Low Budget Band Promotion

You've got the songs, you've got the look, you've even got a gig next month! The one thing your band doesn't have is money. No worries, here are some simple and basic tips to promoting your music on a low or no budget.

Get on the WWW

Create a website for your band - it does not have to be fancy or expensive, and you can probably do it yourself. Make sure that your website includes these sections: BIO (history of band, description of what the band sounds like, list of members), SHOWS (list of your upcoming shows, including addresses of the venue and how to buy tickets), NEWS (news about your band, such as new show announcements, dates your album will be available, etc.), MUSIC (downloads of at least three songs), MAILING LIST (email address that people can sign up for your mailing list), CONTACT INFO (how people can contact you) and LINKS (links to other bands you are friends with, venues you play at, etc.) These are the bare minimum for your website. You can include other sections beyond these, such as a message board, merchandise store or photo gallery, but these are the most important sections. Make sure to submit your website to the search engines like Yahoo and Google.

Sign up for websites that will help you to promote - Myspace.com,Facebook.com, Purevolume.com are three examples of the many websites where you can create a profile for your band and have your friends link to your profile. You can also post bulletins and send messages, which will be useful when you want to invite friends to come to your shows.

Use your mailing list -You will have a mailing list of email addresses from people who sign up on your website, friends and family, and people who sign up at your shows. Send emails to your mailing list before your shows, when you have an album coming out, etc.

Use the web wisely to do your research - Look up addresses for local venues, newspapers, record labels, etc and research them before sending your demo to see if they are a good fit for you. If you play metal, its just a waste of time and postage to send your demo to the zine that only covers folk music.

Get some press