PropertyOfZack is very excited to be posting Ryan Soroka’s second Contributor Blog. Ryan began running shows around New Jersey in 2004 (while in 7th grade) and began booking tours just a few years later. He now owns The Soroka Agency, which is a collaboration with Equal Vision Records, that books bands like Into It. Over It., This Time Next Year, The Story So Far, and Daybreaker, among many others. Ryan’s second blog revolves around reputation and how critical it is to your identity in the music industry, among other things. Read up and enjoy, there will be more to come!

Reputation is the most critical part of an identity, especially when it comes to a band in the music industry. While it’s good for bands to go after as many opportunities as they possibly could get, it’s so important for them to realize what approach to take when trying to self-develop in order to gain the best reputation. In this day in age, it’s so much more important about what others say about you than what you have to say for yourself. I mean think about it - if you were the coach of the New York Giants, would you put in your first string quarter back that all the scouts give high acclaims, or go with the backup whose family was the obsessive sports parents throughout high school? 

When a band comes to me with a million various statistics that just hopelessly pad history (ie: 10th place runner up to the Ernie Ball Battle of The Bands, Purevolume Cover for a day, 10K friends on Myspace, etc), it truly almost turns me off to the opportunity. People strive for what they know they need to fight for - if others are interested and talking about your act, inevitably more and more people will get interested. It’s easier said than done to get momentum to begin to receive recognition for your hard work, but one of the best approaches is by fundamental marketing.

Once a band has actually taken the time to put all they have in their music, it’s now time to put your shit on display - to get it on as many ears as possible. However, to get the most out of your efforts, be smart about how you market. Follow the simple marketing principles of STP: segmenting, targeting, positioning. 

Segmenting - Take a second to sit down and figure out which are the different demographics available to you that you can expose your music to. Whether you feel like your music was influenced by Bright Eyes, The Wonder Years, NOFX, Attack Attack, The Early November, god-knows-what, make sure you know WHERE you stand in relation to the many different outlets possible. There is a world’s difference between what your potential fan base may like and what fans of Metallica may like. There are many different segments that you can group together in order to slice to find the right demographic for you. Kids that listen to Hot Chelle Rae respond completely differently than kids who listen to Forever The Sickest Kids. While the music for these acts may not seem the most drastically distinct, you’d be surprised how the different scenes truly react when it comes to buying music, being committed to a band, coming out to shows, and helping spread the word about the band. 

Targeting - Now figuring which of the segments would most be able to relate to the genre and style of music you are playing. If you write a hipster-esque album, does it make sense to affiliate yourself with the AbsolutePunk.net crowd? If you are a strong electronic band, would you really get the most out of your efforts by trying to play at a local Warped Tour stop? Where can you place your music where you would best be able to find new fans and new opportunities. I’ve been working with the band Action Item for over two years now. When we started, I put the band on tour with acts like Between the Trees, Farewell, Punchline, The Dangerous Summer, among others, which were all great touring opportunities, however the music that they were producing didn’t exactly fit in the most with this scene and because of that we weren’t making the most out of our efforts to expand our fanbase. It wasn’t until we saw that the more “pop” outlet of touring with bands like Honor Society, We The Kings, and Allstar Weekend maximized and multiplied the band’s family did we realize exactly that this segment was the best to push us in. 

Positioning - Now that you have strategized through segmenting and targeting, you need to following through and put into play how to position your band. Find exactly what kind of marketing - whether it be banners, ads, local shows, whatever - can you take on in order to reach out to your targeted demographic. Take the steps necessary in order to make the best of the potential opportunities available to you, even if its means hustling tickets as a local on a bill in order to play with a larger band that you are similar to, or if it just means making creative YouTube videos that you can spread virally to others. The most important thing is to find the niche that others see as attractive, but then SEPARATE yourself from the pact within that segment so people see WHY your band is better than others and why fans will WANT to be a part of what experience your band offers. What separates you from the pact is what makes you unique and what makes you memorable. 

Sometimes if you think too broadly and just try to accommodate too many segments at one, you will fail to get the most out of your hard work. While this is not a full proof plan to get your music out there, it’s undeniable that if you are smart about how you expose your music to the right demographic and fan base, you are bound to receive the biggest potential recognition. With recognition comes an improvement of reputation which ultimately leads to the buzz you’ve been craving since you finished running through the masters of your finished album.