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How to start my music career?

Archive: 40 posts

I have recently decided that i wish to pursue a career in the rap part of the music industry, my friends all say that im pretty good for a beginner, and im 15, which alot of rappers have begun their careers at, but how do i start, im fully set on my career, i write a song every other day, but i have no idea how i can do this, i know what im supposed to do, release mixtapes, make performances, but i dont want to sit on my couch for the next 20 years wondering, how i start this off, so im looking at you guys so maybe you can guide me in the right direction. Any advice is widely appreciated, thanks, and have a good one.(Btw, i mean like, how i release these mixtapes, what kind of technology i should i use, how i should organize this whole thing.2011-11-30 04:26:00

Author:
Charlemagne
Posts: 513

The same way Justin Beiber, Souljaboy, and Greyson Chance did: posting their stuff on Youtube and getting enough views and luck to get approached by a label.2011-11-30 10:41:00

Author:
comishguy67
Posts: 849

Audition for a TV tallent competition.2011-11-30 11:10:00

Author:
Rabid-Coot
Posts: 6728

Start gigging.
If you've got songs - then get a set together and start gigging.

Nothing hones your skills like live performance.		2011-11-30 11:39:00

Author:
Macnme
Posts: 1970

Simply post stuff around the internet randomly and hope someone in the business likes it enough to get you in.
Seriously, like 95% of any famous actor/ musician is just famous because they got lucky and met teh right people.		2011-11-30 13:40:00

Author:
Silverleon
Posts: 6707

Make sure you make frequent references to your lady dogs and garden tools.2011-11-30 14:22:00

Author:
Rabid-Coot
Posts: 6728

Tbh, I'd first find a stable job before venturing out into the music industry. There's so many musicians out there (especially in pop, rap & techno) that it's really hard to get noticed. It's best to have experience in another field just in case you need something to fall back on, should the music industry not work out.2011-11-30 14:28:00

Author:
Outlaw-Jack
Posts: 5757

CD Baby.com- for a fairly reasonable price you can get your songs onto iTunes, amazon music, e.t.c
This means you can show people your work and get record companies interested.

Either that, or you just contact a record company and ask if you can get a record label?		2011-11-30 14:33:00

Author:
Alternative_sack
Posts: 409

The 5 steps of possibly becoming a youtube partner and/ or be signed by a record label.

Step 1: Make videos of you rapping

Step 2: Post those videos on youtube

Step 3: Keep making videos on youtube until you get popular on youtube.

Step 4: If you get asked to be or submit to be a youtube partner you will get money off of making youtube videos

Step 5: If you are a youtube partner Record labels will notice you more

Try to do these steps and you might get noticed by some record labels 		2011-11-30 16:05:00

Author:
TheMonkeyBlade
Posts: 687

Tbh, I'd first find a stable job before venturing out into the music industry. There's so many musicians out there (especially in pop, rap & techno) that it's really hard to get noticed. It's best to have experience in another field just in case you need something to fall back on, should the music industry not work out.

In terms of the industry as a whole, there are many jobs you can get. It's an 90 billion dollars a year industry that's constanly growing and changing. You don't have to be a "musician" to be involved in it. If you have technical/math skills you can make a great living.		2011-11-30 20:53:00

Author:
comishguy67
Posts: 849

The first step to international fame and glroy is to upload one of your recordings here.2011-12-01 11:48:00

Author:
Ayneh
Posts: 2454

OP, you need to appeal to the mainstream media's version of rap. It's not too difficult, all you need are these things:

- YouTube account and camera
- Slow, catchy beat that anybody could have made in 5 minutes.
- Make references to illegal acts of crime.
- Have no respect towards women.
- A very simple and yet catchy chorus.
- AUTOTUNE*

*Autotune should be regarded with the up-most importance. Rappers, pop singers, and hip-hip artist rely on this "enhancement" to strive in life. It has been scientifically proven that when an artist does not receive their efficient supply of Autotune, they begin losing their talent. This is in response to their lack of talent in the first place. A simple mathematical equation released by the American Song Specialists of the Entertainment Society (A.S.S.E.S.), the people behind the big superstars like Justin Bieber and Kanye West, sheds light on the subject:

Autotune + Good or Above-Average Looking Person - Talent = Artist

That's about it OP. If you by any chance do get famous, then I am by legal means obligated to 70% of all your revenue (yes, this even includes merchandise sales and allowance money). However, if you by some chance start becoming a "falling star" in the eyes of the media and your popularity/revenue isn't looking too bright, then I am permitted to do what most managers, labels, and other business men in the music industry are allowed to do: drop you and act as though I have never seen you (this includes redirecting any lawsuits against me towards you because I'm too much of a d*ck I have the right to do so).

Have fun OP.		2011-12-01 22:59:00

Author:
CyberSora
Posts: 5551

Justin Bieber was discovered by placing second in a talent show. Sometimes, local or other music scouts go the talent shows, open mic nights, etc, to find up and coming artists, to get them as early as possible, and squeeze the most out of them. So maybe try booking a gig, playing a talent show, doing a song at an open mic, maybe play a few parties? You're on your way, kid.

Cheers, flyinhawaiian 		2011-12-01 23:14:00

Author:
flyinhawaiian
Posts: 357

Yeah, one of the most important questions you'll have to ask yourself before starting out in the Music Business, is are you in it for the "Music" or are you in it for the "Business"?

If you're in it for the music, you can forget about making money.... and if you are in it to make money, you can forget about playing 'your' music.

The entire music industry is set up to exploit musicians - only the very smallest minority will ever make a comfortable living from it.

Also, not many people realize how depressing it is to play the same song again and again and again and again and again and again and again repeat ad nausiem.
And that's just rehearsal ..... if your song actually makes it, then you may be stuck playing the one tune you are known for for the rest of your life.

So even "making it" is quite a depressing prospect.

This is just my opinion - but I think it's better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond.
Dedicate yourself to your local music scene - get to know the guys who run the clubs... if you are very lucky, you might get to the point where you have regular paid gigs AND can play the music you want to.

If you are any good, you'll get noticed.		2011-12-03 02:01:00

Author:
Macnme
Posts: 1970

Im not planning to get a one hit wonder, i plan to be recognized for my talent overall rather than that, i think ill be more satisfied with the love of my fans rather than money or music, but if thats the case, im in it for both. i wrote my 5th song already, be sure to lookout for my mixtape within the next couple of weeks to a month, i didnt mention that i was in a rap GROUP as well. Me and my friends will be orchestrating the whole thing, You can look me up on youtube @HydraulicWaRiOr to hold you over until everythings done with, but so far no videos on my channel, but i will be uploading my introduction and me singing Yonkers By Tyler the Creators just to spark interest. I have a private facebook at the moment and i will make a twitter and OTHER facebook account to spread word of myself and my accomplices, so far we have our each individual rap names, and we have not created a name for the group yet so if you could help with that thad be great, ill be working all night on my next song so ill check up l8r.2011-12-03 04:51:00

Author:
Charlemagne
Posts: 513

1. do your best.
2. post music on soundcloud.
3. find a forum where you can discuss your work.
4. people bashing your music are your friend (if they love the gerne you are focussing on) as critique will make you a better producer.
5. post new songs on twitter.
6. once you know your quality improves, try to get your song on a local radio station.
7. have some luck.
8. dont give up.
9. always have a backup job.
10. do your best.		2011-12-03 16:01:00

Author:
Luos_83
Posts: 2136

1.Doing my best
2. I have a soundcloud account and i dont quite know how to use it but im lucky enough to know someone good with sounds
3. figured id just do it on social networking sites
4. Got that, just the name of the game, so far havent got any bad reviews of my talent.
5. Getting to that at the moment
6. I have no idea how im going to get any of my work on a radio station in L.A.
7. Hard work works better than luck
8. Dont plan on it, i plan to go for the gold until the day i die
9. I could DJ but other than that im into the entertainment buisness. I want to get as close the spotlight as i can if it isnt focused on me.
10. Said that twice		2011-12-04 22:58:00

Author:
Charlemagne
Posts: 513

Well, you need to get an audience.
How? By getting people listening to your stuff.
Find similar rappers, where are they popular? go there
spread the word, tell your mates, tell me, tell the grannies on their ipads in cafes... get as many people as you can to listen. then, they will tell their friends and a fanbase will grow.
Get your sound on youtube, bandcamp, soundcloud... Let's hear this stuff!
You gotta make me try it man, I can promote it otherwise... 		2011-12-11 23:31:00

Author:
unXpectiD
Posts: 1132

Have my facebook stuff up already look my group up @J.A.D.E Empire, Members @Slick Mando @Sandman, Our Third member does not have a page yet but he will in the future, remember to like our pages! Were still working the kicks, ive still a couple of songs before im ready to fully produce them, my mixtape is coming out first in a couple of weeks to a month featuring both our members, we are individual artists in a group, so dont get it confused, peace!2011-12-12 01:31:00

Author:
Charlemagne
Posts: 513

Rapping isn't music, it's rapping. Not saying it is always bad, but for God's sake people! RAP IS NOT MUSIC! I just don't get it, it makes me sick to my stomach. Not once in my life have I ever heard a rapper who's lyrics weren't completely boneheaded. If you really love what you are doing than I would suggest pursuing different avenues of writing.

Also don't ever think of music as something to pay the bills with. If you are staying true to your artistic style than chances are you will go a long time...a VERY long time without much recognition. You don't become a well regarded artist overnight (unless you are an absent minded teen who gets scooped up by the big guys so that they can pull their strings every which way to rake in all the money they can by raping an art form).

No matter what you choose to do, if it ends up having anything to do with art, remember this, "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."
-Mark Twain

*Music (along with many other forms of art) is the most important part of my life, so I get touchy when talking about it. Sorry if any of this rubbed somebody the wrong way...		2011-12-12 03:02:00

Author:
Unknown User

Maybe you should understand the concept of music before you go all judgemental on it, just as they are used in bands, bass, guitar, drums, are all involved in the ART of rapping, any idiot can put half a verse in a song and shred for 5 minutes, just as any idiot can put 5 verses in a song and put a rhyme at the end of every sentence, but what matters is the story that is told, music tells stories, i personally like almost every genre of music, but what does anything by Nirvana say? Whats the story? Would you consider them incoherent? i doubt any fan would agree with that.2011-12-12 04:38:00

Author:
Charlemagne
Posts: 513

The same way Justin Beiber, Souljaboy, and Greyson Chance did: posting their stuff on Youtube and getting enough views and luck to get approached by a label.

You have a quality voice so you wants to start your carrier in the music line. This is a good way to upload your music videos at youtube to get famous in this industry...		2011-12-12 06:02:00

Author:
Unknown User

Maybe you should understand the concept of music before you go all judgemental on it, just as they are used in bands, bass, guitar, drums, are all involved in the ART of rapping, any idiot can put half a verse in a song and shred for 5 minutes, just as any idiot can put 5 verses in a song and put a rhyme at the end of every sentence, but what matters is the story that is told, music tells stories, i personally like almost every genre of music, but what does anything by Nirvana say? Whats the story? Would you consider them incoherent? i doubt any fan would agree with that.

Music convey's emotion, not a story (stories inspire a song and the desire to convey emotion). Nirvana is one of the greatest bands of all time. I too love many, many genres of music (M-U-S-I-C). My top 3 bands of all time: The Beatles, The Doors and Nirvana. My top 3 songs: Moonlight Sonata, Stairway to Heaven, Across the Universe.

Again, you are focusing on the writing not the music (M-U-S-I-C), that's why I said to venture into other avenues of writing. Rappers always seem so narrow minded and shallow.		2011-12-16 00:19:00

Author:
Unknown User

In the OP you say you write a song every other day.



My only suggestion (I know nothing about this thing called 'The Moosic Industree&apos is that you DON'T DO THIS.

Focus on a few songs, and make them really kick-butt.

Then people well be all like, "Wow, these are really kick-butt!"

And then they'll say, "Why don't I give this young chap all of my money, my house and my cat! Yes. I will do that!"

Then you will have a house, money and a cat!



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nQsCMsIXSjQ/TU87RgbhO2I/AAAAAAAAAeQ/n8Jx8QaOgnA/s1600/success_baby-kid.jpg		2011-12-17 04:07:00

Author:
tomodon246
Posts: 624

Well, it seems like the others have come up with good enough advice, and I clearly don't know how to help you, except for wishing you the best of luck! 2011-12-18 10:47:00

Author:
moonwire
Posts: 1627

Re: Song Writing.

Disregard the "concentrate on a few songs";
Write'as much as you can.... for any 12 song album, I would expect a band will have probably written about 50/60 songs, that get whittled down to the final "Album 12";

And it's not like rapping takes any degree of writing skill.... don't they just say their own name over and over again, along with a list of people they're going to shoot?

Rap is a saturated market.... because any idiot can just talk over someone elses tune, which is what tyhe majority of rap is when you boil it down.
If you really want to get noticed, then you need to do something different.... something nobody else does.... but in such a way that it will still have mass appeal. It's easy to be avant garde - but hard to make avant garde popular.		2011-12-18 11:30:00

Author:
Macnme
Posts: 1970

I am not a fan of rap music Macnme, but unless you're being sarcastic/joking, you seriously have almost zero music knowledge. To think that rap takes no skill at all to make is ridiculous. Sure, there is a ton (like, an unfortunate **** load) of mind-numbingly, faith-in-humanity shattering, crappy lyrics out there, but that doesn't mean there aren't clever and interesting lyrics out there too. You need good talent to create such songs, and if it's good enough, and you're lucky enough you should get noticed.

To reiterate though; I don't like rap music.		2011-12-20 00:27:00

Author:
ryryryan
Posts: 3767

To be honest, your best bet is to choose another career as the music industry is a 3-97% chance of failing and actually becoming a celebrity.2011-12-22 16:09:00

Author:
AbdiHMA
Posts: 86

To be honest, your best bet is to choose another career as the music industry is a 3-97% chance of failing and actually becoming a celebrity.

Where is your source for this statistic? There are rappers everywhere, including where i go to school, and there are good ones and bad ones, and according to my peers, im a good one, i made my own mixtape cover, ive made about 8 or 9 songs already( I plan to release it when ive finished 12) Ive made a facebook page for both myself and my group, and im going to post a few videos once ive written a few raps good enough to impress someone who is into that kinda thing, i guarantee you, nobody has a plan set up like i do, I will do anything in my power to guarantee my success within the music industry.		2011-12-22 17:27:00

Author:
Charlemagne
Posts: 513

Where is your source for this statistic? There are rappers everywhere, including where i go to school, and there are good ones and bad ones, and according to my peers, im a good one, i made my own mixtape cover, ive made about 8 or 9 songs already( I plan to release it when ive finished 12) Ive made a facebook page for both myself and my group, and im going to post a few videos once ive written a few raps good enough to impress someone who is into that kinda thing, i guarantee you, nobody has a plan set up like i do, I will do anything in my power to guarantee my success within the music industry.

Oh yes. And I bet you and all your rapping friends have a contract, a VEVO and are all famous.		2011-12-22 18:51:00

Author:
AbdiHMA
Posts: 86

If you want anything more than generic replies and ignorant fools ****ting on rap, you're going to have to post audio or video of you rapping.2011-12-22 19:21:00

Author:
Bremnen
Posts: 1800

All good tips, call me old-fashioned, but what about sending your stuff to a record label instead or "waiting" till you get noticed?
Search for recordlabels who release stuff similar to yours and contact them, ask for their demo policy. Don't contact one, contact as many as possible.
Soundcloud / dropbox is good, but trust me when i say that a home made CD with artwork and a personal letter makes a little more impression than an email with 100 other people in CC

good luck,
cheers,
misty		2011-12-22 19:36:00

Author:
Mother-Misty
Posts: 574

Oh yes. And I bet you and all your rapping friends have a contract, a VEVO and are all famous.

We arent at the moment, but i dont see you with a gold chan or a 100k watch either, so keep the comments to yourself, as ive said before, my mixtape isnt ready yet, and we also dont have a record label that is able to provide the necessary materials, so you will find that this will take quite a while to happen, and @mothermisty, i am fully aware that i can do that, but we are not properly set in order to do that, as soon as the mixtape is done, we will be set and ready to go, thank you.		2011-12-24 01:13:00

Author:
Charlemagne
Posts: 513

-sleep with a celebrity;
-have rich parents;
-make "music" aimed towards 13 year olds
-have a friend working for a record label

If you're going for the natural, hard working method... hell if anyone knows.		2011-12-24 13:01:00

Author:
SnipySev
Posts: 2452

Be Justin Bieber

now.. wheres my chainsaw.		2011-12-24 18:42:00

Author:
Luos_83
Posts: 2136

38257
so far i have decided that this is the art cover for my mixtape, be sure to leave an opinion, this is me at my best.
And btw, does anybody know how to produce music on soundcloud? i can record the rhymes and everything, i just cant record the beat, if you have any suggestions for a website i can use in order to do so, please post a link, thanks for the support and help guys.		2011-12-26 06:43:00

Author:
Charlemagne
Posts: 513

And btw, does anybody know how to produce music on soundcloud? i can record the rhymes and everything, i just cant record the beat, if you have any suggestions for a website i can use in order to do so, please post a link, thanks for the support and help guys. You don't "produce" music on soundcloud and you don't need a website to record your beats. You might need a website to download/buy samples cd's though
Soundcloud is here to help you spread/share your music so that other people can hear your music in an easy way.
To record your beats and throw everything togheter you will need a Mac/PC with some kind of DAW-software (Digital Audio Workstation).
Look into programs like Fruity Studio, Ardour, Cubase, Ableton, Logic, Protools... those are the most used ones.

Good luck,
cheers,
misty		2011-12-26 10:24:00

Author:
Mother-Misty
Posts: 574

38257
so far i have decided that this is the art cover for my mixtape, be sure to leave an opinion, this is me at my best.


It looks like you've made it in paint and paints horrible Jpeg compression has done its usual thing of messing up the image I hope you've got an alternative version saved as a bmp or png before you did the jpeg so it looks a little more presentable.		2011-12-26 12:29:00

Author:
Rabid-Coot
Posts: 6728

38257
so far i have decided that this is the art cover for my mixtape, be sure to leave an opinion, this is me at my best.
And btw, does anybody know how to produce music on soundcloud? i can record the rhymes and everything, i just cant record the beat, if you have any suggestions for a website i can use in order to do so, please post a link, thanks for the support and help guys.

Not sure if troll		2011-12-26 15:11:00

Author:
Unknown User

[/URL]
It looks like you've made it in paint and paints horrible Jpeg compression has done its usual thing of messing up the image I hope you've got an alternative version saved as a bmp or png before you did the jpeg so it looks a little more presentable.

Haha, i think that might have been my doing, i have a copy saved on my photobucket account no worries, i will post it shortly
@Alex, What makes you think im trolling? You must not be taking me seriously.
Edit: Well, im not really sure how to approach this but its quite tricky, the original size is 320x180 and everytime i try to resize it, it seems to fall apart somehow(Yes i know its kinda ridiculous, but i blurred out some parts in the photo to add a better sense to it, and i also "inkstamped" the guy hiding right there )
I made a twitter recently! Be sure to follow me [URL="https://twitter.com/#!/JadeMrSandman"]Here (https://twitter.com/#!/JadeMrSandman)		2011-12-26 21:38:00

Author:
Charlemagne
Posts: 513


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