BECAUSE I LOVE IT!

BECAUSE I LOVE IT!
By Robert Rolfe Feddersen

When asked to do anything in the realm of music I am always flattered.  Whether it be a performance, a song for a no budget film, or an article of advice for musicians. Here it is:

Play, write, record music because you love it. Any other motive is bullshit.  I want to be a star, I don’t want to work, I want to be rich….etc. Although it does happen for some, it does not happen for most.  Music first and foremost is something you feel, something you hear, and something you express.  Make it mean something to YOU first.  Honesty and truth when done well always gets through to the listener.

Two weeks ago I performed at a Borders bookstore for 11 people.  I’ve also toured with Godsmack and played for 20,000 people.  I have a record that has sold 500,000 copies and a record that has sold 100 copies.  I have a song in the film “Varsity Blues” and a song in the film “Deep Winter”.  To me it’s all the same. Love is love.  I write, record, and perform music why????  Because I love it. Success to me isn’t in numbers, it’s when I listen to a song I wrote ten years ago—and it’s still a good song.

Bring duct tape on the road.  Drugs are a waste of time.  Be kind to people.

Sincerely,

Robert Rolfe Feddersen

1.       One book you would recommend.

Indie Bible 2010

2.       Your favorite piece of gear.

My left-handed Jimi Hendrix model Fender Strat.

3.       One thing you can’t live on the road without.

Duct tape

New album, “Milkman” is available at iTunes!

http://www.myspace.com/robertrolfefeddersen

The Blogging Side Of Music

The Blogging Side Of Music – Part 2 of 5 – Dave Tamkin

Tuesday, 8 June 2010, 1 Comments

Today, we once again open the floor to Chicago-based (and now Colorado located) national touring musician, Dave Tamkin. We spoke with Dave about the promotional strategies that he finds to be most effective on his own blog, Head Above Music. Dave created Head Above Music as a free resource for musicians to find tips about gear, touring, travel, health and other important interests related to the working musician:

Describe yourself as an artist.

I’ve been a full time national touring musician for the last 8 years, maybe more but I don’t want to admit it. I try to write honest, upbeat, percussive songs that tell stories from a few different perspectives.

How important is social media marketing to your overall goals as an artist. Do you use it often? What is the level of engagement between you and your fans through various social networking channels?

It’s important to stay in contact with your friends and fans at a few different levels. It’s a creative outlet like anything else and the more you can give your audience new material to keep them updated and entertained the better. I use Facebook daily. I have a good time posting crazy ass videos and try to find something either personal or external that provokes some comments. Its fun to see people I’ve met from across the country interact on a topic.

I’m not a huge twitter fan but keep it updated through other platforms. Myspace is still great to tool to connect with other musicians but I’m not sure how many people still use it.

As an artist, how does blogging fit into the overall structure of your marketing strategy?

I blog, but not as an artist. I blog to bring other musicians together and try to keep my comments out of it, although there is a few on www.headabovemusic.com . So I guess I’m an aggregator of other musician’s blogs.

As a blogger, what inspires you?

I like to tear down the hype that comes with being on stage, in photos, in videos, as a performer and a songwriter. Behind all the ego are musicians that are passionate about their voice and how it is interpreted by the audience and the vehicles in which it reaches their ears. Men and women that have the same struggles as everyone else and yet provide such eclectic music along their journeys are intriguing to me. People that want to succeed at what they do and will go to great lengths to make that happen. Everyone has their own way of achieving those goals. The fact that I provide a forum in which they can come together and share their stories and network is what inspires me to keep posting blogs.

A typical questions that most musicians are looking for the answer to, where did you begin? What was the first step you took in promoting your blog?

I began with a subject that didn’t sell anything. It was purely to provide information to others to help on their journey. I wanted an outlet that didn’t depend on me paying my bills or having to be judged in any way. There is not one bad thing about people sharing their stories on how they survive in the music world. I found that extremely easy to stand behind and promote. I first asked musician friends to offer their opinions on how they go through their day as a musician. I came up with as many topics as I could. They could either choose one of those or come up with one on their own. No rules, no topic turned down. It just had to have meat and honesty behind it.

Once I had a good foundation built, I went searching for people that needed help. I explored other blogs and forums where people looked for answers relating to topics I had in my foundation. I simply offered my help and the URL link and continued searching.

I also asked musicians to post the article on their own site and promote as well. This brought their fans to the page as well as inspiring musicians of whom were also a fan of that musician.

I then hooked up my feedburner (not the best option) twitter, facebook, and myspace and began blasting articles one day at time. I wasn’t selling anything, just providing information from other musicians. You didn’t have to agree or disagree with their point of view. If it works for them.. God Bless. If it doesn’t work for them, read another article or write your own.

How much time do you spend looking at other peoples’ blogs?

Not so much at first, but as I went searching for answers that were asked from the submission widget on the site, I spent a great deal of time searching for those answers. There are a lot of great blogs out there and some real shit ones. Its been nice to mold Head Above Music after some of the quality sites I’ve come across.

How do you measure success? Do you have goals in place to measure growth, traffic, and/or reader engagement?

I first measure success by how many unique readers I get a month. Second, how long do they stick around and the bounce rate from one article to another? Third, how many people are listening or clicking to the links provided by the artists that wrote the article.

What is the return on blogging for you?

For right now, it’s knowing I’m helping other musicians out by either giving them new information or exposing them to new music.

How do you respond to engagement on your blog? How do you leverage current engagement to increase future engagement?

Its really easy for me to see who is reading what. So if one topic is really getting a lot of traffic, I try to find more opinions and articles on that topic to present a wider view.

How often do you respond to comments left on your blog? Are there times when you should and/ or should not respond to comments?

People often leave opinions rather than questions in response to leaving a comment. I tend to leave it alone. Its their opinion and I’m happy to have a place for them to share it.

How do you track the success and popularity of each link? Do you use bit.ly or any other link-shortening/ tracking systems?

Google Analytics and Hoot Suite are most convenient for me. They do just enough tracking as far as page visits and link visits, click throughs and letting me know where my traffic is coming from. Some people might need more juice behind their statistics but I’m not there yet.

What are the benefits of an attractive article title?

HUGE!! My articles are listed as such, so it’s the only thing capturing my audience’s attention. Here are my top articles below. You can see that each article clearly states what you’ll find within the article. Clarity is more important than creative, especially when people are new to your site. It seems that my top site might be from this site MicControl.com, I never really heard of them though…. And they’re awesome.

Do you use any sort of SEO progams (search engine optimization) to help increase traffic to your blog?

Its good to do your SEO research. I use wordpress that allows you to add your own SEO. Its always good to know as much as you can about promoting your blog or band web site. Read up on how SEO can help you so you can climb out of the deepest depths of the internet universe.

What is the best way to integrate a blog into existing social networks like Facebook?

Don’t bother people all day long. Post your blog where it needs to be seen and move on to the next day. Its like posters at a club. You put too many up, they blend in to the background and people ignore them. Strategically place a few and it will catch people’s eye amongst the clutter.

From your experience, has Facebook helped to increased reader engagement? Traffic?

Hell yes, my friend. I have a large number of “personal” facebook friends, 550 and counting Head Above Music friends and almost 2,000 musician fan page friends. I post an article and a few people are bound to read them and pass it on if they find it worthy. But those numbers are there by conversing and caring about the people you interact with on Facebook.

You can dismiss social media all you want, but when the numbers are there, its just a fact that more people will hear your music and read your blog.

What do musicians want to avoid doing when promoting their blog?

Selling something, avoid selling something, especially as a musician. Use this opportunity as a window into your world of creative endeavors for the pure purpose of sharing it with others. If you do this honestly and creatively, people will buy your music without you ever having to mention it.

Check back tomorrow for part 3 of the MicControl.com interview series: The Blogging Side Of Music. We will be speaking with award winning producer and blues musician, Peter Malick about his experiences as a musician and a blogger.

Be Sure To Check Out:
Part 1: Matt Moran, songwriter/ blogger on content, consistency and benefits.

The Blogging Side Of Music will explore the dos and don’ts, the styles and techniques, and ultimately the tips and strategies of a successful music blogger. Each day, Each interview will feature of a different style of music blogger, ranging from a musician who uses a blog as part of his promotional strategy to the general manager of a major digital PR firm who runs a music marketing strategies blog.

http://miccontrol.com/#/micschool/the-blogging-side-of-music-dave-tamkin/

Are You An Unhappy Musician?

Are You An Unhappy Musician?
10 Tips To Get Musical Pain Relief

by Tom Hess

Are you satisfied with your guitar playing skills right now? Are you playing guitar at the level you want to? Have you been making the kind of progress you are happy with throughout your life as a musician?

I don’t know about you, but when I was starting to learn guitar (many years ago), I couldn’t honestly answer “Yes” to any of these questions.  So if your response is similar, then you and I probably have a lot in common.  I used to doubt if I would ever develop guitar skills to the same level as my favorite guitarists and become the musician I wanted to be.  If you are still reading this, then you probably are wondering (or have thought about) the same things.  Looking back now, I understand why I was feeling this way.  I also understand that if I had stayed in that mental state, I would never have gotten out of the rut I was in and progressed as a player.

Today I want to share with you some valuable advice that will help you overcome your frustrations.  These ideas (discussed below) certainly have made it much easier for me to overcome my own guitar playing struggles and they have been just as significant for the great number of guitar players that I have worked with.

The first thing that you need to do in order to eliminate your guitar playing problems, is to become crystal clear about what the real problems are (rather than simply observing the surface level “symptoms” of problems).  Let me further illustrate the importance of this to you with a short story about one of my students.

From Frustration to Greatness!
One of my most advanced students, Mike Philippov, started lessons with me as an early intermediate player.  He was not satisfied with the rate of his progress in reaching his musical goals.  Like most students, he told me about his frustrations by describing things that he thought “were” problems, but in reality were simply surface level symptoms of deeper causes.  One of the first things I did was help Mike to understand and see the difference between the symptoms and the core causes of his problems.  Now for the first time, he began to understand the issues that needed to be improved before he could begin to advance at a much faster pace.  With this insight, I created specific strategies which enabled us to make his approach to practicing and reaching his goals highly effective.  That was a key factor to all of Mike’s successes and the end of his struggle and frustration.

Through our lessons that followed, and of course through Mike’s practicing, drive and dedication, he has since become a great virtuoso guitarist and professional musician.  You can listen to his playing here.

What About You?
How much do you know about the core causes of your frustration and struggles?  How deep is your perspective?

Let’s look at an example: If one of your challenges is to play cleaner, you might say something like, “My playing is sometimes sloppy.” (if so, then you are stating your “symptom”, not your problem). In order to discover the “problem” you might analyze the movements of each hand and notice that your picking motions are inefficient. This would be part of your problem. In fact, there are probably many other problems which are all contributing to your sloppy guitar playing. Each of these ‘problems’ has one or more “core causes”.  It could look something like this:

Identifying, understanding and overcoming each of the core causes is the only way to efficiently, effectively and permanently solve your unique problems.

If you’re not sure about what specific issues are resulting in your guitar playing problems, take this test to see if you are on the right track to improving your guitar playing.

10 Tips to Get Relief for Your Musical Frustration.

Tip #1. Give Yourself Credit – Before looking to improve something, look at the progress that has already been made. Appreciate and be thankful for that. Remember when you were a beginner and you couldn’t play at all? You would have been happy to have the skills you have now.  Appreciate this, and feel good about what you have achieved up to this point.  Many people beat themselves up over their own playing when they are really pretty good already. This does not mean that you should become complacent or lose motivation to improve, it only means to be happy with yourself and your playing as you continue to improve and move forward as a guitar player and musician.

Tip #2. Become Aware of That Which Empowers and Inspires You – There may be certain things, moments, scenarios, events, places or people that make you feel good about yourself as a musician.  These things are different for each musician.  Perhaps you become very inspired by going to see a concert.  Or maybe you get very motivated by watching or jamming with musicians who are currently better than you.  Or, maybe you become inspired by revisiting some of your old recordings that you have made 3 6 or 12 months ago and seeing how much you have improved.  Being able to realize (and have tangible proof of) how much you have grown as a musician is a powerful inspirational force for some people.  Whatever these things are, anything that gets you away from concentrating on the temporary frustrations and setbacks and focuses you on your motivation and inspiration is what you should surround yourself with.

Tip #3. Are You a Guitar Player, a Musician, or an Artist? – The way you see yourself and the way you see who you want to become will create fundamental shifts in your thinking and in the ways you feel about your progress.  For example, if you see yourself mainly as a guitar player, you may approach your practicing with a certain mindset.  Most of your efforts would focus on improving your guitar playing skills.  On the other hand, as a musician, your focus will span a wider range of activities in addition to your guitar playing, such as developing your musical skills (aural skills, understanding of how music works, songwriting etc.).  Finally, as an artist, self expression becomes the most important goal and everything that you know about music and guitar become mere tools to express the art that is inside you (and self expression becomes the pinnacle of what you do).  Now, I am not saying that any one of these 3 things is better than the other 2, but you need to become aware of where you fall on this continuum and whether or not you want to make a shift more toward a different direction (and if not, then in what ways can you further improve your current position?).  Making the shift from a being a guitar player to becoming a musician or an artist will definitely change ways in which you think and feel about your progress and practicing in general.

Tip #4. Small Changes Can Make a Big Impact – Sometimes small changes in your practicing habits can make a big difference in your results.  For example, reorganize your practice routine so that items that require the most of your concentration are practiced first when your mind is fresh.  If you are strapped for time (or if you are having trouble maintaining intense concentration over longer practice sessions), divide your practice time into manageable blocks to improve your effectiveness.  These little practice sessions will add up.  Also, analyze your practice environment.  If you are currently practicing with a lot of distractions (your TV is on, or you answer the phone every time it rings or lots of people are coming and going around you etc..) then you need to eliminate them before you can start to see maximum returns on your investment of practice time.  Also, you should record your progress in areas that can be measured (such as the speed at which you can play certain exercises and passages).  There are many ways to do this, but regardless of what system you use to record your progress, I highly encourage you to DO it!  Little ideas like this, when combined together, can make a substantial difference in your progress.

Tip #5. Big Changes Make a Bigger Impact – Although the small ideas discussed above are certainly good, if you take bigger steps and make bigger changes in your approach to learning guitar and music, you can expect much bigger rewards.  For example, if you are frustrated with your inability to progress beyond a certain point AND if you are self taught and have never taken lessons before, then perhaps you should look into getting a teacher (or a different teacher if you are not seeing enough progress with your current one).  As we have already discussed, the first step to changing your playing for the better is to recognize that SOMETHING must change.  If what you are doing now is not bringing you the result you want, you must change your approach until the results become favorable.

Tip #6. Let Time Be On Your Side – Many guitarists feel frustrated when big progress does not seem to come in a short period of time.  As a result, time is perceived as an enemy.  However, if you are making at least some progress over time and you are patient enough and let accumulated time work for you, then time in fact becomes your biggest advantage. Learning an instrument is much like investing money with a fixed rate of compound interest.  In the beginning, the investment seems to grow so slowly that it seems like you are watching grass grow, but over the years, the growth will explode because of the exponential power of compound interest. If you know that time is on your side, you will be sure to feel much better about your musical future.

Tip #7. Do You Want to Entertain, Impress, or Express? – We all have our own reasons about why we play and create music. No matter what your goals may be, ultimately you will either be involved in entertaining people, impressing people, or expressing something to people (or some combination of these things). The good news is that regardless of where your skills are now, you can probably already entertain some people.  You can probably already impress some people. And, you also can probably already express some of your thoughts and feelings. Maybe you can not yet do these things as well as you would like, but even an inexperienced guitar player can do these things on some level. Think about this the next time you feel frustrated with yourself… you may already add more value to yourself and others than you realize.

Tip #8. Compare and Copy the Feeling, Not the Music – Very often, guitarists strive to imitate their favorite players and become frustrated when they are unsuccessful in doing so.  A very effective way to solve this problem is to focus on imitating the FEELING that you get from a certain player’s music, rather than buying the same gear as them or striving to imitate all the nuances of their playing.  Instead, if you concentrate on reproducing the same feeling and evoking the same emotions that you get from the music of others in YOUR own way, you will end up much more fulfilled. Not only will you achieve the level of musical satisfaction you are after, but you will also very often develop your own original style in the process.

Tip #9. Turn the Tables. - Frustration can help you or hurt you depending on how you deal with it.  I’ve told the story in one of my previous articles about how as a teenager, my guitar playing friends and I went to see Yngwie Malmsteen perform in Chicago. After the concert, some of my friends felt depressed after hearing Yngwie. Many didn’t want to play guitar for several days and one actually quit playing completely.  My reaction to the concert was quite different.  Although I felt just as frustrated as my friends, I used my frustration as a massive positive inspiring force.  In the weeks that followed, I practiced much more than I ever had before. The point here is not to seek to avoid frustration, but to use it to your advantage.  Always try to turn your own musical frustrations into the biggest source of motivation you have.

Tip #10. You Are Not Alone! - Masters of all types of art have gone through what you are going through. There was a time when Beethoven, Bach, Yngwie, Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy Page Zack Wylde (and many others). all felt just as frustrated as you.  Today you are at whatever skill level you achieved up to this point. Through your frustration and motivation, you will drive yourself to eventually reach your current goals. As you reach those goals, you will probably still feel frustrated because your desire to improve even further will make you establish new goals for yourself. And so the cycle will go on and on. But you too are progressing and improving more and more.

If you have not taken the above mentioned survey yet, I encourage you to do so now. Taking this test will help you to see if you are on the right track to improving your guitar playing.

Tom Hess is a professional touring guitarist and recording artist. He teaches, trains and mentors musicians from around the world. Visit tomhess.net to get free guitar playing tips and read more guitar playing articles.

Songwriting in Traffic

Songwriting in Traffic

By Ed Gershon Singer/Songwriter for Chicago’s Butterfly In Traffic

As a songwriter, it’s always fascinating for me to learn about how a musician creates their music. What are their secrets? It’s really just a spiritual ordeal that is beyond me. Since I’m not formally educated in music, I don’t sit down and write theoretically. I rely heavily on repetition-  which means recording constantly to archive ideas and complete songs.

In general, about 90% of the time, my songwriting process starts with me sitting down with a groove, a melody, and my acoustic. It’s also through jamming and exploring that the process begins. Sometimes I’m really lucky where I knock out the song right away, but most of the time- months are invested.  I’ve found recently that a smart phone, specifically iPhone, is the perfect tool for the beginning of the songwriting process.  The phone is able to handle vocals and an acoustic quite well when I don’t have the time to multitrack.  A loop station is another great option, if you don’t have access to a home studio. Once the process is moving, the lyrics begin to develop for me. When the final song structure takes place I’ll multitrack the song, so I can share it with the band for feedback.

I’ll also throw the new material on my iPod to listen to it critically, and make adjustments if necessary. The band will come in and start adding their personal take on it, transitions may be added at that time. It’s at that point, that I really see the potential of the song. The best part is sharing it with the fans and seeing what happens the first night it hits the stage. I hope my experiences are helpful along this amazing journey that is music.

Peace,

Ed Gershon

www.butterflyintraffic.com/

www.myspace.com/butterflyintraffic

www.digstation.com (Listen to the EP)

Ed Gershon Recommends:

1. Garcia – one of my favorite guitarists of all time – here is a link to the book
2. My favorite piece of gear would have to be my Taylor 612ce
3. Can’t live on the road without my iPod.

The Death of The Bridge

The Death of the Bridge
By Brian Hazard of Passive Promotion

Many of my all-time favorite songs are “growers” – album tracks that don’t really grab you the first few spins, but eventually dig their hooks in and don’t let go. Few artists these days have the luxury of writing growers, because listeners aren’t willing to invest that kind of time. Unless the artist is proven to deliver, the listener will tune out and move on. While I’m a huge fan of the album format, it’s hard to deny the shifting focus from albums to individual songs. Every one of those songs needs to grab the listener’s attention and hold it until the last note – preferably longer! In order for your songs to be grabbers rather than growers, they must have clear and familiar structures.

The textbook pop song structure is verse – chorus – verse – chorus – bridge (also known as the “middle eight”) – chorus. At its most basic level, structure is repetition. If no element of the song repeats, it has no structure. Every repetition of the verse and chorus is another chance for the listener to fall in love with the song. The one section of the song that doesn’t repeat, the bridge, has been phased out in favor of a short break or instrumental solo. Don’t get me wrong – plenty of popular songs still have bridges, but it’s not the staple it once was. As much as I hate to dumb down my songs, I recognize the wisdom in simplicity. Until you’ve got a substantial following, two sections – a verse and a chorus – is plenty.

Not to say you have to follow the traditional form to the letter! There’s plenty of room for variation. You could:

• Start with the chorus
• Throw in an extra verse before the first chorus to allow further exposition
• Substitute a third verse for the break for the same reason
• Cut the first chorus in half, in which case you’ll probably want to…
• Add an extra chorus at the end

To extend the structure a bit further, you could insert a prechorus (also known as the “build”) between the verse and chorus. While the prechorus ups the complexity by adding a third section, the crucial difference between the prechorus and bridge is that the former repeats. Should you choose to go this route, I suggest eliminating the break in favor of a third prechorus (V-PC-C-V-PC-C-PC-C).

OK, so you’ve got a catchy verse and an explosive chorus. You’ve got lyrics laced with concrete imagery that tell a universal story in a fresh and imaginative way. Too much repetition can be annoying, but it takes more than most songwriters are willing to dare. How do you arrange the song to include just the right amount, so that it repeats without sounding repetitive? Here are some ideas (I’d love to hear yours in the comments!):

1. Break up the groove. Start the song with sparse instrumentation and stagger the introduction of rhythmic elements over course of the first verse. Or, drop the drums and bass at the end of the verse to explode into the chorus. Solo the vocals for a few beats. If you’re ending with a double chorus, thin the arrangement for the penultimate chorus to make the ending seem huge. Filter the whole mix and automate the cutoff frequency. Drop to a half time feel, or bump it up to double time. The possibilities are endless.
2. Add a new element. A new guitar line or synth arpeggio can make a verse feel fresh, even when everything else is the same. Maybe it’s as simple as playing eighth notes on the hi-hat instead of quarter notes, or dropping the bass down an octave. Be careful not to clutter the midrange, or you’ll compete with the lead vocal.
3. Layer the vocals. Highlight important words or phrases with harmonies, yells, or whispers. Double the chorus lead vocal, and gradually stack harmonies over the course of the song. Ad lib over the final chorus, R&B style, or superimpose lines from the verse.
4. Vary the lead vocal treatment. Automate the reverb to swell on a long note, add a delay to the last word of each phrase, use a bandpass EQ for “radio voice,” or if you’re not afraid to jump on the bandwagon, do the autotune thing.

While there’s more to a great song than clear structure, a song without obvious repetition is destined to fail. Don’t equate sophistication with quality. Win listeners over with simple strong structures. Write songs that can be easily appreciated, and they might just promote themselves.

Check out Brian’s latest song here: http://colortheory.com/it-must-be-halloween

The death of the bridge is a post from: Passive Promotion – “Set it and forget it” music promotion Copyright 2010 Brian Hazard. All Rights Reserved.

The Music Biz : Five Important Tips for Staying Sane and in the Game

The Music Biz : Five Important Tips for Staying Sane and in the Game
By T.Reed – Composer @ TAO X Productions

Hope those are helpful. Mindset and approach are half the battle.

“Well begun is half done” ~ Yin Chian Ho

T. Reed Recommendations:

Book: ‘Simple Steps to Impossible Dreams’

Best Gear: Nord Modular G2

Can’t do without on the road: Tai Chi

BIO: T. Reed performed with the “avante rock” group Vivid Psyche (from the mid 80’s through the early 90’s), then founded the theatrical industrial metal shock rock band Morpheus Sister (sharing the stage with Marilyn Manson, Deftones, Clutch, Love&Rockets, Godflesh, Helmet and others).

T. Reed and his team of colleagues specializing in film and video, produced music videos that appeared on the same (U.S.) VJ reels with Nine Inch Nails and Nitzer Ebb.

Morpheus Sister was disbanded in 2000 to provide the time to pursue production and composing opportunities.

You can see the last video created for Morpheus Sister here:video excerpt @
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmy-Lu3-bUA

Currently T.Reed has added writing screenplays and short stories to his agenda as well as writing the for the Nightmare Sound Laboratory Blog which covers topics of music, cinema, the entertainment industry, horror/sci-fi, robots, monsters, experimental music and

mad scientists @ http://nightmaresoundlab.blogspot.com

And for :http://CaptainPoetryBlog.com

T. Reed – Composer

Websites & Projects

http://www.taoxproductions.com

http://www.myspace.com/kaijusonic

http://www.myspace.com/riseoftheretrobots

http://www.myspace.com/theantipriest

http://www.youtube.com/user/taoxproductions

Catching the Attention of the Audience

Catching the Attention of the Audience
By Michelle Paulino

I visit Myspace pages every day to check out what artists are up to. A lot of times, I listen to twenty to thirty seconds of a song and I’m already bored. I skip right to the next artist page. I noticed that this happens even when the singer has a great voice and when I like the style I am listening to. So why didn’t these songs catch my attention?

Everybody wants to be a musician and nobody is ashamed to post their music online for the world to hear. Listeners are being bombarded daily with thousands of songs online, in the radio and on TV. It is only normal for the listener to become more and more selective as they are being exposed to such a wide variety of choices. So how do you stand out?

You will find hundreds of tips for musicians online telling them how to stand out. But very few of them start with this: Make great music! Not good music! Great music!

You can be awesome on stage, have a banging street team and be on every radio show and magazine out there. You will probably get many profile hits with that but if your music is not the top of the crop, you are going to be just a “nice” band and not a “I gotta have your album” band. If your product is not excellent and if there are competitors coming out of the woods with great products, guess what? Your product will sink!

I’ve found some of these tips to be very helpful:

1. 1. Don’t be fooled by trends. Your music should be timeless. Trends aren’t! Everybody uses autotune and everybody likes to add certain trendy effects to their voice or their track because they think it’s cool. Well, think again! It might not work for you. You want people not only to buy your album but you want them to remember you for a long time, as well as always go back to your songs and reminisce. The listener likes songs they can identify with and attach memories to. Trends are based on hype. It makes you feel good or it makes you bounce but there is usually not much depth to it. On the other hand, trends get somebody famous really fast, it sells a lot but unless there is constant mass promotion of the artist, the band will be forgotten 5 years down the road. There is no sin in adding a trendy song here and there but do not make an entire album based on a trend, unless you are the one creating it. If following trends is something you want to give it a try anyway, make sure you portray the right commercial image pertaining to that style, else you are going to come across as a “wannabe”.

1. 2. Your musical style should not be based on what you like. Find a style that is not only suitable to your personality but also to your voice. Some vocalists are true cowboys and love country music but their vocals just don’t go with it or they are maximized by singing something else. Finding or making a track that allows your vocals to explore its full tone makes a song go from “that’s really good” to “WOW!” .A good example is the singer Esmee Denters. Compare her songs “My Own Heart” and the song “Outta Here”. Notice how the second song opened her vocals. You can feel how comfortable her voice is. A good exercise is to record yourself at home singing songs of different genres. Listen to them and try to notice the difference in your voice tone. Maybe ask around to see what people think about your voice on each one of them.

As far as personality goes, that is a big part of what people fall in love with. So, the style of an artist should obviously be translated into their music and vice-versa.

Unfortunately, there are many bands that do not have a defined personality. They play any and every style. The audience will like the versatility of your talent but the tendency is for you to always be the first type of band to get stuck playing at bars and weddings because whoever hires you – and its audience – end up perceiving you as a quick fixer-upper, after all your band pleases different crowds gathered in one single place, since you play everything. But when somebody buys a ticket to watch your show, they know exactly what they want to hear. You will rarely have a venue filled with people that are there just to hear your reggae songs and another group that is there just to hear your R&B songs and yet another group just for your pop songs. They want to enjoy every single song you play, especially if they are paying for your show. They expect you to share your personality with theirs, which includes your music. If you have no personality, then it’s going to be hard to define a fan base and please them in a deeper level. Remember: you are a brand.

1. 3. How you shop for your instrumentals makes a big difference. Create the instrumentals for your song from scratch or buy a track that can be tweaked and preferably that is not even mixed yet. There are many awesome beats for sale out there but after you pay for it, you receive the file and realize the final product is fully mixed with all sorts of reverb effects in a compressed format that you can’t edit. When your sound engineer mixes your voice with the track, it will sound like your voice was put over the track, instead of being uniformly combined. What you want is to be able to mix the track around your vocals so the whole song can sound as one, as a complimenting whole that is equally polished.

1. 4. Your lyrics might be the problem. Pay attention to each word you use in your song. If you have a hard time pronouncing words or sentences when you sing them in a verse, when you have to squeeze time to fit all the words in a verse or when the flow of the song asks for a rhyme you don’t make one, chances are that the lyrics you wrote are not flowing as smoothly as they should. Make sure that the words, the melody and instrumentals have a natural flow among themselves. If you want to be innovative and risky and decide to go with a sound that is the opposite to the natural flow of the song, make sure the discrepancy is pleasant to the ears. A good way to know if your song is keeping its flow is by listening to what you wrote with your eyes closed. Forget about how great or how bad you think your voice is. Pretend that it is somebody else’s music. Listen to it from the top just for the sake of listening and enjoying the sound. If your mood changes to a less exciting one at certain points of the song and if that is not intentional, that is a sign that the flow of your song failed somewhere. Notice where exactly you lost that flow and reword your sentence or find other notes to sing the melody and harmonies.

1. 5. Sing flawlessly. I know money to spend in the studio is almost always an issue to artists and the advice you will get is to record as fast as you can and take your time in the mixing part of the session. I still disagree with that. Even if you are a great artist that records beautifully the first time you sing on the microphone, recording the same thing over and over again helps you to achieve perfection. Even if you already got the perfect sound, try recording it a few more times just in case. Remember that you can always do better.

Let us know if this worked for you!

www.myspace.com/michellepaulinomusic

www.michellepaulino.webs.com

One book I would recommend: Succeeding in Music: A business workbook for performers and songwriters by John Stiernberg.

My favorite piece of gear: Neumann U87 microphone for studio or Shure SM58 (live performances)

One thing I can’t live on the road without: laptop and fries! (I know. Bad habit!)

Limitations, Goals and Inspiration

Limitations, Goals and Inspiration
By Spy Nation
Quebec, Canada

Click to Listen

Well, the first place to start is don’t put any limitations on yourself. If someone else can do it, you can too. You know deep down if music is your calling, go for it. You can only go as far as you think you can so whatever your goals are just don’t be afraid of making them as big as you want ! Not to say everyone wants to top the billboard charts or whatnot, your goals might be very personal (excellence for your own personal growth, being able to play live in front of a local audience… for example) and that fine too Everyone has something special to bring, in their own unique way so don’t be afraid to be yourself! That means dint try to mold yourself to the current styles or what you think is good music or whatever, just don’t be afraid to be different. The world doesn’t need another copy of. It does need your own special expression though ! And ya sure, its true that you do get more opposition when you are different, but authentic IS the only way to go and the only way great music ever came to be in the first place! So be true to yourself, if you are truly passionate about what you are doing, chances are others will love it too. So keep it real. Keep it authentic.

Your music should be a reflection of YOU, not someone else. Now that doesn’t mean you don’t get inspired by other artists, for sure you do! And so here comes another bit of advice: listen to everyone and everything. There is always something to learn. Criticism helps you grow. Don’t mind the senseless bashing, but don’t have such a big ego as to not heed advice either. Someone may be wrong or right it doesn’t matter, just keep an open mind. That also applies when listening to others music, maybe the song you are listening to sucks musically, but the mixing is amazing or the lyrics or the way the singer is conveying the emotion..? Just take the good in all you can.

Now, that brings me to, and you’ve heard this one before but it is so true, you gotta be tough, you will most likely not succeed at your first try in anything you attempt, so it is the same with your musical goals. Just don’t give up. Some things take more time to get where you want them to be. Whether that be recognition for your band, or your skills to be up to par. You think Celine Dion never hit a wrong note??? Heck I have seen videos of her in her earlier years, where she was days on end practicing a song to get it right. Greatness is something you work at. And in a competitive business like the music industry, you better be on your grind cause their are thousands on thousands of dedicated artists out there all wanting to be heard. Not to say there is not room for all of you amazing people ! Just to say: practice. A lot. Confidence in what you do is gained by those endless hours of knowing your skills and knowing you are giving your very best.

Now when it comes to getting your music out there… don’t wait for anybody to do that for you! Utilize all your resources. Play shows whenever you can, and use the internet. Other than the live shows, Myspace and Youtube is how we gained most of our following. Theses are tools that work for you by getting you fans that couldn’t otherwise have ever heard about you. Remember, your fans are your biggest allies, so treat them well, respond to their comments, post blogs, interact. Nobody ever made it anywhere without lots of love and support, and they are yours so give back. Give your songs if you want too. Don’t start with money in your head. If you do a great job and your music is awesome people are gonna WANT to support you, and money is gonna come naturally as a result of your great work. So all in due time. OK now so I’m no pro adviser or anything, this is just a little bit of what works for us and I hope it can help Love you all! Keep making all this beautiful art for us all to enjoy! XO

Spy Nation

http://www.myspace.com/orchestrazz

One book we would recommend: The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer
favorite piece of gear: Gilbert’s Marshall amp
one thing we cant live on the road without: olive oil( Gilbert eats a liter a week!!) and organic soap( that one s for me !LOL)

Every Song Tells A Story…But Does It Need To Be An Abstract Novel?

Every Song Tells A Story…But Does It Need To Be An Abstract Novel?
By Sheena Metal

For a musician, your songs are your art.  They are the physical embodiment of your creative gifts.  Every bit of anger, happiness, angst, joy, pain, elation, knowledge or humor goes into the story known as your song.  You write and re-write it, scouring over each note and word…perfecting it for recording and live performance.

But when you play it for others, you’re not getting the reaction you expected. Your friends, fans and family seem less than enthusiastic as they dully respond, “Yeah.  That was…um…good.” How could this be?  You poured your soul into this piece.  This was your “Stairway To Heaven”!  This was your “Smells Like Team Spirit”!  It’s a lyrically amazing ode about the persecution of pagan midwives in grass hut tribes!  It flows, it breathes, and it’s seven and a half minutes of pure musical perfection!

Whoa.  Stop right there, Mozart.  You wrote a seven and a half minute song about the persecution of pagan midwives in grass hut tribes and you’re wondering why you’re thirteen year-old cousin fell asleep in the middle of the fourth verse?  You wrote a seven and a half minute song about the persecution of pagan midwives in grass hut tribes and you’re confused as to why your drummer’s girlfriend began calling her friends on her cell phone before the song had reached its bridge?

It may be hard to believe when you’re penning an opus such as this, but the normal human brain is wired a little differently than an accomplished musician’s, like yourself.  And although music is art, it’s also popular culture and the goal should be for others to enjoy your creative efforts as much as you do.

So, how can you make sure that your writing experience is as positive as your audience’s listening experience?  What can you, as musicians do, to eliminate aspects of your songs that may alienate, confuse or just plain bore your fans?

The following are a few tips that may add success to your songwriting experience:
1. After Four Minutes, It Becomes Background Music—Music aficionado’s aside, the average person has roughly the attention span of a young adult hummingbird. As a songwriter, you need to grab your audience’s attention and hold it until the end of the song before they flit off to something else more interesting to them. Although four minutes (or less) may seem like the blink of an eye when a songwriter is storytelling, it’s a very long time to expect your run-of-the-mill club-goer or web-surfer to stay fixated on your music.

2. Tell Your Story As Directly As Possible—We all love allusions, allegories, vague references, and subtle metaphors but use them sparingly or become a beat poet. A little abstractness goes a long way when writing a popular song. Song lyrics fly into people’s minds as quickly as the bassist plucks out quarter notes. If you make your lyrics too complicated, then your audience may still be trying to figure out the verse when you’re already playing the chorus. This could prompt the average listener to tune out your masterpiece, order another beer and switch on their Ipod.

3. If English Is Your First Language, Use It In Your Song—It’s great that you’re an educated, cultured, artistic intellectual sponge. But remember that most people who hear your music are not book worms or art whores. Big, involved words make for memorable song lyrics but use them occasionally. It’s good for your fans to ponder the meaning of a particular lyric but give them too many to ponder and they’ll get so caught up in the words that they may forget your song.

4. Obscure Musicality Can Be Confusing Too—Lyrics aren’t the only way to confuse the average listener. Obscure time signatures, discordant instrumentation and avant guard drum lines may seem like genius to your fellow musicians, but if your listeners can’t tap and/or hum along, you may find yourself only invited to perform in underground opium bars where the audience members have all had one too many hash brownie.

Remember that just because a song is popular or easily understood, doesn’t mean that it’s not good creativity.  Art is subjective, and truly in the eye of the beholder.  Your least favorite song could be someone else’s favorite.  You never have to stop being creative or artistic, just acknowledge that there’s an audience out there that wants to hear what you have to say…but they’ll need to be able to comprehend it first.

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

HEAD ABOVE MUSIC RECOMMENDATION:

Songwriters on Songwriting By Paul Zollo, Paul Zollo

The Complete Singer-Songwriter: A Troubadour’s Guide to Writing, Performing, Recording and Business By Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

How To Write Songs On Guitar – Revised By Rikky Rooksby

MTV and OurStage Partner Up

To the artists, music lovers and industry insiders that make up the OurStage community,

Since the inception of OurStage the founders have aspired to change the landscape of the music industry by finding a way to discover tomorrow’s stars. With your help we have been hugely successful at ranking the quality of talent within our arsenal of artists. With the help of our partners we have been fortunate enough to provide some of our most promising artists career enhancing opportunities. Now it’s time to raise the bar even higher.

We want to break artists regionally, nationally and internationally. In order to achieve this goal we are thrilled to announce our partnership with the MTV Networks. The sheer power of MTV’s many screens from TV to web to mobile to gaming will allow for many more opportunities for OurStage artists. In the months to follow we will announce promotions that will put our artists in front of massive audiences.

To kick off this relationship MTV Music and OurStage will be selecting one artist each week for a collaborate feature called “Needle in the Haystack”. NITH will shower each lucky artist with Internet love, making them an “artist to watch”. Since February 1st you can discover the featured talent through downloads and interviews shared on mtvmusic.com and ourstage.com.

Since its premiere in 1981 MTV has had a profound impact on both the music industry and popular culture at large. This partnership heralds a shared vision to truly break the stars of tomorrow. It is a commitment that we look forward to making a reality. Now all we need is you.

Artists, continue to update your profiles, EPKs and submit your best songs into our monthly music channels. Fans, continue to let your voice be heard through judging— as your opinion can help launch the careers of our artists and change their lives forever.

Let’s make some magic happen.

OurStage

3rd Album – What I’ve Learned This Time Around

3rd album – What I’ve Learned This Time Around
By Victor Pender

Click to Listen

When Head Above Music asked me to do an article on my experiences for the 3^rd album it got me thinking. The biggest thing I noticed about producing a 3^rd album is that you learn more to play to your strengths instead of trying to be all things to all people. I write all the songs, play piano and sing. The first 2 albums teach you where your strengths are. It’s like an apprenticeship. Sometimes you can lose confidence doing something a little beyond you and you realize that’s not necessarily your thing. You should focus on your core strengths. For me it’s my writing, my piano and putting it all together. I can’t necessarily sing everything I write. I find my voice and delivery adequate within a certain range. It’s definitely is a strong point when I’m in my comfort zone, but outside of that I’m happy to bring in people with better voices. You have to do what is best for the track. I love the texture of girls and guys voices, especially with harmony.

If you continue with the same team, you build on the relationships you developed, and you become more efficient in the studio because you know how each other works. Same for the musicians you bring in to team on the recording. You bounce off each other better and the chemistry is more intense.

As a writer you learn more about what works, what to look for in a great song, about intelligent song construction, and for me to write even beyond my ability as a performer. Like anything, the more you do it, the better you get. You become a better song writer. This time around I was a lot more prepared to explore new territory, styles and genres, because I have now connected with a broader range of talent able to bring my music to life.

If you’re into theory and technique, you get better at speaking and communicating the language of music just by doing it with others.

We explored everything from rock to pop, to orchestral, old and new school, hip hop, R&B, piano ballads, contemporary dance, piano solo, so on this album you’re going to get one with the lot from all of our combined experiences.

This album also reflects the journey of all of us in the band and engineers in the studio, and how we’ve all grown as musicians over the past 6 years of working together live and in the studio, from personal ability to trying on new things. I had grown up as a piano player who learned how to sing by copying other performers. I was a typical hairbrush and mirror kinda guy. My style was kind of piano man meets Robbie Williams meets Frankie Valley meets me. For this album I branched out and tried styles I would never have previously even dreamed of like R&B and hip hop, with the help of players like Michael ‘Z’ Zammit, Caroline ‘CJ’ Hawke, Elethea Sartorelli, Sarah ‘Mil’ C’ Capodicasa, Judy Stolfo, Rosie Kalber, Troy ‘Tribal’ Lourens, Gary Thackrah, Sam Tabone, Hayley Anderson, Daniel Agius, Alyssa Comito, Mauricio Ochoa Lemos, & Master rap – MC J Waters. Live performers who help shape my sound include Dana ‘db’ Beckett, Scotty Ingram, Joe Torres, Claire ‘WIAD’ Cross, Dave ‘Robbie’ Gidis, Justin ‘Casper’ Healy, Grant ‘Slice of Heaven’ Weinstein, Bri Croft, Lisssa Dawson, Tim Agius, Broden Ford, Mary McPherson, Lauren Gorman, and Phil Rogers.

You also get the benefit of developing in front of the people you are trying to impress. I have only just signed an iTunes and a distribution deal because it takes a while to sort. People see you are in it for the long hall and they begin to see the level of your dedication and commitment. You develop relationships with venues which makes it easier to get gigs.

Even when it comes to making videos, the first time is really strange and requires a whole other discipline in order to look good. You get better at knowing what you want. You get better at story boarding, planning and being directed; now having a knowledge of final outcomes and the possibilities to create the visual vibe of the song.

From the point of view of equipment, when you first start out you get really hung up on gear and you think you need everything and can easily waste a whole bunch of money. The more I do this, the more I realize you don’t need most of it. These days I can write on a Casiotone if I want. It really doesn’t matter a whole deal. Don’t get me wrong I love my beta 58 and my Kurzweil piano for live, but you just need the bits that focus on your core strengths. A lot of musos spend a lot on recording gear. Digital notepads are cool, but if you want releasable to radio quality, 999 times out of 1000 you won’t be able to do it yourself no matter what the brochure says. Being an engineer is a whole other discipline and can take 5-10 years to get your head around the tech and to get really good. Not to mention the amount of money you would have to spend on gear and education. To think you’ll save money is just a lie. Hire a pro. Research people on myspace and ask them who they used. Being a great muso maketh not the great producer.

The more we rehearse for the new album shows, the more I notice a lot of musos buy sophisticated PA gear they may or may not use. Again you only need what you are going to use. These days speakers can come with integrated matching amps. Mixers come with onboard fx and eq’s. To have this stuff in separate boxes only adds to the set up and pack up time and adds to the amount of things that can go wrong. And MOST of the time, the audience will never know the difference. Only buy what you need, and simplify wherever you can. I really like Lexicon and TC reverb. I tried it live housed in it a rack, then compared it to the built in verb on my Beringer, and there would be very few people in the crowd who would know the difference. Truly. The subtle beauty of the Lexicon generally won’t translate live. Obviously it is different for large scale shows. For these every time you will hire a sound guy. So in the end you don’t need to buy high end stuff. ‘I could be famous if I had all the right gear if my parents weren’t poor.’ It’s just not true. You can write if you have pen, paper, a Casio or a Kmart guitar. Truly. If you want to perform, there is always someone around with a mike and an amp. You just have to be creative, resourceful and motivated.

By this stage I have connected with more like-minded people and your world becomes more like that which you are seeking. You relate to each others’ stories of triumph and tribulation. You meet lots of other bands. You learn patience and humility during which time you keep working hard, you treat it as an opportunity to improve, and then you get better. In my mind I should have been famous long ago (in my dreams – lol!) but all this has done is spurned me on to work even harder. To keep writing, to keep recording, to keep playing live, to keep improving. If you write, write your head off. If you play or sing rehearse your head off. Regular lessons never go astray. Commit to being the best you can be.

The life that comes with being a musician or any performer for that matter, you wouldn’t want on anyone. It is truly tough compared to people who have regular jobs. It requires juggling and major sacrifices. I am hoping the reward will be greater than the price I paid. They say you don’t chose this business, it chooses you. I know this to be true.

Details and 3^rd album song samples can be heard here: http://www.myspace.com/victorpender

Songs can be previewed and bought here:  

Victor’s Recomendations:

1. One book I would recommend. Warren Beatty’s Biography
2. My favorite piece of gear - Essex Steinway Grand my Mum bought me.  At shows it’s my Kurzweil piano
3. One thing I can’t live on the road without – 2 minute noodles

More iPhone Music Applications for Musicians

Tickle the Ivories.

Transform iPhone into a full 88-key piano with Pianist. With authentic sound and great features like soft and sustaining pedals, dual keyboard layout, and overdubbing, you can play and compose anywhere. The interface between the tunes and which keys to press is easy to master. Once you catch on you’ll want to play at least one song all the way through.
Available on the App Store

Record music.

If you like to make your own music, record it with Voice Memo, then share it via MMS* or email.

Record a voice memo:

1. Tap to start recording. You can also press the center button on the iPhone headset.
2. Tap to pause or to stop recording. You can also press the center button on the iPhone headset to stop recording.

Share a voice memo:

1. On the Voice Memos screen or Info screen, tap Share.
2. Choose Email Voice Memo to open a new message in Mail with the memo attached, or choose MMS to open a new message in Messages.

See more tips

Create a soundtrack.

Turn the world around you into a song with RjDj. This music-making app picks up ambient sounds, then bounces them back through your headphones. Record as you go and enjoy your creative compositions again later. “RjDj” is a new iPhone application that mixes audio data from the iPhone’s microphone in real-time and plays them back out your headphones to create an electronic musicish environment. It connects your outside world to your acoustic perception. Different “scenes” exist in lieu of proper songs, each of which use the open “Pd” descriptor language to define what to do with the sounds coming in through the microphone. Your voice might be remixed into a flanging loop in one scene; another might use increased volume to change the melody of a song.  Acid for your ears.
Available on the App Store

See the music.

Audio and visuals are in perfect harmony with Bloom. This mesmerizing app from ambient music pioneer Brian Eno turns your iPhone into a 21st-century music box. Touch the screen to layer and loop sounds. Then sit back and enjoy the elaborate patterns and relaxing soundscapes. It displays a pastel multicolored screen. You hit different spots on the screen to play different notes. Your bass notes will be at the bottom, treble at the top. The notes are arranged in modal intervals so you can’t play a wrong note.
Available on the App Store

Stay on key.

When it comes to finding the perfect pitch, ClearTune is spot on. Use this powerful app to tune almost any instrument that sustains a tone — from guitars and woodwinds to brass and pianos. The ClearTune, is a chromatic tuner that will help you tune any instrument that can hold a tone long enough for the iPhone’s built in mic to allow the app to read it. It’s extremely well-drawn and highly functional. One glance at it and you know exactly what it is you’re looking at.

Available on the App Store

Be blown away.

Turn iPhone into a fun-to-play flutelike instrument with Ocarina. To play a melody, blow into the iPhone mic as you hold down various finger combinations. Even novices will be amazed at how easy it is to play hundreds of songs. And if you just can’t get enough, tap the globe icon to listen in on Ocarina players all over the world. Smule’s website (http://ocarina.smule.com) has a large collection of user-generated songs that have been tabbed specifically for the iPhone Ocarina app. You will find everything from the Star Wars theme to The Beatles. The Ocarina “sheet music” is very easy to read and simply shows the finger positions for each note in the song.
Available on the App Store

Strike a chord.

Want to learn a few new chords? Add GuitarToolkit for over 500,000 chord variations and a flexible guitar tuner and metronome. Then start strumming when you download PocketGuitar. This App allows you to change between 6 different instruments including: Acoustic-Electric Guitar, Electric Guitar, Classical Guitar, Muted Guitar, Electric Bass & Ukulele which can be changed in the settings. There are a few other options in the settings, such as effects, Accelerometer Effects, Alternative Tuning, Pluck Auto, Adjust Positions & turn Left-Handed Play on and Off
Available on the App Store

You’ve got the beat.

Your iPhone becomes a fully loaded music studio with the BeatMaker mobile music creation studio. Compose professional-sounding beats, record audio samples, and arrange patterns to create songs. Then export your compositions and share them with friends. BeatMaker is a sequencer, an application used to arrange samples into a composition. Often times, sequencers use pieces of hardware, such as an electronic drum kit or MIDI keyboard, to trigger (or play back on demand) the samples and record the information associated with the velocity, after touch, and note pitch and value.
Available on the App Store

Top 10 Paid Music Apps

1. I Am T-Pain
2. Shazam Encore
3. MusicID with Lyrics
4. PocketGuitar
5. SoundHound
6. easymix hiphop
7. TuneIn Radio
8. Radio
9. GuitarToolkit
10. Ocarina

Top 10 Free Music Apps

1. Pandora Radio
2. Shazam
3. iheart radio
4. Virtuoso Piano Free 2
5. SIRIUS XM Premium Online
6. myPod (FREE)
7. Drum Kit Lite
8. MyGuitar
9. Custom Ringtones via iTunes (Visual Guide)
10. Madonna

Tune in.

Create your own personal music station with Pandora Radio. Choose a favorite song or artist and Pandora will play the music you want to hear — and music just like it. Discover new artists with similar sounds and skip over songs you don’t like.
Available on the App Store

Name that tune.

If you hear a song you like, point your iPhone at the speaker and Shazam tells you the name of the song and the artist who sings it. It also lets you download the song from iTunes, tag it, and watch the music video.

Available on the App Store

Writing Tips : Writing Outright. Part Two

Writing Tips : Writing Outright. Part Two
By Tom Colohue |
Giving with permission by a favorite music site: www.dottedmusic.com
This is a second part of Writing Tips By Tom Colohue: Writing Outright. Read the first part at this location.

Photo credit: Jesper Waldersten

Not everybody is particularly talented at writing music. While some people find it incredibly difficult others find it easier than anything else. Everybody has specific skills that are worth nurturing in order to gain as much from them as possible. You don’t have to want to be a writer, a poet or a musician. All that you need is a sense of drive with which you might work towards honing your current skills and developing whatever is available to you already.

I’m just laying out something of a list of points here. Using these, it’s up to you to do what you will with the present information. All of these come from almost fifteen years of writing experience myself. I started writing fifteen years ago, started with poetry five years ago and started writing music, which will be covered in later pieces and lyrics about three years ago when I was gifted with my guitar. Whether you’ve never written a song before or you have written a platinum selling album and sixteen novels, I hope this helps.

Point Four: Take Your Time

If you write something down and it sounds good, then keep it. Come back a week later and your opinion on it might have changed, so let it change and grow with the time you’ve given it. Your influences may have changed and the character behind the piece might have grown and developed into something brand new. This will always add something to what you’re writing, as well as taking it away from how it originated. The less obvious the original influences become, the more unique the piece is in the end.

You will always be your own worst critic. Coming back to something after a little time is a lot like coming to something brand new that somebody else has written. If you were after comedy, you might find that the jokes are not funny anymore. The rhythm in your head may have changed and a new one might come forth for the poem or song that you’re writing. A new influence from another genre might have crept in, or your new perspective might present a brand new selection of words to follow.

All work evolves; you just have to give it time in which to do that. Don’t be afraid of change. If you end up happy with the results then there’s never any reason to worry about it.

Point Five: Repetition

Repetition is always a difficult one to gauge. Choral repetition is generally considered the best way to go, however a catchy line or verse can become much more powerful when repeated. Unfortunately, if the lyrics don’t have the power in them anyway or don’t really say anything that is of particular importance to the song then it comes out weak and pointless.

You have to choose your repeated words carefully. In repeating them, you are empowering them, so you have to ensure that they hold enough power in them to make it sensible. It has to not only fit the piece, but also to fit the perceptions of the person listening to it. Now, obviously, you don’t know what your reader is thinking, so you need to make sure that it has the right affect on you.

Its handy having somebody else available to read over what you’ve done, particularly somebody evil, cruel and magnificently brutal. They’re the best and most honest critics.

Point Six: Keep a Thesaurus and A Rhyming Dictionary Handy

Often when writing a song you’ll come across a few problem lines. How you handle this will decide if the song survives or not. If you like to make songs which rhyme but can’t think of an appropriate rhyming word there are three steps to follow which should help you find one:

• Confirm what you’re trying to say.
• Use a Thesaurus on the word you’re trying to rhyme with and consider changing it.
• Use a rhyming dictionary to find a rhyming word that fits the song.

The expansion of your vocabulary is the easiest way to defeat this potential issue as and when it arises. It will come up a lot when you just want to make sure that things fit nicely, but they refuse to do so. Spend some time considering it and working out what your options are, then choose whatever one seems most suitable to you. If all else fails, it’s more than likely that you can just change the line itself. You could come back later and have a completely different line in mind.

Point Seven: Inspire Yourself

Inspiration can be hard to find, but it’s not as elusive as people think. Inspiration is simply something that makes you think, so you can see that there‘s a lot of it in the world. Even when you have writer’s block, or you’re too angry to focus, your mind is still constantly active and thinking about whatever random thing that you’ve been inspired to think about. Obviously inspiration is unique to different people as people are unique themselves, but here follows a list of ways I try to think when I’m writing a song:

• Think of a choice you made in life, what would happen if you chose the other one.
• Make a random thought rhyme.
• What were your feelings when you first discovered… (e.g. sex, drugs, rock n’ roll)
• Read a book. Imagine you are your favorite character.
• What would an ex have to say for you to let them come back?

So there you have it. Just a couple of suggestions which will hopefully help any songwriters out there. I always enjoy reading songs so the more there are the better for me. All of these points are things that I have been doing for years, and they have looked after me in their own unique way throughout my career as a writer. If you’re the sort of person who writes, or wants to write, I hope that something here will have proven beneficial for you.

Thanks for your time.

Tom Colohue is a fiction writer and music instructor from Blackpool, England. Though his main works are in the realms of fantasy, he also writes modern fiction for multiple websites, as well as theoretical and practical music lessons for magazines.

www.dottedmusic.com

Writing Tips: Writing Outright. Part One

Writing Tips : Writing Outright. Part One
By Tom Colohue |
Giving with permission by a favorite music site: www.dottedmusic.com

Photo credit: mikiiglesias on Flickr

Hey all, this is Tom Colohue. This is a revision of something I wrote a year ago, when I was far from talented as a writer. I’m quite looking forward to doing this purely on the basis of hopefully seeing just how far I might have advanced since this was first written. So, for your own perusal, this is Writing Tips.

In this installment, we’re going to be looking at the most basic aspects of writing. I’m not going to be putting too much focus into writing poetry or lyrics, but there will be some extra attention paid to those because of the flow that verse provides. Becoming comfortable with your own preferred areas and talents is important, but you have to write in order to become aware of just what you’re capable of offering yourself and others.

Ideally, you can use this as you will. If you want to pay extra attention to writing lyrics then don’t be trying to make your words match the music, especially if you don’t even have music written down yet. If you want to be writing poetry then pay special attention to learning about poetic license. If you just want to write short stories or fantastic tales, take what you will from this and ignore what doesn’t seem to work out for you. It’s all up to you.

Not everybody is particularly talented at writing music. While some people find it incredibly difficult others find it easier than anything else. Everybody has specific skills that are worth nurturing in order to gain as much from them as possible. You don’t have to want to be a writer, a poet or a musician. All that you need is a sense of drive with which you might work towards honing your current skills and developing whatever is available to you already.

So, with that we shall move forwards into the actual content that is the meat of our writing sandwich. Let’s get started, shall we?

Writing Outright

I’m just going to be laying out something of a list of points here. Using these, it’s up to you to do what you will with the present information. All of these come from almost fifteen years of writing experience myself. I started writing fifteen years ago, started with poetry five years ago and started writing music, which will be covered in later pieces, and lyrics about three years ago when I was gifted with my guitar. Whether you’ve never written a song before or you have written a platinum selling album and sixteen novels, I hope this helps.

Point One: Carry A Notepad

Whether poet, author or songwriter the golden rule of writing is to carry a notepad with you wherever you go. This works best when accompanied by some sort of writing implement. Random lyrics and riffs will pop into your head at random times and by the time you get home to write them out they’ll be gone. A notepad means you can note your idea down straight away and look back at it whenever you wish. This means you can also continue it whenever you wish.

You will find that a lot of pages end up jumping out at you as you scroll through the pages at some later date. Lyrics will remind you of themselves, while also encouraging you to slip them into other songs in some way or another. Bits of characters or general characteristics will find other ways to fit in with whatever you’ve discovered.

Also, life itself will always find something to throw at you. A friend will say something that sounds nicely profound, so you can just note it down for later use or cannibalization. You’ll find slogans and jingles that, when mixed up and thrown together, offer you brand new ideas and possibilities. All songs, poems and stories are a simple collection of words. What sets them apart is the unique style in which you throw things together. A notepad will always make for a perfect sounding board. Throw two words together and see how they work out on paper. Throw a few lines together there and then read then out loud and see how they sound to you.

This is one of those things that is so integral just because it makes things that much easier overall. It frees you from that agonising period when you’re trying to work out something awesome that you’ve worked out a few hours previous but simply can not put together correctly now. As a writer, this is likely one of the single most annoying things in the world because you know just how good it was, you just can’t recall it to get it down on paper and into a word processor.

Point Two: Draw From Real Life

No song holds more emotion or meaning than one written about something that really happened. The simple reason behind this is because of the descriptive elements. You can never describe a false reality to even a minor percentage of the ability in which you would be able to describe a memory, particularly a fresh one. Dreams hold the same sort of enchantment. Concentrate on the details of what you see and how you feel because those will undoubtedly make things as interesting for other people as it did for you.

There are a lot of examples of this in both modern music and less modern music. Apart from the killer riff Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke On The Water’ was so popular because it told the story of an actual event. There are a million songs about break ups and relationships in general. People want to find something that they can relate to, and everybody can relate to real life, relationships especially.

It’s not about making something that’s commercially available for absolutely everybody. That’s never the point, no matter what it is that you’re writing. However, being honest with yourself and writing about what you want to write about is never selling out, despite how much people will tell you so if you write about something like relationships. If you experience a break up and get the urge to write a song about it, then do it. A lot of people might be able to write songs about them, but not yours. Things that happen to you can only be told from your perspective by you.

Point Three: Read

As a writer, any sort of reading is research, and research is very important. Your vocabulary is your greatest weapon. There are literally millions of words in the english language, all of which express a different meaning. The bigger the word the more it means and the more it alludes to. That doesn’t mean it’s better, but it does mean that it says much more. Reading a book or newspaper and considering the content can also be a great way to pick up ideas. You can learn about how things flow and how some words work well together and some do not.

Research as well is very important. Allusions and illusions can be created through the knowledge that can be gleaned. In songs, a recurring theme can be set up through researching a direction that you’re aiming for. When it comes to music, listening to the genres and songs that you want to mimic is research. You’re learning the moves, the typical phrases with the most impact and how words can affect people like yourself.

Research also puts background into your work. If you’re trying to write a concept album then you need your work to allude both backwards and forwards to the other tracks in order to keep things encompassed and united. If you’re trying to write something fantasy relative then you can learn a lot by researching mythology and philosophy and then using it as you go. Reading other works of fiction, fact and opinionated ‘fact’ can show you a world of options that simply did not become clear to you when you first started. Over time, this might flavour what you are working on.

Part Two of the Writing Tips by Tom Colohue will be posted next week.

Tom Colohue is a fiction writer and music instructor from Blackpool, England. Though his main works are in the realms of fantasy, he also writes modern fiction for multiple websites, as well as theoretical and practical music lessons for magazines.

www.dottedmusic.com

Attention Music Critics

Attention Music Critics (and all purveyors of the art of horse shit…)
By Ernie Hendrickson

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I caution you to take heed against placing any significant emphasis on your petty sentiments, misguided judgments, and otherwise meaningless generalizations.  Please, please, for god’s sake PLEASE, remember one thing – that music springs forth from the well of the human spirit, and is indomitable.  It has thrived since time immemorial, and will well outlive your current reign of influence, however trite and banal it may be.

Your empty statements do nothing to show what is true in art or music, but only serve to confuse the weak minded and provide a voice for they who are unwilling in their own hearts to decide what is genuine.  Opinions are like assholes, we all have them, and yours smells as bad as the next.  Do yourself a favor and please get into a real trade, do something to help heal the earth, advance humanity, or at the very least stop leading yourself into some imagined position of authority in art.  Real art is bigger than you, bigger than me, bigger than the sum of everything.  It does not need your explanations, your reasons, your short-sighted blabbering, reducing everything to a pissing contest.

I speak from a position of having spent years as an independent musician, and have suffered enough from the likes of fickle, fad-obsessed, wanna-be hip, pricks such as yourselves.  I’m sure this note will only serve to entice you further into your egomania, and strengthen your resolve to curve the trends of music toward your own narrow field of interest, but nonetheless, I’ve kept my silence long enough through your prolonged, overrated display of public masturbation.  If I sound bitter, that’s because I am, and because I’d like to see a day when integrity returns to the world of music.  Maybe I’m too hopeful.

I apologize if I have offended anyone who has an actual ability to understand their role as ambassador to the arts through the written word, and understands the significance and the honor involved with such a position, you who have done your homework and have a knowledge of the big picture of music and culture, who have educated yourselves at the mind and the heart levels, and hold yourselves as students, as much as teachers.  Please exclude yourselves from the previous message, and continue on in your journey.

Thank You

Ernie

www.erniehendrickson.com
www.erniehendrickson.com/presskit.php
www.myspace.com/erniehendrickson
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ernie-Hendrickson/9710871206

Ernie Recommendations:

1.  “Big Bad Love“ Larry Brown, or “Black Elk Speaks” – John G. Neihardt
2.  Gear I like… – uh, I like the Roland ac 15 33 acoustic guitar amp.
3.  Coffee and herbal remedies

Break Through Audio Cd-dvd Manufacturing

Break Through Audio Cd-dvd Manufacturing Recommendation
By Dave Tamkin
Chicago, IL / Boulder, CO

1993 was the first time I finished recording an album. It was my sophomore year of high school and our band was called Without a Clue. Back then you didn’t reproduce CDs, you made cassette tapes. That’s right, 500 cassette tapes. We received boxes of plastic cases, boxes of cassettes and a box of cardboard paper inlays in a matter of days. We had to fold and insert every last one of them. Break Through Audio was there for us back then and continue to provide us with quality service over the last 17 years… I’ve been using their services ever since. They have gone above and beyond with every transaction. Below is a little more information on them along with their contact info. I thought I’d share the love

Breakthrough has the capabilities of turning CD and DVD duplication orders of 25 to 500 pieces of product with full color print & packaging around within 3 business days. All work is done on site in their state of the art duplication house. You can also have from 1,000 to as many pieces of product as you need done in a turn around time of 2 to 3 weeks with full color artwork and packaging. Breakthrough continues to serve bands and ad agencies for duplication of music, voice-overs and anything else you would want on a compact disc, cassette, record, or DVD.

Although CD and DVD duplication is Breakthrough’s primary source of business, Breakthrough has also made a name for itself in being one of the best sources of unsigned music talent. Breakthrough fields constant phone calls from the leading A&R representatives at major & independent labels throughout the world looking for new artists, like: RCA Records, EPIC Records, Columbia Records, Island/Def Jam, Capitol Records & Roadrunner Records to name a few. Breakthrough was asked to provide new unsigned bands to J. Walter Thompson for the national ad campaign, “MGD Blind Tracks.” Of the 32 different ads used by MGD, 14 were submitted artists through Breakthrough.

Some of the companies that use Breakthrough’s services are: Jeff McClusky and Associates, Double Door, Metro, Aware Records, Touch n’ Go Records, Victory Records, JAM Productions, J. Walter Thompson, Eightball Films, Shure Microphones, Voices Unlimited, Wrigley’s Gum, 555 Automation, Jack Daniels, Lily’s Talent, General Growth Properties, Chicago Recording Company and the following national artists: Smashing Pumpkins, Local H, Veruca Salt, Relative Ash, Alkaline Trio, Wilco, Dave Tamkin and thousand’s of unsigned artists

Sales@breakthroughaudio.com

773-395-0100

Musician’s Guide to 3 Uncommon Gigs

Musician’s Guide to 3 Uncommon Gigs
By Jim Green THE WANDERING ENDORPHIN
Chicago, IL

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Trying to make a living as a solo acoustic guitarist with an unusual playing style, I’ve had some difficulty fitting in with some of the more popular types of venues. Coffeehouses are fine, but it doesn’t pay the rent. At the bigger clubs, I seem to spend more in promotion than what I get at the door (maybe I should read some articles on promotion). Local bars tend to pay well but since most of my material is original, doing the human jukebox thing really isn’t me. I certainly haven’t written these kinds of shows off. I still play them on occasion and even walk away with a little money in my pocket. Although over time, I’ve made a living focusing on three not so ordinary places to play. These are gigs that I enjoy, have built in audiences and ones where I can make a decent buck. Maybe one of them will work for you. In this article I’ll try and share some info and perspective on each one for you.

Libraries:

Yes, your read that right, libraries. This is by far my favorite venue to play at. If you’ve never heard of libraries putting on shows, chances are one of the libraries near you has a concert series going. I just discovered them a few years ago. You can expect to make between $200 to $1000 depending on the libraries budget, the size of your group, and your savvy negotiation skills. Don’t forget about those CD sales! I’m pointing this out because these shows are set up as a listening concert. Unlike at a bar, they hang on your every word and note. Your music will have a chance to emotionally affect them, which in turn will result in a fair amount of CD sales.

The location of the concerts could be in the library’s meeting room or outside. Performances are 1 to 1 ½ hours and generally fall on a Sunday or weekday afternoon. This is especially good for those who tour. How often do you find a gig on a Monday or Tuesday afternoon? It’s a great way to fill in those empty dates.

If you want to try and give it a go, locate a library that has a monthly concert series and find out the name of the Adult Program Coordinator.  This is your contact. Treat him/her like you would any other person you’re trying to book a show with. Send your press kit, make your phone calls, emails, etc..

Helpful tip… Library Program Coordinators rely heavy on other local coordinator’s recommendations when booking. Getting that first library gig might prove to be difficult. Once you do get it and after you play the gig, ask the Program Coordinator to type up a letter of recommendation and mail it to you. Now you can include this letter in your press kit to other libraries as a stamp of approval.

Street Performing (Busking):

If I had to choose one thing that helped me transition from sad unhappy Warehouse Manager to happy go lucky full-time musician, it would have to be street performing. In less than a years time I sold about a thousand CDs (they were home made sample cds at $5 a pop), got a butt load of tips, a three page color news article written about me in a major newspaper, was interviewed for a show on the Discovery Channel, and so on. A lot of great things started to happen as a direct result of street performing.

Although my busking experience was positive one, it’s definitely not for everyone. But I would encourage anyone to give it a try. If anything you’ll learn to engage people which can only help you during the real shows on stage. As for me, my playing style is some what unique so it grabbed people’s attention and cut through all the visual and audible noise of the city. Not that you have to be in the city to street perform. You don’t even have to be on a street. The 1^st time I ever did it was in a suburban park at a folk festival. I kept trying to get booked as a schedule performer at this particular fest with no luck. Out of frustration I decided to set up my battery powered amp under a nice shady tree and start playing while the festival was in full swing. Soon I had more people under that shady tree listening to me than at most of the other tents. Also, the guys who run the festival took noticed and booked me for the following year.

It takes some pretty big balls to go out there and play to strangers on the street. There is nothing glamorous about it. You attract every weirdo that passes by, every thief is eyeing your cash, and about every 30mins there’s a guy who calls out “Free Bird!!” and thinks he’s funny. But in all, it can lead to some wonderful opportunities and a decent amount of cash.

Helpful Tip… Check for any possible ordinances before starting. It might be necessary to buy a license and/or for there to be restrictions on where you can play. If you don’t you could risk paying a fine.

Afternoon Café Gigs:

OK, maybe playing at your local café’, or bar and grill in the afternoon isn’t so unusual. Also, it isn’t a real big money maker gig. But as a full-time musician I rather be making a little money in the afternoon than watching Bonanza reruns.  I look at it as getting paid to practice. The upside is if you land 3 or 4 of these kind of gigs a week with a few CD sales and tips, it really starts to add up. I think you’d be surprised as to how many business owners are willing to try the idea of live entertainment for their lunch crowd. I typically charge $40-$50 and play for 2 hours. If I’m lucky I’ll get a meal out of it to.

I hope you found this article helpful in some way.

Best of luck,

Jim Green

THE WANDERING ENDORPHIN

http://www.wanderingendorphin.com

http://www.reverbnation.com/wanderingendorphin

Jim’s Recommendations:

1. One book I would recommend. Rough Mix by Jimmy Bowen
2. My favorite piece of gear. Sunrise Pickup
3. One thing I can’t live on the road without. Lots of gum

What’s a Band to do? Advice from the Other Side

Early on, when I was a songwriter in a band that was seeking a record deal; we used to consider that publishers, record execs, and radio programmers were from the “other side.”  They were our antagonists, the enemy, the people who stood between us and worldwide success!

Later, when I became a publisher and a record exec, I tried very hard not to fit the stereotypical model I’d previously worked so hard to battle against.  Fact of the matter is, however, that from the other side of the table, I began to understand why publishers, radio guys, and label A & R people had the rules they did.  It was simple—those rules, improved the odds of one’s success in the marketplace.

So, yesterday when I received a very earnest email in response to my last article (So you want to make it in the music business?), I had to smile. “We’re a local band and we’d love to be living the schedule working bands follow,” the guy tells me.  And then he asks, “What can you tell us that will improve our odds of making it out of our home town?” Great question, wouldn’t you say?

In answer to his query, let me step to the “other side” and first offer my congratulations or condolences (you can apply which ever one turns out to be most true over time).  But seriously, from the perspective of one who has had to bet on whether an artist would recoup the investment made in them or not, there are a number of things local bands can do to expand their fan base and their geographic reach.  The list, in fact, is quite long.  So let me focus, in this article, on the most fundamental aspect any serious artist or band has to master and totally nail—their music.

Truly, the number one thing any aspiring band or artist can do to grow their following and enhance their odds is write great music that their audience loves even when they’re not three beers into the evening.  (Seriously… drunken fans are not a great indicator of your talent or the quality of your songwriting craft.  Neither are girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, mothers, buddies or gal pals – whether they’re sober or not.)

What comprises a great song?  (Now we could get all artsy about this question and talk about the beauty of free-flowing creativity, but that wouldn’t help us with our deeper question—how does a band grow its fan base and become a viable entity?)

The simple truth is that great songs ultimately come about the more we write.  Early in my songwriting days, I met a famous record producer who had produced numerous Top 10 hits.  He gave me this advice.  “Write at least one song a day, every day, seven days a week, no excuses,” he told me.  “I don’t care if you write about a loaf of bread,” he said, only half joking.  “Just write and write and write.”

Why did he make such a big deal out of this? Because it’s like anything else—the more we use a muscle or perform a function, the more adept we get at it.  Malcolm Gladwell, in his book, The Outliers, calls it the law of 10,000 hours (or as some have said, true genius tends to manifest most regularly once we have put in substantial time encoding that skill into our DNA).  I look at it even more simply.  The more songs you write the more you improve the odds that a hit is going to fall in your lap.

Which brings up another point… awesome tunes are capricious.  They drop in on us at the most unexpected times and can disappear into the ethers just as quickly.  That’s why some songwriters carry small digital recorders with them—so that whenever the muse drops by, they’re ready to capture that line, stanza, lick, or melody that will later ignite a great songwriting session.

Great songs also have great hooks.  What’s that mean?  It means that elements of the song (often the chorus, but at times instrumental parts, like the famous riff of the Rolling Stones, Satisfaction) are so contagious that people can’t stop singing them.  That means your music is accessible to your audience and that it has that great quality that the songwriter David Gates once called “complex simplicity.”

So how do you write great hooks?  You either get struck by a hook from the music gods or you keep playing with your melodies and instrumental lines to find something that feels like a really great itch that you can’t quite scratch—a riff or a chorus that gets stuck in your head too.  And don’t be afraid to collaborate.  Sometimes you’ve got an awesome verse, but can’t find a chorus that does it justice (remember the chorus is supposed to take us to higher heights than the verse in terms of memorability).  Maybe someone else in your band or your circle of musical friends has a chorus that’s searching for a verse.  Maybe you write awesome music, but your lyrics are not that great.  Go with your strength and don’t let your weakness limit you.  Your weak point is probably someone else’s best skill.

Another thing you can do?  Listen to great songs from a variety of sources and genres.  What makes those songs work?  How did the writer do that turn-around from the chorus back to the verse?  How did they set up the last chord of the verse so that you were just waiting for the chorus to lift you off the ground?  But won’t that have me imitating other people, some will ask?  No one’s asking you to copy other people, but to learn from their craft and to let their originality spark cool, new ideas in your head.

Lastly, at least for now, great songs follow song formulas.  In other words, there are patterns that seem to increase the odds that songs will catch people’s attention, keep them singing long after the song has stopped; formulas that record producers, label A & R execs, and radio programmers listen for.  What are the formulas?  You probably already know them on some level.  Basic components of almost all popular genres include an 8 bar verse, 8 bar chorus and a 4 bar bridge.  The patterns themselves include versions like the standard verse, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus and out.  There are a handful of others that are variations on this theme, but which also stay within a given pattern.

In songwriting clinics, I’ve often heard, “But doesn’t a formula limit my creativity?”  In some ways, we could say, yes.  Truthfully, however, I’ve found that writing within the confines of a structure and a formula, actually challenges my creativity even more.  It forces me to get down to it and make the magic happen (and remember, you can always have your 7-minute album cut buried somewhere in the CD or you can do your jam band version live when the audience is in the mood).  But if you want the odds to work in your favor, land your songs somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 to 4 minutes in length and follow the formulas.

All right, enough for now.  But remember this… I didn’t make this stuff up.  The points I’ve shared are tips that have helped throngs of artists, bands, and songwriters accomplish their dreams.  These are some of the rules from the other side.  By knowing them and putting them to work, you just might be able to utilize the tension those seeming limitations create to launch your career into the “big time” (or at least make your home town fans sing your music like fools, even when they’re sober and alone in their car).

(For more on songwriting, you may also want to visit Robin Frederick’s site, “How to Write a Song.”  The site covers the fundamentals and provides additional resources and tips.)

Article given with permission from Examiner.com via Christopher Harding

It’s Never One Thing that Makes a Music Career

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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.

• Don’t send too much material. I know you are excited that you have new tracks and want to give them plenty to pick from. I do it too but we gotta STOP IT. It comes off as desperate and no one but your most die hard fans are gonna listen to all those tracks. (I made this mistake for years and I probably made it again this morning because I don’t take my own advice).

• Make sure your contact info is clear. Make sure they know ONE WRITER and NO UNCLEARED SAMPLES. They can’t think there will be any trouble using your track. I have been lucky that a lot of my catalog has been 100% writer and publisher and therefore they know they can clear a song with me by the end of the business day.

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.

• Only send what you think fits them. Be concise when you follow up; they have 1000 people hitting them up. Ask them: “what do you need right now?” Like it or not, we need the airwaves more than they need new music.

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

http://www.goodingmusic.com

http://www.kingdom2music.com

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

HOW DO YOU GET YOUR MUSIC INTO FILM AND TV?

HOW DO YOU GET YOUR MUSIC INTO FILM AND TV?
By Gooding Kingdom

Click to Listen

Welcome brave souls.

I am an independent musician who has proudly played over 600 shows in 60 cities. I have done countless radio and tv interviews and built my own indie label, publishing and licensing company brick by brick. I have placed over 100 songs in films and television programs including The Matrix: Revisited and Animatrix, Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, DVD’s of Nip/Tuck, The Closer, Ice Age 2, We Are Marshall and recently helped with the sonic re-branding of CNN, CNN international and PBS through Expansion Team NYC. I have accomplished this without corporate or major label support through a decade of borrowing, begging and stealing (i.e. writing, recording, saying yes to every live show I can play, making calls, asking questions, and generally showing up and soaking up everything I can). I also accomplished some of this long before moving to LA from Kansas. With major label funding becoming a thing of the past, more and more artists are asking how I landed placements in film and TV. Here are some of the things I have done over the years; I hope they save you some time and money.

RESOURCES

I put these first as they include the nuts and bolts of sync and master licensing which I will not be covering here. We are going into this conversation assuming you have registered with a PRO (Performing Rights Organization) like BMI, ASCAP or SESAC. If you don’t know what this is, definitely read the suggested books listed below and get signed up so you will receive royalties if you get a song placed.

Watch:

http://www.artistshousemusic.org/node/5369/129

Read:

“Everything You Need to Know About the Music Business” by Donald Passman

“Music Money and Success” by Jeffrey and Todd Brabec

When you read these, you might sit down with a legal pad and pen and study it as if it were a college course.  Don’t skip the hard parts like I did the first 3x. Ok, I am still glazing over a couple sections

Unrelated but totally related…

“The Tao of Wille” by Willie Nelson

“Don’t Worry, Make Money” by Richard Carlson

“Catching the Big Fish” by David Lynch

Attend:

If you are in LA area, my publishing administrator, attorney and often voice of reason, Steve Winogradsky, teaches a great night class at UCLA on music publishing.

Various Resources:

IMDB, Film Music Network, soundtrack.net; there are a ton of sites you can check depending on your style of music- and whether you are an artist trying to pitch songs with lyrics, or composers with more score based tracks looking for background placements. Grab the latest Musicians Atlas and look under catalogs and music supervisors. Start watching the end of every film and TV show and find out who the heavy hitters are. You most likely won’t get a hold of them at the start, but it’s crucial to know who is working on what. You could get an on online subscription to billboard (my head of operations for K2, Deb T. has one) and there are alot of mentions of what is going into production, who is working where, what the trends are, etc.

Getting to know the editors on a project can be a great resource too. It was actually an editor friend of mine who went on to become a fantastic director who gave me some of my first ops here in LA. I met him at a show I played at the Cat Club for about 5 people. We became fast friends and have been ever since.  Sometimes editors will put something in as a temporary track and the director/producer falls in love and gets the rights to the temp secured (AKA- “temp love”). If you are in high school or college and not in a major market where there are industry events and people to network with, score everything that your friends produce. Tell them they won’t be able to clear that track by the Beatles or Radiohead and that they should let you rescore it at once!

Do your homework on who is doing what is a HUGE part of showing the industry you care enough not to waste their time, or ours. Figure out what artists are in your genre and where they are getting placed. When you talk to people in the biz you must have some understanding of what is going on and what their needs are you are gonna have some really short and uncomfortable phone calls (I’ve had em and you don’t want em). Some of the music sups are becoming gatekeepers and tastemakers in today’s music biz, and in order to succeed in music licensing we must accept that part of our job is to provide them what they need and do some of their legwork for them. To put it simply: you MUST show them you have spent the time researching them before you blow up their phones.

If you are in LA or NYC and have a resume I would suggest signing up for the following organizations. All have events to give you the opportunity to network, find mentors and soak up current info.

SCL (The Society of Composers & Lyricists) www.thescl.com

AIMP (Association of Independent Music Publishers) www.aimp.org

NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) www.grammy.com

CCC (California Copyright Conference) www.theccc.org

ASMAC (American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers) www.asmac.org

Also- If you are already working in the business, I find linkedIn is a great way to get a sense of who runs with who and start to build your network. As musician’s we have a built in and painful empathy to take everyone on that comes to us. We want attention at some level and say yes very quickly. Whether it’s the kindness of your heart or sheer desperation, linkedin is one place you don’t take everyone who wants to connect with you since you are opening up your network to them and possibly tempting them to use your name to use with others. Be selective with your reputation and your time.

THIS IS NOT THE END ALL, BE ALL… AND BEWARE OF SHARKS

http://www.goodingmusic.com

http://www.kingdom2music.com

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

20 questions every band should answer

20 questions every band should answer
By Christopher Harding
Salt Lake City, Utah

Want to know if you’re cut out for a full-time music career?  Would you like to know at what level you’re best suited to play?  Well, hang tight because that’s exactly what you’re about to have the opportunity to explore.

After reviewing the successes, failures, exciting stories, and disappointments of a variety of artists and bands, I compiled a list of some of the key characteristics and habits of those who have punctured their local and regional envelope and dashed out onto the national scene.  I also reviewed interviews and coaching sessions I’ve done with artists or bands who came to the realization that they were really better suited and more aptly served by keeping their efforts closer to home—in their city, state, or region.

The following is, in a very real regard, a list of twenty elements or ingredients that successful acts follow.  Whether your dream is local, national, or international, applying these elements will be required if you want to truly maximize your opportunity.  Some of the last questions in the list are also indicators of what else will be necessary if you want to seriously expand your territory beyond your own local scene.

The following is a 20 Question Artist Evaluation that you (and possibly your band mates) may want to take.  It could give you some insight as to where you are on your pathway.

Simply answer “Yes” or “No” to the following questions (and by the way, if your answer isn’t a solid, unequivocal “Yes,” then it’s “No”—and remember, honest answers will give you more valuable feedback, so tell it like it is):

1.  Can you take genuine feedback easily and are you willing to hear ways you could improve without becoming defensive (i.e. are you committed to continual improvement)?

2.  Are you willing to push beyond your limitations even when it’s hard and very uncomfortable?

3.  Do you talk about how awesome it is when other bands reach a level of success you haven’t yet reached (does it inspire you and stoke you up to do better)?

4.  Do you (or your band) regularly write songs that people (beyond your friends and family) are hungry to buy (in whatever format you have them in)?

5.  Do you practice at least 3 times a week (for periods of 3 hours or longer)? And yes, gigs can count as practice.  So if you’re out gigging multiple times a week and are constantly improving by doing so, great!  Just make sure you are also spending the time outside the gigs to improve your performances where needed.

6.  Do you regularly rehearse your established sets as if you were doing a live show in order to perfect your entire performance (and get it embodied at the cellular level so you have the freedom to effectively improvise)?

7.  Are you fully committed to blowing your audience away every time you perform regardless of where you are and how many people are there (i.e. do you perform full out 10 times out of 10)?

8.  Do you regularly make wise, well thought-out decisions in life (do you seek advice from people who are more experienced than you)?

9.  Do you have a strong, viable, grassroots fan base that promotes you and serves as your Street Team and your die-hard advocates?

10.  Are you accumulating a fan info data base that’s in a useable format (including email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, whatever you can accumulate from mailing lists, fan clubs, social networks, etc.)?

11.  Do you create opportunities to interact with and associate with your fans in ways that also allow you to celebrate who they are and what they’re passionate about while still leaving them wanting more?

12.  Do you have a website, Facebook site, MySpace site, and a Twitter following that you regularly update and utilize to build fan loyalty and interaction (a key ingredient of successful communities)?

13.  Is destiny calling you so strongly that you are convinced an essential part of your nature has to do with bringing your music to as many people as you can reach?

14.  Is your musical career at the top of your priority list (right after your ethics and your key relationships)?

15.  Are your ethics aligned with and key relationships enthusiastically and unrelentingly supportive of your dream and goals about a career in music?

16.  Do you regularly get into the studio (how ever large or small) and record your music, work out arrangements, master the art of studio performance (vs. live performance) so that your recorded music captures the verve, vitality, and vibe of your live performances?

17.  Is your passion for music and success greater than your ego (i.e. can you drop your sense of self-importance or your story and become results driven vs. ego driven)?

18.  Are you comfortable not being home and being on the road in far less than elegant circumstances?

19.  Do you have a job(s) and/or the lifestyle that enables you to take time off and hit the road?

20.  Are you an incredibly dedicated, tenacious, hard working person (or group) who never gives up?

If you answered “Yes” to at least 18 out of 20 questions, your commitment level and your chances of excelling are high (if you’re in this category and also answered “Yes” to Questions 13 through 20, then your odds of expanding beyond a local and regional level are greatly increased).

If you answered “Yes” to at least 15 out of 20 questions, your commitment level indicates that you have a moderate chance of excelling (and you may likely be better served to stay local or regional).

If you answered “Yes” to less than 15 out of 20 questions, it’s likely that you are either not ready to “go for it” or may not have the level of passion needed to take your talent beyond friends, associates, or regulars at the bar or local hang out (and that’s fine, by the way—you can still have a very enjoyable experience sharing your music at the level that works for you).

Now, if you scored lower than you’d like, take a look at the questions you answered “No” to and ask yourself why you didn’t say “Yes.”  Is this something you’re willing to work on, learn from, and improve?  If so, naturally you can increase your score over time and your odds of taking your musical dreams to higher levels.  If not, and you think this questionnaire is bogus, that’s okay too.  There are exceptions to every rule and I’d genuinely love to have you prove the survey wrong.  Just one thought about that approach, however.  In a business that’s already got one in a million odds, do you really want to make the odds even more difficult?  Okay, so that makes 21 questions, but you get the point.

Great quotes: Long-time friend and music industry executive, Coby Regehr, commented in a recent email, “In the many years I have spent surrounded by the music industry, I have drawn the same conclusion as you state in your articles.  Success has only happened to the ones who truly believe in music, the roots of music, and the sheer love of playing music.”  He went on to share a classic quote from Waylon Jennings, who once laughed when asked what it was like to be a big star. “Don’t kid yourself,” he told the reporter. “Being a star in the music business is really just one long, glorified bus ride.”

Added Tip: For a phenomenal education on an artist’s relationship to the music business, take a look at Donald Passman’s “All You Need to Know About the Music Business.” It’s the like a college level course on the biz that everyone who’s serious about stepping up to the next level should be fully conversant on.

Permission to use this article was granted from Author @ Examiner.com

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2010 — The New Year / New You!!!

2010 — The New Year / New You!!!
By C A R I   C O L E

Click to Listen

Lists, lists, lists . . . and daily habits ” Being great at what you do is about taking action, doing your work and “creating” your career, not waiting for someone else to make things happen or just reacting to what comes towards you”.

Do you live in a constant state of “wanting & waiting”?  Wanting to be recognized, to be noticed – waiting for the big connection to make it happen?

If so, look again, because you might be missing the boat.  As the saying goes, “God is in the details.”  Well anyone who knows anything about stardom knows that stardom is definitely in the details!  I find that “hoping” or “waiting” for that big break makes folks put off the daily tasks that make them better at their music.

It’s what you do on a daily basis which defines you as an artist.  Take a look at artists like John Mayer – a songwriter, singer, who not only writes and sings great songs, but is also an amazing guitar player – or Alicia Keys – a songwriter, singer, and amazing piano player.  Think about what that translates to ?  – a lot of hours sitting and practicing, and lots of plans for the future.  Who would they be without all those hours of practice and plans?

Because what you do daily defines you as an artist.  It’s in the work ethic of daily getting up, sitting at the guitar or keyboard, working those scales and chord progressions, tweaking those lyrics and honing the craft of vocal technique. You must work on your craft if you want to succeed as an artist.  And I can tell you that I have always done that daily work.  When I learned the guitar at 6 years old, Mom made me practice 1/2 hour a day.  I hated it then – but it’s what got me here.

Make 2010 the Year for Your Transformation.  Return to the daily.  Power is what you do every day, not in the waiting for the future to happen.

Here’s to the New Year:   New You ~ New Routines  – - – > Transformation!

C A R I   C O L E
Vocal Coach, Artist Development Specialist, Songwriter/Music Producer
Helping and inspiring new music artists to find their voice, unique style and create successful careers in music.

www.caricolevoiceandmusic.com
Become a Fan on Facebook /  Follow Cari on Twitter

Let The Music Be Your Guide

“Let The Music Be Your Guide”
By the gang at Errorcraft Records

So you’re wandering around your place, looking at all the instruments scattered here and there, checking your band’s sites and thinking to yourself, “This is getting silly, where has all the gigging and driving around hell and back gotten my band?  We have really good hooks, great stage presence, solid musicianship, and get lots of inebriated cheers at our shows, but unfortunately we can’t take any of that to the bank.  How can our band get itself out of low gear?”

Sound familiar?  So what are we all missing about this nebulous music biz?  If you’re like the vast majority of us, your band is seemingly invisible outside its loyal circle of local fans and friends.  Flip on the radio or late night television and you can hear generally average music getting airtime and nationwide exposure.  So what does it take?  Talent and songwriting being equal, where have those acts succeeded where all the rest of us have come up just short?

This rock ‘n’ roll dilemma seems almost as old as Nipper the RCA pup.  And sure, there have always been the “haves” and the “have-nots” in music, but this has gotten downright ridiculous in the past decade or so.  Just flip through the budget bin at your favorite vinyl or CD shop and you’ll see an obnoxious glut of very mediocre, some unbearably awful bands who were blessed with recording contracts by major labels in a time not too long ago.  Nowadays, genuinely good bands send out their quality albums like resumes, and they’re lucky to even get a disinterested response.  This shift has been explained away by mentioning vague terms such as “the consolidation of music retailers”, “intellectual property pirating”, and “the digital revolution”.

Oh, and of course there’s the current “worldwide recession”, which isn’t quite as vague.  Maybe people simply aren’t able to spend $16 these days on the latest must-have album?  But wait, people still love music, right? People still actually buy music, right?  Records still go platinum every so often, so what’s the deal?  One issue may be that of major labels themselves, who have reacted to the changing market by simply becoming totally gun-shy when considering putting pen to paper and signing deserving acts to recording deals.  This has gotten to the point where many “majors” won’t even actively seek exciting new artists, but rather wait for the safe bet and sign an already in-demand act.  Can’t really blame them, right?  Profit margins aren’t what they once were back when those “budget bin” bands where selling just enough records to a market with an insatiable appetite for new music.  This appetite never went away, but these days perhaps the masses have a more refined, or at least more selective musical palate.

Whatever the reasons most of us can’t get a sniff from a major label, we in the worldwide amateur music community are taking a second look at the road map of the rocky music biz, just as industry execs have.  We are recalibrating our collective design for superstardom, and are seeking new paths en route to that elusive destination of becoming the next big thing, or just making enough loot to get new tires for the van.

In question to begin with is the very notion that being offered a recording contract with a major label will make you rich and famous.  For every artist on the Billboard charts, there are many more similarly signed acts barely making a living on the few percent they actually see from music sales.  Consider also the import of independent labels, which collectively account for roughly a quarter of music industry sales.[1] The reasons for this are pretty clear; independents tend to have more enthusiasm for uncovering great talent, and generally have their finger on the pulse of the local music scene.  Artists under contract with independent labels also enjoy a much larger percentage of music sales, and can actually earn more than what their major label peers earn.  In fact, many major label artists have reverted back to independents or have started their own label after weighing the “pros and cons” of having been a major label artist.  In either case, while music fans still do buy music, the price they have to pay is a fraction of what it once was given the variety of media there is to choose from.  Today, professional musicians generally make most of their money by touring and through merchandise sales, not through music sales.

So that’s our first step…GET OUT THERE AND PLAY.  Seems obvious, but too few bands actually do it on a regular basis.  Not many artists have made it big from their “Myspace” page alone, so the more you endear yourself to the local music scene the better your chances of getting noticed by somebody in the biz.  Playing in front of even small crowds at your local “open mic night” will help develop stage presence and tightens up the act musically.  If you can book larger clubs and events, go for it.  Confidence may not come immediately, but until it does, fake it.  The audience won’t believe in you unless you believe in yourself.  This doesn’t mean acting like a jerk, it means bringing your music to life on stage in a way only you can.

Next, think of ways to COOPERATIVELY PROMOTE your band along with others.  Understand that you are part of a “small world”, and that these symbiotic relationships are absolutely key for success in the music biz, as in any other.  If major labels, booking agents, and venues need a nudge, give it to them by sending them a multiple-band demo CD, organizing shows together, cross-advertising online, and generally keeping an eye out for each other.  All by yourself, you’re just another amateur bar band that pressed its own album.  Together, you become part of a legitimate pack of quality performers who are ready to rock and break through the music industry’s glass ceiling.

Also, FOCUS ON CREATING HONEST MUSIC, and not what commercial success may or may not come of it.  Your peers in the music scene will be drawn toward you and your musical vision and integrity.  “Wannabees” come and go, but it’s those who truly have music in their soul who rise to the top together.  You may not reach the plateau you’re looking for, but you’ll go absolutely nowhere without the respect of your peers.  Put your heart into what you’re doing and surround yourself with those equally passionate about the craft of creating great music.  Worrying incessantly about making millions will inevitably prevent it from happening.  Let your music flow from your heart and soul, and everything else will begin to fall into place.  Simply put, be in it for the music, trust it, and let it be your guide.

Errorcraft Records is a music promoter and independent label based in Murrieta, California.  We specialize in the genres of rock, folk, blues, and everything in between.  Please visit us at www.errorcraft.com.

No Such Thing as a Face For Radio

No Such Thing as a Face For Radio
by Jefferson Montoya

There was a time when a musician could remain unseen and still promote their sound. The music spoke for, and sold, itself. That was the time of radio and it was long before the time of the internet. Now, as things stand, there is no place to hide and all instances of public relations are visual. Simply put, if you are going to be on the radio you’d better look like you are going to be on T.V.

Do you know of a single radio station that does not have a website? No, you don’t. There are none. So, here it is for the people who just don’t get it. . . you are going to be seen.

Every show on xradio.biz, a radio station that broadcasts on the internet, has live interviews with musicians and other industry professionals. Every guest has a number of photos taken that are posted, at the station’s will, to the station’s website. This isn’t just because xradio is internet based. Like almost every other radio station, xradio.biz is attempting to give the listeners all the connections they can to the artists they promote and interview. DJ’s, likewise, have a desire to promote themselves along side musicians that they meet at the station. So, one interview is likely to put at least one photo of you and your band on two websites. And that’s not even to mention that you should be putting photos from such events on your own website.

Websites aren’t the only places that radio interview images will be used. Stations often publish various print materials for their self-promotion. Generally this will include a few photos, labeled, of artists the station has experienced. There are two ways the photos for such materials are chosen, in most cases. The first is to select the most popular band, of course, and the second is to choose the best looking photo. This is free advertisement for you! Why wouldn’t you want to have a shot at being that band? The stations have their own listener base and are spending their own money to print and distribute the promotional materials. It’s the best of all worlds.

It’s more than just the permanent images that can be displayed by print and screen that affect your band’s image. It’s the people who will meet you at the studio. Only the smallest radio stations allow you to walk in and go straight to the DJ that will be interviewing you. In most cases you will meet a staff producer or receptionist who will ask you to fill out some forms. You will likely be asked to post with various members of the station staff. These photos are always up close and personal. You can’t stink! If your look is a sorta grungy-I-don’t-care vibe that’s fine. But you still have to be clean! You also have to have a good attitude, smiles and energy because these people are forming an image of you that is more than your sound or your clothes. When the station wants to have an event with a band, when the staff is asked to suggest a favorite memory of a guest, whenever anyone asks about a band/musician that has visited, you want the positive conversation to revolve around you.

Many interviews happen in the morning hours. This is mostly to target listeners when they can focus most on what is being said. They are on their morning commute or are listening from their office. This is a drag for any working band. You stay up all night driving to the next show or you stay up all night playing the gig then you have to be in bright and early. What’s the best way to deal with it? Get up earlier. WHAT? Yeah. Get up earlier, shower have some coffee, eat some breakfast and go to your interview in a mood that you normally don’t get to for hours after you’ve been awake. After all, you can go back to sleep when you get off the air.

Don’t bring extra individuals to the interview. First off, studios are small spaces. If you bring too many people in it is going to create discomfort. Fans, friends and others shouldn’t even be left outside the broadcasting studio with radio staff unless you are POSITIVE they will be a good reflection on your band. Bring only the people you are sure will represent you and your music in a manner similar to how you would do it yourself.

Lastly, just a quick word about your image during phone interviews. Nobody will see you during those interviews and it is about as close to pre-internet radio promotions as you are going to get. But, as with early morning interviews, you’ve really got to make a point of getting ready early. If it is an early interview make sure that you have warmed up your voice. Get the sleep out of your brain and throat so that you can push a little extra energy through the phone. Make sure also that there is as little background noise as possible. If you are on the road and can pull over, do so. Avoid extraneous noises like rustling of paper or moving chairs about.  And, whether it is in-studio or remote, TURN YOUR RINGERS OFF!

Radio is still a great stage and that leaves you with one option, perform! Show your best face even when you think nobody will see it and you will get the most out of your radio minutes.

Jefferson Montoya is an award-winning singer/songwriter and the host of The Rock Show with Jefferson Montoya weekday mornings from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. (pst) on www.xradio.biz. Jefferson lives in Las Vegas. www.jeffersonm.com

Place Your Music Around the World

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The premise of the site is to offer fans the opportunity to discover new music and vote on their favorite songs. Winners receive generous cash prizes, promotional deals, opening gigs for major bands and vip perks.

Artists – Join OurStage upload your music free of charge to be listened to and voted on by fans around the world. You retain full rights to all material uploaded. You only grant OurStage non-exclusive rights to play your music on their site. This is a great way for artists to break out online. Not to mention the $25,000+ cash prizes and opportunities to perform at the nation’s largest music events.

Making a name for yourself in the music and film biz is hard work. Until now, most artists had to pay for a slick, pro-looking electronic resume of their art to attract interest from venues, booking agents, talent scouts and other career helpers. OurStage provides a great platform for artists to promote their talents. The site has become a trusted resource and works with major music and film industry partners. Visit their “About Us” page for a short insightful video and then take a look at their “Prizes” page. Who knows where your career can go with a resource that provides so much exposure to new fans.

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Michael Anthony’s Advice To Up And Coming Musicians

Michael Anthony’s Advice To Up And Coming Musicians
By Andrew Apanov of Dottedmusic.com

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Chickenfoot are comprised of former Van Halen and Montrose vocalist Sammy Hagar, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and world renowned electric guitarist Joe Satriani. The group is already being hailed as one of the most exciting rock and roll guitar bands in years. Recently, Chickenfoot released their debut album which went on to achieve phenomenal world wide acclaim, and debuted at #4 on the American Billboard 200.

Bass player Michael Anthony was one of the founding members of Van Halen, and was the man responsible for lying down the bedrock for which guitar genius Eddie Van Halen could fly. More than that, he provided a signature style of background vocal that became such an intrinsic part of that band. “A total fluke,” the good-natured bassist humbly asserts today. “I was just doing what came naturally.” Michael Anthony recently took some time off from his very hectic schedule to sit down and talk to Joe Matera about Chickenfoot, Van Halen and his new bass rig.

UG: The Chickenfoot album oozes such a strong sense of fun and excitement, something that reminds a lot of what was captured on the early Van Halen records.

Michael Anthony: You hit that one right on the head. Obviously playing in a new group situation like this really inspires you to play differently. And these guys are great musicians and I don’t have to tell you that. And so we’re all good friends having a great time. And it is exactly like what it was in the early days of Van Halen because later on, everybody was kind of doing their own thing. But it makes me remember why I got into this business in the first place. And that is that you can have fun doing it.

As a bass player, having played with Alex Van Halen for many years, was it challenging for you to play with Chad Smith, who’s more of a funk player than the sort you’re used to?

It is definitely an unusual mix of characters that make up this band. Chad is such a great guy. I actually first met him about four years ago, down in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He’s got a house down there and that was actually where Sammy met him also for the first time. The three of us have camped down there numerous times, and obviously before the Chickenfoot thing, I’d jam with Chad on many occasions. And he has this funk and un-conventional rock style that he plays, which is really cool and which he brings to the band.

Listening to the album, it feels like the music and songs came together from more of a loose jam type situation with each other than any sort of structured songwriting format?

Yeah. Actually we first jammed almost two years ago now and the magic and the fire, was great from that initial jam. It was then that we said, ‘we’ve got to take this to see where it goes’ and so we went into the studio but without a producer or anybody. We did this for ourselves. We didn’t have any type of super group in mind when we were first thinking of putting it together as we were just four friends jamming. And because Joe [Satriani] had just put his last solo album out, he was ready to go out on the road so it wasn’t like we had a lot of time to go into the studio. We only had about three days over a weekend and so we went in and just jammed and came up with about six or seven ideas. Then whenever we could, we would just get together and basically jam and work on ideas that we had and also come up with different ideas.

Was it a total difference approach making this album compared to how you and Sammy made the Van Halen records?

It was much closer to how we did the music in the early days of Van Halen where somebody had an idea. Like Joe came up with most of the basic guitar riff ideas for this album, and then we would all just throw our own two cents into mix. Nobody during the recording and rehearsing of this whole thing ever told anybody else what they thought they should play.

It seems making this record was very prolific songwriting wise, so have you got any material for another Chickenfoot record?

We actually had some ideas that we didn’t use because they didn’t go with the bulk of material that ended up on this album. And also when we were on tour this year, we had a little MP3 player with us. And before every show, all four of us would get together to do a little practice session with little practice amps, and we would jam before every show together as a band. Just warming up, and the ideas would start coming out. So we’d turn on the MP3 player, put the ideas all down and let it go. And from those sessions, we got all kinds of bits and pieces and ideas that we can now expand and work on.

The most striking thing I noticed on this album is how prominent your bass sits in the mix. On most of the Van Halen records – aside from the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge album – your bass was always buried in the mix.

That was one of the great things about having Andy Johns work with us again. [Johns produced For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge] as he really likes to make the mix heavy. For the most part, a lot of the Van Halen stuff, the bass was always mixed in really light. But on this record, everybody wanted the bass to be out there. And both Sammy and I really wanted to take advantage of our vocal harmony blend too because it is a unique sound.

Speaking of Andy Johns, what did he bring to the process?

Andy is a real hands on guy. And he’s also one of the guys that jumps right into the mix. He’s great with ideas with everything from the parts to play to the song ideas. For me, as bass player, he had some great ideas as far as how to mike up and record the bass. And that worked really well. In Van Halen, a lot of times, the recording sessions were really tough. I’d need to bring in five or six different rigs and I don’t know, how many basses. With Andy, I ended up recording this whole album on this one little Ampeg B-50R amp that I had, and a couple of my Yamaha signature basses. And that was what I used for the whole album. With just that amp and bass, we got a sound that fit in just right.

How did you go about capturing your bass sound in studio?

With Van Halen as simple as it seemed, it was a really tough band to record because of the interplay between Alex’s big drum sound and Eddie’s guitar tone. Eddie wasn’t the type of guy, like a lot of guitar players are, where they have a certain frequency range that everything else would have to sit around it. Eddie’s tonal range was so broad and so wide that it was always kind of tough to fit the bass in. And also playing with two brothers like that, they wanted all their stuff to be big and bad and so, I’d try and squeeze the bass somewhere in there, and try and find a frequency that fit. When we worked with Andy the first time, he was probably the first producer we had worked with, that was really able to make everything work and sound big. And as we’ve discussed, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge was the first album where my bass actually had a real good big bottom end to it.

You have always used Ampeg amp but you have switched to Peavey amp recently. Why?

When we were recording this thing, the funny thing was that Joe had just quit playing Peavey at the time. And he’s actually working on a new amp of his as we speak. Anyway he introduced me to the Peavey guy who told me that Hartley [Peavey] had apparently been after me for such a long time and so was keen to show me some of his stuff. At that point, I had been going through a tough time with Ampeg. They got bought out by a company out here on the West Coast, in Seattle, called Loud Technologies and so they weren’t as personable to work with anymore. So I told the Peavey guy I would like to check out their stuff. And their stuff actually did sound really good. And I figured why not change? It is a new band, so new equipment too. I put it [Peavey] up against my Ampeg stage rig and it had just a little bit more to it. More of presence and more of a crunch that I really like. I have a brand new bass amp called a Peavey VB-3 and a brand new cab, in fact the cabs that I play are all prototypes, 8 x 10” cabs which we’re going to put together as a Michael Anthony signature bass amp.

When can we expect the signature bass rig to be available?

We’re working on it right now and it’ll be sometime during this next coming year.

How is your bass collection these days? I hear you have around 150 basses in your collection?

Yeah it is something like that. But the majority of those basses are basses that are…[sic] during the Van Halen years it’d be, Roth more so than anybody else out of the band, who would always be saying, ‘oh yeah new tour so you’ve got to use something different and get a different look or whatever’. So a lot of those basses are things that people made and gave me, as I’ve never been much of a collector until probably about the last ten years or so. Out of all those basses, I have probably got about 25 or 30 basses that are really collectible basses. Like, I’ve got the third Rickenbacker 4000 series bass ever made and I’ve got some semi-hollow Rickenbackers, a couple of the old Gibson EB-1 violin basses and some old Fender basses. But I’ve never been that much of a collector. Most of the basses I have in my collection have been because guys have put together for me and because they looked different and cool. Of course, I got them to sound and play the way I wanted them to, but it was mostly just for a different look for when we went out on tour.

With all your years with Van Halen, what do you consider one of your most treasured memories of your time with the band?

It is probably when we walked out on stage in Southern California at the US festival in 1983. There was like 300,000 to 400,000 people there as we walked out on to that stage. I mean my mouth just dropped wide open. It was Woodstock times ten to me.

My personal favorite Van Halen album of all time is the Fair Warning album.

Cool, Fair Warning is my favorite Roth era album.

I really think that album has been highly under rated over the years. Looking back now, what do you remember about the making of that album?

After having had made a few Van Halen records, we were obviously becoming a lot more comfortable in the studio. I think at that stage, as players, we were really becoming more accomplished as far as playing better than we have ever had as a unit and as a band. I just remember it was all good times. One great thing about a lot of that early stuff too is that we never, or used very, very few, overdubs, guitar overdubs. We always wanted to play it live, like we did on stage because that was how we would ultimately end up playing it to the people anyway. At that stage we were also learning a lot of the technical stuff, all the magic and all the stuff, the fairy dust that you can spread on stuff in the studio, but we always wanted to maintain that raw type sound. I think at that point we were probably rocking as a band.

Finally having been in this industry for many, many years now, what advice would you offer on the business side of things to up and coming musicians?

To probably go with what you feel in your heart to do. Like we [Van Halen] had management and record companies try and sway us one way or the other, but Van Halen, we always stuck to our guns and recorded the kind of music that we wanted to play. We never sold out to doing what was happening in the industry at the time or what everybody else was buying. Sometimes you may suffer or starve a little bit, but it is always more satisfying to play what you feel in your heart and what you love to play rather than trying to second guess and please anybody.

Interview by Joe Matera
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2009

The Noble Experiment, a Night of Live Local Music

The Noble Experiment, a Night of Live Local Music

By Megan Brosnan
Freelance photographer in Chicago, IL

Working as a full time musician in Chicago, Patrick Gemkow is used to the crowded bars, expensive drinks, and unappreciative audiences. Frustrated with the routine, he decided to reach out to some of his favorite local acts: Shelley Miller, Brain Walker, and Derek Nelson, to create a night dedicated to local talent and those who love it. The idea was simple: provide an intimate audience, a fridge full of PBR, and talented musicians. The rest would take care of itself. It would be called The Noble Experiment and it would be held in Gemkow’s roomy loft apartment.

On July 16, what started off as a cool idea, came to life in a big way. The night kicked off with Shelley Miller. Miller, who has been busy recording a new album, immediately, wooed the crowded room of thirty. Her soulful lyrics and complex song structure left everyone quietly attentive. Her songs of heartbreak were highlighted with quirky interjections of dialogue. “People sometimes scare me,” she admitted. “That’s why I have cats.”

Brian Walker came next. With an impressive array of sharp and snappy songs (he’s only be performing for five years) it was easy to mistake him as a veteran of the scene. His cool and original style left the crowd bright eyed and singing along. “I want you, I don’t want strife.” His set was enhanced by another talented guitarist, a harmonica player and a female back up vocalist, who together created a set that got everyone hooting and hollering.

Third up was 22-year-old Derek Nelson. Listening to Nelson’s introspective lyrics, you would never believe it was his third time in front of an audience. He’s been playing music “forever,” he says, but just recently came out of the musical closet. One song, a hard strumming rock homage to home was a definite crowd pleaser. His closer, a wandering melodic journey proved that Nelson is a force to be reckoned with as he continues to mature as a performer.

The evening culminated with host, Patrick Gemkow. As he sat cross- legged on a stool in his living room, we got a glimpse of Gemkow in his own element: relaxed, having fun and doing what he does best: singing songs. Gemkow’s lyrics dig deep and hit hard, but are softened by the surprising delicacy of his voice. “I am going to hog the stage a bit,” he confessed, as he invited his older brother Chris up to join. Chris provided a grounded base of guitar and lead vocals, allowing Patrick to play around in the higher registers.

After the show, people milled around congratulating the performers. One attendee, who moved to the city at the start of summer, claimed it was her favorite night in Chicago. Free from the interference of the typical local music scene, it was clear that something special had gone down, and reminded everyone in attendance that great music can happen and be enjoyed anywhere…even in your own living room.

Meghan Brosnan

Freelance photographer in Chicago.

http://spinearth.tv/report/the-noble-experiment-a-night-of-live-local-music

www.passerbyprints.squarespace.com
www.meghanbrosnan.com

RECOMMENDATIONS by Brain Walker:

1. Siddartha by Herman Hesse

2. My favorite piece of gear is My Jumbo Gibson J150

3. One thing you can’t live on the road without: Good Grass (or Hash, hehe)

Recording a New Album

Recording a New Album
By Christian Montagne of MAKO
Antibes France / Cork Ireland

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After signing with MCA/RADIOACTIVE we released 2 major LP between 1999 and 2002 with our previous band CYCLEFLY.  With years of touring through out the USA and EUROPE we got dropped by the label, why? Simply because our label merged with other labels.  When this happens people within the label get fired, to be more specific A&R Director, Press Relation etc… So all the people who were into the band are gone. The new employees like to bring new bands in. Of course if we were a multi-million selling band it would not have mattered but unfortunately in our case it did.

Declan (singer)  and I have started a new band MAKO.  The first thing we did was to write and demo our songs, to be able to arrange them using a drum machine and an editing program, in that way you can try all the possibilities very quickly. In our case, I right the music and Declan right lyrics and melodies.

After listening for a long time we decided it was good enough to record properly.  We got a drummer in and started on pre production that took about 10 sessions. I gave a head phone to the drummer with the demo without drums and bass. That made it possible to hear the music and vocals in time with a click and I was playing the bass hearing the same thing on my head phone. When we where happy with all the drums parts, I booked a studio in France.

I’ve work with producers before, but this time I was going to do it myself. So I made sure that I asked as much advise as possible on how and what mic to use for the drums as I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted this album to sound. The studio already had all the mics I needed except for the overhead mics “akg c 451” . I was able to rent them in France.

To record the drums I did the same thing as I did in the pre production.The drummer had head phone with the vocals, music, and click from the demo, it took 2 days to record all the drums for 14 songs. The whole recording and production took 5 long weeks, averaging 14 hours a day in the studio, sometimes more. But to be able to control the whole thing is well worth it , it was one of the most enjoyable times I have ever had. Declan came on the last week to record the vocals, by that time all the music was recorded and sounded much better than the original demo. Then we came back to Ireland and cleaned up on the tracks.

I started thinking about the most important part of the recording process “the mixing” We found a mixer on the internet call Larry Fricke from Germany (he is absolutely fantastic) it took a while to mix as we where only talking to him by email and had a small budget.  Thankfully he liked the songs and gave us a good deal.  After that we set up our own Label (DRIVE RECORDS). Be sure to investigate whether to open a Ltd., or a partnership.

http://www.makotunes.com/

We’ve released a single “UNSTOPPABLE” and made a video, www.myspace.com/makotunes so far we have received good reviews and feedback.  We put a live band together and have started playing a few gigs. We are now working with our management to get funding for the album release early in the New Year.

How I Write Songs

How I Write Songs
By Jeremy Shenk

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An artist relies on his hands, his sense of touch; listening for the note that conveys his emotion without words. A powerful minor chord for an angry mood, a soft strum for a peaceful mindset… The artist is not judged on his technical capabilities, but rather his ability to feel and to express.

When writing a song one does not think and feel for what emotion you have towards the subject of your piece. An artist’s expression of an emotion will never match another artist’s expression of the same feeling. There may be similarities in some cases, but there will never be two artists who are exactly the same.

Write your songs from personal experience, write them from observations, or write them based on stories! But you must understand and feel what you are writing and flavor it with your own emotion. Music is arguably the most influential media. Do not waste it.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

One book I would suggest every musician to read is ~ Any music theory book! But don’t let yourself be restrained by the books rules… Use them as guidelines for your own musical rules.

My favorite piece of gear is ~ My Paul Reed Smith SE Custom 22

One piece of gear I can’t live on the road without ~ Well I just travel from home, but I would have again say my PRS SE Custom.

www.myspace.com/jeremyshenk

Flying Solo – A Chicago Born Bird

Flying Solo – A Chicago Born Bird
By Alex Hoffer

Growing up just outside of Chicago was always an amazing bit of luck for me. Not only lucky because I love that city, but because as I got older, I’d begin realizing that I’d want to be working there as much as possible. Music and a place like Chicago do go hand-in-hand and I wasn’t about to let that opportunity slip by. A few things could, and did, get in the way though. In the end however, nothing is as powerful as a dream. Nothing is as powerful as belief.

Currently twenty-four years old, I started playing in front of people (at open mics, etc.) when I was twenty. It didn’t take very long for me to see how deeply this music affected me. It took me no more than two or three open mics before I started writing, and playing my own music. Soon after that, I began thinking very deeply about the idea of actually “booking” shows. A term a put in quotes because at that time, I still didn’t really understand what “booking” was. After a Thursday night at “The Fat Bean” coffee house in Naperville, the guy running the open mic asked me if I’d like to come back in a couple weeks on a Friday night and open up for a small acoustic band that was playing there. I eagerly accepted the invitation and so was born my first show. Armed with a five man group of some of my closest friends, I marched to the Fat Bean. At 7:00PM on that Friday evening, I performed my first, non-open-mic, show and it was everything I had hoped it would be. The adrenaline pumping through my veins, the look on my friends faces, and the look on everyone elses all came together to make it a moment that is now etched into the back of my memory.

Since that day, I’ve played solo, duo, trio and full band shows alike. All of them presenting their own unique challenges. Through all the confusion of planning for each differently, what I did know is that I wanted music to be my main source of income. I wanted music to be my work. I figured, if I must have a job to pay for food, shelter, clothes, etc., it might as well be music. First and foremost, I love it. A close second, I began finding ways to make music an acceptable form of work. (In the eyes of those concerned that it couldn’t provide for me.) I set out to let myself and others know that if you want something, it’s attainable. Dreams are not to be set aside, forgotten about, or only spoken of when beginning a sentence with, “Do you remember when?” Dreams are as real as you and I, and all I could think to do is run towards mine.

While I must admit, at times, trying to be successful in this venture can be disappointing sometimes. I feel going solo can make certain misfortunes seems worse than they actually are as well. I can recall a handful of times when I just wouldn’t allow myself to get to overly excited about the prospect of a gig until the week, or even day, it was going to happen. As a solo musician dealing with the loss of a gig you had really wanted, it’s hard for most people to fully understand what is worst about that situation for you. If you’re in a band you’re all affected a little more equally. However learning to deal with these small misfortunes is only a tiny part of it all. Getting over the disappointment is not so bad when the better parts of these adventures come knocking at your door.

Now twenty-two, I headed into the studio to begin recording for the first time in my life. If there’s one piece of studio advice I can give; always know EXACTLY what you want to do before you go in. Let new ideas and spontaneity your backup, not your guide. As I found, it’s easy to waste alot of money in a recording studio. Without proper outlining, hours can be wasted, and hours usually means hundreds and that’s not where you want to go.

Now I’m twenty-four, still writing new music, getting ready to record more of it too. I recently had three of my four Demo EP songs played on local radio in Joliet, Kankakee, Shorewood, Naperville, Plainfield, Minooka, Morris, (Illinois) as well as some other towns I can’t quite remember off the top of my head. From twenty year old kid, to twenty-four year old kid/musician that just had a few songs played on the radio. In the grand scheme of things, not a huge deal. To a solo musician trying to figure out his place in the world, in music, in life… an awesome point in his life. Most certainly not the best, or the end. Much more to come after these messages.

www.alexhoffermusic.com

Practice Your Scales

Practice Your Scales
By Curtis McCormick

I find practicing scales and fingerings on the guitar pretty boring but it must be done if one is to improve. With a full-time job, a side job and a wife to spend time with, I had trouble finding the time to do that guitar practice until I hit upon a good formula.

I realized that the time I spent with my wife watching TV in the evenings after our jobs could be put to better use than just mindlessly watching the telly. I explained to her that I needed to quietly practice on the couch next to her, if that was okay, in order to keep myself happy, while we watched TV. Luckily, she felt my happiness was important to both of us and she agreed, as long as I was quiet.

So, I use an old Harmony Strat copy, unplugged, and a Dr. Rhythm Drum Machine with headphones to quietly improve my skills while we spend time together watching TV.

The strings on the Harmony are pretty high off the fingerboard and it won’t go in tune enough to play chords but that difficulty in playing is perfect for skill building; when I play a good guitar with low action, I can really zip around!

I set the drum machine on a four beat to the bar metronome pattern and start off with fingerings, not even scales, with up and down picking designed to limber up and strengthen my hands.

I use the entire necks with lots of variations such as string skipping…etc, to make it interesting and difficult while speeding up the tempo of the metronome a tiny bit when my skills can support that increase.

This takes about half an hour and then I move onto scales. I’m a blues player so it’s mostly pentatonics with a few extra notes thrown in here or there depending on whether I’m working on a major or minor feel.

I’ll do about a half hour with first one scale position and then start to work the next higher position into my practicing.

By now, I’m pretty tired of the skill building bit so I’ll move onto playing actual music to a drum pattern that I might find motivating to jam to.

I’ll set a chord pattern up, something basic like Am going slowly to D, and play that for a bit until it’s imprinted in my imagination.

I then try to dart lead lines in between the chords, while making sure I get back into position to hit the chords on time.

Doing that, and endless variations on other similar themes, with no accompaniment other than the drum machine really makes me work hard.

I’ve been doing this type of thing, mostly every day, for about a year now and it has made me a much better player in every way possible.

I’ve been playing guitar for 30 years and have never worked so hard at it or sounded better!

Check out Curtis McCormick’s Blog http://dustyoldamp.wordpress.com/

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Beatles Guitar Chord Songbook. Either volume, A-I or J-Y, it doesn’t matter; the bible on how chords work together. Hal Leonard Publishing.

My 1939 Supertone tube amp – from beautiful clean to ragged glory, it’s a one-knob wonder that keeps me honest. It truly amplifies the skills, either good or bad, of the player and forces one to improve or stop playing through it.

My Yamaha FG730s – no better way to pass the time than to write songs and no better way for me to see if a song is good or not than to play it on acoustic with no other accompaniment.

Head Above Music Recommendations:
Integral Guitar: An Integrated Course of Practice and Theory Including Scale and Chord Fingerings

Guitar Aerobics: A 52-Week, One-lick-per-day Workout Program for Developing, Improving and Maintaining Guitar Technique

Spend More Time on the Phone, Book More Shows

Mistake Number Seven:
Not Spending Enough Time on the Phone

(an excerpt from the book, Called To Sing: 13 Mistakes To Avoid When Starting In Music Ministry (Volume 2 by Dr. Naima Tonya Johnston © 2007 7thirtyseven Logos Publishing)

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but when dreams come true there is life and joy.
(Proverbs 13 Verse 12)

The phone: the lifeline of the emerging artist’s music ministry. Inquiry emails are great, sending a press packet might peak some interest, but the ministry opportunity becomes a booked date when the deal is sealed on the phone. I hated to get on the phone and talk with people about my music ministry, I always looked at it as shameless self-promotion and I hated that thought. But I realized after much prayer, some growing up in the Lord and not enough singing engagements to make the bills, that if the Lord had given me this music ministry, and in fact wanted me to share it with the world, then I in fact had better promote this ministry as much as possible! Getting your music ministry out there is not about pride or a lack of humility on your part, it is truly about doing the work that the Lord has called you to do. So exalt Him in every booking conversation and watch Him open the doors.

When I first started in music ministry, I always tried to avoid the phone. I spent a great deal of time trying to locate a booking agent who would be interested in booking my shows and ministry engagements for me. My desire was to spend time in prayer, write new music, practice and then just show up and minister or perform. I didn’t want to have to be responsible for the details. But what I found was that every agent I contacted would not even consider me seriously until I was doing at least 50 – 75 shows a year. Well that was nuts, how could I do that many shows if I didn’t have someone to get on the phone and book me? Next I tried recruiting friends to serve as booking agents, and this is an approach that works well when you have a motivated individual with the time and talent to tout your musical ministry. But I didn’t and so it came back again to me getting on the phone and serving as my own booking agent.

At first I set small goals for myself, trying to call ten places a day and then call one more after I had finished the initial list of ten. This worked well and I greatly increased in booking ministry events, activities and shows. I often solicited my friends to find new venues or to ask them to suggest me for events, I scoured the web to find churches that had concerts and reviewed the sites of other artists to find new venues and this increased my bookings as well. And I read everything I could find about booking, booking agents and artist development, but what really turned the light bulb on was reading an article written about an independent artist who was bringing in over $100,000 a year, playing over 200 dates a year and he was doing his own booking!

The artist wrote how other artists flocked to his side inquiring about the secrets of success and once he told them his fantastic secret of success their hopeful faces fell flat. The artist shared that the secret to his success was simply that he spent 8 Hours On The Phone, Doing Booking At Least Four Days A Week! He called everyone, nursing homes, schools, churches, cultural centers, venues and nightclubs, festivals and fairs, if they had music he called, sent a press packet and then followed up. He stated that over the years he had developed such as extensive network that much of his current booking was people calling him to set up engagements! But he didn’t rest on his laurels, he continued to work the phone, exploring new opportunities, shoring up relationships, making contacts and sealing deals. After building a following he’d been approached by professional agents and labels, but he was making so much money, he didn’t want to give them a cut!

Many of us can’t imagine spending that much time on the phone, we don’t even know where to obtain that many phone numbers. But the Lord spoke to me and told me that there was favor on the phone – so I better work the phone as much as I can. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and I can’t tell you how many bookings I have gotten because I began the booking process with a phone call and ended the booking process with a phone call. I work under the assumption that most people won’t call you back when you’re starting out no matter how great you are. So if you want to increase your booking – get on the phone, promote the gift that God has given you and watch the doors begin to open!

Lessons Learned From The Phone…
I know many artists who just send out a bunch of press packets and then wait to be called to be booked for a date. This is a killer and the wrong approach to take. Research and an initial phone call can save you a multitude of money, resources, time and grief if you take the time to prepare before you begin the booking process. What type of research should you do? Well you should make sure that the church or organization lines up with your own doctrinal beliefs or that the differences are so small they really don’t matter to your faith. For example, I believe that the gifts of the Spirit are still in operation today, so I have been blessed with the gift of tongues, I don’t exercise this gift when I go to a Methodist Church, but the difference of doctrine does not in my opinion disqualify the church from my booking attention. Other types of research – well if you call before you send the packet you can find out all kinds of good things: Who the packet should be sent to, does the church even have concerts, and does the venue accept submissions from your genre?

Never send out a hard copy of your press packet unsolicited, this is a waste of money and resources. As a past promoter I can tell you that we threw away a ton of press packets, recycled the folders for own use and had a glut of extra CD cases.
Looking for places to find contacts? Try Christian Happenings, open the phone book and call churches, search the web, seek referrals, call the local radio stations for suggestions, and check in with arenas, fair offices and festivals. Don’t forget about nursing homes, schools, community organizations, bookstores and even the mayor’s office! Take this approach in every city you travel to and follow this simple booking formula: Pray – Call – Send – Pray – Follow Up and see the bookings increase!

Dr. Naima Tonya Johnston is the author of: Called To Sing: 13 Mistakes To Avoid When Starting In Music Ministry (Volume 2) With a PhD in Education from Ohio State University, Naima is a Christian Recording Artist, Minister, Educator, Author and Speaker with a mission and passion to see people achieve their God given dreams! She travels extensively engaged in fulltime music/teaching ministry doing upwards of 80 dates a year. For more information about Naima or to purchase her book visit: www.naimajohnston.com

Insure Your Gear and Your Songs

Insure Your Gear and Your Songs
By Steve Schiltz

Click to Listen

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
http://www.longwavetheband.com/
www.myspace.com/hurricanebells

Conversations on Music Licensing

Conversations on Music Licensing
By Lorelei Loveridge

Click to Listen

THIS WEEK IS ABOUT MUSIC LICENSING – ONE OF THE MOST LUCRATIVE WAYS TO SECURE LONG-TERM INCOME IN THIS BUSINESS

(Adapted from the 20 Nov 2009 ‘Friday Update’ to members of
the Facebook group Performing Songwriters (United Worldwide) otherwise known as
PSUW.)

****************************************************************

I know a LOT of people here have experience in this arena. So, please share
what you know on the talkback here, and please refer others to weigh in on this
subject if you have contacts with wisdom/experience (thanks):

TALKBACK 16: Licensing Music for Film/TV Synchronization, etc.
http://bit.ly/6P25aL

****************************************************************

WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THIS

My first album Endless Contradictions garnered a licensing deal with the
producers of prime-time TV shows Party of Five/Dawson Creek in the U.S., and I
continue to earn international royalties 13 years later (for airplay in
countries, worldwide) for over 1 minute of music taken from my first album
track (put your BEST track forward, first, as you know!!!).

***************************************************************

HOW IT HAPPENS

My experience is limited to the trials and success and failures I’ve
encountered in this business, but I hope it’s worth something to you.

1. A former radio program director/DJ that I knew contacted the secretary (now
president) of what is now the Alberta Music Association in Canada – http://www.www.amia.ca – to request that a
limited number of press kits/CD’s be sent to him to pass on to a music director
working for Columbia TriStar. He ran in many music circles and knew the music
producer wanting to synch music. The unnamed producer did not want to advertise
for music, as he would be swamped. So, a personal ‘filtering process’ was put
into place through…friends/acquaintances. Important to know. Get to know your
local radio DJ’s!

2. Peter Spellman of Berklee College of Music’s Career Development Centre and http://www.mbsolutions.com (he’s an expert on
music biz for indies and the head of the centre) talked to me about the need to
target shows and know what they’re about, then directly contact producers of
these programs using the FILM AND TELEVISION MUSIC GUIDE (link below at
bottom).

Like everything, this is a HUGE resource. I suggest getting together with a few
artists and sharing the workload. Buying the directory alone will not get you
deals; you have to work it. Candidly speaking, cold-emailing hasn’t worked for
me, from this resource…yet. I will be following up with phone calls.

3. Taking the advice of an expert in licensing that I met at the WOMEX world
music expo a few weeks ago in Copenhagen, Denmark (I chaired a panel at the
conference on ‘adventures in world music’ re. the making of my latest album):
DO NOT focus exclusively on the big companies.

LOOK AT YOUR LOCAL/REGIONAL MARKET, AND WORK WITH YOUR
PERFORMING RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS, TRADE ASSOCIATIONS. A lot of support by way of
intros occurs at this level. (Helpful, focusing advice within the realm of
‘doable’, I felt.)

4. Look at where other artists are getting their deals from and approach the
same companies. I’ve done it by scanning the websites of artists I respect and
noting that some of them name their affiliated music licensing organization.
Following suit and submitting, I have been invited to submit music for
consideration. That’s one step closer to…something. Perhaps.

5. Remember: it’s about the music. Need I say more? Finished masters are
required. Albums that are old – unlike with radio – are always welcome.

****************************************************************

KEY POINT TO BE REMEMBERED:

It IS a business of relationships. You have to know people. But it does NOT
NECESSARILY mean that these people must be the music producers of the shows
themselves. You NEVER know who knows who in this business. Get out there and
talk to people. Everywhere. All the time.

****************************************************************

NATURE OF AGREEMENT:

There’s so much to say about this, books cover this subject. Get a lawyer until
you know what you’re doing. It was expensive for me, but in the end worth it to
have peace of mind that I wasn’t being ripped off. Additionally, I’ll summarize
my experience and add a comment:

An up-front fee was paid for the finished masters to be used in the tv shows;
then the royalties came in, months later. (My parents were duly impressed.) It
took time, but the first few years were very lucrative. Now, the earnings are
meager, but they continue to pay for my SOCAN (Canadian performing rights org)
magazine for pro members. Good enough for me.

Furthermore, once I scare up some paperwork, I will be able to collect on the
fee owed for the use of this music on the DVD sets that were produced using
this music. (Hint 2: chase down your owed fees, etc! I knew at the start that
if the shows were pressed to video or DVD, I would be entitled to another fee.
13 years later, I’m happy to say: I was able to chase down the correct people
to collect.)

Examining deals today, it appears that up-front fees are lower than when I
first started off. In the case of one TV series, I know that up-front fees
aren’t paid…but you can earn the royalties. The formulas are many. BE AWARE
AND KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. KEEP RESEARCHING.

****************************************************************

LINKS TO HELP YOU:

1. Various orgs appearing to be involved in music licensing:
http://www.musiciansnetwork.com/network/Licensing/index.html

2. Film and TV Licensing Guide:
http://www.musicregistry.com

3. ‘Money for Your Music: The Cold Hard Facts About Music Licensing’ (an
article put out by a favorite resource of mine, the Music Biz Academy):
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/gman_money.htm

4. Tonnes more very interesting links on this (dig a bit and read…worth it):
http://www.mediawebsource.com/musiclicensing.htm

FINALLY, A TOOL FOR YOUR WEBSITE THAT MIGHT HELP YOU PRESENT YOUR CATALOG OF
MUSIC EFFECTIVELY TO ‘LICENSERS’

I haven’t checked this out, but plan to – as it looks good – and I have had
positive interaction with Michael Borges, the founder of this co/product. You
are entitled to try it out for free for one month:

LICENSE QUOTE (Publish and License your music from your own Licensing Store)
http://www.licensequote.com

****************************************************************

IN CLOSING

I hope this info is helpful info to you. It may seem overwhelming. If so, do
the smart thing (musicians can be so stupid, duplicating these services
individually instead of working together to split the workload and share the
earnings):

Get a few people working this angle. Report back to me if you have positive
results, and don’t forget to comment on the PERFORMING SONGWRITERS (UNITED
WORLDWIDE) TALKBACK (above) re. TAXI – http://www.taxi.com – and other services that
may also be of help you.

Finally, I invite you to join my Facebook ‘page’ (link under
my name), where I continue to post tips/inspiration mid-week. Thanks and good
luck. Carve out some time in your life for this. It’s long-term income,
remember. At the UK ‘In the City’ music conference in October, it was driven
home that publishing is the most stable side of the music business when it
comes to comparing it to the other 2/3 revenue streams (live/record sales). Put
that in your pipe and smoke it.

Cheers,

Lorelei Loveridge
Artist & Founder/Rabble Rouser of PSUW and Orderly Bazaar

Orderly Bazaar Records & Publishing
‘Specialized in roots, rock, ethnic, jazz, fusion and other
travel related shenanigans’
http://www.loreleiloveridge.com
http://www.myspace.com/loreleiloveridge
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lorelei-Loveridge-World-Travelling-Songwriter/142530793312

Performing Songwriters (United Worldwide)
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=110532175707&ref=mf

Formulating Your Best Music Promotion Plan

Formulating Your Best
Music Promotion Plan
by Bob Baker

A lot of people who subscribe to my Buzz Factor e-zine, read my books, and attend my workshops tell me that once they shift into a brainstorming mode, the self-promotion ideas come faster than Billy Joel behind the wheel of a Mazarotti. My first piece of advice regarding this fantastic state of mind is:

Buy a notebook or journal and capture these thoughts by writing them down. Don’t expect to remember everything later. That rarely works. Grab ideas while they’re hot.

If you’re driving when inspiration strikes, carefully pull over and scribble down your thoughts on a gas receipt, fast food bag, or whatever is handy. If you’re in a bar or restaurant, use a napkin. If you’re in the shower … well, be creative and find a way to record those great ideas.

So Many Ideas, So Little Time

Once you have a master list of earth-shattering, career-boosting concepts, things don’t get any easier. Now you probably feel as if you have so many options, you don’t know where to start. Most music people get so flustered at this point, they do nothing. Or they do a little bit of everything all at once and spread themselves too thin, with nothing to show for all their hard work.

Well, I believe in keeping things simple. Don’t overwhelm yourself. For starters, before you jump into any new grand schemes, there are two basic things you should do every week, if not every day, no matter what else you may be working on:

1) Write, record and perform great music. This is no secret. The most creative promotion ideas in the world will do nothing to help mediocre music. So work on your music-making craft constantly. All it takes is one killer song to light a fire that will sustain an entire career.

2) The second thing you should do almost every day is to take steps to connect with and attract more fans. Don’t get sidetracked with technicalities and industry connections and stuff that doesn’t matter. Keep a constant focus on fans.

Creating Your Music Plan

Now, what about those specific big ideas you have for getting exposure, selling CDs, etc.? Get out a calendar that covers the next 12 months, and start writing down your best ideas and the times of the year they would work best.

Think this through and move things around on the calendar until you’ve got one or two great ideas listed for each month. Doing this will give you a promotional road map so you know the best ways to spend your time and energy every month. Your efforts will be more focused this way and more likely to generate results.

Don’t just wing it and leave things to chance. This is your career and livelihood at stake here. Set priorities. Create an action plan. You can always tweak and alter the plan as you go. But having one in the first place gives you a starting point and a direction … and a reason to get busy and start promoting your music now.

So formulate a plan — your ideal plan — then … get out there and promote yourself!

Bob Baker is the author of “Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook,” “Unleash the Artist Within” and “Branding Yourself Online.” He also publishes TheBuzzFactor.com, a web site and e-zine that deliver marketing tips, self-promotion ideas and other empowering messages to music people of all kinds. Get your FREE subscription to Bob’s e-zine by visiting http://TheBuzzFactor.com today.

Learn About Your Passions

Before I enrolled in theory and musicianship classes, I thought I was a talented singer. I really truly thought I had what it took to make it as it stood as a talented youngster. Taking classes with musicianship and harmony opened my eyes to what it means to be a real “Musician”. I think that term is thrown around so loosely these days. Playing 4 chords and singing a melody is NOT being a “Musician”, in fact it’s a major step backwards. Think of all the music from the past, all the mozarts all the motown artists. There has been development there across the board in some way or another. We feel like we are running out of ideas and it’s pushing us more and more toward a “Sounds cool” generation.

We are the only ones who can educate ourselves and build on the fundamentals of music. After I went to school and became a scholar of music, I thought my talent would somehow be tainted. It has made me a smarter singer, a legit musician who can read and wrote and do session work, and has expanded my musical horizons exponentially. There are always times when a producer or even a label person will want to talk “Music” with you, and you need to be able to know what you’re talking about.

A music education will give you the tools to converse intelligently and will expand your writing horizons as well. Especially if you’re trying to find innovative ways to use G C D and Emin. Learn about your passions. You couldn’t be a doctor and know about the complexities of human anatomy without learning it, what makes us think we can master the complexity of all that is music without learning. We as a people have come so far, let’s not take a step backwards.

http://www.myspace.com/timturnermusic

MAKE SURE YOU’RE READY WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

MAKE SURE YOU’RE READY WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
By Cathy Mein

You’re an artist. You write music. You play music. You’re good. Hell, you’re GREAT! Your talent should speak for itself, shouldn’t it? Unfortunately, it can’t if people can’t find or remember you.

It’s easy to think that in a creative business like the music industry you don’t need professional marketing materials— business cards, a website under your own domain name, professional photos, etc, but in this age of information overload, it’s easy for people you meet who really want to support you and your music to forget all about you if you don’t have standout materials to keep you on their mind.

Recently I was in Los Angeles listening to a great band at a small well-known venue. One of the musicians playing piano wasn’t a member of the band that was headlining, he was just sitting in with them. This relatively unknown piano player does have a new solo album, however.

While I was standing outside talking to this musician, a man walked up to him and couldn’t stop praising his musical skills. He asked if there was anywhere else he could hear the piano player’s music. He was told Myspace, but the name of the Myspace isn’t the exact name of the musician and the man didn’t have a Myspace anyway. The fan then asked what the name of the musician’s website domain is. He didn’t have one. This man then asked if the piano player had a business card. He didn’t.

The fan so enamored with the piano player’s skill, who so enthusiastically wanted to get a hold of the musician and his music, is a music reviewer for a major television news conglomerate. This would have been a missed opportunity had there not been someone nearby who actually had a copy of the musician’s CD and offered it up. A great national review with album airplay followed a week later.

As a former columnist for a music publication I would frequently interview independent artists. I would request a promotional photo to go along with the story and often they didn’t have one or they would have amateur shots that fans or a friend with a good camera took. Due to editorial aesthetics, if there wasn’t a professional photo to go along with the story, no photo would be included and the interview would often be placed at the bottom of the page or in a corner as opposed to the top or front page.

Print publications, television, online e-zines, radio, and even managers and agents run their contribution to music as a business and they often expect the same from the musicians they deal with. They need websites for quick reference, press photos to use, and easy ways to contact an artist or his/her team. The easier you make it for them, the more likely they are to present you with opportunities to promote your music & yourself. Make it too hard, and they may forget and move on to someone else.

As with any business, professional marketing materials are necessary in music to keep an artist in the eye and ear of new listeners and supporters; they’re an investment in your business like any piece of equipment. Make sure when opportunity knocks, your instruments are tuned, your amps are working, and you’re prepared with the right promotional tools to help opportunity help you!

(Cathy Mein is Director of Marketing for Calliope Epic Music Marketing. She has over 12 years of corporate marketing and advertising media experience and is a music writer and former columnist for Midwest Beat Magazine. Her company is offering 30% off custom website development and 15% of photography services to all Head Above Music readers who mention this article through 1/11/10. www.CalliopeEpic.com)

5 Steps to a Use-able and Highly Search Engine Optimized Web Presence

5 steps to a use-able and highly search engine optimized web presence for little cost, other than your time investment.
By Nick Venturella

1. Use a blog site as your web presence’s content management system (CMS)–essentially this is where you log in and make updates to you site or write a new blog. You can even usually purchase the domain name you want for an affordable annual fee if you want “your band.com” as the site name (the cost is usually between $15 and $25 per year). Blog sites are nice because you can choose a template that already exists if you’re not ready to design something, or you can sometimes manipulate the template code, or create your own code, if you want to customize it for your own use. You can add pages that act just like traditional web site pages, yet you have the freedom to update content and add new blog posts at will, which isn’t always easy if you hire someone else to design a traditional web site for you. There are several blog sites available to choose from…WordPress, Blogger, Weebly, and many more.

2. Build a social networking approach that makes sense for you and your target audience. Use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Digg, etc…whatever makes sense for you and only as many as you think you can reasonably manage. Add these to your blog site.

3. Content is king. For your blog site and social networking sites to all work well and work together you have to regularly create new content and participate in conversations to build relationships with those in your targeted social network…you’re really building a community to create reciprocated conversation. Meanwhile, you’re positioning yourself as the go-to-person for the area of expertise, or specific genre, you/your band focuses on.

4. It is important to participate in conversations. You can create as much content as you want and publish it to the world, but you’ll gain more credibility more quickly by also participating in the conversations related to your area of expertise on social networking sites and blogs. This shows that you pay attention to whats going on in your “community” or industry.

5. Finally, simply by having all of the content from your blog site, and blog posts (with various pertinent links embedded in them) and all your social networking sites linked from your blog site as well as your participation in social networking conversations. search engines with crawl out and grab what content they can to push your search results higher and higher. The typical rule of thumb is that the more content you have the higher your search results (to a large extent that’s true, but this concept does have a few other variables involved…you can do some more research here).

www.nickvmedia.weebly.com
www.myspace.com/nickventurella

Second Life

Second Life
By Dann Russo (Dann Numbers)

Click to Listen

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”
(you can check it all out at www.secondlife.com ).

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. A