Are you a new artist struggling to get your music heard?
Do you dream of making an impact on the music scene but aren’t sure where to start?
In this video, I’m going to show you the smart way to begin releasing music as an artist, with a goal of releasing your first EP and getting your first 1000 streams.
But before we jump into the process, let’s take a step back and explore the history of music collection formats.
From phonographic cylinders to extended play vinyl records, the duration of songs and albums has always been constrained by the physical medium.
The early known recordings were SINGLES made up of 1-3 songs.
Usually an A side with a B side or two. With a total length of ~2-4 minutes per side.
This format greatly influenced the composition and arrangement of popular music to fit into the ~3 minute song format.
Later the EP or Extended Play Vinyl Record was born.
These are musical collections containing 5-7 songs.
This was the birth of the album format. Most discs allows for ~20-30 minutes total play time.
This format allowed artists to extend the length of recordings, which also enabled more compositional freedom.
Finally the LP Long Playing Vinyl Records we known and love were developed.
These could fit over 9 songs or ~45 minutes of music (22 minutes per side) This album structure carried over to cassettes and CDs
This became the standard release format because it allowed musicians to create longer, more complex music in ways that were not possible previously.
However, with the rise of digital distributors like DistroKid, artists now have the freedom to upload as much music as they want without these constraints.
But with this increase in supply comes a major bottleneck for success in the entertainment industry: cutting through the noise.
Our attention spans are shorter, and our listeners are less loyal to one source of entertainment.
That’s why releasing an EP is the smart choice for new artists. It’s a shorter form, that allows you to grab your audience’s attention and make a deeper connection with your fans.
In this video, I’ll show you why every new artist needs an EP in 2023 and how to go from releasing your first single to releasing your first EP full of songs that your audience prefers.
AND how I followed this process with artist Lexene and her new EP Misadventures in Love.
So, whether you’re a singer, rapper, or instrumentalist, this video is for you.
So, comment below where YOU ARE in your journey, have you released an EP before? Do you want to? Are you a die hard album fan?
Let me know in the comments, and let’s get started.
Phase 1: A/B Testing
In phase one of your journey as a new artist, you’re going to start small and focus on A/B testing.
Here you’re going to set a goal of writing, recording, mixing, and releasing 2 singles.
Releasing your music and getting feedback is essential, but working on just one song can cause you to get too caught up and overwork your material, which is a common problem for many new artists.
That’s where A/B testing comes in.
By creating two contrasting songs, you give your audience two different versions of yourself as an artist.
Now It’s important to keep it authentic and in a genre that you can dive into, because this will help you see what your audience likes and wants more of in the next step.
For example, when we launched Lexene as an artist, we released two singles over two months: “Nothing,” a stripped-down acoustic ballad with minimal instrumentation, and “Making you Believe,” a fully produced R&B power ballad with a full band and choir.
After promoting both releases, we waited a couple of months and checked the results.
The difference in response was ten to one, showing the importance of A/B testing, and providing a variety of music to your audience.
Remember that done is better than perfect, so start small and consider A/B testing to help guide your future work as an artist.
Phase 2: Analyze your A/B Test Results
Congratulations, you’ve released your A/B single test!
Now it’s time to sit back and analyze the data you’ve collected about your audience’s preferences.
Which song received the most attention and positive feedback?
This information is crucial in determining which direction to take next.
Of course to get this high quality information in the first place you’ll need a platform like DistroKid.
DistroKid is an online music distribution platform that allows musicians, artists, and independent record labels to distribute their music to various online streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and Tidal.
This way you show up anywhere your audience looks for music, and you keep 100% of the royalties.
DistroKid provides artists with a simple, affordable and user-friendly way to upload and release music to a global audience. Which is necessary to get a more representative sample of your potential listeners.
DistroKid provides aggregate data about your listeners demographics from both major streaming platform, to make it easy for you to know where to focus your efforts.
This information can be incredibly valuable for understanding your audience and making data-driven decisions about your music career.
For example, you can see which songs are getting the most streams, where your listeners are located, and what playlists your music is being added to.
With this data, you can make informed decisions about your marketing and promotional strategies, as well as identify opportunities to connect with your fans and grow your audience.
In addition to being to world’s fastest way to get your music onto streaming sites, DistroKid also offers many additional services such as music monetization, YouTube Content ID, & Instagram and TikTok verification so that you never have to worry about your music going uncredited.
Get started today and get 7% off your first year’s subscription.
In our experiment, the stripped-down acoustic ballad, “Nothing,” was the clear favourite among our listeners, even earning a spot on a few Spotify playlists and generating over 10,000 streams in the second half of 2022. We used the analytics provided by DistroKid to identify our core audience: Women aged 25-45 in Australia, Spain, and the USA.
Using this data, we crafted our next project, the Misadventures in Love EP.
We started with the acoustic guitar as a foundation for each song, bringing in additional instruments as needed.
We also used our experience and creativity to develop a cohesive story and a collection of experiences that reflect Lexene as an artist.
With this in mind, you can create an EP that showcases your best work and speaks to your audience. So take the insights you’ve gained from your A/B test and use them to develop a schedule for recording your EP.
Remember, you don’t have to rush the process.
Take your time and create something that truly represents you and your music.
Phase 3: Define goals & set a schedule for your EP
Now that you have a starting point for your EP, it’s crucial to set clear goals and establish a timeline for your project.
By doing this, you’ll have a clear understanding of what needs to be accomplished and when, which will help you stay on track and achieve your goals.
Start by setting a production deadline and schedule for your EP.
I recommend aiming to release 4-6 songs over a production schedule of 3-4 months.
This provides enough time to focus on each step and ensure you’re making progress, while also being short enough to see results quickly.
Releasing an EP is an excellent way for new artists to gain experience and feedback without feeling overwhelmed by the task of creating a full album.
For example, here is the timeline we used for Lexene’s EP, Misadventure in Love:
- October: Finish writing songs, making demos
- November: Record instruments and vocals
- December: Edit and mix tracks we recorded
- January: Upload to DistroKid and release a single
- February: Release EP and promote new songs
It’s essential to note that our process was spread out between uploading and releasing to allow for Spotify playlist pitching.
Keep in mind that playlist pitching may require your release to be submitted one week or even up to a month in advance.
But before you can worry about any of that, you need to complete the next step: writing the songs for your EP.
Phase 4: Songwriting for your EP
To create a collection of music that showcases your artistry, you’ll need to write 6-8 songs for your EP. Start by using your audience’s preferred single as a foundation and then narrow down your selection to your top 4-5 songs.
As a new artist, it’s important to focus your efforts on your strongest material. You can always rework your other songs for later projects.
By crafting a collection of songs, you have the freedom to explore different experiences, emotions, and events that might not fit into one single.
This will allow you to build your overall body of work and career, instead of trying to cram everything into one song.
To get started, make demos for each of your songs, but make sure to stick to the skeleton of the song before fleshing it out.
Use a click track to map out the sections of your music and fill in your chord progressions. You can also use drum loops to get a rough idea of each song’s vibe.
Once you’ve got your structure in place, you can work on your vocal melodies. Focus on the shape and sound of the melody before worrying too much about the lyrics.
The melody will grab the listener’s attention and interesting lyrics will keep them engaged.
When you have some rough demos, get feedback from a trusted friend or team member to refine your songs even further.
Phase 5: Consider Collaboration
Collaboration can be a powerful tool in music production, allowing you to bounce ideas off others, share the workload, and benefit from their expertise.
At this stage, assemble a dream team to hold you accountable and help you achieve your vision for your EP.
Consider working with co-producers or session musicians to bring new ideas and perspectives to your music.
They can also help you stay on track by sharing deadlines and providing accountability.
With their expertise in their respective fields, they can help elevate your music to new heights.
Just remember to set clear expectations and roles before you start collaborating.
This will help ensure that everyone is on the same page and knows what their responsibilities are.
You’ll also want to set a budget. Decide where you need to spend to get what you need, what can you do yourself.
If you’re looking for more extensive support, you can also consider hiring a professional music production service like Back Burner Studios.
We offer project consultations and A-Z production services to help you achieve the results you need, no matter your level of experience.
Don’t be afraid to explore collaboration as a way to take your music to the next level.
Phase 6: Choose your song order
Now that you’ve written some songs, chosen your favourites, made some demos, and collaborated with other musicians, it’s time to consider how you will arrange the tracks on your album.
There are different strategies to consider when deciding the song order:
- Front loading: In this approach, you put your best and most exciting songs first, as most people may not listen to the whole album due to time constraints and competition from other forms of entertainment. This strategy works well for full albums, especially when applying from music awards as judges don’t always have time to listen to the entirety of each submission. However, this strategy doesn’t have much benefit in a world where most users find songs in niche genre playlists.
- Storytelling: You can tell a story from beginning to end, one song at a time, and arrange your songs according to the story. This approach can be very effective in creating a cohesive and emotional experience for your listeners.
- Continuity: Arrange your tracks so the instrumentation flows nicely, starting small and developing the EP, while still relying on singles to gain traction through playlists. This strategy is great for developing a set for live music performances.
Consider the strengths of your songs, the emotions you want to convey, and the message you want to send to your listeners when deciding the song order.
Phase 7: Record and Produce your songs
This is the most critical step of the music production process – recording your tracks and making all of your production decisions.
You can use your demos to inform and fuel production towards your final product.
For our Misadventure in Love EP, we began by recording acoustic guitar to a scratch vocal, then recorded each of the rhythm section instruments one at a time.
Often layering multiple string textures together to accent moments in the music.
If you are recording to a grid, I recommend comping, time-aligning, and tuning where necessary after each session to ensure players consistently keep in time with the click track.
Once all the instruments have been recorded, it’s time to record lead vocals, and supporting background vocals.
After adding all our ideas, we added any final touches to fill out the arrangement with one-time events.
For this project, I spent a lot of time getting each track to sound the way I wanted on the way in.
I used large spaces and room microphones in place of digital reverb in post-production. While this is a useful technique to experiment with if you have the resources, and a lot of the big room stuff I recorded did make it onto the EP, it is not a required production step.
Once your tracks have been recorded and edited to your satisfaction, it’s time to mix them into finished songs.
Phase 8: Mix and Master your songs
Mixing and mastering are crucial steps in the music production process that work together to ensure that your songs sound the best they can.
Mixing allows you to adjust the balance between the various elements of your song, to create a cohesive and polished final product.
During mixing, you can adjust parameters for each track to achieve the desired balance and focus on specific instruments.
Other tasks during the mixing stage may include reducing dynamic range with compression, removing frequency clutter with EQ, panning instruments into different speakers, and adding effects like reverb and delay.
Once you’re happy with the mix of each song you can move on to the mastering stage.
Mastering is the final step that balances the levels, frequency balance, and dynamics of each song in the project, ensuring that the songs sound consistent on all playback systems.
It’s a crucial step that should not be overlooked, as it can greatly impact the overall sound and quality of your music.
While both mixing and mastering can be time-consuming, they are essential steps in creating a professional-sounding final product.
Phase 9: Share and Promote your EP
Congratulations! Your songs are now ready to be shared with the world.
To distribute your music on digital music platforms, you can use a distributor like DistroKid, which provides a convenient one-stop-shop for setting up your single or EP release. Simply upload your music, credits, and cover art (this is very important) and your music will be made available on over 150 platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music.
Once your music is up, it’s time to celebrate. But don’t stop there – take advantage of this opportunity to promote your release on social media, create a video to accompany your music, and even release your favourite song a month early as a single to generate more buzz.
Consider uploading your release a few weeks early to allow time to apply for Spotify playlists. This can help boost the visibility of your release and increase the chances of getting discovered by new listeners.
In addition, don’t forget to network and build relationships with other artists in your local area.
Cross-promote their work and collaborate with them to expand your reach and build your fan base.
Making friends is important in the music industry, especially with similar bands, because they’re a valuable asset when booking live performance venues.
A/B testing a single song before creating a larger EP project can have several benefits for a new artist, such as:
- Testing the waters: A/B testing allows you to test the market and see how listeners react to your music before investing a significant amount of time and money into a full EP project. This way, you can ensure that you’re creating something that people will actually want to listen to, and you can get valuable feedback that can help you improve your music.
- Building a fanbase: By releasing a single song and A/B testing it, you can start building a fanbase and generating buzz around your music. If people like your song, they may share it with their friends and on social media, helping you reach new listeners and grow your fanbase.
- Refining your sound: A/B testing can help you refine your sound and make sure that you’re creating something that is unique and stands out from the crowd. By testing different versions of a song, you can experiment with different styles, sounds, and arrangements, and see which ones resonate with your audience the most.
By utilizing A/B testing to gain insights into the preferences of your audience, you can use data to make informed decisions for your EP.
This enables you to strike a balance between catering to the demand for your growing catalogue of work as a new artist and avoiding overspending on the content of a full album.
So I hope you enjoyed this video, leave me a comment if this helped you to release your own EP, in fact leave a link to it below.
Thank you for watching this video and I’ll see you in the next one!
