In this Spazzcast listen to @RachelPearl, @tanacea, and @TrevaBloomquist discuss aspects of touring for independent artists. Subscribe to the podcast to listen and join the conversation.

Some bands only play cover tunes, others record them, and still others play, record, and remix them! I recently finished producing a band know as The Ineloquent who did exactly that. They wrote a new arrangement of a popular theme song and thereby created a remix.

The greatest advantage of creating this type of remix for the indie artist can be boiled down to one thing – exposure. Record a cover version (and preferably a remix (a version with your own flair added) of a popular tune and publish it in places that are highly indexible by search engines.

Here is a link to the download.
Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire Theme Song

Tanacea is The Music Spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

If you happen to be one of the select few bands that I let grace the front of my camera, here are some of the things you should expect/should bring/should think about.

// Great locations.

When consulting with a photographer I would be very keen on making sure he at least has a few locations scouted out and isn’t just going to bring you into the studio with a cheesy backdrop or take you out to the alley to shoot you against the cliché red brink wall. I like to get my clients out into some pre-scouted locations that are as unique as possible. Input on the part of the band is especially helpful – since I don’t want to scout a bunch of urban locations if they want their photos in front of a barn. Scouting takes a great deal of time, but the end product is worth the extra effort. If you are hiring a good photographer, expect to go to some pre-scouted, pre-visualized places.

// Passion.

I know ‘passion’ can be a very pretentious buzzword, but honesty, if your photog is not passionate about your band and about his ideas then the photos will show it. Find someone who loves and specializes in band photography. This will translate into the energy and creativity that you need.

// Coordination.

Make sure Tom the bass-player doesn’t come dressed in jnco’s and a fuzzy top hat if the rest of you are going to are going to be wearing girl jeans and combat caps. I’ve seen way too many band photos that miss the mark simply because their was no consideration to the fact that these aren’t just snapshots – this is your brand. This is what you are going to be selling yourself as. Also, make sure and sit down AS A BAND with the photographer and coordinate expectations. You don’t want certain members of the group to have doubts or different expectations of the photoshoot while it’s going on.

// Quality.

I would go farther than just ‘expect’ – I would say that you need to demand quality from your photog. You are paying him a good chunk of money to get images that you’re going to be putting out there as a representation of your brand. Make sure and know the photographers work beforehand, have consultations with him/her and dialogue until you feel comfortable that they are not going to under-deliver for you. For my clients this means I’m taking my studio lights on location with an assistant, I’m pre-visualizing my shots, I’m making sure the shoot is going to be fun and not overly formal, and I have locations in the queue so that they can see that I really do know what I’m doing.

Next post: Step by step through a shoot.

Graeme is the owner of Pitman Photography. You can contact him @graemepitman.

Enjoy this track titled Pummel from Doby’s latest album 22. Pummel

You can download the full album here.
Photo by Graeme Pitman.
Tanacea is The Music Spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

Bad photography can destroy someone’s perception of your brand.  Period.  Whether you’re a band, a bank or a bakery.  You can have the slickest flash website with the coolest logo out there, but if your photos are under par people’s perception of what you’re offering WILL suffer.  I’m saying this not only as a photographer, but as a consumer.  I’m a sucker for good packaging.  Heck, I think I’m using the daintiest lilac-honeysuckle-meadow breeze soap on the market right now, because I was a sucker for the design.  This is especially true for packaging involving photographs.

Photos draw the viewing in a very personal, relatable way.  They can convey a variety of emotions – cool and dramatic, peaceful and serene.  But in order for them to communicate what you want them to…they have to be GOOD.

Since this series is primarily geared towards bands that’s where we’ll be focusing.  Below are three steps you can take to achieve quality photographs for your band.

// Hire a professional

Your friend Jimmy may own a digital camera, but that does not qualify him as a good picture-maker.  Look for a photographer with a good portfolio in the genre and a good report with their past clients -someone whose work really impresses you.  Spend the extra few bucks to get a great photographer instead of a mediocre one.  Remember, this is your IMAGE that’s beyond portrayed through these photos.  Do you want them to say ‘mediocre’?    If you have a bad feeling about the photographer – find someone else!

// Let the photographer know what you’re thinking.

The process for getting great photos is usually a collaborative one.  Although I like when a client gives me total control, it’s usually best to get at least some ideas of what they want.  After discussing I can usually take it the rest of the way and come up with the finished idea.  Don’t be too domineering with the photographer either.  He’s a professional (see point above) and you’ve hired him because you trust his vision.  Don’t try to map out every shot and run the show.   Good input might look like this: ‘We’re a punk band.  We are a bit grittier.  We would prefer an urban setting.  I liked these photos of band X.’

// Be consistent with the photos.

Don’t get your shots taken every month by different photographers with different styles.  Remember, this is part of your branding. People will get confused if you change too often. Use the same professional photos for a year or so before getting new ones.  If they are great photos they will easily stand up that long.  Another time to have a new photos session would be when your next album is being developed.  We aren’t talking about candid fan photos – feel free to plaster those all over your myspace etc.

Next week I’ll be discussing what to expect at a band photoshoot if you hire a professional.
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Graeme is the owner of Pitman Photography. You can contact him @graemepitman.

Create incentive for fans to visit your merch table. Bob spent a lot of time preparing his merch. He shopped around for a great buy on T-shirts. He decided to go with a download card instead of buying CD’s since his first full length album is not yet complete (a wise decision in my opinion). At some point, every new indie artist just has to make the initial merch investment. The initial investment seems totally overwhelming, but the return is great. Bob made this investment and he did it wisely. The Ts turned out great and the Download card was beautiful – Bob was ready to go!

I know of at least one indie band, The Ineloquent, who, after opening their first show ever for a national act, sold over $1,000 in merch! They didn’t accomplish this by giving a sales pitch between every song, but they gave incentive for fans to stop by their table. They did two simple things from stage:

1. They invited fans to stop by and meet them. They genuinely wanted to talk to the fans.
2. They also offered something to every fan who stopped by to say hi – a free sticker.

Unfortunately, while Bob was on stage, not only did he fail to mention that he would be at his table after the show because he was interested in meeting everyone, but he didn’t even mention that he had merch at all! It would have been wise for Bob to have told the audience that he had a free something for anyone who sopped by to say hello, be it a download card, sticker, or a cool pin. All he had to do was crate incentive for fans to visit.

Since a friend had set up the download service for free, the card cost him cents. In Bob’s particular case, giving the download away would have given incentive for fans to visit his merch table. Once the fans arrived, Bob could have requested fans to join his mailing list, promoted his music by giving it away, and make a few bucks in T-shirt sales.

In a single sentence: Create incentive for fans to visit your merch table.

Tanacea is the music spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

Many musicians create a twitter account and give up on it rather quickly. Nielsen reports a 60% twitter quitter rate within the first month of using the service.  Another study, by Rapleaf, shows that 65% of tweets originate from the web interface (as opposed to from mobile phones or desktop applications). Musicians only using the web interface probably contributes to them giving up so quickly – Twitters web interface is a clunky user experience.  I was absolutely in the dark when I first started tweeting, which was exclusively from the web or by texting, until I discovered the wonders of the third party twitter app. If you want to understand how to harness the power of twitter, do not go to the web site, but download a third party app.

The Twittervers is a big place, and there are many third party apps available. Simply Google Twitter app or Twitter widget and you will have your pick at any number of possibilities.  To spare you the headache of having to figure out what apps to use, below are a few suggestions. I have no specific reason for suggesting these apps, except that I have found them to work quite well at enriching the Twitter experience. If you have thoughts on better options please share below.

Desktop: TweetDeck was the application that completely changed the Twitter experience for me. It is written in Adobe Air so you may have to install that first as part of the install process. The app works with all major operating systems and is actively developed. For a nice tutorial on how to use TweetDeck, view this link. The best part about tweet deck is that it allows you to update not only twitter, but multiple social sites at the same time, including facebook and myspace.

Mobile: You can keep in touch with your fans who follow you on Twitter while on the road from your hand held device. I have found my mobile Twitter app very helpful when making updates and sending pics, etc while on the move. Most touring musicians I know are using either an iPhone or a BlackBerry and there are very good twitter apps for both of these devices.

• iPhone: The mobile version of TweetDeck.
• Blackberry does not have as many options, but I have found great success with UberTwitter. This app is still in beta, but it has proven to be quite stable. If you would prefer a non-beta app you can always try out the less feature rich TwitterBerry

Mashable has a list of 21 desktop apps if you are interested in reading up on a few more.

Tanacea is the music spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.

1. I tweet regularly, I’m not really sure what-the-heck I’m doing but I do it anyways because I’m “supposed” to. I have a modest following but haven’t really seen real results for all my efforts.
2. I tried it for exactly 3 days and didn’t get it at all and gave up.
3. I’m a proud hold-out and won’t even attempt to sign up for another retarded gimmick till I’m certain it isn’t going to harm my reputation for rejecting the trends and plowing a new and better road for the generations to come…and even then, I’d rather my manager take care of that for me.

No matter where you fall, there is no denying the numbers. Twitter is a powerful tool in well-trained hands, a tool to make money.

Consider the following guidelines as you exploit the real benefits of this social phenomenon (no matter how annoying you may find it):

1. Open a dialogue with your fans. Don’t just tell people what you are doing, ask questions. Surprisingly, people love to jump in and help, especially if they are a fan of yours. They will claw at each other to be the first to give you advice at the chance that you will remember their name! This creates loyalty and a sense of ownership in your fans that is priceless and not easily shattered. Consider asking them what they think about your next song idea, video, or where to play next. Ask them what type of project they would like for you to do next. My friend @AndyZipf does a great job of  asking his fans what they want with simple opinion polls and encourages interaction by asking simple questions like “What book should I read next?”.
2. Keep your posts interesting. Nobody want to hear that you ate corn flakes again for breakfast unless it’s, somehow, incredibly interesting. Give me something to laugh about or look at. Use a third party service like twitpic to send a picture of what was so amazing about your cornflakes. Give us a sneak peak of your upcoming album cover or a post to an almost-finished track. All these things will keep the fans coming back and wanting more.
3. Make your posts useful. Announce important events such as a new tour or a cause that you support, but make sure you provide a link back to your own web sit where fans can get more details on that information. I often see bands announce a new show but they don’t link back to their official web site tour schedule. By not doing this you might be missing out on a T-shirt sale.
4. Promote other bands or artists. Your fans love your music and they want to know what inspires your music. Doing this lets them into your mind a bit more and you are providing useful information (point 3) by suggesting music they might like. Additionally, you will make friends with other artists who in turn may support your music on Twitter.
5. Don’t be to “markety.” But don’t neglect the chance to sell them your music and merch either. Don’t beg them to “Buy our new album” too often or distastefully. If you want to sell the music, link to somewhere I can hear it AND buy it. Compel me to check it out by posting a series of funny pictures, or videos of locations where we should listen to your music. This site has thousands of public domain (free to use for whatever you wish) videos that you could overdub with your songs to create an entertaining piece that your fans will enjoy and pass on (viral marketing). These look interesting: controler ses emotions, merry_melodies_fresh_hare, Shake Hands With Danger.

There it is, five simple things you might want to consider before your next tweet.

Please comment any opinions, tips, or advice you may have from your experiences with Twitter.

Tanacea is a music spazz and you can follow him @tanacea.