Maybe the question should be, “How do I get a record label to even notice me?”

Record companies are in the business of making money with music. You want to make money with your music too, and they need artists whose music will make them money. So, what makes a record label want to sign a deal with you?

Show them that you can make them money. Notice that I said, “show them,” not “tell them.” If I had a nickel for every time an artist has told me how much money they can make me, I’d be retired already.

Proving You Can Make Money for the Record Label

Having lots of Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and Youtube views is a good thing, but generally not enough to get you signed to a record deal. If you can get those friends and followers to buy your songs on iTunes and pay to see you play live shows, that will get a record company’s attention!

What Record Labels Are Looking For…

• Artists who write hit songs that (typically) fit in popular radio formats.
• Artists who have a great live show.
• Artists who can sell tickets to shows and generate sales from their independent releases, whether on CD or from digital download sales.
• Artists who show a strong willingness to do the hard work involved in building a loyal fanbase that will spend their money on live and recorded music.

Submit Music

That’s what everybody wants to know! “How do I submit my music to an A&R person at a record label?”

The truth is that most of the record companies you’d like to be signed to don’t accept unsolicited submissions. That means that if they don’t know you, or somebody they know and trust, like a manager, music publisher, or an A&R scout, they don’t want to hear from you, and your music is going to end up in the trash.

Even if you use a music industry or record label directory that gives you a record company’s address or an email addy, it usually won’t help you much unless they accept unsolicited material or you have an “in” with them.

Music Production Matters If…

Even if you write and produce incredibly great music, you still need to know if it’s the right kind of music for the record labels you’d like to submit music to. Don’t submit Rap music to a Country label. Don’t submit Country music to a record company that mostly releases Pop records.

Common sense, right? You’d be surprised how many people will get their hands on a free music industry directory and shotgun out hundreds of CDs or MP3s to record labels that never sign or market the genre of music they submit.

What Record Companies Are Looking For

What’s better than having a list of record company contacts or addresses? How about an updated list of exactly what they’re looking for? How would you like to get FREE updates like this in every genre of music you can think of?

ACOUSTIC-BASED SINGER-SONGWRITERS with a UNIQUE, WELL-DEVELOPED INDIVIDUAL SOUND are needed by the V.P. of A&R of an Indie Label looking to expand its roster. THINK: Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, Iron and Wine, Fleet Foxes, etc. QUOTING THE SOURCE: “We’re looking for Artists that have a sad, worried, and heartbroken acoustic-based sound like the referenced artists but with a distinctive sound all their own.” They’re looking for a FRESH approach to universal themes with personally revealing lyrics that can instantly connect with the listener. Vocal performances should be INTIMATE and COMPELLING. Artists MUST have EXCEPTIONAL musicianship. DOWNTEMPO songs ONLY. MALE vocals ONLY. Be sure to submit songs that show off your talent as performers and songwriters. Broadcast Quality recordings are needed (excellent sounding home recordings are fine.) Please submit two to three songs online or per CD, include lyrics/photo and bio. All submissions must be received no later than Friday, January 11, 2013.

Here’s another example:

PRESIDENT of A&R at a MAJOR RECORD LABEL is looking for POP/ROCK ARTISTS/BANDS in the style of Maroon 5, The Script, OneRepublic, etc., QUOTING THE SOURCE: “Artist/Bands must have star potential with fully developed songs that represent their direction.” They’ll be looking for songs that are COMMERCIALLY COMPETITIVE and are able to hold their own with the referenced artists. Melodies should be captivating and maintain the listeners attention from beginning to the end. Vocals must be STRONG, with SOLID hooks and melodies that scream RADIO! MID-to-UPTEMPO songs will work best here. NO ballads please. CD sales, touring experience, and an Internet presence are big bonuses – be sure to mention this info in your bio! Vocal and instrumental presentation must be top-notch! Please submit two to three songs online or per CD, include lyrics/photo and bio. All submissions must be received no later than Monday, January 7, 2013.

Would you like to see 100 or more of opportunities like those for your music every month?

Grab FREE daily updates of what Record Labels are Looking For by clicking here, and you’ll never have to wonder how to get a record label to sign you again. Write great songs, build your fanbase, and give the record company the kind of music they need!

Learning how to sell your music and create music marketing plans and strategies is not nearly as daunting as it might seem to many musicians. In this article, I’ll not only give you a simple music marketing plan and strategy, I’m also going to give you some free marketing tips and ideas you can start using today!

Marketing music—as it’s done by record labels—is typically too expensive for Independent artists. While major labels will often try regional marketing, and if it works, deploy the same techniques nationally, Indie artists don’t have the budgets to go national, and often rely on the Internet for online music marketing to give them national and international reach.

The Best Music Marketing Tip of All!

Marketing Indie music really isn’t much more than using some common sense and a little elbow grease. It’s all about audience engagement and building relationships one fan at a time. So let me start off with what might be the greatest single music-marketing tip of them all; you’ve got to give to get!

There’s a marketing law; The Rule of Reciprocity – “I’ll give you something for free, if you give me something of equal value in return.” The potential buyer feels a moral obligation to give something in return if you offer something first, and you’re not asking for too much in return.

What do you have that your buyer will value enough to give you his or her email address in return? If you give them a free song download in return for their email address, you can build a relationship and market more of your music to her over time. And to a person who has already shown an interest in your music. Does it get any better than that?

How to Create a Music Marketing Plan and Strategy

Music Marketing Tip #1: Identify your target market and go to where they are. Who is your target market? Thirty-something females? Great! I identify where they frequent or congregate online and off. That’s where you need to be to meet them and market your music to them.

Do they come to your shows? Great! Have an assistant or volunteer walk around the room giving out a CD Single in exchange for email addresses from your. Have that same person selling full albums for $10 to $15. And what about T-shirts or other swag? You can do this! You just need to find someone with a personality and the desire to help you.

And don’t forget; once you have those email addresses, don’t forget to use them! Keep your fans in the loop, but don’t bombard them with spam. Send them short, informative emails that they will find interesting.

Music Marketing Tip #2: Learn some basic sales tracking and record keeping. Not to sound cynical, but make sure you create and routinely use a simple accounting system to make sure all inventory and money balances out at the end of the night. You’ll need to keep an accurate track of those things for tax purposes as well. Use Quickbooks. There are plenty of FAQs and helpful online forums to help you become good at it in no time flat. Suck it up… you’ll need to do some basic business tasks if you want to earn an income marketing your music.

Music Marketing Tip #3: Marketing your music online. People will not buy your music if they can’t find your music. Make it easy for them to find you by learning where your buyers go online and see if you can market your music in those places. Example: If your typical buyers, or at least a significant percentage of them are mid-thirties females who tend to read a lot of romance novels, see if there are any best-selling authors who have their own site. Cut a deal to put a graphic link on their site, and for every download sold, they get a reasonable cut. To summarize: Market your music to your most likely buyers at places where they already go!

Music Marketing Tip #4: Building a website for yourself on the cheap is easier than you think. Google the terms; WordPress Music Retail Themes. Many of them are free, and none are very expensive. WordPress is easy to learn, but if it’s out of your technological reach, there are plenty of small developers that will do it for you for a few hundred bucks. Money well spent.

Use Facebook and Twitter to market your music as well, but don’t over do it! Nobody wants to hear about your trips to the grocery store or what you’re having for dinner. Engaging your fans with information that’s about the making of your music is what they want to hear about.

Tell them about a new song you’re working on. Post video clips of you in the studio. Post lyric sheets. Tell them the story behind the song. Let them meet the other musicians who played on the track. Those musicians will show their friends, who in turn will show theirs!

Let your fans know about every show you’re doing. Comment before and after your shows. Mention the names of fans that you saw in the audience or greeted at the venue. Make it personal to them and they’ll show their appreciation and loyalty by telling their friends about you.

A Music Marketing Strategy is Important But…

If you don’t have a great product—in this case, your music—no matter how many people find you because of great marketing, they are not likely to buy what you’re selling. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. In this case, if the water tastes foul, the horse will never take another sip.

And while I’m using horse metaphors, let’s talk about putting the cart before the horse! There is a common belief that record companies manufacture sales with marketing. I’m sure there may be some cases of that, but it’s my observation that the reason we sometimes believe a hit was “manufactured” is that we personally don’t like what we hear and believe that the only way it could have become a hit is through marketing or some sort of play to play.

The reality is that somebody does like the music—a lot of somebodies! Just because it doesn’t appeal to you or I doesn’t mean the song is only a hit because of great marketing. Radio stations couldn’t keep an audience if they only played bad music they were cramming down the throats of their listeners.

Back to the cart before the horse; is your music ready to be marketed? Do you know what genre it’s in? Is it a niche genre or a more commercial one? Are your songs so catchy and memorable that your listeners will want to hear them over and over again, and then tell their friends? Are your songs as good as the best on the market?

I know it’s hard to take an objective look at your own music, but it seems to be wasted time, energy and expense to market your music before it’s ready enough to capture the fans that you’re after.

What’s Your Strategy to Market Your Music?

Do you have one? Do you have a marketing plan written down? When are you going to start, and what will be your first action steps?

Before you start, make sure your music is top notch, get objective opinions, figure out what genre your music is in, who your fans are, and identify the best marketing tactics to get your music heard by those fans. Whether you’re using an online music marketing plan, or selling CDs from the trunk of your car after shows, making a plan and sticking with it will result in much better sales!

Bonus material:

Music marketing and promotion articles and FAQs:

http://www.taxi.com/music-business-faq/music-promotion/

Great video interview with Youtube sensation Tiffany Alvord:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH8mZX5FX80