MattyJones
New member
You should just email Soundcloud and tell THEM that, Ace (lol). You posted this thread like it's some sort of "warning" to newbies, but it sounds to me like you just want to rant. So.....good luck in your endeavors, I guess.
Save Your $, Don't Pay Big Sites: ADVICE
- Thread starter acetheface954
- Start date
acetheface954
Active member
I did. In fact they came back and asked me for my opinion on their service but I never heard word back. My guess is they've become to integrated to keep up with small fish such as myself. Call it ranting or whatever. Its cool. Point is this. Don't pay for something unless you know what you will get in the end. This has nothing to do with newbies and everything to do with making sense and keeping cents.
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MattyJones
New member
Well good for you. Thanks for the advice.
acetheface954
Active member
sorry but I can't tell if that's sarcasm or whether you are actually being sincere.
crimsonhawk47
New member
Jesus Christ.
First of all, while I think Desire jumped the gun a bit, he's 100% right. BC's soundcloud profile provides further evidence of that.
There are 93242943242043042 youtubers posting tutorials about mixing and what not. They aren't doing this just because they want to be helpful or charitable (or even knowledgeable), they're doing it because it's free god damn promotion.
And I'll tell you that there are maybe two people in the world that got famous sitting in their bedroom making music. And they were hard at work promoting themselves too.
In fact, I think we need to dispel the overnight myth with any artist. If anyone can list an artist that did no work to promote themselves and just sat in their lair making music, please tell us about it because it SOUNDS FANTASTIC AND I WANT TO DO IT.
Everybody else is out doing shows, building a local base, working pubs. Electronic artists can do this too.
ReverbNation is BS by the way. Do not pay for ReverbNation to promote your stuff. First of all, who even knows if the stats they give back are true. Second of all, most of the people listening to music on reverb are OTHER Reverb artists. They will not be your long term fans, and that's what you are trying to build here.
Make your own website, because you need a space that is genuinely yours.
Use Soundcloud and Youtube if you want. I like what SlapHead said, those are great places to just throw up music in case you're talking to somebody (WHO BY THE WAY COULD BE A POTENTIAL FAN IF THEY HAVE EARS AND VEINS).
Promote yourself, talk to fans, do local shows whenever possible, make connections, make music.
Edit: Also, I can't imagine any use in paying to get your music on itunes right now. I know artists who have done that, and they had a much easier time working the shittiest venue that would pay them then selling music online.
First of all, while I think Desire jumped the gun a bit, he's 100% right. BC's soundcloud profile provides further evidence of that.
There are 93242943242043042 youtubers posting tutorials about mixing and what not. They aren't doing this just because they want to be helpful or charitable (or even knowledgeable), they're doing it because it's free god damn promotion.
And I'll tell you that there are maybe two people in the world that got famous sitting in their bedroom making music. And they were hard at work promoting themselves too.
In fact, I think we need to dispel the overnight myth with any artist. If anyone can list an artist that did no work to promote themselves and just sat in their lair making music, please tell us about it because it SOUNDS FANTASTIC AND I WANT TO DO IT.
Everybody else is out doing shows, building a local base, working pubs. Electronic artists can do this too.
ReverbNation is BS by the way. Do not pay for ReverbNation to promote your stuff. First of all, who even knows if the stats they give back are true. Second of all, most of the people listening to music on reverb are OTHER Reverb artists. They will not be your long term fans, and that's what you are trying to build here.
Make your own website, because you need a space that is genuinely yours.
Use Soundcloud and Youtube if you want. I like what SlapHead said, those are great places to just throw up music in case you're talking to somebody (WHO BY THE WAY COULD BE A POTENTIAL FAN IF THEY HAVE EARS AND VEINS).
Promote yourself, talk to fans, do local shows whenever possible, make connections, make music.
Edit: Also, I can't imagine any use in paying to get your music on itunes right now. I know artists who have done that, and they had a much easier time working the shittiest venue that would pay them then selling music online.
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crimsonhawk47
New member
As long as I'm here, I'm going to show one more thing
https://soundcloud.com/aj4evers
This is Aj Evers.
Aj Evers is a rapper very close to where I live.
I don't like AJ's music. I don't think he's that good. That's just my opinion, but let everyone here draw their own conclusions.
https://soundcloud.com/sodeytherapper
This is a rapper who went to my high school. He started doing shows under AJ. Personally, I think Sodey is better than AJ, but that's not the point.
All AJ and Sodey were doing when we were in high school was doing open mics at 20 person venues and every once in a while doing a paid gig. They were handing out CD's, talking to other performers, inviting kids from school. And guess what? Now I'm posting AJ's stuff on this forum and I don't even like it.
Notice that both these kids have more followers than Bandcoach, a music guru who is the biggest contributor on this site. AND sodey actually has two sound clouds. https://soundcloud.com/jsodey
Now it's true that BC has more plays, but I personally think followers are more important.
We all want to make good music, right? We all went to get better and make great music. But honestly, we need to start looking at how much of it is talent and how much of it is just raw effort.
It's the same thing with stand-up comedy. It's really not about being funny. You better pray you're at least funny. It's about desire. It can take a decade before you're even considered good at stand up comedy. It may take years and years of boos and forced laughs before you get to a good place. Very few comedians have bypassed that process.
Hopsin (who is a great person to study when you talk about marketing your own music) said, with regards to signing people to his funk volume label, it doesn't matter how good they are. It doesn't matter if they are the next big emcee or if their lines are just insane. What matters is whether or not they are building something. If they have talent and that's it, they are just going to slow the team down.
You need to approach music like stand up comedy. You need to approach marketing like you are a product. I see nothing unique in Sodey's music right now, and maybe that will change, but I've watched this kid since he was 14 and he has ****ing desire. He is going to be something for sure. AJ too.
So how much of this business is effort and how much is talent? I am positive that an amazing producer doing nothing to market himself will fail and a shit producer doing everything to market himself will succeed.
I don't know what the percentage would be, but let's think about it. 50% talent, 50% effort? 40-60? I would go as far to say that it's 15-85.
Everybody reading this, DO NOT spend your life in a bedroom making music for 20 people, and then falling asleep to AJ Evers performing on MTV.
https://soundcloud.com/aj4evers
This is Aj Evers.
Aj Evers is a rapper very close to where I live.
I don't like AJ's music. I don't think he's that good. That's just my opinion, but let everyone here draw their own conclusions.
https://soundcloud.com/sodeytherapper
This is a rapper who went to my high school. He started doing shows under AJ. Personally, I think Sodey is better than AJ, but that's not the point.
All AJ and Sodey were doing when we were in high school was doing open mics at 20 person venues and every once in a while doing a paid gig. They were handing out CD's, talking to other performers, inviting kids from school. And guess what? Now I'm posting AJ's stuff on this forum and I don't even like it.
Notice that both these kids have more followers than Bandcoach, a music guru who is the biggest contributor on this site. AND sodey actually has two sound clouds. https://soundcloud.com/jsodey
Now it's true that BC has more plays, but I personally think followers are more important.
We all want to make good music, right? We all went to get better and make great music. But honestly, we need to start looking at how much of it is talent and how much of it is just raw effort.
It's the same thing with stand-up comedy. It's really not about being funny. You better pray you're at least funny. It's about desire. It can take a decade before you're even considered good at stand up comedy. It may take years and years of boos and forced laughs before you get to a good place. Very few comedians have bypassed that process.
Hopsin (who is a great person to study when you talk about marketing your own music) said, with regards to signing people to his funk volume label, it doesn't matter how good they are. It doesn't matter if they are the next big emcee or if their lines are just insane. What matters is whether or not they are building something. If they have talent and that's it, they are just going to slow the team down.
You need to approach music like stand up comedy. You need to approach marketing like you are a product. I see nothing unique in Sodey's music right now, and maybe that will change, but I've watched this kid since he was 14 and he has ****ing desire. He is going to be something for sure. AJ too.
So how much of this business is effort and how much is talent? I am positive that an amazing producer doing nothing to market himself will fail and a shit producer doing everything to market himself will succeed.
I don't know what the percentage would be, but let's think about it. 50% talent, 50% effort? 40-60? I would go as far to say that it's 15-85.
Everybody reading this, DO NOT spend your life in a bedroom making music for 20 people, and then falling asleep to AJ Evers performing on MTV.
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Desire Inspires
New member
Now you're learning!
bandcoach
Zukatoku - Mod Scientist
success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration so said Thomas Alva Edison
Edison was yet another shameless self-promoter who thought "cooking" elephants (he set up one demonstration where they put a rogue elephant to the electric "chair") with the cheaper to distribute (and therefore cheaper to use) ac current would deter people from choosing it over his preferred and much more expensive dc transmission scheme
- economics (whether domestic or national), was a more powerful argument than he could muster on this one, though
Edison was yet another shameless self-promoter who thought "cooking" elephants (he set up one demonstration where they put a rogue elephant to the electric "chair") with the cheaper to distribute (and therefore cheaper to use) ac current would deter people from choosing it over his preferred and much more expensive dc transmission scheme
- economics (whether domestic or national), was a more powerful argument than he could muster on this one, though
crimsonhawk47
New member
And the thing is if you do put in that grind, all those artists not working towards it don't even factor as competition. Things start to seem a lot more feasible.
Desire Inspires
New member
You now have over 170 plays on Soundcloud. I am helping you to make a name for yourself!!! Your beat is still in my signature!!!