Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread
Print Thread
Go To
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Songwriting
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Veteran
OP Online Content
Veteran
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
I don't show them to my friends, because the lyrics are kinda personal ... I'd nevertheless like to find a way to give my songs a little wider audience.

With that in mind ... anyone have any ideas on how to do that? I've been scouring the Web for promotion websites, etc. ... I haven't yet found anything that isn't either a scam, exhorbitantly priced, or both. It doesn't help that I think I'm a better songwriter than a performer, but perhaps that's another matter. I guess I just want to get my songs heard a little more - any clues on how? Any thoughts at all would be immensely appreciated ... if it's at all relevant, I'm from the United Kingdom.

It's kinda discouraging, that's all, to keep writing and writing, and (apart from this amazing forum, of course), to essentially have just myself who knows the songs, so ... thanks for any and all comments!!!

Last edited by musician17; 02/19/23 04:10 AM.
Songwriting
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,823
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,823
That, my friend, is the question to which we'd all love to have the answer.


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
Songwriting
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,588
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,588
The only thing that I can come up with would be to post your songs on as many sites as you can. Sites like soundcloud, soundclick, youtube, etc.

Good luck.


Back in my day the only time we started panic buying was when the bartender shouted "last call"!

64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
Songwriting
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 216
Apprentice
Offline
Apprentice
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 216
I read you're from the UK and it made me think of Mary Spender. She's a songwriter and performer that has been able to create an audience, I know of her from youtube. She talks often about her journey which should be relevant to your question.

Jacob Collier, who's from some other planet in that he has otherworld talent, he did it with youtube also.

Both of them have did on there own, i.e. no record company help.

Here's a clever way Mary got 650k views (and she now has 685k subscribers):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0iXupQUjWU

Last edited by Frankp; 02/19/23 08:10 AM.

Frank

Some tunes from me and my collaborator: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvGqM6ktMW5ltTnyit1KWPg/videos


Band-in-a-Box Ultrapak 2019, Windows 11, Reaper, Behringer u-phoria UMC404HD, Kali LP-8
Songwriting
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Veteran
OP Online Content
Veteran
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Thanks, everybody. The reason I asked is: I'd usually show this kind of things to friends, etc., and pick it up from there. I CAN'T show these to friends, because (like I said) some of the lyrics are too "close to the bone", haha. So I was wondering if there WAS a way to find listeners, whilst bypassing the obvious routes of "friends and family". Frank, I will definitely have a look at what you suggested, tomorrow, therefore. Thanks so much!

Songwriting
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 39
Q
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
Q
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 39
Is your goal to get heard for feedback, or are the songs finished products you want to reach a wider audience?

For feedback, and also just getting music out there, Reddit has some good subreddits for that:

r/Songwriting
r/Songwriters

For finding an audience, putting your music up on Spotify, getting on playlists, engaging with people on Instagram, playing live shows and creating an email list, are some good starting points.

Songwriting
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 460
K
Journeyman
Offline
Journeyman
K
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 460
These are all FREE

Reverbnation.com
Soundcloud.com
Soundclick.com
Singsnap.com

Looking forward to hearing your songs.


Kajun Jeaux
Louisiana's BlackWater Studio

Songwriting
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Veteran
OP Online Content
Veteran
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Thanks, QuestionAsker. In answer to your question: both! smile I need feedback, of course. As for the finished product: no, because my voice is not good enough - but I'd love some artist to hear them and want to record a song or even two of mine, themselves. That's the dream, at least, no? smile Thanks for your kind answer!

Kajun Jeaux: I didn't know about SingSnap. I'll check it out now. Thank you!

Songwriting
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 20
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 20
Getting songs out to artists is a challenge. Music business contacts - people actually active in the industry - are essential. Contacting artists’ lawyers is another way but most are unlikely to accept unsolicited submissions.

The OP (or any songwriter in the UK) could join The Ivors which holds events useful to writers: https://ivorsacademy.com/membership/

A way to get songs heard is via songwriting contests. Vocals need to be good enough to put a song over, but for those who feel their vocals aren’t up to it they could use a software voice such as Synthesizer V. There’s a whole thread on Synthesizer V at VI-Control: https://bit.ly/3JoLleT

Or pay someone on Fiverr to sing for them. https://bit.ly/3L6Ssd1

Here are some song contests worth considering, they’re generally international: https://bit.ly/3T26Q8f


Pt.1 of my biog: https://amzn.to/34tgVn1
Songwriting
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 282
Apprentice
Offline
Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 282
1. Google AdWords
2. YouTube Ads
3. Facebook Ads
4. Pornhub Ads
5. Twitter Ads
6. Reddit Ads
7. TikTok Ads

If you have limited budget, consider option 4 and 6, which are cheaper to reach more audiences/listeners.

No pain, no gain. Or should I say: no pay, no gain.


A Canadian music producer, singer songwriter, composer, and professional guitarist.
Songwriting
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,187
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,187
Originally Posted By: musician17
In answer to your question: both! smile I need feedback, of course. As for the finished product: no, because my voice is not good enough - but I'd love some artist to hear them and want to record a song or even two of mine, themselves.

I'm not a pro, so take this with an appropriately large grain of salt. But...

Before you invest a lot of time and effort into this, it might be good to have reasonable expectations of success.

If your hope is truly that you'd like a song or two of yours to be recorded by an artist, I think there are two questions that need to be answered.

First, is your music commercial? Does it have broad appeal in a way that a large number of people will want to buy the song?

Music is a commercial venture, and the bottom line is that an artist will only pick a song if they feel it will be commercially successful. It costs money to make music, and people spend that money in the hopes that music sells and makes them a profit.

It's one thing to be writing deeply personal songs. It's quite another to write a song that will commercially successful. You'll be competing against people who have spent years honing their craft and studying the market.

Second, is posting your song publicly likely to get your song heard by an artist?

From what I've read, that might have worked once, but it's generally how things work now.

On top of that, there are many people competing in that space. So even if there were an artist looking for a song, how would they find you in the glut of other songwriters? The demos that you post are going to have to convince someone of the commercial potential of the song.

That's why people who are serious about trying to crack the commercial market will hire a professional singer on their demos. If the demo isn't top-notch, who's going to listen to it?

And I'm not saying to spend more money on the creating a demo - unless you're sure it's got commercial potential, and you've got an effective way to market that demo. I just don't see this route as likely to get you where you want to be.

Feel free to disagree, but I'd give a bit more thought about any likelihood of success before going down this path.


-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
Songwriting
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 39
Q
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
Q
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 39
Originally Posted By: musician17
Thanks, QuestionAsker. In answer to your question: both! smile I need feedback, of course. As for the finished product: no, because my voice is not good enough - but I'd love some artist to hear them and want to record a song or even two of mine, themselves. That's the dream, at least, no? smile Thanks for your kind answer!

Kajun Jeaux: I didn't know about SingSnap. I'll check it out now. Thank you!


I plan on doing this as well in the future. I took a class with songwritingacademy.co.uk, they have bootcamps for this sort of thing. If they still do it, the 555 bootcamp ($5) is great, and their next level week bootcamp is also very good.

The things they stressed most is to have a good, clean, demo (melodyne might help your voice get to the level you need), and:

Once you have a good demo, determine what artist it would fit (or write for that specific artist. Or if writing for sync - the TV series or type of movie you want your song to be in. A good book I've seen for this is "Hey that's my song" by Tracey Marino which was recently released.)

When you know what artist would be a good fit for cutting the song, you can contact their manager or someone on their team, and send them the demo. Though note, they usually give you one chance, if it's not good, all future submissions will not be listened to, so you gotta make sure it's good and usually not longer than 3 minutes. That songwriting course will give much more in-depth information, but that's what I remember off the top of my head.

Songwriting
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,894
J
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
J
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 3,894
Originally Posted By: QuestionAsker
When you know what artist would be a good fit for cutting the song, you can contact their manager or someone on their team, and send them the demo. Though note, they usually give you one chance, if it's not good, all future submissions will not be listened to

This is wishful thinking. Your odds of getting anyone in the business to listen to an unsolicited song are pretty close to zero!

Songwriting
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 7,224
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 7,224
What are you trying to accomplish? Just to get your songs a "wider" audience or earn living from it?

Big difference smile

The only people I know/knew who actually made money, from music enough to support themselves, were performing musicians. And there are only two main "kinds" that I know of:
Either be very (very!) good and versatile player that can play anything from classical, folk, pop, live. Solo or with different bands/orchestras at concerts.
Or a popular cover band musician (got to be a good performer) that can travel far distances to various minor clubs, small festivals, weddings etc. Whoever pays.
------------------------------------------

But if you are just looking for "wider" audience with modest expectancy, to just get your stuff to more "ears", I believe that's very doable. I would try this:
If you have, lets say 100 tunes, pick the best 5. Polish them. Upload to several major sites: Youtube, Soundcloud and a few others. Hide your other tracks, as people don't have time to "dig" in. Use keyword tags that describe genre, style etc. And throw some money for advertising (~$50/50euro a month). No guarantees, but likely you will pick up some new listeners / new feedback... if that is what you are up to.


P.S. Just remembered. I do know a some people who make living from music in a slightly different manner.
Teaching/instruction and music for advertisement, but that is probably not what you are trying to achieve.

Songwriting
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 39
Q
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
Q
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 39
Originally Posted By: JohnJohnJohn
Originally Posted By: QuestionAsker
When you know what artist would be a good fit for cutting the song, you can contact their manager or someone on their team, and send them the demo. Though note, they usually give you one chance, if it's not good, all future submissions will not be listened to

This is wishful thinking. Your odds of getting anyone in the business to listen to an unsolicited song are pretty close to zero!


I know people who have done it.

If you have a good product you have a shot.

I forgot to mention it is worthwhile to try to foster a relationship first somehow, even if it's just messaging them online that you like their work, doing something for them, etc.

Last edited by QuestionAsker; 03/10/23 06:18 AM.
Songwriting
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 3,110
M
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
M
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 3,110
I found a promoter who almost fell off the floor
He said "I never engaged in this kind of thing before"
"But yes, I think it can be very easily done"

Songwriting
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Veteran
OP Online Content
Veteran
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Thanks everybody! It's really helpful, for me, to read your kind suggestions.

Just wanted to clarify that I'm not looking to make a living out of it. What I would dearly love is for a couple of my songs, at least, to be properly recorded (i.e. by an artist with a better voice than mine) ... and then, of course, if there are ways of getting them to a wider audience (i.e. not just personal friends and family), that would of course be great. But no more than this.

David Cuny: you make a point about a song having to be commercial to succeed. To an extent, I take your point; but there has, in my view, to be a balance. That is to say: yes, a song can't be so personal that it's unsellable; but I'm not interested in writing the latest pop craze, either, with no personal meaning attached. I do believe that audiences love "deeper" songs, too - despite what those who feed us cultural garbage would like us to think. So yes, I see your point, and it's good to write things that people can relate to (and will therefore buy); but I'm not going to go any further than that, in my writing, even if it means it goes nowhere :-) Just to clarify, that's all - but thank you for your kind and genuine thoughts on this, it's good to know where I stand on things, vis-a-vis the recording industry!

Everyone: I've been off, taking care of a sick relative, for a while. So many of you have given me amazing advice - I will try to reply to, and thank, each one of you in due course. For now, know I read it all and appreciate every word - thank you.

Songwriting
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 20
Enthusiast
Offline
Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 20
Well explained Musician17 smile

For anyone wishing to hear Musician17’s songs/performances, there is a link to his website at the end of each of his posts. The site features 20 of his compositions.


Pt.1 of my biog: https://amzn.to/34tgVn1
Songwriting
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 7,224
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 7,224
Musician17...

There are two very reasonable ways / affordable ways to record good vocalist.

Hire one from fivvr. I have heard several tunes in Showcase where creators hired vocalists from fivvr and most sounded very professional.


A few people on the forum use vocal synths, which became very powerful these days. Surprisingly, you can get very, very close to original idea. Extremely realistic. Both male and female robo singers. So... Some leave it as robo tune, some use it as a guide for real singer.

P.S. I used fivvr couple of times myself for specific types of instruments not found in BIAB, and people I met there were nice and fair. Turnaround took 5 days on average.

Songwriting
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 7,243
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 7,243
Joining & participating in forums like this one helps a little. There's a FaceBook page called Reinventing the Wheel - the Music Barn...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/483326849098435/
that is similar to the Showcase but requires one to listen & comment to three songs per one's own song posts. There are squillions of other songwriter forums each is, essentially, the same in that you listen & comment then others do likewise.
Many folk post songs on Spotify etc via mobs like Distrokid. I've not come across one that seems reasonable to me but, then again, I don't use paid streaming platforms.
YouTube is a great place to post songs because you can have a decent audio quality with a place holder, lyric or specially made video. It's a platform that is very popular. I get more listens through that looking glass than on the three listen/respond forums I am a member of combined. Though that's most often "through traffic" from me posting a link on FaceBook.
As Misha says: Fivvr is quite popular and quite good, by all accounts I've heard, and the synth voices are incredible these days.
As you know, I struggle to sing and am, slowly, learning to use tuning effectively & less obtrusively...no quick fix down that road.


Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Songwriting
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 16,080
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 16,080
We have zero commercial aspirations but do enjoy the affirmation that folks other than family and friends like our music. smile Toward this end we started a few month back submitting a few of our tunes to Spotify playlists that seemed to match our genre and style … and that had a lot of followers. Surprisingly after three months of diddling around with this we are now getting over a 1000 plays a month. Tiny compared to many independent artists who get hundreds of thousands but still gratifying. And each day we find ourselves on additional playlists by folks who heard us on the lists we submitted to. Of course the key is to get on a list curated by Spotify itself. But you have to get 5k plays a month for consideration. Regardless it’s fun.

And one of the more popular playlisters recently featured Janice on his website: https://www.donstunes.com/janice-merritt/

All saying this is one of many ways to achieve a bit more exposure. We’d spend more time at it perhaps but the bulk of our time is spent hiking and biking.


Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more.
If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks!
Our Videos
Songwriting
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 282
Apprentice
Offline
Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 282
Quote:
We have zero commercial aspirations...

Just previewed Janice Merritt's songs. The vocal pitch on-tune, vocal loudness, vocal EQ clarity, vocal sidechain effect, are for sure on the commercial level.

Can I ask what plugins were used in the vocal processing chain?


A Canadian music producer, singer songwriter, composer, and professional guitarist.
Songwriting
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 7,243
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 7,243
Originally Posted By: MusicVillain
Quote:
We have zero commercial aspirations...

Just previewed Janice Merritt's songs. The vocal pitch on-tune, vocal loudness, vocal EQ clarity, vocal sidechain effect, are for sure on the commercial level.
Can I ask what plugins were used in the vocal processing chain?

You'll find that Janice's pitch is "on tune" because she sings "in" tune.
A wonderful set of pipes wonderfully employed.
Bud is the engineer and keeps things clean & simple on the way in as well as in the box.
If you check thier posts in the User Showcase you'll be able to read the vocal & other chains used as Bud n Janice are generous with their information and don't hide any secret sauce - none being required when the true sauce is at the source.


Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Songwriting
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 16,080
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 16,080
Originally Posted By: rayc
Originally Posted By: MusicVillain
Quote:
We have zero commercial aspirations...

Just previewed Janice Merritt's songs. The vocal pitch on-tune, vocal loudness, vocal EQ clarity, vocal sidechain effect, are for sure on the commercial level.
Can I ask what plugins were used in the vocal processing chain?

You'll find that Janice's pitch is "on tune" because she sings "in" tune.
A wonderful set of pipes wonderfully employed.
Bud is the engineer and keeps things clean & simple on the way in as well as in the box.
If you check thier posts in the User Showcase you'll be able to read the vocal & other chains used as Bud n Janice are generous with their information and don't hide any secret sauce - none being required when the true sauce is at the source.


Firstly thank you Ray for those remarks. Nice to read that over morning coffee smile
MusicVillian, the vocal chain is very simple. We’ve used Izotope’s Nectar for decades and rarely anything else. And all we trigger from Nectar is slight EQ (presence bump at 5K), very light compression and light reverb. Almost all her tracks are one take and we’ve never used any pitch editing over 37 years of recording. I’ve no issues with pitch editors but I do not ascribe to the popular notion that it is needed by everybody regardless of how good a singer they are. OK, enough and here’s hoping my wife does not read this as she is stunningly modest! smile

Bud


Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more.
If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks!
Our Videos
Songwriting
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 282
Apprentice
Offline
Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2023
Posts: 282
Speaking of Janice Merritt's voice, this is what I thought.

I could be partially wrong, or totally wrong, it's just my best guess.

Use this song "Emerald" as an example, produced by Scott Collingwood & Ray Cochrane.

#1. Janice's formant is great out of the box, no need to make her voice "wet". I assume little to none reverb was used, so her singing feels "in the face", not "from a distance", is the goal?

#2. Janice's vocal is penetrating the backing music with high clarity. I assume Nectar Unmasking was used, so her vocal signal is sent to an iZoptope relay, carving the similar EQ frequency out of the backing music?

#3. The whole song is peaking at 0db or -1db and has a perfect loudness. I assume Ozone was used to get to that desired LUFS?

#4. Janice's breath was at a good volume level, not intruding, not completely gone. I assume RX was used to attenuate her breath?

#5. Janice's essing and plosives were controlled very well. I assume some sort of waveform editings were done to her vocal, such as a RX de-essing?

#6. There are some good vocal harmony in the song. I assume it's Janice's lead vocal used in BiaB Harmoniest, or similar software, to pitch shift to third, or fourth, generate a harmony with perfect timing?

Bottomline: 37 years of engineering is no joke. The difference can be heard almost instantly.


A Canadian music producer, singer songwriter, composer, and professional guitarist.
Songwriting
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 16,080
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 16,080
MusicVillain said: Speaking of Janice Merritt's voice, this is what I thought.

I could be partially wrong, or totally wrong, it's just my best guess.

Use this song "Emerald" as an example, produced by Scott Collingwood & Ray Cochrane.

#1. Janice's formant is great out of the box, no need to make her voice "wet". I assume little to none reverb was used, so her singing feels "in the face", not "from a distance", is the goal?

As mentioned little reverb is used. Nectar's EMT 140 Plate Reverb sim is the source -- 12% Wet. Our goal is always to have the vocal forward given the genres we work in and our many years of playing and recording bluegrass before moving on to Americana and Blues.

#2. Janice's vocal is penetrating the backing music with high clarity. I assume Nectar Unmasking was used, so her vocal signal is sent to an iZoptope relay, carving the similar EQ frequency out of the backing music?

No unmasking was used. There is nothing on the vocal but minimal EQ, light compression and reverb from Nectar. Janice is a contralto and has some natural resonance to her voice.

#3. The whole song is peaking at 0db or -1db and has a perfect loudness. I assume Ozone was used to get to that desired LUFS?

Ozone's maximizer and Logic Pro's Loudness Meter were used for that. 12-14 LUFS as I recall.

#4. Janice's breath was at a good volume level, not intruding, not completely gone. I assume RX was used to attenuate her breath?

On tunes where longer phrasing requires a lot of intakes I use Nectar's Breath Controller (the old version).


#5. Janice's essing and plosives were controlled very well. I assume some sort of waveform editings were done to her vocal, such as a RX de-essing?

No waveform editing (never done that on her vocals) and no de-essing. Our studio is nothing but a Mac computer, Kali Monitors, Rodes NT1 mic, pop filter and a Scarlett interface which other than the filter I also use on my upright bass. This all replaced a LOT of analogue equipment 11 years ago. Janice sings facing a file cabinet with a quilted table runner hanging down on it. Janice says years of gigging led to her think about plosives and moving her mouth relative to mic placement to avoid them. No room mods, etc. Four windows looking out at a forest.

#6. There are some good vocal harmony in the song. I assume it's Janice's lead vocal used in BiaB Harmoniest, or similar software, to pitch shift to third, or fourth, generate a harmony with perfect timing?

We do zero pitch shifting. Those are her harmonies as sung by her to her lead. What ever one may think of bluegrass a hallmark of it is what we call car horn harmony smile ... exact phrasing and harmony on every syllable. So her harmony work comes from that school.

Bottomline: 37 years of engineering is no joke. The difference can be heard almost instantly.

Thank you from the two of us. And while I did the vocal engineering and mastering Emerald's mix was a collaborative effort.

Bud



Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more.
If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks!
Our Videos
Songwriting
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 310
H
Journeyman
Offline
Journeyman
H
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 310
Originally Posted By: Janice & Bud
We have zero commercial aspirations but do enjoy the affirmation that folks other than family and friends like our music. smile Toward this end we started a few month back submitting a few of our tunes to Spotify playlists that seemed to match our genre and style … and that had a lot of followers. Surprisingly after three months of diddling around with this we are now getting over a 1000 plays a month. Tiny compared to many independent artists who get hundreds of thousands but still gratifying. And each day we find ourselves on additional playlists by folks who heard us on the lists we submitted to. Of course the key is to get on a list curated by Spotify itself. But you have to get 5k plays a month for consideration. Regardless it’s fun.

And one of the more popular playlisters recently featured Janice on his website: https://www.donstunes.com/janice-merritt/

All saying this is one of many ways to achieve a bit more exposure. We’d spend more time at it perhaps but the bulk of our time is spent hiking and biking.



How cool. Congrats on getting playlisted. A few months ago I started with a small FB ad at $5.00 a day targeting Disco, New Soul, and Club music. (Sorry, I just can't produce this stuff well with BIAB software). It has gotten me to the level where I have almost 7,000 monthly listeners and the bonus is that I've had listeners digging into my catalogue and finding songs I created back in 2019. Right now I'm getting around 700 streams across my portfolio per day. I'm like you all. I just do this for fun and also to see how far it will go. If I was really serious I would go out and play live and I ain't doing that. That ship has sailed. Paying 5 dollars is such a minor fee to "publicize my stuff. A lot of guys leave promotion out of the equation. I know that no matter what business you have whether it's music or making soap you have to promote it !! :-) I also have a couple of songs sitting with a record company under consideration to be covered. This is a good note for those that want to submit music. In most cases you "MUST GET PERMISSION" to submit. If not your song will go directly in the trashcan. Another lesson for today is that musicians are a lot smarter and know that the money is in publishing. The Record Company owner told me that a lot of the musicians today want their own songs on their album so getting a song covered is a tuff sell even if it's a good song. Now if both of us can get on that "curated" playlist. I'm on the curated "Radio" playlist and that's giving me about 500 streams a month but still along way to go. Anyway to answer the core question in my opinion to get a wider audience you have to post to sites that have a global presence. If money is the issue I would recommend Soundcloud and YouTube. But to get someone to listen the song really need to be fully produced for it to have a chance. - Henry

Last edited by Henry Clarke; 03/14/23 04:18 PM.
Songwriting
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Veteran
OP Online Content
Veteran
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Thank you, Ray. It is so, so kind of you to stop by and try to help me out, here. I have checked out the forum you suggested, and will check out others. Hopefully, one of these days I'll even get the inspiration to write again :-) All best wishes from me!

Songwriting
Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 4
B
Newbie
Offline
Newbie
B
Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 4
For anyone wishing to hear Musician17’s testmyspeed omegle PS4 Controller songs/performances, there is a link to his website at the end of each of his posts. The site features 20 of his compositions.

Last edited by brayanedward; 09/08/23 11:27 PM.
Songwriting
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 368
Journeyman
Offline
Journeyman
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 368
Janice & Ian
1000 plays per month - well done! Congratulations!

I am happy if I get 100 plays - though at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter much to me, as I would create my music only for me to enjoy.

If you use Distro Kid they have a function for Ultimate Subscriptions, where you will get connected to quite a number of playlists, but whether it'll bring you a broader reach - I don't know.

Last edited by Peters Garage; 09/11/23 11:56 PM.

MacMini M1 - BIAB2021 - Logic Pro X - iZotope Music Production Suite - Scaler 2 - far too many Waves plugins and Line 6 Guitars and boards + a fantastic Yamaha THR10ll mini Amp - Avid MBOX Studio

Peters' Garage is available on all major streaming services
Songwriting
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,114
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,114
Originally Posted by Janice & Bud
We have zero commercial aspirations but do enjoy the affirmation that folks other than family and friends like our music. smile Toward this end we started a few month back submitting a few of our tunes to Spotify playlists that seemed to match our genre and style … and that had a lot of followers. Surprisingly after three months of diddling around with this we are now getting over a 1000 plays a month. Tiny compared to many independent artists who get hundreds of thousands but still gratifying. And each day we find ourselves on additional playlists by folks who heard us on the lists we submitted to. Of course the key is to get on a list curated by Spotify itself. But you have to get 5k plays a month for consideration. Regardless it’s fun.

And one of the more popular playlisters recently featured Janice on his website: https://www.donstunes.com/janice-merritt/

All saying this is one of many ways to achieve a bit more exposure. We’d spend more time at it perhaps but the bulk of our time is spent hiking and biking.

I would be thrilled with but a fraction of your success. Thank you so much for sharing, and Congratulations!


My stuff:
https://soundcloud.com/scott-h-olson
https://www.youtube.com/@ScottHOlson

Sonar Platinum, Studio One Pro 4, Windows 10, Hybrid Home Studio
Songwriting
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 8,851
C
Veteran
Online Content
Veteran
C
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 8,851
Even the Beatles networked their songs in the early years of their career. Not knowing the success they would achieve as musicians, Lennon and McCartney had "a desire to emulate the success of composing duos such as Goffin & King and Leiber & Stoller in having their compositions recorded by other artists," according to Wikipedia. There was a list of 20 songs recorded by other artists during this period in the article. There was also massive hits with their songs recorded by The Rolling Stones and Badfinger.

My suggestion is you do the same with artists in the region where you live. I ran sound for about two years for a band that played festivals and colleges mostly. I posted a photo of one of their concerts. Imagine them standing before that crowd and saying, "Here's one our originals. You can get our latest CD at our table by the gate." and the CD contained songs you wrote for them.

Attached Files (Click to download or enlarge) (Only available when you are logged in)

BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
Songwriting
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,075
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 21,075
Great photo, Charlie. Anyone would be envious of having that crowd.


BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
Songwriting
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Veteran
OP Online Content
Veteran
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 2,608
Wow ... didn't realise this thread had kept going! Thanks, all, for your feedback!!!

Songwriting
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 2,005
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 2,005
The last post is commercial spam. Does PG Music allow that on these boards?


BIAB 2025 Audiophile Mac
24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
Songwriting
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 2,648
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 2,648
Originally Posted by Mike Halloran
The last post is commercial spam. Does PG Music allow that on these boards?
Just marketing spam, IMHO. Reported.


Jazz relative beginner, starting at a much older age than was helpful.
AVL:MXE Linux; Windows 11
BIAB2026 Audiophile, a bunch of other software.
Kawai MP6, Ui24R, Focusrite Saffire Pro40 and Scarletts
.
Songwriting
Joined: May 2020
Posts: 2,766
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: May 2020
Posts: 2,766
Originally Posted by Mike Halloran
The last post is commercial spam. Does PG Music allow that on these boards?
Nope.

Originally Posted by Gordon Scott
Originally Posted by Mike Halloran
The last post is commercial spam. Does PG Music allow that on these boards?
Just marketing spam, IMHO. Reported.
Removed.


I work here
Songwriting
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,017
Veteran
Online Happy
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,017
Mike,

You can report SPAM by clicking on the little flag in the top, right corner of a post.

[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]


Jim Fogle - 2026 BiaB (Build 1224) RB (Build 8) - Ultra+ PAK
DAWs: Cakewalk Sonar - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8
Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
Songwriting
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 2,005
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 2,005
Originally Posted by Jim Fogle
Mike,

You can report SPAM by clicking on the little flag in the top, right corner of a post.

[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]

Didn’t know that. Thanks!


BIAB 2025 Audiophile Mac
24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Go To
Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Andrew - PG Music, PeterGannon 

Link Copied to Clipboard
ChatPG

Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.

ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.

PG Music News
Update to Build 10 of RealBand® 2026 for Windows®!

If you're already using RealBand 2026 for Windows, download build 10 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.

Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!

If you're already using Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®, make sure to grab the latest update! Build 904 is now available for download and includes the newest additions and enhancements from our team.

Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® users: Build 1237 is now available!

Already a Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows user? Stay up to date and download the build 1237 to get all the latest additions and enhancements.

PowerTracks Pro 2026 for Windows is Here!

PowerTracks 2026 is here—bringing powerful new enhancements designed to make your production workflow faster, smoother, and more intuitive than ever.

The enhanced Mixer now shows Track Type and Instrument icons for instant track recognition, while a new grid option simplifies editing views. Non-floating windows adopt a modern title bar style, replacing the legacy blue bar.

The Master Volume is now applied at the end of the audio chain for consistent levels and full-signal master effects.

Tablature now includes a “Save bends when saving XML” option for improved compatibility with PG Music tools. Plus, you can instantly match all track heights with a simple Ctrl-release after resizing, and Add2 chords from MGU/SGU files are now fully supported... and more!

Get started today—first-time packages start at just $49.

Already using PowerTracks Pro Audio? Upgrade for as little as $29 and enjoy the latest improvements!

Order now!

Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!

Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2026!

We've added many major new features and new content in a redesigned Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!

Version 2026 introduces a modernized GUI redesign across the program, with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, and a new Dark Mode option. There’s also a new side toolbar for quicker access to commonly used windows, and the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, making it easier to customize your workspace.

Another exciting new addition is the new AI-Notes feature, which can transcribe polyphonic audio into MIDI. You can view the results in notation or play them back as MIDI, and choose whether to process an entire track or focus on specific parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.

There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!

Upgrade your Band-in-a-Box for Windows to save up to 50% on most Band-in-a-Box® 2026 upgrade packages!

Plus, when you order your Band-in-a-Box® 2026 upgrade during our special, you'll receive a Free Bonus PAK of exciting new add-ons.

If you need any help deciding which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We are here to help!

Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® Special Offers Extended Until January 15, 2026!

Good news! You still have time to upgrade to the latest version of Band-in-a-Box® for Windows® and save. Our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® special now runs through January 15, 2025!

We've packed Band-in-a-Box® 2026 with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can process an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, XPro Styles PAK 10, Xtra Styles PAK 21, and much more!

There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®.

When you order purchase Band-in-a-Box® 2026 before 11:59 PM PST on January 15th, you'll also receive a Free Bonus PAK packed with exciting new add-ons.

Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® today! Check out the Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.

Happy New Year!

Thank you for being part of the Band-in-a-Box® community.

Wishing you and yours a very happy 2026—Happy New Year from all of us at PG Music!

Forum Statistics
Forums57
Topics86,105
Posts800,288
Members40,034
Most Online44,367
Mar 4th, 2026
Newest Members
Ahsen, Shakey2, Jeminzlee, Matt1575, Christian210
40,036 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
MarioD 133
rsdean 100
DC Ron 86
WaoBand 63
DrDan 55
Today's Birthdays
Arie Klaassen, rd151
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5