Friday, May 29, 2015

New Artist Model-How To Build Your Own Music Empire Without A Record Deal

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

The New Artist Model For Independent Rappers,And Singers

Boy has shit changed in the music game. It went from record labels pimping rappers for every dam dime they could to artist being able to use the internet to build them a loyal fanbase, get exposure, and release and sell their music whenever the hell they feel like it. Now don't get me wrong record labels still have all the connects to get the promotion, press coverage, tours,etc,but now with the internet you have access to the exact same companies it just takes a little time and research.

Of course we know that cd sales have went down the drain,but its a dam lie when they say artist don't sell music anymore they just don't sell cd's anymore because everything is digital so people are buying music still they are just purchasing it in a digital format, and once again you don't need the major labels to get your music distributed now you can use sites like Itunes to get your music to the  world and it only takes about 15 min.

The New artist model for indie artist is about building your own brand and you having control over your fanbase,tours,music releases, and more. Here are a couple of things as an independent artist that are mandatory if you want to take your career to the next level and make a full time living from your music without a label taking 70 percent of your income.

You have to be active on the top social media sites so you can connect with your fans on a regular basis and on top of that  nowadays everybody is online so you can also use social media sites to generate new fans also.Some of the main sites that are a must to be active on are Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter,Tumblr, and Reddit Music .These sites all have over a million visitors a month and these sites can make your music go viral easy but the whole goal with these sites isn't to spam  your music on peoples walls and in their inbox the goal is to build a real relationship and then slowly and indirectly.

1.Having your own website with an email capture for is a must also at the end of the day this is about building your name and brand not another companies brand like Reverbnation,or Soundcloud that is just plain retarded. You should use those sites as funnel sites to send the traffic to your own website that way you can have an email capture form that collects viewers emails and then you will also have a list of music fans you can build a relationship with and covert them into a buying fan
Also there are a ton of sites where you can get free responsive website themes that are professional and slick and you can be up and running within a hr. 

2.Building Your Team-It takes a team to make it in this business and  there is only 24 hrs in a day and you the artist should be focusing on recording music you don't have the time to contact bloggers,music sites, venues,radio stations,or make your own mixtape or album cover designs  and do all the other networking that is involved in the music biz.

I understand at first you might not have the budget to afford these people upfront (keep in mind their not expensive at all) , but you should do your research now if you don't have a budget ready just so you can start to build a relationship with these people in these niches.

You need a manager.A good manager will already have good contacts in the music biz but if not your manager should always stay busy trying to get you quality shows booked, interviews,talking to label reps and any and everything that has to do with you getting more brand awareness and getting you paid.

You need your own graphic designer. As an independent artist you have to make sure you brand yourself like a professional just like the major artist because your image and plays a big role in your music career.You need to checkout  some different graphic designers and find someone who has the type of feel your looking for. Make sure you look at their portfolio so you can see some of their mixtape cover art, flyer designs, and logo designs you don't want to settle for less when it comes to your graphics because thats what reels people in to checkout your music. I would make sure they have some professional  high quality mixtape covers and make sure the mixtape cover art is Hi-def ,then I would do the same thing for the logo designs and flyer designs also. 

You need a publicist or a online promotion team.  I know this sounds expensive and it is and isn't lol a publicist might want a couple of thousand a month to run a social media campaign and to get your music music bloggers and sites they should already have an established relationship with.
You could also have your niece or friend do the exact samething  as far as pushing your music online and contacting bloggers and get your music to them so they can write about you on their high traffic sites.Blogger have the power to get your music and stories to hundreds of thousands of music fans, dj's and A&R's at the push of a button.

You could also go on a freelancer site and pay someone 20 bucks a week to push your music on all the social media sites and contact blog sites for 3hrs a day and that is well worth it, plus it gives you more free time to work on music and perfecting your craft.Just take a look at all these new independent music artist you see blowing up nowadays from Kevin Gates to Fetty Wap they're all over the music blogs sites anywhere you go and they make sure everything that represents their brand is professional from their custom mixtape cover designs to their club flyer designs..

If your trying to get to that next level apply some of this information you just read and I guarantee you will get positive results.





Monday, May 11, 2015

Mixtape Cover Art-Professional Mixtape Graphics For Indie Artist

If your a professional artist I'm pretty sure you already know that look and image is everything in the music industry and  one bad move can make or break your career.Anything and everything that represents you and your brand has to be professional whether its a mixtape cover,flyer or a logo. At www.MixtapeCoverKing.com they will have low rates and provide high quality work. Press play below to checkout some of their work for yourself.


Saturday, May 2, 2015

How To Get More People To Listen To Your Mixtape Guaranteed

The Mixtape Game
The music business is much like any other business model, there are several aspects of it and you have competition on each and every one of those. Let’s take Hip-Hop and rapping for example, in recent years this genre of music became ever more popular, thus resulting in an oversaturated genre of music with a lot of high-grade to low-grade artists. Now that is the problem, because the market is oversaturated with low-grade artists, any new artist that actually has talent will have a hard time making a name for himself. However there are a couple of methods that we will be discussing regarding new rappers and how they can make it to the top, or at least make a name for themselves.
The first thing that we should mention is the fact that any new artist doesn’t have enough money to buy studio time in order to make a high quality record which can be sold later on. With this said it’s safe to assume that any artist that is looking to make it big time starts with homemade mixtapes in order for him to make a name for himself. When it comes to mixtapes and mixtape covers in general there are a couple of things that you need to be aware of. First of all mixtape purchases are purely what you call “impulse buys” this means that people who actually buy your mixtape are the ones who do it because they are curious and the price tag is right. It’s important to understand that at this stage of your career you still didn’t make a name for yourself and the odds of a person who purchased your mixtape knowing you are slim.
Let’s take a look at the whole “impulse buy” thing for a moment. Why did the person in question buy your mixtape instead of any other record? The visual representation of your mixtape, meaning your mixtape cover has to do a lot with it. The fact is that if something looks nice people will spend a lot more time looking at it, and that increases the probability of your mixtape being sold, this can go a long way in terms of gathering the needed funds to buy studio time that you need.
Designing a mixtape cover as a marketing tool
The term “designing” should not be taken lightly under no circumstances. Examples of rappers taking this aspect of marketing to lightly are all over our music stores including iTunes and various other programs. Everybody who even attempted to listen to music encountered a mixtape cover that lacked overall quality and immediately disregarded the product that was in front of him as something that is simply not worth the time, without ever listening to it. Needless to say that this can be a huge problem to someone that is trying to make a name for himself. Another thing that we feel that we should mention is the fact that the disregarded music gets labeled as “trash music” or more popularly called “clutter music” with low quality and not soon after these unlucky pieces of art fad away from existence.
How to design a mixtape cover
The first thing that you should be aware of is the fact that you are a rapper, and not a professional mixtape cover designer. So needless to say that you should hire somebody that knows exactly what they are doing. Jour job here is to revise the following.
  • What is your genre of music
  • What emotions does your music bring you
  • What is the theme behind the music you make
Only after you have grasped the concepts of the previously mentioned feel free to start looking for a designer to make you a mixtape cover.Your cover art  places a big role in your project  when it comes to getting new fans and listeners especially if they have never heard your music before you need graphics that will grab their attention. Another thing  is make sure you don’t get overcharged by a designer for your design the average designer charges anywhere from $50 to $100  dollars which is a great price as long as they have a quick turnaround and provide unlimited changes if needed.
Also make sure you checkout the designers portfolio to give you an idea of the type of work he or she does and make sure it fits the style you’re looking.. Needless to say that all aspects of your music need to be integrated in your mixtape cover, the ability of the final product to represent itself is key here, and if you and your designer did the job to the fullest extent regarding your mixtape cover, it will be your own private personal salesman.
Promoting With Email Marketing To,Managers,Booking Agents And More
It is a well-known fact that that every rapper which is trying to make a name for himself sends a lot of E-mails to various record companies around the world, it’s a free way to promote your music and yourself and by any chance you aren’t doing the previously mentioned, we recommend that you start now!
When it comes to sending mass E-mails you need to be aware of the fact that it’s much easier to see than it is to listen. What we are trying to say is the fact that if somebody actually opens your E-mail and sees a link to a YouTube video the odds are that they will most probably move that E-mail to the spam folder. On the other hand, if that somebody opens an E-mail and sees a picture of your mixtape cover and actually likes it, they will click on the link in the E-mail as well. Visual representation of a good mixtape cover can go a long way, especially in the early stages of your career.
In conclusion
As you undoubtedly know by now, mixtapes as well as the mixtape covers that represent them, can be a powerful marketing tool when trying to make it to the big leagues, especially when it comes to music, so under no circumstances should you disregard the importance of all the previously mentioned aspects of your marketing and promotion.