1. Cancelling sessions on the day you’re due to record:

This really pisses studios off because your cancelation prevented them from booking a paying customer. Be considerate. Call the studio at least a day before if something comes up, and you know you won’t be able to make the session. Some studios make artists pay an non-refundable down payment to book a time slot because of this, but it still doesn’t equal up to the cost of a full session. Don’t get a reputation for being a flake. They might flag you as a customer that’s not dependable.

2. Treating the studio session like a house party:

When you’re in a studio session, you should be getting down to business. Time is money. The only people that should be there, are people that are contributing to the recording. Too many artists bring a large, annoying entourage to the studio, partying and bullshitin’ when they should be focused on being productive.  These extra people usually don’t appreciate the value of the session and ask the engineer a lot a annoying questions like, “what that button do?” Don’t be a show off. Leave the crew at the crib and invite them to the release party.

3. Not backing up your music:

Studio engineers are not responsible for archiving your music. If they do that’s a bonus, and you should be grateful. But it’s not their job. You should bring a hardrive, save your studio sessions on it, and keep it in a safe place. Artists are always calling studios looking for some shit they recorded 3 years ago, then get mad when the studio doesn’t have it. Studio’s go out of business, hardrives crash, stuff gets caught on fire, people break in and steal shit…You get the picture? Anything can happen if your music is kept in one place. Always get a backup and you’ll never have to worry about your valuable music being lost.

4. Bad audio files:

This is usually a problem when the producer who made your beat, gives you session files that are all screwed up. These files may not be in sync with each other, be recored too low in volume, or recorded too high. Either of these prevents your studio engineer from doing the best job he’s capable of. Taking the time to fix those problems eats up more studio time. This ends up costing you more money.

5. Being annoying during the mixdown session:

Some studio engineers don’t even want artists in the room when they’re mixing down music. Mixing can be a tedious process and usually takes a considerable amount of time to get right. Some artists can be bothersome when they are in the room during this process. It’s hard to tell what the mixdown will sound like until it is completely finished. So give the engineer a break and let him perform his craft, then critique when he’s done.

6. Not respecting the studio equipment:

People come into the studio and sometimes put their pizza and beer on top of valuable studio equipment. Suff gets spilled and expensive electronics are ruined for good. This is a good way to fuck up a relationship with an engineer and you can end up paying lots of money to replace what you broke.

7. Not having the money at the end of the studio recording:

Nothing pisses off a studio engineer more than staying up all night recording your music, only to have you tell him that you don’t have the money right now. This is a straight asshole move because the artist knows this before he does the session. This can get your music mysteriously erased or leaked. Don’t be a cheat. If you don’t have the money to pay, don’t waste anyone’s time.

If you engineers and producers can think of anymore, please add them in the comments below.

Everybody is obsessed with the follower count and not enough with the interaction.  #Followback, #Wefollowback, #Teamfollowback, #Instantfollow. Increase my number and I’ll increase yours. Forget that you may probably don’t give a fuck about what my site, tweets, or statuses are about. Let’s help each fake like we’re important to thousands of people.

I did the auto-follow-back thing, as a mutual courtesy, for a while until I actually saw that I was being followed by many people who wanted to spam me with direct messages on Twitter. Listen, the numbers mean NOTHING. In fact, I encourage you to lose followers. Purify your list by getting rid of the fakers. It’s the only way you’re truly going to find an audience. And you don’t need a huge amount in the beginning to start making an impact. Stop trying to play to the mainstream and connect with individuals. Stop copying the mainstream  all the while, losing your own identity in the process. You’re far more interesting when you find that thing that is different than what everyone else has.

Don’t pay for followers, don’t pay for Facebook fans, and dont pay for Youtube views. You’re not fooling anybody. We can tell if people are really paying attention. The time you spend spamming and crafting the illusion, you can spend actually finding a real niche. And stop only playing to Facebook. Sure everyone has a profile, but there are many other places where people are genuinely socializing around the Internet. You’re not going to get the gritty feedback on Facebook from people whose every interaction can be seen by their mom, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.

Google plus may not be the most popular, but there are many people there. Believe it or not, people are still connecting on Myspace. You don’t have to follow the herd. Here is a list of 74 social networking sites where people are connecting with each other.There’s an audience to be found also in forums, and not necessarily the hip hop ones. Find alternatives.

The haters, the un-frienders, the un-subscribers, are an asset. Those that remain with you, get your message. There were a few artists that emerged this year and for the life of me, I don’t know how in they hell they have an audience, but they do. Think they give a shit what I think about their music? Hell no. Speaking of not giving a shit, there’re some jewels to be gained from this interview I came across of the late George Carlin titled, “Why it’s important not to give a shit”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZGo6mWjk4Y

If you don’t like the mainstream, don’t try to mimic it. Change the status quo. Connect, collab, and create with like minds. Beefing is for mainstream artists fighting for limited media attention. It’s played and has lost it’s entertainment value. Independent and underground  hip hop is continuing to thrive. I wish you all a creative and successful New Year.

Peace

I like gangsta hip hop just as much as I like the other forms of it. But I don’t want to be in the midst of that bullshit when I come out to see you perform. I’m there to have a good time, just like most others are. No performing artist can be fully responsible for the people that come out to his show, but they are the “Pied Piper” so to speak. And they can dicate what the atmosphere is.

The reason why this is all important is because, some venues are reluctant or have refused to put local hip hop shows on. They feel that they have to hire extra security and the neighborhood residents complain about the problems some of the patrons cause. I’m just sayin, when your gig is known for being a good hangout, the women feel safe, and the dudes feel like they can come to your shit without a vest on, they will come back…and spend money.

Today is a day when I would normally post music from independent hip hop artists. Tuesday evenings are one of the days I set aside to listen to submissions for posting the following day. After my 3rd week of going through over 2 hours of unusable submissions, I asked my self, “dude, what in the hell are you doing?” And I took some time to reflect on how I got here. Follow me…

After 2 1/2 years, this blog’s popularity is increasing among independent hip hop artists. Nothing could make a blogger happier than to have his or her blog strike a resounding chord with audience they’re trying to target. Some of the music I’ve been introduced to in the process has been one of the greatest rewards of running this blog.

When I started IndieHipHop.net, artists submissions and reviews were intended to be just a small part of this site. In fact, I was only profiling one artist every Wednesday back then. Why? Because I saw the big shift taking place in the music industry, and I knew that hip hop artists were going to need information that would help them with their independent music careers.  I also knew that I could never keep up with the new music release game that other hip hop blogs have done very well. In addition, I didn’t want to put a lot of hard work into a blog where what I posted yesterday became old news and was irrelevant.

So over time, more artists began submitting music for my “artist of the week” slot, and I soon discovered that there were very few hip hop blogs that supported independent or lesser known hip hop artists. No problemo! I’ll be glad to support the underdog. Back then the volume of submissions were manageable, but I soon had to start posting more artists on Wednesdays because, at my usual pace,  it was taking a very long time before artists would get a shot at being posted on the blog. Tuesdays became my listening day and I happily looked forward to hearing new music from indie and underground artists who lived in various places across the world. This was dope because I didn’t know shit about running a blog when I started, and the emails of support from independent artists were very encouraging.

Still, even though I was listening to more music and posting more artists, I was able to keep the primary theme of music business dominant in the blog. I developed the fairest system for submissions that I could come up with. I listened to all music submitted and I listened in the the order they came in. Over time I made a few personal connections with a handful of artists that I’d bump to the front of the line, but this was only because they consistently put out great music and were huge supporters. You gotta reward that. There were bad submissions always coming through from artists just not following simple directions, but this only confirmed my belief that the business information was still desperately needed. About 2 years in, this started to become a big enough problem to suck some of the fun out of going through submissions. And I’m a firm believer that if you’re not having fun doing something, stop doing it.

I’m not sure when the big wave hit, but this blog’s submission email address landed on many promotional e-blast lists. Promo companies started putting me on it, then the artists. Fewer submissions were personal,and I just became one of 50 other bloggers the submission would be sent to. I have no problem with this as long as the transfer of the music is easy for me. But the vast majority of these were just reoccurring emails of links to mixtapes and submissions that didn’t contain what I needed for a post. Some bloggers are really particular about the way they want music sent to them, but I became flexible in the way I’d except the delivery.

Fast forward to now, and my inbox is getting an average of 60 submissions per day. And I’m not counting the e-blast submissions. I’ve clearly posted what I need for a post on my contact page, yet I still get lots of emails with just a YouTube link. “Hey I’m an up and coming rapper and I want to be on your blog”. Then the artist just inserts a link to a Facebook page. And there’s…”Hey, check out my mixtape. Tell me what you think.” No pic, no info, and no website. But more abundantly, there are the artists who just don’t take their music seriously. Now I wouldn’t be bothered by this if the opening of these emails didn’t collectively take up so much of my time and keep me from getting to the good shit. Because of the volume, now it’s taking me even longer to get to artists submissions. An artist trying to promote his or her new single may not get seen for 2 months at the current pace, and I understand how sometimes artists need these post to be in sync with their maketing plans.

I wish I could wave a magic wand that would direct me to the good submissions in my inbox, but I can’t. If you’ve noticed lately, I’ve started adding more popular indie artists in the mix. This is due to the fatigue I’ve been getting from going through the pile. Basically anybody with a microphone and a ripped YouTube instrumental can send me music and use up a portion of my time. And they do. I’m still going to accept submissions but my system of posting will change. At this point I’m not sure how though. I’m writing this on a Tuesday evening after just discovering the need to create a better filter. I’m open to any and all suggestions from my readers. This blog will continue to support independent hip hop artists. It’s just time to develop a more effective way to spotlight those who are serious about their craft.

Today we put to rest the word, “UNSIGNED”. He was there through some of our struggles, failures, and victories. He was a word of his time. We worked so very hard to break free from his grip. Some of us were successful in shakin’ him, becoming “signed”, only to discover that the prize we worked to hard to obtain was mostly a fantasy. We didn’t know that we had within us the power and the ability to create our own destiny, be free to say what we wanted, and not wait at the door for opportunity to knock. We didn’t know that we could be successful while being INDEPENDENT. Everybody loves you when you’re dead, but unfortunately that doesn’t apply to you “unsigned”. So with our new found self-awareness, we collectively say farewell to you and establish July 1st as a Day for Independents.

To All:  Today when you’re promoting and pushing your music throughout this vast internet universe, hashtag it with #RIPunsigned to educate the rest of the world about the movement. And if you’re an artist reading this message, leave some parting comments below, along with any links to your music or websites!

One

Unsigned Artist Independent Artist

In the spirit of INDEPENDENCE, IndieHipHop.net, artists, and associates are banding together to officially bury the word “unsigned” on Friday, July 1st, and declaring that we be referred to as INDEPENDENT ARTISTS instead. We believe that the  label “unsigned artist” has a negative connotation that reduces the worth
of that artist. Because before we are even considered “signable”, we are releasing projects, doing our own marketing, handling our own promotions, paying for studio time, selling merch, rockin’ venues and much more. We expect the respect and regard given to any other business entrepreneur. The word “unsigned” has just outlived it’s usefulness in the climate of todays music industry. We will be INDEPENDENT, our deals will be JOINT-VENTURES, and we will make July 1st a day that we reaffirm our worth.

So let’s send a message that will resonate throughout the industry. July 1st with be the “Death of Unsigned” and on that day, lets share our struggles, motivations, and solidarity on the social networks, Facebook and Twitter, and hashtag it with #RIPunsigned. Let try to make this a trending topic, and score another goal for ALL artists courtesy of the hip hop community!

If you’re down for the cause please share and retweet this message!

Some emerging hip hop artists have absolutely no plans of going the independent route. Their plan is mostly centered around finding one of these industry gatekeepers that will open up the magical gates of the hip hop mainstream, and that little industry elves will do all of the promotional and marketing grunt work for them. First of all, none of the people on the other side of that gate is going to take interest unless you have built a substantial buzz on your own.  The “BUZZ”rules and the bigger the buzz, the greater your options.

The people inside of the kingdom don’t trust their own ears, they trust the number of Twitter followers, YouTube views, and Facebook fans. To them the numbers don’t lie, and this creates low risk for them. Why bust their asses trying to break an unknown artist they believe in? That’s too much fuckin work. Lil’ Swaggadoicious* got some wack ass rhymes, but he has 40,000 Twitter followers and a million YouTube views, so they’re putting an offer on the table. And screw you and your dope music if you can’t show that anyone is interested in it.

The truth is, you’re going to have to do the grind work before and even after you get signed.  Just being in the mainstream doesn’t automatically create a quality fan base for you. You have to do that on your own. A lot of music posted on this blog doesn’t come from the artists themselves. It sometimes comes from loyal fans who want to put me up on artists that moved them. These are the kinds of connections you want to build.

*As far as I know, there is no rapper named Lil’ Swaggadocious…I surely hope not.

Let’s be real. It’s getting increasingly more difficult these days to be able to let go of your 9 to 5 or odd job to do this music thing full time. If you’re a do-it-yourself artist, there’s a good chance that you’re recording your own projects, doing your own graphic work, booking yourself, promoting, marketing, and even editing your own indie videos. Maybe your’re doing some of these if not all of them. If you’ve become good at any one of them, you’ve just developed a valuable skill that many other artists need. And these are skills that can provide you with some extra income or replace a sucky job that not related to the music business at all.

It’s true that taking on these extra tasks, leaves less time for creating music, but by doing them, you save money and learn a set of skills that expands your entrepreneurial possibilities. Some artists who have recording setups at home, are now earning extra cash by recording the projects of other artists. Design your own mixtape cover or promotional flyer? Well there are a bunch of artists who’d rather not deal with the headache of learning photoshop or who don’t know a graphic designer. Also, having the skill to do good grassroots promotion and marketing, can serve you well beyond your years of being an artist.

Using myself as an example, what I’ve learned about blogging just a couple of years ago, has earned me some extra income by helping other artists set up and manage blogs. I’ve even helped those in other businesses with building a web presence. That wasn’t my mission upon starting this. I was just serving my own interests at the time. But people started noticing some of the things I was doing, and wanted me to help them with their own visions. The things you do for yourself become a display of your talents. And in this era of the independent artist, everyone is going to need some of your knowledge and talents to get their careers off the ground. Hell, I’m still running into artists who don’t know how to use Twitter.

And who knows how far this can take you. A lot of very successful startups like Pandora and CD Baby were started by former or active musicians who better understood the needs of artists. Whether you’re doing all of these things on your own, or if you’ve assembled a team to take on some of these tasks, you are developing potentially profitable services that can not only serve the needs of you and your crew, but others as well.

Some music bloggers communicate with each other. We share ideas, likes and dislikes about life in the blogosphere. This post is about some major dislikes. Particularly, the way artists go about getting their music featured on these blogs. This is important because these issues could very well be the reason why some never get their music posted. So I present to you these 5 music blogger’s pet peeves…

1. Overaggressive follow-ups

“Did you get my music? I sent you music. Did you get it? Yo, I sent my music last week. Let me know if you got it.”
Now I believe in a certain measure of persistence, but some artists can go way overboard and become annoying with some tactics they use to push their music. Most bloggers explain clearly on their sites how they want music sent to them. Most of them don’t want music pushed to them on Twitter or their personal Facebook profile.

Don’t take it personal if these bloggers ignore your Twitter mentions asking them if they’ve recieved your music. They’ve gotten tired of addressing it. Don’t do this unless you feel you’ve built up a rapport with them already. Some of these bloggers may get 100 submissions per day. If your email didn’t get bounced back to you, they have it. I can’t speak for other bloggers, but I personally listen to every submission, and nothing upsets me more than to finally listen to an artist’s music, who has been sending me follow up emails everyday, and find out that it sounds like crap. Overaggressive follow ups can put an added pressure and a higher expectation for your music to sound extraordinary when the blogger finally does listen to it.  So take a chill pill, relax, and be patient.

2. Not Following Directions

A lot a music doesn’t get posted simply because the submitter didn’t follow directions. There’s no one way that bloggers like music submissions sent to them. It varies. But that info is usually displayed somewhere on their blog. Most will accept a hassle free link to download your music.  Z-share, as delivery method, sucks compared to all of the other, much better, options out there, but some bloggers will take their links. The ads on Z-share just annoy the hell out of me. I personally like Mp3s or video singles, but if you want some link alternatives, use Box.net or Bandcamp.

Also most bloggers don’t want your entire mixtape or album unless they ask for it. They just want a the single. Going through your entire project to find a single to post is time consuming. Make the process easier for them by choosing a single you want posted separate from the link of the entire album download.

3. The Drive-by Artist

This is the artist that is persistent about getting posted on your blog and then does nothing to promote the post. Bloggers like traffic and exposure to new readers and they assume that artists who are posted on their sites would at least promote themselves. Strangely enough, this is not always the case.

Also a great way to build a connection with a blogger is by joining the community of the blog and occasionally posting comments on articles or re-tweeting them when the blogger sends them out. These things get noticed more often then you might think, and it makes you more familiar to not only the blogger, but the readers as well.

4. The Comment Spammer

Taking it upon yourself to just drop links to your music, in the comment discussion thread, without saying anything about the topic being discussed, is a sure way get off to a bad start with most bloggers. It’s never effective.

5. The Just Plain Lazy

Another question I toften get is: “How do I send you music?” I stopped responding to this because if you do just the tiniest bit of searching, you can find the answer to that question. This is true for most music blogs. Navigate the site first before you ask a blogger this question. I can’t tell you how many times I get artists who use my MUSIC SUBMISSION FORM to ask me this question. Those artists need to be removed from the gene pool. Don’t have babies!!

It’s almost the end of the first month of the new year. Have you gotten off to a good start? Have you learned from the mistakes of last year? Have you made plans to expand on the things that worked well for you last year?

With all the news of declining music sales, an industry in shambles, and a music genre that’s oversaturated, you can be sure of this: some MC will defy the odds and make a name for themselves this year. It happens all the time. Some MC will demand that this crowded industry make room for them and take notice. Some MC will put in the necessary work to win. They’ll come up with a clever marketing strategy that hasn’t been done before and you’ll say: “Why didn’t I think of that?’ Some MC will claim a spot…despite the hate…despite the ridicule…despite adversity.

The most important question is: will it be you?