How to start in the music industry

Hi, i thought it would be good to share my trade secrets on how to start out in the music industry!

With all kinds of Electronic music the key is social media. Most of the target audience for the genre will not find your music naturally due to the amount of electronic music produced. So to get around this problem (at least at the start) you need to find people who would likely appreciate your music. 
For example; if you search the word 'electronic' or 'electro' on Twitter, you will find all the people who have used the word in any tweets, this is where you can pick and choose accounts to follow with the hope that firstly they follow you back and secondly that they might listen/share your music.
(As a side note; i advise that you make a twitter persona specifically for your music, and never tweet about anything but music and your own musical projects. Hopefully you can get an account with your name that you produce under.)
You need to build a healthy enough twitter account that people will discuss your music on a semi-regular basis.

A similar approach also needs to be taken with any and all other social media outlets; google+, facebook, instagram, tumblr, blogspot, and of course Soundcloud & Bandcamp.

Social media is key to the process just because you need a loose following who are likely to publicize your work which ultimately makes the job of promoting any new songs/EP's?Albums much easier and also gaining more chance of captivating new audiences.


The second biggest part of releasing music is the 'how and when' aspect. Over the last year i have worked out that the best approach to keep your followers interested is to release music regularly, by that i mean an average of 1 track a week. In the case of any album or EP you should never post all the songs on the same day as they will instantly lose the extra exposure which you gain from posting them with at least a day in-between. 
Also the day and time you release music can be key; if your primary audience is in America then you need to release music according to peak times in america, the peak times for most countries is 5pm. So if your primary audience is in the UK then no time-zones have to be taken into account and 5pm would be the best time.
The day which you post a new song/album is also key to if it will be noticed, Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays are regarded as the best days in the UK. 

Of course the actual music that you release also has a huge part to do with the success of your music career, and related to this you need to pick a genre and stick to it. Of course you can mildly blend styles but it is KEY that you keep to a certain style or sound so that you are recognizable and distinguishable from others who produce similar music.

Once you have a good following and a strong catalog of music the next step would be to get your music distributed onto sites such as iTunes/Deezer/Rdio/Amazon/Youtube/Spotify/Beats. There are two ways to get your music distributed to these sites and they are signing to a record label or going it alone and using an aggregate site.
With the record label route, you need to contact the record labels that you like personally, and those attached to similar artists within your genre. This can sometimes take a lot of work and time as most record labels will usually be managing multiple artists. Persistence is key.

The other option (using an aggregate) is the choice that i myself have taken. I use a site called 'Distrokid' who distribute to most of the biggest digital distribution sites, of course there is a fee attached to this option however Distrokid is extremely cheap compared to others such as Tunecore, CDBaby and Reverbnation. These other sites do offer similar deals with a few extra sites added onto the list but Distrokid allows you to upload as many Singles/Albums etc as you like for a whole year whereas the other sites charge you for each EP/Single/Album that you upload. 

The choice for how you want to get distributed onto major digital music sites is of course personal preference. But whenever you publish new music it is vital to use the social media networks that you have established to drive more people towards what you have created.
Also asking your audience for feedback and engaging actively within the music community will be a sure-fire way to also gain the respect of other music producers within the community.

No matter what, make the music that you want to hear yourself! Passion is obvious and if it shows in your music then you're on the right track.

Tom / Occams Laser
https://soundcloud.com/occams-laser

New EP is released into the wild!

Hi there guys and gals! My new EP has just launched! Its going to be name your price for the first week on Bandcamp so please go check it out and by all means download it for the extremely good value price of...FREE! (or be a sport and part with your sweet sweet money)

WARNING - ears may become pregnant with 80s nostalgia.

(the EP will also be available on iTunes/Amazon/Spotify/Deezer/Tidal/Beats/Youtube all very soon)

Semi rant; Quasi-Roflcopter :)

Let me just say; I LOVE MAKING MUSIC!
and over the past year i have had more fun learning new techniques and using new methods as well as meeting, collaborating and working with a whole host of amazing people.

HOWEVER...
The list of people who i actually now know i can rely on and who have helped me in this last year is an extremely short list.
The slightly more ironic side to this is that some of the more reliable people are ones who i have known for a very short space of time and live hundreds if not thousands of miles away.

Its a well known fact that making any sort of headway in the music industry is a hellishly long road with more twists and turns than a bowl of spaghetti. And as i have chosen to not get involved with any labels and instead do all the publishing, advertising and paperwork; this task is even more fraught with complications.

So as i'm publishing my music through my own channels of social media, you would think that friends and family would be the go-to when it comes to getting the hype train started and first few listeners gained...No...In fact i would say the complete opposite.
I try not to post too much on my personal Facebook page just to cut down on irritating people with 'spam'. But i have posted a few bigger things such as album launches and even the creation of my Occams Laser Facebook page. Generally these posts have had little to no interaction and disappear relatively unnoticed. This is in stark opposition to when i post a similar post on my Twitter feed, where i know hardly any of my followers yet i get a quicker and more vibrant response!

Let me also just state that not every one of my friends is useless :D some of them are more than helpful! But its just sad how many people who i have known for years (most of them owing many favors) cant even show the slightest glimmer of support.

I started the Occams Laser music persona nearly a year ago now, and over this time i have found my sound and style, launched an EP and Album, and in total created 80 tracks (45 that have been published). Other than a few small chunks of help from a few people and places i have accomplished all of this myself.

My final point (which i think by far is the funniest) is my love of modern technology :)
Unbeknownst to many when you hand out free album codes from bandcamp; you can find out which ones have been redeemed, and not only that but if you're as meticulous as i am and write down who you gave each code to, then you also know who hasn't even redeemed them.
I mean come on!! I poured blood sweat and tears into making an album and made the effort to specifically give out free codes to an album which i am trying to ultimately make money on... and you cant even show enough support to click...a...button.

I pride myself in trying to help my friends as much as i can, whether you've known me for days or years; i will help as much as i can. And yet that support is rarely re-paid.

To those reading this; you are the support :) and you are the ones who i make music for, so even though this is a massive rant, its purpose is to distinguish the loyal from the fake and the sacks of shit from the gems!

TIME FOR A BEER!!!

Occams Laser over and out!