How To Sell More CDs At Shows, You’ll Love Me For This!
I’ve been an artist for well over ten years, but I’ve been a FAN of music for all of my life. It’s no secret that there’s just “something” uber-awesome about attending a concert. If you’re like me, you’ve been to TONS of concerts throughout your lifetime as well. If this is true then I can probably bet that you’ve had the following experience:
You attend the concert and one of the opening acts just KILLS it on stage! I mean you’re in awe of their raw talent. Once their set is over, you rush back to their merch table to pick up their CD. On the way home, you excitedly put the CD in your car, and hear utter trash! Then you’re baffled as to how a group can sound awesome on stage, but so horrible on disc. Womp-womp.
If this has happened to you, there is a hidden gem of a lesson to be taken from this.
Here it is…
When fans buy music at concerts, they are simply looking for a way to re-live (and re-capture) the experience of the concert.
Once you understand this principle, making money at concerts becomes super easy, even if you’re not performing.
Now, let me show you 3 super easy strategies that will give you an unfair advantage over the competition and greatly increase your CD sales. Read on below for all the information, and be sure to start implementing these tips into your music career.
Note: These ideas are from the super clever mind of Ches “Nifty” Christian, the guy who helped me put together this course which helps musicians like you earn a full time living. He's also a man with a good idea on where the real money in the music industry lies.
But first, if it's your aim to do music professionally, you'll want to check out our free ebook while it's still available:
Free eBook: Discover how real independent musicians like you are making $4,077 - $22,573+ monthly via Youtube, let me know where to send the details:
1. Record Your Show
If you don’t already have one, your very next purchase should be a CD burning tower (you can get ‘em for under $300 bucks at Amazon).
Before the event, create a simple graphic for your CD. The graphic should CLEARLY indicate that the CD contains live music from the event the fan is attending. So for example, the title of the CD would read “The John Smith CD Release YOU attended on 3/3/2013” with a background picture of the venue. Place this graphic on about 20-30 blank CD’s. Do you see where this is going yet? I hope so… Keep reading though!
Make sure you record your live performance. You can either connect your laptop directly to the soundboard, or you can use your iPhone (Sorry Android users haha) and just record the audio that way. Make sure you don’t stand too close to the speakers or you’ll get crazy distortion. A good tip is to actually test this recording during your sound check.
While you’re on stage, tell the audience that you’re recording an audio version of your set and that you want it to be very special by having the audience as a feature guest on your CD. Then have the audience chant something catchy. Pretend they REALLY are a guest feature. Let them know that the CD will be available after the show.
Once your set is done, start burning CDs with the pre-made graphics on them.
I’m going to make the assumption that you delivered a good set and gave the audience an experience of a lifetime. If so, they WILL want to capture this experience. They now know their voices will be on this personalized CD and if you performed an unreleased track… super bonus! I can’t stress how effective this strategy is. Sure, it’s a little more work, but this is easily an extra $200 to $300 income stream. It may not work on open mike nights, but it will for most other kind of shows.
Want MORE money? Okay, cool…
2. Record The Other Band's Show
If you’re performing, there will probably be other performers right? Well, find out who’s performing before the concert date and do exactly what you did in step one, only this time, do it for each and every act that is performing at the venue. Who says your merch table has to include only your stuff?
This way, even if the crowd is on some crazy high and likes another band over yours, you’ll still make money. Sell the CDs for 15 bucks and give $5.00 to the other bands (I seriously doubt they will turn down the money – don’t keep everything for yourself though; that would most likely leave a bad taste in their mouths). And hey, if you’re that adamant about people leaving with YOUR music, then strike up a two-for-one deal where one of your CDs can be included for free. Because these are short-run blank CDs, your profit margins will still be quite substantial.
Let the other acts know that they stand to see more sales if they perform at least one unreleased song.
Heck, even if you’re NOT performing, you can execute this strategy and make a killing in one night!
Ok, so here's the third tip. This one will have you making a LOAD more money from your CDs:
3. Start Taking Plastic… ASAP!
I read an alarming statistic the other day: 80% of retail transactions are conducted using credit or debit cards aka “plastic”. This means only 20% of purchases these days are made with cash – WHICH MEANS if you don’t have a way to accept electronic forms of payment, you are only making 20% of the money you SHOULD be making. Tsk tsk.
Each individual strategy I’ve shared with you here has the potential to substantially increase your income at your next concert; but I hope you see the real opportunity which is to combine all of these strategies – that’s the secret sauce for getting the best results.
Keep your eyes open at other industries though. Inspiration for income-producing ideas can be found almost anywhere. I remember attending a church in Atlanta many years ago where the pastor would sell the message he’d JUST DELIVERED on a cassette tape (remember those things? Haha… No? Um…maybe you’re too young then) right after service. I mean this man was prepared. He had ready-made graphics and everything. I remember being completely amazed that the tape was ready and “packaged” so quickly.
Lastly, I know many “experts” will say that “touring” is where the money is. I believe however, that there’s one critical lucrative asset that every independent full time musician should have in order to earn a decent living.
P.S. Remember though, none of what you've learned will matter if you don't know how to get your music out there and earn from it. Want to learn how to do that? Then get our free ‘5 Steps To Profitable Youtube Music Career' ebook emailed directly to you!