Anyone have any suggestions I'm a lyrics and need a few tips on starting a C!
Question: I heard i need a manager and attorney. but before that a rep so any tips on getting started?
Answers: I heard i need a manager and attorney. but before that a rep so any tips on getting started?
Great music is everything! Put together a great demo or album is extremely important. Setting up a Myspace and facebook page and building your friends network is valuable. Find nice instrumentals and beats on beatbuggy and soundclick will make your life easy. Becoming a member of taxi is a powerful resource!
Again, it is very important to have great music that will sell outside of your circle of friends, choosing the single based on reaction from local DJs and retailers, owning only two or three markets at first in which to release and work your record, and timing as the most important element in the success of your project (after good music that is). When your project is pressed up it should have a bar code (UPC Codes can be ordered-this takes a minute, so call months in advance) so it can be recognized for SoundScan. This is the "fingerprint" that tells you how many records have been sold at retail stores who use the SoundScan bar code scanning system. Most of the better distribution deals through larger/major labels have been given to labels who have been able to prove through SoundScan that they've sold 50,000 units and more. Bar codes and pressing up units costs money which leads to financing. Unless you are independently wealthy or a, uh, street entrepreneur, you need to have a plan that covers your expenses.
The most effective thing to do is to make a list of all the stuff you need to put out your record from studio costs, pressing costs, mastering costs, artwork, phone calls, one sheets, posters, flats, postcards, promotional tours, t-shirts, stickers (if necessary), Website, shipping, etc. Go through the steps mentally of what you'll have to do to press up and promote your record in the target area you've chosen. Find out if you need to hit someone off with some loot to work radio (college radio, underground, and other shows), or to hire someone to be in charge of retail--from putting your record in the stores to collecting the money after it sells (the hard part). Do you have a street team or should you hire one? A seasoned professional in most areas will cost you $500 to $1,500 depending on how big each market is--and be careful. The plus to hiring a professional street team is that you are using their juice, connections, and experience to accomplish your goals. If money is a problem, you can do it yourself, but I find the extra juice is worth that little bit of loot.
So, I see three ways to get a deal (that you'd want to have) in this industry.
1. Get put on by an established artist (but bear in mind that you may only be as successful as that artist. It's rare that someone puts you on and you blow up larger).
2. Create a buzz. In a perfect world, you want everyone in the industry and on the streets talking about you before you get signed. The trick is to keep it going til you get signed and then turn it up a notch so that the whole industry is buzzing about when you're going to drop.
3. Sell units. This is of course my favorite one, because it proves to the labels you can sell (which means you'd better) and you have more control over the "fairness" of your deal, and often a choice of labels you want to sign with.
uh, just a couple of ideas for songs...
love and break - ups are used commonly so maybe do something a little different, but if making a song about love and stuff, you could disguise the meanings a little and not be too straight forward, you know, leave the listeners thinking about what the lyrics or the songs mean.
Fall Out Boy and I think Farewell (not too sure, need to research them more) are good examples (even if FOB is very popular, they have good lyrics)
Just a suggestion ^^
?3cc3ntr1c1ty?
Hey dats a very fine idea. try smthing which touches the hearts of the listners and can be remembered of for decades like the ones in bollywood 70's and 80's which r a must to hear.even singing try it smthing that is done by Sonu Nigam sung from the heart which touches the hearts of the people. hes my fav. now say i telln u coz hes my fav but try it out ull get dammm good results. all the best.
i'm a lyricist by leisure and I believe that songs about your life is the easiest to write...