Unsigned bands can have a tough time getting there music published - so here's some helpful hints!
In today’s harsh music industry, it can be really difficult to get your voice heard among the rest and get your music published. But there are ways to do it without having been signed or having an agent. In this article, I hope to explore the various ways this is possible and help you to get your sound on the market and being played!
Firstly, of course, there are the basics of the internet. Having a website can greatly increase your fanbase as friends share the link with each other and word of your music spreads through cyber-space. If you are a bit of a whizz, you can create your own website, or hire someone to do it for you if you have the spare cash. If you lack both money and know-how, you could always use a website-creator, like blog website WordPress, which can put in the basics of the site for you and allow you enter in the information you want and upload photos and music.
Aside from having your own website, also abuse the growing rash of social networking sites. Myspace music pages are an invaluable way of getting your music out there. You could also start up a Facebook Fan Page or even a Twitter account to gather your followers! And don’t forget to post music videos on YouTube as this is a great way to get lots of new fans and links!
But how about how to get your music onto the market? Well, believe it or not there are lots of relatively easy ways to do this! Firstly, Amazon is a fantastic site for selling your own wares. Simply go to their website, find the ‘Sell your stuff’ link and, for a comparatively small fee for what you will make selling your CDs on here, you can sell as many CDs as you want! I would advise, however, if you are selling on an official website like Amazon it will probably be worth your while to get a UPC barcode for your product as then you can sell worldwide and also will be able to branch out into more mainstream retail very easily.
Other websites, such as the America-based CD Baby are online distributors of music, sending out products to companies such as iTunes, Amazon and Rhapsody. They do keep a small percentage of whatever you make, but it is a small price to pay for all the services they offer, including business cards, free web hosting, disc duplication and weekly pay to you! Though they are an American website, because they work with online sales and companies which make shipments world-wide, it is still alright for a UK based band to use them. However, if you want to keep things in the UK, you could use a UK based independent music distribution company such as TuneCore. Again, for both of these, you will need a UPC barcode.
But remember that in today’s digital world, people are starting to listen to music online, too. Websites such as LastFM are becoming increasingly popular and they make it really easy for you to upload your own music! Spotify, too, the famous downloadable program, encourages artists to work with them and upload their music for download. Although these organisations do not provide much profit at all, they are invaluable methods of getting your music heard by thousands upon thousands of listeners. This, in itself, will help to increase your sales.
Last but not least, remember to keep playing, keep writing and keep on recording because the more you put yourself out there, the more listeners and fans will come back to you! Good luck getting your music selling and I hope this article has helped!