Posts tagged musicians
An interview with Solo Indie Song Writer Nathaniel Sutton
May 17th
It began with the inspiration of many talented artists such as Neil Young, Tragically Hip, and even Foo Fighters. Nathaniel Sutton decided to make a name for himself by becoming a solo indie singer/songwriter. He started out by recording lo fi songs on his moms computer, Although good to start out with, Nathaniel eventually decided that he would need more than his “mom’s computer” if he wanted to record the sound he thrived for.
Any music achievements?
I would have to say that my achievements are releasing two albums entitled Dramatic Scene and Starlite. I am currently recording my third album which will be my self-titled album recorded at Zounds of Sounds studios in Edmonton AB Canada.
Who is your favorite upcoming artist?
I really enjoy The Shakedowns (www.myspace.com/theshakedownsband)
Do you think there is enough opportunities to get exposure?
There are plenty of opportunities available to those who are in need. It all depends on how much time and money you are willing to spend on gaining exposure. In the end, playing gigs is definitely the best source of promotion.
How do you generally promote your Band?
Any opportunity which becomes available I usually take part. I have used promotional tactics such as advertising in magazines and gathering reviews from various blogs and websites. Every little bit definitely helps!
Do you struggle to pull in people through the doors at gigs?
For the most part, it’s quite difficult to maintain a promising outcome at different gigs. Weekdays are especially difficult as weekends become easier to create a pull through the doors.
Do you think social networking is useful to Promoting your Music?
Definitely, the music industry revolves much upon who you know. Booking agents, record labels, and musicians are all important people to be communicating with in this business.
Nathaniel Sutton is currently working with Oak Apple Records (oakapplerecords.com) and you can purchase
CD’s and other merchandise on my website (Nathanielsutton.com)
Want to warm up the crowd for Eric Clapton and Mark Knopfler infront of thousands of people?
May 6th
I’m guessing you would? Luckily LG are offering a fantastic opportunity to warm up the audience before headline acts such as Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Steve Winwood and John Mayer take to the stage. The selected winners will have the opportunity to play their stuff in the forumLive, the Arena’s fantastic Pre/Post show entertainment space that can hold upto 6000 people and on a full house concert has traffic of more than 15000 people. The first Event on the 18th of May will see Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton followed by Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits on the 23rd of May and ending finally with the international superstar that is John Mayer on the 24th of May.
For more information and to enter please check out http://www.lgblog.co.uk/2010/04/5983/
Unsigned Talent Discovered at The Gadget Show Live
Apr 21st
Last week, The Gadget Show LIVE took place at the NEC in Birmingham, where the exhibit stand of international technology leader AVID and Rockhopper Studios, came away having discovered some very interesting musical talent.
At the AVID stand, up ‘n’ coming bands, singers, and songwriters boarded the Rockhopper 1960’s airstream caravan to record a track and video. The Rockhopper studio is powered on AVID Pro Tools – a professional software system used in top studios all over the World.
The result of the show was the discovery of four excellent bands: The Hold Up, Tom Dibbs, This Eden and A bit Too Far.
One of these lucky bands now has the chance to win a Rockhopper four song EP package, and two AVID software packages; Pro Tools Recording Studio and Pinnacle Studio HD.
All they need is your vote. Which band do you think cuts the mustard? Place your vote now http://j.mp/AvidComp
Voting closes Wednesday 28th April at midnight. Winner will be announced on Thursday 29th April.
If you’re an unsigned band or just someone with a penchant for singing, keep an eye on Rockhopper’s Talent Tour schedule as you too could get the chance to take part in this amazing experience thetalenttour.co.uk
An Interview with SkyRocket Love – Upcoming Unsigned Band
Mar 12th
Sky Rocket Love
What Rock Links thinks of SkyRocket Love
SkyRocket Love seem to be the first american Band not to sound like an american Band, which to us is a breath of fresh Atlantic air! They seem to have some good solid song structures, catchy rhythms and use backing vocals very effectively. In a nutshell we like!
How did the Band first get together?
Merritt: I’m from Iowa City, Iowa. Jeremy is from Tampa, Florida. We met out in Los Angeles through a mutual friend and hit it off right away. We both liked a lot of the same stuff and we could each do stuff that the other one couldn’t so it quickly became clear that we should work together.
Jeremy: In life and in music we both understood things in different lights but still seemed to find a common ground which summed up to the same conclusion, “we should work together”. This ultimately led to the formation of Skyrocket Love.
What makes you different to other Bands?
Merritt: We care as much as anyone could. We pour everything into the music, we answer every email or message from a fan, and with the help of a few people who are sticking up for us – we do everything ourselves.
Jeremy: We bring something that hasn’t been seen for a very long time. I’ll sure try to make it that way, at least.
Do you think there is enough opportunities for Bands to get noticed?
Merritt: There are more opportunities, but there better be, because there are more bands than ever right now. The barriers to entry to have come way down; anyone can record their own music now and distribute it online. Now, it’s just a matter of distinguishing yourself in this sea of content.
Jeremy: I think there are a lot of opportunities to get noticed for us, even though the industry is so saturated now. If you bring something new and unique to the table and you have a good following, then someone’s going to notice you sooner or later.
What are your views on the current Music scene?
Merritt: The label system has been the mechanism that has connected bands to the capital they need to promote with, and since the label system is in dissaray, they’re left to fend for themselves. Most people in bands are artists, not promoters so its obviously tough. It’s going to be a rough transitional period, but as the sorting mechanisms get better on the internet, I think what will emerge is a system that will be much more fair and democratic.
Jeremy: It’s even more difficult now than it used to be for any artist or band to make it. I think a lot of bands today struggle with just being themselves and being original since it’s all been done before. Plus, people can promote themselves online and get signed just from that. On the other hand, there are some positive things about all the internet self promotion that we can use to our advantage.
Do you prefer buying CD’s to Downloads? Explain why
Merritt: I’d rather download it so It’s already on my computer. It just removes a step from the process and makes it easier to listen. CD’s are pretty much functionally dead. They’ll still have value because of the insert, the artwork and the physical connection you can have to the music, but it will more and more become only something that is sought after by fans and collectors, not casual listeners. I still do buy my favorite bands’ CDs.
Jeremy: Downloading is usually more convenient and saves time. I’d still buy a cd that was worth it, though.
How did you get your first booking for a gig?
Merritt: We’ve had to do a lot of it on our own, but we’ve also been fortunate to have a really strong group of people around helping and advising us. Every show we’ve played have been either booked by us or by friends of the band.
Jeremy: Most of it has been on our own and with our amazingly supportive friends and fans.
Do you have a favourite Unsigned Band?
Merritt: The Capitals have this song, “A Spectre Is Haunting” that is really good. http://www.thesixtyone.com/#/s/CwaEAp9X3c4/
Do you use social networking to promote your Band?
Merritt: Definitely. The social networks have given people a chance to quickly and easily share the music that they’re listening to.
Jeremy: Yes, that’s a huge part of our marketing that we use. We’ve developed relationships with our fans this way
To find out more about SkyRocket Love visit http://www.skyrocketlove.com or http://www.myspace.com/skyrocketlove
41 ways to promote your Music or Band
Mar 9th
1) Make sure people have resources available to find out more about you. Websites, Myspace, Facebook and Twitter
2) Make sure people can easily find out how to find those resources.
3) Word of Mouth is best the form of promotion! Give them something to talk about
4) Get involved with your local Music scene. Go along to local Gigs, see other Bands, get to know promoters and network.
5) Get some Business Cards printed, vistaprint.com offer 250 for free!
Please note, Rock Links is a free resource and we don’t offer any form of membership. Please show your support for Rock Links by taking the time to check out our below sponsors. Article Continued below Video.
6) Brand your Music, get an eye catching logo designed.
7) Set up a mailing list, notifylist.com, aardvarkmailinglist.net, yourmailinglistprovider.com, freelists.org
8 Set up a Blog wordpress.com www.blogger.com and write about your Music, other Music anything that will pull in readers. Make sure you write about well known artists similar to your Music style, by doing this you will attract fans for that artist and will then be able to market your Music to those fans.
9) Get involved in Music sites, forums and internet radio. There are hundreds of Music sites available and some of them only concentrate on certain music styles. Target the small ones and they will love to have you onboard, then the big sites will follow suit. Music forums are also brilliant for promoting music, include your website links in your signature and your traffic will grow.
10) Keep your fans updated. Read my article on how to do this easily
11) Start a video advertising campaign, upload videos to youtube.com, vimeo.com and www.muzu.tv. Ideally you want to upload music videos, if you don’t have one then create video blogs talking about your music or reviewing other artists that are similar to you. For example if your Music sounds a lot like The Beatles then review The Beatles or make a video which has a connection with the Beatles. Include your website details at the end of the video and in the Descriptions and Tags that go along with the video. This way whenever someone searches for the beatles, your video has a chance of appearing and interest will lead them to your site. Another handy tip is to also have your username as your domain name. For example my username on youtube is rocklinkscouk.
12) Get more Twitter followers, the average rule with twitter is the more people your follow the more followers you get back. Tweetadder.com is a really cool tool to automate the process of following people, not only that you can also target certain twitter members by interests and location. For example a keyword could be Music, and a location Portsmouth, tweet adder will then find users in Portsmouth who have the keywords music in their profile. Now you should be able to see the awesome power of this tool!
13) Add a Twitter widget to your Website or Myspace. Login to your Twitter account and click on Gadgets at the bottom.
14) Create a page on Facebook so people can be come a fan. Invite all your friends to become a fan.
15) Add a Facebook Page widget to your website, so your website users can become a fan.
16) Be social on your social networks
17) Start a local magazine? Like our good friend Nick J Townsend did
18) By a shed load of custom printed t-shirts and give them out for free. When everyone turns up at your gig in the same t-shirt it really attracts attention. I know for a fact this works as I have done this on a number of occasions.
19) Appear on Videos and TV, a prime time slot on itv3 might be hard to come by but not impossible (there are loads of big name acts who have been discovered this way). If your not lucky enough to get these opportunities then create your own, send emails to film organizations, art councils and anyone involved with film. You can also attract attention by contacting small film companies and another good idea is to contact extreme sports style websites who create sports videos.
20) Create a lens (a page) at squidoo.com it really does create a wealth of traffic for your site
Please note, Rock Links is a free resource and we don’t offer any form of membership. Please show your support for Rock Links by taking the time to check out our below sponsors. Article Continued below Video
21) Create a decent Press Release, I personally feel press packs have become extinct. If someone is seriously interested in working with your Music the first place they will go is your myspace or website.
22) Contact Newspapers and Magazines
23) Offer freebies everyone loves Badges and Stickers!
24) Get out on the streets and talk to people about your Music, invite them to you upcoming Gigs.
25) Contact Radio stations, radio is a massive asset to promoting Music. Luckily there is a lot of National and Local Radio stations opening their doors to unknown Artists. Use this to your full advantage.
26) Get involved with a charity. By scratching their back they will also scratch yours.
27) Create an account at eventful.com
28) Start a text service, like the t-mobile advert or using a service such as txtlocal.com
29) Make people feel apart of what your doing, you should make time for everyone who comes along to your gigs.
30) Contact build, it’s what makes the Music Industry work.
31) Start a facebook event for every gig. This has always been successful for my own gigs you can also persuade other people to invite their friends. Make sure you do periodic status updates reminding people of the gig.
32) Go round local Music Shops, get to know the staff and ask if you can leave some promo gear in the shop. I find a lot of music shops actively try to promote the local music scene.
33) Create a Last.fm account!
34) Start podcasting, they weirdly attract a lot of attention.
35) Pay a professional photographer to take some snaps of you.
36) Get your Music reviewed
37) Get Interviewed
38) Place carefully positioned Posters around your local area, cafes, bars, clubs, venues ect
39) Flyers are handy when used effectively. I wouldn’t suggest handing them out willy nilly. Use them to your advantage at Gigs, leave them on tables, at the bar, hand them to people as they leave a venue. If your Band is playing that night then great, if someone likes your music they will more than likely pick up a flyer and keep hold of it.
40) Get involved with local Music sites
41) Leave a comment below with a link to your website. If you have another method of Promoting Music that I haven’t mentioned above then please add it below.
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Promote and Market your Music easily with RSS Feeds
Mar 8th
I recently made a video tutorial showing Musicians how you can use RSS Feeds to effectively Market and Promote your Music, the video is below.
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Finding Investment for your Music – Endorsements, Music Grants and More
Mar 5th
I have just uploaded a Lens at squidoo.com about finding Investment for your Music. I talk about the various options available to funding your Music Career. To check it out please visit Music Investments Article
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