1. Dos Don'ts First Date

Tory Lanez returns with his Fargo Fridays series with a new one called 'Real Addresses' produced by Play Picasso.

As a DJ and artist manager for over a decade, I’ve released some well-received music projects, as well as some that only the people who hired me to mix their project have probably heard. In today’s saturated music world, only the strongly marketed survive. You can be the best, unheard artist that no one has ever heard of and unless you decide to implement a real marketing plan, it will remain that way. From studying some of the worst releases I have been a part of and some of the best releases, I have come up with 7 things you should consider before deciding to drop your mixtape.

1. You NEED Money

This should go without saying but the majority of music artists are completely broke. The old saying is true time and time again ‘it takes money to make money’. The amount of money is arbitrary but you definitely need some to allocate to different expenses that will incur. Unless you have a hook-up guy for everything (which I doubt or you would be famous already), everything with releasing a project will cost you money.

2. You Are Not As Big As You Think

Take a step back out of your artist ego (bare with me, I know its difficult) and take a hard look at your actual following and fan-base. Grasp and measure your social media following, how many people come out to see you perform and how many downloads your last release did. If the goal is to get the maximum amount of downloads and exposure, don’t release a project because you feel like its time. Be realistic and figure out a way to get more popular without wasting an entire body of work (Hint: Work a single, get it regionally known, then drop a project).

3. Your Digital Marketing Sucks

This is the age of social media and digital marketing. Everything about an upcoming indie artist needs to be digital. You can get famous and heard from the internet. There are countless examples of people who ‘blew up’ online. In order to make this happen, your social media needs to be on-point. All of your handles on each network should be identical (Example: MusicGuy.com, Twitter.com/MusicGuy, Facebook.com/MusicGuy, Instagram.com/MusicGuy, etc). Make it easy on the new fans to find you. Constantly interact with fans throughout the day. This is a major part of your job as an artist now. Who doesn’t like being responded to by someone they listen to? Make your fans feel like they are family. There are plenty of online resources to help your properly navigate setting up your social media and website, take advantage of the web.

4. Your Mixtape Name and Artwork Suck

I can’t tell you how many mixtapes I have passed over completely that may have been the best musical composition in history because of terrible artwork. This goes back to #1 on this list in regards to paying for good artwork. Your cover art is the first thing people will see and depending on how it looks it can make or break a potential listener. Another thing I see is mixtape names that are just outright corny. Please refrain from cliché names that refer to your struggle or anything about it being ‘your time’. We all know you struggled and naming your project anything about it being ‘your time’ just sounds silly.

5. Your Music Sucks

This is the worst thing for any artist to hear but is probably one of the biggest reasons you aren’t progressing in the musical food chain. Don’t be afraid to take criticism from people. Let a couple of DJs who aren’t your buddies listen to your potential songs for your project. Don’t surround yourself with ‘yes-men’ who go to the studio with you and tell you everything is a hit. The artists I’ve worked with loved and hated being in the studio with me because I’ll stop a song session in a heartbeat and tell the engineer to scrap it. Have a guy like that around. Your friends, family members and girlfriend are probably not the best counsel when it comes to honesty about your music. Its ok to have unreleased records that weren’t up to par. Practice and improve and find YOUR sound. Be original.

6. You Don’t Have Any Connects

You need connects. Make it your job and mission to get acquainted with people who can help your quest to artist stardom. This goes beyond sucking up to people, this is about building real relationships. Most of the people I met back in 2008 when I first began seriously pursuing music are still a phone call away. Learn how to utilize social media to make a connection with people and stop spamming your music to radio personnel and bloggers. The majority of people in music want to be a pioneer and say ‘I discovered so-and-so’ but its all about how you approach them. If I don’t know you, I don’t want your music, but maybe connect with me first through something you see I like on my social media page outside of music. The people you make genuine connections with, will always be willing to help you on your path to make a big impact with your mixtape.

7. You Don’t Have Any Patience

So you got some artwork, determined your own release date, started promoting online BUT you haven’t even finished recording. I think this is the biggest mistake I see indie artists make. When wearing multiple hats being on your own as an artist, you have to be smart about your timing. Finish your entire project before setting your release date, make sure your release date isn’t dropping on the same day as some other major project that will overshadow yours completely (Don’t drop the same day Drake does. Try an off-date like a Wednesday or Thursday instead of Tuesday), and give yourself enough time to release a couple of tracks to showcase what’s to come from the mixtape. Have patience when releasing a mixtape. I know it’s a hard thing to do when you’re in a rush to get to the fame and fortune but setting a date and not releasing on that date is a huge disappointment.

There is never a perfect time to drop a project but you can greatly increase your music’s reception by changing the way your handle your marketing. Trust me, there is nothing worst than spending money to release a mixtape and only a few people hear it and you get no ROI on your time and efforts.

Think smart and market hard!

Phillip Ward

Follow: @DigitalExecMerk

Currently Open To Employment Opportunities

Dos Don'ts First Date

E: wardphillipc@gmail.com