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4) FIND YOUR SELLING POINT
From the moment you release a single, video,
mixtape or album you become a product,
regardless of what genre of music you make.
Every successful artist has a selling point –
something which makes people buy into their
sound, their personality and their message.
Usually a large part of an A&Rs role is to
create a selling point for their artist, but
there is nothing stopping you from creating this
from day one. What makes you stand out from the
crowd? What would make people buy into you? What
is your target market? You may have heard these
questions a million times before, but it’s
vitally important that you consider them
carefully. Have a look at other successful
artists and figure out what makes people like
them, and then work out what you have at your
disposal to do the same.
3) RELEASE, TOUR & PROMOTE YOURSELF
This may sound pretty obvious, but a lot of
unsigned artists either neglect these avenues or
aren’t doing them right. Let’s start off with
releasing music. In our opinion, before you have
a visible fan base which actively follows your
career you should focus on winning new fans and
establishing one. Again, in our opinion, the
best way to do this is by releasing music
videos. If someone’s never heard your music
before, it’s unrealistic to expect them to
download your mixtape / EP / street album (even
if it is free). Music videos give people a
chance to check your sound out, discover your
personality and (subconsciously) decide whether
they want to buy into you. And don’t cut corners
with the video – having a good visual is just as
important as the song you’re promoting.
Now let’s talk about touring. You don’t need to
jump on every open mic night you see advertised,
but having a presence on the gigging circuit
should be a big priority for any up and coming
artist. Performing at a good gig is arguably the
easiest way to win new fans – where else do you
get the opportunity to showcase your music to
200 – 300+ people for free? Travelling to and
from gigs can require a considerable amount of
money, time and effort, and at first you’ll be
lucky to get paid travel expenses, but once
you’ve built up a reputation as a good performer
and start pulling in crowds touring can be a
huge avenue for generating money.
And finally, there’s promotion. Almost every
successful music artist will have hired a PR
company at some point in their career; simply
because good PR companies and radio pluggers
have the experience and contacts to get your
music heard by the right people. BUT, because
they have these contacts and knowledge of the
industry, you should expect to pay a
considerable amount to secure their services .
If you don’t have a budget for promotion,
however, a little bit of research and networking
can go a long way. Find out the contact details
for blogs, websites, DJs and magazines who
support the sort of music you make, and then get
in touch and kindly request that they listen to
one of your songs (always include a little bit
of key information about yourself, but avoid
sending them three pages of your life story).
Remember – these people are usually extremely
busy and chances are that if they’re not
instantly impressed by your sound they probably
won’t get back to you. Despite this, it’s
important to remain polite with these people at
all times. Just because they don’t like one song
you’ve sent them, doesn’t mean they won’t like
anything else you send their way, and if you’ve
managed to make these people aware of who you
are you’ve already won half of the battle.
2) MAKE YOURSELF VISIBLE ONLINE
This is probably the simplest piece of advice we
give to unsigned artists, yet it’s one of the
most important. If someone comes across your
song on a blog / TV / radio station, chances are
the first thing they’ll do to find out more
about you is search for you online. Having an
official website is always good, but having
dedicated accounts on
Facebook,
Twitter,
Soundcloud and
YouTube is
just as important. Make sure all of your online
locations include relevant information about
yourself, contact details and links to more of
your music, and ALWAYS keep your pages updated.
If you haven’t posted anything on Facebook for a
week, why would someone bother ‘liking’ your
page to stay up to date with you?
1) STAY CONSISTENT & HAVE YOU GOT A PLAN
You can release music, promote it and tour for
years but without a proper plan, you’re stuffed.
Set goals for yourself, know what you want to
achieve and then work out how you’re going to do
it. Then once you’ve accomplished that goal, set
a new one and start the process again. Becoming
a successful music artist takes hard work,
vision, thick skin and an unrelenting desire to
make things happen. Stay consistent, accept
criticism (good and bad) and do everything in
your power to get in front of people’s eyes and
ears. Good luck!
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