GrassieBaby

Targeted Promotion for Northern California's Grass Roots Artists

Whoa! Hold on, there. We're getting this stuff built as fast as we can. Even we didn't anticipate the level of excitement all this Grassie stuff is creating.

For now, please use the contact form over at the Grassies website to let us know you're interested in our promotional services.

We want to help. Let's talk.

But First, a Word from Dick Dale, Marketing Genius

In an informal interview with Tommy Liberto, the father of surf guitar has a few words to say about you and your music. They're some of the most important words we've heard about music in a long time. Enjoy. Learn. Share

Read what other Grassies have said about the video.

More Than Fifteen Minutes

(or, Why You Don't Want MySpace)

Three important points compel us to create a community dedicated to helping grass roots music grow:

1. You deserve more than 15 minutes of fame.
2. MySpace is no way to be discovered by new fans
3. Choice: studies prove that more choices lead to a choice not to choose; fewer choices means more choosers are more willing to participate; more on this in a moment

Let's go through that again, in a bit more detail:

You Deserve More Than 15 Minutes of Fame

Andy Warhol's famous quote was never intended to be taken literally, nor was he referring to those who actively seek recognition. Let's not limit our fame because others misapply a quote aimed at those who will acheive notoriety or fame whether they want it or not—which is why 15 minutes is enough, or perhaps, too much. You deserve lasting recognition for your efforts in the musical community. We want to help you get it: whether that's more gigs, more fame, more money, or more likely, all of the above.

MySpace is No Way to be Discovered by New Fans

MySpace is a fair venue if you have no other choice. You can point your existing fan base to your page there, and they can listen to your music, check your gig schedule, and see what everyone else who may or may not be a fan is saying in your comments section. What it won't do is get you noticed. It's about as effective as standing in an arena full of people, all of you shouting at the same time.

Wanna know how big MySpace is? If it were a country, it would be the eleventh largest in the world, just between Japan and Mexico. Stand in the middle of that and get noticed.

Instead, why not let us help you find silences to shout into? That's how you get noticed.

Fewer Choices Means More Choosers

Which brings us to the last item: if you're promoting yourself right alongside the entire world, you need an incredibly loud voice. Compete with a smaller crowd, and new fans will be more willing to take the risk we all take when we try out new music. If you're one of ten thousand bands on MySpace, it's overwhelming. If you're one of a few dozen at GrassieBaby, you'll get chosen more often. It's good business, and it works.

Appearance Counts. A Lot

Some folks have the impression that anyone with a computer and the right software can create a website. That's deceptively true: they can probably create one. Will it be the best promotion vehicle for you? Probably not.

Allowing an expert to create a professionally designed web space frees you to focus on what you do best, making music, and gives you access to the expertise required to be found, and when you are, to look your best.

So, are we suggesting you shouldn't have a MySpace page?

Yup.

Instead, we're suggesting something better.

The Concept

Here's what we plan to offer: a single page with song samples on the GrassieBaby profiles section is free. You provide the information and a CD, and we'll give you a professionally designed profile page with a jukebox and links to sell your CD.

Here's another idea: find a sponsor—a local business who'll pay for website—and we'll create a full-scale professional web presence for you. They get promoted, you get promoted, and you both look your best doing it.

If you're a business that wants to sponsor a band, find a local musician (or let us connect you with someone) and sponsor a professionally designed website. You'll give back to the community and help promote this grass roots musician much more professionally than other self-created web spaces will.

Some Notes

Your GrassieBaby profile page is not:

• web log or a forum, it's a professional promotion tool
• a place for you to do yet one more task that's not directly related to making your music
• a place for friends to play

That's MySpace

Your GrassieBaby profile page is:

• where you present yourself as a professional musician
  • who is worth getting paid for gigs
  • whose CDs are worth buying
  • who adds value to the northern California music community

Free Advice

And, finally, some free advice about promoting yourself:

• All bands should have a complete, professional writeup on Wikipedia. If you're not a professional writer, get help to do this. This needs to read like an encyclopedia article, not the back of your new album
• All your song lyrics should be online so a casual listener who hears one of your songs, but not the title or artist, can track you down from the hook in the chorus
• If you have a band website, it should have a weblog where you write regularly about things your fans will be interested in. And, hopefully, they can write back.
• If you have a weblog, you should include proactive 'new entry' notification by email so your fans will be driven to the site by the email. Go to them, don't wait for them to come to you.

We're serious about helping you get more than fifteen minutes of fame.

Like we said: we want to help.

Let's talk.