dance music scene. i want my music to get exposure. what do I do?

[Kaifeng]

In the dance music scene. I mean really, what should I do? A lot of people are saying that many labels barely do any work with respect to pushing their artist's music and that record labels are kind of useless now days. I don't want to spend a lot of time submitting stuff to labels if it's not going to be very beneficial. There's record labels, there's starting your own label, there's sites that let you release stuff online without a label, etc... It seems like there's lots of ways to get your music out, but I don't know which i should do or which method is most useful.

I really know nothing about all of this. I DO know that my tunes are more than good, unique, and would sell if they got publicity. I do not play gigs right now. I'm only focused on producing. I just need a direction to go, but i'm a bit lost.

[petermichael]

given - limited budget and connections

1. start website
2. put at least 3 songs into some sales method (cdbaby, songcast, tunecore, etc) - some account that will allow you to sell mp3's of your work easily and quickly to anyone who hears and wants to buy. you will want to at minimum be placed onto itunes/amazon.
3. start myspace page (for musicians)
4. put at least 3 tracks (not entire tracks - but enough to get the idea) onto your myspace page.
5. put your tracks (not entire tracks) onto youtube as videos (make something for the video, even if it's just a filmstrip of pictures - something that will hold peoples attention, not irritate, and not a blank screen.
6. start a facebook & twitter account, and whatever other networking program you honestly feel you will be able to make at least weekly updates to, and start linking to yourself and your material. (the idea here is to have links to all of your various sites from all of your various sites, so that a person can see you on youtube for instance, click a link and go to your website, from your website click a link to see your twitter account, etc, etc. this may seem silly or trivial to you but the google machine sees all this clicking as traffic, and it registers as activity under your name - elevating you in search results- which is a huge objective here)

now you have a machine.

this is representative of you, so you need to make it all look the best it can (for example, you should have a decent looking thumbnail for your twitter account, and you should have a non-amateur looking myspace account, like deadmau5 for instance.) this becomes a habit forming obsession, so you will want to commit to it, but limit your time, so that you don't forsake your production, like i have been lately :( this machine as i call it, will grow at a snails pace on it's own, but will certainly grow.

to speed up the growth, you have to put either money or time into it,(and i don't mean time to wait for it to grow either. that goes without saying - i'm referring to the time it takes to start relationships with other users on youtube/myspace or any of the other music related promotional sites, for example)
but it's critical to have it set up to begin with, have something to sell, have a decent image - and then proceed with either money or time.

make no mistake, there are way more people out there that haven't heard of you yet, and unless you get featured on youtube, or appear on oprah, that number will always grow faster than the number of folks who have heard you. (in other words the growth potential is limitless)

lastly, enter internet based music / remix / production contests.
cream rises. play in a club and if you are good, you will develop a following. that growth is dependent on the size of the club, the local area, etc. the internet is like a huge unlimited club. if you are good on the internet, there is no limit to the following you could achieve. with contests, you are speeding the process up. if you are good, you will be elevated quicker. (contests are another item that the future of music will grow to depend on)

remember to google even the most random thoughts you have on the process as you are going and learn from others. model those you consider successful, as they will leave clues for you.

hope this makes sense.

[Kaifeng]

Wow, strong post! I'm definitely going to take advantage of linking all of my sites together. Thanks for the assistance

[Phil Johnson]

That is a fantastic post. Follow it to the letter.

Just a couple little random bits I can interject:

- SoundCloud seems to be a haven for electronic/dance stuff. Things can be shared to different groups in there, so it might be a good place to look for like minded people.

- DJ pools.. I'm not sure how many are left or if anyone uses them anymore. I've never worked in club music. But basically, in exchange for getting your music, the DJs in the pool are required to play it and report back. Run a search and see who comes up.

- Regardless of that, I'd target the DJs in your area and make sure they all have your best tracks. That's a style that thrives on new material.

And don't bother with labels until one approaches you and can do something that you really can't do on your own.

[Barfunkel]

Definitely send your tracks to DJ's who play similar music as yours. They are able to make hundreds or thousands of people to hear the music every day, and if it works on the dancefloor people will want to know who made the track. DJ's and bedroom DJ's are your customers anyway, the club-goers don't buy that much music really. Get some key DJ's to play your tracks, then thousands of wannabe's want to get that track too.

[Kaifeng]

I like all the advice you guys have given. Do you have experience in promotions or success in the music industry? I'm kindof curious since you've given what seems like pretty solid and logical advice...

[Kaifeng]

bump a lump

[Romain74]

i think petermichael has said the most important.

Personnaly i would say :

-Release good music
-Release a good (pro) picture of yourself
-Have a nice adress book

And then, Because you don't have the marketing power of a big major, keep working and wait, it's gonna pay (i hope) !

[Barfunkel]

Originally Posted by Romain74

-Release a good (pro) picture of yourself

I fail to see the importance of this. DJ's are your market, I've never heard of a DJ who would choose what music to play based on a picture. I've never heard anyone on the dancefloor say "Hey, the dude who made this track is ugly, I'm leaving the dancefloor immediately and return when the DJ plays music made by pretty people".

Even if you plan to do live gigs your looks or quality of your pictures don't matter much. Dance music is very music based, looks and image don't matter like they do in pop and rock music.

[dan p]

Originally Posted by Kaifeng

In the dance music scene. I mean really, what should I do? A lot of people are saying that many labels barely do any work with respect to pushing their artist's music and that record labels are kind of useless now days. I don't want to spend a lot of time submitting stuff to labels if it's not going to be very beneficial. There's record labels, there's starting your own label, there's sites that let you release stuff online without a label, etc... It seems like there's lots of ways to get your music out, but I don't know which i should do or which method is most useful.

I really know nothing about all of this. I DO know that my tunes are more than good, unique, and would sell if they got publicity. I do not play gigs right now. I'm only focused on producing. I just need a direction to go, but i'm a bit lost.

Try some licensing companies.You could submit non-exclusively and you may be able to land a few placements.Google licensing companies and check it out.If you are good they will let you know!

Dan P

[Kaifeng]

^ could you explain what a licensing company is and what it's supposed to do please?

[basementx]

Do you all think that internet radio stations are at all useful in this type of stuff? Everytime I get a track played on internet radio I get excited but then I suspect nobody is really listening!

[ecologie]

Think OTB when it comes to determining who can hear your stuff.
If it's new-agey/ambient stuff, hit up local spa's and see if they want your music.
If it's trancey stuff, then contact some local gym's or trainers who you could get in with.

[basementx]

Originally Posted by ecologie

Think OTB when it comes to determining who can hear your stuff.
If it's new-agey/ambient stuff, hit up local spa's and see if they want your music.
If it's trancey stuff, then contact some local gym's or trainers who you could get in with.

I see what you're saying, but I'm not sure who would care what music is being played at a local spa.. I have tried to give music to local coffee houses.. etc.. I don't know.. it's a tough thing.. maybe playing live is the best way to get out there.. also.. myspace is great for me.. I have a bigger listening audience there than anywhere.. and it's easy to target people who like the kind of music you do.. and a lot of people on myspace are there because they like music...

[Ken Walker]

Getting a few local club DJ's to play your music doesn't hurt. The more exposure the better. I'm not much of a "dance" guy, but I have written a few tracks and gotten play time with them. A local guy here (U.S.) who used to spin in London even offered to do remixes for me.