Indie Artist Don't Work With Any Artist Or Concert Promoter Until You Read This

Learn How To Increase Your Value As An Indie Artist

As a music artist your whole goal is to build value in you and your brand. So it's mandatory that your selective on business ventures you participate in because making the wrong move can actually devalue your brand and music career.

I understand that it might be hard for you to turn down certain offers due to the fact you spent a lot of time building your brand to get to the level where promoters and other artist are presenting you with offers , but don’t giving in and taking every offer especially if it doesn’t help your brand’s image or get your music more exposure will benefit your career in the long run I know that sounds harsh, but it’s the truth at the end of the day this is a business.

Here are a couple of things you should think about so you don’t devalue your brand.

You Shouldn’t  Perform Too Much

Artist love to brag about how they’ve performed over 100 times locally and opened up for this celebrity etc an yes those are big milestones in your career but from a business prespective none of that matters if...

1. You didn’t make money from these events 

2. If you didn’t reach a new audience and get new fans. It’s not about bragging rights you need to be making money and growing your fan base point blank period.

I understand at the beginning of your music career when you’re trying to push your new mixtape or single you need to perform at as many venues as possible to not only get more exposure to your music, but to also get you more comfortable performing live on stage. But once you’ve done that you need to be picky about where, when, and who you perform with.

Once you have a buzz going and people start to recognize your music different artist and concert promoters will start to reach out to you on social media sites and start emailing you with different opportunities to do shows especially concert promoters they always have slots to fill especially in smaller areas where there isn’t an abundance of qualified talent,but rather than getting on every venue multiple times a week only participate in bigger shows  that will create a buzz for your fans and make them feel like they can’t miss your performance.

I’m not saying don’t do  shows if there not big because of course smaller cities don’t have big shows on a regular basis just make sure when you do perform its not a bs event with no buzz behind it.Also when you do decide to participate in a show for a promoter and they present you with a slot that has an artist with a smaller buzz and less talent then you make sure you tell the promoter where you should be on the bill or don’t do the show.

You should also make sure the promoter is promoting the event properly with an online/offline flyer with professional graphics etc. You should only perform at professional events and if you even get a little feeling it’s not going to turn out right don’t do it! Trust me you rather turn down a show then upset all of your fans at a janky ass show.

Fans want quality over quantity so don’t have to perform all the time just make sure  the times you have a show you give fans a show to remember and make sure you have promo material to give out or sell to fans after your performance you could sell merchandise,sell download cards for your music, pass out a sample of your single or mixtape cover art design for you next release, etc.

You need to remember less is more. Hell  even if Kevin Gates performed 3 times a week in my hometown I wouldn’t go see him all the time it would get old. Just make sure when you do perform you kill that shit and trust me it will build a buzz and fans will be  waiting to see next performance.

Collaborations

Creating songs with other artist on the same level as you is smart because you’re exposing yourself to a new fan base so it helps out both artist. However, there is going to be artist who just aren’t as good as you  and I know once again this sounds wrong, but you shouldn’t work with them.

You have to remember nowadays with the internet people have the ability to search for every song you’ve created the last thing you want is a fan of yours to be on Youtube and see you on a shitty song it would devalue you as an artist to them. 

So just make sure that when your working with other artist or promoters  that that they can't let someone else destroy your brand you worked so hard to build.

*If you need any hi quality graphics for any of your projects or events click here

Music Artist Learn 3 Things That Will GUARANTEE You Shit On Your Compeition

3 Things That Will Make People Pay Attention To Your Music

The music business is oversaturated with artist ,but yet and still you see new artist breaking into the business on a regular basis and  why is that? They figured out how to make their brand and music stand out from the pack.

How are 3 things every artist should focus on to guarantee they stand out from every. other music artist

1.Your Story: Having a compelling story is one of the most effective music marketing tools an artist can have. Your bio allows potential fans  to connect with you on a personal level and a good story will make you standout from other musicians, and will make people remember your music and your brand.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
That’s why your story is so important, you want people to know your triumphs, struggles, musical achievements, etc. Majority of the people in the world go through the same type of situations of course some peoples are worse, but when person has been down the same road as you they can instantly connect with you. So make sure your bio is authentic and connects with your fans on a emotional level.

2. Your Graphics- If you go on the any music site or mixtape site you will see that majority of the  rap artist have terrible low quality graphics that aren’t appealing to the eye. I understand you want to try to save as much money as possible being that you’re an independent artist, but there are some things you have to spend money on when you’re building a business and that’s your graphics.

Your logo, mixtape cover, album cover, flyers, and web design need to be professional and represent your brand the right way. So make sure you have a budget set aside to invest in a quality graphic designer if you want people to pay attention to your music project, you have to grab their dam attention and having an unprofessional artwork will just make potential fans skip over your music and move on the next artist.  

3.Your Live Performance-Music fans go to live shows for one reason...To have a great time and have an experience they’re remember and it’s your job to give them that as an artist. You always have to put your fans first, and remember people don’t come to your show just to listen to your music they could do that at home or in their car they want to be entertained.

So make sure your performance set isn’t just a bunch of your songs playing back to back make your performance personal. For example before one of your hit singles comes on you can have the Dj cut the music out before the song starts so you can talk to the audience personally and tell them what you were going through when you made the song.

When you do little personal things like that throughout your show it let’s your audience connect with you on a completely different level and that’s what will convert them into super fans. So make sure you pour your heart out every time you hit that stage and give your fans a show they can remember and trust me the venues and promoters will start contacting you and your management team.

3 Things Musician Need To Focus On To Blow Up In 2016

Are Your Ready To Take Your Music Career To The Next Level This Year?

It's about to be a new year and a ton of new artist broke into the music game without a label.This year it's your turn.Here 3 thing you need to focus on in 2016 so you can turn your music into a professional career.

You spend months, even years, recording material for your mixtape – don’t throw it all away with poor planning and rookie mistakes. - See more at: http://www.makinitmag.com/blog/music-101/8-mixtape-mistakes-avoid#sthash.d0vaTIir.dpuf

ou spend months, even years, recording material for your mixtape – don’t throw it all away with poor planning and rookie mistakes - See more at: http://www.makinitmag.com/blog/music-101/8-mixtape-mistakes-avoid#sthash.d0vaTIir.dpuf

ou spend months, even years, recording material for your mixtape – don’t throw it all away with poor planning and rookie mistakes - See more at: http://www.makinitmag.com/blog/music-101/8-mixtape-mistakes-avoid#sthash.d0vaTIir.dpuf

ou spend months, even years, recording material for your mixtape – don’t throw it all away with poor planning and rookie mistakes - See more at: http://www.makinitmag.com/blog/music-101/8-mixtape-mistakes-avoid#sthash.d0vaTIir.dpuf

 Your Promotion – It doesn’t make sense to spend all your money and time in the studio creating your mixtape and then turnaround and not invest any money in your music marketing and music promotion. A good rule of thumb that successful artist follow is investing the same amount of money on the back end promoting your music as you spent creating your music.Nowadays marketing isn’t as expensive as you think.

For example you can get targeted Facebook ads for 2 cents a click that means you can get your music in front of 2,000 new faces for only $20 dollars.Another good way to get more listeners is to do some cross promotion.What I mean by cross promotion is for example you just dropped a hot single that has a nice buzz locally and online,what you would do is find 3 artist in your area or someone with a nice following online and have them get n the remix

It’s crazy how many indie artist don’t use this tactic (I think its an ego thing) look at all the big artist they drop a hit song and then they drop a remix with artist who have a  buzz also.Why because it gets you in front of a wider audience and your song will get more exposure.

One thing you never want to do is ask for Free promotion it will just make people think your cheap and that you don't take your craft seriously.You should have a monthly budget to spend on promotion hell you waste $20 a week on swishers,liquor,clothes etc $20 spent on Facebook adds will get you in front of 2,000 plus music fans .

300 Dbi Quality Graphics – We all know the truth so you might not wanna hear what I’m about to say,but in the digital music industry a having a professional mixtape cover is just as important as the music.It’s all about image and your appearance in the music game.With some many artist releasing music it’s a must you stand out  when people are searching on these mixtape sites there are thousands of artist music to choose from so how do they decide who to listen to? They pick the artist who has attention grabbing artwork.WHY....

Their mind is subconsciously  thinking if they can’t grab my eye with their mixtape artwork they probably can’t grab my ear with their music.Which in reality makes sense.So don’t kill a good song or mixtape with dollar store graphic make sure your graphics are sharp,professional,and represent your brand the right way. Don’t try to find designer who will make you a mixtape cover  for  free because any designer who creates hi quality professional work isn’t gonna do work for free this is their career and how they feed their family.

Click Here If You Need A Professional Designer http://www.MixtapeCoverKing.com

Consistency – Don’t get me wrong there are one hit wonders popping up left and right, but if you want to have longevity in the game you have to be consistent one mixtape isn’t gonna make or break you.You have to keeping dropping quality music and investing in your craft.

How To Get A Record Deal And Not Get Fucked Over

It's funny how artist  say fuck a record deal and how you need to be independent but as soon a they get a chance to get a record deal they they sign a contract.Why? Because all record deals aren't bad it's what you negotiate and what level your at when the labels approach you.The whole goal is to have your own label already and then you have the label handle the music distribution side of things because they already have all the connections and they know where to put your music to hit your target market.Hell even  P.Diddy has his Bad Boy Ent label signed to a major label.

Here are 3 things that you can do that will make the major labels come to you to try and try to sign yo every indie artist who is big right now is using this exact same strategy.Why? Because it works..

1. This is the easy part.Make sure you have all the main social media sites Facebook,Twitter,Instagram,Google Plus,Reddit Music.All these sites rank high in Google and get crawled multiple times a day and they will get your brand name indexed in the search engines fast so your searchable on Google.

Also have your music on these music sites Soundcloud,AudioMack,Reverbnation,and Hot New Hip Hop.These free sites allow you to upload your music for free and they receive alot of traffic and will get you exposure from music fans world wide. and these are sites that labels go to looking for talent.

Finally make sure you have your own website even if its a free site from Wix.com. So many artist fail to have there own website and it is one of your most powerful marketing tools.It allows you to have control of the users experience, build a list , sell your products, get shows booked  and  more.So get you a website today with your label name or rap name as the .com .

2.Radio promotion- Get your mixtape cover or album cover created for a visual to tease fans with and create a buzz.Then findout what song your gonna push as your single of that project and find you a radio promoter who works with your type of music . For example if your a rapper you could go to Google and type in urban music radio promoter and you will get the a list of companies that work with your genre of music.

The good thing about a radio promoter is they already have a relationship with all the program music directors and the Dj's and they can get your music played on the biggest radio stations in the world. A radio promoter will know where your target market is and will get your music played in the right regions. Honestly I think the smartest campaign for a rap artist would be to run a Sirius Satellite radio campaign and get your music on Hip Hop Nation,and Shade 45 they have over 20 million listeners a month and they break artist point blank period.

3.Contact Promoters And Book Shows.- The good thing about a radio promo campaign is that everything is tracked so you will know what areas your music got exposure in, so you know what areas to contact to book shows in.For example you got  a promo package that will get your single played 20,000 times total between at all the top hip hop radio stations in Miami

.Being that you can track all the areas where your songs were played and requested the most and then your management can just  get in contact with promoters in those areas and tell them your having a tour and they won't hesitate to book a show with you because they heard you on the radio multiple times and they know they everyone in the area has heard your music because they've heard your music all over the place.

Trust me if you follow these steps you will naturally create your own buzz and record labels will be blowing your phone up.Just make sure you don't do a 360 deal and just utilize them for distribution.

How To Get Sponsors For Your Music And Brand.

How to Get Sponsors for your Music Career

As an independent artist you are always placed in a difficult situation. You will find having the freedom to make your own music and the complete control of your work good, but there are more complicated things to worry about in order to keep your career afloat. For the most part, you have to test your luck on different approaches in order to steer things towards your favor.

A lot of trial and error is involved in going independent. The hardest aspect to sustain is the financial one. For artists with contracts in record label companies, money isn’t really a matter since all expenses are going to be shouldered by the production budget. However, a large chip of the money goes to professional expenses since you need to pay your manager, agent, assistants and everyone who is part of your upkeep.

Independent artists on the other hand can keep the money for themselves once the fruits of their labor keep coming. However, the highest hurdle you need to pass through is creating that fruit. There are a lot of costs associated with writing, recording, producing and releasing music. And you can’t expect to support that with a minimum wage salary. In order to get the funds for your music projects, you will need to look for people who are willing to invest in your potential – in other words, sponsors.

Sponsorship is a good method to create connections with an established brand that may play a big role in your career in the future. But the connection shouldn’t be one way. If you are trying to benefit from them, they also have to benefit from you. And you need to do something to make them recognize that you can boost the brand’s reputation.

One of the basic aspects of the relationship is mutual gain. You need to know who you are, what type of music you offer and how you can establish yourself in the music industry. Then the collaboration starts. You have to recognize the brand, what it offers and how you can associate it to your music. To help you out, you need to ask yourself the following questions:

Does the brand compliment my kind of music?

Am I getting enough exposure through this sponsorship?

Will I be able to expand my horizons in the future with my association to the brand?

Am I confident about bringing a positive wave to the brand?

There is no room for doubt when you commit yourself to a sponsorship. If you don’t believe in your capabilities, all your efforts won’t be half as good if you were 100% confident. As a start-up artist it might be difficult to establish and keep up a specific personality. But you’ll have to be sure of yourself first before even thinking about promoting something. If you get this part down, then you are halfway ready to sign that deal.

You either get an offer for a sponsorship or find one and ask for a chance. Either way, you need to make sure that you focus on your priorities and not be swayed by the benefits each offer presents. Don’t go overboard and accept multiple deals. For starters, pick one and use it as a learning experience.

Find a sponsor whose ideas mesh with yours. Don’t just get a sponsor to get one you could end up in a situation that you are uncomfortable with, the only thing that will happen is your dedication to the promotion of the brand will crumble in the early stages. Seek one that you like to promote. In some cases, artists choose sponsors that indirectly inspire their musical creativity. In the simplest sense, pick one that you really like and don’t settle for less.

There are many promotional products you can advertise once you sign up for a sponsorship. It can range from clothing and accessories to food and beverage. It will depend a lot on the type of company you sign up with. Part of being an endorser is being an effective and convincing ambassador of the brand. This is the reason why they associate themselves with artists in the first place. Musicians have the ability to attract people and if you are good with using that ability, you can convince people to try the products you recommend. As a representative, you have to be careful about doing anything that will devalue the brand’s reputation too.

To sum it up, in order to get a good sponsorship deal you need to be mutually attracted to each other’s marketing potentials. When you approach a company, make sure that you already have in mind a reason why you will make a good endorser for their products and services.Let them know how they can get more exposure from sponsoring your.For example if your mixtape get’s 10,000 downloads you can advertise the company on your mixtape cover and promotional flyers etc. Moreover, you should also be capable of providing an honest opinion on why you want them to sponsor you as well. It’s a win-win deal if you both work hard for each other’s success.

It all boils down to one simple question: Do you know how to market a brand effectively? If you have doubts, start by defining your music first. Once you do, seek out a suitable brand, sell your abilities and get that sponsorship deal. You may start out with a couple of rejections, but trust me the more you get your brand out there the easier it will get to close a deal.

T.I. Explains How You Can Get Him To Sign You!

Get A Record Deal With T.I.

So are you an independent artist trying to get a record deal? Thats coo but the music game has changed and you can become a star and make a living from music just by using the internet and pushing your music in the streets without a major label.

All you have to do is focus on building a solid fanbase, release quality music, and videos and make sure all your graphics are professional from your mixtape covers,website, and logo. Once you build your start building your branding correctly and getting  your music in from of he people the labels will come to you including T.I.s label Grand Hustle. Press Play to see how you can get T.I. to sign you.

How To Get A Vevo Channel

Registering a Vevo Channel: How to Get Your Own Music Channel Easily

As a music lover, you are probably very well familiar with YouTube as a music channel.  Almost everyone today views music videos and even listens to music on the most popular video channel.  However, today, YouTube is not the best channel for aspiring artists to  focus their attention on, if you are not sure about what I am referring to, its Vevo

Isn’t Vevo just like YouTube?

No.  Vevo is not just another YouTube copycat, it describes itself as a personalized MUSIC video and MUSIC entertainment platform.  This channel has the word music appearing twice in its tagline, it is designed to provide viewers and content providers a way to share music content in more ways than offered by YouTube or any other video channel.  The channel is owned by Sony Music Entertainment, Abu Dhabi Media and universal Music Group.  The content on the channel is licensed by EMI without taking ownership stake.  Simply put, Vevo is the number one music platform on the internet now, and you need to get yourself a channel if your an artist.Where your pushing your mixtape, single, or album Vevo will get your video more exposure..

How to Get a Vevo Channel

If you need to get a channel on Vevo, you will have to go through one of the several affiliated music distribution companies http://www.factmag.com/2014/03/27/ditto-music-offers-off-the-shelf-promo-for-independent-artists/. As a musician, you cannot sign up directly with Vevo because it is not a free video sharing site like Google.  A good musician would instantly take this to mean Vevo is very selective in the music they broadcast, and this exclusivity is what makes it the most coveted music promotion channel on the planet.  With 80 million unique users who watch music because they want, and not because they were re-directed, Vevo should also be your ultimate online distribution and marketing resource.  The question is, how do you get there?

You will have to pay a small fee to register a Vevo account to the affiliated companies but you will get your own Vevo channel.  This means you can easily build an audience and build a reputation from a fraction of the 80 million active users on Vevo.  Once you have an account, you will be guided how to upload your music, how to use your mixtape cover to promote your music even outside Vevo and ensuring you meet the best standards of music as set by Vevo.

How will you use your Vevo account

Having a Vevo account is also the best way to network with your music fans and listen to the mixtapes made by other upcoming artists just like you.  While most of these mixtapes are always on Google, Vevo has advanced tools that helps you follow the best musicians and the quality standards set mean you will only compare yourself with the best.  Your vevo channel will be your music name, so there is no harm in starting to build a brand now.  When you pay the registration fee, it takes between two to three weeks before you can upload your videos but subsequent uploads will be much faster.

Anyone with a Vevo account, or simply the Vevo community, will be able to see your videos when they go live.  Most artists sign up and start watching music in their own genre, getting access to a databse of music from other upcoming artists and leaving as well as receiving criticism and ideas.  You can then create your own playlist, encourage other musicians to follow you and connect with artists going through the same stages of  building there brand just like you.