JohnDTraynor
02-19-2009, 02:59 AM
Every a day a new one materialises, usually via jolly messages on various music forums, or myspace, or facebook. The blurb, almost always written as if the keyboard is infused with helium, is sure to offer an opportunity to an unsigned band. The essence of this opportunity is exposure to the music business. Or else, an opportunity to make money magically from music.
The keynote of the charm is a helping hand through the murky, mysterious world of the music industry.
It might be an opportunity to be on a compilation CD/download, an opportunity to play at a festival, an opportunity to sell chart-eligible singles. Anything that this wizard thinks will appeal to an expectant, impatient band.
Chancers abound, aware of the desire of people who make music, and aware of the probable ignorance of such people of how it is really possible to succeed. They are not in the music business. The big boys and girls at Sony, or Radio 1, or NME, etc. all have utter contempt for these schemes. They are useless. Why be on a compilation CD that no-one wants? Why pay-to-play at a festival on a stage that is treated as a laughing stock? Why pay to have a chart-eligible single? Who gives a damn that the single is chart-eligible?
Yes, there is always payment. A £50 registration fee may seem little, but the money could be better spent buying a new cymbal, or go towards recording, or fixing the tour van.
These grubby charlatans are just lazy sods who want to get paid for doing nothing and think that there's a market out there for their non-existent product.
How to get on:
Write good songs
Rehearse a lot
Scrape together money for at least one well-recorded song
Do gigs (if you're good enough you'll get them)
Send CDs to the right DJs and journalists
Stay clear of the quick-fix wizards offering an express elevator into the music business - they are full of crap
The keynote of the charm is a helping hand through the murky, mysterious world of the music industry.
It might be an opportunity to be on a compilation CD/download, an opportunity to play at a festival, an opportunity to sell chart-eligible singles. Anything that this wizard thinks will appeal to an expectant, impatient band.
Chancers abound, aware of the desire of people who make music, and aware of the probable ignorance of such people of how it is really possible to succeed. They are not in the music business. The big boys and girls at Sony, or Radio 1, or NME, etc. all have utter contempt for these schemes. They are useless. Why be on a compilation CD that no-one wants? Why pay-to-play at a festival on a stage that is treated as a laughing stock? Why pay to have a chart-eligible single? Who gives a damn that the single is chart-eligible?
Yes, there is always payment. A £50 registration fee may seem little, but the money could be better spent buying a new cymbal, or go towards recording, or fixing the tour van.
These grubby charlatans are just lazy sods who want to get paid for doing nothing and think that there's a market out there for their non-existent product.
How to get on:
Write good songs
Rehearse a lot
Scrape together money for at least one well-recorded song
Do gigs (if you're good enough you'll get them)
Send CDs to the right DJs and journalists
Stay clear of the quick-fix wizards offering an express elevator into the music business - they are full of crap