Hello guys!
This will be a LONG post so bare with me, but I hope that if you take the time to read it carefully, you will find many useful ideas that will aid in your success as a local musician 
I've always had my gripes with the limitation of the local scene here but have also been a huge optimist and worker at heart.
While I agree with James on
all the above points he has posted,
I do feel that we’ve heard the same suggestions over and over again from the scene as a collective.We’ve been repeating ourselves for years – saying we should do this and should do that, but the end result is still the same . These points will improve the scene on a temporary basis but will not lead to big boom we want.
I feel that it is crucial for us to abandon the notion that these are the only forms of improving the scene. They're great suggestions still though.
We need a reinvention, a total overhaul of the mindset that we have stuck in our heads from the many years of practice.
These following points will mention my personal experiences, and in no way is meant to sound boastful or 'Mr. Smarty Pants Thinks He Knows His Stuff!'. I'm just sharing my experiences, the obstacles I've faced and overcame. There's plenty more to learn but the uphill task has always thrilled me.
The following post is both filled with facts and personal opinions that I have been researching on over the past few months.
Once again, this is a super long post but I urge you to read it through. It will change your perception of how to truly change your idea of what the local scene can accomplish as a whole, and what you can achieve as an individual musician. I know these type of posts of mine don't get as much response as my usual insults and rants, but it's certainly more productive
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Introduction:
One of the things that has irked me the most about the scene recently is the tendency to mope and moan and our collective inability to keep up with the times.
We are basically operating on a very early 2000s mentality rather than shaping ourselves up to become a part of the global music community TODAY. With the rise of the Internet - be it social networking sites, online album distributions, online international licensing, etc –
the global opportunities are right there for us, IF we take the time to source them out and filter out the nonsense from the more-cents.
The best philosophy to create the new revolution for the local scene is this, and it's a simple one
"Invest in yourself what you would have others invest in you"
Invest in your music and the rewards will come.
WORK THE CROWD
Here is an example. Once again I stress that this is in
no way meant to promote myself. I am merely using this as an illustration of the effectiveness of the ongoing revolution that most Singaporean bands are missing out on.
ASTRONINJA first ventured onto the Internet approximately 4 months ago. Through extensive online promotions (on a daily basis, 3 hours a day, not once a week), we've gone from
zero plays to more than 300,000 unique MP3 plays on a number of our social networking sites in just under 3 months (It took 1 month to set up these accounts) These sites include Purevolume.com, Facebook, MySpace, Vampirefreaks.com, Newgrounds.com, imeem.com, Reverbnation.com, and a few more).
The majority of these plays - approximately 95% - do not come locally but from overseas fans from the US, Australia, and Europe.
As a result of just 3-months of intensive online promotion, we have had
more than 9,300 in pre-orders of our album, from young people situated all around the world. While that number is sure to be
reduced from some wavers and perhaps the economic crisis, the fact of the matter is,
even if you reduce that number by a whole quarter or half, the final sales figures easily trumps those of bands who still insist on promoting themselves in the 'old-school' manner that is commonplace in most promotional methods done by Singapore musicians.
With a base number like that, exponential growth in figures will be a result of it.
The thing that most people will surely ask is "But how can a Singaporean band win over an American or European when they already have so many great bands there?"
While it is true that it's a tough musician's world out there where every band from all over the world is competing for the attention of fans, I've found that the following step-by-step approach works best (and rapidly) in winning over the global market.
And it will definitely work for you too!!!!
1. GET RID OF YOUR WHINING AND START GETTING CREATIVE
The simple answer is this:
A large number of Singaporean musicians mostly cling onto the pessimist's way of thinking. A pessimistic person always looks at the obstacles first and begins the journey feeling discouraged.
That is the wrong approach and one that will guarantee failure in any field - NOT just the music industry. You have already failed if you begin your career thinking that you'll fail. You've already failed if you are not willing to
adapt from the old-school style of promotion into the new revolution that is happening around the world. You have already failed if you are stuck in the past and refuse to bulge and put your weight into this new form of highly effective marketing.
So my simple suggestion is this;
think OUTSIDE of the box, and work OUTSIDE of your safety zone.
Fact: Promoting online costs a fraction of the cost of printing flyers, and takes up a fraction of your time compared to having to cuddle and suck up to the media for exposure, recognition and popularity within Singapore. Promotion online also reaps greater and quicker benefits compared to playing 100 free shows in a year.
2. FINDING YOUR TARGET MARKET
How many times have musicians hear clicked on that beautiful SEARCH button on their social networking sites?
FACT: A filtered search of people around the world with musical interests that are the same as yours will produce the quickest response. A search for fans of bands who sound like yours will most likely lead to them liking (and purchasing) your music too.
For example, a filtered search of fans who like, say, My Chemical Romance, will produce several MILLION profile hits on MySpace alone, not to mention the huge number of OTHER social networking sites online.
If you take the time to message a hundred of these users a day and ask them to check out your music, I can almost guarantee you that half of that number will take the step to visit and listen to your music, with about half that number becoming fans. That's approximately a 1/4 success rate, which isn't half bad considering you're working with the tens of thousands here.
But let's be serious.
Out of 1/4 of these converted fans, perhaps 1/4 of those will actually purchase your album or music online (given the high rate of illegal file sharing) But because you are working with such
bulky numbers, the result will still lead to a significant and very rapid increase in support for your band (Let's not forget the most powerful promotional tool of all - the word of mouth!)
But here's the golden trick to sustaining a high ratio of converted fans vs. mass messaging.
BE PERSONAL!!!!
This is the most tedious step in all your online promotions but it is the MOST important.
ASTRONINJA has always made it a point to find out a person's ACTUAL NAME first before sending them a message, asking them to check out our music. We read every single profile we visit, find out their personal interests (like their favourite movies, songs, etc) before we even click on the COMMENT button/
What this does is create a connection between you and the fan. It shows that you have taken that extra bit of effort to reach out to them, to show that you're just like them, and to show that you're willing to invest the time to get to know them. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that by showing genuine interest in their lives, THEY will show genuine interest in the music you are playing and could perhaps be turned into a loyal fan.
3. BE RESOURCEFUL!
It is extremely important to be resourceful in your approach.
Opportunities do not come to slackers and it is in seeking that you will find the success you are looking for.
In just the space of 3 short months, ASTRONINJA has had our music forwarded to
SONY PLAYSTATION and THQ for consideration of placement into their video games. We’ve done interviews with various independent publications and have also been approached to be added onto the playlist of radio stations in the US in six different states. Fans have also taken their own initiative into including their own stories of us in their college publications.
All these opportunities came about from being resourceful – which is something all of us are capable of doing if everyone puts the time into it! But to make life a bit easier, here are some useful links you should seriously consider checking out to further your music exposure on a global scale
