Promoting dance music?

[Robcore!]

I've been a producer of weird mash up stuff - hard trance with DnB, acoustic with filthy breaks, etc for many years. I would never consider this music to be commercially viable, but recently i've been given opportunities to make some really commercially big music with vocalists, etc.
Atm I can't reveal the material or names (sorry - i'm not trying to sound top secret or important or anything hahah!) but the material's good, good enough I believe to do well.
However, i'm not to up on the promotion, getting noticed etc side of things. I've had a release or two in the past on small labels but nothing really worth mentioning - this music is much more housey, radio 1, vocal driven and uplifting type stuff though - think DJ Sammy, Deepest Blue, etc.
But yeah, I am looking for some ideas to help promote this. Should I promote the vocalist or keep a DJ name feat. the vocalist? get some remixes done in different styles and send them around on CDR to labels, radio stations and djs? promote through myspace? flyers? any ideas, especially ones from experience, would be great.
cheers!

[ndk]

Robcore!,

Those are some interesting questions! I've emailed this thread to Modz1 and I'm sure he will give you a in-depth reply when he is next online. He has 20+ years experience in the dance/pop industry, so he's ya man!

Good luck with the tracks and promotion.

[Robcore!]

ah nice one mate! thanks a bunch

[waxxy]

a good label too send stuff too is zyx records ..the name isnt really well known in the uk but zyx are one of the biggest licensing/record labels in the world.

all the biggest dance songs are in some way connectted too zyx there so big they own a village in germany which they turned into a recording studio /pressing plant complex .

so if your doing dj sammy type stuff get in touch with them.and dont forget if yo do get signed give me 10 percent of your royalties lol

[DV Daz]

If your releasing it yourself you may want to use a PR company to get it to all the right Club DJ's and Radio/Press. If its that good would be worth paying to get it done. They will also chase DJ's for feedback and reaction sheets so you can get an idea how it's doing in clubland.

[modz1]

.... I am looking for some ideas to help promote this. Should I promote the vocalist or keep a DJ name feat. the vocalist? get some remixes done in different styles and send them around on CDR to labels, radio stations and djs? promote through myspace? flyers? any ideas, especially ones from experience, would be great.
cheers!

Hey Robcore
I'll answer each question (imho) as it arose in your post.

Promoting the artists above yourself is fine as long as she/he meets 3 criteria:
1>Manageability: You've gotta work with this person, so avoid attitude and bad temperaments 2> Talent: Obvious, but they have to have it, and you have to have faith in it, and 3> Marketability: Like it or not (and I don't), in the arena you're targeting, the 'look' of the artist can be important.
If you're doing your project as your vocalist being the featured artist, the above do still apply but you've got a 'get out quick' card to play if you don't wish to carry your (successful) project on with them (so, use another ..'featuring..).

Remixes: It still seems that a track needs different genre specific remixes to get that maximum reach (eg: a house mix, dub-step, tech-house, progressive, trance mix etc) but my (maybe idealistic) view is that the radio edit, main mix is the main driving force behind sales. Get that right and you should be ok, however, pull off a great remix and compilation licensing could be lucrative.

MySpace: Definitely have a presence. Despite the recent 'Facebook's better than MySpace' twaddle, MySpace still stands out as the best networking site for Musicians/Artists/Remixers/DJ's and Producers - a must have!

Radio Stations: Radio still can 'break' records..Get a one off play from a jock with a good rep and listenership, and you'll have hits on MySpace before you know it.. Sending CDR's to stations can be a quagmire, try and target (personally) the specialist jocks that do the evening/weekend shows (they'll be the one's who DJ out regularly and have control over what choice of music they want to go with). Don't send it to the programme controller, it'll sit on his desk for an eon!

With regard to those promo companies that send DJ's CD's etc for reaction: My personal view is that they're pretty much out dated now - heck, they even 'charge' DJ's these days to receive promo material to promote and play for them! Most of the stuff they receive is average at best, reflecting the sheer gargantuan amount of product out there right now. The new way forward for club and radio promotion is being led by a company called Music2Mix - Find Them HERE ..they pioneered and still continue with a digital promo service where the DJ's receive free product on hi quality MP3, and all they have to do is log in and react to it. No packages, postage, faxes..nada! As a 'label or production company yourself, you would of course be charged for promotion work done on your behalf (naturally) but their charges are nominal compared to physical mailout companies but here, speed and convenience of delivery is vital in cutting edge music.

Think of yourself as a label Robcore, or at the very least, a production house.. You can move into the area of distributing material for actual 'sales' via distribution sources then.. but, hey, that's another topic for another thread..
Hope this has helped..

[Robcore!]

Howdy.
This is all great advice, especially the Music2Mix site - could be very useful for getting some presence. Lots of easy distribution there, could definately be an option for us when selling online and getting noticed.
The vocalist i'm working with has been in the game for a while so she's not a great face to put to the record - without meaning to be offensive, hahah - but 18 year old tits and ass is what tends to get noticed by the dance market!
Still, there's always ways around that, look at Eric Prydz...
We are definately going for remixes - maybe 2 remixes with the original and radio edit. Electro and maybe something trancey as the original is very housey - that and the track would make a great vocal trance track.
As I say this is all great advice - i'll no doubt be in touch again when the time arises, but we've definately got some stuff to work with now

[iceHouse Project]

Hey Robcore.

You didn't mention it but just incase you've overlooked it, don't forget who you know too.
Often I find people who've worked at one thing (ie DJ/Producer/artist etc...) at one time often go on to become poweful heavyweights behind the scenes.

Might be worth looking a ferw people up you danced/d******/slept with and see what's what.

Also there's pleanty of people on here who can quite easily get your product directly to a compilation producer/label owner.

Best o luck.
Dan.

[DV Daz]

Originally Posted by modz1

Hey Robcore
I'll answer each question (imho) as it arose in your post.

Promoting the artists above yourself is fine as long as she/he meets 3 criteria:
1>Manageability: You've gotta work with this person, so avoid attitude and bad temperaments 2> Talent: Obvious, but they have to have it, and you have to have faith in it, and 3> Marketability: Like it or not (and I don't), in the arena you're targeting, the 'look' of the artist can be important.
If you're doing your project as your vocalist being the featured artist, the above do still apply but you've got a 'get out quick' card to play if you don't wish to carry your (successful) project on with them (so, use another ..'featuring..).

Remixes: It still seems that a track needs different genre specific remixes to get that maximum reach (eg: a house mix, dub-step, tech-house, progressive, trance mix etc) but my (maybe idealistic) view is that the radio edit, main mix is the main driving force behind sales. Get that right and you should be ok, however, pull off a great remix and compilation licensing could be lucrative.

MySpace: Definitely have a presence. Despite the recent 'Facebook's better than MySpace' twaddle, MySpace still stands out as the best networking site for Musicians/Artists/Remixers/DJ's and Producers - a must have!

Radio Stations: Radio still can 'break' records..Get a one off play from a jock with a good rep and listenership, and you'll have hits on MySpace before you know it.. Sending CDR's to stations can be a quagmire, try and target (personally) the specialist jocks that do the evening/weekend shows (they'll be the one's who DJ out regularly and have control over what choice of music they want to go with). Don't send it to the programme controller, it'll sit on his desk for an eon!

With regard to those promo companies that send DJ's CD's etc for reaction: My personal view is that they're pretty much out dated now - heck, they even 'charge' DJ's these days to receive promo material to promote and play for them! Most of the stuff they receive is average at best, reflecting the sheer gargantuan amount of product out there right now. The new way forward for club and radio promotion is being led by a company called Music2Mix - Find Them HERE ..they pioneered and still continue with a digital promo service where the DJ's receive free product on hi quality MP3, and all they have to do is log in and react to it. No packages, postage, faxes..nada! As a 'label or production company yourself, you would of course be charged for promotion work done on your behalf (naturally) but their charges are nominal compared to physical mailout companies but here, speed and convenience of delivery is vital in cutting edge music.

Think of yourself as a label Robcore, or at the very least, a production house.. You can move into the area of distributing material for actual 'sales' via distribution sources then.. but, hey, that's another topic for another thread..
Hope this has helped..

Hey Modz1,

Thanks for putting me onto music2mix, i will look deeper into that one, however, you shouldn't reject the idea of using a promo company which caters for your genre of music, they will have a database of all the Dj's (not just radio, but also club Dj's) who your product needs to get to. Nowadays they don't mail out CD's or Vinyl, its all about a release sheet with attached audio players to preview tracks and the option to download full versions at 320k MP3 or Wav if they like the sound of it. It also includes comment boxes, rating buttons for Dj's to give instant feedback.

I don't think music2mix is gonna get your track into the hands of top dj's like Steve Bug, Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos etc..... (edit for your style of music. lol) You could try getting the DJ's details (email, etc...) yourself but this is very time consuming and many don't like to give them out to anybody. For £100 per release you can get a respected PR Company who specializes in your genre of music to get feedback from the DJ's that count. The ones spinning every weekend in the best clubs in the world. Just my thoughts.

[waxxy]

great honest advice modz1 ..and the things you said about having a singer as a featured artist is a thing i wished id done years ago..ive been slapped and ripped off a few times by socalled singers if id had them as featured artists instead of them joing the band id have had less heartache and problems.