“Now, you will have a chance.”

Hints: On how to give your music a fighting chance in arguably the toughest industry to make a living doing what you love. What you are about to read could make or break you in this business.

If the Internet did one thing to the music business, it gave equal opportunity for bands to have a fighting chance in arguably the toughest industry to make a living doing what you love. Internet sites like myspace.com and sonicbids.com leveled the playing field for bands to get a following, and audio downloads allowed musicians to independently produce on demand.

Success is often separated into levels of achievement and looked upon from the perspective of the artist. Many artists are content with never recording a single song and will continue to do so until the die. In my opinion, they’re afraid of failing by following their dreams. So they failed.

Every other Musician would die for the opportunity to sell a platinum single, an album, and if your thinking is right; your masters’ box set. Your success will be determined by how you manage your career. What steps are you willing to take or not take?

This is your path for you to choose. Upstream is just here to give you some tips along the way. We receive several hundred electronic auditions a month. We want to give you some advice before you submit your music; not just to us, but to any manager, agent, venue, radio station, record label, etc….

TIP 1: Understand this is a business

It’s about time and money first, second is your music. If you don’t have your shit together, you can consider your music going into the recycling bin.

TIP 2: Be professional

Have your promo packets both electronic and U.S. Mail ready to send at a moment’s notice. Everything about your band must look and sound professional, that includes:

1. Your recording must be professionally done. An indie record label might listen to a LIVE or taped recording of a jam session. Maybe a hungry manager, but no one else will listen to it for more than 3 seconds. “Thank you for wasting our time!”
   
   This is music business management 101. Money is often the issue for why a band does not have a professional recording. The rest is pure stupidity. $1,000 a track is not uncommon and that is considered cheap in the larger markets such as LA or New York.

   The Low on Funds Solution: Research music schools in your area. Find students that want the experience and a project. It may not be the best, but you could walk away with a product to market yourself.

   Advertise your need of a professional recording at your shows and on sites like craigslist.com. Find a manager, negotiate a split on the proceeds, set-up a monthly payment plan. Any amount that you can afford is better than nothing. You’re not the only starving artist. Get the demo done so you have a chance to not starve anymore. Use our list of recording studios to find one near you.

2. If you don’t have a website, you better have a myspace. It should be clean. Limit the clutter, only have one video from Youtube.com and one slide show. Myspace likes to crash computers as it is. Make sure your text boxes flow and the text is easy to read. Here are some excellent examples. www.myspace.com/manyshadesofday
   www.myspace.com/drop8
   www.myspace.com/redsnow.

3. Your friends are your fan club, take turns getting on your myspace and chat w/ your friends. Your non-myspace websites should have a fan club. Collect their e-mail so you can let them know when you have a show, to buy your record, and give them first crack at backstage passes.

4. Photos, logos and album cover art should be done by a professional. With digital technology everyone should be able to find someone that can do this. If you did not go to design school, do not try to design your own artwork on Photoshop. It’s better to have a generic album cover than something that looks obviously homemade on your computer. That goes for Front Page websites too.

   Good examples:
   
       
   
       

5. Keep your biographies concise and to the point. Focus on the music and your style. If you want, include a brief “history” section to include musical backgrounds. Remember, you only have a brief amount of time to entice your audience. A well organized bio will capture the impression you want to make. It’s just like your music, if the open riffs don’t pull your audience in, they tune you out faster than it took you to send the e-mail. Visit our USA4real Artist Section to view examples.

6. Create banners and encourage your friend to post them in their myspace “About me” sections. Exchange banners with other bands that have a similar style. Also invite them to open up for you when you have shows and you will do the same for them.

7. Provide links that are easy to find to join your friends, write messages, add comments, and to buy your mp3s. (I always love the invisible black on black text.)

TIP 3: Find peace

Now that you have a professional image, everyone will take you seriously. Especially the music fans that want to hear nothing but great music. If it sucks, click “next song.”
Remember, the fan is the most important thing to your success. The record label could be dead wrong about how many records you can sell. It is ultimately up to you and how your fans perceive you.

Find peace and stay humble around your peers and your band members. As soon as you think you’re better than anyone else, you’re not. However, that does not mean to shy from confidence when the spotlight is on you.

TIP 4: Repetition

We’ve heard some great music from bands that we can’t help to laugh when we get their promo packets and check out their myspace pages. Some we denied radio play just for that reason or we shut our eyes, prayed, and said “ok, the music is really f**king good.”

On the flip side, there are some musicians that we gave second and third chances because they have their shit together. We did NOT like their music the first time we heard it. Checked out their websites and myspace pages then said, “Wait a minute. Someone took some care and put together a cool myspace. Look. They have several thousand friends, let’s listen to them again.”

A great restaurant will keep its reputation through repeat business. It’s the same with music. Getting your audience to listen more than once is the trick. Find a hook. Don’t let them forget about you. Your music is more about second and third impressions than the first impression.

TIP 5: Follow Directions

Read directions carefully and follow instructions specifically when submitting music. (Those of you that have read this far, congratulations!) Ask yourself before finally submitting your music: "Am I sending everything I need? Do I meet all their qualifications?" This is also true in life, a producer won't want to work with you if you can't pay attention to a few intricate details. One slip could cost you your dream.

TIP 6: Listen

We don’t have all the answers. Disagree or agree w/ me. Don’t ever ask for advice if you are not prepared for the truth. Look for feedback and don’t be afraid to fail. It’s your world to stay on top of things. Patience and perseverance will lead to stardom if you listen closely to your heart.

-UPSTREAM TALENT