Mar 11, 2010
On the Topic of Playing Music for a Living |
Thursday, February 25, 2010 |
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On the Topic of Playing Music for a Living
I’m still trying to do that! Just kidding but not. Its a tough road out there and your level of success can vary from month to month and year to year. There are many levels of success in this business as well- from local coffee house gigs to fancy restaurants to the bigger clubs in your immediate area and beyond. You really have to know what level of success you desire. Is it enough to just play once in a while or weekend warrior style? Do you desire more than that- playing 4-6 times a week to make your bills but doing what you love? Writing and recording and ultimately selling your original music? Touring regionally or nationwide or even internationally? It can all be done if you want it. The old saying “Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it!” comes to mind. I have proffered many inspirational sayings over the years, passing them on to myriad open mic-ers, wanna be song writers, karaoke queens as well as established local artists, when they ask me “How do I get a gig?” or something similar. Phrase That Pays #1: “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” It is truly as simple as that, at least in my mind. And it works at whatever level you are at or desire to be at. If you never figure out where you want to play and who to ask about it and go and ASK that person for the gig, you will NEVER get it. Granted: If you ask, you still may not get what you want but you’ve opened the door for future contact and negotiation. Then, generally, it comes down to persistence, your personality and business style. You make your case for why the venue should have you (but don’t promise what you can’t deliver) and then you ask for a reasonable (or slightly higher!) compensation. After that, you settle on a a deal for the gig. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you feel you are worth. Be sure to consider all costs of the gig when figuring your rate (promotional materials, equipment rental, transportation, etc). Know what is essential to the show and what luxuries are. Do you REALLY need the tambourine player or the extra lights? I have been successful partly because of the fact that I pay attention to the needs of each venue or event and am able to adjust my product to fit the need and budget- solo, duo, trio? Up to 10 players if they want it! Female singer? Sax player? Percussion instead of drum kit? Big lights and sound or P.A. on a stick with a floodlight? All of these aspects can be used to up sell a gig or negotiate down to a deal. If you work in concert with any agents, be sure they know your options regarding equipment, band members, road crew, etc. Double check all contracts!
Phrase That Pays #2: “You are only worth whatever you can convince someone to pay you!” You may ask, “What if he doesn’t offer me a gig?” Then you find out why, correct the problem if you can (or want to) and ask again. And then you keep on asking often enough to keep you in his mind but not too often so as to aggravate him or jeopardize the deal! Bottom line is that eventually he will either give you the gig to get you off his back or tell you to go away, in which case you can proceed to work on another viable opportunity. Don’t waste time on a prospect that is not interested. Phrase That Pays #3: There are plenty of places to play… EVERYWHERE! It has been a constant effort and a labor of love to keep the ball rolling, as I have, for 15 years, full-time. 5 gigs a week, 50 weeks a year. I love playing (most of the time!) and though I haven’t pursued some of the other aspects of the business as aggressively as I might have- recording, merchandising, licensing and publishing to name a few, I have been able to pay my bills including a mortgage and keep my van running. I may not be getting rich but I am not starving, either. Plus, I know many others who, over the years, have taken hope and inspiration from the fact that I am still out there doing it at 49 years old. Additionally, I have taken great pride in the accomplishments of others like Dave Tamkin, Kevin Mileski, Arthur Lee, Scottish McMillan who were supporters of my Open Mic Nights back in the early days. I hope I helped them grow and prosper in some small way and that I have passed on the torch of music on, as well. It is my hope that these words may continue to help others as they pursue their dream down The Wayward Path of this crazy business, too. Paul Allodi
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| Posted by admin at 10:33 AM |
3 Comments |
The Tunecore Philosophy |
Friday, February 5, 2010 |
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The Tunecore Philosophy Online Distribution
TuneCore is all about getting your music heard and available to buy. We want you to earn money from your music and make a living doing what you love. We believe that all artists and bands should have equal access to the channels of music distribution, the physical and virtual stores alike. Why should you have to give up money from each and every sale of your music? Why should you have to enter into exclusive deals and sign strangling contracts? Why should you have to give up your rights and the ownership of your own music to some other company just to gain access to music stores? TuneCore changes all that. TuneCore believes that all artists should have affordable access to all channels of music distribution, get all of the money generated from the sale of their music, and all without giving up any of their master recording ownership, copyrights, merchandise rights, live performance income, public performance royalties or any other rights or money. Enabling you to be heard.TuneCore is an enabler. Use us when and how you want. We enable you to get digital distribution on all the online retailers non-exclusively and without taking your money or rights. We will enable you to print promotional material, from buttons to posters to t-shirts. We will enable you to produce top-quality audio CDs with full high quality art in ultra-small batches and ship them wherever needed. We will enable you to place your music and items on the shelves of retailers everywhere. TuneCore™ will be the ultimate artist enabler. Your art and music make money, you keep it.TuneCore knows your music made the money, you ought to keep whatever it earns. We won’t try to cash in on your success. It’s an honest philosophy: we’ll get your music out to the world, get you the best materials to promote it and keep the cost low enough to make it really happen. The rest is up to you. TuneCore will never demand a percentage. No strings attached.TuneCore keeps things simple. We don’t ask for “membership,” we don’t have minimums or maximums, we don’t insist you stay only with us or even deal with us for a set period of time. Opt out at any time.
Our goals:
Already, TuneCore has forged direct agreements with digital distribution companies around the world. These agreements allow the artists using TuneCore to be paid as much money, if not more, than other bands such as Radiohead, Madonna, Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Eminem, etc., that are signed to major record or independent record labels. We’ve drawn on the resources and knowledge of the owners, staff and employees of TuneCore to create an environment that promotes sharing information. TuneCore Distribution Stores:
Artist Testimonials“I’ve been promoting TuneCore to every musician and band I meet, the hardest part of the sell is that people think it’s too good to be true, well it’s not, it’s true and it’s good!” —Roger O’Donnell, of The Cure “TuneCore is without a doubt the best way to distribute music online.” “TuneCore is an incredible service that is indispensable for any independent musician. Their terms and services are unmatched. It is truly a watershed event to be able to have self-released music distributed throughout the world by major online music stores. And it is all made possible by TuneCore . . . with an easy-to-use web site and with terms that are fair.”
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| Posted by admin at 02:14 AM |
No Comments |
Song Cast Music – Online Distribution |
Monday, February 1, 2010 |
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Sell all the music you want on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Napster, Emusic & MediaNet for a low monthly fee (plus onetime setup fee of $19.99 per album or $9.99 per single) Includes a FREE UPC Barcode for every release. While Song Cast lets you keep 100% of your Royalties, you will be able to track your sales throughout the world. Song Cast Music makes this process easy while your songs appear on the most popular distributions sites in no time. Additional benefits:
Testimonials: Bottom line: if you want your music available on iTunes…save time…save money…USE SONGCAST!!! They did everything they said claimed they would do, and did it in a timely and professional manner. A refreshingly positive experience. Thanks guys!! - Ross I can’t believe you guys were able to get my CD up on iTunes so quickly. I was thrilled when I saw in my first report that my music was downloaded from around the globe – from Norway and Sweden, to Italy and Belgium, not to mention the US and UK! Now I can’t wait to see my next report. Again, thanks! - Stephen Viens I will admit, I was skeptical at first as to whether or not our music would appear on iTUNES, but sure enough it did. Not only iTUNES, but all over the web. We are extremely happy with SongCast’s services. Thanks so much! - Valyum https://www.songcastmusic.com/register
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| Posted by admin at 04:51 PM |
1 Comment |
Are You a Composer or a Businessman |
Thursday, January 28, 2010 |
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Are You a Composer or a Businessman: A decision that can make or break your career
Composers compose and businessmen do business. At least this is what you think when you come out of school with a degree in music and decide to go on the musician career path. The thought of doing business scares most composers away as it is very often foreign to them. Music is a gift of beauty, emotion, and artistry, while the business side can sometimes end up in a whirlwind of paperwork, legal issues and cutthroat negotiation. These are two seemingly contradictory worlds but yet, for every composer or musician, they are intertwined. Early on in a composer’s career, you take any job that presents itself to build relationships, gain experience working with producers and directors, and also hone your craft. Regardless of the size of the job, the composer must be prepared to negotiate things like who owns the publishing rights to the music, synchronization rights, creative fees (in some cases the demo fee), as well as track and monitor on the back end. For a young composer starting out in his career, this can be extremely overwhelming. Most composers cannot afford a lawyer early on and therefore, either buy a book about contracts for the music industry and use that as a guide or just read the contract and make sure it makes general sense. While this may work when dealing with a startup production company or a film student looking to make the next best indie, the need for business acumen is extremely important. You never know when your song or piece of music may get use beyond your original expectations, especially in this day and age of constant exposure to music on the web with a download just a click away. A second important part of business is sales. As a composer, you are your own brand. Your logo, website and most importantly, your music, are your business and your life. You need to make every decision with that in mind. You need to make sure that your best foot is always put forward. Don’t be afraid to spend some money to have a logo done professionally, hire a web designer and create catchy/intriguing looking demo reels. Your brand should differentiate you from others and make you unique to your music.
Here are some of the other keys every musician needs to know to help ensure their success:
These are just a few of the basic things that every musician or composer should know and focus on when pursuing commercial music. There are many other issues that will come to light as your career grows that you will be forced to deal with. How you respond to these will make or break your career. Be sure to reach out to your advisors, unions, performing rights organizations, and anyone else you trust so you can be sure you are not going in alone. You are your own brand and have to protect its reputation! Aron gave permission to use this article from his blog http://www.acomposersview.com Aron Schoenfeld is the co-founder of Dreamartists Studios and currently manages their business operations. For more information or to contact Aron, please visit his website at www.aronschoenfeld.com
A Schoenfeld Recommendation: Start with Why by Simon Sinek
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| Posted by admin at 07:26 AM |
1 Comment |
It’s Never One Thing that Makes a Music Career |
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 |
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It’s never one thing that makes a career in the music business. Everyone has a different balance of skills used in making music their full time job. I grew up on KISS, Prince, Queen, my dad’s Motown records and my mom’s classical piano lessons. In my mind I was never put on earth to run a publishing company or indie label, I figured I would be breathing fire like Gene Simmons by now (and not just on Halloween). Still, at the end of the day I am extremely grateful I make a good living doing what I love, and I get to see this amazing country year round. If you are performing artist, don’t make the mistake of letting licensing consume your entire business plan. The music business is filled with people ready to take your money. I think any site where you have to pay to get licensed (including and maybe especially, SonicBids) MOVE ON. If you are a performing artist, music licensing is not a replacement for touring, merch, sponsorships etc, but if done right, it can be a huge source of revenue for artists that have sounds that support picture. PATIENCE – GIVE TO GET When I finally moved to LA after working 18 hour days for years to find success in the Midwest, I sat with anyone that would talk to me to try to get a hold of the scene and who I might fit with. I learned quickly a lot of factors were simply just doing good work and being at the right place at the right time. Also, unless you have a great manager or great industry connections (in which you probably wouldn’t be reading this long sucker) people have to like you first, and then your work. There is enough music in the world and enough artists that would love to work in this business that few people are taking the time to deal with jerks. If they are, they might be jerks themselves and you don’t need the aggravation. Good people attract good people, and when you establish a relationship with someone who needs your music, the word will get around. Like anything good, it takes times and it requires a lot of patience. It is extremely competitive. There is a seemingly infinite supply and limited demand for new music, but if it is what you love and you are being honest in your work, you will find your niche. There is no more truth than the adage: GIVE TO GET. That’s a spiritual discussion best left to another time, but it’s worth mentioning. Like all of life, you will do 1000% percent better licensing your music if you take time understand and empathize with the other person’s perspective and needs. Get to know a music supervisor and understand what their day to day is like. I went so far as to take a class on music supervision with the amazing Thomas Golubic (Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad) even though I have ZERO intention of ever trying to become a music sup. RELATIONSHIPS We have all heard this 100 times but it’s true… “Everything is relationships.” There are a billion tracks on the market now. Everyone has a record. Everyone can cobble together some ½-way decent sounding Apple loops and say they have a catalog. The only way to cut through all of this after we do the best and most honest music we can, is to get out there and meet people in the field. Do a search for music conferences and film fests and attend them. Then, follow up. Really provide value to the first few clients you get in hopes that your reputation will lead you above the pack. I have pitched for 1000 things, and I still do, but 90 percent of my business comes from a handful of people who know and trust my work. COLD CALLS It doesn’t sound fun cause it ain’t! Cold calls and emails are tough, but sometimes if you have exactly what they want at the right time they are looking you can get in the door. A lot of people say never cold call, but I started my business this way and still get work from some of those first calls. DON’T DRIVE THESE PEOPLE CRAZY! BUILD YOUR RELATIONSHIPS! DO YOUR HOMEWORK! It helps to have ANY kind of resume built up before you call; even if that resume is your friend’s tiny independent film. I made my first few calls with nothing but placements in my friend’s student films at University of Kansas, but I rattled them off like they were great pieces of art. Be confident but polite. You are making the call to them asking for their time so get your pitch down fast, and if they are kind enough to point you in the right direction or even give you a piece of good advice, be appreciative and move along. If you had presence and handled things well they will remember even if it takes a few calls over a few months. Also, don’t take it personally if the bigger supervisors don’t return calls or emails. There are simply too many people coming at them to get back with you but that does not mean they don’t remember. I sent a CD in for a huge show and sent a follow up email every couple months for a year and a year and half later I got a 30 sec call asking for a track and within that afternoon the paperwork was drawn up. STAY POSITIVE AND DON’T TALK BEHIND ANYONE’S BACK – CAREFUL WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE GONNA SUE Although I’m sure I don’t need to tell YOU this but nothing will kill you worse than negativity. If someone is quick on the phone or doesn’t call you back, my God do not bad mouth them to ANYONE. I had someone once license my stuff to a large network without clearing it, they called after it aired and apologized, offered some money and I happily took it and went on my way. Soon after they licensed a lot more and the relationship is great to this day. It was an honest mistake. Being litigious or angry would have only killed any of my future business with them and everyone they know. I find this business is so small the further I get. I took a meeting at a large TV station and on the cubicles of the music sups were lists saying “THESE ARE LITIGIOUS ARTISTS. WE WILL NOT USE THEM.” The movers and shakers know each other and many of them are friends. You’ll never win bad mouthing or burning a bridge. As my pops always says “don’t step over a dollar to make a dime.” Be really careful what battles you take on. Having a great lawyer will help in this area. One foot after the other; do not stop. USE WHAT YOU HAVE
Once you have one marquee placement (for me it was bugging everyone on mp3.com in 2000 and getting $200 to be in the Matrix: Revisited) send a quick newsletter and call your best contacts. Give them the good news to try to get leads for more. Having one thing to start the conversation off is critical. Momentum is everything. MEETING THEM FACE TO FACE This is crucial, and where I think artists that perform live, especially in major markets, may have an edge. It helps to play gigs outside of town, go to conventions and film fests. Slowly build your address book and follow up. I have found living in LA makes this a lot easier but of course the cost is considerable and it took me a long time to get a foothold here. It still has to be said, if you are not near a city center, get to one. People say the internet has changed all that but in this case I do not find that to be true. There is simply a different energy in the major music cities; and, you will be forced to “do or die” and really focus on your career. MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM Make sure you provide them exactly what they want in a way they can get right to it. Mark the track you want heard.
They want the song cleared fast and want to know you don’t have 30 writer’s waiting to come back and ask for a piece.
There is a lot of music in this world. Wait, a cricket just came up to my desk and is pitching me his new disc full of apple loops… GET YOUR OWN VOICE Do you write hammer dulcimer music only? Well if it is killer and you push it to the right places, I believe you can be totally successful with that one instrument. I am actually working on a new record of just Drums and Mallets. I expect it to license perfectly as long as I put my whole heart into it and find the right uses for it. Follow your voice no matter what, but know that you will only fit for certain ops. Even the most prolific person can’t cover it all. If you are known for something great in a niche, brand yourself in that way and they will eventually search you out. It’s better to be known as being amazing at one thing than being mediocre at 10 things. CAREFUL WITH YOUR TIME If you can convince a friend you trust to help you with this, do it. I have walked the line between business and artist and I think both sides of my brain have benefited form the other, but if you spend all tour time plugging your music you are not making music. This asks a fundamental question too: if you like the business or the “score” of landing a spot and making money with music, maybe you should be the manager and let someone else make the art. By the way, I preach and don’t always practice, but I’m giving you pearls here…. J BUILD A TEAM Scratch that. BUILD THE RIGHT TEAM. I prefer lawyers over managers. I am still great friends with most of my former managers but for starting out, build a relationship with a lawyer (this happens naturally by doing good work and by paying them well to look over your contracts WHICH IS WORTH EVERY PENNY). I signed a deal with Rhino where I gave away most of my digital rights to a song cause of one small sentence that I didn’t understand at the time (you can believe I understand it now). I trusted my manager at the time to handle all my paperwork and he did not have a lawyer look at it. We were too excited and signed to quickly. The manager was young and at the end of the day it’s MY career. Rhino was doing what companies do; they get as many rights as they can to protect their bottom line. This isn’t about blame, it’s about the importance of lawyers, and above all else, educating yourself as much as possible. The vision of an artist just recording and touring and a staff of people handling everything else is a romanticized vision that sharks love to talk to musicians about before they sign on the dotted line. Ever read U2 by U2? Every member of that band is on the phone solving problems, attending meetings. Larry Mullen was on the phone himself trying to solve a ticket scalping problem on a tour just a few years back. Watch your business, but don’t do everything yourself if you have people who will help you, and of course, treat them like kings and queens if they back you. One more note on having a lawyer before a manager: you pay a lawyer ONCE for a service; not for years after the contract. Plus you pay them on what THEY are working on, not what you yourself might be working on. If you are a go-getter yourself, you might sign with a manager that you run circles around and you still have to send them a cut. This doesn’t happen with lawyers. And some of those lawyers know a lot more people in the biz than the managers. That being said, I have met some managers that are about 10x more talented than their artists (no hate mail dammit) – and I don’t know of a single banner act that doesn’t have a great and connected management team. Regarding licensing (aside from the team I have assembled for my recording and live career) I was extremely fortunate to find a passionate Director of Operations for my catalog, Deb Tuinei. She receives a percentage of everything that comes in for licensing and publishing, and from time to time we hire others to do hourly work. We also have a publishing administrator (the aforementioned Steve Winogradsky) to handle contracts and negotiations, and tell me when I am headed in the wrong direction. Since we are working full time now, we also take interns that have provided their time in exchange for learning the knowledge that Deb is acquiring (I do not work too “hands on” with the interns or the music would not get created). I still do a fair amount of work for hires (covered in the books mentioned above) where I am paid well to create something I will no longer own. This is tricky as it provides no writer/publisher income, and while it generates a good deal of working capitol and helps with a resume, it does not help build my catalog to relicense or possible sell the entire catalog down the line. Just starting out it was only me and a few loved ones close to me making every call and sending every package. It’s always this way and bless the families and partners of entrepreneurs who are willing to get behind someone’s dream. One of the hardest things for me to learn is delegating (I am still learning this one slowly and painfully). I owe a great debt of gratitude to everyone that has been patient with me as I was, and still am, learning the ropes (in this biz I think we are always learning the ropes to some degree). IN CLOSING To those who are selling stakes of your writer’s shares for placements (IE- not work for hires, you are giving up writer’s share just to get a credit), or paying music supervisors to use your tracks: You are not only making someone else money off YOUR work but you are devaluing the business for those of us who work full time- therefore limiting your ability to work this business full time in the future. And yes, Pump Audio broke the 50/50 rule and is offering only 35 percent to artists. Please don’t send them anything. Now that we’ve cussed and discussed let’s just go write some music. Unplug the phones and write till the candles burn out. There is a necessary evil of artists having to learn now to be great business people…but here’s to us all keeping the music first in our hearts. The old model is dead and we must not fear the new one. There are opportunities everywhere, though we are still shaking out what replaces the revenue streams we once had. If someone loves what you do there is always a way to monetize it, but I am getting into another conversation and another blog…. When you are done combing through the internet sites and books, magazines, and calling everyone, just don’t forget to enjoy making the music. With a little planning and elbow grease you will hear your song on your TV set or at your theatre soon. Heading back into the headphones…Hope to see you on the road in 2010! Please come say hello and let me know if you made it all the way through this! Gooding 50 state tour starts March 6, 2010 Download my new record for free here: http://www.goodingmusic.com/music And if this was helpful drop me a line and let me know how the fight goes at: goodingarmy@gmail.com
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| Posted by admin at 07:21 AM |
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Be Committed!…You’ll Never Be Famous If You Don’t Show Up! |
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 |
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Be Committed!…You’ll Never Be Famous If You Don’t Show Up!
Everyone wants to be famous: live in a mansion, drive a sports car, tour the world in your private plane, date a model, float around in the pool while collecting royalties for CD sales, and drink beer right out of your private tap. But not everyone is aware that, with any career that has the potential to end in a bounty of riches and beautiful babes, climbing your way to rock stardom is very hard work. So, how does your average musical genius go from penniless Pop Tart-eater to Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous? How do you move on up from mom’s garage to a deluxe apartment in the sky? What’s your first baby step on the Yellow Brick Road to fame and fortune? That’s simple…be committed! It sounds silly, but many a musical boat has sailed with a crestfallen unsigned artist standing confused on the dock, for lack of nothing else but follow-through. Commitment to your deeds and plans is the single most essential skill towards achieving your goal of Ultimate Superstardom. Entertainment is a fickle business and chances don’t come along every day. One missed opportunity now could have spiraled into dozens even hundreds of opportunities down the line. It may be true that talent is a gift you carry with you from birth, but commitment is a learned skill that you need to hone every day. So, how can you make sure that you’ve got what it takes to gather up your supreme musicality and conquer the universe with it continuously? The following are a few tips that may help you to make sure that you’re truly committing yourself to your musical career on a daily basis: 1.) Follow Up On All Leads — No matter how insignificant they may seem at the time, it’s important to follow up on every musical lead that’s thrown your way. Letters, calls and emails should be answered politely and in a timely fashion. New contacts should be logged in your address book for future correspondence. Opportunities should be taken, invites accepted, and chances to network relished. By starting out with just these simple rules you’ll watch your resources and mailing list grow. Suddenly you’ll have music community friends with which to share your leads and ideas, ask advice, trade experiences, and combine talent and energies. Through these friends, you’ll meet new friends and fans and from them even more new connections. Soon, you’ll have so many opportunities that your concern will change from lack of opportunity to lack of time in the day to pursue each new chance. 2.) Just Show Up — Sounds so simple it’s stupid, but you’d be surprised how many talented people have fallen by the wayside because they were unable to simply show up. Cancelled gigs, forgotten meetings, and missed auditions say to the Musical Powers That Be, “I’m a huge flake who doesn’t think your opportunity is worth a half-hour of my precious time.” This is a really bad thing. Entertainment is a small town with a huge memory. Don’t give people any reason to think that you’re not the person they want to work with, give the job to, book for the gig, sign to their label, write about, talk about, and help any way they can. Remember there are tens of thousands of musicians waiting to take your place, so step up to the plate and seize each chance with optimism and enthusiasm. 3.) Take Initiative — Don’t wait for opportunities to come to you. The world is a virtual cornucopia of information, so reach out and nab yourself some chances at stardom. Comb the internet, join music communities, visit open mic nights, take classes and workshops…put yourself out there where there are cool musical happenings and let others know that you can be relied upon and want to be involved. By going out and seizing your own opportunities, you may double, triple, etc. your resources and chances, and expedite your journey to success. 4.) Do The Best Job You Can — As important as it is to show up, it is also essential that you come off efficient, talented, and professional when faced with a new opportunity. Being there is half the battle but the other half is being the best that you can be and impressing industry, press, clubs and your fellow musicians enough to make them want you to be involved in anything and everything they do. Make a commitment to put on the best live show possible, to have a terrific CD, to make a professional press kit, and to spread the word about your music. Be punctual, be courteous, be positive and be fun. Don’t give anyone any reason not to work with you again and you’ll see that it becomes easier and easier to get what you want for your artistic career.
It really is as easy as simply showing up, following up and giving it your all. Making it in music is not impossible; it’s just a lot of elbow grease, a little organization, a bit of strategy, and the simple sculpting of your talent into a marketable commodity. There are thousands of chances offered every day to musicians…reach out and grab them by the handful, make every opportunity your own, get everything you want from this business and when you’re richer than Oprah and more famous than Madonna, remember that it was you who made it happen. You were a pro. You showed up. You committed. Sheena Metal is a radio host, producer, promoter, music supervisor, consultant, columnist, journalist and musician. Her syndicated radio program, Music Highway Radio, airs on over 700 affiliates to more than 126 million listeners. Her musicians’ assistance program, Music Highway, boasts over 10,000 members. She currently promotes numerous live shows weekly in the Los Angeles Area, where she resides. For more info: http://www.sheena-metal.com. http://www.latalkradio.com/Sheena.php http://www.latalkradio.com/Highway.php Head Above Music Recommends: Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up by Patricia Ryan Madson OurStage for online press kit and global music promotion. Music Is Your Business: The Musician’s FourFront Strategy for Success - by Christopher Knab and Bartley F. Day
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| Posted by admin at 11:11 AM |
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Marketing During the Holiday Season |
Thursday, December 17, 2009 |
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Marketing During the Holiday Season
As you sit by the stack of holiday greeting cards waiting to be filled out and mailed, have you ever thought about including your music in them? This is a great way of advertising your music as well as making a great gift for those who have supported you throughout the year. Holiday music is something that has universal appeal while never going out of style and works for almost every musical genre from classical crossover (Noel, Josh Groban), folk/rock (Christmas In The Heart, Bob Dylan), country (A Classic Christmas, Toby Keith) R&B (8 Days of Christmas, Destiny’s Child) to film/television franchises (The O.C. Mix 3 Have A Very Merry Chrismukkah). If time and budget permits, you can even record an entire holiday album as these are highly marketable. Josh Groban’s Noel, for example, was the best selling album of 2007 in the United States. For the purpose of a holiday card, I suggest recording one holiday track specifically for this project while including one or two standout tracks from your latest album packaged as a special CD single. If you have a music video for your song, you can include it in an enhanced CD format or as a CD/DVD package. If you want to make the songs available in digital format, you can include a link to a special section in your website where they can be accessed. Another idea is to distribute the songs on business card sized CDs as they fit nicely inside a holiday card and can even fit in a wallet. I’ve seen some greeting cards designed with slots to hold gift cards and such, so this can also work for other occasions, such as birthdays. If you have a list of birthdays in your fan database, you can even send out birthday cards throughout the year. If you decide to create cover art for your holiday single, a simple way to do it would be to use a pre-existing publicity photo and adding a few touches to give it that holiday look and feel. It can be as simple as adding snowflakes in the background or using an Old English or script font. One book I would recommend: Myfavorite piece of gear: One thing I can’t live on the road without: |
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| Posted by admin at 07:49 AM |
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Make Money While Promoting Your Friends Music |
Monday, November 23, 2009 |
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Make Money While Promoting Your Friends Here is a step by step instruction to strengthen your music community 1. Create a “Friends” page on your website. If you already have this done, nice. 2. Click here for free LinkShare Membership 3. After you are signed up and confirmed as a publisher, you’ll need to sign up for iTunes Affiliate Program. Once you are accepted to that, you can look up your friend’s albums and link the HTML to your site under each listing on your “friends” page. When your fans browse your friend’s music and click on their album or the link you provided, they will be directed to iTunes Music Store where they can listen to the music and purchase a CD or tracks to their liking. You will make 5 cents for every song sold. Your friends will have sold one more album making an extra 65 cents for every song sold. 50 cents an album adds up over time. 4. Sign up for Amazon.com Affiliate Program. Most bands that sign for Tunecore submit their music to Amazon. Take pride in the bands that you share the stage with.
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| Posted by admin at 11:00 PM |
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Insure Your Gear and Your Songs |
Saturday, November 21, 2009 |
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Insure Your Gear and Your Songs My name is Steve and I have been the singer/guitar player in the band Longwave for about 10 years. We have put out two records on RCA, and a couple of other indie records. I have also been a touring/studio guitar player for Albert Hammond Jr, Teddy Thompson, little joy, scout, and a bunch of others. Recently I made a record entirely on my laptop, and called the “band” Hurricane Bells. One of those songs just got put into the new “Twilight” movie, and soundtrack. There are things that I think are important to remember about playing music, one being that is supposed to be fun. even when you are working very hard, recording, or when touring feels like a grind, it is important to try to keep a good attitude and remember how lucky you are to play music, for money or not. And being nice to everyone always comes back to you. Just as being a pain in the ass does, too. But there are other specific things I have learned, that I think are worth mentioning. Such as… Buy good gear. And do research. I buy old stuff not only because I love it, and it sounds great, but because when I sell it I usually make money. If you buy a new Fender Strat from Guitar Center, as soon as you walk out of the store you’ve lost money. In contrast, if you buy something used, it is usually cheaper, and if it is a vintage instrument or amp, you should expect to at least break even when you sell it. And old stuff is cool, anyhow. Insure your gear. This is important. I have never had my stuff ripped off, thank god. But I have many friends who have. I use heritage insurance, they are underwritten by travelers, and they have always been great for me. They even cover devaluation, so if your guitar gets knocked over by the dumbass soundguy in Portland and the headstock breaks off, they will pay for it to be fixed, and reimburse you for the difference now in value. Beware of weird contracts. I have noticed that people change when contracts are involved. it seems like I have lots of friends in new bands now who get approached by managers, lawyers, whoever, about working together and right away there is some contract on the table. I have been very lucky in that Longwave and now Hurricane Bells work with great people, and the only contracts i have are with my label (s) and publisher, chrysalis. The rest – manager, booking agent, publicist, and lawyer – are handshake situations. I have never and won’t ever screw them over when there is a commission to pay, and we work together because we want to. if you want to stop working with someone, believe me, it is a great feeling to just walk away. Keep an eye on your money. Longwave had a very very bad year where we had to stop working with our accountant. The firm was paying our bills, and doing our taxes, and we kind of just …. let them. And then it turned out that they WEREN’T paying our bills and WEREN’T paying our taxes. Although we were able to instantly fire these people and walk away, there was a lot of damage done to my personal credit. at every level, we have learned that is best to keep things as small as possible. every show, keep a record of what you made, or had to pay, and at the end of the year make sure you have a full conversation with your accountant about your taxes. It may seem stupidly simple, but this is your life, and musicians don’t have a reputation for doing stupid shit with their money for no reason. Learn as much as you can about recording your own music. This goes back to keeping things small. Longwave recorded our last record in our practice space, and paid to have Peter Katis mix it. I made the Hurricane Bells record on this laptop I am typing on. You don’t have to know about every mic, compressor, or whatever. But if you don’t learn a little about pro tools, or logic, etc, you are really leaving a lot up to potential strangers when you go into the studio. Not to mention that you will be wasting money paying for time when you could have recorded the vocals or percussion at home. Finally, try to own as much of your music as possible. Part of the new band/contract thing I have seen involves bands giving up stuff they probably shouldn’t. If you can record your own music, you can make a record. Then, some label wants you to give them that record so they can own it??? No. if you need a label, do a licensing deal and the record comes back to you. i know firsthand how powerful owning your stuff can be, since i made the HB song in the “Twilight” movie and I own it. I will get the royalty on that song for every record sold. That is a very lucky break, but my decision about the ownership was made before it happened. One more thing, there is a Steve Albini article that I read years ago, when it was circulating through the new internet. Here it is: Steve Albini is an independent and corporate rock record producer most widely known for having produced Nirvana’s “In Utero”. http://www.negativland.com/albini.html After all this, it is good to remember that playing music is supposed to be fun! And made with people you enjoy and value. When uncomfortable stuff or bad situations come up, it sure is good to have people you love around you and a strong feeling for the good fortune that you can play music. Good luck… www.myspace.com/97453370
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| Posted by admin at 01:03 PM |
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Second Life |
Saturday, October 31, 2009 |
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Second Life How would you like to be an international pop superstar? How would you like people all over the world, from the UK to Australia, Norway to Argentina clamoring for your music, asking “where can I get that?” singing along to almost every song? I do it all time. Every Sunday at 7am I crawl out of bed, make breakfast for my kids and coffee for myself, log onto my computer and plug in my guitar. I am Dann Numbers, international acoustic prophet of rock and soul in the on-line world of Second Life. I heard about Second Life when my daughter (now 3 years old) was born. At an age when many of my friends were “settling down” and coming to terms with getting older and what that means for their dreams, I wasn’t ready to let go. I have 13 guitars dammit. I NEED to play music, to write, to perform. What I didn’t need, however, was getting home at 2 am in no shape to take care of anyone (including myself sometimes) bringing in small amounts of money that I most likely had already eaten and drunk away before I left wherever it was I was playing. I was at an impasse. Then, in an article in the Boston Phoenix (the local free alt-weekly) I saw an article about Second Life. Second Life is many things. There are no rules, except for the one that says there are no rules. A reality where you can fly, jump, dive, play, meet people, what does their website say again? “The Internet’s largest user-created 3-D virtual world community”
There have been articles written in which the writer is wowed at the amount of money that people can make “in-world.” People can buy and sell real estate. People can create and sell clothing. But what I am interested in is music. I don’t have money to buy the real estate in the first place. I am not computer-savvy enough to create clothing. But what I CAN do is rock. I can plug my mic and acoustic into a Line6 TonePort, open up simplecast, type in a stream, hit play and be heard in Oslo, Nashville, and Sydney. And it’s easy – you can do it too! Think of a “stream” as a PA for your computer. It’s what you plug into to be heard, and fans can listen at a club or at home even if they aren’t “in SL” through Shoutcast or iTunes. Each club has their own stream (although some artists like to use their own), and their own personality. There are rock clubs, strip clubs, goth clubs, blues clubs. And, much like real life, there are clubs that have built-in audiences and clubs that expect you to bring an audience, cover artists and original artists, live performers and non-live performers. Click on “live music” in the events search at 6pm SLT (9pm EST) on any day of the week and be astounded with 20-30 different musicians, many of them fantastic artists & performers, available to “see” and listen to. On Sunday, around 8am EST (5am SLT – Second Life Time is Pacific Coast Time) I teleport to “The Lost Continent” club where I set up my tip jar and a tower with links to all my RL sites, put on my guitar, and start to play. For the hour, 35-40 people teleport in, bring their friends, listen from home (you can listen yourself at http://85.25.149.102:8504) and from the stage I watch avatars dance, sing, hang out, and otherwise enjoy my music in the company of friends. One of my biggest fans is a graphic designer from Buenos Aires who has helped me write songs in Spanish, another runs a child care business outside London and loves my sappier songs and a third is a computer something-or-other outside New Orleans who keeps asking me to play my version of “Greensleeves” which makes the Medieval tune into acoustic speed metal. And of course, at 8am my time, the Australians are getting ready for bed and I get to entertain them during dinner and sing them to sleep. There is an immediacy to playing music in Second Life. No longer do I have to ask “was that ok?” or “did that sound good?” because by looking at my computer screen as I play I can get reactions from the crowd. People will type “I really like that song” or make requests for EAB or Café en San Juan. And by now there are more than a few fans who as soon as I see them I know what songs I am going to play – I know their favorites. Hey! People in other countries have favorites of my songs. Mine! The ones I wrote! And whether I’m waking people up or helping them go to sleep, wherever they are in the world, that’s pretty much the best reason for playing music there is. Dann Russo is a little alt, a little classic, a smidge country and all rock. He’s a singer-songwriter with radio-ready original songs and a live show so electric; you’ll be amazed it’s just acoustic. A “soon to be phenomenon” (NorthEast In-Tune Magazine), Dann is a lively act that’s hard to follow. Find him in Second Life as Dann Numbers, or other places on-line:
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| Posted by admin at 10:22 AM |
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Wearing All the Hats |
Thursday, October 29, 2009 |
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Wearing All the Hats Help Megan record her new Album. Click Here. The things that have seemed to be the most beneficial for me are the things that musicians tend to hate the most, or give little attention to – organization; patience and a healthy lifestyle are high on that list. I’m compulsive about inputting a business card into my contacts application on my computer soon after it was handed to me. I include a reminder for myself of where I met that person and something we talked about that I can bring up in conversation later. Independent artist have to be there own cheerleaders for a long time before industry starts to recognize them. So, if I’m going to be my own manger, booking agent, PR chick, the list goes on and on, than I need to know what resources I have to get all those things done. I make ‘to do’ lists, and excel spreadsheets of gig venues all over the country, take note of radio stations I can send a press pack to. It’s a full time job if you’re serious about it. I in the same light, being on-time is really important to me. Shows and sound checks rarely start when they are suppose to, but could you imagine if they did? Your 10:30 PM slot might not get pushed to 11 PM, just when people are ready to go home. Some of the opportunities that have come around have been years in the making. I play a venue so many times, that I finally get a headlining spot, or open for a national act. It’s important for me to make a mental hierarchy of my goals, and understand that there might be a few steps to take before I get to the top. I enjoy feeling that ”I’m doing my time” so to speak. I appreciate how much it sucks to play to two people in a dive bar, and fly halfway across the country for a meeting that gets canceled when you get there. It keeps things in perspective, and makes the successes even sweeter. I don’t want to get so drunk that I can’t sing well, or wake up the next day not wanting to do anything. I feel better when I sleep every night, and drink tea, and eat well, and take vitamins. There are a lot of ways to eat healthy on a budget! At the end of day, I stand by my belief that the greatest assets are your friends. The real, true, late-night, early-morning, know each other’s middle name kinda friends. They are the ones that hand off gigs to you; they are the ones that refer their managers, and talent buyers to you. They’ll save your ass in a pinch. They are the ones that will tell you honestly if you wrote a shitty song. So, take names. Then befriend them. Then take them out for a wheat grass shot. Then make time to create amazing music. www.meganburtt.com RECOMMENDATIONS: 2. KMS 105 Mic
3. Can’t live without my GPS!!!
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| Posted by admin at 05:21 PM |
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The Barter System |
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 |
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The Barter System Once I got a call about performing at a winery for a local event. During the booking they mentioned that they couldn’t pay me monetarily, but they could pay me in wine. I love wine, so I think, “OK, I’ll be getting at least a case”. It was a three-hour long event, and at the end, they asked me if I’d like to pick out a bottle. One bottle. I was insulted and disappointed. I exercised keeping my mouth shut and agreed to book paying performances in the future (as they wanted me back). I was fuming inside. I did go back for the paying shows, but I never forgot it. Bartering can be a great way to give and receive services, however it might be a good idea to communicate what your service is worth and ask for an exchange based on value. www.victoriavox.com
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| Posted by admin at 08:43 AM |
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Recording a Record that Will Sell and Finding the Investor to Make it Happen |
Thursday, October 15, 2009 |
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“Recording a Record that Will Sell and First and biggest mistake of all songwriters/bands is going into the studio without a producer. You will need to have enough songs to pick from, I say 30 per record. Once you have a group of songs that make sense then you will need to find the producer to pick the best ones out of the group! “Big expensive studio” “NO”, “Big expensive producer” “YES”…there are all kind of tones that work and parts that fit. Mind you the best songs have instruments that work together to create one sound not instruments that play constantly to create muddy noise! Take your time and be patient. I simply can’t teach talent but the coolest part of writing music is you get to create a world from nothing and hopefully make it work. It’s sad to say but without money it becomes very hard to make anything in music profitable, So unless you play for your own satisfaction make sure you find enough capitol to create your project and be able to push it! My band “Felix Jones” worked the real estate market, friends, Family, Banks>>> anybody that had extra cash that might be interested in turning a profit. We found that persistence and name dropping worked. Let’s say you call or e-mail a management company that can bring a Pro record producer to the table… you say “how much for BIG PRODUCER” they say 3,000 dollars a song plus hotel and airfare, you then go to your investor and tell him I got a Grammy winning producer that’s worked with “Britney Spears, Joe Davis, Dave Tamkin, Beyonce, pearl jam, and Green day” and he wants to make a record with “US”! Always make your investor feel like he’s part of the project> you’ll need at least 60,000$ to make a record worth passing on to management, plus if it’s good your “producer has plenty of resources he would be happy to pass it to…..Now what if it doesn’t work out? Then A. you shouldn’t be asking for 60,000$ in the first place and B. your investor just had a 60,000$ vacation and C. get ready to pay it all back slowly and please do not kill yourself!!!:) haha..JK Work everyday! 12hrs a day, and be productive and your dreams will come true! Good luck
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| Posted by admin at 09:13 AM |
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Insurance for Musicians |
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 |
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Insurance for Musicians Insurance is a guarantee against loss or harm and secures compensation in the case of loss, damage, or death. Having insurance of any kind covers the what-ifs in life, offers peace-of-mind, and you just have to have it. HEALTH INSURANCE When I finally made the plunge and left my day job to be a full-time musician, I also left my health insurance behind. But just because you might not have an employer covering your health insurance doesn’t mean you have to go without it! Just call up any health insurance company and ask to apply for individual coverage, and they’ll walk you through the steps to apply. I know, you’re thinking — I can get by without it for a little while. I definitely know some people who’ve been self-employed and gone for years without health insurance, and that’s fine as long as you’re lucky enough to avoid anything happening to you during that time. But having health insurance, or insurance of any kind, covers the what-if, and offers peace-of-mind, and you just have to have it. Paying out-of-pocket can be pricey, but catastrophic coverage — the kind that’ll help you in a time of GREAT need — is the most basic and affordable and it’s worth it to have that blanket underneath you. Depending how much you think you can cough up in a jiffy for a deductible in the (fingers-crossed) unlikely event that you need major coverage will determine your monthly cost. There are other things that’ll affect your monthly premium as well, like your sex, age, and health history. When I first applied, I was approved for a smoker’s rate (because I was a smoker and told them so), but 6 months after I quit smoking, I took a test at my Dr.’s office to prove I was nicotine-free, sent a letter along with the labs to my health care provider, and that knocked off almost 50% of my monthly premium. So it actually does pay to be healthy. (FYI, my monthly premium is currently $124 through Unicare – http://www.unicare.com/). Need some advice on where to start looking? The Future of Music Coalition’s HINT program, started in 2005, offers musician-friendly support and advice to musicians who need information on health insurance. They don’t offer insurance, but can advise you were to start your search. Go here: http://futureofmusic.org/issues/campaigns/get-hint Compare rates at eHealthInsurance – FREE Instant Quotes! GEAR INSURANCE Remember what I said about the what-if scenario? Well, in January of 2008, my roommate had invited over a new friend she had met on the internet. I was out-of-town for the night, working hard playing a gig, and came home to find that her new friend had managed to sneak out the door with my MacBook Pro (My $1700 Apple computer, my life, my love, my recording studio, my calendar, my contact database, my email!!). Of course, they guy was too new of a friend for her to track him down. My baby was gone. I then had to cancel that evening’s gig to start canceling my credit cards, changing my passwords, recovering what bits of my calendar where on my iPod, etc. etc. And I also called my Allstate agent to file the claim to try and recoup the cost of my computer, my mouse, all the software I downloaded online, all my iTunes purchases, etc. You may not think to consider you computer a piece of “gear,” but think of everything you do on it! What would life be without your daily login to Facebook?? The only reason this didn’t totally devastate me is because I have homeowners insurance. There’s also renter’s insurance that’ll cover your temporary pad. When I was in a 3-bedroom renting, it was about $200/year, and my condo insurance is closer to $400/year. This covers all the gear in my home (I had to put together an itemized list with pictures and what things were and how much they cost new — take inventory!) However, I also had my Allstate agent attach an addendum to that policy which also covers the equipment I oftentimes have to leave in my CAR overnight. Can you imagine if on tour, you’re halfway across the country, and your car gets broken into? I just got this email from a musician friend on his way through Chicago last week. He was going to show up at my open mic, but never made it because: “Funny story. Someone broke into my car in front of my friends place and cleaned it out. Left me my clothes and cds though. So I spent all day Friday running around Chicago getting my window fixed, new phone charger, guitar, mandolin, some accessories, etc… I feel like I got kicked in the nuts.” Please don’t get yourself in this situation! Pay the extra bucks and get covered! LIABILITY INSURANCE Do you want to front the bill when your speaker falls on someone and breaks their leg? No? Then you need liability insurance. And no, it’s not just for circus performers. What if a string breaks and pokes someone’s eye in the front row? That’s your fault, buddy. I didn’t realize this for years and only just got covered in early 2009 when my children’s band was asked to perform at Navy Pier. Uh, duh, yes! But we needed $1,000,000 in liability coverage in order to play. I ended up going with American Family Insurance policy (Allstate didn’t offer this type of insurance) for over $700 for the year for $2,000,000 in coverage. Then I was told about Specialty Insurance that can do the same for about $200. I may change to that next year… Insurance for Entertainers: http://www.specialtyinsuranceagency.com CAR INSURANCE You know you have to have it if you drive, so there. Earlier this year my car was rear-ended, a hit-and-run, but the guy’s license plate fell off. I filed the claim, but they never found the guy. However, I was able to get my car fixed and my deductible was only $200! Initially it was $500, but with Allstate’s good driver program, you get $100 knocked off for each year of safe driving! If you can manage to have more than one policy with one company, you can save money that way, too! I have my auto and homeowners through Allstate. If you’re in Illinois, feel free to contact my agent, Russ Angelbeck: http://www.allstateagencies.com/RussAngelbeck/ContactMe/SendEmail.aspx RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. One book you recommend “The Bad Girl’s Guide to the Open Road” – Cameron Tuttle 2. Your favorite piece of gear? Right now, I’d said my Kurzweil 88-key weighted keyboard. I had a dream the other night that I sold it, and immediately thought, “how stupid.” 3. One thing you can’t live without on the road. Bottled water and rest-stops, they kind of go hand-in-hand.
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| Posted by admin at 08:47 PM |
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Music is Like a Good Burger |
Friday, October 9, 2009 |
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Music is Like a Good Burger The hardest part of being a musician in today’s world is: It’s not always how good you are, it’s about who you know, how many people you bring and how many people you will bring in the future. Will your fans buy beer, food, tickets, merchandise or whatever the venue makes money off of? Think of music like a burger shack. If you don’t sell burgers, no one makes money. Music venues are mostly bars. If you do not sell beer, or tickets to the show, no one makes money.
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| Posted by admin at 08:42 PM |
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$40 School for Songwriters |
Friday, October 9, 2009 |
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$40 School for Songwriters Most successful songwriters I know have some degree of natural talent, but in my experience, the ones who really shine have invested a fair amount into their musical education. I’ve always been a pretty good student. I went to college and earned an advanced degree in health care. Surprisingly, there weren’t any music education courses in that curriculum and unfortunately for me, I discovered I was a rock-star-at-heart shortly after sinking tens of thousands of dollars into higher education. I picked up the guitar & started writing songs obsessively pretty much right after I graduated from P.T. School and I started playing out a year or so after that, but of course, I still held down that day job. Who needs sleep, right? I quickly found myself frustrated with my songwriting so I sought out opportunities to learn more. As stupid as this sounds, I think all my years of college made me a LAZY learner basically if I didn’t sit my ass down in front of someone who was spoon feeding me information, I couldn’t learn. When I was working my real job (as friends & family like to call it….we’ll save that discussion for another article), I had the cash to sink into attending songwriting classes, going to conferences, etc. Ah, the good life….right? Well, to be honest, I could never give 100% of myself to that day job because my head was always writing a song, my hands were always aching for my guitar & heart was breaking that I wasn’t chasing that crazy rock star dream. It only took me 8 yrs and a mini-mental breakdown to work up the courage, but I finally took the plunge into being a full time songwriter. It was a pretty rude awakening for me when the day-job cash flow ceased. I actually thought it would be wise for me to take an online Publishing course through Berklee school of music shortly after giving up my bi-monthly paychecks. Now, I’m not saying that it wasn’t a great course, but I realized afterward that I’d basically paid someone $1000 to force me to read a frickin’ text book. How dumb can a smart girl be?? So I bought a bunch of used books off Amazon.com that were put out by Berklee and I found a friend that was interested in reading them. We agreed to meet roughly every 2 weeks to discuss what we’d learned. So instead of paying Berklee $1000, I bought a few used books off amazon.com So maybe you’re already as smart as you need to be when it comes to music & music business, or maybe you’ve got those funds to keep taking expensive classes, but if you’re looking to get smarter on the cheap, I hope this helps. If you’d like a comprehensive list of my books, feel free to shoot me an email. Rock on, my friends. Recommended Reading: by Beth Kille Successful Lyric Writing: A Step-by-Step Course & Workbook by Sheila Davis The Self-Promoting Musicians: Strategies for Independent Music Success by Peter Spellman Berkelee Music Theory Books 1 & 2 by Paul Schmeling Making Music Make Money by Eric Beall 101 Songwriting Wrongs & How to Right Them by Pat & Pete Luboff I Don’t Mean to Be Rude, But… by Simon Cowell Writing Better Lyrics by Pat Pattison Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo Guitar for Dummies by Mark Phillips and Jon Chappell If You Want to Write by Brenda Uleand The Contemporary Singer by Anne Peckham The Complete Idiots Guitd to Home Recording Illustrated by Clayton Walnum “Writing Music for Hit Songs” by Jai Josefs bethkille@hotmail.com Recommendations by: Head Above Music
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| Posted by admin at 03:49 AM |
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for around $40 and learned the same damn thing. I never was very good at math, but that sure seemed like a better deal to me 
How My Life Got Better Once I Hired an Accountant |
Thursday, October 8, 2009 |
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How My Life Got Better Once I Hired an Accountant If you’re like me, part of being a musician means I’m not the best at math (I know that doesn’t hold true for all you math rockers out there!). The first year I quit my job, and when out on my own freelancing was terrifying. Making ends meet, budgeting, paying the bill. It adds up to quite a bit of calculation. Especially come tax time. The IRS isn’t keen on the creative pluses and minuses of a cash business. One of the groups I played with actually sent me a 1099 at the end of the year, so even though I was getting paid in cash a fair amount of the time, someone was keeping track of how much I was making for me. (I know. Thanks, right?!) Come March, and April, I needed to figure out how I was going to reconcile all this without having the benefit of my workplace withholding some of my earnings throughout the year. Now some people say I’ve got people and I’m sure many of you have seen the commercials with, oh honey we’re getting audited, why don’t you call this Taxes-in-a-box customer service line? My answer? I’ve found a reliable accountant, hungry for business and good with musicians. One of the best things I did for my musical career, actually. Most folks know that you write off your musical expenses, but there’s much more to it than that. Depending on where you rehearse, what you’re wearing when you perform, your mode of transport to and from your gigs, even the depreciation of your various instruments over time; a lot of it can also be written off. Little by little each of this things can seem like just another expense, but all together they can really add up. And then you can spend your time trying to get booked at an outdoor festival in spring rather than agonizing over your taxes. Don W. Barnes, Jr. www.paulmitch.com
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| Posted by admin at 02:07 PM |
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