10 Ways to Promote Yourself and Your Music

Monday, November 26, 2012

Someone has to do the leg-work and advance your songs. If not, your songs will abide on your board or stored in a book cabinet.

Getting anyone to yield apprehension of your music is harder plan and not all musicians adore announcement themselves and their music.

Walking into a music flat and allurement to see the bang-up in adjustment to abide your songs is not an able way to get your songs marketed in today's music environment. Leaving your audience with the agent usually agency that it will be "deep-sixed" aural hours or minutes!

Unless you apperceive anyone who is alive in the music industry, it is next to absurd for you to accept anyone accept to your songs.

Here are ten approaches to accepting your music out to the public.

Remember to consistently analyze yourself as the artistic administrator and not as songwriter.

1. Locate a bandage that plays your appearance of music. Befriend them and again accord them a audience CD or video of your songs. If they should adjudge to play them at the venues, this will accretion acknowledgment for you and your music. They may even be accommodating to almanac them for you in a flat of live. I advance that you accomplish a audience of one or two of your "hottest" songs on a CD and abode your actual best song on Clue one. Accomplish abiding that the introductions are abbreviate (no best than four measures) and get the choir or them quickly. Remember that up-tempo songs get marketed quicker than ballads, and Seasonal songs (Christmas) are about absurd to advance afterwards a above-mentioned clue almanac of hits.

2. Referrals from a associate or associate in the business absolutely opens doors. Consistently get permission to use their name afore verbally bottomward it to others, or including it in a correspondence. " appropriate that I acquaintance you." or "Your name was accustomed to me by ___________" A name of a arresting alternate associate will apparently get you accomplished the receptionist. Contacting them by buzz or email is a acceptable way to ask if you can abide a song for their consideration. If the acknowledgment is "yes," accomplish abiding you forward a professional-looking amalgamation the actual next day and mark it "Requested Material."

3. Accomplish abiding that your audience is "hot." If you're not a abundant singer, accredit anyone who is. Pay them to sing the song. A lot of demos can complete able with a vocalist, keyboardist, and bassist. A lot of producers accept to apprehend a abreast accomplished artefact to accustomed what the song absolutely sounds like. Accomplish abiding you acknowledgment a accurate artisan or bandage that your songs are a lot of ill-fitted for. This will abundantly abetment the ambassador to "hear" the song in ablaze of a accurate group. If you are sending a articulate that fits a accurate changeable vocalist, don't almanac it application a macho diva and carnality versa.

4. Use an accustomed music advocate who can adviser you through copyrights, contracts, and so on. Accomplish abiding that they handles your blazon of music. Their able contacts in the music industry are a lot of valuable. Don't decay time sitting in their appointment until you are offered a accord (contract). Remember time is money!

5. Cold calls can be difficult. These should be avoided, but occasionally it is all-important to acquaintance an industry being who you don't know. It is best to acquaintance him or her advanced of time and ask permission to forward a audience of your songs. Cover in the amalgamation a awning letter on your aggregation agenda stationery. State what you apprehend them to do for you. You should cover a high-gloss business agenda advertisement you as artistic director, a abbreviate bio, CD or DVD audience of your songs, lyric sheet, and a two-sentence arbitrary of your aggregation and contempo successes. Accomplish abiding to cover your name, address, buzz number, email address, and web website abode on all items submitted.

6. Attend music industry conventions and accommodated humans in the business. The afterward organizations authority such meetings: ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and NARAS, NAMM. Awards events, industry parties, showcases, and fundraisers are acceptable places to accommodated humans in the industry. I advance that you do not try to bazaar your songs at these gatherings. Get the names of affecting humans and ask them if you can forward them your material. If "yes" accomplish abiding to forward them the "requested material" aural two days.

7. Afterwards appointment the CD to a producer, it is astute to chase up with a buzz alarm or email aural a two-week period. Alarm to ensure that your amalgamation was accustomed and if there has been any acknowledgment to the material.

8. Obtaining a ballast in this business takes perseverance, chain and patience. You accept to be absolute (focused) but not advancing (annoying). You accept to activity an air of aplomb in your adeptness and in the superior of your songs. Avoid pretense and be yourself.

9. Here are a few calling tips:

  • Never alarm the day afterwards a 3-day weekend.
  • Never alarm aboriginal in the morning.
  • Never alarm anyone on Friday afternoon or evening.
  • Never alarm anyone amid Christmas and New Year's or above-mentioned to a vacation such as July 4th, or Thanksgiving.

10. Online Business is a abundant access to explore.

Today, there are abounding musicians who are affairs their songs and CDs online rather than traveling through the acceptable channels of music publishers and almanac companies. It is almost simple to actualize an actual "buzz" and bazaar your own songs online. Videos of your songs or accumulation can be acquaint on You Tube, Google Video, and so abounding added sites.

You can affix your music to organizations that advance "ringtones."

You can promote, advertise and deliver your music through the afterward networks: iTunes, Amazon.com, Pandora Radio, CD Baby, Facebook, You Tube.com, Last.fm, Twitter, Rovi/The All Music Guide, Live365.com, SHOUTcast.com, and MySpace.com.

It is important to accord advisory online writing in your breadth of ability through columnist releases (music news), emails, newsletters, online surveys, and ezines.

In fact, my commodity "Arranging Music and Breadth Music" was accustomed as an EZine commodity and I becoming "Expert Author status" and the commodity appears on their high-traffic home page.

My final admonition for you is to analyze every accessible access to get your music out in the marketplace. If you are a affiliate of a band, accredit one being to handle the business of your accumulation and don't leave one rock unturned in your adventure to accept others adore your music.

Every artist should own, abstraction and blot the accomplished actual independent in the book, How to Advance Your Music Successfully on the Internet 2011 by David Nevue. This can be downloaded as a PDF book and purchased at http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore.

With perseverance, able research, and a "never quit" attitude, you can aftermath abundant music and be a success by authoritative a active at music. Beethoven said; "Patience, diligence, persistence, and artlessness will advance to success" (Vienna 1792).