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[Camp Lo]

I did a quick google search, you mean worldstarhiphop? Does it matter if my music isn't hip hop?

I'm speaking in a strictly views/clicks perspective. You might get a dozen of fans out of thousands of clicks and you all you did was repost a video you got from another site.

 

[Zee_truly evil]

Hire Fiction to make a sweet fan vid

Also we have a Bandcamp thread if that helps

Haha will keep that in mind btw checking out the band camp thread.

If you want I can take a look at is and see if there's anything editing wise that could improve it? I'm not an expert by any means, but I am pretty well versed in beat and timing and such



Ha! It's against the rules to profit of my skillz, yo.

That'll be cool but first I'll have to get everything in order, do you have any links for your videos? Will love to check it out.

I'm speaking in a strictly views/clicks perspective. You might get a dozen of fans out of thousands of clicks and you all you did was repost a video you got from another site.

Oh cool.

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

Just get the usual pages set up:

Facebook, Reverbnation, Bandcamp for your album, CDBaby to get your album on the big digital stores and get some live youtube videos of yourself up (these help big time).

Get all that together and start to tour. Touring is the biggest thing you can do to get word out about your music. You can send it to podcasts, blogs or whatever but people will forget about it if you never tour. Few artists who don't tour stick out in people's minds as someone they should pay attention to.

I've done all of these things personally (http://www.parachuteforgordo.com lol) and can attest that playing live is pretty much the only thing that gives sales after the initial release bump. We're super small scale, our physical ep is only 150 copies (about 30 sold in three months, but we only really sell it live and have played about 4 shows since release) and we've sold about 15 copies online but had around 80 free downloads too which is just fine by me. So in terms of money made (plus t-shirts which do really well), it's all about playing live and selling it by hand.

I do find getting reviews and 'airplay' to be really arbitrary, especially for a new band in a niche genre. We've had about four(?) reviews from sending out about 50 emails to various sites (finding these sites takes forever too...), and it's really scattershot. Even when you think a site will really dig you, you hear nothing back still. And when you do get a review there's a mini spike of visitors but not much else beyond. They're nice when you get them though haven't had a bad one yet which is ... surprising!

We also did a live half hour interview and performance on local radio and got pretty much zero traffic from it. I think people (myself included) are so passive in when we take stuff in online, how often do we really click on links and follow up on reviews?

So yeah, play live, it's the only way people will really give a shit.

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

Have a social media presence: Facebook, Twitter, etc. Network! Do you post on any musician-related message boards?

Make a creative video, one with the possibility of going viral.

Don't give away your music for free. Maybe one song from the record. Or a cover song that showcases your sound.

I did this, posted it on GAF. Got five dislikes, motherfuckers

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DsOOlymzJ8

 

[PetriP-TNT]

Put the stuff on Bandcamp and similar and put the link around on your personal facebook, maybe a forum you frequent in, maybe even a forum that you don't frequent in but is concentrated on that style.

Nothing screams more desperate than some guy/band releasing a (digital) single/ep and being all LIKE ME ON FACEBOOK FOLLOW ME ON BANDCAMP REVERBNATION TWITTER AND SUBSCRIBE ME ON YOUTUBE VIMEO PINTEREST AND DIGG ME AND JOIN OUR REDDIT COMMUNITY AND FORUM.

protip: no one's going to do that


Also, if you are planning to, cut down on "pro" crap. It's your first EP, and no one is going to fucking read a 5 page press release on how awesome your band is and how you love Nirvana and Beatles. And for the love of god if you still make a press release info packet don't send it to every record label and show promoter around.

Seriously, trust me on this.

 

[Yasae]

I've done all of these things personally (http://www.parachuteforgordo.com lol) and can attest that playing live is pretty much the only thing that gives sales after the initial release bump. We're super small scale, our physical ep is only 150 copies (about 30 sold in three months, but we only really sell it live and have played about 4 shows since release) and we've sold about 15 copies online but had around 80 free downloads too which is just fine by me. So in terms of money made (plus t-shirts which do really well), it's all about playing live and selling it by hand.

I do find getting reviews and 'airplay' to be really arbitrary, especially for a new band in a niche genre. We've had about four(?) reviews from sending out about 50 emails to various sites (finding these sites takes forever too...), and it's really scattershot. Even when you think a site will really dig you, you hear nothing back still. And when you do get a review there's a mini spike of visitors but not much else beyond. They're nice when you get them though haven't had a bad one yet which is ... surprising!

We also did a live half hour interview and performance on local radio and got pretty much zero traffic from it. I think people (myself included) are so passive in when we take stuff in online, how often do we really click on links and follow up on reviews?

So yeah, play live, it's the only way people will really give a shit.

Amen. When I worked merch for a year (ten in music industry years) the acts survived on everything but their ticket sales.. And tickets weren't cheap. And if there were tickets involved that tells you what kind of profile they had.

You can't live in the middle of nowhere and/or an oppressive place.

I did this, posted it on GAF. Got five dislikes, motherfuckers

/disli-

Hmm. Well. I won't knock it, but.............

 

[Zee_truly evil]

Thanks guys for all the useful info and advice, really appreciate it.

I did this, posted it on GAF. Got five dislikes, motherfuckers

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DsOOlymzJ8

I pressed "like" to tip the balance in your favor

 

[scotcheggz]

Will love to check your stuff out, any links? And yea will post the songs after everything's done, just got done making a video, hopefully it turns out well, can't wait to share it here and face GAF's fury :lol

GAF is always nicer than I expect about this kinda stuff :lol

I just posted a link to some of our stuff in the bandcamp thread if you stil fancy checking it out, Oh and Jedeyes band is good shit!

 

[Zee_truly evil]

GAF is always nicer than I expect about this kinda stuff :lol

I just posted a link to some of our stuff in the bandcamp thread if you stil fancy checking it out, Oh and Jedeyes band is good shit!

That's a relief :lol

Btw listened to "tell" the whole 12 mins of it, was pretty cool, will check the others out later.

 

[Sobriquet]

Nope, I don't post on any musician related message boards , can you suggest me some?

If you don't already have a presence, then it's likely too late. Harmony Central, The Gear Page, and I Love Fuzz would be my suggestions, as well as other enthusiast sites like Offset Guitars and shortscale.org. But really, that's only if you have an interest in talking gear. I'm not sure what type of music you play. People can be insular and cliquish on those boards, and they don't like record-spamming unless you're already known.

 

[Zee_truly evil]

If you don't already have a presence, then it's likely too late. Harmony Central, The Gear Page, and I Love Fuzz would be my suggestions, as well as other enthusiast sites like Offset Guitars and shortscale.org. But really, that's only if you have an interest in talking gear. I'm not sure what type of music you play. People can be insular and cliquish on those boards, and they don't like record-spamming unless you're already known.

That kinda sucks but still I'll check out the boards,maybe I'll learn a thing or two.

 

[Mariah Carey]

Serious: put a hashtag in your song titles.

 

[Zee_truly evil]

Serious: put a hashtag in your song titles.

:lol how does that work?

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

If you don't already have a presence, then it's likely too late. Harmony Central, The Gear Page, and I Love Fuzz would be my suggestions, as well as other enthusiast sites like Offset Guitars and shortscale.org. But really, that's only if you have an interest in talking gear. I'm not sure what type of music you play. People can be insular and cliquish on those boards, and they don't like record-spamming unless you're already known.

Yeah I think about this, but I'm really not interested in gear at all. My bandmates are but they lose me. I think that generally you can pimp your shit in any community you're a member of, but it certainly helps if the people there are predisposed to that kind of music (which is why GAF is cool since we have some very open minded folks here).

Sometimes it feels like the internet is just an echo chamber, and all you can hear back is the sound of your own voice reverberating. Review sites that don't have visitors, facebook posts that people don't read, tweets to no-one. Trying to promote indie music online is like trying to hit a fly with a peashooter from 50 yards sometimes!

Honestly, I think we have more fans that are bands we've played with than actual audience members!

 

[Dion Blaster]

pirate bay

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

pirate bay

That's a bit like saying "the cover of NME" or something. Yes, exposure to that many people would be nice, but how many other bands are also vying for that position, and what level of 'professionalism' would you need? I don't think that's attainable for DIY bands.

 

[Rosenskjold]

Here's a real-life tip that I did myself.

Do a good cover of something popular on youtube, that is not already on there, and then have some of your own music at your profile. In my case I'd wager one out of twelve went to my profile and checked out my other pieces. Also gives you a lot of subscriptions.

 

[Zee_truly evil]

Here's a real-life tip that I did myself.

Do a good cover of something popular on youtube, that is not already on there, and then have some of your own music at your profile. In my case I'd wager one out of twelve went to my profile and checked out my other pieces. Also gives you a lot of subscriptions.

Can you share your youtube link? Always awesome listening to a fellow GAFFer's songs.

 

[Zee_truly evil]

Hey guys, the EP is finally up and i also made a music video,i hope you all like it, if you don't then please don't kill me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxelKw-sygQ

 

[Aika'svyse]

Hey that's really good.

 

[Bomber Bob]

have sex with j zee

 

[Zee_truly evil]

Hey that's really good.

Haha thanks

 

[Joel Was Right]

Brilliant artwork

 

[Zee_truly evil]

Brilliant artwork

Thanks, looking at the pic kunda makes me miss my niece's cat :lol