5 Steps to Getting Your Music Licensed | Step 4

Now that you're on the web and have a banging website, you need to do some promotion. No one is just going to stumble upon your website and sign you to a record deal. Yet, if that does happen, consider yourself the luckiest musician on the planet. To get started, figure out what your budget is for promoting your music and stick to it. It is easy to over-spend on getting your music heard in the world, but if you stay constant with it, then you'll be able to maintain a steady pace that will gradually build a loyal fan base. If you've gone this far with your music, you need to continue to believe in yourself and go the distance. Nothing is going to happen over-night, so settle in the for the long haul and be prepared to put in the time and effort it takes to make it to the top.

It's good to think locally at first when you start to promote your music. However, the Internet has become such a huge part of our society that it is easy to plan global marketing right away. One of the best ways to get going is on an Internet radio station. Now most of them charge a monthly fee to air your music, but it is typically affordable for the most part. One of the sites you can explore is RadioAirplay.com. They will broadcast your music in radio stations with artists that you feel are similar to your style of music. Then when listeners tune in to a radio station to hear their favorite artists, your music will be inserted into the queue and be exposed to thousands of new listeners everyday.

Don't just stop there, think about using social media to advertise your music and your website. Getting more exposure to your music is how you will grow and succeed in the music business. Try a few small campaigns on different social media sites. If you get any response, that is a good thing. It may not happen right away, so keep notes of where your efforts are showing a return on the interest. If you get any feedback, take it seriously. Even if you have someone say you sound like a band that you've never heard of or may not even like, that is a place that you should investigate marketing. If you have a similar sound to a band that is already established, you may have an untapped pool of potential fans that would loyally follow your music.

This is the long process of the road to the top, but if you put in the effort, you will see the rewards. Be open to criticism because not everyone is going to like your music. When you get someone that likes your music, embrace them and treat them like a VIP. If your fans feel that you care about them, they will be there for you when you start to play concerts. This is the next step in the process that we'll cover tomorrow.

5 Steps to Getting Your Music Licensed | Step 3

You should have a good song and a well produced recording of the music at this point. Now we need to wrap it up and present it to the world. This is where your creative ideas can come to life. Get a few good photographs of yourself that exemplify the attitude and image that you want to associate with your music. This is really half of the success of your music and career in the music industry. You need to be able to captivate the listener and get them to feel the emotion that is embedded in the music. Record labels and movie producers will take you seriously if you appear to believe in your own music, so you need to create an image that they can market with the music.

You don't have to go way over the top like Lady Gaga or Marilyn Manson, but it is very obvious that they succeeded in the music industry because their music was good and they had an image that captivated people's attention. I don't think either of them would have been such a success story if they took photos in jeans and t-shirt hanging out in their backyard. Now you don't have to get crazy with the editing in Photoshop, but I'd suggest that you hire a professional photographer and get some shots that have good lighting and are framed with an interesting background. Black and white photos are always classy and have a sense of professionalism to them. That's why so many band photos are black and white that accompany a press kit.

Once you have a few good photos, you need to get some sort of web presence. You can get a free band account on many different websites. I'd highly recommend one that offers licensing opportunities. There are a bunch to choose from, but I'd suggest starting with sonicbids.com or musicclout.com. Both of these sites allow you to upload music and create an artist profile. If you have about $10 to spare per month, I'd highly recommend you build your own website and have control over the design and look of your online presence. You can easily build your own custom site with squarespace.com or wix.com for about $10/mo. Check out some of the websites built by our studio clients: The New Position & Justin Fawsitt. Both of these sites were constructed by the musicians and only took a few moments to setup and publish live on the web.

This is a step that you cannot afford to overlook. You need to believe in your music and developing your image will be the foundation for the career you are going to build. Just as you got feedback from your friends and family for your music, you should also get feedback on your image. If you want to accelerate your career, hire a producer that has experience in developing musicians in the public eye.

5 Steps to Getting Your Music Licensed | Step 2

Now that you have chosen the best song to market, you need to prepare it for presentation. This next step is definitely the most important, it's time to record your music. The "sound" of your music will be the foundation of your marketing campaign. So this is where you need to slow down and evaluate the best option for moving forward. You need to invest and believe in your music, so you need a quality recording with a producer that shares your vision. Cutting corners on recording your music will hinder the success of your efforts and only wind up costing you more money in the long run.

The main focus is to get a high quality recording to exemplify the ingenuity of your musical abilities. To achieve this, you need to make sure that you're recording is done right the first time. Saving a few bucks on an unprofessional recording will only add to the cost that you'll wind up investing in your music when you go to a professional studio and get a higher quality recording. If you want to be the best at what you do, then you need to work with professionals who can give you top quality production. Project / budget studios are great for demos and hashing out ideas, but when it comes to making the final recording, you need to invest in quality. You will only get one chance to make an impression, so there is no time to waste on mediocre sound.

Here's the the catch, the quality of the sound shouldn't be judged by you. You need to get a second opinion on your music from people that you trust. Ask them for their honest opinion because this is vital to the success of your music. If they give you positive feedback that the music sounds good and has a unique and professional sound, then it is ready. Anything else and you need need to go back to the drawing board.

When you spend all your time trying to get licensed, the music has to be spectacular. If the recording is sub-par, it will reflect poorly on the content of your music. A good engineer / producer will have the skills and knowledge to ensure your music pops! Choose a studio with a proven track record and an engineer that has serious interest in your music. A good engineer will encourage you and support you along the way. Getting guidance from someone who has experience in the industry is a wise choice. This will help you avoid common pit-falls an maximize the efficiency of your production time.

Here at Shine On Studio, our engineers have been working with musicians for over 15 years. Hundreds of different producers from virtually every genre of music have worked in our studio to record and mix many different ideas and compositions. When you're looking to get a new approach to music production, come by our studio and we'll discuss options for getting you that "sound" for captivating a listener and turning them into a life-long fan of your music. 

Stay tuned for step 3. We'll cover the advantages of preparation and time management.

5 Steps to Getting Your Music Licensed | Step 1

You want the world to hear your music. Thus, you need to get it licensed in a movie or TV show that reaches a large audience. This is the best way to get recognition and propel your music career into a full-time job with a stable income. Over the next five days I'm going to give you some insight into how you can go about getting your music licensed. 

Step one: picking the right song to market to record labels and producers. It's good to have an arsenal of songs to choose from, but you need to focus on pushing one song. How do you choose the right song to market? Easy, ask your friends, family, and fans which song is their favorite. This simple poll will give you all the insight you need to make the choice. You can post a survey through email or your website and use the data to narrow down your most popular song. 

It's crucial to let your fans make the choice because this is a sample pool of the potential listeners that will hear your music. This is something that a marketing rep looks for when choosing music to license. Music in a movie or a TV show can be pivotal in the success of the production and popularity in the public eye. If the music is popular on its own, then it already has established success. This is a big deal to producers. 

Once you have made the choice, it is important to make sure the song is ready for submitting to licensing opportunities. We'll cover this in the next posting. Please leave any questions or comments below.

Building a Home Recording Studio | Part 5

We've covered some basics on what mics to purchase. Then we discussed some options for recording drums. Today I'd like to focus just on the kick drum. The biggest drum seems like the easiest drum to mic, but this big fella can be tricky at times. You really have to pay attention to the music. The tone of the kick drum needs to match the tone of the music. This requires selecting and placing the right mic in the right spot to capture the tone that you need.

There are a few options I recommend. The Shure Beta 52 is a rock solid mic for any recording. It provides depth, punch, clarity, and snap that works well with virtually every recording. You can never go wrong when using this microphone to record your kick drum. I've tracked many rock & metal bands with this mic and the results are exactly what I wanted. With the right placement, this mic can record kick drums that don't need much EQ and compression to sit well in a mix.

At a modest price of $189, this mic is affordable and will be worth every penny you spend on it.

My backup mic is the AKG D112. This egg-shaped mic is versatile for many recording applications, so it's an excellent choice for those of you on a tight budget. This mic is great for tracking a lighter kick drum sound. Blues & Jazz music seems to bloom naturally when this mic is on the kick. Besides kick drum tracks, this mic works well for recording any instrument that has a lot of low-end detail. I've used this microphone to record congas, bass guitar, trumpets, horns, and vocals. So for the $199 price tag this mic carries, it's well worth the investment.


The third microphone that I recommend is a little unorthodox. The RODE NTK is a secret weapon that I like to use when I need a bit more slap in the kick drum. It's a tube-based condenser that has a magical sound when placed in just the right spot. Usually I find that spot slightly off-center in front of the drum head. The $529 price on this mic does put it in the slightly expensive category, but this mic can do it all. From vocals to acoustic guitar, this mic is excellent on almost any recording.

Hope this helps you get better kick drum recordings. Please leave comments and questions here and we'll start up the discussion. Happy tracking.

Building a Home Recording Studio | Part 4

Yesterday's post was about starting your mic collection. Today I'm going to discuss mic options for recording drums.  Small diaphragm or Large diaphragm condenser mics are usually the best option for overhead mics on the drums.

Selecting the right Mics for a live drum recording can be a difficult decision. Drums tend to have an unique sound for each individual kit. You also have to take into consideration the style of drumming. The drummer is just as much a part of the kit, so based on how the drummers plays the recording of the kit should factor in to your decision.

Overhead mics are by far an important decision you make when deciding to record drums. A decent amount of your audio will come from the overhead mics. Overhead Mic placement is also a big factor whether you do a symmetrical or asymmetrical mic placement. Just make sure that your mics are placed equidistant from the snare drum so that you don't have any phasing problems with your snare sound.

Condenser mics are usually the first choice for overhead mics on a drum set, however many engineers have had lots of success using dynamic microphones for their overhead mics (OH). The goal is to capture the essence of the drum kit. Putting the drums in the mix to set the mood for the music is the goal. How you sculpt your sound will define your ability to record and mix a quality production.

I like to treat drums as a single instrument and not a bunch of individual instruments. This way I can place mics where they are most beneficial to the recording. Sometimes I'll mic each of the rack toms + overheads + a Beta 52 on the kick. This will give me a more snappy and punchy sound to the kit that is great for a song that needs strong dynamics and percussion. Other times I'll just use a SM57 on the snare + Overheads + an AKG D112 on the kick for tracks that are jazz flavored. These are just a few examples, but versatile dynamics for the type of drums that will fit in the mix.
You can always place mics and then decide if they are relevant to the mix. Just watch out for phasing and over-ambiance. The more mics in the mix, the more likely you'll have phase problems or what I like to call a foggy mix. Try starting your mix with just the overhead mics and mute all other mics. Listen to what the OH mics are providing and then slowly bring in the other mics. You should filter and EQ each mic so it fits in with the OH mix. If the signal is weak or disappears, then invert the phase to see if the track is out of phase with the OH track.

There's more to cover, so I'll open this topic up for questions and discussion. Leave a comment below to add any insight you'd like to share.

Building a Home Recording Studio | Part 3

Microphones are the pulse of a studio. They capture the sound and deliver it to the interface. This is the first point of contact where the sound is captured and harnessed to be preserved for eternity in the digital realm. Every mic has its advantages and disadvantages. In the right situation, a good recording can be made with a handful of SM57s and one large diaphragm condenser.

That is exactly where you should start. The Shure SM57 is a tank & a workhorse. It's great for recording almost everything. This dynamic mic can take a beating and still give you great recordings. It's ideal for recording snare drums and guitar amps. Each SM57 has a different sound, so it's a good idea to have a few in your mic locker.

Focus on getting a decent vocal mic that can be universal for other applications. The RODE NTK is a great place to start and will be a handy mic to have when you start to build up your mic collection. This large-diaphragm tube mic has warmth and character that gives vocals the texture they need to fit nicely into a mix. RODE has a long lasting reputation as a microphone manufacturer and I've had my NTK for 15 years and the beast is still getting use everyday in the studio.

Sweetwater has some great reviews and a wide selection of microphones. If you're going to be recording drums, the AKG D112 is a popular mic for kick drums. The D112 is also great for recording horns and brass instruments. The Shure Beta 52A is another great mic to have in your locker for tracking kick drums. If you're going to be doing Voice Over work for TV or radio commercials, the Shure SM7B is the primary mic you should be considering. This mic has become legendary in the world of VO production. I use the SM7B to narrate all my YouTube videos.

There are so many options that it is impossible to keep this post short and still pack in all the details about microphones. If you're considering a mic for your studio, leave a comment below and we'll start up a discussion about it. Stay tuned for Part 4 tomorrow.