Top Five Factors to Get Into the Spotlight of the Music Industry as an Outsider

Before my current job, I did some unpaid work as a music journalist for a small-time magazine

, covering gigs, new releases and upcoming bands. For this job, I was based in a small cramped office in Leeds writing an online blog and producing regular magazines.

Firstly, I should say that Leeds is an absolutely amazing place to work and I found all my time working there very enjoyable; however it is not cheap to live in Leeds, as demand increases and supply dwindles, making it hard for a young professional to survive.

Shown below are my top recommendations to enter the music industry and make your band a success, without worrying about the age of the band, gig history or presence in the music scene.

5. Commit yourself to a number of online blogs and magazines Kerrang and NME are commonly the most widespread and commonly accepted music magazines; however there are a plethora of other choices of magazines which provide stories from which you can derive news and gather information. You should also look at online blogs as these tend to accrue current and immediate news before any other magazines; you must make sure that the blog writer is reliable and using reputable sources. Using this information, you can help to improve your band and increase publicity.

4. Sign up to Last.fm, promote your band: Last.fm is much more than a website that collates information about who you have been listening to you have the opportunity to create a band page, upload all of your recorded songs and demos and stream them, as well as provide links for others to purchase the songs. Whilst other social-networking sites allow you to create band pages, using Last.fm is the most acclaimed way to publicise the name of your band.

3. Blog, blog, blog: It may appear that writing a blog only serves as a distraction to making more music, but it is a great way to improve your SEO rating and fully publicise your band. Google is a major part in popularising your band and an intelligent SEO strategy can be highly effective - but instead of writing about your personal life, you should write about music news as this will engage the reader more.

2. Subscribe to newsletters and attend festivals: Smaller bands, despite not having the same popularity and impact as others, are a fantastic way of improving your chance of success by latching onto their potential popularity. It can also help to make obtaining gig spaces even easier. It is very helpful to build a localised fanbase in your own region before breaking out. My time working in an office in Leeds has shown me a lot of local bands that made it big, such as Hadouken!

1. It's who you know, not what you know: Much like starting your own business, a great deal of success is defined by who you know and your relationships. It is a good idea to attend networking events for the music industry and speak to professionals. Something as basic as a telephone number or e-mail address can be a highly effective way to breaking through.

Whilst a lot of your success will come down to the quality of your music and the originality you have (except if you catch a lucky break) these factors really can help to strengthen the potential for your band.

Top Five Factors to Get Into the Spotlight of the Music Industry as an Outsider

By: Kathy Johan

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