Being a successful independent musician means promoting yourself, taking advantage of gigging opportunities, and pushing your music to its fullest potential. But Toronto-based singer-songwriter Brooklyn Doran goes one step further: she maximizes her success by also helping to promote other musicians through grassroots marketing and promotion.
As a songwriter, her gentle vocals carry you away with lovelorn lyrics, warming acoustic guitar, and addictive melodies and hooks. With success landing big gigs and radio play, as well as leading her own promotional events, Doran has tons of valuable advice on how to push your success as a musician and promoter. Her combined passions overlap and inform one other, making her an exceptional up-and-coming figure in the music industry. We spoke to her recently about her best EPK tips, playing the famous Lee's Palace in Toronto, and how she uses Sonicbids for both sides of her music career: promoter and performer.
Last January, I was in the middle of promoting the double release of the music videos for my singles "There's a Light On" and "Lansdowne" (shot by an incredible Toronto filmmaker named Kyle Marchen). I was getting a decent amount of press, and I thought it'd be a good opportunity to both promote my music and the music of other artists whose music I adore. In every interview I do, I try to shout out at least one other emerging band I love – like Willow Way or Dan Daly.
I put together the "Grassroots Winter Music Bundle" as an opportunity for artists to each contribute a piece of merch or promo copy of their music to build a prize that ended up being worth over $400 worth of merchandise! The artists also were encouraged to share the contest on social media because if they were the most tagged artist in the contest (Edgewater Hotel), they'd win a music video shot by the same film team that put together my music videos (a prize worth about $300).
I used Sonicbids as a promoter to help find more artists to make a more global online impact with the contest, and it was very successful. I learned a lot, and I think that I have the tools to make it even more successful the second time around.
I think that finding a community of artists in your city – but especially an online community of music makers from around the world, really – stretches the amount of impact you have. On one hand, you have to work harder to create creative opportunities to be able to hustle both your work and shout out your peers, but at the same time, the gain outweighs the amount of work you have to put in. One of my pet peeves is bands who don't take the time to show love to the other artists who've gone out on limbs for them or helped shape their careers. I think it's important both to pay it back and pay it forward, so I try to live that.
I had a fair amount of submissions to sift through and was on a bit of a tight deadline, so:
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The blog is a really good resource for artists. The Sonicbids team is really great about engaging a ton of awesome people to guest write for them. The posts are bite-sized enough that I can get at least one article in a day over my morning coffee.
Honestly, I think the key is just being friendly and genuine. Sometimes that means doing something nice for people and not expecting anything in return.
Recently, I was asked to be part of a not-for-profit collective called Headquarters Cooperative that puts on incredible shows in Toronto. This was because I've been making playlists, writing blogs, and tweeting about their roster of bands for no other reason than because I like them all and know that they have shows coming up and singles to release. Since becoming a member, I've scored some pretty sweet (and well-paying) gigs, and just recently scored a Headquarters Cooperative showcase at the Silver Dollar for NXNE.
I'm a hardcore Scott Pilgrim fan, so playing at Lee's Palace was definitely a highlight for me. It's a pretty iconic venue in Toronto and Canada at large. Some amazing people have also stood on that stage, and it was pretty cool to be considered in there with them.
One of the bands that I found through Sonicbids for the Grassroots contest was the Control Room. They needed an opener for their CD release and I jumped at the chance!
The "if you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" mentality is dead. It just makes you seem like a douchebag. Be a good person. Care about your music. Care about your fans. Make music friends, and introduce yourself to big bands or industry people with a handshake and a compliment, not just your demo.
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You aren't necessarily applying for the gig that's in front of you. Many of the gigs I've booked have been through people who've seen my application for one event but found me a better fit for another, or are trying to book for multiple projects at once. Apply for everything that you think fits your sound, but don't be discouraged if you don't get the first gig – others might come up because the right person heard your music at the right time. And if you aren't getting gigs, create opportunities for yourself! Also, the new "Find Bands" feature is a really cool resource if you're trying to book a tour and need supporting acts.