How do you break through in the music bussiness
July 14, 2008 9:37 PM   Subscribe

What would be a sure fire way to put together and present and music demo package to atleast be heard? Just trying to get a foot in the door so to speak.
posted by american caesar to Media & Arts (8 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
By whom do you want it to be heard? What does it consist of? What are your goals?
posted by ludwig_van at 9:44 PM on July 14, 2008


Most people in the music business will tell you that the best way to get heard is to play out -- do as many live shows as you can. Play open mics until you get good enough to play full-on shows, then keep playing to get more exposure. Set up a Myspace page, a Virb page, and whatever other outlets you can find. Getting signed onto a label is not easy -- you face quite a bit of competition. Try to play with people who are already signed onto an independent as a means of networking (which is key here -- it's how you can get gigs without being signed).

If your profile is a reference to Ypsilanti, then you should have plenty of options there. Open mics, Ypsi Radio, etc.

If you're asking specifically about the demos themselves, then production quality matters. If you're serious about this, get some real studio time and try to get the songs mastered.

College radios are also a good way of getting exposure. But mostly, play live, play live, play live.
posted by spiderskull at 10:19 PM on July 14, 2008


Get some calling cards made with your myspace URL on them. Pass them out to everyone you talk to. That is, make music and tell people about it. Yeah, and play out.
posted by rhizome at 10:38 PM on July 14, 2008


Assuming that you aren't trying to get on American Idol or something (I can't help you with that), I second the calling card advice, as well as playing out.
Start a mailing list and tell them about every show. Get a myspace page AND your own domain, and put some of your music on both. (When my band was on tour in Europe the guy who booked the tour said that he liked us because we had a "nice" website (and specifically not just a myspace page). It's not fancy, but it's clean and easy to navigate.)
Develop a press kit - without being a dick about it, cultivate contacts with journalists. Are you from a small town? Do a show there and let the local paper know about it - local papers generally love to write articles about the local kid done good. Seriously, ANY article is good, especially if it's print. Scan it and put a pdf on your site. I've seen bands that aren't a big deal locally who are HUGE in other parts of the country - buzz is very relative, and presenting yourself as someone who has it goes a long way toward getting it.
posted by smartyboots at 1:33 AM on July 15, 2008


I second spriderskull. I've worked in and around the music business for about 15 years now... and my recommendation would be to create a killer profiles on myspace, imeem, purevolume (if you're music fits), etc. The A&R process at labels annd within management companies has changed quite a bit over the last few years. If you have a solid myspace profile, a good number of listens and friends, you'll get attention pretty quickly. Don't stop at the profiles... play out live as much as you can, send simple (think bio, press clippings and a CD) to genre appropriate radio stations that support local and/or developing artists, same with print publications. But online is the way to get attention these days.
posted by tundro at 5:19 AM on July 15, 2008


If a label's website says they dont accept unsolicited demos, its not just because they are being picky, theres actually a legal precedent. Don't send emails saying "i know you dont accept demos, but maybe just this once". We CAN'T listen to them.

Play out lots, have a bunch of ACTUAL friends on your myspace (anyone can friendbot 100000) who are active in helping promote you, get some blogs to write baout you and you will be noticed.

If your music is within a specific niche (dream pop, slowcore, glitch, whatever), frequent messageboards dedicated to them and ask for feedback on your music.

Good luck!
posted by softlord at 6:37 AM on July 15, 2008


Starting out, you do not need a label. Thirding or fourthing the "play out lots" -- moreover that is the best way for you to eventually sell music on shiny discs.

Do you have anything recorded yet?
posted by omnidrew at 7:08 AM on July 15, 2008


You should really clarify the question, american caesar. All of these answers are potentially irrelevant depending on what you're actually trying to do.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:58 AM on July 15, 2008


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