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    ADVICE TO ARTISTS AND DJS

     

    There are so many things to cover with this, but I will keep it as short and sweet as possible. Here are some pointers on marketing yourself and getting the attention of others, in no particular order.

    1. Branding: Make sure you have the proper branding. Whether you are using your real name or a stage name, make sure you have a professional looking logo. Your logo is the purest form of your identity.
    2. Image: I really and truly encourage people to be themselves, but that doesn’t always work. For those of you in the underground scene, the way you look or dress 95% of the time, doesn’t matter. Although, if you are in the pop/top 40 scene, you need a look. Don’t be afraid to be different, but try to stay within a certain limit as well.
    3. Marketing Tools: Always have business cards on you and be ready to pass them out. Same thing goes for flyers, stickers, CD’s. People love to receive stuff. Don’t be shy.
    4. Professionalism: If you are at a gig, have fun but be cool at the same time. The venue booked you for a gig and there is no reason to get an ego. Be courteous to the staff, make friends with security crew and even nicer to your bartender. Care for the equipment as if it were your own. Make sure you are there on time, actually i suggest you even get there early.
    5. Submitting Demos: As a label owner, my biggest pet-peave is mass e-mails. If you are interested in submitting a demo to a record label, make sure your personalized your e-mail. Obviously you are sending it to that certain label for a reason, so make them feel special by submitting a unique e-mail. No label owner wants to open a mass-mailing that was sent to 35 different labels at one time. So pick your label wisely. Build a relationship with their A&R team.
    6. Promo Campaigns: Once again, as a label owner I know the amount of work us owners put into our labels. Majority of labels send out release promos. Feel honored that you are included on that list. When I send a promo via my promo company, I set it up so before any of the promos can be downloaded, the DJ must preview the tracks, then must leave feedback. Please make sure you do this. Nothing is worse than seeing that you sent out 9 different promos and the receiver hasn’t even bothered listening to them. If that’s the case, contact the label and simply ask to be removed from the mailer.
    7. Support: Support is a major key in being successful in this industry and yes we need to support of others to help motivate us. It’s a great thing to be have the support of family, friends and fans. Just remember to reverse that support. If you have a friend that works at a radio station and is supporting and promoting your music, then make sure you return the favor. Help promote his show or company. Support is a two-way street. I love networking and cross-promoting.
    8. Social Media: Make sure you set up social media, as much social media as you can. Yes, we almost all have Facebook accounts, so make a Facebook artist page. Also, make sure to set up accounts with: Twitter, SoundCloud, MixCloud, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, Hearthis.at and any other social websites you can find. Please make sure you keep them all update too. There is nothing worse than visiting your favorite artists Twitter and you notice they haven’t made a tweet in over 9 months. Make sure your social media accounts all link together. Make sure you always have updated photos, biography, discography, etc.
    9. Last But Not Least: Remember how realistically impossible it is to make great money in the music industry these days unless you have a hit record or saturate the touring market , so don’t get upset if you aren’t collecting major amounts of money (keep working) hard work always pays off in the end. Also, remember that you are in this industry because you love music and what you do. It’s passion of yours, mine and many others. Keep up the hard work and remember to dream, but don’t sleep.

    Source : http://larysaladin.com/advice/ Blog By: Dirty Lary