Think Outside The CD Case

 
Peace Everybody,

Last night was Monday night, which means once again it was open mic night out here in my adopted city of Charlotte NC.  Dozens of local artists hit the stage to perform and push their brand of hip hop/rap to the audience.  One thing I notice was that everybody had the same formula for trying to get their music heard: HANDING OUT THEIR MUSIC FOR FREE.  During the course of the night, I must have received a dozen CD's packaged in a plastic sleeve with a cover on the front, and like most people who attend these events and receive these free CD's, I never take the time to listen to them.  I could be missing out. Who knows?! There's a saying that goes: "The truth is generally seen and rarely heard". With that being said, my advice to some of you independent local artists is to create free visuals (i.e DVD) to hand out to the audience. In my opinion, a DVD has more value than a CD.  Creating a DVD allows the viewer to buy into the artist's character and personality.  It allows the viewer to get a closer look at the artist and get a better understanding of the artist's overall message.  Most of the people in the audience would rather watch your DVD which would feature your music anyway, than to listen to your CD, which they will probably end up only quickly skimming through or not listen to it at all.  If there are 40 individual acts performing at a venue and 39 of them are giving out their free CD, you make sure that you are the act that is giving out your FREE DVD.  At least with your DVD, which would probably feature show, music videos and studio out takes, you'll have a better chance of being seen and heard. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX!

-Mutha F'er