Archive for February, 2010

We’ve made some changes to the site to make things easier. See the new way to browse opportunities here: http://www.musicxray.com/artist/categories

Set up your own drop box on Music Xray to begin accepting song submissions from other artists. Use the submissions to evaluate songs to feature on your blog or other websites, your local radio station, or even provide song critiques in our soon-to-open “artist-to-artist critiques” section. Read how to set your self up here: http://www.musicxray.com/blog/accepting-song-submissions-on-music-xray-is-easy.html Invite Other Artists to Music Xray to Get Some Free Submissions & Exposure on Our Home Page If in the next three days you invite at least 10 new artists to try Music Xray we will give you a promo code that will remove the transaction fee from any submission on Music Xray. Additionally, you make money when those artists conduct transactions on our site and the artist who earns the most between now and the 15th of March will be featured on the front of our site and thereby exposed to every industry professional who uses Music Xray. We make it easy so click here to get started. You only have until the end of day on Friday!

There are few better indicators as to the future success of a song or artist than how industry insiders react to your music. These are the people who are trained to (and make a living by) knowing whether money can be made with a song or an artist. They aren’t always right. But it’s their job and they do it more consistently than anybody else.

We’re building this company because we saw a need for artists to be able to get quick and inexpensive feedback on their songs from people who make music their business. It’s hard to access these people. Let’s face it. Most people will spend a lot of time and money trying to get their song into the hands of people who can truly help them get to the next level.

So, if I had a couple new songs this is how I’d use Music Xray to find out if I have a hit.

I would submit them to 5 or 6 top music industry people to get some real, pure, objective feedback. If most of the feedback is positive you know you’ve got something hot on your hands. If the general consensus is that your song needs some work, then you’ll get some valuable feedback from people who aren’t easily accessible and who really know their stuff. You can use the feedback to make adjustments to your work and get more feedback.

For example, let’s say I have a pop act with a couple really good tracks. I would submit the first song (the best one) for a critique and coaching to a few guys that know the space (for example):

Alex Greggs

Jeff Blue

Jeff Bova

Alex Forbes

Brian Hardgroove

and Peter Rafelson

Keep in mind that each submission enables you to send a note to the industry professional so write a short introduction (not your whole bio and everything. That goes somewhere else.) and then ask the questions you most want answered.

What do you think of the song itself?

What do you think of the production and the arrangement?

Where would you make improvements?

What do you think about this song’s and this artist’s viability?

Then, wait a few days for the answers.

Once each of them has answered, you submit your next song. In the message section you remind the industry professional who you are and that they just critiqued your previous song. Then, you ask your follow-on questions.

Can you give me feedback on this song similar to the way you gave me feedback on the previous one?

Do you like this artist enough to see a place for her in any projects you know of?

Where do you think I should take this song next?

Now, that’s a pretty inexpensive and fast way to really and truly know how my song is likely to do in the market. And who knows? I might get signed in the process. Each of the people I will have just accessed are people who aren’t likely to pass up a sure deal.

Oh, if others say my song is pretty good but I still don’t get a deal, I’d consider submitting it to The Music Umbrella. They license and place a lot of songs and they don’t seem to let too many good ones go by.

Lastly, whether you’re submitting already created Music Xray Song Presentation Packs or you are just uploading MP3’s be sure to go back and fill in as much information on your presentation pack as possible. Industry professionals like to be able to see everything in one place. If you upload MP3’s for your submissions you will receive an email explaining how to fill out your presentation packs. You can also check our FAQ section.

Good luck. I look forward to hearing your success stories.

Hey everyone we have been watching the issue with Google taking down the music blogs. They have been calling it the blogocide 2010 and we are not happy to see it happy either. We suggest that bloggers use our drop box to more effectively accept requests for new music that they can then play directly from music xray site. This is all free to do and you can read more here on how to do it:

Accepting song submissions on Music Xray is easy

Whether you’re a Grammy-winning producer, a music blogger, a label or just a guy with a website, you can begin using Music Xray to accept song submissions. With your free dropbox you have the following options:

• Accept submissions completely free (100% free for you and your submitters).
• Charge a submission fee.
• Donate any percentage of your fee to charity.
• Promote your opportunities/your dropbox on your own websites and through social networks.
• We promote many of the new opportunities to thousands of artists (we make sure they're real).

If you are posting songs you’ve received we have a couple different options. Like this or like this. If you want to open a drop box click here and log in under Music Industry Professionals.

Invite other artists to try Music Xray and earn money when they conduct transactions on the site. Here’s how: 1. Log in as an artist on the right side of the page here: http://submit.musicxray.com/login - Note: You must use a third party account (Facebook, Google, Yahoo etc). 2. On your dashboard you will see a button enabling you to invite other artists (it will even give you the option to import your contacts) 3. Send the invitations. Your earned balance will be reflected in real time on your dashboard. We pay you through PayPal. Music Xray is one of the fastest growing sites for musicians and word is spreading fast. Position yourself to make some extra cash just for being among the first wave of artists to discover our service.

Find out if your songs have what it takes. Check out the easiest and fastest way to truly know your music’s potential and potentially get signed in the process. Read about it here. Fix My Mix: Lets Talk About Your Song’s Mix: Hakim Callier Hakim Callier is a mix engineer and music producer based in New York City. He graduated from the Institute of Audio Research (NYC) and has mixed records by Kristin Hersh, Jeff Caylor and Yoko Ono’s Plastic Ono Band. He is offering free mix consultation services until July 27, 2010. During this time he will review your submissions and discuss them with you them from the mix’s perspective. We will discuss any questions you may have on: The Sounds (your sound selections and making them bigger) The Trends (common trends in you musical genre) The Story (how the mix should match the song) The Freshness (keeping the mix fresh and interesting) The Space (height, depth and width) The Lead (the most important voice/instrument in the song) The Scene (this refers to the mood, and character of the mix, vintage, modern, etc.) The Big Picture (pulling it all together to grab the listeners attention) Hakim says, “I am looking forward to discussing these very important elements with you about YOUR song’s MIX .”