Previously I have stated why some mixtapes of rappers don't get much downloads. This just leads to another question: if a significant label record deal will never cause success , however are you able to make it as a upcoming rapper then? After decades of observations , several conversations with struggling and unsuccessful rappers and those behind the business like rappers managers I came to the conclusion that there are 3 critical factors of the success as a independent, unsigned artist: It's music, image and sales.
Let me explain the 3 points in detail below:
1. Music:
I would claim that this is often the most important and necessary factor of the 3 criterias for a rappers career. this could appear trivial, but it is actually really important and fundamentally for rappers. If they don't have top beats for their lyrics their music is just not relevant and appealing. So quality instrumentals and beats are important.
2. Image:
Rick Ross had a worldwide musical success. The miami hustler had sucess especially because of his image, however you don't need to not appear as if you are the second Rick Ross. Just notice that Kurt Cobain , 50 Cent, Lady Gaga or Marylin Manson all had or have their very own special image that distinguishes them from other musicians . If an artist doesn't get noticed, it becomes very hard to be relevant even though the music is hot .
3. Sales:
Even though you have the right music and an interesting image , it doesn't mean that anyone is aware of it . This is where your marketing comes into play: the proper marketing mix ensures that the product (like in your case tracks or music videos) reaches the target audience. The classical tools are concerts, radio, social media and ofcourse street promotion.
Many artists have their own marketing strategy: Justin Bieber was able to score with clever YouTube videos (Marketing) . Eminem's provocative image is obviously a massive a part of his success but definitely the music plays also a bigger role. However on the most important successes all 3 parts fit perfectly together and are the sum for the sucess.
Incidentally, this changes within the music business refer solely to the third point sales and with the new tools like social marketing channels the opportunities for independent artists are totally different and a lot of rappers understood that they have now chances that were once reserved just for the maajor labels.
Showing posts with label download mixtape. Show all posts
Showing posts with label download mixtape. Show all posts
How to copyright beats and lyrics
I've been learning some amazing things that music producers can apply to their business. One of the most important things for both artist and producers besides record deals is the topic "Copyright".
http://www.songrights.com/infringe.htm
According to Title 17, once the lyrics are fixed in a tangible medium, they are copyrighted. If you want legal protection then you need to register the copyright on a site like copyright.gov. I believe its 60 bucks but I might be wrong.
As I've said before if you're a producer (not a beat-maker) or you're a composer of original audio works, this article might be helpful for you.
Here is another tip for you all: If anyone is looking for samples to download check out ccmixter. they have a database containing all types of free samples. http://ccmixter.org/view/media/samples/browse
At last I might gice you something very special: I just made a free TOOL tracking artists searching for beats on twitter, its on real-time so always updating all day long !
Bookmark for future reference !
Tweets about "producers send beats"
No matter if you are a rapper, a singer or a music producer, this might be of interest for you. I had a friend who had the following question..
Does anyone know how to copyright lyrics?Let me answer this questions for all you that are looking for a solution since months:
http://www.songrights.com/infringe.htm
According to Title 17, once the lyrics are fixed in a tangible medium, they are copyrighted. If you want legal protection then you need to register the copyright on a site like copyright.gov. I believe its 60 bucks but I might be wrong.
As I've said before if you're a producer (not a beat-maker) or you're a composer of original audio works, this article might be helpful for you.
Here is another tip for you all: If anyone is looking for samples to download check out ccmixter. they have a database containing all types of free samples. http://ccmixter.org/view/media/samples/browse
At last I might gice you something very special: I just made a free TOOL tracking artists searching for beats on twitter, its on real-time so always updating all day long !
Bookmark for future reference !
Tweets about "producers send beats"
10 reasons why people aren't downloading your mixtape
1. Your Mixtape Sounds Like It Was Rushed - You need to spend a
little more time on creating your product. It is so annyoing to listen to a
mixtape that was rushed resulting in poor audio quality. Just because Nas or Jay
Z are able to make a great track in one take recording sessions does not mean you can do that too.
Make sure that the people can hear your words and that there is clarity
in the vocal recording. Hip hop lyrics is what seperates a great
professional industry artist from a whack rapper. There is no way around
it. Your lyrics must be good and on point. And If you can deliver great
lyrics let them be heard. It is so disappointing when the first song
you are listening to on the mixtape is of poor quality audio or you just can’t make any
sense of what the artist is saying. Plan out your mixtape, take your
time and be critical of every song. Test some songs on YouTube and soundcloud. Ask people for feedback, not just for your rap lyrics but for when
you are buying beats for your mixtape.
2. You Had A New Mixtape Out Last Week - Come on. People let the music digest with your fans after they download mixtapes. You got to ask yourself how much time did you spend promoting your last rap mixtape. Some people churn out mixtapes every week and never promote their mixtapes at all. Then they go on forums and give out that nobody is listening to them. If you have a lot of music in you pick the best tracks and spend a couple of months promoting that mixtape. If you bring out a new mixtape every week how is anyone going to take you serious? If I am going to download and listen to your mixtape and you didn’t bother doing any promotion like mixtape reviews, it shows your fans that this mixtape didn’t mean anything to you.
3. Poor Mixtape Cover Art - If your going to make a great product then make a great cover. People buy with their eyes. I think that many people don’t see the mixtape download numbers that they want because they have a terrible mixtape cover. A picture of a microphone from the Google image search doesn't make a mixtape cover. If you have a concept for your mixtape then the mixtape cover art should reflect that. You don’t have to break the bank. Find out your budget for your mixtape and all the costs that will be associated with its creation and plan out how much you can afford. If your completely broke, it is time to start doing odd jobs for people. Hit up some mixtape cover artists and tell them that you will write articles about their service or give a great review in exchange for their services. Most people will network with you if you can do something for them.
4. Low quality beats or beats that are over tagged - It is so common now to hear mixtapes on datpiff and hear the producers tag riddled throughout a rap song. There are some great beat selling websites out their were you can find great beats to rap to. If you can’t come up with $10 – $20 for a couple of beats that don’t have the producer’s tag advertising their website every 20 seconds maybe it is time that you try something else. You can get great quality beats from top online producers for cheap. If you use beats with tags on them over and over again people will never see you as a professional. What if you were asked to play a show some where would you use these tagged free hip hop beats in a venue have the tag “GET HOT BEATS AT BEATSFORRAP.COM” every 20 seconds live at show. Hell no! I hope not! It might be your last show. Do a background check on the producers you get beats from. Ask some friends and fans what are their views on the beats for sale on this music producers website. Some beats might be banging but haven’t been mixed properly or over compressed leaving little room for your vocals. This is a common problem with some rap beats on beat selling websites. So do some home work.
5. You Haven’t Built Your Online Presence Yet - I could go off on tangent on this one , but you need certain tools that will get people warm to your brand and personality. Having your own website / blog is a must. Website are dirt cheap today and it is your social hub of where your fans can focus on you. This website will keep them away from the clutter of social media pages. They will make people download mixtapes on your site. The best thing about having your website is that it belongs to you. Facebook pages and twitter pages don’t belong to you. And you could lose them or they could become irrelevant at anytime. I bet that you just laugh at that statement. That facebook is too big to fail. You never know these days. I am not saying that you shouldn’t use social media. Social media is an amazing tool to get more downloads for your mixtapes but, do not rely on social media or any site that you have no control over. You need to place some personality into your online presence. When you upload your mixtape videos to youtube add additional videos on speaking about your mixtape songs, how you wrote them, how to write a rap song, who produced the mixtape beats and why you chose to buy beats from that producer. With these additional videos you show your fans who you are and it gives you way more credibility when building an online presence, thus creating more ways for people to download your mixtape from your website.
I hope that you take some of the points I have outlined above on board. If people are not downloading mixtapes that you put out, it might be time to start building your online presence. I am sure that if your numbers are low, these are some of the reasons why people aren’t downloading your free mixtape.
Thanks for reading and I hope that learned a little something. Share with your fellow artists, if they are having a tough times getting the numbers they would like to see.
2. You Had A New Mixtape Out Last Week - Come on. People let the music digest with your fans after they download mixtapes. You got to ask yourself how much time did you spend promoting your last rap mixtape. Some people churn out mixtapes every week and never promote their mixtapes at all. Then they go on forums and give out that nobody is listening to them. If you have a lot of music in you pick the best tracks and spend a couple of months promoting that mixtape. If you bring out a new mixtape every week how is anyone going to take you serious? If I am going to download and listen to your mixtape and you didn’t bother doing any promotion like mixtape reviews, it shows your fans that this mixtape didn’t mean anything to you.
3. Poor Mixtape Cover Art - If your going to make a great product then make a great cover. People buy with their eyes. I think that many people don’t see the mixtape download numbers that they want because they have a terrible mixtape cover. A picture of a microphone from the Google image search doesn't make a mixtape cover. If you have a concept for your mixtape then the mixtape cover art should reflect that. You don’t have to break the bank. Find out your budget for your mixtape and all the costs that will be associated with its creation and plan out how much you can afford. If your completely broke, it is time to start doing odd jobs for people. Hit up some mixtape cover artists and tell them that you will write articles about their service or give a great review in exchange for their services. Most people will network with you if you can do something for them.
4. Low quality beats or beats that are over tagged - It is so common now to hear mixtapes on datpiff and hear the producers tag riddled throughout a rap song. There are some great beat selling websites out their were you can find great beats to rap to. If you can’t come up with $10 – $20 for a couple of beats that don’t have the producer’s tag advertising their website every 20 seconds maybe it is time that you try something else. You can get great quality beats from top online producers for cheap. If you use beats with tags on them over and over again people will never see you as a professional. What if you were asked to play a show some where would you use these tagged free hip hop beats in a venue have the tag “GET HOT BEATS AT BEATSFORRAP.COM” every 20 seconds live at show. Hell no! I hope not! It might be your last show. Do a background check on the producers you get beats from. Ask some friends and fans what are their views on the beats for sale on this music producers website. Some beats might be banging but haven’t been mixed properly or over compressed leaving little room for your vocals. This is a common problem with some rap beats on beat selling websites. So do some home work.
5. You Haven’t Built Your Online Presence Yet - I could go off on tangent on this one , but you need certain tools that will get people warm to your brand and personality. Having your own website / blog is a must. Website are dirt cheap today and it is your social hub of where your fans can focus on you. This website will keep them away from the clutter of social media pages. They will make people download mixtapes on your site. The best thing about having your website is that it belongs to you. Facebook pages and twitter pages don’t belong to you. And you could lose them or they could become irrelevant at anytime. I bet that you just laugh at that statement. That facebook is too big to fail. You never know these days. I am not saying that you shouldn’t use social media. Social media is an amazing tool to get more downloads for your mixtapes but, do not rely on social media or any site that you have no control over. You need to place some personality into your online presence. When you upload your mixtape videos to youtube add additional videos on speaking about your mixtape songs, how you wrote them, how to write a rap song, who produced the mixtape beats and why you chose to buy beats from that producer. With these additional videos you show your fans who you are and it gives you way more credibility when building an online presence, thus creating more ways for people to download your mixtape from your website.
I hope that you take some of the points I have outlined above on board. If people are not downloading mixtapes that you put out, it might be time to start building your online presence. I am sure that if your numbers are low, these are some of the reasons why people aren’t downloading your free mixtape.
Thanks for reading and I hope that learned a little something. Share with your fellow artists, if they are having a tough times getting the numbers they would like to see.
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