If you’ve ever thought that getting your music played on the radio was the end-all be-all of the music business, you would have been right several years ago. When radio was at its peak, it meant absolutely everything to be on the radio. In today’s industry, we’ve seen the radio’s presence diminish, but this does not mean that it can’t be a helpful tool for getting your music out there. Yes, it may still be difficult to get your tunes on one of the major radio stations in your area, but college radio is a great way to make your first appearance on the airwaves.

Many college radio stations are always eager to add emerging artists, especially if you’re from the area. Almost all major colleges and universities have radio stations at this point, and each station is filled with shows spanning almost every genre imaginable. College students are always eager to help out a local band, and when there isn’t a specific show playing, you can always just get added to their regular rotation. Try getting in touch with your local college radio stations to see if they would be interested in featuring your music. Here’s a site that I found after some quick browsing that might help you get started.

Just these past few weeks, I’ve seen several local artists gain quite a bit of recognition around their respective areas (in this case, Boston) because they have been featured on college radio. One artist reached out to a friend of mine, who has a show on Northeastern University’s station, 104.9 WRBB-FM. They had never met before, but he expressed interest in coming in to the studio and playing live on-air, and in a week, they had everything planned out. The show has had several local acts pass through, simply because they asked to be on the show. Also, new bands are constantly being added to their list of recommendations to play. So go ahead and put yourself out there – get on the phone or email your EPK over to local college radio stations. The people who are listening are the ones that are particularly interested in finding new undiscovered music, and it’s always great to find a new way to get yourself out in the open.

Awhile ago I posted a video here on the Lounge advising artists to make a “Band Information Pamphlet” for their next show.  A few artists contacted me via Twitter about the idea and what their results using it were.  Sonicbids artist Chris Hodges even mailed me a copy of the one he put together using an MS Word template which he printed at Office Max for $0.38 apiece.  Chris also improved on the concept by including a slip of paper for fans to fill in their email address with instructions to  drop it in the tip jar.  Check out the video for a closer look:

Merchandise has always provided artists with a great outlet for promotion. But let’s face it, as cool as t-shirts, posters, and other common merch table items can be, they don’t always help to spread exposure, and set you apart from all of the other struggling artists out there. Unique designs are great, but I couldn’t tell you how many cool band t-shirts I’ve seen on the street or in a club and have instantly forgotten about.

That being said, it’s a breath of fresh air for me when I come across some truly unique merchandise. Take, for example, Get Busy Committee, a recently formed group consisting of underground hip hop stalwarts Apathy and Ryu. While they’re certainly talented, I’m not a particularly huge fan of either artist, and normally wouldn’t think twice about them. But after seeing the custom 2GB Uzi-shaped USB flash drive that comes packaged with their CD, I certainly won’t forget about them. I might even buy the album. (more…)

I remember when my favorite band of 2007, Quintus, released an EP.  At the time and the ripe, naive age of 20 I remember wondering to myself, “What the heck is an EP?” And soon after, I started noticing tons of other bands releasing EPs.

So where did the EP come from, who/what made it popular, and more importantly, what can it do for you–the independent musician?

Before the EP was introduced in the early 1950s, music was mostly released as the 45 rpm vinyl single or the 33 rpm vinyl LP album. Then in 1952, RCA released the “Extended Play” 45 as a competitor to the LP. The EP was still playable by the standard 45 rpm equipment, but used narrower grooves to achieve 7.5 min of playing time per side, and containing about 4-6 tracks total.

Record companies used the EP as a promotional tool to release an artist’s just-cut tracks to generate interest in an upcoming album, and also to package several radio hits onto one vinyl record for a cheaper price.
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Okay, let me start off with a little disclaimer. I know Panos already commented on our beloved King of Pop, and as a huge fan (yes, I bought tickets and was willing to cross an ocean to see him last July and now have tickets to the midnight premiere of This Is It) I know I’m a little biased. I also know that not all musicians have any desire to reach commercial fame. Regardless of all the above facts, I think there are some good tips we can all learn from the late Michael Jackson. I’ll try not be too biased about how much I love him… oh who am I kidding? Why bother?

(1) Evolve
There are always the exceptions (see: Rolling Stones), but if you want a long career in music, you’ll need to continually challenge yourself to think differently than you have in the past. MJ re-invented himself through time and it was a huge reason why he was able to appeal to such a wide spectrum of people. He started with the Motown soul and R&B, danced his way through Disco with “Off the Wall,” added some rock here or there (‘Beat It’, ‘Dirty Diana’), then started trying some Gospel (Man in the Mirror, Will You Be There?). If that wasn’t enough, he beat-boxed his way through Dangerous and HIStory, the Blood on the Dance Floor featured some pretty awesome mixes for you DJs out there, and to top it off, he crooned some serious slow jams on “Invincible”(Example: ‘Butterflies’ – released over 8 years ago and still sounds like something Justin Timberlake would release tomorrow.)  With all the changes and genre bending, the most accurate way to classify Michael Jackson’s music was just “Pop” — because Popular was just about the only consistent thing. (more…)

Well…almost.

When I played Rock Band the first time on my friend’s Xbox 360, I was completely addicted, but sort of jealous. I remember saying to my buddy while rockin’ out on the drums: “I wish you could play my band’s songs in this game!”

Think of all the people to whom you could potentially expose your music through a video game like Rock Band: millions of kids, adults, and fellow musicians who embrace the fake Stratocaster controller as a chance to rock out. Currently, a few bands are able to do that through the game’s “Bonus Tracks” – these are playable songs by less known, typically local acts that were lucky to make their way into the game. (Disclaimer: most of these bands have some sort of connection with the game itself, such as a singer who happened to be a game developer.)

In a couple of months, this is going to be possible for the rest of us. Harmonix (the original creators of Rock Band, also Boston-based) is going to be rolling out a public beta of their new Rock Band Network in mid-November. This is a new online community that will allow bands, producers, or avid fans of the game to construct new Rock Band tracks based on their own master recordings, and then upload them for sharing within the game. (more…)

Sonicbids members Selkow had the great idea to build a pamphlet with info about their band to pass out at shows.  Check the video below for a look at what they did: