Indie Music Artists Sponsorships

Music businesses have to rethink their strategies of getting money and in today's market those opportunities are there but require a greater level of entrepreneurship. Over the past 10 years in particular music users have sought to form partnerships with music owners. On the other hand music owners in particular the labels and artists are seeing this opportunity as a means for obtaining the necessary cash for their business.

Sponsorships and brand associations are much more desired and getting a sponsor on board can make the difference between covering the essential costs of loosing money. So the object of this article is to give the 6 steps (thoughts) to obtaining sponsorships and building relationships.

Decide what you are giving the sponsor- Some people in the music business work from a naive view point. They see sponsors as those with money to throw around and feel they should be the benefactors. Nothing could be further from the truth. Companies that get involved in sponsorship are simply working to improve their visibility to a client group. Therefore the initial step is to determine something of value that the sponsor could be interested in. For example you might offer a sponsor the opportunity to have their logo on 200,000 flyers or on 20,000 CD's
Are they interested in the demographics you reach? - A sponsor will not be interested in investing in your next album or tour schedule if those you are targeting have no relevance to their business services or product. Therefore it is important that we are sure that our demographic is similar but also that your demographics will provide media exposure to the sponsor.
Decide what it will cost- Some sponsorships have various tiers. It can offer separate amounts for a main sponsor to a smaller sponsor with the different categories having various types of benefits. If what you are doing does not allow for this, then it is equally important to decide how much you need. Bear in mind that what you are offering must be better than what the business or individual can obtain from a high street.
Craft an Introductory Letter- Once the above has been fully decided then you are ready to write a letter to the people who are hoping will be interested in sponsoring you. The letter should include an introduction of yourself, why you think the person or business will benefit from the sponsorship, the demographics and brief description of what you are hoping to give them. It will also help if you ask for a meeting or an opportunity for you to send them more.
Create a Presentation- This will be a very useful document to be used over the life of your project so a great deal of time must be used to compile it. Make a PowerPoint presentation that is picturesque and straight to the point. Cover the various tiers (if applicable), detailed demographics, the opportunity, coverage, what they can expect to get and costs.
Once you have a sponsor on board, the next stage is to over deliver so that they would be more likely to get involved over a long haul!

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