Everyone has dreamed at some point of being in a band. But playing Wembley Stadium to 1000s of screaming fans and travelling around in chauffeur driven limousines unfortunately isn't the reality of your average professional band.
Every successful band is treated as a 'business model'.
The internet is usually the place that every band starts, using social websites such as Facebook, Twitter and most recently, Linked In are increasingly accommodating to bands & Musicians. It is often free for bands to join, upload MP3s, videos, gig dates and biographies. By doing this you are keeping your fans up to date with what your band is up to and reaching a wider audience.
Websites such as Bandcamp have also cropped up in recent years. These sites allow users to design a profile, which they can upload songs and artwork to. In addition to this users are able to keep track of fans email addresses, which can be downloaded to an Excel document, making it easy to send newsletters to your all important fans! To top it all off Bandcamp only takes a small commission from its users sales, meaning it is a cost effective way of getting your music out there. For this reason it has become a bands best friend.
Musician Directory websites are also very popular, although it is often very difficult to be found as potential customers have to sift through a never-ending list of mediocre bands in order to find the diamond in the rough. There are often hundreds of profiles so make sure that you include as much information as possible in order to make your profile stand out from the rest! Adding videos of your band playing is a great start to show people what to expect from a live show (assuming the videos are good quality!). It's also a good idea to get people to write a review of your gig on your profile page. The more great reviews, the more gigs!
Busking isn't something everyone has tried. However, it's undoubtedly a great way of making some money and promoting your talent. Contemporary and function bands have taken to the streets countless times in order to entertain the masses. If you're any good you're bound to be offered a gig somewhere, if not at least you'll make some money!
Another option is to offer yourself as an acoustic act as well as a full band to accommodate everyone's needs. Being a Jack of all trades' isn't a bad thing in music.
Last, but definitely not least are house bands. House bands regularly play in a venue 2-3 times a week and become very popular with the locals usually having a standard repertoire of 20-30 songs. This exposure results in the bands receiving more bookings from their ever-growing audience. The practice doesn't do any harm either!
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