Experiment: Band Management: Blog 19: Dauntless Promotions

This year I am managing “Band A.” The stated goals are to get “Band A” onto a record label, to play at a festival, and to get 100 people to a regular show. I started this investigation because no one seemed to understand the current music business. Bands don’t seem to know how to get on radio, how to put together a tour, how to get press, and how to get onto a label. Basically, bands and artists don’t know how to create a sustainable business out of music.
I started to research these questions and the first article that was clear concise and helpful was by John Richards of KEXP​ titled “Getting Airplay.” (https://www.kexp.org/about/getting-airplay/) This essay mentioned “promotion companies” – which I just kind of understand, like I kind of understand what “booking agents” do… John Richards listed promotion companies he likes and trusts – these are the companies that have a relationship with KEXP – companies like Dauntless Promotions, and Jennifer Daunt. John Richards said that it was worth it for a band to hire a promotions company if a band was on tour and they wanted to saturate the press and radio before a show.
So Dauntless Promotions represents courtney barnett​, Sharon Van Etten​ – a bunch of truly bad ass artists – and Jennifer was kind enough to chat with Holy Crap Records Podcast. In this interview, Jennifer talks about getting radio play, how Spotify has become the most important medium, and that building a buzz in your local scene is still the best way for a band to get noticed. (Also – this is the Dauntless Records Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6jwJLJKSFRUNSqtp5qjmq1?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open)