***How To Get A Placement***

Interesting thread... There is no one way to skin a cat...

the original poster had some great stuff to say, and much of what i read was a good scenario, true to majority of the happenings of the industry, except to say that everything is negotiable when you know your worth.

All I can add is that, relationships are NECESSARY. Develop more than beat making/programming skills. Collaborate, and Submit!! Out of sight is out of mind!! stay visible, stay working! One hit is NOT all it takes! keep making records. imitate to innovate. Read "48 laws of power" to deal with people, "This Is Your Brain on Music" to deal with creativity and "the box" that you're supposed to be thinking outside of. Read "All you need to know about the music business" to understand the business and know what to expect. Pull EVERY CARD!!! if they say they can, then make em do it.

there is no one formula, of that i'm sure.
 
Man you couldn't say it better Sticky. basically you have to get out to those festivals, music events, concerts and talent scouting set ups. thats a easier way to set up your blue print.
 
Basicly you need placements by more or less known Musicians to get a name out there. I dont believe that all this selling beats over the Internet is working for the majority of Producers.
 
Definitely feelin' this. I've always thought it was important to really get yourself out there in person instead of just sitting behind a computer screen whining about why you aren't getting placements.
 
Mev_The_Producer said:
scenario:
[yes this is 1 of my situations]

your boy tells u he knows this dude that raps- he met him at the HipHop Soda Shop and came to find out that he helps run it - they chilled for a good portion of the night and he mentioned your name 2 em and go his email address. the next day he sent over a few tracks you had sent 2 him 2 get some feed back on.

the guy replies, going nuts over the tracks your boy sent. he says he wants to use them for a mixtape hes doing. being kind of skeptical your boy calls u up the next day and tells you situation.

your put in a position to where you gotta decide should i take the risk?

after a week of thinking it over you decide to let him use the tracks for his project knowing that it wont generate any revenue for you but in turn create a buzz and demand for your product.

the mixtape drops and was a datpiff featured release for the time being. the aritst did a few shows and perfomed some songs from the mixtape. eventually people started to take notice. they wanted to know where his production came from. you had like 6 tracks on the mixtape so your beats created the sound for the CD.

next thing you know you have other artists emailing you and giving you calls inquring about your music.

1 year later after the above mentioned situation happens the same artist you worked with initially gets signed to a label based in California and 1 artist you worked with because of him was promoted to be the president of the record label. go figure.

so now you do songs with the two of them and you get some pretty good $ considering you gave away beats in the first place.

its all about picking your battles. work smart not hard.
Click to expand...

This is on point...
 
Robot Sunset said:
It was like porn. Lol someone should write another scenario.
Click to expand...

This one is old but gold. Picked it up as a reply to a guy claiming he was on the brink of success; releasing his album:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You will sell 10 and a few digital downloads. You begin to wonder if it's something you did wrong. You realize that your album isn't even available at the major torrent trackers. You upload it yourself. No one else leaches it except the guy who mistakenly thought it was a collection of a-cappella renderings and medieval arrangement of old Los Lobos hits.

You make a YouTube video with something funny but somehow it doesn't go viral. You try to do the whole ensemble piece with one citar and post it as a reply to the Walk of the Earth video. No one gives a crap but you get 100,000 hits and a few comments about penis enlargement. One of the comments will trigger your next album: "this is genius. Unfortunately all people wanna listen is crap -- Bud".

You decide that the next album will feature stunning arrangements and some innovations like the sampled spanked nuns recorded at Abbey Road. You hire an Internet publicist who will spam the hell out of a Facebook like someone once did calling you the next Brian Wilson. People that never heard of you who hired the same publicist will receive daily emails of your activities including one which is an iPhone photo labeled "recording a track with my vintage Samick". Someone answers you that Toka'si Les Paul sound better than Gibson's despite never having played a Gibson. Nor do you play guitar. You think you recognize the tone of that reply out of something read in Gearslutz.

Your landlord says you need to pay the rent and stop those cat skinnings you do when everybody else is out to work. You move your CD to CDBaby's $5 specials. You still don't sell any more copies. You'll send a message to your Facebook fans that for a a whole week they can download your album for free in mp3 format. You remind them every single day during that week. In the end, 6 of them downloaded it. You develop writer's block as a way to avoid facing your own failure. You go on a trip.

You decide to purchase the latest digital gizmo that not only can reproduce every amp out there as it can autotune notes when you bend the strings a tad too much - now, that's quality. You decide that the problem is canned drums so you buy yourself a kit and a lot of mics. It sounds worse than EzDrummer. You sell your car and hire Chad Cromwell to lay some tracks for you. He did them in one pass and recorded the drums for the whole album in two hours. You're broke.

You come to Gearslutz and try to find someone to mix your album for you for free knowing that the drums are amazing. A lot of folks answer you. Every mix is worse than just letting the raw tracks play with faders at 0dB. You start to think there's something wrong with the industry. It's that bloody Internet thing where everybody steals everything. You know that you could have made it if only John Hammond was still around to give you an audition. You ask Pitchfork why haven't they reviewed your album and they answer something about the dangers of UPSing stuff.

Your wife doesn't take it anymore. You are left alone with a scotch bottle and a gun for a friend. You take that job flipping burgers. You meet a terrific bass player who stopped playing for the same reason you did. He isn't that great flipping burgers but has that Jaco induced touch without ever smashing the bass. You start to play with him in cafe houses. Audiences don't really care but aren't rude anyway. You become a better player. And a better entertainer. People laugh when you tell a scripted joke. You found appreciation. You're invited to play in a band some Saturday nights just for fun. Boy, that Chuck Berry knew how to groove. You enjoy playing.

You think about recording again. And you do it. You will sell 10 and a few digital downloads. You begin to wonder if it's something you did wrong.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top