This is the first bit of advice and this supersedes any list we can come up with:
Watch out for snakes and piranhas...you know the type, those that promise you a bunch of stuff, usually over promise and then suck you dry. They "know" people and "know" everyone, blah blah. Our advice is this:
Focus on making your music and building a buzz. Do it by yourself, live by these five rules and you will be ok:
Copyright and protect your music. Shit, Ludacris rapped about it on one of his albums.
Hire an attorney, specifically one from the entertainment business. Own your rights, own your life and make money. The days of being an indentured servant to a record label are over, do it on your own.
Music 101:
A copyright is a certain legal protection that is offered to those who compose creative works, whether those works are art, music, or the written word. You also have the right to distribute copies of your work.
If you copyright music, this means you (and you alone) have the right to use your work or allow others to use your work. You also have the right to distribute copies of your work.
Why copyright music? The answer is simple: so others cannot take credit for your hard work and creative genius. For extra protection you may want to register your copyright as well. Registering your copyright will provide you with formal legal documentation of your ownership of your music should anyone attempt to claim rights to your music or dispute the true ownership/authorship of your music.
Music should be copyrighted and registered long before the publication process to protect your rights as the creator of the music.
For more information, check out the Copyright Office:
http://www.copyright.gov/
Don't look for a deal right away. Contrary to popular belief this is simply bullshit and a waste of time. Just perform as much as you can in your own hood and grow your own internet and email marketing list. Collect as many email addresses as you can at every single fuckin' show you put on, then invite people to join your Facebook page and group. Get people talking about you. These email addresses will help spread the word virally. The crap bands get signed anyways by some a&r and talent scouts that don't know shit anyways. The good ones might take some while longer, but when you got a solid following coming out to all your shows, especially in cities like Los Angeles, everyone will start talking about you. We've seen it work this way.
Have your EP ready. Produce it and record it yourself. Mix and master it yourself and get ready to hustle. Give a few of your MP3's for free to anyone and everyone. Set it up on your actual website or blog so people can download them easily. Forget Myspace. And wasting time to get put on iTunes, when you're a smaller band is not worth the time. The money is not in cd sales or downloads. It is in the merchandise, tours, product placement and advertisements, TV, and other formats that can use your content. Hard work will get you recognized. But nothing inspires the fickle consumer more than getting something for free. Remember Point #1, own your rights, own your life and make more money.
Brand yourself on all the social networking sites on the web. Be active and participate with all your fans/friends daily. Put new content, whether it be actual music, blog postings...it does not matter, keep it active. And while Myspace is important, it's not that relevant anymore. Build out pages and groups on Facebook. Why Facebook is important (See our Article, "Myspace vs. Facebook":)
You can invite people; send updates via email to all your friends who have signed for either your page and/or group, so you know which people are actually receiving messages from you. It's also way more interactive and proactive then Myspace because you can see who is attending your upcoming gigs, who has passed it along and a bunch of the other things that actually show you that people are talking about you.
Also, you have to submit your clean MP3's to local blogs that cover the music specifically to your city. Dedicate at least an hour or two every week on just getting the message out on your band to blogs, and trust us, Blogs matter more than anything else in today's digital music world.
Hire a street team. For about $20 an hour, have them hit the busiest night of the week outside venues with your ideal crowd and watch these fuckers work it for you. Yep, I know that sounds expensive, but besides the fact that you are probably working a regular job, playing in a band, marketing yourself and all your other stuff, you need to focus on doing what you do best, which is make kick ass music. It's money well worth. Whether your Street Team gives away a free cd or stickers (personal favorite and people always take stickers), they can talk to about 400 to 500 people in about a 3 to 4 hour span. Imagine your name getting out there for as little as a $100. Think this is bullshit, we've all heard about Jay Z, right. This is exactly how he did it. No one wanted to give him a deal but the buzz was so strong...well we all know what happened after that!
But it goes deeper than that. In today's world, the point is to be heard by the people that ultimately matter the most—not the record labels, not radio stations, but the music bloggers and actual consumers—fans of music who love being the first to hear something new. The whole point is to be heard. And to be protected. And to create buzz so when the right opportunity presents itself, you as a band will have leverage.
