Direction of Blowing Up From The Basement

[shadeed]

What originally started out as my contribution to Illmuzik.com and a way to add more to the site than just the user forums has really turned into something that a lotta up-and-coming indies reference in their day-to-day music hustle.

I'm looking to step things up in the Blowing Up department and deliver some new content and direction to the section. I get some good questions via PM, but I'm an ambitious dude, I want ALL indies/up and comers, (not just the Illmuzik faithful) coming to this site to check this stuff out.

I've decided to deliver the articles in an interview Q & A format with a subject-matter expert in order to switch things up a lil' bit.

My question is: What suggestions can you offer to make the section better and what topics
would you like to know more about? Be specific if possible, a subject like "Publishing" can fill a whole book literally, so from an article standpoint its easiest to breakdown one area.

*All feedback is welcome, positive or negative. I posted in this section because I wanted
the people who view this site on the regular to help this thing go in the right direction.

 

[bigdmakintrax]

I bet if you pour over old threads there is a gold mine of things that's been discussed some in great detail others with good links...you could probably put a lot of that together and get ideas, since I been on here forever there is almost never a topic that at some point that has not been asked at least once or had a thread, I know there are some exceptions but that Q&A sounds like a good idea, I have also found that scenarios work well to assist someone to understand a murky area like publishing or points or how to actually properly run a small label, most of the time it seems like cats need very basic advice more so than the complex so it might not be as hard to find things to talk about as you would think.

Topics i think would be valuable are
How to produce your own artist
Running a local label and being profitable
How to know when your artist is wasting your valuable time
How to find an artist that fits your production style
Identifying potential artists
Selecting the right instruments
How to shop a catalog
How to run a recording session
how to market a mixtape
pushing a single
I just placed a track, what next?

I could go on LOL

 

[Relic]

I bet if you pour over old threads there is a gold mine of things that's been discussed some in great detail others with good links...you could probably put a lot of that together and get ideas, since I been on here forever there is almost never a topic that at some point that has not been asked at least once or had a thread, I know there are some exceptions but that Q&A sounds like a good idea, I have also found that scenarios work well to assist someone to understand a murky area like publishing or points or how to actually properly run a small label, most of the time it seems like cats need very basic advice more so than the complex so it might not be as hard to find things to talk about as you would think.

Topics i think would be valuable are
How to produce your own artist
Running a local label and being profitable
How to know when your artist is wasting your valuable time
How to find an artist that fits your production style
Identifying potential artists
Selecting the right instruments
How to shop a catalog
How to run a recording session
how to market a mixtape
pushing a single
I just placed a track, what next?

I could go on LOL

These are all really good ideas for articles Id like to see more on Big D!

 

[Ash Holmz]

big d makes good points .... i am particulary intersted in what the most time and cost efficent way of promoting independent projects are.. I just dont have enough time to be out in the streetz 24/7. i would like some methods on getting my soon to be released project the maximun amount of exposure with the limited amount of time and financial resoucres we have available. I mean i dont see myself buying 5000 flyers and pasting them all over the city lol.. what are some realistic ways i could promote my project and generate interest from major labels? and also .. how do i go about getting a barcode and it would it be a good idea to get one on a completly independent project?

 

[StressWon]

big d makes good points .... i am particulary intersted in what the most time and cost efficent way of promoting independent projects are.. I just dont have enough time to be out in the streetz 24/7. i would like some methods on getting my soon to be released project the maximun amount of exposure with the limited amount of time and financial resoucres we have available. I mean i dont see myself buying 5000 flyers and pasting them all over the city lol.. what are some realistic ways i could promote my project and generate interest from major labels? and also .. how do i go about getting a barcode and it would it be a good idea to get one on a completly independent project?

cosign



(cdbaby does the barcode thing)

 

[shadeed]

big d makes good points .... i am particulary intersted in what the most time and cost efficent way of promoting independent projects are.. I just dont have enough time to be out in the streetz 24/7. i would like some methods on getting my soon to be released project the maximun amount of exposure with the limited amount of time and financial resoucres we have available. I mean i dont see myself buying 5000 flyers and pasting them all over the city lol.. what are some realistic ways i could promote my project and generate interest from major labels? and also .. how do i go about getting a barcode and it would it be a good idea to get one on a completly independent project?

You're right, there are some good future article topics from big d's post.

There are also plenty of proven metnods listed in the previous articles for building awareness for your project on a limited budget. Every single article was definitely written from that perspective.

In previous articles, I have provided the most common biz mistakes of up and coming artists, Merchandising 101 (which is a major income generator for true independents) ,
the mechanics of a Press Kit which includes answers to questions such as:

Q.) I believe that my music is good enough but I'm low on funds, what tips do you suggest?

I've also covered Live Shows from an independent perspective. Blowing Up ....also has two excellent well-written articles on selling beats on the come-up.

The purpose/intent of the articles are to provide the catalyst to look at the producer/artist's personal situation and ask "What can I do more efficiently or what could I add to my situation?"

These articles are 200% based on true stories, I just change the names to avoid future fistfights (lol), which is why they provide so much detail in such a limited space.


For the people that PM me to tell me they got certain situations on and poppin or for some detailed advice based on something they read in this section is the reason why I do it.