| 13
STEPS FOR SUCCESS |
 |
|
 Sucessful
Bands like the Accordion King "Ramon Ayala
y Sus Bravos Del Norte" started their career
in the music industry struggling like everyone
else as they later achieved all his goals and
objectives by persisting and following the simple
steps that are proven to be successful in the
music industry. |
| We
will name the steps you need to follow in order
to succeed in this music world and the steps are
as follows: |
FIND
YOURSELF A BAND
1. Get yourself a Band, find the best elements
around and practice everyday, No Record Label
records solo artists, so find yourself a band! |
PLAN
YOUR SONGS BEFORE RECORDING YOUR CD
2. If you are going to record a CD, make sure
you are focused in what you want to do with it;
a) If you are going to record a demo, use it to
find gigs for your band; but b) if you will be
seeking record sales or find yourself a record
label, you have to start digging for original
material, make contact with every single songwriter
you know and ask them to endorse you with good
tracks but if the original songs belong to you,
make sure they get copyrighted before you release
them to the radio. |
GET
ALL PERMISSIONS PRIOR TO RECORDING
3. Obtain Mechanical licenses and First Use Licenses
from Songwriters Publishing Companies prior to
the release of your album, I have seen bands ditching
tracks or facing lawsuits because publishing companies
did not release rights to record their first released
songs. |
RECORDING
YOUR CD
4. Find yourself a good studio, DO NOT go to BIG
and Expensive Studios; they will eat up your budget
and give you no more of what you're worth. If
you are not an award winning band, do not attempt
to stand next to the big groups unless you have
the money to spend. Find a little producer if
you need one, that is willing to work on your
music as you'll need to overlook every single
step he makes for the band, or else you will end
up be out of money for the remainder of the process,
and believe you will need more than just a good
sounding album to make it in this industry. |
FIND
YOURSELF A GOOD ENGINEER
5. See to what your Engineer has recorded in the
past and be a very good listener because he has
all the experience in the control room and your
don't. Being in the control room is not like being
in front of your stereo. Follow every single step
of recording. You'll need to be certain that your
satisfaction is at 100% before he starts the mix. |
MIX
6. Do not attempt to have every single member
of the band when the engineer mixes your album,
you will drive him insane and the final product
will be horrendous, besides shortenning your budget
since every single studio and engineer will charge
you by the hour to mix your LP. On the other hand,
get a pair of musicians from your band to overlook
the mix, tell them to avoid increasing the volume
of their own instruments and instead to have a
balanced criteria of the final sound that the
band must portrait. |
MASTERING
7. Every single Recording Engineer will claim
to know how to Master. They will charge you $
50 or more per song and give you no more compression
with lots of gain on your final bounce with outrageous
peaks and numerous clicks that will remain on
your cd's for the rest of its life. Seek for a
Mastering Engineer in the Internet or local or
surrounding cities that have the hardware not
the software to Master. Remember Mastering is
a science of its own, Mastering Prices shouldn't
exceed $ 500 per album, go seek for the people
that will give you a satisfaction guaranteed or
your money back, those guys really know all the
tricks on the book. |
PHOTOGRAPHY
AND GRAPHIC DESIGN
8. This is the most crucial part of the process
since every single fan buys music without listening
to the soundtracks first. If you are a "Nobody"
you have to have the best presentation ever to
convince your potential buyer to purchase your
CD's, in other words you have to have a VISUAL
IMPACT to create attention. Find who has the best
deal in Graphics and Photography with credible
credentials, DO NOT take your pictures without
consulting first with a designer, because he is
the only one that knows what you need to wear
and how your poses should get done. Photographers
and Designers need to work together in order to
get your job finished and be ready for printing.
Manufacturing plants and Presses need to have
compatibility with their color balances. DO NOT
listen to your friends when they tell you that
they know a guy that can give you the photos or
designs for free, YOU ARE making a very large
investment on your future and no best friend will
know what's best for you unless they know the
music business. Ask your designer to create layouts
for Posters, T-Shirts, Flyers, Sales Sheets and
Miscellanous Printing for your band, sometimes
they bundle all printing for a best cost. |
INFORMATION
ON THE BAND
9. Get someone professional to make a biography
on the band, someone that will be able to write
about your talent and objectives, as well as someone
that can write a story based on the songs you
recorded. Find out what your marketing goals will
be, and how you will market the release of the
CD. |
MANUFACTURING
10. Before you decide on manufacturing your albums,
you need to know the difference between DUPLICATION
and REPLICATION as well as OFFSET PRINTING and
COLOR COPIES. There are some manufacturing plants
that will sell you CD'R's instead of Replicated
Discs, and color copies in place of Offset Printing,
ask your designer to help you choose the best
plant for your records. He knows best where you
should go. Find a plant that has an excellent
reputation and services the bands for your genre
of music, they will be able to give you the best
QUALITY and SERVICE for the money you will be
spending on your product. Whenever the goods come
out bad, everyone blames the factory, but most
of the time is the designer's, Engineer's or photographer's
fault. Manufacturing and Replicating Plants just
run the presses with the information you give
them, so try to avoid mistakes prior to printing,as
they simply run the goods just they way you produced
them. |
DISTRIBUTION
11. Find yourself a distributor that will manage
the sales of your Compact Discs, get information
from them from other musicians before you agree
to give them your materials. Sign an agreement
with your distributor since they will need to
service several sources besides the mom and pop's
stores. Most of the distributors will ask you
to sign an Exclusive Distribution Agreement but
the safe way to deal about it is to ask fellow
groups about the distributor's reputation and
success in Sales. |
RADIO
PROMOTIONS
12. There is a need to send your materials to
the radio stations after you manufacture and distribute
your goods, get yourself a mailing list to service
the radio community that handles your genre, usually
your distributor will refer you to a couple of
Radio Promoters that will be able to help you
service the album. Print enough Radio Singles,
Posters, T-Shirts to give away during the radio
station interviews. |
CONTINUITY
13. Maintain good relations with radio announcers,
write their names down, take their photos, get
a website together and post their pictures as
achievements in the life of the band, anyone that
opens the doors for your band is someone that
you must remember and maintain an excellent friendship
since they will be the ones carrying the decision
of making your hits. |
 |
DISCOVER
THE GRAPHIC STUDIO EXPERIENCE TODAY |
