Understanding how record companies work

I'm a rapper with deep rhymes, dude check me out, cuz I need to get signed!

Rappers, as talented as many are, for some bizarre reason seem to belong to a demographic that seems to refuse to learn how the music business works. I get a million emails from guys in Hip Hop bands saying "Hook me up dude, we da bomb!".

Now, da bomb they may be, but whatever genre of music YOU are currently a part of, there are effective promotional skills and there are not so effective ones. Sending an email asking for someone to literally do all the work, is well...like asking someone to literally do all the work! Give someone a reason to pay attention.

Are you throwing mud at the wall or are you really serious?

How many rappers do you think are out there right now looking for record deals? How many are looking to be "hooked up?" How many rappers firmly believe that they are the best, most amazing creative talents living today? Answer. All of them!

I'm not here to put you off. I'm here to get you to be smart about how you present yourself to the music business.

Can I give you some real advice? Put yourself in the position of a record label, a music producer or an A&R guy and ask yourself, "What would I need to see or hear that would blow me away so much that I would have to take a meeting, or get in touch with an artist with a view to taking it further?" Please be honest. In other words...

How different are you musically?

What are you doing from a marketing standpoint that is actually making you stand out from the herd right now?

How many CDs are you selling on your own?

How professionally are you presenting yourselves to the industry? (Because believe me, an email that says "Hook us up dude" ain't professional!").

If you are part of a group, you need to position yourself so when a music business professional steps in, there is every reason to do so. Ask yourself if a record deal is the right answer for you? At some point it may be but once again ask yourself,

"What do we honestly have that would make a record company jump up and down over us right now?".

There are a million bands looking for a deal. Why should YOU deserve one? Why are you different? Because it's YOUR band and you are in it? Because all your friends say so? Because you don't want to get a proper job? Not good enough!

You get one shot. Be ready!

The point is, I'm not here to discover you. You are going to have to do some serious thinking, research, and intelligent planning about what your future really is, in a very real sense. To be discovered is rare, and frankly, the old model. These days one has to simply put oneself in a position of strength if one wants to succeed in the category YOU have chosen. So here is what I would suggest:

The music business takes notice when it 'smells' money, so give them something to smell. And by that I mean this:

1) Learn exactly how the music business works. Buy this book, All You Need To Know About The Music Business. You HAVE to understand the business, if you get this business, people in the business will get you. Trust me.

2) Learn how you can promote yourself. Do everything you possibly can. That includes online and offline.

3) Stay on top of current music trends. Know who's hot, know who's dropped and know exactly where you might fit into the marketplace. Read Billboard online.

4) As a hip hop group it would pay for you to be associated with a credible record producer. When and only when you are ready, you should seek out the right person for you. Google and Facebook are great places to start.

5) Read every article in the A&R Online article directory. Now go do it!

6) Good luck!