Stakeholders in the music industry will go to town about how
many things must be in place in order to produce a hit song. Most
of these things are universal - a catchy chorus, a catchy beat,
catchy lyrics etc. The message is clear. The music must have a
very immediate impact on the listener the moment they hear it
for the very first time. That is why it is called a "hit" song. The
music must hit the listener and immediately get a positive
response. The listener must demand a repetition of the same. If
you are playing demo number 7 for your family and one family
member even a small child demands a replay of the song then
you are onto something. Anybody who asks for "some more" is
a positive. It is too early to monetise your craft at this moment,
focus more on quizzing those who like your music which part of
the music they enjoy. Accept suggestions on ways to improve.
Remember at this point it's only your family and close friends
who are hearing these early prototypes. No one outside has
heard your music. It's time to prepare for your next big step.
Putting your first project out into the world requires some
preparatory work. Here is the checklist before you start sharing
your music on social media platforms. Take note of the following;
The CD Artwork
When I started writing this book I genuinely thought I would have
an opportunity to write an in depth analysis of the music industry.
I was determined to give some insights on topics I believe are
often overlooked. Subjects that are rarely discussed but usually overlooked by artists. The issues around intellectual property,
sampling or blatant copying of someone else's work. Issues
around copyrighting, publishing and distribution, brand
development and more but as I got to it, the business end of
putting all my thoughts about the Zimbabwean music industry it
quickly dawned on me that a lot is taken for granted. We all (the
people in the music industry) assume a shared knowledge. We
all assume that we all have a rudimentary understanding of the
different roles and expectations of the music business. The more
I have held discussions with budding musicians the more I have
come to appreciate that the basics have somehow been lost or
omitted. CD artwork for example; what's that all about?
First of all, as if it wasn't confusing enough, it's called CD artwork
yet no one is really producing music on CDs anymore.
Everything is online now. Music used to be CDA format on
compact disc but now it's MP3. Yet the CD artwork is still
relevant. Why? Who needs it? Who wants it? What format should
it be? And why in the world is it still called CD (Compact disc)
artwork when there may be no intention of producing a disc.
Let's quickly get this out of the way. CD artwork must have a
square shape because most online platforms receive CD artwork
as a square shape. This is because Compact Discs which where
circular were housed in a square CD case. It is this square plastic
CD case which would contain a compact disc (plastic and foil
paper) and a paper CD sleeve which would have an artwork
printed on it (CD artwork).
CD artwork must have the following information; it must have the
name of the artist (Stage name preferred), name of song and at
the bottom right hand corner the CD Commercial number. The
CD number is used by ZIMURA (Zimbabwe Music Rights
Association) to register your music and collect royalties on your
behalf. In Zimbabwe, ZIMURA is the only organisation which is
mandated by an act of Parliament to collect your royalties.
Simply put, if you want to collect your royalties (get paid for every time your music is played on radio) then you must join ZIMURA.
Membership fees may apply but that's a different conversation, I
digress.
CD artwork is the first thing that sells your music to an audience
well before they hear the music. It must excite or in the very least
it must appear like it represents a finished professional project.
Why, you may ask, do you need CD artwork that looks
professional? Simple. A professional image invites, better yet
demands, a professional response. People generally take
professional looking people seriously. People take notice and
pay attention to professional/serious looking stuff. Don't sell
yourself short with a half-baked shoddy CD artwork that you have
hurriedly put together on your phone. Your lame effort will be
spotted a mile away and this sets the wrong tone for any
professional relationships you are trying to build as you venture
out into the music industry. If the CD artwork looks amateur it's
likely that the music too will not be taken seriously. Put your best
foot forward and present your "hit song" with CD artwork that
captivates and sells your brand well.
Avoid silly overly stylised fonts that are difficult to read,
remember you want style but not at the expense of legibility. If I
can't read it, I can't play it because I can't back announce it. Back
announcing is what deejays do to hype up new music; saying the
name of artists, song and emphasising where you heard this hit
song first. Rule of thumb keep your font choices "smart and
stupid", don't make it unnecessarily complex. If you feature
someone then the first name is the owner of the music followed
by the name of the artist featured. For example Mad Dogg x
Yung Gunz, Mad Dogg is the owner of the song and Yung Gunz
is featuring on the song. Featuring on a track does not diminish
the role played by the artist or affect royalties distribution that
have been agreed upon privately by artists. This clear definition
of owner of work and artist invited to the project helps deejays
and radio at large to accurately back announce the music. Don't cause unnecessary confusion in this regard. Defining whose
song it is must be clear on the CD artwork.
So far I have concentrated on the front cover because this is
most likely the CD artwork you will use to distribute your music
online but there is a back cover. The information on the back
cover is a bit different. Unlike the front cover, the back cover of
the CD artwork must have the full name and surname of the
artist, the name of the producer, recording studio and even the
studio address. Contact details must appear on the back cover
besides the name of songs, persons featured and the actual
length of the songs. That is minutes and seconds. This
information about the length of a song is important when deejays
are cuing up the music on radio. For example if your song is 4
minutes long and there are only 2 minutes to the news bulletin
then the radio deejay will not play your track because it will be
cut short and perhaps choose a shorter song and play yours after
the news.
The Electronic Press Kit (EPK)
The Electronic Press Kit is one of the most important documents
that every artist must have. It's an artist passport, a document
that introduces the artist in a professional way. It is a great way
to formalise your presentation and an easy way to make a good
first impression. The importance of a professional looking EPK
cannot be over emphasised.
When creating an EPK every artist must include the following:
About
A brief talking about the artist, not too long but with enough
information to put a human face to the artist. What's your full
name and surname and stage name? When did you start making
music? What type of music do you make? What influenced you
to start making music? Role models? Etc.
Achievements
You should have highlights of your career. Meaningful
collaborations can be mentioned here. To make sure that the
word "meaningful" is not taken out of context, I will try to go
deeper. If you collaborate with ANYONE, it is always meaningful
– you will get no argument from me. That said if you feature a
fellow artist who is also still struggling to be noticed with no songs
on high rotation on radio then in this particular context such a
collaboration is not meaningful. Don't waste time flooding your
EPK with all the names of your "friends" who have featured on
your songs. Only put down collaborations that will likely ring a
bell with your audience (stakeholders who will read your EPK).
Ask yourself if the names you have added to your EPK make any
"meaningful" impression. Avoid writing down a list of all your
"friends" and try by all means to give the impression that you are
a professional artist who is already rubbing shoulders with the
best of them.
If you have received any musical awards please go ahead and
mention these. Awards are an endorsement, they are a clear
unapologetic indication that what you do has merit and is being
noticed by stakeholders in the industry. Even nominations should
be mentioned here because when one is nominated it is also a
sign that your craft has made the cut and you have been noticed.
If you have shared the stage with other easily recognisable
celebrities then mention this as well. For example if you
performed at the JoeBoy Concert then you must mention that
you have shared the stage with JoeBoy. It doesn't matter how
short-lived your performance was or how lacklustre the crowd
response was to music. What matters is that you were on the
artist line-up and you performed on the same stage that was then
used by a well-known artist. Use every opportunity to gain some
experience performing on stage so that you can polish up your showmanship and become an asset to promoters when they
host concerts.
If you have had interviews or appeared in any media platform
(electronic or press), you must mention these. That said, avoid
mentioning non-descript blogs or little know web platforms –
remember that it is essential that you only mention the big guns
on your EPK.
Discography
This is a track list of all your released music and music videos.
Your discography should include the year of release, CD artwork
and HD promotional photos. Your promotional HD pictures must
look professional. It's fairly easy to generate a professional
looking Promotional HD picture. First of all you must think of the
possible use of these pictures. These may be used when
designing promotional materials like concert/event posters and
flyers or even for newspapers, magazine or television. That said
it must be clear that such pictures must convey a degree of
seriousness.
HD promotional photos
Get your HD pictures taken with a solid colour background, trust
me this is much more professional than have trees and other
types of vegetation in the background. Don't bother leaning on
cars either unless if these vehicles are expensive or are meant
to convey a particular message. Look confident in the pictures,
no self-respecting music promoter is interested in a "shy guy" –
an artist who looks likely to have stage fright on show night. For
the ladies, thank me later. Stay away from the revealing poses,
don't allow your promotional HD photos to scream out "I am
available, I am willing to do anything to make it". This music
industry has its fair share of sleaze bags, individuals who will
take advantage of you and lure you into compromising positions with promises of stardom. Sell your talent first before anything
else.
Social media handles and contact details
These are very essential in the 21st Century. It doesn't matter
how good your music is or how incredibly talented you are – if no
one can get in touch with you and book you for a show or
interview then you will not go very far. Have social media
handles, they are easy to set up and guess what? FREE! Yes,
you heard me right. Social media handles like Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, TikTok etc. are FREE to set up. You don't pay
anything and you don't need a third party to set them up for you.
Do it yourself! Don't allow another person to set up and run your
social media. Elon Musk the wealthiest person in the world uses
his Twitter account to communicate directly with his audience,
he recognises the importance of connection. Connect with your
fans and keep them updated, not only about your music but
about your growth as an artist, your hopes and fears. Of course
it cannot go without mentioning that you must also keep some
things private, don't put your entire life out there on social media.
The social media environment can very easily devolve into a very
toxic environment that can affect your self-esteem and hamper
your growth as an artist.
The Social Media Footprint
Setting up a social media account is easy! It's always been easy
to come up with a snazzy social media handle e.g.
coolbabe2020, killerX_. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, you name
it - have all come up with platforms that are easy to interface with.
Getting your footprint online is the easy part but getting the right
imprint and sustaining your presence online, now that is a
completely different thing.
How do you set up your brand online in a professional and
sustainable manner? First of all make up your mind about the type of social media account you are setting up. Take for
example Facebook; is it a personal account where you will share
pics of your family braai, quirky links to dubious websites, a place
to rant about your political point of view, a dating reservoir? What
are the intended outcomes of your posts online? If it is a personal
account then go ahead and post anything you like, be liked one
day by your followers and be hated the next day, who cares! But
if it's your professional page on Facebook as an artist you have
to take a step back and think very carefully about the impact
every post you make can have on your career. A professional
Facebook account will require professional interactions. This is
necessary because this online space feeds to your reputation
and is a bedrock of content for any enquiries made about you.
Post information that is relevant to your career, nothing too
casual. Don't push other brands unless you are angling for
endorsement deals. If you push the Pepsi brand on your account
the assumption is that you are pretty confident about cutting out
any potential Coca-Cola deal. Have professional HD pics
together with selfies only from events or with persons who are
easily recognisable. If you are at an awards event, even if you
are not nominated, it's a great place to snap up a selfie with some
notables. These "selfies" when viewed on your page generate
what is known as "brand synchronisation". You appear to be in
the company of greatness therefore you must be great or at least
headed for greatness. Murphy's Law – if it can happen, it's going
to happen.
Engage with followers on your social media accounts but
maintain professional distance. It is good to be close to your fans,
they are your support system but do not believe the hype and
imagine they are falling in love with you. They love the work, the
music, they love the Artist, the personality BUT they do not know
the real you. It's better to keep your private life separate from
your professional life. A candid "Thanks for the support", keeps the interaction at arm's length and prevents fans from becoming
overfamiliar.
Make the Circle Bigger
The idea of sharing or reposting someone else's project or ideas
sometimes seems to be a grave disservice to an artist. The idea
of an artist going out of his way to push someone else's song
seems a bit crazy. Why should you increase the circumference
of someone else's circle, God forbid they become successful!
Here's the logic, the real reason why it is important, dare I say it,
imperative that you appear to push something other than your
own grind. First and foremost it is unhealthy to focus solely on
oneself. An unhealthy obsession with a ME, ME, ME syndrome
can lead to bouts of depression if your plans do not thrive. Allow
space in your life to celebrate other people. Secondly, pushing
someone else also creates a ripple effect, the assumption being
that if you are pushing someone it's inevitable that someone else
will push you. Call it Karma, call it the law of averages, call it what
you will – making the circle bigger adds more layers to the
platforms we can all use to grow our craft. Thirdly, brand
synchronicity is a valuable commodity. When you push someone
else's project you create a subliminal connection to that artist's
brand. Our audience form these links in their minds and in time
begin anticipating your projects as well.