how?

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grn

grn

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How do bands who release very little material or play very little live get signed to a major record label and get famous? It's very frustrating... especially if you 'know' you don't just suck.
 
grn said:
How do bands who release very little material or play very little live get signed to a major record label and get famous? It's very frustrating... especially if you 'know' you don't just suck.
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connections. My buddy was in a band who was signed by two different major labels. Their very first show was opening for Slayer. Sometimes it is who you know.


The other side to that is this. All though the band was signed to two different labels, they ended up back here and my buddy is now working a full time job like the rest of us. Sometimes, even who you know can't save you from bad marketing plans.
 
and sometimes a label is looking for a "sound" and so they pull musicans together and make a band that will do just that.
 
Honestly...you have to be really good. The bands who don't play out often and don't have much material are the bands who put out a few AMAZING songs and know some people. The bands that you hear a lot are bands that WORKED THEIR ASSES OFF to get signed. Persistence WILL pay off. PROMOTE PROMOTE PROMOTE. I suggest signing up for Bob Baker's Indie Music Promotion mailing list. Read all you can on the internet, go to local bands shows in your area who are a step ahead. Call a popular manager in the area and ask them what you need to do to move forward, they are usually happy to help as long as you keep it brief...it may even be beneficial to have that person know you exist. Doesn't hurt calling back and following up with them WITHOUT asking for something...it lets them know that you are willing to do the work yourself and that you are a professional. Just keep at in, I'm in the same boat...VH1 Songwriting Contest 2nd place winner, sold a couple hundred cds, absolutely rock every crowd we play to...but still not making the progress we'd make. Ultimately, we are looking for someone to pay us for promotion and to go own tour.

And TRUST ME...most of the bands on major labels are unknowns who are broke...but they get to play music. There is a small percentage of bands signed to a major label that are actually "famous."

You may or may not know a band called Silvertide. Signed to J Records. They are from my area...they still come home and none of them have houses...they all still live with their families and the record company pays for their mountain house to write and record songs.

Keep on truckin' and you'll make progress.
 
grn said:
How do bands who release very little material or play very little live get signed to a major record label and get famous? It's very frustrating... especially if you 'know' you don't just suck.
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So what problems are you having?
 
well, we put out a cd, have been on lots of radio, in the press, on tv several times, even got played on mtv... we're almost done with a new EP and I've already written the next album after that. we've been playing out a lot regionally and this summer we'll be expanding and playing up and down the east coast. it's just like... how is no one interested in booking, managing, or even a small label... why aren't they interested in signing.
 
Booking sucks...literally, they teach you in music industry classes to REPEATEDLY call back. NEVER USE EMAIL...no one cares about email. It is VERY unprofessional. I've had really good results with makig cold calls and telling them about the band and giving them a myspace link. It sounds stupid, but it has worked for 75% of the venues I have called.

For management, you have to call managers and let them know you exist. Call and leave a "request for checking out a band." ...Leave that with the managers secretary (If the manager doesn't have a secretary...then they MIGHT not be a manger who is doing very well...so watch out for that.

Get on a few bills with bands that are signed to small labels, if you keep doing that, sooner or later someone from a label is going to see or atleast hear of you.

Just some ideas, hope that helps.
 
grn said:
well, we put out a cd, have been on lots of radio, in the press, on tv several times, even got played on mtv... we're almost done with a new EP and I've already written the next album after that. we've been playing out a lot regionally and this summer we'll be expanding and playing up and down the east coast. it's just like... how is no one interested in booking, managing, or even a small label... why aren't they interested in signing.
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I take it you're contacted people and they've said they're not interested?
 
I have, but... I think I should contact more. It's just difficult doing everything at once... recording a new CD, booking a small tour, trying to get labels/managers interested.
 
step 1: record label type has (or is pitched) "revolutionary" idea for a music act.


step 2: label jumps with applaud and supports the idea. The mold is born. They call up just the guy to find "the people" or type of band to fit that mold.

Which I disgustingly refer to as, "The Real World Casting" sessions.


step 3: A&R enters the club looking for "something" and sees a guy that has that "look".


"Hey, you play guitar? Can you sing?"

"Uhh, a little?"


"Perfect, what do you think about being a star?"



step 4: Once the right money hungry, naive, douchebag people are found, proceed to spending lots of cash on promo, bribes, press, production, image, public relations stuff, endorsments...you name it.


step 5: As long as the artist does what he is told....a star is born.





Just one type of scary senario.
 
LeeRosario said:
step 1: record label type has (or is pitched) "revolutionary" idea for a music act.


step 2: label jumps with applaud and supports the idea. The mold is born. They call up just the guy to find "the people" or type of band to fit that mold.

Which I disgustingly refer to as, "The Real World Casting" sessions.


step 3: A&R enters the club looking for "something" and sees a guy that has that "look".


"Hey, you play guitar? Can you sing?"

"Uhh, a little?"


"Perfect, what do you think about being a star?"



step 4: Once the right money hungry, naive, douchebag people are found, proceed to spending lots of cash on promo, bribes, press, production, image, public relations stuff, endorsments...you name it.


step 5: As long as the artist does what he is told....a star is born.





Just one type of scary senario.
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more common than you think.

here is another story of a cat from around here. I will leave the names out.

A band plays around this city for a few years and gains a good following.
The band breaks up
The singer still has tons of demos that they recorded as well as an Indy released album.
The singer infiltrates the bus of another singer/producer and begs him to listen to his stuff.
The producer see dollar signs and signs the guy up.
They group up some studio musicians and record an album
The album sells like hotcakes and the singer is now making millions off of the blood, sweat, and tears of the poor bastards that he used to play with.
The singer dates a hot super model and does lots of drugs.
The old band gets occasional fractional royalty points while they work meanial jobs and contemplate killing the singer or themself.
 
Thunder33 said:
more common than you think.

here is another story of a cat from around here. I will leave the names out.

A band plays around this city for a few years and gains a good following.
The band breaks up
The singer still has tons of demos that they recorded as well as an Indy released album.
The singer infiltrates the bus of another singer/producer and begs him to listen to his stuff.
The producer see dollar signs and signs the guy up.
They group up some studio musicians and record an album
The album sells like hotcakes and the singer is now making millions off of the blood, sweat, and tears of the poor bastards that he used to play with.
The singer dates a hot super model and does lots of drugs.
The old band gets occasional fractional royalty points while they work meanial jobs and contemplate killing the singer or themself.
Click to expand...

This is almost always the scenario.
 
Thunder33 said:
more common than you think.

here is another story of a cat from around here. I will leave the names out.

A band plays around this city for a few years and gains a good following.
The band breaks up
The singer still has tons of demos that they recorded as well as an Indy released album.
The singer infiltrates the bus of another singer/producer and begs him to listen to his stuff.
The producer see dollar signs and signs the guy up.
They group up some studio musicians and record an album
The album sells like hotcakes and the singer is now making millions off of the blood, sweat, and tears of the poor bastards that he used to play with.
The singer dates a hot super model and does lots of drugs.
The old band gets occasional fractional royalty points while they work meanial jobs and contemplate killing the singer or themself.
Click to expand...



Then in a chance meeting with a junkie at a bar, the singer gets hold of some "bad stuff" and croaks.

Leaving his hot, but unfaithful wife with all the money.
 
dude I feel your pain.

we are one of the best bands in the region and nobody has heard of us.

I am trying to book a tour and it is freaking impossible.

2/3 of the club owners don't return calls or emails by protocol.

its like they could give a shit.

they put on their website "booking hours are mondays and thursdays between 1 and 3" or something and when you call monday at 2 o clock they don't pick up.

There is one club that I won't mention that is 9 hours away from us that has a "sunday showcase" with 7 bands for 2 bucks. So basically, we would totally lose money by driving out to play this show. but we can make it part of our tour so I call and email the guy like "we want to play the showcase on such and such date". What I get back is a blanket email that was BCC'd to probably 20 bands saying "You have expressed an interest in playing the club, so we are offering you x date" which was TWO weeks before when we were asking for. I wrote back explaining that we are trying to book two weeks after that and I get no response. !!!!

Half the clubs say they get 200 emails a day. but then a couple clubs I've talked to said they are desperate for bands and can't find any! So I think the ones that are saying they are swamped are full of shit.

The local radio, don't even get me started. I had a show coming up and they wouldn't play our song for three weeks because they played their friends band for like 20 minutes each week.

arrrgh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry I don't really have any help.

I can tell you that my plan is to get enough of my own releases to get distribution... DIY all the way. I don't really ever want to play an arena anyway.
 
grn said:
How do bands who release very little material or play very little live get signed to a major record label and get famous? It's very frustrating... especially if you 'know' you don't just suck.
Click to expand...

Hey, what's up man?!

well, i'm no expert on this, but i think you'll find that many bands that "appear" to be brand new bands with no previous material have actually been around for a few years paying their dues...maybe a self released album or two. from what i understand is bands don't usually make money back for a record company until their 3rd album, but record companies usually don't make a gamble on bands unless they're almost positive that that band will make them money. Do you have sold out shows? are you playing bigger and bigger places that are filling up? have you sold thousands of CDs? I've also heard that, on the self released album front, most record companies don't really consider you a success (as an unsigned indie artist) unless you've managed to sell around 5000 or so on your own. Are you playing in large cities? 99.9% of bands who "make it" move specifiaclly to large cities so they're not playing coffee shops and Boarders Books...cuz lets face it. no one's finding you there.

I think it's good to get out and tour, but touring a bunch of empty venues/bars isn't really helping anyone. i think your best bet is to make the biggest buzz you can on your how turf (assuming your in a major city)...from what i understand, you make a name for yourself in your city, and you will be "found".

Radio play, TV play...all good stuff. that will help you. every person you get that likes you is one more piece of the puzzle. Granted, people have to LOVE you guys, not just like you a lot. no one wants to sign a band that they think is "good". they want the next big thing.

you need to be original with out sounding like everyone else. you have to write kick ass songs with killer hooks. you have to sound like music that is current.

you have to play Live. that's where most bands cell CDs is when they're on the road. in fact, that's why bands tour. most bands sell most of their CDs while they're on the road. when they stop, the sales typically stop.

anyhoo, my advice is to focus on one or two cities with a good fan base, and do everything in your power to build that up. If your fan base isn't growing, figure out why or what you can do to increase it, cuz if you can't fill venues in your home town, no one is signing anybody.

just my 4 cents.
 
this biz is all about who you know and now what corporation is behind you. I made a few songs about it.
 
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