Your Favorite Rapper is Poor: New Artists’ Most Common Questions Answered Posted by Andrew Lewis on 09/26/11 | Filed under Features, Your Favorite Rapper Is Poor

Being an artist in today's market no matter what genre of music is not only difficult but very frustrating for emerging talent everywhere. Aspiring artists struggle with multiple platforms when fighting this uphill battle we call "breaking through" - while the issues vary from act to act a lot of the questions are the same, whether the issues deal with "finding a lane", developing a "sound" or what I like to call "chasing the now". In this article I am going briefly discuss and answer all the question that I had starting out as a songwriter and the questions that are still frequently asked by today's aspiring artist. producer. songwriter and future business mogul.

Q: How Do I Grow My Following?

A: Growing your fan base - audience - following will take the understanding of a few simple concepts.

1. Time
2. Dedication
3. Music Business Plan
4. Follow Through

Understanding that it will take time for people to actually catch on to who you are, what your message is and get a sense of why they should like or care about you or your music. Then, understanding that it will take extreme dedication and attention to detail when actual momentum starts to build just to keep up with the constant demand. Amongst dealing with the supply & demand orders you will be receiving from those who are interested in you, you are also going to have to learn how to receive criticism and develop a great deal of thick skin. Dedication also means being creative, pushing boundaries, developing an amazing/engaging live performance and able to push forward against opposition while keeping a positive outlook when nothing seems to be happening for you. Being told you are not good enough, you still need work, you are not ready, along with facing the fact that nearly 95% of all major label signed artists fail and that the remaining 5% of those who are successful are already established artists. This is not a made up number, it is an actual industry statistic.

This is the industries way of weeding out the weak and those who just "kind of want it". Now, how can you bypass a majority of the issues while growing your fan base? By developing a solid "Music Business Plan" - This will be your map to fulfilling your goals, this should be seen as your personal guideline to help you strategically and effectively grasp hold of your goals. Include the the Operations of your business, a Project time-line, finances required-projections-gains & loses. The most important ingredient to the equation is your "Follow Through", ask yourself how serious are you? The execution of your Business Plan works closely with your attention to detail! Write all of your goals down and place them in a area you can always see them. I promise you will see results.

Notice how I did not mention "good music". That term has been abused to the point of being unidentifiable. With a solid business plan and a great follow through anything is marketable.

Q: How Do I Get People to Review Me?

A: I covered this in my previous article "Pitch It Right: Press Kit Edition" but I'll touch on it again. It is really important you know exactly who you need to get in contact with, for print magazine take a look at the "Masthead" in the first couple pages of the magazine and see who contributes articles/reviews on your specific genre of music to the magazine. Generally you do NOT want to send them unsolicited music, because that is considered SPAM. Initially you want to make contact with them and build a working relationship with them first before submitting. I advise you to think of an angle to use that will ensure write up, think what are the benefits writing a review on you? Are you bringing them more readers? New readers? More traffic? Are you interesting? What angle can the reviewer use? Whats your story? Make it a two way street! The same rules apply when pitching music to the bloggers of today, you must be carrying your own weight before you approach any form of media.

Your music and presentation of your Physical Press Kit or Electronic Press Kit must be as professional as possible, Onesheet including you bio a picture and a short list of your major accomplishments, Press clippings of any previous press coverage, High quality, tasteful photos and of course a good product that they will enjoy writing about. (A well put together video of who you are: EPK only)

Q: As a Engineer, How Can I Expand My Clientele?

A: Good question. Simple to answer as well, Network! Your biggest networking tool is word of mouth! If your work is up to par and the mixes you develop shine and improve a record, then people should be recommending artists to work with you. I always preach the philosophy "never rely on someone else to come through for you", so my audio engineers I suggest you make attract business cards, attend as many industry conferences as you can ( NAMM - ASCAP - BMI - SESAC conferences ) this way you can work the room and network. Build a website - Register your services as a business - find online publications to submit mixing tips too in exchange for free advertisement. Require a mixing credit and/or your name to be featured in the ID tags for all records mixed by you - this way your name is being promoted. Think BIG!

Q: How Do I Properly Distribute My Record?

A: When distributing your record you want to ensure that you have two separate strategies, one for physical material and the other for digital material. Let's discuss digital since it is 2011. When distributing your songs digitally you want to make sure you are promoting some type of "Ground Zero" or "Headquarters"- that way any interested listener can hear more from you as well as learn more about you, without having to "google" you. Having a "Ground Zero" that includes your Biography, Social Media Networks, Videos, Music, Photos, Tour Dates, Merchandise, Recent News, Past Successes, etc etc. you are eliminating extra work that a potential fan will need to do. Having the mentality of "Oh if they like me, they will want to look me up" - People are turned off easily. So be direct - to the point and entertain them!

Also, when distributing your music stay away from file hosting web pages. These sites tend to be faulty and provide no guarantee that your material is secure and ensured to be available at all hours of the day. For example stay away from related web sites like "UserShare, MediaFire, Hulkshare, ZShare". Instead use web pages like "Bandcamp.com, Viinyl.com, Onesheet.com, TopSpin.com"

Q: I'm In Need of Management?

A: Are you really? If so, you should probably have a few candidates knocking at your door step already. Management is not needed at the beginning stages of your career, a good - entertainment lawyer would be the better choice to have. Reasons? You are going to fundamentally enter into a contract that will create an agreement between two or more persons which will address the "to do & not - to -do" obligations of a particular thing. So, being a newbie...wouldn't you want someone with an understanding of contract law on your side, informing you of the subject matter and consideration part of the contract? I believe so. Also, think of you entertainment lawyer as a deal maker, essentially he will drop your name in here & there amongst his rolodex of contacts - shopping you around and acting as your "temporary" manager.

Q: How Do I Get Onto Radio?

A: Major Radio requires a big budget, easily 5-10k. When approaching major radio you are now dealing with what we call "Payola". Yes the illegal practice of paying for broadcast is still apart of the business. Also, you must understand that Radio is not about "bringing you the hottest music"- Radio is about advertisement - commercials! Companies pay a lot of money for their advertisements to be attached to following a certain record, companies know that Jay-Z & Kanye Wests' song "Otis" is going to bring in the most listeners during a particular hour, they will pay for their ad to be placed after, ensuring a bigger audience. This is how Major Radio stations make their money.

Now, do not get me wrong can you be played on major radio without paying, yes of course - but it will not be during major broadcasting hours. THese shows are called "Commercial Specialty Shows", CSS are dedicated to highlighting emerging talent and unsigned artists. This is the best opportunity if you are interested in getting your music onto radio.

Q: How Do I Get More Connections?

A: You need to get in the game! Stop sitting on the bench waiting for some to email you about an event going on! Research "Music Conferences" (NAMM, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Billboard, Release Parties, Blogger BBQ's etc) . You are going to have to let people know that you are involved with music, the more people know the more people will talk - this is called the Tabloid syndrome.Now, if you are in one of the 6 major capitals of music - Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Atlanta, Chicago or Miami the chances of meeting someone you can network with tends to be higher. If not, you will need to make the choice one day on how serious you are about obtaining every opportunity. Put yourself in the scene to be seen!

Q: What do Music Executives Look For In a Artist?

A: A GREAT songwriter - think about it. An artist who is a great songwriter will always have a career! Even after their own career fades away. Since there is no longer an "Artist Development" department inside of major labels - Songwriting has become the new artist development. Another aspect record execs look at is your "Fan - to -Fanatic" ability. This means, what is the ratio of you being able to turn the fan who only buys your CD or single and get them to purchase your CD and a t-shirt and poster and limited edition material. (How fast can you tunr $1 into $2) Record Execs look at a variety of things but these would be the most important when determining if your potential value.

Q: How Do I Get a Record Deal?

A: Why would you want one? Especially in today's market where you can do everything from the comfort of your home and not tally up a major recording expense, that you will have to pay back? You must think of a record deal as the merger of two brands, like "Netflix and Dreamworks". The merger of the record label to the smaller developed brand of the artist acts like a stamp of certification. Meaning- that because of your association with "Sony - Universal - Warren - EMI" opportunities that may have become harder to obtain are now that much easier. Also, the only other benefit that I see from a major label association is distribution - they are able to provide worldwide placement into stores like Best Buys, Barnes & Nobles etc. I am not trying to talk you out of pursuing a recording contract, I am only trying to bring awareness to the fact that you do not necessarily need one now to be a success. Weigh your options.

Q: I Am Better Than Him, Why Haven't I Blown Up?

A: Probably for a number of reasons. Maybe your close minded? Unaware of the business side? Spend more time complaining than working? Marketability if off? Ego tripping? Stuck in the past? - There can be a magnitude of reasons why you are not blowing up, but your job as a business person is to find the problem, evaluate, educate and then elevate yourself. Artists nowadays think too highly of themselves, artists tend to have this mindset that everyone is awaiting their project and that the world shouldn't spin as fast because of it, yet avoiding the fact that no-one knows who they are...or even cares. Hard work will beat talent 99.9% of the time, every time. This may in fact be the simple reason why you are not where you would like to be in your career. Many talented artists do not work as hard as the less talented because they simply believe that success should be handed to them. Sorry champ, Jordan did not win his first NBA title until 7 years after being drafted into the league and you think you DESERVE something? You are going to need to stay current and be forward moving, be more like the Ipad and less like laptop. It is going to take work, dedication, failure and educating yourself on the ever-changing rules of music industry to be where you want to be. Do not "kind of want it", I will end this article with a quote from one of my favorite motivators "Eric Thomas" said "When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will be successful"

Feel free to ask more questions below and I will answer them, as always remember the music industry in 50% game, 30% business and 20% talent. Any artist who is serious about their craft must seek consultation. Feel free to schedule yours with MyMusicExec.com today! Become a smarter artist!