Why 2017 Is The Year You Need To Get Out And Promote Yourself

In the UK 2016 was a year the music industry and radio struggled to break new artists.  Some considered the charts to have stagnated throughout the year with many acts holding the top spot for so long and lack of real movement in the charts from month to month.

I think it’s for a number of reasons.  Artists like Drake are hugely popular and their music is streamed over and over online, which of course in part now counts towards the way the charts are compiled here in the UK.  You could also argue the labels are ‘playing it safe’ with conservative signings that won’t challenge the status quo or be a risky and potentially loss making exercise for the label.  There’s no bands, acts or politically motivated musical movements that’s truly kicking the doors in.

Likely because we’re all on social media having our own say rather than getting behind an artist saying it for us!

But all that could be about to change, 2016 was a land mark year for the lack of real long lasting new talent coming on to the scene, because of this something had to be done and that means for an unsigned artist wanting a break in 2017 it could well be the year to make it.

Read on and you’ll discover how there’s a lot of support from lots of big players looking to unearth new undiscovered talent.

They Are Crying Out For You!

Deezer, Radio One and the BPI are all coming in on the game of both helping new talent and promoting it to national and even global proportions.

Deezer announced this week it’s launching Deezer Next, which will help find and promote emerging artists to a wider global audience.  This is a global project and Deezer will choose 12 acts from each country across Deezer’s platform.  Three acts will get the red carpet rolled out across the globe in the hope to break and promote them globally and the remaining 9 will be promoted across Europe and the US.

The platform will work with the artists and labels to develop their online streaming profile, marketing and social media presence.  That’s not all one of the lucky acts will have their music featured on Deezer’s ad campaign securing further exposure and a great revenue stream in royalties.

Streaming looks set to be a big part of the future of promoting a new artist and with the bigger platforms getting actively involved this can only be great news for new music.  Sulinna Ong, Deever’s VP said “One of the biggest challenges in the music industry is developing and breaking new artists…”.  This shows how hard it is to break into music but also proves that 2017 is going to be the year everyone including all the major platforms will be looking out for ‘the next big thing’ to help keep the industry alive for years to come and stop it stagnating.

Brit List (it’s a good time to be an English artist but get in quick!)

The BBC’s Radio 1 is also getting involved in the quest to find new music.  They have announced a new search for talented artists and it’s called the Brit List and will support what they think is the best up and coming artists in the UK.

This is great news for anyone who wants to break into the music business this year; they are looking for both signed and unsigned acts the only requirement this, to be considered ‘new’ you must not have released a full album on or before the submission date which is February 3rd.

Like Deezer’s VP, Chris Price said in a recent interview “It’s no secret that the wider music industry, of which Radio 1 forms an important part, struggled to break any UK artists in 2016 … This is about Radio 1 taking a leading role in trying to fix that issue. We should continue to play a part in breaking UK artists at home and on the world stage.”

To enter and be considered for the Brit List you need apply for Radio 1’s Brit List by submitting a one page PDF bio about yourself, your background and statistics as an artist/band along with 3 singles in the order of approximate dates you want to release them.  The idea is this Radio one will give air play to the artists they choose with the hope that eventually they make it on to the A List playlist, this is a great opportunity for any aspiring artist or band!

If you’re interested you should apply by sending your PDF to Ty.Powell@bbc.co.uk

UK Indie Acts Get £250k For Overseas Promos

It was reported in the Music Week publication recently that uk indie acts will be receiving a £250k boost to help them promote and reach a global audience on an international scale.  This again shows that 2017 is all about promoting and encouraging new talent, new music, and a new generation of national and global stars.

The BPI, which helps to promote artists on a global scale has given some lucky new acts an injection of cash to help them reach a larger audience and gain new fans.  The funding is going to small/medium sized labels to help them not just stay afloat but to develop their acts too.

Small labels can often be a good choice for the indie artist as they offer more opportunities to develop over time and grow with the label and funding like this will help to keep the indie labels alive.

What this also means is that with extra funding small labels will have more money to sign new songs, acts, bands and music makers.  It’s a win win situation that will help with music industry growth.

Here are some of the artists that will be benefiting from the funding:

Luke Sital-Singh – London based singer/songwriter with a folk leaning

Don Brono – English rock act

Gunship – British synth wave band with an 80s film influenced sound.

What this means for you this year?

Last July the BBC website published an article entitled “Has streaming broken the UK singles chart?”, the point of the article was that consumers tend to stream the same music over and over again thus stifling the charts and the opportunities for new music.

With 2017 starting off with so many major music industry players announcing support and the need to search for and discover new music now is the time to get yourself out there in what ever way you can to be uncovered and more importantly NOTICED.

They might be coming for you but can they find you?  Are you on Facebook?  Are you on YouTube and all the other social media outlets?  Are you making contact with streaming services or trying to get on their playlists, which is where they might just uncover you.  Are you gigging lots, live streaming and making sure your recordings are mastered correctly?

Now really is a good time to try and get yourself heard because as the music industry as it settles into a new era of streaming, music labels, music services, managers, radio stations, government funding initiatives will all be on the look out for the next big thing!

That might just be YOU!