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.

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.

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:

1. You upload your original music here.
2. We analyze the acoustic properties and mathematical patterns in your music.
3. We send you an email telling you if any industry professionals are currently seeking a song like yours. (What? How does that work?)
4. 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.

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.

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.

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

• 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.

From Gen-Y Rockstars : 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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. 

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. 

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  

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

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