Page 1 of 3

A thought of "self promotion" for all artists...

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:40 pm
by Littlefoot
hmmn.. been wanting to vocalise this for a while..

NB: Im not a big DJ or a respected producer, but I've been around long enough now to comment imho.


"SELF PROMOTION / HYPE"

I think lots of electronic producers are doing themsevles no favours IN THE LONG TERM with a lot of the promotion techniques put into use, especially on forums like this. I can see a lot of people devaluing themselves, and their music and making themselves far too transparent in their learning curves for labels/DJs who are up and running to give them a proper chance.

I'm talking about...

"HOW DO I GET A LABEL"
"LABELS BIG/DJS CHECK THIS OUT"
"MASSIVE CLUB BANGER FREE 320 INSIDE"
"HOW TO GET YOUR TUNES PLAYED BY THE BIG BOYS?"

etc.

now.. there is nothing wrong with making your shit available, and wanting to be played by the "big boys" etc.

but there is only, and has always only ever been one way that this has ever worked out for anyone..

and thats educating yourself, being modest, cool headed and polite.. believe it or not, this is true to all things in life (!)


the key to "hype" is to not do any of it yourself, or get your manz to back you up on every post on DSF to make you look big (this happens A LOT)..

make your tunes good, and make them available, not EVERYWHERE IN CAPITAL LETTERS FREE 320 WTFOMGBBQ4EVAR CLUB BANGER U NEED DIZ ONE, but in the right places... and where those places is depends on what you make and you have to find that.... yourself!


PS. the guys you admire production wise arn't aliens, yes some of them are busy and can't deal with everyone sending them tunes to have a proper think about, but if there is anything I've learned about any music scene is all you have to do is ask.. hitting up people on Twitter, Facebook, Myspace has never been easier, and if your tunes are in the right place these guys might have had a listen already..

peace,

Joe / Littlefoot

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:46 pm
by darkmatteruk
im so glad someone has finally said it. and so well put too, absolutely spot on mate

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:58 pm
by dav.id
I totally agree, I think this is a sticky one :)

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:03 pm
by Littlefoot
:)

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:03 pm
by adam_misst
Yeah joe u hit the nail on the head here mate, modesty/politeness is the key

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:16 pm
by djake
spot on!

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:03 pm
by nitz
"HOW DO I GET A LABEL"
"LABELS BIG/DJS CHECK THIS OUT"
"MASSIVE CLUB BANGER FREE 320 INSIDE"
"HOW TO GET YOUR TUNES PLAYED BY THE BIG BOYS?"

could not agree with you more there...

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:03 pm
by Sharmaji
adam_misst wrote:Yeah joe u hit the nail on the head here mate, modesty/politeness is the key
and quality control.

good looks joe! thx for spreading the gospel.

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:08 pm
by nitz
sorry but i just had to make another post about this, i have seen lots of people who waffle on like you said "EVERYWHERE IN CAPITAL LETTERS FREE 320 " but still get so many people replying :S and known around ect etc

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:14 pm
by lojik
I usually post everything I do in the dubs section becuase I've worked hard on the tracks and it would be a waste for no one to hear them, rather than trying to get picked up and made huge.

It is a shame that people usually don't pay any attention unless you put [320] in the title somewhere. Examples being I've had tracks in the dubs section that have gone off the first page with maybe 1 or 2 replies, then I decide to give them out, put 320 in the title and get a bunch of replies.

That's just the nature of how things go around here unfortunately.

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:19 pm
by darkmatteruk
Lojik wrote:I usually post everything I do in the dubs section becuase I've worked hard on the tracks and it would be a waste for no one to hear them, rather than trying to get picked up and made huge.

It is a shame that people usually don't pay any attention unless you put [320] in the title somewhere. Examples being I've had tracks in the dubs section that have gone off the first page with maybe 1 or 2 replies, then I decide to give them out, put 320 in the title and get a bunch of replies.

That's just the nature of how things go around here unfortunately.
agreed! it is a massive shame that the growing trend is no-one takes any notice of you unless you are offering an incentive to open the thread :?

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:36 pm
by plainface
well put mate

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:41 pm
by DRTY
Agreed! Whenever I see

FREE 320 MASSIVE BANGER as a thread title it's hard not to cringe.

It's pretty shameless, and it makes them seem cheap and nasty. Bit like a nasty porno.

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:47 pm
by nitz
Lojik wrote:I usually post everything I do in the dubs section becuase I've worked hard on the tracks and it would be a waste for no one to hear them, rather than trying to get picked up and made huge.

It is a shame that people usually don't pay any attention unless you put [320] in the title somewhere. Examples being I've had tracks in the dubs section that have gone off the first page with maybe 1 or 2 replies, then I decide to give them out, put 320 in the title and get a bunch of replies.

That's just the nature of how things go around here unfortunately.
i totally agree with you there mate!
if you have a look at the most replayed threads in the dub section its the ones that say free 320's on them, which is a shame to say the truth

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:06 pm
by tripaddict
daveleeuk wrote:Bit like a nasty porno.
:D

lol its jokes which ever way you look @ it b/c good music champions everything

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:27 pm
by abZ
I don't know if it is a matter of self promotion as much as just being blatantly annoying. I battle with this everyday as a label owner too, you walk a fine line between not promoting enough and annoying everyone with spam. Still haven't quite figured out the perfect formula but I think acquiring a following slowly but surely over a period of time is correct. This can be applied to dj, producer, label, whatever. Don't be so earger to sell yourself out. I have producers hitting me up daily wanting to lock down their next release ASAP, how about sitting down and writing some decent music first, to be blunt.

This should be a quality topic (serious)

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:50 pm
by bandshell
I don't spam at all, I'll ask people I know or who I have spoken to a bit to check tunes and that's it.

A lot of people seem to spend more time promoting than producing, if your music is good people will notice, don't ram it down their throats.

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:18 pm
by tripwire22
bandshell wrote:I don't spam at all, I'll ask people I know or who I have spoken to a bit to check tunes and that's it.

A lot of people seem to spend more time promoting than producing, if your music is good people will notice, don't ram it down their throats.
i agree all i see is 320!!!! but the tunes is pretty bad i dont even want the dam 320

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:22 pm
by 86.
I feel like an asshole promoting my own shit.