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The Endorsement Myth Busted
Hello friends
My name is Anthony King and I'm often asked about how to get endorsements. There is no 100% super secret to get endorsed. Endorsements are based on relationships between in this case the company and the artist (key word is RELATIONSHIP) however I will share with you a little on how they work and what most of the companies are not interested in.
The first myth is Chops: Forsome starnge reason most believe that amazing speed is the key or being able to out play the one musician who might be getting a good amout of attention. It does not matter how fast, how slick, how tricky you are the bottom line is the relationship you establish and often first impression is the lasting impression.
Musical instrument manufactures with artist relations departments can smell a musician looking for FREE equipment from a mile away..... Musicians believe that because they are on cd's, playing a lot of shows, have been on tv and are friends with someone famous that this is the ticket for endorsement.... WRONG!!!
First of all: if you are a working professional musician and you are playing on cd's, playing a lot of shows ect. gues what? thats what you should be doing! thats nothing special in terms of the company your trying to get with, however on the other side of this is that if you are an established musician with a history, musical influence, good reputation as a respectful person then these are some of the things companies look for as a start.
I said that to say this, we all won't have endorsement deals much like we all won't be millionares so having an endorsement does nor should it determined our success or view of success. You are successful if you are doing what you love to do and other people are inspired by what you do as a musician and the product you produce.
I want to share something with you on a personal note: Between 2004 - 2006 I was the Artist Relations Manager for Bauer Percussion of Brazil and the first American artist I signed to a two year contract was Eric Moore II. Eric had to wait for one year before I signed him and I met him only two days after he won the Guitar Center Drum Off.
The reason for this was that I did not want to sign him toa deal only to have another company offer him either a better deal via more equipment or just a name brand company he might have just wanted to be able to say he was with (this happens more times then not because a lot of younger drummers only want to impress friends). The second reason was that I wanted Eric to understand what commitment was, know about the product to the point that when he talked about the drums he could say more then "They Sound Great!"
After a solid year of communicating with Eric, two things happend: We've become very close friends and he learned a lot about responsibility, professional attitude and he has become a better musician not because of me but because of the experience.
I have also helped several companies as a consultant create artist contracts, helped design their artist relations departments and consult on clinic programs for the artist. I wanted to give you my background before I lay the big bomb!
Heres the number two problem a lot of young drummers have when requesting endorsements from companies: SPELLING and GRAMMAR! It's a sad truth but I've wondered about our education system when I would receive e-mails when the person's spelling and grammar was so bad that I was embassased for them.
Companies do not respond to street communication! Poor spelling also does not help when you spelling Cymbals like this "Cymbols, Symbels, Cimballs ect." sad but true and also using words like "Wuz, Hit Me Up, I'm a beast on the Drumz, ect." This kind of request go un-responded to.
In the end what endorsements are about is the relationship, the amount of sales one can generate, exposure for the company that can help marketing i.e GRAMMY, Platinum Sales, Movie Sound Tracks, High Profile gigs (American Idol, Super Bowl, Olympics ect.)
Look at your art as an investment.... this way you get what you can afford and keep in mind that being a professional musician is one of a few professions that you can pay off your investment quickly if done correct.
One way to look at this is: lets say your in a top 40 band and make $100 a night, the drum set you want is $2,000 well thats only 20 shows. I would save money in my youth working fast food to buy my first set of drums and I would count the shows until I arrived at the amount I purchased my drums for and then looked at everything from that point on as profit.
So work on becoming better musicians (to the young drummers) and what is ment for you will present itself and you will know what to do.
I hope this helps someone....
Anthony King
My name is Anthony King and I'm often asked about how to get endorsements. There is no 100% super secret to get endorsed. Endorsements are based on relationships between in this case the company and the artist (key word is RELATIONSHIP) however I will share with you a little on how they work and what most of the companies are not interested in.
The first myth is Chops: Forsome starnge reason most believe that amazing speed is the key or being able to out play the one musician who might be getting a good amout of attention. It does not matter how fast, how slick, how tricky you are the bottom line is the relationship you establish and often first impression is the lasting impression.
Musical instrument manufactures with artist relations departments can smell a musician looking for FREE equipment from a mile away..... Musicians believe that because they are on cd's, playing a lot of shows, have been on tv and are friends with someone famous that this is the ticket for endorsement.... WRONG!!!
First of all: if you are a working professional musician and you are playing on cd's, playing a lot of shows ect. gues what? thats what you should be doing! thats nothing special in terms of the company your trying to get with, however on the other side of this is that if you are an established musician with a history, musical influence, good reputation as a respectful person then these are some of the things companies look for as a start.
I said that to say this, we all won't have endorsement deals much like we all won't be millionares so having an endorsement does nor should it determined our success or view of success. You are successful if you are doing what you love to do and other people are inspired by what you do as a musician and the product you produce.
I want to share something with you on a personal note: Between 2004 - 2006 I was the Artist Relations Manager for Bauer Percussion of Brazil and the first American artist I signed to a two year contract was Eric Moore II. Eric had to wait for one year before I signed him and I met him only two days after he won the Guitar Center Drum Off.
The reason for this was that I did not want to sign him toa deal only to have another company offer him either a better deal via more equipment or just a name brand company he might have just wanted to be able to say he was with (this happens more times then not because a lot of younger drummers only want to impress friends). The second reason was that I wanted Eric to understand what commitment was, know about the product to the point that when he talked about the drums he could say more then "They Sound Great!"
After a solid year of communicating with Eric, two things happend: We've become very close friends and he learned a lot about responsibility, professional attitude and he has become a better musician not because of me but because of the experience.
I have also helped several companies as a consultant create artist contracts, helped design their artist relations departments and consult on clinic programs for the artist. I wanted to give you my background before I lay the big bomb!
Heres the number two problem a lot of young drummers have when requesting endorsements from companies: SPELLING and GRAMMAR! It's a sad truth but I've wondered about our education system when I would receive e-mails when the person's spelling and grammar was so bad that I was embassased for them.
Companies do not respond to street communication! Poor spelling also does not help when you spelling Cymbals like this "Cymbols, Symbels, Cimballs ect." sad but true and also using words like "Wuz, Hit Me Up, I'm a beast on the Drumz, ect." This kind of request go un-responded to.
In the end what endorsements are about is the relationship, the amount of sales one can generate, exposure for the company that can help marketing i.e GRAMMY, Platinum Sales, Movie Sound Tracks, High Profile gigs (American Idol, Super Bowl, Olympics ect.)
Look at your art as an investment.... this way you get what you can afford and keep in mind that being a professional musician is one of a few professions that you can pay off your investment quickly if done correct.
One way to look at this is: lets say your in a top 40 band and make $100 a night, the drum set you want is $2,000 well thats only 20 shows. I would save money in my youth working fast food to buy my first set of drums and I would count the shows until I arrived at the amount I purchased my drums for and then looked at everything from that point on as profit.
So work on becoming better musicians (to the young drummers) and what is ment for you will present itself and you will know what to do.
I hope this helps someone....
Anthony King
Tags: endorsements
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Nick Costa on -
Bermuda Schwarz posted an excellent FAQ on endorsements back in 1997 on RMMP. Here's the link: http://www.bermudaschwartz.com/endorsement/index.html
I think your point on how one presents oneself is very relevant. Spellchecking is good.....
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Permalink Reply by Bruce Royal on -
Valid point you state Anthony. if you carry yourself in a well rounded, well respected manner, people will notice this, and will want to develop a relationship with you, and conduct business with you.
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Permalink Reply by Rickey Duffy on -
Anthony, You really laid a solid foundation on this subject. For the guys out there who think this is just talk, let me say I am a witness. I was one of the ones who not so much has bad grammar or just wanting free stuff, but I just didn't know. I met Anthony King just a few weeks ago and on am in the process of working three major drum endorsments. Anthony talked to me and showed me some different ideas and ways to word my e-mails and to better market myself. And in the matter of maybe 1 month I have had some major opportunities. I have to give much respect to God for allowing Anthony and I to meet. I also have to say thanks a million to Anthony King for being so humble and concerned about other musicians and not just himself.
Keep it jesus
Rickey Duffy Jr. - Attachments:
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Permalink Reply by DeHaven on -
hey Anthony,
great post!
this is something that all musicians should read and follow.
kats also need to understand what an endorsement means and the responsibility of it.
yes, the company offers you the opportunity but you as the artist are endorsing the company. which means you have a responsibility to that company and what it stands for, not just "what kind of gear can i get?" you want to be able to be proud of your situation "hey, i endorse (represent) xyz company" just getting a deal for the sake of having one is not the right way to go.
also think about what kind of support will that company realistically give you. yeah, it's great to get free stuff or gear at a dicounted price but does the company really believe in you and support you and your career?
Anthony is right, you must establish a relationship with a company and believe in their product. so even if you never get a deal with that company you would still use their product because it's the right gear for you. that's dedication and passion. that's a relationship a company can and should get behind.
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Permalink Reply by PJ Spraggins on -
..........amen brother! I couldn't have said it better myself.
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Permalink Reply by Theo Brown on -
You are always on point.You continually have my utmost respect and trust.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Brian on -
Thanks for taking the time to help everyone out man, all valid points.
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