Self Promoting and Getting yourself out there - How To?

[Low]

Hi Everyone

This is a question I think most of us have been wanting the answer to, and still, I don't know. If any of you have some advice then please share!

For a while now I have been producing music. I've recently started to get my own kind-of sound, and am finally starting to get happy with my finished tracks. My confidence is building, but one thing that seems impossible is actually getting recognised / getting yourself out there.

I know listens on your tracks are important - the more people that hear it, the more likely it is it will get shared. But it seems to me, even if you do make the 'best track of the year', if no-one hears it, then it's nothing. This may seem obvious, but it's just hit me (hard round the face!) that making a tune is half of it, promoting it is the difficult bit. Once you have your contacts then I s'pose it's a lot easier, but for a producer that's just starting out, it seems impossible without lots of money

Even getting in contact with record labels seems difficult. I know it's punching (way way way) above my weight, but I emailed Defected Records, not expecting a response, I just wanted to be pointed in the right direction to send in a demo. But like I thought, the message was viewed, but not responded to.

My point here is, what if I had the 'track of the summer?' A track that would make them lots of money (as this seems to be the only thing they are interested in.) - They would never know!

I always try hard to be formal and professional with record companies, making the artwork myself and aiming my tracks at the right companies, but it seems so difficult now to make yourself stand out.



I know there are a lot of producers out there trying to make it, and the R/c's must have to sift through a lot of rubbish before they find something worth releasing. I just wondered;

To anyone that's had something released, be it a small or massive label; how did you go about it? Did you send a physical demo? Were you constantly chasing for them to listen to your track? Did they recognise you from your Soundclouod account?

I won't ever give up on what I love, and I'm not into it for the money. It's all about the music.

Peace!

Tom

[blackwax]

They key is to get your tracksd played in the clubs! get your tracks to name working pro DJ's. If your music is received well in the clubs and played by these DJ's to an extent the rest will follow

[Low]

For some reason this slipped my mind. I didn't give that much consideration! I will try and give that a go, the thing is, I think it'd be difficult to get a CD in a club here!

Cheers

[blackwax]

For some reason this slipped my mind. I didn't give that much consideration! I will try and give that a go, the thing is, I think it'd be difficult to get a CD in a club here!

Cheers

Think bigger why does it have to be locally or even a CD!

It's fairly easy to connect with dj's all over the world these days ;-)

[Low]

I do regularly contact big DJ's about mixes that I like, and tracks that I hear in their sets, and only occasionally get a reply!

I just think Emailing/messaging on soundcloud a DJ is going to be ignored as there must be hundreds of people doing the same thing. They can't listen to everything, and if they dont reply to my emails of admiration then I dont think they'll bother if its a listen request!

That wont stop me from trying but i dont want to seem naggy, i think its hard to get the right balance!

Maybe sending a CD demo through the post would be better?

[blackwax]

Network network network.......

Get out to gigs meet DJ's in person get their email address, build a mailing list
PM's via sound cloud, Facebook etc is not efficient as you correctly stated but once you have met and have an email address things often change.

If you still get no-where with this approach then maybe the music just aint cutting it!

It worked for me. Good old fashioned leg work.

[blackwax]

also see the post below from Morehouse records, open invitation right there!

[Low]

I see! I will take your advice and see what happens!

And oh yeah I know if I don't get responses then I need to up my game! I'm always trying to improve so it's not as though I think my tunes are 100% perfect!

I will get out to a few more gigs! And yeah, I've already sent them a track in their dropbox, so fingers crossed!

Thanks for your advice!

[Nightshade]

Good question. But the main problem is that you are sending your stuff with a lot of people so whoever is listening is in a hurry to check out the next one or finish listening to all demos and surf the net

So my approach, build a relationship first!

Big names want you to talk about them not you or your music, so tell them how you found their email and how they inspire you and stuff like that. And maybe spice it up by telling them you just bought their latest track and want to put it in a mix, even if you didn't buy it at least talk about how good it is and wish them the best of luck. That way they will respond my friend then that's when you start building a good relationship.

But don't just send them a link to your music, instead ask if you can send it and hear what they say (obviously they'll say yes) but that way they'll give it enough time to check it out & they will help you improve if you need. They'll help you as a friend or even send it to someone who might release it!

I always get a response because I don't send any link or market myself in the first message. Ask questions in your messages, they always work! These days it's even easier to find these big names on Facebook. Another sneaky way is to ask them what they hate the most about receiving demos

Hope that helps! All The Best!

[Low]

Another bit of really good advice! I will take all this info away with me and keep trying!

Thanks Nightshade!

[Marshall Jefferson]

Stay away from digital communication at all costs-it's dead because you're competing against thousands-not hundreds. Speak in person and on the phone. That's the only way.

[Low]

Thanks Marshall!

I've been thinking this for a while now. Not many (if any) labels or artists are going to promote / sign you if they haven't met you in person. They need to know you're genuine and good to work with. I guess I just have to get out to more events and speak to promoters etc!

[groove4u212]

Your music has to be really, really good and not just good or okay/respectable. It has to be at a very high level, head turning type stuff. I think a hard fact a lot of DJs and artist don't realize because whatever music they make or whatever they spin sounds good to them is only a very few people are at a very high level where people instantly get the impression they are really good. That's what you have to be to make it in the art world, music business. Some will protest and claim there are those that got a lucky break or the big names today have no talent but nope they have talent and are popular and making money for a reason. It's really that simple. If you are not that then all the self promoting on the interent will not do much.

[Dj Taga]

Try to use this, its good for promotion
http://headliner.fm/exchange/ref/637...r_hlinvitelink

This is my page for free promoting, please just like it and send some tracks...
https://www.facebook.com/TheBestMusicReleases?ref=hl

[Abstract Attractions]

Great advice

[Nightshade]

Stay away from digital communication at all costs-it's dead because you're competing against thousands-not hundreds. Speak in person and on the phone. That's the only way.

I totally agree, a phone call will definitely work, and it's much more personal than digital communication. I think a Skype call might also work as well. Many Thnx brother.

[the crackhouse]

I can only go with Marshall and Blackwax on this.

Picture yourself as the label owner: you get hundreds of emails/FB messages/soundcloud invitations and all. Maybe one or two guys in your company will take one hour a day to look after some new talents in this mess.

And then, there's your 10 AM interview with some Dj J. Doe who showed passion about his works and he's coming with a great demo. 6 tracks and you even heard one from the email he sent you after this phone call. The joint is allright.

This J. Doe will have a face, a voice, and time to sell his demo. That's something all the (excuse me) lazy bedroom producers will never get.

I've never been hired from a phone call or an email alone, never sold much without shaking a hand, and in the worse scenarii I've been given advice on what had to be worked on to make a better job.

Idance

[Dal-Tex]

There are several ways you can make it in the music industry. If I was giving a "how to" seminar this is what I would say.

#1. Your material has to be strong. Think about how easy it is today to just create and typical dance track. All it takes is trial and error, imitating what others are doing. Dance music or EDM for the most part is a pretty dumb music genre and you don't have to be a skilled or trained musician to make the same type of stuff most others are doing.

The dance audience is also dumb. Many are just there to go out and dance to repetitive music created using simple 16-step sequences with a predictable intro, build up and break down structure. Or they are there, you know, to have drinks, out to have a good time with friends on a Friday night, get wasted etc. It's not that serious.

So dance music for the most part lacks musical depth. It's repetitious loud music designed for the party. To have a hit dance track you need to understand what the crowd responds to, current trends, and having your music meet a professional compositional and production criteria that matches the music you hear played out.

A lot of time a hook or infectious melody is all it takes for your track to become a success.

Increasing the odds of success and making it as a name artist is the first impression your music makes on people. Right away a person must think your music is good. It has to be instant. Track ID?, what is that? Music that has a lack luster response will not achieve success even if you try to self promote it by calling up an artist, DJ or handing them a promo in person.

The common factor in all successful tracks is the instant impression that the music has appeal. Acid Tracks was not an instant floor filler at Ron Hardy's Music Box club but the DJ got the instant impression that it was something different and had potential. It makes a person do a double take. Wait I got to hear that again.

This does not mean that music that receives little entusiasm has the same potential or people just don't get it. In most cases 0 to no response to your music even in an oversturated market means there is something about your music that lacks the draw to be successful. There are a lot of misnomers like popular artist have no talent and it's all marketing. This is false. An artist is popular because the image they convey and their music has appeal. It reaches a certain standard where it can be marketed to achieve mass appeal.

#2. Image is everything. A lot of name artist understand the importance of conveying a professional image whenther it be a pro photo shoot or a professional looking web site or label logo. Notice that a lot of the photos of artist or DJ's that you see are dumbed down. They are trying to look cool. Well that's the way the music is but it still has a quality to it where you understand the person is a name artits or an established artist. They went through the trouble and expense to have a pro photo for the web or publications.

#3. Indetifying the signs of success.

Since dance music is a shallow genre mostly based on current trends, imagery is important once your music has that instant appeal. Since the club culture crowd is very stupid (no offense) you'll get two types of responses that indicates your music has instant appeal in order to achieve success.

People will either suck up to you (kiss ass) or there will be those who make a huge fuss over your music (haters). Regardless of the response some type of reaction to your work is an encouraging sign. You should not be discouraged by negativity.

Once you know your music in generating interest (appeal) it is very important to work on your professional image so people feel comfortable that you are marketable like walking into a chain store and purchasing an item. You know the products in the chain store are not home made and half arsend looking. The items are mass produced and aesthetically reach a certain professional standard where the consumer feels comfortable in purchasing that item.

After following these steps you should have to problem in achieving success or at least making it as a name artist.

[Low]

Some great feedback and responses here! Thanks guys, loads of very useful advice!

[Mikki Funk]

Some excellent advice here!!

Low, I would say, as have others, you have to do lots and lots of networking!! When I first started out, I networked a lot in the UK Garage scene, which is tiny, so even once I'd got a lot of networking done, I didn't KNOW a huge amount of people. Then I decided to try getting into remixing other people's track in funky/ soulful house.

Personally I found remix work to be a good way of getting yourself seen/ heard. It was a good method for me personally, because you are more open to do a remix in your own style. E.g. I did a few 90's Garage flavoured remixes of soulful house tracks. While I was doing this, I was also working hard to network and get talking with people in both the funky/ soulful house scene, as well as the more deep/ underground/ 90s house/ garage scene too.

Although I found remix work to be a good method, I never really found a tried and tested way of getting heard/ seen etc. People started paying attention to me more around a year or two ago, and I've noticed in the past 5 months my profile has grown substantially. Maybe the quality of my tracks went up, I don't know, I'm not the person to judge that. But in all that time, for the past 5 years, I've been networking networking networking!

I personally don't agree with 'building an image for yourself' if you are only a producer/ remixer. Maybe if you're a label or DJ, you can think about branding yourself a little more. Like I say, as far as I've found, there's no way magic way of getting yourself heard initially, I think you just have to keep at it and keep at it till people start paying attention to you. It's taken me 5 years to do it, so I wouldn't say 'look for a shortcut', I guess you just have to pay your dues before you really get anywhere, that's how I see it anyway.

Identify the top/ medium level labels in your chosen scene or genre, and start contacting them on soundcloud or facebook, showing them your tracks, ask for remixes. Remixes are definitely a good way to 'prove yourself' as a good producer before a label will start wanting to do EPs or artist releases with you. Soundcloud really is an incredibly useful tool for getting yourself heard!

[Low]

Thanks Mikki, some good advice!

Appreciate the response,

I've just started working on a remix and am searching for other good lesser known tracks to remix. Also am in contact with a few labels and will ask about their remix oppertunities!

[Nege]

self promotion is good for a start but it can only get you so far, at some point you are going to need to get a third party who will market or promote your work or your brand.
promotion is much more believeable to the masses when third person is endorsing you, or handling you. and all that will come from networking in time...it takes time...

[Ashwell]

This is a really helpful thread. To what extent are events like WMC good for networking? i guess i'm really asking how people use events like this to connect with more established labels & artists? i imagine just bumping elbows at parties and meeting people informally is the most common way.

The other thing that seems huge at this point are the blogs. All of the good young dj's I know in their early 20's find most of their music on soundcloud & blogs. Do you guys who are putting out a lot of music on your own labels send these blogs promos?

[Mikki Funk]

i imagine just bumping elbows at parties and meeting people informally is the most common way.

Of course, you're out there, having a great time, meeting new friends and new people to work with. Within reason of course, you're not gonna bump in Mr Chandler and end up signing a deal to madhouse (his label)... But actually, it depends what level you're at and whether you think they'd like the music... For a lot of people, just getting them to listen to your tracks is the hardest part; a friend of mine knows kerri personally and has dj'd with him quite a few times in ibiza, but he's just so busy that even she finds it hard to show him tracks etc.

But yeah, informally really is the best way. I only KNOW OF a few people who would prefer you to approach them formally, and that's pretty much because they're totally up themselves. Informal is the way to go man.

Don't forget about events like ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event)--this seems to be the new 'WMC', and it's much more suited to the deeper more underground side of house and garage. Obviously you still get some funky and soulful house there, but for years WMC has really been the one for that. I'd personally prefer ADE myself, as House seems to have gotten so 'trendy' and 'fashionable', so imagine what a house event in somewhere like Miami is going to be like... Of course it would still be amazing, but there will be lots of trendy heads that are there for the fashion and partying rather than the music and vibes.

Also remember there is Southport Weekender, another party that you're sure to meet lots of like-minded people at!

The dj's I know and myself, we'll find music from people we know, labels we know; a lot of that comes from soundcloud. Blogs play a part in it, although I find there are only a handful of really good ones, a lot of blogs will promote the music but put it up for free download. Personally I'd like to punch those people in the face. Because a lot of labels are pressing to vinyl now, it's actually possible to go to a store and dig crates/ shelves again... Something I've always done, but for older stuff; it's nice to be able to do it for new tracks again! That depends if you play wax though, the digital version of that is basically trawling through charts/ bestseller/ 'new in this week' pages on things like Juno, Traxsource, Stompy etc.

[blackwax]

I have been thinking about this a fair bit recently

Thinking outside the box?

I am involved in a couple of projects at the moment that is giving me exposure to new people.
The 1st is the collaborate and learn project, see this thread http://deephousepage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247876
This is giving something back i.e tutorials and tips but also bringing my name and products to new people that don't know anything about me or what I do, As well as creating a new pice of music Danny has showed my web site my sound cloud page and talked about my latest release. There are 8 videos so far and all have over 500 plays each, lots of comments from people I do not know.
This is really helping get my name out. Its not directly promoting me but its sure helping. My website hits have definitely increased since we started the project.

The second I wont talk about yet but watch this space!

Have your own website!
I think for anyone building a name this is essential. It looks professional, its one central location for all things you, music, bio, photos, links to all your social media, your own personal email addresses, podcasts, news, custom mail lists and data bases etc.

Try an think of ways to get your name out without just spamming people's walls on Facebook and sending invites out to everyone on your friends list (a lot of people hate this and so just ignore all invites hence its a waste of time) You want people to think of you rather that you "forcing" your self upon them, they should want to "subscribe" you you and what you do.

Make videos for your music
They don,t have to cost much, get them on youtube, people like to watch music these days as much as listen, I know so many people that only listen to music on youtube, sounds crazy but true! The more hits you have on a video the more exposure and the more people will be talking about you. Labels pay attention to this!

Just rambling thoughts for a Friday morning...