Fans
Would you like to find great local bands playing right now in your area? Visit our Events Calendar.
Get out there and support the scene!

Artists/Bands (See Below)
Would you like to submit your band for consideration on SMAsh Radio, an SMA showcase or compilation CD? Send us your press kit.
(The Southeast Music Alliance accepts artists to be included in showcase performances and on compilation CDs by invitation only - if you'd like to submit your press kit (including a CD, photo and short bio), please send it to the address found on the contact page. Please DO NOT e-mail us links to your Web site asking us to listen or download your songs.)

Advertisers
Would you like to advertise on this Web site or sponsor an event? Contact us today.

Venues
Book more original bands. Visit our artists page for great artists from EVERY GENRE.

3) My Space is great and all, but ... have a Web site that works (and a domain name that's easy to spell and remember). Update it frequently, keep your fans informed. Include clips of your music so that people wanting to book your band or buy your music can see and hear you. Do not cut corners with free hosting. Again, if necessary, please pay someone who knows what they're doing. Oh yeah, and if you want to place the SMA banner on your site and link to us, we wouldn't complain. (If you're on MySpace, put us in your "Top Friends.")

4) Consistently perform and tour with artists that you know and love. The artists on this Web site share the stage with each other all the time. They understand that a good multi-band bill can cross-pollinate a crowd and that eventually you'll see a bunch of new faces at your shows. Isn't that always a good feeling? They're also used to sharing backline and some of them even share members! Trade your CDs and merch with these bands. If it's a band you see a lot, even sell another bands' CDs at your shows. When you're ready, try producing your own shows where you are the promoter and you are paying the bands. If that AND changing your strings is too much for you to worry about, don't worry - there are plenty of promoters out there that are willing to help (see our "links" page). If you don't know where to start, simply find a band on the artist page that you like, and contact them about doing a show together. You'd be surprised at how easy it is! Don't forget to let us know where you're playing, we find hard-working bands incredibly inspiring.

5) Promote not just your own band, but other bands in the scene as well. Turning your fans onto other music shows them that you care, and creating and nurturing a musical community means cross-promoting with other bands and cross-pollinating your fan bases, maintaining effective e-mail lists - it all begins with working together instead of competing against each other. Include links to their sites from yours and in your newsletters. Oh, and in case you missed the memo - Do not participate in Battles of the Bands. We'll go ahead and spoil it for you right now: Some guy behind a desk is always the winner.

We hope you find these suggestions helpful, but remember, it always comes down to who you know. So get out there and network, print some flyers, establish relationships, send some e-mails. Play as many shows in as many venues as far and wide as possible and sell as many records as you can.

And do the hokey pokey. Cuz that's what it's all about.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Marketing 101: The Press Release

The "press release" is one of the best and most basic marketing tools ever.

Here's how it works - you send it (sometimes more than once) to media outlets (print, radio, web, etc.) - and they, in turn, become aware of your activity. The more activity you generate, and the more vigorously you promote it (and by vigorously, we mean "by any means necessary"), the more likely someone is to run your story. A press release should include the following elements:

A Headline (This should also be the subject line of your e-mail, and limited to less than six (6) words, as this field is sometimes abbreviated.)

A professionally-written paragraph about what it is that you're promoting. A concert (which bands?), a CD release party (which band? which CD? where can we buy it?), a benefit (which charity? do they have a Web site?). Where will it be held? Include full address and phone number for the venue. If you don't have it, LOOK IT UP. When will it be held? What time does it begin? What time do the doors open? How much will it cost? Is it all ages? Are there sponsors of the event? (Have you considered finding some?) Here would be a good place to put their names ... If your press release sounds boring, make something up that sounds sensational using overtly flowery language. ;-) When you think you've covered it all, read it again. You probably missed something.

Press releases should always be event-oriented and always include a call-to-action. They should tell people to go somewhere and do something on a certain date at a certain time. If the venue (or record store) that you are promoting is already advertising in area publications or with radio stations, you might logically stand a better chance for exposure.

Remember to ALWAYS include a recap (always helpful for people who do calendar listings and radio DJs actually prefer the recap at the TOP)

WHAT: The Name of Your Show
WHO: The Bands Playing
WHERE: The Venue and Address
WHEN: The Date and Time
ADMISSION: Ticket Price (In advance/at the door), Age Restrictions
OTHER: Web Sites and Sponsor Info

When you're done, hit the pound sign three times. Don't ask, just do it.

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OK, now send that puppy to every media outlet you can think of (yes, even Rolling Stone). If you don't know who to send it to, contact info is usually inside a publication, near the front, after each editor's name or on a radio station's Web site under the "contact" section. If it's not, call and ask.