"Logan Shaw" wrote in message
...
The $15 CD is probably easy to get later should you want it. The
particular $25 T-shirt is often only available at the show.

Plus, it's easier to look at a T-shirt and tell if you like it
than it is to look at a CD case and tell if you like the CD inside.
(You may have heard some of the songs that night, but unless you
already have the CD, you probably don't know the names of most
of the songs you heard, so you don't know if the CD has any songs
on it that you like.)

One assumes that if you're at a concert listening to the band, you can
determine whether you want to support the band through a $15 purchase.
Still, lots of bands have CDs at their appearances and then don't have the
wherewithal to be SALESMEN. If a song one is doing is on the CD, mention
it. Every 5 or 10 songs, mention the CDs being on sale. Since most club
situations involve musician breaks, someone should be up on stage maybe
playing a game with the crowd giving out CDs as the prize. People love that
**** and it keeps their awareness high.

I made this last suggestion with a band I'd recorded. It took maybe 5
minutes to do stupid things like ask for the first woman that could produce
a condom from their purse and give them a CD. Or a bobby pin, or guys with
tatoos on their butt, or whatever. The idea is that maybe 5 CDs get given
away, but in this particular case, we had 50 CDs, gave 5 away, and after
that break sold out the rest. The band ended up with a $775 night rather
than just $100 from the door.

Obviously the point is that one simply can't make music and put it up on the
net and make money. But one can almost always sell some CDs if one wants to
position themselves to bring the crowd into the fray and become part of the
experience. Or, like Bob Olhsson has said before, almost anyone can sell
$100 worth of CDs standing on a busy street corner. It's all hustle, but
not like a hustler, more like a person who absolutely believes in their
product and will hustle to get the word out. Doing what it takes is what
makes anyone who does make it the most likely to succeed.

--


Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio