What are some ways to get bands to come in and record?? and pay, too??

[The Black Circl]

You have to make them think they are getting a deal, because you think that they are so cool.

you could be like, "well I usually charge $150 for 3 songs but ill do 5 for the same price."

Something like that.

You also got to have the image - if your studio isn't really a studio with sound proofing and a console then don't sell it like that, and don't show the pictures.

Show them the CD of work done in the studio (a demo of your production skills)

Hype it way the fuck up

Try to make some connections in the industry - like promoters (those are the easiest ones to get.)

Get to be friends with the local club and bar owners, radio pluggers, micro labels, and managers (most of these people will talk to a sound guy before they will an artist)

You can use all this shit to hype it up - but don't start telling people that you will get them signed or on the radio cause if you don;t it will bit you in the ass - just tell them that you know them and when the product is finished you can try to see if they like it

Learn about music - vox, and theory and use this shit to hype it up

Train your ears

Get some cool branding going on - make your productions look like the tommy hilfiger of productions

Offer more free shit

Work on contract or you will get fucked in the ass

 

[pandamonk]

If you book them, they will come

 

[pandamonk]

But seriously, spend some time on your photos. NL5 is right, you look like a kid in his bedroom of your parents house with an interface and a couple of mics.

Even if this is true, you can make it look a lot better. Clear out the room, even just an area and even if you're just going to put it back again, and make it look professional.

If it's like the first picture, remove the bed etc, and place like the others(Even just tidying an area, as long as the mess doesn't end up in the background of the photos), tidying all around the instrument/desk and placing acoustic treatment and mics(with tidy cables) strategically. Then when the band comes, get the bed out and set them room up like the last picture, removing the drums after you finish recording them.

Spend some time getting good lighting, maybe a mixture of your room light, some lamps and natural light from the window then spend some time getting some good, clear, non-blurry and professional looking photos. If you have a cheap camera, this might be hard, but try the best you can. If need be, you can adjust contrast/colours etc(as long as you have a decent image to work with) on the pc using photoshop(of gimp for free if you don't have it). I wouldn't try and fix to much on the pc, just the finishing touches and maybe even a simple border.

Close-up shots of the mixer/mics are fine, but i wouldn't rely as heavily on them, and make sure the background is tidy. It might also be good to get a couple friends in to pretend to play drums, guitar, sing, etc for photos. Post these as "previous clients".

Design a flyer to pass around. Don't make them to complicated, just a nice simple background with a few pictures and some info. Have them professionally printed(doesn't cost too much) and take them to places you know people who want to record will be.

Use any contacts you can. For instance, a friend of mine does karaoke nights in a few pubs in the area, so i will(when my flyers are done) get him to pass them out to the "singers" . I also know guys who regularly put on open mic nights and some promoters, so I will get them to pass them out to bands. (If you don't have any contacts, go and make some. Go to gigs and talk to the people running it. Talk to the soundguy, the promoter, even just the bands and fans.) I will put them in local music shops, colleges and schools. Anywhere you can!

If the flyer is good enough, use it as the background for your myspace, to make it appear more professionally designed.

I think the main thing I'm getting at is, spend some time making things look and sound good. Don't spend 5 minutes getting crappy amature photos, and no averting and expect people to want to come.

Also, checkout the recording and mixing/mastering forums forinfo, and get down to the mp3 forum for some constructive criticism of the mixes you upload, just so they sound the best the can, to get people intested.

Like others have said, don't undercut yourself. People, although they like a bargain, do pay for quality. If you are too cheap, they will expect the quality to reflect the price.

Ok, here are the pictures:

 

[pandamonk]

And the last:

 

[The Black Circl]

That is true - that the main thing is making it look and sound good, cause they know if you can do that for yourself, then you can do it for them. Which is really what they are hiring your for. Any body can press record an play button and click a mouse, and anyone with any bit of musical talent should have the ear to mix.

However, the average artist is unlikely to know how to affix there product to a marketable image, weather visual or audio imaging is called for. And having the balls to tell them that it sucks, and to do it again, that worth something too.

You know, get your demo together, and tell people to listen to, let them know what you can do. And cut that shit like a professional demo being shopped to a label. Nobody wants to hear the 20 second long industry beat intro, so immediately fade in on the best vocal samples that you've got. And fade samples into samples, keep it all short and sweet. I don't give a damn if the studio is in your moms bed room and your using a fischer price voice recorder; if your getting it to sound like multiplatnum recordings - then sign me up.