8========D ------- FMP TRACK THREE
CLICK ON ME TO HEAR DUBSTEP AND BARNIS FMP TRACK TWO
In this task I will talk through what roles were taken on by myself and my group/friend/mates/people during the time we were working on our FMP. This is to show I played my part when other people need assistance when working on there FMP, this can be by physically helping them by manning the desk or computer, or just by giving constructive criticism.
The Producer Role
When working the the studio ideas can be flying about non-stop, but other times you may all be stuck at a dead end and not know where to go. At some point in the time we was working on our FMP we all came to a point when we just didn’t know where to go with the current project, this is where we should all start being a team player, if you have a idea or opinion what might aid or help the other persons work then you should share that with them.
I have myself offered my personal opinion in the studio be it creative or critical, for example, when we was all hung up on getting as many audio elements rammed into our tracks as possible I listened to Daryl’s work and suggested that he take one of the pieces he wrote in on the microkorg and change it with a electric guitar as I felt he already had enough korg in the track. It can also be simple things as saying you think a certain element in a piece it to loud or quite, anything to help improve the final product.
Giving constructive criticism can be taken badly by some people but if you state your opinion to someone in a sincere manner it can save them a lot of grief with a problem they may not have picked up on later down the line.
The Engineer Role
This role involves helping out by physically manning the desk or sequencer for someone else whilst they are doing something else. This can be just pressing record whilst they are in the live room recording or it could be helping getting a decent level through on the mics.
A number of times when working on our FMPs I have helped record instruments just by sitting at the computer arming channels and getting signals through. I have also helped other people mic up instruments, most notably right at the start when we was recording our drum hits. Even just assisting DIing a guitar and helping get the correct sound through the mesa can be a great help when they could be getting on with something themselves.
I feel as a group we all took part in all these roles at some point, because we decided to take the studio sessions in turns it meant that the three people who’s session it wasn’t were there to help the persons who’s session it was the whole time, be it creativity or by rigging up and micing instruments.
In this task I will talk through how I recorded, processed and produced the three tracks for my EP. I am going to talk through each track individually, and I will talk about each element in all the tracks, whether it was recorded or is MIDI.
One of the first things Andy told us when we started planning our FMP was that each track will require a certain number of audio elements, the first figure he gave us was 12, but we later on found out that this was a scare tactic and he would be happy with 8 or 9. This criteria was set so that we are forced to record as many instruments as possible and not just use MIDI instruments for everything. A audio element is determined by the recording a processing techniques, for instance, all the recorded drums on a track will just be one audio element because they are all recorded and processed similar.
I will mention in more detail each individual instrument we recorded later but my first thought when planning each track was to get as many different sounds done as possible, all the instrument we recorded consist of drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, percussion (bongos, claps, cowbell), microkorg, xylophone, vuvuzela, mbira, recorder, stylophone, harmonica, accordion, whistle, ukelele, zephyr and vocals (beat boxing). These were all instruments we either brought in from home, or they were already in the studio, we did also want to get piano and organ recorded but we never got around to it.
To save myself repeating myself I am going to go through each instrument we recorded, go through that process and then go through how they differ in each track and what different techniques and programming I did.
Drums
My plan from the start of this project was to record all of the instruments as single hits rather than playing them in, this was because of my lack of skill in any instrument at all, and the fact that I prefer sampling and processing with individual hits. This includes the drums, first thing was to record the kick, I wanted to record a number of different kicks at different velocities and with the mic in different places, for example I would do a couple with the microphone inside the skin to get more bass in the kick and then a couple just outside to get more of a punch, once these were recorded I went through all the takes and chose a couple what I liked the sound of more. By the end of this I had two what I favored, I cut these into samples and bounced them down.
In the three tracks I ended up using the same kicks in all of them, I processed them by firstly EQing the kick on its own, mainly I took out any frequencies I didn’t need as these rouge frequencies would make mixing down extremely hard. For this kick that mainly consisted of taking out some of the bass, anything below 50 hertz was completely taken out, boosting around 120 hertz to give it a bit more punch, taking out around 300-400 hertz as it sounded a bit bloated and then boost a bit of the high end to brighten it up. In the end I also layered this kick with a sample I have myself to get it sounding much punchier and fatter. Finally I sent these to a drum bus with a compressor on it, all of my drums and percussion will be sent to this compressor.
Next I wanted to record a snare, I decided to record this in a way I have been taught all year, by placing one mic on the top of the snare where the hit is and the other on the bottom where the snares are. I recorded a number of different hits to try and get the best one possible and tried out a few snare rolls and different velocities. Once the best ones were taken out I cut them into samples and bounced the two mic channels down together.
When using these samples in my three tracks I used them in different ways, the first and third tracks it is used as the main snare in a carnival like beat, but in the dubstep track I used it as a ghost snare or rhythm snare if you will. This was because the recorded snare was not beefy enough for a dubstep track so I used a sample I had instead. When processing the snares in each track I first EQed out most of the low end, this was so no frequencies clashed with the kick on bass. I then EQed around a few other areas just so it gelled into the track better. After this I doubled it up with another snare to give make it fatter, limited them together and then sent them both through the drum bus what has a compressor on it.
The cymbals in each track are exactly the same. I recorded these by placing a mic right next to where the hit is and then taken a number of different shots, all at different velocities as done before with the other drums. The only cymbals I ended up using was the crash and the hi hat, when putting these in my tracks I would of started off by low cutting as much as possible without taking any of the body of the sound away, even if there was no low frequencies on the spectral analyzer I would low cut it just in case. I then put this through the drum bus to be compressed and then added reverb so make it fit in with the track better.
It is also worth mentioning that I use a 808 kick drum sample in the second and third tracks, although this is not counted as one of the audio elements I though I would talk through the processing involved anyway. After placing the sample and getting it in key with the track I started off by EQing it, this consisted of high cutting as much as possible without the sample sounding filtered, this was to emphasis the low end frequencies. I then side chained this to the kick drum very slightly just so they don’t clash. Finally I compressed it separate from the rest of the drums so it doesn’t get mixed up and muddy in the mix.
I will also mention that I did record toms aswell using the tom mics, but in the final mixes I decided not to use them.
Percussion
I recorded a number of different percussion instruments in live room A when starting the project, these consist of claps, bongos and cowbells. I did not use all of the samples in the end but I will go through the recording process never the less.
The first thing we recorded was the claps, I had a idea of how I wanted to record these. I started off by placing the vocal neumann in the center of the live room, with that I placed both pencil mics on either side of the room. I then recorded about 20 claps all from different distances, different pitches and different velocities. When this was done I spent a lot of time grouping all the claps in different ways to create loads of different sounding claps, I then bounced all of these down separately. Unfortunantly after all that I wasn’t completely happy with the sounds created, when placing them, putting them through the standard effects chain they still weren’t coming through in the mix the way I wanted them to.
Next I recorded one of the bongos we have in the studio, again I done this in studio A live room. I recorded this by placing one of the neumann’s close to the skin where the hit will be, and then placing another underneath the bongo near the hole, this was to try and get the all round sound of the drum and then I can just EQ out any frequencies after. Unfortuantly again I didn’t use this in any of the tracks at the end.
Lastly I recorded the cowbells, we had two of them to record what were both different pitches. We recorded them in studio a with the neumann, simply by placing the mic near where the hit will be and recording a few takes to try and get the cleanest sound possible. I ended up using these samples in all the tracks, the first track has both cowbells while the other has just one. In the first track I EQed out any rouge frequencies I didnt want to start off with, this being different for both cowbells, I then placed them into a rhythm and put them through the drum bus. I also decided to duplicate this cowbell channel and pan each one hard to the left and right to widen up the track a bit. In the other two tracks I only used the lower cowbell of the two, the standard effects chain on these are practically exactly the same as the first track.
Xylophone
One of the next instruments I wanted to incorporate was the xylophone what is being used in the first and second tracks. I recorded this by placing the neumann close the where the beater will hit, and I then began recording a number of different takes. I recorded a number of different notes on the xylophone as well, this was because it was a bit battered and some of the keys weren’t hitting to well. This led to a bit of trouble when putting the xylophone in my tracks, I had to fine tune some of the keys as they sounded a bit off. After this was done I would put it through the usual processing chain, including EQing and then compressing on it own to push it through in the mix, then adding a slight reverb to help it blend in. For the second track I also added a stereo delay on what automates both the wet and feedback in certain parts of the track.
Acoustic Guitar
I really wanted to add a acoustic guitar into one or two of my tracks but as I have never recorded one before I was a bit skeptical about how it will sound. I started off by placing a mic pointing toward the body of the guitar where the strings are being played, this was to pick up the hit of the strings. I then placed another microphone at the neck of the guitar towards the frets, this was to get a more atmosphere in the recording. On to the actual recording, as I can’t actually play the guitar I wanted to record a number of different single notes, chords and I also thought it would be a good idea to record a few loops in different styles and rhythms what I could work with later. We did this in a number of different takes and I took the best ones and bounced both of the channels down together.
When going to put the acoustic guitar into one of the tracks I really wanted to try it with my dubstep one, I instantly wanted to try out taking out of the loops I had recorded and cut it up. I started processing it by doing just that, I made it into a rhythm and started to EQ it what I found quite difficult, I had a hard time keeping the body of the sound without having it clash with other parts of the mix so I decided to use a acoustic preset as a template and adjust it to how I needed it. After a time getting it right and stopping the frequencies clashing I slightly compressed it to tighten up the sound, I then added a slight reverb and stereo delay to widen it a little bit, finally I added a vocal plug-in what double the track up creating more harmonics and helping it sit in the mix better.
Electric Guitar
The only time the electric guitar is used is in the second track as well, I thought it really fit in well with the whole subby vibe I was going for. Recording this was much more simple than the acoustic, we DIed it through the mesa to get a as clean sound as possible. I wanted to do it this way because I thought if I want to dirty it up a bit later I could always do that with a plug-in. We done the recording process exactly the same as the acoustic, we recorded a couple of single notes and chords so I could just bounce them all down and use them in sampler instruments.
I then placed this into my dubstep track using a sampler instrument as mentioned, I wanted it to be really simple in the mix to not overwhelm anything, so I just had it hit at the beginning of every two bars what really fit in well. I then EQed it not to differently from the acoustic, then compressed it, added reverb and a slight delay to help the sound ring out a bit longer.
Bass Guitar
The bass guitar was recorded in exactly the same way as the electric guitar, we put it through the mesa and recorded in a C, we done this in two different styles, one was more with a hit at the beginning and the other without. I bounced both of these separately so again I could use them in sampler instruments for my tracks.
I use the bass guitar in all three tracks and they are all processed in more or less the same way. For the first track I have a bassline over the top of it so I wanted to use it as more of a sub, to do this I EQed out most of the frequencies, until about 100 hertz to emphasis the low frequencies. In the dubstep track and the third I used the sample with the hit on it, this was because I wanted a more funky feel to it, I also didn’t high cut it as much as it is only being used in the intro and outro, and because it has nothing to clash with in these sections it can be more prominent. After the EQing I also compressed them a fair bit, this was to make the sound as tight as possible so it stands out in the mix but doesn’t clash with anything else. Lastly I slightly side chained it with the kick drum so they don’t clash with each other and I put a stereo imager on it to make sure the lowest frequencies are mono.
Harmonica
We also had a harmonica at hand to record what I thought would be a interesting instrument to use in one of the tracks. This was recorded in studio B using the SE, but considering none of us could play it properly we had to record single notes and then sample them in our tracks. We simply held it up to the microphone and recorded a number of different notes, these were then bounced down individually ready for us to process them ourselves.
I used the harmonica in my first track, but I didn’t want to use it as a harmonica as such, I wanted to manipulate the sound to make it sound more like a pad for atmosphere in the breakdowns. I did this by added a fair bit of reverb onto the channel, followed by a filter what automates up with it. I also had to use the fading technique to make a seamless loop as what we recorded was not long enough for what I needed. Finally I EQed out any frequencies I didn’t need and ran it through a compressor with some slight sidechaining to the kick drum.
Whistle
I really liked the idea of using a whistle in a couple of my tracks so I brought a referee whistle in from home. This was also recorded in studio B using the SE and we recorded this from different distances to get more atmospheric sounds and more direct clean ones from it. I preferred the more clean ones so I bounced them down so I could process them further.
I used these samples in both the first and second tracks in basically the same ways, all I did processing wise was EQ the lower frequencies out, compress, and reverb, stereo delay and that vocal plug-in to add harmonics.
Recorder
I also decided to record a recorder what Tim brought from home, this was done with the SE in studio B, again recording a couple of notes so I couple use them in a sampler instrument.
This is being used in the first track, I never wanted to use it like a recorder, but more like a lead synth. To do this I wrote the little melody for it and start away EQed most of the low frequencies out, adding some up a bit higher to brighten it up. I then compressed it, added a filter, reverb, delay and that vocal plug-in what adds harmonics. I then put another compressor on it to very slightly side chain it with the kick drum. It was then a case of making this and the bassline I added to work together. I also added the recorder into the third track in the intro, the processing on this was exactly the same as in the first track.
Stylophone
I was very excited to get the chance to use a stylophone in the EP because I love the sound it makes, so I got to recording it straight away. Using the SE in studio B we held the microphone in place and recorded a high C and a low C, this is so when transposing and using the samples in a sampler I wont have to stretch the sample as far.
I decided to use this in the second track, first thing to do was to load it into a sampler instrument and make a melody with it what was more difficult as I planned as I ended up having to fine tune the notes because they we’re slightly off. After that was done I EQed any rouge frequencies and put it through a compressor, then putting minimal reverb on it and then automating it up as the loop goes on throughout the track to space it out into nothing. Lastly I added a filter onto it what automates at certain parts in the track.
Mbira
The mbira is a strange percussive like sound from south africa or something and I got the chance to record this because Tim brought it in from home. This was done in studio B on the SE microphone, the instrument has about six metal tabs what when flicked play a different note, so I held this up close to the microphone and recorded each note, I then bounced these all down individually.
I decided to use this in parts of the dubstep track, the main issue was working out the notes and getting them in key. Once this was done I placed the sample on the arrange page in the rhythm I wanted what was a pretty simple job, then I put it through the standard effects chain of EQing, compressing, reverb and delay to get it sitting in the mix well.
Ukelele
In the studio we also had a ukelele lying around what I wanted to experiment with, recording this obviously isn’t that different from recording the acoustic guitar. I did this in studio A live room with a neumann pointing at the sound hole trying to get a really clean bright sound. I recorded a high C and a low C so I can use it in a sampler instrument later.
This is being used in the third track underneath the Zephyr in the main melody throughout. Most of this processing was similar to the acoustic guitar, I EQed it in the same way, compressed it and added a similar reverb and delay. This was a lot easier to process as it was just single notes on there own so I could find the rouge frequencies easy and drop them out of the mix. I high cut it slightly because I planned from the start to layer this with the Zephyr. Finally i also filtered it as it automates up in certain points of the track.
Zephyr
I was quite skeptical about using the zephyr because I thought all the strings would be out of tune and there is no way to tune it other than in a sequencer, but because I love the sound of it. I recorded this in live room A, I sat down with the zephyr on my lap with the vocal neumann point at the string I was plucking, I had someone press record and I went through each string a couple of times to get a good one. Once this was done I went through all the takes, and got one good take of each note, cut them up into samples and bounced them down.
As I mentioned before these samples are being used in the third track doubled with the lower ukelele. The only difference in the processing is that I wanted this to come through the mix more brighter and cut through all the way through. I did this by using a different compressor plug-in and used a bright boost preset on it, what made it sound really warm. Along with this I EQed out any frequencies I didn’t need included where the ukelele was hitting. I then used the same reverb and delay, along with the vocal harmonics plug-in with a very low wet setting.
Microkorg
I used samples I recorded from the microkorg in every track, these are all sample effects within the tracks and I also used the noise oscillator on it to get a white noise sample and make that into a seamless loop what runs throughout all three tracks. This was recorded into logic straight through the mixing desk in studio B. It was just a case of looking through the presets and find sounds I would like to use.
As I have already mentioned the microkorg is being used in all the three tracks, it is used in the first track as the siren effect used throughout, the risers, down sweep and effects spread throught. These effects are all being processed in a pretty standard way, they are all being EQed to sit in the mix well, all being run through compressors and they all have some sort of volume automation, reverb, delay, bit crusher or filter effects.
Vocals
The vocals in the third track were done by my good friend Nico, or ‘Koder’. They were actually recorded in his studio so I’m not sure if this counts as a audio element, but I did record it and it was done on Logic. This was recorded on a neumann straight away being ran through a EQ and some slight compression to stop any peaks. We recorded each verse, pre-chorus, chorus, stabs and adlibs several times and chose the best ones to use.
These vocals then had delay added onto them, a slight amount of reverb and finally compressed again. I then spent time mixing them all down so everything could be heard in the mix.
In studio B I also recorded Daryl beat boxing to a couple of different tempos rhythms and styles, this was done on the SE with a pop shield. I did plan to cut these up and use them in one of my tracks but I never got around to it. Finally in the first track I recorded Daryl whistling, I bounced this down, compressed it quite hard to bring the body of the sound out, EQ and filtered it then added reverb and a tremolo onto it to use as a riser.
Vuvuzela
One of the last instruments I recorded was my very own vuvuzela, I was really hoping to use this in one of my tracks but unfortunantly I could not fit it in anywhere, never the less I will talk through the recording techniques I used to do this as it was slightly different from the others on here. I started by placing the neumann in the middle of live room A with a pop shield, I then place one of the over head pencil mics further back behind that one because I wanted to catch more of the vuvuzela. I blew into it a few times trying to get different versions but that didn’t really work so I just focused on getting different length samples. When this was done I cut the audio up and bounce the two mic channels down.
Samples & MIDI
I also used numerous samples in each of the tracks and MIDI in the first one for the bassline, this was just to be more creative with what I could use. Most of the samples are percussion based, things likes shakers, tambourines, different types of random hits, breakbeats and I threw a trumpet sample in the third track. These were all processed in similar ways to the recorded samples expect I would of done less compressing and EQing because they would already be to a half decent standard.
The MIDI I used was in the first track for the bassline, It is just a patch I made in Reason, I wasn’t completely happy with this and you can tell it hasn’t had as much time spent on it as it could have.
Conclusion
After I was sure I had all the audio elements to meet the criteria I had sessions on each of the tracks mixing them down, making sure they all run smoothly and that everything is clear in the mix. Finally I done a rough master on each using ozone just to maximize the volume, I also played around with the plug-ins exciter and stereo imager, for example the stereo imager on ozone puts the frequencies into four different bands, and you adjust each bands frequencies making them wider or more central. I made the lowest frequencies mono, this is because a lot of sound systems are also in mono, so if you have a wide bass it wont come through that well on the system, this is very important when making dance music.
To round up I am satisfied with my finished product, there are many areas where I think I could have done better and there are some things I would of liked to do but I didn’t get around to. For example I wish I could have gotten both piano and organ recorded and incorporated then in my tracks. Some of the recordings could of come out better, mainly the ones what we recorded in studio B, i feel if they were done in studio A they would of been better quality. I would of also liked to get some sessions players in to add a more live feel to some of the tracks so it isn’t all programmed but I didn’t want to have to rely on other people.
Finally I feel the final mixes could been of a better quality but I think this just comes down to not enough time working on the mix at the end. On a positive note I am happy that I incorporated as many different recorded instruments as I did, and I combined them with samples from my own personal library and I threw some MIDI in there as well.
Precedents and Demographics
In this section I am going to discuss and identify the target audience for my finished EP. With this information I will plan what the best means of marketing would be to make sure the product reaches the right people and makes a maximum profit.
The market I wanted to reach into is one I am currently involved in, I wanted to create a EP what would appeal and potentially sell to the electronic dance music market. There are a number of reasons why I chose this, firstly because I know the scene fairly well, I know the magazines, radio stations, websites and people who have influence within the scene. Another reason why I wanted to create a EP in this genre was because in the last couple of years this type of music has slowly gained recognition and became more and more commercially successful, this can be proved with looking at the rise of dubstep in recent years.
I aimed to create a 3 track EP consisting of two electronic dance tracks and one dubstep track. I thought having a mix of genres would widen the audience and potential sales. There are many precedents within the genres I have mentioned and they all have been rapidly growing in popularity in recent years, people such as Chase & Status, Nero, Swedish House Mafia, Flux Pavillion, Jack Beats and Foamo have all made careers out of this.
The demographic for this marketing campaign is far more easy to identify now than it would of been 5 years ago. As I have already mentioned the rise of electronic dance music such as dubstep over recent years has given the genres commercial success and much more exposure. You could even say that it is pop music now it has gained chart success and constant major radio airplay making it extremely accessible to most social backgrounds. But seeing as it is dance music I would think that the age of the average electronic dance fan would be 18-30, taking into account that these genres are most appreciated whilst out clubbing.
Marketing Strategy
The next step is to plan a marketing campaign to follow to lead up to the release of the EP to make it as successful as possible.
Online marketing
The first thing I will do to kick off the PR campaign is to try and create a fan base for myself, I will do this by making accounts and pages on all the social networking sites, these will include Twitter, Facebook, Soundcloud, Youtube and Myspace. From these accounts I will add, follow and message similar artists and fans of those artists, this will take a fair bit of time but it will instantly get a buzz around my name and the EP online. I am aware of a programme what works with Twitter, this programme allows you to pick another account on and it will automatically follow all of there followers, for instance I could choose Flux Pavilion who has 23,000 followers, this programme will go through all these and have my account follow them, this would get me in contact will a large amount of people interested in this same genre and greatly increase my online presence. I am aware that you have to pay for this programme but in the long run it will benefit me greatly.
Keeping with the online marketing side of things I would also aim to get in contact with a number of online music blogs and get my EP featured, some of these music blogs have thousands of devoted fans who read it everyday. The articles on some of these blogs also get featured on music blog aggregator’s such as Hype Machine, what gets thousands of people searching for new music on there.
Youtube is great for promotional purposes, you always see people telling each other about a video they have watched on it. Using this to my advantage I am going to talk with some graphics designers/film makers about getting a teaser video made. Making this video go viral would be amazing for this EP, and for this to happen it will have to be a humorous, original idea with a sample of the EP.
Magazines
There are also a number of specialist magazines what I would try and get a feature in, the best suited would be Mixmag, iDJ and Computer Music as these already have articles for new releases and reviews.
Radio
To go along with trying to get a buzz on the internet I will need to try and gain the support from some radio DJ’s To help with this I would like to hire a radio plugger, I would prefer to do this than to do it myself because they will have many more contacts than me and hopefully there reputation will aid this. I will allow the radio plugger to contact the more specialist radio stations and shows but I will get in contacts with the internet shows and pod casts. The radio shows I would like to focus on most are BBC Kent Introducing on BBC Kent, Kissy Sell-Out, Annie Mac and Annie Nightingale on Radio One, The Remix on XFM and Mistajam on 1Xtra.
Gigging
To follow up to all of this I will get stickers and flyers printed, to promote my fan pages and the EP. I will go to gigs with similar artists playing and hand these out to the punters. I think it would be a good idea to make promo CD’s of the EP and try to give these to the DJ’s at these gigs. Creating personal contacts with these DJ’s would be a massive help in getting support for the EP down the line. Finally I am going to aim to get a number of gigs books around the release date to help promote the release. These gigs will be focused around the local area and hopefully will branch into London.
I feel that this marketing campaign covers all the different necessary parts needed to get the EP to the right people. The most important thing is to remember who your demographic are and to think about how you can get them to be interested in your product.
When thinking about what to for my FMP I never really thought towards recording some band or group, I have always thought to keeping it towards my side of production, and to do this I am going to create a three track EP similar to the style what you will hear from both Nero and Chase & Status. I am planning on having two electro tracks and the third will be dubstep so all the cool kids will like me.
For all the instrumentation for this I plan to record drum hits separately, focusing on producing the best quality sounds possible. These simple recordings will be done by myself but I will need the assistance of Seany Bizzle for and more complicated drum rolls etc. I want to focus a lot on incorporating guitars in these tracks and this will also be done by myself, as will bass because I am some sort of badman at that. And as I guess all our group will I will kindly ask Birdman if I can use his micro korg for synths and pads etc. Also to help add up the audio channel numbers to react the criteria for this project I will have some sort of vocals recorded in all the three tracks, even if they are just phrases or one word.
I am going to try my best to reduce the number of VST’s in my tracks and my aim will be have everything as recorded audio, including things such as sweeps or effects. My time in the free week will be experimenting with obtaining the guitar sounds I am looking for these tracks.
This will all be commercially viable because it will be fucking awesome.
Record labels are split into two categories, Major and Indie, the difference between these two is determined in a number of ways, the main thing to keep in mind is whether the label does most of there work ‘in-house’ or ‘out-of-house’. Basically this means that a label what does their work in-house will do all the work needed inside the company, and if it is being done out-of-house they will have contact with third party companies who will they will pay to do the work for them. For example, a major label will have the following jobs done in house by employees on a set salary:
A&R - These guys may scout acts by going to gigs etc. they can also be more involved with the artists by overseeing recordings, making sure everything is being done productively, on budget and on time.
Admin - Admins make sure everything runs smoothly within the company, this can be dealing with all the other branches of the company and basically being the middle man.
Distibution - This is for the manufacturing, sales and shipment of the records, this includes both physical and digital copies of the product.
Press Promo - These guys will have contacts with specialist magazines and work with them and artists to gain exposure through these methods, they may all deal with photoshoots and things like that.
Radio/TV Pluggers - Fairly similar to the press promo but soley with radio and TV stations.
Online Promo - Again, fairly similar to the two above but with anything online, like music blogs and online distributors.
As I mentioned before Major labels will tend to have these above departments in-house, meaning they have empolyeed people especially for that job. Indie labels many only have one or two roles from with-in the company, so all other will be hired on a freelance basis out-of-house.
So basically now I have discovered two hench producers but they are currently making music in their bedroom and I want to get their music out their and get them famous so I get loads of money for it, these guys are called ‘I Killed Kenny’, the plan of action is to have them release a three track EP, and this needs to be perfect and create a huge buzz in the scene. I am going to give them a month to create this fresh new EP as it needs to be perfect and I am going to lock them away for this time and hire out a professional studio so they can make their hip hop beats.
Studio hire @ £300 per week = £1200
Travel expenses @ £20 each per day = £1000
Mastering @ £50 per track = £150
Total outgoings = £2350
Now for all the promo and marketing ting so the music I made them make will actually be heard by people. This campaign will go on for around two months prior to the release of the EP.
Press promo @ £400 per month = £800
Radio/TV pluggers @ £1000 per month = £1000
Online promo @ £300 per month = £600
Photoshoot & editing = £200
Web design, logo, artwork = £200
Music video (this will be some mad youtube video like the one for Jack Beats - Up All Night, so we will need a graphic designer or some shit on a one time fee) = £120
Outgoings for marketing = £2800
Total outgoings = £5150
The EP will be released on all online retailers at £3.99 and anyone caught uploading it to mediafire or on there music blog with be knocked the fuck out. The retailers will take 20% commission.
I cant be bothered to work out 20% of my outgoings right now so I’m going to go to sleep.
So like when I work on sunday’s I normally go over to Gregg’s to get something for lunch, and there’s like this babe who works in there who obviously fancies me, but unfortunantly for her I’m only interested in her steak bakes, but for the chance of getting a free sausage roll I might give her my number.
Anyways…
Listen to our new track - http://soundcloud.com/i-killed-kenny/cassius-i-luv-u-so-skream-vs-i