[Dixielandjazz] Cd sales (live)

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Hi Jim & All:

I did not actually mean to go table to table thru the audience and hawk 
the Cds,  sorry if I implied that, but about anything shy of that that 
lets them know that they are available does help sales, and if an act 
has a really good night and it is made obvious  that they have products 
and are friendly and amiable to the audience they generally will 
respond.

I like the line about not being able to leave without a CD :))  Good 
one Jim,  especially when you play places with no cover charge, you can 
tell them that well folks you got to hear all this great music without 
having to pay a cover charge or buy a ticket, but there is a catch, you 
have to buy a Cd to get out.    I shall borrow that from Jim and use it.

You might laugh all the way to the bank after a couple of years.

Offering free 8X10 photos also helps and gets request for autographs.   
We often have people come to the stage after a concert with the posters 
 from the festival asking for us to all sign them, have had people ask 
for me to sign drumsticks for their kids, sometimes it is really 
touching when the kid has actually ran and picked  up a broken one or 
one that has just been frayed and splintered so badly that we can't 
play with it anymore.   They will bring it up and ask us to sign it,  I 
always carry along a lot of extra sticks because with several drummers 
we do go thru a lot of them in parade shows, break them drop them, and 
sometimes just have one get away from us and launch out into the crowd. 
  oops!    When I see one of those frayed out or totally beat up ones 
show up I just reach in my stick bag and trade the kid for a new set.   
Funny think however sometimes they are delighted but won't part with 
the trashed stick for the world.   Who know the impressions we make on 
folks.   Does make you feel warm and fuzzy sometimes, especially if he 
has cute mom with him.  :))

We also distribute a lot of used sticks on parade shows as we go out 
into the crowd and let the little kids play on the drums a bit whenever 
possible.   That's why I like sponsorships and endorsement deals, keeps 
the cost of sticks down for all my drummers, I get them a case at a 
time, and several of them have been known to not put them back in the 
box after a gig.  :))

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Kashishian <jim at kashprod.com>
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Sat, 4 Feb 2006 11:26:53 +0100
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Cd sales (live)

   I believe it was Tom W. that wrote:
Buying a Cd and getting to shake the artists hand and maybe getting it
signed is a big thrill for many of them, as hokey as it may sound.

This is certainly true for us.  We have found that if we offer one of 
our
(now out of date) posters of the band as a freebee with the purchase of 
a
CD, the sales response is great.
And, people really do like to talk to the band.  Giggly girls like to 
crowd
around while a friend takes a picture.  Ah, fame....  I love to see 
their
faces as they're calculating the years when (after they ask "how long 
you
been playing together?") I tell them 38 yrs, and they realize that's 
twice
their age!    :>

What I wouldn't do, personally, is go through the crowd waving a CD on 
the
break, as Tom suggested.  I'm direct enough from the stage to aim a 
comment
at a customer that is leaving that he/she won't be allowed out the door 
by
the waiters if they don't have our CD in hand (gets a good laugh), but 
off
the stage I'm as shy as they come.  Just a personal thing.  I've had 
that
done to me when in the audience, and I don't like it.  Hawking the 
product
seems to be cheapening it, at least with audiences over here.  Just 
like no
one would ever, ever expect or offer a tip here for a song to be played
(except maybe a visiting American!)

I merely state that we have our CD's on sale at the break.  Normally, 
if one
person buys one, others start coming up, especially if they see you 
signing
them.

All of this works in small clubs & in concerts.  Company shindigs, 
coctail
parties, weddings, etc., I have a few with me, but only haul them out if
someone asks.  I figure I'm there to do a job, and am not the "big 
item" of
the evening.

Jim




_______________________________________________
Dixielandjazz mailing list
Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz