i hear ya LBD .... there is alot to think about with this whole thing. so many diffrent approaches to take. We do wanna get the album out though. We feel that we have made a real "Album" moreso than collection of songs. It plays like an album, like a story , or a movie, and we want to emphasize that. We got a strong single, but its very unique. I have no idea if its gonna work or not, but fuc it we are riding out. We got backups anyways but our lead single def represents us and how we get down. Its def not a solder boy or or "low" type single by any means although it can be bumped in the club right along with those.
Idea Pool : Promo and Publicity
- Thread starter Ash Holmz
- Start date
DJ Excellence
ILLIEN
If you're trying to push singles , I think pressing 100-200 vinyls (or whatever package you can find/finance) would be a good idea. Then try to place those in key record stores in NYC. I don't think it would be problem as long as you have a bar code (I would go there myself, and given the fact you gave a quality product, I wouldn't worry about being rejected) . If you're only pressing CD's your initial product won't be DJ-friendly (eventho CDs/digital music is becoming more and more popular popular within that circle). Despite everybody says, I believe deejays are still record-breakers (both in the club and mixtape scenes). All in all, this could be a bit time-consuming and pricey but well worth it.
Aint vinyl like a serious grip of cash though?
StressWon
www.stress1.com
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 68
word up steezo,,,shit is crazy expensive, but worth the dough if the product is right,,,I got the product,,,,,,,,but no dough,,heh
I think Smash Bros is serious and won't have any problems. This is what Ny wanted to hear for a long time. To see a New York artist(s) come out and bring a new sound is never a bad thing. Just get that NYC hustle goin, I would SOB's and the Knitting factory and hand out free samplers. Especially at those spots when they have Hip Hop shows. There's always mad indie industry cats at those shows. And when those shows go down it's a very hardcore hip hop scene wit many fans happily takin CDs.
yo ... thats a great look .. hopefully we can begin to book shows together on the same ticket as well. that would be ill..
StressWon
www.stress1.com
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 68
word. whenever u ready fam
Krazyfingaz
ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 2
I'm taking mad notes from this thread! very very helpful
DJ Excellence
ILLIEN
God
Creator of the Universe
ill o.g.
Vinyls are dope, but a lot of the popular DJs at the big clubs out here are using the digital turntable where the setup is basically the look and feel of vinyl but they're scratching a digital file. I forgot who makes it - i think its Technics, but a couple friends of mine have it.
I don't think investing in vinyl is a good idea.
Also, the USB thing was done by Trent Reznor from NIN. Make sure you add a lot of multimedia on the USB stick.
And target who you think your clients will be - seriously, why are you spending money to spread your music just in your neighborhood (which I'm sure you won't.) Are you targeting specific companies with your music, are you trying to get your music in the hands of the creative director at a Madison Avenue ad agency? How will you reach them?
Are you trying to get it to a cat at the William Morris Agency in New York? They don't go to Bed-Stuy that often.
Also, you live in NYC, so it's a lot harder getting publicity on TV since it's a huge media market (equivalent to the media markets of mid-size European nations). But even NYC has slow days.
Think of it like laying out a battleplan, read some literature on advertising and marketing, and then go and get that product out. Expect a lot of hate from acquaintances if you're successful.
I don't think investing in vinyl is a good idea.
Also, the USB thing was done by Trent Reznor from NIN. Make sure you add a lot of multimedia on the USB stick.
And target who you think your clients will be - seriously, why are you spending money to spread your music just in your neighborhood (which I'm sure you won't.) Are you targeting specific companies with your music, are you trying to get your music in the hands of the creative director at a Madison Avenue ad agency? How will you reach them?
Are you trying to get it to a cat at the William Morris Agency in New York? They don't go to Bed-Stuy that often.
Also, you live in NYC, so it's a lot harder getting publicity on TV since it's a huge media market (equivalent to the media markets of mid-size European nations). But even NYC has slow days.
Think of it like laying out a battleplan, read some literature on advertising and marketing, and then go and get that product out. Expect a lot of hate from acquaintances if you're successful.
I found vinyl runs to be very expensive these days, especially with short runs. But they are a valuable resource to give to club dj's to get your music out in the clubs. Vinyl is very quickly becoming a specialist subject, many record shops here in the uk are dying a death, its becoming too expensive to cater for such a decreasing market.
Digital is the NOW of distribution and the future. With some hard work concentrating on the publicity, ie PA's, occasional free handouts(to the right people of course). Starting out with college radio and local news media is the place to start, its also the cheapest. Generating a buzz is the most important thing, sales follow that, people cant buy what they dont know exists. I would recommend that you are really at a stage where an industry contact directory would be money well spent, unless you have done that already?
Generating buzz is the order of the day. Also the more reviews you get in magazines the more "Good" usable reviews you will have in your arsenal. A music lawyers contacts can also be very valuable, but music lawyers arent cheap, they have access to most levels of the industry and as a result can be very helpful. And if the lawyer wants to continue getting your hard earned money then its in his interest for you to be successfull. Id say that the lawyers are probably some of the most connected people in the industry.
A really important thing is also to be confident in your own work, because you have to portray that confidence to inspire the same confidence from others.
Digital is the NOW of distribution and the future. With some hard work concentrating on the publicity, ie PA's, occasional free handouts(to the right people of course). Starting out with college radio and local news media is the place to start, its also the cheapest. Generating a buzz is the most important thing, sales follow that, people cant buy what they dont know exists. I would recommend that you are really at a stage where an industry contact directory would be money well spent, unless you have done that already?
Generating buzz is the order of the day. Also the more reviews you get in magazines the more "Good" usable reviews you will have in your arsenal. A music lawyers contacts can also be very valuable, but music lawyers arent cheap, they have access to most levels of the industry and as a result can be very helpful. And if the lawyer wants to continue getting your hard earned money then its in his interest for you to be successfull. Id say that the lawyers are probably some of the most connected people in the industry.
A really important thing is also to be confident in your own work, because you have to portray that confidence to inspire the same confidence from others.
"Expect a lot of hate from acquaintances if you're successful."
oh yeah we are getting the hate already! .. and we havent put out anything out yet!
I have been in sales all my adult life (selling things NOBODY is interested in like commercial copy machines) . For once Im actually selling something I believe in. I got thick skin and can take rejection. We are in nyc, are extremely motivated beyond belief, and believe in our product. We are grown men, educated, both good communicators ( I can mingle with the uppty white folk with the best of em lol), and we can write music, produce, and write songs, and we are not idiots. what more could we ask for ? If we dont chance it NOW it aint gonna happen. I feel like I owe it to myself to take that risk. Id be playin myself if i didnt try. We are gonna start small and buildup and hit every possible media outlet we can. HARD. and cross promote the shit out of evrything we do.
appreciate the advice .. im soakin all this in... keep it coming!...
oh yeah we are getting the hate already! .. and we havent put out anything out yet!
I have been in sales all my adult life (selling things NOBODY is interested in like commercial copy machines) . For once Im actually selling something I believe in. I got thick skin and can take rejection. We are in nyc, are extremely motivated beyond belief, and believe in our product. We are grown men, educated, both good communicators ( I can mingle with the uppty white folk with the best of em lol), and we can write music, produce, and write songs, and we are not idiots. what more could we ask for ? If we dont chance it NOW it aint gonna happen. I feel like I owe it to myself to take that risk. Id be playin myself if i didnt try. We are gonna start small and buildup and hit every possible media outlet we can. HARD. and cross promote the shit out of evrything we do.
appreciate the advice .. im soakin all this in... keep it coming!...
Also, thinking of starting an llc. Im pretty convinced that this way to go. If im gonna do it may as well do it right. What are everyones thoughts on releasing material through your company rather than just releasing it under your name. Are there any differences, pros or cons to doing it either way? I know that with a business u can write of certain expenses, but it also means that u have to report your income and keep accurate records of everything. what r everyone thoughts on this?
I think that there are other things you should do first. I have an EIN and I have a few diff't company's listed under it. One being my entertainment company. I'm also a member of UCC (Uniform Code Council). They're the ones that assign you a UCC Company Prefix (6 digits) in which you generate a bar code for any and all merchandising i.e cd's , clothing etc etc.
As a music artist with so much potential merchandising involved, I feel getting that UCC locked down is a must. Using someone elses code or not having one at all does nothing to build your company portfolio. If you want to solicit potential investors showing them diff't ways you can bring in income is a good look. A lot of distributors will assign your release one (at a price of course) but the thing is that the number is owned by the distributor, not you the artist or company. Basically it's a derivative of "there" UCC prefix cataloged for your release only. You can't take it with u! When I got mine 7 years ago I paid $1700. Don't have a clue of what it runs now.
The more you have taken care of should investors, labels etc etc come calling the better. One, they know you're about your business and two, you have a little more control of what you're willing to give them as opposed to what they're willing to give u!
Doing the LLC thing may come into play if and when your company grows. That mainly takes "you" the individual out of harms way when it comes to legal issues and puts that on "the company". U have to be careful of things like that though. There's a lot of things you have to have in place when you want to pose as a bigger entity than you actually are. Just my take on it!
who is your bar code assigned to? if u don't have your certificate from the Uniform Code Council saying: issued to: YOUR COMPANY NAME with the 6 digit prefix (in which you use to generate all upc codes or bar codes) how do you have a upc code?
I'm taking it that you have one issued to you thru the company that you guys are using to distribute or manufacture the CD. That will only be good for that release and nothing else.
The first 6 digits or your company bar code will be assigned to anything that you sell. I.e my first cd release was 80654120022 (last number goes here generate by my software). The first 6 digits makes sure "my" company gets credit for the sale of merchandise.
Let me do this:
Positions 1-6 make up the UCC company prefix, in my case [806541](company identifier)
Position 7-10 i use for the year of release but it's actually your item reference number. You come up with this number yourself..can be basically an set of numbers that you want to use to catalog the product.
Position 11 is the audio,video config digit, helps distinguish between diff't recording media i.e cd,cassette,vhs,8mm etc etc. The eleventh number (2) is used for compact disc (ALWAYS)
A 12th number will be generated by your bar code calculating software and is always a check digit for the entire GTIN (global trade item number), it basically calculates all previous 11 numbers and spits out the 12th.