Ready to send demos - Now What?

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T-MAC

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So I have some things that I think are ready to be sent out. But I don't know one thing about how to do this. I've been doing beats for a while now but came from an electronic music background where labels and artists are extremely accessible; you finish a few tunes you think are up to par and you can easily hit someone at any label you want off over AIM, or even slip them to a DJ at a gig.

BUT now this. I have no idea how to start what could be the hardest part about producing ... networking.

What are the standards on sending beats out? Are there any?
Who would be the best people to contact? I know I have a long hard road ahead of me and I gotta get on my sh*t especially stepping my research game up - figuring out A&Rs and their assistants and their assistant's assistant at every label. But what about the Artists? Do dudes send things to their managers, agents, all of that? I dont know two things about this and I'm sure a few people on here can shed some light. I've sold a few beats before to some neighborhood cats (im in NY) for very little money and it was mad easy... but what about to someone bigger?

Should the beat be verse-ready? Should I take them to a mastering house? What about watermarking?

And also what about hitting people off online? I am kind of opposed to it because of the millions of people doing the same thing online - I wanted to take the oldskool route since I'm in the same city as a lot of these aritsts, labels, agents etc... and hit them off with a CD... but is that pointless?

I feel mad overwhelmed with this and its kind of like I have an idea on what I have to do but don't know where to start.

Anyone on here get placement with a known artist or anything like that care to shed some light on how you went about it?

Thanks
 
networking is nothing special, well it is, but it's nothing unusual. networking is just socializing. just have fun and make friends. engage people with conversations and build a relationship and let things grow organically.

now deal with people at or around your level, what ever that is. if you are just starting out, don't try to engage the top people at first. For instance, I can engage A&Rs and their bosses, but if I try to engage a guy like Edgar Bronfman (formerly CEO of Seagram and vice-chairman of Vivendi Universal, has been CEO of Warner Music Group since 2004) I'm going to look crazy, not to mention I don't hace access to him. Engage people you can access.

there is no assistant of an assistant of an A&R. lol, never heard of one. hell half the A&Rs I know don't have assistants. the easiest way to engage them is in person through mutual friends. but if this is not a possibility, then hit them up on Twitter or in person at events. just be respectful. and don't expect them to do anything for you, they don't work for you, they work for the company. so if they do anything, consider it a favor, and respect it accordingly. An A&R's job is not to give feedback, don't ask them for feedback. their job is to find money for their employer.

now when you send beats make sure it is mixed properly, ie professionally if you can't do it right. mastering is not necessary, but make sure the mix is great!

verse ready? what does that mean?

make sure the beat is complete, hook, verse, bridge etc.

watermarking is a bad idea. in the beginning it is cool. but having watermarks through out the beat is a good way to make sure you don't get a call back. artist usually 2track a beat before they get interested, it's kinda like test driving. this is a normal practice. just make sure you copyright you work. at this stage, the PA is all you need. at this stage the SR is a waste of time and money.

online is cool, but only to engage the person.it's a good way to meet people.

selling beats online is not a great idea, it's a cool hustle. but I would only do it with a throw away beat.

it never hurts to give a cd to a person. just limit the tracks on it, 5 or so is good, more than that is unnecessary. if they don't like the first few, they are not going to listen to any more. but if they like what they hear, they'll hit you up.

make sure you contact info is on it (name, number, and email) myspace is not email, nobody wants to go to myspace to contact you. and email is the easiest and safest way.

but keep in mind this is a relationship business. people rather deal with their friends than anybody else. so just make friends. treat them like everybody else, just be respectful
 
Thanks for the reply man... i really appreciate . Especially the part about me linking with people on my level. I need to hear that every so often. Sometimes i forget this **** is a chess match , not checkers. Good looks on the reply
 
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