How to get from bedroom to (indie) record label, step by step

[tablesalt]

Hi. [something like this has probably been asked before; if it has, feel free to send me links.]

I've been making original music at home. I'm a little hazy on what I need to get my stuff out there. Of course there is youtube and soundcloud, but those sites are clogged up with bad home demos. And then there are open mic nights, but again, clogged up with bad performers--not to imply that I think I can pretentiously skip these steps, but I just want clarity as to how to do the whole thing properly.

Specifically, I'm wondering at what stage it is a good idea to ditch the bedroom recordings and pay for something to be professionally recorded.

This is my plan so far. Please feel free to comment on what I should add or recommend a different order of doing things.
-Make some (best possible quality) home recordings, upload them to youtube, soundcloud etc.
-Perform at open mic nights and ask for gigs at those places first
-send links to other local venues and try to get gigs there
-if all is on track, pay to get some professional recordings done, upload them to web
-send these to local record labels, cross fingers

Is that an okay plan?

The biggest problem is that I'm starting from scratch and don't have anyone/many people who'd be able to come to my gigs. Is the idea to build a following from open mic nights and make some acquaintances at places like that, and try to earn support slots for established local bands?

Thanks for any help you can give, very much appreciated.

[Surrealistic]

I think it's an okay plan up to a point. If you have some ability then I think the plan will work right the way up to the final step. Assuming you have some sort of local scene you should be able to get gigs, perhaps even reasonably well paid gigs once you've shown you can entertain an audience. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for record labels to get back to you on the last step though.

Edited to add: A few years back I did something pretty much like your plan and I did get a couple of offers from small indie labels but in neither case did I take them up. They couldn't put up any money up front, they didn't have much to offer in terms of distribution and they had little or no budget for promotion. In other words, I had nothing to gain from being signed. The music world has changed since then and almost entirely in ways that make being signed even less likely and a less attractive proposition for all but a very few.

[Pitar]

The first and foremost important aspect is being very good. I read a lot about this subject across many boards from folks who are your average vanilla flavored music makers putting out unremarkable stuff. You have to be remarkable. Get that down first. I also read rebuttals to my suggestion by the masses of average vanilla flavored musicians citing information that the average audience enjoys their kind of music and seeks it, in their own words, of course. This is in their own ego-driven self defense and is complete nonsense. Be very good at what you do.

My next door neighbor has a complete home studio and is getting rich producing demos for musical hopefuls. I get to listen to them and must admit it is rare when I hear any one person who truly gets my ear. Of the rest you can easily separate those who are swinging for the fence with nothing to offer while a small percentage have a spark of something good but are still way under developed as players/singers/writers.

As far as exposure goes you have a good plan. I play a circuit of venues for the fun of it and meet some very committed people. Some I'll classify as artists, others are just highly skilled technicians but they are good with their audiences. That's the next scheme - audience appeal. Be savvy about the audience you're playing to. Regardless of anything else you might attempt, free word of mouth advertising by them is how you'll either get a leg up or be shot down. So, know your audience and cater to their tastes. That's where your ride starts but don't try to con them. Be good at what you do.

[tablesalt]

Thanks for your replies, Surrealistic and Pitar. I didn't mention my musical ability because I was just concerned with the business side of things, but of course I realize one must be very good--unique, talented, innovative, not just a technician--in order to get signed, and I'm not claiming to be certain I have what it takes. It's just that's another department altogether, and not something that asking questions in forums will really help with, I imagine.

So, Surrealistic, by that edit I take it that with the methods of self-promotion now available, it is becoming more and more useless to sign to minor, underfunded labels. Makes sense. I almost pity myself if I ever get to the stage of having to choose whether to sign to a label or not, because I have very little business sense.

And Pitar--that's exactly what I am concerned about; so many people seem to pay money to get professional recordings when they don't have the goods, and of course it goes nowhere. But at the same time it's probably hard to promote yourself if you haven't got decent quality recordings. Seems like a balancing act. (Nice quotes, too.)

[scarecrowbob]

Specifically, I'm wondering at what stage it is a good idea to ditch the bedroom recordings and pay for something to be professionally recorded.

I don't think there is anything pretentious about skipping out on putting up amateur recordings on the intertubes. There are some very good reasons for not doing this, mostly because people will judge those as your best efforts if that is their only experience of you.

IMO, the point to work on a recording is the point when there is a demand for them, either as promotional material to get more work or because there is a specific demand for them from the audiences you're entertaining.

To me, this comes or it doesn't and is obvious... literally there are people approaching you asking for recordings of you, either because they want to give you money or they want to book you.

If that is not happening, don't worry about "recording" or "management" until it does, and work on getting into that position by playing as much as possible in favorable places, ideally for money that will help sustain you as you find more (and more favorable places) to play.

All this just to repeat "That's the next scheme - audience appeal. Be savvy about the audience you're playing to. Regardless of anything else you might attempt, free word of mouth advertising by them is how you'll either get a leg up or be shot down."

[daddymack]

we get asked these types of questions all the time. I'm going to work backwards through your plan...
First, your end game: Unsolicited submissions to labels go in the dust bin 99.99% of the time. Labels will find you when they think that you are ready, and by the time that happens, you may not need a label except to open up larger distribution channels.
Second, your recording plan: Don't even think about doing a pro quality recording until you are ready to do it in one or two takes. Which means you know your material inside out, and have your production planned out completely in advance. Studio time is expensive, and you won't get to finish a quality demo in a day if you fiddle around. Home recordings are just that...good to use to demo to potential band members/collaborators, but don't post them on the net unless they are the absolute best you can do...which they likely are not....and they will be judged against all the other chaff out there. Why do it?
Which leads to the third thing: Playing live...as a solo, you need to have your stage act together, not stiff, not too loose, just right. Open mics won't get you there. Gigs, gigs where there is an audience that is not comprised of friends, family and coworkers. Where honest reactions will tell you what is and isn't working.

[tablesalt]

Thanks for the replies, scarecrowbob and daddymack. Both of you seem to be emphasizing the need to build a grassroots following through a perfected live act, which is I knew was crucial, but it is more of a traditional approach than I expected--most ppl seem to put a lot of emphasis on online presence. Come to think of it, I had read that sending unsolicited demos to labels was no good, but I guess I included it anyway. The alternative is attracting attention by being awesome, which isn't so much a step as... being awesome.

Since all the emphasis seems to be on getting gigs, gaining experience and attracting attention that way, the big question is: how to get gigs? especially if you're dismissing the importance of home demos for self promotion, open mic nights, and gigs where the audience isn't just friends. How do you do it? I thought you would have to do all of those things, in that order. Demos. Internet presence. Open mics. Gigs with whoever you can get. Then proper gigs.

[sventvkg]

If you want to be a pop star in any genre you just need to be alluring and very driven. Move to a music town, meet producers, songwriters etc and go from there.

If you are an artist you need to be Great. I mean best in your town great or you very little chance. Thing is there are so many splintered genres of music now but having great hit-quality songs with hooks is very important and will win you fans. If you have great songs and are the best in your area than start playing everywhere. When you are selling out in your town, region, take it on the road and build your tribe. You don't need a record company at that point.

A record company will want you if you've built it up by yourself, then you're in the position to turn them down or not.

Only way you're getting a deal as an unknown is if you're Pop "FACE" or in the commercial country game. If you are either you need to go to NY/LA or Nashville respectively. Good luck.

[Grubgoat]

I haven't "made it" by any sense of the phrase, but I think there are a few reasons where it was my fault, and I'll share those.

1. The internet. I spent, over the years, *WAY* too much time searching the internet for some sage advice that would magically make everything come together, and also I spent *TONS* of money buying gear for the same reason, or simply out of boredom. What I've finally decided is that this is masturbation, out of fear. I used to *talk* about making music a lot, but I kept finding lots of other things to do, or reasons why I wasn't quite ready to do it. Asking other people for help is actually weakening yourself. You have to get up and do it yourself, experience it, and learn from that. Push on.

2. Money. I have worked since I was 11 years old, but I was too DUMB to save any of that money, not to mention learn how to make it grow. So, to this day I need to go to my job, which is a night shift job, which is VERY difficult to have and make music. If I'd have saved my money over the years (not gone to fast food, not bought weed and Jack Daniels, video games, guitar pedals off ebay, etc), I could have afforded to hold out, for instance, for something more suited to making music, etc. I read about a woman who's writing hits for Britney Spears now, she saved up $100,000 from her day job, and then moved to L.A., lived dirt cheap for a couple years while honing her chops and contacts, and got her foot in the door - she could do this, because she wasn't broke. Or look at Jay-Z. He claims to have had $1 Million dollars before he ever tried to rap for real - with money like that, the whole game changes! Or Arnold Schwartzenegger, who made himself rich selling vitamins (based on his fame as Mr. Universe, which took insane amounts of ass-busting to accomplish), then parlayed that into a few years of acting lessons, etc.

Knowing how to handle your money is as important as knowing how to tune your guitar and to protect your ears. If you're not broke, you can always walk away from the table.

3. No Body of Work. All of these things tie in, IMO. The first thing you do IS NOT gonna go gold, or whatever. You gotta do it for a while. If you're REALLY determined to be a successful musician/songwriter, write a song a day, even if its a stupid one. Do an album a year, even if no one is listening. Because someday, they MAY be listening, and not only would you have technically and artistically grown by that time (and learned from past mistakes), but you'll also have 4 CD's of past material they may dig. Every new generation gets more Beatles' fans, and they eventually go back and buy all the albums, or most of them.

So the answer really is, GET UP and FIND a WAY. Make yourself strong financially, get your songwriting chops TIGHT, get your showmanship TIGHT (there's more to it than just playing the song through without a mistake), play your guitar constantly, learn new stuff just to push yourself.

MAKE YOURSELF THE BOSS. When you get this down, people around you will sense it, and lots of them will automatically fall in line. But it starts with you.

[daddymack]

The real bottom line, especially today as the old paradigms fall apart, is finding way to make yourself more visible and more interesting and more essential than all the rest of the competition on the internet, which means probably not just posting vids of yourself playing.
How to do it?
That is the 'one thing', the holy grail, if you will.
There is no one answer anymore. There are many things you need to do first, but the marketing skill is going to be the real issue in the internet era.
Marketing was described to me by one of my college professors as the ability to sell the 'sizzle' to people who want to buy a steak. The product is not as important as how it is presented, which explains pop music...

[scarecrowbob]

There is no one answer anymore. There are many things you need to do first, but the marketing skill is going to be the real issue in the internet era.
Marketing was described to me by one of my college professors as the ability to sell the 'sizzle' to people who want to buy a steak. The product is not as important as how it is presented, which explains pop music...

Here's a slight disagreement with your professor; I make a pretty good living making websites and other promotional materials-- I am in charge of making the "sizzle", if you will.

You can get someone to come for a sizzle-- what makes people stay and give you money is a great meal.

It's hard to run a business without bringing people in through good advertising. It is -impossible- to run a business where you're not delivering something good.

[richardmac]

Ugh. I haven't been back here in a long time, and I see the place hasn't changed much.

The reality is harsh, and it's hard to hear. The odds of making a living performing and recording your own music are literally getting worse every day and that trend will continue. Every day a live music venue closes down, every day someone switches from buying music to streaming it, and every day 100 more hopeful songwriters decide they want to make a living at this dying game.

The world needs music but music itself has been devalued so badly that the idea of making a living at it is becoming a joke. There's still money changing hands but it's fewer and fewer dollars. It's depressing and sad.

But this is a great time to be writing and playing music. You can get great quality music and recording gear for a small amount of money. You can get free lessons on any instrument online, you can see how your fave guitar player played that solo, you can share your recordings with people all over the world for practically nothing. And you can learn about songwriting, mixing, mastering, anything you want, for free online. It's Musical Candy Land. Musicians in the past had to pay 5 bucks per month to get the one recording magazine in the mail. Now you have access to unlimited musical information. What an awesome time we live in.

My honest advice to you is to have fun. Avail yourself to all of the wonderful online resources, and write the best songs you can and keep writing as long as it is enjoyable for you. And share your music with the world. If you end up becoming a stellar songwriter with killer talent and you gain a big following online, THEN you might MAYBE think about making money at this stuff.

[flatfinger]

Become uber proficient at self-aggrandizing publicity stunting mustering of hubris.
Develop a cult of personality with shocking lyrics and behaviour and appearence ( or just be an old fashioned sex pot if you're a genetic celebrity )

Last and certianly least , construct vaculous souless tunes that will vanish from anyones conciousness in the coming decades......



And Richards correct ; at least have a good time while your at it !!!

( but try not to f- up and check out before thirty ................ or is it don't even dare to make it past thirty ???)

[daddymack]

Originally Posted by scarecrowbob

Here's a slight disagreement with your professor; I make a pretty good living making websites and other promotional materials-- I am in charge of making the "sizzle", if you will.

You can get someone to come for a sizzle-- what makes people stay and give you money is a great meal.

It's hard to run a business without bringing people in through good advertising. It is -impossible- to run a business where you're not delivering something good.

to clarify...you still need a steak, but you can't sell that steak to a non-existent customer.
And if quality product were the key, we wouldn't have the crappy pop music scene we have today
Good sizzle sells low grade steak...and sometimes, all you need is that one time sale.