4 Tips On Getting More Out of Your Release

Whether it’s a single or an album, I’m sure we all want success from releasing our music. It can be a lot of work but if you’re willing to work for it and think ahead, you can potentially make some real noise with your music. Here’s four tips on releasing your music that should help.

1. Have a Reachable Goal and Set Up a Plan to Meet that Goal
What are you trying to get out of your release? More views? Emails? Followers? Knowing what you are trying to get can help give you a start with how you want to promote and release your music. A plan or strategy can help things run smoother with releasing your art as well. Things like knowing your target audience, what time you want to release and how fast you want to show your art to the public can all can and should be part of that plan. For example, planning to get more views to your music video that you've worked out a blog promotion for by releasing a trailer at 11am PST of a Friday will probably work better than just releasing the video as soon as it's done  with only a post on Facebook saying " check out my new video! " The more strategy used in your release the better the outcome you will have! 

2. Connections! Connections! Connections!
Now I know we've all heard "it's not about what you know, it's about who you know." But connections are more than just knowing the right person. Community building and outreach are extremely useful Networking skills.  Working with other artists and people in your community and other communities can spread your name out and get you recognition in other circles. It can get you shows in places around the globe. But more importantly, it get's you people to work with that support you and the dream you guys build as a team. Think about crews in hip hop like the Beast Coast movement in NYC. All different groups that share shows and features so the success each group has builds everybody in the community. That can help you get further than trying to make it all by yourself. 

3. Outside Promotion
Promotion can do a lot and spread you to places you didn't know your music could go. But promotion comes from a wide range of places. Blogs, college radio, word of mouth, and ads are just a few forms of promotion that you can use. With promotion like college radios and blogs, knowing how to write an email the right way can is vital and will separate you from a lot of other people also asking for the same thing. Emailing the right way could also benefit in other areas like booking. Even the pros today use blogs so don't take them lightly. Some blogs have huge followings so access to their fan base can be very rewarding. The same goes for college radios and online radio stations. People do actually listen to them so air play and interviews could do some good for your career.

4. Access is Key
If nobody can find your music how can you expect it to go anywhere. It's a good idea to get your music EVERYWHERE if you want tons of people to see your music. That means more than just Soundcloud. That means Soundcloud, YouTube, Bandcamp, Spotify, Itunes, Google play, and any other place you think people can find you. now making an account with websites like YouTube and Sound cloud are easily accessible and free. But the problem for some might come with streaming services like Spotify. To be able to use spotify you need to go through an aggregator like Tunecore or CD Baby. While it is a cost money, it could help you get where you want to be. Speaking of actually releasing, you might want to make sure your copyrights are good to go. you can't exactly use things like airplay and streaming services like Spotify if you have copyright infringements because of samples  If you do use a sample make sure you get it cleared and the songs you work on are registered with a publishing company to help secure and protect your rights. 

Jawzilla

For the fourth installment of The Song, our monthly artist spotlight, we welcome Lyricist/Producer/Multi-Instrumentalist Jawzilla with his new song "Family Reunion." In his interview, Jawzilla reflects on how he discovered his love for music: "I used to love hearing Motown hits from the temptations and OutKast with my dad while jamming sweet child o mine and the ghetto boys with my mom." 

Click here to check out Jawzilla's new artist profile page and listen to his new track "Family Reunion."

5 Ways To Improve Your Self Confidence As A Musician

Jawzilla in the element

Written by Mirabai Jyothi Kukathas

They say write what you know, but here I am doing quite the opposite. One of the biggest reasons I don’t write music or perform that often is that I lack the self confidence. When I sit down to write I hear a voice telling me not to bother. Every performance I’ve been a part of has been preceded by intense stage fright. So why am I, a person with very little self esteem, especially in regards to music, giving you tips on becoming more confident? Well, because my boss told me to. No, I’m just kidding; it’s because I’ve been working to become more confident and know first hand what’s helpful and what's complete nonsense. Now, you might be thinking, but Mirabai, unlike you, I am not a nervous wreck, to which I say, good for you but everyone gets nervous, especially preforming artists. I think it's really important to keep the following things in mind, so without further ado… HOW NOT TO BE A NERVOUS WRECK, written by a nervous wreck because primary sources are important.

1. Be kind to yourself. Usually people save the most important piece of advice until the end of the list, but I’m going to put it first on the off chance you get bored and stop reading to go watch a cat video or make some toast or something. Recently, I was asked how I'd  want a friend to react if I was experiencing anxiety before a performance, or even just in every day life. I said that I'd appreciate kindness and honesty. I realized a lot of people would say the same, but I was not treating myself with those qualities and often neither do others. . It’s easy to treat your loved ones with kindness or to crave kindness from them, but most people are far less willing to be easily excited, forgiving, or appreciative when it comes to themselves. So, be kind to yourself because you are pretty damn awesome.

2. Practice. This one’s pretty short, sweet, and obvious but it works: if you practice something you feel self conscious about, you will improve. If you improve, you will become less self conscious abut it. This is especially true in regards to music. You’ve probably noticed that you feel more at ease performing a song  you’ve practiced a million times or that writing a song is a less daunting task if you’ve done it before. Practice makes perfect.

3. Learn that it’s okay to be only or less than okay. Okay, I lied: Practice doesn't make perfect. There is no such thing as perfect, yet most humans expect themselves to somehow achieve this delusional aspect. A lot of self consciousness derives from the idea that you should be flawless at whatever you’re doing. We have these crazy expectations of ourselves, and when they aren’t met we get upset. I recently wrote a song which for some reason I decided had to be fantastic. When I felt that it wasn’t, I got really down on myself. The song was, in all honesty, pretty bad, but looking back on it with kindness (see no.1) I’ve decided that’s perfectly okay.

4. Surround yourself with supportive people. I understand that this isn’t always an option, but when it is, it’s insanely helpful. I assume that at at least one point in your life you have been around people who have put you down; who have made you feel less than. It really sucks. That’s why having a community of people who lift you up and vocalize the best parts of you is really amazing. It makes you want to make music and share it with your community. For me, Totem Star is that community. That's why the power of collaboration is so strong. You and your collaborators can teach each other and build yourselves up. I know it can sometimes feel like other people are able to create musical magic out of thin air, but they aren't and you'll see that through working together. So go write something with your friends. 

5. Celebrate the little victories. You wrote a song? It wasn’t very good? I have no idea what that must feel like, but congratulations! You wrote a song, that’s impressive, I’m proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself! You can always push yourself to make it better or you can write a new song that resonates with you more or perform something that showcases your talents and views more coherently, but always be proud of what you’ve accomplished. Big victories always begin with the little ones.

Here are a couple links if you want to read more on the subject. 

How Much Does Confidence Affect Musical Ability? by Anthony Cerullo from Sonicbids

Becoming a Confident Performer by Gerald Klickstein from Musicians Way

Five Tips On Expanding Your Audience

Image via crowdinvest.com

Written by Jahlil (Jawzilla) Kirby

I know the struggle of having a dream, putting in the work, spending hard earned money on studio time, then posting it online to receive ... 50 views. It's even more frustrating seeing other artists have more ease getting support and more views than you. Here you will learn the business side of making yourself heard. 

1. Be ready to expand. Have a catalog of content ready and really polish yourself up the best you can before you try to promote yourself. Remember, you're going to have a much harder time promoting what doesn't exist yet and you have to think about if the listeners might want more. It might not be a bad idea to see what successful artists are doing to promote themselves that you aren't. This can be artists as big as Macklemore, who performs around the world, to artists that are local. Every artist offers something you can learn from. One of the reasons OFWGKTA (Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All) and Tyler The Creator blew up is their originality and their amazing energy that goes along with their performance. Developing your skills and raising the quality of your music helps a lot. There are a lot of people that won't give artists a break and expect artists to have professional quality and be up to par before they even give them a chance, so keep that in mind. 

2. Social media offers tremendous opportunities to network and market yourself. Instagram is a great tool to use. Through the power of hashtags you can find people anywhere on Instagram that might be willing to work with you, creating opportunities to collab, share shows, and give shout outs to get to audiences you didn't have before. Join a group on Facebook! There's tons of groups you can join that allow you to network with people from all over the globe. There's definitely more social media platforms you can use but Instagram and Facebook are two solid platforms to start off with. You just have to stay up to date to find newer platforms and see what works for you. 

3. A solid way to expand your audience is to reach out to your community! This can be going to open mics and building yourself up from there if you're making zero noise at the moment. Working with other people builds a group that will give as much as you and others put in. A major example of this is the BEASTCOAST movement in NYC. A$AP MOB, Pro Era, and the Flatbush Zombies are the 3 top groups coming out of this movement and major artists today like Joey Bada$$, A$AP Rocky, and A$AP Ferg are a few of the artists that came out of this collective that all do shows together, do songs together, tour together, and show overall support of each other openly. You can't deny the success they've received from it. 

4. Using promotion isn't always a bad thing. More things than you know actually fall into this category. This may be free or may cost some money; but be careful not to get hustled. Ensure that the promotion technique is legit and gives you real results that don't just look good or give you numbers that aren't really there (like buying views). If you're still in school, this can be performing at your school assembly and gaining the support of your friends and peers. This could be sending your music to radios stations (e.g. college and local radio stations) to hopefully get played on air. This could be sending your music to blogs to try to get them to promote it on their page.

Tunecore is an example of a service that helps distribute music but it is NOT free. And of course theres the face to face word of mouth technique that if done correctly works really well. Building a street team is one example of this technique and can work great if the strategy is well thought out and the team is managed well. Even Tech N9ne has a street team and it's success speaks for itself. This means that you don't need to be signed to a label to gain a following. Other resources like a manager or a publicist aren't one hundred percent necessary, but they can be amazing tools to help you grow if you find the right people and can afford their services. There's a lot of options you just have to find them and experiment with what works for you and the audience you want to attempt to make your fans. 

5. Understand your audience's vibe and meet them halfway. Some of you decide your own line between selling out and appealing to other audiences. The most important thing about spreading your music is knowing who to spread it to while staying true to your craft. If you make Punk or Hip Hop, you'll more than likely have more success promoting at a skate park than your grandmothers bible club. One method could be finding some artists that you sound like or have a similar vibe to and reaching out to fans in that field. Instagram is a great tool for this. When you know who's listening to your music or who you want to listen to your music, you can better form your sound to their liking and have better success with the outcome of your music.

Jahlil (Jawzilla) Kirby is a regular at Totem Star and is interning with us through the SPOKES, the youth leadership body of Youth Speaks Seattle, Totem Star and the Arts Corps Teen Leadership Program. Check out Jawzilla's music HERE.

ALLI 2017

L to R: LIO, Mirabai Kukathas, Zora Seboulisa, Monica Elenes, and Daniel Pak. Photo Credit: Amy Piñon

Written by Mirabai Jyothi Kukathas

The first week of July 2017 was one of the best weeks of my life. Totem Star, Youth Speaks, and our awesome mutual sponsor Arts Corps put on the Arts Leadership Liberation Institute (ALLI) for the second year running. ALLI is a weeklong art intensive for poets, musicians, and visual artists. We spent the week building community, partaking in social justice-related workshops, and creating pieces of art to share at the end of the week.

When I applied to ALLI, I didn’t think I would actually get in. I knew some of the people involved and didn’t think I was accomplished enough to spend a week with such talented artists. When I did get in, I was both excited and incredibly nervous. However, my nerves melted away almost as soon as I walked into Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, where ALLI was held. One thing that cannot be said enough about the Youthspeaks/Totem Star family is how kind and welcoming it is.

We spent the majority of the first day getting to know one another. We began with everyone putting an object of emotional value in the center of the circle we sat in, summing up the object’s significance in one or two words. We went back around the circle and everyone took an object that symbolized something they needed more of in their lives. I put in a statue of the goddess Saraswati, symbolizing ancestry and inspiration, and took a picture which represented resiliance. At the end we gave the items back to their owners, thanking them for the characteristics they embodied. It was so nice to fill up the room with love and strength, and doing so really set the tone for the supportive environment of ALLI.    

LIO wows the crowd with her poetry. Photo credit: Amy Piñon. 

For the rest of the week we’d spend the mornings together, still getting to know each other, learning about outreach and organization, and even taking a workshop led by Anakbayan. In the afternoon we would divide into our three pathways (spoken-word poetry, music, and visual art) and get working on our pieces. I loved catching glimpses of half-finished paintings and hearing snippets of poems when I popped out into the hall. The whole place seemed alive with art and excitement.

During the course of the week, my friend Zora and I wrote a song. It started off as just a baseline and a short poem of hers, but together we expanded the lyrics and wrote a melody. For the most part she did the lyrics and I did the melody, but worked together for the entire process, bouncing ideas off each other and getting excited after our eureka moments. At the end of the week we had created something I was really proud of, something I never thought I’d be able to to do. For me, that was the best part about ALLI: doing something I never thought I could. Proving myself wrong. Gaining some confidence.

The song-writing process. L to R: Zora and Mirabai. Photo credit: Amy Piñon.

At the end of the week we put on a block party, open mic, and showcase. A bunch of people from the community showed up (some even brought food!), got to know each other, performed at the open mic, and partook in the general awesomeness. The showcase itself was electric; I could not believe everyone created what they did in just five days. It’d been a long time since I’d performed in front of people, but when I was singing up there everything felt right. I owe a lot to ALLI for getting me into the Youth Speaks/Totem Star community, building my confidence and skills, and for a truly amazing week I will never forget.

To see more ALLI stories, click here.

To see all performances from the ALLI showcase, click here

The Makings Of Royalty

Royalty. L to R: Jawzilla, Jayla Nickens, Jewelz Cypher, and King Cobb. Photo Credit: Amber Zbitnoff

It was July 2016 and we were sitting in a social justice workshop led by Henry Luke as part of the Arts Liberation and Leadership Institute. The partnership between Arts Corps, Youth Speaks Seattle, and Totem Star brought twenty talented youth together from all over the city for a week-long intensive arts summer camp featuring pathways in music, spoken word, and visual art.

Henry had posted quotes in the space and encouraged us to walk around the room, reading the quotes, and forming impromptu collaborative arts teams based on what quote spoke most strongly to us as a means of getting to know one another. Jayla Nickens (Cleveland High School) and I found common interest in a quote with the theme of "standing together" and decided that our impromptu collaborative project would be to co-write a hook for a song. I grabbed a guitar and put some chords together while she wrote:

"If we stand together, it'd be harder for them to tear us apart. It'll only get better. Don't let them break us down."

In just minutes, Jayla had an amazing melody to go with her lyrics and we performed it for everyone. Enthusiastic applause, screaming, and shouting ensued.

Immediately following the workshop, we broke out into our first session as a music pathway, while the poets and visual artists went off to their rooms. Jayla knew rapper King Cobb from Cleveland, but was just meeting rapper/producer Jawzilla and rapper Jewelz Cypher for the first time. The three rappers were all inspired by the hook that Jayla wrote, and they decided right then and there that the best way to get to know each other was to write a song based on the hook.

Jayla and I started to work on the beat and in no time she was in the vocal room laying down the hook while the other three started writing. You could feel the intensity of the creative energy flowing through the room. By the end of the two hour session, we had recorded a rough arrangement of what was to become "Stand Together," released in June 2017 on the Resistance Mixtape.

Royalty would go on to perform "Stand Together" live at the ALLI showcase, Columbia City Beatwalk, and Winter Magic. The song was recently licensed by local documentary filmmaker Devon de Lena for a film she will soon release on the Seattle Channel. Seeing them bond as a newly-formed group, discover collective joy, and develop their live performance skills on stage was truly magical.

Check out "Stand Together" by Royalty - living proof of the power of community building and collaboration.

- Daniel Pak