Rap Group

[jaytrader43]

How would you suggest we do this? I don't rap, but I'm the finance / tech manager of the group. We have promotional managers, but how can we cheaply [freely] and effectively promote the group. We have Facebook groups and people put the link in their status, but we need to build momentum. A real website is coming soon...but how can we get the name out?

Sons Of Liberty - ReverbNation

Any suggestions?

 

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[sprite]

Perhaps drop a mixtape and release it on mixfiend, mixtapetorrents, etc?

 

[Kevn]

Step 1. Buy a Lambo Galargo. A real one, not one of those audied up ones.
Step 2. Make a youtube video calling a couple rappers out to race you.
Step 3. Make sure you use the word "Niggah" alot!
Step 4. Buy some buckets to collect all of the money your gonna make.
Step 5. Call MC hammer and ask him for a referral for a good tax guy.















Sorry, couldn't resist.:smxA:

 

[LaughedAt]

Try SoundClick! A couple of rappers/producers got their big break by posting their songs there! I'm trying to do something similar, I'm trying to promote my best friend who's an amazing music producer, I used Facebook, MySpace (artist page), YouTube and also the sites that sprite mentioned are really popular among rap fans!
Please keep us posted on your progress, as I would love to hear how you're doing because I'd like to learn to do it myself!

 

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[djs13]

I agree, soundclick is a great option. Alot of people have gotten a big break there.

I don't really know how it is for rap, but rock bands who are just starting usually book some local gigs. Sometimes they even have to pay the venue to open for a band if they don't sell enough tickets. But if they're product (the music) is good, then they have so many new people myspacing and googling them.

Also, try to send some of your stuff to radio stations. I don't necessarily mean snail mailing your mixtapes to local places, but you could do that too. I mean try to find out how you can get on Pandora Radio and other online radio stations.

 

[XtraMagic]

Get some momentum going in around your area. Give out your Mixtapes, recordings to Dj's at clubs, radio stations. Hold concerts, you might need to consult your local promoters to do something for this. But once you get this moving, the rest will all fall into place.

Get your artists out on the street, perhaps in a busy area. What I would do is (this is in Vancouver) go downtown to the art gallery. Get my artists to sing/play there for an hour or so. Hand out merchandise, have your tapes there in case someone wants buy them.

If you can have a concert going in your town, call in celebs, like other rappers and like half way through the show bring your artist out to sing. This should help with the recongition.

Pretty much get out there and make sure people know who you are and who your artists are.

 

[phade]

"Leak" a few tracks from "Sons Of Liberty's Upcoming Mixtape: xxxxxx" to all the hip hop/rap/r&b blogs out there, particularly the ones that offer up downloads of both mainstream and yet to go mainstream artists. Do a google search and you'll find an enormous amount of these on blogspot alone. In addition, talk to the more popular blogs about promoting Sons Of Liberty with dedicated posts, banners, etc.

 

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[djs13]

I know it sounds cliche, but what your rap group should focus on is making an extremely addictive hook. For example, Soulja Boy with "Crank Dat." Most recently I found out about this indie rock band called Peter Bjorn and Jon. They are not very well known and I checked out their other music and its not all that good, but this song is getting so much airplay. They sent it to Kanye West's blog and he posted it there:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qztKRdnOz0"]YouTube - PETER BJORN & JOHN - Nothing To Worry About ***New Single 2009*** Must Listen!!![/ame]

 

[jaytrader43]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll keep you posted

 

[rcardin]

Release the music on bearshare, limewire, and other P2P engines. You can cheat and save the file name as a popular rapper. Then on the track you release have them record something along the lines of"Guess you thought you were getting soulja boy didn't you? We are the next big thing. Take a listen" as an intro then bust into their song. It will get alot of downloads because of mis naming the file. Make sure you have a youtube for them to find it if they like it.

Have a web page with free downloads of their music to begin with. Give away the first 500 downloads. Create a hurry to get to the website.
Go to the middle schools and stand 200 feet away, or whatever it is. We have bible thumpers that show up at our school and give away the New Testament. They have to stay away a certain distance to be able to do it. Hand out flyers to every kid walking home directing them to your website and free music. Most of them have nothing better to do when they get home than to listen to music. If it is good you can create a fan base starting with teens, they are the ones buying most of the music anyway, unless they download/steal all of their stuff.

If it is good and semi-clean (not gangsta rap) talk to the high school Prom directors about maybe doing a set at the proms. It gets them in front of people. Give away a CD with 2-3 songs on it to the attendees. Make sure their Prom features the Sons of Liberty.

It is a lot like promoting my DJ biz. It just takes getting a name out there and a following.

 

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[jaytrader43]

Release the music on bearshare, limewire, and other P2P engines. You can cheat and save the file name as a popular rapper. Then on the track you release have them record something along the lines of"Guess you thought you were getting soulja boy didn't you? We are the next big thing. Take a listen" as an intro then bust into their song. It will get alot of downloads because of mis naming the file. Make sure you have a youtube for them to find it if they like it.

Have a web page with free downloads of their music to begin with. Give away the first 500 downloads. Create a hurry to get to the website.
Go to the middle schools and stand 200 feet away, or whatever it is. We have bible thumpers that show up at our school and give away the New Testament. They have to stay away a certain distance to be able to do it. Hand out flyers to every kid walking home directing them to your website and free music. Most of them have nothing better to do when they get home than to listen to music. If it is good you can create a fan base starting with teens, they are the ones buying most of the music anyway, unless they download/steal all of their stuff.

If it is good and semi-clean (not gangsta rap) talk to the high school Prom directors about maybe doing a set at the proms. It gets them in front of people. Give away a CD with 2-3 songs on it to the attendees. Make sure their Prom features the Sons of Liberty.

It is a lot like promoting my DJ biz. It just takes getting a name out there and a following.

Thanks for the advice. Its not gangsta rap.

 

[jaytrader43]

Visits to the site have gone up, and the group has performed at school functions before. We will be hosting a huge party in the summer for some promo. Anything else we can do?

 

[dkt91]

Find a famous rappers in your area and record a song with him - I'm quite sure this would bring you further... Maybe your track will even be on his new album. If your perfomance is good you'll soon become more popular.

 

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[juntao65]

Does this music flow well with performances? Like bboy battles or some other type of dance? Or could it be used as background music to some guys doing stunts, playing video games, or anything else of the sort?

Here's an example: Counter-strike is a very popular game, played competitively around the world. Some of the better players record game footage, combine the best shots and play music in the background. These are called "frag movies". They easily gain popularity, if well edited or what not, around the tight community. There was a DJ who played a unique track for one particular movie. People were begging to get the track's name or a download link for it. This increased the DJ's popularity immensely.

What I'm trying to get at is, leverage off performances. People search youtube all the time looking for cool stuff to kill time. Some popular things: urban ninja, bboy, frag movies, amv (anime music videos).

Anyways, good luck!

 

[jaytrader43]

Does this music flow well with performances? Like bboy battles or some other type of dance? Or could it be used as background music to some guys doing stunts, playing video games, or anything else of the sort?

Here's an example: Counter-strike is a very popular game, played competitively around the world. Some of the better players record game footage, combine the best shots and play music in the background. These are called "frag movies". They easily gain popularity, if well edited or what not, around the tight community. There was a DJ who played a unique track for one particular movie. People were begging to get the track's name or a download link for it. This increased the DJ's popularity immensely.

What I'm trying to get at is, leverage off performances. People search youtube all the time looking for cool stuff to kill time. Some popular things: urban ninja, bboy, frag movies, amv (anime music videos).

Anyways, good luck!

Thanks, we'll try that.

Also, dk: We'll try that

 

[mtnman]

Just a suggestion... host your music on a site that doesn't use popups to play.

Dude, exploit social media to no end. You can have a name in months, but it's a LOT of work.

 

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[jaytrader43]

Just a suggestion... host your music on a site that doesn't use popups to play.

Dude, exploit social media to no end. You can have a name in months, but it's a LOT of work.

Thanks for the advice. We are using Facebook and myspace. A website is soon to come.

 

[yahshar]

Release the music on bearshare, limewire, and other P2P engines. You can cheat and save the file name as a popular rapper. Then on the track you release have them record something along the lines of"Guess you thought you were getting soulja boy didn't you? We are the next big thing. Take a listen" as an intro then bust into their song. It will get alot of downloads because of mis naming the file. Make sure you have a youtube for them to find it if they like it.

Have a web page with free downloads of their music to begin with. Give away the first 500 downloads. Create a hurry to get to the website.
Go to the middle schools and stand 200 feet away, or whatever it is. We have bible thumpers that show up at our school and give away the New Testament. They have to stay away a certain distance to be able to do it. Hand out flyers to every kid walking home directing them to your website and free music. Most of them have nothing better to do when they get home than to listen to music. If it is good you can create a fan base starting with teens, they are the ones buying most of the music anyway, unless they download/steal all of their stuff.

If it is good and semi-clean (not gangsta rap) talk to the high school Prom directors about maybe doing a set at the proms. It gets them in front of people. Give away a CD with 2-3 songs on it to the attendees. Make sure their Prom features the Sons of Liberty.

It is a lot like promoting my DJ biz. It just takes getting a name out there and a following.

IMHO.
I don't know about being dishonest or tricking people. I don't like it when I click a link or download something and discover it's something different.

 

[jaytrader43]

IMHO.
I don't know about being dishonest or tricking people. I don't like it when I click a link or download something and discover it's something different.

True...I usually delete it without listening...

Maybe we should do "remixes" where a member will rap over one verse.

 

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[yahshar]

That's what I do.
Also try Sonicbids Connects Bands & Music Promoters- Book Gigs and Bands at Sonicbids
And if you're doing your own cd packaging I can give you some pointers on cd imprints and insert designs.

 

[Rawr]

I know it sounds cliche, but what your rap group should focus on is making an extremely addictive hook. For example, Soulja Boy with "Crank Dat." Most recently I found out about this indie rock band called Peter Bjorn and Jon. They are not very well known and I checked out their other music and its not all that good, but this song is getting so much airplay. They sent it to Kanye West's blog and he posted it there:

YouTube - PETER BJORN & JOHN - Nothing To Worry About ***New Single 2009*** Must Listen!!!

It could have something to do with the fact that he samples their Young Folks for one of his best freestyles (imo)

here is the original:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51V1VMkuyx0&feature=related]YouTube - Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks[/ame]

great song!!

 

[Jenie0109]

mix and match.hehe

 

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[Kevn]

You could send a demo to RCRD LBL | Free MP3 Downloads

 

[jaytrader43]

Thanks for the advice guys. A website should be together by July.

 

[Redshft]

Any local universities in your area that has a radio station? Go to them and give a CD to one of the DJs or office manager.

I used to work at ECU's FM station as a DJ and we were always looking for local and independent talent.

 

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[jaytrader43]

Any local universities in your area that has a radio station? Go to them and give a CD to one of the DJs or office manager.

I used to work at ECU's FM station as a DJ and we were always looking for local and independent talent.

Thanks for the suggestion =]

We are still working on a mixtape. We also have a beat making arm that will sell beats to other artistes and are working on a promotional arm. When the mixtape is out, I'll hand it off to my friend who works at the uni radio station.

 

[imoutthere]

Any local universities in your area that has a radio station? Go to them and give a CD to one of the DJs or office manager.

I used to work at ECU's FM station as a DJ and we were always looking for local and independent talent.

this is exactly what 50 cent did. He went to colleges and promoted his music. He also performed there and gave away his CD's. He was the mixtape king for awhile, he had mixtapes dropping about every 2 months for almost 1 year.

I would also post in alot of hiphop forums with links in your sig to your groups music. Sites like allhiphop, worldstarthiphop, sohh, thisis50, imeem, etc.

There is also a success story on soldijah boy in the success forums. He basically made himself viral by joining every single social networking site. Then he promoted himself and his music for free. His angle was the "crank dat" dance. Do you need a cathcy dance? not really but the concept is still sound.

To take another internet marketing idea is to provide something free. A free t-shirt, headband, wrist band, poster, etc. when someone purchases your groups CD. You can create a cult following just with accessories. I know cafepress is pretty cheap when it comes to making items with your groups logo. I dont endorse any of these sites, these are just the ones that im most familiar with.

Good Luck