-MusicDish Industry Survey Series (#2, March/April 1999)-
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Introduction
Survey Summary
Detailed Analysis
Musician's Perspective
Survey Results
Further Reading
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Musician's Perspective by Stu Shulman
Of the 128 respondents to the March music industry promotion survey,
roughly 61% of them (78) were musicians, which means that more musicians
are directly involved with their own promotions than ever before [G1]
. This
is due to the changes in how the music industry is operating. No longer
do musicians just sit around and wait for the phone to ring from the
major labels, they are out there promoting themselves in many different
ways like there is no tomorrow, because if they don't, there won't be a
tomorrow, at least in the music industry because of the increased
competition from other independents trying to squeeze through the same
cracks.
What the survey says about offline promotion is that the old standard
word of mouth is still the most effective method of promotion and the
most effective way to get word of mouth recognition is by playing live
shows [G3]
. This is the way it has been and always will be. There is no
replacement for live performance to make an impact on someones mind.
Almost 50% of the respondents spend less than $500 annually on
promotion [G5]
, which speaks to the obvious notion that most independents are
broke and must be creative with their promotions to get the most money
out of them, which is why the majority of independents focus their
marketing and promotional campaigns in their local market areas which is
what they must do in order to achieve the success necessary to justify
stepping up their marketing campaigns to the next level [G4].
This truth is revealed again when over 66% of the survey respondents
listed financial constraints as the #1 difficulty confronting them as
independents [G6]. Of course, there were other issues such as lack of radio
support, media attention and decent venues, but for an independent who
is usually spending his or her own money to finance their dreams and
musical passions, it is not how much they have to spend on their music,
but rather how they spend what they have and getting the most effective
promotion and marketing for their limited funds. It is that passion &
determination that just may carry that artist to the next level.
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