Turning back to the old subject of this blog, how to promote independent music, Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby, recently posted an article about how nobody’s going to help you out to advance your music career.
This is my experience on the subject. It’s not in anyone’s financial interest to help a struggling musician. The odds of turning a profit on someone without a huge existing fanbase are against you. So, it’s a tough road.
Good luck to you. Check out the article, read the hundreds of comments so far…
There are in fact people that are willing to help you, and I have found some of them. Now, nobody does anything for free in this world, so with that in mind, it will cost you, depending on who you’re dealing with, but you can secure an artist development/promotion/licensing campaign with some very heavy hitting pros for what in the end is peanuts, and these campaigns/deals can last up to 12 months or so. now, if you’ve gone with the right person, you’re in good hands and will reap the benefits very quickly. I secured a full non-exclusive album licensing deal in the first week and a half or my 12 month contract. That alone will likely pay for the 12 month fee!
One of the bigger mistakes I’ve made was wasting tons of money on sites like Sonicbids. I’m almost certain it’s a rigged system and just about anybody can claim to be an industry pro or label etc and demand money from you just so they can “consider” your song for one thing or another. 99% of the time you get canned rejection replies, and you can’t even be sure if they even listened to your music or not.
I’ve gone the 2nd route now and hired a producer for the above mentioned 12 month deal and it’s the best relationship in the music industry I’ve had. I recommend this route to anyone with songs and music that are worthy of today’s uses like licensing and/or radio etc. But DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!!!