I’m in Paris, with a 4 hour wait until my next train.
So obviously I went to savour a bit of the city.
And, call it luck or a blessing, but it was all just perfect.
I walk into a friendly-looking place, and right there is a young woman, with a mic and a piano.
And she sings, and plays, and her voice sounds like milk and honey.
Seriously – Rumi would have written poetry about her.
But anyway.
I sit there, relishing the experience and drinking in the energy.
Afterwards, I ask her if she has any CDs out.
Which, sadly, she doesn’t.
I’d LOVE to play her music on my stereo, and it doesn’t matter that it’s not her own compositions she plays.
Just the whole energy, and tone – it’s perfect.
So I tell her:
“Why not?
“Why not record a set of songs, just as you are now? The music you played tonight?
“Stick it on iTunes, Youtube, share it on Facebook…
“I’m not saying you’l be rich tomorrow, but even if it earns you 10 or 50 Euros a week, that’s extra money.
“Right now you live from playing nights, and that can’t be easy.
“All it takes is a decent quality recording, and you wouldn’t just raise your profile, you’d also stand to earn more.
“No?”
She smiles.
“Yes! It’s a good idea!”
And that, my friends, is how simple it can be to make use of what you already have as an artist, and use it to become more professional and more visible, and, yes even if it’s in small increments, more prosperous.
Think about it: right now, people dine and enjoy and then they leave.
But if she has something out there, a brand, a few songs, something people can either buy or listen to online, she has a way to retain those people.
I heard her, and I’m a fan. But right now, there’s nothing extra that she can give me, and for an artist of her calibre, that’s a crying shame.
And if you want to know more about things like exposure and keeping people’s interest, then you would do well to sign up for the 3-hour art marketing seminar I’m giving next Saturday.
Details here —> http://martinstellar.com/find-buyers-sell-art/
Cheers,
Martin