Smashing radio hit and CD sales by a artist who's never performed. Possible???

S

SerenityThen

New member
Anybody know if it's possible for a independent band or solo artist to have a smash radio hit and follow that up with large CD sales all before they did any touring or any local live shows?

Do you know of any bands or artist that started out this way?

If I remember right, Vanilla Ice caught fire when some D.J. decided to play the B-side of his record and it took off from there. Im not sure if he did any live shows before that but maybe at the time it did'nt matter.

What about Beck? Did he perform much before LOSER broke big?

Anybody know of any other examples? Is it possible?
 
I think alot of people sitting at home making music with their home studio have a fantasy exactly like this. It just seems too easy doesn't it? Kick back for a few weeks at home, make some cool tunes, make a cd, sell a shit load, rake in some money, etc.

The only thing wrong with that thinking is, there is a ton of people doing that right now. ON THIS FORUM! I'm realizing the level of talent from alot of "nobodys" on this site is just plain scary. They aren't getting rich, planning a tour, or getting a record contract.

This indeed is possible. But it will take alot more than good music to make it happen.
 
Unfortunatly my greatest influences, and the best musicians I have ever heard... will never be heard.

homeuser's absolutly right.. theres the all important aspect of this that takes the fun away... and thats the Merketing Your Music/Publicity part :)
 
Queensryche sold something like 15,000 copies of their first indie release on the strength of some good press and radio play before they'd ever played a single note onstage. Again though, that's definitely an exception to the rule. Bear in mind, when you hear an indie release that grabs your attention, even if the artist in question never did any gigging, the road to making it happen probably wasn't "easy." It takes years of hard work to make an "overnight success" more often than not.

As far as trying to "do it all online," here's a good example from my own situation: I'm in what would SEEM an ideal position to do that. I'm doing progressive hard rock stuff that's right up the typical Rush or Yes fan's alley. Between the various message boards I visit, I have exposure to at least 10,000 Rush fans alone. One of the Rush sites has even graciously put up a banner for me at the top of the board, which really blew me away. But in the first week of its release, how many copies has my CD sold online? FIVE. Yep, FIVE. I once read that the average indie artist sells less than 5 CDs from their personal website per year, so I guess I'm doing better than average, LOL. The people who have bought a copy love the heck out of it, but getting folks to actually take that step and order a CD is like rolling a boulder uphill. MAN, it's hard.

Of course it's possible that things will gain momentum once more and more folks get a copy and start discussing it on the boards, and who knows...perhaps over the course of the next several months the disc WOULD reach my sales goal (at least 500 copies but preferably closer to 1,000) without me playing live shows. But I don't plan to sit around and wait to find out. A marketing course I once went through maintained that "most independent artists will realize 90% of their album sales at their live shows," and I think for most that's probably true. So, despite my general distaste for the whole "club environment," I'm gonna head out there.

Anyway, to revisit the original question, is it possible to have a smash success without playing live? Yes...unless you're doing something that isn't "trendy" and you aren't a guerilla marketing genius and don't have connections at major radio stations...in that case, ya better figure on getting out there and playing live if you don't want to have boxes of CDs collecting dust in your closet. ;-)
 
IIRC...that Silverchair band had never played out before they got big...i think it was them...it was one of those "punk lite" kid bands from around that time...
 
demensia said:

homeuser's absolutly right.. theres the all important aspect of this that takes the fun away... and thats the Merketing Your Music/Publicity part :)
Click to expand...


Funny, I;m really looking forward to that. But I was a Professional in previous life. And I guess I'm good at schmoozing & self promotion. My only problem is that the kind of music I make has virtually no market in the US - at least not for US acts. I do a kind of World Beat thing. people buy import CDs or see touring acts. like Cheb Mami, that kind of stuff. Also, in spite of what I have always listened to, I have a surprisingly commercial sound - hard to market to and indie fan audience.


(actually, worldbeat, electronica/trance jazz folk with the occaisional angry guitar song ... so who knows...)
 
Rhythm,

You are correct about Silverchair. They were three (originally four, approx., 14 yr olds called Innocent Criminals) who happened to win a local band comp thing. In all seriousness, at the time they were bloody ordinary, but somebody saw a "marketable item" in there somewhere and it started to roll..............their parents were smart enough to let the guys hang on for the ride, and with good management they haven't looked back. Actually played a sellout show here in their hometown last night.

So yes, it can happen, but it is a rarity.

:cool:
 
It is like winning the lottery. The difference is all the hard work and money you dished out. But anythings possible. Many here are producing good quality music and myself included get diddly. But I look on the bright side. I have about 5 grand invested in home recording gear and 10 years ago it would of taken $50,000 to buy the equipment to do the same thing. Its really my dream to do my own thing in my own studio. Sure , every once in a while I wish I could make a buck but maybe it isnt worth the hassle. I know the music industry inside out and it takes about 300,000 bucks to advertise and promote one potential hit song. The cost of exposure is the big one. Unfortunantly the only way to make some money in the music biz as an indy artist is to gig. Its just reality as harsh as it is.
My attitude at this point is have fun making music and give it away so Im screwing the music industry one song at a time......They aint getting diddly either-LOL.
Myx
 
So you just want to do one little part of being a musician but don't want to do any other parts, like publicity and live performances, etc.

I know more than a few professional musicians, no rock stars, but working musicians making a living, and they are all doing it by doing many things: giving lessons, doing gigs, teaching, conducting, selling a few CDs at gigs, weddings and funerals, composing, doing studio work, etc. The mix is not the same for each one, but for each one it is a mix.

And it has always been that way. I am reminded of this talented guy in Europe. He composed, he taught lessons, he conducted, he performed, he would do custom compositions for special occasions or because someone would pay to have him write something for them. If he was in a hurry he would just take something that he had written for someone else and change the instrumentation. He promoted himself all over. He would do church or secular or stage music depending on what they would pay him to do. He made a living off of it, but not wealthy. His name was Mozart.

So unless you are way better than Mozart you are going to have to be very lucky to get rich off of just one aspect of music.
 
I think that newly formed band "Audioslave" has made quite a bit of money, and I don't think they've played live yet. They are, however, well known names in the game already..
But anything is possible if you put your mind to it
 
Mozart?

The post about Mozart seems a bit out of context. There were hardly any mediums to get your music out back then (ok, papyrus and carrier pigeon excluded).

I'd agree with the luck aspect of making it without gigging, but you don't have to be 'better' than anybody to do it. You need to have some good, original, catchy music and get the right people to listen to it. The music can come through talent but the good contacts are more luck based. You could also have crap music and have the right people listen to it, but thats even luckier.

speak to your tomato at least once a day
 
Couple of bands from my hometown.

Puddle of Mudd: The band that used to gig around KC is not the band on MTV, only Wes the singer. Got himself signed long after the band, by giving a cassette demo to Fred Durst backstage at a show.

downthesun: Couple of KC guys were picked up and signed to Roadrunner Records with the help of "Clown" from Slipknot. Signed before ever playing a show. My old guitarist just recently joined this band.

So yes, it can and does seem to happen ;-)
 
Not totally sure about this, but I think Boston got signed and had their tour planned and album done before ever playing live.

HUGE!!!

Chris
 
As others have indicated above it can happen.
There seem to be two main routes...
1. The lucky break route. Eg. You're a total unknown who makes music in his bedroom, but you give your demo to someone you meet/know who likes it so much that he passes it to music business contacts who are so overwhelmed they sign you immediately and you find yourself supporting a huge band in fron of thousands....(possible, but not too likely)
2. A Foot in the Door route. You know all about the business from a previous existence - eg you were once in a band that got signed, but split. You form a new act and make use of all the contacts you made previously to get signed withourt ever playing a live show based on your reputation from before. ...(possible, but not too likely)

there's also a third route. 3. The manufactured route. The music biz decides its going to create a new act for a gap in the market. it auditions people for the 'band' you pass the audition and find yourself on TV in front of millions without ever playing a proper gig anywhere....(possible, but not too likely).

Other than these unlikely routes you have to get out there, get yourself a cracking live show and some good material, promote yourself and hope for a break.
 
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