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

[Brad]

Buffalo Bob is RIGHT on!

I signed up for his StarMaker service and BAM! I now have the number 1 single on another continent!!

I am in regular rotation at the seasonally closed Cold Weather Urinalysis Laboratory in Antarctica!

At least that is what Buff Bob told me - and then I verified the information through email - the Doctor in charge of the 2 person lab emailed me and told me how much he loved my music and how he couldn't wait to get back to the states so he could see me perform live! That is, if he ever gets back. They've been hit with some sort of weird disease down there. Send your best wishes to him at Doctor_B_Olaffub@hotmail.com.

Anyway, ANYTHING is possible with the StarMaker Machine!

Bravo Bob! Thanks for all of your help!

 

[glynb]

Re: Talent

If you have true talent, and your music is different then what is playing now on the radio and people like it you will get noticed.

So according to your statement then anyone who doesn't make it must be untalented and producing stuff which is just like everything else on the radio, right?

Hang on a minute....this sounds like a pre-requisite to make it these days!

The 'talent will come through' line is such an old cliche and so wrong. Bands who make it always say its because they were talented, after all they can't say 'we were just lucky there are a thousand bands out there who could do what we do but didn't get the break we did' - how would that look ?

Weve all met telented and original artists who never got anywhere.

It's all about a lucky break....

and Bufallo Bob's Starmaker Machine is the way to make that lucky break a reality! I know, I am a product of the machine!

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Friends,

Are you writing great songs, but have no way to record them? Are your songs BETTER THAN ANYTHING ON THE RADIO, but you can’t sing, don’t play an instrument, or can’t carry a tune?
How are you going to get those songs to the top industry professionals who can get you that record contract that means wealth and fame beyond your wildest imagination?
How, you ask?

By having your demo PROFESSIONALLY DONE at one of the PREMIERE demo studios in Nashville, that’s how!
The Starmaker Demo Service can provide you with a RADIO-READY demo that will knock those A & R people out! Our team of successful established musicians, arrangers, producers and singers will craft your demo utilizing their years of experience and the finest equipment available today!
Why spend thousands of dollars and years learning to write, produce and record your masterpieces, when Starmaker can do it for you? Why, indeed! Just send us your lyrics, beats, or vague ideas, and we will turn them into TOP HIT MATERIAL!!!!!!!!!
Don’t hesitate! The world is waiting to hear YOUR MUSIC!

Starmaker Demo Service

Equipment List

1. (2) Shure SM-57 Copy Professional Microphones
2. (1) Radio Shack Professional Condenser Microphone
3. (1) Wall Mart “RockStar” Drum Kit
4. (1) Fender Copy Professional Electric Bass Guitar
5. (1) Tapco 6- Channel Professional Mixing Console
6. (1) 386 Mhz Chin-Li Computer
7. (1) Copy N-Track Professional Recording Software
8. (1) Casio Professional MIDI Keyboard


Starmaker Demo Staff

Mudd Lange (Producer) – Mutt’s illegitimate brother, 2002 Starmaker Music Conference “Producer Of The Year”
Cheech Gonzales ( Guitar Player Extraordinaire)
Daisy Mae Tompkins (Vocalist, Diva)
Billy Joe Maples (Composer, Arranger, Performing Artist)






Rates: *

Full Demo (Drums, Bass, Guitar, Piano, Lead Vocal)…………$650.00
Songwriter’s Demo (Piano, Vocal)…………………………….$450.00
Extra Instruments (Steel Guitar, Harmonica, Jaw Harp)………$80.00/ea.
Arrangements……………………………………………….….$300/ea
Mastering……………………………………………………….$200/hr.
Audio CD’s………………………………………………..….$20.00/ea.
Music To Your Lyrics…………………………………….$350/per song





*payable in advance by certified check or money order, no personal checks accepted. Starmaker assumes no responsibility for copyright infringements or related litigation. No refunds will be made for unsatisfactory work, and insolvent certified checks will be handled by the Starmaker Collection Agency.




Starmaker Demo Service
A Subsidiary of Starmaker International, Inc.
P.O. Box 1455
Nashville, Tn.

 

[Jaycay]

I know this is going way back in the thread but, Audioslave didnt need (as much) to tour before their albumn because they are Rage against the Machine (without Zach) with Chris Cornell (Sound Garden) on vocals. They were already well known

 

[glynb]

Jaycay thanks for posting that information.
It backs up my theory, that when you read about artists who have apparently 'come from nowhere' and had great success that when you get the real facts and delve deeper the truth is that one, or some, of the band had previous track records in other succesful outfits. Once you have this initial success its much easier to get a foot in the door of the biz and explain your new project, or play them your new demo, or indeed branch out on your own.

Its the same with the 'rags to riches' story of the guy who started out with 'nothing' and built an empire. 'Nothing' invariably turns out to have a been an exisiting business or several hundred thousand dollars, left to him by daddy which he them was able to make grow.

 

[HomeRec]

Another $0.02 worth (give or take a nickel)

At the risk repeating previously stated information, here we go...

Yes, it is possible for a CD to sell well, even if the band never plays a live show.

It is not likely that a CD by a band that doesn't play out will sell nearly as well as one of equal quality by a band that does gig.

If the band is not playing out, other forms of promotion/marketing are almost a must, as live shows are the best way to introduce new fans to a band's music.

SUMMARY: It is possible, not probable, for a CD to sell well without the band playing out. However, some form of self-promotion will probably be necessary.

OTHER THOUGHTS:

If you're planning on just cutting a CD and trying to sell it, without any self-promotion, then don't expect too much. As with any product, people need to find out that a CD exists before they want to buy it. Word of mouth is powerful, but the words have to get into people's mouths in the first place.

If a band sells a lot of CDs without playing a gig, then that same band will most likely sell even more CDs if they are gigging.

Whichever route you take, DO NOT PLAN TO MAKE MONEY on your music, at least for a little while. This is not pessimism - it is pragmatism. You should cut CDs and gig because you love music, not because you want to make money. If money is your only objective, then the money spent cutting your demo could also buy you certification training that will get you into better-paying tech jobs.

Hope this helps, and good luck with your CD.

 

[CyanJaguar]

charlotte Church sang over the phone to a record label exec who signed her immediately.

Her debut went many times platinum and she had never performed.

 

[RSM1000]

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?

It's definetely possible man. And not even an "extremely small chance". If you get national radio play, and it's so addictive it just spreads because of radio station competition.

It could happen.

Mind you the song would have to be VERY POPULAR!

 

[tanlith]

What about NIN? Didn't Trent do all his music from his home?

Yep, sure did, but the song that was his comming out hit "Closer" (I Wanna F*ck you like an animal - for those who don't recognise it from the title) was actually a rip off of an old tune by either Skinny Puppy or The Cure (Forget which one it was).

He basically slowed a sample of part of song down and added some shit and lyrics and BAM... a hit...

... look at Kid Rock... nearly everything he writes has something from another (hit) song in it... and most of his shit goes platnum...


Frustrating isn't it?



- Tanlith -
Webmaster: Super Loop Library

 

[tanlith]

Re: Another $0.02 worth (give or take a nickel)

If you're planning on just cutting a CD and trying to sell it, without any self-promotion, then don't expect too much. As with any product, people need to find out that a CD exists before they want to buy it. Word of mouth is powerful, but the words have to get into people's mouths in the first place.

I'd like to elaborate on this if ya don't mind HomeRec?

Here's a little test you can do yourself to see first hand the importance of self-promotion:

Set up a website (Free hosting available at www.50megs.com )

Then put some stuff on that website... add a counter. www.andale.com is a good FREE counter service...

Next, tell absolutely noone about it. Go back to the site a week later and see how many hit's it's had.

Just an experiment... I post my address on every message I put anywhere... and I've only had 158 hits to date (Set the site up about 8mo ago... ) I'm sure I could get more hits with more hype... I just have no need for it... yet...

Hope that helps some.

- Tanlith -
Webmaster: Super Loop Library

 

[glynb]

Not sure what pouint you're making Tanlith. 158 hits in 8 months is no good. 158,000 would be OK. So either your shameless self-promotion ( your term) isn't shameless enough with due respect to you, or this Internet promotion thing isn't all its cracked up to be!

Lik I said before, you are one of a million wanabees all setting up their own net presence and recording/posting their music. Some of those people will be really good, maybe you're one of them, but there's just SO MUCH of it.

I think the hard work and endless gigging route can pay off, providing you have something interesting to offer a live audience and (more importantly IMHO) you appeal to a particular niche market, like you are jazz, punk, folk, etc artist. Preferably a genre which isn't going to go away, so you can still be doing it in 20 years time.

But of course this is the opposite of what the original post was asking about - ie, making it the easy way!

 

[tanlith]

Not sure what pouint you're making Tanlith. 158 hits in 8 months is no good. 158,000 would be OK. So either your shameless self-promotion ( your term) isn't shameless enough with due respect to you, or this Internet promotion thing isn't all its cracked up to be!

Yep... ya missed the point... but just barely... re read the last part and you'll see that I'm not interested in generating alot of hits... not yet anyway... I set up another site about a year ago where I put a manual for a game (the game was Big Biz Tycoon from Activision) that shipped without a manual to speak of... the only thing it had was a 500+ meg RTF file on the CD that most people couldn't open... I converted the file so it could be view by chapter online and posted on a few apropriate forums... I got 150,000+ hits in the first week... needless to say my ISP shut my site down quick I'm just glad I didn't have to pay for the bandwidth...

Lik I said before, you are one of a million wanabees all setting up their own net presence and recording/posting their music. Some of those people will be really good, maybe you're one of them, but there's just SO MUCH of it.

Actually... I'm a "been there and done that" not a wannabe... Played in a band, toured Canada twice... had fun... now, I just wanna relax and enjoy music. Playing alone or with others... My website is mainly for my friends and family who don't live close... beats the hell outa mailing video tapes and CDs... hehehe... not to mention that on old high school crush I once had came across my site and contacted me... yep! we met, she was still hot and that's pretty much why I've been neglecting these boards so much lately

I think the hard work and endless gigging route can pay off, providing you have something interesting to offer a live audience and (more importantly IMHO) you appeal to a particular niche market, like you are jazz, punk, folk, etc artist. Preferably a genre which isn't going to go away, so you can still be doing it in 20 years time.

Yep... I'd definitely have to agree with you on that.

But of course this is the opposite of what the original post was asking about - ie, making it the easy way!

Hehehe... I hate to point it out, but that's exactly what my point was... maybe i didn't make it clear enough. Probably cause I was merely elaborating on someone elses previous post... but yeah... if yer not interested in puting some real hard work into it then don't expect to get far.

Real old saying that I'm sure we've all heard:

"You only get out of it what you put into it!"

Put nothing in? Don't expect anything in return.

Work your ass off and still get nothing? At least you can die knowing you tried... as opposed to saying "What if..."


I tried... I succeeded... at least to the level that I wanted for myself... didn't want the whole "touring all the time living out of a suitcase" thing... I more into small bars and venues where you can hang with those who listen to your music... not palces where you have to sneak out the back door or a mob will tear your cloths off to have a momento of you *yuck*

- Tanlith -
Webmaster: Super Loop Library

 

[glynb]

Tanlith, I think you were remarkably restrained in your response! Having just re-read my post I must apologise, it reads quite harsh, almost flamey, that is not the way I meant it, but you can't add a 'tone of voice' to a posting!

There are of course people who post here with a wide range of experience, from little, to some success in various ways. My post didn't take acount of that.

I think though, with regard to the subject, we're in agreement - hard work and talent, then some luck and just maybe it will happen...

but have no biz contacts, no live work, send off unsolicited blind demos and you'll get nowhere.