Industrial Music People Are Working Again We Will Not Fall

The music industry has changed in the last few decades and many artists are unaware that path to success is withal the same: time, money and attempt. No pain – no gain.

by SoundBytes Magazine Guest Writers May Fall and Frank Scott, November. 2017

The music business is notwithstanding the same equally it was decades ago. It is withal a business. It has changed in many ways, but there is one thing that has changed even more than than business itself: the creative person's mindset. In older days yous needed to invest some money to purchase equipment, then work on your music, organize concerts to attract people from business organisation and, in virtually cases, fifty-fifty pay for studio time to tape some demo tapes. Studio time was far from cheap back then. Then, it was a time-money-and-endeavor sort of the game.

Today most immature musicians apply some software – some of them even pirated one.  They then continue to make really cool music at home and merely wait to be discovered, sending their demos to various labels. The main thing that music industry expects is your commitment. They need an creative person who is willing to practice his or her part of the job, and do that for the long run. Why should they invest their money in somebody who hasn't even invested coin in a proper demo or a good master? The creative person who doesn't invest time and a bit of cash into good presentation, spending some time in 2d mitt shops to find some really cool apparel, making some appealing (and professional) promo photos, is not putting a best face up forward. Y'all tin get a good promo pic for a price less than that of a plug-in.  And so there'south video. Bands, or individuals used to work hard to buy their get-go instruments, today you lot can invest this coin in a video clip.

There are yet plenty of things that you tin practise to make some progress, to promote yourself in the music globe, to become a star. But y'all really need to show that you care.  Nosotros are offering you a true story, a tutorial on what should y'all practise and how y'all tin do information technology. No pain, no gain.

Attitude is everything. Bear witness to the industry that you care and that you are prepared and committed to do your part of the job, and they will care.  It is not a fairy tale. It is still what it was – a music concern.

We at SoundBytes magazine are offering you lot a truthful story, a story on how to make progress in your career, a story from artist perspective and story for promoter perspective. Mind well, Grasshopper.   😀

by SoundBytes Mag

Office I – The Artist's Perspective by May Fall

During my musical boyhood, I used to believe that the biggest claiming in music making is to come up with a great musical thought and to bring it to life in the best possible way. Years of experience taught me that indeed it is a groovy challenge, simply the real challenge begins after y'all complete the creative process.

Capturing your thought in a well performed, arranged, recorded and mixed vocal is great. But bringing your music to get the attention information technology deserves is a true fight, whether you intend to bring information technology to the attention of the broad public, music manufacture professionals, or both.

We all know that the music industry has tremendously inverse since the early 2000's due to the increasing availability of all sorts of new music online. This abundance of music out there forced musicians to accept more than deportment than before in order to stand out. Whether you aim to independently distribute your music to the public or yous want to grab the attention of the music industry, y'all need to do so much more than merely music.

Every project I was involved in during the recent years has taught me what I've done right, but more about what I've done wrong. It became clear to me, that no matter what strategy I turn to – indie or characterization, I need to start my mode with the most possible established infrastructure around my music.

Step one – Acknowledging the Unromantic Reality of Music every bit Commodity

First of all, information technology is important for you to see your music, and in detail, every song or album, as a unique product. This perspective is not merely a mantra of musicians aimed to plant the concern sensation in their minds, but it is actually how a song is considered financially: it is an independent product that is being sold to the public through different channels, and it'southward what constitutes the artist's master source of generating profits.

As for the infrastructure around it, I am referring to anything that accompanies and promotes your production: your live functioning, your branding, logo, artwork, photos, written content, music videos, and social media pages that display all of that to the public.

Being an artist that feels more comfortable in the studio than on stage. I knew that especially when you lot're non touring with your music and you plan to disseminate your music primarily through your recorded cloth, you have to work fifty-fifty harder to compensate for the lack of live presence.

My idea was to take everything ready before starting the promotional endeavor, since at that stage, your focus completely changes and you turn your creative resources to the dissemination of your music.

As for budget considerations, money is ever an outcome, and minimizing expenses is vital for this journeying, peculiarly at the pre-release phase, since yous're going to need most of your budget for the promotion of your music.

For that reason, acquiring equally many skills y'all can is crucial. Every bit for things yous can't practise or don't have plenty available time to learn, it's always good to have expert and talented friends that could help you. If you don't have such friends, try to recollect of how to attain talented people you can work with without spending as well much money – similar students that demand to do some project and are willing to utilise you every bit their guinea sus scrofa, or other talented people that agree to collaborate in castling transactions with yous, or merely believe in your music that much to concur being paid less under the belief that the exposure of the finalized product will serve them too.

Step 2 – Get Everything Done

I started my new synthpop project with the recording of two singles: "Same Lawmaking" and "Blind Zone".  Having acquired some experience in recording and mixing throughout the years, I did the recording and programming in my dwelling studio (as for previous works, you're welcome to cheque the album by my ring, Road to Evenmind,"Diagnosis: Unsovled", which we recorded in our studio and had the pleasure of witnessing Michael Wagener mixing it).

https://youtu.exist/WZfjwPTzrEo

Knowing that the backdrop of well-nigh home studios (including mine) is adequate acoustic environment, I expected the recording of the vocals to be the well-nigh complicated part.

Since I went all the way in this instance being a cheap bounder that avoids expenses at any price, I found out nigh a unproblematic and brilliant solution for creating audio-visual environment for vocals recording in home studios – paraphrasing the memorable hit: "it'due south a Mic in a box"!

Every bit for the mixing stage, I have the pleasure to have a very talented sound engineer friend, Noam Catinthesack Meiri, who guided me through the mixing of "Same Code" and meticulously mixed "Blind Zone" himself.

As for the video clips, I also had in listen exactly what I want to have, and I made efforts to get it in the lowest possible budget. Awkwardly enough, I shot the video for "Blind Zone" earlier mixing the vocal. In this example, I had a perfect location for a video clip – a satellite teleport in a mesmerizing valley, and since it was accessible to me for a limited time I couldn't miss the adventure of having a video prune shot at that place (with the assistance of another good friend of mine, Daniel Harpaz).

https://youtu.be/-PHRE-JipfA

For the other video clip, "Same Code", I found the very talented motility graphics animator Yuval Leizerman, who managed to create an awesome video that pretty much captured the vision I had for the video while calculation his own vivid ideas.

https://youtu.be/aokJZYzz0S0

Having the tracks and videos ready, I diverted my efforts to work on all accompanying material. Another talented friend of mine, photographer Matan Militanu, ran a photograph shoot session that resulted in great pictures that visually expressed the vibe of my music.

With some more than help from my homies Eyal Benvenisti (artwork) and Vili Greenberg (logo pattern), and my ain efforts to come up with some written content, I finally had all material I needed for the promotion of the project. Terminal pace was to build online presence (facebook page, twitter, instagram, youtube etc) and we're skilful to become.

Step 3 – and Now, Fight!

Adjacent stage was to decide what would exist my promotion strategy. Am I going to release my music independently? Do I prefer trying to detect a tape label to release it? If I'grand looking for a label I shouldn't settle for just any label, equally I'thousand not confident that I wouldn't do a better job promoting my own music than some pocket-size indie labels.

So my idea was to start by giving a shot with the major labels. Nothing to lose here, as I can always move on to plan B (be on my ain), C (change profession) or D (die).

Unsurprisingly, as much as I tried hard to become emails of key contact persons in big labels, it really didn't do the fob. Almost record label A&R's don't tend to respond to emails at all. Apparently, they are non that communicative directly with artists, as they presume, understandably, that artists can't really objectively represent their ain music. For that reason they prefer to get submissions from other music manufacture professionals (like artist management), under the assumption that these people already filtered out for them the crappy stuff (or good stuff that is just non notwithstanding in that location). Looking back, I wasted too much time on trying to detect different strategies to get to these people. At times I thought to create an alternating identity of an artist amanuensis to stand for me just to reach these people. Luckily I gave up that idea.

Pretty quickly I came to the determination that I should simply offset releasing my music on my own, merely try to do my best and hope that something skillful would come out of information technology. I did some of the work myself, like social media promotion and turning to radio stations, which resulted in some nice airplay to begin with. At this betoken, I realized getting some aid from experienced music-promotion professionals would be the best solution for me. Equally I expected, that was the point where I had to become less sentimental most my money.

Soon later on releasing the "Aforementioned Code" video, I turned to Andy Gesner from HIP Video Promo. Andy and his team did neat work: I got a large push button on social media, some online media coverage, and most importantly, my video was aired in a variety of TV channels and outlets beyond the US.

For the release of "Bullheaded Zone" I decided to focus on radio promotion. That's when I turned to Frank Scott from ReFeel Music Grouping. Frank and his team threw a large radio promotion campaign and managed to get the song added to rotation in more than than 130 radio stations worldwide. Although I simply intended to become their aid in this matter, they actually liked what I'm doing and offered me to join their roster. After taking me under their fly, they got me more media coverage and managed to get the "Bullheaded Zone" video on Television channels in different countries, including Russia, United mexican states and Bolivia.

There's ever more than to achieve, simply that's a prissy showtime. Altogether, my promotional expenses for the entire project amounted to around $3000 USD. It's not pocket money, but it's not more what artists usually pay for recording, mixing or video product. If you still insist on doing all promotion yourself to save money, take in account that you are probably substantially less efficient than professional promoters, and they tin practice much better job than you in a fraction of the time you would spend. You should do some of the promotion yourself, but if you try to practice everything yourself, you actually spend time that could be used for something you're skilful at (and perhaps you would make more coin than what you would spend on professional promoter who would to the same job simply much ameliorate). So, looking information technology that way, it's actually more cost-efficient to pay someone else to do his chore than struggling to do it yourself. To conclude, in my opinion, when y'all programme your budget for your next music project, a wise planning would be to classify at least 50% of your budget (if not more) for promotion.

Happily, now I got time to work on some new tracks, knowing that finally someone covers me on the promotional side. Good riddance, I hated doing it on my own.

Part 2 – The Music Manufacture Perspective past Frank Scott (ReFeel Music Group)

I've been asked many times "what are you lot looking for in an artist?", and honestly, I don't have a elementary answer for that. I know it when I see it. It's easier to explain what I'grand looking for by describing my perspective as a music industry professional.

What Nosotros Look For

Kickoff, I accept to emphasize that I similar music, I actually do. I enjoy listening to many different genres and sub-genres, from EDM, through hip-hop, avant-garde jazz, experimental electronic music, undercover industrial music, folk rock, funk, R&B, heavy metal, and to classical music. My gustatory modality in music doesn't perfectly overlap with my professional preference of music. My professional preference covers only a pocket-sized office of what I similar to listen to.

The harsh truth is that in our (music industry) perspective this is first of all a business concern. Yous have express time and limited upkeep and you want to make the most of it. And so patently you want to get an artist that you believe tin can generate revenue. Yous invest time and coin and naturally, similar in whatever other business organisation, you want to see something in return. Equally for what kind of artists tin can be considered to have the potential to generate acquirement, at that place is not ever an objective answer for that.

Of course, there will be those prodigies that everyone would like to sign because they have it all. In other cases, personal taste plays a curl merely some qualities are a must: bully music, interesting and unique, nonetheless the kind that can still be enjoyable for as many people every bit possible; Great presence – on stage and off it, the creative person must look persuasive and confident and take the ability to capture the hearts of the crowd.  Then in that location'due south great character – we go on in heed that the artist is someone we'll have to work with regularly. You want them to be practiced people, intelligent, fun to exist around, and especially ones that can understand the music business (regardless of whether they play by the "rules" or not).

However, it'southward important to add that likewise these qualities, in that location are more considerations that might tip the scales. Generally, equally in every investment, you always aspire to maximize revenues and minimize expenses. An artist that has what it takes, but doesn't all the same have well-produced and recorded songs or album, no music videos, no professional photos, nonexistent (or nearly so) established fan-base, might discourage united states of america from taking them under our representation. Information technology'due south simple math. I know that getting less of these to begin with, will require us to increase the budget for the creative person and thus reduce our profits. Of form, there are some artists we believe in so much that nosotros would concur to take information technology all on ourselves because nosotros feel information technology will probably be worth information technology. Only the best tip I tin can give artists that want to get a deal besides "attempt to be every bit awesome as you can" is to come as ready every bit possible to release your music to the world. Nosotros saw that May Fall met both these requirements, and then there was no question whether we should have him on board.

It should be noted that aside from the artist's qualities, we (and other creative person management and record labels) have more considerations to accept in account when we decide whether to take an artist under our representation. Fifty-fifty if we see a great artist that has everything it takes, sometimes it's simply non the right time for united states as we already allocated all our resources (time and money) to the artists nosotros already manage. In such cases, taking another artist will crave splitting resources among more artists, and that is just not fair for our artists and the new artist interested in our representation. Working with also many artists simultaneously commonly ways that none of them volition get proper attention and any piece of work you lot do for them wouldn't be effective plenty to push button them in the right direction. For that reason, artists shouldn't exist discouraged from getting "no" for an answer, considering sometimes it just has cypher to practise with their qualities. Appropriately, artists shouldn't be tempted to join a characterization or agency that work with huge number of artists, because many times information technology means that the artists simply won't get what they demand, and might actually exist better off working independently.

What We Do

As for what ReFeel Music Group does, we utilize all our experience, knowledge, techniques and connections to push the artist and the artist's music as far as we tin can. We work both a management bureau for our pocket-size roster of artists, and every bit a promotion agency offering services to tape labels, independent artists and other artist management and promotion agencies.

For our pocket-size roster of artists we start with building a strategy. We inquire the artist what they would similar accomplish, and then nosotros check what is missing to brand that possible. To brainstorm with, we need a repertoire of five to ten great songs, professionally recorded, mixed and mastered and set up to be released. So, we need to build the artist'southward public persona – branding, biography and other promotional content, studio photos, a music video, some introductory videos, social media platforms etc. When we have all that, we make a six-calendar month planned scheduled. We set up dates for everything, online music release, radio release, video release, teasers, social media posts, announcements, concerts and everything else. Information technology'south like a military operation, the order of things and timing is everything.  Yous demand to build the momentum and ride on it. If yous do some things too early on or too tardily you might significantly compromise the success of the process.

After building a strategy we start working: starting steadily building followers on social networks, creating a buzz, working on organic SEO, and expanding the online presence of the artist. Based on how things evolve, we sometimes brand pocket-sized changes in our plan but commonly nothing desperate. When the time arrives to release a song or a video, nosotros showtime making a large push. We prepare printing releases and other promotional documents and commencement utilizing our connections. Nosotros run an extensive radio promotion campaign (our main expertise, which I will elaborate shortly), video promotion campaign, in the case there'southward a music video, and we submit the music to music blogs, magazines and online music pages and platforms. Many times we also use the services of other music promotion companies with whom we interact to go the well-nigh of information technology.

Most halfway into the scheduled plan we sit with the artist and check whether nosotros are moving in the right direction, and what are the expectations after the completion of the six months scheduled programme. Based on that, nosotros make a program for the following 6 months, which might include planning a tour, pitching to some record labels, or scheduling new releases.

As mentioned, we have only a small roster of artists and a big portion of what nosotros exercise is offering promotion services to independent artists, record labels and other music industry companies. Our expertise is radio promotion. Throughout the years, we managed to assemble a database of contacts from 30,000 radio stations of all kinds (FM, online, college, commercial, public etc.), all genres, and all countries. Our promotion campaign starts with listening to the song at event. Based on what we hear, nosotros prepare a targeted list of relevant radio stations, based on genres, languages and locations. These targeted lists commonly consist of viii,000 to 12,000 radio stations. Then, the client can choose the extent of the entrada based on their budget, with campaigns starting at 4,000 stations and go up to the full list of targeted stations. Our pricing starts at $160 USD per one,000 stations, which is reduced the bigger the campaign gets. We pitch each station with a download link to a broadcast fix track and promotional sheet with information, links and photos of the artist, and then they have all they need add the vocal to rotation as before long equally they get it. To increase responsiveness, we pitch also in Spanish to stations in Spanish speaking countries, thereby tremendously improving the results in the huge Latin-American market. During and past the end of each campaign nosotros provide the customer with a detailed airplay report showing exactly when and where the song was played. As May Fall mentioned, in his case, our campaign led to his song being played in more than 130 radio stations in around 40 different countries.

To conclude, as much as May Fall and other artists I know have realistic perspective of music promotion and the ability to self-promote, I'thousand confident that it would be extremely hard for them to accomplish what professional person music promoters tin can accomplish for them. Talent is crucial, only without getting proper professional person promotion, the earth won't know almost that talent.

Got whatsoever questions you lot would like to enquire Frank from ReFeel Music Group? Driblet him an electronic mail:

 frank@refeelmusic.com

Follow May Fall:

https://world wide web.facebook.com/mayfallmusic/

https://www.instagram.com/mayfallmusic/

https://twitter.com/mayfallmusic

besserfolend.blogspot.com

Source: https://soundbytesmag.net/music-today-artist-v-industry-may-falls-chronicles-perspectives/

Share this post