Getting your music heard.

If you are like me (and I assume that you are if you have come to visit this blog) you have a knack for writing, performing, and recording your own original music. I have tried to explain how much I enjoy chipping away at a riff, or a melody that plays itself in my head, over and over until it gets recorded. Slowly but Shirley, as we layer sound texture on top of sound texture a song takes shape. Using our signature tricks and tones, we craft our masterpieces to be uniquely and unmistakably our own.

I have recently felt “a calling”. I decided to get real and put a fair amount of skill and most of my time into recording an albums worth of material. I have had the songs outlined, and roughed out on ProTools, but they needed so much more. There were solos to get just right, bass lines to smarten up, and lots and lots of drum fills to score. This would be a journey, and I had made the decision to set off.

I had a burning passion to get this music out from deep within, and into a format that I could share with the rest of the world. Days soon turned into months. People wondered where I had gone. I have been working day in and day out, almost to access. But it wasn’t like work at all, but an obsession.

Well, now the end is near. Often times I find myself tweaking this or that little effect, or adding a little EQ on this or that, but for the most part the collection is finished. Twelve or thirteen songs are now in the mp3 format, and ready for the next stage of their existence. It is true that most of these songs have no vocals, but I plan on recruiting some help on that front. I lack the ability to sing well, but singing is a large part of a song. How else does one get their ideas or emotions out to the listener? However, the songs are good, rather good I think, in quality and in originality.

Here is the problem.

What do I now do with the songs? Have you ever come across this problem at this point in the game? I was so focused on getting the songs recorded to the best of my ability that I didn’t even think about what I would do with them at the conclusion of the recording process.

I have had my music played on the radio. I can’t describe to you the joy that it brought me to hear my work over the air waves. That was really a cool time. I have also uploaded some of my older material to several different indie music sites, with little to no excitement. Granted, the quality of those songs is not as good as the ones that I have recently finished, but the idea of the songs got across.

Basically what I am getting at here is “where do we turn in order to obtain some much needed feedback”, and dare I say, “Where do we head to as we seek professional listeners”?

This is a time like no other in history. I know that we all have the ability to get ourselves heard by masses and masses of people, via the internet. One only need look to the web to witness the inspiring overnight success stories that have come to see the light of day. How can we forget the infamous YouTube favorite “Chocolate Rain”? This is only one example in a long line.

One common problem that I have is that after visiting only three or four indie bands MySpace and Face Book page visits, I have heard enough. I wonder, “Would another person find me in this same way?” The answer must be “Probably not”.

My music is in demo quality. “Demo quality” has come to mean quality, by the way. Moby, like so many others, have not only written but also have recorded their music in bedroom studios. With all of the computer software and awesome DAW’s available to anyone with a modest income to spend, one only need put in the time in order to get a good sounding song.

However, “Demo quality” is not radio ready, not by a long shot. I feel that I should offer up the truth that I wish to sell my songs, not my performances. It is getting the right people to listen to my material that I am seeking advice on.


The solution.

What I have planned is nothing short of a full-on assault on the music industry, using some of the many methods that we all have available to us. Go ahead right now and bookmark this site or subscribe to this blog, and follow along with me on my journey. I will detail each and every effort that I make, detail what is involved in the steps that I take, and I will detail what I find out from taking the steps that I will take. If you want to learn how to get your music heard, than you will want to follow this blog.

If you are in the same musical place that I am, than you should be subscribing right now! By following along you will find out what works and what does not. I will share with you my best ideas, and also the many bad ideas. I will share the costs of these ventures, the results, and the many different methods that I will use to get my music heard and to get my name out there. Won’t you join me?