Getting signed is at the top of a lot of bands to-do lists. It marks the pinnacle of their careers, a sign that you’re really ‘making it.’ But with things the way that they are in this digital age, the whole industry structure of record labels, who historically found bands and other artists, signed them for a (sometimes) nice advance, then released, promoted, and distributed the album (or at least oversaw all of this happening)… has changed.
Nowadays, the industry has been reduced to a few select major labels, and many smaller, more independent or niche labels, due to the availability of every flavour of music in the world online for free or otherwise – CD’s in some ways are becoming obsolete. Even the concept of an album is becoming somewhat redundant in some aspects – when individual tracks are available on iTunes for 99c a piece, why wouldn’t you just purchase the three songs you like most, rather than paying ten bucks for the whole thing?
Some musicians today are bypassing the traditional record company route and going guerrilla-style with great results, such as my buddy DJ FM of Psycho Realm, who sold something like 10,000 copies of his Mixtape (on CD not cassette!) out of the trunk of his car, or Mary Magdalan who made a living off their homemade albums by selling them on iTunes and on self-pressed CDs at shows with good results. Many other bands, simply record/produce their own album and obtain distribution through stores like Best Buy etc themselves, completely bypassing the record company – and keeping all of the profits. Record companies definitely take a cut of your profits, but there is a reason for this, unless you’re a master of the internet or a self-promoting guru, it is a lot harder to do EVERYTHING, from writing to recording to pressing to releasing to promoting to distributing etc, the album by yourself, and it can be really hard to get that “household name” success of the Beatles, or Beyonce or Marilyn Manson without a major or large indie, label backing you up. It’s not impossible, but it is a lot harder, and if you’re up for the challenge, more power to you!
It’s not all bad news though, there are success stories everyday, and with the advent of the internet, it may really be a blessing in disguise rather than the end of record labels forever, as new and innovative ways to utilize this medium are discovered for finding bands, promoting bands and sell, sell, selling bands. A huge return to the ‘live’ experience has happened also, where playing live shows is so important, with music so easy to obtain online and offline, fans want the authentic experience of a live show, and it can be the make or break way to prove yourself as the “real thing” to a world that has just soo much music in it. So it is definitely important to work on your live show, and use the internet to give yourself a presence online for fans, friends and record labels to take notice and interact with you, most of which is important whether you want a label or not.
But after all this, if you still want to get signed in this strange digital age, I’ve come up with a few pieces of advice for you, some from insiders at record labels, music managers and success stories:
“The best advice I could give to any band who is trying to make career in music and looking to sign with a record label is TOUR TOUR TOUR! Buy a van and trailer, start booking your own shows and networking and don’t look back. The more shows you play the tighter your band will get, the more connections you will make all over the country, and you will gain real fans who will come back and support you next time you come to their town. Second piece of advice would be make sure you interact with your fans as often as possible, via twitter, facebook, live chats, and most importantly at shows. Hang out, don’t play your set and then disappear to your van for the rest of the night, hang out and interact with fans and other bands. If a label can see that you’re working hard promoting your own band, interacting with your fans, and touring as much as humanly possible they will be more likely to sign your band because they know that you already have a solid fan base who supports your band and will buy the records that the label puts out. A lot of people who start new bands think that they can sit at home and record a great album and submit it to a label and everything else will fall into place. It doesn’t work that way at all.” – Tim Patenaude, Metal Blade Records
“Make sure your shit is dope” and get your stuff on YouTube and get that YouTube page looking amazing because – “YouTube is the most visited website in the world, and the player is BETTER than MySpace” – Scott Koenig, King Artist Management, managing Fear Factory, Divine Heresy, Yeti, By Any Means Necessary
Read Music Connection religiously. You can download a PFD of the magazine or even just certain pages that interest you, all for free. It features inside info on the music industry and is a trade publication for musicians, bookers, label people, publicity people, music publishers and more. It contains invaluable information for bands, for example, the current issue features a “26th annual directory of rehearsal studios – 175 contacts!” and “7 ways to be more effective on Facebook”, “Kill or be killed 24 foolproof ways to improve your LIVE gigs” a “Q & A with the Devil Wears Prada” and more scintillating, useful articles as well as profiling important people in the industry. What is even more to your advantage though, as an up and coming band, is the fact that Music Connection has several pages where it features reviews and profiles of unsigned/ newly signed bands, albums and performances, along with artist’s contact info etc, and if you sign up on musicconnection.com with your band’s info and submit yourself, (which I highly recommend) you may get into the magazine, and not only will you have a nice clipping for your mum, but you might just be seen by people who count.
Having said that, get as much press as possible – if you have an album already, send it to magazines both online and offline for review, send it to radio stations, especially college radio – they love unsigned bands, offer yourselves up for interviews – and work on your interview skills, the more interesting/ intelligent/ funny etc you come across as, the more chance you have of being published and therefore noticed by potential fans or record labels. That said, try to be authentic, you want to present the best image possible in an interview and get the best info about yourselves out there, but you still want it to be your image and info, not somebody else’s!
Make friends in the industry! (aka “networking” but nicer) I don’t mean be all fake and “Hollywood” about it, but a little politeness and courtesy can go a long way. However, if you can cultivate real friendships within the industry, and it shouldn’t be too hard – these people have one big interest in common with you, they all love music – you will go far. It’s like any industry really, the whole “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” does, unfortunately, (or fortunately?) apply. That said, don’t ruin a good friendship by being too pushy with your friend at the label, or step on anyone’s toes, and don’t expect to get signed just because your friend’s Dad is a shareholder in Interscope or something, it might help, but there’s only so much a friend can do, the rest is up to you – make sure your demo/album/ live performance/youtube channel/twitter etc is up to scratch before you try to call in that favour, because if what you give your buddy is a piece of unfinished crap, and they take a chance on you, they will probably never help you again when you give birth to your real masterpiece.
Spend some time in LA playing shows at whatever clubs you can – you never know who might be there. Good places to play include anywhere along the historic Sunset Strip, such as the Key Club, Whisky A Go Go, The Roxy, Viper Room and various Hollywood Clubs which also look great on your resume or band Wikipedia page. As well, this time in LA is a great opportunity to make some friends (see above), record, mix or master a new record, do some publicity or set up some meetings with potential labels, bookers etc.
Good luck!!!!
