Category: Tips

English · Tips

How To Book Your First Show – 5 Quick Tipps

Music2Deal1 Comment

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1.      Pick the right venue

The venue should be a little bit smaller than what you actually need. It looks much better to bring 200 people to a place that is made for 150 people, than to bring 500 people to a place that fits 2.000. Make also sure to pick the right venue by scene and appropriate to your musical genre.

2.      Book the venue in time

When you picked the right venue, make sure to book it at least 2 months in advance. Your chance that the right date will be available is much better, if you send them your booking request as early as you can (up to 6 months in advance).

3.      Check the booking policies

Don’t forget to check out the venue’s booking policies before you contact them. They will tell you the name of the right contact person and what they need from you. The booking polies will also tell you if you need to fill in a booking form, send an email or just call the contact person.

4.      Give options

To speed up proceedings you can mention a few different dates that you are interested in. Many venues will save the “good dates” (especially the weekends) for bands and artists that are already known, so don’t be sad if you are not able to get a weekend that the first time around.

5.      Promote yourself

The venue is interested in making money, so tell them how you will promote the show. You can also ask other artists in the area to be your opening act. Make sure to submit the contact person a link where he/she can listen to your songs to see what you sound like. Don’t send MP3 files or band pictures because nobody wants attachments filling up their inbox.

by Sara Shirazi

English · Tips

How To Find The Right Producer For Your Songs

Music2Deal33 Comments

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Trying to find the right producer for your songs may not be as easy as it actually sounds. As an artist, you have great visions and you will need somebody who helps you to translate these visions to the rest of the world. A good producer should bring out the best in you, even if this means hard work, sweat and tears. So one important thing your producer should definitely have is experience. It has to be somebody you can put your trust in and somebody who has the right connections in the music industry to help you achieving your goals.

Finding a match with good chemistry will give your songs more energy and will bring out the best in you as an artist. Most producers are looking for something unique in an artist, so try to keep that in mind. They are going to invest a lot of time and effort in you, so first of all you should believe in yourself and your talent.

As a first step you will need to know how much money you will be able to pay for the services of a producer and if you are willing to travel if he doesn’t live nearby. Then you can start your search and contact the producers you like. Don’t hesitate to approach a big name producer because you never know who is going to like your music. Set up a meeting with the candidates and invite each one to come and see you live. It is important that you find someone you feel comfortable being around.

When you have the first meeting with a producer you like, make sure to have many songs to choose from. Bring your lyrics sheets and your tapes with you and let him listen to a variety of songs. It may be hard for an artist to be objective about his own songs, but it’s possible that the producer likes a song you are unsure about. This is a great opportunity to work on this song together to make it better!

Keep communicating with the producer after showing him some of your songs. You can ask him anything that comes to your mind and a good producer will also be interested in knowing some things about you and your songs, too. It’s a matter of chemistry and you should be sure that HE is the right one to translate your visions into music.

If you found your perfect match it’s time for the contract. This should at least include the duration of the project, the scale per song or per hour, the budget and when the payments should be made.

Many producers from all around the world can be found on Music2Deal, so don’t hesitate to get in contact with them!

For example:

Harald Schabbach (Music Producer from Germany) http://bit.ly/12YAVqk

Ken Will (Music Producer from the USA) http://bit.ly/11rHC68

Charles Foskett (Music Producer from the UK) http://bit.ly/Zabb9P

by Sara Shirazi

English · Tips

Tips and Tricks: How To Make A Music Video

Music2Deal1 Comment

Many people are really hooked on visual content, so it can be a great idea to make a music video for your song. This is something that most people can do, even though it is quite challenging. But the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

  1. The first thing you have to do is to record the track. Make sure to record it as professional as you can.
  2. Use the best camera you can find. If you don’t want to buy one, you can also ask someone to borrow you his/her camera.
  3. Create a storyboard. This is very helpful to plan your video. It can be simple (like the positions of things in certain scenes) or detailed (face expressions, angles, cutaways).
  4. Find a location. Look for scenes that match your vision and the theme of your song. Make sure to ask the owners of the place you want to use for the video shoot ;)
  5. You will need a good crew for the video shoot: If you only want to direct the video, you will need a videographer and a sound man. Depending on how much money or effort you want to spend on the shoot, you can also hire a makeup artist and someone who is responsible for the wardrobe.
  6. Shoot plenty of angles and try to cover the entire song with most of them. It gives the video some variety when it is finished.
  7. Keep it simple. Don’t shoot (too many) setups that only cover a small part of your song. This is very time consuming and not very effective.
  8. As a little extra, you can add a dance routine part to your video to make it rich in variety.
  9. Another effect that works nicely in music videos is the cutaway. This can be some kind of random shot in which the singer is not singing or a beautiful landscape for example. Just make sure that the cutaway is relevant to the theme of the song.
  10. Review all your takes and choose your favorite ones. You can add your cutaways between two clips from different takes. Good editors are Final Cut Pro or iMovie.

by Sara Shirazi