SurfaceUnsigned

Press
Surface Unsigned has a vast data-ba se of press-contacts for each area of the country (Northwest, Midlands, Southeast). The Surface schedule is submitted to national press as well as to local news and entertainment sections. We will be informing press about the Festival and will be inviting press to the events.

Other Promotion
Surface Unsigned makes a particular effort to promote bands that stand out to music-related businesses, such as:
- Promotion Companies
- Artist Management Companies
- Music Distribution Companies
- Radio
- Independent record companies
- Music Industry contacts and our sponsors.

Local level promotion
- Flyering
- Promotion directly with the venues where the events are being held
- Local Music Magazines
- Local industry contacts

Reviews
Surface Unsigned invites a journalist to every gig, who will write a review on your band, which is then published on our website, which you can copy and use for your own promotion. Professional photographers are hired for the latter rounds of the Festival to take photos of each band.

You - the bands
We expect you to also self-promote your gig. Please be aware that the more people you bring to the event the better the atmosphere will be and the more you will be paid. Fan support is fundamental in all areas of the music industry and we therefore expect promotion of Surface Unsigned gigs to be a team effort.

Merchandise
Surface Unsigned actively encourages bands to sell merchandise at Surface gigs. All Surface gigs are separated by genre, meaning you will play on a night with bands of a similar style of music. This gives you the opportunity to increase your fan ba se as all audience members will be fans of your genre. Please take this opportunity to promote yourself to new people and sell merchandise, also gaining extra profits for yourselves.

Surface Unsigned Committee
The Surface Unsigned Committee will consist of a panel of music industry representatives that will deicide the bands that will receive endorsements, cash sponsorship, and recording time. The Committee will have the privilege of seeing the 14 very best unsigned acts from around the U.K. that will appear at the National Showcase on Saturday 13th September 2008 at the Birmingham
Academy 1 (Main Stage).

Surface Unsigned Magazine
The top 14 bands of the Surface Unsigned Festival get a feature in the Surface Unsigned Magazine. 50,000 copies are distributed nationwide once the Festival is over:

CIRCULATION:

1. With the number of unsigned musicians growing, the UK sees a record amount of recording and rehearsal complexes in all areas of the country. 15,000 copies are distributed as a free magazine to all rehearsal and recording complexes throughout the UK on an annual basis in October of every year.

2. The Magazine is handed out to visitors of Music Live – the biggest music making exhibition in Europe (7-9 Nov 2008). Last year Music Live saw 23,000 visitors.

3. The Surface Unsigned Magazine is handed out at every event of the Surface Unsigned Festival running from February to September every year. The 2008 Surface Unsigned Festival sees a total of 210 nights of live unsigned music in London, Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, involving over 3,000 musicians and over 40,000 fans of unsigned music. In 2009 the Surface Unsigned Festival will be expanding to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Brighton and London involving over 6000 musicians and over 65,000 fans of unsigned music. We expect around 10,000 copies to be taken home from the Festival.

4. 5,000 copies of the Magazine will be distributed to local music shops, universities, schools/colleges, other music-related businesses and bars/pubs/cafes/music venues in areas surrounding the Surface Unsigned Festival (as stated above) on a continuous basis.

TOTAL: 50,000

Please also take a look at www.surfaceunsigned.co.uk/magazine

Surface Unsigned TV
We are in the process of launching Surface Unsigned TV - www.surfaceunsigned.tv