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Promo pack advice


black_matter

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I'm not sure if this has been posted already, as most of you know i'm a retard when it comes to the search engine.

Black Matter are soon to be releasing promo packs to as many musical recipients as possible and I was wondering if you guys had any hints/tips/pointers on what to include/not include in a promo pack. Of course I know the basics of a demo, bio and gigs that we've played, but is there any things that should be avoided greatly or things that should be included immediately?

any help would be appreciated!

austin

x

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I'm not sure if this has been posted already, as most of you know i'm a retard when it comes to the search engine.

Black Matter are soon to be releasing promo packs to as many musical recipients as possible and I was wondering if you guys had any hints/tips/pointers on what to include/not include in a promo pack. Of course I know the basics of a demo, bio and gigs that we've played, but is there any things that should be avoided greatly or things that should be included immediately?

any help would be appreciated!

austin

x

i wouldn't mind a copy of that promo!

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That's probably the best advice, I tend to get carried away majorly and type for yonks!

Yeah, the important thing is to write your profile so that it's accessable for someone with a lot of promos to get through.

That's also why 3 tracks is ideal. Always put an awesome first track to grab their attention. No instrumental/atmoshperic stuff, unless that's your general sound.

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Yeah, the important thing is to write your profile so that it's accessable for someone with a lot of promos to get through.

That's also why 3 tracks is ideal. Always put an awesome first track to grab their attention. No instrumental/atmoshperic stuff, unless that's your general sound.

Do you generally get a decent response from most of the recipients? have you had experience in promo packs before?

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I've never done a full on promo pack (photographs of this face? ;)), but I can't say enough for giving out a hard cd of your work for free. I've managed to get a few random gigs off the back of my demo, and one of the discs even found its way to Australia apparently.

I also read a book once upon a time - written by David Ellifson (ex-Megadeth) - which dedicated a chapter to promo packs, and the above were the main points really.

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i like 4 or 5 tracks on a demo personally. but three would do it.

DON'T bother with a list of all the gigs you've done. noone cares how many times you've played the pig and whistle. just state any decent / well-known bands you've played with, festivals you've done etc.

DO list some influences.

DON'T say you're completely different to all bands that've come before you (unless you are) and please don't put anything like "we're the greatest band ever" unless you want to be laughed at.

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DON'T bother with a list of all the gigs you've done. noone cares how many times you've played the pig and whistle. just state any decent / well-known bands you've played with, festivals you've done etc.

DO list some influences.

DON'T say you're completely different to all bands that've come before you (unless you are) and please don't put anything like "we're the greatest band ever" unless you want to be laughed at.

The only well known bands we've played with are the heights, hayseed dixie and the haze. Maybe we need a better list of bands before sending away? ?(

To be honest I wouldn't note that were the greatest band ever i'm not that courageous or stupid, I know we're not! lol.

I look at a band promo pack as a resume so maybe we need to brush up a little before sending these out.

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The only well known bands we've played with are the heights, hayseed dixie and the haze. Maybe we need a better list of bands before sending away? ?(

To be honest I wouldn't note that were the greatest band ever i'm not that courageous or stupid, I know we're not! lol.

I look at a band promo pack as a resume so maybe we need to brush up a little before sending these out.

Hayseed Dixie are a pretty big deal!

I think youre right. Maybe a full blown promo pack would be a bit much. Just get your music out and about as much as possible. A cheap demo, with a link to your myspace or something. If people like you, they can read all about it on the wonder that is the internet :up:

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Hayseed Dixie are a pretty big deal!

I think youre right. Maybe a full blown promo pack would be a bit much. Just get your music out and about as much as possible. A cheap demo, with a link to your myspace or something. If people like you, they can read all about it on the wonder that is the internet :up:

I've got a demo set up to be distributed apart from packaging and cd image, but I was thinking fuck it, it'll take us so long to get the money for it together that if they like the tunes it wont matter about packaging...I do agree that a promo pack would be a bit much.

and yes hayseed dixie was an abseloutely great night, shame I can't remember much of it :cheers:

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To be honest I dont think a list of the bands that you have played with because it could just mean you were mates with the promoter (not saying that you are).

Also make sure your disc is clearly labelled as they often get lost or mixed up.

Well it depends if the gig is a one off or a tour I'd say, but in general I think listing venues you've played in can be more effective than who you've played with, tbh a promo pack should be tailored to what your trying to achieve with it, a promo pack for getting live gigs should be different to a promo pack to give to a label etc, we experimented with doing an interactive CD promo pack a few years ago, a webpage that came up with the bio etc and a snatch of video and some good quality mp3's, we had very good feedback from this, as the people receiving could put it in their computer and get a view within a few minutes of everything and astuff didnt get lost etc, anyway as I said depends what you're trying to achieve.

Cheers

Stuart

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Well it depends if the gig is a one off or a tour I'd say, but in general I think listing venues you've played in can be more effective than who you've played with, tbh a promo pack should be tailored to what your trying to achieve with it, a promo pack for getting live gigs should be different to a promo pack to give to a label etc, we experimented with doing an interactive CD promo pack a few years ago, a webpage that came up with the bio etc and a snatch of video and some good quality mp3's, we had very good feedback from this, as the people receiving could put it in their computer and get a view within a few minutes of everything and astuff didnt get lost etc, anyway as I said depends what you're trying to achieve.

Cheers

Stuart

You wouldn't happen to be able to pm me with some more technical details on how to achieve that would you, that sounds like a banging idea mate!

austin

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I've got a demo set up to be distributed apart from packaging and cd image, but I was thinking fuck it, it'll take us so long to get the money for it together that if they like the tunes it wont matter about packaging...I do agree that a promo pack would be a bit much.

I'm a great believer of the ol' wrap-a-cd-in-paper-and-write-on-it-technique. Cheap AND cheerful.

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I'm a great believer of the ol' wrap-a-cd-in-paper-and-write-on-it-technique. Cheap AND cheerful.

Youve got to think who you are sending this too and how much of these they recieve in a week...probaly tons, all asking the same thing.You need to make it stand out and put some effort in to it...wether this is drawing a pretty picture on this bit of paper or a very cool looking cd cover depends on what you can afford/want your music to be packaged as.

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Try looking at what you have and are intending to send out from the point of view of the recpient. Put yourself in their shoes for a few moments and decide if what you have is what 'they' would find of interest or usefull. And if not what do you need to do to change/ improve/remove. Ask questions. It allows you to look objectively at your 'promo pack', or any proposal and submission for that matter.

:up:

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Youve got to think who you are sending this too and how much of these they recieve in a week...probaly tons, all asking the same thing.You need to make it stand out and put some effort in to it...wether this is drawing a pretty picture on this bit of paper or a very cool looking cd cover depends on what you can afford/want your music to be packaged as.

See i'm sort of torn between two options

1) just send out a leaflet and cd in the hope that the music will shine through (of course not in your opinion because we suck in your eyes :()

2) Spend a little time and money, which i rarely have these days, on making the cd lookin snazzy and hope the music does the same job.

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