This article was taken from the February issue of Wired UK magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
The music biz has altered radically since the KLF wrote their visionary manual How to Have a Number One the Easy Way in 1988. The iTunes Top 100 has replaced the Top 40 and your potential No 1 no longer needs a physical format. Here's how to get press coverage, TV and radio airtime, and a spot in the iTunes charts:
1. Get the music right with The KLF's "Golden Rules" "Chart pop never changes," Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty wrote. "It only appears to change on its surface level." The rules: It has to have a dance groove that runs all the way through the record. It must be no longer than three minutes 30 seconds. It must consist of an intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, breakdown, back into a double-length chorus and outro. Lyrics. You will need some, but not many (read the KLF's manual online)
2. Build a blogworthy story around your track "Artists stand out now by being different," says Andrew Dubber of newmusicstrategies.com. "People will link to you and embed you if you're remarkable, not if you fit the Britney formula."
3. Submit your song to iTunes
Sign up for a delivery service like TuneCore, DittoMusic or AWAL, which have arrangements with iTunes. Some charge a fee, but not all take a cut of royalties. Once it's on iTunes, make an iMix containing your song along with others of a similar genre.
4. Make a viral video
Come up with an original, entertaining treatment: OK Go's treadmill video for "Here It Goes Again" has been watched 48 million times on YouTube. It needn't be expensive - radarmusicvideos.com matches videomakers to new bands who don't have massive budgets.
Post the video on YouTube, Vimeo and Google Video.
5. Syndicate your song as widely as possible
Get a conversation going on your blog, Facebook, Friendfeed and Twitter accounts. Post on Myspace, Last.fm, ReverbNation, Bandcamp and other music-sharing platforms. Set up an affiliate programme with iTunes to sell your song on blogs.
6. Give away some other tracks
Trent Reznor's Ghosts I-IV became the biggest seller of 2008 on Amazon MP3 after he gave away some songs for free. MusicGlue.com can help harness peer-to-peer networks to drive sales towards your key track.
7. Develop your story
Your No 1 now has a pressworthy double narrative: your original story, plus the crucial "massive on the internet" story -- it worked for Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and MGMT. Bingo: you're on your way to the iTunes No 1 spot.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
