Getting a Sponsorship..

[khaos11]

hi all,

i was really wonder how brands like Gibson and Ibanez sponsor musicians in Singapore. My friend told me something about Gibson supporting the local music scene as such he got his les paul from them, kinda like a loan thingy.

So my question here is, how can i go about getting myself sponsored too... do i have to play like a hundred shows before i get noticed or is there someone i can probably talk to.

Do i have to be as big as great spy or electrico b4 someone will sponsor me?, i dun think so rite? just have to know the right people.. anyone care to intro me pls?

this is just a tot, not that i'm hard up for a sponsorship or something... i just wanna know how the industry works thats all...

hope someone can ans me. thnks

cheers,
khaos
:mrgreen:

[teokiatuan]

hehe i'd like to know too, so bumps for you

[Avria]

my bro's friend got a sponsorship from gibson by sending in his demo to gibby hq. well. the other part of the deal is that he must use the gibson in every performance to showcase gibson. but he gets to choose 1 guitar from their whole range. how great is that? well that should be the way for guitar sponsorship, sending in demos. well good luck bro.

[wayne1991]

theres a diff between sponsored and endorsed/supported
if im not wrong its quite easy to get endoresed and supported, just go talk to them..and yeah its like a loan.. have to borrow and return, quite troublesome i must say..

[edder]

Always remember that when it comes to sponsorship/endorsements, this is an INDUSTRY and its all about VALUE.

What is your worth?
How visible are you?
What are your creds?
How long have you been in the scene/industry?
Do you fit into the company's targetted market segment?

Endorsment/sponsorship = marketing and promotion = dollars and cents.

For small outfits like mine, its who I know, who I respect and how many pedals I can afford plus some of the above. There are so many that I know and respect but I'm no big time player with a marketing budget. There's no budget even to speak of. So I just do what I can and hope no one gets offended. :P

[spartacusx]

who cares abt guitars. . . i wanna have my effects sponsored/endoresed/supported/watever u call it ar...

[zax]

Ok , many people have different perceptions of this whole endorsement thing .

If you really want it , concentrate on your music . Write more songs , play more shows and rock the brains out of more people. Trust me they'll find you.

It is basically a loaner program where you use their guitars for a period of time and return it when you are done , I usually switch guitars when I return but I usually stick to a standard few models .

Of course it is better play your own guitar(especially acoustics) but hey I own my fair share of kickass guitars and there is nothing like playing a different guitar at every show !

There is NO DIFFERENCE between endorsed and supported , it's just the way bands choose to phrase it , they are allowed to post on their pages that they are endorsed or sponsored whatever floats their boats .

The people at Gibson are extremely nice and helpful , I can tell you that they are the most pleasant people to work with and are genuinely interested in helping our local musicians , some of them even play in bands please don't ever call it a cheap marketing trick and all. Every company has different ways of advertising , lets be logical . Which company will give out free stuff without thinking of at least a long term profit ?

Anyway you must be sincere , do you really like the brand or are you just after the whole idea of being endorsed . Some bands do give it up because they're more comfortable with other brands.

[zax]

who cares abt guitars. . . i wanna have my effects sponsored/endoresed/supported/watever u call it ar...

Thats very possible ! hahaha but go find out yourself

[khaos11]

hmmm, i guess the final conclusion is, keep writing ur stuff, playing gigs, make people love ur music and etc.

i so agree on marketability especially at bad economic times like today... no point endorsing you if u rarely play shows cuz there wouldn't be a place for u to showcase their brands.

now the next big question, how does one find a marketability in ones music... cuz i see the current trend in local music... and huys, seriously theres a problem with support... so pls do enlighten me a lil. how can ur music be marketable if ur own Singaporeans dun support u. does every one here have to play Mandarin songs. ONLY then can u move to bigger places like taiwan or hong kong to sell u music with much success? i tot Singapore's 1st language in English? as such whether be it english/malay/tamil/spanish/italian/french... etc, you are just gonna accommodate to a small group OR play as a show band in the pubs.

i believe the scene back in the 60's, 70's and 80's were so much better. locals supported the music... there was a thriving scene. I bet if we were to be like back then, this endorsement thingy would be so much more beneficial? If this companies are trying to rekindle the local music scene's flame by "endorsing" musicians, i think its wrong...

Since singapore got SOOOO many campaigns, (speak good english, Sober is the new cool, Hua Yu Cool... etc) why dun make one more, SUPPORT MUSIC LOCAL MUSIC SCENE. i know radio stations are doin their best and wat not. what i'm suggesting is flood it the same way the Gah Ment floods our minds with these campaigns.... place it on the bus stop/ buses/ mrts/ buildings/ TV/news papers/ basically everywhere la. Only then would i say that this endorsement thing would be beneficial to the overall scene. If this guys wanna market, why not help out by flooding our minds with THE SCENE.

hope this raises some very important questions in our heads. Is our scene hanging by a thread? if not, where are we goin?

cheers,
Khaos

[wjl123]

how can ur music be marketable if ur own Singaporeans dun support u.

You don't have to rely on our fellow Singaporeans to sell your music right... Like MrBig, they're American but their music is widely marketed and released in Japan! They did not have much success in the US initially...

If you got the talents and good stuff, surely people would support you, and if people here are blind enough not to notice it then find a new crowd! I'm pretty sure there would be new supporters.

So don't think that you have to make it big in your home country first...

[EDIT] Also you would like the world to recognize your music, I'm sure not just fellow Singaporeans. There's the internet now, MySpace, Youtube, Facebook, use them to reach out to people from different parts of the world.