How To Be A Successful Independent Artist Like Nipsey Hussle, TechN9ne, Yo Gotti And More

F**CK A Record Deal

To make it as an independent artist takes non stop grind, calculated music marketing tactics and dedication, but it's well worth it in the end.

People see artist like Nipsey Hussle, E-40, and Tech N9ne living a lavish lifestyle, and making more money then artist on major labels, but nobody see's the behind the scenes work these artist put in day in and day out for years so now they can afford to live that lifestyle.

Tech N9ne is the definition of independent artist. He has been building Strange Music for almost 20 years now. The point is that music artist don't need a major label nowadays to make a living from their music.But it takes a certain type of person with dedication, non stop grind, and that attitude to keep going no matter how hard it gets.

After talking to thousands of independent artist who are making a good living from their music. Here are a few thing every independent artist should know if they wan to be successful

Marketing Plan

Marketing is raising awareness around your brand or product to the public, but in a non invasive way. I see alot of artist who just post their thinks all over peoples pages and tag hundreds of people in their post it might be annoying to people,but that is still a form of marketing it might not be that effective but its marketing.

If you want to get real results for your new release you can't just tag people and post links on their site that isn't going to grow your fanbase and sell your music.You need to come up with an effective marketing strategy that involves you connecting your target market and building a relationship with them.

Work Ethic And Hustle

Floyd Mayweather said it best “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” That applies to the music business to.Whether you like em are not the artist that are making money in the music game now are consistent as hell and stay on their grind. Artist like Young Dolph, Curren$y, Young Thug, Yo Gotti, and Gucci Mane all have a non stop work ethic that's how they drop so much material in one year. Gucci Mane was still dropping music consistently even when he was locked up.

If your trying to make it in the music industry you need to know from jump that it takes HARD WORK for real it's more then just making music. The same work you put into creating your mixtape or album you should put it into promoting your music, connecting with with your fans thru social media, and learing the business side of the music industry. It's non stop work 24/7

Understanding The Music Industry

This is how it works and Wedy Day the person responsible for getting Cash Money Records one of the biggerst records deal in the history of music said it best. "You have 2 choices either learn how aspect of the music business work and build your own connections are like Kevin Gates you hire a good team who already connections or experience in the business.Even if you hire a team you should still educate yourself thouroughly on how the music business works this way you understand the fundamentals of the business so nobody can pull a fast one on you.

We see it everyday an artist says they got hustled out of money from their label, but really they didn't they just didn't know what they were signing bcause they were not educated on how the business works.What they say is true Knowledge Is Power.

A Solid Team (Not a bunch of rappers)

The worse thing you can do as an independent artist is think you can do everything on your own.lol There is only 24hrs in a day so you need you a team who can handle the task that you complete.Every successful artist has a team it's mandatory.

Good people to have in your arsenal are a manager, promoter, tour manager, lawyer, and a graphic designer. Your graphic designer plays a big role on your team becasue they create all you visuals that pepople see before they hear your music, or visit your event. You need a graphic designer who specializes in creating mixtape covers and branding material for independent artist.

Release Tons Of Content

You develop a good relationship with somoene by commuunicationg with them on a regular basis right? Well, the samething applies when your trying to build your fanbase you have to commuicate with your fans if you want them to become superfans.

Unless your Eminem or Kayne West who can dissappear for 2 years and come back like they never left, your need to be creating and distributing content so you can stay intouch with your fans. Your content can be anything you recording, you with your team posted up, dice game , anything that brings them into your world.

You Need To Have Dope Music

I'm not gonna be around the bush with this one. You need have dope music point blank periord.You need something catchy, that your target market can connect with. Otherwise it won't work.
If your ready to take your career to the next level and you need professional graphics and artist branding visit www.Instagram.com/MixtapeCoverKingsMusicIndustryGraphicDesigns.com

Music Artist Learn How To Turn $1 Into 500+ Real Music Fans No B.S

Secret Way To Build Your Fan Base

Are you tired of just being a local artist, doing show after show at the same hole in the wall bar hoping you can get discovered  build your music career and get new music fans,but it just ain’t working!

You need to start using facebook ads to promote your mixtape,single,or music video straight up! The world is on Facebook and as you have probably noticed facebook videos are getting tons of views.Facebook ads can get you in front of thousands of new music fans all around the world,and the best thing is they can be targeted and they only cost pennies.

All the clients I work with I make have them apply Facebook ad marketing to their music campaign and every single artist who applied this strategy increased their fan base by at least 40%.

So I wrote this how to article to help all you independent artist to give you gives a technique that will provide you a  real way to grow your fan base and get your music heard.

Step 1.Choose The Objective Of Your Campaign:

After you login, click "ad manager" on your Facebook homepage,and then click on the "create ad tab.After that you will see a page like the screenshot above that has 10 different options for promotion.Some of these option won’t apply to musicians,but I’m gonna give you a quick rundown on the objectives that apply to you the musician.

Promote your page

This option is  the most common choice used by artist.This objective will get your Facebook Fan page in front of new potential fans at ease.You can target all you ads and promote to people who like arist similar artist that are in the same lane as you,or you can base off demographics tailored toward you market.

Raise attendance at your event

This option will give your next upcoming show, cd release party etc an extra boost.This ad will place you event in front of your whole metro area for pennies.Once again with the ad targeting option your can target people who attend rap shows or whatever your genre is and increase your events exposure guaranteed. Honestly it’s hard for most local acts to have a big turn out to their shows because nobody knows about it. Well lucky for you this problem won’t exist anymore after you read this e.

Get video views

Facebook video ads are the shit point blank period. For one their videos plays a non stop teaser of your video once you upload so it grabs people’s attention asap.So when you combine that with a targeted video ad campaign it equals more fans and more exposure.

How do you think you see music artist videos who aren’t from your local area on Facebook you were apart of their targeted ad campaign.

Send people to your website

Hey, that sounds straightforward, right? Well, you can do much more than just your website. Along with your band page, you can also use this feature to send folks into your iTunes store, YouTube channel, or any other relevant outlet.

These are the main options you will use as an independent artist when you’re running a Facebook ads campaign

 How to target your ad's reach

 

After you select your objective the next page is the targeting ad section.This is the fun stuff. This is where you pick who you want to target your ad to.You can target people by age,location,and interests. You want to be as detailed as possible I will explain each section below.

Location

This is pretty much self explanatory if you’re trying to promote a local show you have coming up in Omaha, Nebraska then you only want to target that city and surrounding areas,but if you’re going on a tour you could target the cities you going to perform in,or if you have a new song you want to get to the world you can promote it worldwide.This is pretty easy just use common sense and you will be fine.,

Age and gender

Gender, you don’t have to worry about because we’re targeting guys and girls so you can select the both option. Now when it comes to selecting an age group to target with your music  I would select 18 to 35 now don’t get me wrong there might be some old school cats that like your music that are in their 40’s and 50’s,but were trying to target people we know are using the internet all the time.

Interests

This is real all the good stuff happens lol.In his section you can decide who see your ad based on the information they provided when they set up their Facebook account,pages they’ve liked ,or purchased and more. Make sure your ad is detailed the more detail the more effective the ad is.Here are a couple of word prhases you shoud use to find your target market.I would search off similar artist,genre, and keywords such like “people who like trap music.”  Just make sure detailed and creative when you select your interests.

Setting your budget

Most musicians don’t even bother with Facebook ads because they're unaware of how affordable they are and how they can help grow their music following, and increase their profits.  The fact is you can run a targeted campaign for only $5 dollars a day.I repeat only $5 dollars a day so it’s cheaper to build your music fan base using Facebook ads then it is  to buy a combo meal from Mcdonalds.

I know right now you’re thinking if that’s the case why doesn’t every artist do it? Well its because all of the social media marketers and music marketing companies want to charge you an arm and a leg to set up a campaign for you when it’s easy as hell to do.Honestly a lot of marketers are going to be pissed that I’m giving this game away,but I’m in it to help artist succeed, I’m not trying to milk artist for all the money like these companies,I understand what artist go through because I’m an artist myself .

Facebook determines how many ads your people will reach based on how much you narrowed down your audience through the age and interests section.

For example let's say you chose ages 18 to 35 who live in the Us who are interested in rap music, rap concerts, Kevin Gates,Migos, Young Jeezy, and Meek Mill.

.Here is how much you spend daily and how many people your ad will be in front of which turns io views,likes,etc:

• $5 per day: 515 to 1,280 people everyday
• $15 per day: 1,400 to 4,500 people everyday
• $25 per day: 2,600 to 6,500 people everyday

Ad copy and graphics

Don’t get intimidated when you see you have t create a graphic it’s nothing like creating a mixtape cover or anything like that. All you have to do here is use your cover photo or any high quality photo you would like to use. and dd whatever text you would like to put on your picture.

For example if you targeted people who like Jay Z with your ads ,on your ad graphic you might put if you like Jay z you have to hear this new artist  Click here. Then have your ad redirect them to an email list capture page on your website where you collect emails.

                                                                                                                                                     Just remember to always make sure your ad copy matches your graphic!

If you need help setting up a campaign email me at ArtistDevelopmentGuru@gmail.com

Rostrum Records-Get Signed By A Powerhouse Label.

ROSTRUM RECORDS

In the world of music, there is an array of recording labels, some known for their impeccability, while some still struggling to make it big. We call the latter underdogs. Nonetheless, you must admit it; a good thing will always come up, regardless of time. And Rostrum Records is among the labels, which have passed the test of time to be tagged among the crème de la crème in music industry.  Rostrum Records is a one independent recording house, which was founded back in the year 2003, all this, courtesy of Benjy Grinberg. The recording house was established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America. Over years, the label has succeeded to harbor and produce hits that even appear on top charts globally.

Rostrum Records currently boasts of an A- list kind of artists, among them; Wiz Khalifa, Leon Thomas, Donora, Vali, TeamMate, and the famous Boaz. Just like any other organization, the label has a president, where Grinberg occupies the much coveted seat/position, while he is being followed by his deputy president, Arthur Pitt. Actually, they are the people who make core decisions in the label, and the recording house successes ought to be accredited to them too. Talking of success, the label has been able to maintain the limelight by scooping countless awards year in, year out.

It has sold over 9 million singles, coupled with 900,000 albums courtesy of its deal with Atlantic Records, and not forgetting the skinny rapper Wiz Khalifa. Actually, this has been a more of, a mutual relationship between Wiz, and the label, as the artist, on his own personal level has bagged myriads of accolades, which in a way boosts the labels’ name a notch higher in the music circles. However, dated on January 14, 2014, Rostrum Records parted ways with Mac Miller, as their earlier agreed contract had expired.

Nevertheless, to mention but a few, some of the studio albums Rostrum produced include; Show and Prove (Wiz Khalifa), O.N.I.F.C. (Wiz Khalifa) (Rostrum/Atlantic/Taylor Gang), Blue Slide Park (Mac Miller), and Donora (Donara), among many others. Under Rostrum Records, Mac Miller’s album Blue Slide Park, was the first indie album to hit the bill board charts, and other rappers like Wiz Khalifa followed suit. Moreover, the president of Rostrum was named number 23, on ‘The source magazines’ under the annual power top thirty, during the September issue. Moreover, talented musician who recently came on board in the label is, Victorious Leon Thomas III.

To aspiring artists out there, some could be eyeing this successful recording label, yet they find it very hard to join. Well, the Records is an international one, and it has higher standards, so to speak. Nonetheless, people like Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller made it to the label, and are nowadays recognized as world stars. However, before you reach such level, there is always a place you need to start from. For the two artists whom I had earlier mentioned, were able to come on board, due to a number of reasons. 

First things first, this two artists deserve the credit, and the success too. It’s through hard work, that they are where they are currently, despite Mac Miller’s latest exit from the high powered label. Wiz Khalifa, a long time rapper who has shown his versatility over years, trying his skills in various genres, is truly a hard working lad. And it is the same hard work, and versatility that made the Rostrum Records to sign him to the label.

Let us be real here, no label will be interested to have you in their team, if you add nothing at all, and be only a liability. There you have it. On the other hand, for Mac Miller, the chap is very dedicated to music. Actually, the lad literally eats and lives music. The president of rostrum records, noticed the artist and got interested, and from there all we can say is history. Voila! Success was order of the day for Mac Miller upon joining Rostrum Records. Thanks to his unmatchable and unique style of music.

For the label too on the other hand, all we can say timing is everything here. The Pennsylvania-based Records knows that very well. When Wiz Khalifa was dropping his albums under the label, many people’s tongues were left wagging. And nothing less came his way but success. After a short while, the label entered into a contract with another Steel city local, Mac Miller who quickly learnt Wiz’s style of frequently and regularly looking for crowds to entertain.

Simultaneously, in a few years later, Wiz became a world star within the music circles, and he was an artist to be revered. It is evident that most of the Rostrum musicians have a self-created success trail, which is very fascinating, as well as astonishing in the music industry. Moreover, it does not end here; the high-powered label is still in search of artists who can come on board. It is their trait to look for aspiring and very promising artists, so that they can raise the labels flag a notch higher. And some of the things they look for in an artist are talent, professionalism, determination, among many other essential things.

Many people out there can agree how important the internet has been in promoting artist like Wiz Khalifa.  With internet, there are social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, twitter, and others. Moreover, Wiz khalifa went a step ahead to have his personal website, where his music tour dates can be accessed, not forgetting downloading his songs from the site, and many more. Music is just like any other business, and it ought to be carried out with utmost professionalism.  In this matter, Wiz Khalifa incorporated not just graphics, but professional graphics, while doing music. For instance, this could be seen in music website, videos, etc. And it is this kind of determination, and smartness that got the lad signed to Rostrum Records.

With professional graphics, an artist can actually go far musically. Moreover, it shows that you know what you are actually doing in this game. The use of professional graphics will furthermore brand an artist, in such a manner that high level labels like Rostrum can identify you, and probably sign you up, in case you impress them. So, to be on the safer side, it is very prudent to use professional graphics, as it might be a gateway to your signings in big recording labels globally.