they got a Saturday gig at that venue. Lesson? Work your ass off and you move up. I say this also to point out that it is never too soon to start kicking maximum ass.

Jerry A of Poison IdeaNow you might be saying, 'Why work so hard if you only get a ten percent return?' Well, simple. Let's say you play to 1,000 people. 100 of them might remember you. Then the next time you play a high profile gig they might buy a shirt. By the third time your band ends up opening for a band they were coming to see anyways, they are a fan of your band and will start showing up at your headlining gigs. This stuff takes time and it takes a ton of work, but it does pay off. This is the same reason you should play like you are playing to a packed arena even if there are 20 people in the crowd that are just sitting there. Maybe it is a Friday night and they are exhausted from a job that started at 8 am, a family that needed dinner at 5 pm, and bills that needed to be paid before they got to that shitty bar to see you play? Just because they are not going nuts, doesn't mean they are not impressed. You can't read their mind and they might be loving it even if they look like they are about to fall asleep. It is your responsibility to entertain them. Not the other way around.

Dano of The AthiarchistsSo how can a band with little money make sure they move up to those higher profile gigs? Well, selling a ton of tickets on a pre-sale is one way. If you are playing some tiny bar with no high profile headliner, you can pass out handbills to everyone you can. In our city the store owners are very supportive and if you ask really nicely they will let you hang a poster for your show in their window. What about a free ad on Craigslist? Have you contacted your local paper to make sure the gig is listed there? If you really want to be adventurous, hang out in front of a venue where a band that plays your style of music is playing. When the show gets out, start handing out "download cards" of your band. Give a 'secret' url where people can download free tracks. When they go to download the free songs make sure they see a flyer for your next big show. In fact, hand out those download cards right after you open for a major headliner so people have an even better chance at remembering you.

The basic message of this article is this, lazy bands go nowhere. Hungry bands move forward. Your local club has about 20 shows a month. If you think they are going to spend a few thousand dollars to promote local bands, you need to lay off the crack pipe. Want to rise above those clubs? Then work harder than the other bands playing those clubs. Simple as that. Sure you can cop that attitude about how the band is there to play and the promoter's job is to promote, but how far has that gotten you so far? Yeah, I thought so. 

What Exactly Is Pay To Play?

Chiico Gonzalez of TatarusThere is no topic more heated than Pay To Play when it comes to bands. My article yesterday had well over 300 unique visits in one hour. Debates got so heated that I feel I almost lost friends. So a follow up seems pretty needed. Like most debates, the question is never what it seems to be on the surface. The (oh look, a fresh can of worms) abortion debate is not about being anti-life or pro-life. The true debate is about when life truly begins. No one is pro-killing. No one is against choice. The Pay To Play debate is no different. Everyone has a knee jerk reaction to say it is all bad, no discussion, and blanket statements RULE! Well, sorry to burst your bubble but blanket statements kind of suck. It means you are not smart enough (or too lazy) to have a real debate, or you don't know enough about the subject to actually talk about it. Those blanket statements add nothing productive to the discussion. It also means you have not thought enough about what the real question is behind the debate. Every debate worth having has one question that needs to be answered. The powers that be behind all sides of a debate never want you to think about that one question because it would end the debate. The Pay To Play debate is about one question as well. What truly constitutes Pay To Play. That is the real debate.

Luke Clevenger of Inside The GatesNow if we want to make this painfully simple it would be if a band has to cough up cash to step up on a stage. In my local area there are no all ages clubs. I have a feeling that most music scenes are this way as well. So if a very young band like TATARUS wants to play a show where their friends can come, they have to rent a hall. There is no choice. They have to cough up money to play the show. So is that Pay To Play? They had to pay money so they could play? The difference is that when they rented that hall they had total rule of the place. They could have booked any band they wanted to play with them, charged any amount at the door, had full power over any concessions, played as long as they wanted, and pretty much ran the place for that night.  I have heard many that do consider this Pay To Play, so I did in yesterdays article. Personally I don't consider it true Pay To Play myself, but many do.

Adrien of the band CrutchesWhat I do consider true Pay To Play is if a band pays money to "rent" a time slot on a stage for a night. Meaning they don't control anything other than what songs they play. Most of the time this means a slimy booking agent (they never do anything to promote so don't call them a promoter) is behind it and only cares about making some cash on some very uninformed musicians. Seriously people. Never attend one of these shows. Never play one of these shows. And if you can convince your local club to not let these parasites book shows, please do.

Another situation that is many times labeld as Pay To Play isn't always Pay To Play either. This is what some call a ticket pre-sell. This is where a band is given say 50 tickets and told to sell them. Now if this is to open for a major band that can draw a good crowd themselves, it can be pretty awesome for the unknown local (click here to read yesterdays article for more on that). Most promoters will determine what order the locals play by who sells the most tickets. I am in full support of this. The band never coughs up a single penny to play. They get to play for a much bigger crowd than they normally play for. This can win them new fans (if the band is the same style they play. Again see yesterdays article). Most of the time they get a couple bucks per ticket and can end up making a good profit out of the deal. So instead of paying to play, they get paid to play. This is the way it should be. Bands getting paid.

Jeremiah Johnson Of ArakusThe evil side of the ticket pre-sell is when the band is given 50 tickets and told that if they don't sell them all, they have to buy them themselves. So they can end up paying to play. To me this is Pay To Play. Because only the uninformed bands fall for this crap, they are bands that can't sell 50 tickets and almost always end up needing to come up with money to get on stage. No mater if you label this Pay To Play or not, it is wrong. The good side of the ticket pre-sell, the band only risks playing first before anyone actually shows up. Unsold tickets just get sold at the door. No one has to pay out cash to get on stage. But this evil side of the ticket pre-sell, the band can end up owing the club money. That's messed up.

Debate all you want about what is a promoter, what is a booking agent, and what a band's responsibility is. That is not the debate here. This article is about answering the question 'What is Pay To Play.' To me Pay To Play is not just anytime a band has to cough up cash to get on stage. It is if the band has to cough up cash to get on stage, and does not have any control over the show. Also if there is a threat of owing a club or promoter if they don't sell enough tickets. Please stay clear of this people. Don't do anything to support it. I don't care if your boyfriend is in the band. He shouldn't have let his band be booked for the gig. If we stop promoting this kind of thing it will die.

Next up...What is a band's responsibility when it comes to a show? Because if we don't stir the pot, who will?

Thanks to 'Captain Kickass' of the band Pure Hatred for some of the inspiration for this follow up article.

Pay To Play: When Is It A Good Idea?

Michael Arms Of TatarusSo everyone loves to bag on Pay To Play, but is that a witch hunt? The truth is that Pay To Play can really help your band if done right. But be very careful because there are things to really watch out for.

THINGS TO STAY CLEAR OF

1. No big headliner to draw in the crowds
Ok, some will make you rent the stage to play with a bunch of other local bands. These situations almost always mean no promotion and the band gets screwed. But many times a band with a major draw will do a mini tour by themselves and have locals open. So your band ends up being able to sell tickets to a Testament or Exodus show. This of course would be way more easy than just trying to sell tickets to yet another show with just a bunch of local bands. The honest truth is that people preach "support local music" like crazy, but the big boys are what draws. Take advantage of that!

2. Does that band fit your style?
We have a local club around here called Studio Seven that is very picky about who they let play a show. If you do not fit the headliners style, you can't play the show. Most clubs don't care though and will stick you with some lame Rapcore band. Your oldschool Thrash band will not gain any new fans that way. Wait for Death Angel to come around instead. Otherwise you will not get barely anything out of it.

3. Will You Make Money?
Again let me pat Studio Seven on the back, by saying that they really want those locals to make some cash out of the deal. It is almost always a $2 markup that the bands keep. So for each ticket sold the band keeps two bucks. You sell 50 tickets to that Blind Guardian show and your band keeps $100!

4. Extra and hidden charges
If the club tries to start charging you for a bunch of extras run. Run fast. Never return. Upfront fee's are something you should also never pay unless you are renting out an entire hall and get to control ticket price, beverage sales, bookings of the other bands, etc.

5. Over priced halls
Figure it out before you rent that hall. Is it in the middle of the city center where you will get some good foot traffic or out in the middle of nowhere where your fans can't even take a bus? If it is a local show with nothing but local bands, can you keep it UNDER $5 and still make a profit with a half filled venue? Is there a huge list of things you can get charged for other than just the price of the hall? Everything must be included or you need to look elsewhere. Do you get to control everything? If they want to control any aspect of the show tell them to take a leap. If you rented the hall, you control the show or no deal.

6. Location, Location, Location!
I know I mentioned this already, but where the show is located is extremely important. People do not go way out in the country for shows unless it is some big package tour like Rockstar Mayhem or something.

Maybe we are spoiled in my area, but we have a ton of great places for bands to play. All ages shows you can rent a venue. If the draw is 50-100 you can rent the Midnight Sun for $175. If the band can draw 70-300 you can rent Capital Theater Backstage for $300. This is where they flip everything backwards and turn that big theater stage into a small club. If the band are total local rockstars and can draw between 250 and 1000 people they can rent the entire Capital Theater. Maybe your area isn't as suportive of local music as mine is, but use this as a guide. If that pay to play situation or hall rental deal doesn't look this good, just run away. Bands should get paid for shows. Even local bands. So make sure you can get paid. The band that's managed by RockMyMonkey (Tatarus) opened for Lynch Mob on their 4th show ever and made a profit. They also made a good amount of new fans. It can be done people, but you need to be hungry and you need to work for it. Hungry bands draw and lazy bands stay local. So get to work and get your band some cash!