I'd just picked up 40 CDs of our 3 track EP, Go, and played it to wife Vicky and kids Joal (21) and Eve (19) on the way home from the pub. They said they really liked it. But they’re going to like it, aren’t they, because I’m husband/dad - it’s just one of those family non-negotiables like getting deodorant on Father’s Day. But, no, they actually did seem to really like it, and both kids added a song to one of their playlists (another non-negotiable?) And later that evening after my wife had listened patiently to another of my band blathers she said those 34 words that could change the future of Them Creepy Crawlies...
“If I like it and the kids like it and the few (ouch!) that come to your shows like it, then surely there’s a bunch of other people out there that will like it too.”
Them Creepy Crawlies has never been bothered by, or proactive at, self-promotion. We’re strictly underground. Gigs here and there, irregular posts on Facebook and Instagram followed by friends, family and local musicians, and an unloved presence on streaming platforms (most of which we’ve never heard of), apart from Spotify where the odd person drops by for a listen. Our most popular song is Fashion Queens with 254 streams over 18 months and we have so far garnered 14 followers.
We’re all on the wrong side of fifty, have jobs (or not), and generally do other more important, less enjoyable stuff. We get together fortnightly or so to talk bollocks, drink a beer and play music, probably in that order. Don’t get me wrong, we take our music seriously, but we have no aspirations to superstardom, let alone stardom.
Although, having said that, a bit more love would always be welcome and one or two of us secretly imagine being asked to support a cool touring band or get ourselves on a curated play-list.
But so far we’ve stayed clear of self-promotion because, a) it’ll take some effort and, b) it assumes you think you write good songs and what would it mean if, after the promotion is over, people just don’t like them? Could we bear the crush? Would our mental health be damaged for ever? Better to simply stay in the garage, talk about impostor syndrome and continue listing those touring bands.
On the other hand, doesn’t the virtual music village make it possible for indie bands to promote themselves without having to tour, send tapes to A&R sluts and make friends with self-important radio deejays. Isn’t there a community of potential Them Creepy Crawlies lovers out there and all we need to do is find them?
With my wife’s non-negotiable support ringing in my ears, I reckoned it would be appropriately non-committal to google for information and at some stage I must have landed on hypeddit.com because my Facebook started to be bombarded with information about John Gold and a drag-me-in-and-take-my-money video aimed at unknown, independent bands wanting to promote themselves but scared to give it a go. The video would also include sage words from Rick Barker, Taylor Swift’s former manager...
I bit. But to be fair the content was fascinating, gently stroking and massaging my ego. Its key learnings were:
- You should treat your band as a brand and your music as a product and take a business approach to selling them
- Like any new product, you need to find and engage the people who’ll buy it but thanks to the wonders of Facebook targeting and algorithms, they can be found
- 20 real fans are always better than 200 family and friend fans or 20,000 bought fans
- You have to invest to reap rewards so don’t expect to make any money for a while
- People discover you on myriad platforms (not everyone has Spotify) so make sure they are fully optimised, look great and maintain a brand consistency
- You don’t make money from streaming
John is young, handsome, super enthusiastic and totally believable so I resolved to sign up for his Spotify Growth Engine (SGE) that promises to increase our streams and followers and spend a month activating the learnings and see what happens. I’ll also create a band web site and get some brand consistency across the platforms that people can discover and engage with us.
But I’m not committing myself, you understand.
And if you join the mailing list I'll let you know when the next blog is up. Here's the link.
Cheers.
Neil
xoxo