Tips To Get You Music Into iTunes
Just a quick tip today. I just read a great article on how to get your music into iTunes over at the I Do Music blog.
There are a lot of things to consider when you’re looking to get your music into iTunes and actually getting it into the store is actually one of the easy parts. Getting it to sell is another thing alltogether.
Beyond the things mentioned in the article about how to get into iTunes, I’d recommend that before you even get to that point, you work up a marketing plan. Even if it’s only a $20 plan, (which will buy you just about 100 spins on internet radio – more on that in another post), you need some type of plan to market your music. iTunes doesn’t do much to help an independent artist move units. That’s all you.
Go check out that article if you’re ready for iTunes.
Are You Actively Pitching Beats To Artists?
I just read an article about a country songwriter detailing a few of the different ways he’s pitching his songs to artists in Nashville. A couple of things that stood out.
1. He had no problem spending money to get his music heard. He mentioned pitching to listings he gets through a paid tip sheet and how that works and also the fact that he’s hired a professional song pitcher to get him access he couldn’t get by himself.
Most times you hear about how you should never pay to get your music heard or pitched. I won’t tell you that there aren’t scams out there. I’ve been got and know people who’ve been got just like me. But I also have royalty checks that I wouldn’t have seen without paying services like Taxi.
My point. Spend wisely on PROVEN opportunities. If the site or service sounds too good to be true, it probably is. ALSO, a site shouldn’t have to be over the top with 50 celebs all over the site to pull you in if they’re offering real value. Look for testimonials and verifiable credits.
2. This guy was not sitting at home writing songs and waiting for the checks to hit the box. He was actively out playing his music and had albums for sale in iTunes, Amazon, etc. Also, he had an active blog that was connecting him with other people in his songwriting community. Basically, this guy was keeping it moving. He was writing new songs and getting them out there with or without a label.
Now I don’t know if this guy has ever had a major credit of not. I’m not really up on country writers. But he is handling his business in an inspirational way.
There are a lot of producers that make beats – and let them sit on their hard drive. Never taking their business seriously. If you are in the BUSINESS of making beats, shouldn’t you be actively pitching those beats to artists any way you can?
It’s one word people: Grind.
Read the songwriter – Dave Colvin – for yourself.
What’s Wrong With Hip Hop?
What’s the problem? You hear it over and over: “The hip hop on the radio is garbage.” That’s a strong statement. Is there any truth to it? Does it matter? I say yes to both questions but it goes deeper than one thin statement. It goes back to the beginnings of hip hop, and a point in time when things went wrong.
I’ve watched hip hop as a fan and a participant since it started. Back when the songs rambled without hooks and hip hop was almost never on the radio, it was on a distinct path. It was getting better.
First songs gained structure. Next distinct sub-genres started to form as the hip hop spread beyond the north east. Then it started to move beyond the urban community altogether to fold in the experiences and lifestyles of a diverse mix of people.
Then something strange happened. At the point when hip hop had reached all corners of the U.S. and should have entered its creative renaissance, the producers who wanted a new sound started reaching backwards instead of forwards. They started sampling.
The prevailing explanation for this rise of sampling points to a lack of government funding of music programs in the inner cities. Without a generation of musically literate newcomers to move hip hop forward, where else could it go? Those who would have pushed the envelope did just as the musical geniuses before them, they improvised.
Without the years of training and practice afforded to those with access to music education, producers still had skill and desire but lacked the tools to grow the art of hip hop. Sampling gave us access to great musical performances and allowed us to put together great songs. It didn’t make us great musicians and it didn’t provide us the tools to really sustain the growth hip hop as an art form. It also set the bar for what it meant to produce hip hop. In my opinion that bar was set too low.
Sampling as a step in the evolution of hip hop is cool. Sampling as a sub-genre of hip hop is cool. Sampling as the core of hip hop – what’s considered “real” hip hop is not cool. It’s as though we’ve said, you can be an author of our cultural sound without learning to write. Just go in the library and cut sentences from old books and put something together. It’s cool. Besides, it’s hard to learn to write. Plus it’s expensive and we don’t have the money right now. Just throw something together – the fans are buying it – what’s the problem?
The problem is that you can’t borrow a future from the past. That method can only take you so far before you start spewing out garbage. So of course hip hop on the radio is seen as garbage to people who want “real” hip hop. You want great performances and you can’t have that unless you sample or learn to play. Unfortunately sampling is out of style right now so what you here on the radio is largely the product of producers who never learned to play. Producers with desire and true musical talent who are using an incomplete set of tools.
And don’t expect change anytime soon because mainstream hip hop is making money. Aspiring producers coming up now want to emulate the “success” (or at least income levels) of the chart toppers. “The last generation didn’t learn to play instruments and they got paid! Why should I?” Instead of practicing instruments, producers are satisfied practicing the art of “flipping” samples. Essentially we’ve accepted commercial viability over artistic viability.
What’s wrong with hip hop? Mainstream hip hop stopped reaching for greatness and settled on good enough to make money. Hip hop chose to take the money and run instead of fighting past its’ restraints to create master works for generations to embrace. It started repeating itself before it got worth repeating, and ultimately fell short of its’ time to shine like Blues, Rock, Jazz, Soul, R&B, or even Pop, leaving our Golden Age tarnished.
Hip hop’s current minimal styles of crunk, snap music, and ringtone rap are evidence of the horizontal path of hip hop. We need to change course by breaking from the past and creating more of our own works from our own wells of creative genius. Sean “P Diddy” Combs used to say “we don’t stop” – but we did.
Don’t Blow It – Get Your Music Heard
Here’s an example:
“ Yo! I got hot beats! Check them out at myspace.com/anonymous-producer “
I understand that everybody starts somewhere so I’m not knocking anybodies hustle – but is that really even hustle.
Let’s look at this from the other side of the conversation. Let’s say I’m a label head (which I am) and I’m looking for hot beats (who isn’t?) What about that comment makes me want to click that link?
The answer is nothing. That producer hasn’t given me ANY reason to think he has anything special or even worth my time. Industry cats get that “pitch” every day. In the beginning, before you have any contacts or connections, you actually click some of those links looking for gold. 999 times out of 1000 you just get dirt.
Before long you learn to get stingy with your time. You start to do what everyone else does and filter out the noise. That “yo check out my beats” comment is noise.
Here’s what you need to do instead. Think of what you’re up against. Every producer with a couple of beats in his catalogue thinks his beats are hot. You need to give people a reason to check you out and stop looking for handouts. There are no handouts in this business.
If you want in, you have to prove that you have something I want, something that will make my life easier or move me closer to my goals. Notice how everything I’m looking for is about me. That’s what everybody cares about, and that’s what everybody is looking for – what THEY need.
People in this industry are not surfing the Internet, going to conferences, and answering emails and phones calls to find out what they can do for you. They want to know what you can do for them.
Here’s the bottom line. If you don’t change your thinking and start to position yourself as a solution to peoples problems, you won’t change your position from aspiring to working. You need to build yourself up and have something to say that places you above the noise.
Don’t blow it when you have a real shot. Tell the person you’re trying to connect with why they should consider your music. What can you do for them.
Here’s an example:
“Yo – I make beats in the style of RZA and DOOM. I’ve placed beats on 6 mixtapes this year and local artists are paying $75 a beat for my production. I’d like to connect with artists like xyz and saw that you worked with him on his last album. Do y’all need tracks? I have examples online at (URL).”
That shows that you’ve got their interest in mind and you’re not just sitting at home making beats. You’re actually doing work to build yourself up which shows that you might be worth working with as a partner in some type of deal. On top of all that, THEN you also have to have hot beats and be persistent.
In other words, put some effort into helping the people you want to work with. In a best case scenario, you know what they need and can offer it to them. If you have no idea what that person wants, you shoul ask. Just trying to help them instead of asking for help will put you above the noisy 90% who are looking for handouts.
Don’t take a half-ass approach to this business and expect people to give you handouts. Do the work to build relationships and eventually partnerships.
The Best Producers All Have It
The Best In The World all have one thing in common: Originality
I love sports. Right now, as a Lakers & Dodgers fan I’m lovin it. The main thing I love about the champions story is the hard work they put in to get to the top. Yes there’s always a degree of talent, but raw talent doesn’t win championships. Raw talent doesn’t get you to that spot:
Best In The World.
To get there you have to put in more effort than everyone else. That extra work is what puts you on top.
In the beat business we’ve got the Billboard Charts. Every week they crown the top artist, producer, and writer. Not only do they present the trophy, they list the starting lineup of the winning team right under the song title. It was reading those names and learning how they got there that made me want to make beats and be a part of this business. And I wanted to be the best.
Back then the same names would show up more often than not: Babyface, Jam and Lewis, Teddy Riley, and eventually Jodeci then Timbaland. These were the R&B charts before hip hop got officially added later in the 90s. One trend I noticed was that they all had biters. Bad. People made whole careers biting there styles.
As a fan that kinda pissed me off, but as a kid trying to be a producer it appeared to present an opportunity. If I could do what they do, I can get to the top too. So I made beats and wrote songs that matched what was on the charts to build my skills and to mimic the best.
That was cool while I was learning but realistically, you can’t outplay somebody at their own game. You eventually have to do your own thing or you can only ever be as good as second place. The leader got that top spot for a reason: They’re the original.
The original dunk from the free throw line?
Dr. J
The original sky hook?
Kareem
The original tongue wag?
Jordan
You just can’t do those things and ever fully claim that top spot. Not working. You’ll always owe some part of your success to the original.
In each case with those Best In The World producers, the biters eventually got so bad (good?) that they diluted the style and played out the sound altogether. It just wasn’t hot when everybody sounded like that. (AutoTuned vocals anyone?)
In response the originals did what only the original can; they pushed things to another level. They went back to the lab and raised the bar on the copycats. They had that ability because they had done the work to get there in the first place. They were comfortable in the lead position and used to building the own path to walk. The original leads while other follow.
When the originals make that next move, the copycats all sound dated. The same scenario plays out over and over again. Snoop & Dre, R Kelly, Kanye, – they’ve all have had to switch up styles to stay ahead of the pack. As they elevate the game, some of the copycats will take what they’ve learned and go on to build their own path to walk. Others will just go away or remain second tier producers with no hopes of ever reaching that top spot. They aren’t starving. I’m not saying there isn’t a market for what they do. I’m just saying they’ll never be the best.
For my money, I’d rather keep striving. Working to push my own style through the crowd. I’ve yet to reach that top spot, but I’m in the gym every day working on my game. Working on moves no ones ever seen before.
Stay Thirsty My Friends
A-Zar
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