Greetings [[name]],
Festivals & Fun
* Reggae Festivals This Week
* Cooking Tip From The Caribbean Cove: Rice with Flavor
* Fun & Games: What's Patois for a style of reggae that uses digital rhythms?
(for answer, see below under Fun & Games)
The Business of Promoting Reggae
* Reggae Festival Guide News & Offerings: Speak to reggae fans
* Ask A Question: Can you give me some tips on compiling Promo Kits for my band?
* Marketing Tidbit: Email Etiquette - When emailing multiple people, use BCC not CC
* About Reggae Festival E-Guide and Contact Us
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Reggae Festivals This Week
Festival listings are believed to be correct. Please
contact the promoter directly for more information.
Thursday-Sunday, July 1-4, 2004
Carican Film and Music Festival
Kingston, Jamaica
www.masaniproductions.com
Hotline: 416-736-6683
Friday-Saturday (8 days), July 2-10, 2004
27th Annual Mayor's Cup Festival and Regatta
Plattsburgh, New York, U.S.
www.mayorscup.com
Hotline: 518.562.9708
Friday-Saturday (9 Days), July 2-10, 2004
Rototom Sunsplash
Osoppo (UDINE), Italy
www.rototomsunsplash.com
Hotline: +39.0434.977314
Friday-Sunday, July 2-4, 2004
Poli Poli Antwerpen
Antwerp, Belgium
www.polepole.be
Hotline: 0032-92229999
Friday-Sunday, July 2-4, 2004
Houston Caribfest
Houston, Texas, U.S.
www.houstoncaribfest.com
Hotline: 866-227-8395
Friday-Sunday, July 2-4, 2004
Summerjam Festival
Cologne, Germany
www.summerjam.de
Hotline: 0049-(0)711-238 50 50
Friday-Monday, July 2-5, 2004
African/Caribbean Int'l Festival of Life
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
www.festivaloflife.com
Hotline: 312-427-0266
Saturday, July 3, 2004
J. Ross-Parrelli Benefit Show
King's Beach- Northshore Tahoe, California, U.S.
www.hlsmusic.net
Hotline: 916-390-3154
Saturday, July 3, 2004
Jah Restoreth our Soul
Little London, Jamaica
www.lostbeach.com
Hotline: 876-391-3260
Saturday, July 3, 2004
Independence Weekend Street Faire, Music & Fireworks
Point Arena, California, U.S.
Hotline: 707-884-4703
Sunday, July 4, 2004
Unity Jam
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
www.unityjam.net
Hotline: 763-566-0034
Are you a reggae festival promoter? Post your festival at
www.ReggaeFestivalGuide.com/post_festival.html
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Cooking Tip from the Caribbean Cove
Rice with Flavor
www.TheCaribbeanCove.com
Plain white rice can be flavored up by adding a slice of sweet
white onion, 2 sprigs of thyme, and a clove to the pot while cooking.
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Fun & Games
What's Patois for a style of reggae that uses digital rhythms?
"Ragga"
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Food for Your Caribbean Event!
Authentic Caribbean Cuisine
Catering for Special Events, Parties and/or Receptions
Dishes such as Jerk Chicken, Rice and Peas
Ackee & Saltfish, and Johnny Cakes - you name it!
The Caribbean Cove
San Francisco Bay Area
510-531-2303
Email: InfoTheCaribbeanCove.com
Website: www.TheCaribbeanCove.com
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Reggae Festival Guide News & Offerings
If you paid for a Reggae Festival Guide magazine,
hold tight... it's being delivered to you via mail;
the magazine just got printed.
Speak to over 1,350 reggae fans by placing
information on your business in this E-Guide
For details please visit: www.ReggaeFestivalGuide.com/eguide.html
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Ask A Question
Can you give me some tips on compiling Promo Kits for my band?
By Bob Baker
As you surely know, one of the primary ways to present
your band or record label to the industry is through a solid
press kit. I've spent a great deal of time over the years
preaching about the art of crafting effective bios, cover
letters, press releases and more. Of course, those tools
provide an excellent way for media people to READ about your
music, but they still have to HEAR it to be truly sold.
With that idea in mind, here are four tips to help you
get your promo kit noticed and your music heard by the media:
1) Send CDs More Than Cassettes
After having received many thousands of packages over the
years, I can tell you that CDs are by far the format of choice.
And for all the obvious reasons: sound quality, convenience and
the ease of cuing up individual tracks. Some time, just for fun,
pop in a cassette you're not familiar with and try finding the
beginning of the second song ... then the third song. It's
frustrating and time consuming. So you can imagine how thrilled
overworked media people are when they have to awkwardly skip
through a tape to get a feel for a new release.
Note: If you think everyone receiving your press kit is going
to play your recording all the way through, guess again. Most of
them will breeze through it to determine if your album is worth
a more in-depth listen. CDs make this process infinitely easier.
And that's your job: to make it as easy as possible for people to
give you press, radio airplay, paid gigs and more.
2) Prioritize Who Gets What
If you want to reach a lot of media sources and simply can't
afford to send everyone CDs, do this: Send your CDs to the high-
priority contacts and places most likely to respond. Send cassettes
to the rest. You can also have a third category of lower-priority
contacts to which you simply send, for instance, your bio and a
photo. In the cover letter that goes with them, ask the recipient
to contact you if they want a free review copy. That way, you're
only sending your CDs to the people who really want them.
3) Take Off the Shrink Wrap
It may seem like a minor thing, but it does take some effort
to pry off that impenetrable plastic that surrounds new CDs and
cassettes. Imagine being pressed for time and having to wrestle
with a dozen (or more) of these babies at one sitting. Again, make
it easier for people to enjoy your music and you will be rewarded!
4) Include Complete Contact Info on Everything
I'll admit it, I'm a contact information freak. If you're going
to be a lean, mean, independent music-marketing machine, you must
do everything you can to get people (both industry folks and fans)
to connect with you. Sending out your press kit and then expecting
people to go to work figuring out how to get in touch with you is
pure idiocy.
Cover letters get separated from bios. Photos get removed from
press releases. J-cards drift away from the cassettes they identify.
Put your contact info on everything! Think of your music marketing
tools as frisky puppies that love to break from the leash and run
away. They need identification tags so the people who find them
know who they belong to.
I hope these ideas motivate you to make it easier for others
to listen to your music and help you succeed.
Bob Baker is the author of "Guerrilla Music Marketing
Handbook," "Unleash the Artist Within" and "Branding
Yourself Online." He also publishes TheBuzzFactor.com, a
website and ezine that have been delivering marketing
tips and inspirational messages to music people of all kinds
since 1995. Get your FREE subscription to Bob's ezine by
visiting http://TheBuzzFactor.com today.
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Marketing Your Reggae Biz Tidbit
Email Etiquette - Respect Your Email Recipients by Using BCC instead of CC
By Kristine Cummins
When emailing multiple people, make sure you keep their email
addresses private by putting in your email address in the "To" field,
and BCC (blind carbon copy) everyone on your list. Your recipients
will appreciate your respectfulness.
See next week's Reggae Festival E-Guide
#7 of 10 Email Etiquette Reminders.
--Kristine is the Webmaster of www.ReggaeFestivalGuide.com.
She specializes in custom, affordable, fast downloading Websites
for small businesses. Call for quote 415-213-1914.
www.KristineCummins.com
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About Reggae Festival E-Guide & Contact Us
The Reggae Festival E-Guide is a weekly ezine through the
summer festival season, and monthly during the winter. It is
created by RBA Publishing LLC which publishes 2 popular
print magazines annually: Reggae Festival Guide and Blues
Festival Guide. The publisher, Kaati, is a member
of the Reggae Ambassadors Worldwide (#111).
Advertise in this E-Guide: www.ReggaeFestivalGuide.com/eguide.html
RBA Publishing, LLC
P.O. Box 50635
Reno, NV 89513
Website: www.ReggaeFestivalGuide.com
Email: NewsReggaeFestivalGuide.com
1-775-337-8344
Please feel free to pass this ezine along to your friends.
However, we ask that you forward it in its entirety.
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