
Show HN: A (funny) rap song about tech recruiters - stdoutrap
Here is the song link: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=_w9taH8Kkvw" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=_w9taH8Kkvw</a><p>Quick background on the project: I&#x27;m a full time programmer and I love making rap music. I see a lot of humor in the profession&#x2F;industry, and thought it would be fun to combine the two.<p>In terms of monetization, I currently am doing the following:<p>1. Paid sponsors: depending on the level of contribution, they could get a shoutout&#x2F;posting in the YouTube description, or an annotation on the video<p>2. Donations (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.patreon.com&#x2F;stdoutrap" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.patreon.com&#x2F;stdoutrap</a>)<p>3. Swag gear (in progress)<p>I am also toying with the idea of getting proprietary beats and making an album (I&#x27;ve gotten a few comments from people saying they would buy an album).<p>I would love to get some feedback on:<p>1. How to get more exposure (currently post on HN, IH, dev.to, Twitter)<p>2. Song topic ideas<p>3. Monetization ideas I am missing
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notmainacct
Don't buy beats. There is no real correlation for quality and cost, and part
of the fun is making a beat. Your time and money will be better spent either
learning mixing and mastering (which you already have good fundamentals), or
getting time with a studio to record/mix/master, which should only be done if
you already have a fanbase to support the cost.

1\. Getting exposure Right now from that video, you are a faceless rapper with
no real incentive for a fan to subscribe, or follow on social media. You
should either look into making a cheap music video that attaches a face, or
some visuals to the track which allows you to address the audience after the
video for what content and notifications you can get at each social media
channel. After that, as long as you keep up the quality, and can maintain some
degree of a regular content posting schedule (1x a week/month/quarter), you
can build a regular audience.

2\. Song topic ideas If you want to stick with the tech theme, stay with it. I
think this song came from a 'write what you know' place, so you can do more
with it i.e. more workplace/professional annoyances, or any other common
shared experience for your fanbase you are trying to build. Be relatable, and
write what you know.

3\. Monetization You already have a patreon, and are working on swag. That's
already what high level youtube/musicians do as the endgame, unless you see
yourself having appeal for concert/performance settings at a convention or
something. If you want to build more fast songwriting skill, you could sell
short songs on fiverr or something for a bit of cash and forcing yourself to
keep working on your talents. Focus on your fanbase first, and worry about
monetization later. I don't think you are at a critical mass yet where a delay
in a monetization route means lost money.

~~~
wingerlang
Obviously I am not a Youtuber, but does he really need a face and 'talking to
the audience' after each video? Why can't a channel just be pure content.

If his songs are good - I subscribe. If he makes 10:02 long videos chatting
about his social media and swag, I unsubscribe.

Note to OP that these things actually probably do work, as everyone is doing
it. I'm just ranting as I personally hate it.

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gitgud
It's a cool idea that you're pursing, and it looks like they're gaining
popularity!

For more exposure, I think that your videos would benefit from some kind of
visual performance, most people would much rather watch an unknown rapper in a
video than a blank title template...

Here's some ideas to make your videos get more exposure:

\- [1] Pretend to do a conference talk with power-point presentation, this
would be a hilarious satire, as it's extremely relate-able for programmers.

\- [2] Cartoon animations of what you're describing (this would be time-
consuming though)

\- [3] Weird face-filters, like the deep-fake kind, you could make celebrities
rap in different parts of your song.

\- Cool programmatic visualisations (you're a programmer after all)

[1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA-
NDZb29I4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA-NDZb29I4) [2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlU4FuIJT2k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlU4FuIJT2k)
[3]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwiagqaX4fA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwiagqaX4fA)

~~~
stdoutrap
I love the conference parody idea! I've gotten this feedback several times now
(to add visuals), so I will put some effort into it for my next song release.

