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....
How to Market and Sell Music Like the Record Labels
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
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...
How Do I Get My Music Heard?
Monday, December 20th, 2010
"How do I get my music heard?" asked the caller. If I had a nickel for every time a songwriter, artist, band or composer has asked me that question, I could retire! Truthfully, it's not a great question because it's so ambiguous. The people who ask the question would get a much better answer if they asked a more specific question. Here are some examples: "How do I get my music heard by an A&R person at a record label? "How do I get my music heard by a publisher?" "How do I get my music heard by a Film...
Film and TV Music Licensing Companies are Not All Created Equal
Saturday, October 17th, 2009
How to Choose the Right Music Licensing Companies It seems like so many songwriters and artists have given up on the dream of getting a record deal with major record label. Flying around on private jets and trashing hotel rooms is a dream now long forgotten. Film and TV placements are the new "record deal." Most musicians don't know how to choose the right music licensing company or companies, because they haven't done their homework yet. They haven't learned how to know which company has the best chance of getting them a film or TV placement period, and they often...
Train Your Brain to Write Better Songs
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Dear Passengers, Aristotle once said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." Every year, our members who come to the Road Rally, stop me and tell me how stoked they are that they came. They can't wait to get home and use all the new songwriting and production tips and techniques they learned at the convention. Their heads seem as if they are about to explode! It's incredible to feel their energy. But I often wonder how many of them can sustain that level of energy and commitment once they get home....