"Promoting Your Indie CD Release!" by Matthew Cepican

*Excerpt from Chapter 3 "The Independent Musicians' Guide To Sweet Success" by Matthew Cepican (Self-published by Vesuvius Records/Entertainment © 2007)*

     Now you are ready to promote your indie CD release!  Let's return to a few key ideas concerning the CD you are about to promote.  First, remember, you can't polish a turd.  That being said, who is to say what is good and what is not?  That is not for me or anyone else besides you to decide, for each and every one of you has clearly produced a hit record!  You better believe it, and only you know if the recording you are about to promote is the best you can do!  Follow this guidline, however, and be sure that your audio recording is "mastered" using software and hardware specifically designed for this purpose.  Please refer to Chapters 1 and 2 if you need a refresher on what exactly "mastering" does to your audio recording.  Remember, mastering your audio recording should be figured into the overall recording budget for your CD.  If you cannot afford to master your audio, you can't afford to release a CD at this time.  No worries if that is the case, the time will come when you will be able to present a "mastered" audio product.  Mastering is an essential part of the production process and when it comes time to promote your CD, you do not want anything less than the best for your CD and remember, promoting a finished product is only one part of the essential "one-two" punch of 1) recording your music and 2)  your "live performance."  You can have 1 without 2 or 2 without 1, but there are different rules that apply to each that we will discuss in the next chapter under the heading "Recording Without Touring/Touring Without Recording"  Therefore, remember, if you cannot afford "mastering," then focus on enhancing your live performance until you secure the resources to properly master your audio CD using professional mastering software and hardware specifically designed for this purpose.

    "Why all this emphasis on "mastering" this and "mastering" that, you ask?  Indeed, a good question.  The answer is this, you are about to invest a 100 or a 1000 times as much promoting your CD.  Remember, you can't polish a turd.  Why spend many long (and ultimately very rewarding) hours promoting your CD if the CD is not the best possible recording you can make?  If your audio CD is not properly mastered it is NOT the best possible recording you can make.  Let's be honest.  Remember, it has nothing to do with the fact that you have a hit record.  We all write hits.  Without mastering your hit record, it is just plain "doing your baby wrong."  Think about that.

     Here we go!  Now, this 4th edition of "The Independent Musicians Guide" has a complete, updated directory listing of media (radio, publishers, magazines, Film/T.V., etc.) in the appendix to which you may refer and is intended as a major supplement for all your independent promotion needs.  However, in this chapter, I want to discuss a two basic philosophies that I want you to seriously consider as you embark on your promotional journey.

     Philosophy 1:  Soliciting Media Attention

     I got two words for you.  Life-long friendships.  Or is that three?  You are an artist.  You are embarking on a journey that will afford you the opportunity of meeting other artists and people, who, if they are not artists themselves, are in the music industry because they love music and, therefore, have at least a rudimentary understanding of artists themselves.  Therefore, relax, and focus on making life-long friendships with the people you are about to meet through your own actions.  I feel it is better to focus on even just one meaningful friendship than to try to meet a million people without taking the time to learn their name (Myspace?  Which we will discuss in detail in Chapter 9).  That doesn't mean that Myspace and other social networking sites will not be a key ingredient to your success in promoting your CD.  The key to remember is Philosophy 1.  YOU are SOLICITING media attention.  Indeed, there are many ways to do this, some more effective than others to be sure and some more effective than others for certain situations and for certain individuals.  The key to this philosophy, however, is that since YOU are doing the soliciting, it is my sincere belief that, because you have a hit record, take the time now while you can to establish life-long friendships that will be here when your hair is gone.  Fame is an illusion and it is fleeting.  Life-long friendships are...the Golden Rose...

     Where to start?  Start in your hometown.  We will discuss identifying and creating your market(s) in greater detail in Chapters 5 and 6.  This is where your "time" becomes "money."  Your hometown is where you learn "how to do it."  Every hour, every minute you spend on cultivating and nurturing the relationships in your hometown and in your area are "GoldenRose" moments.  Some of us are better than others at making friends.  Now is the time to work on these social skills.  And remember, life-long friends, in the end, don't care wether or not you have a hit record.  Philosophy 1, my friends.  When you think about life-long friendships, remember, it doesn't matter that you have a hit record.  It really doesn't.  The people in your hometown and those you will meet in the course of promoting your CD, in the end, will really care more about you than your hit record (if they thought your record was a hit with which to begin!).  "I don't have time for friends!  I've got to get this record out now!"  If you are saying that to yourself, I urge to you take a minute, just one, to consider Philosophy 1.  In the end, the friendships you make along the journey towards superstardom are going to be your greatest treasures.  If you don't have time to make friends, well, I suggest you pause and digest Philosophy 1 a little more.  If you still feel you don't have time for friendships, then focus your attention on 5 instead of 50 media outlets.  Better to focus on 5 friendships than 50 acquaintences.  Remember, in the course of promoting your hit record will be the pretext for meeting some of the most interesting people of your life that otherwise you wouldn't have because of the sociological laws of proximity and the fact that the radio programmer at WEED 90.1 FM is not actually the girl or boy "next door."  No, you are initiating a contact that you wouldn't otherwise have made in your lifetime by just sitting in your living room playing your guitar.  Seize these moments to make life-long friendships.  There are enough uncertainties in the music industry, your life-long friendships will be there throughout.  Three of my life-long friends started off as industry contacts for me, but, Philosophy 1 and 2 has ruled my life-approach to my career and I am blessed with three of the best friends I could have ever asked for in this life. 

     Now, that being said, life-long friendships take time, and that is O.K., it is time well spent.  What do you do?  Get a piece of paper.  Let's use radio stations as an example, although, the Philosophy 1 holds true for any media you want to solicit.  Write down all the stations in your hometown and surrounding area that you can reach realistically in 30 minutes to an hour.  Write down all their information.  Here is where your time becomes a factor.  Spend time doing your research.  This will pay off also because you will inevitably become better at identifying and developing your markets (Chapters 5 and 6).  Three words to doing it and doing it and doing it well is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!  Questions to consider: Does the station play your style of music?  If nobody plays your music in your area, who cares, try and make friends anyway!  You will always have opportunities to find your radio markets via the Web (Chapter 9) anyway, but, focus on making real-life friends too!  Go ahead and focus on rock stations if that is your thing, or classical stations if that's what you do.  Find your first station!  Then, TUNE-IN!  Get to know the station.  Listen to it for a couple of days.  Do they have a website?  If so, get to know the site, many stations are very interactive on the web (Chapter 9) and this offers you a chance to plug-in.  A great teacher of mine always used to tell me (wasn't even my teacher, actually, but he was the greatest teacher I ever had!) anyways, he always used to tell me: "Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care."  Spend time getting to know the station.  Don't bombard them with "Play My Hit Record!"  Remember, in the end, nobody cares wether or not you have a hit record.  They care about you as a person if at all!  So, try and get to know them as people :)  The Golden Rule (ahem, treat others the way you want to be treated!)  Another great teacher I had used to tell us all the time "Remember the Iron Rule too!  Don't do anything for someone that they can do for themselves!"  Dude, that guy used to tell us he loved us everyday when the bell rang, we'd all get up and he'd say "I love you all, drive safe!"  The funny thing was is that we were Freshmen and nobody had a license yet!  Even funnier, I know that dude really loved us, and that taught us it was O.K. to love each other...alas, I digress.   I never  got the chance to thank the few teachers that had an impact on my life, but I think this edition, I will mail them a copy! 

     Anyways, let's get on with our lesson then! Send an e-mail and request a song that is similar to your style that is currently in their rotation to break the ice and introduce yourself.  This will help establish and further create your market (Chapter 5 and 6).  In Chapter 5 and 6, I will discuss how you can create a market in your hometown for a hometown band!  Let a shared love for the current station playlist be the pretext for your making friends.  Don't like the playlist, be an agent of change in your town! (PLEASE READ Chapter 6 carefully!  Changing the status quo is doable and enjoyable, but tricky to do tactfully and fruitfully!)  Now, stay tuned to your stations.  Send e-mails!  One e-mail a week, per D.J. unless they solicit YOU which I will discuss in Philosophy 2.  Be the 10th caller when you hear the song!  Get involved and be a part of the radio community.  One fact is clear: Radio play=Sales.  The best way for you to get radio play however, is through life-long friendships.  Remember, this is the "Independent Musicians Guide" not the major label guide (although many major label execs have told me they have read and love my book) and you cannot approach your promotion in the same way as a major label.  Payola comes to mind, but that is an easy pot-shot (he he he, he said "shot") at the bigs, nevertheless, it is a detestable practice with roots in the music industry since the middle ages (I discuss the historocity of payola a little bit, check the index).
   
     Remember, by getting involved with your local stations, you are getting to know the industry people in your area, and these are people with whom I would highly recommend making life-long friendships.  You both have something in common that is huge, and that is the music.  Two peas in a pod, two CDs in a jewlbox...uh...The key is Philosophy 1.  Life-long friendships.  Let your friendships with the DJs and the radio station blossom BEFORE you drop the hit record.  It doesn't matter how long it takes because in the end it is about life-long friendships and therefore, it is inconsequential wether or not they play your hit record.  It really doesn't matter!  "What!  It doesn't matter?"  Yeah.  It doesn't matter.  Life-long friendships matter.  Philosophy 1.  Now, go make some friends.

Philosophy 2:  Media solicits YOU!

     Well, actually, Philosophy 1 still holds folks.  Remember, even if DJs, record labels, media etc.,  are calling you always remember that this is your chance to make a life-long friend, only this time it is a whole lot easier because they are soliciting YOU!  And you know what?  If they want you, they better realize they just may have to consider a life-long friendship!  I mean it!  
    
     There are some special aspects about media soliciting you, however, and this refers to your hit record itself.  What if you don't have a hit record at the time they call?  What if you have a hit record that is not mastered?  Well, now is the time to get it mastered.  If you have media people contacting you about obtaining your hit record, now is the time to find out how to get your hit record mastered!  What if the DJ wants it NOW!  Life-long friendships.  It's not like you ain't gonna give it up to the DJ, but if the DJ wants it so bad, now is the time to explain about your hit record and how it's not yet ready, but perhaps you guys can brainstorm a way to get the hit record mastered so you can give it up to the DJ!  See, you both want it, but if the DJ really cares about you she or he will wait until your hit record is mastered properly or do whatever they can to make it happen!  Chances are that a DJ knows someone capable of mastering your hit record for little or no charge!  Life-long friendship are GOLDEN!
    
     What if you don't have your hit record even recorded at all yet?  Well, if the DJ really wants it, why don't you recommend an interview where you can perform LIVE, in-studio, and they can make a LIVE recording!  Either way you look at it, everyone gets what they want and need.  The most important piece of Philosophy 2, it must be understood, is that it is just an easier way to achieve Philosophy 1 because they are soliciting YOU which is much easier, because, you're easy...to make friends with!  We have discussed radio in particular, but Philosophy 1 and 2 is really what is important no matter what media it is you desire most, be it T.V./Film, Magazines, etc.  You dig?  It's all about life-long friendships as a philosophy as you approach the promotion of your hit record always remember Philosopy 1 and 2!  Let's make friends!  I'll give you my e-mail!  Let's do lunch!  :)
     
     Chapter 3 Summary:

     "Master" your audio CD!
     Philosophy 1: You solicit MEDIA = life-long friendships
     Philosophy 2: Media solicits YOU = life-long friendships
     Life-long friendships. 
     "But, MC, how are radio or media gonna play my hit record?"  It doesn't matter if they do or they don't.  In the end, life-long friendships is all we have.  Sometimes literally, but just as sure as we're here today sharing this literary experience, sometimes metaphorically!  Fame is an illusion.  Money isn't happiness.  Life-long friendships are the goldenrose of life.  If you can make life-long friendships, radio play and media attention will flow like water if that is what you desire in your heart, that is what will come to pass when you make genuine life-long friendships :) 

*Excerpt from "The Independent Musicians Guide To Sweet Success!" by Matthew Cepican (Self-published: Vesuvius Records/Entertainment © 2007)   www.vesuviusrecords.com for contact information, book-purchase and/or scheduling mclogo65 for public speaking at industry showcases and other private events.