A Few Things You Need To Know If You’re Thinking About Releasing Music.
Hi, I’m Linda,
I have worked in the Music Industry since I was 17. Music was my world back then and it still is now. I have played in many bands, from trad to jazz to rock and indie. I also studied as a luthier when I finished school. The main instrument I learnt to design and build was the harp. But I also learnt how to build guitars, violins, mandolins, bouzoukis and other stringed instruments.
I threw myself into the Mesopotamian period when musical instruments were being thought up by brilliant minds and followed their evolution from there via the Sumerians. It was a wonderful experience. I eventually learnt to play about 12 instruments and attempted to make what one could presume as a musical sound on many others such as Lyres, Lutes, Dulcimer’s and even tried my hand at a Hurdy Gurdy. I should probably use the word remembered, as it was never much effort when I placed an instrument in my hands. Assassins Creed ancestral memory vibes going on. It always felt natural. Music was in my blood. I was a fanatical member of the tribe of music, no matter what it was or where it took me.
The more I worked making instruments the more I fell in love with playing them and then that lead to busking and performing with Swedish quartets, Canadian musicians, Scottish Bag Pipers, Trad musicians, Jazz trios and so forth. After a few years, I left the workshop and went touring with different bands until I was offered a record deal but turned it down and stepped into the business side of things instead. I was a fecker for just wanting to try things on to see if they’d ‘fit’ and what did fit was working as a publicist and music consultant. I loved it. I still love it. Being a part of an artist or a bands career from the start is a privilege in this vocation.
For the last 15 years, I have worked as a Publicist, Label Manager, Sync Consultant and Music Manager. I have seen so many bands rise and indeed fall over the duration of my time working in the music industry. We have grown together, we have overcome together, we have gone our separate ways, we have reunited.
Nobody tells you how much like a relationship, working in this music industry becomes. You fall in and out of love with music and the people who make it. The highs are thousands of people in unison dancing and singing to a song you worked on, promoted, recorded, produced or created. Depending on what side of the desk you are on; it takes a TEAM.
It’s hearing your song (or your clients) on the radio, in a movie, on a tv advert and rejoicing that you have finally fucking cracked it. The lows are someone (be it a label, radio DJ, journalist or your Ma) telling you it's shit and nobody will like it. It’s as simple as that. It is what you do with the rejections that count. It is how you separate from the ego and the artist.
Elvis’s first potential manager told him he was shit and he’d never amount to anything. (That chap later killed himself, as he’d missed out on managing one of the biggest breakthroughs of the century). Another time after a performance at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, Elvis was told by the concert hall manager that he was better off returning to Memphis and driving trucks (his former career).
Tori Amos was rejected from a label that turned her down before she became one of the most well-known singer-songwriter pianists in the world of music. U2’s frontman Bono (then known as Paul Hewson) sent a demo tape to RSO Records in London, hoping to catch the attention of the label. He received the labels ‘generic rejection letter’ from a company employee, letting him know that they felt U2’s music was not suitable for them.
In the early 80s, Madonna’s manager received a polite but firm rejection from the President of Millennium Records, Jimmy Lenner. Lenner wrote that he did not “feel that she is ready yet”. (You know, the way women aren’t ready for most things men were born ready for…) Encouragingly, however, he said that he would “wait for more”… We wonder if he liked what he’s heard since.
Then we have the multi-million selling solo artist Ed Sheeran who said he was constantly rejected by record labels as he was “slightly chubby and ginger”, and that wasn’t a good “marketing tool” for them. He’s since released two of the biggest selling albums of the millennium and sold out more nights at Wembley than the bloody Foo Fighters in their heyday. When Lady Gaga was finally signed to a major record label, she was dropped after only three months of being signed as they didn’t feel she was going in the right direction...
What I am getting at is you need a thick neck. And to not give two fucks about who thinks you should go back to being a truck driver, a waitress or an uber delivery person. If you feel it in your bones that you have a story/song and a voice that the world should hear, then speak it and sing it. Don’t let anyone tell you anything different.
What you do with the highs and the lows of the journey is up to you. But before you even get to the highs and lows, you gotta know what you need to do to become the artist you know that is within you.
Understanding how the Music Industry operates isn’t straight forward mainly because there are so many roles to play by so many people in an artists career. But at what stage do they need to come into it? What can the artist or band do by themselves before seeking the help of a team?
First of all, let us begin with the root: Creating the music and the brand.
Writing a song is pretty basic when you know-how. It requires a skill set to follow structure and sequence. To come up with great catchy lines and melody you have to have talent.
When you are venturing out to write and play music one thing you must do is look at what your genre is. Many artists dream of getting their music heard on the radio. Some just want to make music for the sake of making music. Where it ends up it's neither here nor there. If you are the type that wants to reach an audience via radio then you have to be aware of how that system works.
If you listen to daytime radio in the remit of pop and mainstream but write rock or folk music that doesn’t get played on the stations you are listening to, then don’t expect your music to be played on the stations. Unless you write in the same genre of the remit, it will not be played. I.E: pop music is played on pop radio remit, rock music is played on rock radio remit. Etc. For instance, BBC Radio 1 in the UK has a remit to entertain and engage a broad range of young listeners with a distinctive mix of contemporary music and speech, this is the same with Rte 2fm in Ireland. Other stations like Planet Rock or Classic Fm will differ. And that is obvious.
You’d be amazed at the number of musicians and bands that think just because they write and record a great song that they deserve for it to be played on every station regardless of the genre! This is not the case. In Ireland and UK radio stations follow remits and in the USA they follow formats. It is, however, important that you follow your natural creative flow, find your own voice and perspective and apply that to your work. There are also creatives who write songs for other artists as well as for themselves. You can be both! There are no rules.
To quote a wonderful Irish songwriter and artist Ruthanne, from an interview she did with Songwriting Magazine:
“As a songwriter, you spend a lot of time in a room with artists trying to help them tell their stories, with the end game being to give them the biggest songs of their careers. This is pretty confusing as an artist; you’re jumping around so many different genres, which makes it really hard to pin down your own sound.
“As an artist, the main thing I focused on was finding my own voice, sound and lyrical perspective — without that there is no identity, it’s just songs. People need to buy into the whole package, who you are and what you have to say.
This really goes without saying, but the main thing for you to do first and foremost is to have a great collection of songs ready to record that are well-rehearsed. Then go into the studio and do your thing. You’ll want to ensure you have a good sound engineer, producer, mixer and mastering person to get you the best possible result for the overall quality, direction and sound of the music. This is the fun creative stage, enjoy it! Recording an album can be done in a week or two or even a few months, it all depends again on your budget.
You are getting that money plays a big part? Yes. Okay, let's go on.
When you have the master and mix back from the studio, you are now at the stage where you need to think about artwork and prepare to look up how you will distribute it on streaming platforms. This is really important, as when you set a release date, you then have to think about if you are going to commercially release with the help of a PR campaign, do it DIY or just drop it online like it's hot. Oh, a good tip a producer gave me before is while you have all the tracks recorded and the final mix ready to go, make sure you save an instrumental version of the songs by muting the vocal tracks on the mix and also the print stems of the songs. This will be super convenient if you’re thinking of doing sync work or remixes and addition or altered vocals in the future.
Right, you have the song ready to go now what? If you do plan to release it to the world, you should register with a music collection society. If you are in Ireland it will be IMRO and in the UK the best bet is PRS. There is a list of others around the world here. If you are among the following: songwriters, composers and publishers, you need to make sure you are signed up.
They’re there to represent you and ensure that you are rewarded for your creations. When your music gets played they pay royalties to their members when their work is performed, broadcast, streamed, downloaded, reproduced, played in public or used in film and TV. It is their role to support you by influencing policy, supporting and hosting awards and events, and investing in new technology to ensure their up to date for the digital music age, which is ever-changing.
Distribution of your music is the next step and there is so much to choose from in terms of platforms. Check a few of them out. Read some blogs about them. Until you find what you feel is a good connection for you to join the dots in your journey. Distribution is a vital part of music promotion.
Back in the day, the old school distributors used to be the only way for record labels and independent artists to get their records in the hands of listeners, but that's all changed with the digital revolution of distribution. In 2015 digital sales surpassed physical mediums for the first time in history and the digital age was well and truly here. This means that now, you can do it all yourself when you are starting out. Then as your career advances, you can seek an official distributor such as those connected to labels and management companies and they can take care of that for you.
Look at it as an absolute must in order to reach new fans on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and other streaming platforms and digital music stores. And if you do this the smart way, then distribution grows your visibility and gets your music to many ears. And of course, it helps you get paid for your music too. In a way it's a record shop you get to manage to sell your music in. Here is a list of digital distribution platforms for you to check out:
> https://sundownsessionsstudio.com/best-digital-music-distribution-companies/
We have just gone through writing a great song above but again for posterity, I have to hammer home that the songs you create are your vehicle to a good career in music. So making great music needs to be your primary focus. If you don’t have a great catchy radio-friendly song, EP or album that’s well-written, tight as fuck instrumentally and professionally produced (as in it doesn't sound like a GarageBand job from your bedroom), you’ll fall at the first step.
Alright, now the above boxes are ticked, let’s look at the best ways to promote your music independently in the ever-changing modern music landscape.
First things first, YOU and you alone is who is going to be the main person who promotes your music. Make sure you have a great photoshoot that captures your band/artist image. The image will sell you as much as the music will and if you are a female artist or band, then it will sell you even more. As much as I hate that part of the industry, it is currently the way it is: image matters more to bands and artists who are not white and male.
I have come across artists and bands who have spent so much energy and time growing one of the biggest promotional power tools which are their social media platforms. It can be time-consuming but developing and maintaining a consistent, interesting and engaging presence across Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat, is essential. Pick one or two you gel and connect with and grow the shit out of it.
When you have that sorted (also get a decent website up and running), you are now ready to either buy a music industry directory and scroll through every industry contact in it and send unsolicited emails to them in the hope they play your music or else you employ a PR agency to look after that.
If the above seems all together then you need to be realistic about budgets, how much have you invested in the recording/production/band/design/artwork? How much have you assigned, if any, to the promotion? If you don’t have any money left for PR then you can try to promote your music yourself.
Creating a cool professional website as a base for your online presence is a good place to start along with building a large & dedicated mailing list. When fans sign up it means they are interested. So make sure you write weekly or monthly updates and news posts and engage with them about your latest release or upcoming tour. The thing about mailing lists is unlike Facebook and other social media sites that can be restricted by a platform’s limited reach, an email to a dedicated fan will get to them, instantly.
If you (or a bandmate — don't be afraid to delegate) are savvy on social media you can create a great place for fan engagement too. Ultimately, you want to get your music featured on music publications, be they mainstream mags or niche blogs and e-zine/webzines. Getting any exposure is better than none. Don’t think something is too small when you are starting out. Every article/feature/play counts.
These exposure placements can help build a buzz on your music and gives you the street cred to take it to the next level. They can also help you to get your music played and heard on the radio. As when you pitch for airtime, the researcher and producer or DJ will look you and your band up. It’s a good thing if they can find articles about the music! So when you are driving in your car and you switch the radio on, you can have that magic moment when you hear your band on the radio!
Being a PR myself, I will always suggest hiring a professional to handle your campaign as it is generally the best way to get coverage. But it's not always affordable or possible for a new artist with little to no budget, so use google to look up ways and means of reaching out to media yourself.
Oh, and it’s important to approach DJ's, producers, bloggers and journalists the right way. Make yourself an EPK that has all the essential information about you & your music and when pitching, and be polite! Don’t go barging in like an entitled egocentric ‘write about me because I am great or fuck off attitude’. Nothing is ever guaranteed when you are starting out in music. Bad attitudes don’t serve anyone. If you do, however, have a budget for PR then go seek out a person or company to handle the promotion of your music. You should never be afraid to discuss money.
Money talks… gets up and walks. It can help your music reach a much wider audience and when you hand over the promotional aspect of duties to a professional, you have the best possible outcome of hopes for the song to reach new fans and get platformed on radio, in the press, across media etc.
PR people are not magicians though and it is so easy for the artist to lay blame if a song or a release doesn’t go as well as you wanted it. Let me run you through the job of a PR:
The golden rule and reality of PR are that there are no certainties. At the end of the day, it is down to the artist/bands music to captivate people. It is the role of a PR to pitch your music to the media. But they can not ‘make’ media like your music.
I repeat they cannot make anyone do anything.
Realistic checklist when hiring a PR:
- PR people are not Magicians.
- PR people are paid to do the job of getting your music into the hands and inboxes of tastemakers and media, after that it is up to the music to resonate and captivate.
- Some bands get great and positive supportive reactions from media and others do not.
- Acknowledge. Learn. Move on. Grow. Become better.
- It might take two or three singles before one hits home on the radio. Be patient. It is a process.
The music industry is made upon failure, it grows and is kept alive by Indie bands who go nowhere but keep the clogs in perpetual motion. To help your case, have a great backstory on your music, song, album and the PR will be able to work with you to create a great press release and story to sell along with your music. And for fuck sake have a good band name. It is what people will know you by. Make it cool, unique and sellable.
Whatever way you decide to create and release your music, I wish you luck with it. Be nice along the way. As while you are on the way up — what goes up must come down. Life is full of meandering paths that lead us to different destinations. Be nice on the journey, enjoy it and treat people like you would like to be treated.
You can follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindacooganbyrne/
You can check out my website here:
My music company here:
My Campaign for Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion here:
