Our hack has been to busk in the streets... of other cities! We published content, we let the people and musical community that we weren't afraid to get our hand dirty playing in the streets. And it worked: slowly pubs and venues in our city (Verona, Italy) started calling us for gigs (and from other cities too!). Never underestimate the power of music played amongst the people :)
My ‘city’ is a rural town on the coast of Northern Ireland. Only lived here about 2 years but have been working hard at meeting people in the community, getting involved in local events like fairs, organising concerts and recitals with other musicians and started a music club for kids too 🎶
I've been playing weekly live stream shows from my living room and inviting guest musicians from the community once a month! Thanks for confirming I'm doing something right 😺
Thanks Damo, food for thought! As a teen I always worked hard with my bands to not “get stuck” in my hometown, and felt that gigging throughout the wider area, and even around the country (the Netherlands is quite small, though) was the more sensible thing to do. Fast forward 14 years, and hundreds of gigs, I have a pretty big international network. As I’m setting up two new projects I’m very tempted to use this network as a jumpstart for these projects, but I never really considered putting a lot of effort to build something in our hometown, leaning on the usual excuse of “the scene for our type of music is small and bit shitty, so we’d rather play somewhere else”. This video’s got me thinking the other way around: if I put in the effort to make the scene for our type of music grow, than naturally my projects might grow with that. It’s a total win-win!
My marketing "strategy" as a novice solo musician is: utilize sites that provide visual content that can be put to my music (for which I've planned a budget), add it to RUclips and Instagram, then target a demographic based on location (typically running a 30 day campaign at 2 to 10 USD per day). I have several options based on the specific goal (e.g. I lived in Poland, and have a Polish pop song covered in metal coming out, so I target Polish communities, both in hashtag and in paid promo). Conquering locally, for example, I put all the major local areas where I live now - towns within the DFW, as well as places where I had a presence in other states or cities internationally, and set that as the promo demographic.
I used to go to a songwriter meetup every week, it was in addition to our weekly open mic at a venue that is now sadly closed, but it was great to meet up and showcase new songs that we were working on, and get writing tips from other local singer/songwriters, or just feedback on what they liked/disliked. That was a great community, and I'm looking forward to building up another community like it soon!
Thank you so much for this video! I felt so stuck in what I should do just to get started. I've been playing music for 24 years mostly around my church and have been wanted to branch out and start playing in other venues. Def going to take this info and run with it! Def going to conquer my city and area. I'm in Fresno, California.
Totally agree Damo ... I set up an open mic night in my hometown Maidstone a few years back and it really helped with networking but actually became ‘The’ place to hangout for musicians every week :)
It you want to be taken seriously by he local community, you have to take the local community seriously - that’s a good point. This video is an interesting topic that I haven’t seen much at all about online before. Well done P.s Leeds Leeds Leeds you what you what 😛
Thanks Damian for this one, full of actionable tips! I specially appreciate the “take it slow” advice to focus your efforts locally first to start building a community. A couple of things that have worked for me an experimental musician in Sydney are: 1. Open mics: great to meet other local musicians, bonus if you also play in them, helps a lot breaking the ice! 2. Go to gigs that are regular and periodic, and go there regularly as well! Soon you’ll notice familiar faces with likeminded interests, connections ensue! Cheers, keep it up!
Thanks again! Recently insta messaged Justin from “BRKN LOVE” and he actually replied! I debated for days whether to even send a message but I did and I’m so glad I did, asked for some suggestions about finding reliable musicians and he gave great advice. Super nice guy, super good music. Wouldn’t have done something like that if it weren’t for you, Damian. Keep this up :)
Thank you! Will incorporate featuring my home town better! Until a month ago i thought word of my imminent fame would spread by osmosis. Then i decided "why aren't I being proactive" and started contacting the local free rags / papers to get my gig placed in the music sections. takes like 10 to 20 minutes per event to contact the local city chamber of commerce and list my event. Started targeted ads on facebook for gigs. So far so good, big difference in turn out in the last 2 events. Hope other people read this. Contacting city websites / newspapers / periodicals is FREE....and then your event comes up better in the search engines.
Hi Damian! Dave Jay here from New York City. I just discovered you on YT last week, and am both immensely enjoying your videos as well as gleaning great ideas how to grow as an artist. Thank you for the work you are doing and please keep goin'! P.S. Just ordered your book (RBGTSM), and will be entering your competition, so "see ya soon". Best regards!
Hey thanks Damo! I put a bit of money in a week and try to target London though i don't get much back than I do for other parts of the world :( anyway great advice!
Good things and good reminder to do these... I've been trying to go see more in Austin, but some venues won't let me in. Though, once I ask someone in the band to get me on a list, some places will let me in to see them play.
Not always the case mind you. I’ve Never played a show at my home town in my current band, and only played our nearest city about 3 times over 5yrs. Spent more time playing elsewhere around the UK. Still managed to sell out 1000cap venue back home for early next year...madness!
I’ve done the same thing in the US. I’ve always heard start in your city before you branch out, but the first show we played in (Los Angeles) was sold out because we already had a name for ourselves and a buzz based solely on the music we were putting out.
What helped my band grow in our city Canton, Ohio was more than just playing a bunch of shows our first year out, but a few of us went to every show at the venue and talked to the other bands playing. Bands from here, and bands from out of town. Now almost every out of town band wants my band Divorce Horse to play with them because we have a strong local presence and bring a decent crowd to our shows. Doing all of this also gave us growth potential out of town because we networked with out of town bands. " Hey come to Canton, and we will put you on a show with us that has a good turn out." After that show, they usually invite us to there town to thank us with a good show there.
Great ideas. Thank you! We are a brothers band from Tokyo, but we have just moved to the Gold Coast Australia. And we are putting some of your tips into practice. First trying to get more gigs, going to jam nights, going to see bands and giving them our name card… it takes time, but it’s slowly working. Thank you! JAB
I LOVE number 5! They're all great, but that one really resonated with me where I am right now in my musical life. I can think of a few people who would probably be down to start a little regularly occuring meetup. Thanks for another great video!
Brilliant! This video is very helpful. Great content. I'm all the way in Phoenix, Arizona. Any one interesting Lmk where you guys are from!!! All love. ✌☺✌
Thanks Damo! We from New Brighton Beach Christchurch representing the City of Light* Thanks for your guidance we been busy writing music and practising we are putting up our new Instagram live band FM 5th Dec ...we just having some fun in the sun .. Summer of Love 2020 :)...keep ya posted!
Great tips, Damian! I was literally shouting "yes" about the location tagging on Instagram. I'm almost 100% gonna follow if I know a musician/band is local (and/or has an upcoming show nearby). It's also important to be aware of what you're known *FOR*. Being known in your city or hometown as pushy, overbearing, lazy, unprepared, etc will certainly get you pushed out of opportunities for years to come.
Really liking these type of direct & concrete videos! I wonder what you're opinion is on coming from a very small town, disadvantage or not?? Cheers, from Sweden
I'm in north Seattle. Look at that, we just met on a social network lol! Let me know if you know any good mix engineers around here. I know plenty of ok ones and more bad ones.
@@JeremyAbbottMusic whaaaat no way! I'm in W. Seattle, used to live in Ballard. My album "Between Doubles" was engineered by Sean Wheatley in his home studio in Shoreline, he's amazing. And Josh Richins recorded my duo's EP, which I was super stoked on. Those are my 2 faves! My bud Aaron Spieldenner is also amazing, and runs Hazy Bay Studios over in like, Georgetown, and his rates are unparalleled.
@@AntKneeLeafEllipse gonna be checking this out. Got gigs tonight and tomorrow abs doing the musicians health care benefit show on Sunday but am excited to have a new lead! Thank you man!
Great tips brother!!! May I also suggest reaching out and volunteering at the local Campus Radio Station. In my city, (Sudbury Ontario, Canada) the campus radio station is a the hub for new and original music as well as the music scene in general. I've found that working with them on events and offering marketing ideas has been super beneficial and has allowed me to not only gain a bit of recognition but also do my part to help the station and scene thrive!
I have an album called LAX that I released in January. It’s a passion project that has taken me from NY to LA to Puerto Rico to Paris as far as the content production. I’m ashamed to say that I have been inconsistent with marketing and promotion. My biggest audience is on IG. This video inspired me to re-invest in marketing promo as well as other suggestions you have here! Thank you for your service DK!🙏🏿🎼
I know these may not sound like serious questions but they really are. 1) What if you are blocked from the mainstream and even certain gigs where you live because of race? For example, ability is irrelevant and only image and perceived race matters. And yes this is a very real question. 2) What if you're trying to promote kinds of music that not many people can understand? Aside from the obvious, which would be give it up and do different music, since that would defeat the point of doing music in the first place. 3) Bonus extention question related to number 2. What if there are other places where you are appreciated greatly, get great responses from industry people and audiences and your music and ability is understood much better (example Japan), but people in your home town (example Hong Kong) not many people can understand it, are threatened by it and / or just care what race you look like and that you fit into a specific box? It's easy to say go to where people understand it, but that's easier said than done and even if doable, then nobody will ever learn to appreciate more advanced music in most places. The same as it's easy to just say play what people like, but then people will never learn to understand and appreciate anything new. Thanks very much.
I'll try to hack the hack, instead of 5$ on Facebook/instagram per week, I'll make 15$ worth of fliers and go around the city to music venues giving fliers only to people that have band t shirts I like. Targeted marketing with old school tech. Keep Rockin'!
I agree. But I come from Brussels, Belgium. And it's a place where international recognition is necessary before blowing up. We've got tons of broke artists, some good, some awful, going nowhere. Language is a barrier. I would say that if you want to conquer your city, become your fan and your peer. So go to venues of other artists or find an activity that all the musicians and artistic people (actors, musicians, bar owners do). Often this means being more nocturnal. For me it was theatrical improvisation and working in a music school. I've got a lot of contacts to conquer my city, now. I just need to craft my "product" :p. In my experience people who go to your gigs are either people who like what you do, your music " a real fan" or people who you've met in the last couple of weeks, so that's something to bare in mind.
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin :) ... although I think sometimes certain music resonates with a certain place ... which may or may not be the band's/artist's city of origin ... for example, Led Zeppelin only made in their home city after making it in the States ... same goes for U2 ... also there's the home town effect, whereby the home town only begins to appreciate a band/artist after they've been acknowledged elsewhere ...
Thanks for this Damo! This makes so much sense and is definitely something I’m going to focus on now as I think I’ve been overlooking it a lot! I’m from a little town called Sandbach not far from Manchester and think I’ve got too worried about doing things in Manchester where it’s oversaturated with musicians! Time for a change of plan I think and to focus on Sandbach and surrounding areas even though they don’t have very much of a ‘music scene’ and try and build a bit of buzz around there before venturing further! Cheers Damo! Great video as always!
Scott Edwards yeah, man! Try to get a local scene going! Pioneer it and support other local musicians as much as you can. You can only see benefits from that sort of behaviour, bro :-)
Great tips as always Damo! On a completely different note, what're your thoughts on the new proposed changes to youtube because of COPPA in the US. I don't know if it will have any effect outside of the US, but as you say some of your audience is international it might be relevant it still would be good to get your opinion. A worrying thing about this is that channels that feature music could be categorized as appealing to children, and therefor demonetized, and worse, become not searchable. If this is the case then this would be a big problem for bands that are attempting to grow an audience using youtube. Might be worth looking into and making a video on it?
Thank you I’m watching your videos from Tokyo Japan ^^ I am Italian but I live and I’m a resident here ^^ thank you for all your nice videos. What do you mean about demographic? How to do it?
amazing content as always, Damian! been following for a long time and your words have encouraged me tremendously. finally finding the focus and direction i need with my music curious i live in a small city outside of boston (roughly 40k people where i am vs almost 700k in Boston) would you suggest that i focus these tips in my smaller 'city' or should i attempt to brand my self as a boston band, to capitalize on the larger audience and more bands to connect with?
From what his message usually is: Probably the former to create continuous engagement as opposed to one big engagement piece and then silence. Good luck :-)
I think that playing songs from other bands from the local scene (besides your own obviously) is a great thing. Most bands, at least starting out, will have one or two covers in their set, why not cover some of your peers?
Focus on the outskirts of DC. Don't start off trying to play U St. Make friends at places like Slash Run, Dew Drop Inn, etc. Then move up to Black Cat, R&R Hotel, etc.
the ultimate hack to reach contacts with artists, agency, gain an audience and put your city on the map at the same time: host your own festival! but be careful...it’s much more work than it seems to be
Hi mate, i am thinking of going to BIMM and i just wanted to ask you of your experience being there? My main concern is whether i can build a career off being a performing musician after going there? Would you say that attending BIMM is a good place to start a career as a performing musician? Thank you for your help :)
@@samwarrener8281 I'd say the main benefit would be networking, (I'm doing a diploma in vocals as I'm 16 btw) as opposed to knowledge as you meet loads of cool people who are into the same stuff as you. My main goals to be a performing musician too and there's lots of opportunities to perform which helps you get comfortable with being on stage. Feel free to DM me on insta if you want to ask something specific instagram.com/tommyhenshaw/
At the lead singer/guitarist of The Desperados (check us out TheDesperadosUK.com) I also run a monthly singer songwriter event, it’s great fun, I get to hear great music and interview artists, BUT it’s a great way to meet new musicians, put them in touch with venues or other artists that they can gig or collaborate with, and means that people in Cheltenham know who I am and it’s a really positive thing to do for the community. If your ever in Cheltenham hit me up and come along! (Last Tuesday of the month)
Some ideas I have for conquering the city... 1. Polish your live set, your image, everything. 2. Don't project an image that is not who you are. 3. Play the 5 most popular spots that host live-music, as often as possible. (If you're doing it right, the momentum will come quick). 4. Talk with local radio DJs about what it takes to get your music played on the local radio. 5. Identify who your cities big influencers are, in various scenes. And try to gain them as an ally.
JORDAN PHOTO WORKS definitely don’t play local areas as often as possible. Space out local shows so you can actually promote them properly and not over saturate your local fan base. My band has a good local draw and always look for other locals who can bring even an additional 10-20 people which isn’t much but so many acts play hometown shows every week and split up their draw so much that they cut the legs off their own value for local venues and other bigger local acts.
@@jeffroalson1915 Well, I feel if you have played to the point of over saturation and haven't yet made serious waves and gained a great local following (which is the goal and when you would branch out), you need to rethink your whole set. (Sorry, hard-truth). If you play 5 popular venues in your city and you're worth seeing, the next 5 shows at the same places should produce a good-sized local following. Give them one more round with crowd favorites and new material then announce your first outside the city show. If your playing your city or anywhere for that matter and don't gain in fans and attendance each time, you are doing it wrong. (10-20 new fans per show is a terrible rate of return. YOU know this. Make a change, or start calculating how many shows it's going to take to get to a million fans.) Each gig is a marketing campaign of sorts. And as such, should bring in "customers". If not, your product isn't marketable. Bottom-line... Most bands/artists don't take the time to perfect their set, complete with unique lighting, fog, or whatever the mood calls for. And for this reason they gain a reputation for mediocrity. Also, a lot of musicians have large egos and believe their music is SO good, that no other entertainment production or promotion is necessary. This is a poor choice. When you look like Joe the guy in a band down the street, rather than Joe-cool the motherfucking rockstar, you ARE Joe the guy in a band down the street in everyone's eyes. Not a rockstar? Fake it till you make it. No one was born with a multi-national tour scheduled. Your music doesn't even have to be "great" if you bring good entertainment value to the table. Regardless, neither carries the other and both are entirely necessary. BUT, and I'm not saying this to be mean, just my opinion; If you're rotating with local bands trying to make ends meet playing local gigs to handfuls of crowds for months or years on end. It's already over. You didn't make it. Accept it and rebuild. Ditch the buddy-band and convince serious musicians to ditch their buddy bands for a REAL band. Then, make something awesome and try again. Wish you the best and hope you are drowning in pussy and record sales next time I hear from you! ;)
@@DamianKeyes Just in case, its an american expression. We can do the english version too: Time, Effort and Money? You are an Alien, Damien! I dont know it sounds that good, but its the best ive got. Cheers from Uruguay, i always watch your videos!
When you talk about value content Damien what do you actually mean??? My band can create music, live performances and vlogs but what other content should we be focussing on that actually offers value to start building our audience???
Community? What is community? We don't have any community , at least where I live. and as far as I can tell. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. .Hi, I'm Spiros from Thessaloniki ( the second biggest city in Greece after Athens, with 1.000.000 population).
Our hack has been to busk in the streets... of other cities! We published content, we let the people and musical community that we weren't afraid to get our hand dirty playing in the streets. And it worked: slowly pubs and venues in our city (Verona, Italy) started calling us for gigs (and from other cities too!).
Never underestimate the power of music played amongst the people :)
Steps:
step 1 - 1:00
U know ur area (people, places, ect.)
step 2 - 2:00
Connect with more people so they know who u r
step 3 - >>> look below
Thx for laying this out. Its Very helpful to recap after watching the video. All love. ✌😀✌
Thank you so much! I love these videos, but I'm a visual learner, so thanks for the summary and index...
I love a video summary 👌
Sold 500 tickets in my hometown Kingston Ontario 🇨🇦 back in April (I’m crazy proud of that)..... time to tackle some new markets in 2020 🤠
Kyle Dunn as you should be brother! Congratulations! 🍾🎉🎈
SeanHassardMusic Thank you Sean! 🍻
Hey Kyle what venue in Kingston was that? I’m actually heading there tmrw for a gig
I'm going to try to conquer Montreal... You should Conquer Ottawa, then we can join together, or battle so we can each know more about each city.
Tony Rosenberg it was at The Ale House. Where are you playing here in Kingston?
My ‘city’ is a rural town on the coast of Northern Ireland. Only lived here about 2 years but have been working hard at meeting people in the community, getting involved in local events like fairs, organising concerts and recitals with other musicians and started a music club for kids too 🎶
I've been playing weekly live stream shows from my living room and inviting guest musicians from the community once a month! Thanks for confirming I'm doing something right 😺
Conquering Nairobi my city . Then the world ... God willing .
TREVA ARMANDO it’s a cool city. Good luck mate 👍
@@ryanohare6879 thanks man
All the way from Phoenix Arizona. All love!
Greetings from Kampala!
@@alifchief what is up man 💯💯💯
Thanks Damo, food for thought! As a teen I always worked hard with my bands to not “get stuck” in my hometown, and felt that gigging throughout the wider area, and even around the country (the Netherlands is quite small, though) was the more sensible thing to do. Fast forward 14 years, and hundreds of gigs, I have a pretty big international network. As I’m setting up two new projects I’m very tempted to use this network as a jumpstart for these projects, but I never really considered putting a lot of effort to build something in our hometown, leaning on the usual excuse of “the scene for our type of music is small and bit shitty, so we’d rather play somewhere else”. This video’s got me thinking the other way around: if I put in the effort to make the scene for our type of music grow, than naturally my projects might grow with that. It’s a total win-win!
My marketing "strategy" as a novice solo musician is: utilize sites that provide visual content that can be put to my music (for which I've planned a budget), add it to RUclips and Instagram, then target a demographic based on location (typically running a 30 day campaign at 2 to 10 USD per day). I have several options based on the specific goal (e.g. I lived in Poland, and have a Polish pop song covered in metal coming out, so I target Polish communities, both in hashtag and in paid promo). Conquering locally, for example, I put all the major local areas where I live now - towns within the DFW, as well as places where I had a presence in other states or cities internationally, and set that as the promo demographic.
I used to go to a songwriter meetup every week, it was in addition to our weekly open mic at a venue that is now sadly closed, but it was great to meet up and showcase new songs that we were working on, and get writing tips from other local singer/songwriters, or just feedback on what they liked/disliked. That was a great community, and I'm looking forward to building up another community like it soon!
Thank you for all the amazing content!
Conquering my little town just takes free beer!
Haha! That's true worldwide
Thank you so much for this video! I felt so stuck in what I should do just to get started. I've been playing music for 24 years mostly around my church and have been wanted to branch out and start playing in other venues. Def going to take this info and run with it! Def going to conquer my city and area. I'm in Fresno, California.
Thank you Damian! I booked a show up in Montreal (2 hrs. North of me, closest big city) Thanks for the inspiration!
Thanks for this one. 2020 is going to be awesome!
Totally agree Damo ...
I set up an open mic night in my hometown Maidstone a few years back and it really helped with networking but actually became ‘The’ place to hangout for musicians every week :)
Your awesome mr keys thank you for this info
It you want to be taken seriously by he local community, you have to take the local community seriously - that’s a good point.
This video is an interesting topic that I haven’t seen much at all about online before. Well done
P.s Leeds Leeds Leeds you what you what 😛
Thanks Damian for this one, full of actionable tips! I specially appreciate the “take it slow” advice to focus your efforts locally first to start building a community.
A couple of things that have worked for me an experimental musician in Sydney are:
1. Open mics: great to meet other local musicians, bonus if you also play in them, helps a lot breaking the ice!
2. Go to gigs that are regular and periodic, and go there regularly as well! Soon you’ll notice familiar faces with likeminded interests, connections ensue!
Cheers, keep it up!
Notification squad! We need to see you play that standing bass Damo!
Yesssss!
He should be playing walking bass while coaching us... like how Penn the magician plays bass during the magic show.
You need a hashtag! Your fans(as a youtuber) are about to swarm and take over the world!
Thanks again! Recently insta messaged Justin from “BRKN LOVE” and he actually replied! I debated for days whether to even send a message but I did and I’m so glad I did, asked for some suggestions about finding reliable musicians and he gave great advice. Super nice guy, super good music. Wouldn’t have done something like that if it weren’t for you, Damian. Keep this up :)
Thank you! Will incorporate featuring my home town better! Until a month ago i thought word of my imminent fame would spread by osmosis. Then i decided "why aren't I being proactive" and started contacting the local free rags / papers to get my gig placed in the music sections. takes like 10 to 20 minutes per event to contact the local city chamber of commerce and list my event. Started targeted ads on facebook for gigs. So far so good, big difference in turn out in the last 2 events. Hope other people read this. Contacting city websites / newspapers / periodicals is FREE....and then your event comes up better in the search engines.
PS your already our band man ...music guru thanks for all this free advice! Were lucky 1000 blessings 2u and your crew
Great advice Damo!
Hi Damian! Dave Jay here from New York City. I just discovered you on YT last week, and am both immensely enjoying your videos as well as gleaning great ideas how to grow as an artist. Thank you for the work you are doing and please keep goin'! P.S. Just ordered your book (RBGTSM), and will be entering your competition, so "see ya soon". Best regards!
mind blowing. thank you Damian. Your crazy fan from China
Hey thanks Damo! I put a bit of money in a week and try to target London though i don't get much back than I do for other parts of the world :( anyway great advice!
great stuff im already doing a few of these but tagging local spots to get more reach around town is great idea!
Good things and good reminder to do these... I've been trying to go see more in Austin, but some venues won't let me in. Though, once I ask someone in the band to get me on a list, some places will let me in to see them play.
Not always the case mind you. I’ve Never played a show at my home town in my current band, and only played our nearest city about 3 times over 5yrs. Spent more time playing elsewhere around the UK. Still managed to sell out 1000cap venue back home for early next year...madness!
I’ve done the same thing in the US. I’ve always heard start in your city before you branch out, but the first show we played in (Los Angeles) was sold out because we already had a name for ourselves and a buzz based solely on the music we were putting out.
Originally from Brunei but currently conquering the city of Kampala in Uganda at the moment!
Excellent. Just what I needed today.
Love the tips!!
Lots of gold in these hills.
💙 respect, thanks for the message
What helped my band grow in our city Canton, Ohio was more than just playing a bunch of shows our first year out, but a few of us went to every show at the venue and talked to the other bands playing. Bands from here, and bands from out of town. Now almost every out of town band wants my band Divorce Horse to play with them because we have a strong local presence and bring a decent crowd to our shows. Doing all of this also gave us growth potential out of town because we networked with out of town bands. " Hey come to Canton, and we will put you on a show with us that has a good turn out." After that show, they usually invite us to there town to thank us with a good show there.
@Wild Eye my big move is paying attention to the gear they use, or rad parts they play, then talk to them about it!
This has been your most helpful video to date. Thank you
Great ideas. Thank you!
We are a brothers band from Tokyo, but we have just moved to the Gold Coast Australia.
And we are putting some of your tips into practice.
First trying to get more gigs, going to jam nights, going to see bands and giving them our name card… it takes time, but it’s slowly working.
Thank you!
JAB
Not even ppl in Brighton know ppl in Brighton
Thanks man! Great tips, especially the Social midia work!
I LOVE number 5! They're all great, but that one really resonated with me where I am right now in my musical life. I can think of a few people who would probably be down to start a little regularly occuring meetup. Thanks for another great video!
Great tips I've done these jus lacked constancy
Brilliant! This video is very helpful. Great content. I'm all the way in Phoenix, Arizona. Any one interesting Lmk where you guys are from!!! All love. ✌☺✌
Thanks Damo!
We from New Brighton Beach Christchurch representing the City of Light* Thanks for your guidance we been busy writing music and practising we are putting up our new Instagram live band FM 5th Dec ...we just having some fun in the sun .. Summer of Love 2020 :)...keep ya posted!
yes i cant wait, wats your instagram. am a gospel artist from lagos nigeria
Love it Damian !!!
Great tips, Damian! I was literally shouting "yes" about the location tagging on Instagram. I'm almost 100% gonna follow if I know a musician/band is local (and/or has an upcoming show nearby). It's also important to be aware of what you're known *FOR*. Being known in your city or hometown as pushy, overbearing, lazy, unprepared, etc will certainly get you pushed out of opportunities for years to come.
Hope my mail gets seen and I get selected for the management deal😊
Really liking these type of direct & concrete videos! I wonder what you're opinion is on coming from a very small town, disadvantage or not??
Cheers, from Sweden
Great content! Thanks
Excellent word! This is something I've been thinking on a lot lately.
I actually love that 5th tip! I'm sure it exists in Seattle, but I've never been a part of a little hang out like that on a regular basis. Hm......
I'm in north Seattle. Look at that, we just met on a social network lol! Let me know if you know any good mix engineers around here. I know plenty of ok ones and more bad ones.
@@JeremyAbbottMusic whaaaat no way! I'm in W. Seattle, used to live in Ballard. My album "Between Doubles" was engineered by Sean Wheatley in his home studio in Shoreline, he's amazing. And Josh Richins recorded my duo's EP, which I was super stoked on. Those are my 2 faves! My bud Aaron Spieldenner is also amazing, and runs Hazy Bay Studios over in like, Georgetown, and his rates are unparalleled.
@@JeremyAbbottMusic Hazy Bay is where they do Sonic Sofa. My bud Thedrifterluke did a real good session in that series!
@@AntKneeLeafEllipse gonna be checking this out. Got gigs tonight and tomorrow abs doing the musicians health care benefit show on Sunday but am excited to have a new lead! Thank you man!
@@JeremyAbbottMusic anytime
Great tips brother!!! May I also suggest reaching out and volunteering at the local Campus Radio Station. In my city, (Sudbury Ontario, Canada) the campus radio station is a the hub for new and original music as well as the music scene in general. I've found that working with them on events and offering marketing ideas has been super beneficial and has allowed me to not only gain a bit of recognition but also do my part to help the station and scene thrive!
I have an album called LAX that I released in January. It’s a passion project that has taken me from NY to LA to Puerto Rico to Paris as far as the content production. I’m ashamed to say that I have been inconsistent with marketing and promotion. My biggest audience is on IG. This video inspired me to re-invest in marketing promo as well as other suggestions you have here! Thank you for your service DK!🙏🏿🎼
I know these may not sound like serious questions but they really are.
1) What if you are blocked from the mainstream and even certain gigs where you live because of race? For example, ability is irrelevant and only image and perceived race matters. And yes this is a very real question.
2) What if you're trying to promote kinds of music that not many people can understand? Aside from the obvious, which would be give it up and do different music, since that would defeat the point of doing music in the first place.
3) Bonus extention question related to number 2. What if there are other places where you are appreciated greatly, get great responses from industry people and audiences and your music and ability is understood much better (example Japan), but people in your home town (example Hong Kong) not many people can understand it, are threatened by it and / or just care what race you look like and that you fit into a specific box?
It's easy to say go to where people understand it, but that's easier said than done and even if doable, then nobody will ever learn to appreciate more advanced music in most places. The same as it's easy to just say play what people like, but then people will never learn to understand and appreciate anything new.
Thanks very much.
Number 1 and 4 are really important
WOO bimm Brighton, big up I'd wave if I saw you :))
In Switzerland we have quite a few musicians Facebook groups with thousands of members that are great for connecting to other musicians and bands.
I'll try to hack the hack, instead of 5$ on Facebook/instagram per week, I'll make 15$ worth of fliers and go around the city to music venues giving fliers only to people that have band t shirts I like. Targeted marketing with old school tech. Keep Rockin'!
You are so helpful Damian. I learn SO much from your videos and you share some really insightful content! Keep it up mate! =]
I agree. But I come from Brussels, Belgium. And it's a place where international recognition is necessary before blowing up. We've got tons of broke artists, some good, some awful, going nowhere. Language is a barrier. I would say that if you want to conquer your city, become your fan and your peer. So go to venues of other artists or find an activity that all the musicians and artistic people (actors, musicians, bar owners do). Often this means being more nocturnal. For me it was theatrical improvisation and working in a music school. I've got a lot of contacts to conquer my city, now. I just need to craft my "product" :p. In my experience people who go to your gigs are either people who like what you do, your music " a real fan" or people who you've met in the last couple of weeks, so that's something to bare in mind.
Great video Damian, very helpful stuff. I’m defiantly gonna start applying your hacks for the band I’m in. Cheers mate, Love your channel.
Nice shirt!
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin :) ... although I think sometimes certain music resonates with a certain place ... which may or may not be the band's/artist's city of origin ... for example, Led Zeppelin only made in their home city after making it in the States ... same goes for U2 ... also there's the home town effect, whereby the home town only begins to appreciate a band/artist after they've been acknowledged elsewhere ...
Fergus Daly Music rjght especially in hometowns there can be alottt of jealousy
great points
Fergus, I couldn’t agree more. My home town has nothing to do with the type of music I make and the city that does is in another country. 🤡
@@stellamahony2903 yes, very true.
Thanks for this Damo! This makes so much sense and is definitely something I’m going to focus on now as I think I’ve been overlooking it a lot!
I’m from a little town called Sandbach not far from Manchester and think I’ve got too worried about doing things in Manchester where it’s oversaturated with musicians! Time for a change of plan I think and to focus on Sandbach and surrounding areas even though they don’t have very much of a ‘music scene’ and try and build a bit of buzz around there before venturing further!
Cheers Damo! Great video as always!
u will conquer bro, keep pushing
Scott Edwards yeah, man! Try to get a local scene going! Pioneer it and support other local musicians as much as you can. You can only see benefits from that sort of behaviour, bro :-)
Anyone remember how easy it was to get exposure on MySpace? It was all fan push. There’s no greater push than fan push.
Thank you Damian.
I've conquered a couple cities from the street corner. Playing more and saying less gives others a chance to talk about you. Cheers Damo!! 🐒
The guy down the street saw this video. AWKWARD. 😳
Great tips as always Damo! On a completely different note, what're your thoughts on the new proposed changes to youtube because of COPPA in the US. I don't know if it will have any effect outside of the US, but as you say some of your audience is international it might be relevant it still would be good to get your opinion. A worrying thing about this is that channels that feature music could be categorized as appealing to children, and therefor demonetized, and worse, become not searchable. If this is the case then this would be a big problem for bands that are attempting to grow an audience using youtube. Might be worth looking into and making a video on it?
What is your opinion on paying a smaller booking agency to book you a tour? What about buying onto a big tour through a major booking agency?
Thank you I’m watching your videos from Tokyo Japan ^^ I am Italian but I live and I’m a resident here ^^ thank you for all your nice videos.
What do you mean about demographic? How to do it?
amazing content as always, Damian!
been following for a long time and your words have encouraged me tremendously. finally finding the focus and direction i need with my music
curious
i live in a small city outside of boston (roughly 40k people where i am vs almost 700k in Boston)
would you suggest that i focus these tips in my smaller 'city' or should i attempt to brand my self as a boston band, to capitalize on the larger audience and more bands to connect with?
acknowledging that you need to conquer your city is the first step
Watching again as I prep for a big show in December..... Would you recommend boosting a bunch of posts a little, or to boost one post a lot?
From what his message usually is: Probably the former to create continuous engagement as opposed to one big engagement piece and then silence. Good luck :-)
I think that playing songs from other bands from the local scene (besides your own obviously) is a great thing. Most bands, at least starting out, will have one or two covers in their set, why not cover some of your peers?
great idea!
Hey mate, love your vids, one thing though, I always watch your vids at 1.5 speed because...well, again love your vids, but you talk a little slow. :)
Focus on the outskirts of DC. Don't start off trying to play U St. Make friends at places like Slash Run, Dew Drop Inn, etc. Then move up to Black Cat, R&R Hotel, etc.
Comrade Damian
🔥🔥
Would this work in a place as large as London?
the ultimate hack to reach contacts with artists, agency, gain an audience and put your city on the map at the same time: host your own festival! but be careful...it’s much more work than it seems to be
First to post and...
Conquer!
I'm a student at BIMM Brighton and ill say hi if I see you haha
Hi mate, i am thinking of going to BIMM and i just wanted to ask you of your experience being there? My main concern is whether i can build a career off being a performing musician after going there? Would you say that attending BIMM is a good place to start a career as a performing musician? Thank you for your help :)
I really want to go to bimm
@@samwarrener8281 I'd say the main benefit would be networking, (I'm doing a diploma in vocals as I'm 16 btw) as opposed to knowledge as you meet loads of cool people who are into the same stuff as you. My main goals to be a performing musician too and there's lots of opportunities to perform which helps you get comfortable with being on stage. Feel free to DM me on insta if you want to ask something specific instagram.com/tommyhenshaw/
@@sixthestupidcat Awesome man!
TommyHenshaw damn dude you’re 16? So am I! Fancy collaborating on something?
But what if I'm not the only one in my city who watches your channel? :0
Yessssss
At the lead singer/guitarist of The Desperados (check us out TheDesperadosUK.com) I also run a monthly singer songwriter event, it’s great fun, I get to hear great music and interview artists, BUT it’s a great way to meet new musicians, put them in touch with venues or other artists that they can gig or collaborate with, and means that people in Cheltenham know who I am and it’s a really positive thing to do for the community.
If your ever in Cheltenham hit me up and come along! (Last Tuesday of the month)
that Rickenbacker tho
da iawn!
i did the 1300 like lol....cheers...:)
Fnatsitic video today!
Some ideas I have for conquering the city... 1. Polish your live set, your image, everything. 2. Don't project an image that is not who you are. 3. Play the 5 most popular spots that host live-music, as often as possible. (If you're doing it right, the momentum will come quick). 4. Talk with local radio DJs about what it takes to get your music played on the local radio. 5. Identify who your cities big influencers are, in various scenes. And try to gain them as an ally.
JORDAN PHOTO WORKS definitely don’t play local areas as often as possible. Space out local shows so you can actually promote them properly and not over saturate your local fan base. My band has a good local draw and always look for other locals who can bring even an additional 10-20 people which isn’t much but so many acts play hometown shows every week and split up their draw so much that they cut the legs off their own value for local venues and other bigger local acts.
@@jeffroalson1915 Well, I feel if you have played to the point of over saturation and haven't yet made serious waves and gained a great local following (which is the goal and when you would branch out), you need to rethink your whole set. (Sorry, hard-truth). If you play 5 popular venues in your city and you're worth seeing, the next 5 shows at the same places should produce a good-sized local following. Give them one more round with crowd favorites and new material then announce your first outside the city show. If your playing your city or anywhere for that matter and don't gain in fans and attendance each time, you are doing it wrong. (10-20 new fans per show is a terrible rate of return. YOU know this. Make a change, or start calculating how many shows it's going to take to get to a million fans.) Each gig is a marketing campaign of sorts. And as such, should bring in "customers". If not, your product isn't marketable. Bottom-line... Most bands/artists don't take the time to perfect their set, complete with unique lighting, fog, or whatever the mood calls for. And for this reason they gain a reputation for mediocrity. Also, a lot of musicians have large egos and believe their music is SO good, that no other entertainment production or promotion is necessary. This is a poor choice. When you look like Joe the guy in a band down the street, rather than Joe-cool the motherfucking rockstar, you ARE Joe the guy in a band down the street in everyone's eyes. Not a rockstar? Fake it till you make it. No one was born with a multi-national tour scheduled. Your music doesn't even have to be "great" if you bring good entertainment value to the table. Regardless, neither carries the other and both are entirely necessary. BUT, and I'm not saying this to be mean, just my opinion; If you're rotating with local bands trying to make ends meet playing local gigs to handfuls of crowds for months or years on end. It's already over. You didn't make it. Accept it and rebuild. Ditch the buddy-band and convince serious musicians to ditch their buddy bands for a REAL band. Then, make something awesome and try again. Wish you the best and hope you are drowning in pussy and record sales next time I hear from you! ;)
Random i know... fancy a live gig Damian? :)
Latins said "Nemo Profeta In Patria"
Time, Effort and Money? No way Jose!
Ah it’s Damian not Jose 😜
@@DamianKeyes Just in case, its an american expression.
We can do the english version too:
Time, Effort and Money?
You are an Alien, Damien!
I dont know it sounds that good, but its the best ive got.
Cheers from Uruguay, i always watch your videos!
Hack 1: don’t be stupid, if you want someone to find you, SAY where the f YOU ARE!
Oh this is for music :(
what if im from LA 😭
Tjuan1010 it will be harder cause there is allot of competition there so
yah i know that was my point lol :3
I'm so dumb that I still don't understand what I'm supposed to do to get noticed in my own town. I'm like a dog getting detailed notes from Elon Musk.
When you talk about value content Damien what do you actually mean??? My band can create music, live performances and vlogs but what other content should we be focussing on that actually offers value to start building our audience???
Community? What is community? We don't have any community , at least where I live. and as far as I can tell. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. .Hi, I'm Spiros from Thessaloniki ( the second biggest city in Greece after Athens, with 1.000.000 population).