American Rapper & Recording artist D.Beezy gives some insightful tips to upcoming independent artists.
We asked D.Beezy if he were to give his best advice to independent artists, what would come of it consist of and this is what he had to say.
“You know, I’ve been asked this quite a few times and in the past, I wasn’t quite sure how to answer. However over the last couple of years I just kind of sat back and tried to really think about things and put them into perspective so I could help up and coming independent artists to help them avoid some of my mistakes and or hardships that I had to deal with.”
D.Beezy then went on to give us some insight as to what his best advice would be.
Invest in yourself. “I know starting out you may not see that as important but I promise you it is. The faster you can grasp the concept, the better off you will be. Labels want to see numbers for sure which I will talk about in tip two, but they also want to see you invest in yourself, because if you aren’t willing to invest in yourself, then why should they? My best recommendation is to work with a distributor. I personally work with DistroKid and my reason for that is because others (not saying any names) Charge up to $9.99 a release and only give you 85% of your royalties (which you deserve 100% of) whereas DistroKid charges a flat rate of $19.99 a year for unlimited uploads and you keep 100% of your royalties. If you aren’t sure about distribution or how it works, look up DistroKid and it explains it there or feel free to DM me on Twitter @VFLBeezy and I can even give you a VIP discount link upon your initial signup.”
Marketing “As I stated in tip 1, labels like numbers. Numbers are, well… a numbers game. With that being said, It’s gonna be hard to just have mind-blowing numbers right out of the gate. So it’s wise to have some funds for ads and things of that nature to get your craft in front of more people. Instagram, Twitter and Facebook allow you to target the audience you want which is beneficial. Do the research and put a strategy in place. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or Instagram @VFLBeezy or Facebook @D.Beezy if you have any further questions on that.”
Content “This kind of reflects back on investing in yourself, you need decent equipment which can be bought at a decent price. I personally used an MXL 63VM condenser mic for years with a preamp and a 4 channel mixer until I upgraded recently to a RODE NT1-A mic and an M-Audio 2x2M audio interface which altogether cost about $350 give or take which isn’t bad. Learn how to mix so your songs come out at a high quality, yes the song has to be good but if the song is good but is mixed poorly then even with you running ads, there is no guarantee that the people seeing the ads are going to want to listen further or follow you if the song doesn’t sound good. If you can’t mix or master, again.. Invest in yourself and send the song off to a professional or someone who knows what they are doing. I offer that service myself and again, you can reach me on Twitter or IG @VFLBeezy.”
Consistency “I can’t stress this enough, stay consistent. Try to drop a song at minimum once a month, unless you have a big project you are working on or a specific single you want to go all-in on (Video, Promo, Premiere, ETC.) It’s a waste to have a great song and if you aren’t planning a follow up with a video and you decide to wait a month or two without pushing it or anything then you decide to start a new song, by that point your audience that you have built up with your marketing campaign and the song that was good are going to almost overlook you. With the way algorithms are, you have to stay consistent with not only music but your activity on social media.”
Live Shows “Perhaps one of the best ways to get yourself out there is to perform live shows. Reach out to local clubs, venues or town festivals. Even surrounding counties and try to perform as much as you can. Then once you get some buzz built up, you can branch out to bigger cities and expand your reach and your following and interest from A&Rs and labels will take notice.”
D.Beezy has laid down some solid groundwork for artists looking to make a name for themselves or even just make a little extra money doing what they love which could potentially lead to them fulfilling a dream that most of us dream. Hopefully, you take this and apply it as D.Beezy has laid some basics down that every independent artist should incorporate whether you are a rookie or a seasoned vet, we can all take something from this.
In Summary, Invest in yourself, Market, Produce great content, Consistently release new material, and book live shows.
D.Beezy had one last statement before he left back for Tennessee and he said: “Be patient, things don’t happen overnight. I’ve been at it for 11 years and if I had only known at least step 1, I would have been a lot further in my career. Not everyone gets lucky like a Post Malone and posts to SoundCloud and blows up. So apply all 5 and I will see you at the top!”
