I've been spending the last two months researching on the web different ways to get my music heard. I thought about hiring a student filmmaker or filmmaker hobbyist to make videos for some of my songs. But I wasn't able to, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own videos. Although they are pretty amateur-looking videos, I like them and I feel like it adds a little more dimension and interest to my music. Plus, I found that I actually enjoy making them! Maybe because it's another creative outlet for me :) I usually take pictures and videos with my iPhone and then cut, paste, edit on my computer. And voila! So now I have my own YouTube channel. My mom had been bugging me for a long time to get my music up on YouTube - so I finally did :)
And since I released my first CD in August through CD Baby, I've been trying to find other places to post my CD and music. I've been creating/updating my "artist profiles" on various sites . . . adding pictures, uploading videos . . . etc. And since I'm not a performing artist, I've been forking out money to have my music played on Jango Radio and Last.fm, besides here on RN.
As far as music licensing goes, I'm still on Broadjam, YouLicense, and RN. I also submitted music to Rumblefish through CD Baby. I sent them an email to confirm that my music was actually submitted. They replied yes - but to me there's no concrete way to really know for certain. I'm taking their word for it. Tribe of Noise accepted a few of my songs to pitch to their people - I was happy about that! On Broadjam, some of my songs have been "considered" for several projects but only "I Need You" was selected to be added to Song and Film library of songs. In fact Song and Film contacted me saying that they would basically put extra effort into pitching some of my songs for a one-time fee. But I'm not sure what to think about that. They seem to be a legitimate company, but I'm still thinking about it . . .
I started a MySpace page which was easy and straightforward to do. But Facebook has been a thorn in my side! For some reason the whole musician FB page is hard for me to understand. While people have been able to "like" when I "like" them back or try to "like" others my picture and name doesn't show up on other peoples' FB pages. It just shows a silhouette with no name next to it. I've emailed FB several times but they just keep referring me to their FAQ section. Ugh!! So I'm still trying to figure that whole thing out . . .
So that's the latest in my effort to promote myself as an independent artist. There's still so much to learn and understand. It's got its ups and downs . . . but I guess you've gotta start somewhere!
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I just returned from visiting my mom and dad in Florida. We saw dolphins swimming in the bay one morning while we were riding my parents' fishing boat. We've never seen dolphins so close to us like that - it was incredible! It inspired me to make a video. It's VERY amateur, but please check it out anyway :)
On the way back to Virginia we stopped by Nashville. I've never been there before, and I really loved it there. You don't have to be a country-music lover to appreciate Nashville. We walked around Broadway and 2nd Ave. It was so cool to walk by the bars and restaurants and hear live music playing. Great live music! Maybe that's why I loved it so much . . . I was surrounded by music ;) I can't wait to go back to Nashville again!!
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V Padla Gootee / Blog
Self-promoting as an independent artis
I've been spending the last two months researching on the web different ways to get my music heard. I thought about hiring a student filmmaker or filmmaker hobbyist to make videos for some of my songs. But I wasn't able to, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own videos. Although they are pretty amateur-looking videos, I like them and I feel like it adds a little more dimension and interest to my music. Plus, I found that I actually enjoy making them! Maybe because it's another creative outlet for me :) I usually take pictures and videos with my iPhone and then cut, paste, edit on my computer. And voila! So now I have my own YouTube channel. My mom had been bugging me for a long time to get my music up on YouTube - so I finally did :)
And since I released my first CD in August through CD Baby, I've been trying to find other places to post my CD and music. I've been creating/updating my "artist profiles" on various sites . . . adding pictures, uploading videos . . . etc. And since I'm not a performing artist, I've been forking out money to have my music played on Jango Radio and Last.fm, besides here on RN.
As far as music licensing goes, I'm still on Broadjam, YouLicense, and RN. I also submitted music to Rumblefish through CD Baby. I sent them an email to confirm that my music was actually submitted. They replied yes - but to me there's no concrete way to really know for certain. I'm taking their word for it. Tribe of Noise accepted a few of my songs to pitch to their people - I was happy about that! On Broadjam, some of my songs have been "considered" for several projects but only "I Need You" was selected to be added to Song and Film library of songs. In fact Song and Film contacted me saying that they would basically put extra effort into pitching some of my songs for a one-time fee. But I'm not sure what to think about that. They seem to be a legitimate company, but I'm still thinking about it . . .
I started a MySpace page which was easy and straightforward to do. But Facebook has been a thorn in my side! For some reason the whole musician FB page is hard for me to understand. While people have been able to "like" when I "like" them back or try to "like" others my picture and name doesn't show up on other peoples' FB pages. It just shows a silhouette with no name next to it. I've emailed FB several times but they just keep referring me to their FAQ section. Ugh!! So I'm still trying to figure that whole thing out . . .
So that's the latest in my effort to promote myself as an independent artist. There's still so much to learn and understand. It's got its ups and downs . . . but I guess you've gotta start somewhere!
Reply
Back home from vacation
I just returned from visiting my mom and dad in Florida. We saw dolphins swimming in the bay one morning while we were riding my parents' fishing boat. We've never seen dolphins so close to us like that - it was incredible! It inspired me to make a video. It's VERY amateur, but please check it out anyway :)
On the way back to Virginia we stopped by Nashville. I've never been there before, and I really loved it there. You don't have to be a country-music lover to appreciate Nashville. We walked around Broadway and 2nd Ave. It was so cool to walk by the bars and restaurants and hear live music playing. Great live music! Maybe that's why I loved it so much . . . I was surrounded by music ;) I can't wait to go back to Nashville again!!
Reply