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Looper's Delight
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My friend Lucio (my musical foil in Lumper/Splitter) read an article once about CD sales at live gigs wherein the author suggested the following: When you are done playing you have, as a generalization, about 5 to 10 minutes to capitalize on any interest you have created during your set to sell CDs. Set down your instrument, grab a stack of CDs, and walk into the crowd. Do not walk up to your friends and receive obligatory pats on the back about how good your set was. Walk up to a stranger and ask if they would be interested in purchasing a CD, holding one out towards them as you do so. Repeat as necessary. Now to sensibilities, this sounds a bit crass. I feel a bit cheesey doing it this way. But when you are on tour, and need to buy gas, food, and lodging, and you to sell some CDs, damnit, you might try this. He tried this when touring with his old band Ramona The Pest and reports that CD sales went WAY up. He would walk towards people and they would often reach for their wallet before he even said anything. Remember, *playing* music is NOT the same thing as *selling* music. If you want to live in a idealized world where CDs magically sell like hotcakes because your set was so smokin', that's OK. But if you want to actually "move some units" there are other ways to sell your CD. It can also be rude if there is a band coming on after you that is waiting to set up and you leave your stuff where it is and start selling stuff. Maybe you can inform them ahead of time that you are spending 5 -10 min selling directly after your set. Maybe you can have a friend break your gear down for you while you sell? Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there. It's hard for me to use this approach (I use it sparingly) because I often feel guilty, like I'm putting people on the spot. But I've also had people buy CDs this way, and then email me later telling me how glad they are to have the CD! Cheers Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: "hazard factor" <artists@hazardfactor.com> To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com Subject: RE: WAYS TO SELL OUR SELVES: LIVE Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2006 22:37:58 -0500 > > And for those that sell them at gigs- what do you use to transport them? >And > what do you use to display your CD? Do you bring someone with you to >sell, > or do you wait until you are done playing and try to get people to buy? > > Currently, I have my g/f who comes with me and sits by the CDs. I try >not to > do the hard sell/begging thing during gigs over the mic, which, when I >am an > audience member, I can't stand. I carry them in a round piece of vintage > luggage, which has some foam in there so the various CDs don't bang >around. > I have a laminated insert for each CD so people can pick it up and see >what > they are buying. I don't have any kind of display rack, so I am open to >any > ideas. Small and durable are the requirements. > > Dave Eichenberger > http://www.hazardfactor.com -- _______________________________________________ Search for businesses by name, location, or phone number. -Lycos Yellow Pages http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?SRC=lycos10