 You've finished your CD. Is there a right and a wrong way to celebrate? Singer-songwriter Valerie Delacruz and I posted these two messages to the MusicThoughts discussion list for indie musicians in response to a question about the inevitable CD release party.
THE ORIGINAL QUESTION: To those of you who've thrown parties for the debut of your CD---what kinds of plans did you implement? Howdja go about it all? Thanx! VALERIE'S REPLY: Paula, pick a venue that will look really packed; you should have a pretty good idea about the size crowd you usually draw. Prepare a great press release with something interesting (perhaps a tie-in to some event....."Solar eclipse coincides with release of XXX's CD") I don't know anything about your band, but you have to find some "hook" to interest the media. Just a CD release is ho-hum to them, they are inundated. Make a great invitation (very simple and inexpensive to do: paste up one from computer typing and a photo, two or four to an 8-1/2"x11 page, and have them printed on gloosy stock or heavy bright colored card stock, cut into 2 or 4 invites per page, mail to your mailing list. Hand-deliver to your local media (radio stations, newspaper music writers) with an ADVANCE copy of the CD. The press stuff should go out 2-3 weeks before (any earlier and it will get lost in a pile). One thing that appealed to the music writer for my party was the inclusion of "Special guests"....I had a few prominent musicians sit in with us. Perhaps we were doing a song we had co-written but was not on the album. A vilolinist, a guest vocalist for harmony. Use the power of their draw potential. I also printed up VIP passes that allowed the bearer a FREE drink (anything they ordered) for themselves and a guest. I had the bartender keep a tab of these passes. I ONLY gave these passes out to media people. This may get them there. Try to schedule a radio performace a day or so (or that day) to promote the show. Really plan out your set for maximum impact...no long pauses between songs; make this a really professional presentation of you; a CD puts you in the next category of artists. If this isn't your first CD, again, you need to find a strong "angle" to use to get people interested. I made it a FREE concert (more bodies) and had huge local media buzz, all concurrent: articles in 3 newspapers on the SAME DAY (day of the concert). Make sure you provide a great picture (worth 5,000 words) to the news media. Is there some interesting word in the title that you can play off of? For example, for my album "My Girlfriends Quilt," I wrapped it in a small handmade quilt. You only need 5-10 of these "gimmicks" for the media that you have a great chance of getting coverage in. Good luck!!! Valerie DeLaCruz BRY-BRY'S REPLY: Props to my homegirl Valerie for the advice/perspective on CD release parties. Take it to heart, y'all: Valerie really scored on her last event, with big plugs in the Albany papers, and plugs and appearances on several radio and TV stations. (It was especially interesting for me to read the behind the scenes after seeing all the media attention she received first hand.) The recurring theme in all of the recent CD release party promotion posts is that a band has to make its party stand out in the crowd. Here in Albany, it seems that there's a couple-few release parties every week. It bums me out to see good bands have all of their time/effort/promotion/blood/sweat/tears summed up in a single sentence in a sidebar on a weekend calendar in the entertainment listings. You can't blame the newspapers/media really: it's the dog-bites-man syndrome. Everybody's got a CD to release these days, right? So it's on the band to make their party the man biting the dog. Not so gimmicky that it cheapens the music. But enough to differentiate from the other band or two having a party that weekend. It makes the writers' jobs easier. So put yourself in their shoes. Give them something to write about. Give 'em an angle. One example that really stands out in my mind was the CD release of an Albany singer-songwriter named Michael Eck. On the day of his release, he did a marathon run of brief sets in 13 record stores around town, culminating with a show that evening at an area club. Man bites CD release party. Different. Easy to write about. Lots of press. Happily, I was able to avoid the traditional CD release party. Albany has a well-produced local music TV show that featured me right around the time of the CD's release. I sent out special exclusive invitations to the taping to the mailing list and family and friends. For everyone else, I made the actual broadcast the official event. The angle was: "The CD release party happens this weekend in your living room." So I was able to differentiate the event from all of the other CD release parties going on that weekend, plus it made it seem to be a little more than "just another episode of that local music show." The result: this plug for the show and the CD. Of course, not everyone has access to a local TV series for their CD release party. The point I'm trying to make is to think about what you DO have access to that can make your show/party stand out in the crowd. Unique. Also: don't think of the release party as the be-all end-all: it really should be just the beginning. Think of other creative ways to promote your album down the road. Because even with people who know you and like your music, it can take several hits or awareness-raisers before they act on it, either by going to a show or by making a purchase. So think long term. Slow burn.
Peace y'all,
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