How to bring music out

Practical tips for recording, editing, and mastering.

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OccinticLady
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How to bring music out

Post by OccinticLady »

Hi all,
Okay, so...I assume "producing" music is not an option yet. My stuff is way way way too embrionic to say the least.
Nonetheless....is there a proper way to bring out your music and still get is somewhat protected?
Thanks
Melissa
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by milo »

Protected from what? From being listened to?

If some music studio really wants to swipe your music and profit off of it, then you have very little recourse. Your pockets just aren't as deep as theirs. You will go bankrupt before you get justice.

But the good news (and, incidentally, the bad news) is that they don't really want to swipe your music. Or mine. Maybe if I had music that was worth swiping ...

Your best bet as a beginner is to just make your tunes and put them out there in as open a way as possible. Don't put any obstruction between your music and your potential fans. Not a paywall. Not a download restriction. Put it out there for free. And just learn as much as you can and have fun! Over time you will get better at your craft, and if your stuff is good you will have listeners.
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by OccinticLady »

milo wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 4:51 am Protected from what? From being listened to?

If some music studio really wants to swipe your music and profit off of it, then you have very little recourse. Your pockets just aren't as deep as theirs. You will go bankrupt before you get justice.

But the good news (and, incidentally, the bad news) is that they don't really want to swipe your music. Or mine. Maybe if I had music that was worth swiping ...

Your best bet as a beginner is to just make your tunes and put them out there in as open a way as possible. Don't put any obstruction between your music and your potential fans. Not a paywall. Not a download restriction. Put it out there for free. And just learn as much as you can and have fun! Over time you will get better at your craft, and if your stuff is good you will have listeners.
Hi, thank you so much! This has encouraged me a lot.
I guess...just use music what is was intended for in the first place: entertainment.
Thanks :D
Melissa
Last edited by OccinticLady on Thu Jul 08, 2021 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by TAERSH »

Soundcloud could be one way.
It's for music only. So, no need to create videos.
You can setup a license for each song separately including all rights reserved to you.
The free account gives you option to upload 2 hours of music.
See my link in signature.
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by OccinticLady »

TAERSH wrote: Fri Jul 02, 2021 7:03 pm Soundcloud could be one way.
It's for music only. So, no need to create videos.
You can setup a license for each song separately including all rights reserved to you.
The free account gives you option to upload 2 hours of music.
See my link in signature.
Ah, great idea! That way, I can get feedback for what I do.
I may nog even reach 30 minutes worth of FLAC, let alone two whole hours :lol:
Well, the next step is reading up on these licence parameters, thanks :D
Melissa
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by Eli »

Soundcloud and Bandcamp for uploading yourself, free of charge.

Or, you can give $20 to Distrokid or Tunecore and they'll distribute your song to many, many outlets like Spotify, Deezer, iTunes, Amazon, etc.

You can use the website BMI to register your music for copyright, free of charge... But it's not insanely important unless you plan on suing someone.
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by FrankyF.Fire »

Eli wrote: Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:34 am Or, you can give $20 to Distrokid[...]
I have one big issue with DistroKid: Once you stop paying, your songs will be gone from all platforms. Depending on how often you release music, different Distributors might be suited for you. We use RecordJet, but it can be very expensive. Singles are more expensive than on CDBaby, but Albums (and especially EPs) are cheaper. As long as you'll only keep 90% revenue. But with our 4 monthly Spotify listeners, I highly doubt that this will make an impact. Or you could pay annually and keep everything, but with recordJet, you have to pay for every publishing individually. That's not really an option either, in my opinion.

Please tell me if someone has a suggestion for a distributor that does:
- Not require registration fee's
- Not have recurring cost/subscrition or doesn't pull your songs after you stop paying
- Or uses inexpensive one-time cost (e.g. ~10$ per Single, ~30$ per Album, 100% revenue)
Metalcore from Germany by Teariscope

Take a listen! (also on Spotify, Deezer, Napster, YouNameIt)
teariscope.bandcamp.com

Wanna follow us on YouTube?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoBWe ... I6aDmk6zfg
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by Largos »

If you're only getting 4 listens a month, why bother paying for that? People do so much stuff just because other successful people are already doing it. People who get lots of listens on Spotify do so because they are successful, it's not a case that they are successful because they get lots of Spotify listens. No point trying to monetise an audience you don't have.
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by milo »

Largos wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 2:41 pm If you're only getting 4 listens a month, why bother paying for that? People do so much stuff just because other successful people are already doing it. People who get lots of listens on Spotify do so because they are successful, it's not a case that they are successful because they get lots of Spotify listens. No point trying to monetise an audience you don't have.
I totally agree with this point, but there is also the "chicken-and-egg" aspect of it. It is tempting, and not unreasonable, to pay for access to a distribution channel in hopes that doing so will increase your audience. That would be the "fake it 'til you make it" or "Potemkin village" approach.
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by Largos »

milo wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 7:07 pm
Largos wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 2:41 pm If you're only getting 4 listens a month, why bother paying for that? People do so much stuff just because other successful people are already doing it. People who get lots of listens on Spotify do so because they are successful, it's not a case that they are successful because they get lots of Spotify listens. No point trying to monetise an audience you don't have.
I totally agree with this point, but there is also the "chicken-and-egg" aspect of it. It is tempting, and not unreasonable, to pay for access to a distribution channel in hopes that doing so will increase your audience. That would be the "fake it 'til you make it" or "Potemkin village" approach.
It's not going to happen anymore than hiring a tour bus is going to magic people up a sell out nationwide tour.
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by milo »

True, but it might get a few curious kids to listen. :)
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by FrankyF.Fire »

Largos wrote: Wed Sep 22, 2021 2:41 pm If you're only getting 4 listens a month, why bother paying for that? People do so much stuff just because other successful people are already doing it. People who get lots of listens on Spotify do so because they are successful, it's not a case that they are successful because they get lots of Spotify listens. No point trying to monetise an audience you don't have.
I do agree with you, partly. This is more of a fan service for us. We know that we will never make any money with our music and don't really care investing anyway. But everytime I talk with someone about my band, they are like: "Where can I listen to your music?" - And I just tell them "Everywhere!". As we are not releasing music too often, it's not that big of a deal to pay ~10€ for a single. I mean, the rent for our rehearsal room is about 130€ per month.

So it would be cool to still be able to tell people "You can find it anywhere!" while not paying a huge amount for this small service.
Metalcore from Germany by Teariscope

Take a listen! (also on Spotify, Deezer, Napster, YouNameIt)
teariscope.bandcamp.com

Wanna follow us on YouTube?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoBWe ... I6aDmk6zfg
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by sunrat »

This was posted on LAU list a while back. Interesting and illuminating read.
A Tale Of Two Ecosystems: On Bandcamp, Spotify And The Wide-Open Future
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by Linuxmusician01 »

Why make sure your early musical creations are properly protected? I always think about Paul McCartney then (link). You're gonna regret not protecting your own precious stuff (once things get going).
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Re: How to bring music out

Post by FrankyF.Fire »

sunrat wrote: Thu Sep 23, 2021 8:59 am This was posted on LAU list a while back. Interesting and illuminating read.
A Tale Of Two Ecosystems: On Bandcamp, Spotify And The Wide-Open Future
Good article, thanks for sharing. I can totally relate to what they say there - and want to emphasize something:

In one sentence, they're talking about young people stating that bandcamp "doesn't stream". This is the biggest issue with the platform in my opinion. As they say in the article, Bandcamp is for musicians and Spotify for listeners. What we need is something that handles both equally well.
I love Bandcamp for what they do, but I have to confess that I'm not a regular user, as streaming is so much more convenient. The Bandcamp App doesn't handle that well (if I want to listen to music I bought offline, I have to dowload a zip, unpack it somewhere and use another app for listening), plus it's not available anymore right now (probably due to not using apple and google payment methods which cut the profits by 30% for each purchase). That is most probably also the reason for them making their main profit out of physical goods. It could be so much better.
Metalcore from Germany by Teariscope

Take a listen! (also on Spotify, Deezer, Napster, YouNameIt)
teariscope.bandcamp.com

Wanna follow us on YouTube?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwoBWe ... I6aDmk6zfg
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