Talented band Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, whom I met a couple of years ago when they played awhile back with minty fresh band Ezra Furman & the Harpoons, are boldly expanding the world of artist merchandising. They’ve created their own chocolate bar with Vermont chocolatiers Lake Champlain Chocolates. My first reaction to this news was, “Is that a good idea?” This was quickly followed, was, “Why the hell not?”

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals “Under Fire” Chocolate Bar

Artists (and record label owners like myself) too often get in the rut of new release= new t-shirt design+new button, and then stop there. Besides, when you think about it, is something that covers your torso any more relevant to your music than something you eat? Exactly.

If Grace Potter & the Nocturnals can create and sell an item that excites the taste buds instead of simply pleasing the eye it may be a very inventive way of leaving a good impression with their fans. The memorability is huge too; there are a bazillion band t-shirts out there but I can now only think of one band chocolate bar. Clever.

Here are a few sensible things to keep in mind when you are thinking about new forms of merch (”merchandise” for you rookies):

1. Do I like the merch? If it is a shirt would I wear it even if the name of my band weren’t on it? (This is a helpful way to gut-check the design & color of the shirt.) If I’m selling food such as chocolate, do I love the taste of it? Grace Potter and the Nocturnals went so far as to create the blend of ingredients for their candy bar with the chocolatier. Smart. The best merch reflects a genuine part of you.

2. Is the merch practical and can it be profitable? You might love your Band imprinted masonry brick idea for its timeless durability, but you’d lose 5 bucks in gas money for every unit you sold. Keep it light and easily transportable. The one thing I’d suggest to Grace is that she and the band keep those tasty chocolates away from the stage lights.

3. Avoid band coffins. S’been done.

“This is the ultimate KISS® collectible, ” said Gene Simmons. “I love livin’, but this makes the alternative look pretty damn good.”

Check out the latest issue of the excellent magazine about women in music, art, film, and fashion, Venus Zine for more about Grace Potter & the Nocturnals.

What is the most inventive/impressive type of merch you have seen? Do you think it was effective? Let us know by posting a comment below.

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This concept has provided hope for many niche oriented music labels, publishers, and musicians. As a small label owner or as an artist running your own imprint, the logic of The Long Tail is appealing. It has been misinterpreted by some to mean that if you simply put your music out there amidst the entire population of music fans around the world, statistically speaking, surely someone will relate to your music and be willing to spend a few dollars on some downloads.

In reality its better for the music entrepreneur to view the concept of global sales as “broad ripple” based. Think of your music release as a stone thrown into a pond, and the resulting surface ripples as market response. Even if your goal is a small level of sales, your music releases have to make a small splash somewhere, (e.g., press review, radio exposure, blog buzz, live show response) to generate waves of awareness around it. This awareness recedes the farther away from the point of generation (perhaps your home city?) but still carries on far from the initial source of energy. However, make no mistake, it is up to you to make that splash with interesting music marketing well. No splash, no broad ripple, no sales.

There may be a couple of hundred people in Australia who would be willing to pay for music by your San Francisco based band, but they are going to have to be made aware that your music exists. Simply putting your music out there isn’t enough.

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1.  Be open to fortuitous error. More often than not, the really big meeting that may have instigated your convention attendance won’t even be where your future lies.  It will be the person you bump into by the escalator or who strikes up a conversation after spilling beer on your shoes at a gig that can change your life and help your career.  You are surrounded by talented people with shared interests, don’t presume anything about anyone and be OPEN.

2.  Have a business card. It may seem old school, but after a good conversation, being able to hand a simple, tangible artifact representing yourself is helpful to people.  Make sure it looks good and that you like it.

3.  Don’t eat alone. You are surrounded by so many people with common interests and goals.   The time for quiet reflection is  when you get home.  Right now, dive into the stream of humanity.  Make yourself known (nicely), and learn about people.

4.  Pace yourself (especially drinking.)  ‘Nuff said.

5.  Don’t be shy. Insecure?  So is everyone else in music.  Fuhgeddaboutit.  This is your opportunity to make an impression.  When you meet someone, find something that interests you about them, ask questions ,and learn about what they do.   You’d be surprised how often their pursuits might benefit from your talents or vice versa (see Point 1.)    You don’t want to miss out.

6.  Follow-up. Within a week after the convention, when  you have had a good conversation with someone and exchanged information, follow up with a short e-mail reminding them of where you met (remember, like yourself, they have probably met more people than they can specifically remember and things start to blur.)  Let them know you enjoyed meeting them and ask them to keep you in mind if they need assistance with anything.   Put your contact info by your signature so they can easily cut and paste it into their own contact list.

7.  Learning one ‘big idea’ per day is a very successful convention. If you are in a meeting where you are learning something important to you, stay until you’re satisfied.   You seldom get anywhere by rushing around and cramming too many meetings into an hour.  You won’t absorb it all.

8.  You never learn by talking. Listen.

9.  That said, talk when you have something to say and then allow the other person to respond.  If you find yourself talking for more than 30 seconds at a stretch, you aren’t talking, you’re pitching/self-promoting.  The pitch can come at a later date.   Right now, engage and enjoy.

10.  Make sure your digital identifier website/myspace/blog is functioning well before the convention. When you meet people and give them your card assume they will check out your site to learn more about you and your work.  Remember, your site is representing you.   Is it readily understandable for the user?  Do all your song links work?  Make sure you have tested everything.

11.  Hit the Salt Lick.    Great barbecue and vibe about 30 miles outside Austin.  Yum.

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Flickr image from user, hotdiggitydogs

When it comes to marketing your music, stop and think about the various marketing elements you’ve created  in terms of when you will use them, and how they can be most useful.  By controlling the timing of when you release information in a particular market to enable it to hit in a focused manner, you give yourself a better chance of being remembered by people.

If you are going to play in a new town, have the college radio station be receiving your music about the same time as the local music critic or hipster blog site.  Have your posters posted at the club or around town by local fans at the same time these other activities are going on.  An isolated single play of your music on a radio station may well be forgotten by someone listening in their car.  Your song playing on the same station while the driver notices a poster on a building with your band’s name and graphics on it the same day,  followed by their spotting your record review on a music website that evening,  has a much greater likelihood of getting your band on that person’s radar.  These elements would not have the same power if they each occurred months apart.

Timely, coordinated marketing efforts strengthen each other, and  increase the impression of your band among the public consciousness.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe

Mies is widely credited with the saying, “God is in the Details.”  This notion is as applicable to your music as it is to architecture.  Paying attention to every detail can move a listener from “Hey, that song is pretty good” to “This music is incredible”— so compelling, in fact, that they are willing to spend their hard-earned cash to have your music as a part of their life.

Remember, like it or not, your music exists in a competitive environment. There are plenty of messages competing for your potential audiences’ time, attention, and money, whether it’s music from other bands, video games, movies, phone apps, etc.

So when you release your music into the world, make sure you are satisfied with every detail:  The arrangement, the recording, the mix, the mastering, the packaging, the artwork, the typeface on the artwork, the band photo, the words on your press release.  It all matters.

Eight million bands are currently on on www.myspace.com.  Last year, 105,000 full- length recordings were released in the US alone!  By ensuring that every aspect of your music and presentation is great—not merely good—you improve your chances of moving up the mountain of sound, getting your music noticed, and building a career.

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