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How To Get Your Music on Pandora and What To Do Next

June 14, 2010 by 21 Comments

Quiet entertainer pandora
One of the questions I’ve been asked the most is: How did I get my music on Pandora.com? Well, this is an easy question. Pandora has a wonderful FAQ section and the step-by-step process is spelled out nicely there. However, for the benefit of us all, I will walk you through everything I did, my thought process while doing it, and even what I am doing now that I have music on the site.

First off, it goes without saying. I’m a big fan of Pandora. Just about all the music I currently love is music that I discovered through either word of mouth or Pandora’s random selection. People like Blue Sky Black Death, Bonobo, and Free The Robots. So when I released the Machismo EP, I knew that I wanted it on Pandora. However (and in spite of the great instructions on their site), I hesitated. If you’re an artist, you might be hesitating too. I needed to do a lot of research. I felt like looking around and seeing if other indie artists were going this route. Thinking back, they obviously were or else where would all this great new music be coming from? Anyway, I kept stalling until I read a great blog post about Pandora over at genyrockstars.com. That’s a great post from Greg Rollett and long story short is a retelling of how to and why it’s great to be on Pandora. I recommend it for anyone who is wanting to do this. So anyway, it was a great kick in the pants and if I was going to be serious about my music, I needed to get on it. So, I got started.

I sent my Machismo EP in. I needed to have a barcode. At the time, i was struggling over whether to go with CDbaby or Tunecore to distribute the Machismo EP. I don’t know how it is now, but Tunecore was giving out barcodes with their subscription whereas CDbaby was charging extra fees. So I went with Tunecore for that reason alone. Also, you have to have your physical CD for sale on Amazon. You can easily set this up with Tunecore as i did with their on-demand store. You have to do this and you have to make sure it’s physical copy.

I uploaded two tracks to pandora.com ; filled out all the paperwork and sent that in along with a physical copy of the CD and then you wait. I took this time though to also fill out and get my stuff registered over at SoundExchange. Lots of paperwork, but you have to do all this stuff. Anyway, from the time I started this Pandora process until the time it showed up was about 6 months. Long time, eh? But hey, now it’s on there.

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Ok great! Well, how was anyone going to find my music? Well, if you’ve heard the Machismo EP, you know that I have two instrumental tracks and 6 tracks with emcees. Pandora had only analyzed one track (Machismo) into their system. This means that only that track would possibly show up in rotation. Also, it means that my similar artists would only be artists who had music similar to that one song. Well, it’s the curse of having a diverse little record. I emailed their support to see if they would do any more. They got back to me to say that it’s customary that only 1-5 songs would be analyzed. Well, I thought that was both good and bad. I was able to up the load to 3 analyzed tracks. You see in the pic above it’s the 3 tracks that it says “try tracks 2, 4, and 6.” Anyway, so I have made comments over at my profile and at my record about how anyone can download Machismo for free. And I can edit those comments later if i need to.


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So that’s cool. I noticed that they matched me up with artists like Dela & Panacea. Pretty cool, but I want people to catch my instrumental stuff too. Maybe the next record. One thing I also have done is create a Pandora station. I did this using Quiet Entertainer (again, that’s ME) as a seed. Also, I added some other artists that I like and other songs that I like as seeds. So anyone who listens to my custom Pandora station, will not only get a good mix of similar sounding artists according to Pandora but a great dose of stuff similar to what I’m listening to now and hopefully will have a keen ear to what my next record might sound like. Of course, you can hear the custom made Quiet Entertainer Pandora station here.


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That’s really about it. The joy of Pandora is that it picks music for you. I can’t really push my music on people; and I wouldn’t want to. I hope that it plays my stuff for people and that they enjoy it. I wish I could tell if people were finding me through Pandora. But I guess I have other things to worry about. Like working harder and creating more. Meanwhile, I hope this was helpful to artists and also to anyone else as more of an insight to another aspect of something I deal with as QE.

Two things: 1) If it was helpful, then I’d love it if you’d share or re-tweet this. 2) Are any of you getting your music on Pandora? & how are you promoting it?

Also: If you want to know how I figured this out, then take a look at the NME Blueprint. I went through this system and learned how to market my music like a champ.

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What You Need To Know About Finding a DJ Mixer

March 12, 2010 by

I’m in between shows right now; that means it’s time for me to evaluate and upgrade my DJ gear! My most immediate need is a mixer. I figured I’d go ahead and share with you my process for finding the right one, and help you to find one too. More and more people are beginning to learn how to DJ and manipulate music on their own. Whether you’re using turntables, CD players, iPods, laptops, or whatever; the mixer is the most important piece to DJ-ing, in my opinion.

First, you need to know: What kind of DJ are you? What techniques and skills are most important for you? What kind of control do you need? These simple questions will guide you in your decision making. Most mixers will allow you to do all the essentials, but let’s customize a little further.

Scratching is important to me, so I want a mixer with an adjustable cross-fader curve. Here’s a quote from hiphop-directory.com:

A crossfader curve adjustment on a mixer allow you to gradually alter the way how fast a crossfader will cut in the second sound. The settings of the curve range gradually from an X-curve into an inverted U-curve. The X-curve means that when you move the crossfader from one end to the other, the sound that is playing will fade out gradually, and at the same time the sound playing on the other turntable will become louder gradually. With an inverted U-curve, as soon as you move the fader even a little off the other end, the new sound will be audible at full volume, but you will also hear the original sound in the background. Thinking of the settings visually might help in understanding it – with X-curve, both sounds increase and decrease very linearly. With an inverted U-curve, sounds cut of very abruptly at both ends of the fader, making this setting very essential for any type of scratching.

So there you have it. This was my first hard lesson in mixers. My first mixer came as part of a DJ-in-a-box kit. My friend had bought it for himself but then decided that he didn’t want to learn to DJ. I was so eager at the time AND I was getting a discount on it, so I bought the whole set from him. I didn’t realize why I wasn’t sounding like my favorite DJs. You can still learn technique with any kind of mixer, but you’ll be at a handicap if you get a DJ-in-a-box kit. I am grateful for that kit, since before then I had NOTHING and would not have ever gotten started. If you can wait, and you can get a little more money; I recommend saving up for a better quality mixer.


What else? Do you need EQ control? Effects Send & Return or even built in? How many channels do you need based on your situation? For mine, I can get by with the basic 2 channel mixer. Although for a typical show, I max out that mixer (2 sources per channel). One feature that I like to see in a mixer is a transform switch. My most recent mixer has the switch but I’ve worn it out and since the mixer is discontinued; I can’t get replacement or compatible repair parts. Long story short, each channel on a mixer can go phono or line. You can switch between the two, but you can also have a transform switch allowing you to switch quicker and you can actually “scratch” within the two sources from the same channel. Anyway, look at MixMaster Mike as he does this (at 2:00, 2:35, & 6:04):



Okay, so you know what kind of DJ you are; you know what you need your mixer to do and what features it needs to have. Now, you have to look at cost. Do you want to get buy and then try to upgrade later? Or do you save up for the best possible mixer and get it first? You might spend more money in the long run doing the buy-low/ upgrade strategy. But you make up for it because you have a mixer actually with you. Depends on how fast you can make money. While, I don’t think all mixers are created equally, I do think that if you know what you’re doing and what you need the mixer to do; you can have a great experience.

Here’s some other links I found that might help you on your search:
Tips for Choosing Your DJ Mixer
Where Can I Buy a DJ Mixer?

And here are my favorite mixers:
1. Rane TTM 57SL with Serato Scratch Live – The Crown Jewel of Mixers. Complete with Serato!
2. Vestax PMC-08Pro – This one does just about everything.
3. Vestax PMC-05ProIII VCA – Has all you REALLY need.
4. Stanton SA.3 – Stanton has pretty good mixers; usually at a lower price. I’ve used Stanton for a long time.
5.KAOSS Dynamic DJ Mixer – What’s cool about this one is the KAOSS pad built directly into it!


Okay, to recap:
1. Determine what type of DJ you are.
2. Determine what you need your mixer to do.
3. Decide what mixer features you need.
4. Look at the cost.

What do you think is important when trying to find your mixer?

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thinking about KNAPSACKHEROES!

March 3, 2010 by

KNAPSACKHEROES!

I’m in a strange, never-experienced-before predicament. I’ve spent some time promoting an upcoming show with some friends here in town, KNAPSACKHEROES! (Yeah, you’re supposed to type it with all Caps and an exclamation point at the end, but I’ll refrain from here on out.) They are a mix of new wave pop with rock and hip-hop. When I moved to Nashville, I first heard about them at a house party I went to. I met a couple of guys, one from this band, and the other from this other band. And they said that I would probably really be into Knapsackheroes because I like hip-hop and I like electronic music.

KNAPSACKHEROES live!

Well I never got to see them until about a year later. I was doing synth and samples for a band; we ended up opening for them. Immediately, I noticed that they had a really energetic live show. The girl I was dating at the time said that the drummer scared her by how he was playing. Well, that’s a good sign. Knapsackheroes was dangerous.

We did a couple of shows together over the years. I’ve gotten to know them a little bit and they’re a great group of guys. They are actually deep students of pop culture as a whole; and between the 5 of them, they have a wide variety of musical taste. Well, we like a lot of the same bands. So I’ve been excited to get to do another show with them on March 17th at Mercy Lounge along with Details Details (a Postal Service meets Owl City electro-pop artist) and Eyes Around (rock band from Alabama).

Vinyl Jones

On Monday, Vinyl Jones, the rapper in Knapsackheroes, had a stroke. He’s been in the hospital for the past couple of days. I don’t know all the specifics. I’m getting updated with the rest of the world on the Knapsackheroes facebook page. I don’t know if he’ll be okay for the upcoming show. I don’t care about a show. I just hope he’ll be alright and can recover. He’s got a loving family (complete with 8 kids) so I know he has some support. But please pray for him. Pray for his family. Pray for his band.

EDIT: He’s home from the hospital; doing physical therapy and the show will go on! Keep praying. But wow!

And check out the Knapsackheroes! EP

Knapsackheroes EP

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About the Machismo EP

February 5, 2010 by

Machismo EP

I’m really excited and please about the Machismo EP. It’s a collection of some tracks I’ve done with some of my friends & favorite emcees. Let me tell you a bit about it, track by track:

1. False Alarm -
One night I went to Fuel and my friend Chip Greene and I were flirting with the bartender. Anyway, he was telling her that my music was like Blue Man Group except that you should call me Black Man Group. I thought it was hilarious. I came home with thoughts of Blue Man Group in mind and made this song. It’s fitting because Blue Man was the first show I saw that ever really grabbed and inspired me.

2. I Am…(featuring James Fate)-
I knew I wanted a theme song. It might be because of my long history with watching WWE as a kid. Theme songs and entrance music are a major part of the whole thing. I spoke about James Fate in a previous post. He is one of the best emcees I’ve heard in town. I knew that Fate would do a great job with it and he did. One of my favorite tracks for obvious reasons. Also I should mention, I got the idea for the beat after watching Paper Route perform. I saw them live at The End (also previously mentioned). They were playing a song from their EP, but I swore there were all of the sounds from the stage that I didn’t hear from the EP. Lots of electronic samples and delays. I wanted to recreate that kind of feel for the track.

3. Audition (featuring WT the Musical Mastermind) -
Audition was probably the first song I actually finished on the record. I was hanging out with a local Nashville producer who was making beats with such ease in the studio. I was really inspired. A lot of what inspired me was the producer’s ability and the rest of it was that I really wasn’t doing much with my life at the time. So being in there while he was making beats was kind of a kick in the butt. Anyway, I came home and did this track. WT is probably the main guy that got me into music. We were in a group together in college. I knew I wanted him to be on a track. This track was a good fit.

4. Machismo -
I was messing around on a sampler, the Roland SP 404. I tried running different sounds through the BPM Looper. I was actually running a synth line that I had heard somewhere; tweaking different things and distorting it. Eventually, I had changed the sound so much that I heard the beginnings of bassline. That was the beginnings of this song. So, I just built around that idea.

5. Still Single remix (featuring Spoken Nerd) -
You probably haven’t heard the original Still Single track, but it was one of the few tracks inspired by specific life events of mine. Also, Spoken Nerd is one of the more prolific emcees in town; always working on his next record. Check out his latest on youtube here. I asked Spoken Nerd to write topically for this track and I changed it up to give it a hip-hop bounce. It should be noted that this song was an indicator of where I was at the time and that it in no way reflects on Spoken Nerd, himself. Although, he did write it; and I think it’s a great measure of his lyrical brilliance. I hope this song is one of your favorites.

6. Wildfire (featuring J. Prodigal)-
I told you just a little bit about J. Prodigal. He had been waiting to get on a track for a long time. He actually wrote several verses for this song; I had to whittle it down to just two verses. He can write for days and freestyle for longer. Glad to have him on the EP. Also, I really like this beat. It was one of the few times I used an outside source vinyl sample for a melody instead of playing it or arranging it midi-style. But I’m not telling from where. ;-)

7. Our Time (featuring E.T.) -
You’ll like this one. Definitely check out E.T.’s music at the link I provided but ALSO please check out his side project, a hip hop crew called The Underground Senate. Some of the best hip-hop you will ever hear. Anyway, E.T. just moved to Louisville but before that he was in Nashville. He had been saying I should come over to his studio and do things for about a year or so before I finally went over there. I did this track in the corner in my laptop while a lot of emcees were there writing rhymes for a different track. I love this song so very much and am thankful for how it came together.

8. BlogWorthy (featuring J. Prodigal, WT, E.T., Spoken Nerd, Bobby
Exodus, Iller, James Fate, & 247) -
I told you about most of the emcees on this one. I even mentioned two of them (Iller & 247 of The Billy Goats) twice in previous posts. (here and here). So let me tell you about Bobby Exodus. Bobby also wrote different versions of his verse to this song. But I love the one we have here. He has a really unique kind of flow AND it’s really good. It’s easy to be different. Not easy to be different and GOOD at what you do. So, I was especially excited to finally get Bobby on a track as I have yet to do a full length track with him. I wanted an all-star track with all these guys on it. But the hook was an idea I got from listening to some west coast hip-hop. It’s a shout-out to artists like Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, Pigeon John, & Ahmad. In addition, I finally got to use the vocoder stuff (You hear it also in Wildfire). You know it’s BLOGWORTHY!

I definitely want you to have this music. Now that you know all about it, please go ahead and check it out here!,/a>

Click here to download the “Machismo EP”

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My first show at The Rutledge

January 30, 2010 by
Quiet Entertainer at The Rutledge

Quiet Entertainer at The Rutledge

I finally got to do a show at The Rutledge! It was a lot of fun. Robert, Frank, & Andy were very nice to me and all of my friends who came out. Thanks to them; and thanks to Tyrone Carreker, Rebecca Moreland, and Xilehom for allowing me to be on the show with them. Great people.

Click the picture above to get more pics from that night; courtesy of raywen.org

This was a cool show since I finally had J. Prodigal there. It was the first time in a while I’ve gotten to perform the tracks with J. Prodigal since Machismo starting playing on Pandora. So far, it seems like only Wildfire, I Am…, and Machismo from the Machismo EP have been getting Pandora plays. So that was cool to have him there along with James Fate.

If you haven’t heard those tracks from the Machismo EP, you can download it for free.

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