*Don't be fooled into thinking you will somehow not have to deal with the political bullshit the music industry suffers from (and it don't stop there). You may be shocked to find out some of the crazy things people have done chasing a dream like this. I'd highly suggest getting a firm grip on reality and not being caught up trying to become "that guy" in the lime light, just my own personal advice. We live in a world where things are not the way that they seem. Be an artist because you have a passion for what you do, not for the social benefits, "perks" or any other reason other than your love for what you do. This simply doesn't happen over night but it's not out of your reach to achieve your goal.

This is mainly geared towards DJ's and electronic music producers although pretty much any artist can take tips from this.

I'll hopefully save you some time and give you some good guidelines to start you on your journey. I've researched for hours trying to find the answers to my questions and thought I'd share them with some of you who are serious about becoming an artist and want to (some day) make a living doing what you love. Assuming you'd like to write and publish your own music with your own label here's what I got... (Assuming you have some E.P's or an Album at least that you are happy with that has been properly engineered [Mixed/Mastered]).

A.) Pick a good name that will work for you in the long run.

B.) Take professional photographs of yourself and have a professional logo for your brand. EDIT: *Vector format is your friend, vector art can be blown up to any size without distortion (great for website promo, flyers ect.)
You can create vector artwork in Adobe Illustrator from any photograph with the image trace function.
EDIT: *Album artwork should be 1000x1000 pixels and rendered as JPG

C.) Copyright your material. (For those in the US)
$35.00 fee to submit a collection of works
http://www.copyright.gov/eco/

D.) Establish yourself as a business with a Limited liability Corporation (LLC) & Obtain EIN. (Like a social security/TIN for your business)[do NOT go through LegalZoom]
*LLC over a sole prop because if you are sued an LLC will protect your personal assets as opposed to having a sole proprietorship in which case they'd be able to take your house, car, wife ect.


E.) Establish a bank account/D.B.A (Doing Business As) with your EIN so you can get PAID. (Chase, Wells, Credit Union ect.)

F.) Register as a writer and/or publisher through ASCAP/BMI or other society.
*One time Fee of ~$50 for each application
http://www.ascap.com/
http://www.bmi.com/

G.) Choose an aggregator to distribute your music (Getting your music on iTunes, Amazon, Google, Beatport ect.)
(TuneCore, CD Baby ect.[Aggregators distribute, they do NOT promote.)
http://www.tunecore.com
http://www.cdbaby.com/


H.) Marketing yourself! Most of the time the artists you see in a magazine PAID to be there, they weren't magically chosen to be there. Killed the magic for me a bit learning this but either way if you want to grow you must invest in your business (yourself) This includes interviews and music videos. You're really going to need to save your money if you're marketing yourself, it's not cheap but there are other effective ways to market yourself that don't cost anything.

I.) Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Myspace and other social media are all great ways to establish an internet presence and promote yourself. If you want to buy followers that's your business, plenty of artists do.

J.) Create your own website with a your own professional e-mail eg. [email protected] (no Gmail, yahoo ect.)
And It's always great to have some kind of free material available for download.

K.) Most revenue nowadays is generated from your performances, artists getting rich selling records is a thing of the past. Get your ass out there and perform/promote yourself!

If you are lucky enough to get a record deal, get a lawyer to go over the contract with you BEFORE you sign anything. **NEVER SIGN AWAY YOUR MASTERS**


If I can remember anything else I'll edit this post and add to it. Feel free to give more tips to the people who are serious about making a career out of music. I believe I've only scratched the surface here but I've never seen a post with this information. People usually keep it to themselves for whatever reason *no* .


Being an independent artist is a great way to get your music noticed by the big names in the industry.

 

Really great share Catnaps. Thanks for taking the time to put this stuff together for us.

 

An artist does not sell goods, he creates beautiful things, he gives a new perspective on society, the world.

Those recommendations are more suitable for buisnessmen who want to sell products.

Just kidding, we are living in a material world, I know.

 

Thanks brother and no problemo . I'm still new to this myself I just hate how much BS is out there when it comes to music. My goal was to get my stuff on iTunes but I had absolutely no idea where to start or what to do. 4 years later I am still mastering my craft and still learning new things (My music DEFINITELY wasn't ready then and still isn't ready for iTunes ).

Life is art for me, it doesn't stop at music. Business in general is corrupt as shit in my opinion but that doesn't mean we have to be! They are just certain things everyone needs to be aware of, no one wants to be taken advantage of. If you can think it and dream it you CAN make it a reality and live that dream, the only thing stopping you is YOU. You're a conscious being in the center of the Milky Way, take full advantage of your existence!



P.s I've updated the first post

 

Well is she going to want you after you've lost all of your $$$$ and have no home to raise the kids? I figure they take the money you lose the honey

 

Real ish right here, fam.

 

Catnaps
Exactly. Think your girlfriend really loves you? Come home and tell her that you have no money and see how fast she turns into an emotionless creature out of your worst nightmare.

21st century loving.
Lord Gaga


One Reason
clean your mailbox dude, I was sending you an invite for a 1 month Uploaded.net contest and it says you can't receive mail.

 

try millions with the same ambition... and some will go to very crazy lengths to "achieve" the dream

 

Dozens...


Buckmarked

 

Talent is talent. There's some legendary paparazzo who get their photographs in galleries eventually, and celebs like working with people who make them look good. If you are good at what you do there's always a way to get something accomplished related to what you do. Maybe that's the point here, if you're destined for something there's always going to be a way to get there. You have to be flexible and keep heading in the direction of it even if it's by a side road or a tunnel or something. Maybe you'll have to sleep with hobos on a freight train before you get your private jet, I don't know.

 

I feel the same way. If your truly passionate about what you do and are talented as well, hitting the grind is the next logical step. There is no way around that concept in my opinion.