How To Get Signed

[TheTornado]

Silkie? That dude is insanely nice.

[Genevieve]

It's all about knowing people who release music who like your tunes. Pretty much as easy as that. If you don't follow a lot of people on soundcloud but a shitload of people follow you, for example, that helps too, 'cause it shows that there's a market for your stuff.

Really just... network. If you can, start a night and within the year invite other producers/DJs to play it and share your tunes. That helps a lot.

[Sonika]

Great all this helps a lot, except the whole idea of turning down the first label???
So for th first time ever, a label comes to you and says "we want to release your tunes"
And you say no?????
How does that work?

[didi]

Easy mate. I know I'm not really anyone to talk, please feel free to ignore this, but let me give you some honest advice from what I've learned so far.

Don't go with the first label you get an offer from, unless you really feel it's the right move for you. I would 100% suggest not releasing digital-only, EVER. Vinyl marks a quality label, And shows that they believe in your music enough to invest not only their time but their hard earned money into your music. Also, A lot of the time, when your music ready, labels will approach you. Lastly, the 'Sending Dubs' topic, READ IT 10 TIMES.

Then 10 more times.

Hope that helps. Respect, Compa.

hahahaha big up Compa.

Good advice

[Genevieve]

Great all this helps a lot, except the whole idea of turning down the first label???
So for th first time ever, a label comes to you and says "we want to release your tunes"
And you say no?????
How does that work?

Let me put it like this, I've had 2 labels offer me release when I didn't even have music on my page. There's probably tons of producers here, hell some who were barely even able to produce, who got approached by labels quite early on. And most of these labels, by far, are just crappy bedroom labels without even a discogs listing who just upload 128 kbps mp3s of your work to mediafire and post the link on every blog they come across.

Really, this is just assuming that the first label that approached you isn't Hotflush or Deep Medi, which 99% of the time isn't. You'll want to get known through reputable labels.

[didi]

Great all this helps a lot, except the whole idea of turning down the first label???
So for th first time ever, a label comes to you and says "we want to release your tunes"
And you say no?????
How does that work?

Let me put it like this, I've had 2 labels offer me release when I didn't even have music on my page. There's probably tons of producers here, hell some who were barely even able to produce, who got approached by labels quite early on. And most of these labels, by far, are just crappy bedroom labels without even a discogs listing who just upload 128 kbps mp3s of your work to mediafire and post the link on every blog they come across.

Really, this is just assuming that the first label that approached you isn't Hotflush or Deep Medi, which 99% of the time isn't. You'll want to get known through reputable labels.

Your sig.

[Killawatt]

I would 100% suggest not releasing digital-only, EVER.

dont agree with that at all. There's nothing wrong with doing a just digital release, plenty of very respectable established producers do them in between vinyl releases also. If you have quality tunes and a respectable label wants to put them out digitally then go for it. too many ppl hold out for big vinyl releases and it really holds you back from getting your name, and most importantly, your music out there!

Basically make quality tunes and get talking to people. The 'dont be a dickhead' suggestion isn't 100% right, to brutally honest, there's plenty of dickheads out there signed to respectable labels, but imo if you want to have any longevity in music then that suggestion is of the upmost importance.

Also, a lot of big labels love to see versatility and something original in an artist. if you have that and you're tunes are of a high standard, both technically and musically, then you should not have a problem getting signed.

It's also important when a label approaches you (unless its blindingly obvious they do everything how it should be done) to check if theyre with a good distributor, where they get theyre masters done, and if they do regular promotion. Some labels do not seem to realise how important the mastering and promotional processes are.

[Sonika]

I would 100% suggest not releasing digital-only, EVER.

dont agree with that at all. There's nothing wrong with doing a just digital release, plenty of very respectable established producers do them in between vinyl releases also. If you have quality tunes and a respectable label wants to put them out digitally then go for it. too many ppl hold out for big vinyl releases and it really holds you back from getting your name, and most importantly, your music out there!

Basically make quality tunes and get talking to people. The 'dont be a dickhead' suggestion isn't 100% right, to brutally honest, there's plenty of dickheads out there signed to respectable labels, but imo if you want to have any longevity in music then that suggestion is of the upmost importance.

Also, a lot of big labels love to see versatility and something original in an artist. if you have that and you're tunes are of a high standard, both technically and musically, then you should not have a problem getting signed.

It's also important when a label approaches you (unless its blindingly obvious they do everything how it should be done) to
check if theyre with a good distributor, where they get theyre masters done, and if they do regular promotion. Some labels do not seem to realise how important the mastering and promotional processes are.

The thing about being diffent and fresh....I really want to have a different and fresh sound, but I feel like it needs to come naturally...if I try too hard, nothing glad will come out of it. But I can't just sit around and hope for a revolutionary inspiration!
What do I do?

[Devry_Kaneda]

DMT. It opens up the inner matrices of your mind.

Ask Parson.

[wub]

The thing about being diffent and fresh....I really want to have a different and fresh sound, but I feel like it needs to come naturally...if I try too hard, nothing glad will come out of it. But I can't just sit around and hope for a revolutionary inspiration!
What do I do?

Make and finish as many tunes as you can. Don't think about it, just do it. Cut the good bits out of your tunes and disgard the bits that aren't good. The good bits are your 'style'. Make more like that.


Honestly, if you're after a magic formula, there isn't one. Just keep making tunes and see what happens.

[parson]

once you get signed you get a million dubstep dollars and your own virgin to wife

[AxeD]

mad dubdollah in teh pocketz

[mortalgrey]

I would 100% suggest not releasing digital-only, EVER.

dont agree with that at all. There's nothing wrong with doing a just digital release, plenty of very respectable established producers do them in between vinyl releases also. If you have quality tunes and a respectable label wants to put them out digitally then go for it. too many ppl hold out for big vinyl releases and it really holds you back from getting your name, and most importantly, your music out there!

...

It's also important when a label approaches you (unless its blindingly obvious they do everything how it should be done) to check if theyre with a good distributor, where they get theyre masters done, and if they do regular promotion. Some labels do not seem to realise how important the mastering and promotional processes are.

I totally agree with these points. It's not like you are going to make a couple of tunes and then not produce again until you get them signed. Just keep making quality music and it will all work out for you.

Also, keep learning and don't ever get comfortable. There is always more to know about production. Don't be afraid to break out of your norm and do something different as well.

And also I agree that you shouldn't necessarily go for the first label that offers to sign you, but there is no reason why you shouldn't if it's a solid label. If they have good mastering, good promo and a decent fan base, you should be fine. Maybe ask a few artists on the label how they like being on it...

[staticcast]

here's my mantra.

stop worrying about getting signed.

write music which is so incredible that nobody will be able to listen to it without impulsively signing it, or wanting to start up a label just so they can release your music.

if you can do that, it WILL get signed and it WILL get noticed. if you can't, you shouldn't be releasing music.

[hudson]

here's my mantra.

stop worrying about getting signed.

write music which is so incredible that nobody will be able to listen to it without impulsively signing it, or wanting to start up a label just so they can release your music.

if you can do that, it WILL get signed and it WILL get noticed. if you can't, you shouldn't be releasing music.

Exactly! Spend some time making music because you love it, keep doing that until all your friends stop lying to you about how much they like your tunes, promote yourself until you're getting a bit of attention, self release an amazing ep, then, if no labels are coming to you, send that ep to a few good labels and, if it's actually good, you'll probably get signed.
Or you could make horrible music for a week, whore yourself out on cloudkillers, send your shitty songs to every label in existence and get signed by a shitty digital label.
S'up to you.

[Sonika]

here's my mantra.

stop worrying about getting signed.

write music which is so incredible that nobody will be able to listen to it without impulsively signing it, or wanting to start up a label just so they can release your music.

if you can do that, it WILL get signed and it WILL get noticed. if you can't, you shouldn't be releasing music.

Exactly! Spend some time making music because you love it, keep doing that until all your friends stop lying to you about how much they like your tunes, promote yourself until you're getting a bit of attention, self release an amazing ep, then, if no labels are coming to you, send that ep to a few good labels and, if it's actually good, you'll probably get signed.
Or you could make horrible music for a week, whore yourself out on cloudkillers, send your shitty songs to every label in existence and get signed by a shitty digital label.
S'up to you.

Hudson, unless I'm very wrong, I think I just read a thread that you posted about getting your music signed! Congrats!

(And thanks for the feedback)

[Sonika]

@mortal grey - yes I should probably stop worrying about getting signed, and start making my tunes signable first

[topmo3]

i wonder how does one really put themselves out there? do labels ( i mean the big ones like hotflush deep medi etc ) have email addresses that you can spam your tracks to or do they look around the dubs forum here or what? do the labels pick your stuff up or do you contact them? what's the clever way to put yourself out there without coming through as a spamming wank

[Naan_Bread]

Getting dubs in the hands of big DJs > getting signed IMO.

[cogidubnus]

As someone who runs a digi label, here's my few penneth in bullet-point form.

Send an email - I would say a submission is most likely to get listened to if you write a covering note with some actual relevant info about yourself (not just your age, tell us about your production techniques as well) with easily-downloadable links to a few of your very best tunes (3-5 perhaps). DO NOT share your tracks to a label's soundcloud dropbox along with 1000 other people and hope for the best - unless that's what they've specifically asked for, it probably won't get listened to. Facebook messages get lost easily.

Give labels a few weeks before chasing up with questions like "have you listened to it yet?", if you don't hear back after a second email, don't write a third unless you have more, better tunes to include.

I have only made 1 (one) signing directly off the back of a first-contact email which contained a tune that will make it onto a final product, so it takes a lot of time for labels and artists to come to an agreement - you should take it as a big compliment if you get ANY kind of response to a demo submission, labels can't just sign any very good tune that might come their way. If label bosses are willing to write back to you with feedback, they probably think there's something there that can be built upon for the future. Few things make me happier than seeing artists who had their first demo rejected but took feedback on board and showed the desire and determination to come back with vastly superior material.

Don't fuck about. If you're lucky enough to get signed and agree times and dates to complete pre-masters or other deadlines, make sure you keep them and let your label know in advance of any likely delays.

It doesn't look good if your facebook wall / dsf history is full of posts continually slagging off other musicians