High Times Records Posts

pin Music Marketing For The Early Stages

You have actually most likely heard all the standard things on how to promote your band. This may include concepts like ‘play more live programs’, ‘go on trip’, ‘post on social media’, ‘welcome all your friends on Facebook’, ‘have a release program’, ‘get covered on blogs’, or ‘get radio airplay’. Some may even tell you to buy ‘likes’ or streams, (which I never ever encourage).

Instead of inform you all the concepts you have actually heard ad nauseum, we’re going to move outside the proverbial box into areas that aren’t as apparent. Below are a few concepts to obtain you began.

1. Routinely Engage on Social network with People You Admire

This is social media with a spin. You most likely know by now to post your single release or upcoming show. However what if you don’t see any engagement with your following beyond a like or 2 from the same few fans?

If you’ve struck a plateau where you aren’t moving beyond your existing fan base, you should begin looking at how you can start expanding your following through less standard methods. Just how much are you engaging with individuals you admire? This can be as easy as a local location or band, or as big as your favorite blog, writer or national record label.

By publishing informative and helpful remarks you have the chance to engage others who are interested in hearing exactly what you have to do with. Engagement is a two-way street and if you are simply posting about your band without engaging with anybody else, you’ll only make it up until now. By engaging with individuals you appreciate, you’ll have an opportunity to develop a relationship with someone who would not normally be accessible to you.

2. Develop a Spotify Playlist

A great deal of bands come to us because they are interested in having us pitch managers for inclusion Spotify playlists. Curators are typically taking a look at your social networks engagement, band accomplishments, and how engaged you are on the Spotify platform.

If you’re lacking in any of these department, you can start by creating your own playlist to include your song as well as other bands you appreciate. The included benefit is that it gives you a chance to engage with those bands as mentioned above while revealing your assistance for them.

3. Go to Live Shows in Your Market

The common suggestions is simply to ‘play more live programs.’ What if you’re struggling to be reserved in the first place or you merely do not have a following for a booker to think about you? In addition to playing live programs you should likewise take a look at how you can support the shows in the marketplace.

This provides you the chance to obtain to understand the booker person-to-person and also network with other bands while showing your assistance. If you wish to be thought about for shows, you have to take a look at how you can construct the relationships to be asked when the opportunities show up.
4. Remain in Contact As soon as You’ve Built Relationships

As soon as you’ve started building these relationships, the worst thing you can do is to let them go. You should not simply construct the relationship up until you get exactly what you desire, whether it’s getting your song on a Spotify playlist, getting reserved for a program, or being covered by a blog site.

A terrific relationship isn’t really developed when you just occur when you want something. Produce a schedule for yourself to remain in touch if you battle with staying on top of relationships.

pin Advertising Your Music On Facebook

Do you use Facebook to promote your music? If so, excellent on you!

Despite the fact that Facebook keeps on altering, it’s a great location to develop an online existence.

Now don’t get me wrong, you should probably still construct yourself a site, however Facebook (and social media in general) is relatively complementary to that.

So here are five pointers for promoting your music on Facebook.
1. Promote

The great feature of Facebook advertising is that you can set your own budget. It’s really easy to target specific demographics too.

There are 10 various types of projects you can run, and I believe it’s pretty apparent which ones are going to prove most rewarding for musicians. Simply have a look at the screenshot below:

You can run ongoing projects if you want to, or you can do shorter campaigns to promote your album or upcoming show.

You’ve most likely heard it said that you’ll be spending for the very same amount of direct exposure you utilized to get without having to pay for it, but I tend to disagree. You can really boost your existence on Facebook using advertisements, even if you only spend a couple of dollars per day.
2. Usage Facebook As: Your Page

This is pretty basic things, however if you didn’t know that you could walk around acting upon Facebook as your fan page, now you do.

You can like other pages, like/comment/share their posts, and normally engage on locations aside from your own fan page.

If you want to increase your page’s presence on Facebook, this is a great way to do it. Plus, sharing other people’s things is a way of adding value to them. You can even develop new connections by doing this.

You don’t need to go too crazy; just take a couple of minutes out of your day to follow pages you’re interested in and take part in discussions.
3. Tease, Tease, Tease

You understand us artists … we in some cases have the tendency to forget to do the important stuff, like promotion.

However you do understand how important marketing is to your success, right?

So when it comes to teasing, the best time to do it is prior to you do something big, like before a program or an album release. Stands to factor, yes?

Simply puts, don’t just abscond when you remain in the studio. Start sharing pictures, videos, lyric bits, riffs and other things along the way. Fans like that things.
4. Start & Join Groups

You’re not stuck in a mold!

What? Well, here’s the important things. We have a tendency of setting up our website, setting up our Facebook page then we rush into … lingering for others to engage us.

We have to take a different technique, do not you believe? Do not forget; there are currently individuals on Facebook that have the very same interests as you do! Odd, best?

You can target interests either within the music niche, or without, be it fishing, Christianity, or Mustangs (yes, really).

You don’t have to limit yourself; you can try out a variety of various classifications, start groups, sign up with groups, and construct relationships with people that like the same things you do.
5. Cross-Promote

When it pertains to cross-promotion, actually the sky’s the limit.

You can approach a popular Facebook page with the concept of publishing about your music. You’ll offer a link to their website, or you’ll pay them $20 to share the post (a pretty little cost if you know you’re going to sell a couple of albums this method).

You can likewise get popular pages or groups on Facebook and start to utilize them as your very own. The sale would most likely be done privately, and you would wish to do your due diligence in making sure you understand what you’re spending for.

On a more fundamental level, you could make a deal with a few of your buddies to promote each other’s music a minimum of as soon as per week.

See exactly what I indicate? There are many alternatives!

pin Using Music In Comercials The Correct Way

Important Factors to consider for Brand names and Agencies Wanting to Integrate Music In Campaigns

The best combination of brand name messaging and music can lead to an engaging advertisement that resonates with potential customers.

With the appropriate packaging, marketing can supply significant value to the artist( s) included as well.
Finest Practices for Advertising With Music

I totally think that for musically-driven advertising to resonate with target audiences, brand names and companies MUST begin the brainstorming procedure with heavy factor to consider of the combination of music.

If you get this wrong, nothing else much matters; the entire campaign will fail.

Disharmony here hurts the brand, the artist, and most significantly, the clients.

The best campaigns resolve this prospective discord by digging deeply into the psychographic makeup of the artists’ constituencies to figure out how their fans relate– in a durable and psychological method– to the brand. And they do this from the beginning of the innovative procedure.
Brands Must Understand the Complexities Surrounding Music Licensing

Just like brand marketing, the music industry is intricate and relationship-driven.

Just like how some in the music world might not completely understand the systematic RFP procedure that has actually become second-nature to those in the firm world, the many complexities of licensing music can often conceal behind a polished end product.

For instance, it is rare to find a song only has one rightsholder attached to it. That is, normally, a tune will have at least 2 parties who have some ownership claim (and for that reason veto power) of a tune: (1) the label and (2) the songwriter.

Obviously, in today’s music era, lots of songs have samples and several writers, and/or visitor performers, so the number of potential rightsholders is enormous. Typically, in order to utilize the tune for a business, each of these rightsholders need to accept its usage.

Simply puts, this requires:

Discovering everybody with ownership in a song
Negotiating with each party, and/or convincing all them to approve a so-called A lot of Favored Countries (MFN) deal, in which all celebrations receive the very same amount/terms
Issuing (and getting back) agreements
Accounting to each rightsholder

Even with all the above dealt with, there is still risk for the brand name should any of the parties misrepresent their rights, or some piece of the song (sample) was not cleared. Misstatement of rights impacted Matador Records to the tune of $50,000 in May 2016.

Provided all of this, it’s crucial to guarantee that proper diligence is done before airing anything.
You Don’t Need a “Super star” Artist To Connect With People

As the Nick Drake example above shows, a household name is not necessarily required for a successful project. In fact, brands pursuing genuine storytelling and the creation of deep/durable psychological connections with prospective consumers might do better to support emerging artists, rather than pay the big costs required to attract star power.

Even if an artist is popular does not mean that their fans’ worths will axiomatically line up with those of a brand. In fact, our information MAX has actually collected around fans frequently shows the opposite is true.

The musical landscape is consisted of increasingly varied (and scattered) talent that’s not always all over Leading 40 radio, and the increase of on-demand streaming has actually allowed brand names, agencies and artists more traceable methods to reach these music fans.
Marketing With Music: Three Secret Takeaways

Everyone wins when the music in an ad leads the audience to explore the brand name’s offering AND the artist’s songs.

This alchemy happens all too rarely since music is sometimes regarded as an add-on. A core mission of MAX is to increase these positive outcomes– where brands, artists, and fans all advantage– from the facilities that:

Music must be incorporated based upon shared psychography of the brand’s clients and the artist’s fans
Projects should be managed transparently so music-related rightsholders and brands all comprehend how the music is being used and the associated value proposals
Shared value alignment, NOT merely appeal, is the essential to the best music/brand combinations

pin Professional Sound Recording

Filmmaker, Producer and Sound Engineer Tony Errico’s work has consisted of 15-years of tv productions, music production and he’s the founder of production company Tiger Dreams, Musically, he has actually worked with bands such as The Mission, Wet and Aerosmith. Recently, Errico wrote a short article for Raindance Movie Festival’s site (where he is presently carrying out post-graduate research studies) offering his top ten tips for film sound recording (you can check out that here).
1. “We’ll fix it in post!”

Doing ADR– Automated Dialogue Replacement– with the stars listening to the recorded dialogue and replacing it in the comfort of a recording studio with quality microphones, compression, EQ costs a LOOOOOOT of money, and time. And I am not even talking about the background sound here …”.
2. Undervalue the sound guy recording the noise.

” If I had to listen to only one man on a set, it would be the sound man. I’ve been on set as Production Assistant observing that none paid attention to the sound operator when he said “hum, there was an airplane in this take”, and the Director thought the take was terrific enough not to redo it. Honestly guys! A sound guy has experience and knows exactly what to listen to, his job is ‘hearing’– and trust me it is a task per se. He knows exactly what individuals need in post-prod, so if he says that there is a plane, then it indicates a huge problem for later on … I would rely on a sound man a lot!”.
3. One noise man can do all of it!

” Obviously, and one person in a restaurant can prepare, serve and clean the dishes … all at the same time! Depending on the budget it is true that a sound person can tape, mix and call the film, but still the skills are not the same, and to blend a motion picture, much better have a pro who owns a studio or at least a best acoustic location to do so. You don’t want smothered discussion.”.
4. Utilizing the microphone of the cam will do!

” Then why not shoot your motion picture with a phone webcam? Any mirophone will do! Yeah right, then why some microphones deserve thousands of pounds and some ₤ 10? Never wondered why in a professional music studio there are hundreds of various microphones? To tape high-quality location sound the right type of microphone need to be used: ultra-directional for external places, directional (much shorter) for interiors, and non-directional for confined interiors. The more directional the microphone, the higher the degree to which it selectively picks up sounds from its front end, and the higher the signal-to-noise ratio will be. And expert microphones utilizes XLR connections! So if you have a jack microphone, it will not sound as good as it should, this is a sign!”.
5. Ignore the location!

” When you examine the place, you need to bring the sound guy with you if you want to be professional! He will then know precisely what needs to be done to get the finest sound recording there.
6. Tape the noise with the music or background noise is fine!

” Of course, then when you choose your right take and blend it, that’ll be fun! Like 5) here, once a background sound is on the discussion, it is impossible to take it off, however if the dialogue is clean, you can quickly include a background music, noise etc The cleaner your discussion, the much better for post-production.”.
7. We don’t require a “wild/walla/atmo track”!

” Then I am questioning how your dialogue will sound like … If you modify a discussion leaving areas between them or taking a discussion from one take and the other from another take, there is a huge possibility that the background sound is a little various, then, people will hear it, and it will sidetrack the audience. Avoid this by always record a “wild track”– or ambient sound = one minute of overall silence on a set, prior to or after the main shooting– to have a neutral background noise.
8. Anybody can be a boom operator, I’ll ask a good friend.

” Cool, then I ought to ask my mum too! A Boom operator understands what to do and most of all what NOT To Perform! When you move your hands on the boom, you touch the XLR cable television then the noise is tape-recorded on top of the dialogue! Microphones are extremely very delicate, any motion or sound will be taped. And this is why a boom operator ought to always wear headphones, to hear JUST the tape-recorded audio and not the sound on the set!”.

pin How To Record Professional Sound On Your Phone

We’re going to reveal you ways to tape audio with a smartphone microphone. We’ve revealed you how to compress a video, now we want to show you how to make the best video for under $150.

Video is powerful. What if all you desire to make is a fast little video to send to customers?

Possibly you need a video cover letter? We’re going to reveal you how, with very little expense, you can make the very best looking, finest sounding video on your mobile phone.
Why noise is important

Even if you do not wish to invest heavily in movie gear, we urge you not to skimp on audio. Online audiences are rather tolerant of bad lighting and dodgy impacts, but bad noise is going to drive them away in droves.

Before you learn anything else, we wish to be sure that you understand how to catch the best noise when taping on your phone. All you’re going to need is your smart device and a lavalier mic from amazon or eBay. If you wish to have the ability to monitor your recording, you’ll likewise wish to get some sort of earphone splitter.
Where to tape

First thing we’re going to talk about is where you’ll be shooting. Ambient noise can compete with your voice and sidetrack the audience. Where possible, attempt to tape-record your video in an area where you can control the ambient sound.

In an office setting fans, cooling and computers create a lot of noise. Changing these off or changing them to their lowest setting will mitigate any humming or droning sounds.

Another thing to be wary of is big empty spaces. If you enter into an expert recording booth, you’ll discover how little they are. This is because sounds bounces, which triggers echo. When you’re trying to find an area to record, watch out for high ceilings, difficult floorings and no furniture.

Now you do not need to invest thousands of dollars making your office acoustically insulated. As a rule of thumb, the smaller the space and the more furniture it has, the better it will be for sound recording.

A little bit of ambient noise is okay, in truth the audience will expect a little bit of natural noise. Strong wind is a headache for sound recording.
Selecting a smart device microphone

So after a bit of searching and screening, you have actually discovered a space that is short on ambient noise. Let’s talk microphones. Even a low-cost lavalier microphone will tape clearer audio than your smartphone’s fundamental mic. We have actually utilized a $12 PoP lav mic and $73 Rode smartlav+.

The Smartlav sounded a bit better and didn’t require an external source of power, however the cheapie mic didn’t give us any issues. When you start recording, your video camera ought to right away acknowledge the external mic and use it.
Assist, I do not have a headphone jack any longer!

If you have an iPhone 7, which doesn’t have a 3.5 mm earphone jack, don’t worry. Your phone featured a lightning to 3.5 mm adaptor. This should still deal with the majority of lavalier mics you can purchase online. If you cannot keep in mind where it is, you can get new ones online.
Wearing a smartphone microphone

A lot of lavaliere smartphone microphones are little enough that they can be used discreetly on your t-shirt or jacket. If you do not want to see it at all, pinning it to the inside of your t-shirt or jacket is the safest best.

For the most part, many audiences aren’t going to care that you’re using a mic. Something to be mindful of is the microphone rubbing versus material. When installed, make certain the mic itself isn’t really resting versus any product that may move while you’re speaking.
Monitoring and playback

Sound issues are extremely challenging to repair after the truth. If you desire to keep track of the recording, you’ll need that earphone splitter we mentioned previously.

But let’s say you don’t wish to film yourself using earphones. If you don’t have a buddy or colleague you can push into monitoring your audio, the best alternative is to play back exactly what you have actually just tape-recorded. When in doubt, do one more recording for security.

We’re going to revisit this topic later since the truly cool feature of tape-recording noise to your phone is that you can sync it to video from one or more other video cameras. We’ll go through this in a later short article but ideally you now feel great in recording better noise with a smartphone microphone.

pin Tips For The Best Audio Recordings

Videos are an excellent method of developing appealing material for an online course. You might have simply ended up designing some fantastic products for your course to ensure your videos are ready to choose students to have the best knowing experiences possible. However, even with terrific visuals and script, trainees may not have the ability to enjoy your video to its full quality if the audio is uncertain. To guarantee students are 100% engaged with the material, here are 5 simple ideas on how to tape professional audio for your online course.You don’t need to be a professional noise engineer to be able to record excellent audio narration. Having an idea of the two kinds of audio recording setup, single and double system can be very beneficial. Single setup suggests that audio is recorded directly to your electronic camera, while double methods that your audio and video is taped individually. You just have to pick the best setup that fulfills your needs. While single setup can be a substantial timesaver, it does be available in a cost, as not a great deal of camcorder features a robust and expert voice recorder. On the other hand, you can get a good external microphone to support your electronic camera that will not break your budget!

While many trainees do not expect Hollywood-grade post production quality, knowing good devices choices can help with the quality of your audio. It’s important to note that microphones will sound differently in each individual’s voice, so select one with action attributes that will make your voice sound the finest. If you are low on spending plan– there is always a way to create Do It Yourself microphones.
Before you press the record button, ensure to examine your environments. You’ll be amazed with the amount of background sound that will be consisted of in your recording! Switch off some of the important things within your control– such as home appliances like a/c, fans, and tvs. Be careful of where and how you position your microphone too! Attempt to position it slightly away from your laptop computer or computer because your PC might create a loud humming noise that can interrupt the quality of your audio. Last but not least, advise everybody in the room to be quiet throughout the recording procedure.

As soon as the audio is completely taped, you can aim to best the quality by using a totally free third-party audio software application such as Audacity and Garageband. These software applications can help you to remove ambient noise from your recording. You can also play around and produce your very own audio pre-programmed that can best suit your taste, such as increasing the bass or getting rid of reverb.

If you’re taping a lot of video lectures and audio narrations, recording in the exact same location assists keep the audio clear and consistent. This little tip can make or break the quality of a recording.

That’s a wrap! Following these simple ideas will make sure to bring your videos from good to fantastic. Keep in mind, the developer of Star Wars, George Lucas once said “Sound is half the picture.” If Lucas believes so, having great and clear audio quality needs to be vital to your online course!

pin Producing Music With An Iphone Part 2

Combine Music and Environment

On the last couple of iPhone jobs I have actually worked on, I’ve combined the musical material with ambient sound impacts. Then the game streams one file and the player gets the impression of a living world and musical background at the same time. Naturally there are some cons to that approach. The background environment can not be differed since it is embedded with the music track. If the customer is fine with a bigger video game size then you could develop alternative versions of the music and/or sound style then toggle the playback between versions.
Always Work to Video when Doing Sound Design

Game clients often expect sound designers to work from a playable construct of the video game they require audio for. This isn’t really enough. Constantly push for a video of the video game play. If possible, have a video of private aspects, particularly when supporting intricate in-game occasions. In some cases clients might push back stating that don’t have sufficient time or wish to concentrate on something else. Just ask if they desire their sound effects to be a best fit to the game’s action, or just a rough price quote. This typically wins them over. At the minimum, request for longer video that reveals many aspects of the video game play then score your sound results to that.
Stick to Basic Execution

From my experience, the iPhone’s audio engine isn’t really as versatile as a few of the existing audio engines such as Fmod, Wwise and others. From what I have actually checked out and learned from teams I have actually dealt with, the iPhone can do basic things such as change tunes based upon an occasion, randomize pitch and volume for duplicated sound effect calls and do simple fade in and outs. The existing phone isn’t going to have the ability to carry out a bargain of live DSP (a minimum of not at the level of the next gen consoles or PC) and it doesn’t utilize the MIDI-archive system so it can not alter instrumentation or tempo quickly.
Final Thoughts

I have actually found producing audio for the iPhone to be a very friendly job. Count your lucky stars, due to the fact that other devices, like some other cell phones or the Nintendo DS, utilize a MIDI and archiving system that has many more ins and outs than the iPhone. Creating a looping MP3 is a much more possible task. Another plus to iPhone video game advancement is that the groups are usually smaller and far more available to cross-discipline work. In addition to developing the audio, you can have input on the game’s mechanics, visuals and plot. This is a great, new horizon on the video game market. Go out there and have fun.

pin Producing Music With An Iphone

On such specific niche is producing audio for games, and in particular iPhone video games. There are several benefits to producing music for the iPhone, but it takes a some specialized knowledge. Here are seven pointers from video game sound designer Nathan Madsen to get you began.
1) Mix for the iPhone Speaker

The iPhone has one external speaker, which is on the bottom of the iPhone near the charging/syncing port. This implies two things: First, all your audio content is going to be heard in mono, and, second, out of a little speaker that can not own bass frequencies. So, when creating mixes for the iPhone, plan ahead for both scenarios. When monitoring your result, see how it sounds with the majority of the lows high-passed out. Likewise, make sure you sum your final mix to mono to eliminate any cancellation of frequencies that could potentially occur from integrating right and left channels.
2) iPhone Audio File Size and Type

The iPhone can not stream multiple MP3 files at as soon as. When contracting out for an iPhone game always ask the client what the maximum file size is for the streaming music.

If possible, try making alternative variations of the same song to provide to the client. It could be as basic as muting numerous of the tracks, changing the instrumentation or performing a various solo. For a client that is open to a larger audio footprint this can actually assist keep the music within a certain size (per each specific file), while giving more range and making the music less recurring.
3) Eliminate Quiet Bookends

The material loops flawlessly in your DAW, when bounced to MP3, there is now a break. You can compose your music in such a way where having that brief pause feels natural and organic to the music. Instead, have a short break in that continuous element which helps cover the MP3 then have the music come back on beat.
4) Check Content

Let’s say you’ve just ended up an awesome track and you want to evaluate how the mix is going to work on the iPhone before sending it off to the customer. Now you can play it on the actual hardware and see how the mix works (or does not work). If you do not desire to mess up your iTunes playlist, simply email the MP3 to yourself then open up the email by means of a 3G or Wi-Fi connection.

pin 5 Tips For Better Music Mixing

Tip 1 Make the Instruments Thin Solo

The goal of a mix is to make several instruments collaborate, so in a complete mix, most of the instruments will sound thin solo. When one track buries another, it’s better to thin down the controling track than to fatten up the buried track. (Example: Sidechain EQ in FL Studio tutorial).

Suggestion 2 Usage Mono Sounds for a Stereo Mix

Making all the mixer tracks mono, as strange as it sounds, helps due to the fact that panning mono tracks left and best adds up to a clear stereo mix. And if you select a few sounds to be stereo they will jump out beastly because the remainder of the mix is clear and basic.

Pointer 3 FX Plugins Can not Improve Sound Quality

Plugins can change a sound dramatically but one thing they cannot do is make a sample from a laptop mic seem like it originated from a condenser microphone. A low quality synth sound played through a high-quality eq and reverb will not end up being a high-quality sound, and if you’re trying to hide a noise in your mix by burying it with plugins (we’ve all done this) it might be better simply to remove it.

Tip 4 Make an Extremely Small Favorites Folder

Picture having the top 1 percent of your preferred kick drums from all your libraries in one single folder, and your leading 20 lead synths in another. As long as you’re callous and super-selective in exactly what sounds make it into the favorites folder, you’ll be in producer’s paradise whenever you take a seat to make a tune. Whenever I remain in a creative rut however still want to do something music-y I’ll maintain and prune my plugins, samples, and presets.

Idea 5 Remove Plugins that Change Absolutely nothing

This one isn’t actually a paradox, however it’s difficult to adhere to. When mixing, test to see if all those instruments, samples, and results are truly making a discernible distinction in the complete mix. If they aren’t, eliminate them. They may make a difference when the track is solo ‘d, sure, however the only test that matters is how it sounds with everything playing. You might end up with a couple of tracks with no effects plugins on them at all, not even an eq roll-off, which’s all right, maybe the sound manufacturer already did that.

pin The Easy Way to Sell Your Music Online

Many aspiring musicians wonder “How can I sell my music online?” With the internet and online music retailers, making money and sharing your music has never been easier. Here are some of the first basic steps you’ll need to follow in order to upload and sell your music online.

Audio Quality

Be sure to check your audio quality. Listen to your music on various devices, including those you normally wouldn’t use. Try it on a computer, .mp3 player, car stereo—whatever you can think of.

Audio Files

Although you listen to .mp3 music files, those aren’t the best files to use to upload your music, because it’s a compressed format. Instead use a WAV or FLAC file, and get it mastered first if you want top quality.

Meta Data

The meta data is the information you’ll need to include so that listeners can find your music in the music website’s online search. Information such at the album, song titles, song length, and artist are necessary so the music retailer can attach the meta data to the files.

Album Artwork

You’d be surprised just how crucial album art can be for success. Be sure that it’s in keeping with your genre, is high quality, and is easily seen in a tiny thumbnail. The current standard for many online music stores is an image file size of 3000 x 3000 pixels with a 300 dpi/ppi resolution.

Copyright

Look into music copyright, and get all that taken care of in advance. There are special processes for copyrighting or licensing music, so do that in advance before someone rips off your music.

Music Aggregator

Most major music retailers don’t usually deal directly with indie artists. Instead, you’ll need to make a deal with a music aggregator, which will distribute your music to the retailers. Check the vending contract carefully and make sure you understand the terms, and that they are fair.

There are many other things you’ll need to learn along your journey toward becoming a paid independent music artist, but these steps should get you started in the right direction.