Promoting Your Playing And Your Music And You!, Tips and Tricks on Getting the word out about you! Options

[Todd Simpson]

Good thread ,thanks!

NP Much more to come. Social Media is the great Democratizer. It can bring big guys down and lift little guys up. Hop on youtube/facebook/twitter and go for it!

Todd

[FrontlineGuitar]

Thanks a lot for this thread Todd! Really great info here, will definitely be trying all this...

I agree with your point about Social Media being the great Democratizer, and all the massive record labels are going down, because everyone can do virtually everything themselves now, in front of their computer!

"It's a great time to be a musician" - AMEN!

[Todd Simpson]

Thanks a lot for this thread Todd! Really great info here, will definitely be trying all this...

I agree with your point about Social Media being the great Democratizer, and all the massive record labels are going down, because everyone can do virtually everything themselves now, in front of their computer!

"It's a great time to be a musician" - AMEN!

Happy to help! Give it all a shot! It really is a great time to be a musician! Go for it

Todd

This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Mar 14 2012, 12:28 AM

[Cosmin Lupu]

It is an awesome time indeed thanks to the exposure GMC and Youtube have given me, I can now think of taking advantage of some really interesting opportunities like sponsorships and endorsements - thank you GMC!

This post has been edited by Cosmin Lupu: Mar 14 2012, 08:12 AM

[Todd Simpson]

It is an awesome time indeed thanks to the exposure GMC and Youtube have given me, I can now think of taking advantage of some really interesting opportunities like sponsorships and endorsements - thank you GMC!

Well said! GMC RAWKS as does youtube and I love how the expansion of social media has served as a "democratizer". Anyone can share their music with the entire planet! It is indeed a great time for musicians and for music

[Todd Simpson]

Great video talking about the Pros and Cons of giving your music away for free as a promotional tool. From the BERKLEE College of Music.

[Todd Simpson]

LOOKING TO LICENSE or SELL SOME OF YOUR MUSIC TO MOVIES/TV/Etc?

I recently came across a new web site I've since joined called MUSIC XRAY and I wanted to share it with you guys. I found them through soundcloud.com and they are parnters actually. You can link your accounts and your music is available to producers and such and you can apply for various opportunities for you and your music. Here is the link.

http://www.musicxray.com/



This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: May 20 2012, 02:15 AM

[Todd Simpson]

Checkout BANDCAMP.com if you have not already to promote your music! It's free and provides a great platform for musicians to give/sell their music. Here is my bandcamp page. I just started one and hope to add wads of stuff!


http://divinusmortus.bandcamp.com/

[Cosmin Lupu]

Checkout BANDCAMP.com if you have not already to promote your music! It's free and provides a great platform for musicians to give/sell their music. Here is my bandcamp page. I just started one and hope to add wads of stuff!


http://divinusmortus.bandcamp.com/

I heard about bandcamp too - I can't wait to have Aria's EP in my hands so that I can place it all over these sites

[Todd Simpson]

There's never been a better time to be a Musician/Band in terms of being able to get your music out there and shared with the world. The internet can be a wonderful thing

Of course that has to be balanced against the internet being the vehicle for making even "Paid" music "Free" and constricting the music "biz" as a whole to a fraction of it's former Glory. Still I personally think the trade off's have been worth the costs. Under the old system, bands like TESSERACT and PERIPHERY may not have ever gotten very far (of course some folks may think they would have gotten a huge record deal), due to somewhat limited commercial appeal and the fact that they were able to record/produce their own work in their bedrooms and share it on the internet to get some heat, instead of having to do it the "old way".

In the "old days", they'd have been paying for studio time, hustling their demo and trying to get any metal lable to care. But being able to generate their own "hype" via the web and produce their own music using home computers/software, gave them a HUGE leg up (IMHO).

The GOOD NEWS is that technology has flattened many of the old barriers to entry. So I vote everyone takes maximum advantage!!

Todd

I heard about bandcamp too - I can't wait to have Aria's EP in my hands so that I can place it all over these sites

[Cosmin Lupu]

Tried and tested Todd!

[Todd Simpson]

Tried and tested Todd!

Cool! Share some links and such!




This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Oct 15 2012, 09:52 PM

[Cosmin Lupu]

Cool! Share some links and such!

I wanted to ask for a little piece of advice here

I am planning to work with a distribution label (it's a Universal Records subsidiary here in Romania) offering to distribute the Aria EP on the most important channels available. Now the question is, does it make any sense to work with MORE distribution labels, if this one gets your music in the right places?

[tonymiro]

I wanted to ask for a little piece of advice here

I am planning to work with a distribution label (it's a Universal Records subsidiary here in Romania) offering to distribute the Aria EP on the most important channels available. Now the question is, does it make any sense to work with MORE distribution labels, if this one gets your music in the right places?

It really depends on the contract Cosmin and whether it's for physical and/or digital distribution. Also, if the contract is exclusive then you can't use any other distribution channels in any of the areas named in the contract.

[Cosmin Lupu]

It really depends on the contract Cosmin and whether it's for physical and/or digital distribution. Also, if the contract is exclusive then you can't use any other distribution channels in any of the areas named in the contract.

Hey Tony! It's only digital and I have no clue about the exclusivity clauses just yet...

[Todd Simpson]

Hey Tony! It's only digital and I have no clue about the exclusivity clauses just yet...

Toni brings up a great point here. Distributors don't often like to cover the same territory someone else is covering, sometimes it doesn't matter. But try to find out if the lable wants "exclusive" distribution rights for physical or digital or both. Find out what level of distribution they are offering, how many locations for physical, units, shelf space, etc.

Big labels like Sony will sell you distribution these days, as will many others. But the promotion in these cases is often still up to the artist, with the decline in physical media, many distributors are open to letting artists subsidize their existing distribution chain to fill in where some smaller labels used to be.

Todd

[Cosmin Lupu]

I have no clue just yet, if this branch of Universal is also taking care of physical distribution, but I think the best thing here would be to settle a meeting with the dude in charge of this whole thing and see what their services consist in.

[tonymiro]

Hey Tony! It's only digital and I have no clue about the exclusivity clauses just yet...

As far as I know pretty much all of the main re-distributors, not just Universal, will put digital out to the major channels like i-tunes and Amazon. In this case you probably need to pay close attention to the payment structure that Universal want, whether its a flat fee, a % of sales (and how that is structured), a mixture, when and how it is paid, etc., and also any other issues like exclusivity.

Also be aware that Universal will almost certainly insist that your release has appropriate ISRC and UPC and may apply their own if they aren't there as i-tunes etc usually won't carry your product without them. If the release hasn't been mastered Universal may suggest that you use their in-house mastering studio. Again read the terms and any contract carefully as very often it's Universal who contract the mastering engineer rather than you. That means you are not the client and the studio often then will not deal/speak with you. I'd suggest that you have a chat with your mastering engineer about this.

If you are in any doubt about the contract then your manager should really get a music industry lawyer to look at it before you do anything.

...
Big labels like Sony will sell you distribution these days, as will many others. But the promotion in these cases is often still up to the artist, with the decline in physical media, many distributors are open to letting artists subsidize their existing distribution chain to fill in where some smaller labels used to be.

Todd

Correct - the redistributor usually has nothing to do with promotion and publicity, and often little incentive to push sales.

[Cosmin Lupu]

Wow! Thanks Tony! Really, REALLY valuable info here!

[Todd Simpson]

YOUR BAND NEEDS A WEB SITE!!!!

Your band should have a WEB SITE in addition to your Social Media, (facebook, myspace, tumbler, whatever). These can all be linked to your site, and integrated if you like But ideally, if you have a "Band" you should make a "BAND SITE". There are several sites that will let you build something quick and easy using only your web browser. These have benefits.

1.)Anyone can build a site!
2.)No HTML required!
3.)No software required!


Handy eh? Some of these sites charge money. Some don't. Of the ones that charge money,

http://www.bandzoogle.com
is a good choice. But if you are on a budget, I have found one that's FREE.

http://www.get-ctrl.com/


Both are easy to use and will allow you to get your band on the web instead of just having a profile.


Todd