getting discovered - thesixtyone.com

ok. my first post is going to be about getting your music heard. now everyone knows that the internet has been breaking down barriers and making it easier and easier to get your product (be it music, art, or recycled popsicle sticks) out to the masses. knowing where to start can still be tough. most people know the basics, get a myspace or facebook account, maybe throw a video or two up on youtube, but beyond that, what are your options as far as socially promoting your music? well, i found a great site a few weeks ago that is dedicated to just that.

www.thesixtyone.com is a website that is all about promoting and discovering independent music. the interface is incredibly user friendly, the community is unbelievably supportive, and the quality of artists is surprisingly high. anyone with an e-mail address can join for free, so there are a few rare stinkers, but the site's rating system is extremely well thought out and it usually weeds through the garbage so that good music can get more exposure.

when you first go to the site, click "free account" towards the top right of the page. a popup window will appear and you just have to select whether you want to create an "artist" account or a "listener" account. artists can upload music, while listener accounts can "bump" (see: vote for) music that they like. when you select "artist" you'll agree to their little warning to only upload your own music, and then you get to specify your band name, the url you want (mine, for example, is www.thesixtyone.com/lorenradis), and an e-mail address (which they never spam!).

after you've got your artist account setup all that remains is to upload some music. this couldn't be easier, simply click the big "upload music" button above your profile towards the right. this'll take you to the upload page where you specify the name of the track, whether or not it's a cover (and if so, who wrote the original) and where the source file is. you can upload directly from your computer or from another website if you've already got your music online somewhere. at this early stage you should be able to upload three songs.

now is where the fun starts. it's a little bit slow going at first, but people will start to find your music and after they've listened to it they have the option to "bump" your song, which will cost them a few points and give you a few points. points are the key to getting heard on this site. as you accrue more points you gain higher levels, and as you hit higher levels you're allowed to upload more songs. the faster your songs gain points, the higher they climb on the "what's hot" list. i've had two songs on the front page and am currently level 13. the better your songs are, the more bumps you'll get, and the more people will hear your music.

so that's about it for this post i think. i've been on thesixtyone for a few months now and a ton of people have commented on my page, my songs, etcetera. it's been a great experience and in my opinion it's one of the better ways to get some online exposure. also, it's still a fairly young site, so now is a great time to get on board before it gets all oversaturated!

thanks for reading, i hope that helps :)

-loren