With everything the Internet has to offer, you now have the tools to do just about everything you need – for “almost free.” This means that “theoretically” you could do “everything” without paying a dime, but in practice, you want outside specialists to do certain things for you – and then you need to pay them.
The good news is, that with the fierce competition for your custom, you’ll find that most everything you need can be done very “affordably”. This said, you WILL be spending “some” money. The only challenges for you are “how much” and “how to spend it wisely.” We’ll get to that soon enough.
Loosely related to this chapter, but more as a sidebar, here’s a video discussing the question “What If Someone Stole Your Song?”
[youtube OO5YiRGVl8U]
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But, before we finally start on all the hands-on stuff, let’s first deal with this critically important question of a more general nature: who is your competition?
If you say “other indie artists” you will only be partially right. If you say “major label artists”, you will also be partly right. But there’s more to it than that.
EVERYTHING and EVERYONE on the web is competing for the attention of web surfers, not the least of which are professional music companies.
But viewing things this way might discourage you. And rightly so. It’s the WRONG way to look at it.
The real question is “who am I, musically?” Once you know that, you must ask yourself “who is MY audience?”
And only then does the question “who is my competition?” start making any real sense.
At this point you may well find out that your competition is counted in dozens or hundreds rather than thousands or millions. And that’s the first rule of the game: targeting your niche. Do NOT make the mistake of “targeting” EVERYBODY.
Even if you’re a “pop” artist, i.e. one who hopes to get the broadest possible popular appeal, you’re still in a niche (or sub-niche), albeit a really difficult one. And if you don’t know what that sub-niche is – you must find out. If you’re a 20-year-old female singer, your “natural niche” are 12-18-year-old girls. If you sing about romantic love, perhaps that narrows down to 16-18-year-olds. If you sing in English, your niche goes down to English-speakers. If you’re from the hood – then your primary audience is whittled down to that. And so on.
The way you look, the way you sound, the things you talk about, the production values of your music and so on – all that helps to further narrow down your target niche. And pretty soon, even if you’re in a seemingly massive niche, it turns out that you’re really only targeting a tiny slice of it. Again: never try to be all things to all people.
When we were producing Fame Games Radio, this was perhaps our greatest mistake. We loved ALL musical styles and couldn’t quite accept the reality of what people tend to be like. Unlike music business insiders who tend to be very “genre-agnostic,” ordinary people overwhelmingly prefer to listen to “their” kind of music. Only. Exclusively. Nothing else.
Personally, I couldn’t live like that. After my daily fix of heavy metal, I love a little jazz or some classical or R&B – or even pop. Folk or country are great too as is tribal or ethnic music. Why would I limit myself? And yet – if you’re planning to make a business out of your music you must START in the narrowest possible niche before you even consider expanding. Very sad, from my point of view, but really necessary as far as the business aspect goes. Swimming against this trend can cost you dearly.
So, if you want to conquer the “entire” pop niche (i.e. from kids to seniors), you might as well give up. It won’t happen. You must START somewhere smaller, and you must be entirely believable and “right” for that niche or sub-niche. The smaller and more narrow your sub-niche, the bigger your chances of succeeding within it – and, possibly, “crossing over” to a larger niche.
The best way to discover your niche is to look at yourself.
Who are you, and “who are you projecting” through your music. The more “true” your music is to YOU, the easier it will be for you to find people just like you. In fact, you’re an expert on “you” – so finding others like you should be that much easier, once you realize this simple fact. (If you’re like me, however, who loves a bit of everything, this task will be considerably harder for you).
Knowing this is one of the most powerful ways to level the playing field.
While your competitor, Indie-A, tries to be all things to all men, you’re just targeting hairy rockers aged 18 to 22 who have southern accents and who rent their Harley bikes.
Most artists HATE this kind of a clinical approach (“A&R approach”) to their music and their target audiences. And I understand why that is. But, from my own experience, I can only tell you that as long as you CHOOSE to remain blind to the realities of life, you will find it extremely difficult to break through. That’s because you’ll be wasting your energy by knocking on all the wrong doors!
Oh, and by the way, another thing to keep in mind, as far as “leveling the playing field” goes, is that, thanks to the Internet, you have access to already established and clearly visible fan bases of other artists who are already kicking ass and taking names within your target niche.
The internet is great for that. If you’re writing music that sounds a bit like Nirvana, it takes literally seconds to find out where Nirvana fans hang out. And, best of all, you can get to them without any middlemen. No need for a major label. Just a little work and initiative on your part.
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| Book 1 – Chapter 07 What About A&R |
Course Overview | Book 1 – Chapter 09 Once Again: Indie or Major? |
Book 1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, Overview
