Spring Break
Q & A: Getting your band noticed on MySpace
Drive-Thru Records president Richard Reines gives insight on finding new bands on MySpace
Lauren Darmody
Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Features
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Richard Reines, president of massive indie label Drive-Thru Records, started the label with his sister Stefanie in their dining room with no money and no staff. Their label went on to launch the careers of bands like Dashboard Confessional, New Found Glory, Senses Fail, The Starting Line and Something Corporate.
Reines talked to DIG about his experiences with bands on MySpace and what your band can do to get noticed.
Q: Do you hire certain people to find bands on MySpace? Are these people considered "talent scouts?"
A: Kids tell me about bands they find on MySpace and we have someone named Steve who I trust to listen to demos and check out bands for us, but nobody looks only on MySpace. Steve is considered a scout.
Q: What is the process of scouting bands on MySpace?
A: I honestly just listen to the songs or at least parts of songs and if they aren't good enough I don't get through the whole thing. Sometimes I check out the pictures and comments on the page and see if they play shows. You see bands that actually work and bands that just sit around. The most important thing is the music though, but image helps a lot too.
Q: Is there a certain system for searching through band profiles? Do you look for a certain amount of hits or friends they have on their profile?
A: I know bands can fake plays on MySpace, they can buy friend adders and all sorts of bots so the amount of friends and plays usually doesn't impress me. I do have ways to know if the fans are more legitimate though. These days any kids can put up a MySpace profile and claim they are a band. It clutters the whole system.
Q: Is there a "competition" for certain labels to get and sign bands?
A: Sometimes multiple labels are interested in one band and then the band has a lot of options of what they want to do.
Q: What kind of genre of music do you look for?
A: Rock, pop, alternative, indie, folk, singer/songwriters. Doesn't really matter as long as I love the songs.
Q: Does MySpace make it easier to sign bands because you are in control rather than having people send you tapes?
A: It only makes things easier because as soon as I hear about a band or want to listen to their songs again it takes five seconds to pull up their page. It is also less clutter than having tons of CDs around the office. But to be honest, when I have a physical CD I tend to listen to it more and take it in the car with me, etc. and let the music really grow on me. MySpace gives the band a few minutes and then you move on.
Q: Do you think it makes it easier or harder for bands to get signed?
A: I think it is harder for bands to get signed because as I said earlier, because of the ease of MySpace there are so many bands it has become overloaded. Not just for the labels but for kids. All of a sudden kids are fans of 50 bands instead of 5 and there is no way the kids will keep on top of what all 50 bands are doing. They won't buy all 50 shirts, won't buy all 50 CDs and won't go to all 50 shows, so it makes it even harder for one of those bands to stand out and get the attention.
Q: What advice would you give to bands who are trying to get signed?
A: Write great songs, practice a lot, get tight, make sure your photos look decent, promote your band so people know about you, and if the music is great, word spreads really fast and people check your band out. Then that makes its way to labels. Great songs don't get ignored.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 14
KaRi from TPSradio.org
posted 4/09/08 @ 10:07 PM PST
Drive Thru has major respect and web presence
AND a witty logo!
Sean
posted 4/10/08 @ 6:55 AM PST
Richard is the shizzle! He really loves every band he signs. He loves all types of music its cRaZy. Thank god NFG is home again! Looking forward to see what bands he signs next!
doubleagame
posted 4/12/08 @ 6:31 PM PST
Thanks for posting this.
Jon
posted 4/21/08 @ 12:19 PM PST
I know this is going to be stereotypical, but Sound the Charge is an original band out of Jackson, TN. They have been playing together for years and have landed some big gigs in Memphis, Nashville, and Night Clubs in Jackson, TN. (Continued…)
Chris
posted 5/18/08 @ 8:51 PM PST
myspace.com/chrisparketny
Nieve
posted 5/31/08 @ 9:03 PM PST
Great advice and outlook on the music game...very helpful..
Quiver
posted 7/09/08 @ 7:16 PM PST
Any suggestions for promoting? We are local Dallas band Quiver and only seem to have repeat fans to our shows. What can we do to get more exposure?
Thanks
Kill The Clock
posted 7/25/08 @ 11:31 AM PST
We are a band coming from Stephenville texas, a small town about a hour and a half from dallas what can we do to get noticed here so we dont have to move to the big city?
Sara
posted 2/12/09 @ 10:52 AM PST
I'm sorry, but I have to call bull#*$% on this. My band busts butt every day trying to get people to give us a listen on myspace and add us if they like us, we book ourselves several shows a month, constantly let people know about shows, sending out event invites, making flyers, handing out free sample CDs, writing really good songs, practicing hard, and we're always trying to think of ways to get fans and get our music heard and it doesn't help. (Continued…)
gem
posted 3/10/09 @ 2:36 PM PST
please listen to...www.myspace.com/tracksweb.
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