AboutBill Pere Expertise Can answer questions on : Technical aspects of lyric and music compostion; How to give and receive objective critique; Arranging and production; Concrete vs abstract imagery; Use of metaphor; Rhyme techniques; Song Structure; Collaboration; Songwriter Associations; Promotion; Guitar technique;
Experience President of the Connecticut Songwriters Association; Named Independent Artist of the Year,by the 2003 national Independent Music Conference; 30 years as a professional singer-songwriter; 13 original CD's released;
Have had songs placed on other artists' CD's. Twice named Connecticut Songwriter of the Year.
15 years as Executive Director of the LUNCH Ensemble. Have attended more than 200 presentations by top industry professionals and have critiqued thousands of songs. Have written and produced dozens of stage plays and hundreds of concert events; Have coached hundreds of aspiring songwriters, and collaborated with several award winning writers. Have written commissioned songs as an Official Connecticut State Troubadour. Music Director of youth choirs and music camps.
Organizations Connecticut Songwriters Association (President); LUNCH Ensemble (Local United Network to Combat Hunger -- Exec, Director); CMEA (Connecticut Music Educators Association); Folk Alliance; Association For Psychological Type; Songsalive;
Education/Credentials Masters Degree Molecular Biology; Certified MBTI Practitioner (Myers Briggs Type Indcator); Connencticut Secondary Public School Teaching Cerftificate;
Awards and Honors Independent Artist of the Year, (2003 national Indie Conference); Official Connecticut State Troubadour, appointed by CT Commission on the Arts, 1995 ; 1982 and 1992 CT Songwriter of the Year; 2000 Award for 20 years of Outstanding Service to Songwriters;
2002 CSA Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education through Music; Numerous awards for outstanding community outreach through music; 1997 Citation from Connecticut Legislature for exemplary dedication to community outreach through music. 1995 Renaissance Award for multiple music achievments in a single year. Invited Presenter and Mentor at various Music Conventions
Expert: Bill Pere Date: 7/6/2008 Subject: advertising and promoting music for other musicians and students
Question hi BILL:
My question is regarding the promotion and making available the music we have for students and other musicians learningn to play cello. I play in a cello group that is public education bent, in the private sector also. We have music we would like to make available to students and other cellists. How would you suggest we go about doing that? What ''hurdles'' do we have to encounter in giving our music a public awareness? We have an inhouse arranger-, there is no other avenue currently putting out cello arrangements like these and playing the selections we do. I know from talking to other players at workshops that other '' small ensembles'' also make their own arr. of their music, but they keep it to themselves and don't publish their music (for the most part), but we would like to get this to teachers in school, and also to other players to promote the interest in playing their string instrument-
Thanks for your suggestions, and ideas,
Margo S.
Answer << My question is regarding the promotion and making available the music we have for students and other musicians learning to play cello. I play in a cello group that is public education bent, in the private sector also. We have music we would like to make available to students and other cellists. How would you suggest we go about doing that? What ''hurdles'' do we have to encounter in giving our music a public awareness? We have an inhouse arranger-,..... we would like to get this to teachers in school, and also to other players to promote the interest in playing their string instrument- >>
Margo,
Thanks for your question. This is actually a standard music business question that I encounter from songwriters, but similar principles would apply for your cello music.
It's important to be clearly aware of the fact that having a musical product to distribute is actually the easy part. Doing all the legwork for distribution and promotion is the tough part, and is usually more effort than most folks realize.
Some key points which are not clear from your question are:
(a) are you talking about your arrangements of existing pieces, OR
(b) original compositions.
If (a), then you have to be sure that the pieces you want to make available are in the public domain (i.e. you may freely distribute your own arrangements of music which pre-dates copyright protections, which would include most pieces written prior to 1900. If it in original arrangement of any work later than that, then you have to get clearance from the publisher and probably pay a licensing fee.
If you are dealing with original compositions, then you may distribute them as you wish.
Remember that an original arrangement of another piece is a derivative work, for purposes of intellectual property rights (look up 'derivative work' at the copyright office website).
Also, are these pieces aimed at beginners, intermediate or advanced, and at what school level (string programs in grade schools, high school, college ? Private teaching studios ?)
Those are each different demographics with differing needs/objectives requiring separate 'awareness' campaigns and pitches.
Assuming you have that all sorted out, the next thing is to have the music available for distribution and then to raise awareness of their availability.
It is also not clear from your question if your intent is to sell your arrangements or to make them freely available. There are many techniques and strategies for each of these options, far too much to fit into this small space, but some general considerations would be:
1) Have them all readily available as sheet music, both printed and as pdf files.
2) Have mp3 sound clips available of the pieces.
3) Optionally, but a huge plus, would be to have midi files available as well
(easy to do from your sheet music and vice-verse).
You'll need these things whether you are selling the pieces or giving them away.
Then, you need a website dedicated to this objective, with an appropriate domain name.
Not MySpace or any 3rd party website -- it needs to be your own, and you need to be able to maintain it yourself, without relying on a third party. You can have a page on all the free networking sites like MySpace, but the only purpose of that should be to direct people to your main website. If you are charging anything for your music, then the website must look professional and have secure transaction processing.
For examples of websites that do this kind of thing (although you'll do it on a smaller scale, the techniques are the same) visit major sheet music sites like JW Pepper, and SheetMusicPlus.com, and MusicNotes.com
Look also at the Vermont Midi Project ( http://www.vtmidi.org ) for an education-based model.
You'll want to try some targeted mailing. both via e-mail, and by standard mail, to schools, educators, private teachers, and related demographics. You'll have to build the mailing lists from many different sources.
Do lots of Google searching to find potential connections and partnership arrangements.
There are many techniques to use to get people to find your website, and to provide them with an experience that leads to your objective, but that requires far more detailed discussion, as I do full-day workshops on that topic. The public awareness piece of your efforts is actually the most important part, even moreso than the mechanics of the distribution. How can you brand what you are offering ? Do you have a name and logo and easy-to-remember slogan ? If someone comes to your website, how will they know in 60 seconds why you are offering something different or better than any similar products.
Teachers (especially music teachers) are extremely short on time, so it's essential to make it easy and quick for them to get what you want them to from your website (or mailing).
Test out your marketing strategies and materials locally first with teachers in your area, before going to broader geographic areas.
Start small and make it work first, then make it grow.
Then of course there is the entire other approach of getting your arrangements placed with an existing distributor like Pepper, but that's a whole different type of effort and pitch.
There's so much more to be said about the topics of promotion and building awareness, but it's beyond the scope of what can be presented here.
Good luck with your efforts.
Bill Pere
Founder and Executive Director, LUNCH
President and Executive Director, CT Songwriters Association
IMC Indie Artist of the Year
An Official Connecticut State Troubadour since '95
Director, CT Songwriting Academy
