5 Things to Do Before You Release Your Music

1)      Copyright Everything: This goes without saying, copyrighting your music is a MUST.  There is no reason why an artist should not copyright his or her music.  There is no excuse.  The copyright office has made the process super simple with an online submission site.  Simply register with ECO (Electronic Copyright Office) and submit your music.  There is a small fee to register your music. The most important part is reading through the instructions to make sure you are properly submitting all material.  If you don’t like to read, find an uncle that graduated from college with no less than a 2.5 grade point average and you will be fine.

2)      Lock in Your Distributor:  One great debate is what music distribution company an artist / musician should use to get their music to the masses.  Of course, do your research but I will draw a line in the sand for you if you’re an independent artist.  There are many music distribution companies like CDBaby, Songtradr, Landr, etc., BUT at the top of the list is TUNECORE and DISTROKID (I use both for various reasons).  After you have selected the distro company, add your projected SINGLE(s) and ALBUM(s) for the next sixth months to your discography. 

3)      Publishing Duh:  Register with a nationally recognized publishing company.  After registering with a publishing company, immediately register your music to ensure you are getting paid when your music is played/used.  There is an open discussion somewhere on the planet about which publishing company is the best: SESAC, ASCAP, BMI or Harry Fox Agency?  Personally, I am registered with ASCAP but I have heard great things about the opposing companies.  Bottom line, do your research.  Ask your artist friends, see what their thoughts are, and then go with your gut (hoping it’s not gas).

4)      Get Nielsen:  It’s a very interesting thing that many artist don’t know about Nielsen Sound scan.  Nielsen has a very powerful place in the music industry and I would love to explain what that is but for the sake of time, visit the website and see for yourself.  Register with Nielsen Virtual Encoding (may require sending an email to customer service to create a login) to ensure that your music has an identity when being played on the Radio and TV airways (a indolent explanation).  Upload every song in your catalog and make sure you have your UPC number and release date available for each song.

THE ASMBLY

SOUL INFLUENCER

5)      Sound Exchange:  Sound Exchange is a very unique entity controlled by the government oddly enough.  They collect royalties from internet radio stations and other internet media outlets.  Year after year, Sound Exchange collects millions of dollars that go unclaimed because many artist have no clue that they need to register their music with S.E...  Take the time out of your schedule to make sure that your music is registered with S.E. to collect optimal profits for your creativity.

How To Get 10 Million Streams

Let’s get things clear. If you’re an artist or musician looking for the easy way into developing a strong fanbase and getting a ton of streams with little effort then this is NOT the read for you.

WARNING: The Bots

As many artists have come to find out, there are plenty of services that offer STREAMS at a low cost using a BOT technology that automates streams from specific locations around the world. Now, in the beginning this might seem useful to inflate your numbers. Also, it may feel good to see some added coins in your account once the streams have been tallied up. The problem is, you put your hard work and music at risk because the music streaming companies are HIP to this kind of thing and your account can be disabled and your music taken down. Now, do you really want to take that chance. Probably not!

10,000,000 STREAMS: Made simple

1) Be your biggest fan: Get accounts to all the primary music platforms (APPLE, TIDAL, SPOTIFY, YOUTUBE) and STREAM YOUR OWN MUSIC 24/7… Sounds silly right but at the end of the day, you have to love what your create FIRST and show it by playing it as often as possible. You might be surprised who is listening.

2) Enlist your community: The grassroots approach will always be a winner when looking to build a fanbase and get your streams rolling. Text, Snap, Tweet & Instapost your direct artist link or music link to EVERYONE you know (except coworkers because the people at your job might get a little jealous). Your music is to be shared everyday all day to those closest to you and encourage them to share it as well.

3) Advertise on Social Media: My philosophy is $1 dollar a day for a year will build your following and create a consistent flow of streams. Its no longer about the BIG budget advertising. Instead its about consistent advertising. I find it interesting, that people I know will NOT click my advertised post until they have seen it about 3 to 5 times. Oddly enough its a known rule in advertising that people have to see things over and over and over again before their interest has peaked just enough to WANT whatever is being advertised. BE CONSISTENT.

4) Build Your Website: Yes, we are in the era of Instagram and Youtube being the primary source of many artist’s rise to fame but one thing that keeps music executives rich is they drive traffic to their own site (FYI, most music industry executives OWN or have OWNERSHIP in all the music streaming platforms). PLUS, when you have your own website you not only control the content, an artist can MERCHANDISE which creates an additional revenue stream for the artist. Okay, so lets stick to the script. Websites allow you to control your content and with SEO (search keywords), artist are able to pull in views from search engine results.

5) Content Content Content: Create as much music as possible and release it. Do as many videos as possible and release. If your serious about taking your career to the next level, never stop creating. Also, never limit yourself to one Genre. Create all kinds of music. Create music that could fill stadiums or pack elevators. Many years ago sticking to one specific genre was just the THING to do but in 2020 versatility is your friend and will get your streams to new heights.

6) Playlists Are Your Friends: Create your own playlists with your music but also include the music of other talented artists you know. Share your playlists with those artist and encourage them to do the same. Create your own network of playlists. Become the curator of your sound or genre. Don’t let the music industry control who becomes the next big thing. Take control.

7) Wear Your Brand: As an artist, you must be a walking billboard for your music. Put your logo, artist name, website name, album artwork or something related to your brand on a T-shirt, hat, jacket, socks or whatever you can find. These days, people will google or search your name before you can utter a word.

I wish I had more to tell but that’s it. As I get hip to new and innovative ways to build the best artist journey, The Asmbly will share because leveling the playing fields is all about building a better artist community first.