SRL Auditions: showcase your music like a pro with full music PR packages | What We Do [2]

Skunk Radio Live is a music platform dedicated to bringing new music and new artists into the spotlight. For musicians, nothing could be worse than making great music that never gets the attention it deserves. If you've ever had that problem then you've come to the right place. Free music promotion platforms online and music distribution companies promise artists the world but hardly ever deliver what artists really want and need. They promise to get your music in front of millions of fans but sadly, they do EXACTLY that. Whether it's on Soundcloud, iTunes, Spotify, CD Baby, Bandcamp, Reverbnation or even on Amazon or Google Play Music, or mixtape promotion websites like Dat Piff, your music is just sitting there online amongst millions of others waiting to be discovered, but the only way it will ever get discovered is when you personally take the right steps to make it happen. This is were music promotion/marketing and music PR come in. 99% of these so-called free music promotion companies and music distribution companies that promise to help you sell millions of records simply provide a platform to help present your music professionally, it is then up to you what you do from there.

In order to sell a record you must approach your music career from a professional point of view. Three key factors that determine whether a consumer makes a purchase are "the product", "the brand" and "trust". In this case, your music is the product, you are the brand and you need to gain the trust of potential fans by assuring them that you can not just deliver good music, but you can also deliver a high quality product (and an experience) that is value for money. The first thing anyone who is going to encounter before even listening to your music is your album cover artwork so you should pay close attention to it and never underestimate the importance of a good CD, album or mixtape cover designer or graphic designer.

Music PR (where the PR stands for Public Relations or Press Relations) is the process of getting music career achievements, music release announcements, band/artist career launches, interviews (can also result in interviews), music video releases, tour announcements, music event announcements and other music news into the media from where it can then reach the public. Music PR companies have contacts at or means of contacting radio stations, magazines, blogs, newspapers, and even television stations, and their aim is to get your story covered by as many of them as possible. Music PR people/companies are often specialists - they tend to specialize in one main field, for example some may specialize in only radio and will be able to get your music played by radio stations. Some radio specialists may even further specialize and for example only deal with college radio stations or local radio stations, online radio stations or terrestrial radio stations. Others PR services may do only print media and will be able to get whatever you are promoting into newspapers and magazines, and some others may specialize in television or even social media. PR campaigns would generally have a specified time frame and a specific focus (for example, a new single, a new album, a new mixtape, an upcoming tour, etc) in which the specified service is provided and upon completion the PR company provides a report with copies of the story as featured in the media. Music PR is never free even when it is provided as part of a record label deal.




Marketing and Promotion are often used interchangeably in the music industry and simply refer to any and everything you would generally do (including PR) to get new fans, get your music in stores, sell records and keep your fans coming back. It is generally an ongoing process so this doesn't have to have a specified time frame but it could. DIY music promotion is free since you don't have to pay yourself to promote your own music but generally speaking no person/company will promote your music for free unless there are other arrangements in place. If you've put your music on Soundcloud, iTunes, Spotify and any music platform online that boasts millions of fans, the chances of getting discovered without promoting at all could be as little as 1% unless you've already built a sizeable following on services that provide an option for fans to follow, otherwise your only hope would be to rely on the built in recommendation features of these services to recommend your music to potential fans, but in reality no one would recommend a song they haven't heard to someone else, so why would they recommend your song if no one is already listening to it or at least talking about it?

The music industry has changed a lot and now operates in a similar way since the advent of the internet and with the plethora of technological advancements over the past decade that provide any and everyone with the basic tools necessary to make music. There are now millions of talented individuals and groups around the world all competing for the attention of "the big 3" (the collective name used to refer to the only 3 remaining mainstream record labels in the world - Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group) so when independent record labels, subsidiaries of the big 3 and even the big 3 themselves are looking for new artists and bands, it's not just talent that matters - the amount of people talking about them and the amount of buzz they've created for themselves also plays a huge part in making the ultimate decision to sign a new act.

This is where SRL comes in. SRL's fanbase consists of music fans and music industry insiders looking for new music, new artists and new bands. We don't just dump music amongst millions of random music releases from all over the world hoping somebody will find it - every single song promoted via our networks has been listened to and specifically selected because someone somewhere thought it had potential - whether it's a top music industry professional, a good number of fans, or even just one very passionate fan.

Through progressively evolving ongoing Music PR and Music Marketing campaigns we are constantly reaching out to new fans, new demographics, band managers, music publishers, record label personnel, music licensing companies, the media and other entertainment industry professionals, and creating buzz around the artists on our roster. The Skunk Radio Live Auditions is how we systematically introduce new artists, bands, producers, songwriters, DJs and other musical acts to the world and in a sense is a way of testing new "product" (i.e. your music). The auditions are also an ongoing process so nothing is ever deleted or removed even long after each audition has ended so that fans who missed it can express their interest at a later date and hence artists who take part, even if only once have the opportunity of getting discovered indefinitely. Artists who create enough buzz during the audition stage are added to the SRL roster so that fans, critics and industry people who voted for them can continue to enjoy them and follow their every move. In addition, our in-house music distribution system coupled with our intensive music PR and marketing campaigns and other entertainment related services including music licensing, production and design services means that artists can still benefit from everything that comes with the backing of a record label and get just as far in their music careers before even getting signed (at which point they will be in a position to negotiate a much better deal than similar acts with less exposure).

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