Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image

KonkNaija Media | May 2, 2016

Scroll to top

Top

Steps to success for the aspiring artiste

Steps to success for the aspiring artiste

What realm of entertainment media isn’t political in some way? What reputable website doesn’t get tons of submissions? In a perfect world, everyone should be given a chance to be taken seriously but unfortunately, our world is not perfect. If you don’t have an inside man of some sort looking out for you, it’s completely up to you to present yourself in a fashion where you are standing out from all of the rest. There has to be something about you that creates enough interest to make a person want to look deeper into what you’ve submitted. No-Buzz.net has created a list of imperative steps that need to be taken in order to have a chance (chance meaning we aren’t making any guarantees) in this oversaturated entertainment market.

FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS- Carefully read the submission instructions provided by the website/blog. Not reading or following instructions can cause you to send your product to the wrong department or can cause you to provide too much or too little information. If someone has a sign on the front of their house asking you to knock because the doorbell is broken and you keep ringing the doorbell simply because you didn’t bother to read the note, nobody is going to answer the door for you.
AESTHETIC APPEAL – Whether you’re submitting a photo or graphic image, whatever you send must look like you take yourself seriously as an artist. That doesn’t mean spending a bunch of money that you don’t have. This is a situation where you may need to go on craig’s list and seek out a graphic artist and a photographer in your area. While browsing, make a list of the people that seem to have the best work for the best price. Even if the prices still aren’t low enough, try to negotiate and barter. If you don’t have enough patience to find someone who can make your brand look good, there’s no way you should even be submitting your product to anyone. A wack picture is a wack picture and even if you have everything else lined up the way it’s supposed to be, not being magnetic in any way will increase your chances of being ignored. Also, make sure all of your contact information is provided somewhere on the front or back or your graphic/photo and that your grammar, spelling and punctuation is correct. People these days are reaching for a reason to say something negative about what you’re (notice I said you’re and not your) doing so make that job a lot harder for them. Not knowing the difference between plural and possessive nouns can make an anal webmaster or blogger not want to feature your product. A proofreader can really benefit your situation.
MAKE SURE THE PRODUCT IS GOOD/UNIQUE – ’Good’ is open to interpretation so ‘good’ doesn’t necessarily mean creating something that everyone is going to like. There is absolutely no way to appease everyone. What we mean by ‘good’ is showcasing yourself as being unique but at the same time having a firm handle on whatever sub-genre of film, music, etc. that you are doing. Also, ‘good’ doesn’t have much to do with whether or not you are competent as an artist or not either. In a promotional sense, ‘good’ means standing out enough to create conversation amongst people. Opinions will always vary but creating something that will make people talk is what matters the most. To elaborate on the word ‘unique’, we will provide an example:
Young Jeezy and T.I. are considered ‘Trap Rap Artists’. ‘Trap Music’ is the sub-genre they fall under when it comes to the genre of hip-hop/rap music but T.I. and Young Jeezy are still two completely different artists. They have identical content in a lot of ways but their presentation of the content is very different from one another so they are still individuals. With that being said, the carbon copy approach doesn’t make you unique as an artist. Say you are sending a song and the minute we click play, it sounds like a beat that 9th Wonder laid but in reality it was laid by some obscure producer no one has ever heard of. That in itself is a red flag because 9th Wonder made his name in this game by creating a style that was familiar enough for people to appreciate but different enough for him to create his own lane sound wise. There are now thousands of backpack producers that have been able to duplicate his style but these guys do not buzz because when you hear them, you think about HIM (9th Wonder).
Sometimes imitators slide through the cracks because of their marketing strategies but in this particular case, we are discussing people that are seeking relevance and starting from scratch.
E-MAIL & SOCIAL MEDIA GAME- ALL websites need traffic. If you’ve made it to the point to where a site is showing you love and featuring your work, you have to return that love by bringing traffic to them. No matter how good your stuff is, you need to give websites the incentive to seek out more of your stuff or to keep posting what you’ve sent them. There are analytics reports that are read by the webmaster and if your feature only has 10 to 30 views in 2 to 3 days time, you are taking up precious space and might not land another feature on that blog……no matter how great you are at what you do. The real purpose of a blog is to legitimize what you are doing as an artist and not to be your street team. We provide the platform by creating a link for you to repost. You need to be your own street team or you need to assemble one. Being featured on a website is a form of press and you need to fully exploit a situation where someone you don’t know is showing you love. Take your press, create an e-mail list and blast it to everyone you know. Take these links and tweet them (Twitter), post them on Facebook, pin them on Pinterest, etc. Screen capture your feature and put it on Instagram. Encourage people within your circle to make comments on your feature so the websites will be able to see how much traffic is coming as a result of you. Also, have an artist page set up on Facebook in addition to having a regular personal profile. If you are a musician, have a Soundcloud and Bandcamp profile as well. If you shoot music videos/films, etc. have a YouTube page and a simple but attractive website set up. Even if you haven’t landed a feature on a respected media outlet yet, make sure you are at least building your own hype within a circle of people you already know. Take all of these social media pages/profiles you have and routinely tweet the links on twitter and update the pages on a consistent basis.
PERSISTENCE/FOLLOW THROUGH/HUMILITY- Do not let being featured on a website one or a few times be your promised land. A feature is only the beginning and people’s attention spans and memory have gotten shorter over the years. You can be completely forgotten in a few days time so if your debut feature has gotten good feedback, keep feeding the people more and don’t get too comfortable. You are not yet the shit. Most importantly, thank people for their support and let them know that your relevance is a direct result of them showing you love.
As stated in the opening paragraph, these steps are not guarantees that you will become a successful artist but following these steps will definitely increase your chances. Good luck!!!