Get More Fans: The DIY Guide to the New Music Business: (2023 edition)

Jesse Cannon · Todd Thomas

Nov 2012 · Jesse Cannon

About this ebook

How Do I Promote My Music On A Small Budget? How Do I Get My YouTube Videos to Spread? How Do I Turn Casual Fans Into One’s Who Buy From Me? How Do I Get Written About On Blogs? How Do I Increase Turnout At Shows? How Do I Make Fans Using Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr And SoundCloud? With every day that passes, the power the major labels once had dies a little more. The chance to get the same exposure as your favorite musicians gets easier and easier. The hurdles that would only allow you to get popular, if the right people said your music was good enough, are gone. You can now get exposed to thousands of potential fans without investing 1% of what musicians used to by building a fanbase based on listeners love for your music. No more writing letters hoping that A&R writes you back. This book explains how you do it. While many books will tell you obvious information, legal mumbo-jumbo and marketing catchphrases that don’t help you get more fans. Our experience working with real bands - from upstarts like Man Overboard and Transit to legends like The Cure, The Misfits and Animal Collective, has led us to understand the insider tricks and ideas that go into some of the most important groups of our time. We produce records, do licensing deals, negotiate record contracts and get the musicians we work with written about on websites like Pitchfork and Vice. We have worked with bands who started off as nothing and became something. Unlike any other book written on the subject we have compiled the knowledge no one else has been willing to print in fear of obsoleting their own career. We give you thousands of ideas on how to get people to hear your music and turn them into fans who pay to support your music. Whether you are a label owner, musician, manager, booking agent or publicist there is information in this book that will help you do what you do better. Enjoy! For more information see GetMoreFansBook.com

Ratings and reviews

Most books on the music business are obvious information, littered with out of date knowledge. This is the exception. With 700 pages I was shocked how much of it was new and fresh. A truly incredible read that puts you ahead of every other musician you are competing against.

Decent some information ou of date would reccomend

About the author

Jesse Cannon has worked in nearly every aspect of the music business. Most notably, recording bands like Animal Collective, The Misfits and The Menzingers. All the while he has also been writing for his own blog Musformation and publications like Tape Op, Punk Planet and Maximum RockNRoll. Jesse knows what makes the music business tick and has been chronicling it with his words, for many years. Producing records professionally by the age of 18, he quickly moved onto engineering bands at the esteemed freeform radio station, WFMU. For nine years, he recorded performances from groups like The Magnetic Fields, Spoon and countless others. During this time he began promoting concerts at legendary venues like The Pipeline and Coney Island High. Playing in countless bands, he always handled their management. Taking these duties further, he took on the role of Publicity at Go Kart Records and buyer for Soapbox Records, a punk record store in NYC. It was here he learned what makes people buy records and what makes people ignore them. Soon, after he started at Alan Douches’ West West Side Music, which for three decades has been the top mastering studio for indie labels. He then opened his own, Cannon Found Soundation Recording Studios. While producing records there he also went to work under producers like Ross Robinson and Steve Evetts with groups like The Cure, Limp Bizkit and Dillinger Escape Plan. In 2008 he started his blog, Musformation - which gives daily comments on the new music business. He decided that since he was writing about DIY marketing for musicians, he should try putting this information into practice. He soon began managing Man Overboard, who became a huge national act, making a living from their music, while selling out national and international tours. Along the way, he also took on the group Transit. Both groups then signed with one of the world’s largest indie labels (Rise Records). All he has learned along the way has been collected into a detailed work inside his first book, Get More Mans: The DIY Guide To The New Music Business. Todd attended school at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington and graduated with a degree in Creative Writing. After a stint writing music reviews at the university newspaper, he began writing at the Star News (a New York Times company) as a music and entertainment journalist. Todd’s musical industry perspective comes from real world experience. In the early 2000’s, he was the singer and guitarist in a buzzworthy band called, The Fashion Brigade from North Carolina. Following a few successful tours and an auspicious EP, the band decided to plunk down a large sum of money on a big name producer to help them get the sound they needed for their next big break. To their utter disappointment, this ‘esteemed’ producer was neither interested in their music or making it sound good, wasting both time and money and nearly breaking the band up from disappointment. After this dreadful experience in the studio, Todd was determined to become as self-sufficient as possible, focusing on empowerment through DIY values. It was during this time that he learned firsthand nearly every aspect of the music business - booking shows, touring, self-recording, PR, merch, fan engagement, marketing strategies and more. As part of this ethos, Todd and his band moved to New York to pursue their music on a grander scale. Todd now plays in and self-manages a burgeoning band called Sensual Harassment. If you frequently read dance music blogs, there is no avoiding them. They have been featured in Pitchfork, Big Stereo, Vice, Dazed and Confused, Brooklyn Vegan, Oh My Rockness, Purple Magazine, and all over Hype Machine. They record and mix their own records, book their own shows/tours, do their own press and are all the more happy (and arguably successful) for it. Todd also works as freelance marketing specialist. His latest venture includes an extended stay at Aegis Media, one of the world’s largest media marketing agencies. He has worked on projects for brands such as Gatorade, General Motors, Macy’s, Bailey’s and Procter & Gamble to name a few. He is a co-founder of Musformation.