/mu/ how does one actually go about getting some attention on a project without throwing down big bucks for features or ads? Is shilling on bandcamp/soundcloud threads really the most hope? We're tryna get some buzz around our music/clothing brand (pic related) but seem to be lost in the ether and cant afford any fancy promotion.
Connections. You need to play a ton of gigs.
Also, image is far more important than talent. Make sure you have a frontman with a persona of some sort. Also make sure to hire a graphic designer for every release, as cover art is how things sell, not the actual music.
Remember, if you want to be big, you have to be a brand, not a band.
>>63407287
How does fags like Autechre sell a lot of records when their aesthetics are default and autistic as fuck?
>plain colour cover
>badly painted circle
>another plain colour cover
>a fucking ae
>qr-like squares
>badly spaced words
Or is that because of the connections?
>>63407287
We havent been able to do any gigs but we got the frontman with the persona and a whole brand around our stuff. We design, and produce all our stuff too.
>>63407448
They got signed to Warp pretty early on. Labels aren't as big of a deal now but at the time, Warp was the shit.
>>63407448
it works with the kind of music they produce
You could start by gitting gud
Here's my basic rubric for getting popular, I've studied the rise of various indie groups for a while now.
Move to a densely populated place like the east coast or the west coast of the US. Basically you want to be able to travel around a lot and play a lot of shows without going on a real "tour". If you live on the east coast you can hit a bunch of cities, just look at how close they are on a map.
Eventually if you play the right venues, some guy from a blog or pitchfork or something will see you play and if you play well he'll give you exposure on his website. This is like the equivalent of getting a record deal back in the day.
Once you get that initial exposure just keep pursuing the next one. It should get easier once you get noticed since you can get better gigs. Better gigs means more connected ppl in the audience means more exposure.
Of course you should also record albums and stuff but just put those online for free, it doesn't really matter. Once you're well known you can record a "real" album in a nice studio and whatnot.
>>63407955
Got that down
>>63407962
This is what we're working on now. We have a great home studio already all were really missing is to start doing the live shows to get exposure. Im confident with the combination of our clothing brand, graphic novel, and music after we get a bit of exposure we can get this snowball rollin
>>63408231
Yeah man, it's not easy, but I feel like it's easier now than it was in the past at least. And even if you don't become world-famous, hopefully you can at least get your own little niche of fans and then gradually expand from there.
The hard part I think is getting good gigs. I'm not sure how to do it, but I'd probably try making friends with musicians. Musicians are pretty chill though and you can always talk about music and stuff so it's not hard to make friends with them, and then make friends with their friends, and so on.
>>63408459
We've been in contact with someone who's trying to get us a show or two so hopefully that goes well.
The thing that im still so lost with is how the hell to get any blogs or magazines to throw us a bone with an article or something. I see all the upcoming hip hop artists articles but don't get how the artists get the blogger or magazine to write about them. Im assuming the artists have some manager/agent who can make calls and get them on a list here and there
Yeah, they have publicists who spam the shit out of every critic constantly. You can spam some critics yourself if you feel like it. Some of them have a more democratic approach and will still listen to your stuff even if it's not from a publicist. Other ones probably won't. Some people even try to make up fake publicists to use. I think Odd Future did that to get started.
>>63408776
What do you mean by making fake publicists?
>>63408883
Well in the case of Odd Future they created a fake website, fake email, fake name, and sent out an email that probably read something like
Hey <critic name> check out this HOT NEW ARTIST coming out of LA...it's ODD FUTURE blah blah blah
check the vid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKSCueXejjo
>>63409097
Wow that's pretty smart. Wouldnt it be more effective of i use my actual email/website (notjesus.org) and reach out as the manager of the rapper (which i actually am)? Or is the idea to come off as some ultra professional company that is working for multiple artists?
>>63409335
Yeah I mean you could do it either way. I guess if you already have a website it's pretty much the same thing. Just portray yourself as like being totally similar to the other publicists that they get emails from, that way you'll blend in and not seem like an amateur. As for what those emails actually look like, i'm not totally sure, maybe you can find some examples online of emails from "powerful" publicists or something.
>>63409438
Ok, thanks a ton anon. Ill look around for ideas on what the emails should look like. Im considering sending one to pigeonsandplanes, the fader, and 2dopeboyz. Any others you think i should consider?
>>63409859
I'm not sure, I haven't really kept up with blogs lately. If you don't have success with the bigger name ones try hitting up smaller ones, and especially ones that are local to your area. Idk what those smaller ones are. Shouldn't be too hard to find though.
