With the ever changing music industry today, it is interesting to watch independent artists/band experiment with different things. The Nadas are no strangers to the music industry, having been around for over 15 years. They have managed to make a career out of music, and establish a following around the country. They have also started their own label, Authentic Records, and successfully developed several other bands.
The Nadas constantly strive to stay up with the trends in music, and have greatly impressed me as of late. There are a lot of online tools available to bands, and The Nadas are doing a great job with the tools they are using. Almost every member of the band is on Twitter, and posts fairly regularly. They use Twitter in an effective manner too - not just to promote their music, but to build relationships with people. They also have their label on Twitter. They utilize this to mention things that are going on for their artists, and also release a weekly "Ear Snack" via Twitter. The Ear Snack is a free download from one of their artists that you can obtain by going to the Authentic Records website. Some of the band members post TwitPics regularly, of sometimes random stuff, but fun. In addition to Twitter, they update blogs, post live streams of shows on Ustream, and much more. The Nadas also do a good job of incorporating the online tools they're using with the offline. These guys put on a great live show, and truly appreciate people coming out to see them and hang out.
Probably the most unique and interesting thing that they're doing right now is their new album called Almanac. The album itself is an interesting concept - for the year of 2009, The Nadas are writing, recording, and releasing one song per month. At the end of the year, they will release the full physical album. The coolest thing they are doing with this project is allowing fans to be part of the process along the way. They recently posted on Twitter that they were listening to the final mix of the the first song on Almanac, and were looking for feedback. This message was accompanied by a link to their live in-studio Ustream feed. They allowed fans to listen to the mix, and give their feedback live. They are also offering many other options for fans to be involved in the process, with several different monetary offering varying access. I'm very anxious to see how this approach works out for them - offering access to something fans typically are not involved in, for a price. I think this may be the way the industry goes, and am very excited for these guys and glad to see them on the cutting edge. Check out the different packages they are offering below, and go check these guys out when they're near you - their great music and fun/crazy/sometimes drunken/and often hilarious shows are well worth it!
Oasis recently released their new album, Dig Out Your Soul. Prior to the album release, Oasis taught a group of NYC street musicians several of the tracks off their new album. For the weeks leading up to the album release, the street musicians played the new tracks NYC train and subway stations.
This sort of pre-promotion might not work for all artists. If you're a relatively unknown band, it's not going to have the impact. The main point to take away from this promotion is that they did something different to get the attention of the consumer. Utilize the tools at your disposal and do something unique. There are all sorts of things you could do, so think outside of the box. It today's world of sensory overload, it's the things that have never been seen that stand out.
Check out the video of rehearsals, street performances, and reactions...
