With all the expenses that you are forced to leverage in your career as a musician, choosing this path means you need funds to pay for your daily necessities and business expenses such as musical equipment, new fits, travel expenses from your tours, meals, recording studio costs, and all the other things that come with it. You need to know everything you can to get your music funded. This includes how to get sponsorships. Acquiring sponsors will not only take care of many things financially but it will also help increase your visibility in the process.
But how will you begin the process? Check if you’re ready with sponsorships.
This means that you should already have an established fan base, high social media engagement, thousands of views on youtube, sold-out concerts, and a high amount of e-mail subscribers. All of these will surely help in increasing the possibility of getting sponsored.
Next, write a compelling proposal.
As soon as you have already a list of companies and their contact information, you have to prepare your proposal to pitch your offer.
Your proposal should contain the following:
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Your Bio - If you think the company still doesn’t have a lot of ideas, you have to tell them through your bio on who you are including your achievements and other impressive things about you as an artist.
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Your Band Logo - Place it directly next to to the Company’s logo
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What you need from them - Be clear in stating what you need from them. It doesn't necessarily have to be cash. It can be transportation, T-Shirts, Place to stay, or anything that you think your band needs.
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What you can offer in return - This can be a shout- out to their company Social Media or mentions - like when you are playing on stage you may mention the product. You can also have the product included in your music video. Coming up with a song that they can use for their ads also sounds like a great offer. Putting photos of their product on your social media pages Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter once a week or for a set period of time (like 2 months) may also sound like a great deal.
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Put the Time Frame - You have to indicate if it’s for a local show or a tour and how long it’s going to last
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Add their Perks - You can probably offer tickets for employees and VIP access.
Summary
Once you come up with a proposal, look for the person who has the authority to make decisions on the company. Get the contact information and check if you can set up a meeting on the phone or in-person and pitch your proposal. If you don’t hear back from the company within 3 days, send an email for follow up. Be realistic in choosing the sponsor to pitch. If you’re a local based band with a minimal number of fans, sending a proposal to huge companies might not be the best idea.
Never be discouraged in case your proposal will be turned down. It would help if you ask for feedback so you would know next time on what to improve. Good luck with creating a proposal. Remember, success is a process.