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Friday, 06 August 2010 |
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From MusicianCoaching.com :
Ready, Fire – Aim!
I have worked with about a dozen artists over the last year more than
just coaching them but doing the heavy lifting – product managing and
marketing the release of recorded music and tours. What never ceases to
amaze me is the myriad of things that many artists only remember about
marketing and promotion after they have released an album. I realize
there is less set up time required in the high paced digital world we
live in but let’s not forget that there is in fact a need to have some
setup before a release date so as not to be completely unprepared.
Click here to read the entire post.
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Thursday, 29 July 2010 |
Just to level with you right at the beginning. I’m not a
music industry veteran, the frontman of a highly successful band or
former A&R of Sony EMI Brothers or anything to that effect. I’m a
musician, trying to make it just like a million others too. So the
reason I am writing is not because I have all the wisdom, the secret
ingredient to being famous or anything like that. No, I live and learn
and want to share, because I find the most useful stories are those of
people who are in a similar position as me.
Right, so I’ve been
touring with my band for two and a half years now, and we’ve been to
the US a couple of times, do Germany on a regular basis and visit the
UK, Bosnia, Croatia as well as playing in our homeland Austria. We’ve
played a good amount of shows, many of them were utter crap. Still some
of those terrible shows were vital to us. Why, I hear you ask. Here, a
couple of stories:
We played a gig in a hole in the
wall in Chattanooga, TN. It was communicated that we should arrive at
the venue around eight for setup and sound check. We had sent our
technical rider and had been assured everything was taken care of. We
arrived there to find…well, nothing. A room, if you could even call it
that, with nothing in it. No one to meet us, no one who knew what was
going to happen and the other two bands we were supposed to share the
bill with weren’t there either. To cut a painful and long story short,
we ended up playing to a very strange bunch of people on highly
questionable equipment which came a couple of hours late. We had already
decided to leave, because nothing was taken care of and we didn’t see a
way to play this gig without a drum set, a bass amp or a PA system. We
stayed and played in any case and met a great couple who really enjoyed
the show and the fact that we had performed and given it everything,
although the stage looked like crap and there were maybe ten people in
the audience, excited them. The girl turned out to be an artist and went
on to coming to a bunch of our shows, even travelling many hours across
the country to see us play. She also designed shoes for each one of us
and gave them to us on our following US tour. We’ve been in contact with
her ever since and she runs a street team now, tries to book shows for
us and supports us in every way possible.
The reason we
stayed and played that hole in the wall leads me to the second story. We
stayed because two girls, who had seen us play on the previous tour in
Florence, SC, had travelled seven hours by car just to see us play. Back
in Florence we appeared to another one of those gigs where you arrive
and feel like it’s just not going to work out. It was a huge venue,
actually a huge bar with a stage. I guess you could fit 600 people in
there. We were there to play with a cover band that had been kind enough
to let us open for them. We were inexperienced back then and didn’t
consider that if a cover band was booked for an evening, the people
weren’t really going to be in the mood for original music. But we went
on and did our thing. Most of the few people that were there actually
weren’t in the right mood for our music, but a couple of them seemed to
love our performance. Again they felt really touched by the passion we
delivered on stage, although the surroundings could well have put us
off. Especially these two girls were very taken and have been following
us ever since. Whenever we’re in the US, they’ll travel to see us play.
That’s what being a band is all about! And seeing people you know and
realizing that they have driven for hours to hear our music, makes a
shit gig a lot easier to play.
When we started
going to Germany, we ended up in a very strange place one night. It was a
cellar of some sort with one PA speaker, two mics and a drum set. The
cellar was very small and quite ugly looking. It probably fitted around
30 people. We played there with a band we had gotten to know on a
previous trip and who had invited us to play another show with them. We
struggled to get a decent sound out of that old speaker, we had to
change the set around, as we normally use 3 mics and we rearranged some
songs on the fly, so we’d not deafen the people in the room. It felt
quite bad and half way through the first song I thought we weren’t doing
that well, with no monitoring or anything. But seeing the cellar was so
small, the few people that came in during the first couple of songs
made it look full and it started feeling like we were in a club filled
with people. Because the atmosphere was so intimate, the people
responded so directly to anything I said on stage and they just loved
the music so much. They were close to the action and they could see us
sweat and work hard for every bit of applause. When we came back to that
place a couple of months later, it was so full that people were queuing
up the stairs, in the bar upstairs and in front of the door and I can’t
remember ever selling that many CD’s and getting so many newsletter
subscriptions in one evening.
I have loads of
stories like these, but there are also many where the gig just really
turned out shit as well. I’m not trying to say that you should be
looking for bad gigs, but I’m encouraging you to play every gig you get.
We’ve felt like going home and not playing lots of times. We’ve never
done it though, because sometimes it can end better than you ever
thought it would. Oh and one last tip. Whether there are two people in
the room or two hundred…always give it all on stage, people will really
appreciate it and that’s what shows that you love what you do. It works
for us anyway.
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Wednesday, 28 July 2010 |
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Music Xray has gone out of Beta and into version 1.0 their song to opportunity match. This will allow artists to upload their songs and have them matched to various opportunities where music industry professionals have added seed, or sounds like songs.
Here is how it works:
- You upload your original music here.
- We analyze the acoustic properties and mathematical patterns in your music.
- We send you an email telling you if any industry professionals are currently seeking a song like yours. (What? How does that work?)
- For as long as your song remains in our database (forever unless you remove it) we will alert you any time any professional is seeking songs with characteristics similar to your songs.
Put as many songs in the database as you'd like. It's free. But do note that not all opportunities use S2O so if there are opportunities that you want to submit to you should still actively pursue and submit to these opportunities, especially those seeking a fresh new sound.
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Friday, 23 July 2010 |
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From MusicianWages.com :
Creating a budget for a new album means figuring out not only how
much money you’ll need, but also how much time it will take from your
first rehearsal to release day. After releasing a number of my own
albums and answering questions from many of my friends doing the same,
I’ve been caught off guard enough times to know where the hidden
expenses are, how to save money, and where my money is best spent.
Naturally, the DIY environment is changing increasingly fast as
technology makes much of this easier than ever before. But just because
it’s possible to record an album on Monday and have it available on
iTunes on Tuesday doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for your music.
Taking some time to establish your goals and determine what you can
realistically afford will help you create the best album possible.
In this article, I’ve tried to give you an idea of a realistic cost
scenario for every stage of creating a new album, along with some tips
from my own experiences, to help you create your budget.
Click here to read the entire post.
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Monday, 12 July 2010 |
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Authenticity will always win!
Sometimes when I think of music, it seems like everything worth listening to has already been invented. Lots of metal bands, rock bands or pop artists we meet on tour sound the same, or like something you’ve heard a hundred times before and you can’t help thinking that they are interchangeable. It makes well for a party band to be like that, because when you’re in the mood for party, you’ll want something you recognize, something that’s easy to listen to and doesn’t surprise or confuse you.
But a lot of us musicians don’t set out to recreate something that’s already been sold a million times, we want to create something meaningful, something people would really take in and be touched by in one way or another.
How can we create that kind of art?
It’s all about being authentic. It sounds so easy and logical and yet it’s one of the hardest things to be – yourself. Because certain things have worked so well over the past, we instinctively drift towards them. How many Metal bands have you heard that use the same old breaks, double bass passages and riffs you’ve heard a million time in every Metallica song before? It’s not a bad thing, by all means, but you’d have to be ok with being a Metallica cover band or at least a Metallica-esk band. People will go “that’s classic Metal” and some people will love it, and others will be bored stiff.
I find that often I’m afraid of being myself. Not only in making music, in life generally. People tend to act unnaturally when they feel that their way of doing something might not be accepted by others, which might work well at your workplace or with friends, but in music these things become obvious. If you’re one stage and you’re not completely you, people will notice. Now if you’re an Elvis impersonator that will work well, but if you’re trying to pass on a piece of your heart, it will not work well.
Some of us try to jump around on stage, or look really cool. Others hang on to their instruments for dear life and try to hide that they are actually really nervous, some of us look like statues.
I went to see this guy play a couple of years back and he was standing on stage and the first thing he said was: You guys are awesome, but I’m so afraid of you. I loved it, in fact, everyone loved it. He was being himself, honest and – well, afraid. It seemed to make matters easier for him too, because he knew that we knew how he felt and it gave him courage to start his set without having to act secure. He got better with every song he played. It was a very personal concert, he didn’t perform a great deal, but he didn’t have to. His acting natural helped the audience focus on the lyrics, because that was the way this guy was going to connect with us, and he did. So whenever this guy is playing and I go see him, I know exactly what to expect. A very intimate atmosphere with meaningful music. It’s who he is, and if you have a product that is authentic, people will take to it.
Another memorable occasion was when my band and I played with this metal-band in America. Their singer had broken his leg the week before the concert and was in a cast. It meant he couldn’t stand up while singing. I hadn’t seen them before, but he seemed the kind of guy who really likes to perform and his band mates were certainly playing their butts off. So the singer was sitting on a chair in the middle of the stage and although he couldn’t really move, you could see that he was in the music one hundred percent. I’m sure he would have given us his best moves if he hadn’t had a cast on his leg, but he was so present and relevant at this gig, although he couldn’t do anything else than sit and sing. He talked between the songs about school, about his accident and about his dad who had pissed him off over something or other. He was absolutely himself and when I talked to him after the show, he was just like he was on stage.
A couple of months ago, when we toured in Germany we played with an experimental rock band. They weren’t all that good; I guess they were a band for the fun of it. The music was very unorganized and kind of out there. I loved them so much. This one guitarist was so thin and tall, his long greasy hair in disarray. He looked like he had no control over his limbs. But he didn’t care a bit, he just orgasmed his music out right there on stage, and no one could care less for the fact that he looked quite weird really. Why? Because it was obvious that that was just the way he experienced music, so it was fine. I’ve seen a couple of guitarists putting on a Gary Moore face while playing and I just knew it wasn’t real – so it looked silly and I though it ridiculous. As I say, you can tell instantly with musicians if they are being themselves or not
We’ve all seen lots of bands and heard lots of music, but the music that really gets to me and makes me listen is the music that reflects the people who’re making it. So be content – whatever you are like is the best way you can be – it’s your asset, because it assures that you will make music that way no one else can. Be yourself, if you’re a quiet character, be quiet on stage, if you’re loud and wild, that’s fine, do that. If you make funny faces while playing – great, make them. Just don’t fell like you have to look, sound or act like someone you’re not. The people who built our music world weren’t cool because they were good at imitating others, they were good at being themselves and that’s what made us love them. So go out there and be yourself, like you’ve never been before.
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Thursday, 20 May 2010 |
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Once you established yourself with a Twitter following, a Facebook Fan page base, are ton of friends on MySpace(yeah I know allot of you do not like MySpace) and all of the other social networks you probably thought, ok, now I can take a break. Thanks to the team at Facebook the answer is probably no. Now they came up with something called the Like Button. Yes, Like, as in I like this. It is a rather simple concept and fairly simple to implement.
Here is some information released by the Wall Street Journal:
“The idea is that other Web sites will drive traffic back to Facebook.com, and in turn receive traffic from Facebook. Other sites can also offer personalized modules, telling individual users what their Facebook friends have done on the site, such as review a restaurant.”
“The new "Like" buttons transmit data about user activity back to Facebook. If they like a band, for example, a link to the band could appear in their interests. Since advertisers can already target ads to users' interests, the new buttons could give advertisers more data to target ads to, but Facebook said it isn't currently launching any new ad-targeting products in conjunction with the service.”
“For years, he said, the Silicon Valley company has focused on tying together people on the Web, mapping out who knows whom. Now, Facebook wants to map out connections between people and their interests, gathering more explicit information about users' favorites in order to deliver them a more personalized experience on Facebook and on other sites. He called it "the most transformative thing we have ever done for the Web.””
So what does all of this mean to you as a music artist? Do you need to jump on the bandwagon? Well this is your call since in some people’s opinions this is too early to tell what impact it will have on the music artist. It could be great for the artist since friends of friends will see that they like the same band, song or singer. They will also be able to see what their friends like and check out the new artists as they are liked by others. It might also be used in the case where if another band is targeting your fans their band could come up as page suggestion. Is this the new crowdsourcing for the music industry? Again, it is too early to tell.
Since we are not a single band site, although we have tens of thousands of songs on our site, we decided to go for it. We have already implemented the like button on all of our music submission opportunities for new music artists and we have also added this on the music artists’ song presentation package along with implementing it into their comments section. You can take a look here for MIPs and here for music artists. One nice thing is in the comments box you can automatically link your comments to your Facebook page. Be sure to scroll down to take a look. Now that is a pretty cool feature. You can take a look at some of the ways in which we have implemented the button to get some ideas on how to make use of it on your website.
Whatever your choice is keep in mind that Facebook is outpacing everyone else so you should pay attention to what they are doing. Understanding how this new feature will impact your band will be similar in some cases but yet there might be some slight differences depending on the music artist or band. One of the best things to do is read up and see how others are making use of this feature
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Saturday, 24 April 2010 |
We've all heard the old stories about the artist who submitted their song to someone in the music business and never heard back. Then, at some point in the future they heard their song on the radio as a smash hit recorded by someone else and the whole thing ended up in a contentious lawsuit or simply never got resolved. These days, some artists believe that when they put their songs “out there” they run the risk of it spreading virally and millions of people will end up listening to the song but the artist never will never see a dime.
As in every industry, the music industry has its share of unscrupulous people so I’ll never go as far as to say that this won’t ever happen again but in my opinion, the potential rewards of getting your songs heard far outweigh the risks. Here are four points that illustrate why:
- There are now over a million songs being created and digitally distributed EACH YEAR. There is no lack of great music and smash hits out there and an industry professional would rather do legitimate business with a willing artist than to steal a song. There’s just too much hassle involved in stealing a song and in today’s digital age. It’s pretty easy for an artist to prove a song is theirs.
- If you don’t get your song in front of the right people you have no shot. There are plenty of artists out there who understand that hiding their music is only going to lead to never getting a deal. In other words, competition is robust and if you don’t get your songs in front of the right people there are plenty of other artists who will.
- Right or wrong, most music business professionals believe that there is no song or artist that can’t be replaced. That is to say, no matter how good you are or no matter how good your song is it really doesn’t make sense for a music business professional to try to “steal” it from you. Why get embroiled in contention with an artist and damage your own reputation in the business when it’s so easy to find artists with great songs willing to do deals?
- Mass exposure gives you a better chance of achieving fame or reaching a deal than obscurity does. That is to say, if you are lucky enough to put a song out there and to have it take off virally you will do really well. The currency of the digital age is attention. If you get people’s attention you have a better chance of converting it into income than if you languish in obscurity. Unless you are a writer of hit songs with a proven track record, a network of contacts waiting for your next creation and top artists beating down your door for your songs you need to do whatever you can to establish yourself. Having one of your songs go viral will help you establish that.
http://www.musicxray.com/blog
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Monday, 19 April 2010 |
Berkleemusic.com is mapping the new music business. The online school of Boston's
renowned Berklee College of Music will debut the new courses Online
Music Marketing: Campaign Strategies, Social Media, and Digital
Distribution and Online Music Marketing With Topspin.
In Online
Music Marketing with Topspin, students will learn how to use Topspin's
unique marketing, management, and content distribution platform to help
market and retail direct to fans. In the course, students will develop
the in-depth marketing expertise necessary to properly execute a
successful sales and marketing campaign using Topspin.
In Online
Music Marketing: Campaign Strategies, Social Media, and Digital
Distribution, students will learn the key areas that all marketers need
to focus on, such as social media marketing, effective use of data to
direct you campaigns, what partners you should be aware of, and much
more. By the end of the course, students will have a fully timed,
integrated, and optimized online marketing plan that can be used use to
generate interest in their music, acquire new fans, and sell their
music online.
Berkleemusic course author and instructor Mike
King says, "These courses are designed to empower musicians and
business folks with the real-world tools and techniques they'll need to
effect change in their careers outside of the traditional,
physical-based music retail and marketing world. Our goal is to provide
a detailed, step-by-step approach to maximizing your visibility online,
building a faithful community, and selling direct to fans."
About Berkleemusic.com
Berkleemusic.com
is the continuing education division of Berklee College of Music,
delivering online access to Berklee's acclaimed curriculum from
anywhere in the world. Berkleemusic's award-winning online courses and
certificate programs are accredited and taught by the college's
world-renowned faculty, providing lifelong learning opportunities to
people interested in music and working in the music industry. As the
business of music continues to move online, Berkleemusic is taking a
leadership role in educating the next generation of producers,
performers, and entrepreneurs on this evolving industry landscape.
Berkleemusic's students come from over 80 countries around the world,
and include Grammy award winners, managers, artists, publishers, music
business entrepreneurs and major international touring acts.
http://www.berkleemusic.com
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Friday, 15 January 2010 |
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From Gen-Y Rockstars :
I have a theory that musicians do not read enough non-fiction. When
I was in a band, my education into my business and my marketing was the
panels at Florida Music Festival every year and skimming through Donald Passman’s “Everything You Need To Know About The Music Business.”
Now that I spend my time on the other side of the court I find
myself reading more than ever, killing an average of a book per week.
This includes everything from biographies on musicians, entertainers
and entrepreneurs to marketing and business books. I have even been
looking into economics, stocks and finances.
I wanted to share 5 marketing books that I think would be a great
addition to any musician’s book shelf. The great thing about book (like
the hardcover kind) is that they are great for road trips, sharing and
fast food bathroom stops.
Click here to read Greg's entire post.
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Friday, 18 December 2009 |
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From Techdirt.com :
It's hogwash when some repeat the refrain that "artists should just be
artists" and not worry about business models, connecting with fans or
social networking. It's a claim that is made over and over again --
sometimes by musicians themselves. In the past, we've pointed out that
this is fine, if artists just want to be artists then they need to do
one of two things: either not expect to make much money or partner with
someone who can focus on the business model and social networking side
of things.
Click here to read the entire post.
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Wednesday, 18 November 2009 |
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The world of music copyright is evolving. Monopolies of collecting societies are under pressure. Songwriters complain about a lack of benefit, music users about non-transparent and high tariffs. Collecting societies are old-fashioned. Now is the time for online DIY copyright management. VillaMusicRights is a website in English, Spanish and Dutch, and plays a role as a facilitator in the contacts between songwriters and users of their music. This means you can upload your music and arrange your rights. The music will be stored in a database and users can download it.Downloads for home users are free, but business users have to pay a modest amount of money. Both songwriters and users have to register. Songwriters have to declare to own the rights to the music and users have to declare that they won’t use the music for other purposes than agreed. VillaMusicRights takes care of payments between songwriters and business users and receives a commission in remuneration of the cost of display, advice and transactions. A lot of music genres already are represented in the database, from rock to reggae and from blues to easy listening. Website: http://www.villamusicrights.com Email:
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Friday, 09 October 2009 |
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From Artistshousemusic.org:
You’ve decided to form a band. Let’s get your business in order.
What are the most important things you can do to make sure that you don’t trip
yourselves up down the road? What can you do now to make sure that when you hire lawyersand accountants you don’t have to pay later for them to fix business mistakes you could have avoided? Here are 20 questions to ask yourselves before you get too far.
Click here to read the entire post.
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Friday, 21 August 2009 |
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From AdvertisingAge :
"How do I get you and your brand clients and agency clients to choose my song or my band for your next major ad campaign?"
The answer is complicated, but the short answer is this: There is no
music-branding silver bullet that will skyrocket a developing artist to
stardom and riches. Take your time and focus on your own career and we
will find you. It's often not the answer these artists want to hear,
but it's the truth.
Coca-Cola, Nike and Gap are not going to place your song in a
national TV spot or your artist on their billboards or the print ads
they are buying in Vanity Fair unless the brand or its agency
understands your brand as an artist.
Click here to read Jeff's entire post at AdAge.com.
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Friday, 15 May 2009 |
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From Fun with Discs and Downloads :
There’s no shortage of information online about how to monetize your
music: sell CDs in stores and online, downloads, merch, synch
licensing, live gigs, etc. There’s not nearly as much written about how
to maximize your revenues once you’ve made use of the above selling
opportunities. Here’s a quick list of some common sense things the
average artist can easily implement (and which will show instant
results):
Click here to read Tony's entire post.
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Tuesday, 21 April 2009 |
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What do you do?
It's a question that gets thrown around in any social situation where you're meeting new people. Songwriters and musicians can often find this a tough question to answer, since the vast majority of us hold day-jobs or other sources of income aside from music-related "work".
Today's article on Serve The Song asks you - songwriters and musicians - how do you answer the question: "what do you do?"
Here's a bit from the article:
Some of us play music on the side, and plan to keep it that way.
Others are working the day-job “for now” until the music thing takes
off. Our split career-personalities come in many forms and variations.
What does your day job say about YOU? How much of your day-job
makes up “what you do”? Would you base it on the percentage of your
income? Or something a bit more personal?
Check out full article here: Musicians, What Do You Do? (What's Your Answer?). Share your opinions in the comments section of the article.
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Friday, 10 April 2009 |
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From About.com Music Careers :
The music industry is changing. Everyone knows that, right? One of the
many problems associated with working in an industry in transition is
that sometimes the debate over what SHOULD happen or what MIGHT happen
masquerades as the truth about what IS happening.
One of the most important tools in your arsenal as you get your music
career going is realism - that means being realistic about how much
work will be involved in making things happen AND being realistic about
the state of the music industry right now.
Click here to read Heather's entire post.
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Thursday, 02 April 2009 |
Here's an article breaking down the challenges that real musicians face when they're up against non-musicians in Guitar Hero and Rock Band. For one reason or another, real guitarists just can't master that toy guitar the way they can master a true six-string. Here's a quote from the article:
Drummers get to rack up the points at these “fill” queues as well. These are more along the lines of a 10 second drum solo with the drummer having both an ego and a coke problem. Come to think of it, this might be the only real part of the game.
Read the full article here: Why Real Guitarists Suck at Guitar Hero. For more articles and videos geared for the REAL musicians and songwriters out there, visit Serve The Song.
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Friday, 27 March 2009 |
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From MusicianWages.com :
Ready to release your own album but not sure where to start? Last week
I outlined many factors to consider when preparing your release, and
today we’ll cover the basics. In this article you’ll learn where you
can sell your album online, what distribution means, how digital music
distribution works, and some bare essentials necessary to start selling
your music.
Click here to read Cameron's entire post.
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Friday, 06 February 2009 |
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From MusicianWages.com
In an industry that is all about networking and who you know,
business cards are a great tool. They are a convenient way to give a
new friend or business contact a little pocket-sized reminder of who
you are, what you do, and how to get in contact with you. Moreover, in
a industry where individuality, creativity and quality are valued,
musicians need to use business cards that reflect their personality,
artistry and character.
There are a lot of different ways to approach the musician business card. Let’s start with some examples.
Click here to read David's entire post.
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Friday, 12 December 2008 |
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From Innerrhythm
I had a request recently on how to write a music business plan. Here’s
the format I recommend my clients to follow. Call it a template. A
music business plan gives you a sense of leadership, strategy and
direction and I discussed it briefly in my free e-book , How To Design A Winning And Profitable Music Business.
Whether you are a band, solo artist, songwriter, instrumentalist,
producer, manager or any other music industry individual, you need a
plan to help you achieve your goals and be fulfilled. The template
below will help you create one. In helping to make this template real,
I’m going to use a fictitious R&B/soul artist called Tina.
Click here to read the Kavit's entire blog post.
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Friday, 21 November 2008 |
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From About.com Music Careers:
Are you thinking of getting into the record label business? Starting
your own record label, whether for fun or with hopes of turning into a
real, live business, is hard, hard work. Before you make the leap, find
out what you are getting into and what you should have in place, so
you're set up to make a good go of it. Here's what you need to consider
before you start planning that first release.
Click here to read Heather's entire article.
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Friday, 17 October 2008 |
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If you want to get a record deal, get people to your shows, or sell
music like crazy, the answer isn't some kind of "magic pill" website
that you post your music on, blindly sending out a bunch of demos, or
anything to do with having good music...although good music certainly
helps -- the answer is to develop a "mindset" that naturally attracts
people to what you're doing as well as an understanding of how the
music business game is played.
As you develop as a person, your music career will develop with
you. Sounds crazy, but it's true...and I've seen it time and time
again, with thousands of acts that I've worked with, from garage bands,
to the guys selling out arenas. Check out these ten common music
business mistakes:
Click here to read the full post at Music Think Tank Open.
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Tuesday, 09 September 2008 |
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Don't Dream It, Do It!
DEFINE THE DREAM
What is it you are actually trying to do? Be the world's best writer? Become a megastar performer? Lead the church choir? Own a record label that records other acts?
You would not believe how many writer/artists come to me, saying they just want to do "something" in the Music Industry. Sorry, you have to specialize a bit more than that!
Sit down with paper and pen. Define EXACTLY what it is in your heart that you dream of. (Hint, the bigger the dream, the harder to achieve...but as long as you are prepared to give what it takes, you'll find a place in the scheme of things.)
By the way, I have to do this, because I get sidetracked by wanting to do too many things. I constantly have to reassess projects and schedules...just part of business in a busy, busy world.
RESEARCH THE DREAM
Let's say you decided that you want to be a great writer, who is successfully cut on the charts, and makes a lot of money. Do you know what the real charts are? Who's on them currently? What labels are consistently charted? The styles of the top ten successes in the last two years?
Do you know what the actual elements of a great standard song are? Can you name the top sellers of all time in your genre? The top sellers of the current year? And do you know why they attained success? Do you hone your skills and knowledge whenever you have a chance?
Can you make the presentation of your art a commercial reality? Not just WILL you, CAN you?
PRACTICE THE DREAM
Go do 150 sit ups without practice. Go write a great song without practice. You have to practice (i.e., actually write) everyday, just like you would with any improvement program. If the newest song you are showing is old, you are not competing as a writer.
REWRITE THE DREAM
If something doesn't go the exact direction you thought it should have, rewrite the situation. If it's the song that has flaws, rewrite it until they are gone. If it's the voice, get some training.
If it's the gig, create one that works for you. (When I was playing gigs in KCMO, I went to the Plaza, to nice places that DIDN'T have entertainment. I'd offer the owner a free evening of music, if he liked it, I'd work X amount of weekends for X amount per night. I almost always got the gig, partly because I was prepared, partly because few can resist something for nothing and not sense some obligatory return. (Most wanted entertainment, but had no idea they could afford it. For me, it was a way to go.)
If you find that you thought you wanted the big dream, but then you realize that your dream didn't include all the nonsense that goes along with one of those in exchange for your "other dream(s)," (perhaps your family or job?), it is TOTALLY all right to adapt your dreams to accommodate each other. Unfortunately, some dreams require 24 hour dedication to maintain. (Ask any professional who is a megastar in their field.)
PURSUE THE DREAM
Don't give up. That's the first thing ANYONE successful who is giving advice says, so it MUST be true. (OK, it's pretty logical that if you DO give up, your odds will go way down...) What I'm really saying is leave no stone unturned. Take advantage of all opportunities, work, work, work at it.
LIVE THE DREAM
Remember that each time you sing, play, write, perform, discuss, pitch, etc., you are creating a reality that supports your dream. Don't forget to applaud the little steps, as well as the big. You write a birthday song for your sister-in-law, and it makes her cry with your kindness. Your song is used in a campaign for adoption, and though it didn't earn a dime, it was perfect, and said so much to so many. A peer complimented your writing at a recent song pitch. You were the hit of the community musical. GOOD FOR YOU! It all matters.
All these things make us more professional, and give us the reasons for doing the work. They are as important as the royalties, and enrich our life of music. Don't overlook them.
APPRECIATE YOUR DREAM
Did you know that most of your little steps are someone else's big dream? Some people would give a great deal to have the opportunity to perform ONE karaoke song in front of an audience...or have anyone use a song for any reason....or play a great guitar lick...or own a computer...or you name it. Appreciate the skills and opportunities God has blessed you with that you might even have a dream.
Just my opinion.
Janet Fisher
(C) all rights reserved, reprints with written permission. Janet Fisher is a longtime professional songwriter and publisher for Film and TV, author of the pop book, MUSIC HORROR STORIES, and owner of Goodnight Kiss Music (BMI). She also supervises music for film, consults about the music business, and teaches songwriting.
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Friday, 05 September 2008 |
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From TheMusicSnob.com:
We recently interviewed Rachael Sage, a talented singer, songwriter, poetess and all-around musician. She’s living the dream: making music, playing gigs, and supporting
herself 100% through her music. Her experience will inspire you to work
harder, write better music, and take more risks. So pay attention!
Click here to read the entire interview with Rachael Sage.
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Friday, 08 August 2008 |
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From Sivers.org:
Should you go digital-only, and skip the CD?
The real question is: How much of your potential audience are you willing to exclude?
We’re in transitional times. A lot of people have iPods. But most still
don’t. A lot of people get all their music online. But most still
don’t.
So the answer for 2008 is : if you’re serious about being a professional musician, you need to do both.
Click here to read Derek's entire post.
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Saturday, 28 June 2008 |
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Here is a list of 5 things corporate America
needs to pay attention to succeed. While reading the article I got
these from I realize that musicians need to pay attention to these too.
I will add my own thoughts to each one but there are so many different
answers possible I would love to hear some of your own ideas.
1. Outsourcing Partnerships:
Even
though most street teams haven't evolved the way I think they should.
Outsourcing is the wave of the future as artists though your fans make
a great resource to outsource to. This is the start of a new style street team which I have seen in a few places.
2. Hyper-Informed Consumers:
The
days of creating your public style and having it separate from your at
home life are long gone (Now if I could only convince myself of that).
Nothing is really hidden anymore if you don't tell your fans what they
want to know they will find out themselves. It is better to tell your own story your way rather then someone else getting the facts wrong. Flip side to this is having to use tools such as google alerts to stay on top of what is being talked about you.
3. True Globalization:Today
you have tools such as Itunes, Amazon, and Reverbation to distribute
both your music and band information. This brings true globalization to
music both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because you can grow your
fan base with further reach. Curse because now your competition is that
much greater. However you can take that curse and turn it into a
blessing through co-branding.
4. Communication and Collaboration across Distributed Teams:
Staying
in touch with street team leaders in other countries or even regions of
your own country is easier and quicker. This means more work for you or
your management team. But the benefits once time gets organized is huge.
5. The Dominance of Search:
This
is the killer unless you are mentioned everywhere. The further your
online presence reaches the better your rank on search engines. The
time to stay involved in all these communities just does not exist. So
then how do you get everywhere and still have time to make that next
song to broadcast to the 22 galaxies.
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Friday, 23 May 2008 |
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This is an excellent piece from CD Baby Founder Derek Sivers and a must read for anyone aspiring to a career in the music business. It's a 71 page PDF chalked full of great advice and useable tips.
Quoting Derek:
"This is my best advice for my fellow musicians, about how to call attention to your music. My advice here is a combination of my advice from my own experience, and my advice from watching the experiences of other successful musicians. I never intended to sell my advice. I just want musicians to succeed."
Click here to read the entire PDF.
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Friday, 25 April 2008 |
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If I had a record label, would you be signed to it?
I never liked the idea of having a record label, because you’re too deeply invested into something you don’t control.
So if I were to have a label, my decision on who to sign wouldn’t be
decided just by the quality of the music. There are plenty of people
with great music but destructive work-habits or an unsustainable
approach to their career.
To confidently invest in an artist (as a label), I’d want to see the following:
Click here to read Derek's entire blog.
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Thursday, 17 April 2008 |
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From Bruce Warila's Unsprung Wisdom Blog:
The day the band (company) was formed, band members voted to split
ownership evenly; now you find yourself doing much more work or
creating far more value than your bandmates. Perhaps you started out
as a band, but the band has also become a business. You don’t want to
appear greedy and it’s not your style to change the rules once the game
has started. However, it doesn’t seem fair that everyone benefits
evenly when you’re doing more work than everyone else.
This is
one of the most common problems in small businesses - ownership and
reward is divided evenly, but the work and/or the value creating
capability are not. Here are eleven easy steps to fix the problem.
Click here to read Bruce's full blog post.
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Thursday, 27 December 2007 |
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An excellent article in Wired Magazine by David Byrne of Talking Heads
fame on the music business and the various business models now
available to artists.
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne
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Tuesday, 04 December 2007 |
For the working musician, having just a
rudimentary knowledge of copyright law can be as valuable to your
career as knowing your barre chords.
Also, and on a more practical level, knowing what you have and what
you don't have can greatly facilitate your music business dealings,
whether with a producer, a label, a music publisher, or your bandmates.
http://beatblog.typepad.com/melon/2007/05/music_biz_incom.html
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Wednesday, 17 October 2007 |
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Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I
always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a
trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards
long, filled with runny, decaying shit.
http://negativland.com/albini.html
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Tuesday, 16 October 2007 |
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Being in a band is no different than being
part of a professional sports team; a group of individuals united in
achieving a common goal—each person playing a unique and integral part
in achieving a dream. The motto—at least in theory—being, “All for one
and one for all.”
http://www.getsigned.com/want4.html
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