In this day and age, as a struggling musician, singer or aspiring pop star, it can be extremely difficult to get your music noticed by the industry. When it comes to learning how to get a record deal, your choices are even more bleak. Long gone are the days when bands could expect to be picked up by the major players in the industry simply by playing in their local pubs or bars on a Saturday night. No longer can you record a demo or two, post them off in jiffy bags to several record labels and expect to get a telephone call a week later.
The world has become a very different place since the likes of "The Who" and "The Beatles" broke on to our radio stations. It's a digital world. A world of instant communication, social networking and smart-phones. It's a world where in five minutes an artist has the capability to reach an audience on their own by posting a video on YouTube, Facebook or MySpace. From the outset this seems fantastic and many young artists are taking advantage of this on a daily basis. But the truth is, musicians have never been further removed from the record labels themselves. Amongst all this techno-wizardry and superhighway promotion there is a severe lack of available knowledge out there if someone truly wants to learn how to get a record deal.
Getting a record deal isn't just about exposure, it's about targeted exposure. That is where these modern technologies fall down dramatically. Sure you can get three hundred friends to "like" your fan page on Facebook or perhaps even get more than a thousand comments on your YouTube video. But the people that are listening to your music are not the people that hand our the record deals; Record Label A&R executives.
These guys still use the same methods they used forty years ago. They frequent live performances, wait for a buzz to be generated, nurture the artists and mould them in to submission. Until, when the time is right for them, they pounce on the artist and offer them that golden ticket they have always dreamed of.
The trouble is and always has been, getting the A&R executives to have even the slightest interest in your band in the first place. These record labels do not accept unsolicited demo's, meaning that any material you send them, more often than not, will end up in their waste paper bin. They won't take phone calls from anyone other than the top managers the music industry and they will only go to see the bands or acts that have already generated some sort of buzz on the live music circuits.
So just how do you get a record deal in this day and age?
The answer is simple. As with anything in life, persistence in the key to success. Excluding the modern manufactured pop groups that spring up one week and disappear the next, as an artist you need to expect to be in this for the long haul. The only way you will ever make it is by having no fear or rejection and just getting out there and doing it!
Start performing live, get band merchandise made. Finance your own albums and sell them from the boot of your car at gigs. Print off flyer's and hand them out in city centres. Do whatever you can to get people interested. Eventually if you do it for long enough and as long as you good enough and resilient enough to have stuck with it. Someone out there will notice you. That's when the roller-coaster ride begins.
It's a sobering thought and one which scares many an aspiring artist in to giving up on his or her dream. Unfortunately, when it comes to learning how to get a record deal, there is little more to it. Those who succeed are quite simply, the ones who never give up.
Gordon Rankin is an ex-singer/songwriter who had several hits in the early 2000's. He the current CEO of "Get Me Heard", a company who connects artists directly to the record labels and allows them to promote their music and performances.
You can visit their forums and receive free advice on how to get a record deal at http://www.get-me-heard.com/vbulletin4
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