| In any activity in marketing or promotion, you want to set up
circumstances so that when you ask, the answer is yes. Don't ask if you think the
answer will be no. If you want a record played, don't ask for it to be played until
your pretty convinced that the answer will be yes. If you want a record stocked by a
store, again, don't ask until you feel the answer will be yes. |
|
| A big part of getting a yes answer is your timing. If
you ask a busy person for a favor at the wrong time, you'll most definitely get a no; if
you ask at the right time, the answer could well be yes. When you are operating in an
industry (such as the record industry) it is essential to know the industry's basic
timing, it's schedule. You can, with this data, know when people are likely to be
busy and when they're likely to have time on their hands. This is not 100% foolproof
but gives you general guidelines that are usually true. |
| In previous articles, I discussed the necessity of
test-marketing a release state-wide to aide you in getting "signed" to a major
record deal. The idea is to try and sell 5000 copies in a six month month period in
a region before you ask something of the major record company. This was to make it
easy for them to say yes and to make them willing to give you a "good" deal. |
| I also wrote about when you should test market - an industry
timing factor. The "best" time to begin your regional test marketing is in
February which gives you 6 to 8 weeks before major companies flood the market with new
national acts they are trying to push. You do better if you aren't competing with
these companies who know what they are doing and have the funds to do it. A second
period is in July, before the majors release their established artists in September. |
| Submission To Record Companies: |
| In order to finalize a deal with a record company you will
need approval from and need to work with the record company's A&R Department (those
executives & staff that deal with artists and production) and the Sales Department
(the staff that deals with selling, distributing and promoting the records). |
| The record business is a retail business. Like other
retail business, the large selling season is the Christmas Holiday season between early
November and Christmas. Many companies would go out of business except for the sales
generated during this period each year. In mid-November, radio stations
"freeze" new records from the charts and start to program Christmas product
The Sales Department in a record company is in full swing in September and October
where the companies are competing for air play and other promotion for year-end sales.
The executives in Sales are very busy and don't have time to deal with new product. |
| The A&R Department works on a schedule about 4 weeks
earlier than the sales department. The busy time for A&R is therefore August and
September. Putting two and two together, you should conclude that your record
company deal should be complete before August or the company will most likely JUST SAY NO. |
| Robert Dennis and I are busy preparing charts for students
about the best & worst times to begin production, to test market, to get a record deal
and to push getting personal appearances. If you want to operate successfully in any
industry, you need to know the timing of the industry. |
