Coldwave Blog - Music Tips For Independent Artists

A Guest Post by DiyMusicBiz.com , originally found at  Music Clout How to make it in the music industry … Such a popular question, one that’s on the tip of everyone’s tongue that enters as well as those who’ve been in for a while without any success. Those who don’t know are confused and those those who understand pretend there’s some sort of secret sauce. I have 117 emails sitting in my in box right now with this phrase meshed within a pool of other questions. So I figured I’d give my insight on the topic, clear up a few things and point you in the right direction. First, what does “making it” mean ? What does it mean TO YOU? Is it making a good living in the industry or does it mean reaching celebrity status? Is it getting a Record Deal?…What is it? This is an important question because the answer will determine how complex your road to success will be. If money is the target, that’s easy as there’s plenty of opportunities out there for you to capitalize on...

So you got your band together, recorded some songs, and played some shows…now what? Now it’s time to start building your fanbase. The internet may have made things significantly easier than before, but it’s still just a tool. You have to do all the hard work yourself. So here are some helpful tips on how to do that. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!  I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage, “Practice makes perfect” and for good reason. It’s because it’s true. When you go out to play a show, you get one chance to make a good first impression on the crowd. You want to make sure you’re going to put on a show they will never forget. One of the best ways to do that is to practice your material over and over again. Every single member of the band should not only be able to play all of their parts flawlessly, but they should have a good idea of everyone else’s parts as well, so you can hold each other accountable. If you are able to forge that perfect show, it can go a long way when everyo...

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What Items to Include for a Beatport Feature Originally posted by our partner Symphonic Distribution -  http://symphonicdistribution.com/ Looking at the Beatport store, most artists and labels think, “I want my release featured in a banner!” Here’s some good news: all Symphonic Distribution clients can be considered for these placements. Releases spotlighted on Beatport are there based on editorial decisions made by Beatport—these are not paid placements. In order to be considered for featured placement in the sought-after site you must remember to complete a featured release form in the content portal for us to be able to review all the details. Timing in KEY! Remember to deliver your release to us at least 4 weeks before the release goes live. In addition to having the details in time, Beatport will be looking at what promotional efforts the label or artist are implementing. So what exactly are they looking for and what do you need to send us or your music distributor? ...

7 Tips to Increase your Exposure and Potential Originally posted by our partner Symphonic Distribution -  http://symphonicdistribution.com/ By now it’s apparent that there is a ton of music out there – over-saturation is a term you may hear often these days. For anyone getting involved with the music industry there is always a need for more exposure and promotion. If an artist or a record label has it, they will sell better, simple as that. At Symphonic Distribution, my team and I have been incredibly fortunate to work with several thousand unique record labels and artists over the years and many of them have asked us for feedback and suggestions on how to sell better. Here are 7 quick tips that you can apply to increase your exposure and potential. 1. Consistency There is so much material being released every single day that it’s hard to be noticed just by one song, especially if you are an independent artist. Don’t put all of your eggs in one album. Rather, do a 2 t...

7 Social Media Mistakes Musicians Should Avoid Originally posted by Music Clout -  https://musicclout.com/ Text copied from our partner Symphonic Distribution -  http://symphonicdistribution.com/ Building a significant list of fans and followers on our social media pages is a crucial part of our business as musicpreneurs, and sometimes it requires time, work and research. The other side of this activity is that we have also to keep our fans from clicking the ‘unlike’ or ‘unfollow’ button. At this purpose there are some simple rules to follow and some mistakes to avoid. Here are seven of the most common mistakes many musicians make. 1. Posting the same content on all networks at the same time. Tools like HootSuite let us post the same content on multiple pages (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). You think “how cool is that!”… well, it’s not. For three reasons. First of all, every social network has its own way of show things and what works / looks good on Facebook may n...

Originally a guest post by  Crowd Audio . Imported and adapted from  Music Clout . While the EPK(electronic press kit) can substitute for your website, you shouldn’t neglect making your website the hub from which you make your presence known. Relying on Facebook and other social networking services can be a great way to build your following, but you ultimately want total control over your musical message. It’s simply too dangerous to rely on other companies to care about your music more than you do. Don’t “Digitally Sharecrop” Your Music Reverbnation, BandCamp and all those sites are amazing services for the musician. But they are all third-party services that you ultimately don’t have any control over. When Facebook decides it’s not interested in promoting music anymore because the new Myspace is so good at it, what’s gonna happen to all those fans you’ve reached out to on Facebook? Will you still reach them? Or will Facebook just shut down all your hard wo...

Post originally shared with us by our partner  Symphonic Distribution . Getting gigs is one of the most important factors in taking your music from a hobby to a career. It is where the vast majority of musicians make the largest portion of their income, whether it be from performance guarantees or merchandise sales. If you are a musician trying to turn your art into a career, you need to be playing gigs. Gigs, shows, concerts and whatever else you want to call them aren’t always the easiest things to get a hold of, especially if you are just starting out. Every part of the music business intertwines with all aspects of itself in some way. So what steps can you take with that mindset in order to get gigs? Before you think about playing a gig you should ask yourself these few important questions: Can I pull this off live to an above satisfactory level? There really isn’t much of a point in getting gigs if you can’t perform your music live. This happens a lot with n...

Get a paper and pen. Just do it, it’ll totally be worth it. I’m about to blow your mind. Quick – tell me 3 people you want to listen to your music that you think will be able to put it in a commercial, film, or TV promo! Even if you’ve already contacted them, write down a name with a little space beneath to complete this exercise. Done? Great! Now write down 3 things you said to persuade each person to listen to your music (they can all be similar or the same if you do a lot of copy/paste). Easy, right? Alright, now for each person list 3 things about them that have nothing to do with their job, or music. Hmmm…alright, take some more time and think about it…times up! Now, as fast as you can, write down 3 things you can do for that person based on their needs or wants! If you can come up with 1 thing for that last one, I’ll give you props. But only if it isn’t ridiculous (like “give them a million dollars” or “cut them in on license fees they secure for me” – because tha...

Originally posted at Music Clout -  https://musicclout.com/ What Are The Essential Features Of a Hit Record? We have all heard those hit songs that can be considered  ‘timeless classics’. Whether it’s a hip hop track, a rock classic or an 80’s power ballad, these songs share some essential features that ensure they will be on the airwaves for years to come. Obviously there is not one hard and fast rule for this as every song is different, but here is a list of features that many of these hit records share. A ‘catchy’ song Starting with the obvious, a hit record must be a great song. Above all the melody must be strong, as this is what a listener focuses on and this should be accompanied by some great lyrics and a good groove. You can apply the best production techniques possible, but if the song is weak then the record will sink without a trace! A strong vocal Having a great vocal is a real asset to any record. If you have a quality song and you have a strong vo...

Post originally shared by Music Clout -  https://musicclout.com/ A Guest Post by Crowd Audio Email is dead. Just like rock is dead right? Wrong. Email is the #1 way you can reach your fans as a musician. Even if you have a kick-ass website, a behind the scenes Youtube page and a hyperactive Twitter account, your fans probably won’t check those every day. But do you know what they actually check every single day? Their emails. That’s why email isn’t dead. It’s as relevant as ever for telling your fans about new tour dates, videos, songs and anything you think your fans would like. Sure, it might be old fashioned. But it’s the same type of old-fashioned as classic rock is. Teenagers still listen to Zeppelin, just like you should still reach your fans using email. How to Set Up an Email Account You’ll need a 3rd party service like Mailchimp or Aweber. You don’t want to email from your personal account because mass emailing through Gmail simply doesn’t work...

By Symphonic Distribution . We’ve all heard about the five W’s of research. These are the MUST have’s for any information gathering or discovery process. Great storytellers use them, scientists use them, and even police departments use them. In order to truly define your brand, you should approach the process the same way a scientist would answer a question or a police office would conduct an investigation. This process should be time consuming. It shouldn’t be a feat accomplished in one session. The time you spend on brand discovery is an investment in you and your music’s future. So what are the five W’s? 1. Who 2. What 3. Why 4. Where 5. When 6. How When defining these for your Music on who your audience is, what they like, why they would follow you, wherethey are, when you will interact with them, and how this interaction takes place. Who is demographics; are they male or female (a mix of both?), what age group are they in? Do they speak other languages? If ...

Originally found at Symphonic Distribution  page. Whether you paid thousands of dollars working with a great producer or made your own bedroom recording, chances are you want people to hear your music. Over my 20 years in the music industry I’ve seen bands and even record labels make the same mistakes which ultimately prevent their record from standing a chance for success. In order for people to hear your music and increase the chances your album or EP release will be a success, you need to create a solid plan before you release the record. 1. Do NOT release the record the same day you receive your masters back or your CDs arrive on your doorstep. This is the #1 mistake we see bands make. You’ve spent months, if not years, on your album and you just want people to hear it. I get it. However, as counterintuitive as it may seem, you greatly reduce the amount of people hearing your music by releasing it right away. Do you think bands like Phoenix or MGMT released their...

Post originally copied from the Symphonic Distribution blog . The guys at http://www.hypebot.com have done a great article on how to release music One of the more interesting documents from the Ibiza International Music Summit is YouTube’s “Top Strategies for Electronic Music – Labels, DJs, Festivals.” The series of tips and how tos covers a lot of ground that’s worth considering for any musician using YouTube. In fact, very little of the document seems electronic music-specific though it clearly speaks to YouTube’s desire to maintain good relations with the EDM crowd. YouTube’s “ Top Strategies for Electronic Music ” was sent to us by Hisham Dahud (former Hypebot analyst) of Fame House who is overseeing digital marketing for IMS Ibiza . The tactics are “designed specifically with Electronic Music labels, DJs and event producers in mind” and do a nice job of including specific suggestions for “ways to do it” along with the “strategies” which are actually tactics. For ex...

 Five Reasons Your're Not Licensing More Music A Guest Post by Aaron Davison of How To License Your Music.com Incorporated from Music Clout If you aren't licensing as much of your music as you'd like or if you simply haven't been able to successfully license any of your music, then most likely one or more of the reasons below is why: 1) Your Songs Aren't Good Enough - If you've been actively trying to license your music without success then this is the first place you need to look. Are your songs good? Are your songs great? I know this is a hard thing to be objective about but you really need to try to distance yourself a little and assess whether your music really is as good as other music that is being successfully picked up. Supervisors listen to a lot of music and they gravitate towards songs that fit the criteria for the scenes they need music for and for the songs that they simply like the best. Write great songs and people will take notice. ...

A Guest Post By Music Industry How To February 6th, 2013 Post originally shared by Music Clout . Today we're going to look at how to sell your music online more effectively. You may or may not already have your music available for fans to buy, but even if you do, I suggest you read on to see if these tips can increase the number of units sold. You see, simply putting a 'buy now' button on your website isn't going to maximize your sales. Yes you may sell a few songs, but if you really want to get more potential buyers purchasing your music, you will need to refine the user experience so it's as easy for them as possible. In this guide I'll show you some things you can do to increase the chance people will go on to buy from you. If you find it useful, please share it via your favorite social networking sites. Don't Rush The Sale, Pre Sell One of the biggest mistakes musicians often do is try and rush into the sale. Get them on your shop pa...