Rapper/ vocalist Dessa darling of Doom Tree had plenty of great information on promoting myself/band and getting into local press or other media sources. She brought to my attention the most important aspects of promotion and materials I need to catch the attention of a local newspaper or radio station. I really liked her attention to detail and awareness of all the little qwerks of the different newspapers, like knowing what color clothing to where for black and white photos and knowing the space on the page that the picture will fill. The most important thing to have is a "Bangin' Bio" and have more then one. I need to cater to the source that I'm trying to get involved with. The less work the person receiving my info has to do the better, and everyone is looking for something different.It is also good to have multiple press shots so you can fill the need for multiple scenarios. You can never have to much stuff! But it's also more important to have quality meaningful content that people are going to respond well to and want to keep checking out. she also pointed out that a lot of young groups don't promote as much as they should because in social situations it feels slimy or wrong.You don't need to be overbearing or pushy but positive self promotion is necessary in order to get yourself known.
One thing I never thought about that Dessa discussed was exchanging services with creative fair trade. What do I have to offer, other then money, that will make both parties benefit from what I need to accomplish. I can't think of an examples in my current situation that I could use but now that I am aware of this strategy I will certainly look for a situation to put this concept into practice.
I mentioned in class that my bands song "What Makes You Happy" was aired once on the 89.3 the current and that I didn't feel it was beneficial because one air play doesn't really launch much exposure and nothing came of it. Dessa responded with a philosophy that maybe nothing did come of your one air play but maybe the next step you take like getting in the Vita.MN will raise the brow of someone and gives us some type of opportunity. the point being, I need to do twenty things and maybe only one of those promotional things will lead to something else beneficial, and maybe it wont, but if you just keep working at it and trying to make things happen, something eventually will.
Dessa also mentioned having web content that fans can check out even if its dumb playful stuff that is just for fun to show your personality and raise awareness of who you are. Below are a couple of links to promotional videos my band made that have had good reactions and are similar to dessa's example.
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