Ideas for promoting a band at SXSW?

September 23, 2009 10:29 AM

The singer I've been working with is travelling to the US from Europe in March, and I'm submitting an application to SXSW. I'm stuck on this question: "How do you plan to promote your show if selected?"

We have a very short window to book some shows, and it happens to coincide with SXSW. I know it's a long shot and I don't expect to be selected, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

So of course there is MySpace, Facebook, etc. Flyers seem fairly useless for this. What else could we do? What kind of marketing ideas might make the organizers take a chance on an unknown band?

Bonus points to anyone that has successfully gone through the SXSW selection process!

posted by malocchio to media & arts (12 comments total)

I played SXSW this past year. I don't remember answering this question on the application, so if it was on there last year I certainly didn't come up with anything interesting or novel. I can't really imagine this being a make or break kind of thing.

And unfortunately, my experience is that there isn't a whole lot you can do to effectively promote your showcase when nobody knows who you are and your show is liable to be at the same time as a major artist's show somewhere else. We made free CDs and handed them out to people we talked to leading up to our show. Our CDs had our web site printed on them, but not the time and location of our showcase, which would've been better. Lots of bands play out in the street or stand around with signs or wearing goofy clothes and carrying on in attention-getting ways. I thought most of that stuff was silly and annoying and probably ineffective, but who knows.

Let me know if there's anything else I can answer for you.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:40 AM on September 23

SXSW? Use the word "internet" in your answer.
posted by rokusan at 10:42 AM on September 23

If the numbers are impressive, you might enumerate the number of followers on all your social sites, and any mailing lists. There's certainly various types of online advertising you might choose to use, which you could mention in the application also. If there are high-visibility fans of the artist who could be persuaded to mention the show, name them. If you have any interviews scheduled that will be published before March to generate buzz, include those.

There's probably only a limited return on flyers or postcards to be left around town during the conference, but it's still probably better than 0. I'd include it as an option.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:45 AM on September 23

"How do you plan to promote your show if selected?"

That's a question on the SXSW application?

They're probably looking for some creative ideas about how you're going to do outreach and build buzz around your show, so yeah, Facebook, MySpace, and all that are valuable. Since your singer is making a trip to come over, why not have him/her promote via a special Tumblr or something. malocciofrontpersonstriptosxsw.tumblr.com or something?

I wouldn't discount flyers or handbills, though- handing out some materials at (or outside) the Austin Convention Center or outside some other shows might be a way to get folks to come by your gig.

When the band I was working with a million years ago played SXSW, we hung out at other folks' shows and did some one-to-one networking. It was like work, but with beer there.
posted by elmer benson at 10:47 AM on September 23

That's a question on the SXSW application?

Yeah, they have you submit through sonicbids.com, and that's one of the "event specific questions."

These are all very helpful answers...thanks everyone!
posted by malocchio at 11:16 AM on September 23

I've never been to SXSW, but I have a relative who lives in Austin and says there are a bunch of great shows in non-SXSW-sanctioned venues. In other words: if you don't get in, look at getting booked in any bar, pub or club in the general area, and you'll still get an audience.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:33 PM on September 23

The playing in the street does work, by the way. This was our second year at SXSW and I know a half-dozen people who went to see a Katzenjammer show on the basis of seeing them as we walked down Sixth. I have no idea what it takes to play in the street in terms of permits, but don't rule it out.
posted by immlass at 2:28 PM on September 23

Our second year as patrons (I'm not a musician). Sorry for any confusion.
posted by immlass at 2:28 PM on September 23

duh, your're gonna tell everyone on Metafilter to go...

You could try to contact indiependant and college radio stations in the SXSW area and see if they'll either play one or more of your songs with a mention of your show or see if they sell add time and make a 30 second clip saying when and where your show is with the most awesome part of your most awesome song in the background. I'm not sure how much this would cost, but I don't think SXSW would fire you if you ended up not promoting in all the ways you stated on your application. I think theyre just trying to make sure they don't get a show with no audience, which looks lame.
posted by WeekendJen at 2:30 PM on September 23

if you don't get in, look at getting booked in any bar, pub or club in the general area, and you'll still get an audience.

Maybe you'll get an audience, maybe not. There are indeed tons of non-SXSW shows in the vicinity of the festival, and I'm not saying this is a bad idea -- but there are so many shows that not all of them can draw crowds.

I think theyre just trying to make sure they don't get a show with no audience, which looks lame.

There are plenty of official SXSW shows that aren't well-attended. The question seems to be intended to weed out inexperienced bands who don't know anything about promoting. Like I said I really doubt they're going to care all that much about the response to this question. Stuff like what you sound like, where and how much you've played, how much press you've gotten, etc. is probably far more important.

And I'd say flyers are totally worthless unless people already know who you are. Folks at SXSW get handed so much crap that they stop paying attention. It's hard enough even for someone with a badge to see the bands they care about at SXSW, let alone ones they've never heard of.

I realize this is all pretty cynical, but that's how things looked this year. It's a good experience, but it's not a magical land where you'll be guaranteed a well-attended show and lots of connections and so forth.
posted by ludwig_van at 5:46 PM on September 23

I realize this is all pretty cynical, but that's how things looked this year. It's a good experience, but it's not a magical land where you'll be guaranteed a well-attended show and lots of connections and so forth.

Yeah, this is exactly my mindset, if we somehow manage to land a showcase. I don't think we will, but it's a "looks good on the resume" type of thing, and I'm sure we'd have fun.

Our real plan is to tour California (I'm in LA, she'll be staying with a friend up north), but the beginning of our schedule coincides with SXSW, so I figured "what the hell, it can't hurt to submit!" I think being a showcase act would be worth it, but non-sanctioned gig doesn't really seem worth the extra expense and sacrifice of time. (Though I'd seriously consider it if not for our time constraints...)

Right now, our visibility is zero. We've had a little college radio play with my solo project, but we're starting over with a new band name, and the old project isn't much to leverage...it was kind of something I threw against the wall to see what would stick. I've been saving my real promotional efforts for this project, I just thought I'd have a little more time to build a fanbase (and finish our album) before we would ever have a chance to gig. (Even our MySpace page is freshly launched with only a handful of friends!)

But now, it's time to throw it into high gear! I've completed the submission using the suggestions above, and all these ideas will definitely help with the tour promotion, so I really appreciate everyone's input (I'm sure I have more AskMe's to come)!
posted by malocchio at 9:53 AM on September 24

(So yeah, best answers for everyone!)
posted by malocchio at 9:55 AM on September 24