Promoting yourself in the music industry is essential to success. The days of major labels ploughing hundreds of thousands into new live bands have gone and more creative ways of promoting new music need to be used. Of course there are still some traditional methods that have merit… Let’s take a look.
If you are looking to get signed to a major label then you will definitely need a demo recording. In fact nowadays poorly recorded demos just don’t cut it. Labels are looking for almost finished mastered recordings in many cases. They will be looking for you to have already done most of the hard work. Record label budgets don’t go as far as they used to and there is simply not as much money in music any more. Labels now make much or their money through other avenues such as touring. Therefore spend as much time as you can on making a great demo.
Playing lots of gigs is still a great way to learn your trade and get noticed. More than ever labels are looking for professional bands that can really cut it on the live scene. Don’t play just a few gigs… play hundreds. This is how you get really good at performing. We would all love to be suddenly propelled to super stardom but unfortunately it rarely works like that. You can take your chances and go on the X factor but your career will probably be short lived and you probably won’t make much money! Those acts that have longevity have done the ground work first.
You should also build a website and social networking site. Don’t be fooled though -the fact that you have 100,000 song plays won’t mean squat to a record label. They will be looking for something much more in depth than that. You will probably need to be already quite successful and making a living out of music before a record label will consider you. Websites are great for networking and letting people know about your music.
You should contact reputable entertainment agents and managers first of all as you have a much better chance of getting in the door. A manager’s job then is to get you in the door of the record company. The music industry is notoriously hard to break into so you had better make sure you are as good as you can be. There are bands out there that do make it and hang around having successful careers. To be one of those you need to work hard and promote yourselves relentlessly. For more advice visit the Music Live UK blog.