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Tag: music business

  • 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

     

  • Best Company To Distribute Your Music

    In our opinion the best company to distribute your music with is Distrokid. If you are looking for a simple and straight forward way to distribute your newly recorded music the Distrokid platform does just that. Distrokid also charges the artist or label annually for your catalog distribution apposed to Tunecore and CD Baby which charges you the artist a annual rate per song distributed.

    Best company to distribute music with

    Also if you are a artist or label that releases music consistently Distrokid allows unlimited song distribution. They also allow contribution splits on the platform. You can give mechanical splits automatically to artist, songwriters, producers or anyone entitled to revenue shares on a song. This feature prevents the contributors to a recording master from missing out on their fare share of mechanical royalties. They have also added recoupment options. Which allows parties to recoup expenses if paid upfront before releasing royalty payments to contributors to a particular project.

    We use Distrokid to release records and we recommend it 100%, especially if you are a independent artist that records and releases several pieces of content a year. Since we signed up with Distrokid we have also noticed new features that help artist with playlisting and streaming. You can get a exclusive 7% discount off your subscription with Distrokid through us. Open a music distribution account with Distrokid today. Click the link below to get started!

     

     

  • 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.

     

     

     

  • 5 Steps to landing bookings as a unknown artiste

    5 Steps to landing bookings as a unknown artiste

    We have spent years in the music business learning about lots of tricks, do’s and dont’s that can help artiste achieve specific goals. Like the 5 steps to landing bookings as a unknown artiste, that we are about to share with you.

    One area that we seem to get consistent questions about is in regards to performing. A lot of artiste have trouble getting
    promotional shows these days.

    Below i have listed 5 things you can do, to land promotional bookings as a unknown artiste. Everything that we are about to tell you worked for our artiste.

    First you may have that same question as many artiste may have. Why is it so hard to get promotional gigs, when you are basically performing for free?

    The answer is promoters and stage managers like to work with artiste who have something to bring to the table. Pretty much you need to ad value to your self.

    Here are 5 steps to landing bookings as a unknown artiste.

    1. The first rule of thumb would be to build a strategic way to get well known in a 50 mile radius of your local market. Build a local buzz and make the event promoters come to you.
    2.  Offer to help taking on the expense of the promotional flyers. The promoter will be able to wash his hands clean of any duties of spending money on artwork for the event.
    3. Offer to help promoting the show to people you know. When doing this you will create a incentive to adding you on the show. The promoter will see you as a tool to free promotion of his or her show.
    4. Provide a DJ or band for the event, this way the event promoter will not have to worry about extra expenses. When you provide a DJ or band it really allows the promoter more time to spend on promoting the event.
    5. Many artiste don’t want to hear this but paying to perform is the last resort but a good choice if it is worth it. Analyze the situation before doing so. Make sure you are getting the best out of what you spend. Make sure you will get on every promotional flyer, radio and video media ad. Make sure you will get to perform with in the prime time slot of the show and only do it if big acts are on the same show that will boost your stage presence.

  • Getting A&R Attention

    Today we want to give you some insight on how you can be proactive in getting a&r attention. Surly you know their are lots of artiste out their, that want to know how to get signed to a record deal, some do music as a hobby and some want it to be a career.

    The best way to get to the top of the massive pool of artiste is to stand out from the rest. Create the best marketable package you can. We have written down some key notes that can help you out.

     

    1. BE THE BEST – What do we mean by be the best? be the best in your style of music. It wont be easy but consistent work and building your self up as a artiste over time will allow you to climb over the rest. It’s not so much the talent that makes you the best, its the consistent show’s, song releases, music videos and publicity that will give you the edge, this alone can help you land a record deal.
    2. BUILD A REAL FAN BASE – Please separate your self from the average artiste that says they have a fan base but has no proof. Having a fan base is much more than a few Facebook, Twitter and Instagram followers. Having a fan base means song sales, shows and generating press independent of a record label.
    3. SOCIAL PROOF – Get real social proof organically, stop buying likes, shares, plays and retweets. Gone are the days when this fooled record label reps. The reps at record labels are younger now and are just as computer savvy as you. They know the tricks ans lies and look into mush more than a couple likes. Social engagement is what they look for and even that is starting to be compromised with paid comments. The idea is to have cold hard proof, through download stats, song purchase stats, concert video’s and analytics.
    4. RELEASE GOOD MUSIC – Consistently release good music, don’t put out music just to have something new out. An a&r would rather hear 5 great songs than hear 20 songs and only 3 of them sound descent. Make sure your music is at the best it can possibly be. You don’t have to put out a whole album, and in many cases a&r’s don’t care. They just want to know you have great material, that can be marketed to the masses.
    5. RELATIONSHIPS – Music relationships are hard to get into and easy to break. What does that mean? You need to be slightly diplomatic. Don’t burn bridges you never know who is who, so don’t speak badly about someone because you never know who they know. Your in the business of music to build a career and all your pears are like co workers. Would it look good to speak bad about your co worker? no it wouldn’t look good at all, so stay focused and maintain your relationships the best way you can.
    6. SHOWMANSHIP – A good performance can say it all when getting a&r attention. Own the stage build a experience with your audience. Be engaging, look the part and take control over the people who came to watch your show. A a&r can tell when a artiste conveys influence on people and your live show is the optimal place to show you have what it takes to be a star.
    7.  BUILD THE RIGHT TEAM – Create a team of people who are just as passionate about your music as you. Get yourself a manager, publicist, agent or attorney. Not just anyone though one that has some kind of clout. One that can help you in getting a&r attention, just by them simply knowing a&rs and record executives. Find someone with experience, one who has great relationships with their connections.
    8. NO TRICKS – Please remember their are no tricks or special overnight strategies on how to get signed by a A&R and get a record deal. It boils down to building a work ethic, planning and having a consistent approach to your music.

     

  • 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.

     

  • what record labels are looking for

    what record labels are looking for

    What record labels are looking for and social media!

    For those artistes who desire a label deal, trying to figure out what record labels are looking for these days can be a very real challenge. The main reason it’s difficult to figure out their formula is because on a whole, music just isn’t what it used to be, artiste are not what they used to be, the business is not what it used to be. Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of talented artistes out there who deserve every bit of success, however, in my opinion the rags to riches artiste story line has changed dramaticallywhat record labels are looking for. The responsibility of the record label has changed.

    Back in the day it seemed all you needed was raw talent and a chance for the right person with the right connections to see you in action. There was a desire to grow and mold talent, a desire to create quality music with impressive vocals, creative lyrics and melodies, with real instruments and make lots of money doing it. This desire is exactly what caused the birth of shows like Showtime at the Apollo, Star search, American Idol and many other shows and events geared towards searching for talent. Then social media happened…..

    Anyone who dares to say that the whole technology /social media era has not greatly impacted what we make popular and what record labels are looking for, is not qualified to have this conversation! It’s not that you need social media, but you NEED social media. That being said, record labels are looking for acts that will make them not just money but easy money, It’s a business, so unfortunately in this day and age it’s not just about talent and what you can potentially do, but more about what you have already done. In these times you cannot expect for anyone to be willing to groom you, you must be ready. They want artiste who are the full package, artiste who will allow them to invest as little as possible, artiste who have convinced other people to love them, follow them, and BUY FROM THEM. The less work the label has to do the better for them. What this means is, it’s not just about singing or rapping. It’s about marketing, networking and utilizing social media to the fullest. It means throwing yourself out there and becoming a master at marketing you. It means being willing and able to INVEST in your own career before anyone ever offers to cut you a check. It’s about bringing something more than just singing and dancing to the table. You must prove yourself If you desire the backing of a record company.

    Obviously there are many factors surrounding what record labels are looking for and this is just skimming the surface. The unfortunate truth is no matter what some people may do it won’t result in a major record deal. However, keep in mind that the most important thing before anything else is loving what you do. Have a passion for music, not just fame and money. If you are a singer study what made the greats great and be the best singer you can be. If you are a rapper study what made the greats great and be the best rapper you can be. Be innovative, be creative, be you and success will follow. Remember, a major deal is great for some but there is nothing wrong with finding success in your own way. Whatever route you take, you must work very hard to get people to believe in your vision, believe in you talent and support you.

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  • Booking Agents

    Booking Agents

    How To Find Booking Agents

    Booking Agents

    Every artist eventually wants a booking agent. Musicians get to a point where they want to begin performing, but not just perform at parties or bars. They want quality venues and events with decent crowd numbers so they can show case their talents. When a artist gets to this point the best place to look is the booking agent directory. Finding a booking agent is rather easy, but gaining their interest may be hard. Lets go through some ways to gain the interest of a booking agent.

    The first place to start when searching for a booking agent would be google or any reputable music business directory. Google and music directories will position your search to booking agents. During your search you want to make sure the booking agent works with in your genre or obviously it wont make sense.

    When you have established interest in a booking agent, the next thing to do is call or write to them. See if they are interested in working with any up coming talent and ask them if you can send them some material to listen to, with a portfolio. You will also need to express to them that you are not a new artist and that you have a growing fan base, and people desire to here you. You will need to have proof of this through your social media and any other form of demographics.

    Booking Agents

    One of the best ways to land a deal with a booking agent is to invite them to your next show, this will prove to them everything that you have stated in your first correspondence with them. Invite them to a show with a good turn out, that will show how many people you are drawing independent of a label. Make sure you interact with the audience and you bring out reaction from the crowd, booking agents love crowd response.

    In the beginning you may have to perform for free or for little money when working with a booking agent. 9 out of 10 times you will begin as a opening act for a star artist, but this is still a good step. You will be given a plat form to build your audience among a bigger name and that will only make you more of a brand as time goes on.

    Getting in contact with a booking agent can take some time, gaining their interest may not happen at your first attempt. Don’t become discouraged if you don’t spark their interest, just continue working at performing and spreading your music to the masses. Just be persistent continue to build a relationship with them and update them on your progress. Many music professionals like consistency they want to make sure the artist they are going to work with will be a success.

    Music Business Directories

    1. Musical America, www.MusicalAmerica.com
    2. Pollstar, www.pollstar.com
    3. The Musician’s Atlas, www.MusiciansAtlas.com

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  • Making Money Off Music

    Making Money Of Music

     Making Money off Music

    5 ways to making money off music

    Many recording artist have a common question, is making money off music possible? Now this is a fair question to ask, especially in this new era of music. With the incline of social media and the internet a lot of artist, songwriters, producers and recording studios may have some doubts about the state of the music business.

    Honestly I would have to say yes! The possibility of making money off music is definitely there. We are in a digital age, and there is no better time than now to make music and earn off of your music. The digital age has given recording artist the flexibility that wasn’t possible 15 years ago.

    It is safe to say that the digital age has forced most artist and musician groups to become more independent and independence is not a bad thing! Yes being an indie artist trying to make money off music will have its challenges, but the success is a lot fruitful in regards to the monetary gain.

    The average statutory rate for earnings for a newly signed artist on a major label is 10 cents off the dollar. Meaning a record label will collect 90 cents and the artiste keeps 10 cents. Some independent labels will give an artist 25 cents and collect 75 cents which is better. Also you have your indie artist that does everything for his or her self and will collect all of their earnings after paying for promotion, distribution, studio time and beat instrumentals or live musicians.

    Making money off music will take time and will also depend on how hard your working. Think of a strategic approach to introduce the public to your sound. Your growth as an artist will not come over night but it will come if you have the proper work ethic.

    Also you must have a love for what you are doing. Whether it may be a singer, rapper, dj, songwriter, producer or studio engineer, you must have a love for it. If you don’t have a love for it making money off music will just be something you’re doing just to make money. Most people who do something just to make money drop the ball and fail as soon as they see the slightest form of disappointment.

    Below are 5 things an artist can do to begin making money off music, in the digital age.

    1. Crowd funding – this avenue in making money off music is done through donations from friend, family members, customers/fans or individual investors. The approach is basically a collected effort amongst people who have admiration towards the artist music.
    2. You Tube – As an artist you tube as set up monetization so selected channels can generate revenue through advertising. The very first step for you tube would be to drive traffic to your you tube channel and build an audience to optimize your channel for opportunities.
    3. Sponsorship – Sponsorship’s only work best when an artist has developed a nice fan base. company sponsorship’s can range from money, products or services.
    4. Streaming – One of my personal favorites is streaming, streaming does take some work to circulate your song for online streams. However streams are like radio spins. You can get 3, 5 or 10 cents per steam depending on where the music is being streamed from.
    5. CD Sales – One of the top ways to sell cds are at live performances, an artist can have his or her team set up a vendor with cds to sell. Live performances are the best way in my opinion because potential fans are getting a feel for who the artist is and will feel more open to patronizing an artist music campaign.

  • Music Distribution

    The power of music distribution

    Why Music Distribution Matters

    Adding music distribution to your campaign

    Frequently talented unsigned artist record great material. They get it mixed, mastered ready for the world to hear and even ad a music video to the song, so they figure… I’m going to drop it Friday on Facebook maybe even twitter Right! Well that’s a good attempt but unsigned artist need to take things a little further. It is annoying to see good artist spend year after year making music that can potentially spawn their dream career and the music ends up going no where!Music Distribution fyah beats

    Unsigned artist should look towards music distribution, the process of distributing a artist music is vital to the growth of the artist career. Now this depends on what type of music distribution, there are many forms of distribution and is a part of the puzzle that is pretty much left out sadly by unsigned artist.

    Now a unsigned artist should take all avenues in music distribution, why? You may ask! Its simply because he or she is a fresh face. I’ll be straight up if a artist does not place some effort to distribute their material they limit the chance of success by about 50%. People need to continuously see, hear and become familiar with the artist, this is also in relation to forms of branding.

    The biggest mistake unsigned artist have is thinking releasing a song starts and ends with social media. If a artist begins to get stuck in this train of thought they will definitely become stuck. All that will happen next is year after year the artist will loose focus, hope and confidence only to fail at achieving their dream. Now not everyone can be have what it takes to a super star artist, but the game has honestly way more depth to it than twitter and Facebook… and this is the reason why you have so many artist online now wishing to be scene.

    My friend if you are reading this now go ahead and click here tap into a piece of the puzzle that many indie artist leave out the puzzle! There are millions of unsigned artist online desiring to be heard and seen but I beg and plead please don’t be stuck year after year recording great music thinking a major label A&R executive will come in boxing you on Instagram and twitter. Simply does not work that way… Don’t get me wrong at all… It has happened but its like winning the powerball lotto! Don’t wait for luck make your luck man.

    let me give you some valuable information about some of the steps you can use to bring your music as a artist above the rapid saturation that has plagued twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Go here

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