Offline
Westfield, NJ

Ok, I'll be the first to actually answer your question:

- Send your EP to blogs that feature music similar to yours. Easy way to find them: pick an artist or recent release that's close to your style, search for it on Google, and bookmark all the blogs that feature it. Send these blogs an advance copy of your EP (use dropbox, mediafire, or soundcloud to host the tracks), include some info about yourself, and there's a decent chance that if your music is any good, at least 1 out of 20 blogs will do it.

- Take all your tracks, or some good snippets from each one, and make a Youtube video with either cover art, or actually film yourself playing the tracks live. Upload that in advance with details on when the EP will be out and where people can download it.

- Schedule a ustream event where you will give a live concert of your EP, or a listening party of the whole thing. Invite your friends and get them to invite other people. Anytime between 7pm and 11pm EST would be good, and avoid the weekend, because no one is going to sacrifice their weekend evening to hear music from some artist they've never heard of.

- Make a Facebook event page telling people to download the EP on the day of release, and invite all your friends to it, and get them to invite other people too.

- Even if you are planning to self-release, it's worthwhile to try sending it to some netlabels. There's a chance that if they like it, they will agree to co-host it for you (non-exclusive and they will help you promote it).

- Send your tracks to some radio stations (online or college radio). Find people that host shows and welcome submissions. There's a few that post on this forum. They like to play new stuff, are willing to support newcomers, and will give you a shoutout if you send them advance copies (they love to say stuff like, "I have a new track here, hasn't even been released yet, this is an exclusive from so-and-so and it will be available on such-and-such date")

- Most importantly: make friends in the scene. They'll promote your stuff for you if it's good, and if they have an audience, then their promotion is very valuable. You should be ready and willing to promote stuff for your friends too. Even if you are not the greatest musician, being a nice person and a good member of the community goes a long way.

Remember: your first EP will come and go. Treat it as you would anything else you release: an opportunity to promote yourself and build a following. Wherever you post it, make sure you include links to your Facebook page or Twitter or whatever and ask people to subscribe. Throw in some liner notes and make sure to include your website address or any other info you want people to have. Obviously if people remember your name and they like your stuff, they'll find you, but it doesn't hurt to make those connections whenever you can.

And lastly, remember that getting there takes a lot of work. To build your own audience you have to be constantly releasing great material, promoting yourself and networking with other artists. You don't have to do any of these things, but they help.

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Tulsa, OK

apart from what has already been said, make sure your cover art does not look home-made! it will make you look a lot more professional.

I know that I suck at this, but it is still a good idea smile and I will double the college radio idea

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Riverside, CA

Release it under a copyleft license like the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA and post your source files along with audio stems for people to make remixes and shit.

That's what I do at least.

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AANABAY01

ignore all advice tailored towards looking professional. that shit will ruin your perspective on your OWN WORK

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Gosford, Australia
Zan-zan-zawa-butt wrote:

ignore all advice tailored towards looking professional. that shit will ruin your perspective on your OWN WORK

can you elaborate on how you came to hold this point of view? because i'm just struggling to understand how you could draw that conclusion.

it's one thing to slave away at your image at the expense of artistic integrity, but i don't think there's anything detrimental about presenting your music in a "professional" way (i.e. thoughtfully packaged and promoted) - as long as you keep the processes of writing and presentation separated.

Offline
Westfield, NJ
Victory Road wrote:
Zan-zan-zawa-butt wrote:

ignore all advice tailored towards looking professional. that shit will ruin your perspective on your OWN WORK

can you elaborate on how you came to hold this point of view? because i'm just struggling to understand how you could draw that conclusion.

it's one thing to slave away at your image at the expense of artistic integrity, but i don't think there's anything detrimental about presenting your music in a "professional" way (i.e. thoughtfully packaged and promoted) - as long as you keep the processes of writing and presentation separated.

pay attention to the guy you are talking to. his name is zan-zan-zawa-butt. butt.

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Brunswick, GA USA
Decktonic wrote:

pay attention to the guy you are talking to. his name is zan-zan-zawa-butt. butt.

from the one with abbey road art...

Let me translate: are you making the EP to make money, get gigs, become famous, get laid, or do you want  to share something cool with the world?

Offline
Gosford, Australia
chunter wrote:
Decktonic wrote:

pay attention to the guy you are talking to. his name is zan-zan-zawa-butt. butt.

from the one with abbey road art...

hey are you trying to tell me that appropriation of the abbey road cover art isn't original or clever or professional?!
you're absolutely right :<

also i'm not decktonic but it'd be cool if i was because he's a pretty cool guy!

chunter wrote:

are you making the EP to make money, get gigs, become famous, get laid, or do you want  to share something cool with the world?

and once again, i don't understand how you can conclude that presenting your music in a well-designed and interesting way (for free!) necessarily equates to selling your soul to the devil for bitches and money.

Last edited by Victory Road (May 11, 2012 10:19 pm)

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South Jersey, USA

i say relax and be yourself. Releasing any kind of release, whether it be a single, ep, full-length, is your time to be a rockstar, wether others accept it or not. Just dont celebrate by taking too much cough medicine to trip. Before you know it you'll be a 30 yer old with a 75 year old's brain.

Offline
Tulsa, OK
SJSFC wrote:

75 year old's brain.

so much wisdom

Offline
Brunswick, GA USA
Victory Road wrote:
chunter wrote:

from the one with abbey road art...

hey are you trying to tell me that appropriation of the abbey road cover art isn't original or clever or professional?!
you're absolutely right :<

I admit that was a bit below the belt- it's slightly clever but has the "Mario at a rave" problem.

Victory Road wrote:
chunter wrote:

are you making the EP to make money, get gigs, become famous, get laid, or do you want  to share something cool with the world?

and once again, i don't understand how you can conclude that presenting your music in a well-designed and interesting way (for free!) necessarily equates to selling your soul to the devil for bitches and money.

It doesn't, and that's the point. If your goal is to create something cool and show it to the world, I recommend putting all your energy into that, and just that.

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.FILTHadelphia

I didn't do any mastering on mine. /shrug

Last edited by defiantsystems (May 11, 2012 11:59 pm)

Offline
Tulsa, OK

mine sucked... its the only one that is out right now

Last edited by Jake Allison (May 12, 2012 12:22 am)

Offline
The Multiverse ::: [CA, Sac]
defiantsystems wrote:

I didn't do any mastering on mine. /shrug

I hate mastering. Before doing Chiptune I did other Electronica and that's all everyone talked about. It's such a chore. If I do mastering, it'll be very light. And I won't stress about it.
Decktonic, nice write-up.

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Well it depends on the mastering. It can make the difference between a meh track and a killer track. It's not too hard to do! Some small amounts of EQ, a little stereo enhancement, nothing too major, but enough to make a sound difference!

Offline
Gosford, Australia
chunter wrote:

I admit that was a bit below the belt- it's slightly clever but has the "Mario at a rave" problem.

haha no worries man, i just thought it was funny because you weren't even addressing me at the time :v
and yeaaah it's just an avatar i guess, i don't think i'd ever use it as an album cover of my own.

If your goal is to create something cool and show it to the world, I recommend putting all your energy into that, and just that.

definitely good advice! but i'd consider the album art something cool that i'd want to show the world, too wink
besides, photo shoots can be a whole lot of fun - mainly if you're chummy with the photographer and you can be creative with them.

Last edited by Victory Road (May 12, 2012 12:57 am)