« Em Dub's Guide To Getting Buzz On The Internet (The Right Way) (Article) »

This is my advice for all those artists out there who want to get their music heard, but don't know the best way to do it. For those who don't know who I am, I go by Em Dub and I'm the founder and editor in chief of Thizzler On The Roof, the spot you need to be at if you want the latest Bay Area hip-hop/rap songs, videos, mixtapes, etc. I've been running the site for a year and a half now (10 months seriously) and I've seen all aspects of the online game from a blogger's perspective and from a promoter's perspective (from promoting the Under The Bay episodes we do every week). Don't worry, this isn't a Bay Area specific guide: if you follow these steps you should be able to have some success anywhere (unless your music sucks).

I'm gunna break it down into 2 parts, because at different stages in your career you'll need to use different approaches. And this is just for getting your music buzzing online; there's a whole other set of tactics for getting a fanbase in the streets that I'm not going to get into right now.

So, with that said, part 1:

Getting Started Online (Little/No Buzz)

If you're just starting out, or new to internet marketing, this is probably you. Bloggers/websites aren't checking for your music, and your idea of getting online is uploading a song to limelinx or putting your video on youtube, and that's it. Here's a few steps that you'll need as a foundation, then I'll go into more advanced steps after:

1. Get a Facebook and Twitter page for your music and use them to spread the word every time you put something new out.

 This is the most important step by far. If somebody hears one of your songs and is feeling it, MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM TO FIND YOU. That way they can hear more songs, play your videos, download your mixtapes, buy your albums/t-shirts/stickers, and share your music with their friends. What I've found is that Facebook brings higher quality fans, while Twitter brings people who might not care as much but more of them. Bonus points if you also get on MySpace (outdated but still useful), Bandcamp (great for letting people donate money or email addresses for otherwise free songs), and any other site like that. I've found it's best if you take the time to update each one individually, but if you don't have time for that in most cases you can link your profiles together so you can update 1 and it will update all of the rest.

To trick out your Facebook, I recommend RootMusic. Eventually you will want to get your own .com website, but more on that later.

2. Build a mailing list.

NOTE: This does not mean spam the f*&k out of people who have no interest in your music. But you need to be able to actively alert people who want to hear your music when you put out new music. Simple, right? I recommend MailChimp for this. It's free, easy, and it allows you to organize your contacts and personalize your emails. Not only that, but it automatically includes an unsubscribe link, so people won't have to mark you as SPAM to get away from you. When you send out your emails, you should always include a picture for people to use on their blogs, a link to your song or video etc, and some information. What album it's from, what you have coming up, some background on you, etc. Just sending songs off at random can work, but by adding some extra information, you can build extra buzz for the album or mixtape or what have you for free. 

How do you build the list itself? First off, tell your existing friends and fans that they can sign up for it. Secondly, go to music websites of your genre (hip-hop I'm guessing) and find their music submission address. DON'T just start sending them your music without introducing yourself; these are people you'd like to build a relationship with, not just be another anonymous music sending robot to. Think of it like this: if your friend runs a music site, he'll probably post your music just because he's your friend (unless he's an asshole). But if it's a stranger, he might not even LISTEN to your music because he has no idea who the hell you are. Even if you don't become all buddy buddy with everybody you are sending music to, letting them know who you are and what you're about before you start blasting them with your music is absolutely crucial. Mailchimp has a template set up for just that reason, so you can send that out and give them the option to unsubscribe before you make them your mortal enemy because they think you're spamming them. 

3. DON'T USE LIMELINX. Or any other site that hosts your files in exchange for popup ads and having to wait 10-15-30-60 seconds to download. You want to make it as EASY AS POSSIBLE for people to listen and share your music. Why would you put them through torture just so they can listen to an artist they've never heard of? I recommend getting a DivShare Pro account, or using BandCamp. BLN.KR also looks nice. DivShare Pro costs $20 a YEAR ($1 something per month), let's people download without waiting and without ads, and bloggers can EMBED the song directly into their site if they want to (added bonus, when you have your own website/blog, you can copy paste the song onto it and let people listen directly from your site). The one drawback is their tech support is TERRIBLE, I have never received an email back from them. On the upside, I've never needed it bad enough to switch…Bandcamp is a good alternative too, but can be a little bit TOO nice looking for fans who are just expecting a quick download. Don't ask me why, but it does happen. 

So, the keys to remember:

- Allow fans to connect with you easily (Facebook, Twitter, etc)

- Connect and build relationships with bloggers/webmasters who can share your music to their fans (but don't spam them) (via Twitter) and share your music with your fans (Mailing list)

- Make your music as easy as possible to listen to (No ads, direct download)

ADVANCED LESSON: The Rules of TWITTER

So now you're on Twitter, and you have a couple followers, and you see all these other rappers you're following blasting links to everyone they follow every time they put a new song out, so you think, aha! That's why I'm on Twitter, so I can do that too! WRONG! Although that technique works, it's annoying as F*&K! Although you will get some clicks, most people who are professional (IE people who can help you get your music out there if approached the right way) will ignore you and might even block you.

My recommendation: when you put out a new song, post it once an hour or so. If you've become Twitter friends with somebody, you can send them the link, but even if you are, don't just copy paste something like "@EmDubious http://tinyurl.com/______ **NEWMUSIC** http://tinyurl.com/_____ #______ ft @_________ prod @_______" (a real tweet that has been edited to protect the guilty). That's not a suggestion for someone to check out your music, that's an ad. Make it personal, like "@EmDubious Whatup fam, I just put out this new song, let me know what you think. http://yadayadayada.com". Change it up a little for each person you send it to. Whatup fam, Hey man, Yo Matt, etc. It's simple but it works. You can also throw in "RT if you're feeling it" or something like that, and let them know they can share it with their homies. If you've never talked to somebody before, make sure you introduce yourself before you send them music.

So that's the foundation. Everything you do online should include those steps. If I missed anything or if you have any other ideas, leave a comment and I'll add it to this article. Now for step 2...you'll have to check back next week.