5 Top Reasons Your Song won’t get Blogged On Top Blogs
You sent your song to those bloggers and have been waiting for eternity for them to upload it? So you are thinking to yourself ´Who do they even think they are?’ and decide to cross out bloggers and use mainly radio and TV for your promotional efforts…Or better still, you will create your own blog and won’t take none of their delays anymore….
The internet has seemingly become the faster and surest route to exposure than the traditional media – TV, radio, magazine etc. This is obviously true as a lot of brands, companies, professionals, organizations etc have leveraged their efforts by making use of online advertising and presence to their advantage.
One major set of persons who have enjoyed quite a boost to their input from the internet are music artistes. The internet gives them fame within seconds of putting up content that goes viral and spreads across the globe.
From every indication, the world will move more online so it’s only apt that everyone gets a good presence online and keep strengthening it.
Alright, back to the issue at hand. As a blogger, I receive a lot of songs from artistes all over the world, just like other bloggers do too. Most of those songs never get put online and this is due to different reasons. Some of the songs get online but don’t receive the desired ‘hits’ and downloads.
Online blogging started out with the likes of Linda Ikeji, Uduak Odouk who blogged society news, living tips, music etc. Main stream music blogging came with the success of NotjustOk, 360nobs etc. Today, we have a horde of blogs and they all are doing great in spreading songs across to different audiences online.
One thing most artistes overlook is that most of the said ‘big’ blog names they know are no longer the ‘pepper’ like they used to be. Also, putting your song on most of the ‘big sites’ might not give you the necessary downloads ‘cos most of the visitors go there looking for songs from certain celebs and just might overlook your work.
Putting your song on a platform that gets few visitors or one that gets fake traffic from overseas might not help your work too. You need a blog that gets hits from other artistes, DJs, promoters, record label owners, marketers, show organizers, music fans, etc as this ensures that your effort is being seen by the relevant audience. This is a topic for another day/post where I will give you tips on how to pick the right platforms and position your work for massive hits online.
In the meantime, let’s uncover the top reasons your song won’t be blogged, shall we?
1. Poor Song Art or info plus other details
When most artistes send their songs to bloggers, they do not include adequate information or material needed. Most artistes send in their songs without pictures/song art. Some of them send song arts that are very poorly designed. Another problem is that they send in a poor write-up and expect the blogger to put it up like that or work on it. Truth is, most bloggers don’t have time to sit and work on your post so it’d help if you get all your materials ready and right before sending ém in.
2. Inappropriate or bad Song
It is necessary that artistes should be sure of the platforms they send their songs to. It’s inappropriate to send secular songs to gospel blogs or send certain songs to blogs that don’t premiere your kind of music. Another thing that makes bloggers reject your song in this direction is if your song is ‘wack’ or carry inappropriate lyrics. Poor mixing, horrible vocals and poor delivery all add up to it.
3. Lack of Appreciation
This is the bane/crux of the issue. One major thing that makes a blogger overlook a song is when the artistes don’t show appreciation in any way. There are different forms of appreciation and they range from financial support and referrals to merely sharing the links to your song post with your contacts. A lot of other bloggers I took the issue to complained about this so I’ll be giving it more length.
Let’s take ‘financial’ up and digress it. You see, a lot of artistes don’t understand that bloggers have expenses they take care of from time to time that are directly linked to their jobs as bloggers and otherwise. Merely downloading your song from the net and uploading it on their blog costs them chunks from their internet subscriptions. Spending time to spread and promote your work also eats up their time and money but yet they do this cos it’s necessary if your music must spread.
And yes, they have real life financial commitments like you do. They pay for BIS subscriptions, internet data plan for their modems, feed, support friends and families with cash, etc.
It’s pathetic when an artiste uses a blogger’s platform to get his music out and does not think it apt to compensate the blogger for expenses incurred in putting up and hyping the songs.
Artistes pay production costs to producers, ‘payola’ to radio and TV On-Air-Personalities to get their music on air, they pay for their promo CDs, etc but don’t want to pay bloggers for building a platform that promotes their work and put the said work on it.
Yet they hope to ‘blow’. Paying TV, Radio, Newspaper people to promote your song and overlooking bloggers in this 21st – Internet – Suave- Century is a misnomer and reeks of lack of foresight. The internet gives you more access to your fan base and stakeholders in your sector more than the traditional media. Besides, you can boost whatever you do on radio/TV and newspapers/magazines with your online presence. Can your fans call in radio stations to get your music on a cd or in their laptop/phones? But yes, they can get them from the net into their phones, laptops and even CDs and play whenever they want to.
A blogger friend of mine said “Surprising the blogger with gifts occasionally” helps. Everyone aims for greener pastures and a better deal in life… If a blogger is helping you get one, it’s only apt that you appreciate him/them from time to time. Be partners in progress. And yes, progress is best when mutual.
Just as artistes complain about not getting paid for their work or being underpaid, so it is with bloggers.
4. You’ve been Blacklisted
Are you shocked to know this? Yes, artistes get blacklisted by media men including bloggers. What does it mean to be blacklisted? If your name gets on a blacklist, it means no one will touch material from you and this often occurs when you treat a particular set of persons wrongly over a period of time and they get to find out and decide to avoid such outcome.
The result is that your music or material won’t receive the push it should. Even if it gets put up, it won’t be made to receive the kind of traffic it should. Professional bloggers know how to drive traffic to a particular set of posts so it doesn’t end in having your song online. That song needs push. If you are on a blacklist, you might get an upload but no push.
5. No Budget or No Representative
I recently saw a blackberry messenger (BBM) broadcast from a fellow blogger that states thus;
“You Shoot Video of N500k and spend over N200k [extra] on it yet you can’t pay promoters/bloggers or PR managers to [handle] a professional promo for it….Dear artiste, the devil is dancing ‘xxxxx’ with your music career. Wake up and invest in your career”.
A lot of successful artistes know the importance of having a good representative stand in for them when it comes to taking their music to the pro league.
You just can’t remain in the fish jar and feel you are swimming in the ocean. If you plan for your music to go viral more than once, you should have a structure in place that will compensate the people that help you achieve that.
I advise that you get a good blogger who knows his onions and whose onions other bloggers know and respect to be on your team and handle your online publicity. Your work is best when its sent from one blogger to the rest because getting your song/video release in the right format and other things will be taken care of by the said blogger.