Led,

I'm in a band and we are trying to get signed. We were told to send our promo pack to the labels, but when I call the label to see who I should send it to they keep on telling me they don't accept unsolicited submissions.

Steve,

You are asking a two part question. The first part is an easy answer, the second is the mother of all questions.

When a label says they don't accept unsolicited submissions, they mean they only accept promotional packages from bands who they have heard of and requested material from.

How to get solicited is a difficult question to answer. All labels act differently out there when it come to signing new artists, so I cant give you a road map on that one.

Generally speaking, Record labels are looking for bands that are "ready" to be signed. Usually this means they are looking for a band who has released their own CD and gotten decent sales in more than one market.

Although different labels are looking for different things, you can expect "decent sales" to mean a few (2-10) thousand CD's sold in "tracked sales" locations via soundscan which most music retailers report their sales to. Conventional wisdom says any band who is talented should be able to sell between 5,000 - 10,000 CD's in their home town. What impresses the labels is when that is accomplished in a second (or third or fourth...) market.

The labels are looking for a band who has done well in terms of sales, on their own. The rational is that if a band can sell 10,000 - 20,000 CDs without the help of a Record Label, the label should be able to do that several times over.

So get your CD's out in retail outlets and do something to push sales there, plug the stores at your shows, put "Available at Grumpy's Records" on your flyers, etc.

You can also send the labels info on your band that you feel may impress them. Get a nice write up in a paper, send a copy of it to the label. If you are in the same town as the label, invite them to your show (Make sure to give them plenty of notice & make sure you will have a crowd at the show or you'll be wasting your time). Chances are the label will send some underling, but that person will do you right, if you put on a good show and impress him or her.

Be persistent, and never give up!

-LeD

Led,

I got an email from a company that guarantees to get our band signed provided we meet their criteria. After calling them and asking a bunch of questions, they said they could get our band signed but that we would have to hire them to "work on our behalf". Their fee was $1,200 upfront for "shopping costs" and 10% standard fee for any deal secured for our band.

I am not super experienced with music contracts and wanted to know if their "10% standard fee" was fair or actually a standard at all.

Mark,

There is an old saying, "If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is". Well this deal doesn't even sound good, let alone too good.

Let's knock these off one by one.

First of all, unless you are talking to someone in authority at a record label, no-one can guarantee to get your band signed. Anytime you get an offer that implies that promise, "run away!".

The closest I thing have heard to "paying a fee" to getting an artist signed would be hiring a shopping agent (An attorney who shops bands around to different record labels in an effort to get them signed). But any attorney worth his weight would never settle for a fee for getting a band signed, because they don't know in advance how much the band would get from the label.

Finally, I am not an attorney, but I don't think you can legally charge someone a set fee then charge them a percentage for any proceeds.

The good news is your gut told you something was wrong, and your gut was right.

The moral of the story is, be wary of anyone who promises to get you signed unless they work for that label.

-LeD

Ben,

There is no such thing as a dumb question.

A rider is a list of items the artist would like to receive at the show.

Generally only your larger bands have riders as it is designed to give the artists a little "taste of home" in the form of a small item they like. Everything on a rider is optional, meaning they don't have to provide it to you just because its on your rider. The idea is to give people putting on a show the ability to take care of something small for the musician since they are on the road for extended periods of time. The person putting on the show also hopes a little "goodwill" may lead to a better show, or at the least, make the musician happy.

Usually its just food and drinks, but some artists are notorious for the unusual things on a rider, like a bowl of only green M&M's, aroma candles, or a photo of the three stooges.

Here is an example of what you would find on a simple rider...

Mama Llama Performance Rider
Hotel accommodations for 6 people. No more than 2 (two) people per room.
Hot meal for 6 people immediately following sound check. (No fast food) or $15.00 per person buy out.
1 (one) bowl of cashew nuts available backstage.
1 (one) bag of potato chips. Dorritos, Fritos preferred.
1 (one) fruit platter available backstage.
12 (twelve) cans or bottles of Coke (classic) available backstage.
12 (twelve) white hand towels.
1 (one) 9 volt battery
12 (twelve) 8-16 oz bottles of (still) water to be placed on stage prior to initial set.
1 (one) case of domestic light beer. Bud Light preferred.
1 (one) case of imported beer. Heineken, Amstel light, Bass preferred.

For a showcase I would keep your rider simple, food for the band and crew (if any) towels and water for the stage, and some refreshments for after the show.

Be careful about asking for too much, you may come across as a bunch of high maintenance prima donnas if you ask for too much. Keep in mind they want to take care of you if they are asking for your rider. Dont make them regret their initiative to want to make you comfortable at the show.

-LeD

Joel,

Let me answer your last question first. Neither.

Don't get me wrong, LA & NYC have epic music scenes. The problem is you haven't really done any touring, so why travel 2,000 miles for a handful of gigs (If you can get them)?

Many bands mistakenly assume if they are going to make it, it will happen in either LA or New York.

They are both great places to play and it sounds cool to say "We just played 5 shows in LA", but playing in LA or NYC isn't going to get you signed, and it probably isn't going to do your band any good. The reason is both cities are too far away for your band to get back to with any regularity.

Touring success is predicated by the frequency you play in a particular market. Simply put, the more often you play in a market, the number of fans should increase with each new show as the buz about your band grows from one music lover to another.

Look for a market that is closer to you, one that you can get to several times a month. You need to think of touring as a building process. Each new show should be bigger and better than the last. By getting back to that market frequently, you will be able to build a following in that market and increase the size of your shows. Once you have "maxed out" that market, look for another one that you can also get to frequently. Once you get a few markets your doing well in, you can set up tours to hit each one of those markets and you will be on your way to longer and better tours.

-LeD

Lewis,

Compression is a sometimes overlooked step in the recording process.

When you are recording, the majority of your sound is in the middle range of the DB scale. But any recording is bound to have some extremely high and low notes that are far away from the majority of what you have laid down.

Compression basically squeezes those notes that are either too high or too low down so that they are in line with the rest of your music. This eliminates spiking notes that can cause clipping and makes your recording sound fuller and more vibrant.

Compression is like mastering - you don't have to do it, but if your serious about your music, you'll be glad you did.

-LeD

Tom,

You have asked the question that has faced musicians for as long as there have been new places to play.

Club talent buyers are notorious for being difficult to reach. But there is a reason for the madness.

First off, there are far more bands and artists than there are available dates. Secondly, every band uses the phone and call frequently to try to secure a gig.

I'll assume you have done the standard things, ie sending in a promo pack AFTER you have spoken to the club booking agent, and have some people you can guarantee you will bring to the club to see your band.

You need to do something to make your band stand out. An example that happened to a friend of mine springs to mind. A band had been trying to get the attention of the club's booking agent for months. They had sent in a promo package and spoken to the talent buyer a few times, but the talent buyer never seemed to remember seeing the band's promo pack.

The band sent another promo pack and included in it, 1,000 baby spiders in a enclosed plastic case (the band had some sort of spider image going on). Now when my friend opened the promo pack, he found this clear plastic tube with some tiny black things rattling around inside.

Curiosity got the better of him, so he called the band to find out what the little things in the tube were. The band was surprised at the question - Evidently the little spida's had died in transit.

After laughing about the incident, the band member and the club talent buyer talked a little bit and he ended up booking the band.

The band got their foot in the door by doing something new and different.

There are thousands of bands out there, calling clubs and sending out promo packages. That is the standard route, but it is literally the least you can do.

Do something different to make your band stand out. Do something that will MAKE the club booking agent remember you - a postcard, email or phone call simply isn't enough. Be creative and do something that will separate your band from all the rest and you should have better luck.

-LeD