Endorsements - "HOW TO"

[Jesse Zuretti]

Endorsements are virtually useless unless you're touring 2-5 weeks at a time, to both the endorsee and the endorser. Endorsing a musician touring parts of the country is hiring a "salesman" to a degree. Getting endorsed by a company (if you are doing well, musically) can also mean that the company (more than likely just as popular, if not leaps and bounds more popular than the band being endorsed) will be producing publicity for the band/musician.

I've heard hundreds of kids across the country talk about being endorsed by companies like it's a social status statement. Focus on your music - and if it makes waves, you'll be hearing from the companies first.

Also, a real endorsement - in the long run - is a professional partership. If you're paying the company money, you're still a consumer, not an endorser. Bands on a very small level of underground success have acquired gear for free based on their potential. So it's not impossible, and you don't have to be in a huge band to receive support from a company.

Just my two cents

 

[Captain_Awesome]

I think the main point here is popularity or 'presence.' I've seen people with endorsements simply through uploading videos to youtube, but, they are also talented.

 

[Samarus]

I looked at this a while ago and it helped me get the 5 endorsements that I currently have

William Jeffrey Jones Guitars
Lundgren
Sfarzo
Pick Smith
Analysis Plus

 

[Holicx]

Very informative, thank you , i was kind of confused when it came to endorsments but im clear now.

 

[Grimbold]

this answered a lot of my questions
thank you very much!

 

[warhead]

Quite nice topic.
However, people still need to know that getting an endorsement is really hard and not dream too much about it.
I will tell my story. I use Framus amp for 10 years. Bought it at full price at a store with a matching cab.
Have used it on all the gigs I played since I have it(4 European tours in the last 3 years, with 2 more coming up this year, festivals, etc.....), as well as in the studio for an album released by a UK label.
I wrote to the company about what I do and that I would like their permition to put "proudly uses Framus amps" in the CD booklet.
I didn`t ask anything, as I already have what I want to have.
But didn`t even got a reply.
So, people, dream less, think about the reality more.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Quite nice topic.
However, people still need to know that getting an endorsement is really hard and not dream too much about it.
I will tell my story. I use Framus amp for 10 years. Bought it at full price at a store with a matching cab.
Have used it on all the gigs I played since I have it(4 European tours in the last 3 years, with 2 more coming up this year, festivals, etc.....), as well as in the studio for an album released by a UK label.
I wrote to the company about what I do and that I would like their permition to put "proudly uses Framus amps" in the CD booklet.
I didn`t ask anything, as I already have what I want to have.
But didn`t even got a reply.
So, people, dream less, think about the reality more.

Did you send your letter to the Framus distributor for your country or to a contact that was taken from the official Framus website or otherwise?

Usually, when applying for endorsements, you'll want to contact the country's distributor for said brand. With you band history, they should gain interest and ought to give you a level of endorsement based on it.

And once you're endorsed, you're still going to be liasing with the distributor a lot when it comes to your entitlements and other options.

 

[warhead]

Did you send your letter to the Framus distributor for your country or to a contact that was taken from the official Framus website or otherwise?

Usually, when applying for endorsements, you'll want to contact the country's distributor for said brand. With you band history, they should gain interest and ought to give you a level of endorsement based on it.

And once you're endorsed, you're still going to be liasing with the distributor a lot when it comes to your entitlements and other options.

On Framus` website, the endorsement requests are devided by territories....I sent a mail to the "rest of the world" guy, as there was no contact listed specifically for my country.....
And to point it out again, I wasn`t even asking anything from them, just a permition to say publically what I use.....

 

[Guitarholic]

On Framus` website, the endorsement requests are devided by territories....I sent a mail to the "rest of the world" guy, as there was no contact listed specifically for my country.....
And to point it out again, I wasn`t even asking anything from them, just a permition to say publically what I use.....

That is never a problem. I don't think you have to ask permission for publicly saying that you use XYZ brand. Why would they stop you promoting their products for free? Wouldn't make sense!

Distributors are a hard nut to crack, they usually don't care cuz they got other stuff to worry about (like the quarterly statement )

 

[Guitarholic]

Found two interesting articles. One on Artist Endorsements Usfeul?

Artist Guitar Gear Endorsemenets - Useful or Useless?

Many guitar gear companies use artist endorsements as a marketing tool. The idea is that guitarist's gear buying decisions will be influenced by the fact that certain artists use and formally endorse a manufacturer's product.

The question is: do guitarists care?

I have created a 2 minute survey to find out what YOU think!!

Does the fact that an artist endorses a particular piece of gear influence your buying decisions? If the artist gets their gear for free in exchange for endorsing it, does that mean the endorsement has less impact on you? Does an endorsement have more influence if the endorser is a 'big' name? Do you care at all about endorsements?

I think these are interesting questions from my perspective as both a long term guitar player and as an amp manufacturer.

Take 2 minutes to fill out this SURVEY and let me know what you think. As always, next month I'll publish the results!
Mack Amps Artist Endorsement Survey Results!

As you will see below, the simple answer posed by the title of this article (Artist Gear Endorsements - Useful or Useless?) is unequivocal: USELESS!

Statistically, the responses from 175 guitarists (as of when this article was written) overwhelmingly indicated that artist endorsements do not directly influence buying decisions.

However, the comments written by 92 of the respondents seem to me to indicate that although formal endorsements might not directly influence gear purchase decisions, guitarists always check out other player's gear (duh!) and that, in the context of their own sound and guitar playing objectives, they pay attention to what gear is making what sounds.

So what?

Well, from a manufacturer's perspective it might still make sense to pursue endorsements because the exposure of advertising that a certain player uses your gear helps to get it out in front of that artist's fans.

Yes, it appears that when asked guitarists say they don't buy gear just because artist "X" endorses it, but they do pay attention to that artist's gear. I gotta believe that creates a least some influence - simply by exposing a prospective customer to the artist and the gear if nothing else.

The other thing to consider, which may be somewhat controversial, is that perhaps respondents took a side on this issue simply because they were asked to - and that they chose not to admit to being influenced by marketing!

This is technically called the "Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle". This is a theory related to quantum mechanics - physics - that states that measuring or observing something actually alters what is being observed or measured. Put another way, when something is measured or observes it changes from its normal state. Enough with the physics!

What I'm getting at is that maybe up until they were asked to take a hard position - are your gear purchase decisions influenced by artist endorsements or not - the survey respondents didn't really have much of an opinion and happily checked out the gear used by artists they are interested in and, in turn, bought gear that they are interested in - the genesis of that interest coming from a multitude of sources including artist endorsements.

That might be a self-serving bias coming from a gear manufacturer, but I am curious as to why respondents were so adamant that endorsement have no impact on their gear purchasing behavior.

Personally, over the 30 years plus that I have been a guitar player I have to admit that I have formed my opinion of what is good/bad tone and how to get what I believe to be good tone through trial and error, listening to a lot of music and, yes, checking out the gear used by the guitarists I like - some of who endorse certain products.

Artist endorsements have at least made me aware that a certain player has - for whatever period of time from minutes to years - used a particular type of gear. That knowledge has caused me, from time to time, to perform at least a cursory investigation of the endorsed gear.

Having said that I cannot recall ever rushing out and buying a piece of gear because I learned that artist "X" played it. That is what I believe the survey results indicate.

From a manufacturer's perspective, mine at least, I think that endorsements also help to establish a company's brand: what musical genre is the gear suited to, what type of player is the gear designed for, etc. And, of course the biggie is simply exposure.

I don't think we'll ever see the demise of artist endorsements simply because it is another vehicle for a manufacturer to expose their products to potential customers - however directly or indirectly it influences buying decisions.

 

[Guitarholic]

And another one here How Music Gear Endorsements Work… — Steve Lawson: Bass 2.0 — the soundtrack to the day you wish you'd had


It’s one of those perennial questions on bass forums and in emails I get – how do you get an endorsement deal with a bass company? The latest endorsement related discussion revolved around a very friendly chap on on of the bass forums I post on sending me a message to say he was friendly with the owners of a particular company and could put in a word for me for an endorsement deal with them.

Which was very nice buy wholly unnecessary, given that

a) I knew the company owner already,
b) don’t really like what they make b) wouldn’t switch from what I’m using now just because I was offered lots of money (something that’s really not going to happen to a player in my position) and
c) LOVE the stuff I’m using.

Let’s make it clear, getting paid to play someone’s particular product is very rare indeed. Becoming a demonstrator happens occasionally to lesser known players, but that’s just a job like any other – it’s not really a perk, more a cool job. It involves a lot of work, and usually pretty grueling sessions at trade shows. There’s rarely a retainer, and the rate of pay is pretty good, usually, but certainly not something most people could live on…

The Big Boys (probably about 5-10 of them in the world) are on a retainer - signature product sales often incur a royalty for the person whose name is on the front, and there are all kinds of deals struck to get HUGE name players using the gear, which range from split ad campaigns (promoting the gear and the artist’s new album) through to high profile clinic tours that follow the band’s tour, and even stands at arena shows for the company.

Next down are those that get instruments – these are rarely ‘free’, even if you don’t pay for them. They are in exchange for promotional services. They are usually there because the company in question can’t really afford to pay what you’re worth for clinics and appearances and being in ads, so instead they give you gear, which is worth a lot more in hard cash terms to you than it is to them. So I’ve had a few bits of free gear, and in exchange they get the exposure for me using the gear on clinics and masterclasses… it’s more of an acknowledgement thing for what actually happens – my students get to see the gear cos it’s what I play through…

When I left my previous amp deal, and started using AccuGroove, I was offered ‘deals’ of sorts with a host of companies. It was rather nice being courted (no one actually phoned me to schmooze me, but it happened to be around the time of a couple of trade shows and at those trade shows, word got round that I was no longer using the amp I had been using, and I was told by the owners and A & R people from about 6 companies that they would like to ‘work with me’. One of them offered a paid position as demo guy as well. Most of them were much higher profile than AccuGroove, but all had one thing in common – they didn’t get close to the sound I was looking for in my new rig. I knew it had to be stereo and MUCH higher fidelity than it was before. Add to that that I already knew the AccuGroove guys and was friends with them, knew what their speakers could do, I decided to go with quality and friendship over (potential) money and exposure.

Is this because I’m some kind of puritan? No, it’s as much a longer term commercial decision as it is one of ‘integrity’. The guys on the high dollar deals with companies that mass produce cheap crap in China tend to switch fairly often – when someone comes along offering more money, they jump ship, and every time they do, their reputation slides just that little bit further. If I was play in a Nu Metal band to 10s of thousands of people a night, that wouldn’t really filter through, the kidz would just go out and buy the new signature bass and all would be happy.

However, if you’re a solo bassist, you tend to be scrutinised more by the tech-heads. I got loads of emails when I changed my amp set up, asking me what was wrong with the old one, people who’d bought the old one because of me, and wondering if they’d make a mistake etc. The geeks were watching, and I realised that if I was changing every 18 months or so, my credibility was going to disappear pretty damn quick.

So I went with the one that offered me the best possible sound. To get any better, I’d have to go to the pro audio world, and start using studio monitors on stage. Problem with that is, they’d be WAY too heavy, and far too fragile. There genuinely is nothing that could do what I’m doing with these speakers. The nearest direct comparison would be PA companies like Mackie and JBL, but they both tend to optimise their speakers for vocal projection, sacrificing low end and tonal sweetness. They work fine as PAs, not so great as bass amps.

Same with Modulus – I’ve been playing a Modulus bass for over 13 years, the only non-Modulus bass I’ve owned (still own) in that time is my Rick Turner, and their instruments do just about everything I need them to do. They like what I do, I love what they do, and the relationship is mutually agreeable. Add to that that Modulus are, as far as I’m aware, the only bass building company who are striving to use 100% independently certified eco-friendly wood, and you’ve got yourself a match made in bass heaven. it’s the same all the way round.

So if you’re thinking about such things, have a bit of a profile and something to offer a company, my advice would be to forge a friendship with the people who make the gear that you LOVE, rather than just trying to schmooze the A and R people at companies that take out huge ads in magazines.

For the record, the companies that I have some kind of ‘deal’ with [as of Oct 7 2006] are:
AccuGroove Speakers
Modulus Basses
Looperlative
East UK Preamps
Bass Centre Elites Strings
Evidence Audio cables

 

[Guitarholic]

I copy/pasted them in case they take them down at some point

 

[Rick]

Great info, thanks, Jan!

 

[warhead]

That is never a problem. I don't think you have to ask permission for publicly saying that you use XYZ brand. Why would they stop you promoting their products for free? Wouldn't make sense!

Distributors are a hard nut to crack, they usually don't care cuz they got other stuff to worry about (like the quarterly statement )

I wanted to put their actual logo in the CD booklet...and you can`t use any trade mark logo without a permition...at least this is what I think......

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

I think that point the mackie guy touched on about endorsements being effective is a good one. I feel like spending money on say..admins of large forums to help push you brand and whatnot would make more sense instead of smaller bands being endorsed. After all, how many of us ask this forum what we should buy?

Food for thought I guess.

 

[SuperShredderDan]

so i did this



how can i turn this into a deal with ibanez, daddario, zoom, whatever

 

[m3l-mrq3z]

I don't think Thiago della Vega (the guy who also held a speed record) got any endorsement deals from major companies...

 

[Rick]

so i did this



how can i turn this into a deal with ibanez, daddario, zoom, whatever

Did you even bother to read any of this thread?

 

[SuperShredderDan]

I don't think Thiago della Vega (the guy who also held a speed record) got any endorsement deals from major companies...

actually he did. sik pick, carvin, orange, daddario,

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

actually he did. sik pick, carvin, orange, daddario,

He also has 2 albums with 2 bands and a solo album under his belt.

As the thread as already stated earlier, you'll need a musical product that will promote yourself, and enough visibility and exposure to promote the brands you wish to endorse.