Archive for the ‘Music Career Advice’ Category

You’ll probably know that I’m a great fan of the ramblings of Bob Lefsetz. I heartily recommend that you sign up to his newsletter.

In one of his posts this week he referred back to an interview with Jerry Greenberg on Bite Me! in which Jerry makes a major statement on how to build your fanbase.

It almost passed me by but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that it is exactly the ideology that we now follow with our artists and which we suggest you should too.

The piece said, “Bud Prager—who managed Leslie West in the old days and Felix Pappalardi—he’s a great producer who I have the utmost respect for. One day we went for lunch…it was 1979/1980 and MTV had just started. Warner Communications funded MTV in the very beginning along with American Express.

Steve Ross had a vision of creating music on TV and having it be a marketing tool. Bud said to me as MTV progressed that he felt MTV hurt the record business. His whole philosophy and, I have to agree with him, was that we broke bands by them going out and getting a fanbase – a real fanbase. AC/DC started out in a little club called Max’s Kansas City then they worked their way up to the Fillmore then the Forum and then the stadiums. They built a fanbase, but so many of these artists just became these video stars and you could see them on video. The only way you could see AC/DC, before videos, was to wait until they went on tour.

Bud felt that in the long run it hurt the artist and hurt their career and then it also created a lot of what we call “The One Shot” video artist – who were really acts that people got because of the video but when they really had to go out and do it there was no substance.”

It’s obvious really isn’t it?

If you are hyped and leveraged into the national (or international) consciousness, you’re going to have to be spectacular to make it last. All the kids who get the big break on the TV talent shows cannot sustain the level that those shows give them.

Why not? They just aren’t actually talented enough, but, more importantly, they haven’t built a fanbase. They get instant recognition but it fades in the public interest when the next series comes along.

I can see that the same was true with MTV – and the same is still true for major label artists today that are over hyped and simply manufactured. Sign someone half pretty and get them a load of songs from the current writer / producer du jour. It all sounds good enough but 99 times out of 100, there isn’t anything to back it up. I’ll accept that there will occasionally be an exception.

BUT – if the right thing to do in order to build a career is build a fanbase, then how do you do it?

Look at Arcade Fire – how did they do it. Quality material, no bullshit, slow build of momentum, unreal live shows, true talent.

No-one wanted to sign them when they started, so they did it on their own!

The message is the same now as it was for AC/DC when Jerry Greenberg remembered how they started.

Get your material strong and go out and play it. Watch this video of legendary Island Records boss Chris Blackwell telling how a live show and word of mouth is all you need.

So now that the music industry has changed and everyone wants music for free, how do you build that fanbase and why is that change a good thing?

Well, you can still do what AC/DC did and go out and play. You must! You’ll improve, you’ll bond as a unit and you’ll find champions who will tell everyone how good you are.

BUT - you now have an advantage that outdoes MTV in it’s heyday and will allow you to build momentum slowly, reach a global audience, perfect your style and sound – all the while sticking two fingers up to the old music industry hegemony.

The internet. You must use the internet to build your fanbase.

Here’s what you do:

1. Get your act straight. Right people, right look, right sound and BRILLIANT material. Not ‘good enough’ – brilliant is what is required.

2. Buy domain hosting for your band’s website. Use Hostgator. I know you have loads of choices, but, trust me, this works really well and I have never had a problem.

3. Build a website – Use Wordpress, hosted on your own domain (that’s downloaded from wordpress.org not hosted at wordpress.com). Personally I always use Thesis as the theme for the site for a host of reasons that I won’t go into here. It is awesome. If you think you can’t build a site in Wordpress and/or Thesis, you will be able to. Honestly – there are loads of videos on YouTube to talk you through it and if you get stuck, find someone at your school, college or even on Elance to do it for you.

4. Build a list of fans using serious email software. You can use Fanbridge – it works fine – but if you are really serious, there is only one choice – Aweber. It will do more than any competing mailing list software and it will last you your whole career.

5. Give people something really valuable in return for joining your mailing list. Sure, give them mp3’s of a few tracks. But, you can do so much more. Give them a whole album and ask them to get their friends to come and sign up for it.

I love Pretty Lights and what he does – 3 albums, 2 EP’s and some live material. All FOR FREE. How does he make a living? He sells merch and has a massive live following. If he hadn’t given this music away he would not have gotten anywhere. The free music gave him the momentum. Now he makes more money from his music career than if he had signed to a major – by a factor of 20 or more. Plus he gets to be a true artist and do exactly what he wants, when he wants with his art.

6. Put the sign-up box for the free stuff on the top right of every page of your site – what designers call ‘above-the fold’. Why? Because it works. Also – have a dedicated ’squeeze page’ on the site or even on another domain that you can send people to. He doesn’t do this, but Pretty Lights could have a squeeze page at freeprettylights.com. It’s easy to remember and you just put a single page site there with just a small pitch and a sign up box for your Aweber list.

7. Build a quality profile (and interact – don’t ignore any of them) at MySpace (yep, still – it is the music directory and you need to be there), Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr. This is the minimum – there are others that you might wish to add.

8. Shoot LOADS of video of your band. Writing, rehearsing, gigging, in the van – goofing off. It doesn’t matter. Send emails to your list at least once a week telling them to check out something that you have posted somewhere online. DO NOT just email them the week of a show asking them to come. Be in regular content. Put those videos on your YouTube channel and all over the place.

9. Post on Twitter and Facebook all the time. Not inane stuff but things that your fans will want to know.

10. Don’t neglect the art! Keep writing. Write much more than you record and rehearse as much as you write. Recording is important and you need tracks to give away, but it is having great material that is going to make your fans talk about you to their friends and build that fanbase. Writing is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing.

11. Play live. Anywhere for anyone. Not to the extent that your fans can’t keep up. But spread wider, cross genres, make new fans. Obviously, collect every name and email address that you can at gigs. Go to other band’s gigs – hand out cards with your site address on them at those gigs. Hang out, meet other bands and meet their manager, agent, sound guy….whatever.

12. Be tired. No, really. If you’re working a full time job and you’re doing enough to succeed, you are going to be exhausted. The people who can keep going when they are exhausted will win.

There you have it – I think that’s a blueprint on how to build your fanbase. I’ve just read it over and, in essence, that is all there is to it.

Of course, I can and will expand on many of those points and go further another day – how do you move from this point to selling records, how to go up a level etc.

But, right now, that’s not important. It’s not important since you MUST build a fanbase to get started and to achieve anything – whether that is DIY and Direct-to-Fan success or the aim of getting signed. Either route will happen much more easily if you have built the fanbase yourself – that’s what other fans will see so they will want to be in the in-crowd – and it’s what agents. managers and record label A&R will see that will help take you to the next level.

One last thing. This is not ’selling out’. This is ’selling’. It does not cheapen the art. It gives you a chance.

It will only happen if you do it – start now.

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I just read about this minisite that Devo put up a few days ago and tweeted it, but thought I ought to leave a permanent post about it and just give a little more detail. It’s a brilliant piece of online music marketing.

Why?

Well, it’s a perfect example of fan acquisition, engagement and selling. An object lesson in the mindset that you should have in the modern music business. Sure, Devo have label funding and this particular idea might be too expensive for you if you haven’t got their budget, but it’s the mindset that you need to learn from and the steps that you need to employ.

Have a look at the promo video that they have made for their ‘Devovision’ YouTube channel…….

…..and then go and take the test at the Devo song study site.

So, the site is there to help Devo get feedback from their fans to choose what tracks should be on their next album. But, it’s not just for that is it?

No.

When you’ve listened to and selected your favourite 12 tracks, you’re then asked to pick your favourite. Now, that information (data, if you must – but that makes it feel too clinical!) is obviously very valuable to begin with. Devo are finding out what their fans want on the record. That’s great for them as they can pick the record that most appeals to their fans. Remember that in the digital music age you are free to make music for your fans, rather than for radio or your record company bosses, but you need to know what they want.

However, what is also going on as you select tracks is that you are pre-selecting yourself as a future Devo album buyer. Not everyone – in fact, just a small percentage – but you’re now engaged in the debate and will, despite yourself, need to find out more when the record is released.

I bet that the track that most people select as their favourite is the lead single! Don’t you think?

The next bit is even better. So, you’ve picked your favourites and then you’re asked to give up your name, email address and location. We’re all used to giving this up for free music, but here we’re doing all the giving and not getting anything for free….but the humour in the site and the historical oddness of the band has helped us want to be part of the process. The request for additional thoughts and a photo (nothing rude, please!) all just adds to that sense of ‘Devo fan’ inclusion.

I’d have added a surprise bonus. When you click the final ‘Submit’ button, it would’ve been great to be taken to another page where you were thanked and maybe given a free download of a couple of tracks or a pre-order button for the album with a discount.

In online music marketing it’s essential to remember that your fans are ‘hottest’ to take action just when you’ve engaged them, usually by giving them something free, but here by giving them a sense of ownership and having some fun with them. That’s the time to sell them something or give them something else for free to cement their love of your band.

An unannounced bonus as a thank you would’ve made this perfect. And I’d have sent an email to each person who did the survey and signed up, immediately, saying ‘Thanks’ too.

So, what else do Devo get out of this?

Well, obviously, they’re building a very targeted list of fans and, in particular, as I said above, people who are pre-selecting themselves to buy the next record.

But, the minisite also engenders discussion and is newsworthy itself – thereby spreading across the internet and by word-of-mouth, bringing more people in to the site to learn about Devo. An idea like this is, by its very nature, inherently viral and will do more than just reach existing fans. It can even ready traditional offline media to be more interested in the band when the new record has its traditional release.

Devo have been no slouches when it comes to using the internet to connect with a pre-web audience from their original incarnation. But, because they were making records before all the online marketing techniques that bands are now using came in to play, they need to use all the tricks they can to dig up old fans and get them on to their email list.

It reminds me of the Led Zeppelin reunion concert a year or two ago. With no database of fans from their active years, the need to register your name, email address and location for the ballot for tickets for the only show, brought in a million fans in a matter of weeks. I wonder if that list will be used time and time again to market re-issue albums and merchandise to Zep fans?

So, have a look at the Devo song study site and see what you can learn from it to apply to your own efforts marketing your band and reaching your fans.

Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

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I saw the email below quoted earlier today in Bob Lefsetz’s Mailbag round-up.

This isn’t on his site – you get it if you are on the mailing list. You know I love Bob’s perspective on the state of the industry and I often tweet his posts (I strongly recommend that you sign up to his list whether you agree with everything he says or not.)

But, this email that he had received from a senior industry figure from the UK really caught my attention as it set out the fundamental view about what you need to succeed that we bang on about here – the message that we want to get across. It is one man’s view of all you need to know about the music business.

The writer is Richard Griffiths, whose bio you can read through that link. Richard is very well respected throughout the industry and has very many years of experience. Our paths had crossed a few years ago when an artist I managed was signed to Sony/BMG and I found him to be honourable and great to deal with. His many successes qualify him to make these kind of observations.

Richard graciously said that I could reproduce his email to Bob here – it’s short and to the point but sums up perfectly what it takes to succeed as an artist in the music business.

Take the advice on board.

His email to Bob said:

It’s all about the 5 pieces of the jigsaw to get the perfect picture.

• You need talent
• You need ambition
• You need work ethic
• You need luck
• You need business taken care of

Have all those and you have the perfect picture. You’re Paul McCartney or Elton John, etc.

Its possible to be successful without any 1 or 2 of these pieces even the talent one. Madonna showed what an initial small talent could do with all the other pieces.

I’ve worked with many very talented artists who didn’t have ambition and-or work ethic and therefore failed.

I’ve seen brilliant managers/label heads make the most of little talent.

I’ve seen lousy managers/label heads fuck up brilliant artists.

Over the years I’ve come to realise that actually as long as there is SOME talent the other pieces of the puzzle are far more important to having success.

Obviously with GREAT talent the other pieces have a lesser role except the business partner.

Look at all the GREAT talent and how they nearly all had a great manager.

Sometimes they fall out with them like Bowie or Elton but without Tony DeFries and John Reid those icons would have had a different career path.

The problem in today’s world is that too many new artists think that with exposure and a bit of talent they can have careers.

They don’t realise that it takes a lot of work and the ambition to succeed to last.

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I have unashamedly stolen this from Frank Kern – a much respected internet marketer – who put it on his blog a few days ago.

I’m not going to apologise too much as I felt that the content of the video is so applicable to the people who read this blog that it’s worth having it hosted here (rather than just tweeting the link to Frank’s blog), since I want to be able to come back and refer to it in the future – I’ve already watched it three times!

What you’ve got is a video compilation of snippets of wisdom from Will Smith. It doesn’t matter what you think of Will for you to get something out of watching this video. Why? Well, you can’t argue with the fact that he has achieved massive success as a recording and performing artist, then as a TV actor and finally as a movie star – maybe the presidency next?

Who knows, but the whole piece is worth a look. In it he gives his own spin on a lot of motivational thinking that you may have heard before. I don’t subscribe to that school of thought wholeheartedly. I believe that you’ve got to set your goals and work towards them but positive thinking isn’t going to get you there on it’s own.

And that’s what Will says here too. Set your mind on the task and go for it, for sure. But, and this is the crucial part that so many people miss (and we talk about it a lot here and in our free eBook), you need to work at it and be focused.

As he says right near the start, Will doesn’t count himself as especially talented, but he works harder than all his competition to learn the skills he needs to get there. His reflection on the lesson his father gave him and his brother by getting them to build a wall proves the point. In short, he sets his eye on the prize, gets his head down and works his heart out until he gets there.

Do you?

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I wanted to stick up a very quick post to bring hope to aspiring artists, yet also hammer home once again our core argument.

Maybe we’re finally getting to the time where a few artists really can break ‘big time’ without the record company machine, thanks to their own online efforts. Maybe.

Adam Young – he is Owl City – is an inspiration to the DIY musician using MySpace (still….) as their primary marketing tool. The story goes that Adam started recording in his basement and posting material to his MySpace profile with no real plan to speak of. (I’d heard the buzz and then Bob Lefsetz mentioned him today – and I got to thinking!)

Soon enough, people began to take notice and word spread – in the viral and natural way that online music discovery has long promised and only occasionally delivered. Two self-released albums and mammoth MySpace attention led to the moment of truth, and Adam, understandably, went for the old-school record deal with Universal.

Did he need to?

I think we’re still at the point in time that an international Major record company can push an artist with a groundswell of support far more successfully than they can on their own. Whilst the internet was fundamental to his early success and awareness, the world remains a big place in which to ship physical stock (and more than half the people still want CD’s!) and to drive radio and TV exposure. Sure, a lot of kids find new music on the web, but many don’t and all sorts of people still rely on the mainstream media to push things at them rather than discovering for themselves. Add to that, ‘offline buzz’ and personal recommendation, both of which can be amplified by the cash injection and expertise offered by those dinosaur record companies.

My view – they still have a lot to offer.

On the other hand, what he was doing to get noticed by those companies is exactly the same stuff that needs to be done to build the online buzz about your band and build a real fanbase – so do it anyway.

What can we learn from his experience?

1. He’s very talented and his material is great – you know we bang on about this a lot, but all the web promotion and Social Networking in the world is pointless if your material is crap. Study your craft, hone your skills and then present to the world.

2. He’s very prolific – Owl City was the third or fourth project that he had worked on. And he didn’t just sit there and do it half-heartedly. He finished songs, finished recordings, put them on the web. All the time perfecting his art and learning skills to promote himself – through experience.

3. He engaged with the feedback that he got – honestly and openly. If you’re seeking to build a following these days, you need to be available to your fans in a way that old school stars never were. It’s a mutually beneficial journey now – not you and the fan divided by awe. Look at how Imogen Heap talks to her artists and revels in their intense feedback.

4. Now that he is signed to Universal, they have amplified his web-presence with a light but skilled touch. Have a good look around his official site and see what they now offer – loads of information, his personal blog, streamed music, buy links, radio request telephone numbers, links to all his Social Networks, Street Team sign-up, mailing list, a forum, wallpapers and banners…… The site is a lesson in how to do it right. Not too flash, just nicely designed and stuffed with content that shouts out his appreciation of his fans. The only thing I’d add is a dedicated YouTube channel and Flickr page.

So, look & learn – be great at your art, push it out there, communicate and climb higher. If you do and the Major record label A&R guy comes calling, it might be the right thing to do, or, maybe, just maybe, you’ll decide to keep going it alone – and soon that really will be an option.

Read about Adam Young and Owl City below:

Owl City Official Site

Owl City Wiki

Star Tribune – article on Owl City success

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This is essential reading.

I came across this the other day and rather than just tweet it, it’s one of those things that needs to be on here for people to go off and read in the longer term, as it’s so important. I was impressed that a group of respected Musician Resource Bloggers had come together to pool their knowledge and skills in such a way. And I am very impressed by the content of what they’re doing.

Spearheaded by David Rose at Know the Music Biz (itself a great resource site), this is what it’s all about, “the goal of the Indie Artist X Project is to develop a basic, actionable music marketing plan designed around simple strategy, prioritization of tactics, tools and a reasonable budget that can be implemented by any indie artist who has the inclination to follow it”

What this means for you as the aspiring artist is that these folks have gotten together and written down a blueprint of their current thinking as to how an artist, aspiring to a major label ethos or fervently DIY, can get themselves noticed. There is a wealth of information and this will be updated over the next four months as they apply their ideas to a currently secret test case artist. They’ll be filing reports as they go.

Read David Rose’s full explanation here – he puts it better than me!

Then you can check out the very cool Google Documents workbook that lists all their plans split into easily digested sections here.

As I said above, I am impressed by the content, and, if you’re not up to speed on all the latest ideas on how to market yourself as a musician or band, then this sets out a very easily followed plan.

As with a lot of what we comment on, I would always caution that before you rush into a new phase of marketing your band, you have a critical re-appraisal of your material and where your band’s development is at beforehand. In order to get the world to take you to its bosom, you need to be really good, really great songs and a polished performance. It’s that simple, but, of course that doesn’t make it easy.

If you can assess your current state of development disp[assionately, and if you’re ready to earn the love of a noteworthy fanbase, then go and read the Marketing Plan and you will get better results than 99% of wannabee rock stars.

These days, if you’re good and you have a web savvy marketing plan and you stick at it, you will succeed on your own terms.

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One of the most important parts of your self-promotion is your mailing list and your relationship with the people on it.

Getting people to sign up and provide you with their contact details enables you to reach them directly for a whole host of reasons and create that genuine relationship between you and them.

This will foster their fan loyalty to you and will ultimately help you be successful.

But, how do you go about getting people to join your mailing list and how do you get people to stay there? Here are some things for you to consider…

1. Make sure you’re giving people the opportunity to sign up.

This may sound like common sense, but you need to make sure that your potential fans know that you have a mailing list and where they can go to sign up.

The first step for this is to make sure that you have a sign-up box anywhere that you have an online presence e.g. your Facebook profile, MySpace page, band website, blog etc. This is the easiest way for your fans to sign up, and if the casual browser finds your site interesting it enables them to sign up to receive a bit more information about you.

You should also try to make sure that you include a signature file on any message you send to people who contact you. All this needs to be is a few lines at the end of each message including a link to your website and a link for people to sign up.

You should also use your current mailing list subscribers to help you recruit more subscribers. A really simple way of doing this is by adding a couple of lines at the bottom of any emails you send to your list just saying that if they found this email useful, interesting or entertaining then could they please forward it to anyone else they think might like it, along with instructions on how to subscribe.

And finally, make sure that you always have a mailing list sheet (or some cool techy app) with you at any shows you play!!

2. Don’t ask for too much information

Think about how you are going to realistically contact your mailing list and I guarantee in most cases that the main way you will do it is by email. Therefore, this is the single most important thing that you need from anyone who subscribes!

Don’t ask for any additional information from your potential sign ups unless you’re actually going to use it. If your fans are faced with a huge form to fill in to join a mailing list then the chances are they’re not going to do it. However, if all they have to fill in is their name, and email address then you’ll find they’re much more likely to subscribe.

If you really have to have them, the other data to consider are maybe date of birth or phone number (for SMS) and city or state (depending on your plans), but I really don’t recommend this. I’ll admit that some idea of where people live is useful (particularly for touring bands in the US) but you have to balance the need for that information against the effort required by a fan to give it, and therefore the fact that they might not bother at all.

It’s also worth your while to put in a brief statement on privacy and how you’re going to use their information. You need to make sure that your subscribers know what they’re signing up to, so let them know what to expect (email updates, special offers, frequency of emails etc.).

Always make them aware that you’re not going to spam them or pass their details on to anyone else. In fact, it’s a good idea to tell them this before asking them to sign up, so that way they know what to expect beforehand and can make an informed decision.

We’ll look at the systems available in Part 2, but, in short, I’d go for something that lets you communicate with your fans by name – so an email system that asks for their name (or first name) as well as their email address is preferable as you can then address all subsequent emails to them personally and that builds your relationship in a very natural manner.

3. Benefits of sign up

One of the best ways to get people to subscribe to your mailing list is to offer freebies and special offers if they do – things that can only be achieved by providing you with their email, and that they will miss out on if they don’t.

This doesn’t have to be something huge, and should include an immediate freebie as well as long term benefits. Good immediate freebies include money off your latest releases, or free downloads, whilst long term benefits could include a free download every month, access to a members only forum, or the chance to buy tickets for shows before everyone else.

Think about what you have to offer and tailor your free gifts to what you and your fans would like to have, but make sure it has a real value to your potential fans. You want them to be impressed, happy, and to recommend you to other people.

Once you have people on your mailing list then you need to make sure that you give them a good reason to stay subscribed. Every email you send them gives someone the opportunity of un-subscribing. So keep in mind what your fans want, not what you want them to do and make sure that you’re not sending out emails for the sake of it.

If your email is not offering something, providing your list with entertaining insights into your day to day life, or giving information, then don’t send it.

More on the systems we recommend and email content tips in Part 2, as soon as I write it!

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I’m posting this because once again I’ve been inspired by something on Ariel Hyatt’s blog – a new post entitled ‘Increasing the Frequency of Purchases’

If you read our blog you’ll know that we think she writes a lot of great information and that we follow her blog. So, check her post out, but what about the video below?

Well, both are all about how you can find ways to sell more stuff to your fans (not just music) and, in the process, have them become more involved in the process of promoting you to new potential fans.

The video is of a guy called Michael Masnick who runs a company called Techdirt that is very future thinking and all deep into Web 2.0. In it he expands on an earlier lecture he gave that looked in detail at how Trent Reznor has been interacting directly with NiN fans and bypassing the record company model.

However, in this updated talk, he answers the criticism that it’s easy for Trent Reznor with an already massive fanbase, but it’s not for you when you’re starting out. Well, he shows that myth can be debunked by thinking outside the box by reference to four unsigned artists who are doing very well – including one, Corey Smith, who turned over $4 million last year as a DIY artist. Not bad.

Check it out and I’d love to see comments about anything that you’re doing that fits with these ideas to develop your relationship with your fans and gets them to buy more from you. 

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There will come a point where you think you’re ready for a record deal, a manager or a publishing deal (or that other much touted ‘new model’ deal with some music related company). You’ll want to get yourself heard by the right people so what better way to do it than to send out a demo right?

Record labels, managers et al get hundreds of thousands of demos, and if this is the route you want to take then there are some things that you will need to take into account if you want to make your demo stand out from the rest and be given more than a second glance.

It’s going to take a lot of hard work and luck but if you make sure that you take notice of the following points, then you’ll be on the right track.

In this article, note that wherever I talk about a demo, I mean either a physical CD mailed to someone or a link to a MySpace page or band website where all the relevant information can be found and songs listened to. I’ll make distinctions where necessary.

1. Make sure you’re targeting the right labels.

If you’re an indie, guitar led band, and that’s all you ever want to be then there is no point sending your demo’s to hip-hop or dance labels. You won’t get a second look as the labels just won’t be interested. That’s not what they do! To start with you should be looking for labels who work with bands that are similar or in the same genre as you. They are more likely to give you a second glance and maybe even a listen…

As a musician in a band, you really ought to have some idea of who those labels are for your genre, but if you need help, search on the web for directories that can help you. In the UK, you have to use The Unsigned Guide, and in the Us there are choices, but we like Galaris.

Once you’ve found a label, you need to find a name. A personal touch is really going to help in getting the person you are contacting to actually listen to your stuff.

2. Make sure your demo is listenable.

This doesn’t mean that you have to go and get all of your tracks professionally recorded. That would be silly and a complete waste of money. However, you need to make sure that whoever is going to listen to your demo can see the potential there. So, make sure your singers are in tune, the recording is clear and there are no white noise issues or glitches.

There are lots of inexpensive recording software programs doing the rounds now which you can use to do this, or you could strike a deal with your local studio to do it on the cheap with the help of one of their engineers.

3. Make sure you’re ready for label interest

This is another very important point. When you’re just getting started you can’t expect all of your songs to be hits, and no one else expects them to all be hits either. However, when choosing songs to send out to labels you need to make sure that these songs are your absolute best so far.

If not, they won’t be given a chance, and you won’t be given a second chance in the future. You’ll be remembered as the band that had no songs. If you’re not sure that you or your songs are ready then hold off on sending out demos until you’re absolutely 100% sure that you are.

I recently came across a service here at SoundOut, which I heartily recommend. We’ll look at this in more detail in the future, but, in short, if you spend $20 to $50 with them you’ll get the most honest appraisal of your songs from real music fans who get your genre. We don’t get paid for recommending this service, so I mean it when I say that it’s money well spent – to see if you really have the material ready that you think you have!

4. Get your promo package right.

Labels like to know a little bit about you, and a standard demo comes with a bio, some press cuttings, a photo and your music, but there is such a thing as too much information…and too much music!

We get a lot of demos in our office, and the first thing we look at is the size of the package that’s been sent through. If it’s huge then it goes to the bottom of the pile. Full albums or CDs with lots of tracks on will also get put to the back of the pile. Most people in the industry have a limited amount of time for demos so we like them to be short and snappy.

Ideally, when I get a demo through the post I like to see a half page brief bio, a handful of press cuttings (if you have any that is, and if you do, make sure they’re good ones!), a photo in which I can see your faces, and a CD with no more than 3 tracks on, and your best track first. By best track, I mean your most catchy, hooky, universal song, not the one you’re most proud of. If you’re not sure which one this is then ask your fans, friends and family.

Another thing to add to your package is details about any previous releases or significant touring you have done in the past and also if you have any attention from other industry professionals, i.e. management, an agent etc, and let them know who these people are. This will help raise your profile before you even get a listen.

If you’re doing this submission by a link, then make sure people can find all this stuff on your site or MySpace page easily too.

People do look at numbers of plays and friends on a MySpace link and it does have a bearing – which is why we do think building numbers on Social Networks is part of your job – but everyone knows that those numbers don’t necessarily mean fans, so don’t get too hung up on it. What people are looking for is how your fans interact with you on those pages – so make sure you encourage commenting as well as friend adding, for industry people to see that you have a real buzz around you.

5. Don’t forget your contact details

Every piece of paper and every CD you send a record label must have your contact details on. This includes your email address, a contact name and phone number and your website and MySpace address. It’s no use putting these on one piece of paper and thinking that because it’s all together in your package the label will know how to contact you. Papers and CDs get mixed up, bits moved or lost, and the chances are that your promo package will go in one pile and your CD in another.

By putting your details on everything the label have no excuse to not contact you if they like what they see or hear. Putting your MySpace address on also allows them to check out your songs in the event that the CD is misplaced, so when you start sending out demos make sure that the songs you put on the CDs are the ones that are on your MySpace.

Same thing is true on sending a MySpace link. Make sure that email addresses and telephone numbers are there to be found.

6. Does the label you’re looking at receive unsolicited demos?

Lots of labels ask you not to send unsolicited demos. There are many reasons for this, including time and space issues, and even legal issues in some circumstances! If you’re not sure then call them up and ask them.

If they do take unsolicited demos then feel free to send your package in, however, it’s better to find out who the specific A&R man is in your field at that label and start a conversation with them directly. That way they know who you are first and may actually request your demo from you. This route is by far the best way to get yourself noticed by any label.

7. Be Polite

If you’re serious about getting a record deal then, unless you’re very lucky, you’ll send out lots of emails and make lots of phone calls…and will likely be ignored the majority of the time. If this is the case the please don’t get bitter about it, it happens to most people. But bear in mind that if you do get someone to talk to you, then you should show a little gratitude.

The more polite you are then the more people will be inclined to help you in the future. It may be that the A&R person you are talking to can’t help you, but if you’ve been polite and gracious then they could help you out by giving you details for other people who could help you, or even recommending you to someone. You can never know just how influential the person you are talking to is.

8. Don’t be discouraged

Sending out demos can be stressful, demoralising, soul destroying etc, and you’re likely to hear the word ‘No’ more times than you’d ever imagine but you can’t take it personally. If a label turns you down ask them to give you a bit of constructive feedback. It may be that you just don’t fit in with what they want to do in the immediate future.

Take whatever you’re given on board, go away and become better for it. Consider your demo, decide if there was anything you could have done differently that might have made a difference, and then learn from it and move on to the next label. After all, no one expects you to be the finished article straight away! If you’re in this for the long haul then you’ll constantly be changing, so see it as work in progress.

Good luck!

This article is a partner piece to an earlier article on this site titled ‘How you should approach a record label or manager’. There may be a little repetition but this article is by Amanda and the other is by Ian, so reading them both will give you a little extra insight from two perspectives!

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Strange title but it kind of says what I want to say in this post, or at least, I hope it does!

I saw a couple of blog posts this week that were different takes on the same theme.

This one from Bob Baker on how we need to stay on top of and maintain our actions that bring us success and satisfaction ‘Groundhog Day Music Success’ and this one about how musicians will wilfully disregard essential advice  that could make the difference to their career that they are desperately looking for, by Mark Gibson – ‘Don’t disregard this advice!’

It made me think again about why we’re working on this site and what we are trying to achieve.

And it’s simple really. One aim with three branches. 

Aim: to help those aspiring musicians who wish to listen to us realise that there are fundamental facts that they need to accept and act on if they are to give themselves a chance of success. This is so because so many people trying to make it can’t face the fact that they themselves are the core reason why their career isn’t happening.

And once we have helped point out the realities, try to advise on the options, solutions and real world marketing methods that will breed success for those that follow and implement them.

Branches: One - Give those who want to aim for the top the advice, honest feedback and tools that they need to craft a band or act that has the material, the talent, the image, the marketing and business savvy and the work ethic to make it to the top.

Two – Tailor the advice here so that artists who want to make it to the level that their talent inherently deserves (but not make changes that they feel are too much like ’selling out’) can do so by removing as many unnecessary obstacles as possible. 

Three – Present our ideas and advice so that the most anti-establishment artist who wants nothing to do with commercial success and hates the very notion of marketing, can still find some nugget of value and truth here that can help them find their own way as a musician in an easier and more fulfilling fashion, albeit on their terms.

I also realised that I wanted to tilt the angle of what we’re preaching a little too. I felt that we’re perhaps coming across a bit too strongly being all about how there is a single ‘one-way fits all route to success’ and that that is to get a label or similar modern investor. And, in order to do that, you must have the right frontman and the greatest songs etc. To an extent, that is exactly what we’re saying, because the tightest set-up will give you the greatest chance at some level of commercial success. 

BUT, and this is really important, at the same time, we don’t want to ignore the fact that there are thousands of acts that don’t want massive commercial success and are doing it for love of their art. Brilliant – all power to you. 

OUR ADVICE WORKS FOR YOU TOO! Just because we say you need to do X, Y and Z, but you feel uncomfortable about Z, that doesn’t mean that you should ignore X and Y – does that make sense? 

So, if you refuse to write songs about love, or lose your singer because they have too bland a voice (but they are charismatic or whatever), then that’s fine. But accept that it’s giving you some limitations and work around them. Just be honest with yourselves so that you can see what it is that is your compromise and work to your other strengths. 

If you aren’t at all interested in commercial success and just want to spread the word on your music as it is, then there are things here that will help you. 

Nonetheless, our main focus is to do what most places I have seen on the web professing Music Industry Advice don’t do – and that is to tell you what it really takes to succeed, no matter that that will often mean facing some harsh realities about where you’re at in your career right now. 

Check out the two articles that we’ve linked to at the top. Mark Gibson really makes it plain that it’s not an easy ride and Bob Baker very accurately tells that just because you do get up and running, you can’t slack off. 

A slew of solid advice posts to come next week. I’ve been writing a huge list of the things you’ve said you want us to cover and have started on some of them, but I needed to get this ‘mission statement’ written today!

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