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How do you promote your original metal band?

TheVoiceless

TheVoiceless

Guest
Jun 11, 2008
1,233
3
New Jersey
www.thevoiceless.tv
#1
My band is about to complete an EP and we are starting to book shows. So I was wondering where online and offline that other TB'ers advertise their original metal band. Online, where are sites that work or don't work. Right now we are debating the usefulness of having a SonicBids account. Has anyone else found a use for it? We don't think that its very helpful for a metal band.

Also sites like PureVolume, GarageBand, and Facebook. Is one better then the other for metal bands? Is their a better website that I may not heard of?

And how do you advertise locally? Papers, flyers? What has worked for your band.

Thanks for your feedback in advance!!!
 
#2
You didn't mention it there so I'll make sure you know to cover myspace. Myspace can be such an effective tool, especially if you want to really work at it. You can get a program for your computer called 'Friend Blaster' and it makes it so you can add up to 500 people a day I think. Lots of bands that are huge now were essentially myspace famous to start. Suicide Silence and Job For A Cowboy are both prime examples.

As for locally, I never take it seriously if someone comes up to me at a show and gives me a handbill of their band. Maybe that's just me, but (at least around where I live) there is such an overload of crappy bands that a band has to impress me before I care about them. The best thing you can do is try to get on the best local shows you can. Find out what local bands are drawing the most kids to show and try to play with them. Or if the opportunity arises try to get on shows with "famous" bands that are coming through.
 
#5
THRILLSEEKER said:
You didn't mention it there so I'll make sure you know to cover myspace. Myspace can be such an effective tool, especially if you want to really work at it. You can get a program for your computer called 'Friend Blaster' and it makes it so you can add up to 500 people a day I think. Lots of bands that are huge now were essentially myspace famous to start. Suicide Silence and Job For A Cowboy are both prime examples.

As for locally, I never take it seriously if someone comes up to me at a show and gives me a handbill of their band. Maybe that's just me, but (at least around where I live) there is such an overload of crappy bands that a band has to impress me before I care about them. The best thing you can do is try to get on the best local shows you can. Find out what local bands are drawing the most kids to show and try to play with them. Or if the opportunity arises try to get on shows with "famous" bands that are coming through.
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Yeah Myspace is a given for me at this point but thanks for bringing that up. I heard of Friend Blaster. I used to think that was cheating, but nowadays any edge you can get is worth it.

The shows are not the hard part so much. I'm trying to decide what is worth the time and effort. I think that the friend blaster will be a good start.
 
#6
fishsticks said:
original fliers and word of mouth... play show with bands whose fans might be into your music and play venues that advertise in the local papers and bar mags... go to local colleges and CD/music store and hand out fliers and TALK to people about your sound.. house shows rule!
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Has paying for ads in papers done anything to help you get the right crowds attention?
 
#7
To go along with that, I'm not sure if you've played any shows yet or not. But always remember that with a band first impressions mean everything. 9 times out of 10 if a person sees a band and they suck they will never give them the time of day again. Not that I'm implying that your band would suck by any means, but the more extraordinary an impression you can leave in someones mind the first time the better. Make sure at your first show, or any show from now on, you do everything you can to capture people in the first song or two. Lights, samples, banners, anything really that will make you look better will help.
 
#11
fishsticks said:
(...) play show with bands whose fans might be into your music and play venues that advertise in the local papers and bar mags... go to local colleges and CD/music store and hand out fliers and TALK to people about your sound (...)
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That works for us. IMO playing with more famous bands the fit your style is the most important thing!

+sending a lot of promo CD's to paper and online magazines!

You can also pay to have a track on magazine samplers. I think that is worth the money.
 
#13
bassophil said:
That works for us. IMO playing with more famous bands the fit your style is the most important thing!

+sending a lot of promo CD's to paper and online magazines!

You can also pay to have a track on magazine samplers. I think that is worth the money.
Click to expand...

Yeah CD samplers are good imo. We have good contacts with similar more popular bands so we will be exploiting that.
 
#14
get yourself into your local metal community by opening for other local metal bands and sharing equipment to ensure smooth transitions.

Don't go over your allotted stage time ever. Unless there are hundreds of people screaming the name of your band when you walk off the stage.

Make stickers, put them everywhere, give them away for free.

Explore all the online metal web sites, like Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles and stuff like that. Post your shows in their forums with cool flyers. Metal kids these days will go see shows based on how cool the flyers are.

TOUR. Get out of your home town and play other places and show people how awesome your band is or else they will never know.
 
#15
Slough Feg Bass said:
get yourself into your local metal community by opening for other local metal bands and sharing equipment to ensure smooth transitions.

Don't go over your allotted stage time ever. Unless there are hundreds of people screaming the name of your band when you walk off the stage.

Make stickers, put them everywhere, give them away for free.

Explore all the online metal web sites, like Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles and stuff like that. Post your shows in their forums with cool flyers. Metal kids these days will go see shows based on how cool the flyers are.

TOUR. Get out of your home town and play other places and show people how awesome your band is or else they will never know.
Click to expand...

Any other websites I should know of?
 
#16
Metal,country,pop whatever its all about networking and working your #SS off. Find other bands to book and work with. Vist clubs that have the scene you are into and hand out fliers ,bio's,Cds. Look for local College radio that plays your type of music. Hit the streets and talk to owners at clubs,record shops etc. The more folks who hear about you and know of you might see you or take the time to. Its a long way to the top if ...well you know the rest.
 
#17
We've just established ourselves in the local Boston metal scene. Play as many shows as possible is really the best thing. Metal is a different kindof scene than everything ellse with very different fans. People come and get drunk and want to hear good music. Metal bands are judged on quality and uniqueness moreso than other genres. Play as many shows and be as tight as possible. Don't forget to put on a show. Move as much as you can but don't compromise your playing. Make connections with bands and promoters and they'll start offering you more shows. We played 30 shows this summer, some good, some bad, but it all helps your experience and reputation.

As far as promotion goes, wait on merch until you know you can sell it. Stickers has been more of a help than I could've ever imagined though. People see our stickers everywhere and tell us about. Really helped get our name out there. Another good resource is ArtistData. Google it. Syncs all the social networking pages and sends out bulletins to local media about your shows automatically.

I almost forgot, DEMO's!!! Record your music as soon as possible. Burn cd's, print out some cd sleeves and hand em out at your shows for free. $15 for cd-r's and $10 for paper will go a long way.
 
#18
wetzelman1 said:
We've just established ourselves in the local Boston metal scene. Play as many shows as possible is really the best thing. Metal is a different kindof scene than everything ellse with very different fans. People come and get drunk and want to hear good music. Metal bands are judged on quality and uniqueness moreso than other genres. Play as many shows and be as tight as possible. Don't forget to put on a show. Move as much as you can but don't compromise your playing. Make connections with bands and promoters and they'll start offering you more shows. We played 30 shows this summer, some good, some bad, but it all helps your experience and reputation.

As far as promotion goes, wait on merch until you know you can sell it. Stickers has been more of a help than I could've ever imagined though. People see our stickers everywhere and tell us about. Really helped get our name out there. Another good resource is ArtistData. Google it. Syncs all the social networking pages and sends out bulletins to local media about your shows automatically.

I almost forgot, DEMO's!!! Record your music as soon as possible. Burn cd's, print out some cd sleeves and hand em out at your shows for free. $15 for cd-r's and $10 for paper will go a long way.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. I agree the Stickers are the way to go. I will check out Artistdata, basically I wanted to see if there are any websites or other methods of promotion I may not have used in the past. Yes the show thing is big. Hopefully we can gig swap if you are looking to get into NJ. We have some friends from Boston (Diecast, Frozen, Thy Will Be Done) so we will trying to hook up with those guys soon.

I think one thing we are going to focus on is playing clubs that are mainly metal clubs. For example in NJ their is a club called Dingbatz that is strictly metal, where as The Saint in Asbury Park will have metal bands but they are not a metal club. That should help us attract the right crowd.
 
#19
playin the right clubs is exactly why we're talking about moving out of Boston. Half of the band is from here and is why we're currently here. But the metal scene kinda sucks. Most venues won't even play metal and if they do, they're overpriced and people don't want to go. Unless your playing thrash, hardcore or killswitchy-metal, people don't even want to listen. We get so much love from other bands but overall crowds don't want to listen to your music, they just want to mosh. The good thing tho, is that bands like us so they get us more shows. Its not about getting tons of fans, it's about having the right kinds of fans.
 
#20
wetzelman1 said:
We've just established ourselves in the local Boston metal scene. Play as many shows as possible is really the best thing. We played 30 shows this summer, some good, some bad, but it all helps your experience and reputation.
Click to expand...

i hope for your bands sake that you did not play all those in your hometown. that is a huge mistake.

i was in a touring metal band for several years. pm me any questions you have. in the responses to your op i am seeing great ways to kill your bands longevity with only a couple of good things to say.
 

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