Getting your tracks heard, How do you do it?!

[Middollo]

A very basic simple question. What u think is the best way to get ''hits'' on your track? How do you do it? Where do you send it where do you post it?

And yes we all know about soundcloud and youtube.... just to clarify lol

[oldeanalogueguy]

Originally Posted by Middollo

A very basic simple question. What u think is the best way to get ''hits'' on your track? How do you do it? Where do you send it where do you post it?

And yes we all know about soundcloud and youtube.... just to clarify lol

advertising
publicity
play live and get fans - tell them about your web track


nobody is looking for you and your track in the billions of them on the web

you need to make yourself known first
then get those folks to tell their friends who tell their friends.......

[findletron]

Do's

1 make great tunes (doy )
2 when you are ready, and not before!! get a few tracks together and start sending them out to labels, getting they're contacts by all means nessicary, find the info email on they're site, soundcloud email, etc. Seriously though.. dont send out any half assed stuff, works in progress, etc. It will only hurt your credibility or diminish the possibility of future tracks being heard by those people again.
3. Be realistic - be self aware.. of where you are, how 'good' you are and if your stuff measures up (or excedes!) the quality of your peers. With that said - try and get your stuff on as good a label as possible. There are so many teeny labels out there, some that release great music, but some that dont.. and release like 100 tunes a week.. your release gets buried amongst a mountain of mediocre music from that week (even if your tune is stellar) and its almost not worth it to release something on a label like that that just goes for quantity. I find that almost no labels I follow operate like this.

releasing tunes on established labels, w/ built in audiences, builds your profile up, you may start getting more gigs, global interest (not just your city) etc. Thats how you can get 'clicks' and followers. These people listening to your track have a GENUINE interest in your music. Thats what you want.

**DO NOT** Follow spam people on soundcloud in search of more followers/listens. You see these jokers (even some semi-established people!!) every day.. I get like 5 of them, all electro-house producers that follow 2000 random people every week or so in hopes that they will follow them, to get the #s up, then immediately unfollow to restart the process. Its absolutely ameteur and looks incredibly desperate. to add insult to injury, none of these new followers you get give a sh*t about your music or your DJing anyways, it's a complete waste of time which could have been spent making better or more music.

for my money the best way to get to where you wanna go is thru established labels, let them do the promotional work, focus on your bit, making the music. Don't worry about getting clicks, work on building relationships w/ labels, playing out, releasing, remixing, and you will find that theres a lot more to life than soundcloud page views

good luck!

s

s

[Mardi Gras]

seriously just make a demo and send it to labels you like. If they like it they'll sign it and promote it through their contacts.

[Barfunkel]

Labels, even small ones, get tons of demos though. I bet they don't have the time to listen to them all. Some labels simply state on their website that they don't accept demos. Some labels don't accept demos that are already on Soundcloud or other such sites, they want fresh tracks (as if a few dozen listens on SC would do any harm to their sales).

I've tried sending demos to labels, but no luck so far, not even a "nice job, but not our style"-type of reply. Just silence and a few no's. Probably means my music's no good then, so back to the drawing board.

[offki]

OP, you will possible (you should) find much quicker results by doing things the old fashioned way or in person.

You need to be more direct than simply using the internet, I'm not saying it's not an amazing tool for self promotion but people seem to think it's the be all and end all of promotion these days.

Send it to labels for the reasons above, send it to local dj's/promoters, people don't think big enough. Why send to sound cloud which is mainly unsigned people when you can send direct?

Best option, which I say over and over again, is simply to play it yourself. These days mixing is pretty straight forward due to stuff like traktor etc. Start off trying to get gigs at smaller start up clubs and work up. DJ'img is how most people actually make their money these days anyway. Plus it's a loop, you DJ , you play some of your stuff, then people will look for you and it just builds up.

Maybe these aren't viable for you, but just think of any possible way to get your stuff through to the people that matter, not another shed load of people in your boat.

Also, people seem obsessed with putting stuff on free music sites, the second you do that as unsigned act you totally devalue your music.

[Middollo]

Thats some very nice advice people. Spmehow nobody mentioned sending your tracks to blogs is it that bad of an idea

[soundpalace]

Originally Posted by findletron

Do's

1 make great tunes (doy )
2 when you are ready, and not before!! get a few tracks together and start sending them out to labels, getting they're contacts by all means nessicary, find the info email on they're site, soundcloud email, etc. Seriously though.. dont send out any half assed stuff, works in progress, etc. It will only hurt your credibility or diminish the possibility of future tracks being heard by those people again.
3. Be realistic - be self aware.. of where you are, how 'good' you are and if your stuff measures up (or excedes!) the quality of your peers. With that said - try and get your stuff on as good a label as possible. There are so many teeny labels out there, some that release great music, but some that dont.. and release like 100 tunes a week.. your release gets buried amongst a mountain of mediocre music from that week (even if your tune is stellar) and its almost not worth it to release something on a label like that that just goes for quantity. I find that almost no labels I follow operate like this.

releasing tunes on established labels, w/ built in audiences, builds your profile up, you may start getting more gigs, global interest (not just your city) etc. Thats how you can get 'clicks' and followers. These people listening to your track have a GENUINE interest in your music. Thats what you want.

**DO NOT** Follow spam people on soundcloud in search of more followers/listens. You see these jokers (even some semi-established people!!) every day.. I get like 5 of them, all electro-house producers that follow 2000 random people every week or so in hopes that they will follow them, to get the #s up, then immediately unfollow to restart the process. Its absolutely ameteur and looks incredibly desperate. to add insult to injury, none of these new followers you get give a sh*t about your music or your DJing anyways, it's a complete waste of time which could have been spent making better or more music.

for my money the best way to get to where you wanna go is thru established labels, let them do the promotional work, focus on your bit, making the music. Don't worry about getting clicks, work on building relationships w/ labels, playing out, releasing, remixing, and you will find that theres a lot more to life than soundcloud page views

good luck!

s

s

I agree 100%, couldn't of said it better myself

[soundpalace]

Originally Posted by Middollo

Thats some very nice advice people. Spmehow nobody mentioned sending your tracks to blogs is it that bad of an idea

I would say yes, it is. No label will sign a track that eveyone has heard. Also when sending to labels which are run by DJs, be surre to ask them NOT to play your track unless they wish to sign it. Early play of a track that has no label attached to it is a big no no.

Try to make your first few tracks unique but also familiar sounding. Many labels reject the unfamiliar but are also looking for something unique.

Finally, try not to be a label slut, e. Stick with a small amount of quality labels who are regularly played by top DJs.

Good luck!!

[MegaTech]

Point your speakers out of the nearest window and play your track(s) as loud as possible...let the people decide for themselves.

[The Architecture]

Originally Posted by MegaTech

Point your speakers out of the nearest window and play your track(s) as loud as possible...let the people decide for themselves.

This!

OP. This is something I have struggled with over the last 10 years. Something ive found to be true is, while at times you build up a rather decent following on different websites....they may fade or die over a period of time. I know the hardest thing for me was loosing my audience base, and trying to find an audience again. Bottomline...dont put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify.

Playing shows is a fantastic way to get noticed, one of these days when I get time to do it...ill be doing alot more shows for sure. Alot of good advice in this topic.

[Barfunkel]

Originally Posted by offki

Also, people seem obsessed with putting stuff on free music sites, the second you do that as unsigned act you totally devalue your music.

Then again, the value of unknown music is zero, you can't devalue zero. It only gains value once it gets hyped up and many people hear it. Nobody is gonna buy music they've never heard of, either. Also, from what I've heard, getting tracks signed to decent labels doesn't net much these days either. We're speaking of sales of a few hundred of units in electronic music, a few thousand if it's a big hit. The amount of money you can possibly gain from that is so small that giving your music away for free nets you about the same, close to nothing.

Of course hardly anyone makes electronic music for money these days, the joy of having your music released on a decent label is a reward in itself. I'm sure many would actually PAY to get their music released on their favorite labels. I probably would.

[Barfunkel]

Speaking of blogs, how does one find the appropriate ones? I've never read a music blog in my life, I have no idea where to find such things or how to get music on them.

[Schwarzwald]

STEP 1. GOTO BILLBOARD.COM
STEP 2. MAKE A DUBSTEP REMIX OF THE #1 SONG
STEP 3. ???
STEP 4. PROFIT1!!!!

But no seriously, I firmly believe in the point your speakers out the window approach. I try to play live as much as possible, and most of the time it isn't a formal show whatsoever, but me simply setting up somewhere and playing. Given, I get many of the curious casual person, but every once in awhile I get a genuine fan (and even more so then that, House party gigs which pay the bills) all of which help build a decent local following. I'm not on to anything major whatsoever so I can't help you as far as trying to get signed to Universal, but if you can write a good country tune I could probably point you in the right direction for Sony Nashville :P

[offki]

You misunderstood.

The public in general relate free with inferior.

You can devalue zero, try -1

You're suggesting your music is so bad you have to give it away, it's totally irrelevant asking for money because people now have the choice to take it for free anyway. You're just labeling your music as disposable and inferior, say what you like but it's the opinions of the world at large that you need to change.

[MixedSignals]

Originally Posted by offki

You misunderstood.

The public in general relate free with inferior.

You can devalue zero, try -1

You're suggesting your music is so bad you have to give it away, it's totally irrelevant asking for money because people now have the choice to take it for free anyway. You're just labeling your music as disposable and inferior, say what you like but it's the opinions of the world at large that you need to change.

They did. But these days much of the confusion is consensus opinion slowly evolving and deciphering what is valuable/not for themselves, regardless of the fee attached. (this subject has been covered ad nauseam and the general consensus i have read here is that you do what works in your situation.)

From my experience, you have to know who what your audience is and what your expectations are. IF you are set on cashing in on a few singles, being on a label (ie have the $$ bankroll to tour, etc.) i wouldn't give anything for free, obviously. This includes pro mastering, the works....If you invest money in, of course you're going to want to see return. The key being here: $.
You won't expect to work for free. But the logic of "free music is of no value" also says, to an extent, that making music has pretty much no interest for you as an artist unless you are making profit. That's the other side of the coin.

Personally i cannot give you advice on "how to get plays", because from the get-go it smells of naivete. And what are you gonna do with all them plays?

[offki]

Originally Posted by MixedSignals

You won't expect to work for free. But the logic of "free music is of no value" also says, to an extent, that making music has pretty much no interest for you as an artist unless you are making profit. That's the other side of the coin.

Ha, it really doesn't that's just you coming to assumptions. It's the public that think free stuff in general is cheap quality. Not sure how you bring in some gonzo psychology to it. Also, what does your logic then say about the millions and millions of acts that don't give away free music?

Hmmm, back to the drawing board Dr.Freud. It is true, the 'plays' are not an end to anything.

[binarymilton]

Nobody's yet asked you what music you make.

As far as I'm concerned, it totally depends what genre you're in.

Submit your music to online radio stations, music blogs, other musicians on Facebook, tumblr and Bandcamp (reverbnation too if you can stand looking at that overstuffed pizza-vomit of godawful web design), college radio stations, specialist shows on national radio stations, fanzines, specialist magazines, specialist magazines in foreign countries etc etc.

That's if you make music that falls into a recognizable genre, like indie or hip-hop or folk or country or jazz or whatever.

if you make chart pop stuff, join the queue for X Factor or Pop Idol and pray.

[erasedcitizen]

The worst thing you can do on the internet is try too hard. It always looks pretty bad I think when the band themselves are posting their songs everywhere constantly and always posting up asking people to share their songs with their friends. If you are good/enough people like what you do, then they will promote you. Thats one of the best things about the internet, people promote things all the time for free, just by sharing a youtube video or whatever on their facebook.

[Barfunkel]

Originally Posted by binarymilton

Nobody's yet asked you what music you make.

As far as I'm concerned, it totally depends what genre you're in.

This was originally in the electronic music forum, until it was moved here. So I suppose we're mostly discussing how to get your electronic tracks heard, or at least I am.

[Soundseed]

Originally Posted by Middollo

A very basic simple question. What u think is the best way to get ''hits'' on your track? How do you do it? Where do you send it where do you post it?

And yes we all know about soundcloud and youtube.... just to clarify lol

In my experience, just about every outlet to music consumers - radio, tv, blogs, music + mainstream press, promoters and so on, is totally utterly and completely swamped by people sending in their material... If you want to be picked out from the pack, your best bet is to find one or more publicists with a track record in reaching the kind of outlets which you'd like to see yourself in/on. If they like your material AND you have something to base a campaign upon AND you have the cash to pay for their services, it is a time tested route to exposure.

------------
Sign Me Up To Chemikal Underground
http://www.piethaag.com

[Chuck20]

everything that ive heard from the labels themselves says that If one is an artist, getting a deal is a matter of buzz and units sold & spun (verifyable thru soundscan & BDS).

If one can move over 30,000 units (100 is better) on their own and can amass a really large following & buzz, the labels will come to you. It happens much, much less these days that artists get signed by way of relationships alone, and even less that atists get signed without buzzes and are actually released... the ones that do usually get shelved and end up as tax write offs.

So the bigger the buzz/sales, the greater the likleyhood of getting a deal, and the better deal you'll get as well as you'll have leverage based on the fact that you have a proven track record of units sold.

For producers/songwriters/composers, its all abt relationships...

This is what insiders have told me.
Hope it was helpful.

[erasedcitizen]

Originally Posted by Chuck20

everything that ive heard from the labels themselves says that If one is an artist, getting a deal is a matter of buzz and units sold & spun (verifyable thru soundscan & BDS).

If one can move over 30,000 units (100 is better) on their own and can amass a really large following & buzz, the labels will come to you. It happens much, much less these days that artists get signed by way of relationships alone, and even less that atists get signed without buzzes and are actually released... the ones that do usually get shelved and end up as tax write offs.

So the bigger the buzz/sales, the greater the likleyhood of getting a deal, and the better deal you'll get as well as you'll have leverage based on the fact that you have a proven track record of units sold.

For producers/songwriters/composers, its all abt relationships...

This is what insiders have told me.
Hope it was helpful.

With my band I've experience 100% the opposite of this. I know a few other bands that have done this too, which is why my band did it this way. Brand new bands, no sales, no fanbase, no buzz, nothing previously released and with no previous relationships with labels. The only thing you have to have is a really strong album that is completely finished and ready to release. Perhaps this doesn't really apply to all scenes, especially not with mainstream music, but with the scenes I'm involved with this seems to be a very good way to go about things if you want to get the backing of a label.

Obviously if you have a big buzz and already have a decent amount of sales, getting a deal becomes much easier, but it's definitely not the only way to go about things at the moment.

[The Byre]

Originally Posted by Middollo

A very basic simple question. What u think is the best way to get ''hits'' on your track? How do you do it? Where do you send it where do you post it?

And yes we all know about soundcloud and youtube.... just to clarify lol

After nearly 45 years experience in this business, I actually know the answer to this one.

Gig.

[ADJ]

Originally Posted by The Byre

After nearly 45 years experience in this business, I actually know the answer to this one.

Gig.

I was hoping someone would say this!

In fact, I'd go further and say that releasing anything other than a fun test/opinion track on the internet is generally fruitless.

Gig, don't suck, polish your set, make it unique, and then gig some more.

For example, I listened to at least 10 new tracks in soundcloud this past week -- all electro/house or similar, all sounded excrutiatingly similar -- apparently all made in basements and bedrooms by virtual wallflowers who've obviously never done any live gigging in their lives -- and I heard nothing that really stood out at all. At any given moment there may be several million electronic musicians like this roaming the web pushing such music.

But gigging not only expands your abilities, it also hones your music and music writing skills and, over time, helps you develop a style that is unique and all your own, and you WILL get a following eventually if you're decent, and they WILL buy your CD at $10.00 a pop from your break table.

[offki]

I say it pretty much everytime , even here on this thread earlier.

Best way to get people to play your tunes are play them yourself. I'm not sure where this 'make it big via soundcloud' mentality comes from.

For example, I listened to at least 10 new tracks in soundcloud this past week -- all electro/house or similar, all sounded excrutiatingly similar -- apparently all made in basements and bedrooms by virtual wallflowers who've obviously never done any live gigging in their lives -- and I heard nothing that really stood out at all. At any given moment there may be several million electronic musicians like this roaming the web pushing such music.

I hear you, some of it doesn't even sound like it was made by people that go to clubs and dance, it's like some kind of 'armchair rave'.

[ADJ]

Originally Posted by offki

...it's like some kind of 'armchair rave'.

lol

[offki]

It's true. So so so so (I would carry this on for effect but probably not the best way to get my point across) many tunes I hear or I'm shown or whatever, don't even seem to try and engage what dance floor reactions will be, it's as if people don't even seem to really understand the music is meant to be danced too. No arrangement and no drum variation, the same 1 bar loop for 3 mins.

A general rule I like to follow is if you're nodding/rocking to the music when you're making it, it's probably good. :P If you're staring at peak meters with a semi glazed look on your face eating pizza/doughnuts whatever, it's probably not. :P

[richgilb]

Originally Posted by Middollo

A very basic simple question. What u think is the best way to get ''hits'' on your track? How do you do it? Where do you send it where do you post it?

And yes we all know about soundcloud and youtube.... just to clarify lol

I've just set up a label and the social networking sites we considered (soundcloud, bandcamp, twatter, facebook, myspace) seem to do nothing other than serve as a quick reference site for the journalists and radio show producers and as a tool for our own site...
Mollusc Records

Early days but it really crystalised in our minds how we should use the net. And getting hits online was deprioritised to not be a consideration at all. We even thought about getting the software to make it look like our music was getting loads of hits at one time but we have gone down the same route as erasedcitizen: get a good album ready to go.

[richgilb]

Originally Posted by offki

I hear you, some of it doesn't even sound like it was made by people that go to clubs and dance, it's like some kind of 'armchair rave'.

Haha, spot on. I got approached by this guy on soundcloud:

michael-hann's sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

he's moved from the armchair rave to the i-did-too-much-ketamin-in my-armchair chillout room