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Music promotion
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PsyGalaXy
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
68
Posts :
437
Posted : Feb 2, 2011 16:36
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Beat Agency
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
53
Posts :
1752
Posted : Feb 2, 2011 17:01
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@ PsyGalaxy
I actually prefer un-mastered demo's. Normally when someone make a "mastering" in their own studio it's just a "normalizing" making the music way to loud in volume. Mastering is really about making sure the music will sound good in different speakers and ensuring the music has the right balance in high, mid and low frequencies.
If I release a tune I always go to a professional to get it mastered properly.
If I was you I would just send the final mix without any "mastering". If the label don't like it I would not consider working with them as I would feel they are amateurs.
  www.beatagency.dk |
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Mike A
Subra
Started Topics :
185
Posts :
3954
Posted : Feb 3, 2011 10:41
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If you're heading for a label release, don't master anything.
Don't maximize anything. I can turn on the volume here. A good mix sounds good whether it's mastered or not. The label will master it again with the other tracks anyway, so don't waste your time and money.
Mastering will not make a bad track sound good, it will make you seem stupid.
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Nectarios
Martian Arts
Started Topics :
187
Posts :
5292
Posted : Feb 3, 2011 13:14
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On 2011-02-03 10:41, Mike A wrote:
I can turn on the volume here. A good mix sounds good whether it's mastered or not.
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^^^This.
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts |
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Kitnam
Mantik
Started Topics :
110
Posts :
1151
Posted : Feb 3, 2011 16:30
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- i do not understand why "mastering" your own demotracks should be wrong as long as you do not try to compensate mixing-issues with that. since "mastering" could be understood very differently i would allways use mixbus-limiting with some decent gain-reduction to give the mix a little bit of smack and loundness. i dont see whats wrong about that. the problem is, if you force producers to stay away from mixbuss-compression in a "mastering"-session, they will possible overemphatize groupcompression to get near the same results. i am not sure if this would be clever. just do a little bit of "mastering"-session with little technical clean work to get the levels done and you are fine.
- every a&r / labelowner got a different way to prefer demos. just look at the website / send a mail and ask how they prefer demos. you will get an answer at 99%. if you wont get an anwer in 4 weeks stay away from them. usually you even get quik answers like "no demos please". but its the first check for you how healthy the spirit their organisative-behaviour is. after that prepare your music the way they wanted and send / upload it and be patient. its that simple.
- connections are important. yes. but the question is allways how you act with them. sheer numbers wont make it for you. people will talk about you behind your back. if you are just gaming, people will recognize it. be honest, trustfull and as professional as possible. this means thinks like beeing onstage on time, not drunken, no drugs while gigging or connecting. stuff like that. be passionate about music, not about your ego.
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Nectarios
Martian Arts
Started Topics :
187
Posts :
5292
Posted : Feb 3, 2011 17:43
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Quote:
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On 2011-02-03 16:30, Kitnam wrote:
- i do not understand why "mastering" your own demotracks should be wrong as long as you do not try to compensate mixing-issues with that.
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It's not wrong, you can do a "rough" mastering and simply bring up the tune to a not so loud, but very adequate -10dB RMS.
The problem lies in both in inexperienced producers that think that mastering is some magical procedure that will sort out their mixes and inexperienced A&R/label owners that judge good sounding tunes on how loud the are.
Peace out.
http://soundcloud.com/martianarts |
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Mike A
Subra
Started Topics :
185
Posts :
3954
Posted : Feb 3, 2011 20:34
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@mantik
I'm talking paying a mastering studio to master your own music.
Putting a small limiter is just fine.
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PsyGalaXy
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
68
Posts :
437
Posted : Feb 3, 2011 23:19
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Quote:
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On 2011-02-03 16:30, Kitnam wrote:
- i do not understand why "mastering" your own demotracks should be wrong as long as you do not try to compensate mixing-issues with that. since "mastering" could be understood very differently i would allways use mixbus-limiting with some decent gain-reduction to give the mix a little bit of smack and loundness. i dont see whats wrong about that. the problem is, if you force producers to stay away from mixbuss-compression in a "mastering"-session, they will possible overemphatize groupcompression to get near the same results. i am not sure if this would be clever. just do a little bit of "mastering"-session with little technical clean work to get the levels done and you are fine.
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the few times i attempted to do that i ended up with a totally shitty and muddy sound, who i would not certainly listened to if i was a label owner,and it was straight after the mix,that's another flaw,sure it was many time ago and i was not aware of some basic concept about sound
Quote:
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On 2011-02-03 16:30, Kitnam wrote:
- every a&r / labelowner got a different way to prefer demos. just look at the website / send a mail and ask how they prefer demos. you will get an answer at 99%. if you wont get an anwer in 4 weeks stay away from them. usually you even get quik answers like "no demos please". but its the first check for you how healthy the spirit their organisative-behaviour is. after that prepare your music the way they wanted and send / upload it and be patient. its that simple.
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nice point, i'm not the best to make social networking and relationships, so until now i preferred not to contact
label owners with nothing solid to show,
basically to not to "burn a contact" even before havng worked with
I mean, the possibilities of an OK answer are stil few with solid music portfolio and artist look&media ,imagine if nothing shows up on the very 1st message,maybe ur on lucky day and the a/r answer with his preferences or maybe next time see your name on email and don't open thinking he has to be pissed one more time before hear the substance of artist work.
What said Disco Hooligan aand Mike A before it's true ,
if u don't know them personally can't know,or better;
if i know them personally i would certainly avoided all the above paranoia and email stuff
Good shots guys,insides are a lot worth, i have no personal experience in that field
but hearing a lot of different opinions like yours i'm gradually shifting my view on that subject
http://mystic-sound.com/releases/ioon-cosmic-downtempo-9314-oclock/
FREE DOWNLOAD EKTO http://www.ektoplazm.com/free-music/ioon-the-ioonfinite-loop
https://spiritedrecords.bandcamp.com/album/times-of-peace-2
https://soundcloud.com/opalmoonproj |
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Kitnam
Mantik
Started Topics :
110
Posts :
1151
Posted : Feb 4, 2011 05:52
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Quote:
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On 2011-02-03 23:19, PsyGalaXy wrote:
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On 2011-02-03 16:30, Kitnam wrote:
- i do not understand why "mastering" your own demotracks should be wrong as long as you do not try to compensate mixing-issues with that. since "mastering" could be understood very differently i would allways use mixbus-limiting with some decent gain-reduction to give the mix a little bit of smack and loundness. i dont see whats wrong about that. the problem is, if you force producers to stay away from mixbuss-compression in a "mastering"-session, they will possible overemphatize groupcompression to get near the same results. i am not sure if this would be clever. just do a little bit of "mastering"-session with little technical clean work to get the levels done and you are fine.
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the few times i attempted to do that i ended up with a totally shitty and muddy sound, who i would not certainly listened to if i was a label owner,and it was straight after the mix,that's another flaw,sure it was many time ago and i was not aware of some basic concept about sound
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okay then something was wrong especially with your mix. if you got a good 24bit mix you can just add some software-mastering-limiter of your choice and have some little gainreduction (never more than 4db max) on your mix. ballance the ceiling so that maximum volume output hits at -0.3 db. export to 16 bit wav and you are fine. you dont need to touch eq since you should have done that in the mix. if you do this correctly i a cannot imagine any demo-listener to complain about that. instead you bring a decent file which can be played on stage/ in the car to make people happy about your work. this is not exactly "mastering" but its some kind of finalizing to put your mix into shape.
anyway for preparing demos this article can help too: http://www.djtechtools.com/2010/11/29/getting-booked-with-an-effective-electronic-press/
its for dj bookings but it may also count for production-demos.
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Yestegan chaY
Yestegan Chay
Started Topics :
4
Posts :
91
Posted : Feb 6, 2011 03:44
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Quote:
| Once you got your own music finished (properly), the way to get the attention of promoters/labels/whatever is NOT by contacting them.
Being a label owner myself, I can testify that 0% (that's zero) of tracks I released on compilations were the result of people contacting me with their tracks.
You see, contacting a label is like hitting on a girl. The more you want us, the less we want you. Totally irrelevant to the actual music. No one would say it, but we label owners like to put on compilations tracks we found ourselves, being sort of like a prize and a showoff of "look how cool I am and what I found".
"lets say there's this artist who wants to release something on my label. He has 2 ways of getting me to hear it - one is so send a link to my email (which I may or may not ignore, and listen unwillfully) or send exactly the same track to some friend of mine, who then forwards it to me with a positive comment. It will increase your chances tenfold. Why? No reason. Just psychologically"
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Hey Mike
I think you should speak for yourself and not in the name of all labels.
I also think that your way of managing your label is somehow disrespectfull to the artists and moved by your own ego
which maybe works very good with girls and in real life but really BAD for the music buisness!
it looks like you are doing a favor to the artist when you listen to his music... i think its rediculous!
if someone will send you the next "world hit" and u will ignore it just becuase you want to say "i found it by myself" then what?
again..i think this is pure ego..which i understand in real life! .. but cant accept it in music.. sorry
about the other stuff..i agree that free tracks and shows are good for promotion FOR THE START
and i also agree thet it is alwayes good to bring "new sound"
thats it  (sorry if i was too harsh)
take care
Asaf
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/yesteganchay
SoundCloud - http://soundcloud.com/yestegan-chay |
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Basilisk
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
168
Posts :
2984
Posted : Feb 6, 2011 05:19
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I don't think you know Mike at all  He provides good advice for a lot of situations. Most label owners are overwhelmed with demos... and, speaking as someone who has, at times, attempted to actually get to every demo arriving in my inbox, the vast majority are complete garbage. I don't blame anyone who ignores unsolicited demos; it's a full-time job just to sort through what sort of stuff people think is release-worthy. I happen to have a non-zero rate of release based on unsolicited demos but it can't be much higher than 1%, and most of that would be established veterans calling on me, not new artists. Mike is right: the best way to get a demo heard by a label head is to draw the attention of a gatekeeper of sorts... a trusted friend or ally, for instance.
For those wishing to send unsolicited demos I have some advice:
1) Read what you find on the web site. Most labels and distributors have a process you need to go through to be heard. 90%+ of demos don't follow the process and end up in the trash.
2) Know the label or distributor you are sending a demo to. If the label specializes it won't help to send a style they have no interest in releasing. Do some research and make an educated guess instead of spamming people randomly with a form letter press kit. Make it personal.
3) Include a direct link to the music in your very first communication. Don't waste time. If you happen to catch someone's attention you want them to be able to act on it immediately. Make it easy, too. CAPTCHA codes on file-sharing sites are label owner kryptonite.
4) Your demo should tell a story. By that I mean you should include a concise bio and some information to "situate" your music (what the style is, what your artistic aims are, who inspires you, and so on).
5) Mastering has been covered. A hint of compression is probably the only thing you might want to do to your music before sending it out.
Some of this might sound harsh. These guidelines extend from the supply and demand economics of the situation. There are many musicians wanting to be heard but only so many good labels and distributors. As such, the onus is usually on new artists to cater to the needs of the labels and distributors. |
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Anyer
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
46
Posts :
696
Posted : Feb 6, 2011 06:58
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Quote:
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On 2011-02-04 05:52, Kitnam wrote:
Quote:
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On 2011-02-03 23:19, PsyGalaXy wrote:
Quote:
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On 2011-02-03 16:30, Kitnam wrote:
- i do not understand why "mastering" your own demotracks should be wrong as long as you do not try to compensate mixing-issues with that. since "mastering" could be understood very differently i would allways use mixbus-limiting with some decent gain-reduction to give the mix a little bit of smack and loundness. i dont see whats wrong about that. the problem is, if you force producers to stay away from mixbuss-compression in a "mastering"-session, they will possible overemphatize groupcompression to get near the same results. i am not sure if this would be clever. just do a little bit of "mastering"-session with little technical clean work to get the levels done and you are fine.
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the few times i attempted to do that i ended up with a totally shitty and muddy sound, who i would not certainly listened to if i was a label owner,and it was straight after the mix,that's another flaw,sure it was many time ago and i was not aware of some basic concept about sound
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okay then something was wrong especially with your mix. if you got a good 24bit mix you can just add some software-mastering-limiter of your choice and have some little gainreduction (never more than 4db max) on your mix. ballance the ceiling so that maximum volume output hits at -0.3 db. export to 16 bit wav and you are fine. you dont need to touch eq since you should have done that in the mix. if you do this correctly i a cannot imagine any demo-listener to complain about that. instead you bring a decent file which can be played on stage/ in the car to make people happy about your work. this is not exactly "mastering" but its some kind of finalizing to put your mix into shape.
anyway for preparing demos this article can help too: http://www.djtechtools.com/2010/11/29/getting-booked-with-an-effective-electronic-press/
its for dj bookings but it may also count for production-demos.
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Mantik from GErmany??? Great music Brou... thx for the Tip!
DJ of Sourcecode
www.sourcecode.nu
A&R from Horns and Hoofs Entertainment
www.Hornsandhoofs.com
https://soundcloud.com/anyer_quantum |
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Mike A
Subra
Started Topics :
185
Posts :
3954
Posted : Feb 6, 2011 11:02
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On 2011-02-06 03:44, Yestegan chaY wrote:
Hey Mike
I think you should speak for yourself and not in the name of all labels.
I also think that your way of managing your label is somehow disrespectfull to the artists and moved by your own ego
which maybe works very good with girls and in real life but really BAD for the music buisness!
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You got me all wrong.
Like Basilisk said here (thanks alex), I get overwhelmed by music. I get lots of demos, and I do want to listen to everything - but everything is mostly the same crap (sorry for using such a harsh word). Eventually you lose interest in listening to demos, because carefully listening to 2 hours of crap just to find that one track is tiresome and boring. You end up with a preconceived opinion about demos you get, and psychologically it makes them sound less good, just because you got them in mail. Sad, but true. This has nothing to do with ego, nothing to do with disrespecting the artists.
Maybe as an artist it's hard to understand, but I want to see your opinion after 4 years of listening to endless below-average to total-crap music.
Just as Basilisk said - you have to somehow get past the "gatekeeper", because the gatekeeper is tired.
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minus
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
103
Posts :
1614
Posted : Feb 6, 2011 11:44
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if you go through the gatekeepers way, then that is a whole different underground channel, where once connected, you dont need to send out tracks anymore, u r already inside the outskirts then.
and whatever mike trying to explin, sounds like he dont know how to use words properly, cause that does sound like a lot of egoistic bullshit, i guess because of this approach that what ever comes in the mail is junk, and trashed, is leading to the proper artists, ignorning these labels as egoistic. i dont know maybe there should be a open approach to all these promo's u get. for example i guess guiseppe of parvati rec chks all his promos sent, because he is looking for the next new good sound, he want to look so he looks, i think thats why parvati is top of the line in their genre,because their image is not egoistic rather they help their rooster artists and encourage new ones to fall in line. that is the way other labels should approach it,with openess. and yea, i do think mike got a big ass ego, i noticed everywhere on the forum the words which come out, and definately they sour.
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Mike A
Subra
Started Topics :
185
Posts :
3954
Posted : Feb 6, 2011 12:00
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Maybe it's just my way of saying what everyone knows but afraid to say, just because they will be tagged like you just did?
I know I do that occasionally, saying true stuff that no one wants to say or hear.
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