How do bookers on Gigstarter find your act? And how do you stand out so that you can have more bookings for performances? The first question can be answered by knowing in which genre and subgenre your music belongs to and the second by formulating the correct niche and micro niche. In this blog we explain why the so-called 'niche marketing' is so important, also when booking performances!
'Getting noticed' is very important if you want to be successful in the music industry. But how can you do that if you don't have a big budget? The answer: Niche Marketing.
What would you rather be based upon the impact you could make:
A small fish in a big ocean?
or
A big fish in a pond?
The latter, of course! If you are a big fish in a pond you can cause ripples in the water surface. You can make an impact rather than having to swim up against every wave.
You can ask a similar questions about your music:
Would you rather be a 'small musician' within a genre?
or
A 'big musician' within a niche?
It's not always about becoming world famous. Usually it's about becoming famous within your own micro-niche. When you're aware of your own micro-niche, people won't only find you faster, but it will also be easier to find fans that are more likely to buy your music. Because they are real fans. And the more real fans you have, the sooner you will get booked for a show.
What is a niche?
"A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focused.'', Wikipedia writes. A niche in music means a 'specialisation' within a certain genre.
Genres can be divided in 2 layers (genre and subgenre) and niches as well (niche and micro-niche).
The best way to explain this is with an example from another industry:
Genre: canned drinks
Subgenre: carbonated drinks
Niche: energy drinks
Micro-niche: sugar free, naturally seasoned energy drinks
A subgenre is a little more specific than a genre. A niche is a specialisation within the subgenre and with a micro-niche you can show what's unique and different about your product.
Lien. Genre: Pop. Subgenre: Singer-songwriter. Niche: Cabaret. Micro-niche: Cabaret with many twists and turnsCreate your own genres and niches
You can do the same with your music
Genre:
The biggest genres such as Pop, Rock, Country, Metal, etc.
Subgenre:
A smaller subgenre such as Pop-Rock, Country Blues, Singer-Songwriter.
Niche:
Things can get a little tricky. A niche doesn't always mean more words, but a smaller target group. Think of things such as: Acoustic Folk Pop, Outlaw Country, Instrumental Jazz, Psychedelic Rock.
Micro-niche:
How do you distinguish yourself? What's unique and different about what you do? Perhaps you mix 2 different music styles? This can differ for each album. For example: Celtic Fantasy Metal, Dance Rock, Dark Fantasy Electro, Fire-fighter Country Music, Psychedelic Nederbeat.
See some examples below:
Genre: Metal
Subgenre: Symphonic Metal
Niche: Female Fronted
Micro-niche: Celtic Metal
Genre: Rock
Subgenre: New Wave
Niche: Synth-pop
Micro-niche: Dark Wave
Genre: Rock
Subgenre: Alternative rock
Niche: Dreampop
Micro-niche: Shoegaze
Still don't know where to start? Research your sources of inspiration and artists that resemble your music on Wikipedia. At the top right you can search on genres. From here you can continue your research by browsing 'Stylistic origins' and 'Derivate forms'.
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