One of the hardest things for any musician to achieve is building a fan base. You can spend eight hours a day, seven days a week, for five years practicing your craft, but if a guitarist creates a riff in his bedroom and there is no-one there to hear it, does it sell a record? You can spend thousands of dollars to big time marketing firms to "spread the word", or you can try your luck on a reality television show, but most of us don't have the money to invest and the chances of winning "X-Factor" or "The Voice" are slim to none.
The record business used to have A&R reps go out and discover talent. The label would throw a bunch of money into production and promotion of the artist and if all went according to plan, a star would be born. In order for the artist to get noticed by these A&R reps they would have to go out on the streets and "spread the word". Bands like Motley Crue would hangout on sunset blvd. giving away cd's to everyone on the street. The main objective of any band/musician was to get noticed and sign a record deal with a major label. If you were lucky enough get a contract then the label would handle the rest. Unfortunately, once you signed on the dotted line you became a part of the labels brand image and they pretty much had complete control of you.
With the digital age we live in now, the way things are done in the record business have completely changed. Record labels aren't interested in an act unless they are tried and true. An artist must have polished product with a proven sales history in order to get the attention of a major label. If you have a million plays on your myspace player, and 25,000 downloads on iTunes, and 10,000 fans on social media, then they may take a chance on you. My question is; if you have the resources to produce a polished product, if you need an intern to help keep up with your social media, if you already have a proven sales history, then what do you need the label for anyway? Maybe a distribution deal, but that's about it.
The one thing that has remained constant in the business is that if you want to get noticed you have to "spread the word". The big advantage that the record companies had was their global reach, but now global reach has been handed to everyone on a silver platter. Self promotion is a key contributor to the success of any artist regardless of genre or location or even personal budget. That same guitarist who created a riff in his bedroom can now put it on the Internet and have it heard by the entire world. The Internet has provided every artist the same playing field, it's what you do with it that determines your success. So if you have something that you want to share with the world, "spread the word".
That's what's on my mind, what's on yours?
Reply
Welcome to the first post on my new blog entitled "The Musicians Mind." The purpose of this blog is to provide my readers with an inside look at what makes someone want to be a musician. If you were to ask 25 musicians what makes them choose music as their means of expression, I bet you would get 25 different answers. For some it may be the fame and fortune, while for others it may be all about the partying, or the groupies, or just the love of music. I know for myself it was more about prestige.
I attended my first concert when I was fourteen years old. I will never forget the feeling that came over me the moment the first chord was struck and the lights came up. I was completely awe struck at what I was seeing, the roar of the crowd, the excitement in the air, the pounding of the speakers, I was totally mesmerized. I knew in that instant I wanted to be a musician, not because of the money, or the girls, or even the ever present aroma in the atmosphere, but because I wanted to stand on a stage in front of thousands of screaming fans knowing they were there because the sounds I was producing touched each one of them in some way. I was astounded that so many people from different walks of life to come together and have such an emotional attachment to the same songs, but for different reasons. As I looked at the people around me I could see girls screaming, some were crying, and the men were banging their heads and pumping their fist in the air. Now it may be a bit narcissistic, but I wanted to experience that feeling of power. Ok, so maybe the girls had a little bit to do with it as well, but lets face it what gets the girls is the ability to use music to control their emotions. I can assure you it certainly isn't because every musician on stage is the best looking, I know I'm not but strap on a guitar and get on stage and they seem to come running. I guess that's just one of those perks we have to learn to live with, right?
Well anyway, enough rambling on about me, hopefully you get the idea behind the blog. My objective is to provide an outlet for independent artists to tell their story, gain invaluable exposure and provide another way to personally connect with their fans, while at the same time providing accurate and informative insights told by the artist themselves.
Reply
Star Quality Entertainment / Blog
Spread the Word
One of the hardest things for any musician to achieve is building a fan base. You can spend eight hours a day, seven days a week, for five years practicing your craft, but if a guitarist creates a riff in his bedroom and there is no-one there to hear it, does it sell a record? You can spend thousands of dollars to big time marketing firms to "spread the word", or you can try your luck on a reality television show, but most of us don't have the money to invest and the chances of winning "X-Factor" or "The Voice" are slim to none. The record business used to have A&R reps go out and discover talent. The label would throw a bunch of money into production and promotion of the artist and if all went according to plan, a star would be born. In order for the artist to get noticed by these A&R reps they would have to go out on the streets and "spread the word". Bands like Motley Crue would hangout on sunset blvd. giving away cd's to everyone on the street. The main objective of any band/musician was to get noticed and sign a record deal with a major label. If you were lucky enough get a contract then the label would handle the rest. Unfortunately, once you signed on the dotted line you became a part of the labels brand image and they pretty much had complete control of you.
With the digital age we live in now, the way things are done in the record business have completely changed. Record labels aren't interested in an act unless they are tried and true. An artist must have polished product with a proven sales history in order to get the attention of a major label. If you have a million plays on your myspace player, and 25,000 downloads on iTunes, and 10,000 fans on social media, then they may take a chance on you. My question is; if you have the resources to produce a polished product, if you need an intern to help keep up with your social media, if you already have a proven sales history, then what do you need the label for anyway? Maybe a distribution deal, but that's about it.
The one thing that has remained constant in the business is that if you want to get noticed you have to "spread the word". The big advantage that the record companies had was their global reach, but now global reach has been handed to everyone on a silver platter. Self promotion is a key contributor to the success of any artist regardless of genre or location or even personal budget. That same guitarist who created a riff in his bedroom can now put it on the Internet and have it heard by the entire world. The Internet has provided every artist the same playing field, it's what you do with it that determines your success. So if you have something that you want to share with the world, "spread the word".
That's what's on my mind, what's on yours?
Reply
The Musicians Mind
Welcome to the first post on my new blog entitled "The Musicians Mind." The purpose of this blog is to provide my readers with an inside look at what makes someone want to be a musician. If you were to ask 25 musicians what makes them choose music as their means of expression, I bet you would get 25 different answers. For some it may be the fame and fortune, while for others it may be all about the partying, or the groupies, or just the love of music. I know for myself it was more about prestige. I attended my first concert when I was fourteen years old. I will never forget the feeling that came over me the moment the first chord was struck and the lights came up. I was completely awe struck at what I was seeing, the roar of the crowd, the excitement in the air, the pounding of the speakers, I was totally mesmerized. I knew in that instant I wanted to be a musician, not because of the money, or the girls, or even the ever present aroma in the atmosphere, but because I wanted to stand on a stage in front of thousands of screaming fans knowing they were there because the sounds I was producing touched each one of them in some way. I was astounded that so many people from different walks of life to come together and have such an emotional attachment to the same songs, but for different reasons. As I looked at the people around me I could see girls screaming, some were crying, and the men were banging their heads and pumping their fist in the air. Now it may be a bit narcissistic, but I wanted to experience that feeling of power. Ok, so maybe the girls had a little bit to do with it as well, but lets face it what gets the girls is the ability to use music to control their emotions. I can assure you it certainly isn't because every musician on stage is the best looking, I know I'm not but strap on a guitar and get on stage and they seem to come running. I guess that's just one of those perks we have to learn to live with, right? Well anyway, enough rambling on about me, hopefully you get the idea behind the blog. My objective is to provide an outlet for independent artists to tell their story, gain invaluable exposure and provide another way to personally connect with their fans, while at the same time providing accurate and informative insights told by the artist themselves.
Reply