Getting your music heard.

[Tokerface]

I've been writing pop-punk songs (sounds similar to Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, Blink-182 etc) and I reckon they're pretty good (not trying to toot my own horn, lol). I've been learning guitar for 4 years and therefore have a pretty solid grasp on keys, scales, chords, progressions etc so I feel I'm well equipped to write the songs. Once I've recorded the songs properly and gotten someone to sing them, I want to get them heard by people. Now, obviously your chances of being signed to a label are slim, however, there are HEAPS of bands who are signed who we've never even heard of, it's definitely possible. Another thing is, I live in Australia, obviously we listen to stuff like All Time Low, Sum 41 and all those bands, however there are Australian bands who do the same thing and are really popular over here. There's one band named 'short stack' and chances are you've never heard of them.

Short Stack : Sway Sway Baby - YouTube

Short Stack : Sway Sway Baby - YouTube
Video: click to display

They fucking suck. They're absolute fags, but they have one thing which enables them to sell records: a huge fanbase of teenage girls. 13 - 17 year olds LOVE them, so they have heaps of people who are willing to go to their shows and buy their cd's. Whatever. My point is, if they make this garbage (mostly 3 power chords and 2 note riffs) and can sell it, imagine what I'm capable of doing if I've actually learnt how to write this shit properly. What I have to do is get a bass player, another guitar player, a drummer and a singer and I'm set. I'll pick the best looking guy I can find to sing (they're the face of the band, this is important) and try building a fan base on facebook. I don't know. Image is extremely important.

Here's some ideas I've come up with to get the songs heard;
- Write the 'watch' code on youtube and comment videos saying they should check it out, though while it does work, this comes off as desperate and unprofessional.
- Get the songs on as many sites as possible (youtube, sound cloud, last fm etc).
- Have a facebook page.
- Have people love the lead singer for his looks, making them bother to listen to our songs.

How do I get my music heard? Any ideas?

[Duke Zion]

Send your video for people to watch to random people on YouTube, at least a certain percent of people may check it out if it seems to interest them...

[vilbe]

i'm learning this trick thanks to promoting my local music scene to the greater regional artist. fan base, and friends of friends at first. and a digitial blitz....

[Greyusurper]

Sounds like you got a weird idea notion going that "talent vs selling out" somehow compete with each other on an "even" balancing scale. They don't. If you want to cash-in on some simple pop punk songs, that's fine. Some people here on Zok will frown on you, but if you have sex appeal to the tween and teen girl markets, then by all means cash that check. If you want to be recognized for talent, real talent, come back with some actual material for us to critique. Go down to your nearest big city and try getting gigs there. Meet and befriend the other artists that work there. Find the ones that are truthful, not just a bunch of nice "Ya" sayers and get them to give you feedback. Listen to it and try and change your stuff accordingly. Finally, listen to the fans as well. You'll have to shift through a ton of BS to find the right people to give you honest and reliable feedback that matters, but once you get that and apply it you'll have quite a shot at getting signed to a label (which is dumb in my opinion), and having a large fan base (though you should have a fairly decent local following beforehand anyway).

Good luck!

[Retard Synrdome]

Fucking Soundcloud