Can you give me an overview of what Indiego Promotions does?

Indiego Promotions essentially acts as a “record label for hire.” We have put together all the services that we feel an independent label or musician might need but doesn’t have the time to put into action themselves. These services are Radio & Retail promotions, distribution, publicity, Internet publicity & promotions, manufacturing, merchandising and consulting. By pooling all these services together we have made it possible for artists and labels to afford to do promotions and marketing. We don’t make our living on any one of the services; we spread it around so that our clients can take advantage of all the services.

When we get a new submission we start by listening to a potential client’s project and we ask them for their short term, near term and long term goals. If we feel our company can aide in reaching their goals we then make a proposal based on their goals and our experience in the music industry. Once we begin working together our main focus is persistence and accountability. We work our contacts weekly to make sure that our clients receive the best representation available. We then produce weekly reports detailing everything we did or tried to do for our clients. We provide our clients with full contact information so that they may follow up on their project at any time. We also take great pains to make sure that our clients are clear on what we are doing and that we are all clear on the goals of the project. We do all the above on regional or national campaigns depending on the needs of our clients.

What type of promotional/publicity tactics does your company use?

The main tactic that we have is that we work with good artists and we are incredibly
persistent. We have been working with our contacts for almost 8 years. They have a great deal of trust in us to only bring them artists that they will be interested in. We get many submissions every week and can only work with about 20% of them. We are very careful about what we send to our contacts.

In regards to tactics we have built an extensive database of the last 8 years that details our contacts needs. When we get a new project we build a contact list specific to the project needs. They best way to get a review or airplay or product in a store is to send it to someone who wants it! Once we build our contact list we send all our materials out in similar packaging so that when it arrives our contacts recognize that it is from us, they know that we will be calling this week, so they immediately put our projects into the listening/review pile. The main tactic here is persistence. We call our contacts every week. We call them when they want to be called, we talk to them in a manner that is professional and to the point and we appreciate their time in helping our artists. Essentially all the people in the industry that you want to deal with have gotten involved because they love music and want to turn others onto music. Ask them for help honestly, and you will most often get it.

Can you tell me about how you secure radio airplay for your clients?

Securing radio is a difficult term. Our position is to inform or make available our clients to music directors. You cannot force an artist into radio airplay unless you have big dollars behind you. Most of our clients have tapped their resources at pressing the CDs and making some marketing materials. So our approach is again persistence. If we have decided to work on a project we expect to have 30% - 75% of the stations we sent the project too, play it. If they don’t then we didn’t do our job. Now once we have airplay in any given area we can increase the airplay through giving away CDs or cassettes or other merchandise. We can increase airplay through getting the product available in the local retail stores and by having the artist perform in the area. Once we get a foothold the possibilities expand and we shoot for the usual end goal of selling product.

Tell me about your distribution/retail plans.

We have been working on distribution and retail for the entire time we have been in existence. The most elusive, yet most needed, service that independent artists and labels need is distribution. Cash flow is something that has in the past been an oxymoron in the independent music industry. Without going to deep into the problems of distribution for Indie artists I’ll just say that they are considered low people on the totem pole. Distributors need to sell lots of product to stay in business. They can achieve that goal more easily by selling 100,000 copies of one artist than selling 1,000 copies each of 100 artists. Distributors have also been disappointed consistently by new artists who don’t know how to promote themselves and end up breaking up the band once they find out that this is a really hard business and much more is expected of them than just playing music. However, if a client has distribution, or if we attain distribution for them, we have built a group of over 1200 contacts which we solicit in much the same way we do radio promotions. Our goals are to get them to play the project in the store; stock the project, put posters up, and hopefully display the project prominently including placing the product on listening posts. When we combine our retail work with our radio work we tend to sell CDs! which is again the end goal of many campaigns.

Fill me in on the details behind the Indiego global distribution system.

We tried for years to figure out how we could start a distribution company and be a good distributor for independent artists and labels. Given the past industry we couldn’t find any way to do it. We now have at our fingertips a host of new technologies along with a recognition in the music industry to the strength of independent artists and labels and the need to get their music available to everyone.

Indiego Global Distribution has come about because of the new technologies and the desire of other music industry entities to make independent music available. Through our association with Liquid Audio, Baker & Taylor Entertainment and Muze we have put a system together that offers global physical and digital distribution to any artist or label.

Indiego Global Distribution starts out as the order taking and fulfillment center for an
artist or label. We warehouse their product, give them a toll free ordering number for their consumers, provide them a secure website with a full product page complete with sound samples, bio info, reviews, video, and full contact info. We give them web access to all their account information including, inventory, what has sold, to whom, and when along with downloading the consumers address for our client’s mailing list. We let them see how much they have sold along with how much and what day their next monthly check will be cut!

We then fold in Baker & Taylor Entertainment and Muze. Baker & Taylor Entertainment is one of the most respected music distributors in North America. Once product is available through Baker & Taylor Entertainment it can be purchased by any retailer in the world, along with any online retailer like CDNow, Amazon.com or Music Boulevard. Muze is the music industry database, which catalogs all music that is available through distributors. You find the Muze database on computers at chains like Tower Records and other retailers like Barnes and Noble. Once we set up a client’s product with Baker & Taylor Entertainment, we then set up the product with Muze listing Baker & Taylor Entertainment as the main distributor. Once that is set up a client’s product is literally available anywhere!

Indiego Global Distribution acts as the agent for our clients in working with Baker & Taylor Entertainment and Muze. We make sure that Baker & Taylor and Muze meet all the needs of our clients and we insure that our clients understand the needs of Baker & Taylor and Muze supporting the sale of product.

I understand that you are now working with Liquid Audio, can you give me the details about that?

Liquid Audio is known throughout the music industry as the standard for digital distribution and secure download of audio. Liquid Audio’s internal goals are to work with large labels to get their entire catalogs online for consumers. Their focus is on full CD’s online not specifically singles from various artists. While doing this Liquid Audio didn’t want to neglect the independent music industry but didn’t have the resources to work with such a large number of clients. So they offered to us a program called “Liquid Audio Hosted Reselling.” (LAHR) Indiego Global Distribution became a LAHR, which allows us to make single “Liquid Audio” files for artists and labels at a price that they can afford. The “Liquid Audio” file is essentially an Internet audio sales file. This file holds images, text, contact info, web links and music that can be previewed by consumers allowing them to download a promotional sample, purchase the single song instantly and download it to their computer as well as purchase the full CD online instantly. This technology is the future of music distribution and allows independent artists and labels global access to consumers at a minimal cost.

What advise would you give to the unsigned musician looking for a record deal?

Be patient. Have a lawyer look at everything! Besides that I would say that you should
concentrate on writing and performing your music honestly. The main ingredient that truly gets recognized by A&R people is that the music moves them. The only way to achieve that quality is to practice and never give up if it is truly what you want to do. You should also know that you don’t need a big record deal anymore. The cost of recording, mixing and mastering music is at its lowest and only getting less expensive. The price to make product is inexpensive and with the future of digital distribution and CDs pressed on demand there will be little need for warehouses of physical product. Do the math! You will find that you can afford to be your own record label and keep 100% of a sale rather than 10%.

In your opinion, what is the best thing an unsigned musician or band can do to increase their odds at getting a deal?

If you have decided that you really need or want to be signed then you must start by making your first CD project. The CD is the calling card of the industry. Without a finished CD you have nothing to work with. Once you have that CD you must show an A&R person a buzz. This buzz is inclusive of radio airplay, performances, reviews and most importantly sales! Show solid sales numbers in your region and you will have someone’s attention. Chart on the CMJ’s (College Media Journal – www.cmj.com) top 200 list and you will have attention. To make this happen you will need to take many of the steps I talked about in this interview and mix it with some luck and persistence on your part.

What does the future hold for Indiego?

Indiego is concentrating on making our promotional services more affordable while throwing a great deal of attention at Indiego Global Distribution. Anyone who has been at this for awhile understands that the association that we have built between Indiego Global Distribution, Liquid Audio, Baker & Taylor Entertainment and Muze is a fundamental shift in the music industry. We are leaving the days of pressing ten thousand CDs to sell a thousand. The industry is about fulfillment. It is about getting the consumer what they want, when they want it. Our goals are to set our pricing so that our clients can take advantage of all our services. By doing that we are essentially the record label team and our clients can concentrate on making music.