How to get signed

[LA_Boxers]

There's no surefire way to get signed.... and there's no absolute requirements either.


Once you have some tunes you are satisfied with.....

- Pick your 3/4 best tracks currently in your arsenal and rip some 320's and prep them to be submitted Make sure to have either your AIM or Email contact in the tag

- Make yourself a soundcloud/facebook/and or myspace page as a quick reference to your tunes/contact info. (don't make your sole existance based off social networking sites, but they are a valuable tool)

- Identify some labels you could hear your tunes coming out on.... ie labels that reflect your style of producing. Find those labels myspace/facebook/soundcloud pages. They will usually have some information on how to submit your tracks to them. (Pick and choose who you submit your tracks to. If you're a more minimal, softer type of sound, submitting your tracks to Circus might not be the right move.... also flooding the scene with tunes isn't the best thing... pick and choose who you decide to submit to. Submit to labels that are relevant to your sound)

- Identify some fellow djs/producers that have a similar sound/style to you. Find a few (i mean a few... don't give your tunes out to half the internet or your chances of getting said tune signed decrease once it hits the torrents) of these djs/producers you feel you trust and send them a copy of your tunes and let them know to feel free to play your tunes out. Also let them know you're looking to have these tunes signed. If it's a hot tune your fellow producers will often times help your tunes get to the right people. If a tune is hot but not our thing, I'll often times steer the person submitting the demo to a label more up their alley. Be very careful here, if you think you have a release worthy tune don't offer it as a free download and don't give it to every dj in the world who asks for a 320.

- Get your name out there as much as possible in a positive light. Go support your local scene, put out a mix or two, network within the scene as much as possible, etc etc

THISTHISTHIS

We are going are going to try and get some of our stuff released over the summer/later this year and this is most definitly good advice. We have a made a few contacts and released some remixes to get some exposure and sets out of it. But we are keeping most of our original stuff back. This is very good advice that i will defo be taking!

[pkay]

nice post pkay, some useful info in there for people like me starting out and not sure of the best way to go about getting out there!

Stay on your grind man!

[Lead Farma]

im also looking to get signed, thanks for the useful posts
Soundcloud

[promo]

Yeah some peeps get signed to certain labels who blatantly have fuck all talent and its because they've got connections. Not mentioning any names tho. Anyways I shouldn't really be hating 'cause that's just the way of the world and it is about who you know!

[gremino]

no connections, no deals.

This is just sad. Like Aleks Zen wrote, for most of people it really is all about popularity contest.

If I exaggerate (or do I even?), there's two ways to get signed:

1. Lick arse as much as you can. Be in right places, in rigth time and with right people and always agree with them etc. Focus your main energy in this - music is secondary.

2. Create your own style and go headstrongly with it. This way you create exclusivity to your music. Promote your tracks in forums, maybe even give some 320 freebies, and send them to up and coming djs (preferably ones who has a radio show). When you find djs who wants to play your music, create a symbiosis with them: you support them by giving exclusive tracks to play, they support you by playing you. No point sending to big names, as they can get several gigas of material sent per month, or then they just don't care, whereas new djs are hungry for exclusives.

I have some releases, digital and vinyl, and more is coming. And this happened when labels contacted me because they liked my music. I've never even met these people or had any online contacts before. But they liked my music.

[fretn]

I want to be signed on DMZ

[atomcounter]

Soundcloud

Out of interest, would it be worth me pushing this track about to labels? I thought it sounded good, but i made it so ovbiously haha. Any feedback?? I dont want to be wasting my time if you all think its shit!

[herbalicious]

or maybe someone will sign you cos they hear your music and they like your music

Pah...don't be so silly. You're never gonna get any tunes released with that attitude mate. Tut.

But yeah....What Pkay said n'all.

[herbalicious]

Yeah some peeps get signed to certain labels who blatantly have fuck all talent and its because they've got connections. Not mentioning any names tho. !

Innit. Just coz Loefah knows Mala n that....

[Sirius]

facebook - create a profile called dubstep new zealand or something innocent like that, add EVERYONE you can find wait till you've got like 3,000 friends post a bunch of other ppl's tunes and shit then start posting your own, then blatantly out and out promowhore yourself.


true story.

ay who is dubstep nz anyways?? that you cuz?

!!chea

[dj2slo]

Pkays post was pretty helpful..
I've been wondering about this recently myself

[charliefoy]

But how do you know if your tunes are ready and worthy of a release?
Also do labels take you more seriously if you send them physical forms of demos?

[SketchyDub]

i made this recently but no one seems to care... i think its probably one of the best peices of experimental music i've made.. but what do i know.. haha

Soundcloud

[Sexual_Chocolate]

D Double E has the best advice for getting signed:

#1 - Be Original.

#2 - Twitter.

[SketchyDub]

D Double E has the best advice for getting signed:

#1 - Be Original.

#2 - Twitter.

wtf does twitter do

[Sexual_Chocolate]

D Double E has the best advice for getting signed:

#1 - Be Original.

#2 - Twitter.

wtf does twitter do

twitter = internet.

internet = fastest way to promote yourself.

sometimes you have to read between the lines.

[SketchyDub]

D Double E has the best advice for getting signed:

#1 - Be Original.

#2 - Twitter.

wtf does twitter do

twitter = internet.

internet = fastest way to promote yourself.

sometimes you have to read between the lines.

twitter = usleless unless you are already a someone, dont you mean spamming your shit all over facebook?

[Sexual_Chocolate]

D Double E has the best advice for getting signed:

#1 - Be Original.

#2 - Twitter.

wtf does twitter do

twitter = internet.

internet = fastest way to promote yourself.

sometimes you have to read between the lines.

twitter = usleless unless you are already a someone, dont you mean spamming your shit all over facebook?

haha, yea i guess i have seen plenty of that.

but if your creating music thats original and people like it, then surely if you can get into contact with a record company, then atleast that will get the ball rolling.

[MikeE]

fill in the god damned ID3 tags on tracks you send out

[pkay]

fill in the god damned ID3 tags on tracks you send out

lol I'm saying.

Its getting even worse lately. every third tune I get sent has no ID3 tag.

Get yourself steinberg wavlab. You should be analyzing your wavs to begin with imo, but thats another topic.

Anywho open your tune in wavlab, save as special---->mp3 ----> fill out your fucking ID3's