http://quietstormbeatz.com/ebooksandarticles.cfm Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:58:06 GMT http://bandzoogle.com http://quietstormbeatz.com/ebooksandarticles.cfm?feature=1227395&postid=358477 1. GET THE CROWD INVOLVED THIS IS IMPORTANT IN ANY LIVE PERFORMANCE. IF THE CROWD ISNT INVOLVED YOUR SHOW WILL JUST BE YOU RECITING YOUR SONGS TO THE CROWD, AND USUALLY THIS DOESNT GET YOU POINTS FROM THE CROWDS PERSPECTIVE. HOWEVER IF YOU GET THE CROWD INVOLVED, YOU CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE WHICH YOU CAN CONTROL EG WHEN YOU SAY PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR, PEOPLE WILL RESPOND. THERE ARE A COUPLE OF WAYS TO GET THE CROWD INVOLVED. YOU CAN FIRST DO SONGS WHICH THEY ARE FAMILIAR WIH. ENCOURAGE THEM TO SING ALONG, DROP THE SONG ON A PUCHLINE AND HAVE THEM SAY IT. ANOTHER EXAMPLE JUMP IN THE CROWD TO MAKE IT HYPE. SHAKE HANDS WITH PEOPLE REACHING OUT IN THE FIRST ROW. SOME PEOPLE MAKE IT RAIN(NOT ADVISABLE UNLESS YOU ARE BALLING OUTRAGOUESLY). ENCOURAGE THE CROWD TO DO A DANCE OR WHATEVER. BOTTOMLINE IS YOU HAVE TO GET THE CROWD INTO THE WHOLE PERFORMANCE. 2. MAKE EYE CONTACT TRY AND MAKE AS MUCH EYE CONTACT AS POSSIBLE WITH THE CROWD. IT'S LIKE PUBLIC SPEAKING OR JUST PERSONAL CONVERSATIONS; NOONE WILL HEAR YOUR MESSAGE IF YOU ARE NOT LOOKING AT THEM. MAKING EYE CONTACT WILL MAKE THE AUDIENCE FEEL WARMER TO YOU. WITH THAT SAID, AVOID WEARING SHADES OR COVERING YOUR EYES ETC. 3. LIMIT THE ENTOURAGE TOO MANY PEOPLE SHOUTING IN MICROHPONES AT THE SAME TIME ISNT MUSIC,ITS WHAT I LIKE TO CALL NOISE!!! IF YOU DO HAVE A BIG ENTOURAGE PUT THEM IN THE BACKGROUND AND MAKE THE ORGANIZED E.G. HOW 50CENT HAS PEOPLE WITH BULLETPROOF VESTS AND SUCH IN THE BACK, THAT WORKS FOR HIM BECAUSE OF HIS IMAGE. IF YOU ARE DOING A SLOW SONG WHY WOULD YOU HAVE 20 PEOPLE SHOUTING IN THE MIC GOIN BACK AND FORTH. THATS DISTRACTING. AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU ARE THE ONE WHO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO REMEBER AND IF THE PERFORMANCE IS BAD, ITS BLAMED ON YOU, NOT THE ENTOURAGE, SO KEEP THAT IN MID. 4.THE HYPE MAN HYPE MEN HAVE BEEN A STAPLE OF HIP HOP EVER SINCE IT STARTED. THE BEST HYPE MEN E.G FLAVA FLAV(NO JOKES) HELP YOU THE ARTIST, GET THE CROWD INVOLVED. SO PICKING THE RIGHT HYPE MAN IS AS ESSENTIAL AS PICKING THE RIGHT DJ. 5. THE DJ MOST MAJOR ARTIST KEEP THE SAME DJ ON TOURS AND PERFORMANCES ALIKE. ITS JUST LIKE THIS, IF YOU WORK WITH SOMEBODY, THE CHEMISTRY GETS BETTER AND BETTER. IF YOU DONT HAVE THAT LUXURY OF HAVING YOUR OWN DJ, MAKE SURE YOU MEET WITH THE DJ FIRST BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE TO AVOID ODD SITUATIONS THAT MAKE YOU SAY WHAT THE.... 6. DONT SHOUT IN THE MIC ITS AS SIMPLE AS THAT...DONT SCREAM IN THE MIC, AND KNOW HOW TO POSITION YOUR MIC DURING PERFORMANCES. AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU DO MUSIC TO ENTERTAIN PEOPLE. WITH THAT BEING SAID, IF YOUR SHOW SUCKS, THE LIKELIHOOD OF GETTING THOSE SAME PEOPLE TO COME BACK TO SEE IF SLIM. WORD OF MOUTH SPREADS LIKE A BUSH FIRE. SO YOU HAVE TO BE ON POINT. WITH THAT BEING SAID, IF YOUR SHOWS ARE GOOD, YOU GAIN LOYAL LIFELONG FANS.HOPE THIS HELPS. THIS IS IMPORTANT IN ANY LIVE PERFORMANCE. IF THE CROWD ISNT INVOLVED YOUR SHOW WILL JUST BE YOU RECITING YOUR SONGS TO THE CROWD, AND USUALLY THIS DOESNT GET YOU POINTS FROM THE CROWDS PERSPECTIVE. HOWEVER IF YOU GET THE CROWD INVOLVED, YOU CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE WHICH YOU CAN CONTROL EG WHEN YOU SAY PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR, PEOPLE WILL RESPOND. THERE ARE A COUPLE OF WAYS TO GET THE CROWD INVOLVED. YOU CAN FIRST DO SONGS WHICH THEY ARE FAMILIAR WIH. ENCOURAGE THEM TO SING ALONG, DROP THE SONG ON A PUCHLINE AND HAVE THEM SAY IT. ANOTHER EXAMPLE JUMP IN THE CROWD TO MAKE IT HYPE. SHAKE HANDS WITH PEOPLE REACHING OUT IN THE FIRST ROW. SOME PEOPLE MAKE IT RAIN(NOT ADVISABLE UNLESS YOU ARE BALLING OUTRAGOUESLY). ENCOURAGE THE CROWD TO DO A DANCE OR WHATEVER. BOTTOMLINE IS YOU HAVE TO GET THE CROWD INTO THE WHOLE PERFORMANCE.

2. MAKE EYE CONTACT
TRY AND MAKE AS MUCH EYE CONTACT AS POSSIBLE WITH THE CROWD. IT'S LIKE PUBLIC SPEAKING OR JUST PERSONAL CONVERSATIONS; NOONE WILL HEAR YOUR MESSAGE IF YOU ARE NOT LOOKING AT THEM. MAKING EYE CONTACT WILL MAKE THE AUDIENCE FEEL WARMER TO YOU. WITH THAT SAID, AVOID WEARING SHADES OR COVERING YOUR EYES ETC.

3. LIMIT THE ENTOURAGE
TOO MANY PEOPLE SHOUTING IN MICROHPONES AT THE SAME TIME ISNT MUSIC,ITS WHAT I LIKE TO CALL NOISE!!! IF YOU DO HAVE A BIG ENTOURAGE PUT THEM IN THE BACKGROUND AND MAKE THE ORGANIZED E.G. HOW 50CENT HAS PEOPLE WITH BULLETPROOF VESTS AND SUCH IN THE BACK, THAT WORKS FOR HIM BECAUSE OF HIS IMAGE. IF YOU ARE DOING A SLOW SONG WHY WOULD YOU HAVE 20 PEOPLE SHOUTING IN THE MIC GOIN BACK AND FORTH. THATS DISTRACTING. AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU ARE THE ONE WHO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO REMEBER AND IF THE PERFORMANCE IS BAD, ITS BLAMED ON YOU, NOT THE ENTOURAGE, SO KEEP THAT IN MID.

4.THE HYPE MAN
HYPE MEN HAVE BEEN A STAPLE OF HIP HOP EVER SINCE IT STARTED. THE BEST HYPE MEN E.G FLAVA FLAV(NO JOKES) HELP YOU THE ARTIST, GET THE CROWD INVOLVED. SO PICKING THE RIGHT HYPE MAN IS AS ESSENTIAL AS PICKING THE RIGHT DJ.

5. THE DJ
MOST MAJOR ARTIST KEEP THE SAME DJ ON TOURS AND PERFORMANCES ALIKE. ITS JUST LIKE THIS, IF YOU WORK WITH SOMEBODY, THE CHEMISTRY GETS BETTER AND BETTER. IF YOU DONT HAVE THAT LUXURY OF HAVING YOUR OWN DJ, MAKE SURE YOU MEET WITH THE DJ FIRST BEFORE THE PERFORMANCE TO AVOID ODD SITUATIONS THAT MAKE YOU SAY WHAT THE....

6. DONT SHOUT IN THE MIC
ITS AS SIMPLE AS THAT...DONT SCREAM IN THE MIC, AND KNOW HOW TO POSITION YOUR MIC DURING PERFORMANCES.

AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU DO MUSIC TO ENTERTAIN PEOPLE. WITH THAT BEING SAID, IF YOUR SHOW SUCKS, THE LIKELIHOOD OF GETTING THOSE SAME PEOPLE TO COME BACK TO SEE IF SLIM. WORD OF MOUTH SPREADS LIKE A BUSH FIRE. SO YOU HAVE TO BE ON POINT. WITH THAT BEING SAID, IF YOUR SHOWS ARE GOOD, YOU GAIN LOYAL LIFELONG FANS.HOPE THIS HELPS.
]]> Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:58:06 GMT A1E8EDED1664021D8E449F58AC5C6640 http://quietstormbeatz.com/ebooksandarticles.cfm?feature=1227395&postid=317466 MAKING A HIT RECORD THAT WILL COMPETE ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS ETC IS EASY YET IT IS ALSO DIFFICULT. LOOK AT SUCH ARTISTS AS SOULJA BOY(CRANK THAT,PRETTY BOY SWAG),LIL WAYNE(A MILLI), THEY HAVE DONE IT WITH REPEATED SUCCESS BECAUSE THEY ARE AWARE OF THE FOPRMULA TO MAKE HIT RECORDS(BESIDE HAVING MAJOR LABEL BACKING LOL).EVERYBODY IS TRYING TO GET THAT HIT, THAT WILL PUT THEIR FOOT IN THE INDUSTRY.HERE ARE A FEW TIPS THAT MIGHT ARE USEFUL: 1) Universal audience apeal. The key to making a hit record is to make it have universal mass appeal.what is this you ask??? That when a song is popular from kids,moms, grammies etc lol to put it in simple terms. The more people can relate to a song the easier it is to sell it. Thats why most club songs usually make it into hits, because everyone can relate to the theme of having a good time. Write about what you or other people experience on a daily basis that no one is talking about(or even talking about but put your own twist to the topic. There is no topic that realy hasnt been touched in hip hop but its the way you personalize it, that makes you stand out 2) Hook(chorus) In this time and era, this is has become even more important than the bars themselves. The hook is the heart of the song. To make a hook is a daunting task, which a lot of people have not mastered. Its pretty easy tho. Hooks are normally 8 bars. So within those 8 bars you need to make it catchy,harmonize,or make it relevant to where somebody esle can relate to way you are saying. Most pople rely on getting soundclick beats with hooks e.t.c, but can you really base your whole career on having people do your hooks??Also this kind of makes you less creative because the topic of the song has been dictated for you.Dont get me wrong, its cool to get some beats like that but it also hinders your growth if you rely on that same process. So what you will want to do as an artist, is sit back and think of something simple yet catches the imagination of your audience e.g EXAMPLES: using slang words that are hot now(e.g turn my swag on, swag surfing..) using a popular catch phrase(e.g.Usher's omg...) I think you get the idea... 3) A Hot Beat. Most people listen to the first 20-30 seconds of the song. if they dont like it, you will never get a chance again to convice them to listen to it, because you cant be there with your every fan to convince them its a good song. What you need is a hot beat from a producer e.g such as a certain Quietstormbeatz LOL,anyway it could be from anyone but you have to make sure its a tight beat.So many talented artists have HOT songs written over terrible beats. Thats a waste of bars and talent, not to mention time. So you realy want to focus on getting a good beat, at the same time you have to be able to flow to the beat e.g Gucci mane flowing to a Kanye's all falls down beat is more than likely not goin to be a hit.... 4) Know your audience Know who your target audience is when making a song. Dont just make a ong that you and yours boys or family only like and can relate to. Are you making a song for the streets. females, club etc? You have to ask yourself that before setting on amking a track. Also ask yourself, who listens to my music??? 5) Keep it simple!!! Usually the most hit songs are the easiest to sing along with. When someone can sing along it creates that sense that the song relate to them. Its cool to be all lyrical but at the same time you have to know when to keep it simple, and in no terms am I encouraging people to dumb down their music. At least make the hook easy enough for your fans to be able to recite. 6)Get it out there!!!!...if your song is sitting on the computer or studio without promotion, you will never find out if it is hot or not.... til next time ...peace MAKING A HIT RECORD THAT WILL COMPETE ON THE BILLBOARD CHARTS ETC IS EASY YET IT IS ALSO

DIFFICULT. LOOK AT SUCH ARTISTS AS SOULJA BOY(CRANK THAT,PRETTY BOY SWAG),LIL WAYNE(A

MILLI), THEY HAVE DONE IT WITH REPEATED SUCCESS BECAUSE THEY ARE AWARE OF THE FOPRMULA TO

MAKE HIT RECORDS(BESIDE HAVING MAJOR LABEL BACKING LOL).EVERYBODY IS TRYING TO GET THAT

HIT, THAT WILL PUT THEIR FOOT IN THE INDUSTRY.HERE ARE A FEW TIPS THAT MIGHT ARE USEFUL:

1) Universal audience apeal.

The key to making a hit record is to make it
have universal mass appeal.what is this you ask??? That when a song is popular from

kids,moms, grammies etc lol to put it in simple terms. The more people can relate to a

song the easier it is to sell it. Thats why most club songs usually make it into hits,

because everyone can relate to the theme of having a good time. Write about what you or

other people experience on a daily basis that no one is talking about(or even talking

about but put your own twist to the topic. There is no topic that realy hasnt been touched

in hip hop but its the way you personalize it, that makes you stand out

2) Hook(chorus)

In this time and era, this is has become even more important than the bars themselves. The

hook is the heart of the song. To make a hook is a daunting task, which a lot of people

have not mastered. Its pretty easy tho. Hooks are normally 8 bars. So within those 8 bars

you need to make it catchy,harmonize,or make it relevant to where somebody esle can relate

to way you are saying. Most pople rely on getting soundclick beats with hooks e.t.c, but

can you really base your whole career on having people do your hooks??Also this kind of

makes you less creative because the topic of the song has been dictated for you.Dont get

me wrong, its cool to get some beats like that but it also hinders your growth if you rely

on that same process. So what you will want to do as an artist, is sit back and think of

something simple yet catches the imagination of your audience e.g
EXAMPLES:
using slang words that are hot now(e.g turn my swag on, swag surfing..)
using a popular catch phrase(e.g.Usher's omg...)
I think you get the idea...

3) A Hot Beat.

Most people listen to the first 20-30 seconds of the song. if they dont like it, you will

never get a chance again to convice them to listen to it, because you cant be there with

your every fan to convince them its a good song. What you need is a hot beat from a

producer e.g such as a certain Quietstormbeatz LOL,anyway it could be from anyone but you

have to make sure its a tight beat.So many talented artists have HOT songs written over

terrible beats. Thats a waste of bars and talent, not to mention time. So you realy want

to focus on getting a good beat, at the same time you have to be able to flow to the beat

e.g Gucci mane flowing to a Kanye's all falls down beat is more than likely not goin to be

a hit....

4) Know your audience
Know who your target audience is when making a song. Dont just make a ong that you and

yours boys or family only like and can relate to. Are you making a song for the streets.

females, club etc? You have to ask yourself that before setting on amking a track. Also

ask yourself, who listens to my music???

5) Keep it simple!!!

Usually the most hit songs are the easiest
to sing along with. When someone can sing along it creates that sense that the song relate

to them. Its cool to be all lyrical but at the same time you have to know when to keep it

simple, and in no terms am I encouraging people to dumb down their music. At least make

the hook easy enough for your fans to be able to recite.

6)Get it out there!!!!...if your song is sitting on the computer or studio without

promotion, you will never find out if it is hot or not....

til next time ...peace
]]> Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:30:00 GMT 108F2F409F5E704CAC87E7A656C681F3 http://quietstormbeatz.com/ebooksandarticles.cfm?feature=1227395&postid=235037 <a href="http://www.hiphop-directory.com/">http://www.hiphop-directory.com/ http://www.hiphop-directory.com/]]> Fri, 09 Apr 2010 08:40:00 GMT EF4EF3D70F0C1CB8D7D1E273833CE9CE http://quietstormbeatz.com/ebooksandarticles.cfm?feature=1227395&postid=205668 A LOT OF ARTIST WAIT AROUND FOR RECORD LABELS TO SIGN THEM AND THE CHANCES ARE AS SLIM AS GETTING DRAFTED TO THE PROS NOT MATTER HOW GOOD YOU ARE. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS MOST PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SIGNED HAD TAKEN INITIATIVE THEMSELVES AND THE RECORD LABELS CAME CALLING AFTER SEEING THE BUZZ THEY HAD GENERATED AS INDEPENDENT ARTISTS. E.G SOULJAH BOY, CHAMILLIONAIRE, SLIM THUG, MIKE JONES, <a target="_new" href="./eastcoastwestcoasthiphopbeatshop.cfm">PAPOOSE, GUCCI MANE,BLINK 182,MAROON5,<a target="_new" href="./clubpopnewschoolbeatshop.cfm">LADY GAGA AND THE LIST GOES ON...ONCE YOU ARE IN DEMAND FOR YOUR INDEPENDENT BUZZ, THATS WHEN YOU CAN DICTATE WHAT KIND OF CONTRACT YOU WANT TO SIGN. BESIDES THIS, ITS VERY LUCRATIVE TO BE AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST AS WELL DOCUMENTED BY THE DJ DRAMA CASE WHERE HE WAS MAKING A KILLING TO THE POINT WHERE THE FEDS STARTED INVESTIGATING HIM, WONT GO INTO THAT THOUGH. HOWEVER, BASIC MATH...IF YOU SELL 10,000 UNITS INDEPENDENTLY AT EVEN $5 A CD, YOU ARE RAKING IN A GUARANTEED 90%+ RETURN ON INVESTMENT, WHICH IN THE ABOVE EXAMPLE WOULD AMOUNT TO $45,000!!!AN IF YOU CUT YOUR COSTS BY SHOPPING AROUND FOR CHEAP STUDIOS AND BEATS SUCH AS FROM QUIETSTORMBEATZ.COM, YOUR INVESTMET WOULD BE MINIMAL AND THE RETURN FAR EXCEEDS THE CAPITAL INVESTED.SO HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT GETTING YOURSELF IN THIS POSITION YOU WONDER? WELL FROM RESEARCH, HERE ARE SOME POINTERS THAT CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED AS AN INDY... 1.INVEST IN YOURSELF AND DONT EXPECT A GET RICH OVERNIGHT SCHEME OR FAST RETURN ON INVESTMENT. YOU HAVE TO SPEND IN ORDER TO MAKE MONEY. THAT MEANS MAKING YOUR WHOLE PROJECT PROFESSIONAL. IF YOU TAKE SHORTCUTS,E.G.EXPECTING FREE BEATS, FREE STUDI TIME ETC, THATS EXACTLY WHAT YOU GET. IF YOU DONT HAVE THAT MUCH MONEY WORK WITHIN YOUR BUDGET AND MAKE SMALL STEPS TO GET TO WHERE YOU. I.E. MAKE A BUSINESS PLAN WITH SET GOALS. ITS FUNNY HOW A LOT OF ARTISTS SAY THEY ARE SERIOUS IN THEIR MUSIC, BUT WOULD RATHER INVEST THIER MONEY IN $100 PAIR OF SHOES, INSTEAD OF GETTING THE TOOLS REQUIRED TO HELP THIER CAREERS.$100 CAN GET YOU A MIC, BEATS, STUDIO TIME, FLYERS, A WEBSITE!!!!SO SETTING YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT IS KEY. ALSO WHEN YOU PRESENT YOURSELF AS AN ARTIST YOU ARE THE PRODUCT AND THE BUSINESS YOU ARE TRYING TO PUSH. IF CORPORATIONS DO THE SAME THING, WOULDNT IT MAKE SENSE TO INVEST IN YOUR PRODUCT, WHICH IS YOURSELF??? 2. GET A WEBSITE!!!, AND I DONT MEAN MYSPACE OR SOUNDCLICK. IMAGINE WHEN YOU WALK IN A MALL. THERE ARE SEVERAL STORES IN THE MALL, CORRECT? SO DO YOU USUALLY PAY ATTENTION TO ONE STORE WHEN YOU VISIT THE MALL AND DONT VISIT OTHER STORES???ABSOLUTELY NOT, BECAUSE ONCE YOU HAVE IT IN YOUR MIND THERE ARE SEVERAL OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO YOU YOU TEND TYO VISIT OTHER STORES TO SHOP AROUND AND MIGHT NOT EVEN EVENTUALLY GET ANYTHING FROM THE STORE YOU THUGHT HAD THE HOTTEST MERCHANDISE. THIS EXAMPLE SHOWS THAT PLACING YOUR FAITH IN MYSPACE AND SOUNDCLICK, IS FUTILE BECAUSE ITS SO SATURED. IF YOU HAVE A PAGE ON EITHER ONE OF THEM, IM SURE YOU HAVE NOTICED PEOPLE PLACING COMMENTSOF OH COME CHECK MY MUSIC E.T.C. IF YOU YOURSELF DONT CHECK OUT OTHER PEOPLES MUSIC, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THE NEXT PERSON WILL? HENCE IF YOU GET A WEBSITE OR A BLOGSPOT(WHICH IS FREE) ANOTHER VISITOR HAS THIER UNDIVIDED ANTTENTION ON YOU THE ARTIST AND NOBAODY ELSE. BESIDES THIS IT SHOWS YOU ARE MORE SERIOUS IF YOU HAVE A SEPARTE ENTITY BESIDES MYSPACE OR SOUNDCLICK ACCOUNTS. YOU CAN GET A DOMAIN NAME FROM <a href="http://WWW.GODADDY.COM">GODADDY.COM FOR UNDER $5 ONE TIME FEE!!! AND JUST SHOP AROUND FOR CHEAP PROGRAMMERS...OR YOU CAN START A FORUM DEDICATED TO YOUR MUSIC FOR FREE, OR A BLOGSPOT WHICH IS FREE TOO. OR A SITE SUCH AS <a href="http://WWW.BANDZOOGLE.COM">BANDZOOGLE.COM.SO THE OPTIONS ARE PLENTY FOR YOU THE ARTIST TO CHOOSE FROM. WHEN YOU AHVE A WEBSITE YOU HAVE CUNTLESS OPTIONS TO FURTHER EXPAND YOUR INDY GAME .E.GYOU CAN SELL T-SHIRTS, CAPS,BADGES, ADVERTISEMENT ON YOUR WEBSITE JUST TO MENTION A FEW THINGS SOUNDCLICK AND MYSPACE WOULD REALLY NOT OFFER... 3. NETWORK, NETWORK , NETWORK. DJS, CLUB OWNERS,PROMOTERS, PRODUCERS,RADIO STATIONS E.T.C. REMEBER THE GAME IS 90% BUSINESS AND POLITICS AND 10% TALENT. GETTING YOURSELF OUT THERE IS KEY TO BEING SUCCESFUL. REMEMBER THOUGH, FIRST IMPRESSION IS LASTING INMPRESSION. GOIN BACK TO POINT ONE INVESTING IN YOURSELF. IF YOU HAVE MEDIOCRE MUSIC OR YOUR CD YOU TRY TO HAND OUT IS NOT EVEN IN A CASING WITH NO CONTACT INFO ETC THAT JUST DISQUALIFIES YOU. IMAGINE THE LAST TIME SOMEONE GAVE YOU A CD WIT MAGIC MARKER WRITING ON IT WITH NO CASING AND SAID THEIR MUSIC WAS HOT, DID YOU BOTHER LISTENING TO IT OR IS IT GATHERING DUST ACTING AS A COASTER SOMEWHER IN YOUR HOUSE...SO YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOUR STUFF LOOKS PROFESSIONAL BEFORE TRYING TO PUSH IT ON SOMEBODY, AND THIS COMES BACK TO INVESTING IN YOURSELF. 4.AS MUCH AS YOU CAN NETWORK IN PERSON, THE MOST POWERFUL NETWORKING TOOL OUT NOW IS THE INTERNET, HANDS DOWN. AT THE CLICK OF A MOSUE, YOU ARE IN TOUCH WITH SOMEONE IN JAPAN(WUTANG HAS A LARGE FAN BASE THERE), GERMANY(2ND LARGEST CONSUMER OF HIPHOP IN THE WORLD,FRANCE,ITALY,BRAZIL,SOUTH AFRICA AND EVERYWHERE ACROSS THE CONTINENTAL U.S.A. HENCE ITS CALLED THE WORLD WIDE WEB OF COURSE.SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING? WELL FIRST OFF, IM SURE YOU HAVE HEARD OF CORPORATIONS TALKING ABOUT GLOBALIZATION, SMAE SHOULD APPLY TO YOU IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST. THE REASSON THE JAYS, LIL WAYNES AND EMINEMS MAKE MONEY IS BACUSE THIER MARKET IS NOT CONFINED TO THIER HOOD AND CITY ONLY. ONCE YOU GET ON THE INTERNET EVERYONE IS A POTENTIAL CUSTOMER. EVEN MYSELF HAVE PURCHASED MUSIC EQUIPTMENT AND SOUNDS FROM SWEDEN!!!BUT YOU CAN NOT DO ANY E-COMMERCE WITHOUT A MEANS TO BUY AND SELL PERIOD. REACH STUFF SUCH AS CLICKBANK,<a target="_new" href="http://WWW.PAYPAL.COM">PAYPAL,CCNOW ETC AND SEE WHICH ONES WORK BEST FOR YOU IN ORDER TO EXPAND YOUR REVENUE POTENTIAL. 5.PROMOTE YOURSELF, WHICH COMES IN THE SAME BREATHE AS INVESTING IN YOURSLEF. FLYERS,T-SHIRTS WITH ALBUM RELEASE DATES E.T.C WEBSITES,NEWSLETTERS TO FANS,<a target="_new" href="http://WWW.TWITTER.COM">TWITTER,MYSPACE. E.T.C. AGAIN THE BETTER YOUR PRODUCT IS PRESENTED THE BETTER CHANCE YOU HAVE AT PEOPLE TAKING YOU SERIOUSLY.RESEARCH HAVILY BECAUSE THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER OPTIONS TOO... 6.SETUP ON ONLINE MUSIC STORS, E.G CDBABY,<a target="_new" href="http://WWW.AMAZON.COM">AMAZON,MYSPACE, SOUNDCLICK,REVERBNATION ETC IN COLLABORATION WITH THE WEBSITE WHICH YOU HAVE SETUP BY THEN.... SO THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU NEED TO CONSIDER AND PUT INTO PRACTICE CAN GET YOU FURTHER THAN YOU WERE BEFORE YOU IMPLEMENTED THE PLANS.AGAIN WITH A BIG ENOUGH BUZZ, A CONTRACT WITH THE MAJORS IS NOT A DREAM, ITS ACTUALLY A POSSIBILITY.AGAIN NOONE BUT YOUSELF IS RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING YOUR MUSIC TO THE MASSES AND GETTING YOUR INDY GAME UP IS UP TO YOU.FEEL FREE TO LEAVE COMMENTS AND ANY ADDITIONAL TIPS THAT YOU HAVE HAD SUCCESS WITH AS AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST. A LOT OF ARTIST WAIT AROUND FOR RECORD LABELS TO SIGN THEM AND THE CHANCES ARE AS SLIM AS GETTING DRAFTED TO THE PROS NOT MATTER HOW GOOD YOU ARE. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS MOST PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SIGNED HAD TAKEN INITIATIVE THEMSELVES AND THE RECORD LABELS CAME CALLING AFTER SEEING THE BUZZ THEY HAD GENERATED AS INDEPENDENT ARTISTS. E.G SOULJAH BOY, CHAMILLIONAIRE, SLIM THUG, MIKE JONES, PAPOOSE, GUCCI MANE,BLINK 182,MAROON5,LADY GAGA AND THE LIST GOES ON...ONCE YOU ARE IN DEMAND FOR YOUR INDEPENDENT BUZZ, THATS WHEN YOU CAN DICTATE WHAT KIND OF CONTRACT YOU WANT TO SIGN. BESIDES THIS, ITS VERY LUCRATIVE TO BE AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST AS WELL DOCUMENTED BY THE DJ DRAMA CASE WHERE HE WAS MAKING A KILLING TO THE POINT WHERE THE FEDS STARTED INVESTIGATING HIM, WONT GO INTO THAT THOUGH. HOWEVER, BASIC MATH...IF YOU SELL 10,000 UNITS INDEPENDENTLY AT EVEN $5 A CD, YOU ARE RAKING IN A GUARANTEED 90%+ RETURN ON INVESTMENT, WHICH IN THE ABOVE EXAMPLE WOULD AMOUNT TO $45,000!!!AN IF YOU CUT YOUR COSTS BY SHOPPING AROUND FOR CHEAP STUDIOS AND BEATS SUCH AS FROM QUIETSTORMBEATZ.COM, YOUR INVESTMET WOULD BE MINIMAL AND THE RETURN FAR EXCEEDS THE CAPITAL INVESTED.SO HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT GETTING YOURSELF IN THIS POSITION YOU WONDER? WELL FROM RESEARCH, HERE ARE SOME POINTERS THAT CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED AS AN INDY...

1.INVEST IN YOURSELF AND DONT EXPECT A GET RICH OVERNIGHT SCHEME OR FAST RETURN ON INVESTMENT. YOU HAVE TO SPEND IN ORDER TO MAKE MONEY. THAT MEANS MAKING YOUR WHOLE PROJECT PROFESSIONAL. IF YOU TAKE SHORTCUTS,E.G.EXPECTING FREE BEATS, FREE STUDI TIME ETC, THATS EXACTLY WHAT YOU GET. IF YOU DONT HAVE THAT MUCH MONEY WORK WITHIN YOUR BUDGET AND MAKE SMALL STEPS TO GET TO WHERE YOU. I.E. MAKE A BUSINESS PLAN WITH SET GOALS. ITS FUNNY HOW A LOT OF ARTISTS SAY THEY ARE SERIOUS IN THEIR MUSIC, BUT WOULD RATHER INVEST THIER MONEY IN $100 PAIR OF SHOES, INSTEAD OF GETTING THE TOOLS REQUIRED TO HELP THIER CAREERS.$100 CAN GET YOU A MIC, BEATS, STUDIO TIME, FLYERS, A WEBSITE!!!!SO SETTING YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT IS KEY. ALSO WHEN YOU PRESENT YOURSELF AS AN ARTIST YOU ARE THE PRODUCT AND THE BUSINESS YOU ARE TRYING TO PUSH. IF CORPORATIONS DO THE SAME THING, WOULDNT IT MAKE SENSE TO INVEST IN YOUR PRODUCT, WHICH IS YOURSELF???

2. GET A WEBSITE!!!, AND I DONT MEAN MYSPACE OR SOUNDCLICK. IMAGINE WHEN YOU WALK IN A MALL. THERE ARE SEVERAL STORES IN THE MALL, CORRECT? SO DO YOU USUALLY PAY ATTENTION TO ONE STORE WHEN YOU VISIT THE MALL AND DONT VISIT OTHER STORES???ABSOLUTELY NOT, BECAUSE ONCE YOU HAVE IT IN YOUR MIND THERE ARE SEVERAL OPTIONS AVAILABLE TO YOU YOU TEND TYO VISIT OTHER STORES TO SHOP AROUND AND MIGHT NOT EVEN EVENTUALLY GET ANYTHING FROM THE STORE YOU THUGHT HAD THE HOTTEST MERCHANDISE. THIS EXAMPLE SHOWS THAT PLACING YOUR FAITH IN MYSPACE AND SOUNDCLICK, IS FUTILE BECAUSE ITS SO SATURED. IF YOU HAVE A PAGE ON EITHER ONE OF THEM, IM SURE YOU HAVE NOTICED PEOPLE PLACING COMMENTSOF OH COME CHECK MY MUSIC E.T.C. IF YOU YOURSELF DONT CHECK OUT OTHER PEOPLES MUSIC, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THE NEXT PERSON WILL? HENCE IF YOU GET A WEBSITE OR A BLOGSPOT(WHICH IS FREE) ANOTHER VISITOR HAS THIER UNDIVIDED ANTTENTION ON YOU THE ARTIST AND NOBAODY ELSE. BESIDES THIS IT SHOWS YOU ARE MORE SERIOUS IF YOU HAVE A SEPARTE ENTITY BESIDES MYSPACE OR SOUNDCLICK ACCOUNTS. YOU CAN GET A DOMAIN NAME FROM GODADDY.COM FOR UNDER $5 ONE TIME FEE!!! AND JUST SHOP AROUND FOR CHEAP PROGRAMMERS...OR YOU CAN START A FORUM DEDICATED TO YOUR MUSIC FOR FREE, OR A BLOGSPOT WHICH IS FREE TOO. OR A SITE SUCH AS BANDZOOGLE.COM.SO THE OPTIONS ARE PLENTY FOR YOU THE ARTIST TO CHOOSE FROM. WHEN YOU AHVE A WEBSITE YOU HAVE CUNTLESS OPTIONS TO FURTHER EXPAND YOUR INDY GAME .E.GYOU CAN SELL T-SHIRTS, CAPS,BADGES, ADVERTISEMENT ON YOUR WEBSITE JUST TO MENTION A FEW THINGS SOUNDCLICK AND MYSPACE WOULD REALLY NOT OFFER...

3. NETWORK, NETWORK , NETWORK. DJS, CLUB OWNERS,PROMOTERS, PRODUCERS,RADIO STATIONS E.T.C. REMEBER THE GAME IS 90% BUSINESS AND POLITICS AND 10% TALENT. GETTING YOURSELF OUT THERE IS KEY TO BEING SUCCESFUL. REMEMBER THOUGH, FIRST IMPRESSION IS LASTING INMPRESSION. GOIN BACK TO POINT ONE INVESTING IN YOURSELF. IF YOU HAVE MEDIOCRE MUSIC OR YOUR CD YOU TRY TO HAND OUT IS NOT EVEN IN A CASING WITH NO CONTACT INFO ETC THAT JUST DISQUALIFIES YOU. IMAGINE THE LAST TIME SOMEONE GAVE YOU A CD WIT MAGIC MARKER WRITING ON IT WITH NO CASING AND SAID THEIR MUSIC WAS HOT, DID YOU BOTHER LISTENING TO IT OR IS IT GATHERING DUST ACTING AS A COASTER SOMEWHER IN YOUR HOUSE...SO YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOUR STUFF LOOKS PROFESSIONAL BEFORE TRYING TO PUSH IT ON SOMEBODY, AND THIS COMES BACK TO INVESTING IN YOURSELF.

4.AS MUCH AS YOU CAN NETWORK IN PERSON, THE MOST POWERFUL NETWORKING TOOL OUT NOW IS THE INTERNET, HANDS DOWN. AT THE CLICK OF A MOSUE, YOU ARE IN TOUCH WITH SOMEONE IN JAPAN(WUTANG HAS A LARGE FAN BASE THERE), GERMANY(2ND LARGEST CONSUMER OF HIPHOP IN THE WORLD,FRANCE,ITALY,BRAZIL,SOUTH AFRICA AND EVERYWHERE ACROSS THE CONTINENTAL U.S.A. HENCE ITS CALLED THE WORLD WIDE WEB OF COURSE.SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING? WELL FIRST OFF, IM SURE YOU HAVE HEARD OF CORPORATIONS TALKING ABOUT GLOBALIZATION, SMAE SHOULD APPLY TO YOU IF YOU ARE AN ARTIST. THE REASSON THE JAYS, LIL WAYNES AND EMINEMS MAKE MONEY IS BACUSE THIER MARKET IS NOT CONFINED TO THIER HOOD AND CITY ONLY. ONCE YOU GET ON THE INTERNET EVERYONE IS A POTENTIAL CUSTOMER. EVEN MYSELF HAVE PURCHASED MUSIC EQUIPTMENT AND SOUNDS FROM SWEDEN!!!BUT YOU CAN NOT DO ANY E-COMMERCE WITHOUT A MEANS TO BUY AND SELL PERIOD. REACH STUFF SUCH AS CLICKBANK,PAYPAL,CCNOW ETC AND SEE WHICH ONES WORK BEST FOR YOU IN ORDER TO EXPAND YOUR REVENUE POTENTIAL.

5.PROMOTE YOURSELF, WHICH COMES IN THE SAME BREATHE AS INVESTING IN YOURSLEF. FLYERS,T-SHIRTS WITH ALBUM RELEASE DATES E.T.C WEBSITES,NEWSLETTERS TO FANS,TWITTER,MYSPACE. E.T.C. AGAIN THE BETTER YOUR PRODUCT IS PRESENTED THE BETTER CHANCE YOU HAVE AT PEOPLE TAKING YOU SERIOUSLY.RESEARCH HAVILY BECAUSE THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER OPTIONS TOO...

6.SETUP ON ONLINE MUSIC STORS, E.G CDBABY,AMAZON,MYSPACE, SOUNDCLICK,REVERBNATION ETC IN COLLABORATION WITH THE WEBSITE WHICH YOU HAVE SETUP BY THEN....

SO THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU NEED TO CONSIDER AND PUT INTO PRACTICE CAN GET YOU FURTHER THAN YOU WERE BEFORE YOU IMPLEMENTED THE PLANS.AGAIN WITH A BIG ENOUGH BUZZ, A CONTRACT WITH THE MAJORS IS NOT A DREAM, ITS ACTUALLY A POSSIBILITY.AGAIN NOONE BUT YOUSELF IS RESPONSIBLE FOR GETTING YOUR MUSIC TO THE MASSES AND GETTING YOUR INDY GAME UP IS UP TO YOU.FEEL FREE TO LEAVE COMMENTS AND ANY ADDITIONAL TIPS THAT YOU HAVE HAD SUCCESS WITH AS AN INDEPENDENT ARTIST.]]> Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:25:00 GMT CB7794C16DD715AD0246EB86F9925836 http://quietstormbeatz.com/ebooksandarticles.cfm?feature=1227395&postid=190401 Copyrights The first most important thing you want to do as an artists, is to make sure that your album is copyrightwritten especially if you are trying to sell the barcode version. This is fairly simple to do and doesn&rsquo;t cost much but is essential to protect your music as an artist. You can download the necessary forms from copyright.gov, fill them out and send them in with your album. There is only one time fee for sending in an album or group of songs. If, however you send songs in one at a time, there will be a fee for each submission. Mastering When releasing an album, one of the first things you have to do is prepare the audio especially if you are trying to get on the radio. Usually you&rsquo;ll want to have your tracks peaking at around -3 to -4 decibels. This gives whoever is mastering some room to compress and equalize your songs. Try and have your songs sounding as good as possible before mastering for the best results. Once you have the songs prepared, you&rsquo;ll need to find a mastering house to master them or you can find such people . This usually consists of compression, equalization, and silence between tracks. Mastering will give your album an overall louder sound and give all the tracks the same volume level. You can find some good mastering houses online. What you have to do usually is send your cd-r to them. Some even do free samples, so you can hear what the difference will be when finished. Artwork The artwork is in my opinion, the funnest part. You can do it yourself or hire someone for the job. If you like doing stuff yourself, I recommend you check out like istockphoto.com for some great royalty free photos. They only cost one to three dollars each and look great. Once you have the photos together, get a decent graphics program like Adobe Fireworks to edit them. Find out where you&rsquo;re sending your cd to be manufactured and check their artwork specifications. This will tell you the exact dimensions that the artwork needs to be. They&rsquo;ll usually also have templates that you can download and use to get them the exact size. Once the artwork is prepared, you&rsquo;re ready to send it off for manufacturing. The manufacturing part is quite easy if the prior steps have been taken. Once the album is done and in your hands, you&rsquo;re ready to start selling and promoting. Selling Well now that your album is done, the first thing to do now is get it for sale. Start out at CDBaby.com where it only costs 35 dollars to get going. CDBaby not only sells your cd at their online store, but can also get you set up at several download stores, like Apples iTunes and Napster, to name a few. Another thing that should be done is registration at ASCAP or BMI. These non-profits distribute royalties for radio play and other usage. If someone plays your song, the radio station tells BMI, and then BMI sends you a check quarterly. It&rsquo;s fairly simple to sign up and submit your songs for registration. Get those royalty checks coming in. Promotion Now the only thing you&rsquo;re missing is promotion which I shall cover in another article. But this is probably the hardest part and most time consuming part of the album process. Some simple promotion ideas are to sign up at websites like Soundclick, Myspace, Garageband, among many others and give away a song or two. You should also try books like The Indie Bible which lists hundreds of radio stations and other places that will play your music. There&rsquo;s also sites like MusicSubmit.com that will send your music to publicity outlets to get your name out there. Other than that, you&rsquo;ll have to get creative and look around. FEEL FREE TO LEAVE COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK AND ADD ON INFO IF U THINK WE MISSED SOMETHING... WWW.QUIETSTORMBEATZ.COM Copyrights
The first most important thing you want to do as an artists, is to make sure that your album is copyrightwritten especially if you are trying to sell the barcode version. This is fairly simple to do and doesn’t cost much but is essential to protect your music as an artist. You can download the necessary forms from copyright.gov, fill them out and send them in with your album. There is only one time fee for sending in an album or group of songs. If, however you send songs in one at a time, there will be a fee for each submission.

Mastering
When releasing an album, one of the first things you have to do is prepare the audio especially if you are trying to get on the radio. Usually you’ll want to have your tracks peaking at around -3 to -4 decibels. This gives whoever is mastering some room to compress and equalize your songs. Try and have your songs sounding as good as possible before mastering for the best results. Once you have the songs prepared, you’ll need to find a mastering house to master them or you can find such people . This usually consists of compression, equalization, and silence between tracks. Mastering will give your album an overall louder sound and give all the tracks the same volume level. You can find some good mastering houses online. What you have to do usually is send your cd-r to them. Some even do free samples, so you can hear what the difference will be when finished.

Artwork
The artwork is in my opinion, the funnest part. You can do it yourself or hire someone for the job. If you like doing stuff yourself, I recommend you check out like istockphoto.com for some great royalty free photos. They only cost one to three dollars each and look great. Once you have the photos together, get a decent graphics program like Adobe Fireworks to edit them. Find out where you’re sending your cd to be manufactured and check their artwork specifications. This will tell you the exact dimensions that the artwork needs to be. They’ll usually also have templates that you can download and use to get them the exact size. Once the artwork is prepared, you’re ready to send it off for manufacturing. The manufacturing part is quite easy if the prior steps have been taken. Once the album is done and in your hands, you’re ready to start selling and promoting.

Selling
Well now that your album is done, the first thing to do now is get it for sale. Start out at CDBaby.com where it only costs 35 dollars to get going. CDBaby not only sells your cd at their online store, but can also get you set up at several download stores, like Apples iTunes and Napster, to name a few.

Another thing that should be done is registration at ASCAP or BMI. These non-profits distribute royalties for radio play and other usage. If someone plays your song, the radio station tells BMI, and then BMI sends you a check quarterly. It’s fairly simple to sign up and submit your songs for registration. Get those royalty checks coming in.

Promotion
Now the only thing you’re missing is promotion which I shall cover in another article. But this is probably the hardest part and most time consuming part of the album process. Some simple promotion ideas are to sign up at websites like Soundclick, Myspace, Garageband, among many others and give away a song or two. You should also try books like The Indie Bible which lists hundreds of radio stations and other places that will play your music. There’s also sites like MusicSubmit.com that will send your music to publicity outlets to get your name out there. Other than that, you’ll have to get creative and look around.

FEEL FREE TO LEAVE COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK AND ADD ON INFO IF U THINK WE MISSED SOMETHING...
WWW.QUIETSTORMBEATZ.COM]]> Wed, 24 Feb 2010 07:35:00 GMT 6EC172A976F300A6C4A1E87263A41CFA