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By Kosha Dillz
I want to write this article because well…I have a tour coming in a month and I have to figure out the same thing! How the hell am I, Kosha Dillz, gonna get people to come out to Boise, Idaho and to Colorado Springs. What about Pittsburgh? Who even listens to me there? What about Niagara Falls? You see my point and panic. We need to have a plan of action. Maybe you have a town. Maybe you live there. It is still tough to get fans out. Even in your hometown. You also don’t want to spend money. I get it. You might have to…actually you will!
I have an upcoming tour coming up and I am trying to come up with things that are amazing ways to get people to come to a show. Pardon me for thinking out loud, but hopefully you can help yourself with this list.
2.Time – Time is biggest way to get people to come to a show in a town. Each town and city works different.For instance the ability to promote in LA you need 6-8 weeks, depending on the size of the venue. For a town like Boise Idaho, you can use less, but, but
3.Local Support – Local love is the best way to think. From supporting the local coffee shops , vintage clothing stores, and record stores, you will find the best people the community has to offer. Take a walk around and interact with the community , no matter where you are!
4.Supporting locals – This is something I saw for the most time that I never grasped as a rapper. When other people do shows, how can you help them? Do you show up to their events, or do you only want them at your stuff? I call this the homeboy sandman effect, who showed up at more hip hop events that anyone I ever met except myself. The difference between me and him was that he was always sincere!! Very inspirational to me as community musician 🙂
5.Contests and Merch Giveaways-People love contests. They want to enter them. They want to figure rout how to win them. They want to share the rewards with friends.
6.Man Power – Posters are something that is a prince in a town. Posters on every cafe bulletin board. Street corners out side shows. Handbills all around town. At local shows that are similar. Basically we need man power.
8.Sliding into the Inbox (DM) I know it isn’t cool to always chat with fans, but now is the time to do it. Slide into the DMs sometimes. Ask people where they are from. Then if they are from Orlando, invite them out to the show?
9.Facebook Live + Instagram live – It is easier to convince someone a sale when you are chatting with them. Facebook live and Instagram live are essentially the two biggest ways to connect with people.
10.Call people – Believe it or not you should make a call list for every city. Every time you go to a show, you should have a few more numbers. Always get numbers, if you wan tot sell tickets to a show. There I nothing like an old fashioned personal invitation.
Extra Credit: Make a song about a city! Make merch about a city. Macklemore used to make custom “My City ifs Filthy” shirts in Colorado before he did for many others. How do you make someone feel special?
The times are changing from normal flyer passing and doing it for the love. People are busy. People don’t care. How do we make others care? We care about them. Through the music. The content. The attention. The love. The help! Anything I missed? I surely need to keep on keeping on. If you wanna learn about more of me, come catch me on tour.
Check out all the dates below and subscribe to bandsintown to be notified. Also watch my new music video NO YOU CAN’T that premiered on billboard here, with my OY VEY SXSW line up too If you have questions about life or want to hire me for anything, well email me at rapperfriends@gmail.com I’ll probably say yes. Also ask me about SXSW!!