Artists need marketing “Although many feel the art should speak for itself”

By cnokuri • July 29th, 2009

Last year Nokuri Technology Group, LLC. had the awesome oppurtunity to work with jazz artist Tia Fuller. Ms. Fuller is an up and coming saxophonist on the Mack Avenue Label who also plays in Beyonce’s all female band. After careful planning and tons of communication we developed a solution for Ms. Fuller that could help her fans connect with her in a real and personal fashion.

This was the first time NTG, worked with a musician and it was very eye opening. Musicians have very different schedules than the average 9-5 client. Being flexible and understanding to the demanding schedules of someone rising in the entertainment industry is paramount to maintaining a healthy working relationship. Sometimes gigs or performances do not end until the wee hours of the morning and they must manage creating their art with booking and managing their finances. We were shocked that even as an artist on a record label, Ms. Fuller was taxed with so many responsibilities.

Moved with compassion, we moved quickly to improve our services to artists by doing extensive research with in the industry. People were willing to give us candid information about the trials and travails of marketing themselves as artists.

Actress Cherish Duke Graduate of the NYU

First Cherish Duke, a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts and a classmate of Grey’s Anatomy’s Brandon Scott , disclosed to us that artists need to be able to update their content easily without a complicated interface or having to go through a web developer

Then we learned about the life cycle of a fan:

a) the casual fan who may have heard a song for the first time
b) the fan who has come to a gig or a performance for the first time
c) the committed fan who likes to stay abreast of all an artist’s performances and CD releases

However, the hugest paradigm shift for us came when we talked to the extrodinary trumpet player Cameron Johnson of the Charles Tolliver Big Band. As Mr. Johnson explained “I am the product.” This helped us realize that the needs of an artists are no different than any other company or organization. Just like a Pizza Hut or McDonald’s, aggressive marketing tactics are required for them to make money from their art.

Business guru Robert Kiyosaki even noted in his book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad : What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money — That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!” that anyone can make a better burger than McDonald’s. What sets them apart is their salesmanship.

This aspect of salesmanship is what I try to impress upon all of my clients. As Solomon the wise once said:

The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
it is better not to be too wise or too good.

Many artist spend a tremendous time developing their talent but put little or no effort into developing their business acumen. They fail to understand that to be a PROFESSIONAL artist means that you are required to engage in a commercially driven environment where some sort of marketing is needed in order for you to make money.

Marketing in very simple terms is where an artist explains to the general public how their art fulfills a certain need or want. Again like Mr. Johnson explained, an artist is the product. Therefore they must be packaged in a way that a potential market or audience will want to buy what they are selling. An artist must put their ego aside and realize that there are millions of people out there that are creating art. Millions of songs, poems, plays, etc. are being written everyday. However, if a person is not making money from their art they are simply an amateur or hobbyist.

A trained artist must also keep in mind that they are competing against people who are willing to perform for free. In today’s globalized economy what sets a professional quality musician apart from the rest is a good internet marketing strategy.

For an artist an internet marketing package should include the following based on their budget:

Homepage
Band or Members Bio’s
Discography
Latest News
Show Dates
Photo Gallery
Booking Info
Links Page
Electronic Press Kit
Streaming Audio
Video
Email List Signup
Merchandising/On line Store
SEO with Google Anayltics
A Social Networking site: Myspace or Facebook
Email Newsletter
Mobile Marketing

We here at Nokuri Technology Group, LLC. do not believe in a one size fit all mentality, but simply try to design the most cost efficient solution for our clients. We help an artist choose from the list of above items that will most fit their immediate needs and budget. In addition, the development of the project is just one cost that an artist must consider. The maintenance of the site can also be very extensive, time consuming and costly. That is why in terms of the visual design work, we outsource the design of high quality templates to international artists around the world.

Simply the designing of a web site can take weeks and many hours. Most graphic designers charge $20/hr with a minium of 10 hours needed to complete a design. To pass along these costs to a struggling artist would be unthinkable for us.
In terms of maintence we use the open source Content Management System Drupal.

Drupal is a free software package that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website.-from the Site Drupal.org

Both Alicia Keys and Chris Daughtry use Drupal for their websites. We believe with our help any artist can have the same quality internet marketing strategy as these artists without breaking their wallet.

For more read Marketing for Artists by Brenda Keener.

Comments(12) Artists