A music career has always been as much about writing great music as it has about getting noticed. I would guess that there are more average bands with careers because they concentrated on the PR side of things than there are bedroom geniuses who allowed the music to do the talking. A bit of a generalization but you know what I mean.
The first steps are those easily within the grasp of the band themselves, especially in our social media swamped world. Websites, gig advertising, posters, and self-released music is all the first step on the ladder and it is only when gigs and tours become bigger and you need help from labels to distribute your music to a wider audience that you need to think about stepping up a gear.
A PR company is probably the first thing that you will need, someone who can make sure that your music is reviewed in all the right places. A social media manager is next, making sure that there is always a buzz in some corner of the internet about you. A label, manager, and the like all follow on from there.
Although we live in the connected world that I mentioned above, many bands still prefer to move nearer the heart of the music scene. You can do so much online and in a remote fashion but nothing beats personal introductions to industry movers and shakers, those random encounters with people who go on to champion your work or just getting your face around a certain scene. A smile and a handshake still go a long way. If you do choose to relocate to, say L.A. then chose a great moving company such as Bekins Moving Solutions to ensure that your possessions and band equipment all get there in one piece.
But nothing gets a band noticed quicker than live shows. You can talk up the band all you want but even in the modern world nothing beats a room full of people feeding off the band’s energy and lost in their songs. There are agents who will help you with this, for a price, but you can do it yourself. Just scour every venue, hall, bar, pool hall, roadhouse, university, and school website from The Roxy to Boardingschools.ca and everything in between, and eventually, you will find a regular gigging circuit.
But even if you are not located in the heart of the busy, urban music community, all these things are achievable. You may be making solo electronic music from a log cabin in the snowy north but between your Ten Point Crossbow hunting trips and wood gathering excursions, as long as you have an internet connection, all of those people and their skills are equally accessible at the touch of a button. Isn’t the modern world wonderful!
