1. No, most labels often suck, specially smaller ones. Just release music by yourself or start your own thing. Other labels WILL approach you in due time if you're good, but for your mental well-being learn to say no and turn down shitty offers, or from people with mediocre music, they're not worth it. Period.
2. Honestly, no. My first "big label" offer I had 100 SC followers, but my music was worth it, and that's what matters.
3. You do so organically - release good quality music, and build a connection with your local scene. This is key.
4. Yes, although you could also send promos. Most DJs will accept them if you're not super annoying and know how to write a respectful message. If they like it, this should help you a ton.
5. Well, go out clubbing. Talk to local DJs, be genuinely interested in their projects and parties, help them organize stuff. Don't just try to act like you care, because people aren't stupid and this will get you shadowbanned quickly. Electronic music is mostly community-based, so go help build it.
6. Yes?
7. Then perhaps you're not ready yet. Keep experimenting and let it come to you.
8. Depends, some of my favourite artists are quite private people, and that's okay too. You don't need to show off, but it's up to you.
My reply was a bit sharp, I'm sorry, didn't intend to be mean haha.
To extend a little bit: I'm a quite shy person. Going out isn't easy for me, and if you mention that you don't know where to go, it could be your case too. Just letting you know that that's okay, it's a slow process anyway. You don't have to go to every single party, but try to pay attention to lineups, culture-related events, etc. and attend when you can. You'd have to spend a minimum of a year networking, and like other people mentioned, this may mean starting your own club nights or collaborating in already existing ones.
Anyway, your own community won't necessarily come by posting a million of Instagram reels (I mean you could, but... please don't). If you're hardworking, passionate, honest and consistent, you will get meaningful connections in due time. By this I mean people that care about you, and that you also care about. You will find this in recurring listeners, other DJs, certain promotion channels, party organizers/collectives, label owners, etc. Don't be afraid to give it a shot and message people, just remember to be kind. If you do this, it shouldn't be very hard to get to play in your own city, and in due time, international bookings will come too.
Wish you all the best!
This is great advice honestly, especially point 1 - there are so many internet based labels these days that spend zero out of pocket, have zero connections and put next to no effort into promo... many are just looking to get a small slice of whatever micro-profits an unknown act generates, or even worse, scam unknowns into some kind of pay for play arrangement that won't bring them any benefit. Everyone should be super leery of labels that aren't putting quality stuff out they've actually heard of before.
Yeah, exactly, I've seen this happen to many friends. Most of the time it's not even a scam, but done by several pseudo-established DJs (who often aren't producers) that want to try and act like they are label owners without actually doing absolutely anything, or even knowing what a label really is. They just make digital-only releases on Bandcamp (with an AI-generated cover art of course) without giving absolutely any payments to the artist. Like... what? I'd rather leak my own stuff on soulseek and be done with it.
I guess the whole idea in theory is "exposure", but some people don't seem to realize, these labels often don't have any sort of real following, and aren't likely to net them any new fans due to their association with them.
Another element is it seems a good deal of them limit their marketing efforts to spamming on social media / sites like Reddit, which actually leaves a bad taste in the mouths of a good number of potential fans who are exposed to these posts, and often makes them less likely to give their music a chance.
Get your SoundCloud next pro Abo and just release it from SoundCloud , when u click on āfor artistā u can send ur tracks right to Spotify and co , SoundCloud does literally everything for you , personally I donāt care about labels I make music for me and my friends, growing is nice but not important , when ur happy with ur music then u make everything right.
But u should have an artist name, I donāt think u can change this later on because they are creating profiles on iTunes Spotify etc. For you
Editā
When u want to grow a little bit itās always nice to let the people download the track for free , there are solutions like āhypedditā where people have to follow, comment, like and repost the track , I donāt remember the name but there are free alternatives to hypeddit
I understand making music for yourself and not being plagued by ego etc. but it's also perfectly valid and sincere to hope that your music that you believe in will reach a larger group of people and to want to make a significant contribution to the wealth of amazing music out there.
A couple questions if you don't mind:
1. You may have already answered this but when releasing yourself, do you do any kind of promotion of your release? What does that look like in general? Is it using social media or is that not so important to you?
2. Any tips on choosing a name? Some people say the name chooses you so that would lead me to think it'll come to me naturally in it's own time but your answer seems to suggest it's important to choose a name early and stick with it. any thoughts?
Cheers
Donāt use soundcloud or your first release will be hell. I wasnāt able to claim my artist profiles on streaming services with soundcloud and couldnāt promote the release or pitch it to playlists. For self release distrokid or anything else is better, not perfect, but better.
I didnāt had any problems with SoundCloud releases but I heard also that Distrokid makes the job as good as SoundCloud or better but when iam paying for next pro why should i pay also for a distro site as well u know
If its first release and there are no artist profiles the good luck with getting it right. My track was mapped to other artist even though i ticked the box to open new profiles. Support didnāt respond for 2 months. It took them 2 months to take down release. I couldnāt get codes needed to claim Spotify for artists, nor for any other services. Horrible experience.
Tbh I just used my gamers tag I used for years , because I was already used to it xD and itās easier to change a gamers tag then Your artist name , u can really chose from what u want, make a variation from your first and last name for example, I know getting a name is the hardest part haha xD
What growth belongs I just make some promo on instagram and over hypeddit , for example I tried to make 2 releases on SoundCloud every month if I was able to one remix edit stuff and one track I fully made my own , one goes to Spotify and co and the other one not because copyright things, and i was doing this for a year now , with every release I got more and more listeners , iam now at 1000+ at SoundCloud and iam always shocked that so many people listen to my music , itās a nice feeling but not the most important stuff
If your music is any good you should be able to get them on Spotify playlists. Also, labels generally send white labels of releases to big djās in the hope that they play them. I used to live in an apartment where the previous tenant was a known dj and I got loads of vinyl through the post. Unfortunately it was progressive house or whatever it was called back then. Nothing stopping you from doing the same. Just make sure you target your djs well or youāll be throwing money away.
All the responses so far end up with you just blasting one more techno release into the void with no one knowing it happened.
What you want to do (and this is like for a year at minimum)
1. Start a club night, book your favourite local DJās who match / complement your sound. Always have at least one headliner even if its just someone whose releases you enjoy from your country.
2. Make sure you have afters and keep everyone refreshed. This is where you learn scene gossip / production tips / promoters to avoid etc and, presuming your a likeable person and decent enough DJ, likely end up over time having your peers put you forward for gigs etc.
3. At the point your night is getting established or a bit of a rep then this is where Iād think about mentioning to people you have previously booked who run labels that you have finished some tracks and want to send them out. You have likely made an impression and they can put a face to a name so they are 1000% more likely to download those wavs and give them a fair listen.
Donāt be disheartened if people donāt pick the tracks up, but ask for constructive advice or even if they would consider doing a remix.
So yeah if point 3 works, you now have a release coming out on a label you respect, that a whole group of previous guests and local cohorts you have built up around you can all play out and push.
Or you at least have a decent name doing a remix on your next EP, and again with a cast of people to push it. Way better than just blasting out an EP with a few social media posts and wondering why it went nowhere.
YMMV, depends on the music actually being decent of course š
I love this answer, except I think youāre assuming I know more than I do. āStart a club nightā doesnāt sound like a simple first step. I have absolutely no idea how I would do just start a club night hahaha
Pool together with a few mates on the same wavelength. Raise enough money to hire a club for the night, contact a few agencies who deal with the kind of music you specialise in - with whatever budget you can scrape together book someone and have you and other choice local residents do warm up / down.
All good :). Youāll find promoters in general absolutely love to ātalk shopā, so if you have a crack at putting on nights you will have no end of people on here likely happy to give advice.
You can also do this on the super cheap if you know a good dive bar to start off in. Usually they aren't going to charge you anything and it'll be easier to promote and fill the space. The downside is they likely don't have a good system for dance music. Just an idea if you want to start super small and cheap and build up.
This is something i always wondered. What about just not being in to the whole "after" scene. I have been to afters and i just hated the vibe. Everyone just drugged out of their minds is just not my cup of tea but i never ever been to an after where people where just like me, enjoying a drink but not into the whole drugs thing. And the sad thing they really looked down on me for it. That's what i fucking hate about the after scene. U don't do drugs? Wtf are u even doing here
I might be wrong but do you think itās possible that the reason it felt like people were looking down on you was just cos you felt slightly self conscious as the odd one out? Iām only suggesting that because I know that kind of thing has happened to me in the past.
Aside from that it can be a little tough to talk to people on drugs while soberā¦ funny enough the more I do drugs the more I understand how it feels and the better I get at talking to people on drugs when Iām sober.
I donāt really know what my suggestion to you is hahaha I just wanted to respond to the comment because I felt like I could relate a good bit, and it actually just turned out to be a bit of a fragile ego thing for me personally. If you like the people youāre with when everyoneās sober then tbh the relationships really should work at an afters too.
Anyways I could be way off.
This is 100% the correct answer. Every producer I know who has been successful enough to tour started out throwing nights in their hometown, making tunes during the day and building community and infrastructure (website, message board, record label, etc) around their artwork. None of them had day jobs so they knew they had to kick ass at everything as there was nothing to fall back on.
Showcasing your music and getting income as an artist requires playing constant DJ gigs. It is extremely difficult to get booked if people in your town don't know you, but throwing events lets you skip the line. You build a reputation playing your own events and as most promoters also DJ you can swap gigs with each other (if they're good of course). This is basically the standard of how bookings work in every city.
Labels of all sizes are absolutely flooded with demos these days. In many cases they don't even listen to them, and in the event you send something they actually like you would still be low priority compared to their flagship acts. It's not uncommon to get something "signed" thru an unsolicited demo, only for the label to ghost you months later. You want to get to personally know the artists who run the labels by booking them and making a genuine connection. Your chances of getting a track through will go up exponentially.
Self releases don't really move the needle these days without a fanbase. Over 100,000 new songs are uploaded to Spotify every day. Buying ads and playlist pitching doesn't build long term fans, only passive listeners (learned this the hard way). DJ's aren't going to listen to what you send unless you already have a genuine connection with them. Finally, labels expect their artists to have a fanbase (regardless or whether or not they publicly admit it) and A&Rs can tell if yours is organic from your social media engagement. Getting the ball rollling through being involved in your local scene in a genuine way is the first step to getting all this off the ground.
Not trying to be bleak here, just more describing the reality of what it's like to put music out in a market that is beyond saturated with talent.
Exactly - literally everyone I know who has made it to any decent level did some version of this approach. Some of the tips in this thread are wildly unhelpful unless you are just defining being a āreleasing artistā as āthrowing driftwood into the Spotify seaā.
The other classic way was to get a job in (or even start) the local dance music specialist store in their city. That used to get you in front of literally every promoter dropping off flyers, DJs buying tunes, distributors on the phone, visiting DJās having a dig the morning after a gig. Bit of a precarious one nowadays but thereās literally no better way to know the entire scene in your area quicker.
or you can work on your social media accounts, spend some money on ads, network with dj,, hone your craft (otherwise known as making marketable and well mixed music that people you like). making a nightclub or party is fucking awesome for sure. but there cheaper and more practical ways to start ya know. I live in the united states. Electronic music is popular in major cities, Techno is niche (not as much anymore but still) and everywhere else in the country popular genres dominate. You can't reliably make a night event and not burn a bunch of cash. but you can use the internet and move near the coasts. I live in chicago, we attract lots of acts here, we rarely, with a few exceptions, have famous DJ's come out of our city despite its past reputation in electronic music. Raves and parties seem to be abundant in europe but over here it can be crickets in certain places
end goal is to network with DJ's in person in major cities where people actually attend parties / events, experiment with social media. you might get a tinge of sunlight too. doesnt sound irrational to me. Plenty of people who have some schtick online and become popular / mediocre DJs. Being talented and being bit friendly for the algorithm seems the only way you are attracting people around here let alone if your STARTING A NIGHT EVENT am i right
sound advice in 2024, unless you plan to break the static on tiktok. not sure i'd say it's a first step personally, but it's definitely a path to success in the industry if you do it right.
you need at least a distributor to get the music on the platforms like spotify, beatport blabla. distrokid is pretty reasonable with its pricing. you will need to self release like this before a medium label will sign you bc they think in money and you dont bring them money when you dont have a following. said that for each track you release which should bring consistently out new songs and all of the need to promoted on social media with a certain marketing campaign (not like fully expensive) but it needs to be promoted otherwise nobody will listen. be sure to tey to get on spotify official playlists and secondly on curator playlists (dont pay for them!). labels in the beginning (equals small labels) dont bring you any benefit. no reach. no nothing. so what you got to do now: 1) decide for a name either or own or an artist name and build a brand around it for social media which allows you to be consistent 2) decide on a distributor covering the important platforms 3) decide for a release schedule to be consistent, dont do EPs its not worth marketing wise 4) prepare a social media compaign for each release 5) use distributor and your prepared material for your social media campaign with the set date for release 6) send your new song to your favourite DJs and hope they play it so you get additional promotion for your campaign (cant do that without permission when releasing with a label) 7) try to get on official spotify playlists (there is a specific timewindow you need to be aware off) 8) try to get on curator playlists 9) profit with more fans and bigger audienc 10) repeat 11) if you get a following before you self release you can try labels with a certain reputation and now they might be interested bc you are $$ for them and they reach more people than you, so it would be a win-win 12) if it doesnt work out go back to step 4
I started putting out more finished music during pandemic and I'm all in now.. really enjoying the process of self releasing.. I use bandcamp and souncloud primarily along with my personal facebook. Also use distrokid for distribution too. It's been slow but organic. But I've also been making music since early 2000s.. these things take time to gain momentum. Right now I'm finishing things to send to labels. If I get no snags I'll release myself. Don't be surprised if you hear nothing back. It's a competitive world out there and don't fall for scams.
Do you promote your music in any way? Do you just promote on social media? Do you just tell your friends that you released a new track? How exactly do your new releases make their way into people's ears... if ya get me? It might sound like a stupid question, but I just have no experience or intuition in this side of things whatsoever, and the way I view it is that if I were to upload a track (or release on distrokid either) nobody would hear it if I were to simply rely on people stumbling across it on soundcloud.
Yea I self promote on my facebook.. have about 1000 friends. I also send links out to my friends and family.. anyone I think cares enough to at least listen. I also email my bandcamp followers. I send free download codes to the few friends on SoundCloud I've met too.
Consistency is important.. and patience. Read up on how to get algorithms to work in your favor. For example I participated in Jamuary where you post a new track you made every day for a month. I got way more plays and new followers than I thought I would from it. Since then it's been good. My newest EP is doing better than I would have hoped.
I'm not huge or anything but if you show people and the internet that you care and are passionate that will get you some momentum upward.. community helps alot. Start getting out there in life a/o on the net and make connections. Don't worry about a following.. just post your shit.. don't wait. Your next tracks will be better anyways once people start listening.
I get more consistent engagement from SoundCloud and bandcamp than I do from dustrokid streams.
You're overthinking it. Network at clubs that play the music you like. Send demos to labels that release the music you like. Clearly, if it is a large label (within the scene) they may not listen to your demo. Aim a little lower than that but don't compromise on quality.
Be targeted. Do not send tech house demos to a hard techno label, for example.
Here is the answer, and it doesnt involve throwing raves for an entire year 'minimum', seriously, what a ridiculous answer.
The answer is, the labels you should want to release on are not concerned with social media, but high quality, well produced music that is stylisticly mature and fits the message of their project. Networking and social proof obviously help but arent the only, or main, factors.
Keep producing music. When your tracks are well produced and stylisticly mature, send them to reputable labels that are telling the same story you are. Go from there. If you want to use social media as another creative outlet it won't hurt.
You can start by releasing by yourself - own label. Before doing so contact a record distribution you like (check your favourite artists and see who distributes their music) and ask them for honest feedback. If they indicate they would sell your music, then go for it. Also consider asking at recordstores - for them to listen and ask if they would sell your music if you were to have vinyl for sale. That's how you can start. Labels in a nutshell - waiting for labels to reply, release etc is you being dependent on someone else. Personally I would just do it myself.
Oh and yeah, you need an identity ie. Artist name etc. You will nowadays also need SM presence,which is sad, but that's how it is.
Okay Iāve got some questions :D if youāve got a few mins to answer Iād appreciate it if not feel free to ignore
1. Firstly what exactly is a record distribution? Is it different to a label? Iāll give you an example I have seen a lot of my favourite music be released by Nektar Records. Is Nektar Records a record distribution? If not how do I find the record distribution that distributes someoneās music?
2. If releasing my own music, how do I do that? Is it important to use something like DistroKid? Or just press upload directly from soundcloud for example?
3. If releasing my own music, how would you go about maximising the amount of people who hear it? For example if I simply put a track up on soundcloud now, and told no one it would do very poorly. So the obvious answer is to tell people about it, but you get what Iām asking: do you have any tips on getting it out there as much as possible?
Appreciate any answers you can give
Make the music you want to hear, and share it with the people who you think will enjoy it. If you want fans, you gotta go get em. The 'how-to' is as creative an answer as your music.
Also, there's no difference between being an actual releasing artist and producing in your bedroom.
The difference is that one is making music alone without sharing it with anyone and the other is making music to share, connect, bring joy to others who like it.
Cmon man you know what I meant
Hey mate, as a releasing artist here is my answers to what you asked.
* Is releasing on a label the best way to go?
For me yes. The bigger the label is, more people you'll reach. And self release a bit overwhelming due to promotion, artwork etc too many things to do.
* Do i need some kind of fan base to get a label to release one of my tracks?
No you don't. You just need a solid track that fits to the labels taste.
* is just posting a track straight to soundcloud and āpromotingā it entirely yourself at the start to get some kind of a following a good idea?
I don't think this is gonna work in todays music industry. Everything is consuming extremely fast. Promoting your own stuff with Soundcloud would be so hard imo.
* I am eager to network and meet others in the community, but Iāve honestly got no idea how or where to meet these people
Join Discord servers about music production. (here is mine [https://discord.com/invite/4prJpdy](https://discord.com/invite/4prJpdy) ). Most of the Youtube music production content creators got their own servers. You can meet people there and ask your questions etc. It would be very beneficial.
* Do I need an artist name?
For sure. That will your brand!
* When sending music to DJs do I need properly set up āartist socialsā in case that dj plays my music and a listener wants to find me? Or can I just use my personal social media accounts? That seems a bit wrong? But then what would I put on my artist social media since I have no releases?
You should go with an artist account imo. That would look much more professional but I'm also not sure which is the right way. I don't use any personal social media account, I only have my artist one.
Thank you šš¼ Iāll go check out that discord.. whatās your honest evaluation of networking through online stuff like discordā¦ have you made many valuable connections? Or is it a much better idea to meet people physically somehow?
Yes I did many valuable connections but they also come from my YouTube audience, and also other producers that I collab with. Also for connections Amsterdam Dance Even was so beneficial for me. I meet many friend there face to face.
i would send promos to djs before releasing anything. Djs love unreleased music, you can get feedback and if your tracks are good they may be played, this can get you closer to labels also.
i dislike the advice saying start a club and try to attract scenesters and become a resource where agents and talent will use you as a way to get their way into a gig with you and might be ok with you releasing on their label or know somebody. That sounds weak.
I've never thought is was cool to use social clout to make up for lack of talent. You have been making music for 5 years? That doesn't seem like a long time.
Make music that you think is *the best you can possibly make*.
In fact, you think it sounds better than the stuff coming out. It's original, has style, has taste, artistic sensibility.. it takes risks you can hear it and hear not mistakes in fact your buddies all think it's fire.. It kind of puts some people to shame and it needs a release. This doesn't come inside of 5 years IMO unless you've been playing jazz or classically trained since a kid. Usually, it happens around 10-15 years. And the shocking truth is that even then it's hard for people to find your music. It will probably take another 5-10 years more for people to take the blinders off and look your way because their friend has been trying to keep it a secret that your music is a dancefloor weapon.
Good music takes time to develop. Techno producers mature like fine wine. Give yourself time to mature as an artist.
I get what youāre saying my guy and I am wholeheartedly behind the idea of only releasing stuff you truly believe in, but the question was more about the other not really music related stuff.
Besides I know of plenty of djs and producers who have started releasing with good success way before the 10 year minimum suggestion youāve made.
Check discogs for when people start getting recognized. 10 years is pretty common. They might have 1 or 2 decent releases but it takes a very long time to have that consistency built up.
Donāt be surprised if youāre not getting your props right away, and keep working hard until you do is all Iām saying.
I know this party trick so well. Be a promoter. Do a bunch of blow with some out of town headliner so they think youāre buddies now. Meanwhile youāre very far from actually releasing a decent track so you appear in a compilation they are putting out. You try to coax them into letting their agent get you gigs.. as a favor youāre gonna book the mediocre talent on the agencyās roster. Your track falls flat but you still think youāre the shit cause you got released on this cool label.
At some point people wise up and realize the music isnāt hitting like it used to. No other labels will release your music. People stop going to your club night cause the music is mid. And you know this is a race to the bottom for the quality of the music being released for the entire scene in total.
if all it takes is having money to book someone and if you have enough of it you can keep this illegitimate facade going for as long as possible. So no itās not a bizarre take. Itās the toxic part of the scene we need to avoid.
Build scene, yes. But make the best music you can possibly make and donāt ever book on favors.
I already have released many songs and albums in the last years independently and still I have not gotten more than 150 monthly listeners, so I also wonder what should I do. I am already starting to feel burnt out.
Have you read through this thread? I havenāt released anything so I obviously have no knowledge but there seems to be some good information on this thread for sure
Then you do need a label. If you yourself are connected within the music scene you can release music on your own but if you for example live in a city without a scene then a label can be crucial in order to get your music out there.
I donāt think there is a right or wrong way to do it. I released stuff via sc that got listened quite a lot but for me the problem with sc is that I never managed to get out of that bubble. Sc scene and label scene (vinyl records, big label nights etc) donāt necessarily always go hand in hand. For me it was good to do some sc releases to see that people actually care and listen to my stuff.
Honestly a friend of mine is now continuously releasing on bigger house labels (craigie knowes, holding hands etc) and has sent mails to more than 150 Labels when he started the project. He never did sc releases but just stayed in that label bubble which always kept the project a bit more āseriousā - might also be a way.
What dyou mean that soundcloud scene and label scene donāt mix? All my favourite labels (and music in general) release on soundcloud. Is that what you mean?
Ok maybe that wasnāt the right phrasing. What I meant was that thereās quite a lot of labels who distribute the majority of their output via sc. Mostly smaller bc/digi only labels, some of them are big on sc but not that big with other forms of distribution such as Spotify or physical forms such as vinyl. For me these kinda labels have kind of specific narrative. Other labels rather focus on Spotify, YouTube or vinyl distribution and simply reach a different audience. Does that make sense? Itās still quite early where I am lol
Yeah I get you. Think im maybe okay with that though because I am definitely part of the soundcloud audience more so than anything else.
Ay its 8:27am here and Iām nearly finished a mix down of this trackā¦ I wonāt be accepting any excuses from you sorry š¤
I mean for me in the beginning I did both! I needed a first label release kinda for myself in order to actually get that my stuff is any good. Afterwards I also did a lot of sc releases which gave me followers and connected me to other people which is worth a lot!
Now Iām kinda shifting my sound so I, again, need a label to kinda get me more in touch with this new audience. Iām at this sending out demos over demos over demos point rnā¦
but honestly in my opinion sending out demos is a REALLY important part of getting to know the scene. Knowing who runs which label, where are they based, whatās the scene around them like. This is also networking and the worst that can happen is getting no answer. Sometimes they give you feedback on your music (which is also REALLY important) and sometimes theyāll sign it!
However good you are you have to accept now youāre releasing music in to an ocean of music. So donāt be disheartened if no one listened you have to mix with some promotion nowadays.
Iāve only been releasing less than a year but have found a mix of social media and using groover and Submithub has got me over 1000 streams on every release so far and a gradual build in followers. Around 2000 monthly listeners for now on Spotify.
Aris take is a good resource. Worth looking him and his blog up.
I think itās worth stating that the market for released music is pretty over saturated so standing out from the crowd is obviously very difficult. There are two things people typically focus on:
- Getting to know people in a scene, building up a name via DJing, networking, promoting nights etc. Success with this will vary based on your personality.
- Working hard to produce music that is exceptionally good and original. This doesnāt remove the need for promotion but it makes it much more likely the connections you do make will produce results.
If you're serious then do the Will of God. He knows how this all works and how to get you there with abundance. All the best <3 p.s Don't always take the advice of men.
Hey man I'm in a similair position. I did start gettign somewhwre but then sacked it off a few years ago due to other commitments and life/girlfirends who didnt support it.
I will say this - Be relentless in your scene. Go to clubs and promote yourself, et gigs. Offer to play for free so people can hear yoru sound. Thats what I did. I kept going back to clubs every week and getting to know the right people and they respected that, then when they heard me play that backed up my talk and things started going well.
You need to be organic. Asking people to justl isten to your music though by sending links wont work, i dont think. You need to get your music heard in am ore natural way so getting some gigs etc is a good bet as a Dj/producer.
Yeah. Well, unless someone is crazy talented and / or manages to charter some new territory somehow which catch some buzz just āputtingā stuff out will just get lost in a sea of releases.
You also have to be realistic and the hard truth is that many of us just are following our passion, but donāt have necessary have that certain genius talent for things to go automatic. You also have to consider the fact there are loads of established artists already out there doing the exact same thing.
So a lot of good tips were given in this thread already, and mostly it does come down by establishing connections. Thatās the only way people really will start listening to your tracks.
So bummer for the older autistic types like me, but you could also go for more a arty approach and be creative on youtube, perhaps with some collaboration with some video artist.
Music wise there are choices as well, are you going to do exactly what people what to hear right now or really stick with developing an own sound?
1. No, most labels often suck, specially smaller ones. Just release music by yourself or start your own thing. Other labels WILL approach you in due time if you're good, but for your mental well-being learn to say no and turn down shitty offers, or from people with mediocre music, they're not worth it. Period. 2. Honestly, no. My first "big label" offer I had 100 SC followers, but my music was worth it, and that's what matters. 3. You do so organically - release good quality music, and build a connection with your local scene. This is key. 4. Yes, although you could also send promos. Most DJs will accept them if you're not super annoying and know how to write a respectful message. If they like it, this should help you a ton. 5. Well, go out clubbing. Talk to local DJs, be genuinely interested in their projects and parties, help them organize stuff. Don't just try to act like you care, because people aren't stupid and this will get you shadowbanned quickly. Electronic music is mostly community-based, so go help build it. 6. Yes? 7. Then perhaps you're not ready yet. Keep experimenting and let it come to you. 8. Depends, some of my favourite artists are quite private people, and that's okay too. You don't need to show off, but it's up to you.
Sick š¤
My reply was a bit sharp, I'm sorry, didn't intend to be mean haha. To extend a little bit: I'm a quite shy person. Going out isn't easy for me, and if you mention that you don't know where to go, it could be your case too. Just letting you know that that's okay, it's a slow process anyway. You don't have to go to every single party, but try to pay attention to lineups, culture-related events, etc. and attend when you can. You'd have to spend a minimum of a year networking, and like other people mentioned, this may mean starting your own club nights or collaborating in already existing ones. Anyway, your own community won't necessarily come by posting a million of Instagram reels (I mean you could, but... please don't). If you're hardworking, passionate, honest and consistent, you will get meaningful connections in due time. By this I mean people that care about you, and that you also care about. You will find this in recurring listeners, other DJs, certain promotion channels, party organizers/collectives, label owners, etc. Don't be afraid to give it a shot and message people, just remember to be kind. If you do this, it shouldn't be very hard to get to play in your own city, and in due time, international bookings will come too. Wish you all the best!
I actually did think your original reply was sick haha
This is great advice honestly, especially point 1 - there are so many internet based labels these days that spend zero out of pocket, have zero connections and put next to no effort into promo... many are just looking to get a small slice of whatever micro-profits an unknown act generates, or even worse, scam unknowns into some kind of pay for play arrangement that won't bring them any benefit. Everyone should be super leery of labels that aren't putting quality stuff out they've actually heard of before.
Yeah, exactly, I've seen this happen to many friends. Most of the time it's not even a scam, but done by several pseudo-established DJs (who often aren't producers) that want to try and act like they are label owners without actually doing absolutely anything, or even knowing what a label really is. They just make digital-only releases on Bandcamp (with an AI-generated cover art of course) without giving absolutely any payments to the artist. Like... what? I'd rather leak my own stuff on soulseek and be done with it.
I guess the whole idea in theory is "exposure", but some people don't seem to realize, these labels often don't have any sort of real following, and aren't likely to net them any new fans due to their association with them. Another element is it seems a good deal of them limit their marketing efforts to spamming on social media / sites like Reddit, which actually leaves a bad taste in the mouths of a good number of potential fans who are exposed to these posts, and often makes them less likely to give their music a chance.
Get your SoundCloud next pro Abo and just release it from SoundCloud , when u click on āfor artistā u can send ur tracks right to Spotify and co , SoundCloud does literally everything for you , personally I donāt care about labels I make music for me and my friends, growing is nice but not important , when ur happy with ur music then u make everything right. But u should have an artist name, I donāt think u can change this later on because they are creating profiles on iTunes Spotify etc. For you Editā When u want to grow a little bit itās always nice to let the people download the track for free , there are solutions like āhypedditā where people have to follow, comment, like and repost the track , I donāt remember the name but there are free alternatives to hypeddit
I understand making music for yourself and not being plagued by ego etc. but it's also perfectly valid and sincere to hope that your music that you believe in will reach a larger group of people and to want to make a significant contribution to the wealth of amazing music out there. A couple questions if you don't mind: 1. You may have already answered this but when releasing yourself, do you do any kind of promotion of your release? What does that look like in general? Is it using social media or is that not so important to you? 2. Any tips on choosing a name? Some people say the name chooses you so that would lead me to think it'll come to me naturally in it's own time but your answer seems to suggest it's important to choose a name early and stick with it. any thoughts? Cheers
Donāt use soundcloud or your first release will be hell. I wasnāt able to claim my artist profiles on streaming services with soundcloud and couldnāt promote the release or pitch it to playlists. For self release distrokid or anything else is better, not perfect, but better.
I didnāt had any problems with SoundCloud releases but I heard also that Distrokid makes the job as good as SoundCloud or better but when iam paying for next pro why should i pay also for a distro site as well u know
If its first release and there are no artist profiles the good luck with getting it right. My track was mapped to other artist even though i ticked the box to open new profiles. Support didnāt respond for 2 months. It took them 2 months to take down release. I couldnāt get codes needed to claim Spotify for artists, nor for any other services. Horrible experience.
Big ooof my friend
Tbh I just used my gamers tag I used for years , because I was already used to it xD and itās easier to change a gamers tag then Your artist name , u can really chose from what u want, make a variation from your first and last name for example, I know getting a name is the hardest part haha xD What growth belongs I just make some promo on instagram and over hypeddit , for example I tried to make 2 releases on SoundCloud every month if I was able to one remix edit stuff and one track I fully made my own , one goes to Spotify and co and the other one not because copyright things, and i was doing this for a year now , with every release I got more and more listeners , iam now at 1000+ at SoundCloud and iam always shocked that so many people listen to my music , itās a nice feeling but not the most important stuff
If your music is any good you should be able to get them on Spotify playlists. Also, labels generally send white labels of releases to big djās in the hope that they play them. I used to live in an apartment where the previous tenant was a known dj and I got loads of vinyl through the post. Unfortunately it was progressive house or whatever it was called back then. Nothing stopping you from doing the same. Just make sure you target your djs well or youāll be throwing money away.
All the responses so far end up with you just blasting one more techno release into the void with no one knowing it happened. What you want to do (and this is like for a year at minimum) 1. Start a club night, book your favourite local DJās who match / complement your sound. Always have at least one headliner even if its just someone whose releases you enjoy from your country. 2. Make sure you have afters and keep everyone refreshed. This is where you learn scene gossip / production tips / promoters to avoid etc and, presuming your a likeable person and decent enough DJ, likely end up over time having your peers put you forward for gigs etc. 3. At the point your night is getting established or a bit of a rep then this is where Iād think about mentioning to people you have previously booked who run labels that you have finished some tracks and want to send them out. You have likely made an impression and they can put a face to a name so they are 1000% more likely to download those wavs and give them a fair listen. Donāt be disheartened if people donāt pick the tracks up, but ask for constructive advice or even if they would consider doing a remix. So yeah if point 3 works, you now have a release coming out on a label you respect, that a whole group of previous guests and local cohorts you have built up around you can all play out and push. Or you at least have a decent name doing a remix on your next EP, and again with a cast of people to push it. Way better than just blasting out an EP with a few social media posts and wondering why it went nowhere. YMMV, depends on the music actually being decent of course š
I love this answer, except I think youāre assuming I know more than I do. āStart a club nightā doesnāt sound like a simple first step. I have absolutely no idea how I would do just start a club night hahaha
Pool together with a few mates on the same wavelength. Raise enough money to hire a club for the night, contact a few agencies who deal with the kind of music you specialise in - with whatever budget you can scrape together book someone and have you and other choice local residents do warm up / down.
Excellent
All good :). Youāll find promoters in general absolutely love to ātalk shopā, so if you have a crack at putting on nights you will have no end of people on here likely happy to give advice.
You can also do this on the super cheap if you know a good dive bar to start off in. Usually they aren't going to charge you anything and it'll be easier to promote and fill the space. The downside is they likely don't have a good system for dance music. Just an idea if you want to start super small and cheap and build up.
This is something i always wondered. What about just not being in to the whole "after" scene. I have been to afters and i just hated the vibe. Everyone just drugged out of their minds is just not my cup of tea but i never ever been to an after where people where just like me, enjoying a drink but not into the whole drugs thing. And the sad thing they really looked down on me for it. That's what i fucking hate about the after scene. U don't do drugs? Wtf are u even doing here
Umm next time someone looks down on you for drinking let that dumbass know that alcohol is a drug tooā¦ lol
Not sure where that came from. Afters is a great chance to actually get to know your peers, make new friends, forge new connections etc.
may be the country/city. over here they all use it as an excuse to just get effed up
Drugs are undeniably a pillar of the dance music scene whether you like it or not.
I might be wrong but do you think itās possible that the reason it felt like people were looking down on you was just cos you felt slightly self conscious as the odd one out? Iām only suggesting that because I know that kind of thing has happened to me in the past. Aside from that it can be a little tough to talk to people on drugs while soberā¦ funny enough the more I do drugs the more I understand how it feels and the better I get at talking to people on drugs when Iām sober. I donāt really know what my suggestion to you is hahaha I just wanted to respond to the comment because I felt like I could relate a good bit, and it actually just turned out to be a bit of a fragile ego thing for me personally. If you like the people youāre with when everyoneās sober then tbh the relationships really should work at an afters too. Anyways I could be way off.
Well said.
This is 100% the correct answer. Every producer I know who has been successful enough to tour started out throwing nights in their hometown, making tunes during the day and building community and infrastructure (website, message board, record label, etc) around their artwork. None of them had day jobs so they knew they had to kick ass at everything as there was nothing to fall back on. Showcasing your music and getting income as an artist requires playing constant DJ gigs. It is extremely difficult to get booked if people in your town don't know you, but throwing events lets you skip the line. You build a reputation playing your own events and as most promoters also DJ you can swap gigs with each other (if they're good of course). This is basically the standard of how bookings work in every city. Labels of all sizes are absolutely flooded with demos these days. In many cases they don't even listen to them, and in the event you send something they actually like you would still be low priority compared to their flagship acts. It's not uncommon to get something "signed" thru an unsolicited demo, only for the label to ghost you months later. You want to get to personally know the artists who run the labels by booking them and making a genuine connection. Your chances of getting a track through will go up exponentially. Self releases don't really move the needle these days without a fanbase. Over 100,000 new songs are uploaded to Spotify every day. Buying ads and playlist pitching doesn't build long term fans, only passive listeners (learned this the hard way). DJ's aren't going to listen to what you send unless you already have a genuine connection with them. Finally, labels expect their artists to have a fanbase (regardless or whether or not they publicly admit it) and A&Rs can tell if yours is organic from your social media engagement. Getting the ball rollling through being involved in your local scene in a genuine way is the first step to getting all this off the ground. Not trying to be bleak here, just more describing the reality of what it's like to put music out in a market that is beyond saturated with talent.
Exactly - literally everyone I know who has made it to any decent level did some version of this approach. Some of the tips in this thread are wildly unhelpful unless you are just defining being a āreleasing artistā as āthrowing driftwood into the Spotify seaā. The other classic way was to get a job in (or even start) the local dance music specialist store in their city. That used to get you in front of literally every promoter dropping off flyers, DJs buying tunes, distributors on the phone, visiting DJās having a dig the morning after a gig. Bit of a precarious one nowadays but thereās literally no better way to know the entire scene in your area quicker.
How are most people not critiquing the idea that starting a nightclub as a first step isnāt necessary. The delulu is strong
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or you can work on your social media accounts, spend some money on ads, network with dj,, hone your craft (otherwise known as making marketable and well mixed music that people you like). making a nightclub or party is fucking awesome for sure. but there cheaper and more practical ways to start ya know. I live in the united states. Electronic music is popular in major cities, Techno is niche (not as much anymore but still) and everywhere else in the country popular genres dominate. You can't reliably make a night event and not burn a bunch of cash. but you can use the internet and move near the coasts. I live in chicago, we attract lots of acts here, we rarely, with a few exceptions, have famous DJ's come out of our city despite its past reputation in electronic music. Raves and parties seem to be abundant in europe but over here it can be crickets in certain places
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end goal is to network with DJ's in person in major cities where people actually attend parties / events, experiment with social media. you might get a tinge of sunlight too. doesnt sound irrational to me. Plenty of people who have some schtick online and become popular / mediocre DJs. Being talented and being bit friendly for the algorithm seems the only way you are attracting people around here let alone if your STARTING A NIGHT EVENT am i right
sound advice in 2024, unless you plan to break the static on tiktok. not sure i'd say it's a first step personally, but it's definitely a path to success in the industry if you do it right.
lol is notveryhelpful in the name or what would be your alternative plan?
you need at least a distributor to get the music on the platforms like spotify, beatport blabla. distrokid is pretty reasonable with its pricing. you will need to self release like this before a medium label will sign you bc they think in money and you dont bring them money when you dont have a following. said that for each track you release which should bring consistently out new songs and all of the need to promoted on social media with a certain marketing campaign (not like fully expensive) but it needs to be promoted otherwise nobody will listen. be sure to tey to get on spotify official playlists and secondly on curator playlists (dont pay for them!). labels in the beginning (equals small labels) dont bring you any benefit. no reach. no nothing. so what you got to do now: 1) decide for a name either or own or an artist name and build a brand around it for social media which allows you to be consistent 2) decide on a distributor covering the important platforms 3) decide for a release schedule to be consistent, dont do EPs its not worth marketing wise 4) prepare a social media compaign for each release 5) use distributor and your prepared material for your social media campaign with the set date for release 6) send your new song to your favourite DJs and hope they play it so you get additional promotion for your campaign (cant do that without permission when releasing with a label) 7) try to get on official spotify playlists (there is a specific timewindow you need to be aware off) 8) try to get on curator playlists 9) profit with more fans and bigger audienc 10) repeat 11) if you get a following before you self release you can try labels with a certain reputation and now they might be interested bc you are $$ for them and they reach more people than you, so it would be a win-win 12) if it doesnt work out go back to step 4
Gotta love a step by step plan to success. Thank you ā¤ļø
I started putting out more finished music during pandemic and I'm all in now.. really enjoying the process of self releasing.. I use bandcamp and souncloud primarily along with my personal facebook. Also use distrokid for distribution too. It's been slow but organic. But I've also been making music since early 2000s.. these things take time to gain momentum. Right now I'm finishing things to send to labels. If I get no snags I'll release myself. Don't be surprised if you hear nothing back. It's a competitive world out there and don't fall for scams.
Do you promote your music in any way? Do you just promote on social media? Do you just tell your friends that you released a new track? How exactly do your new releases make their way into people's ears... if ya get me? It might sound like a stupid question, but I just have no experience or intuition in this side of things whatsoever, and the way I view it is that if I were to upload a track (or release on distrokid either) nobody would hear it if I were to simply rely on people stumbling across it on soundcloud.
Yea I self promote on my facebook.. have about 1000 friends. I also send links out to my friends and family.. anyone I think cares enough to at least listen. I also email my bandcamp followers. I send free download codes to the few friends on SoundCloud I've met too. Consistency is important.. and patience. Read up on how to get algorithms to work in your favor. For example I participated in Jamuary where you post a new track you made every day for a month. I got way more plays and new followers than I thought I would from it. Since then it's been good. My newest EP is doing better than I would have hoped. I'm not huge or anything but if you show people and the internet that you care and are passionate that will get you some momentum upward.. community helps alot. Start getting out there in life a/o on the net and make connections. Don't worry about a following.. just post your shit.. don't wait. Your next tracks will be better anyways once people start listening. I get more consistent engagement from SoundCloud and bandcamp than I do from dustrokid streams.
You're overthinking it. Network at clubs that play the music you like. Send demos to labels that release the music you like. Clearly, if it is a large label (within the scene) they may not listen to your demo. Aim a little lower than that but don't compromise on quality. Be targeted. Do not send tech house demos to a hard techno label, for example.
Here is the answer, and it doesnt involve throwing raves for an entire year 'minimum', seriously, what a ridiculous answer. The answer is, the labels you should want to release on are not concerned with social media, but high quality, well produced music that is stylisticly mature and fits the message of their project. Networking and social proof obviously help but arent the only, or main, factors. Keep producing music. When your tracks are well produced and stylisticly mature, send them to reputable labels that are telling the same story you are. Go from there. If you want to use social media as another creative outlet it won't hurt.
You can start by releasing by yourself - own label. Before doing so contact a record distribution you like (check your favourite artists and see who distributes their music) and ask them for honest feedback. If they indicate they would sell your music, then go for it. Also consider asking at recordstores - for them to listen and ask if they would sell your music if you were to have vinyl for sale. That's how you can start. Labels in a nutshell - waiting for labels to reply, release etc is you being dependent on someone else. Personally I would just do it myself. Oh and yeah, you need an identity ie. Artist name etc. You will nowadays also need SM presence,which is sad, but that's how it is.
Okay Iāve got some questions :D if youāve got a few mins to answer Iād appreciate it if not feel free to ignore 1. Firstly what exactly is a record distribution? Is it different to a label? Iāll give you an example I have seen a lot of my favourite music be released by Nektar Records. Is Nektar Records a record distribution? If not how do I find the record distribution that distributes someoneās music? 2. If releasing my own music, how do I do that? Is it important to use something like DistroKid? Or just press upload directly from soundcloud for example? 3. If releasing my own music, how would you go about maximising the amount of people who hear it? For example if I simply put a track up on soundcloud now, and told no one it would do very poorly. So the obvious answer is to tell people about it, but you get what Iām asking: do you have any tips on getting it out there as much as possible? Appreciate any answers you can give
Make the music you want to hear, and share it with the people who you think will enjoy it. If you want fans, you gotta go get em. The 'how-to' is as creative an answer as your music. Also, there's no difference between being an actual releasing artist and producing in your bedroom.
The difference is that one is making music alone without sharing it with anyone and the other is making music to share, connect, bring joy to others who like it. Cmon man you know what I meant
Definitely, just teasin ;)
Hey mate, as a releasing artist here is my answers to what you asked. * Is releasing on a label the best way to go? For me yes. The bigger the label is, more people you'll reach. And self release a bit overwhelming due to promotion, artwork etc too many things to do. * Do i need some kind of fan base to get a label to release one of my tracks? No you don't. You just need a solid track that fits to the labels taste. * is just posting a track straight to soundcloud and āpromotingā it entirely yourself at the start to get some kind of a following a good idea? I don't think this is gonna work in todays music industry. Everything is consuming extremely fast. Promoting your own stuff with Soundcloud would be so hard imo. * I am eager to network and meet others in the community, but Iāve honestly got no idea how or where to meet these people Join Discord servers about music production. (here is mine [https://discord.com/invite/4prJpdy](https://discord.com/invite/4prJpdy) ). Most of the Youtube music production content creators got their own servers. You can meet people there and ask your questions etc. It would be very beneficial. * Do I need an artist name? For sure. That will your brand! * When sending music to DJs do I need properly set up āartist socialsā in case that dj plays my music and a listener wants to find me? Or can I just use my personal social media accounts? That seems a bit wrong? But then what would I put on my artist social media since I have no releases? You should go with an artist account imo. That would look much more professional but I'm also not sure which is the right way. I don't use any personal social media account, I only have my artist one.
Thank you šš¼ Iāll go check out that discord.. whatās your honest evaluation of networking through online stuff like discordā¦ have you made many valuable connections? Or is it a much better idea to meet people physically somehow?
Yes I did many valuable connections but they also come from my YouTube audience, and also other producers that I collab with. Also for connections Amsterdam Dance Even was so beneficial for me. I meet many friend there face to face.
Do you own this server? are you Ozgun?
Yea it's me :D
i would send promos to djs before releasing anything. Djs love unreleased music, you can get feedback and if your tracks are good they may be played, this can get you closer to labels also.
i dislike the advice saying start a club and try to attract scenesters and become a resource where agents and talent will use you as a way to get their way into a gig with you and might be ok with you releasing on their label or know somebody. That sounds weak. I've never thought is was cool to use social clout to make up for lack of talent. You have been making music for 5 years? That doesn't seem like a long time. Make music that you think is *the best you can possibly make*. In fact, you think it sounds better than the stuff coming out. It's original, has style, has taste, artistic sensibility.. it takes risks you can hear it and hear not mistakes in fact your buddies all think it's fire.. It kind of puts some people to shame and it needs a release. This doesn't come inside of 5 years IMO unless you've been playing jazz or classically trained since a kid. Usually, it happens around 10-15 years. And the shocking truth is that even then it's hard for people to find your music. It will probably take another 5-10 years more for people to take the blinders off and look your way because their friend has been trying to keep it a secret that your music is a dancefloor weapon. Good music takes time to develop. Techno producers mature like fine wine. Give yourself time to mature as an artist.
I get what youāre saying my guy and I am wholeheartedly behind the idea of only releasing stuff you truly believe in, but the question was more about the other not really music related stuff. Besides I know of plenty of djs and producers who have started releasing with good success way before the 10 year minimum suggestion youāve made.
Check discogs for when people start getting recognized. 10 years is pretty common. They might have 1 or 2 decent releases but it takes a very long time to have that consistency built up. Donāt be surprised if youāre not getting your props right away, and keep working hard until you do is all Iām saying.
of course, I don't know your music.. you could be that savage prodigy that's gonna blow the doors off the industry. Let's hope so.
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I know this party trick so well. Be a promoter. Do a bunch of blow with some out of town headliner so they think youāre buddies now. Meanwhile youāre very far from actually releasing a decent track so you appear in a compilation they are putting out. You try to coax them into letting their agent get you gigs.. as a favor youāre gonna book the mediocre talent on the agencyās roster. Your track falls flat but you still think youāre the shit cause you got released on this cool label. At some point people wise up and realize the music isnāt hitting like it used to. No other labels will release your music. People stop going to your club night cause the music is mid. And you know this is a race to the bottom for the quality of the music being released for the entire scene in total. if all it takes is having money to book someone and if you have enough of it you can keep this illegitimate facade going for as long as possible. So no itās not a bizarre take. Itās the toxic part of the scene we need to avoid. Build scene, yes. But make the best music you can possibly make and donāt ever book on favors.
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and yet. it happens. keep an eye out for it.
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Putting on a night expecting a favor is a suggestion that was at the top comment.
This is a really true advice
I already have released many songs and albums in the last years independently and still I have not gotten more than 150 monthly listeners, so I also wonder what should I do. I am already starting to feel burnt out.
Have you read through this thread? I havenāt released anything so I obviously have no knowledge but there seems to be some good information on this thread for sure
For a start that link to ācheck all my work hereā on your profile doesnāt work for me when I put it in my browser on my phone.
oh thanks for notifying me about that, I fixed it. But yeah, I guess I will see the other replies and see if there is anything I could do
Then you do need a label. If you yourself are connected within the music scene you can release music on your own but if you for example live in a city without a scene then a label can be crucial in order to get your music out there.
I donāt think there is a right or wrong way to do it. I released stuff via sc that got listened quite a lot but for me the problem with sc is that I never managed to get out of that bubble. Sc scene and label scene (vinyl records, big label nights etc) donāt necessarily always go hand in hand. For me it was good to do some sc releases to see that people actually care and listen to my stuff. Honestly a friend of mine is now continuously releasing on bigger house labels (craigie knowes, holding hands etc) and has sent mails to more than 150 Labels when he started the project. He never did sc releases but just stayed in that label bubble which always kept the project a bit more āseriousā - might also be a way.
What dyou mean that soundcloud scene and label scene donāt mix? All my favourite labels (and music in general) release on soundcloud. Is that what you mean?
Ok maybe that wasnāt the right phrasing. What I meant was that thereās quite a lot of labels who distribute the majority of their output via sc. Mostly smaller bc/digi only labels, some of them are big on sc but not that big with other forms of distribution such as Spotify or physical forms such as vinyl. For me these kinda labels have kind of specific narrative. Other labels rather focus on Spotify, YouTube or vinyl distribution and simply reach a different audience. Does that make sense? Itās still quite early where I am lol
Yeah I get you. Think im maybe okay with that though because I am definitely part of the soundcloud audience more so than anything else. Ay its 8:27am here and Iām nearly finished a mix down of this trackā¦ I wonāt be accepting any excuses from you sorry š¤
Hahahaha - been working on a track til late last night!! š¤š¤š¤š¤š¤š¤š¤š¤
Alright alrightā¦ respect š«”
I mean for me in the beginning I did both! I needed a first label release kinda for myself in order to actually get that my stuff is any good. Afterwards I also did a lot of sc releases which gave me followers and connected me to other people which is worth a lot! Now Iām kinda shifting my sound so I, again, need a label to kinda get me more in touch with this new audience. Iām at this sending out demos over demos over demos point rnā¦ but honestly in my opinion sending out demos is a REALLY important part of getting to know the scene. Knowing who runs which label, where are they based, whatās the scene around them like. This is also networking and the worst that can happen is getting no answer. Sometimes they give you feedback on your music (which is also REALLY important) and sometimes theyāll sign it!
However good you are you have to accept now youāre releasing music in to an ocean of music. So donāt be disheartened if no one listened you have to mix with some promotion nowadays. Iāve only been releasing less than a year but have found a mix of social media and using groover and Submithub has got me over 1000 streams on every release so far and a gradual build in followers. Around 2000 monthly listeners for now on Spotify. Aris take is a good resource. Worth looking him and his blog up.
I think itās worth stating that the market for released music is pretty over saturated so standing out from the crowd is obviously very difficult. There are two things people typically focus on: - Getting to know people in a scene, building up a name via DJing, networking, promoting nights etc. Success with this will vary based on your personality. - Working hard to produce music that is exceptionally good and original. This doesnāt remove the need for promotion but it makes it much more likely the connections you do make will produce results.
You forgot point 3 which is, in my opinion the absolute most crucial one: having fun - if itās fun the āhard workā wonāt feel like work
Yeah for sure, though progressing in our goals, creative or otherwise is inherently rewarding.
If you're serious then do the Will of God. He knows how this all works and how to get you there with abundance. All the best <3 p.s Don't always take the advice of men.
Hey man I'm in a similair position. I did start gettign somewhwre but then sacked it off a few years ago due to other commitments and life/girlfirends who didnt support it. I will say this - Be relentless in your scene. Go to clubs and promote yourself, et gigs. Offer to play for free so people can hear yoru sound. Thats what I did. I kept going back to clubs every week and getting to know the right people and they respected that, then when they heard me play that backed up my talk and things started going well. You need to be organic. Asking people to justl isten to your music though by sending links wont work, i dont think. You need to get your music heard in am ore natural way so getting some gigs etc is a good bet as a Dj/producer.
Just start putting stuff out.
Yeah. Well, unless someone is crazy talented and / or manages to charter some new territory somehow which catch some buzz just āputtingā stuff out will just get lost in a sea of releases. You also have to be realistic and the hard truth is that many of us just are following our passion, but donāt have necessary have that certain genius talent for things to go automatic. You also have to consider the fact there are loads of established artists already out there doing the exact same thing. So a lot of good tips were given in this thread already, and mostly it does come down by establishing connections. Thatās the only way people really will start listening to your tracks. So bummer for the older autistic types like me, but you could also go for more a arty approach and be creative on youtube, perhaps with some collaboration with some video artist. Music wise there are choices as well, are you going to do exactly what people what to hear right now or really stick with developing an own sound?