HOW TO CORRECTLY LABEL YOUR DIGITAL MUSIC.

HOW TO CORRECTLY LABEL YOUR DIGITAL MUSIC.


The verdict is in and a bunch of you artist do not know how to correctly label your music videos, especially MP3'S or digital files for radio submissions etc.


here is a quick tutorial on how to correctly label your song


1. CHOOSE YOUR TITLE:   example ( HIT RECORD )

2. ARTIST NAME :               example ( BEST RAPPER ALIVE )

3. FEATURING:                    example ( 2ND BEST RAPPER ALIVE )

4. DATE:                              example ( JAN-1) this is optional- but some sites ask for it to keep track.


HOW TO PUT IT TOGETHER:

ENTER SONG TITLE FIRST/ ARTIST NAME/ FEATURED ARTIST / & OPTIONAL DATE

how it should look when it is displayed on digital radio screens or when the DJ'S download the file.

example: HIT RECORD / BEST RAPPER ALIVE/ FT. 2ND BEST RAPPER ALIVE / JAN 1.


even tho some radio stations may request  more info the format is pretty the much the same.

some media outlets may ask for you to include album name, to keep accurate track of where the single you submitted can be found.  if this is requested it should look like this

HIT RECORD/ BEST RAPPER ALIVE/ FT. 2ND BEST RAPPER ALIVE/ HIT ALBUM


Remembering  to label correctly is the biggest mistake artist make when submitting songs. don't let this be the reason why you don't get heard.

for more advice or to submit your music videos to be featured on THENXTSTAR www.thenxtstar.com

TEMPLATE FOR INDEPENDENT ARTIST TO GET INTERVIEWS BY THENXTSTAR.COM

INDEPENDENT ARTIST INTERVIEW TEMPLATE:  

               TO BE FEATURED ON THENXTSTAR.COM 

                                 #SPOTMICS SERIES

( ALL INDEPENDENT ARTIST ( NONE MAJOR LABEL SIGNED) THAT WANT TO SUBMIT TO BE FEATURED ON THENXTSTAR NEW BLOG SERIES #SPOTMICS MUST FILL AND ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS AND SUBMIT THEM TO THENXTSTAR@GMAIL.COM WITH ALL INFO LINKS PICS ETC. INCLUDED. ) 

INTERVIEW TEMPLATE: 

1. ARTIST NAME: 
2. REAL NAME: OPTIONAL: 
3. ARTIST HOME TOWN, STATE & OR COUNTRY: 
4. ARTIST CURRENT CITY IF DIFFERENT FROM HOMETOWN STATE OR COUNTRY:
5. ARTIST MUSIC STYLE ( DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE) 
6. ARTIST INFLUENCED BY: ( WHO INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A ARTIST)
7. WHEN DID YOU START YOUR MUSIC CAREER: 
8. WHAT MUSIC ARE YOU LISTENING , ON YOUR PLAYLIST NAME 2-5 ARTIST) 
9. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH IN MUSIC
10. DREAM COLLABORATION ( WHAT MAJOR ARTIST WOULD YOU LOVE TO WORK WITH) 

THIS NEXT SEGMENT IS OPTIONAL - ANSWER AS MANY QUESTIONS AS YOU CAN, THE MORE THE BETTER.  BUT YOU MUST AT LEAST ANSWER 5 

1. FAVORITE PLACE TO GO TO VACATION OR THAT YOU WANT TO VISIT 
2. YOUR TOP 5 FAVORITE ARTIST OF ALL TIME
3. FAVORITE FOOD
4. HOTTEST 3 CELEBS YOU HAD CRUSHES ON GROWING UP OR CURRENTLY
5. FAVORITE KICKS, SNEAKERS, CLOTHES, OR BRAND
6. OTHER ARTIST NAMES  YOU USE TO HAVE THAT YOU CHANGED
7. BEST THING ABOUT YOUR CITY
8. ONE THING IN YOUR CITY OR TOWN PEOPLE HAVE TO DO WHEN THEY VISIT
9. TV SHOW YOUR CURRENTLY FOLLOWING
10. FAVORITE SNACK TO NETFLIX AND CHILL WITH
11. FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLET
12. BEST PLACE YOU GO TO RELAX
13. WHAT INSPIRES YOU TO MAKE MUSIC THE MOST
14. FIRST TIME U HAD SEX ( NO NAMES NEEDED) BUT EXPLAIN PLACE, EXAMPLE ( CAR ETC. AND ANYTHING FUNNY ABOUT IT) 
15. ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP ? 
16. DO YOU HAVE KIDS
17. IN HIGH SCHOOL WAS YOU THE CLASS CLOWN, ATHLETE OR OTHER
18. BEST FOOD YOUR MOM MAKES
19. DO YOU HAVE SIBLINGS
20. DID YOU GO TO COLLEGE IF SO WHERE, AND FOR WHAT DEGREE IF NOT WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE IF YOU WAS'NT IN MUSIC? 
21. DISCLOSE ANYTHING ELSE YOU MAY WANT YOUR FANS TO KNOW ABOUT YOU. 

YOU CAN ADD UP TO 3 MORE ANSWERS ON YOUR OWN. 

ATTACH  2 JPG PICS OF YOU ( ALBUM COVER ART IS ACCEPTABLE) 

ALSO ATTACH A LINK TO YOUR MUSIC VIDEO ( LATEST VIDEO) ON YOUTUBE THAT YOU CAN ALSO ADD ON www.thenxtstar.com directly.

AND INCLUDE ALL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS ( SO FANS CAN LOCATE YOU) 

SEND ALL THIS INFO IN ONE EMAIL TO

 ( THENXTSTAR@GMAIL.COM ) SUBJECT #SPOTMICS

(don't forget to attach links or copy and past them into the email body) 

ONCE YOU EMAIL US WE WILL CONTACT YOU WITHIN 48 HOURS TO LET YOU KNOW IF YOUR INFO WILL BE ACCEPTED AND WE WILL THEN NOTIFY YOU WHEN YOUR INTERVIEW SESSION WILL BE READY AND POSTED ON THENXTSTAR #SPOTMICS SERIES. 

HOW 5,000 FANS CAN EQUAL A INDEPENDENT MUSIC CAREER

So you want to become a full time music artist? Well so does about 1,000 new people everyday.

This is not in anyway to discourage you this is to give you a reality check and possibly show you how to gain longevity in a industry that can be very fickle especially in the HIPHOP, POP, & ROCK genres.

As a new artist you want to aim as high as possible of course everyone wants to become the next multi-platinum selling artist doing world tours in places you never even heard of.

but in Reality only 1% make it to that level.

Now if you do not become part of the elite 1% don't fret, you can for sure make a career in music if your willing to work.

MUSIC IS 5% CREATION AND THE REST (THEE OTHER 95% IS BUSINESS)
so do your research and find out as much of the business as you can.

Now after you do your research try to figure out what you would be comfortable living with.

COMFORTABLE LIVING WITH = IN REALITY HOW MUCH DO YOU NEED TO MAKE PER YEAR TO SUPPORT YOUR LIFESTYLE AND KEEP CREATING MUSIC.

MINUS THE LAMBO'S FERRARIS AND MANSIONS and keep your yearly income sheet as real or as close to reality as possible; Factor in your actual living expenses, the cost of recording studios equipment and of course groceries etc.


for example I will use $50,000 BECAUSE IN REALITY MOST ARTIST ARE LIVING OR MAKING THIS OR LESS CURRENTLY AT THE DREADED DAYJOBS

So keeping $50,000 in mind now here comes the math on how to get to this amount every year.

At first you may have to create some debt by creating an album, most new artist with no industry budgets usually end up spending around 2,500- 5,000 per album created so to keep the figures even we will use the 5,000

Spend $5,000 to create an amazing album.  now you are at minus $5,000
I know your thinking, (but he said we was going to make money ) here comes the how to.

Now promote that $5,000 album everywhere you can, DJ'S, Social Media & everywhere possible

Hit up your friends old high school mates, college friends frats or sororities etc.
this is called BUILDING  A LITTLE  (FOUNDATION FAN BASE)

At the most you will need 100 real fans these 100 fans will net a return of $1,000 on your album if you sell your album for $10 standard cost is $9.99 per album.

$5,000 debt minus $1,000 foundation fans = -$4,000 on your way to actually making money

HOW? This Foundation fan base has friends and family, they play your music and others get interested, think of it as a family tree, now of course we all have bad branches, HATERS LOL, THESE WON'T BUY THE ALBUM BUT STILL MIGHT TELL OTHERS ABOUT IT, which may drive more people to hear your music at least & they may possibly like it.

Now to those down the line from the Foundation fan base that do LIKE YOUR MUSIC,
these will be your CORE FAN BASE for every 100 foundation fan base people you establish you can factor in 10% of the people they tell will like or support your music, WHY?  ( BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER= IF A FOUNDATION FAN BASE PERSON LIKES YOUR MUSIC, THEIR FRIENDS WILL PRETTY MUCH LIKE THE SAME TYPE OF MUSIC) 

Now if your FOUNDATION FAN BASE TELLS 10 PEOPLE EACH ABOUT YOUR ALBUM THAT WILL GIVE YOU A POOL OF 1,000 LISTENERS, from that 10% will most likely become your CORE FAN BASE Factor the friends and people they tell and influence,
at least 10 SHOUT OUTS per CORE FAN BASE MEMBER & out of all the people they know another 10% will be drawn in. So with a 10% fan conversion rate for every 100 friends family and people that may have contact with your FOUNDATION FAN BASE / CORE FAN BASE
in a few weeks of good promoting you should now have a fan base of 1,000.

NOW WITH 1,000 FANS TOTAL HERE IS YOUR MATH = - $5,000 ALBUM COST
                                           100 FOUNDATION FAN BASE = + $1,000
                                            900 CORE FAN BASE               = + $9,000
                                           NEW TOTAL        =   $5,000 PROFIT ( TO FUND NEXT PROJECT)

NOW KEEP PROMOTING TO GET YOUR CORE FAN BASE TO 5,000 MEMBERS

5,000 MEMBERS IN YOUR CORE FAN BASE = $50,000 .

If you release 2 albums per year at a $5,000 cost per album then your will need 6,000 members in your CORE FAN BASE to net $50,000 per year. etc. 

I hope this gives you a little hope and insight on how to turn your passion into a career that you can live off of really soon and Much Success , remember to reach out to Me or my team @ THENXTSTAR www.thenxtstar.com we are all about the promotion and support of independent artist like yourselves.

MIXTAPES GO INDUSTRY

                            MIXTAPES GO INDUSTRY

MIXTAPES: 

MIXTAPES 
Use to be a series of songs or tracks an ARTIST or DJ made and distributed themselves                       for free or at a low cost around $5 per album to get gain and create a fan base & build a                       following. 

NOW: 2016    

The major labels are now using the method behind MIXTAPES to sell albums. 

HOW:            

Most labels are pushing artist to create as many songs as they can and once they have                          10-15 mid-level tracks they push these out and hope to make solid sales at least 25,000                        sales per release. They also aim to have 2-3 songs from this release to be powerful                                enough to get the artist on the road. For every release now the labels are looking to                              gain at least $250,000 off album sales and then another $150,000 or so from                                          performances of these songs. Labels are pushing artist to flip at least $400,000 per                                release. On average the labels will have these artist drop 2 MIXTAPE/ALBUMS per                    year. The end game is to make an estimated 1 Million off each artist signed.

WHAT THE ARTIST SHOULD MAKES.  

A good artist who knows how to negotiate his or her contracts,                                                               Artist should push to receive at least 25% of the profit revenue generated                                             from a Mixtape styled album, if you have your own production                                                               crew then the percentage should be 50%.  

The label will make more then enough money from the other 50%.

MIXTAPE CONTRACT OUTLINE WITH MAJOR LABEL DISTRIBUTION: 

If  the artist comes with a complete MIXTAPE that includes all production cost mixing mastering etc. All the label has to do is push or distribute this MIXTAPE across all media outlets etc in 2016 labels still have more access to distribution outlets then any artist.
These type of Artist should demand or receive at least 75% of the album sales after cost.

Do not take an advance, if you was a broke artist before your music a few more months of being broke will not crush you.  Turn down the advance and await to get your royalties.

www.thenxtstar.com

                                  

2 OF THE BEST HEADPHONES 2016 UNDER $100

                                   2 OF THE  BEST HEADPHONES FOR 2016 UNDER $100




Why because even tho Beats are incredible we have found more affordable headphones that you can buy one or two pairs of without using up all your budget.

also a few different headphones help you test out your music sound the way most people will hear it, ( not every fans has the best headphones) so if you can make a cheaper headphone sound like professional one with your music then you are in the right track, to mixing mastering & making hits.



1.  NOISEHUSH i7 - Noise Cancelling
                                    Price listed for $99 but can be found on  $57 on Amazon
                                    similar to - BOSE QC-15

2.   ATC-ANC23  -     Best in ear noise cancelling
                                    Price listed $&9 but can be found for $49 on Amazon


Buy a few of these for your studio or travel and enjoy music anywhere, also you wont panic if you lose them. as they are not as pricey as a car. lol


for more tips, cheap promo or to discover artist check out www.thenxtstar.com

STREETS OR COMMERCIAL

                            STREET OR COMMERCIAL 

This is a major decision more then 95% or all HIPHOP artist are faced with when creating music. 

HipHop artist are suppose to be the reporters of the streets, but when the commercial labels want to use your talents they want you to be more commercial. Going commercial is not selling your sole, but if you really enjoy the way you make music now then going commercial may not be the way for you. 

Keeping your albums street or less radio friendly is still profitable and in today's world with all the outlets via social media, media and digital sales a STREET artist with the right marketing can make just as much or more then a commercial artist when you wage in these factors.


STREET ARTIST:  STAY INDEPENDENT keep most of your royalties, other then paying back the producers and engineers you established a working relationship with, even tho the total earned may be lower then a MAJOR LABEL you end up keeping more in your pocket.

If you add the amount that an artist has to repay back after dropping one album on a major label compared to the amount an artist (that is a good independent artist with a fan base) makes back on his or her album the difference may not be to different.

YES independent artist have to work way harder, but the turn around on royalties is worth it.

NOW if you want to just get with a major label and have them pay for everything like for makeup, or people to pick your clothes etc ( in house) remember that every new person introduced into your circle comes with a $ pricetag.

Labels give advances, that's not because they like you, they give advances based on betting they will make double the amount they gave to you back.

getting a $100k advance may help you now but if you factor that now you owe that label at least $200k to start even seeing any money after the sales start, but if you factor also the recording cost, engineers, promotional cost etc, that major labels are now deferring unto the artist you could find yourself in a $400K hole before you even start seeing any royalties.

Independent artist with a strong small team usually spend around $5,000 to make a real album,
that covers producers cost and a possible music video. along with social media push, mixing mastering etc.

So even if you go and spend or invest $10,000 into your album, and promise out royalties to some featured artist or producers, you still start seeing a early return on your investment WAY FASTER then going into a MAJOR LABEL, so weigh your options heavily before signing away music.

5 COMMON MISTAKES INDEPENDENT ARTIST MAKE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

This is a short list of  5 COMMON MISTAKES INDEPENDENT ARTIST make when promoting your music and your brand over social media.


1.  Paying for views

fake views = fake views the numbers don't mean a thing especially in the social media generation.
A & R'S can tell who's numbers are fake, try explaining to a label how you got 1 million views and didn't make one cent from it or  why your not in demand to do shows somewhere?

2.  Paying for followers

Don't pay for followers, if your going to pay for something pay for real promo, like on www.thenxtstar.com . fake followers means no real fanbase so who are you promoting your new  music to on social media when you do drop it?

3.  Don't over pay for promo never pay per tweet.

Don't over pay for promo & never pay per tweet or post unless you know 1,000% that the posting party has a real following, a bunch of social media promoters have built fake accounts with a bunch of egg face, no pic accounts following them and these are the accounts they are going to promote your music to. If they have fake followers then you will be wasting your money.  If your paying for real promo as for a weekly or at least daily rate some places can offer a deal on 1,000 post etc. but make sure these posts are being posted on different times and also during peak hours or else you just wasted your social media budget on posts no one really viewed seen or heard.

4. DON'T PAY TO HAVE VIDEOS ADDED ON NETWORKS

Most video networks and websites make a money off of advertising etc. and for them to charge you to ad more content to a site they are making $$ off of, without offering you a percentage is crazy,
only add your video to free sites like youtube and monetize your own videos, and of course sites like www.thenxtstar.com because we don't charge to add your videos ever and you keep 100% of your monetized earnings. DO NOT PAY TO GET ON VEVO.COM you can take a few minutes and put a formal request to have a channel created on vevo by yourself. Vevo will respond in a few days and let you know if they are interested or not.

5. DO NOT DM ( unless requested) . 

So many artist make this mistake, of sending tracks and videos etc. via DM, Most of the companies execs, artist, producers etc. don't check the DM'S for new content. if you really want to reach out to them request a email address for submissions or find the email in the social media account. most professionals have a formal submission address included on their social media page.