Maximizing your
XMAS Sales – Part 3

Well, XMAS time is here again and while we all gripe about the commercialization of the holiday it’s still a hell of a time to sell your wares. So what are independent artists doing to move their product this holiday season? I posed the question to 445 of my closest MySpace band friends (i.e. people I don’t know at all) and this is what I learned:

Many folks are going the EP route this year. Hey, it worked for Sufjan Stevens with last year’s multi-EP Christmas package so why shouldn’t the rest of us try it?

Chris King from San Antonio is going to sell a 4 song winter themed (though not holiday music) EP the week before Christmas and, after the New Year package it as a single album with an 8 song EP he did earlier in the year.

Andrea Wittgens from Seattle actually did a version of Angels We Have Heard on High to sell at Christmas last year and this year it got included on Christmas in the Northwest, a CD that benefits children’s hospitals in the area.

Far more popular than the EP, which requires thinking about Christmas sometime in July to get it ready, is the Christmas Sale, which takes almost as many forms as there are bands to do them.

My favorite was a program by Adam Fallon from Chicago, who turns his fans into Santa’s Helpers – they can buy up to 3 of his CDs for $5 each to give as gifts for each friend of theirs that buys one for themselves.

Fans of Cary Cooper from Dallas can count on getting something extra during his annual Xmas sale too - 4 CDs for $40 or if they buy two at the regular price she throws in a bonus EP of unreleased stuff (some even Christmas themed).

And while many bands have learned that any show done around the holidays can technically be considered a “holiday show.” some actually take the time to really do it right. Like gifts, these holiday shows come in all shapes and sizes.

The annual Blowhole Christmas is a cool holiday tradition set begun by Don Ralph of Life in a Blender, which combines music, comedy and authentic moonshine. The itinerant show seems to have found a steady home at Barbés in Brooklyn early each December. The variety show highlights not only Ralph’s music but several comedy sketches written by him and his cohorts.

The Kyle Mann Combo is doing a free holiday show set up through going.com, a new website that uses elements of Facebook and other social networking sites to actually get people out of their houses and out to the clubs.

Khupera Tum from Chicago is tying in a holiday show with their CD release party and the Shells from New York are playing a holiday food drive show at Justin Timberlake’s restaurant (who knew he could cook?) with all the collected cans going to the New York City Rescue Mission.

Whether the winter holiday selling season is secular or spiritual depends on your point of view. Our Left Shoe from Orange, TX told us, “We're giving away free Christmas music. I don’t know if it will spur sales, but Christmas is all about giving right? So maybe the $$ we make isn't important.”

Other bands leverage the XMAS shopping season to improve their bottom line. These savvy marketers know that the easiest sales are customers primed to purchase. Remember, XMAS is secular, invented by retailers and marketers – it’s the make or break 4th quarter that keeps much of the economy out of the red. And no matter what your genre, your fans are prepared to buy from Thanksgiving thru December 25.

Getting in front of shoppers who are scrambling for holiday gifts has been a successful strategy for the Zydepunks from New Orleans. They play weekend gigs at shopping centers right up till Christmas. Even though these shows rarely include a P.A. or Christmas carols, they find that customers already in a shopping mindset tend to buy more than one CD - one for themselves and another 1 or 2 for gifts for other folks – ensuring that everyone has a happy holiday.

And then there’s this take: According to Dave Fuller and the New Snot Nodes Bastids from New York, “CD's are obsolete as are selling mp3's! Free music is the future of music. The music industry is doomed and music will be liberated as a result. Hallelujah!”

David Wechsler writes songs and articles in Chicago, IL and
Brooklyn, NY. You can reach him at david@pinataland.com or at pinataland.com and he wants you to know that he has absolutely no holiday sales going on and wishes you and yours the best for the new year.