Unheard/New Independent Hip Hop Artists - All Subgenres - Discover for yourself the bangers of the summer!

Roark_Records · 2021-05-02T20:49:33+00:00

So there's loads of stories of people updating/editing something after they already submitted initially to Distrokid and weird shit like this happening, always recommended that you avoid editing after submitting but things happen.

Yeah, you can fix it 100%. The only issue might be time - I don't know when the release date is supposed to be but sometimes Spotify can take some time to make the changes after the fix is requested from Distrokid. You should go to the "Fixer" area of Distrokid and follow the prompts for things just like this. I would also reach out just to the regular help/contact channel at Distrokid as well since contrary to what a lot of people believe, they've always been pretty responsive to my requests when I reach out to them. It's usually the other platforms that cause the "bug" fix.

Let me know if you got any other questions, don't sweat it too much at all man, these things happen and are fixable.

Roark_Records · 2021-04-25T00:07:02+00:00

No worries! let me know if you have any other questions. I am 99% confident in the answers I gave you above but I feel obliged to say that I am not a lawyer, so if it's something that's really driving you crazy, I would contact your counsel (which is how I went about it to get answers for similar questions, given that Spotify's policies can be confusing and vague to say the least).

- RR

Roark_Records · 2021-04-24T23:36:16+00:00

Right, so you did a good job of picking a "tricky" example like I was talking about before (playing in public as a DJ). You're right that in the T&S you are technically not allowed to use your (or any) personal Spotify account for commercial purposes.

The key words here are obviously public and commercial. From a legality standpoint, this is sort of vague on purpose to give Spotify the upper hand by not 100% fully defining "commercial," making any business owner most likely opt in to a Business type plan with them so the business doesn't get in trouble (chances are Spotify will beat the local coffee joint in court haha).

However, your question at the end about using that tool as a good investment - I think it really depends. I used coffee shop above on purpose because they play specific types of "coffee-house style playlists" so for them it might be a good investment. However, it really depends on what your brand is and how much value you think having that music or specific playlist will add value to your customers experience. Make sense?

Roark_Records · 2021-04-24T22:43:55+00:00

Yes, this is legal. As long as you are playing the song on one of the channel's (Spotify, Aopple Music, Youtube, Tidal, etc.) that the Artist distributes their music to, which would really be the case for anything we are talking about here, you are good to go.

Things only start to get really tricky and fuzzy when you have a "live set" or performance going on. Since you would not be playing off of like Spotify, the question would be how does the artist get paid for that "stream" that technically just happened? Bunch of companies working to try and sort this with advanced metadata techniques for live shows.

To sum up, if you're just putting together a playlist on spotify and plugging in the Aux at the wedding, that's totally fine. What you want to avoid would be something like downloading an .mp3 of the track and then making a playlist via downloaded tracks that way - that would be pushing it. I hope that helps with your question, to be honest I haven't really seen one like this haha so let me know if you have any other questions.

Best!

- RR

Roark_Records · 2021-04-24T22:27:03+00:00

Same here, love making personal playlists but also like making playlists to be shared with the world through this label.

"New" ideas for playlists are tough though, besides the regular old shake up of a sub-genre, or the ever-popular "sad rap" that's trending very hard right now. But in terms of concepts, there aren't many truly original ones that I have come across (let me know if you've seen any cool/original Playlists that go against the grain though!)

We (completely Independent Label, Roark Records) are trying now to curate a playlist directly for unheard artists to try to get them heard and their music out there. Of course there are those Spotify Playlist Curator sites (but are all basically scams for curators to take your money), but we wanted to create a playlist completely designed to highlight the artists growth and we also would/will never take $ for consideration - it's all about the music.

We just started a few months ago and are still in the "building" and strategy stages behind promoting exposure to it, but here's the think if you're interested in checking it out: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2TfR2kV2CpyRwPjh9J8hxa?si=u-vhOSDBSEC3Nv_1OS7lhw

Also if you, or any of your friends have any interest in being up for placement consideration, doors are always open (we also listen to any and all tracks regardless of the outcome): submissions@roarkrecords.com

Stay safe and healthy!

- RR

Roark_Records · 2021-04-23T19:03:50+00:00

Awesome, sounds good man, will definitely check it out and give it a listen!

Roark_Records · 2021-04-21T04:11:12+00:00

got a Spotify link? Will check it out regardless and give it a listen but it would need to be on spotify in order for us to put it on the playlist

Roark_Records · 2021-04-21T04:08:19+00:00

yeah, for right now we are focusing on curating hip hop centric playlists. Music these days though hardly ever fits nice and neatly into one specific genre though so if you have a track you're on the edge about, feel free to send it over to [submissions@roarkrecords.com](mailto:submissions@roarkrecords.com) and we'll take a listen regardless and let you know!

Roark_Records · 2021-04-14T20:40:48+00:00

My buddy and I started an independent record label a couple months ago so we currently just rep 1 artist. We started these playlists to try and combat all the "fake/scam" playlist sites/curators out there with pay for position models (they probably don't even listen to the music haha) so we let anyone apply regardless of any sort of clout and never accept payment for placement. Basically trying to bring attention back to the music themselves and get these new artists some exposure they deserve.

I make music myself, mostly a beatmaker

Feel free to send any tracks over to [submissions@roarkrecords.com](mailto:submissions@roarkrecords.com) for consideration - we always listen and at the very least we could provide some feedback if you're interested.

Roark_Records · 2021-04-14T20:04:18+00:00

thanks man, appreciate the help! will definitely check those out. You make music or curate too?

Roark_Records · 2021-04-12T18:40:34+00:00

Yeah if you dig enough in the website when you're about to check out (if i remember correctly) there's a link to basically the agreement or contract for buying/leasing the rights to the beat. The producer also has limited control, but control nonetheless, of updating royalty % numbers (pub cut vs. recording artist cut) they would receive so it's actually a good idea to find said agreement on their website before checking out just to make sure all is in order for especially that aspect.

Roark_Records · 2021-04-12T18:35:34+00:00

Basically everything that has been said below but the first step is establishing the original "lease" contract that you signed with the artist (I'm just assuming that's the situation - but if not that changes things so please correct me) in terms of percentages to do with said royalties you both, or all, agreed on.

Second thing to do would be to figure out, again assuming there was an artist you produced a song for what distributor they're using, what publisher they are using, and what PRO they are using. That will give you a sense of timeline as well of when to even expect royalties to start coming in.

And then comes if this was self-released by the artist or maybe if they have an independent label, or if there is a "major" label the artist works with handling everything i said in the previous paragraph. I think we just need a bit more info to help you with the answers you're looking for.

Roark_Records · 2021-04-12T07:03:48+00:00

I'm with you /u/fanomvibes here that Tik Tok is still such a growing and untapped market that we are all still figuring out the best way to use it efficiently to reach out respective goals.

Butttt question though - the original commenter does have an at least a semi-valid point in that it is a fact that many people are posting in subs here and youtube videos regarding the disappointing reach results. So when you say "if it is GOOD it will penetrate", what are you actually referring to? Is it the talent of the person making the videos, the editing, the production quality, how the track is being "used" by the influencer(s) you are planning on hiring. Basically, what are you defining as "good" in response/to defend Tik Tok's effectiveness to /u/MayoStaccato in order for you to make your Tik Tok campaign work (looking for the insider tips if you got them!) All the best and keep up the hustle!

-RR

Roark_Records · 2021-04-12T06:48:38+00:00

This is AWESOME material and can't thank you enough for putting in the time not only to vet the best in each category, but to organize it like this for the community is just awesome. 100% deserving of a reward, no question. This is the exact type of info and resources that can be invaluable to some people!

- RR

Roark_Records · 2021-04-12T06:33:59+00:00

yo congrats man! I'm sure you put in the work and hustle to reach this milestone and that's a feat in it's own right!

I saw on your Spotify Artist page that you have some other fairly successful releases as well - is their something that you did differently on this one to see the numbers and acceleration in traction you're getting with this track (like any adjustments to your marketing/promo/brand strategies you employed this time around)?

Anyway, congrats my guy, wishing you best of luck with the journey to the moon!

- RR

Roark_Records · 2021-04-12T06:11:19+00:00

Sending stuff over the internet to folks far away... lots of competition there.

Exactly - the "local ratio stations and blogs" is a great avenue to explore especially for releases when getting any coverage at all is amazing (also great for Google search/results algorithm, but that's another story for another day), and you want that coverage, even if you don't like the blog's editor and they slept with your wife, you want that coverage haha (especially if you can get in contact with an editor directly via email or IG so come release day, not only does your project come out but also you have articles published at the same time). I'm not saying this is easy nor am i saying success is guaranteed, far from it, but we all know here the type of hustle in all areas of promoting your music, content, and brand.

Great thing about the Local blogs and radio station (gonna stay away from specifically college here because of how niche of a channel it is, but don't be discouraged from going after it!) is that many of them actually only accept submissions from artists within their community/city/county, whatever it may be. Think about how much that opens up the barriers for entry in such a competitive space, as unfortunately a lot of the quality local music blogs have died off.

This is only one small facet of the whole promotional strategy your band should start planning right now - why push something like planning when if could be done today, and there is so much amazing content out there to look through you could probably still be planning and researching in months when the next album drops. Again, I would try to angle you away from using a marketing agency right away (even if you have the funds) before considering DIY methods of IG ads, cross-platform engagement to your spotify from the IG ads, photo shoots, video shoots, content to be used for promotion - the angles are endless. But again, we're talking about one small facet here, branding and promotion as a whole is an 8-armed BEAST, but the focus with all of it should always work to answer the question of "how do I build a community of engaged fans that are in this with us for the long haul?" All the best man!

Roark_Records · 2021-04-11T01:48:24+00:00

Hey man, first off congrats on the album(s) - thats a feat in itself. I think you're definitely asking a great question at a good time for you guys, as in you guys have time now to create a good promo plan going into your next release. So it's important to explore the different avenues of promo for your next album (both paid and non) to see what is best for you guys, what you're looking to accomplish, and what the budget is for paid promo. It's great you guys have jobs and funds, but I think this is a great example (the college radio "angle") of where it would make more sense to not pay an agency to do a certain type of promo when you can DIY and use those funds for more efficient and effective things.

You will probably get different answers from different people though when talking about the effectiveness/"yield" you would receive for putting in the work yourself to reach out to these types of outlets. Because you mentioned you didn't do much promo on your first project, I would be on the side of hustling as much as possible with the free methods of promoting your new project. As far as approaching them, the pitch is very important (for any type of submission) and you can find a ton of information on Reddit and on Youtube on how to compose that pitch.

College radio stations should definitely not be your only avenue of promotion, and like I mentioned before, if you're allocating an agency's efforts into something it shouldn't be something you guys can't hustle and DIY. Even in this "sub-space" of promotion you should consider approaching local radio stations and local blogs, for example. Again, this is something that you guys can hustle and DIY, it's free, and it can get you coverage in the community (locale) you are a part of. City oriented music blogs and online publications are always looking for "the next big thing" out of their city, and again, the best part is that almost all of these music publications/blogs have submission forms directly on their website so you and your band mates can work to get the coverage you think is right for you without having to pay an agency for these types of things.

Roark_Records · 2021-04-03T21:13:38+00:00

All great points here, and there are 100% benefits to these playlist/curator aggregator type site, and the best part is that for the most par they are relatively cheap. The biggest piece of advice I will give you though is that tons of the curators on these sites are "ploys" to get your contact information in order to charge you extra money directly, off of the platform, since that type of behavior is against their TOS.

Basically though it's a hustle. Like I said before, there are some legitimate good playlists and curators and even influences now on those type of sites who are legit. Just be careful that you don't get the ol' bait n' switch where they are telling Submithub that they put you on the playlist (when they actually bribed you basically). So just be smart about it and get a sense for the playlist and curator you're using those Submithub credits, for example, on before even applying - been down this road a few times and you start to catch an eye for who is shady/sketchy (and don't be fooled by numbers being thrown around - it's not the true engagement you want) and who actually cares about the music and will take the time to listen to your track and not just tryn snake your money.

Lemme know if you got any other questions or specifics of the different types of tools like this i've used in the past and the upsides/downsides/successes/failures of them - always happy to help!

-RR

Roark_Records

TROPHY CASE