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Category: Social Media

  • Spotify Is Cracking Down On Fake Music Streams

    Spotify Is Cracking Down On Fake Music Streams

    Popular music streaming application Spotify, is cracking down on fake music streams and warns all about the acts of fake music streams. Content that is gaining fake streams will be removed and mechanical royalties will be withheld. Spotify has made policing fake streams a warning in the past, however the real hunt for cracking done on fake music streams has begun now.

    The abuse of fake music streams also known as bot streams on the Spotify platform has been a trend of late. These practices are performed by Artists, who either don’t know they are being scammed by untrustworthy music promoters or they are blatantly committing streaming fraud. Those artists who don’t know they are being scammed are in an awful situation, but for those artist who know what they are doing need to stop!

    Spotify is cracking down on fake music streams to save more of the marketing bag for their self. The business structure for any mega giant like Spotify is simple, control market share. Spotify’s biggest money maker is advertising and their business goals as a music social media platform is to make money through different advertising streams. Fake streams takes away from Spotify potentially controlling the music advertising market share. Spotify wants more independent artist to spend money on their ad studio for artists.

    The issue is the Spotify ad studio is not as effective in my humble as opinion. Facebook, Instagram and google ads. These social media platforms are better options that will give you a better ROI on your music promotions.

    Artist look for short cuts and go for fake music streams, because honestly the streaming game is garbage. Spotify gives artists and content creators fractions of pennies for royalties. The Spotify algorithm seems to favor artists signed to record labels and this makes things unbalanced in the industry. Those who want organic streams  don’t have the financial backing to run major marketing campaigns, so they look for cheap options not knowing cheaper is not actually good! Generally if you see some marketing agency offering and guaranteeing 1 million streams for $50 dollars or $100 dollars that’s a untrustworthy music promoter serving you bot streams.

    In the long run acquiring fake streams will only hurt your music. Spotify is on the hunt looking for musical content that has gained fake music streams to take down. You can bet that your music will be at risk if you are engaging in streaming fraud. January of 2021 Spotify had a massive removal of content, which sparked some controversy because many of the take downs were in fact inaccurate. This goes to show, how far Spotify is willing to go to eliminate bots streams.

     

    Fake Music Streams

     

  • Performing as a artist in the face of Corona virus?

    You probably have been brain storming about how you can still continue performing as a artist in the face of Corona virus. Many recording artist and musicians need ideas during the corona virus lock down. Right now every artist on this globe is affected by this pandemic, but there are some things you can do to remain relevant as a artist among your fans.
    Here are a few ideas i want to share with you!

    Live-streaming concerts

    1. Nothing can replace the live gig experience, but online concerts can be entertaining in their own way.

    If you’re an emerging artist, I’d advise you to make all your live stream broadcasts public just to build on whatever engagement is happening. Live streaming can also be profitable, so be sure to use a PayPal.me or Venmo link in the video description or comments to encourage donations.
     
    Check out these live-streaming options:
    7 things to remember about live-streaming
    GO LIVE – If you’ve never gone live before, you’re probably going to be nervous.
    You may even feel awkward. Every time you go live you’ll get better.
    Not A Real “concert” – Live streaming is more casual and interactive than a real concert So… be casual and interactive online. Your bedroom might be an even more effective background for a live stream than setting up some fancy home studio, because it feels authentic.
    Include Your Audience – Play a little bit of your song and then engage your audience early-on, prompting them to respond in the comments. This shows engagement
    Do something eye-catching – Our eyes are conditioned to ignore live streams where it’s just someone holding a guitar, so from the beginning do something attractive and eye opening to catch peoples attention.
    Team up – Some platforms allow you to have multiple participants in a broadcast, so you could have a co-bill or mini-festival online.
    They don’t all have to be performances – Telling stories, asking questions, or teaching people… there’s lots of other things to do besides playing just your song.
    Sincerely,
    Jae
    CEO & Producer

  • Opportunities As A Independent Artist

    Preparing Your Music For Opportunities As A Independent Artist

    Have you ever heard the term opportunity meets preparation? Well it’s absolutely true! Surely you don’t want to run into an opportunity and you are not prepared to take advantage of it right? Many of us are never prepared for that one instance where we may get that chance to break through. Then we sit back and wonder why we never can get a break. Next we start to blame everything and anything around us for our misfortune, when the fact remains we were not prepared.

    Being unprepared can be easily corrected with planning. As a musician a simple action, such as keeping your latest music on your cell phone is good planning. Why you may ask? Because we are in a mobile and digital age. What if you attended a casual party and you ran into a music professional and after you introduced yourself they were interested in hearing your music. With something as simple as watts app you can message them your catalog directly. Waiting to get their email and then sending your music the next day is giving yourself greater chances to lose that opportunity. They may not remember you the next day.

    Many independent artist neglect this next subject that is vital in the preparation of their music. Its been mentioned several times. Get your music mastered! Some artist, feel it is okay to put out music that is not mastered. The truth is, it’s not okay. Whether you like it or not, if you are serious about your music as a career at some point it will become a business. You are going up against talented artist who are seeking fans, just as much as you are. You need to put your best forward. Many independent artist, are investing into their brand and catalog of music and you must do the same to become successful. Take the time to get a mix and master done to the songs you know are going to grab people’s attention before you release your music. You don’t want to miss the opportunity of grabbing the attention of a new fan.

    Another mistake is artist do not take steps to put in place agreements, if they are collaborating with other artist. What’s going to happen if you work with another songwriter or producer and no points of percentages have been agreed upon? Then the song go’s international, you open yourself up to lawsuits. Now all the royalties you have earned are tied up, because of one simple preparation that was neglected. Artist must put in place agreements with collaborators and other contributors to a project. Usually when there is only 1 song writer and 1 producer its usually 50/50 on a split, but when other people are involved there’s more people to feed. Get your songwriting and publishing splits figured out before any release of a record. You never know what can happen with the song.

    There are many things you can do to better prepare yourself as an independent artist. It would be impossible to cover everything in one passage though. Thankfully these are some of the pointers you can start with, to open your mind up to creating ideas to make yourself prepared as a independent artist. Look out for more valuable information like this and follow us on instagram and youtube.

    Regards

    Jae

    www.fyahbeats.com

     

     

     

     

  • 5 Mistakes That Keep Artiste from Getting A Record Deal

    5 Mistakes That Keep Artiste from Getting A Record Deal.

    Mistake 1, Stay Away From Scammers! So Called Music Industry Insiders Claiming They Can Get You A Record Deal For A Small Fee… 90% Of The Time The People Claiming They Can Deliver This Type Of Help Never Stand Up To Their Promise.

    Mistake 2, Thinking Your Music Is The Best It Can Be, When It Really Isn’t. Take The Time Out To Evaluate Your Self As A Artiste And Be Honest With Yourself. Take The Time Out To Have Others Give You Constructive Criticism On Your Work. A&Rs For Record Companies Are Extremely Picky, So You Need To Bring Forth Your Best That You Can. Master Your Songwriting Ability, So You Can Be Consistent in Making Hit Songs. Practice Singing and Delivery Patterns That Will Make You Look Impressive Talent Wise.

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    Mistake 3, Not Being Mentally Prepared For The Business. Not Having The Proper Discipline And Work Ethic To Get You Through The Levels Of The Business. If You Don’t Have The Proper Mindset You Will Loose. A Artiste Will Not Make It Only On Talent…

    Mistake 4, Not Understanding The Current State Of The Music Industry. Study The Changes In The Music Business. The Days Of Shopping Your Music To Record Labels & Landing a Record Deal Are Pretty Much Over. The Business Model Now Is Building Yourself Up Independently Through Performing, Social Media Presence And Fan Base Building. You Need To Make The Record Label Chase You.

    Mistake 5, Not Being Consistent. By Far This Is The Most Important Aspect Of Perusing A Music Career These Days. As an Artiste You Need To Be Consistent With Your Music, Videos, Performances And Interviews.

     

     

     

  • Starting A Record Label

    Starting A Record Label

    1. Choose The Music

    The 1st fundamental step to building your record label is choosing the genre of music you will create, market, distribute and sell. You want to decide if you will sell physical copies or digital downloads or both. What will be your labels main genre of music that will be released to the public. You want to make sure you are specific.

    1. Choose The Name

    The next step is to create an identity for your record label. Research into your competitors and how they are branded. Creating the right kind of identity for your label is incredibly important, given that in the international digital age this will be your shop window. Make sure to register your labels name but first you want to make sure it is available for business use. You can do this via the National Business Register or if you’re setting up a Limited Company, you can do it online via Companies House.

    1. Establish A Brand Look

    Similar to the importance of your record label name, you will also need to produce logo’s and a brand identity. Make sure your brand identity is simple and straight to the point. Make your brand easy to remember and builds a emotional appeal. By doing this you will grasp the attention of your prospective fans. Your brand is very important so take your time with it and make sure it’s a catch.

    1. Build A Website/Register The Name

    The best thing you can do for your label is have a website, with the rise of social media a lot of labels and artiste a like are making a mistake substituting facebook, Instagram etc as a website. You want to build a website for your main hub, where fans can interact with your business. You can also advertise other things on your site such as t-shirts, hats, concert dates, album’s etc.

    1. There are a number of design agencies that will sit down with you and turn your thought process into a well designed, well delivered entity and, if this costs a bit of money but leads to a worthwhile, pleasing user experience, it could be the best money you spend at this point, in the start up of your label.
    2. Use a free service like WordPress that runs more like a blog. WordPress enables you to sign in, update and is a very easy functioning site. It also looks really professional all you need is a hosting service with at least one PHP database included.

    If you are on a budget, I would recommend WordPress and for the ease of updating.

    1. Get Your Tracks Sounding Good/Mastered

    This is the product you’re going to be selling so it is important to get your tracks sounding professional. There are two things that can let down a track, one being the arrangement and the other being the mix. Tweaking either one of these things could make a difference between a hit and a flop.

    Mastering – nowadays a lot of musicians & artiste are not getting their tracks mastered properly, do you want your record label to be seen this way? Mastering can cost money but will always be worth it, you want to look professional, you need to sound professional. Invest your money and get your tracks mastered.

    1. Promotion

    Promotion is the key to branding yourself amongst your prospective fans. Use social media to get started. Build with your audience, show them footage of concerts or updates on new releases. Don’t be too cooperate but try to be consistent and interesting to you audience have a good balance of both. Start building a database of email addresses building your fan base.

    1. Know The Contract

    By now you’ve done lots of hard work, so why not start making some money off your artists. If your label is releasing music made by other artists then make sure your agreement with them is fair and binding. And this doesn’t mean bringing in high powered lawyers. So long as the terms you have agreed are clearly set out in a document, printed and signed by you and the artist in question, then you’re up and running. It’s up to you to negotiate the terms and agreements and remember everything is better in writing, so if something were to happen you have a legally binding letter to fall back on.

    1. Get Your Artists Playing Live

    Although record sales are starting to increase, touring has sky rocketed. Get your artiste in front of the local public on a weekly or by weekly schedule. Live performances leads to upfront record sales. Make sure you set up a station during performances to sell your products. T-shirts, Hats, Albums and so on are satisfactory.

    1. Collect Royalties

    Collecting royalties takes time, and there is often a time lag of at least 6 months, so you need to consider this when planning releases. Sign up with the PRS and MCPS and research into what they offer in form of registering your tracks and collecting publishing money.

    1. Accounts/Income Tax

    When the money starts rolling in, and your tracks are going platinum you’ll need to pay a percentage to the IRS. That’s the law, so be sure you have every cent accounted for. Set up a data base with income and expenditure’s, as expenses which relate to the running of your business can be claimed back against tax, for example you don’t pay tax on business phone calls, driving artist to gigs, running the website etc.

     

  • Using Instagram To Gain Music Fans

    Using Instagram To Gain Music Fans

    Using Instagram to gain music fans, Str8 Fyah Beats

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms around these days and is still growing. The platform hasn’t quiet met its peak as yet, but is rapidly gaining interest throughout the world. Although Instagram is still in its baby stages its a good tool to use to gain some music fans.

    When using Instagram the first thing you need to remember as a artiste is that people are not online to listen, buy or talk about music. I know this may be argued but its true! people go to Instagram to look at  pictures, shared videos or simply look through hash tagged posts. Don’t get discouraged because that is exactly what you want.

    You want to use Instagram as an extension to what you are already doing. You don’t want Instagram to be the focus point of your music campaign. I see a lot of artiste do this and fail. Once that mistake is made they become frustrated, loose focus and let it all go. Social media all together is just a small portion of the large pie, everything is connected and Instagram is part of that connection.

    Don’t over saturate Instagram you will become too common and people will loose interest and ultimately become bored! You want to tease and entertain your prospected fans. Post on average 2 to 3 times per day or every other day. You want to be remembered but you don’t want to be just another artiste promoting music. There are tons of independent artiste who are randomly posting none stop all day, don’t add yourself in that mix.

    Here is an example, Instagram has a live feed feature now. Use that live feed and record your band rehearsal, during the rehearsal encourage the audience to check out more of your music or performances within your profile link. Hopefully you have a profile link that will take the individual to your website so they can see more performances or hear more music.

    Use hashtags to help with posts. The last thing you want to do is post and it goes no where! You want to use hashtags that are relevant to your music genre. Also be creative with how you use hashtags, that will determine how you grow your Instagram following. Also have a good balance between popular hashtags and less popular tags.

    Finally, be as consistent as possible. Coming up with creative content is difficult at times but take your time and stretch out some of your posts. Once you do this you will begin to gain some Instagram presence. Most importantly remember to stay positive, work hard and bare in mind nothing happens over night, but if you work hard you will see things go your way.