Now, I
may seem a bit flippant. But I've been doing this music thing a
while, and for whatever worth you'll take it, I'll offer up my
experiences in this arena - and it generally falls into the above
outlined categories.
To give
you some back ground first. I compose dance music. To the
academically and traditionally minded, we are not talking about
ballet, jazz, or modern. To the pop industry minded, I'm not talking
about club remixes of Madonna, 2Unlimited, or Michael Waterford. To
ambient, experimental, and new age minded, I'm not talking about the
Orb, Brian Eno, or William Orbital. I'm talking about a global
underground movement of music that has splintered into almost as many
subgenera in the last 5 years as there are countries in Africa. It's
house, techno, trance, hardcore, gabber, vocal, R&B;, latin,
freestyle, jazz, electro, acid, breakbeat, jungle, intelligent, rare
groove...shall I go on? There is a world-wide "underground" industry
developing for this type of music (which we call broadly "dance
music"). The dynamics are similar to the above-ground pop world in
some ways. We have "superstar DJs". We have expensive, well-connected
producers. We have money and fame grabbers. We have groupies too, but
unlike the real-world industry, few people are making much money at
it. A handful are actually able to live off of it. Most have day jobs
and get little sleep in order to do what they love at night. These
same people invigorate the scene with enormous creative energies.
With all the inter-mingling of influences and ideas, the terms I
listed above aren't even categories anymore. They're just adjectives
for different types of sounds and rhythms. I study them all. I use
them all. And if you HAD to classify my music, I'd just call it
techno because to get any more specific than that would do injustice
to the music. I won't categorize what my music has to offer to any
listener. That's why I release my own music now. The first two
approaches for releasing your music leave your music in the hands of
other people, and they'll inevitably categorize it for you. Not only
that, but they'll find your audience for you. They'll shape your
image for you. They record it for you. Hell, they'll even write it
for you. And if you keep your mouth shut, they'll perform and sing it
for you too. How's that for a deal?
OK, so I
got a little carried away there. The music industry doesn't have to
take quite that much control, but heed two points that are true for
ALL music productions regardless of what type of music you are in to:
So let's tackle our approaches one at a time, shall we?
...or rather, you're doing something that's never been done before. Your music sounds like nothing that has ever graced any CD player before. You've probably spent a lot of time in your bedroom, and it's now time to take the show on the road. Do some research to find out what labels are releasing music that is CLOSE to what you are doing. Pick at least 5 labels, and preferably 10, because the odds of hitting the nail on the head in this case are small. If you're just way off in left field- I mean you sound like NOTHING that has ever happened before, go to a WWW search engine, limit your search to "Experimental" and "music", and start digging.
Now that
you have your list. Prepare your demo tapes. Type II (high bias CrO2)
is appropriate. Do NOT record with any Dolby noise reduction. You
have no idea what the producer will listen to it on. He/she might not
have the noise reduction options that you do at home, and in that
case, your ruined. Your music won't sound good. Maxell XLII's are
good, respectable tapes, but if at all possible, find those clear
ones with no markings. They look like professional studio production
demos, not something made on your tape deck at home. Get some labels
and have your information PRINTED on them- no handwriting.
Presentation is the all here, because if you don't look interesting
on the outside, it won't get listened to in the first place. Sad, but
true. Your demo tape needs to look like it happened onto this
person's desk by accident (i.e. it was meant for someone-higher- up's
desk). Put all information (including your name and contact #,
duh...) on the cassette as well as the demo's J-card & case
because tapes WILL get separated from their case- it's inevitable.
Print up a fancy J-card as well. If your printer at home is so-so. Go
to Kinko's or Office Max. They'll do you up. Oh, and put that little
copyright symbol on it - you know...© It might not be official,
but copyright law in the US and most foreign countries that adhere to
the Berne convention (which is most), recognize copyright as existing
from the moment of creation and storage on some tangible form (paper,
cassette, etc.) and the warning could protect your music from being
ripped off.(For further questions, see the link to "notes on
copyright protection" at the end of this page.) It doesn't happen
often, but don't let yourself be the exception. Most labels will not
be willing to take the risk of a lawsuit. If they like the stuff
enough to release it, they'll get in contact with you. Anyway, I
can't stress to you how important a high-class looking demo is. This,
plus mailing them out is an expensive process, but the $75 you spend
doing all this will be worth it, if someone likes your music.
Find out
the name of the appropriate person to send your tape. This alone
could prevent your tape from ever being heard- getting lost in office
mail- what a pathetic demise for your masterpiece! It's a harmless
process. Call the main office/contact # and ask the secretary for the
name of the person who accepts/listens to demo tapes. Get their
personal contact number too, if possible. If you get voice mail,
leave a message and your contact number. Then try emailing the
company for the same information and wait a couple of days. If you
don't hear anything, go ahead and send the demo- just don't expect
any reply. Give a company 2-3 weeks to reply. If they don't, call
back and request to talk to the person and ask them if they got
around to your demo. This puts the pressure on them to give you a
definitive response. Most companies won't ever contact you. Most of
the others will thank you for your effort and interest in their label
but say that were not interested in your music with little else for
explanation. Don't let this discourage you. Labels turn down music
for any number of reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with the
quality of your work, like: the label has enough artists already and
they probably have trouble releasing music fast enough to keep up
with their stable's output already- they can't deal with you too-
you'd be surprised how many labels have their releases already
planned for at least a year and a half ahead of time and have a
storeroom containing good music they could be releasing for the next
5 years; the label has no money at the moment, they could be all tied
up pushing one of their current artists and their resources are
unavailable to pick up any more artists; or, your sound is not close
enough to their vision for their label's output- you might disagree,
but you're not inside the head this person- it just might not be what
they are looking for- this has NO reflection on the quality of your
music; shall I go on? Nah, you get the point. If, at the end of this
process you are not entered into some sort of arbitration over how
many songs they get to release and for how much percentage you get,
well, I don't know what to say... sell your instruments, or go back
you bedroom. It's time to rehash this whole thing. You're either
ahead of your time (most of us are), you haven't honed in on your
"sound" enough, or to be blunt, you don't have it... yet.
I got my
first introduction to the music industry at this point. I got my
deal. I'm no genius, but somebody saw something innovative in what I
was doing and liked it. I still don't know what IT is. My music
sounds like nothing else on the label. My music sounds nothing like
what this guy likes to listen. To this day, I still write music for
him, and I'm not quite sure what it is he likes about my music. He
turns down 75% of the tracks I offer him- and I'm what you would call
a permanent artist for the label! I mention this only to say that the
long journey is not over once you got your deal, and you might never
understand why the almighty music producer likes or doesn't like your
music.
...styling your own musical output after the current releases of the type of music you're trying to break into.
This is
the pragmatic approach. If a certain... um, formula... is working
prosperously for an artist, you could capitalize on that popularity
for yourself. There are obvious dangers to this approach. There are
obvious rewards too. I won't spout rhetoric on the nobility of doing
your own thing or the lack of creativity involved in imitating
current musical styles. Those are the words of the high-and-mighty.
The deed of shaping your sound to a conventional form is less dubious
then the high-and-mighty would have you think. Conventional forms
have been the bread-and butter of our current music industry because
most of the mass audience out there is relatively uneducated about
music. They need pieces of music watered down to "tunes" for easy
consumption. And a music label will recognize when you make that step
to shape your music for them. If you hit their idea dead on, or give
it a nice twist, they'll snap you right up. I tried this approach. I
listen to such a variety of dance music (and music in general) that I
was taking influences from all across the board. The result was a
musical form that sounded scattered, unfocused. People did not
comprehend what the music was trying to accomplish. Indeed, maybe it
was accomplishing nothing at all because it was going after too many
things at once. So I decided to strip down and investigate influences
separately. I purposely imitated certain forms so I would understand
those forms better. In so doing, I could discover what I wanted to
take from it, for later use in something that was truly my own sound.
I sent some of these efforts off to particular labels to see how well
I was articulating certain ideas. In some areas I was successful; in
others, not so. But I was never so right on that the label accepted
me out right and gave me free license to write for them. Typically,
they'd string me along for months with communication like " Wow! we
really like these but they're not quite what we're looking for. If
you write another two that sound like this (insert some flavor in
particular), we'll give you an EP." or "That's almost what we're
looking for. Why don't you give us a couple of remixes and we'll see
how that goes, huh?" It would go on like this forever. I'd turn out
track after track that was always just short of what they wanted to
release- or so they said. I was working specifically for their
production purposes without getting paid at all. I began to wonder
how many other composers they were leading on like this. Talk about
slave labor! In the end, I quit contacting any of these labels. It
wasn't worth such time and effort for such menial responses from
them. I want my music to be out there for consumption, but this
wasn't my own musical ideas anymore.
I did,
however, pick up a few techniques here and there along the way and
gain a better understanding of aesthetics belonging to particular
forms, so it wasn't all a waste. I'd go so far as to say it was even
pretty valuable experience. Simply watch out for this approach. It
may be the easiest way to gratify your musical ego, but it'll lead
you astray easily.
...do it yourself.
You
might be surprised to note that releasing music is RELATIVELY cheaper
than it ever has been. Compared to the tens of thousands of dollars
Sony and Atlantic and others used to spend on recording and
delivering you Frank Sinatra or the Beatles, you can produce and
release your own music for pocket change. Well, maybe Donald Trump's
pocket change, but still an affordable expenditure for your average
person with your average job. You see, with a little bit of homework
and phone savvy you can manage to move ENOUGH of your stock (probably
500 - 1500) through distributors to cover your costs. If you get back
the significant amount of money you put in, isn't the effort of
putting your music out worth it.? I personally think so. Your average
person with your average job couldn't afford to lose a modest $1500
per release and make 2 or 3 releases a year. If you make that effort
and get your money back, you're not a musical phenomenon, but you did
work very hard for something you love and respect. You performed it
how you wanted to perform it. It's your images representing it. You
produced it how you wanted to produce it. You support it and sell it
according to how you want to support and sell it. It's an endeavor
that CAN sustain itself and reward your efforts.
Make a
DAT of your music. If you don't own a DAT recorder, they can be
rented like almost any piece of studio equipment from a musical
equipment retailer or PA/sound system supplier. Make sure your
signals are as hot and clean as possible. When you are done
recording, you will need either a computer into which you can feed a
digital signal (outfitted with an audiocard that accepts either SPDIF
or AES/EBU- depending on what's appropriate for your DAT recorder) or
another DAT because you will need to make a digital copy (Never,
EVER, send your only copy of a DAT off for production. I guarantee
you, you will regret the day you do this.). Anyway, you may or may
not put a reference tone at the beginning of your DAT. This tradition
is falling by the wayside with advancing digital technologies, but if
your recording is destined for an analog medium, it is still a good
idea to include it (a 10 sec long signal at 1KHz on both channels at
a level of -15dB on you DAT's meter is standard). Sequence the tracks
in the order you will want them to appear on your CD, tape or vinyl.
Leave 3-4 seconds in between the end of each track and the beginning
of the next. Index each track appropriately at its beginning. Now
mark index numbers, times, and names on the J-Card - the mastering
facility's engineer will need all this information to do their job
properly.
Next,
contact a number of mastering facilities. Each medium (CD, tape,
vinyl, etc.) requires different techniques for mastering, and any
particular facility may provide them all or just specialize in one.
Pick the one which is right for your purposes and price range, and
then pick a pressing plant- my comments on mastering facilities holds
true for pressing plants as well; and sometimes, the separate
productions can be performed by one company. Again, choose the one
that is right for you. Provide your mastering facility with the
address and contact number of your chosen pressing plant. They will
ship your product directly. Before your order is completed at the
pressing plant, they will send you a "test pressing". This is to
insure you are happy with what the final product will be. Do not
ignore this step. What will you do with 1500 copies of a CD that is
not to your liking? Once you give them the "go-ahead", the pressing
plant will complete your order, and now is the time to begin
contacting distributors. If you can interest distributors with the
"tests" beforehand, the pressing plant can deliver your product
directly to the distributors, saving you some hassles and expense
instead of delivering the product entirely by yourself.
Unfortunately, your job is not done here. Distributors
are the key to your plans. Let me explain further. The money you see
in return from your project is not a relation to the number of items
sold to public consumers. It is the return you see from the
quantities any distributors buy directly from you. You typically sell
a product to a distributor at a dollar above (up to twice as much as)
the total cost breakdown indicates you paid for each individual
pressing. This is your money back- which has nothing to do with how
many are sold to record stores or to customers. Your best bet is to
make the distributors your best friends. You must sell them on your
music, sell them so hard they BELIEVE in the music, so that they turn
around and talk up the music which they believe in to the record
store who, already sold on the record by the distributor, hypes the
record to the customer. Follow up, with personal appearances in
outlets you see as important to the distribution of your music. Get
to know the people there. Talk up your music. Hand out some free
copies (nothing works better than this) - few people will pay for an
unknown product, so you need to see to it that this stinginess does
not lessen your viability.
How to find companies rendering pertinent services:
... and don't forget: the phone is your best friend...
Visit these websites for further information on related topics:
I'd give you a quick rundown of the US copyright laws here, but there's no such thing as a quickie when it comes to govenment forms. Go to the site listed above and figure it out for yourself. The guidelines are simple enough; but your if's, and's, or but's would take me forever to address here so I will repeat:_it_is_not_too_complicated_ Everything you will need to know is available there and the proper forms will be down-load-able (i.e. printable - just download the pdf files of both forms and their accompanying documents. Adobe Acrobat will read any of these files, and their printouts will look like the original forms. )
Copyright October 20, 1996, Kym Serrano, Brooklyn, NY
Questions? Contact
me.
WOW'EM
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