The internet is the number one promotional tool for any musician nowadays, we see new PR companies, Indie record labels, video promotion sites and “like my Facebook page and I will share your music.”
Young and upcoming musicians are vulnerable to this type of “SCAMS” yes I am sorry but I use this word with a strong passion, as there are too many of these so called blogger type reviewers, labels and promotion sites out there.
Here is some advice for the novice musician starting out
When checking out these sites ask around before getting involved or replying to any of them, by checking their Facebook and Twitter pages is a good place to start, scroll down to their very first posts, do your research, if you feel they are credible then go with the gut feeling. Ask other musicians about them or see what they have done for other acts in the past.
Competitions, these are the favorites for any upcoming band, first thing to look for is “How much” if there is a fee it is a “SCAM” nobody or no company has the right to charge money for entering a competition, they get sponsored and if they have no sponsors then they are not credible enough, stay away and beware.
Indie labels, this is the new craze in the unsigned music scene, some bands find it better to be attached with a label, well this is bull, you don’t need a label a label needs you. When a label contacts you, DO YOUR RESEARCH this is very important, there are so many bedroom start-up labels on the internet and they will only keep you from reaching your goal in music, I like to call these “Glory Labels” they just want to show off their goods to their Facebook and Twitter followers, what they should be doing is selling your product and getting you press and media attention, if they can’t do this move on or set your own label up. And sign nothing before you get it checked by a solicitor.
Bloggers, there are millions of these on the internet that want to review your music or interview you, well that is fine, but is it? Ask yourself do you want your music reviewed by an unqualified music journalist, why I say this is because most of the bloggers are just journalist or listen to music on a daily basis, check out the reviews they have done first before submitting anything. Then you got the people that just post shite, complete and utter crap about your sound, a review should be constructive, honest and come from their own opinions, not what everyone else is saying about your songs, if someone like this reviewed you without your consent, order it to be taken down.
PR, the golden goose for any band to have is good PR behind them, well I am going to burst your bubble on this, there are no free PR companies out there, none, if they say “We offer free PR” stay away this is the wrong circle of people to be involved with, PR does charge for their services because most of them are good and have contacts, like labels do your research on them before signing any contracts, remember they do charge and it is your hard earned money they will be using to PR your product and you.
If you would like to talk to us here at MRU about competitions, labels or bloggers, we would be delighted to help you out, we have been going seven years on the music scene so we do know quite a few out there on the world wide web.
