As an experiment I released an instrumental mini album (EP) of 4 songs on Bandcamp. I want to see if there is in fact anybody at all who thinks that my songs are worth downloading for € 1 per song.
I really don't know if there is a market for instrumental heavy metal and in particular if my songs are interesting enough!! But as an experiment I thought I'd give it a go. As I am still searching for a good lead singer my songs remain instrumental for now.
I will update this post to let you know if there is any activity at all..
You can listen to the songs by clicking on the link below. Don't forget to give me feedback if you have any. Thanks.
http://jeroenvanderput.bandcamp.com/album/victory-instrumental-heavy-metal
First off CONGRATS!! On your mini ep
Experiments are always a great learning experiment, but I'd suggest as soon as possible, let people set their own price even if it is zero. At this point, you are really just trying to get people to listen to your music so your at the "awareness raising" stage which is where most folks are at If folks will listen, give it to them. Building a base of listeners is far more important than the few bucks you might make.
Adding a singer is a grand idea Most folks can connect better with vocals in a tune. (guitarists can usually appreciate the guitar doing the singing, but most folks do like some vocals)
Thanks Todd,
You are right. I made them free, but if someone wants to pay for it that's still possible.
Congrats for your mini album!!
It's good to make an experiment but IMHO, I see the things a little different.
First of all I think you should promote yourself in a different and free way. People get scared when they see that must pay. Make people to know about you, participate in guitar contests, win some guitar contests and people will start to looking for you Try to put constantly videos on YT. Make your own "public".
It's hard to make people to pay for something. They looking to go at festivals and gigs where they don't have to pay ticket. How you make people to pay for your songs even if the cost is less than a bottle of Coca-Cola?
It's hard for all of us to make people to love and appreciate our work but not impossible
I like a lot guitarists from YT but to be honest, just for a little number I will pay and I will always have an undying support. Somehow their music resonate with me. I would like to see them at gigs and I don't care which price I must pay for that, even if the cost of ticket would lock me in the house for 1 month They are a model for me and this is the most important thing.
The good part is that are friends with me so I will have backstage access.....JUST KIDDING
So, I wish you to have luck with this and keep us update I'm really very curious how the things will work
Thanks Monica. I know it's hard but I don't have to make a living out of it I make music to use my creativity, for fun and also to give my emotions a way out. Video editing is also one of the things I like to do to make my videos look good. I have a lot of musical ideas which I have to write down or play, otherwise they get stuck in my head and than I can't sleep. My wife is sometimes complaining that I am writing music down on paper in the middle of the night:) haha. Imagine her sleeping and I am next to her in bed with a small flashlight, pen and paper, writing down musical ideas. trying not to wake her, but she sleeps so light that she always wakes up.. And this happens every week. but she loves the songs I write, that's the good thing!!
I have local fans in my country who appreciate my music, I just have to figure a way out to write better songs and promote them more..
Howdy Jeroen!
Congrats on your release mate Todd and Monica stated valid points here, so start trumpeting around a bit so that you would grow a fan base Marketing wise, you should take the steps as follows:
- identify your target - guitar music listeners or rock/metal aficionados - Facebook groups, forums, the GMC forum, Youtube, Soundcloud
- create awareness - publish your videos and audio files so that people become aware of your music
- build a fan base - create a facebook artist page and promote everything through it, or even build your own website
Once you gather a number of people, you can promote your music and also offer them the possibility of supporting you with money, but don't make it compulsory. Later on, if you want to, you can create merch or similar things that can be bought only But that's a different step!
Congratulations mate! It's great that you took courage and published your music. This is an excellent first step! As Cosmin said, there are some next steps that you can do to start promoting your music using the social networks. I recommend you to check a book called "The New Rockstar Philosophy" which is full of great ideas to promote your music.
Your heading the right direction I have a thread in my forum about promoting yourself and your music online that you might want to check out.
Here is the link
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?showtopic=36421
Thanks, Todd, Gab, Cos for the very helpfull tips.
Always a pleasure! I recently got the book Gabi suggested and I will start reading it tonight He mentioned it a few times before, but somehow I always ended up forgetting to look for it, darn thing!
It's a jungle out there for certain, but the more you learn and experiment, the more you will understand!
Here is another book worth looking @. The kindle version is only $10 U.S. You can use the browser based kindle reader so you don't need any other device than a PC.
Social Media Promotion for Musicians
http://www.amazon.com/Social-Media-Promotion-Musicians-Owsinski-ebook/dp/B00G2JM8MQ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=
Thanks for the suggestion Todd! Out of what I can remember, you posted a link a while ago containing some downloadable PDF files that were actually some little guides on radio play, promotion, social media and so on - those looked good as well, but I can't find them anymore
I'm going to be really superficial here.
Start thinking of a brand image for yourself and products, if you are putting out metal, for me your EP cover doesn't cut it. I've already made a judgement about the music just by looking at the picture without even listening to the music.
I'm not saying you have to change how you present yourself completely, it does have to be congruent, but I think it also has to reflect the music too.
Glad you took my post in the right spirit. That makes more sense, it brings more continuity to the whole thing.
Ok, a little update for this experiment. Here are the stats from the first ten days:
114 plays, but only 1 download. Which can mean several things.
*The music is not interesting enough to listen to more than once. (I can image that).
*The audio quality/mixing is not at the right level
*It's hard to make attractive instrumental music. = I need to find a lead singer
*....
I have a number of downloads of my album on bandcamp, and There is even one person around the world who actually paid money to download it.
Hah! Amazing! That's the whole thing to it mate Making sure that your music is sufficiently exposed, so that people may bump into it. In this way, you will slowly build a fanbase, which has to be supported by a bunch of social media channels such as a Facebook Page, your Youtube Channel and maybe even a Soundcloud channel. I have never gotten to ask if you managed to put these up yet
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