Originally Posted by Keef

Equinox: You're not there but you know that, and I get the feeling you do it more for fun than anything.

Originally Posted by Keef

How to get signed (or how I did anyway)

Stop releasing
What I did was I STOPPED releasing ANYTHING on the net and prepared myself to send stuff off. Record companies don't want to release something people have previously been able to get for free (not always true, but as a rule this is the case) and you shouldn't send them anything that's been net released.

Quality control
I suggest you do this.. Get writing and get yourself a team of 4 people you really trust who you know will not distribute your music to anyone and will actually give you a REAL opinion, not just say "it's great!" when it sucks (that is VERY important)

When you finish a track, send it to these four people and get their opinions and some of them may surprise you. Especially when you stress how important honesty is with people and that you can't grow without it.

And of course... LISTEN to them.

Prepare

One mistake I made was sending demos off when I only had a few tracks that were album-worthy and I got uber stressed when making the album as it was real this time. SO what I'd suggest is write an album and an album where you like every track and would be happy for people to hear each one alone THEN start looking at labels.

Labels

Target labels you want and then labels you think "will do". I was very lucky because I got signed to one of my top choices. But there are various labels out there that should do the trick for either project just do some digging.

If they're a small label email them first giving a brief (and I mean very brief) discription of your music and do it in a personal, friendly way as the music industry is an industry with a friendly tone and if you start giving it "Dear sir.." You're going to turn people off. Ask if they mind you sending them a demo if they reply with yes, then send one in!

Packaging:
Ok, what I did was had a CD with a blank white label with band name, contact details and track names on it. and for the jewel case i did the same. The reason I did this is because artwork gives preconceptions as to what your work will be like and you want them to start from a clean slate. Plus if you give them artwork that is not to their taste, then they're more likely to dislike it, shoddy artwork - they'll assume you're shoddy etc. Plus it allows them to put their ideas on top of your music for design which may be to your advantage.

For IDM don't bother with a press release, it's not that kind of music.

Obvious thing - Put your best track first and don't go over 3 tracks.

Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by Keef

Exactly..

You want to make money? Do pop crap.

Keep your integrity? Either get a job or survive on welfare.

Originally Posted by Equinox

You're exactly right. I don't try to fool anyone, really. I know if I put my heart to it to learn synthesis, and to actually try every once in awhile, I could probably make something substantial, but right now, I just like to experiment with things, in live time, to see what happens. Sometimes things sound cool, sometimes they don't. It's all about fun though, ya know? I'll let the professionals make the quality music, i'll stick to things I like

Originally Posted by autpt

Mike Cadoo: I know for a fact that if Mike [Wells] and I wanted a large audience, and wanted to make money at music, we could. But we would not be happy....

Originally Posted by autpt

Wanton - Oval