Quite Great Publicity is a PR agency that specializes in classic bands, such as Madonna, The Doors, and Jimi Hendrix, as well as new music, film, and eCommerce PR with an arsenal of public relations and word-of-mouth marketing campaign tactics.  Among the new acts they helped propell was Sandhi Thom, one of their recent clients who was signed to BMG and released her first album in June of this year.

I had the opportunity to speak with Louise Molloy-Harris, PR Manager at Quite Great Publicity, about Quite Great’s approach to PR for new bands, and her recommendations for unsigned bands just starting out.  Without further ado, here’s the scoop:

GARAGESPIN: Louise, your roster of clients is enormous.  Quite Great specializes in the generation of sales for classic artists; how does Quite Great evolve to meet the challenges of promoting and/or launching new artists, as opposed to more established artists?

LOUISE: Over the past year we have realised the importance of building an online profile for new and establishing acts.  We aim to get a hefty press pack together consisiting of reviews and interviews on various music sites as well as targeting fanzines, student press and regional press. We need to get these first stage building blocks before we go on to approach national press.  The idea is that when a national journalist does receive a pack, if they google the name of the band they will see that they have a profile already on the net and feel that there is already a buzz.

GARAGESPIN: What are a few of Quite Great’s biggest success stories, and what made them such successes?  What was the driving factor for the success so far of Sandi Thom’s campaign?

LOUISE: We have been going for 10 years, we always try and introduce a creative element to a campaign from driving tanks down regent street, to delivering the latest Guns ‘n’ Roses album, to projecting images of the Bee Gees on Battersea Power Station for their album ‘Stand Tall’ to transforming Zebra Crossings into piano keys for a classical pianist. Our success stories are different for each artist; success to us is getting positive press for an artist or band and getting them the recognition they deserve.

GARAGESPIN: When you first take on a new band as a client, what are the first steps Quite Great takes before formulating a Marketing and PR strategy?

LOUISE: We always sit down and meet the band, talk about their music, influences, their backgound — any interesting facts about their past, the instruments they play. Anything that we can use for an angle. We need to get to know the act and have a thorough understanding of how they want to be portrayed to the media. We can also advise them on image, artwork, marketing — pretty much anything they need help with.

[Read more…]

Bob Baker is the mack-daddy of music marketing.  If you’ve ever surfed music sites on the web, you’re bound to have encountered the legendary Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook, by Bob himself.  It’s filled with solid, creative, common sense to help bands get their music heard.  So solid is it, that sales of the book actually increase every year.  Crazy.

Bob has continued to crank out advice for bands through his blog, his podcast, and of course, lots of books.  His advice can apply to artists in general, and his philosophy of empowerment should be the envy of any life coach.

I got to talk with Bob about his first book, his own dive into guerrilla marketing warfare, his music (he’s a musician too), and other music marketing goodness.  Check it out:

GARAGESPIN: Your book "Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook" has taken on a life of its own over the last ten years. What initially prompted you to tackle it?

BOB: In the late 1980s I started publishing a local music magazine in my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. I did that for a decade. In the mid ’90s I began writing a column in my publication filled with tips to help musicians attract fans, sell more CDs, book gigs, and get exposure. I’ve always been fascinated by how some artists get exposure and attract a buzz while others don’t. In 1996, I took about 15 of the best columns and published them in a crude early version of the "Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook."

Sales were slow at first, but as the years went on, I continued to use the Internet to spread my message while updating the material and improving the packaging. A combination of a good title, useful content and good word of mouth have propelled sales. I feel blessed that the "Guerrilla Music" book is often talked about as a must-have resource for indie musicians. Looking back over the past ten years, I guess it helps that I was one of the early people online talking about the indie, do-it-yourself path. You might say I was preaching DIY before DIY was cool.

GARAGESPIN: How have you used some of the tools and concepts you write about to market your own books? What would you say was the book’s “big break”?

BOB: Well, a lot of people assume that the book appearing in the movie "The School of Rock" was a big break. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fantastic feather in my cap. But in reality, I got a lot more mileage out of simply informing people that the book was in the movie, which I suppose is impressive and adds credibility. But I doubt anyone ran out to buy the book after seeing it flash across the screen for five seconds.

I see a lot of similarities between the music business and the book business. And in that regard, I’ve practiced what I preach by taking the indie road to publishing success. I never did do traditional things like pursue retail sales, advertise, do book signings, etc. Instead, I used the Internet to take my message directly to the end user: the indie musician reader. I did this by giving away tons of my ideas and tips in the form of articles, ezines, sample chapters, special reports — and now using a blog, a podcast and video content.

The biggest secret to my being able to make a living as an author is something I call “chipping away at success.” There was no one connection or review or sales promotion that put me over the top. It was an accumulation of little things — done consistently over weeks, months and years — that led to the positive word of mouth and recognition I enjoy today.

I encourage musicians to take the same approach. Sure and steady over the long haul wins every time.

GARAGESPIN: Why do so many musicians and artists need help promoting their own music/art?

BOB: Because artists love to write, create, record and perform. It’s a very personal and internal process. So when they have to turn their attention to creating awareness of what they do, it’s way outside their comfort zone. So they stiffen up and feel they have to shift into business and sales mode. They have bought into the idea that it takes money and connections and a certain type of outgoing personality to promote themselves effectively. And that simply isn’t the case.

[Read more…]