Promote Your Music With SoundCloud

Promoting your music on the internet has grown up substantially since the old days of just having a website and email address. As a DJ or producer, you now have the chance to show off your output on a number of websites and social networks, but there are lots of them - so which ones do you choose, and how do you get the best out of them.

I’ll be starting off with SoundCloud with this series of posts, but will also be taking in Facebook and Twitter in future posts.

SoundCloud is basically Flickr for audio, which if you are familiar with the inner workings of Flickr then you’ll understand it all very quickly and will probably be able to sign up, start uploading and begin to get the most out of the site. If you’re not - then keep reading.

Signing up is very easy and allows you to create a profile page, adding all common bits of information like website address, age and location. You’ll also have to choose a photo to use as an avatar, as well as a user name that will form your SoundCloud address (such as SoundCloud.com/martinlucas).

Adding audio is easy - and probably one of the first things you’ll want to do. As a non pro-user (Pro accounts are priced from $99.00 to $599.00 per year) you’ll only be able to have 10 audio tracks stored on your account at anyone time - so make sure only your best tracks get on your cloud. Depending what you’re uploading (a lot of different file formats are allowed including mp3, wav, aiff, flac and more), how big the file is (there are no file size limits) and how quick your internet connection is will depend on how long the upload takes. While the upload is in progress you get the chance to fill in lots of information about the audio such as genre, keywords, description, artwork, key, bpm, and even links to where the track can be purchased if it’s been released.

Once your track has been uploaded it’s time to promote it within SoundCloud, as well as share it to the rest of the Internet. If you have a Twitter account it is definitely worth syncing up the two networks, this allows SoundCloud to tweet for you whenever you upload audio, it will also tweet when you add another users track to your favourites.

There are two main ways to get your track in front of other SoundCloud users, to either have them follow you, or to add it to a group. The first option takes time, if you want to be informed of someone’s activity on then follow them - any new uploads, or favourites they add will appear in your dashboard. Following someone doesn’t mean they will follow you back - but sometimes they do, and as you contribute more to the website, the more you’ll be discovered - and hopefully if your audio is something people like, you’ll be followed by other users.

Adding your tracks to groups is an easy way to promote your audio, but first you need to find some groups to join. Use the search box at the top of any page to find groups that compliment your music - so if you are a Deep House DJ for example, you’ll use groups such as DEEP, Deep House and Techno and maybe DJ Mixes. Adding tracks to a group is quick and easy - although some are moderated to filter out spam submissions, but even within those groups your tracks show up in the group within a day.

You can use the SoundCloud widget to promote your tracks outside of the website, you can place your track on your own website as well as embed the player on your MySpace page, there’s even a Facebook application which allows you to add selected tracks to your profile page. This is a good way of telling people outside of SoundCloud that you have an account - maybe they’re also on the site but haven’t found your profile yet.

As with all Social Networks, you only get out what you put in - and SoundCloud is no different. You’ve got to join the community to get your tracks and mixes listened to, take the time to listen to other peoples music (this isn’t hard work as there is a lot of really good music on there), if you like a track - add it to your favourites, it only takes one click. If you really like the track, tell the user by way of a comment. SoundCloud has a really nice solution for comments, timed ones - you can make a comment at a precise moment within the audio, this allows you to talk about a specific track in a mix, or for example the breakdown in a single track. You can also add non-timed comments about the whole piece.

Taking the time to join groups, listen to other users tracks, adding favourites and making comments is a great way to make yourself seen on the site - if you’re providing helpful or positive comments then there is a good chance the deed will be repaid.

Here’s 5 tips to get you started;

1. When signing up, fill in as much information as possible - don’t go over the top, but people want to know a little bit about you when visiting your profile, a blank profile isn’t the best welcome.
2. Upload only your best tracks and / or mixes.
3. Join groups and add your audio to them.
4. Promote your audio outside of SoundCloud, sync your Twitter account, add the widget to your MySpace or personal website, and add the application to your Facebook profile
5. Join the community, listen to other peoples tracks - especially those within the groups you’ve joined, add favourites and make comments to tracks you like.

No More Warm Up DJ’s?

A topic that has been cropping up more and more recently on forums, and was sparked into life by Nic Fancuilli on twitter (@nicfanciulli) who out of the blue came out and asked;

“Ok this is not a rant but has the concept of the warm up dj been lost?”

It’s a very valid question, and I have to say ‘yes’. Here are my thoughts on the subject.

DJ’ing has become to many - not all, more about the performance than the actual music itself. DJ’s want to be in the spotlight, they want to have everyone on the dancefloor from the moment they put the needle on the first track, they want to play the biggest tracks at their disposal to get that reaction, I don’t think they want to hide away the music that’s going to get a positive reaction, even if it could be too early to play those particular tracks.

Learning to DJ was based around a love affair with the music, but the rise of the superstar and the international clubbing scene has created a new reason to start DJ’ing - the lifestyle, money and fame. DJ’s aren’t happy with doing a job for the night, slotting in where needed - they want to be noticed, so they can move up the chain.

I personally love DJ’ing early on in the night, getting to the bar or club when it’s empty, building up the crowd slowly. Usually I’m my own warm up DJ, as I’m playing the entire night, so I break the night into chunks of time, being the warm up DJ, as well as the one who plays throughout, and finishes.

So, is the warm up DJ a thing of the past - do DJ’s just play the music they want, without considering the DJ who is going to follow them? Maybe we could get all sociological and say that the real problem is a lack of consideration of people within our culture, people are selfish… or, are DJ’s just selfish? No longer wanting to play for the love of music and for the crowd in front of them, but for themselves and what they can gain out of it.

I believe Nic Fanciulli started as a warm up DJ in Kent, and along with former warm up DJ’s such as James Zabiella and Danny Howells, has become a headline act. So, it’s definitely possible to move up the DJ food chain, to be noticed and to become the main event. I hope this continues as DJ’s do need to start somewhere, and the good ones should shine and get the opportunity to progress - I just hope there is someone to follow in their footsteps and provide the warm up for them.

It’s a very valid point, and this is just my take on Nic’s tweet, I’d love you to disagree and list a huge list of warm up DJ’s at clubs up and down the country and around the world that are happy being the warm up act, that know their place within the musical set up and perform their job without an ego.

DJ’s Mixing Energy, Rather Than Style or Tempo

June 10th 2006, Cream release the second installment of their ‘Live’ CD series, a 3 CD set mixed by Nick Warren, James Lavelle, and possibly the biggest DJ of the mid to late 90’s Paul Oakenfold.

Oakenfold’s mix contained his usual brand of Fluoro Trance, but it also contained a handful of Drum & Bass tracks, placed right in the middle of the mix, and it worked brilliantly. The flow of the mix was not disrupted by suddenly jumping 20 or 30 beats per minute quicker, loosing the 4/4 kick drum and replacing it with a breakbeat, all because the energy of the tracks flowed - the different styles didn’t matter. Paul Oakenfold continued to release DJ mixes in the late 1990’s that contained Drum & Bass scattered throughout the mixes, Global Underground 004: Oslo in 1997 and Global Underground 007: New York in 1998.

Sasha was quoted once;

“It’s about layering sounds, building energy in the music”

Now, what if us DJ’s just concentrated on the energy of the track - throw away the pigeon holing of certain tracks in to genres and sub genres, playing music based on feeling, vibe and intensity of the individual record. Outside of Deep House I really love Drum & Bass. Granted, a lot of it is too heavy, too energetic to coincide with Deep House, but some of the more laid back tracks, and the funkier, liquid style of Drum & Bass would sit perfectly with in terms of energy with Deep House. Dubstep is another genre that would work.

So, why am I not playing all these different genres instead of concentrating on house and deep house?

I play at a bar and early on in the night people want to relax and have the music provided as a soundtrack in the background, the dubby more stripped back house I play is ideal - but possibly, so are the styles of Drum & Bass I mentioned before. Unfortunately I know that many people would not see my point of view, I’d get asked to turn it off, or why I’m playing Drum & Bass. A whole genre of music is being ignored just because it’s 30 beats quicker than the norm.

Paul Oakenfold is possibly one of the only big name DJ’s to fit a completely different style of music into the one that he’s known for, I’m not sure if anyone else will do it again - which is a shame.