[Yodasdad]

So far any songs I've created have been put on soundcloud. I use it purely as a platform to host my songs so they exist somewhere for people to hear them. I opened the account originally so that I could post songs on here.

I'm now toying with idea of moving over to Bandcamp instead as it seems to have a lot more to offer. The problem is that band camp seems to be geared mainly towards artists and I see myself as a songwriter rather than artist.

From the little research I've done it looks like once songs are uploaded to band camp, they're automatically 'released' and available for sale/download. I know it's highly unlikely but this could potentially cause problems if a publisher/artist etc shows interest in one of my songs through other channels. On the other hand it's more exposure and makes the possibility of someone taking an interest in the first place more likely.

What to do...

Any thoughts about any of this?

Yodasdad

[Mike67]

It's a tricky one.  I certainly think that your recordings of your song are commercial, and you could sell on Bandcamp, but I get where you're coming from.  You could try splitting your work, so put some songs on Bandcamp to see how it goes, but also make clear that you're a songwriter and have other, unreleased, songs available.  Just a thought.

Mike

[tina m]

My experience is that  Bandcamp is more for small bands that have a fanbase ,it certainly looks better than Soundcloud as you can do some artwork & make yourself look professional & have your lyrics available but I dont think youll have anywhere near the listens youll get on Soundcloud..
If youre unknown on Bandcamp you get totally ignored
Obviously you can sell easily from Bandcamp but thats only any good again if you have a fanbase who want to buy your merch
actually because of the selling your music thing they make you upload everything in big wave files & that takes much longer to do than mp3s ...but if people  want to just listen they only still only get it in crappy mp3 quality...so thats a waste of time realy
I dont think having a song on Bandcamp is like having it released like on iTunes or Spotify etc
maybe it is but most people havent ever heard of Bandcamp

[S.T.C]

On Bandcamp i've had 132 listens , to something since Feb 2016.. and i've got a CD and reasonable artwork ..i'm going to pimp it up soon with a new Logo , but probably won't improve it much..if this helps.

[Boydie]

I would suggest being 100% focussed on your goals

If you want to be a songwriter pitching "songs" then it doesn't really matter where the songs are hosted - you need to concentrate on how to get them to the ears of publishers, music libraries, and artists

If you you want to be an artists or "sell" songs for download/CDs then options other than SoundCloud may be more suitable

In this scenario I would think iTunes and Spotify would give you more credibility

But having a "web presence" as an artist/band is important - but it is only effective as part of a proper marketing (or digital marketing) strategy

Just putting something on t'internet and hoping someone will stumble across it is like fishing with no bait

The question should be "how can I get people to visit my website/bandcamp/soundcloud/Facebook etc. Page

Since getting my MBA I recently completed a diploma in digital marketing - there are lots of things available

If I had to suggest just one thing it would be to drop some £€$ on Facebook advertising

It is frightening how targeted you can be and for an investment of between £150 and £200 you can achieve a pretty decent reach, especially if you want to target specific geographical areas

But even this is only the first step - you then need to have lots of other things in place:

Are you clear in what you actually want the visitor to do (buy an album, raise awareness, buy tickets to a gig etc.)

Have you got a mechanism in place to capture contact details so you can follow up?

Have you got a "sales funnel" in place to move a potential customer through - e.g. A free download, followed by a single "exclusive track" for a small fee, followed by signing up to your newsletter/YouTube etc. followed by an album sale

I could write a book on the various strategies new artists, songwriters, bands etc. could follow (and perhaps one day I will) but the key approaches are no different from selling anything else so watch how the big boys do it (Apple, McDonald's, KFC etc.) and see what you can rip off borrow learn from

[S.T.C]

Everything you do is both useful and a waste of time . Itunes/Spotify can make you look good , but make no money and has way too many songs ,to be a platform to get noticed. The freebie sites you can host your material ,again swamped with people/talent and so getting heard is  difficult. ...Selling physical music..like CD's Albums is hard to do ,listener lethargie is rampant...like Noel Gallagher says  , they will pay £10 for 2 poncey coffees , but not for a CD that will last a  lifetime.

For songwriter recognition, i'm afraid it's a long road of , competitions , social networking , grass roots type stuff....most music fans are ignorant of the more successful writers for very good reasons..they operate as a sort of a sub culture  , if that's the world you want , you need to become like them i suppose.

And something i mentioned in the Musicxray post and Boydie mentions with Facebook , is spending money and forcing the issue...you pay a professional to take the time too analyze your work.....of course this all open to abuse.

Really , there's one simple truth , you need to be sure what you offer is top drawer , they pass on nearly everything , i'm of the opinion now, if you have Vinyl of CD sell it directly , even door to door if you have to. For a songwriter job , make a friend or two  online or in person, offer your services free, prove yourself and maybe it will give you a result.....find an up and coming artist, become a writer for them...again maybe as a freebie...if they rise , you might with them....

We have to remember there is and always has been an industry that smiles to your face as it picks your pockets.

[Sing4me88]

Really , there's one simple truth , you need to be sure what you offer is top drawer , they pass on nearly everything , i'm of the opinion now, if you have Vinyl of CD sell it directly , even door to door if you have to. For a songwriter job , make a friend or two  online or in person, offer your services free, prove yourself and maybe it will give you a result.....find an up and coming artist, become a writer for them...again maybe as a freebie...if they rise , you might with them....

IMHO I'd say it's an even higher standard than top drawer - they'd ask for your 'best' - no ifs, buts or ands. They want to see the best you can do or have done and to see if you can do this consistently. The bar is much higher than people think - ie to a degree that they don't want anything that sounds 2013, 2014 or 2015 they want something that sounds fresh and exciting and new and most importantly NOW!

[Yodasdad]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone, a lot of food for thought there.

I've not come to a decision yet but it's good to have other people's view points to work from.

I can't actually imagine band camp getting me any less listens than soundcloud, I've never promoted my music for the sake of listens on there so the only people that really click on it are you guys.

Again this is because I don't see myself as an artist.

Thanks again, I'll keep mulling it over.

Yodasdad

[Morefrog Jones]

Anyone ever get that sinking feeling that we are all pretty much wasting our time

[Yodasdad]

Yup!

But he who dares Rodney, he who dares my son!

Yodasdad

[Oldbutyet]

"songwriter rather than artist"

You could try reverbnation they have a chart section that covers your surrounding area, maybe even get to know some of the songwriters/artists that lives close to you and take it from there, the main thing is enjoy (which you are) and forget about trying to impress the so call suits, to long tiresome and frustrating road.

Cheers.

[Mikey]

Andy and myself post all our work on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and Youtube as we that think more exposure is more likely to get noticed, we are under no illusions that if we were lucky enough to have one of our songs taken up, it would probably be re-recorded using professional musicians and artists, but we still try and achieve the best result we can to make the song stand out. We know that its unlikely we will sell much on Bandcamp, but its just another place to display the songs.