The Reel Peel: Indie Promoting

The Reel Peel is sort of an editorial/rant column, not an advice column. Normally I would editorialize some minute fraction of the music scene. However, this week my rant is an aimed
response to all of the local and indie musicians out there just trying to be heard.

When your promo budget is multi-dollar instead of multi-million, you've got to actually do some work to get the word out about your wares. So, if we were to think about some of the reasons why the corporate giants are so effective, I'm sure we'd find them to be the same reasons as to why they are so dastardly and evil. It is worth it to mention that those well paid marketing experts are often manipulative enough to make their plugs at least seem tasteful. The conundrum is that an indie artist must self-promote, and do it as much as possible, but all-the-while without compromising the indie values. To begin with, no plug sounds quite as good coming literally from the band. It's easier to swallow boasting when someone else seems to be saying it about the band; like a commercial or a poster. Unfortunately, indie musicians are probably always going to have to say good things about themselves, but without sounding like they are tooting their own horns. Remember that alienated indie fans may be much less forgiving than fans of pop music. There are probably millions of places to look to find good techniques for promoting your music. Likewise, it shouldn't be too hard to come up with a couple good original ideas. There is not, however, much advice on what not to do; when you may have crossed those imaginary boundaries. I have compiled a short top 5 list of bad self promoting techniques so that some (ahem) local/indie musicians can stop being poor imitations of worthless pop-performers, and start acting like what they are: Bad-ass bands living on the edge of art forms that won't trickle out into that mainstream market for years. Also, with all the red flags exposed, perhaps listeners and music enthusiasts can better recognize a gross oversell when they see one.