Touring is a bands greatest opportunity for success. But, touring can be very expensive. Getting your tour, band or event sponsored is critical to your success. Sponsorship can off-set production, travel, promotion and virtually any of your expense. The right sponsor can also significantly augment your advertising, publicity and promotions. But, getting sponsorship participation can take a lot of effort and commitment on your part. You will need to prove to potential sponsors that your opportunity will deliver a good return on investment for them.

The following is a step by step procedure we have used at Multimediary Entertainment Marketing to secure hundreds of thousands of sponsorship dollars for numerous tours, events, artists, television programming and feature films. We have done this for several major record labels and both signed and unsigned artists. Now we want to share our knowledge experience so you can do this on your own.

Create an Introduction Letter

The first step in securing sponsorship dollars is to craft a professional introduction letter highlighting the features and benefits of the opportunity you are offering. Some of these features and benefits might include inclusion in advertising, product sampling, banner display and more. After you have given a brief overview of the opportunity close the letter by asking their permission to send them a more detailed presentation. The introduction letter is the most critical part of the sponsorship success equation. If well crafted, it will get your foot in the door.

Demographic Analysis

Understanding your audience is critical. Potential sponsors will want to know who you are reaching. The best way of gathering this information is right at you finger tips. Call radio stations you think should be playing your music. Ask for an account executive and ask this person to fax you their Tapscan, Scarborough or Prism demographic and qualitative information. In all likelihood you will now be armed with a detailed overview of what your audience looks like and can match this up with potential sponsors. You will also have a great hit list of companies to start hitting.

Creating Your Sponsorship Presentation

Now that you have your introduction letter and demographic profiles you are ready to begin creating your presentation. The presentation will seal the deal with sponsors only if it contains all the information they will need to make an educated decision on your opportunity. The presentation must contain the following elements:

1. A Two to three paragraph overview of your opportunity

2. A detailed overview of tour routing, markets and venues

3. An overview of what type of public relations and media support you expect to have and how the sponsor will be included

4. Your audience and demographic profile

5. Tour partnership deliverables or what the sponsor will receive for their investment

6. The total investment you are looking for from your sponsor and the return a sponsor can expect

Now that you have all of the pieces of the puzzle you are ready to go out and shake the trees for sponsorship dollars. With effort and consistency you will land a sponsor. Always deliver on what you promise to retain your sponsors year after year. Under deliver and they will promptly kick you to the curb. Our philosophy is to always under promise and over deliver. With this philosophy you will be assured ongoing solid sponsorship participation for years to come.

Multimediary Entertainment Marketing can get your tour, band or event on the right track by providing you with the following:

• An Introduction letter that garners results

• An accurate Demographic Analysis extrapolated of 5 major markets

• Sponsorship Value Analysis to determine the worth of your opportunity

• Sponsorship presentation in Word and PowerPoint

• Press Release creation announcing sponsorship opportunity

• Press Release distributed to all major markets announcing your opportunity

• We will also include your opportunity in the Multimediary Entertainment Marketing Newsletter which goes out to over 1500 Corporate Brand Managers monthly

• Professional Sponsorship Contract/Agreement you can use to seal the deal

• One-hour Professional Consultation to ensure you’re going in the right direction

For details and pricing please visit our website at: http://www.multimediary.com/sponsorship.html

About Multimediary Entertainment Marketing and Thom King

Multimediary was founded by Thom King in late 2001. Multimediary has worked with Virgin Records, Capital Records, and Universal, Warner Brothers, Lions Gate Films and several other major and independent record labels and entertainment production companies. Multimediary has also worked with several consumer brands including: Lifestyles Condoms, Miller Beer, Red Bull, Monster Energy Drink, Dr. Martins, Snapple, Honda Motor Company, British Petroleum, Adidas and more.

So when I decided I wanted to drop a couple of pounds before the holidays hit I went back to my roots and signed up for a series of dance classes.

Going in I knew that dance requires creativity, focus, control and power. But driving home one day I thought about how much learning to dance is like running a business. Here are 5 business lessons I’ve learned from hanging out in a hip-hop class.

I can do a whole lot more than I thought.

Each lesson is broken down into sections. It doesn’t matter what class I’m in the instructor belts out 8 counts of new steps and I watch thinking, “my body doesn’t do that”.

You know what, after it’s broken down and we practice a bit, “my body can do that”. It’s the same with your business. What business tasks, systems, phone calls, and risks are you not taking because you think you can’t? All it takes is breaking it down and a little practice and you’ll be amazed at what you can do.

It gets easier with time.

My first day in hip-hop class I looked around at the room full of 20somethings and through, “what on earth is a tap dancer doing in a hip-hop class”? I tripped over myself, got frustrated with the steps and pretty much looked like an idiot. But the more I do it the easier it gets and the more fun it is. To top it off I’m surprised at how fast I’m picking it up.

In business you don’t start at the top. You have to try things that make you feel uncomfortable, self- conscious and maybe even (gulp), out of control. But keep at it because soon things that gave you the heebie jeebies become second nature.

It takes more than good feet to be a good dancer.

So there I was feeling a little cocky because I had all the steps down. I was moving all over the floor and then I looked in the mirror and I looked like CRAP.

My feet were perfect. But the rest of me was stiff as a board. I wasn’t moving my arms, hips, head, or shoulders. Nothing. I was only doing 10% of the work, but expecting 100% of the results.

It’s the same in business. If you have the perfect marketing plan, but no systems to back it up, it’s like you’re working at 10%. You need a balance of marketing, sales, accounting, products, staff, etc. Make sure you aren’t dancing with just your feet, use your whole body.

Why do I have to force myself to do something I love?

Sunday morning I’m curled up on the couch with my dog, a nice cup of tea and the TV. I love the dance class, you’d think I’d be ready to jump up and head off to class. But no I literally had to force myself off the couch.

Even though you love what you do, sometimes you’ll have to force yourself to work. Figure out what motivates you to get going even when you don’t feel like it.

A group of peers is really supportive.

When there is a really big class we split into two groups so at the end of the class each group has a chance to really let go without worrying about running into their neighbor. It’s great having more advanced dancers to follow in case I forget the steps. Then at the end the group watching claps and cheers – no matter we look like.

Find yourself a group of cheerleaders. Personally, I have a mastermind group, an accountability buddy, and a coach. All help me when I need help with the steps and cheer for me when I have even a small success.

© 2005 Beth Schneider. Want to reprint this article, feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, Chief Infopreneur of Process Prodigy, is a business process consultant who helps solo-entrepreneurs, small business owners and network marketers who want to systemize their business to increase profits, increase productivity and grow their business without having to give up the family oriented, flexible, balanced lifestyle they desire. Beth works one-on-one with her clients, offers home study courses, and teleclass boot camps. For more information visit http://www.processprodigy.com and sign up for your FR*EE 5- Step Process Starter Kit and FR*EE Process Tips.

Beth Schneider, Chief Infopreneur, uses her natural ability to create systems and motivate people, providing streamlined, effective and consistent processes and procedures.

I’ve come to the realization, after several years of working in the music industry that a lot of unnecessary money, time and effort are spent by people trying to make it in the business, only to find themselves at dead end after dead end. Hey, I’m not here to discount anyone’s success or burst anyones bubble, but I’d be lying if I said that I don’t just cringe at the thought of so many aspiring music entrepreneurs thinking that if they could just get that business loan or line of credit to build their studio, or if they could just send another resume to that major label, that they’ll get that big break they’ve been dreaming of.

Reality Check

There are people inside the big label industry who refer to their work as “Entertainment Slavery,” and from what I’ve seen (which just so happens to be TOO MUCH), I can’t think of a more accurate description for what goes on behind the scenes of this cut-throat business. With the emergence of digital downloading and online music purchasing, you can own your own online music business using various un-tapped online marketing and networking resources, and be up and running very quickly ,on any budget!

REAL People Are Generating Incredible Profits Using This Strategy

Start your own label. Did you know that you could reach “Gold” status (that’s 500,000 albums sold, by the way) on a “Major” rap label contract, and make as little as $39,000. Not exactly striking gold, eh? Yet, I know an independent hip-hop artist who made over $85,000 last year after he quit wasting energy mailing press kits out to every major label, and instead put his time and energy into launching his own independent rap label. Oh…I said “time and energy,” but forgot to mention “money.” Probably because he hardly had to spend any! He paid his $25 for a business license, bought a great record label tutorial program online for a whopping $45, and spent the rest of his time discovering creative ways to sell his music, mostly online. He also signed 2 other artists to his label, and other than the time he spent marketing their music, it really cost him virtually nothing to add these artists to his line-up. Yet, he made money every time they sold an album. He not only put himself in a better position as an artist, but his undeniable marketing success attracted other rappers who hadn’t been successful selling their own music. He could afford to give them generous splits on their music because he figured out how to run his label and nearly no cost, and keep his revenues high by discovering various untapped online marketing channels! The biggest benefit, aside from the money, is that he’s his own boss and doesn’t have to answer to anyone else when it comes to his content, marketing, or anything else related to his music. And in this business, such freedoms are extremely hard to come by!

The Bottom Line

If you want to own your own online music business without having to raise capital, build a studio, rent an office space and all of the other enormous costs that come along with such an endeaver, start an independent record label! As an Independent label owner, you have three major things to gain: your freedom (time and flexibility), money (no ridiculous “splits” with a major label and no middle man), and the ability to promote other artists and benefit financially from doing so. Everybody wins with a successful online record label!

Wondering where to start and need some guidance? Discover How You Can Own Your Own Online Music Business And Start Earning Profits Immediately With Your Own Record Label at: http://www.indielabelsuccess.com

1. Get familiar with your local music scene. Unless you’ve already generated relationships with some of the bigger named artists in the rap industry, it would do you little to no good at this point to simply drop a sampler disk in the mail addressed to a major label or artist. This business is all about relationships and who you know, therefore, you need to get to know artists who have money and are accessible to you right away.

Go to local rap shows/concerts and network with the artists and promoters at these venues (simply reading the entertainment portion of your local newspaper will list upcoming hip-hop shows in your area). Introduce yourself and what you do, and leave them with a sampler disk. Make sure the disk is neatly labeled and includes your name, email, and phone number so that you can be easily reached.

2. Develop your signature sound. Although this strategy could be seen as a more technical tactic, you really need a sound embedded within your music, that is all your own. For example, Timbaland incorporates his beat box ability into his tracks and stacks them with the drums. Dr. Dre’s unique use of piano stabs and his distinctly “heavy” snare drums really set his sound apart. It’s the little, simple things that can make the difference. Experiment with different sounds until you find something unique and catchy.

3. Be willing to give your music away. This is one that can be tough for a lot of us who put excessive amounts of quality time into making our rap instrumental beats. However, it’s absolutely necessary in order to generate demand for your music. The trick here is being able to identify which artists to give beats to. We’ve all got those few friends who are high on hopes and short on cash and are convinced that they are the one rapper on the planet who you should let “jump on” your track and “make it hot.”

Don’t do it! Only give beats to artists who you know have money or financial backing, and have already generated a significant listening audience and fan base. If they like your sound, and it gets a good response at shows and on local radio, your demand has been created and you can now put a price tag on your beats. Many of the artists that I donated beats to in the past, have turned out to be my best paying clients.

4. Create “package” deals. This is highly effective when you’re networking with artists who are in the beginning stages of putting an album together. Most of these rappers like to “stockpile” tracks as they’re writing lyrics and putting everything together for their project. Offer significant discounts for multiple beat purchases. For example, if your going rate is $150 for a single beat, offer 3 beats for $300 and emphasize the discounted amount (“$100 Discount,” or “3 For The Price of 2″) on your website and/or include it in the packaging of your sampler disk.

5. Start your own record label. These days, one of the best ways to create this demand for your beats is by launching your own independent record label. With the ample array of free online marketing resources and with the new wave of digital music downloading, you can provide an effective, low-cost marketing and distribution channel for an artist’s album as part of an agreement where they purchases a certain number of beats from you in exchange. You’re immediately motivated to market for the artist because your company logo, name, and beats are all over their album. Starting my own record label has been the most effective tool in generating demand and ultimately, cash flow from my rap instrumental beats.

Discover How To Take Your Rap Instrumental Beats To a Whole New Level, And Launch Your Very Own Highly Profitable Independent Record Label In As Little As 15 Minutes! Get Your Free Report Today, At: http://www.indielabelsuccess.com

These are some of the hot topics that often come up in private conversations with my industry associates and colleagues. I will attempt to shed some much needed light on these delicate, sensitive and somewhat controversial issues.

To really understand the phenomenon of white music artists singing R&B, you should begin with an examination of the motivation and purpose behind the establishment of black music divisions at record companies in the 60s. While the success of Motown as a black owned operation has been well-documented and highly publicized, many of the competing record labels of that time lacked the personnel to adequately exploit the abundance of musically talented black teens.

White owned record companies shrewdly appointed black music executives who were more in tune and in touch with black music (and the black artists that created and performed it), to help interface with them. This was, after all, a time when race relations were tentative and strained.

Many record companies and radio stations took note of the increasing popularity of R&B music among white teenagers and attempted to preserve racial barriers by denying them access to it. Their denial constituted a potential economic problem since the music industry (like most industries) thrives on supply and demand. Their solution: provide their darling teenaged kids with a “white” alternative; someone who “sounded” black and performed “black” music, a la Elvis Presley, whose popularity was soaring. It wasn’t uncommon for records in that era often to have two different versions – a white version and a black version – which was serviced to the appropriate audience.

In the 70′s, the push toward equality and peace gave birth to a more gregarious and unified music industry. Top bands like Sly & The Family Stone, Tower of Power, Earth Wind & Fire, and The Commodores emerged and enjoyed success throughout the 70s, but many lacked crossover appeal and forced black music executives to search for other viable options in order to save their jobs. One option was Disco – the hot novelty genre.

Disco was more than a new genre; it was a cultural release from the lingering social anxieties and racial tensions of the 60s and emerged as the dominant format because of its mass market appeal and universal acceptance. The music industry eventually sobered up from the lecherous activities and rampant drug abuse of the disco era in 1979, just in time to endure the worst financial year of its existence.

With slumping record sales and a gluttony of music acts that were signed to perform disco songs, the R&B music community returned to its soulful roots and searched desperately for an answer to rectify the problems that plagued it. The answer wasn’t written on the wall, but it was found in the album “Off The Wall” by Michael Jackson, which helped to transition successful R&B music back into a more “Pop-friendly” format that was comparable to R&B in its last heyday of the Motown era.

While Michael captured the hearts and imaginations of white America with his unhuman dance moves, there were plenty of black music pioneers upholding the funky values and virtues of black music as we we marched into the techno era of the 80′s. R&B music seemed to undergo a much needed resurgence.

The R&B bands of the 70s started to downsize in personnel as more emphasis was being placed on solo acts (a la Michael Jackson) and vocal groups. For the R&B music artist, the advent of technology superseded the need to be backed up by a band, ushering in the producer era which R&B music is heavily predicated on today.

It was also at this time that many record companies began merging and restructuring, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs for black music executives who were worked in the black music divisions.

Shortly thereafter, we witnessed the birth of “blue-eyed soul” as white music artists who were performing R&B music begun to receive heavy and steady financial backing by their record labels. Hall & Oates enjoyed unprecedented success in the early and mid-80s and proved to be a litmus test for the acceptance of white artists performing R&B under the guise of Pop music.

While Hall & Oates may have raised a few eyebrows in the R&B music community, eyes were opened widely when George Michael, a former member of Pop teen group Wham!, won a Grammy for the best “black” album in 1989. It was the first time in history that a white solo music artist topped the R&B charts. The R&B music community was outraged as veteran black music artists Freddie Jackson and Gladys Knight denounced the political voting practices of the Academy that renders the nominations.

While the award was well-deserved in terms of record sales and radio airplay, the color lines of who qualified as a “black” music artist had been re-defined. When the smoke cleared, the music industry in general, and R&B music community in particular, would both be changed forever.

As we stood on the doorsteps of the 90s, more black music executives lost their jobs as record companies continued the trend of merging, restructuring and downsizing in an effort to diversify their business interests and increase their profits.

Rap music was (finally) being fully embraced as a commercially viable genre and record companies moved quickly to cash in on it. The appeal of low investments, and (potentially) high returns, constituted a major shift in business practices at record companies, and black music artists found themselves jockeying for position on the revamped priority lists of their now predominantly white music executives. After all, Rap was already achieving a high level of “underground” sales with DJs and word-of-mouth serving as its primary means of promotion.

All the record companies needed to do was to bring it to the surface and supply their distribution and marketing resources. Since much of the music was already recorded, they could also circumvent many of the recording costs as well. While the music industry made an overt and deliberate attempt to position itself to supply what appeared to be an insatiable demand for Rap music, it lost sight of the distinction between R&B and Rap.

R&B music lovers helplessly watched as orders came down from white music executives to incorporate elements of Rap music into R&B songs to make them more competitive with Rap, since Rap music artists posed a clear and tangible threat to the record sales of R&B music artists.

At the time, Mariah Carey and Color Me Badd were enjoying newfound stardom that came (once again) as a result of white music executives pushing a novelty agenda of white music artists performing R&B music. Both of the aforementioned acts were initially viewed (by black audiences) as alternatives to their black competitors (Whitney Houston and Boyz II Men respectively), but with such strong marketing and promotional support, both Mariah Carey and Color Me Badd were able to establish their own identity at a faster rate.

Today, the trend continues with white music executives diligently marketing and promoting white music artists such as Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Joss Stone, Anastacia, etc. singing R&B. Some insiders say that the music industry continues to deliberately and intentionally find alternatives to black music artists to service to white audiences. Industry insiders say that Britney Spears is essentially a white clone of Janet Jackson; emulating her Pop/R&B format, choreographed dance moves, and calculated sex appeal.

It’s suspect when newcomers like American Idol’s Elliot Yamin are quickly embraced and heralded as “great” R&B singers when juxtaposed against longtime R&B survivors like Brian McKnight, Joe, and Anthony Hamilton.

While some will argue that it’s not a simple matter of black versus white since since some of the artists mentioned in this article are not “white,” but are of different ethnicities or even part black. The fact is that the widely held opinion in the black community is that if you don’t look black (possessing obvious African American features), then you are not. You are something else other than black; and “white” becomes a reference to, or a description of, an undetermined racial category.

The new business model of the music industry has created new opportunities for black entrepreneurs, but many of them lack the financial resources to take advantage of them. As a result they are often forced to participate in the production of Rap music, or R&B music with Rap production as they try to manufacture or supply product and artists that will enable them to embark upon partnerships and joint ventures with the same record companies that dissolved their black music divisions in the first place.

History and research show that the music industry has continued to systematically reduce the role of the black music executive, as they are fired and laid off with greater frequency (and less justification) than their white counterparts. Many of those who remain are often relegated to the now dispensable role of liaison, gatekeeper and hand-holder for troubled Rap acts in this new Hip-Hop era. A far cry from a time when they were once responsible for finding, developing and supporting premier black music artists who created some of the greatest music that we now view as the soundtrack to the this country’s history.

Those songs are still the choice of middle-aged Americans who tune into oldie radio stations across the country that have adopted “Classic Soul” as a new format. Where does that leave R&B music artists of today? They are left to compete or join forces with Rap artists since they have been lumped into the same “Urban” or “Hip-Hop” music category.

The formulaic use of R&B to inject a commercial element into Rap music has contributed significantly to the fusion, and confusion regarding the distinction of both genres. This can be traced back to the 80s when R&B acts such as Lakeside, Confunksion, and Teena Marie had huge hits with songs that incorporated Rap (“Fantastic Voyage,” “Electric Lady,” and “Square Biz”), R&B music embarked upon a trial marriage that turned out to be a permanent one.

R&B is now used to bolster the talent level perception, black audience appeal, and record sales of white music artists in every genre. Even Country (a genre that is guarded by a closed-knit circle of protective white executives), borrows heavily from R&B.

Country is a genre that is ripe for infiltration by conventional R&B artists, but unlike R&B music – which has become a community genre with no one race retaining the inherent rights to perform it – the likelihood of that occurring is slim because of the unquestioned and unchallenged exclusion of other races.

The significant issue in white R&B music artists versus black R&B music artists can be narrowed down to one question: who gets the greater commitment and promotion from their record companies to service a larger audience of consumers?

When one considers the commitment level, dedicated resources, and promotional opportunities which are more abundant for white R&B music artists, and that blacks only account for 15 percent of the population, and that white music artists inherit a larger audience to begin with, understanding the green side of white R&B becomes much easier.

Gian Fiero is a recognized authority on commercial music and Independent A&R Specialist who is best known for writing song critiques on Muse’s Muse.com. He has been an influential factor in obtaining record deals for artists signed to RCA, Bust It!, Gasoline Alley and Interscope Records. He currently represents Grammy nominated music producer Cori Jacobs (Beyonce, Pussy Cat Dolls, Lauryn Hill, Teedra Moses, Brooke Valentine, and George Clinton) in addition to being an adjunct professor of music industry studies at San Francisco State University