Creative People's Centre

Tour promotion in New Zealand

One of the most common questions I get asked when working with bands is ‘How do  promote my music?’ or more precisely, how to promote music effectively. In July 08 we ran a seminar focusing on “music promotion in New Zealand” and decided to break the topic in to three key areas:

• Tour Promotion
• Album Promotion
• Digital Promotion

We asked three key industry figures to come along and speak about their experience in each of these areas. This  first podcast features Rebecca Caughey, who covers the topic of tour promotion and marketing. Rebecca is the Managing Director of Funktion Music Media and currently manages Shapeshifter and Ladi6. Rebecca is also a tour publicist for artists such as Bic Runga and Brooke Fraser. Rebecca held a very interactive and informative session answering some great questions from the artists in attendance and covering a wide range of topics including:

• The changing role of the artist
• How to put together a press kit
• What should be in your bio
• What type of promo material to send out
• How to book tours in New Zealand
• Step by step tour promotion guide
• Information on booking overseas tours
• How to approach sponsors
• How to get press coverage for your tour
• Contact details for radio stations and magazines in New Zealand

Promo Seminar RC (258)

Rebecca gave out some great information and, like Lauren who spoke about album promotion, stressed the importance of planning and the timing of all your promotional activities. Rebecca also touched on the fact that as an artist you need to identify and develop every possible income stream due to the fall in music sales, and having a good plan for every area of your career is becoming even more important.