Martin Atkins – Tips & Tip Jars
September 9th, 2009 by Lior Shamir
1. Martin, what qualifies you to give advice to artists about self-promotion and management?
Experience.
..owning an independent label for the last 20 years, starting and building my own studio, traveling the world with PiL, Killing Joke, touring with Ministry, starting my own insane revolving band Pigface that has had over 300 members so far. Stuff like that.
In 1995, I started to put package tours together, inspired by labels like STIFF that organized a train tour in the early 80’s. It wasn’t the most sensible method of traveling with bands and equipment but certainly most press worthy. Between 1995 to 2006, I was always tying new ideas on the road, pushing the envelope, and did a free 40 date tour a couple of years before Ozzfest was free. Amongst all of that, there was a tour where I lost $60k and one where my wife had a miscarriage on the road.
I just turned 50. I have lived through all of the so-called end of the music business chaos from the punk rock revolution and the threat of the blank cassette tape to the end of the majors (the first time) to the format wars (digital vs. analog, betamax/vhs etc.).
2. Your most recent publication is titled Tour Smart. How are most artists currently ‘touring stupid’?
Too many local shows.
No t-shirts or only one design (you have to have at least two).
Not booking themselves.
Not having a live CD or a second CD that they can give away for free.
Not learning how to screen print.
Waiting for the knock on the door that is never going to happen.
Treating their fans like fans instead of friends.
etc. etc.
3. How did you come up with the tip jar idea?
I re-mixed it from a band called Sheep On Drugs ? they remixed it from homeless people. The guys with the humorous “need money for drugs and alcohol” signs get more $$$ than the guys with the “homeless veteran, please help” signs. A band just wrote to me to say that the $10 to $15 extra per night they collected from tips made the difference between them eating or not. They said that without the tip jar, they wouldn’t have made it through their first 10 day tour!
4. What did they write on their tip jar sign?
Sheep On Drugs had “Sheep On Drugs alcohol fund – please give generously”. They made people laugh right when they had their change in their hands from a t-shirt or CD purchase… perfect!
5. To Tweet or not to Tweet?
Tweet. @marteeeen but don’t #follow… #lead!
6. I want to get signed. It’s the only thing I care about. I want the money. I want the professional support. I want the big tour bus. I want to live on stage and die in the studio. Can you help me?
Yup, if you are prepared to spend 5 years working your ass off to get there.
But it can’t be about the money. If it’s just about the money, then I think you’re fucked. If it’s just about the size of the tour bus, then once again, I think you might be fucked.
If you said, “I want a better tour bus so that my crew guys ? the ones that put up the scenery and help make all of this possible can get a better night’s sleep and have more room for their espresso machine etc. etc.” then that’s a different story but, if it’s just so that you have the biggest tour bus in the car park, then that’s lame ego driven stuff and you will fail.
7. Give me one way to make money from my music today:
Stop trying to make money specifically from your music. Give it away..
..but with a t-shirt ($5).
..or hand bound book of recipes that you cooked up while you were recording ($15).
..or a re-mix CD ($10)
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Don’t tour stupid, tour smart!
How to raise $10,000
Quit your day job. Start a label.