Planning Your Record Release, Part II: The Release Show

Jake Smith is a TuneCore Customer Support Representative and editor of the weekly newsletter.

You can read Part I of this article on the TuneCore blog.

Part II: Planning your release party

Record release parties can be awesome for a number of reasons.

• They're "buzz" worthy: If you're trying to spread the word that you have a new album coming out, then a targeted event and date can lead to a lot of chatter all at once about your music.  Chatter is good. (Especially when it comes from the press - invite all of your local music writers to get early reviews!)
• The crowds are bigger: In general you'll find fans and friends feel more of an obligation to attend a record release than they do other performances.  It's a special day for you and they won't want to miss it.
•  It's a party!: There's a certain excitement in the air at record release events that regular performances might lack.  It's like a birthday, except with your CD instead of a baby.

If you're getting ready to release your own CD, think back on some of the record release shows you've attended yourself (if you've never been to one, just think back on shows you've enjoyed, or look one up online and catch one this weekend).  What, if anything, made those events memorable for you?  Was it the venue, was it the lighting, was it something crazy the bass player did, etc.?  How would you have done it better if you were in the same position?  You'll want to keep your answers in mind as you plan your own record release.

The Venue

One of the first things you'll need to do is find a venue.  What space is best suited for your music: a bar, a coffee shop, a living room or a back yard?  How will you perform?  Acoustic or full band, will you invite other extra instrumentalists (eg. guest vocalist, a string quartet), or will you just play the CD and treat it like a "listening party"?

After you've decided all of this, you can then make a list of exactly what you'll need for the show.  What do you already have on that list and what don't you have that you'll need to borrow or ensure your venue provides?

Make absolutely sure you know the following about any venue:

• What is in the venue's "back line" - Some places will provide certain parts of a drum set, like kick and toms, while requiring you bring your own kick pedal, snare, cymbals and hardware.  Some places will provide amp cabinets but will ask that you bring your own amp heads. Some places provide a few microphones but that may not be enough for you.  Many venues have a great PA system, while other places will expect you to provide your own.  If you come short of necessities between yourself and the venue, make sure you buy, rent, or borrow with enough time before the record release date.
• When do you need to arrive?  How much time do you need for set up, and how long can you play for?
• How does the door work?  How will you get paid?  Is it a 50/50 split, do you have to recoup a certain amount at the door and then you take all earnings after?
• Are there age limits?  If the majority of your fans are still in high school, it probably won't do much good booking your show as a 21+ club.
• Is there an area you can use to set up a table and sell merch and CDs?

The Promotion

Some people are born promoters, while for others promotion can be excruciating.  That being said, your record release is no time to start skimping in this department.  In addition to posting the date and time on your myspace, website, twitter, etc., get your fans writing about you as well.  When you reach out to bloggers asking them to review your CD, promote your release party through them and offer some kind of incentive for them to show (free tickets, free swag, free beer and so on).  Print out flyers to post in music friendly places.

Try and think of some "hooks" to make your release more exciting.  Maybe entry is free, or tickets are half price with pre-order or your ticket gets you a free copy of the CD and the cover charge includes open bar.  Or another great idea... if 60 or more people attend, you and your band will play completely naked! (...or... maybe not).  Playing is on the safer side you can always have some special guest who's known to draw crowds.  Which brings me to...

The Lineup

Depending on the venue, you may be able to exert varying amounts of control over the evening.  If you're in your own back yard, you can pretty much do whatever you feel like until a neighbor calls the cops.  If you're at the local coffee shop, there might already be tightly booked evening of artists before and after your performance.

If possible, you may want to see if you can get at the very least one act to specifically open for you.  This is good for a few reasons.

• Other artists bring their own fans to the show, and by opening for you they are giving your group a stamp of approval (likewise, choose a band you like and your fans may be into as well).
• Having a group serve as your opener makes you the "headline" of the bill which is good for press and audience perception.
• If the act or acts opening for you are good, the audience will be pumped up and ready to go for when you come on stage.

The Performance

Far and away the most important thing is the performance itself and the music you are sharing.  I don't want to go into too much detail about this as I think we all have our own unique stage personas.  That being said, here are a few "take or leave" pearls of wisdom from my own experiences:

• Practice, practice, practice.  Do not go on stage and wing it (unless musical improv is part of your hook).  Know your set list inside and out.  Even if you and your band have played a song a thousand times but just for just this show you're going to extend the intro, don't just try it once during sound check and assume you're good to go.  Memorize the song order until it haunts your dreams.  First impressions are lasting impressions and you do not want new potential fans witnessing a sloppy performance.
• Have someone tape the show.  Good to study on your own later, good content to post online.
• Spend time on but don't obsess over the little things - discuss outfits and "bling" with the rest of your group but don't let it take away too much time from rehearsal.
• Brush your teeth and bathe regularly - not just for your show, but now and for the rest of your life.

The more prepared you are, the more focused you'll be on the performance itself and the more fun you'll have.  Enjoy it and so will your audience!

Do any of you have record releases coming up or have you played any recently?  Let us know about your experience.

Comments

[belinda bradley]

hey jake... thanks for your thoughts on this. We (Selon Recliner) have lust pulled off a very successful & Unique Album Release show. Here's how we did it:) just another indie band taking things in hand.

We came up with the idea of doing a Buffet & Show to tie in with the slight oriental flavor of our album The Orchid Door. So first thing was to find the right kind of restaurant that could seat around 150 people, was old school oriental so that it had a cool vibe and had a space big enough for the band to perform, fit a PA, plus simple lighting & sound desk for the engineer. We actually found the coolest old restaurant in the centre of town down in the basement of an old arcade, fantastic place full of green, red & gold, lanterns, screens & good Food. We got the owner on board (who became very enthusiastic) a good two months prior to the show. There was a lot to organise with the way the buffet would run & bringing food into the ix was a challenge but worth the effort.

The Album Release Promo, interviews at student radio & interviews for publications became fixated on the Release Show as it was such a left of center idea that caught peoples imaginations. We also worked promo for the show virally through facebook & Myspace, sent out digital flyers, along with a traditional poster run around town. It was fun to promote, Here's an example of the blurb we used to entice punters.

Selon Recliner, The Orchid Door Album Release Buffet & Show

To celebrate the release of their 2nd album “The Orchid Door”, Selon Recliner are sharpening their chopsticks & oiling the Lazy Susan for a Buffet & Show at the classic & infamous New Orient restaurant, where deep in the basement of the Strand Arcade time has stopped still. With a complimentary “Orchid Door” Cocktail on arrival, and the New Orient’s famous Buffet to arouse your appetite, DJ Jimmy Olsen and VJ Grafix will add extra seasoning and get the night spinning. As the tastes settle and ambience is absorbed the bamboo curtain will pull back on The Orchid Door as Selon Recliner take over the old parquet dance floor.

Our sound engineer designed the sound production for the room.
We had a VJ run visuals through our show. we also hid 10 free album notes in the fortunes cookies, along with some free kisses from the band, which added a bit of excitement during the show when they were handed out by the Selon Recliner hostesses. We also offered a free Orchid Door Cocktail with every full buffet ticket, and also gave people the choice of a show only ticket with a later entry time.

it was also a hark back to the old dine & dance concept with the evening kicking off at 7pm & finishing around 11pm.

It was a huge deal to pull together and took an enormous amount of work but the evening was massive and well worth all the extra effort.

The restaurant owner did extremely and his only concern on the night was not enough tables to seat everyone.... good problem we thought!