Gaining Endorsements

[Low-end_Wes]

Howdy there,
My band, which has been together for 4 years, recently broke up. And after about a year, we feel as though we are ready to hit the road again. I was a little curious as to whether anybody on this mighty fine website might know anything about being endorsed by major music brands. Maybe if you all know of brands that will endorse unsigned musicians or actively gigging or musicians in schools of music. We are all a little short on cash, what with the economy crash and all, so this help is much nedded. Let me know! Thanks

-W

[bassninja7]

im in the same boat, well kinda lol...

[alembicguy]

Did you try doing a search this has been discussed before.

Basically, an instrument manufacturer will offer varying levels of relationships to those who can help the company sell basses, or amps or whatever. 1: If you're the bass player in a MASSIVELY famous band.... no problem, you ARE in! 2: If you're a touring pro, with a record label and a product to promote, (Record-label quality CD), you MIGHT be in, for some lesser degree of "Deal". And 3: If you have a friend that does fit in these categories and will help you..... You COULD be in, for a very reduced level of relationship, but they're not likely to "Give" you things. And it depends on the company, and how well-known they are.
You need to find a way to make yourself useful to the company that you want to support, and then maybe they will see a reason to help support you. It has to work both ways.
Good luck!

[Low-end_Wes]

thanks! I'll see what I can do!

[Moe Monsarrat]

The main thing is to really believe in whatever company you're trying to get with & to convince them that you can help sell gear. Tell them that other players are always asking about your gear(true, for me). Show them photos of you playing their gear in live venues.Tell them you already use their gear & are already endorsing it on your own. Obviously, if you're playing with someone huge, it's pretty easy. But smaller bands can get deals as well with the right pitch. One thing to remember: there is a guy in all big music gear companies whose job is to find artists to give stuff away to. Just make his job easy & you're in.

[scorpionldr]

I know a band with a bassist who's been playing in like 5 other bands all at the same time, moving things along; people don't even know what his day job IS. BUT, one thing's for sure, he's playing a unique style of music, and a good half of his band's merch isn't only of conventional types (shirts, discs, patches). They ARE a pirate metal band, so they're also selling beer cozies, fake-as-hell gimmicky swords, etc. Dude also recently got endorsed by Spector......or at least thats "news" that is going around.
So all I can really derive from this is DON'T SUCK (I gotta know and you gotta know that on some way bigger than we can both see the music is marketable), and get a lot of people going to your shows and buying you up, otherwise it's a crapshoot. money sucks, yea, but if you provide a show that forces people to get up from their high-def TV sets, your doing more for yourself and doing a whole hell of a lot for the scene. you'll become needed

http://www.myspace.com/swashbuckle

[Rusty Chainsaw]

There's quite a few different levels of endorsement - the most basic is just saying you use and endorse a certain brand of bass/amp/shoes/deodorant or whatever. That's fine, but there's nothing in it for you.

The next is where that is reciprocated, where the company in question gives you a mention on their website, or in a list of artists who use their stuff, but nothing else. This type of endorsement is fairly easy to get, especially with smaller businesses, such as custom luthiers, and it is a little extra publicity for you.

Next up from there is the "discount" endorsement - similar to the last one, but where you are entitled to a discount on the company's products. This will almost entirely be based on enquiries the company may have received because of your endorsement. It might be 5% off, or 50% or more off. This is probably the most common form of commercial endorsement deal.

Next up from that one, is the "free, as in beer" endorsement. Here, the company in question will give you free stuff, usually with certain stipulations, such as using their gear exclusively, making sure they get mentioned in all promotional material, and being able to use you, your image and the name of your band in any of their promotional material. The deal might also include promotional tours. You'll usually only get to this level if you have a high national and international profile, where the company can be sure of additional sales because of your profile.

Then, the gold standard - the "signature" endorsement, where the company in question will work with you to design a "signature" product (instrument, amp, shoe, etc). This will almost certainly require promotional touring, appearances at trade shows, etc, and is usually reserved only for those with very high profiles.

In all instances, you have to make yourself and your band an attractive business proposition for the company in question, if they are going to have a "business partnership" with you - because, basically, that is what it is. You'll need to send them your press kit, a list of achievements, reviews, etc, and make it clear you actually like and use their stuff - if not, it may come off rather mercenary.

Start small - a custom luthier, custom pedal maker or one of the smaller string companies would be a good first bet. Not much chance for free stuff, but definitely good from an exposure standpoint, for both of you. Once you get up a few notches (maybe up to the indie deal and local touring level), major companies like Peavey, Carvin and ESP may start showing interest in punting you discounted stuff. This is always a good move to make, especially with the likes of Peavey and Carvin, since they can usually arrange to hook you up with amps, drumkits, etc in different places that you may tour, easing your burden.

This is all just from my personal experience - YMMV, of course. Hope it helps.

[staindbass]

if the dude is endorsed by spector, his pic will appear on the artists page on the spector website. i turned down the endorsment cuz i wanna be a bass whore, but they were still nice enough to put my picture up there anyways. johnny a/ staind

[4bpauly]

Originally Posted by scorpionldr

They ARE a pirate metal band,

http://www.myspace.com/swashbuckle

haha, ok, please let me know where i can hear this.

[Rusty Chainsaw]

Originally Posted by staindbass

if the dude is endorsed by spector, his pic will appear on the artists page on the spector website. i turned down the endorsment cuz i wanna be a bass whore, but they were still nice enough to put my picture up there anyways. johnny a/ staind

Mr. April here would be able to tell you a lot more about endorsements than I ever could. But he's right, PJ at Spector is one of the best artist relations guys in the biz and they really look after their players.

[JNowiski]

this is a good read.

[Kenny Allyn]

As some one on the other side of the endorsment deal, I can say that the multi level deals spoken of previously pretty much holds true.

When you get to pro level players the gear better match their level as in you can't even give bad equipent to a real pro if it is not gonna help make them sound good

... Got a few name endorsment deals in the works right now.

[Low-end_Wes]

Originally Posted by 4bpauly

haha, ok, please let me know where i can hear this.

I am not sure that I am feeling this pirate-core business.

[Thor]

I'm glad I asked for this forum when TB asked me, this is
one of the most interesting and beneficial forums here.

I'd like to thank all of you, vendors, pro's and knowledge
seekers alike for your excellent questions, your meaningful
responses and input, your help for developing young musicians,
and your overwhelming courtesy and kindness.

And, no matter what I think I know, there isn't a day that
goes by that I don't learn something new here.

Thanks my brother and sister bassists, you rock and groove!

[scorpionldr]

Originally Posted by 4bpauly

haha, ok, please let me know where i can hear this.

jersey, pennsylvania, etc. they're a thrash/death metal style, they get on all sorts of bills. I mean, they DO say on their myspace they'll play anywhere. lol.

[fishtx]

Originally Posted by Rusty Chainsaw

Mr. April here would be able to tell you a lot more about endorsements than I ever could. But he's right, PJ at Spector is one of the best artist relations guys in the biz and they really look after their players.

+1...PJ is a great guy...and Spector makes a great product...

[jmac]

Originally Posted by fishtx

+1...PJ is a great guy...and Spector makes a great product...

I've previously spoken about my view of PJ and Spector. So I'll keep it short here and just say, "Ditto."

[Eyeshot_Bassist]

I asked Traben how to go around getting an endorsement, since I play Trabens and I love thier basses, and they told me I had to be in a touring band supporting an international release

Well, I tried

[BTBplayer]

Any of You Guys ever deal with Ibanez ? , My Guitar player and I are both long time fans and as our band becomes regional , we are hoping to work something out with them.