[This post was written by guest contributor Bob Baker from www.TheBuzzFactor.com.]
My friend Nancy Moran once shared a great example of how the name you give your musical project can affect its appeal.
Nancy is a former member of an ensemble called the Four Bitchin’ Babes. Even though the “bitchin'” refers to “awesome” instead of “crabby,” the group has encountered venues that wouldn’t book an act with “that word” in the name.
So the ladies came up with a creative solution: they offered a title for their entire show instead of just a name for the act. The show was rebranded as “Hormonal Imbalance! … A Mood Swinging Musical Revue.”
Nancy pointed out the brilliance of this move. It avoids any highly objectionable words and still describes the show in an effective way.
This was a smart move for a number of reasons:
* The title is attention-getting
* It’s funny – which gives you a good idea of what kind of show to expect
* It speaks directly to the target audience – women
And it does all of that in seven short words!
That got me thinking about other ways that artists and bands can use titles. So I poked around online and found these interesting tour names:
* Korn – The Pop Sux Tour
* Madonna – The Sticky and Sweet Tour
* Ozzy Osbourne –The No More Tours Tour
* Warrant/Trixter/Firehouse – The Blood, Sweat & Beers Tour
Motley Crue had some good ones:
* Anywhere There’s Electricity Tour (1994)
* Live Swine Listening Party Tour (1997)
* Welcome to the Freekshow Tour (1999)
* New Tattoo Tour (2000)
And here are some funny ones I don’t think were ever used:
* Ghost in the ATM Machine Tour
* We Ain’t Gettin’ Any Younger Tour
* The Shallow Meaningless Party Tour
But this concept doesn’t only apply to tour names. Maybe your next string of local gigs can have a theme. Or even a single show could be given a name that would interest the local press and attract a specific type of fan.
How have you (or any other artists you know of) used titles and themes to attract attention and fans? I welcome your comments.
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Bob Baker is the author of three books in the “Guerrilla Music Marketing” series, along with many other books and promotion resources for DIY artists, managers and music biz pros. You’ll find Bob’s free ezine, blog, podcast, video clips and articles at www.TheBuzzFactor.com and www.MusicPromotionBlog.com.