Independent Artists Fail Because They Market Like Major Record Labels

Independent artists FAIL when they try to market like major record labels. They do not have the manpower, resources, or money major labels have. You want to be the next Mary J Blidge? You want to work with Clive Davis because he's made Alicia Keys, Kelly Clarkson, and the list goes on. Well, a big name is simply a small name that grew over time. We're not saying give every little guy a shot? We're simply saying you must start small and grow (99% of the time) so keep that in mind when picking out your management, producers, artists, promoters, and performances. Gretchen Wilson started singing in a little bar where she worked, and Oprah used to have debt collectors calling her all the time when she was a small radio personality in Baltimore, MD. We know your sending Demos to Diddy and Timbaland, but take a look at some of the producers where you are. They're trying to attain the same status you are and both of you have nothing to lose. Diddy and Timbaland have millions to lose, you DO NOT!!

Make the record labels want you!! (even if you don't want them) Create a buzz. Remember you're an artists so time and energy is the equivalent of money. You cannot afford to lose either. Focus your time and energy in markets that welcome you. Look to small independent, public, college and online radio stations. Forget MTV, make your own music video (read our "To Do List" Post on this blog) and post it on your website, MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, and let others download it from you. Make your own website, link with other sites, and sell your music. Also sell your music through Cdbaby, they will distribute your music to all the major digital music stores for a small fee (like PayPal). As you name and popularity grow, the labels will start coming to you. This gives you bargaining power because you've already established you can sell on your own. They have to offer you some incentive to sign (for example royalties!!).

The Independent Recording Artists Must Do List

1. Make an album

2.Have pictures made (a press kit) and no glamour shots do not count

3.Shoot a decent video or get somebody to do some flash animation. The video does not have to look like you at all. Just find something that goes with your story line. (You can find some on You Tube--make sure you email the creator and ask if its okay to use it on your webpage)

4.Register with Cdbaby.com to sell your Cd * its only $30 a year and they also send your songs to itunes and all the other major download stores to be sold. Remeber you don't have to worry about paying for thousands of Cd's to be burned. People are steadily buying more and more online music. It's only going to increase. Gas costs a fortune why burn gas and drive to the Cd store that shelves no independent artists' music, when you can real music online!!** Sell digital downloads people ----it's the way of the future!! I don't care what anyone says (not even cdbaby---cdbaby cautions artists that digital downloads sell less than cd's. This is my only problem with Cdbaby. My response is go grab Billboard Magazine every month and read the record sale numbers vs. the digital download numbers. Own an Ipod? Seen the new one? I rest my case. We still love Cdbaby. We just respectfuly disagree**

5.Make a web page ---post your music and videos on there, performances, fan club, etc...

6.Make a music MySpace page, Facebook page, YouTube Page, cdbaby page, hit up craig's list

7.Link all the pages together and submit your pages to search engines (make sure your page works before you submit it!!)

8.Start performing---give people your webpage, let them know who you are


Its still a long road but there are plenty of resources and opportunities. If you are stuck on task number 1 (making an album) because its costly, here are some quality resources you can use that are affordable.

For selling your music
http://www.cdbaby.com/ they connect you with a host of other companeis such as itunes and SoundScan. Also for $20-$30 extra they provide a UPC barcode from SoundScan for your product.

For music production (beats/tracks)
http://www.trackmasterz.com/
http://www.soundclick.com/
http://www.beatport.com/



For promoting yourself
http://www.myspace.com/ (music pages)
http://www.facebook.com/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.bloger.com/ start making blogs and also exchange links with other artists to your webpage
http://www.craigslit.org/ we also recommend Craig's List as well.

Music for Spoken Word Artists at Trackmasterz.com

Spoken Word Artists, Trackmasterz.com is your final stop for music for your performance. Check out our tracks "Scream My name", "Latin Slow", and "Love" on our buy tracks page. These tracks were specially made for Spoken Word and Neo-Soul artists. Your stage is calling you, just answer.

www.trackmasterz.com