As we all know the music industry has changed drastically over the last several years. Music sales are down and the way we sell our product is rapid ally changing as well. Cd’s are quickly becoming a thing of the past in most genre’s of music. Due to our demographic they will still be around for a while. While their role in delivering our music is diminishing, their importance to your ministry has not. I want to take a moment and look at how your new release can impact the growth of your ministry in more ways than you have seen in the past.
Your physical product is one of the most important tools you have for marketing. You need to retrain your brain to not only look at it as your music but also as a walking, talking business card. When someone gets hold of your product, the CD will on average be seen or heard by six to twelve people. They will share it with their family, show it to their friends while driving down the road and if they like what you presented will pass along their approval to their pastor or local promoter. The people they share this with will follow the same pattern so as you can see, the number of people who will be impacted by your product continues to grow. You can see now why it so vitally important that your product presents the message you want to your target audience. Let’s take a look at some of the key elements to your packaging.
The Cover
Needless to say, this is the first thing the audience will look at so it needs to be good. Your first step is to decide what the feel or style you want to convey. If you are a progressive group you will want to look a bit more edgy than something the Inspirations might do. If you are a traditional Southern Gospel Quartet than it wouldn’t make sense to come across as Rascal Flats on your cover. Most likely your graphic design artist will help guide you in the right path. Once you have found your direction, find a professional photographer that will help you accomplish this goal. The difference between hiring a professional and using something your wife took outside the church at your last event is monumental. Quality does matter. It sets the tone as to what your target audience should expect from you. When you are picking your wardrobe, consult with the photographer as to what colors may go best with where you are shooting. Obviously your goal is to look professional and to clearly share who you are as an artist.
The CD Jacket
Many artists throw this powerful marketing tool away. They fill the inside of their CD book with musician credits and thank you’s as well as lyrics to the songs. Lets take a look at this for a second. I am always for giving someone their dues and respect. Listing the musicians is great but it shouldn’t take up a full panel. They can be listed in very small font along the bottom. The average fan, pastor or promoter is not interested in who played the harmonica on your album. The same goes for the “thank you” section. I know just how important the people that go into making a project are but there are ways to acknowledge them without losing vital space. One good idea is to send a copy of your new project along with a personnel thank you card when you release the CD. Another idea is to have a “release” party where you invite just those special friends and give them a copy of the CD while there. This will mean more to them than you know. On to the lyrics, I recommend excluding the lyrics from the jacket for a few reasons. First, many people listen to their CD’s while driving so hopefully won’t be able to read them. Second, if you list the lyrics on your website and mention this inside the CD jacket you will attract more people to your website. If they love the song and want the lyrics, they will come to your website.
Now that you’ve cleared up so much wasted space, you can think of things to include here that will be of more interest to your audience. Include fun bio information, pictures from the road or your family, maybe include your testimony or a salvation message. If you have other recordings, you could have one panel devoted to showing these and other products you carry. As you can see, the jacket has endless possibilities of connecting with people. Don’t let it go to waste.
The CD
There are those out there who discard the CD case and only keep the CD. Keeping this in mind, utilize the graphics on the actual CD. Make sure your contact info is on there as well as your website. Make sure your graphic artist creates something unique on this so that it catches the eye as they flip through numerous other CD’s in the collection.
Back Cover
Ok, let’s try to wrap this up. Congrats if you’ve stayed focused with me this long. The back cover says more than you realize about you. Many groups don’t include a barcode on their product because they don’t distribute. My argument to that is that your goal is probably hoping to in the future so you should make preparations now. Another reason to include one is at the key of marketing, perception. When I see a barcode on a CD I assume that the artist is professional and a national group. The website CD Baby offers them for around $20 so they are easy to acquire. It’s a subtle yet powerful message. If you have a label or agent, put their logo on the back. All of these things help the viewer to complete the picture of who you are.
If done well, your CD has potential to build fans and hopefully open doors for you to minister. Being able to look at your product as a tool to connect will begin to open your mind to the many ways you can capitalize on this. Be creative. The more imaginative you get, the more captivated the audience will become and will be more likely to pass you along to other people. As with everything, paying attention to the details will be the key to your success.
Beyond Measure Marketing
http://www.beyondmeasuremarketing.com
Author: Matt Felts
| Author's Website: http://www.beyondmeasuremarketing.com/
Written: 03/01/2010
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Category: Marketing 101 - Matt Felts
Comments: 1
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Matt Felts is one of the brightest minds in our industry today. His kind of leadership and direction for Gospel Music in all styles really is needed today because we tend to do what everyone else has done for years without counting the cost of non growth personally.It is so refreshing to look to and through our futures eyes and see what we can accomplish if we only see the end result of not changing or tweaking our methods. I tend to see every project Gold Harbor does as a business opportunity,card,bio and partial music catalog to further our music ministry. Believe me without using our product the way today as Matt suggest we should,there will be a great chance we will not advance and will have a couple thousand disk to donate to our favorite charity and much worse not spread the Gospel as far as we could have.JR
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