Day 335

Post #19 of ANNIE B.'s D.I.Y. MAGAZINE "Annie could be the most hard-working woman on the indie music scene today." - George Radai, Deep End Productions. ANNIE: "I promise to post blogs here, sharing some daily activities & the work I do to achieve my career goals, and when I do win that Grammy, YOU can say you followed me all the way! I also hope to give inspiration & advice to indie artists, and I hope you take a little something away with you when you read my posts!"

If you ever have ANYTHING you'd like to respond to in my blog, PLEASE e-mail me at: RespondToAnniesBlog at gmail dot com
THANKS!!!

Day 335
Sorry it's been almost 100 days since my last post! I guess I got pretty busy during the holidays, and now I am in WAY deep with Milwaukee Artbeat (www.MilwaukeeArtbeat.org)!!! Also working on getting my new band, Sparklepussy, into the studio for our first 2-song 'single': "Cat Girl" & "Marigold". My solo/duo/trio projects are still going but we don't have lots of gigs... looking to book more of that stuff since it pays $$$. And my cover band, Unnatural Act, is doing well and we were pretty busy last fall and this last month, but at this time we don't have any shows booked. I told the guys last fall that it might be time to start looking for a new lead singer since I was putting together Sparklepussy at that time, and now we have an AMAZINGLY talented female co-lead Aubrey... I'll keep playing with the guys and Aubrey until I just can't do it anymore. In the meantime, I look forward to some hot chick-rock songs with killer harmonies like "Heartbreaker" to sing with Aubrey - the guys LOVE to hear the two of us rocking out together!

Lisa's Birthday Bash & Charity Event is happening on Feb. 5th and I am involved in production for that show and Sparklepussy's Milwaukee debut performance happens at this event! Woo-hoo!!! Totally busy helping promote that event. I helped set up a radio interview on 3 Entercom stations for this event and it was a great interview. Nice job, Lisa & Chuck!!!

I'm FINALLY getting organized in my office and I got me a dry-erase board, a wet-erase calendar, and it's helping me keep my daily tasks organized. Immediate tasks include: Besides Artbeat, Lisa's Bash, and the single, I gotta call a few booking agents/contacts I met over the last month or so, also working on remedial children records page at Facebook.

I just received in my in-box a "GoGirls Music" yahoo-group post on a Billboard article about how CD sales are going down, down down, as well as digital sales. There was this additional comment about the article:

"One thing that all of the major stars in our business know is that the
bulk of the money that you make as an artist will come from performing, not
music sales."
-MAJOR TOM

Well, I have one thing to say about that:
Indeed, that is why we all need to get out there and PLAY, PLAY, PLAY! Plus, indie artists who are out there making it on their own with no support from a record label sell MOST of their CDs at their shows! Something to keep in mind when you are wondering why the CDs you have placed at the one record store left in town aren't selling. Play in your hometown and then make that drive to play in surrounding towns consistently and you WILL sell more CDs. Because you'll be selling them at all your shows. And don't be afraid to GET OUT THERE during your breaks to get people on your mailing list AND bring a couple of your CDs to each table. People will buy if you make your product known to them. I released a CD with my Los Angeles band SHUT UP MARIE in 2005 and sold less than 100 in the first year because we were only playing 1-2 shows per month. I left town to live on the road, started playing 1-4 shows per week, and sold out the rest of my 800+ CDs in about a year. That's $8000 in CD sales in about a year. Not bad!!!!! And it's not hard if you just get yourself out there. All you have to do is book some shows!

OH, and for those of you who, like me, wanted to know the results of the ARTIST X MUSIC MARKETING PROJECT, the official results can be found at: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2009/11/indie-artist-x-project-wrap-up.html

The bottom line is: (Quoted from this site): "A solid music marketing plan is certainly helpful but there is no single tool or approach that can guarantee a successful career in music. Building a sustainable career in music these days takes a considerable amount of time, an extraordinary amount of talent and hard work, a “build one fan at a time” mentality and infinite patience."

That's why it's so important that if YOU like the music of an indie artist that you know of (hmmmmmmm... maybe you know of one who is struggling in Milwaukee, WI?), it's VERY important that you SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ARTISTS. Remember, many, many of the great bands and artists you hear on the radio were once little indie artists trying to "Make It", and they simply cannot make it if they do not have your undying support!

What can YOU do to support your favorite unknown/indie artists?

1. Find out when they are playing & go see them.
2. Buy their CDs whenever they release one, & buy their Tshirts & other merch.
3. Tell your friends about them.
4. Burn a few of your favorite songs on a CD and give it to your friends.
5. Brings your friends to go out and see that artist.
6. Be on the artists' Street Team and do what you can to help out: Help post flyers up for their shows around town, invite YOUR Facebook friends to their shows via a Facebook invite, help spread the word!
7. Communicate with the artist - when you get an e-mail from the artist announcing an upcoming show or CD release, write back and ask how you can help get the word out for a specific show/CD release.
8. Follow their blog!

Thanks for reading and PLEASE invite your friends to read this blog!
Hope to see YOU at a show soon!!!
Peace, Love, & Light!!!
:)
Annie