people who get mad plays on soundcloud, how did you do it?

Before you even get to recording quality, it's really important to make sure your technique itself is spot-on. Make sure to do some vocal warm-ups before hand, make sure your guitar is perfectly tuned, and do several practices with scales just to make sure you aren't rusty. It's also very important to understand the basics; you know, it's good to be able to play the "Stairway to Heaven" guitar solo, but if you can't play three chords of a Ramones song if your life depends on it, it's time to do some inward analysis. Maybe ask yourself if you really even have the strength or ability to do it.

shill really hard on social media

>>74897510
I don't play the guitar dude. I make electronic music.

be creative and, if possible, good.

post it on the death grips reddit

Also interested in this. It's obviously about more than being "good" because there's plenty of dope music I've found that has very little plays

tags

bots lol

>>74899112
possibly the only valid answer ITT. unfortunately, it's also the least desirable method for people who want to do it organically.

honestly, there has to be a secret. Mura Masa can't have just gotten big in 2 years by magic.

>>74899261
probably a mix of bots and expensive internet marketing

>>74899283
most of those internet marketing services though are shams. just a twitter or soundcloud that bought a ton of bot followers to make it look like they have clout. then tries to charge you a shit load to promote your music to their fake followers.

unless there are legit ones too? anyone know any legit ones?

>>74899325
there's a reason you can't just google the legit ones they probably require knowing people/money/luck.

>>74899325
I don't think there are any.

Is internet popularity literally defined by being in the right place at the right time? whether you had musical parents and inherited talent? do we have free will and if so can we exercise it to further our musical careers? is determinism real?

>>74897549
are you this new?

So has anyone here actually tried and had success with any online music promotion or internet marketing business?

>>74899512
I haven't, but only because there seems to be some artists out there who haven't needed them. seems almost shameful to do it - I'd rather know how these guys literally build a fanbase from nothing.

>>74899472
there definitely are like there are artists who get real-world famous because of daddys money. why would the internet be any different

>>74899558
oh right yes of course, but they're literally just non-googlable services and connections like >>74899424 said

>>74899550
I'm in the same boat. But I almost feel like there has to be some trick to cut through all the noise besides just luck.

I think exposure from blogs and music critics can be important too. I've been trying to get more involved in that. Using submithub and hypem.

I just wish these soundcloud success stories would share their secrets haha. Beyond "get gud".

What methods have you guys tried out? Besides posting here.

>>74899687
while you're right git gud is probably legit advice. standing out in the sea of average shit is half the battle won.

>>74899831
It is definitely good advice, but also kind of a given. I feel like that's everyone's first priority, right?

But it's also not the deciding factor. Cause taste is relative. There's a lot of soundcloud artists that are getting popular who I think are kind of garbage. And there's a lot of music I've heard on soundcloud that is very good but doesn't have a lot of reach.

>>74899945
So what's the X factor?

Paid promotion? Nepotism? Luck?

What are you guys's tactics and how succesful have they been?

I'll start: I promote my current music project on 4chan, reddit and twitter. And just recently started submitting to blogs. I started doing promo for this project in June. I have a little over 300 follows on soundcloud and like 450 on twitter.

>>74899687
tried and tested methods:

>'git gud'
pros: you git gud
cons: people will only like you if you're filling some gap in want the masses want, or capitalising on some hip musical trend that's happening right now that guarantees relative success. you'd git gud, but only at vaportrap remixes of childish gambino songs, etc. not creatively freeing.

>follow loads of people on soundcloud
pros: you get followers
cons: they don't care and don't listen to your music. seems really fishy if you have 1000 followers but only 10 listens per track.

>shill excessively on social media
pros: everyone you know would know your music
cons: you'd be 'that guy'. especially embarrassing if the music's not good or if it doesn't take off.

>shill excessively on /mu/
pros: you might actually get some comments and likes if your music is good
cons: you'd be 'that guy'. even if you do get big, you'd be known for getting big off of 4chan. not a good look.

>PR company
pros: makes your music seem legit
cons: costs. usually needs a commercial release. also you'd have to burden yourself with the knowledge that your music is only sustainable by investing loads of money into it, and not from the music itself. if you can only sustain your music by paying for promotion, how long will it truly last?

>indie record label
pros: makes your music seem legit
cons: you've got little chance of finding a label who'll promote your shit successfully. labels usually go for well-connected artists who either know someone who works with the label or already have a bit of hype around them - if there's no existing fanbase around you or you have no posse, you're out of luck.

>blogs
pros: makes your music seem legit
cons: excessive use of time and energy. of the tens / hundreds of blogs you submit to, even with submithub, only probably one or two will get back to you if you don't have some sort of credibility. also, why submit to blogs when other artists just seemed to have the blogs magically come to them?

>>74900072
Thanks for this. You've obviously thought about this a good deal too.

Maybe the key then is a little bit of each one, in moderation?

Honestly I have a feeling a lot of it is also to do with shmoozing with "taste makers" and "influencers" IE big blogs, youtubers, music critics, etc. How to do that is not my forte.

>>74900240
yeah that's the way. I think that's why people say 'there's no one way to success in this industry' and the like. I was being deliberately pessimistic about the cons there but you get the jist.

what sort of music do you make out of interest?

>>74900269
yeah. even Burial, arguably the most insular artist around nowadays, sucked up to Hyperdub for about 5 years before he got his first release. I'm sure there's other ways to go about it though.

>>74900327
Cloud rap kinda stuff. Trap influenced too.