Jamille is a former indie music producer turned music analyst. Before becoming a music analyst her final projects included:
Remix Nas featuring Alicia Keys and Rakim
Remix Alicia Keys ‘No One’
Beyonce live at grammy’s 2007 Click here (link temporarily down, sorry have to re-upload the files).
Bill Gates made computers user friendly (easy to use) for everyone. Today almost everybody owns a computer and they can do so for $500 or less.
This is what Jamille is doing for Independent Music. You don’t have to know how to build a computer to buy one ; you don’t have to know have a degree in marketing or a connection in the industry to promote and sell your own music.
“Sell Your Music Yourself!!”
–Jamille Luney
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Sell Your Own Music!! 
GURL IM GLAD SOMEOME IS FINALLY GETIN OUT THERE FOR THE FEMALE PRODUCER
Hello, I was just wondering if I could get a way to sell or market my musical works online. I am a gospel music artiste and will be very interested in marketting and selling my works digitally online.
Can you give me some info? Or are you into marketting online too?
I will be expecting a response from you soonest.
Tam
Hey Tam,
thanks for reading. I’d be glad to offer you some advice. There are a number of online posts I’ve written that can help you with marketing and selling music online. All the posts are located at the links below. Also feel free to explore this website, the whole site is devoted to teaching indie artists how to market and sell their music online.
For selling your music online
https://jamilleluney.wordpress.com/category/how-to-sell-your-music-online/
For marketing your music online
https://jamilleluney.wordpress.com/category/how-to-market-your-music-online/
You said you’re into gospel. Gospel is great because it’s a niche market. This is why you see so many mainstream artists switch from secular to Gospel. It is one of the easiest genres to market.
If you belong to a church, I recommend consulting with the pastor and asking them if you can be added to the church website. Offer the website designer one of your viral music widgets (I mentioned it in an earlier post on the above links). The widget catches the attention of website viewers and it has an embedded link that takes them directly to your online music store.
Online retailer like itunes provide one free, for an example of a widget look at the one on my MySpace page. http://jamilleluney.com It’s that little black thing that features snippets of articles on this very web page. When you click on it, it brings you directly to this website. Widgets are great because they’re eye catchers. They grap the attention of web viewers, bring them to your web site or music with one click and they’re easy to make and use (the code is generate for you, just cut and paste).
I also recommend asking other churches the same question. Again consult with your pastor about being listed on other church websites to avoid conflict of interest. If you get the okay ask to be added to their web pages as well and offer them a widget, this will save the web page editor a lot of time and it helps to ensure you don’t get stuck with a bad link or advertisement design on their web page.
Perform at youth conferences when possible. Again ask if you can be added to the conferences website, most of them have one, especially an online registration page. The younger generations spend the most time online.
There are a number of faith based youth outreach programs that will allow you to perform. Ask to be added to the programs web page. When you perform you can give kids the web address and more importantly your MySpace and Facebook music web pages so they can add you as friends. This way you can always post live update about your new music and performances via MySpace Comments, messages, or FaceBook Wall writings. College students and teenagers love online networking communities like MySpace and FaceBook and spend hours online everyday.
Make sure to keep Postcard size promotional cards handy when performing at churches. When you perform ask the pastor or other governing bodies if they can be placed in the book store or by the front doors where people enter and leave. Also make sure your web page addresses (yourbandname.com, Myspace Music, FaceBook, YouTube, etc…) are listed on the card in addition to future performances.
Don’t forget to pick your online distributor to sell your music if you have not done so already. My website covers this and all the above topics in more detail.
There are infinite ways to market online as technology
Do you manage producers? Take a chance ?
Jamille,
Girl! That video on Kanye and Timbaland in the studio was tight. Anywho! I just had a quick question. I am a college student trying to find my “niche” and I know whatever degree I will graduate with, there is definately going to be a minor in music. I love to write, and am working on a music journalist career. I also want to get experience in producing. I follow underground artists as well, and am particularly fond of Goapele and another soulful singer Choklate. I am more into R&B rather than hip-hop, but I enjoy both. Okay well back the my main point, I would like to know where you work out of is it LA, New York, Chicago? I am interested in interning with a label, I would like to get hands on experience in producing to really see if that is where my heart is. I have not heard of many female producers out there, but I am sure it’s a scary number. And like I have said to many females that break into the industry, it’s always wonderful to see a female doing her thang up against the top male in the biz. I hope this doesn’t sound too juvenile, but I am basically in between 2 career choices and I know I love them both. but like I said I will be involved with music one way or the other. I am just looking for your opinion is all. Thank You Jamille.
Response to RWilson above:
Thanks for asking but no dice on that I’m not a manager. However, there are plenty of good one’s out there so keep a look out.
Response to Misty above:
Glad you enjoyed the video and it sounds like you’re on the right track. If you want to intern at a studio you will have to venture to LA, NY, Tennesse (primarily country), Miami, Georgia or possibly Chicago (I’m not too familiar with Chicago). As for me I travel all over. PLEASE NOTE: Many studios are closing due to financial hardship. In fact one of Sony’s major studios just closed its doors. With the economic crisis I recommend buying you’re own recording software and learning how to use it on your own in addition to interning at a studio. One of my friends made a track he sold for $10,000 off of Fruity Loops. Just goes to show you never know, but you must have music handy and always be ready. Don’t get caught with your pants down while looking for an internship.
As for your degree, continue with your education and choose a degree that gives you job flexibility. Degrees in Information Technology, Computer Science, Industrial Engineering, Nursing, Social Sciences or Poli Science ( with Poli Sci or Social Sciences you can work in Public Safety and earn steady pay with great benefits), allow you to work great state jobs and gain health insurance while pursuing your music career in your off time. State jobs are also great because you can bank at a State Credit Union and they are pretty well protected from this financial crisis that private banks like Wachovia are succumbing.
While pursuing your music dream the most important thing is to allow yourself as many options for supplemental income as possible to support yourself financially. You’re doing this already by working on your degree. If I were you I’d pick some recording software you like (my recommendation: Propellerheads Reason and an Mbox which comes with Pro Tools) start making some music and look for a studio you’d like to intern with—-all while finishing your degree.
Best wishes all,
Jamille Luney
Hi Jamille,
Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re very proud to be ranked #1 on HotIndieMusic, it’s soooooo cool! You have no idea what this means to us!!!
Thanks again!
Mellow-C (the bagga-girl….)
Bagga Bownz
Congrats and Kudos to you all Mellow-C (bagga-girl) it is well deserved.
To all my readers check out Bagga Bownz—you won’t be disappointed.
Hey Jamille,
Thank you so much for the response. I have been researching school’s for producing and have come across the LA recording school. I’m about 20 minutes from the school and would really like to go, but my only problem is that it’s $23,000. I already have $20,000 in student loans, and don’t really want to take on another loan, but I think this could really get my foot in the door in recording. I have been reading a great deal of books and online reviews, I just wanted to know if you heard about it? Do you have a opinion about the Los Angeles recording school? I will definitely spend the money if it’s going to help me in my career. The program is only 9 months, and after that I plan on going back to college. I am going to be so broke after college! I want a job that I love and I know music is it for me. I would love any type of insight you may have. Oh! I forgot to say, I am eligible for Stafford loans, Let me know what you think Jamille, I am interested in your opinion…as a woman in the industry, I take your opinion very seriously…Thanks again.
Misty
Misty,
Are you interested in becoming a music producer or sound engineer / sound design? If you’re interested in becoming a sound engineer or working on a television show or something like that then YES, LA recording school would be ideal. If you want to be a music producer, all you have to do is make a hot track and you can do that from home with Reason, Fruity Loops, a Yamaha Motif, MPC or the software and machine of your choice.
One of the guys I used to work with had a friend who sold an 8 bar beat for $20,000 he made on Fruity Loops (It was hot and later used in a very popular sont). His eight bars would almost pay for your whole entire tuition. He got the opportunity to sell that beat by networking, he was friends with somebody who knew a big named artist. A lot of time tracks are sold that way, sometimes they are not.
Interning at a studio is a great way to meet people. Never push your music on them, stay low key, be of few words, speak when your spoken to and eventually they will ask for your number to listen to your music. WAIT FOR THEM TO ASK YOU TO HEAR YOUR MUSIC, most people mess up here. Remember they have people pinning over them all day so flattery and pushing a CD in their hand is not the way to go.
Again, if your interested in sound engineering or working on live sets (television, film, concerts) than LA Recording School is a good idea b/c they TEACH you how to work on the large consoles used in those settings.
If you just want to produce beats, than no LA Recording school would be a waist of money.
Jamille,
I just wanted to stop by the site and check up since i haven’t recieved any updates via rss. I look forward to reading and learning more from your advice. when you mentioned someone you knew who sold an FL beat for 20$ that made me re think my producing agenda. How often you think that upcoming sort of amateur producers can regularly sell tracks for that price?.
B E Z and have a great weekend.
Finally! Female producers getting their props. I’m in the middle of a career crisis. I’m currenty getting a degree in Paralegal studies but I’ve been writing music on and off for years. I’ve never had the courage to get my music published and sold but now I’m more interested than ever in breaking into the music industry? How hard is it for you being in a field that is male-dominated?
Dear Jamille,
You have been very helpful in the past, so here’s a troubling question I have. For indie artists, I’ve found the money in music is only in live shows (including music sales at shows which typically comprise 70% of all music sales) and licensing original content for TV/Film/Games.
If this is true, what could Tess hope to gain by traveling to Atlanta to meet with some “well connected” producers (who have worked with T.Pain and other successful acts) who want to see how she does in the studio, writing songs with them over a couple days?
Excellent question Mr Henley.
Yes the money is in live performances and licensing rights but that comes down the road. Indie artists forget this. Can’t make millions off a concert, without thousands in the audience. Can’t license your music out to companies if nobody knows your songs. Soulja Boy became a hit on the Internet and then everybody wanted to buy licensing rights and get him in concert. He built a following online.
Most indie artists don’t have followings that big. Remember the indie artists is the opposite of the mainstream artist. Therefore almost everything must be reveresed or at least inverted when comparing mainstream artists. Let’s first examine marketing:
Mainstream artists have multi-million dollar MASS marketing campaigns. Mass marketing means they put ads in random places because they’re not sure where their audience is so they’re building it themselves. Major labels use mass marketing and put random ads all over the place (television, radio, MySpace, FaceBook, Billboards, Magazines) promoting their artists and concerts. The marketing creates the frenzy and the following (ex. Jonas Brothers).
Indie artists don’t have multi million dollar mass ad campaigns. They must build their own following person by person. That takes time and people do not want to be patient. Once you have built your following, then come the concerts and the licensing. In fact if you make yourself a big enough name, people will start paying you for concert appearences and companies will pay to license your song for ads. The money comes down the road for true indie artists, focus on building the following. Most Indie artists give up here and they start thinking of things from a mainstream recording view.
So how do indie artists build the following? Since Indie artists do not have these budgets, Internet is the best way to reach international audiences, who by the way appreciate real music more than Americans. MySpace was the first official online tracker of indie following numbers. Now MySpace is a rip-off to indie artsits, the numbers are as fake as the stock market since MySpace is in bed with the major record labels.
As for the writing and jam session, DO NOT let Tess go UNACCOMPANIED to the studio with them. They have more than music on their mind. Secondly from a legal stand point, be very careful. One of my colleagues wrote the hit song “Slow Down” in a writing session with Bobby Valentino. He got all of $2,000 dollars. They explained to him it was a great way for him to get his foot in the door. He is currently a middle school teacher.
In those writing sessions, there is little to no structure and there is not a legal document as to who is the creator or writer of the song. When you hear horror stories of people stealing music, it usually occurred in a jam session (writing session). Yeah, they don’t tell you that part. Big named artists like those environments because there are no rules and no documentation. Everything is improv and done in real time. They record it and run to the copyright office.
They smoothe talk young artists, show them a fancy studio, tell them “this is how you get your foot in the door everybody had to do it this way” to get their talent out of them. Essentially those writing sessions are a work for hire. After my colleague wrote that song “Slow Down” he called another colleague of ours, Dexter Redding (Otis Redding’s son) and said something like this:
Hey I got a problem. I wrote this hit song and they only gave me $2,000.” Dexter asked him if he signed something. He said yeah it was like a work for hire type deal. Dexter replied, then you don’t have a mother f_ _ k _ _ g problem. Dexter was right he does not have a problem and when you get in those jam sessions, if Tess writes a hit song and they beat you to the copyright office, that is it.
I’m not saying don’t go, but be careful and read the energy carefully in room. Study what they do, not what they say because they’re probably lying. Sorry, sounds harsh but it is the truth.
It is possible that a big bamed artists may want to pick Tess up. Just read the contract carefully and make sure she gets a lot of publicity out of it. Be open to both going the indie route and signing with a big bamed artist and see what works, just be cautious.
To Tim above,
sorry forgot to answer your question. Selling a beat for that high a price still happens frequently. However, it happens less frequently to indie producers.
Instead big named artists are trying to keep everything in house, so they opt to buy it from a cousin, family member, crew, etc….Why? The economy is terrible, even Diddy is flying commercial. Sounds taboo but that is huge for him, he does not like to be touched by general public and prefers to fly by personal jet.
Still keep your faith, producing and always have your music on hand with copyright filed in case somebody is interested.
Jamille
What equipment did you start out with in the beginning of your career. I play the piano well so I’m considering getting a piano and a guitar. What other things do you recommend? I’m just starting to produce.
Thanks
Face Off above,
Good question and here’s the link to a post a wrote a while back which lists my very first studio setup.
I recommend Propeller Heads Reason 4.0 for making beats. It is one of the most powerful MIDI sequencers on the market. (MIDI sequencer is just a program that makes beats).
One thing to note is that you should get a keyboard (electronic USB) and use it as the MIDI controller when making your music. I say keyboard since you said you are good at playing piano, this will be more natural for you than using a MIDI controller like an AKAI MPC machine. Either is fine, but with your background in piano I suggest the keyboard controller. If you really want the AKAI MPC machine add it later.
I used a keyboard and ran it into Reason to make my tracks. Then I exported the tracks into Nuendo to record vocals with the beat. Don’t have to do it that way, but just gives you an idea. Again the article link is below of my first set-up hope this helps.
SOUND CARD—–Very Important
If you want to record vocals or your guitar, you’re going to have to get a sound card. I recommend Digi Design’s Mbox, that is what I first used. It gives you two mic pre-amps, you can use one for the mic and the other for your guitar.
Note: If you plan on recording a live band or something, your should go with the DIGI Rack 003 (an 002 will do if you can find one). This allows you to hook up to 8 mics up as opposed to just two with the Mbox. The Mbox is compatible with Reason and it comes with Pro Tools so you do not have to buy vocal recording software.
For the mic I always recommend the Rode NT1-A for first time producers, it is excellent pro quality and will run around $200.00. If you don’t want to do any vocals you won’t need it (unless your guitar is acoustic, in that case you will need the mic). If you’re guitar is electric, you can go without the mic and run the guitar right into the Mbox or Digi 002 or 003 Rack.
Again, here is the link to the article that discussed my first studio, it even talks a little about the specs of the first computer I built. Bear in mind this is the pre- Windows Vista era. My OS was Windows XP Pro
Have Fun
Are you interested in management!? Just thought I would ask!
V.Rich
http://www.myspace.com/vrichmusic