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Making Music: How to get Published

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Wanderer

Wandering through life
So, you've spent the last few years producing tracks in your bedroom studio and you're finally ready to take the plunge and start sending them out to labels and distributors...

Who do you go to? How do you present your tracks and how many should you send?

If anyone has any suggestions, post them on this thread!

Personally I'm going to start sending off my psytrance tracks this week. I expect that out of ten labels, maybe one might respond. Even if they respond with criticism, it'll be worth it.

Some labels I'll send my tracks to:

Twisted
T.I.P. Records
Etnica
Nano Records
BME

A friend of mine also suggested sending things out to distributors like

Amato
Tunned

So how's about the rest of you guys... where do you send you masterpieces once they're finished and what sort of responses do you tend to get?

Any suggestions?
 
I'm not good enough or confident enough to send my tunes out to record companies.
Good luck to you though.
 
Oh and I would think that sending some of your stuff to advertising companies is a good idea too. Unless you object to making obscene amounts of money from the scummiest industry in the world.
 
Wanderer said:
So, you've spent the last few years producing tracks in your bedroom studio and you're finally ready to take the plunge and start sending them out to labels and distributors...

Who do you go to? How do you present your tracks and how many should you send?

If anyone has any suggestions, post them on this thread!

Personally I'm going to start sending off my psytrance tracks this week. I expect that out of ten labels, maybe one might respond. Even if they respond with criticism, it'll be worth it.

Some labels I'll send my tracks to:

Twisted
T.I.P. Records
Etnica
Nano Records
BME

A friend of mine also suggested sending things out to distributors like

Amato
Tunned

So how's about the rest of you guys... where do you send you masterpieces once they're finished and what sort of responses do you tend to get?

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...


There are tonns of psy labels over here in Australia.

You may want to give the website oztrance a go. Its a forum type thing a bit like this, that revolves around psy stuff.
I know for a fact they have people who own labels, and artists on there regularly. Check out the Artists forum.
 
Harsh facts of life time.

Send three tracks. if they like you they will want you to send about another 6 or 7, so make sure that you have a portfolio ready to send.

As for responses, well its no suprise to say that they are iffy. I have had response times from 3 days to never. And you will probably need to send out more than ten CD's.

Find the labels that most accurately represent the style of music that you are playing and send to them.

Unfortuantely, there are two problems with getting psytrance published for commercial release. One is that the volumes sold are not as high as guitar based music, or manufactured bands, and so the labels are smaller. This means they have smaller budgets which reduces the chance of them signing more than one or two acts per year.

The other is that virtually all the music undustry people I know will only listen to the first 30 odd seconds of a track. This is because they get sent hundreds per week. if it doesn't grab them then they will throw it in the bin. With psytrance styles the format of the track lends itself to long intros, and believe me these guys and gals have heard pretty much every pre-set ever invented - so make sure that your first track (the strongest) starts with something attention grabbing.

Other ways of getting noticed - get some to DJ's. If its good enough to play out in a club, then its good enough to stand a chance of being released. Put all your contact details on the CD itself (cases get separated). DJ's know other Dj;s and a buzz can start up this way. Robert Miles only had 4 copies of 'Children' - one found its way to Oakenfold (or Tong - I cant remember) and a massive hit was born. Its also worth testing your material by taking your tracks to a party and slipping them on the decks without telling everyone its you. Watch the response. If you get no response, then thats a good thing - nobody thinks its shit. But if you get a good response thats obviously better - *then* you can go 'thats me that is'.

Another way is to find a publisher. A publisher will (obviously) publish the tracks, which means that he will essentially invest in you by paying to copyright and protect your tracks. If they are going to do this, its in the publishers interest to find an outlet for the music, because they will get paid too.

Another way is to find library music companies - these specialise in providing music for adverts, voiceovers and jingles.

Don't ever pay someone to be on a CD. Thats how they make their money and there's no need to market it.

Do accept criticism, no matter how much it hurts. if someone has bothered to tel you what they think, its a good thing, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time.

There's other things, but this post is going on a bit now...

Dont give up!
 
Put it out on cd yourself, tart it around clubs.

cd sourcing do 500 cellophane wrapped numbers for about 500 quid

sell 50 for a ten and your evens(easier said than done)
 
plus, once you've decided on the suitable labels for your music, dont be scared to keep sending them material every couple of months. it depends on so much more than whether your tunes are good -you need to catch the a&r on a day when they have time to give it a listen, plus are looking for something to release.

just dont give up if you dont hear anything back for a while!
 
I've been making drum n bass for about 18 months and have only a couple of tracks i'd send. I think it helps if you live in an area that has a good scene for the music you make. I'm moving down to Brighton next week to do a production course and i've spent the last week down there looking for a place, checking out the music scene etc. I found a club that showcases tunes made by Brighton producers which I think is a fantastic idea and I can't wait to get stuck in. The drum n bass scene there is really thriveing, basiclly my point is try and find something like that in your area or set one up yourself it's amazing how people crawl out the woodwork once they know they have somewhere to get their music played.
 
Some really excellent tips here guys... thanks for the input.

virtually all the music undustry people I know will only listen to the first 30 odd seconds of a track. This is because they get sent hundreds per week. if it doesn't grab them then they will throw it in the bin. With psytrance styles the format of the track lends itself to long intros, and believe me these guys and gals have heard pretty much every pre-set ever invented - so make sure that your first track (the strongest) starts with something attention grabbing.
Click to expand...

Have changed the intro on my strongest track... Makes a lot of sense and sounds better now!

Unfortuantely, there are two problems with getting psytrance published for commercial release. One is that the volumes sold are not as high as guitar based music, or manufactured bands, and so the labels are smaller. This means they have smaller budgets which reduces the chance of them signing more than one or two acts per year.
Click to expand...

True. May main intention however is to get one feedback response, even if its negative. Plus it gives me something to work towards. I have ten tracks ready, of which I'll be sending three. In my opinion the one's I'm sending are definitely of a high standard, however I won't know for sure until I send them.

I'm moving down to Brighton next week to do a production course....
Click to expand...

Lucky bastard! :mad:

:p

I love Brighton and I reckon doing a production course there would be amazing. Have a fantastic time and good luck with the music!
 
Thanks for the support mate. I'm actually doing it in Worthing but living in Brighton i'll probably go to Brighton uni next year to do the degree course. Anyone going to unsound in Italy? i'm off tomorrow :D
 
Where abouts are you based wanderer? Is there much of a psy scene where you live? If you can get some dj's to play your stuff in clubs for you then thats a start, and you can at least try and guage (sp?) a reaction of what people think from it.
I know a guy (1 half of Kompresser) who's had a quite a few tracks put out on various compilations and has played live sets at quite a few big parties now and he just started at the bottom and worked fucking hard, although it probably helped that he was djing psytrance anyway I guess.
 
Copyright your tracks -particularly if you do dance music:

Put the track on a cd, write your name and the track name on the cd.
-maybe include a piece of paper with all the details of where you recorded it, date and name of all artists (who you want to credit!)

stick it in an an envelope and seal it.
get the post office to stamp the date on the seal and stick selotape over it

Send it to yourself, recorded delivery. When it comes back never open it, only infront of a judge.
This is legally binding copyright: you'd be suprised how many known dance tuens have been ripped off.
-------------------------------------------------------
As for sending out CD's its almost a waste of time: too many people making too much tunes. The best thing to do (in dance music anyway) is to hand cd's to people in person. Either that or try and arrange meetings with A&R departments at labels.

Try and get to know someone, somewhere, who can at least get your cd listened to: most cd's dont get listened to. Its tough out there!

Small labels maybe more friendly... but dont count on it!

good luck all....
 
you need a little luck too. (although you make your own to same extent)

We signed a deal after a record label heard a tune we entered in the Music Comp on urban 6 months ago.
 
I don't know much about trance but have some friends who produce it and who DJ

they're pretty affluent through their day jobs so have enough £ to make test presses and play them out. As they DJ they get to meet all the other DJs in the genre and so they network and pass on test presses

They've been all over the world DJing and are doing OK

If I was you I'd just start going to lots of clubs where they play the music you produce and get to know the DJs, learn to DJ yourself and get to be part of the scene

I don't think that sales for trance are strong enough for you to be looking for a publishing deal, you'd be far better off doing it all yourself IMO

Get yourself to the point where labels are interested because you're already selling units and have a fan base, then you can choose whether to do business or to cary on financing yourself.

Just my 2p worth
 
boing! said:
Where abouts are you based wanderer? Is there much of a psy scene where you live? If you can get some dj's to play your stuff in clubs for you then thats a start, and you can at least try and guage (sp?) a reaction of what people think from it.
I know a guy (1 half of Kompresser) who's had a quite a few tracks put out on various compilations and has played live sets at quite a few big parties now and he just started at the bottom and worked fucking hard, although it probably helped that he was djing psytrance anyway I guess.
Click to expand...

Am based in London, but know a fair few psytrance producers/ DJs in Leeds as well. I work full time, so I'm juggling both things at the moment. Otherwise I'd spend 24/7 on my tracks. One day....
 
niksativa said:
Copyright your tracks -particularly if you do dance music:

Put the track on a cd, write your name and the track name on the cd.
-maybe include a piece of paper with all the details of where you recorded it, date and name of all artists (who you want to credit!)

stick it in an an envelope and seal it.
get the post office to stamp the date on the seal and stick selotape over it

Send it to yourself, recorded delivery. When it comes back never open it, only infront of a judge.
This is legally binding copyright: you'd be suprised how many known dance tuens have been ripped off.
Click to expand...

Copyright exists in an original work as soon as it's created. The copyright vests in the author (producer) of that work. How you go about proving that copyright, should it become an issue, is up to you.

The above method isn't legally binding at all, it's just a suggested method of substantiating a claim. It would work better if you sent it to a solicitor as they could then provide a witness statement to the effect that they received it on a specific date (and it was therefore in existence at that date) which could be used in any dispute as to copyright infringement.

I totally agree with the advice to protect your rights though.
 
Wanderer said:
Am based in London, but know a fair few psytrance producers/ DJs in Leeds as well. I work full time, so I'm juggling both things at the moment. Otherwise I'd spend 24/7 on my tracks. One day....
Click to expand...

well theres a massive psytrance scene in London, so its just a matter of meeting people and networking. I agreee with what a lot of other people on this thread are saying, sending stuff off blindly to labels is, on the whole a waste of time, you have to do as much as you possibly can yourself.

Do you post on/read psy-forum.co.uk? Most of the uk psytrance scene seems to be on there, its quite a useful network of people to get involved with.
 
boing! said:
well theres a massive psytrance scene in London, so its just a matter of meeting people and networking. I agreee with what a lot of other people on this thread are saying, sending stuff off blindly to labels is, on the whole a waste of time, you have to do as much as you possibly can yourself.

Do you post on/read psy-forum.co.uk? Most of the uk psytrance scene seems to be on there, its quite a useful network of people to get involved with.
Click to expand...

Signing up to it now :) Cheers for the advice!
 
dirtysanta said:
you need a little luck too. (although you make your own to same extent)

We signed a deal after a record label heard a tune we entered in the Music Comp on urban 6 months ago.
Click to expand...

Walking through Hammersmith the other day, and what did I see? Fatter Faction stickers on the back of a road sign. Made me smile that did.

Did the label hear it because it was in the music competition, or was it just thet same track, out of interest?
 
hiccup said:
Walking through Hammersmith the other day, and what did I see? Fatter Faction stickers on the back of a road sign. Made me smile that did.

Did the label hear it because it was in the music competition, or was it just thet same track, out of interest?
Click to expand...

hey Hiccup how you doing. Well we've stickered most of city over 6 months i think. :D Which was all done with our cash and designs.

regards to the label. If it wasnt on urban he may not of heard it. What happend was he had seen a link on Urban to soundclick.com for our tune (Yob Culture )went and had a listen and that was it. Thats why we havent entered a tune to the music comp for ages.
 
boing! said:
well theres a massive psytrance scene in London, so its just a matter of meeting people and networking. I agreee with what a lot of other people on this thread are saying, sending stuff off blindly to labels is, on the whole a waste of time, you have to do as much as you possibly can yourself.

Do you post on/read psy-forum.co.uk? Most of the uk psytrance scene seems to be on there, its quite a useful network of people to get involved with.
Click to expand...

Have just signed up to it. What a superb oasis of pschedelic abundance!

It's great to see a psy forum with so much activity :D

*Runs off to create more psychedelic mischief*
 
dirtysanta said:
you need a little luck too. (although you make your own to same extent)

We signed a deal after a record label heard a tune we entered in the Music Comp on urban 6 months ago.
Click to expand...

Record labels listen to songs on that thread. Fuck, I'd better brush up my production skillz.
 
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