SoundCloud Free vs Paid & ReverbNation

Hello Christopher 🙂
I joined Reverbnation a couple of years ago; and although I still have a Profile there; the Fact that I don’t have any of my Own Music meant that it wasn’t possible for me to upload any Tracks (even Remixes); and so although it looked Great; I just Dumped it; – things May Well of got Better – but are the Press kits for DJ’s ?
I have been using the SoundCloud Free service for a while and have No Complaints whatsoever; I have only had One 30 Minute Set out of 11 Hours of Sets Uploaded that has been Removed Due to Copyright;
The Paid Service only seems to give you 4 Hours of Upload Time (according to their Help File); however; with a Paid Subscription there are Many More Facilities available such as ‘Knowing’ who is Downloading your Tracks/Sets; and also a ‘Drop Box’ where you can Store (or be Sent) up to 2GB of Data (which sounds Cool to me);
That is All I know for now I am Sorry 🙂

I joined Mixcloud after Soundcloud deleted some of my mixes, i’ll not be going back to Soundcloud

Agree^^^^ and watermark your tunes too with your name drop every few minutes in the tune if you dont want them ripping off too…
i’ve surprised a few DJ’s and producers showing them how easy it is to rip off music from there even if its not set to be downloadable..
Put it this way, if you are listening to something off the internet, you HAVE downloaded it, the tricky bit is getting it in to a format that can be saved to the hardrive for later off line playback.. I’m scrupulous and these people are my mates, so i ask em first if i can save stuff, if they yes, cool… if they say no its also cool, i wont do it.
But not everyone is like me!

Yeah, getting stuff out there on Mixcloud is poor unless your Cox or Digweed :p
The promotion tools are pretty poor unless you pay to get your profile on the front page..
I just stick my stuff up there for a bit of fun, its up there if we are ever at a house party and everyone is all played out, click on a mix and the music carries on.

What i do love is being able to click on a tune in your mix and see who else is using it, then listen to how they have worked it, and how the play list is timestamped, i have had many great ideas for new tunes off there listening to other peoples sets

Yeah, just click on a track, it gives you the option to legally buy, or see who else is using that track

Edit: Just had a look, click on track or artist… 😉 It would appear that im the only one on mixcloud Using The Thompson Twins Alter Ego – Babble
http://www.mixcloud.com/artist/babble/
shame, they put out loads of good music as Babble

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Babble

U31, post: 4044 wrote: and watermark your tunes too with your name drop every few minutes in the tune if you dont want them ripping off too…

I dunno. I’ve come to believe that if someone wants to rip off tunes I played, then they’ll find a way to get them. Maybe not off my mix, but on P2P or illegal blogs.

I use name drops for radio and online shows. Sometimes a live event, but I generally don’t like to. Seen too many guys do what I call “audio masturbation” with them.

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I honestly think it’s a waste of money to pay $6 a month for ReverbNation. Possess, if you designed your site layout, then I think you probably could make your own electronic press kit. Hit me up if you need help (Chicago DJs UNITE!).

SoundCloud is only good if you’re producing tracks. I think the best solutions for DJs is at least MixCloud and MixCrate. MixCloud gives you nice widgets to post all over. MixCrate allows people to download your mix.

Don’t complicate your life and fall into the trap of paying people money per month for things you can do on your own. Back in 1994, I wanted to put a hot mix cassette in the local stores to build exposure. I had no clue about doing this on a professional level, as I’d only make individual cassettes for friends. I researched several spots who made professional ones and ended up driving two hours to some backwoods studio because they had a low price.

I ended up spending $600 for 100 cassettes. $6 a cassette! I got on-shell printing, a B&W insert printed that a friend designed, they ran my initial tape through a noise reducer, and shrink-wrapped them all.

In the end, I never made my money back, and I realized I spent way too much on this. From that point on, I adopted a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) approach to it all. I started pressing my own cassettes and even found labels I could print off an inkjet printer. I would design my own inserts and go to Kinko’s to print them off. Imagine being at a Kinko’s late on a Saturday night cutting 200 inserts off the page. Still, I managed to get 200 full-color inserts for LESS than what I paid for B&W ones from those studio guys.

When CD burning became easier and affordable, I’d just go about doing that on my own as well. I even bought an Epson printer that can print on CDs and would again design my own inserts and print them off at Kinko’s when I needed large quantities. Granted I only burned CDs now in small amounts for friends or to toss out at events. Now that MP3 is the chosen format, I simply go DIY with the album art.

The DIY mentality is something I think each and every DJ out there should embrace. The idea that you’re not going to shell out big money for things you might just be able to do on your own. It’s this mentality that led me to learn design on my own, as well as web development. Funny side note is that ended up becoming my career. It’s why I learned photography even, and still strive to be self-sufficient in many arenas. I’ll go to a professional for things I absolutely cannot do (like printing flyers or decals), but I won’t spend money for things like design, sound editing, or web development.

Take a chance. Make your own press kit, zip it up, put it on your website. I don’t think promoters are scanning ReverbNation for potential DJs. They’re only going by who they hear has a following…so prioritize that. Make your own press kit, continue editing and evolving your website, and always look for opportunities. Like Emma recently did, when someone needs a guest DJ on their online show, submit a mix. Post your mixes on those sites I mentioned. Send a mix to my buddies at TheMovement.fm (any of you are welcome to send them mixes), get involved with the local scene, find like-minded people, and help one another to build bigger and better events and gigs.

There isn’t some magical paid service that will get you success. Just do it on your own, make mistakes, learn from them, and eventually you’ll get to a point where you’ll see gains. The How To Succeed at DJing series will help.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and we all start as amateurs at everything we do. This entry from my blog will show you how my website looked very amateur from the start, but it evolved into the experience you get now. I didn’t start off knowing everything, so I had to grow. Imagine where you’ll be in ten years and you’ll get it.

Ok….I’ve rambled enough.