I can’t count how many times I
told these words to myself : « this Internet game speeds up way too much
the independent music grind ». I couldn’t be able to name all the
artists that I’ve seen grinding for months, then release their album and
be put out of the radars three weeks after. To make it clear, there is
so much artists and so much releases every day that your new single
dropped today will be considered as old one the day after … unless you
do not accept it !
Why deciding to impose your own
rythm ? You put your heart in your music (time and money included),
your message is sincere and does not lose quality with time, and the
Internet permits you to reach new fans everyday
that still haven’t a single note of your creations yet : this is at
least three reasons to refuse to follow the pace. Now we agree, how to
make it a reality ? How to really control the life time of this precise
song from your discography that deserves to be pushed and pushed again ?
Here are some ideas / suggestions that could help you to make it :
- Put different timings in your release, depending on the different audiences you can reach : why not sharing your brand new track with your close friends and family first ? Then the bloggers and radios you like working with and, at then end, to your whole email list ? I personnaly have a groups of contacts named « influencers » with who I like to share first and talk about my releases.
- Re invent the song : the track has been released weeks ago ? Perfect ! Build a remix of it, by changing the beat with working a new producer, or by inviting emcees you appreciate to make an extended version of it. Such a move will give a new life to both tracks, the old and the new one ! For instance, Macabeats and me just dropped « The Fix Remix ». DJ Grazzhoppa, who made the cuts on the original track, published a post talkin about the new remix and the original track at the same time.
- Create the buzz around it : by building a remix contest, you keep the artists’ attention on your work. We all know that artists are the foundation of other artists’ fan base. This cool strategy has been just used by my bros from EMS (M-Dot and Revalation) who recently opened a remix contest in collaboration with KevinNottingham.Com.
- Never forget the lyrics … : many ways exist to use the lyrics to promote a joint. Of course RapGenius.Com is a must. Bandcamp also offers good option around the lyrics. I immediatly appreciate how Devine Carama used it for his album « Believing In Forever » .. and I mentionned this in my Cool Review of his album.
- … Nor the production : ask the producer to make a cool visual of his beatmaking experience of the track, this will give new angles to the track. My brother Big Malk does it well, feel free to holla at him !
- Some insides about studio life ? Yes ! This could permit your fans to see where, how, with who you did the tracks. Could it be before or after the release, this is always a cool content to use anytime. My brothers Eddie Brock and Sincere recently did it for their upcoming collaboration in early 2015.
- From the bars to the stores : have you ever think about printing your favorite bars of the song on a shirt ? My brothers Cee and Notion from The Movement Fam did it, check it out.
- Ask an influencer from another domain to review your track : to be honest with yall, I had this idea while writing it ;) So I promise to try it !
Another ideas ? Suggestions ? Feel free to comment, share the knowledge, and of course holla at me on Twitter or Facebook !
***Thanks to Cool FD for sending***
