DIY Artists Suite 709, Papa Grows Funk & Dantrel “FAVE” Robinson Speak On Social Media, Marketing & Being Indie

Former contestant on NBC’s The Voice, Tje Austin opens for Suite 709, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012, in Austin, Texas. (Photo/ND McCray)

The Future of Music Coalition, a research and advocacy organization for musicians, completed a recent study saying that though technology is a “double-edged sword for musicians” now with the advent of digital music stores, podcasting and streaming services–the opportunity for artists to produce and distribute their own music has been “greatly reduced.” That is to say, “the Internet alone is not the only way to make money with music, but it is a big, maybe the biggest, part of the equation these days – both for sales and exposure.”

A true independent artist is someone who does not receive any financial backing from a record label to record his or her album. Essentially handling all marketing, promotion, distribution, touring, live booking, new media, merchandising and all other aspects independently, according to MoneyInMusic.com, a web site offering advice to musicians to make money with their music.

Self-funded music entrepreneurs can now get their music directly to fans via blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, SoundCloud, Bandcamp or any number of legal music services; thereby, charting their way to a successful and sustainable career. But it will take hard work to make it work.

MoneyInMusic offers this advice for up-and-coming musicians: Play live shows, setup a really good website (WordPress, Tumblr) with no less than a bio, and include sound clips, your CD/EP/single for sale and an email list for fans. Learn about the business, but set your own pace. Maintain your focus or even start your own label and take on other artists. Make social media a part of your marketing plan.

INDIE DOWN IN AUSTIN

DIY artists Suite 709 headline a KGSR/Do512-presented show at The Parish, Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012, in Austin, Texas. (Photo/ND McCray)

Austin, Texas-based indie pop, rock and soul band Suite 709 formed in July 2009, and they seem to have the indie machine well oiled. Mixing classic Motown and 90’s-era Lenny Kravitz, with a dash of Maroon 5, the quintet — comprised of vocalist Jirod Greene, Dietrich Schmidt (keys and manager for the group), David Butler (guitar), Drew Walters (bassist) and Zach Boston (drums) — initially gained a following the old-fashioned way: Through word-of-mouth advertising and touring before they even had an album out.

“We wrote and toured for a year before recording, so we actually had a fan base [first],” saysButler at their in-home studio in Austin.

Having attended a free show in their honor at The Parish on 6th Streetin August–where The Voice’s former contestant Tje Austin opened, the crowded venue included a mixed bag of folks from college students and hipsters to middle-aged folks and fellow musicians.

Watch Suite 709 at The Parish performing The Jackson’s “Can You Feel It.”

Having a do it yourself (DIY) mindset in place, with a combination of online marketing and promotional skills via platforms like the band’s website, Google+, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, the guys are now part of Google+’s most recent Ad campaign for “Hangouts On-Air.”

Releasing their debut album Nite and Day in July – which was funded in 2011 via Kickstarter — where fans and supporters contributed between $25 and $2,500 for the project, three of the guys (Dietrich, Jirod and David) sat down with me at their home studio in September to talk digital marketing, fan interaction, staying positive as well as staying indie. To which Dave states: “Currently we do everything in house; literally, no manager, no booking agent, no record label, no nothing.”

[Listen: 3 min: 8 sec]  Suite 709 – Interview snippet

TIMING, MARKETING AND PROMOTION

“There’s never, ever, ever been a better time to be an independent artist right now… ever,” according to marketing guru Seth Godin in a recent video interview with publicity maven Arial Hyatt. Godin says that “If everyone knows your song, someone’s going to show up and say: Come do a live gig …” He says that if you can overcome the obscurity problem and get people to talk about your music and attend your shows, the money will follow.

If you can come overcome the obscurity problem, getting people to talk about your music and attend your shows, Godin says, the money will follow.

Marketing & social media pro Dantrel “Fave” Robinson working on his iPad at Starbucks, Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012, in Houston, Texas. (Photo/ND McCray)

“The cool thing about indie artist fans, they are more loyal than a pop artist fan, says Grammy™ Blogger Dantrel “Fave” Robinson.

“No diss to a pop artist fan. But the relationship, it takes more work to forge it. It’s easy to be a fan of Lady GaGa, it’s easy to be a fan of Miley Cyrus … it’s easy to be a fan of Justin Bieber because they’re in your face. They’re on TV, they’re on the radio… there’s merchandising, it’s in your face. If you want to write them, it’s there.”

Robinson, who’s an indie singer, songwriter and musician, as well as a marketing and social media expert, who has developed promotional campaigns for Coca-Cola, BP Oil and Hewlett-Packard, continues: But an indie artist — they don’t get all that mass media love. So when a fan loves you, that means they’ve taken the time to find you. They’ve taken the time to figure out what show you’re at. They took out the time to save their money to go see your show,” says the Houston-based artist.

“It’s important from a social media standpoint … [because] the tools are now there that kind of level the playing field, so now an indie artist can reach an international audience. An indie artist can reach people on Twitter and talk to them individually and rap to that person.”

IFPI DIGITAL MUSIC REPORT

Aside from popular social networking platforms, there are many digital music services that can maximize an artist’s reach. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is an affiliate of the Recording Industry Association of America, and a non-profit member organization that works to protect the recorded music of artists and producers in over 60 countries. The IFPI’s Digital Music Report for 2011 declares that there are now more than 400-licensed music services worldwide (up from less than 60 in 2004), which are enough outlets for artists to get music into the hands of eager fans. Some of those digital platforms, as of 2011, include AOL Music, Artist Direct, Bandcamp, Beatport, MOG, MySpace Music, ReverbNation and Traxsource, among others.

(See complete list at the end of the Digital Music Report)

INDIE JAZZ IN NEW ORLEANS

John Gros of New Orleans band Papa Grows Funk playing a funk-filled jazz set at The Continental Club, Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, in Houston, Texas. (Photo/ND McCray)

With no set play lists or rehearsals; Papa Grows Funk earned their indie stripes touring back in 2002, when Twitter, Facebook and YouTube had yet to appear. Thus, they had to learn social media and marketing via online message boards.

Based out of New Orleans, Louisiana, the group’s latest LP Needle In The Groove (Funky Krewe Records) showcases a confident jazz and funk fusion that’s been perfected throughout the years. In a late September interview, John Gros, manager and lead man of the group, talked to me about those early years:

“What happened in the earlier days was that we were all playing with different other bands of the same genre — George Porter’s band, The Wild Magnolias, The Funky Meters, so we had a fan base through those bands. So what we did, we went to message boards. It was just me, like Papa Grows Funk … I would just post on a million different message boards, so when fans from all over the country would come down [to visit], maybe they would stick their head in — and it worked!”

The group, which includes Gros on the Hammond B3 organ, June Yamagishi on guitar, Marc Pero on bass, Jason Mingledorff on sax, and Jeffery “Jellybean” Alexander on drums — plays some 100 shows per year in and around their home base as well as New York City, San Francisco and Japan.

Having joined Facebook around 2008, Gros handles marketing for the group by utilizing the platform to connect with fans and to promote upcoming shows. “Within two or three weeks [on Facebook] I probably had about 300 to 400 friends. And it was never a personal thing; it immediately turned into a marketing tool,” he says. “We don’t have a marketing budget; we never had a marketing budget. So it was like how can we do this fast, cheap and easy?”

“Out of the Mud” (from PGF’s Needle In The Groove)

Having interviewed Robinson a few days after Gros, the Grammy™ blogger recalled a similar story that ties-in social media, touring and using both as promo tools, despite online piracy still existing.

“So now you shift to maybe to 2005 to I’ll say, 2009. That’s around the time that YouTube came out. At this point the machine [record business] was taking its hit. They mad, taking people to jail; putting mamas in jail for downloading Justin Bieber songs or whatever. But at the same time, indie artists now have more technology, they have more outlets,” he shares.

“During that time, I interviewed Phonte [of indie hip-hop/R&B and electro duo The Foreign Exchange] and I asked a similar question, so to kind of bring it all full circle, I’ll say what he said:

“The music then becomes a promotional tool. Because at the end of the day, artists — and this goes back to the last 50 years – they make their money on the road. That’s why the O’Jays [R&B/soul group] and Frankie Beverly [soul/R&B band] still get a check. They love the show, they love the energy, but that’s where the money is. The money is in the show, the money is in the merchandise,” he says.

“But why would I come see you, why would I buy your merchandise, if I haven’t heard your music? So it’s kind of like, its cool if you downloading it or whatever. But if you came to my show and you dropped $20… Then it’s all good, [so] it balances out.”

The Future of Music by Dave Kusek, founder of BerkleeMusic.com, the world’s largest online music school. (Photo/Digital Cowboys)

Bottom line: There are a plethora of avenues for which an artist can showcase their work, thereby, creating a successful and long-term career: Be it touring, merchandising, CD and digital sales or even licensing music to TV or film. These tools are readily available. Now it’s a matter of an artist utilizing them.

Dave Kusek & Gerd Leonhard, co-authors of The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution (Berklee Press, 2005), shares this piece of advice in Chapter 4 of their book:

Music marketing has always been, and will always be, about exposure and discovery.