I Want To Get Into The Music Business, Where Do I Start

I want to get in the Music Business, how do i start? So you really want to get into the music business? Its not unheard of because the music business is a multi billion dollar industry full of talented and UN talented stars. Every time you turn on the TV out jumps such famous and rich artists like Beyonce, Gwen Stefan,T.I, Twista, Bow wow, Souljah Boy, and Bone thugs n Harmony to name a few. Well they all got their start doing what you must now do.

The music industry is full of talent so you must somehow make yourself seen to be different. No Record label wants a new artist too similar in style as a well known performer. You have to stand out and your music has to be the new thing happening,very fresh. The labels want to be able to make money from you, they are investing in you and your talents so you must give them 180 % or more in everything you do. You must be able to compete with any of the other artists in the industry.

If you are a performer it is always great to have a fan base before shopping for a label, the bigger your fan base the better your chances of getting an excellent deal because you have now shown the label that you know how to market yourself and that there are people out there already taking notice of your talent. They way to build a fan base is to start out by recording a Cd. You are not recording this CD to sell, instead you will be handing it out as promotional. This requires a little investment along with alot of time,you must get the Cd mastered as well because you don't want to hand out garbage that nobody will listen to. Start in your neighborhood and expand to other neighborhoods,you will see how your name quickly spreads among hearsay,you might even notice someone bumping your tracks in their car riding by, this is always a great thing.

After the CD is out there do not stop promoting, start doing local shows or performing in clubs during open mike nights. Many clubs do this as a way of supporting new talent and pulling in more customers for their business but if you want to perform at one that does not please inquire non stop. Get your name known in as many clubs around your area as you can and always give your best performance.

The next step requires you to join the top social sites like myspace and facebook, another big step in promotion. Myspace allows you to create a music page,you can upload all your music for others to hear and draw in a non local fan base. This is also excellent because you have the opportunity to be heard by millions and have your music critiqued. Accepting critique whether good or bad is the key to knowing what people want from you as a artist and improving your skills. Big name celebrities also have myspace pages and chances are they will stumble across your site and quickly take notice if your fan base is large enough so end out those friend requests,accept all incoming friends requests if they are not spams. You can also sell singles of your tracks on myspace directly.

The Internet allows you to handle mostly all of your needs of promotion because their are other top sites where you can sell your music by the tracks or whole Cd's. These sites are listed as following.

1. Songcast- here you can get your music on itunes,rhapsody,amazon,emusic and many others for only $5.99 per month! (plus onetime setup fee of $19.99 per album or $9.99 per single) Includes a FREE UPC Barcode for every release. Another great thing is that you keep all your royalties.

2.Choosik- is a fan and artist based site where you can sell your music,give it away free and promote. Fans can also rate your music, plus the site includes a music top list where you can be listed depending on how popular your music is sort of like a starting out billboard chart. Artists are paid directly through paypal and the price per song can be anywhere between 25 cents to 99 cents,choosik will take out a fee of 25 cents per song sale. This is a good venue to get into because remember you are a artist just starting out so you want to be more focused on promotion than money. Its also free to join. visit Choosik.com

3. Blast my music- there are no fees to join, you can sell your music on the site or directly from any website want. You keep 65% of the sale, your earnings are sent to you within 1-2 days of request via paypal. You can price all your singles at the rate of 99 cent much like choosik. Another great way of pulling in a new fan base. visit blastmymusic.com

4. uplayau- Another great source of advertisement for your music, this site also runs contests that allow you to get one on one with real recording artists among other things. Your fans or music listeners can also rate your music for hit potential so you know what songs are happening and others you may need to change. They have itunes plug ins,you can get your music on the radio, have your music uploaded to other social networks,sell your music on verizon,songcast and too many to name. This is the site many labels use before bringing out a hit song to get analyzations, now you can do this too.

Moving on past the promotional part, now you have built a fan base among different sites, you want to get your songs on the Internet radio as well as locally.

You can submit to WGCI directly online, as well as many other radio stations but you must checkpoint the following steps.

1. Please make sure you have had your music mastered so it sounds like professional quality

2. Be sure that there is no profanity in your music and it is radio quality, in the future when you make it big the stations will play your stuff no matter what but is always a good idea to have a radio play version of your top songs.

3. Submit to all the stations directly,whether local or online, because they will request information that others may not be able to provide.

4. This should have been listed above everything else, make sure your music is copyrighted as many artists I have notice will search the net for something fresh but if you are not protected see how quickly they will snatch your music if you're the next it thing happening, if this is done you will have no way of doing anything about it if your music is not copyrighted.

When all your promotion and fan basing is near completion start doing shows of your own,maybe even expanding out to different cities where you have the highest fan base. Your fans will come to see you perform,they will pay,they will create an even larger fan base for you.

They will do this because they have now been following your music for quite some time and are loyal. Your mission will soon be complete when the record industry takes notice and starts putting in bids to sign you. Never and I do repeat Never sign with the first label that offers a deal, if you are too quick to sign they may see an opening where they can screw you around,if you do not understand contracts get a manager or someone you already know who does and will look out for your best interests. Never stop promoting yourself even after the deal is complete, the record company will promote you but who knows you better than yourself?