The Producers Handbook

3 Dj Apps for the Ipod Reviewed

2011-01-01T22:24:00.002-06:00

http://www.djtechtools.com/2010/12/20/djing-on-the-iphone-the-good-the-pretty-and-the-pointless

Newtone Pitch & Time Editor

2010-12-26T19:04:00.000-06:00

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MySpace/Imeem Deal Leaves Thousands of Artists Unpaid

2010-03-25T05:49:00.001-05:00

Independent artists who sold their music through imeem’s Snocap music storefronts on MySpace and other sites won’t be paid what’s owed even after MySpace Music’s acquisition of some — but not all — of imeem, Wired.com has learned.

MySpace Music bought “certain assets” from imeem, and they do not include imeem’s liability to more than 110,000 independent artists with Snocap storefronts, according to a source with inside knowledge of the deal. Those artists’ contracts mandate they be paid each month if they’re owed more than $20. Some artists have been owed money for more than a year, and the chance of them seeing any money now is, for all intents and purposes, zero, the source says.

Artists attempting to get paid for songs sold through Snocap stores — many or most of which were on MySpace itself — must get in line with imeem’s bank and other creditors. MySpace Music paid less than $1 million for imeem, so it’s doubtful much will remain for the artists.

“MySpace Music bought a limited set of imeem’s assets including the domain name and certain technology and trademarks,” a MySpace spokeswoman said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “The asset sale to MySpace Music was part of a foreclosure process which resulted from the lien certain secured creditors had on all the assets of imeem. MySpace Music did not acquire imeem’s outstanding debts, including the money imeem owed to artists under the Snocap relationship. Upon closing, users trying to access the Imeem website were redirected to MySpace Music. We did not acquire imeem’s contracts or relationships as we have our own in place. MySpace Music has its own distribution platform, which includes relationships with prominent aggregators and indie labels, that provides indie artists ways to monetize their music on our site.”

One source with inside knowledge of the deal said MySpace Music’s rushed purchase of imeem’s assets forced it to “leave behind anything that either had explicit liability or potential liability,” including Snocap and its debts to thousands of independent artists and bands.

Napster creator Shawn Fanning co-founded Snocap in 2002 to let artists sell their music through an embeddable storefront widget. At one point, the service was marketed as the exclusive way for artists to sell music on MySpace. Imeem bought Snowcap last summer. But because MySpace left most aspects of Snocap out of its acquisition of imeem’s assets, all 110,000 or so of those storefronts are gone. The server that hosts them is offline and so is the Snocap website.

Possibly the last band to be paid by imeem for music sold through a Snocap store embedded on MySpace was Javelin, which happens to be my brother’s and cousin’s band. After they inquired about money listed as owed in its online account, imeem sent them a check for about $400 for approximately a year and a half of sales.

That may not be “a princely sum,” as Tim Quirk put it. But for growing bands — many of whose income trickles in from a variety of sources — it matters, especially when you consider that imeem’s payments to major labels helped drive it out of business in the first place.

There’s nothing technically wrong with MySpace Music only acquiring certain assets from imeem, and teams of lawyers scrutinized the deal before it was done. Regardless, in this latest round of digital musical chairs, independent artists who set up music stores in good faith have been left holding the bag.

Producers Resources & Tools

2010-02-15T20:46:00.003-06:00

A collection of links and such to help any aspiring producers out. Some of the things you can grab:

Bookmarks for musicians, producers & DJ's - Download these bookmarks that are all categorized neatly. Links to many sites that are useful to a DJ, music producer or musician. Simply import this file into your favorites in your browser. You will need to right click over the link and choose 'Save Target As' or the link will open as a webpage.
Various Contract Templates - This zip file contains 17 various contract templates. Great for Producers, DJ's and Artists. Some of the templates are Remix for Hire, Mobile DJ, Artist Management, Songwriter, Tour Sponsorship, Producer for Hire, Graphic for Hire, and many many more...

http://504productions.com/producer_tools.php

Ignoring RIAA Lawsuits Cheaper Than Going to Trial

2009-09-28T16:03:00.003-05:00

Jammie Thomas-Rasset and Joel Tenenbaum captured the nation's attention when they were defendants in the RIAA's first two trials against accused online infringers. But here's the mind-warping reality: both defendants would have been far better off monetarily if they had simply ignored the complaint altogether and failed to show up in court.

That counterintuitive logic played out again this week in Massachusetts, where federal judge Nancy Gertner issued four default judgments against accused P2P file-swappers who never bothered to respond to the charges against them. Their failure to appear meant an automatic loss, and though the judge does have some discretion in setting penalties, judges often pick the minimum awards in such cases.

That was true in all four cases, where Gertner accepted the record labels' claims and awarded them the minimum statutory damages of $750 per song. The defendants were accused of downloading an average of ten songs, putting total awards in the $7,500 range, in addition to a few hundred more for court costs.

Having $7,500 in damages assessed against you by a federal court is no picnic, but it pales in comparison to the two twenty-somethings who actually showed up to court, got attorneys, went through a multiyear process and a nationally covered trial, and came out the other side owing far more money.

The chart below illustrates the point by graphing the various damage awards per song:

When it comes to total damages, the disparities are even greater. Thomas-Rasset's retrial ended up with a $1.92 million award, while Tenenbaum faces $675,000 in damages. Those who didn't show up owe around $7,500.

In fact, this might well have been Tenenbaum's fate. He was actually included in a massive complaint consolidated into a single docket, and it was only when he showed up to a court hearing that Gertner stopped the default judgment proceeding against him and actually helped find him a lawyer—Harvard Law prof Charles Nesson. Now, Tenenbaum faces a life-altering damage award and the prospect of bankruptcy if not reduced or overturned on appeal.

Update: I was interested more in what happens within the federal court system for this article, but several commenters rightly point out that "not showing up" isn't the cheapest way out of such situations. Settling with the RIAA usually leads to payments of between $3,000 and $5,000, lower than the default judgments issued here by Judge Gertner. Convincing a jury that you're innocent could be cheaper still (if you find a pro bono lawyer), though it comes with certain obvious risks.

Jury Awards $675K in Boston Music Downloading Case

2009-08-01T06:58:00.003-05:00

A federal jury on Friday ordered a Boston University graduate student who admitted illegally downloading and sharing music online to pay $675,000 to four record labels.

Joel Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., admitted in court that he downloaded and distributed 30 songs. The only issue for the jury to decide was how much in damages to award the record labels.

Under federal law, the recording companies were entitled to $750 to $30,000 per infringement. But the law allows as much as $150,000 per track if the jury finds the infringements were willful. The maximum jurors could have awarded in Tenenbaum's case was $4.5 million.

Jurors ordered Tenenbaum to pay $22,500 for each incident of copyright infringement, effectively finding that his actions were willful. The attorney for the 25-year-old student had asked the jury earlier Friday to "send a message" to the music industry by awarding only minimal damages.

Tenenbaum said he was thankful that the case wasn't in the millions and contrasted the significance of his fine with the maximum.

"That to me sends a message of 'We considered your side with some legitimacy,'" he said. "$4.5 million would have been, 'We don't buy it at all.'"

He added he will file for bankruptcy if the verdict stands.

Tenenbaum's lawyer, Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson, said the jury's verdict was not fair. He said he plans to appeal the decision because he was not allowed to argue a case based on fair use.

The Recording Industry Association of America issued a statement thanking the jury for recognizing the impact illegal downloading has on the music community.

"We appreciate that Mr. Tenenbaum finally acknowledged that artists and music companies deserve to be paid for their work," the statement said. "From the beginning, that's what this case has been all about. We only wish he had done so sooner rather than lie about his illegal behavior."

Tenenbaum would not say if he regretted downloading music, saying it was a loaded question.

"I don't regret drinking underage in college, even though I got busted a few times," he said.

The case is only the nation's second music downloading case against an individual to go to trial.

Last month, a federal jury in Minneapolis ruled that Jammie Thomas-Rasset, 32, must pay $1.92 million, or $80,000 on each of 24 songs, after concluding she willfully violated the copyrights on those tunes.

The jury began deliberating the case Friday afternoon.

After Tenenbaum admitted Thursday he is liable for damages for 30 songs at issue in the case, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner ruled that the jury must consider only whether his copyright infringement was willful and how much in damages to award four recording labels that sued him over the illegal file-sharing.

In his closing statement Friday, Nesson repeatedly referred to Tenenbaum as a "kid" and asked the jury to award only a small amount to the recording companies. At one point, Nesson suggested the damages should be as little as 99 cents per song, roughly the same amount Tenenbaum would have to pay if he legally purchased the music online.

But Tim Reynolds, a lawyer for the recording labels, recounted Tenenbaum's history of file-sharing from 1999 to 2007, describing him as "a hardcore, habitual, long-term infringer who knew what he was doing was wrong." Tenenbaum admitted on the witness stand that he had downloaded and shared more than 800 songs.

Tenenbaum said he downloaded and shared hundreds of songs by Nirvana, Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins and other artists. The recording industry focused on only 30 songs in the case.

The music industry has typically offered to settle such cases for about $5,000, though it has said that it stopped filing such lawsuits last August and is instead working with Internet service providers to fight the worst offenders. Cases already filed, however, are proceeding to trial.

Tenenbaum testified that he had lied in pretrial depositions when he said his two sisters, friends and others may have been responsible for downloading the songs to his computer.

Under questioning from his own lawyer, Tenenbaum said he now takes responsibility for the illegal swapping.

"I used the computer. I uploaded, I downloaded music ... I did it," Tenenbaum said.

Associated Press writer Jeannie Nuss contributed reporting from Boston.

Surprise! Study Shows Few Indies on Radio

2009-05-04T14:54:00.002-05:00

Artist advocacy group The Future Of Music Coalition has released a new report “Same Old Song" confirming that indie music is not getting its fair share of airplay on broadcast radio.

In April 2007, the FCC found widespread payola and ordered the four largest U.S. radio groups (Clear Channel, CBS, Citadel and Entercom) to pay $12.5 million in fines and work with the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) to draft 8 “Rules of Engagement" and an “indie set-aside" including 4,200 hours of unsigned and indie label music.

But FMC's new survey of Mediaguide airplay data shows little has changed in the 2 years since the FCC decree. Indie music did make slight gains at AAA Non-comm. and Country radio. But at all 5 other dominant radio formats (AC, Urban AC, Active Rock, CHR Pop, and Triple A Comm.) the share of indie music played remained stagnant at 78-82% despite ndies comprising 30-40% of the marketplace.

Not surprisingly, the FMC also found that there were very few slots for any new music .There too, new major label songs typically receive more spins than indies. Finally, FMC looked at the indie labels...

themselves and found that only a handful of indies have the resources and clout to garner airplay consistently. For the remaining indies, airplay is infrequent and modest, if it happens at all.

“As this report dramatically shows, we are still haunted by the ghost of payola, whether real or imagined." commented Peter Gordon of Thirsty Ear Records and indie music's lead negotiator with radio.

Rich Bengloff, President of A2IM adds, “Independent music accounts for approximately 38% of digital sales in the U.S. and over 40% of audience impressions at internet radio ,but consistently receives only slightly more than 10% of traditional commercial radio airplay. It's obvious that music fans want independent music, and commercial radio programmers continue to ignore that demand at their own peril."

Wax on the Come Back? Best Buy is Giving Vinyl a Spin?

2009-04-28T14:02:00.000-05:00

The consumer-electronics giant, which happens also to be the third-largest music seller behind Apple's iTunes and Wal-Mart, is considering devoting eight square feet of merchandising space in all of its 1,020 stores solely to vinyl, which would equate to just under 200 albums, after a test in 100 of its stores around the country proved successful.

Though vinyl represents less than 5 percent of Best Buy's music sales, the format is growing while CD sales continue to shrink.

Vinyl sales grew 15 percent year-over-year in 2007 and 89 percent in 2008, making the 1.9 million vinyl albums purchased last year the most since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. This year is shaping up to be even better, with 670,000 vinyl albums sold through mid-April.

By contrast, CD sales have fallen at a roughly 20 percent clip for the past few years.

To be sure, the growth in vinyl, even when combined with digital sales, isn't enough to offset the decline in CD sales. But it does show that consumers haven't abandoned the physical format.

And the fact that a retailer of Best Buy's size is willing to expand vinyl offerings is an incremental positive for the beleaguered music industry. A typical Best Buy store features about 16 square feet to 20 square feet of music merchandise and displays about 8,000 CDs.

"Our goal is to occupy as much square footage as possible with music products," said Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman, whose personal vinyl collection numbers more than 300,000, making it one of the largest private collections in the world.

Hoping to capitalize on the renewed interest in vinyl, all of the major record labels have combed through their catalogs to remaster and re-release marquee titles with their original artwork and packaging -- both of which are essential elements for the vinyl consumer.

For instance, EMI in September 2008 launched its "From the Capitol Vaults" vinyl initiative with such titles as The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds," Jimi Hendrix's "Band of Gypsies," and Radiohead's "OK Computer."

Compared with a CD, vinyl costs more to make and retails for a higher price -- $22.95 vs. around $13.99 for a CD -- but has lower margins.

Both Kallman and Jason Boyd, EMI's senior director of catalog sales, said profits made from vinyl were acceptable enough to warrant producing the format.

The situation is the reverse for Best Buy. Chris Smith, the company's senior music merchant, said margins on vinyl sales are "healthy enough" to mitigate the risk that comes along with not being able to return unsold inventory like it can with CDs.

Musicslu.com - A New Model for the Music Business

2009-04-19T07:05:00.001-05:00

FL Studio - Music Theory Cheating

2009-04-13T18:55:00.005-05:00

French Lawmakers Reject Internet Piracy Bill

2009-04-09T23:03:00.001-05:00

French legislators on Thursday rejected legislation to permit cutting off the Internet connections of people who illegally download music and films. But a stubborn government plans to resurrect the bill for another vote this month.

Backers of the bill -- record labels, film companies and law-and-order parliamentarians -- couldn't rally the needed support during in a near empty lower chamber ahead of the Easter holiday. Lawmakers voted 21 to 15 against it.

The measure would have created a government agency to track and punish those who pirate music and film on the Internet. Analysts said the law would have helped boost ever-shrinking profits in the entertainment industry, which has struggled with the advent of online file-sharing that lets people swap music files without paying.

The government, intent on gaining the upper hand in piracy, managed to slip the measure into an April 28 special session devoted to initiatives by President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party.

The president's office reaffirmed Sarkozy's wish to get the law passed "as quickly as possible."

He "does not plan to renounce this whatever the maneuvers" to try to stop the bill's passage, a statement said.

Music labels, film distributors and artists -- who have seen CD and DVD sales in France plummet 60 percent in the past six years -- almost universally supported the measure, hailing it as a decisive step toward eliminating online piracy and an example to other governments. Artists' groups in France have said the future of the country's music and film industries depends on cracking down on illegal downloads, and the legislation received industry support from around the world.

"It is disappointing that the law was not confirmed today," said London-based John Kennedy, Chairman and CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents the recording industry worldwide and supported the bill.

Legislators and activists who opposed the legislation said it would represent a Big Brother intrusion on civil liberties -- they called it "liberticide" -- while the European Parliament last month adopted a nonbinding resolution that defines Internet access as an untouchable "fundamental freedom."

Opponents also pointed out that users downloading from public WiFi hotspots or using masked IP addresses might be impossible to trace. Others called its proposed monitoring structures unrealistic.

"It is a bad response to a false problem," said Jeremie Zimmerman, coordinator of the Quadrature du Net, a Paris-based Internet activist group that opposed the bill, calling it "completely impossible to apply."

He said the bill's rejection is proof of a widespread sense that it was a draconian approach.

Under the legislation, users would receive e-mail warnings for their first two identified offenses, a certified letter for the next, and would have their Web connection severed, for as long as one year, for any subsequent illegal downloads.

French Culture Minister Christine Albanel had said the bill did not aim to "completely eradicate" illegal downloads but rather to "contribute to a raising of consciousness" among offenders.

"There needs to be an experiment," said Pierre-Yves Gautier, an Internet law expert at the University of Paris, noting the plummeting profits of the entertainment industry. "Frankly, it's worth it."

Sidechain Compressing VST

2009-03-16T18:56:00.000-05:00

Sell It Yourself.....

2009-03-04T19:37:00.000-06:00

The system is bullshit that you only make about 77,000 dollars from sales topping 2 million.....let's say each copy was sold for 15 bucks each. At 2 million copies, that is 30 million dollars. And she only sees 77 grand? She is right, someone is getting rich off those sales and it sure as hell aint the one who wrote the material.

Lily Allen Angry for Not Earning Enough Money From Album Sales

Lily Allen is unhappy when finding out that she has earned only 50,000 pounds from her debut album "Alright, Still" despite its impressive selling point, which reached almost two million copies worldwide. "I don't make any money out of record sales at all. I make money out of touring and syncs, publishing," she says during an interview in Q Radio.

"My songs being put on 'Grey's Anatomy' things like that," Lily reveals further. "I don't make any money at all from selling an album, which is probably why I feel so angry about doing all this promotion because I am not earning any money out of it, someone else (is) and they don't have to live with the lasting effects."

In related news, Lily Allen has hinted to make a live appearance at this year's Glastonbury Festival during an interview with Absolute Radio Hometime DJ Geoff Lloyd. "I will be playing lots of festival this year. I'm not allowed to say which. But yes, one begins with a G," she states.

Lily's second studio album "It's Not Me, It's You" meanwhile is due to hit the U.K. market on February 9. Its sounds will reportedly range from jazz, country to dance music.

Image Line Software Releases Sawer

2009-03-02T09:53:00.001-06:00

The synth is available at a reduced price until the end of March 2009

Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium, March 3, 2009 -- Image Line Software, the developer of FL Studio, has released Sawer, its latest synthesizer plugin. Sawer is a powerful vintage modeling synthesizer that cuts through the mix with precise articulation and a punchy sound.

Sawer’s filters have been modeled on the rare 1980s ‘Soviet era’ analog synthesizer, Polivoks. Meticulous attention has been paid to Sawer's filter and envelope design, ensuring a unique sonic character, reminiscent of the Polivoks hardware.

Just as the random variability of electrical components makes analog hardware unique, Sawer’s oscillator design has also been touched by the magic of chance:

”While programming the SAW oscillator, I accidentally set some incorrect variables and immediately the sound gained bass, acquired some light but pleasing noise on the attack and an overall richer sonic spectra. Immediately I realized this was no mistake but a discovery and built on this sound, adding some frequency modulation to give it a touch of analog authenticity and so 'Sawer' was born“, explains Maxx Claster, Sawer's chief developer at Image Line Software.

As modulation is critical for achieving authentic analog sounds, Sawer has flexible modulation routing. An Envelope and LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) source can be used to control a large number of destination controls. Further, the MIDI Modulation Matrix provides the ability to route MIDI controllers to most targets in Sawer.

Finally, Sawer includes CHORUS, PHASER, DELAY and REVERB effects for an overall impressive and polished sound.

Key features of Sawer:

Main oscillator for subtractive synthesis: SAW shape with Sync frequency.
Sub oscillator (-2 to +2 octaves) with level, phase & detune controls.
1 NOISE Oscillator.
Variable polyphony (1 to 24 voices).
8 voice UNISON with user-adjustable stereo panning, detune and ‘Octaver’.
SYNC & RING frequency modulation.
2 ADSR envelope generators (one user-assignable to modulation parameters).
4 FILTER modes - low pass (24 & 12 dB/Oct), band pass and high pass.
Chorus, Phaser, Delay & Reverb effects.
Muti-mode Arpeggiator.

Price and availability: Sawer is available in FL Studio and VSTi formats for Windows and Mac, as well as a Standalone and Audiounit version. Sawer is available for the introductory price of US $79 until the end of March. After this period, the regular price of Sawer will be US $99.

System Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP, Vista/ Mac
Processor: Minimum 2GHz AMD or Intel Pentium III compatible with full SSE support or G4 PowerPC (Mac) with full Altivec support
RAM: 512 MB
Hard disk space: 130 MB

More information about Sawer, including audio demos, screenshots and a downloadable free trial version are available at http://www.image-line.com/documents/sawer.html

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A Recession Is Great For Freelance Work

2009-02-26T08:01:00.002-06:00

Now would be a good time to concentrate on making money with your talents, not skills. Get out and talk to people and offer your services. Advertise your services.

Always thought about freelance work but have not found the right time? Well, if we are faced with a recession, experience shows that a recession can be a good time to be a freelancer.

Many larger companies and organizations lay off full-time employees and contract the work out to freelance professionals. It's cheaper for the some companies because they don't have to pay related benefits or long-term employment issues.

How do you get started? You don't need to even quit your full-time job. Becoming a part-time freelance professional has never been easier. Then, if you decide you have enough work and want to switch to full-time later...you can. Some people just stay part-time and enjoy the extra income.

In order to get started, the first step is finding a good freelance community and search for work that may be of interest to you. There are many different freelance communities with thousands of different jobs available. You will just have to find the one that fits your interests and goals.

Once you have found work that you are interested in, you will either apply or bid on the available work. You may not be chosen for every assignment, but with so many available, you are certain to find just the right work for you.

Then you work with employers, complete your assignments, and receive payment.

As you complete more and more work, you will earn a reputation as a freelance professional...so if a recession hits, they will pick you as their worker of choice.

Making the Most Out of Online Resources

2009-02-25T10:21:00.001-06:00

Written by Daylle Deanna Schwartz
Author of "Start & Run Your Own Record Label" and "I Don’t Need a Record Deal!"
© 2009 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission

Indie artists often complain about not having the budget they’d like to market and promote their music. Nowadays, digital marketing offers a plethora of opportunities for marketing yourself and your music that doesn’t cost anything in dollars. But, it can be hard to know where to begin—and end. While much of it is good for those of you with small to no money budgets, there’s still a big expense for taking advantage of so many opportunities—TIME.

The good AND the bad news: the cost to break an independent act can be more in time than in dollars. It’s great to have free tools! But you could spend all of your waking hours going onto all the different social networking sites and other avenues of promotion and still not make a dent. With all the artists and labels vying for online attention, you must work to make your music stand out.

It’s important to brand your name online. The more people see it, the more curiosity can be generated, which leads to potential fans or clients checking you out. The more you respond to fans who write to you, the more loyal fans you’ll have. But so much of the efforts to find fans is one by one, which accounts for a lot of the time you need to put into it.

It’s not enough to just register on all the websites. While there’s unlimited space for everyone online, you can get lost in it all and not make any constructive progress. I know. I’m always getting links to sites I “should check out.” People email me both to my server and on the social networking sites. It gets overwhelming. Another day ends and I haven’t done any writing. So I must get tough with myself in order to function.

Time isn’t FREE when it costs you your sleep, your personal life and even your sanity. But you can take control of online activities to make the most of the best opportunities. Here are so DOs and DON’Ts for getting the most out of your online resources.

DON’T jump around to everything that seems interesting or the new flavor of the month.
DO force yourself to stay on track. Put aside things you want to check out for when you have some time or accept you can’t look over everything. Learn the benefits of hitting DELETE.

DON’T immediately answer emails when they come in or click when you get a link.
DO: Prioritize what most needs to be done at this point. I have a NEED TO ANSWER folder and put personal emails and those asking questions into it. Have a block of time set aside when all you do is answer emails. When time is up, leave the rest for the next block!

DON’T jump from one site to another and register with every one you can.
DO plan your direction carefully and prioritize your needs to work them properly. Social networking sites allow musicians to seek fans out and interact with them. But working one or two hard is strongly advised as opposed to doing a little bit on many. If you have too many, you don’t work anything well and you can spread yourself too thin. Decide which sites are best for you and concentrate your energy to build up relationships with fans on them.

DON’T try to do everything yourself. DO mobilize fans to help. Get volunteers to assist you in following up with online activities. Ask them to tell other musicians on the site about you, use your music as their default on their MySpace page and drive potential fans to your sites. If you have a budget, hire an online marketing specialist to direct your efforts and do some of the legwork.

DON’T register with any social networking site that you’re not prepared to follow up with.
DO answer every email and make your presence known. Respond to comments. Nowadays, when people hear an artist they like or see you perform, they’ll leave a comment on your MySpace page. It’s important to respond. Musicians who keep in touch with their fans religiously build the strongest communities and get the most support.

DON’T focus just on MySpace and Facebook.
DO diversify. While pure social networking sites are great to exploit, get your music in places where people can find it. Do as many things as you can that don’t require constant attention that give your music potential exposure. Create iMixes up in the iTunes music store. Get your music into streaming radio sites, such as Last.fm, Pandora, Launch, iLike, etc. Send it to MP3 bloggers who review your genre of music. Post videos on YouTube. And get yourself on wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. These efforts often just require doing something once and can drive people to find your music.

DON’T think that selling and promoting your music online is all you need.
DO everything you can in real life too. Touring is still important for creating a strong connection with fans. People do live a good part of their lives off the computer so follow traditional promotion routes too.

DON’T put all your energy into inviting people you don’t know to be your friend or worry about having big numbers of them.
DO be more concerned with connecting to real fans. Successful artists say they don’t worry about how many friends they have on MySpace. What’s important is that they’re real fans who care about reading bulletin posts and getting invitations to your gigs. Of course you can invite people to be your friend if you want to know them. But do that with an email to introduce yourself so they know who you are and why you’re requesting them as a friend. Just inviting for the sake of upping your numbers is a waste of time these days. I don’t have thousands of friends on MySpace but every one of them came to me. I like that better! www.myspace.com/Daylle

Before you begin, make sure you’re ready to commit the time. Even with limits, you’ll spend hours a day keeping up. Find sites that are the likeliest to reach your audience and work them with a vengeance. Take advantage of every function they offer. Join relevant communities. Interact on them as much as you can so people get to know you. Eventually some will come to your page and hear your music.

Being online can be a full time job and you might only have a limited amount of time to devote. ReverbNation www.reverbnation.com has many helpful tools that can save you a lot of time and maximize your online reach. Some people hire a promoter to do it for them. If you don’t have a budget, I highly advise that you put aside time every day to work this new model for marketing and promoting music online, with a real plan.

Pro Tools Tutorial - Creating a Backwards Reverb

2009-02-25T10:20:00.000-06:00

43 Places to Promote Your Music - February 2009

2009-02-25T10:16:00.002-06:00

This month's newsletter features the listings that were submitted to me this past month. The contacts listed are sorted into FIVE sections.

Publications that will REVIEW your music
Radio Stations/Shows that will PLAY your songs
Labels, Vendors and Promotional Services that will help you to SELL your CD
Sites where you can UPLOAD your band's MP3s or videos
A wide range of Helpful Resources for recording artists

http://www.bigmeteor.com/newsletter/feb2009.shtml

FL Studio - Automating Effects On and Off

2009-02-25T10:10:00.000-06:00

Beatport Imposes New Rules That Hurt Indies

2009-02-19T17:30:00.001-06:00

Indie artists are getting a real surprise from Beatport. They have increased their sales quota to a mandatory $500.00 quarterly in sales. This means many artists will be cut and dropped from Beatport.

The explanation is as follows:

The reasoning behind this new, higher benchmark is for several reasons. We want
to keep the quality and the relevancy of content available on Beatport as high
as possible. We acknowledge and understand that labels do take some time to
build a brand, but we also feel that a higher income minimum serves to separate
the ‘hobbyist’ from the serious professional (or aspiring professional) producer
and/or label manager.

I am an indie artist that does every thing by myself plus this is my profession and how I make my money. I am not a hobbyist. I also though am not a machine.

That is about 300 to 400 songs per quarter, per artist. If I was selling that many tracks a month from just 1 site, not including making that from iTunes and so on, I would be selling it all myself from my own site. I only use these places for exposure. Not profit.

I have always felt with Beatport, it was all about the money. They never cared about the artists. They have the money to dominate the market, so they can set the rules as they please.

I do not think that Beatport should dictate who "indie artists" are by the amount of money they have or make. What they are saying is that you are not an artist that creates unless you have money.

It is no surprise to me in this world. For a long time, many talented artists have been silenced and kept down because they had no money. The Internet leveled that playing field giving indies a more affordable way to promote.

I know a quote that says, "It is a flawed society that causes art to be created within a financial means..." - the author is unknown.

So the Beatport fad will end and most probably the site will lose out. I think it is a major mistake to turn your backs on the indies.

There is always iTunes and the other 1000 digital shops to sell your stuff on...

www.504productions.com

Pro Tools Tutorial - Create a Stutter Effect on a Vocal Line

2009-02-19T09:10:00.002-06:00

Congress Restores Arts Funding, Drops Arts Stimulus Ban, After Public Outcry

2009-02-19T09:09:00.000-06:00

Here in the US, Congressional Democrats have reversed not one but both bad decisions on the role of the arts in the economic stimulus package. Provisions that would have blocked any stimulus funds from reaching arts centers, museums, and theaters have been dropped. (Golf courses and casinos are still in the ban. Maybe this time, someone read the actual legislation.) And the US$50 million (out of some $800 billion) that would go to the National Endowment for the Arts, dropped from a Senate version, has been restored to the bill. It appears both of those changes not only cleared the House but are part of the Senate version that’s in votes as I write this.

If you believe artists shouldn’t rely exclusively on government funding, you can still celebrate. The arts will receive far less of a handout than a lot of other industries — and do more with it. Arts advocacy groups estimate that for every dollar of the NEA money, another seven dollars will come from public and private supporters. What the tiny amount of federal spending does is make up for shortfalls in lean times, protecting an arts sphere that depends on a variety of sources for revenue. Nearly 15,000 real jobs could be saved by those same estimates. That means an arts infrastructure in the US that can remain healthy and independent.

But the important story here has nothing to do with the stimulus bill, or even the US. It’s that public outcry from people like you rescued this legislation. And if public support can do that, it can do a lot more for the arts, not only in federal spending but other key areas.

Americans for the Arts says supporters from its organization alone sent some 100,000 messages and letters to their Members of Congress. That’s not counting the many more letters and phone calls from constituents, not to mention letters to the editor and press attention.

Here’s one example from CDM comments, by Dartanyan Brown:

I heard the congressman from Nashville (!) talking down the $50 million for the
National Endowment for the Arts. I immediately called his office and let his
staffers know that (blue dog democrat Cooper) was full of hot air on this issue.
As a synthesist, jazz musician and former NEA artist-in-residence I had the
facts and anecdotes to make my points clear.

If Rush Limbaugh can get his folks to call, we can at least counteract them with some facts and persistence.

Call them, they listen, they respond to numbers.

More background on today’s developments:

House passes stimulus bill with $50 million for artists (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Senate Begins Voting on Obama’s $787 Billion Stimulus Plan (Bloomberg)

To all of you who were active, and to our elected representatives who got this right, thanks.

Targeting the arts in this way may have backfired for those elements seeking to vilify it. Instead, it caused thousands of people to rally to the cause. Here’s an example of organizing meetings in Chicago - and a renewed sense that the arts could be part of the economic solution, not the “costly distraction” so many try to make it out to be.

Organizing Around Art (Chicago Tribune)

Setting Up for a Mix in the Studio

2009-02-19T09:03:00.003-06:00

Very good tips on setting up for a mix. He is speaking about real drums, but you can get some basic pointers about mixing. Especially the order.

Ban on Arts Stimulus, Declare Arts Worker Jobs Not “Real”

2009-02-18T10:00:00.007-06:00

Folks, we have a lot of work ahead of us in the good ole' USA...

The plot in US politics, in the space of a few short weeks, has gone something like this:

A new Administration could bring new vision to making the arts part of the economy.
Arts spending is wasteful.
Any spending on anything should be specifically prohibited from reaching the arts, as that would be wasteful and evil, and the arts are the best symbol of Waste itself.

As digital musicians and visualists, relevancy to the rest of the people around us is important. What we do can be meaningful to people, and it can pay for our health care and our loved ones and our kids. It’s often not a life or death thing - but then, neither are many jobs. It’s a gig. Heck, even if it’s a hobby, it supports someone else’s gig.

So that raises some really deep questions about what’s going on with our society when arts-related jobs are singled out above nearly every other sector as meaningless or “wasteful” or not “real jobs.” This stimulus bill will pass, but that fundamental misunderstanding isn’t going anywhere - and it’s time to recognize there’s a problem, and start to work to set it right.

Roughly half of one one hundredth of one percent of the US economic stimulus plan was slated to support job protection in the arts — US$50 million. Meanwhile, we’ve just passed one trillion-dollar bailout of finance and are told another trillion is needed.

You might expect anger to be directed at finance, given their industry was at the heart of the problem. Instead, legislators single out — the arts?

In last-minute negotiations in the US Senate, legislators — including key liberal Democrats — have gone still further to ban any use of stimulus funds for the arts (”museums,” “theaters,” and “arts centers” get singled out). The move was largely symbolically-motivated, not fiscally-motivated. Adding insult to injury, arts institutions are lumped together with casinos and golf courses - literally.

U.S. Senate Votes Against the Arts (Chicago Examiner)
Arts Bashing (Center for American Progress)

Update:

Congress Restores Arts Funding, Drops Arts Stimulus Ban, After Public Outcry

Here in the US, Congressional Democrats have reversed not one but both bad decisions on the role of the arts in the economic stimulus package. Provisions that would have blocked any stimulus funds from reaching arts centers, museums, and theaters have been dropped. (Golf courses and casinos are still in the ban. Maybe this time, someone read the actual legislation.) And the US$50 million (out of some $800 billion) that would go to the National Endowment for the Arts, dropped from a Senate version, has been restored to the bill. It appears both of those changes not only cleared the House but are part of the Senate version that’s in votes as I write this.

If you believe artists shouldn’t rely exclusively on government funding, you can still celebrate. The arts will receive far less of a handout than a lot of other industries — and do more with it. Arts advocacy groups estimate that for every dollar of the NEA money, another seven dollars will come from public and private supporters. What the tiny amount of federal spending does is make up for shortfalls in lean times, protecting an arts sphere that depends on a variety of sources for revenue. Nearly 15,000 real jobs could be saved by those same estimates. That means an arts infrastructure in the US that can remain healthy and independent.

But the important story here has nothing to do with the stimulus bill, or even the US. It’s that public outcry from people like you rescued this legislation. And if public support can do that, it can do a lot more for the arts, not only in federal spending but other key areas.

Americans for the Arts says supporters from its organization alone sent some 100,000 messages and letters to their Members of Congress. That’s not counting the many more letters and phone calls from constituents, not to mention letters to the editor and press attention.

Here’s one example from CDM comments, by Dartanyan Brown:

I heard the congressman from Nashville (!) talking down the $50 million for the
National Endowment for the Arts. I immediately called his office and let his
staffers know that (blue dog democrat Cooper) was full of hot air on this issue.
As a synthesist, jazz musician and former NEA artist-in-residence I had the
facts and anecdotes to make my points clear.

If Rush Limbaugh can get his folks to call, we can at least counteract them with some facts and persistence.

Call them, they listen, they respond to numbers.

More background on today’s developments:

House passes stimulus bill with $50 million for artists (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Senate Begins Voting on Obama’s $787 Billion Stimulus Plan (Bloomberg)

Organizing Around Art (Chicago Tribune)

A Shared Culture

2009-02-18T09:00:00.001-06:00

Major Labels Need To Rethink The 360 Deal

2009-02-18T08:00:00.002-06:00

The music industry needs a rethink of the new business model of the `360 Deal` if they ever want it to work, according to speakers at the Big Sound music conference.

The 360 Deal is an idea based on a record company taking a percentage of all revenue streams of an artist, such as tickets, merchandise and publishing. But, as the speakers agree, it is not that simple.

Eleven Records founder John Watson, whose roster includes Silverchair and Missy Higgins, says that until the label has its own merch company or publishing company or ticketing company, then it is not in the interests of an artist to enter into a 360 deal.

“There are no rights without responsibility,” he said. “You have to deliver what you promise.”

Dew Process founder Paul Piticco, who has Powderfinger and The Living End on his roster concurs. “There is better value in getting bread from a baker and meat from a butcher.” he stated. “You won’t get the best results if you give all the rights to one person.”

Michael Parisi, Managing Director of Mushroom Records and Head of A&R for Warner Music said, “If I was a young band right now, I would be every concerned where the majors are going. But there are artists who will take the cheque book every time.”

Parisi can see the sea-change occurring in the industry. “We will start to see the word ‘partnership’ more in deals with artists,” he said.

Piticco also sees the change happening but isn’t prepared to predict the outcome. “No-one can say what the format of the industry will be so for my company it is about creating options for the artist,” he said. “An artist doesn’t need to give away his merch so we have options and solutions.”

While the future was blurry, the past was crystal clear. “The major record company was the major force,” John Watson said. “The record company co-owned the recording rights and the record company screwed the artist and then the artist was screwing everyone else so everyone was happy.”

“Young artists aren’t interested in record deals anyone,” he said. “”It might just be a better deal to sign to a publishing deal with someone who can help you develop your career. It is not about selling plastic. It is about building a touring career”.

The Big Sound music industry summit and showcase attracted over 300 delegates from the international music industry. The conference, presented by Q Music, happened from September 10-12 in Brisbane.

Michael Moore on File Sharing

2009-02-18T07:00:00.001-06:00

I Really Dont Want To Get a Regular Job

2009-02-18T06:00:00.002-06:00

Written by Jason Isbell

Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit's eponymous album will be released on February 17, 2009 on Lightning Rod Records . Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit is Isbell's second solo release and his first release with his band The 400 Unit. Prior to his solo career Jason was a member of Drive-By Truckers from 2001 to 2007.

When giving anyone advice about the music business, or anything in general, I find it necessary to have a sense of what the person or group of people is trying to achieve. The trick to manipulating the entertainment industry is knowing your specific goals and being willing to work very hard, cut dead weight, and take some chances in order to get there.

For most musicians, at least most that I know, expectations change as time goes on. When I was thirteen, for example, I spent a great deal of my time daydreaming about fame and wealth. In my mind, I had already chosen jobs for all my friends, though there weren't that many, and I had planned out every initial conversation with all my heroes. While these dreams haven't left me altogether, my priorities now line up far more evenly with my reality. Today, my wildest dreams of rock stardom can be boiled down to this: I really don't want to get a regular fucking job. I think that's an achievable goal that, in the long run, can make me very happy, indeed.

It's clear that this isn't enough for everyone. If you want to be a star, which I don't advise, you should probably stay with a more traditional method of using the business. Audition for anything that comes your way, network until your iPhone is full of numbers and your soul is locked away in your inner monologue (the soul just gets in the way of celebrity), and listen with feverish intensity to that wisest of fanny-packed and man-sandled sage, the A&R person. Allow that person's creative input to guide your creative output, and he or she will be your guide to credibility and artistic worth, at least in the eyes of the average. If you write songs, don't scare anybody. Keep it short and don't try to impress. Dress accordingly. Find a manager that demands at least twenty percent. Anything less, and you'll find yourself up saddle creek without a paddle. You'll probably want to devote every realized thought and every waking hour to understanding and pronouncing the word 'yes'. Make it your mantra. You'll get time for yourself later, when you're loaded and can afford to hide.

This is clearly not the path for folks like us. I write songs to teach myself how to feel about something, and when I see a crowd of people in front of me, singing along to those songs, I can't help but think I'm not alone in this world. This interaction is a plant that must be grown and cultivated. Find people you trust to water it when you're away. At this point in my career, the best tip I can give anyone is this: Work with your friends. Oh, and don't have stupid, greedy, negligent friends. Seems easy enough, I guess.

Internet, internet, internet. Any discussion of the music business would not be complete without the inclusion the of the mighty mighty media, the new Goliath killer that allows all of us shoe-gazing Davids access to the most powerful slingshot in history. With a click or two, we can propel our music to all corners of the world, or receive music form the least popular new band in Belgium. Become familiar with it. Unknown bands now have the ability to spend their spare time spreading the word without anyone else's help or authorization. I could sit in front of my computer and connect with hundreds or thousands of people in a day's time. If only a small percentage of these folks ever become fans of my band, that is a big step in the right direction. MySpace, Facebook, iTunes, YouTube... It's as if these sites have been custom built for emerging bands and artists, and they're easy to use. Don't complain about their power, and don't underestimate it.

Tour, tour, tour. My final piece of advice for those interested in making a living in music is to get your ass on the road. You don't have to wait on labels or radio or anything else. The Ford Econoline van is the greatest automobile ever made. Get one, load it up, and call in every favor you can. Trust friends to tell you where to play and put in a good word with the booker. If you're any good and you work hard, you should be able to find someone to take over your booking. Once you get an agent, you can usually find a manager. Once you have an agent and a manager, you can usually find a label. Don't be afraid to fire any of these people at any time, and remember that they work for you, not the other way around. In many cases, you could do their job, but they can't do yours.

If you work very hard and still have no success, there's a chance that you might be making bad music. If that's the case, I can't help you. However, if you put all of your energy into achieving well-thought-out goals, like that of not having to work a regular job and making the best music you can make, something might accidentally catch fire and you might find yourself with a hit. Stranger things have happened. More than likely, though, you'll build a relatively small but loyal group of fans that will follow you to your grave. That can enable you to make music for a living for the rest of your life, and that's way better than being famous. I hope.

www.knowthemusicbiz.com

Web 2.0 and the Future of the Music Business

2009-02-17T20:50:00.001-06:00

iTunes Success in 12 Steps

2009-02-17T09:59:00.004-06:00

How Indie Artist "Making April" Systematically Went from 0 to 1,000 Sales a Week on iTunes in One Year
by Ariel Hyatt, Ariel Publicity
© 2009 All Rights Reserved

I recently was having lunch with my dear friend, music attorney extraordinaire Dan Friedman, who was in town to showcase a band he represents who he mentioned was selling 1,000 singles a week on iTunes.

My jaw almost hit the table. 1,000 singles a week on iTunes?

Who is this band? And how are they doing this? And he coughed up the answer (and luckily for me their phone number).

A few days later, I cold called Greg from "Making April", who it turns out are an emo/piano rock band (kind of like Ben Folds Five), and we spent an hour and a half on the phone. Greg generously spilled the beans as to how Making April got to where they are today: selling 1,000 CD singles a week on iTunes and signed to a record deal.

How They Did It…

Greg explained that they decided to make a full time business out of their band. Everyday at 9 AM, three of the four members met in what they called "The War Room," which was a room reserved in one of their homes. They took it seriously, just like a job, and every day they would set simple goals.

“In the beginning we really did not know what we were doing,” Greg recalls. “The daily goal was to make the maximum amount of friends on MySpace, which is 400 a day. Between three of us, that was 133 each.” Here’s how it went from there.

Step 1: Find sound alikes – famous bands similar to you. - They started by looking at similar bands in their genre that had large friends lists at MySpace. Dashboard Confessional, for example. They would go and they would ping each and every friend in Dashboard Confessional's friends list…

Step 2: Ping each person. And then they would go to the comments and post:

"Hey if you like Dashboard Confessional, you're probably going to like Making April. Would you please come check us out and leave a comment?" Then, people would check them out and leave comments.

Step 3: Get personal. The band would then personally respond and personally thank everyone that left a comment. And they always signed their name using a sig file, which included their IM address.

Step 4: Instant Messenger bonanza. Then they would get their new fans’ information through Instant Messenger, and they would sit all day long on Instant Messenger chatting back and forth with their new friends, and according to Greg it was crazy. They actually couldn't turn on their IM because the minute they would open it up, they’d get thousands of people trying to ping them. So they had to post their status as “Away” on their IM because their buddy list was insane.

TIP! Give your music away. The whole time, they were giving away their music for free to build their audience.

Step 5: Run contests. After several months making thousands of personal contacts, a new marketing idea struck them: Making April decided to create a contest to run for their fans. They asked fans to add them to their “Top 8” friends. This success of the contest manifested in the band getting even more MySpace traction.

Each of the 20 people in the contest got points for convincing others to add their video and/or song. According to Greg it got completely out of control.

After this successful contest, a company called Brickfish took notice and offered to help them launch a second contest. Entrants had to design a T-shirt, and in return the band would write a song for the winner.

So, out of a well planned T-shirt contest they got an additional 100,000 hits to their page in two weeks, and the winner got a shirt, a personal call from the band, and an original song written about them. “It was unbelievable.”

Step 6: Engage your audience consistently. Another of their strategies was to send out a bulletin every single day. Not a hypey bulletin pushing themselves, but a simple one that would engage their fans by asking a question like, “Should we get chunky peanut butter or smooth”

They felt that there was no reason to blog because they weren't really on the road, and they didn’t have a lot of news to report, so they just kept asking questions on their bulletins, day in and day out. And they had a call to action: They would ask everyone on the bulletins to comment back on their pages. They would get hundreds of responses from people, which then would add a track play and a front page hit to their MySpace page. Just due to the question, they would get 500 messages instantly, and 600+ comments a day.

Step 7: MTV action. After their wildly successful Brickfish contest, they got a song placed on MTV’s “Laguna Beach.” They don't really know how they ended up on that show – they think a fan probably e-mailed the track to MTV – but the episode aired three times, and all of a sudden they noticed people started to buy the download.

Step 8: Get ready to charge for tracks (after a solid fan base is built). It was only after all of this traction and attention that Making April started pushing their iTunes page. This was after a full year of solid online promotions. They took the free MP3s off of their MySpace page and they started seeing their sales pick up.

Step 9: Repeat and repeat and repeat… and repeat. They put a big wall-mounted dry erase board on the wall of the war room, and every day they each had a goal to make 150 friends and comment back personally.

Step 10: Measure your goals and write them down. Then they laid out a weekly plan to hit their goals and numbers at iTunes, which were 200 plays and 400 friends a day. They also went after the friends of another a band called Secondhand Serenade (who blew up after becoming the number one unsigned artist at MySpace).

Step 11: Be masterful at one thing. I asked Greg if they did blogging, podcasting, Twitter, or other social networking sites, and to my surprise, he said “no.” They did this all on MySpace alone. The goal for MySpace was to consistently add 200 friend requests and 400 plays to the traffic they were already generating.

Step 12: A record deal. Because of all of their solid dedicated focus, Universal Republic Records took notice and offered them a deal. The moral of the story and the end result of all this work: Making April got a deal.

Was this process easy? No. It took solid dedication, trial and error, and a hell of a lot of time invested, but Making April managed to be one of the top selling bands at iTunes in 2007 and they beat a vast majority of artists signed to major labels.

I think this is a phenomenal and an inspirational story and one that teaches us lots of lessons. From my experience, musicians tend to give up too easily and lose focus, and then become defeated and give up. Making April proves that with a plan and some dedication, you can get very far with the tools available to anyone who wants to give it a go.

Check them out here: www.myspace.com/makingapril

Examining Where the Industry Went Wrong

2009-02-17T09:57:00.000-06:00

43 Places to Promote Your Music - January 2009

2009-02-17T09:56:00.001-06:00

This month's newsletter features the listings that were submitted to me this past month. The contacts listed are sorted into FIVE sections.

Publications that will REVIEW your music
Radio Stations/Shows that will PLAY your songs
Labels, Vendors and Promotional Services that will help you to SELL your CD
Sites where you can UPLOAD your band's MP3s or videos
A wide range of Helpful Resources for recording artists

http://www.bigmeteor.com/newsletter/jan2009.shtml

M-Audio BX5a Deluxe Active Speakers

2009-02-17T09:54:00.001-06:00

17,000 Illegal Downloads Don't Equal 17,000 Lost Sales

2009-02-17T06:12:00.002-06:00

If a song has been downloaded from a torrent site 17,000 times, it doesn't necessarily equal 17,000 lost sales, according to US District Judge James P. Jones. The judge recently ruled against using this kind of reasoning in determining restitution in a criminal copyright case, though it doesn't necessarily affect civil cases against downloaders.

Record companies cannot collect restitution for every time a song has been illegally downloaded, a US District judge has decided. Judge James P. Jones gave his opinion on United States of America v. Dove, a criminal copyright case, ruling that each illegal download does not necessarily equate to a lost sale, and that the companies affected by P2P piracy cannot make their restitution claims based on this assumption.

Daniel Dove was originally found guilty of criminal copyright infringement for running a torrent group called "Elite Torrents" between 2004 and 2005. The jury in the case had found Dove guilty of reproduction and distribution of copyrighted works, as well as conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. At the time, Judge Jones sentenced Dove to 18 months in prison for each count, plus a special assessment of $200 and a $20,000 fine ($10,000 per count).

However, the RIAA and Lionsgate Entertainment had both submitted requests for restitution—they had argued that each individual copy of content downloaded through Elite Torrents was the equivalent of a lost sale. For example, the RIAA said that 183 albums were transferred through Dove's server 17,281 times, then multiplied that by the wholesale price of a digital album in 2005 ($7.22) to conclude that its member companies were owed almost $124,769 in restitution, or $47,000 if Dove agreed to be part of an RIAA "public service announcement" about piracy. Similarly, Lionsgate said that it owned copyrights to 28 of the 700 or so movies that Dove served up—Lionsgate argued that Dove caused the movie industry to lose some $22 million, and since Lionsgate owned copyrights to about 4 percent of the available movies, it was owed $880,000.

Jones wrote in his opinion that equating each download with a lost sale is a faulty assumption. "Those who download movies and music for free would not necessarily purchase those movies and music at the full purchase price," Jones wrote. "[A]lthough it is true that someone who copies a digital version of a sound recording has little incentive to purchase the recording through legitimate means, it does not necessarily follow that the downloader would have made a legitimate purchase if the recording had not been available for free."

It's important to note that this decision does not directly affect the thousands of civil cases that the RIAA has launched against accused copyright violators. Dove was convicted as a criminal copyright offender where restitution is a consideration, while the RIAA's civil suits can ask for monetary damages determined on an entirely different scale. For example, Jammie Thomas was found liable for $222,000 in damages in 2007 after "making available" only 24 songs (that verdict has since been overturned, however, as the "making available" theory has been riddled with holes via different rulings). "The factors that go into the calculation of restitution are different than the ones that go into the calculation of statutory damages in civil cases," the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Fred von Lohmann pointed out to Wired.

Still, the Dove ruling is reassuring in that it emphasizes once again the concept that a sheer number of downloads doesn't necessarily equal monetary losses. This is the same assertion made by software groups about piracy, such as the Business Software Alliance (BSA), and it keeps getting shot down.

FL Studio - Music Theory - Beats, Bars and Tempo

2009-02-13T09:45:00.001-06:00

Henry Rollins on File Sharing

2009-02-13T09:41:00.001-06:00

http://www.djmixhosting.com/user_uploads/504prob83c/1-02firstonthelist.mp3

Affordable Professional Dance Music Production

2009-02-12T07:56:00.001-06:00

www.remixingservices.com

2009-02-12T07:54:00.001-06:00

Looking to have your music remixed for a future release? Are you looking for professional remix production and remix services for your label or song at an affordable cost? Looking for dance music remixers or dance music producers with experience in mainstream dance music?

Our remix producers have almost 25 years experience in the dance music industry. Our remixers are not only a DJ's & Producer's, but also Musicians. A vital important piece to any solid remix project.

We can take any song and turn it in too a dance mix for the clubs. If you are a band or artist of any genre, contact us to have your single song turned into an extended maxi-single.

Our remixes are not only original, but they also maintain the very essence of the original track. Keeping the original artist very satisfied about the rendition of their original track

Hip Hop Artists: We specialize in eHop. It is a style of dance music where they combine hip hop and dance music!

Check Out "That's Gangster" from Bun B

Our Remixers
Dan the Man produces high quality trance / house tracks. His remixes pump a dance floor with emotion based melodies and driving bass lines. His mainstream lean is a major plus in pushing your track to the charts. If you are interested in hiring Dan the Man for your remix project, please contact us.

Tears of Technology produces high quality south eastern dance music. His styles are based from the genres of Breakbeat, Florida Breaks, Trance and Freestyle. He blends these styles into one beautiful composition. If you are interested in hiring Tears of Technology for your remix project, please contact us.

Ford produces high quality Billboard charting trance. If you are looking for a Billboard charting remixer, then look no further than Ford. Ford has earned 19 Multi-Platinum, Platinum and Gold RIAA sales awards for mixing and producing many of the world's biggest artists, plus he has had 38 Billboard Charting Hits. If you are interested in hiring Ford for your remix project, please contact us.

http://remixingservices.com

Best Music Career Advice: Question Everything

2009-02-11T04:50:00.001-06:00

Easy Way to Add Friends to MySpace!

2009-02-09T06:58:00.001-06:00

Drums, Bass, Vocals, Synth Mixing Techniques for Rihanna

2009-02-07T06:53:00.000-06:00

Are You Wired for Tomorrow?

2009-02-01T12:13:00.003-06:00

The information age is at hand. This is a great video that has some really interesting facts. These facts can be considered and used to help advance your art. Call it a better understanding...

JBL LSR2300

2009-01-29T15:51:00.001-06:00

At Winter NAMM 2009, JBL Professional is introducing the new LSR2300 Series Studio Monitor System, delivering professional performance at price points within reach of any studio. The LSR2300 Series addresses the demand for cost-effective, high-performance monitoring systems, driven by the proliferation of affordable, computer-based production systems.

The LSR2300 Series includes: the LSR2328P Bi-Amplified 8-inch Studio Monitor with 160 Watts of amplification; the LSR2325P Bi-Amplified 5-inch Studio Monitor with 85 Watts of amplification; and the LSR2310SP Powered 10-inch Studio Subwoofer with an integrated 180 Watt power amplifier.

In developing the LSR2300 Series, JBL applied the same stringent Linear Spatial Reference criteria used in the design of the acclaimed LSR6300 and LSR4300 Series. While most manufacturers take only a single on-axis measurement of the speaker’s performance, JBL’s Linear Spatial Reference criteria requires 70 measurements, yielding more than 1,200 times more data. The data enables JBL to engineer a system that produces greater accuracy at the mix position. A trademark of LSR2300 design is the large waveguide and the elliptical tweeter aperture that work in conjunction with a 1” silk-substrate high-frequency transducer to deliver superior imaging and smoother frequency response.

Today’s music styles, film production and the demand for high-quality audio for HDTV require a monitor system capable of extended low frequency performance and high dynamic range. To address this, JBL engineered new long-excursion low-frequency transducers with high-flux motors and a custom tuned port that work in concert to produce deep accurate low frequency response, previously unavailable at this price point. The LSR2328P 8” model provides low frequency extension to 37Hz; the LSR2325P 5” model to 43Hz, and the LSR2310SP subwoofer provides deep low frequency performance below 29Hz.

Additionally, each model in the LSR2300 line produces exceptional sound pressure level (SPL) achieved through the use of high-sensitivity transducers and careful attention paid to the thermal properties of the system. Since heat is the enemy of output, the low frequency port doubles as a means of cooling the amplifier output devices. The LSR2328P bi-amplified 8-inch 2-way monitor for example, includes 160 Watts of amplification and is capable of a maximum peak SPL of 117 dB. All three LSR2300 models survived the torturous JBL power test in which the system is required to play at full rated output for 100 hours before becoming a production-ready design.

Featured to integrate into professional systems, all models include balanced XLR, _-inch, and unbalanced RCA inputs that allow connection to a wide range of playback sources including computer audio workstations, professional mixing consoles, as well as consumer playback systems. The LSR2310SP Subwoofer includes a 2-channel bass management system with selectable crossover settings and balanced outputs for integration of the sub into any system. LSR2325P and LSR2328P enclosures include mounting points and are reinforced for safe wall mounting. Transducers in all models are self-shielded to allow use in close proximity to magnetically-sensitive equipment.

“Our objective was to introduce a line that provides an unprecedented level of accuracy and performance at the price points. The new LSR2300 Series benefits from JBL’s 60 years of expertise and history of delivering premium studio monitors to the market,” said Peter Chaikin, Director of Recording and Broadcast Marketing, JBL Professional. “With the introduction of the affordable LSR2300 Series, it is now possible for any studio to have the JBL Professional quality and performance that have made our LSR6300 and LSR4300 models the choice of top engineers, artists and facilities worldwide.”

Melodyne - Direct Note Access

2009-01-25T16:22:00.000-06:00

Trailer for "Copyright Criminals"

2009-01-24T07:24:00.000-06:00

New USB Audio & MIDI Interfaces

2009-01-24T07:21:00.000-06:00

Creative Commons - Get Creative

2009-01-12T06:00:00.001-06:00

Copyright Criminals

2009-01-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

Copyright Criminals: This Is a Sampling Sport examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the related debates over artistic expression, copyright law, and (of course) money.

This documentary traces the rise of hip-hop from the urban streets of New York to its current status as a multibillion-dollar industry. For more than thirty years, innovative hip-hop performers and producers have been re-using portions of previously recorded music in new, otherwise original compositions. When lawyers and record companies got involved, what was once referred to as a “borrowed melody” became a “copyright infringement.”

The film showcases many of hip-hop music’s founding figures like Public Enemy, De La Soul, and Digital Underground—while also featuring emerging hip-hop artists from record labels Definitive Jux, Rhymesayers, Ninja Tune, and more. It also provides an in-depth look at artists who have been sampled, such as Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown's drummer and the world's most sampled musician), as well as commentary by another highly sampled musician, funk legend George Clinton.

As artists find ever more inventive ways to insert old influences into new material, this documentary asks a critical question, on behalf of an entire creative community: Can you own a sound?

http://www.copyrightcriminals.com

Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity? - YES!

2009-01-10T14:37:00.000-06:00

Digital Boom Creates Music Sales Record

2009-01-10T14:36:00.000-06:00

British music sales are booming as young fans increasingly buy songs online rather than illegally downloading them, the country's industry body said Wednesday.

The BPI, formerly known as the British Phonographic Industry, said big-selling releases by artists including Leona Lewis, Coldplay, the Killers and Take That also helped drive sales to record levels last year.

The industry has struggled in recent years to adapt to rapidly changing technologies, and has been hit hard by illegal downloading of music via peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing websites.

But download sales grew by 33 percent last year, while 2008 was the biggest sales year on record in terms of singles sales in all formats, with 115 million single tracks sold.

The deepening recession has hit some retailers -- notably Woolworths and high street music retailer Zavvi, formerly Virgin Megastore -- but in other ways it could even be helping the industry, said BPI boss Geoff Taylor.

"Every business and consumer in the UK is having a tough time, and these difficult trading conditions make the resilience of the UK's music market all the more notable," he said.

"During a recession, people look for purchases that are excellent value for money and bring a lot of enjoyment, and music does just this," he added.

While downloads of single tracks have soared, the market for albums has also been helped by growing online sales: some 10 million albums were sold, a 65 percent increase on 2007.

Kim Bayley, head of the Entertainment Retailers Association, said traditional high street music sales were also holding up. "Music performed better in UK stores in 2008 than anyone had expected.

"The big lesson of 2008 is that if the music is strong enough and retailers work well with suppliers to get that product in-store, music fans will respond and buy in their droves."

The upbeat British music news came a day after US technology giant Apple said that every song in its iTunes library will be available without anti-piracy software by April.

How Creativity is Being Strangled by the Law

2009-01-10T14:03:00.000-06:00

Free PHP Script That Sells Your Beats and Music!

2009-01-10T14:00:00.000-06:00

504 Productions (www.504productions.com) will help you install this script for 25 bucks.....customization is extra though! But check it out if you want to sell your tunes. They have a mini flash player plus many many many more features.......

Maian Music

Introduction:
Music is my first love, so its a surprise its taken me so long to develop something music based. I had the idea for this script in 2006 when someone mentioned adapting Maian Cart into an .mp3 system. This script enables you to preview and sell your music in .mp3 format. In the live demo you`ll find some of my own music from a few years ago. Some of you may remember it from M-Dream a while ago. Enjoy the script!

Script Features:

Easy to use mp3 music store to sell/preview mp3 tracks
Add unlimited albums
Group tracks into albums
XHTML/CSS public layout
Premium Beat flash music player for mp3 previews
Store mp3 files outside of web root for security
Store album mp3 files in their own folders
Expiry limits for downloads and download page for track protection
Built in check to prevent linking to download page
Option for discount if whole album is purchased
Supports 15 currencies
Paypal IPN test mode available via Sandbox
Optional mod_rewrite for search engine friendly urls
Structure albums as parent/child association. ie: Sub categories
Optional SMTP send mail option
RSS feed to show latest albums
Option to include artwork download link with full album purchase
Graphical stats to view most popular track/album purchases
Search engines for both public and admin interface
Simple cart system
Option to add smaller mp3 file for previews
Template driven for easy HTML editing
Auto installation file
Public interface contact option
Option to contact buyers from admin interface
View sales in admin area with album/track purchase details
About and Licence pages updateable via settings
Option to re-send download link to buyer

Requirements/Testing Environments:
PHP v4.3.0 or higher.
Paypal Business or Premier Account
CURL support enabled for Paypal IPN system
GD graphics library with Freetype support for captcha

Browser Testing: IE7, IE6, Opera 9.2.5, Firefox 3.0
Local Server Testing: Apache server (2.2.4) running PHP v5.2.5, MySQL v5.0.45-nt
Production Server Testing: Apache server running PHP v5.2.4, MySQL 4.1.22-standard
Error Reporting Level for Development: E_ALL

http://www.maianscriptworld.co.uk/free-php-scripts/maian-music/free-mp3-music-store-system/index.html

Lawrence Lessig Interview - Author of "Remix"

2009-01-09T13:54:00.003-06:00

Music Industry Looks to Internet for Revival

2008-12-29T11:09:00.003-06:00

A generation after the launch of MTV, major record labels are hoping to revive the music video business online by creating a single digital destination for their artists’ output.

Plans under discussion include: a partnership with Hulu, the online television and film joint venture between News Corp and NBC Universal; the creation of a premium service on YouTube, Google’s video sharing site; or, a standalone venture between some or all of the four largest recorded music groups.

Industry members had hailed deals struck with YouTube last year as a new way of driving profits from the popularity of professional music videos and the soundtracks to amateur efforts on such user generated content sites.

However, some are now questioning whether either side has made much money from arrangements which require YouTube to share advertising revenues and, in many cases, pay a few tenths of a cent to the music company each time a video is streamed, regardless of how much advertising is sold.

Universal Music, the industry leader, has said that it makes “tens of millions of dollars” from YouTube.

Warner Music failed last week to agree a new deal with the site, however, saying it was not being adequately compensated and demanding that the site take down its artists’ videos and amateur content using songs from its publishing arm such as “Happy Birthday To You”.

Representatives of two music companies, who would not be named, said they were in discussions with Hulu, adding that no partnership announcement was imminent but that the site appeared to be the favoured partner. “If it happens at all it will be with Hulu,” one said.

Both added, however, that any such deal to create a standalone music video service would not replace existing deals with YouTube, and that there was interest in supplying content for a potential premium service on YouTube, which has begun to offer high definition videos.

Warner may yet return to YouTube should it agree new terms.

Screen Digest, a media research group, estimated last month that Hulu and YouTube would make about $70m and $100m respectively in US advertising revenues in 2008, but that Hulu would draw level with YouTube next year because advertisers are more comfortable with its professional content.

The industry’s search for new digital income comes amid collapsing compact disc sales, which have not yet been offset by digital revenue growth. Warner, the only quoted music company, reported 39 per cent growth in digital revenues for 2008 to $639m, or 18 per cent of total sales.

EMI, owned by Terra Firma, the private equity group, said full year digital revenues rose 29 per cent to £166m, while Universal, owned by Vivendi, reported 33 per cent growth in digital revenue for the first nine months of its financial year, saying in September it believed digital initiatives could soon return the music industry to growth.

Let Your Fans Invest in Your Music

2008-12-22T23:14:00.001-06:00

Internet Radio in Your Car?

2008-12-10T07:23:00.000-06:00

How About Your Choice of 100,000 Streams?

KVH Industries in Middletown, Rhode Island, wants to put Internet Radio in your car. If you thought Satellite Radio increased your choice universe, imagine what it would be like if you could access any of the Net's audio streams, estimated by some to now surpass 100,000.

Internet Radio in your car isn't just some idle talk, either. KVH already has a system that provides TV and Internet to RVs and boats. The company feels its TracVision A5 antenna could be adapted and developed into a feasible receptor for standard road vehicles to receive streaming audio.

In effect, it will partially work like Satellite Radio. The company will beam digital content via satellite to wherever the TracVision A5 happens to be mounted. Since it's only 5 inches in size, the antenna fits easily onto the vehicle roof.

The user, in turn, will be able to interact with the Internet for channel selection, etc. by sending data back via standard telephone or cell phone. Of course, by the time the company markets Internet Radio for your car, they'll make the installation easy and non-technical.

The ramifications of making Net Radio available to cars will bring a certain legitimacy to Net Radio which it sometimes seems to lack. Granted, there are some great streams online, but at the moment we are all tied to our computers for them.

Even though there are some new products which allow Internet Radio to be "broadcast" from the computer to other radios in the house but, until those streams can be unshackled from the computer chip and the home, they will never rise to the level of acceptance and success that other Radio signals already have.

Check out Slacker Radio....
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2007/03/slacker_radio.html

Digital Distribution for the Indie Artist

2008-09-13T19:28:00.006-05:00

I get many emails asking how I have my music available on many download websites such as iTunes and Beatport. I use 2 different services and will go over them for you now.

The first service is offered through CD Baby. Now at this time, you cannot upload a single track to CD Baby. I have read they are moving in that direction. For what they do offer, it is worth it and from a business perspective is a bit more sensible.

Any CD that you sell through CD Baby you can sign up for their digital distribution. The best thing about their program is they take nothing from you ever. The only thing that is required is a bar code. If you have a bar code for your CD, then you can sign up your CD for free with them. If not, a bar code is 20 bucks. Not a bad deal when you see the digital stores you will be submitted too.

Apple iTunes
Amazon
BuyMusic
GreatIndieMusic
GroupieTunes
iSound
Last.fm
Mix And Burn
MP3tunes
MSN Music
MusicNet
PayPlay
Rhapsody
Txttunes
Verizon
Zune

The only deal with CD Baby is that you must submit your CD to them to sell to be able to enroll in their digital distribution program. To me, I feel it is worth it. You get your tunes on the bigger websites that are for the consumer or fan. Sites like iTunes & Amazon alone are worth it.

From a business point of view, it is smarter to get the CD out before you start to sell your Mp3s of the CD. Milk your CD sales for what you can for at least 60 days. Then get those mp3s listed and promote it as "Now Available on iTunes!"...

The second service I use to distribute to the DJ consumer would be Symphonic Distribution. They deal with labels only. They supply a wide range of websites that cater to the DJ. Here is a list of some of the stores they distribute too.

Beatport
Breakbeat Alliance
Breakbeat Online
DJ Download
DJ Mag.com
DJ Mr
Juno Download
Mixmag

Now Symphonic Distribution does distribute to stores that CD Baby also distributes too. Stores such as Apple iTunes, Amazon, and Rhapsody. You can choose from each service what stores you want them to distribute too. Just tell Symphonic Distribution not to distribute to stores that would be a conflict. Most major stores do not appreciate your music being submitted from more than one source.

Now if you are an independent artist, you will not be able to use Symphonic Distribution. They only cater to labels. The only way to get your tunes on Beatport is to find a label that would submit your music to Beatport. Beatport has strict rules and is one of the hardest stores to get your music on. It is also one of the ones with the strictest rules.

What Makes A Winning Music Business Strategy?

2008-08-27T08:29:00.002-05:00

by Kavit Haria, Music Business Consultant

I asked myself this crucial question when writing my latest e-book, "What are the important skills and practices required to create a winning and profitable music business apart from good music?"

The answer rests in being a good leader of your ship, having a well-designed and communicated strategy and a good marketing plan that can be executed to promote your music in a structured way.

If you re-read that last paragraph, you'll see how much I emphasize the idea of strategy and structure. It is with this careful planning and well-understood principles that your music business will become profitable.

STRATEGY
A strategy comes to life through its ability to influence hundreds and thousands of decisions, both big and small, made by anyone from the director level to the street team level. It is, at its core, a guide to how you behave and provides an external reflection of your music business.

A good strategy fuels and ignites your fire to more compelling actions and results. It leads you to a destination that is clear in your mind. A bad strategy on the other hand leads you to a less competitive, less differentiated position. It is simply a waste of time and energy as it does not move you forward; instead, it keeps you where you're already at.

The word "winning" is important in this context. An average strategy plan, when executed, gets you mediocre results and may not be a fair reflection of your true talent. A winning strategy plan on the other hand transforms your current situation into monster success through developing the right tools, people, techniques and street teams to share your art with the wider world.

As musicians, we are explorers. As explorers, our job is to explore the depths of our hearts and souls to share the music that feels most at home to us. Our job is to experiment, and experimentation takes time before it is successful.

Your music business needs a framework for achieving results that can be built upon to achieve your specific goals in your specific music genre. When you start to put together a puzzle, you would start by finding the corners and the edge pieces before building and assembling the inner pieces. It is the same with putting together the framework for your music business.

Constructing a music business plan is the first step in gaining clarity and direction in what you'll do, how often you'll release an album, how you'll market your music and how you'll make money. The framework of your music business is what holds it all together - the operations, the marketing, the management and the finances. Let's look at each one separately.

OPERATIONS PLAN
Your business operations is the activities your music business will do in order to share your music. These are usually gigs (what type of gigs?), recording (how often? when?), distribution (whom? how?), sponsorship, and other avenues of generating revenue.

MARKETING PLAN
The activities and tactics you will undertake to promote your music through your music business. These may include PR, social networking on Facebook, Myspace, etc, blogging, podcasting, video blogging, flyer and poster marketing, etc.

MANAGEMENT PLAN
Who will form your core team for your music business and what will they do? Regardless of whether you have the capacity to get these people involved, knowing what you want is core to getting a framework to build your music business.

FINANCE PLAN
Knowing what money goes out and what comes in is crucial to understanding how your music business can be successful. My accountant often tells me that the success of my business is equal to how well I can understand the numbers on my cash flow sheet. He is right and I pass this advice on to you.

Brief History of Dance Music Tops

2008-08-16T18:44:00.004-05:00

During the eighties, disco was a very important music-style in Holland. Producers like Stock, Aitken & Waterman made hit after hit over here. But in the late eighties this style began to lose interest, and other styles became popular. These styles weren’t successful everywhere, some, like hiphop, became popular in America, others, like dance, in Europe. Hiphop wasn’t very successful in Holland, over here there were just a few HipHop songs who made it into the charts.

A much more popular style was eurodance, which got large influences from the hiphop. And sometimes there were hiphop versions of dance songs like a hiphop version of "I Cant Stand It". Groups with a lot of influence in the Eurodance were Mars ("Pump Up The Volume"), Technotronic ("This Beat is Technotronic") and C&C Music Factory.

In the year 1989 the Dutch producer Ruud van Reijen created Twenty 4 Seven. This became something totally new: a female singer, doing the "angelic refrain" together with a male rapper. This combination together with a very happy sound, a melody, you can’t get rid off, became very popular in the Netherlands and beyond.

Nance Coolen had been chosen to be the female singer and Captain Hollywood became the rapper. They, together with Hanks & Jacks, who did the male backing vocals, made a song called "I Can’t Stand It", which became very popular in the disco’s & clubs in Holland & beyond. But the song entered the charts very carefully, and didn’t reach that high.

After "I Can’t Stand It" Twenty 4 Seven released "Are You Dreamin’" around Christmas 1989 and so in 1990 they released the album "Street Moves".

At the end of 1991, Captain Hollywood had a little argue with Ruud van Reijen and left the band. After this he created the Captain Hollywood Project, a band like Twenty 4 Seven, Hollywood being a rapper and some female singer for the refrain. Only his project constantly changed people, several female singers joined & left his band.

During this time Captain Hollywood became more popular than Twenty 4 Seven. Hits like "More & More", "Only With You" became popular in whole Europe. Twenty 4 Seven seemed to be fallen asleep.

After Captain Hollywood left, things became really quiet around Twenty 4 Seven. Things were that quiet that Nance decided to take a job at a local supermarket. Can you imagine shopping in a store while Nance is sitting behind the counter??? But producer Ruud van Reijen wasn’t planning to stop. He asked Nance to join the group again, and asked if she knew someone instead of Captain Hollywood. That’s were Stay-C enters the scene, Nance knew Stay-C from some concerts, were they both performed, Nance asked Stay-C. He was positive about it and joined the group. The first song they recorded together was "It Could Have Been You". But this song didn’t become a hit at all.

During these years Eurodance became really popular. Bands like 2 Unlimited (same concept, female singer, male rapper), Captain Hollywood, Double You (Cover of KC & The Sunshineband), Def James Dope reached higher and higher in the charts.

The Vinyl War Begins

2008-08-12T00:00:00.002-05:00

Press Editor Mike Lloyd spotlighted me in his weekly column this past Sunday, and he mentioned I started this blog to track what's going on at independent music stores.

While that's clearly not the only thing I write about, the indie-music world has been a big part of it, and I'm grateful to have a mainstream platform to vent on behalf of a relatively esoteric subculture. Here's one of my quotes from his column I'm rather proud of:

"There are music fans who appreciate the chance to shop at stores where the personnel did more than put on blue shirts."

That was a not-altogether-subtle dig at something I believe is killing the music industry. Just as downloads have devalued CDs to basically nothing, big-box retailers have put the squeeze on independents by selling music as a loss leader. The reason you can get a new release at Best Buy, Circuit City, etc., for eight bucks is that they're selling this stuff below cost in order to lure people in to buy appliances and higher-priced media.

The silver lining for indies in the past few years -- the survivors, anyway -- has been vinyl.
The reasons for the LP's most recent comeback are numerous and well-catalogued, and the benefits for retailers are obvious. The customer base is loyal, and the product can sell at a higher profit margin because not many stores carry it. (Disclosure: I hang out at Vertigo, like, all the time.)

It was with a bit of sadness, then, that I read this article the other day. The big dogs, apparently, have gotten a whiff of vinyl, whose skyrocketing sales couldn't have stayed under the radar for long.

So the indies gear up for yet another fight. But when it comes to the battle over vinyl, my money's on the record-store geeks, not the blue shirts...

Hammerhead

2008-08-11T19:11:00.001-05:00

HammerHead is a simple TR-909-like drum computer program aiming at the dance-scene. You can use it to create perfect Techno loops, Jungle patterns or House beats, but it's also suitable for Hip Hop, Triphop, Rap, Industrial and almost any other music you can think of.

HammerHead features six separate channels, 29 built-in drum sounds, six complete breakbeats and the possibility to import six samples of your own. You can save your patterns to completely noise-free CD-quality wave files to use them with your sampler, tracker or sequencer program.

HammerHead is not Shareware, it's Freeware! No frustrating save-disabling, no grayed-out-menu-features, no paying serious money, no annoying messages and most of all no time limit...

HammerHead is not a Bossa Nova tool. This means that you won't find any Tom-Toms, Shakers, Cowbells, Congas or Bongos in this box. What you will find is cool 909 stuff, bad overdriven bass drums, lots of snare drums, claps, and complete breakbeats to spice up the lot. Buckets-o-fun for making Jungle.

A must-check-it-out for everyone who has always wanted to make his own block-rocking beats!

http://www.threechords.com/hammerhead/download.shtml

Roland SH-201 Bass Tutorial

2008-08-11T19:05:00.000-05:00

Bands Favoring Web Over Major Labels

2008-08-10T00:00:00.001-05:00

Thousands of fans. A jam-packed tour schedule. A CD for sale. And no record label behemoth behind it all?

That’s today’s music business, according to Chris Bowes, the drummer for the Connecticut band Columbia Fields. And such independent success is fast becoming music industry standard for up-and-coming musical acts trying to build a brand, a following and a sound.

Columbia Fields, whose sound Bowes describes as a sort of Dave Matthews Band meets John Mayer, is among a growing number of musical groups making music independently, without a record label.

All on its own, Columbia Fields has amassed more than 14,000 fans on Myspace.com, booked shows in venues across the state and landed airtime on local radio stations WTIC 96.5 FM and KISS 95.7.

Over the past decade, the music industry has changed. It used to be that a band needed a record label to hit it big. Labels had the power to finance, distribute and promote new music.

New Opportunities
But starting with the days of Napster, technology has given emerging acts new opportunities. Now, artists can amass a substantial following through Internet music downloads, social networking sites like Myspace.com and individual artist Web sites. They can produce CDs in the comfort of home and sell them through online record stores like Cdbaby.com.

“I’m one of those guys who, when I was a kid, always saw myself up on stage, playing in front of thousands of people,” said Bowes, who’s been with Columbia Fields for about two years. The band’s first CD, “When the Night Falls,” has sold about 750 copies at shows and through online distribution with Cdbaby.com.

“The industry’s a little different now,” he added. “Bands don’t necessarily need labels to get in front of large audiences.”

“The heart of all the [industry] changes is definitely technology, bottom line,” said Adam Gootkin, co-owner of the recording studio Onyx Soundlab in Manchester. Half of his studio’s business is with major labels, artists and corporations, like Dell; the other half is with independent artists.

Gootkin’s latest project is a new track for R&B artist Brandy.

Marketing Tools
The music industry is going all digital, said Gootkin. Album sales are down, he added, and that means less income for labels, which are set up to sell CDs. Without the need for distribution, record labels become little more than banks, he said. Large labels have yet to adjust their business model to fit the digital times.

Declining revenues from CD sales has had one immediate impact on the industry, namely that labels are becoming more selective in whom they choose to sign, Gootkin said. That means musicians who are looking for the financial backing of a major record label need to come to them prepared, pre-packaged with an image, a brand and a following, he said.

“The closer you are to helping them see the vision, the closer you are to getting a deal,” Gootkin said.

Part of that challenge for young musicians is marketing, said Sheri Ziccardi, public relations manager for The Hartt School, the arts school at the University of Hartford. Ziccardi has spent years helping students in creative fields market themselves. The tools certainly have evolved, she said.

“Thinking about marketing and promoting themselves can be a challenge for creative types, who do not necessarily want to think about the ‘business’ side of the industry they choose to enter,” Ziccardi said in an e-mail. “Fortunately, today’s students have been raised in a techno-heavy culture and are comfortable with utilizing technology for self-expression and communication, so marketing themselves may become easier for them in some ways than it was for their predecessors.”

Staying Independent
If musicians can grasp the ins and outs of the industry, staying independent can be a viable option.

Music industry veteran and songwriting instructor Bill Pere maintains that it only takes a band about 10,000 fans to be able to make music full-time and remain independent of a label. He’s seen it happen, when musicians are industry-savvy.

“A person is now able to get their material to a wide audience,” said the Mystic-based Pere, who has put out 16 CDs but makes most of his royalties from digital downloads. “The trade-off is that in the old school … the record label basically does everything for you,” he added. “And all you have to do is your music.”

But artists attached to a label get a small piece of the pie, if anything at all, he said.

For example, a band signs a contract with a label and gets a $500,000 advance to make an album. Any royalties that come from the sale of the resulting album must first go to pay back that advance, Pere said.

“If you don’t sell enough, you don’t get anything,” Pere said. “It takes a heck of a lot of sales to make any money.”

Keeping Profits
The independent market doesn’t offer the connections or the budget. “But you get to keep 100 percent of everything you make,” said Pere, who has remained independent throughout his musical career. “You are the one issuing contracts to other people to do work the way you want it done.”

Downloadable music has also created the need for a more strategic approach to songwriting, Pere said. Sometimes listeners only get to sample the first 30 seconds of a song before deciding whether or not to purchase it. Long intros won’t get a song downloaded; those first 30 seconds have to rock.

“It’s a totally transformed world, with its good sides and bad sides,” he added. “It’s not a matter or right or wrong. It’s about having your eyes wide open.”

The Rise & Rise of Independent Music

2008-08-08T06:00:00.001-05:00

The Association of Independent Music (AIM) is holding a special event to celebrate 50 years of successful independent music which will include a gig, a five part television series, a one off auction on ebay and the release of a double CD full of "independent" covers. Artists including The Prodigy, The Charlatans and Maximo Park have all given their backing to the cause and plan to donate songs for the album. Songs to be covered include Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart, PIL's Public Image and Ghost Town by The Specials.

Independents Day marks the anniversary of Chris Blackwell and Graeme Goodall's indie label, Island Records. The Jamaican-born label signed giants U2 before selling to Polygram in 1989, a trend which many independent labels followed. Creation and Factory records disappeared in the 1990's whilst others folded through a calamity of errors from over expansion to cashflow problems.

Independent music is responsible for more than 25% of the UK's music scene and is claimed to have pioneered the music industry for many years. Alison Wenham, Chairman for AIM stated that [independents] had been "at the forefront of every single new musical movement over the years."

For proof of this, just take a look at every popular music scene over the last 50 years: There was the DIY punk scene in the seventies, the indie guitar sounds from New Order in the eighties and the massive dance music boom in the nineties.

Today, we are seeing the independent label make a comeback. Domino Records have given us two recent chart toppers; Scottish band, Franz Ferdinand and northerners, Arctic Monkeys. The internet has provided a new platform with which to promote this music. Sites such as Myspace, Youtube and Facebook all promote bands young and old, signed and unsigned for general consumption. These social networking sites have allowed users to access new music much easier than ever before with some 40% of users embedding music within their pages.

Russell Hart, chief executive of Entertainment Media Research added "Social networks are fundamentally changing the way we discover music... the dynamics of democratisation, word of mouth recommendation and instant purchase challenge the established order and offer huge opportunities to forward thinking business."

Local label, Signature Tune is making the most of these sites and one of their bands, Lakes is reaping the benefits of using an independent label. Scott Byatt, the band's drummer said "As a band on an independent label, advances in communication and technology mean we can communicate with bands and promoters the world over helping us network and get shows with ease... Our CDs can be bought in many high street stores and our tracks can be downloaded from iTunes, once again without the help of a major."

Radiohead were perhaps the first big band to see the change in direction and act upon it. After the end of their contract with music giants EMI, the band went solo with the release of their latest album, In Rainbows. The album was released as a digital download in October 2007, allowing customers to pay as much, or as little as they liked for it. The group took ownership of their own songs and released ten tracks online more than one month before the tangible album was released in the shops.

Front man for the band, Thom Yorke noted the growing number of pirate copies of their music being appearing online and in an interview with Wired he said, "every record for the last four - including my solo record - has been leaked. So the idea was like, we'll leak it then." Yorke's attempt to beat the pirates seem to have worked. On average, the electronic download sold for 4 GBP. Not bad considering you could download it for free if you were feeling too tight to pay.

The return to indie worked wonders for Radiohead. Although the downloads from the website, inrabows were not counted in the album charts, the band did manage to create enough hype and speculation around the release of their album that when the CD actually hit the shops, it reached number one in the UK album chart, the United World Chart and the US Billboard 200.

Other groups may do well to take note of this action when considering future releases. Of the music industry, and in particular their ex record label, Yorke added "What we would like is the old EMI back again, the nice genteel arms manufacturers who treated music [as] a nice side project who weren't too bothered about the shareholders. Ah well, not much chance of that."

Au contraire, EMI boss, Guy Hands is keen to seize upon the opportunities presented by smaller, independent labels. These labels have always maintained a stronger working relationship with their artists and are much more keen to try their hands at new promotional techniques. With the renaissance of DIY music and bands creating music for music's sake, independent labels cannot be ignored. EMI declared that they are planning on working like a larger version of the indie label, with many smaller labels working under their umbrella.

So they may be more willing to try new techniques, but the problem of shareholders still remains. Wenham continues, "If you have shareholders to please, inevitably it becomes about making music from the music." Indie music is very much about the music and as long as the shareholders give the smaller labels a wide berth, we should continue to see more impressive acts pushing the scene forward.

Bill Hicks - Play From Your Heart

2008-08-08T00:00:00.001-05:00

From the Buzz Factor

2008-08-07T18:00:00.003-05:00

Indie Music Marketing Secrets Report

Download it directly using this link (PDF)

How to Recession-Proof Your Music Career

Download it directly using this link (PDF)

Warbeats Tutorial - EZ Sampled Beat Part 2

2008-08-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

Cerwin-Vega Releases Bass Management PA Guide

2008-08-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

Cerwin-Vega announces the release of a bass management guide for performers entitled: “Understanding Bass Management in PA Systems: A Guide for Performers”.

The document provides in depth detail on bass frequencies and their properties, why subwoofers are important, the types of subwoofers available and their characteristics, the history of bass in PA systems, system configurations for various applications, setting up powered and non-powered subs and full range cabinets, cables and connectors, and setting up crossovers.

“We did a survey and discovered that most people have a lot of questions regarding the proper use and set up of PA systems,” states Mike Newman, Brand Director for Cerwin-Vega. “We wanted to create a series of informative guides to help people get the best sound out of their performances. What better place to start than with bass? – which of course has been the foundation of our reputation since the company started in 1954.”

The bass management user guide is free of charge and can be found at www.cerwin-vega.com in PDF form to download now.

Click Here:
http://www.cerwin-vega.com/pdf/Understanding_Bass.pdf

Distribution for Your Album as an Independent Artist

2008-08-07T00:00:00.001-05:00

43 Million Reasons to Use MySpace.com

2008-08-06T00:00:00.002-05:00

by Andre Calilhanna, Discmakers

The indie music universe is constantly waning and expanding: new bands emerge, old ones dissolve, conferences come and go, new web sites pop up as older ones fall out of fashion. As with any other industry or business model, these indie music offerings fail and succeed with their ability to create and meet market demand for their service.

Enter MySpace.com. Incorporating successful elements of MP3.com and IUMA, and eclipsing PureVolume and Friendster as the place to be online, MySpace is the epitome of what an online community can be. In it’s short life it has adapted and evolved to meet the evolving needs of its user base, and it has expanded to a network of over 43 million users in the process. Thanks, in large part, to the bands.

Billionaire Boys Club, from Jersey City, NJ, boast the distinction of being the first band ever to grace the front page of MySpace. Through good timing and good tunes, BBC caught the attention of MySpace co-founder Tom Anderson and ushered in a new wrinkle in the MySpace universe. The band is still listed as one of Anderson’s MySpace favorites.

Fireflight, from Orlando, FL, recently signed to Flicker Records, and attribute a lot of their growing fan base to their efforts and presence on MySpace. Through their page on MySpace, the band sees continuous growth and interest, which should only increase as they release their album in July and start playing a full regimen of shows.

We sat down with these two indie music veterans and gleaned some insights into the finer points of MySpace marketing. Here’s our list of five phenomenal reasons to use MySpace!

Super-targeted viral marketing.
Communication runs both ways.
Motivated fans.
Crossover marketing opportunities.
Free marketing is the best marketing ever!

Super-Targeted Viral Marketing
One of the tenets of good marketing is to target your market. You wouldn’t pitch your Crunk Speed-Metal band with an ad in Today’s Grandparent magazine. The idea is to figure out who your market is, find out where they are, develop your message, then figure out how to get that message in front of the people who might want to buy what you’re selling.

MySpace delivers this in spades. Pockets and niches of users, called “friends,” gather around each other and share info on bands they like. For instance, let’s say you like My Chemical Romance. You can go check out their site, listen to their music, and read their blog. Then, if you want to find bands with a similar sound, you can check out the band’s friends, which include a host of other bands. Presumably, these are bands that have something in common with My Chemical Romance, so you go and check them out.

There are also fans listed as friends, and they typically have a bunch of bands on their pages. So someone into My Chemical Romance will have a number of other bands posted. You might be interested in checking some of them out. It’s viral marketing in its purest form, and the friend network is what really sets MySpace apart from other band sites.

It’s also why Isac Walter, who does marketing and programming for MySpace, says major labels are clamoring to get their bands on the site. “With 43 million users, it’s almost better than going to TV, what with the way people watch TV nowadays. People come to this site to discover new music, and what better way to expose an artist than to leak a band to this audience?”

As a band, this works the other way, too. Once you start developing a fan base, you can communicate to them when you have a show or a news event to broadcast. MySpace provides a service where you can target the friends you contact by region.

Billionaire Boys Club, from Jersey City, NJ
“They added this feature,” says Leigh Nelson of BBC, “where you can set up an event, and you can say I want to invite all my friends in a radius of x number of miles from this zip code. So we’ll do a show in New York and set up an invitation and invite all of our friends within 50 or 100 miles of the city. So we’re directly targeting that audience, where with email you end up sending show announcements to people in Germany. These are things that get added one little bit at a time. Tom really seems to get how people are using MySpace and what they want to do with it, and they’re always adding functionality based on that.”

Communication Runs Both Ways
The internet has completely changed the way we communicate, particularly in terms of marketing. Take something as simple as a band mailing list, for instance. In the early 90’s, that meant printing post cards, labeling them, putting stamps on them, and lugging it all to the post office weeks before the gig. It sounds like the Dark Ages, doesn’t it? It cost a bunch of money, and fans could only communicate by seeing you at a show or writing a letter. Email changed all that. Now it’s free to email your announcement, fans can immediately reply, and you don’t need to plan your promotion months in advance.

MySpace has taken that even further. MySpace not only allows you to communicate with your fans quickly and cost effectively, but it allows them to communicate with you and each other.

Fans can tell you what they think of everything on your page – a picture, a song, a blog entry – and their response is posted immediately. They can then spread your news to their friends with a couple of keystrokes. It’s an amazing development, and there are many ways to take advantage of it to create drama and stir up a buzz.

Fireflight, from Orlando, FL
“We started leaking the news about our signing to Flicker on MySpace because we knew people were going to be reading our blog,” says Justin Cox of Fireflight, “but we got way more response than we thought we would. That generated more interest in our page than anything had in a long time. You could see us singing a contract but you didn’t know with who, and that blog is the most visited we have. We put it on our regular site, too, but we don’t have it set up where people can comment, so it’s cool to know that so many people were keeping track and were genuinely interested.”

There are examples of bands booking shows to meet the demand of their MySpace fans, tells Walter. “There’s this band Cut Copy from Australia who did the Franz Ferdinand tour, and when they played Los Angeles they had enough people on MySpace saying, ‘Oh I wish you were playing your own show!’ So they booked a show at a smaller club called The Echo and gave discounts to their MySpace friends and sold the place out. Bands like that who keep in contact and get a little more personal with their audience can really have success.”

And Nelson explains that opportunities are coming to them by way of MySpace. “We used to get a decent amount of fan email, but now all those comments are pretty much coming exclusively from MySpace. Also coming in are show offers, booking people who are interested, soundtracks who are interested in songs… a lot of that comes via MySpace. It makes us more likely to follow up, too, because we can get a better idea of who these people are by looking at their page.”

Motivated fans who find you and help promote you
Indie bands need help. It’s a lot of work to do promotion, book gigs, sell merch, rehearse, write, and do the hundreds of little details involved with a band. Street teams and helpful fans have been the solution to much of that, though not always easy to assemble and coordinate. MySpace, with its younger demographic and infectious network qualities, makes it easier to find folks ready to jump on and paint your bandwagon. Sometimes, the band doesn’t even know it happening.

“We have this banner on our MySpace page,” explains Cox. “I was surprised to find that people who were our friends were taking it and posting it on other people’s MySpace pages, trying to drive traffic to us. So let’s say there was no MySpace and you had a web site, and you had that same banner. It’s cool, but what are people going to do with it? Now that we’ve got MySpace, they take those banners and post them as comments on other people’s pages and blogs, and people read the blogs and then automatically they’re going to your site for no other reason than that it’s there.”

Finding where your MySpace fans are coming from can lead to unexpected market research, like expanding your gig radius based on fan input. “I can search for BBC across the whole site and see how many people have added us and said we’re one of their favorite bands,” says Nelson. “It’s really cool to see fans crop up in markets we’ve never even been to. All of a sudden we see there are a lot of friends in upstate New York, we get in touch with them and find out where we should play and then go do some shows. In the past there was no way to find that kind of information.”

Crossover Marketing
At its best, one marketing endeavor feeds another, and spills into your other efforts. As Walter says, “The bands who promote their MySpace pages become the biggest bands on MySpace, hands down.” By linking from your regular web site, adding your MySpace URL to all your stickers, t-shirts, etc., you drive people to your site, and more likely broadcast to all those MySpace users that you’re on there, too.

It also works in reverse. MySpace traffic drives traffic to your regular web site, and people to your shows. “Traffic on our site has increased drastically as well,” says Cox, “and I’m sure that has something to do with MySpace because it’s been a steady ramp since we’ve been on there.

“I can also remember instances specifically where people have come up to me at a show and say they heard us on MySpace and decided to come check us out, which to me is the best. It’s just a big network and a big word of mouth kind of thing and you can’t get that kind of exposure unless you’re playing shows every night. It’s just been this awesome marketing tool.”

Free Marketing is the Best Marketing Ever!
Sounds obvious, and it is! But it can’t be understated or undervalued. Many of the band web sites out there offer great services, and there’s no reason not to be on every site you can get to. MySpace has the unique distinction, though, of offering just about everything you could imagine wanting all under one roof: a potential fan base, an opportunity to broadcast your music, a place to hang your photos, a web presence with a decent amount of customization… the list goes on. Not to mention the features and functions that allow you to be a smart marketer.

“The thing that sets MySpace apart from sites that are just for bands,” touts Nelson, “is people sign onto MySpace every day, just to check their messages, read, and communicate. I use it every day, to check in and see what’s going on, look for any bulletins from bands, figure out what’s going on tonight in the city. So just by putting your journal or show dates or advertisements and songs up there, you’re simply going to get a lot more exposure than people just randomly checking your web site. People spend more time on it than anywhere else. I guess credit to Tom there, for setting it up in such a way that makes it so addictive!”

File Sharing: Pros and Cons for Independent Artists

2008-08-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

Top 10 Mistakes Artists Make

2008-08-05T16:12:00.003-05:00

By David Hooper

If you want to get a record deal, get people to your shows, or sell music like crazy, the answer isn't some kind of "magic pill" website that you post your music on, blindly sending out a bunch of demos, or anything to do with having good music... although good music certainly helps. The answer is to develop a mindset that naturally attracts people to what you're doing as well as an understanding of how the music business game is played.

As you develop as a person, your music career will develop with you. Sounds crazy, but it's true, and I've seen it time and time again, with thousands of acts that I've worked with, from garage bands, to the guys selling out arenas.

Of course, part of developing includes making mistakes along the way. Check out these ten common music business mistakes, and ways to avoid them...

10. Being Too Difficult (or too nice)
First of all, let’s get this clear... Just because you wrote a few good songs and recorded them, it doesn’t mean the world revolves around you. Lots of people write and record good songs, so get in line.

Contrary to what the online rumor mill or media would have you believe, people in the music business are involved because they love music, and they’re not making enough to deal with jerks. And they won’t deal with jerks. If you’re a pain, they’re just go to the next guy, who also writes good songs, but has a better attitude.

With that said, don’t be too nice. You don’t have to say yes to everything. Pick your battles. If there is something you really feel strongly about, don’t settle for anything less.

Bottom line: Keep your ego in check and behave with courtesy and respect. At the same time, don't let anyone treat with you anything less.

9. Trying to Convince People of Anything...
You play music, and people have strong opinions about music. Either people get what you’re doing or they don’t.

So, some reviewer, booking agent, or manager doesn't like your new album. Let it go! Don't try to convince him he'll like it better after a second listen. He won't. And the more you press him to give your music another shot, the more he’ll remember how annoying you were. This means he’ll be far less open to ever listening to you again.

There are a lot of people who won't "hear it" when you approach them. So what? Move on. There are plenty of other people in this business who can help you. Go find the people who do "hear it" and put your energy into building good relationships with them instead.

8. Looking for Industry Approval
There was a time when the "industry" had a lot more pull when it came to breaking an artist, getting them distributed, and everything else. This is a new time, so we're playing with different rules now.

Distribution is easy. Every day, more and more albums and songs are being sold online, physically and digitally. Recording music is easier than ever. You are not limited by a lack of options for getting something recorded that sounds professional.

But more importantly, once you get a recording together, you don't need the industry to tell you your music is worthy. The consumers, the people who buy music, are really the only opinions that matter. And when you have the love of the consumers, the industry will come around.

The thing is, in the music industry, technology has changed faster than mindset. Stop believing you are at the mercy of any record label executive. You're not. Connect directly with your fans on your terms. The feedback, loyalty and money you receive from them will be far more gratifying than you spending your time beating your head against a wall trying to figure out a way to get an approving nod from a record label.

7. Not Building Strong Relationships with Fans
People aren't stupid. They know when they're being marketed to. They know when you're looking to sell them something.

Do they mind? No.

In fact, if you have a good relationship with your fans, they won't mind being marketed to, and if you do it well, they look forward to being marketed to. However, they have to know you care. Building relationships with fans take time. You have to show them you care.

Do things like:

Give them a few free songs to download.
Have message board on your website and build a community there.
Do a "fan appreciation" show.
Record a holiday album or an EP that you give out exclusively to members of your fan club.

Show them in special ways that you not only care, but that you're willing to go the extra mile to show your appreciation. In turn, they will buy your music, travel to see you play, call radio stations on your behalf, and promote you all over the web.

Every day – no matter if you're busy recording, on the road, or at home worrying about how you're going to find the money to make your project happen – do something (no matter how small the gesture is) to reach out to your fans.

6. Not "Getting" How the Fan / Artist Relationship Works
You’re the leader and your fans do the following. You make the offer, they choose whether or not to accept.

Take charge, record the music, play the shows, print the t-shirts, and let them have the options of buying your album, coming to see you, or getting something to wear.

The average person has enough leadership duties to deal with in his or her own day. People are looking for somebody else to take control, so take control and let them ride along for a little while.

5. Laying Everything on the Table...
You're a rock star. You’re living the dream. Keep up that fantasy. Don't tell people how broke you are, that you're still living with your mother, or anything else that breaks the image of you fans have in their minds.

One of the reasons people like music is because they have the opportunity to live vicariously through the people they are listening to. When you are on stage, they're up there with you. When you're on the road in your tour bus, they're riding shotgun. Don't take that away.

Give them insight into your life and what it's like in your world, but always remember, you're not just selling music – you're also selling a persona.

4. Thinking the "Key to Success" is Just Musical Talent, Money, or Looks
Yes, if we're talking about pop music, MTV, or the major label system, a certain amount of a contrived "image" probably helps sell records.

Obviously, money helps things. And it's always good if you can play and sing.

But "image" without marketing won’t get you on MTV. Good songs without marketing won’t get you on the radio. You can play well, have money, and look like a model, but if you don't have the marketing to back you up, none of it matters.

You know what? If you don’t have a good, solid marketing plan in place, everything else doesn't matter so much.

3. Giving Up Power
Keep control as long as you can. Yes, a label deal will give you opportunity that being an indie won't. And a professional manager has connections that you don't.

But when you sign with these guys, you're handing over your career to somebody else. Nobody cares as much about your career than you do. When you and your talent are the most important commodity you have to offer, do not give up your power easily and without a damn good reason.

Your music is worth something. You are worth something. Think of your career as being "virtual real estate" which, if marketed correctly, will pay dividends for years to come. So, treat it like that.

2. Jumping at Every Opportunity
You don't have to say yes to everything. In fact, sometimes, saying no to something can be more beneficial to your career than saying yes.

Why do you say yes to things? Take a look at your standards and make sure they’re high enough. As an example, just because a club has a PA system, it doesn't mean that it's worth playing there. There are some gigs that just aren't worth playing. There are some connections that just aren't worth developing.

When you say yes to something, especially something that takes your time, you're likely saying no to a host of other things by default. Leave yourself open to saying yes to the opportunities that really matter.

Trust your own judgment. If something doesn't feel right and you want to say no, it's okay. At that moment, you may worry you're passing up a great opportunity and will be missing out. The reality is better opportunities (that are a better fit for you) will come if you are open and ready for them.

1. Not Getting Help
You don't know everything. This business has been around for a long time – long before you were involved.

Read books, get advice from people who work in the industry and keep studying every aspect of the industry. Don't be afraid to ask for help. You can bypass a lot of the problems you're likely to run into simply by asking people who have already been in, and dealt with, the situations you find yourself in.

Remember this: Time is worth more than money. You can always earn more money, but you have a limited amount of time. Don't waste your time. If you don't know something, or need specific help, don't be afraid to pay somebody to help you deal with whatever obstacle you face. Don't let anything stop you from having all the knowledge and know-how you need to have the success you aspire to have.

David Hooper has been serving the independent music community for over a decade and is host of the syndicated radio show, Music Business Radio. Visit www.MusicMarketing.com for more information on David and additional music business advice. For more Top 10 lists, go to www.musicmarketing.com/top_10/

Using Technology to Create a Successful Music Career

2008-08-05T16:00:00.000-05:00

Cutting Up Vocals in Acid

2008-08-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

I get asked quite frequently how I cut up my vocals in my tracks. In a recent remix I did for Jennifer Glass entitled "Return to Love", I not only edited the vocals to sound cut up, I added a pitch bend to the cut up section the second time you hear her vocals cut up in the song. The end result in this track was a great way to drop before the chorus. I have used this technique of cutting vocals in other tracks like "Sapphira", "Rain" & another recent remix for Major Attitude Records, "You Are Love".

It is a very easy technique. I am going to tell you how I do it. You may find other software that you prefer or another way altogether. This is just the best way I have found. As with most of my posts, this comes from my own personal experience and I am only passing it on.

I use the program by Sony called Acid. I like using Acid for this because it allows me to cut in tempo an exact amount I want each time. ie: If I want to cut say each beat in half, I would zoom in my view in till the eraser deletes exactly half a beat and wahla. Half a beat deleted. Your cuts can be at an exact BPM also. Acid cuts in quantize and quick fades the edges making using this program hot for this effect.

You will want to turn on loop mode. Go to "Options" menu at top and choose "Loop Playback".

Now you will want to adjust the loop length. At the very top of your tracks you should see a blue line with a thin beginning line and ending line. Once you are set up your view, you can begin to cut. I do a few cuts and listen. Usually you want to cut each beat in quarters. That means every 1/4 of a beat, you will erase the next 1/4 area. Once done, your cut on 2 beats would look like this.

This will give you an edit or cut up sound. Simply export your loop and import it into your existing track. On vocals, it is best to just render them from the original program dry (with no FX), then open that rendered track of vocals in Acid. Remember to set the tempo the same as your existing project. After your cutting, export the edited track and replace the vocals in your existing project. This way the cuts can have FX on them.

Try cutting small pieces of the beginning of the sound, then paste it several times before the sound plays to create a stutter effect.
Try cutting in different patterns instead of every other one. Make the cut s more rhythmic.
You can use this technique on all your different tracks. Try it on the drums or the synths.

....the possibilities are endless....

You can really get creative with your cuts. It is not hard and adds a nice touch to your tracks.

Tom Jackson on Live Music Performance

2008-07-31T20:16:00.000-05:00

July 2008 - 43 Places to Promote Your Music

2008-07-31T20:10:00.002-05:00

This month's newsletter features the listings that were submitted to me this past month.
The contacts listed are sorted into FIVE sections.

Publications that will REVIEW your music
Radio Stations/Shows that will PLAY your songs
Labels, Vendors and Promotional Services that will help you to SELL your CD
Sites where you can UPLOAD your band's MP3s or videos
A wide range of Helpful Resources for recording artists

http://www.bigmeteor.com/newsletter/jul2008.shtml

Reason Tutorial (Vinyl Scratch Effect)

2008-07-26T00:00:00.002-05:00

Introduction to Music Licensing

2008-07-25T18:00:00.002-05:00

By Brent McCrossen, Audiosocket

Most of my career I've seen the great aversion bands and musicians have toward "Music Licensing". It would appear that many of them find the subject too complicated to grasp. It's not. They only need to spend the necessary time developing their knowledge of this amazing tool. It will push the exposure of their art and drive revenue from the music they make. It's impossible to cover the entirety of the subject in this article. However, this will dispel some of the fears and act as a quick tutorial.

You've seen the drastic changes that have happened in the music business over the past few years, right? People are buying less and less music. File sharing has impacted artist's ability to make a single dime off of their work. We're not here to debate the good and the bad of that. We're here to discuss a remaining channel of revenue and one that can really blow your band's profile into the mainstream. That channel is music licensing.

In following shows like The O.C, Grey's Anatomy, The Sopranos and Entourage it's easy to see the impact they've had on emerging artists. With commercial radio's reputation on the decline people are seeking new avenues to discover cutting edge, quality music. More often people are finding that new band while watching TV or hearing some killer track on a web site. It's the new way. It presents great opportunity for the artists that know how to meet it.

With the price of gas being what it is, touring is expensive. Still worth while but costly. IF you've got a record deal, in most cases, you need to sell enough records to "recoup" the cost in making and promoting that record. Then, and ONLY then, do you get 10-12% of the records sale price. At that rate you could sell 100,000 records and only make 0-$8,000.

Now imagine this. You own the rights to your music, or have a good publishing deal and a TV show wants to license your hit song. They can pay a lot of money for this. For example, let's say they make you an offer of $25,000 to use your song in the background during a car chase on CSI Miami, most of that $25,000 is going straight into your pocket. IF you're an indie artist that owns the rights to the music and has no agent, 100% of that money is going in your pocket. How much would you have to tour to make that? How many records would you have to sell?

Consider this equation.

You wrote a great song that gets licensed
You get paid for it
There is no three. There is no maze for you to traverse between you and the cash. It's not necessarily that simple but it really isn't that hard.

Let me explain a few more details.

Every show, commercial, website, DVD or video game that has a song or melody in it required a license to use it for that specific production. The process to secure the license is called "Music Clearance". This license allows that user to feature the music in their project for a certain amount of time, in a certain area and for a certain feature. This is called the "Use". The type of use often helps determine the price of the license. If your music is in the background and barely heard it won't make as much as say being in the opening credits.

Music Supervisors are the people in charge of selecting music for any one project. These experts work closely with the producer and director to make sure that every scene requiring music is enhanced by its presence. To date music supervisors are becoming the tastemakers for today's audience. They can't be underestimated. In many cases they have more influence over a bands growing popularity then the DJ's of yesterday. One placement on a popular TV show, while paying potentially over $50,000, can help bring your music to the limelight and slam you through the door of success. Music supervisors are one of the gatekeepers.

There are a number of technical terms that one needs to know about music licensing. The most crucial components pertain to the licenses themselves. In order for music to be cleared music supervisors needs to secure two separate licenses, the "Master" and "Synchronization". A Master License pertains to the actual recording of a song. It doesn't manner who wrote it, this license applies to the recording of the track. The Synchronization License or "sync" license allows the user to reproduce a musical composition "in connection with" or "in timed relation with" a visual image, e.g., motion picture, video, advertising commercial. Read it again. Let it "sync" in. You'll get it.

There is a lot to know about music licensing but that shouldn't shy you away from the education. If you've got some great songs, trust me, people need them. There are 100's of 1,000's of films, TV shows, video games and websites in production everyday. One reliable way to gain access to this opportunity is to work with a Licensing agent. Licensing Agents represent bands, musicians and composers for placement in film, TV, Video games and all media. There are a number of licensing agents like me out there. Take the time to do the research and see if you can turn the head of one or two of them. A good licensing agent is another gatekeeper. Their alliance and contacts with the nations top music supervisors can provide a lot of benefits. In most cases they take a % of the licensing fee for their work. Others take a % of the royalties you receive when your song airs on a show etc. It's still wise to arm yourself with information so you know when you have a "good" agent. The more you know the more likely you are to succeed.

Keep writing great songs, studying the industry and playing music. With a little effort and knowledge you're sure to succeed.

Demos of Reverb / Vocal Magic

2008-07-25T12:00:00.001-05:00

End of the Diva

2008-07-25T06:00:00.002-05:00

In this day and age of technology, every female vocalist must come to the realization that there is a human being behind them that makes them a diva. Without the music, the production and the beats, no one would be dancing to their acapella. I hate to be so blunt, but I see to many young ladies who can sing and think that is all that is required of them to be rich and famous. They feel because they have placed their vocals & lyrics on top of a track that people should bow before them. This is just non-sense. The music is just as important as the vocals. The drums, melody and rhythm helps give the listener a better feel of the emotions being expressed. It is the mixing of the two elements from both parties that create the magic of the track.

The vocalist that only sings and maybe writes lyrics get off easy. The hard part is the creation of the track, the production of the track and the mix down of the track with the vocals. Most of the time you must use auto tuning software on the vocalist to repair their mistakes. What makes most of the vocalists sound so great is the recipe of effects the producer uses on their voices.

If it wasn’t for the producers there would be no divas. Sure Gloria Gaynor brought something unique to the disco classic “I Will Survive”, but the music in this track is an emotional roller coaster. She could not have expressed such great heart & soul without such an emotional track under her.

Sometime in mid 2006’ I met a young lady after I had posted a message online looking for a female vocalist to appear on some tracks. When we first met she was very humble. She was happy to be getting the chance to sing on some tracks. I agreed with her that any profit that comes from the music projects we collaborate on together I would split with her.

We began to make tracks together. The power between us was amazing. The first two tracks were very good. The creative power together was amazing. I would write a beat with the basic melody and send it to her over the Internet in mp3 format. She would then write a song to this beat I created. Then she would record her vocals for me as I would work on the track getting it ready for vocals. After she sent me her vocals, I would mix them into our song.

The process was complicated because I was not in a studio with her to direct her on how I wanted her to sing; it was very hard doing this online.

When we first started working together and I saw the power between us, I warned her of what I call fiends. A fiend is basically a hater except a fiend will want what you have that they hate on. They will then conspire to take or ruin what you have so they can have it. Just like a dope fiend. If a fiend wants something you have, they will get it one way or another. I knew that there would be jealous producers that would try to step in between us.

Once we had completed a few tracks, I began to create product and promote us. Everything I did for us was out my personal pocket. Never once did she offer to help with any of the costs. If anything she only expected money. I pressed a CD and 2 records. I also promoted our work. I spent over $3000 dollars on product and promotion of our projects. The total revenue from this investment is about $1200 dollars. This is not even half of what I invested into our work.

The tone with my vocalist began to change after the 3rd solid track we created. She began accusing me of stealing from her. She told me that others were telling her what I was really making from her. Today I laugh because what I warned her about happened. She was listening to other producers who were not in my shoes, judging me. Of course they will bad mouth me if it means you will sing with them.

Shortly after this she began working with other producers. I will not lie, I felt betrayed. I enjoyed the magic we had and I saw no reason why she needed to work with other producers. If she was trying to gain fame then more power to her. I will not stand in her way. It just blows what I thought we were doing together, even though I did all the work and paid out all the expenses.

I figured these new producers were the ones she was talking to behind my back. The same ones that were filling her head with thoughts that I was getting rich off of her. Even today I laugh at that. In this business, it is possible to hit it with one track, but in most cases artists and bands can take 10 years of hard work to make a name for them selves. That is a lot of commitment that most who try do not have. At this point in my career, I had been producing for 7 years. I had showed my commitment and heart. She had only been singing on tracks a few months. She was getting an easy ride, but as in most cases it was not good enough for the diva.

Eventually her attitude pushed me away from her. I began to get tired of her moaning all the time about how I wasn’t making her a star fast enough. She had become demanding, expecting me to send her money when she wanted it. I could not help her. There was no money. I did agree to split the profits, but this includes losses too. The revenue is still in the negative compared to costs. There is no money to give her.

This was not good enough for the diva so I let her go. I figured maybe she will appreciate it more if she has to work herself for it. What I had done for her was much more than beyond the call of duty. What I was doing for her was something I only wish someone would have done for me when I was only one year into the scene. You would think that a rational human being would be grateful for what has been done for them, especially when someone spent over $3000 dollars on them out of their personal pocket. Let us not forget about the time invested, the opportunity presented and the exposure. How could you not be grateful for these things?

After I let go of her, she began spreading her vocals from tracks we created together to other producers all over the Internet. Still as of now, I have no idea why. I have seen way too many remixes of tracks that we wrote together. The best part is none of these kids give credit to me for writing the original version.

When the vocalist and I made our first or any song together, we created what is called a joint work. Since we had no contract, copyright law would hold that both of us each own an undivided interest in the whole of the copyright. This means in essence that we each own 50% and you can each exploit the entire work so long as you account and pay royalties to the other. What she is doing is copyright infringement and exposes herself, the remixer / producer who changed the works and any website exploiting those works without my permission to legal action and damages.

Ronald Jenkees

2008-07-25T00:00:00.002-05:00

It is all about expression...

Review: Image Line FL Studio 8 XXL

2008-07-24T18:00:00.004-05:00

I first encountered FL Studio 4.5 (formerly known as Fruity Loops) in 2004, when the Sytrus synthesizer was still new and used it on the underscore and theme of a sub-B-budget zombie film, The Waking Dead. Although I got to know FL Studio 4.5, I ended up reverting to Propellerhead Reason and Ableton Live, my faithful standards. Now, as neither a novice nor an expert, I wanted to judge the ease and intuitiveness of FL Studio 8's workflow by rearranging a colleague's song. I had already planned an arrangement: new instrumental tracks and new vocals. Recorded acoustic instruments would be the most fitting accompaniment for it, so I would use FL Studio 8's samplers to fill out the mix. But testing FL Studio 8 by recording acoustic instruments would be like judging a Swiss army knife on the merits of its corkscrew. Because FL Studio 8 is full of juicy synth content — many Image Line synth demos and a bundled version of Synthmaker (yes!) — I found time for two recorded projects: a traditional track and an electronic theme.

LISTEN ALL Y'ALL, THIS IS SABOTAGE
Eager to get started, I decided to record with matched condensers and an old Tascam US-122 ($269; www.tascam.com). MIDI came from an M-Audio Axiom 49 ($329; www.m-audio.com), and FL Studio 8 found both devices with no difficulty. Hitting the Record button on FL Studio 8's transport panel raises four recording options: record audio into the playlist, record score and automation, record everything or — new in version 8 — record audio into the Edison audio editor. Also new in version 8 is the record filter. One example of how the record filter works is if you want to record the score but not the automation, just right-click Record and uncheck “automation” to keep unwanted automation changes from creeping in by accident.

I chose to record into the Edison editor. For a ghost track, I dragged an MP3 of my original arrangement into the playlist and matched the tempo. Then, I began planning how to record parts on mandolin, piano and vocal from a singer I had already booked.

After learning lots from Image Line's vigorous tutorial videos and settling into a very comfortable work flow, I hit a formidable snag: the notorious blue screen of death. Loading E-mu Emulator X as a VST plug-in crashed my computer. Moreover, opening Synthmaker or Image Line's Collab — a dedicated P2P software that gives users of FL Studio 8 a convenient file-sharing system — also crashed the computer every time. Suddenly the blue screen of death was upon me at every turn, appearing even after simple actions such as opening the C drive.

All that couldn't be normal. Other hosts handled Emulator X fine, and Image Line wouldn't have released version 8 if Collab and Synthmaker made it crashed it. I suspected my drivers, but the problem proved more ambiguous. I dragged the computer across town to have Windows freshly reinstalled, which solved all problems. But by that time, my vocal session had fallen through. However, I knew that with these upgrades, FL Studio 8 could kick up a bad-ass electronic theme in no time.

RIPE FOR THE PICKIN'
To dive into all of FL Studio 8's new stuff, I pulled down the plug-in picker, FL's graphical plug-in menu. There was a new limiter and a visualization plug-in called Wave Candy. Reading the names of the remaining new plug-ins, sparks of incredulity arced across my synapses: Toxic Biohazard, Soundgoodizer, Fruity Dance? I guessed correctly that the Soundgoodizer was an enhancer/exciter, but what did that last one do, a fruity dance? Well…yes. Adding Fruity Dance to a channel creates a tiny, dancing Anime character who syncs to the track's tempo and whose moves you can tweak in the Fruity Dance editor. Thanks, Image Line, I needed a little cheering up.

Next I tried Wave Candy, which depicts your track in a small transparent window using either an oscilloscope, spectrum view or peak meter. At first I thought, “Sweet, but impractical.” When I discovered Wave Candy could float on top of any software's window, that sentiment diminished. You can use Wave Candy to check the mix for clipping while doing other work in other software programs — if you enjoy that level of multitasking.

Other small changes demand attention. The score logger, which records MIDI performances in a three-minute buffer (whether or not FL Studio 8 is recording), prevents the loss of inspired improvisations. Slip-editing, the ability to mask sections of audio and MIDI (and move data back and forth within that masked section) is a handy function that I use in other programs, as well. Finally, a permanent link between the MIDI controller and various plug-ins is now possible. Once you have decided which knobs and faders should control which parameters on synths or effects, you don't have to do it a second time, simplifying workflow dramatically. Assigning parameters to Axiom 49 faders and knobs was a snap.

FRESH PRODUCE
First on FL Studio 8's updated arsenal list: Slicex, a slicing tool similar in purpose and design to Propellerhead Reason's Dr.Rex. Slicex is divided into four panels: Master, Articulator, Wave Editor and Keyboard. The Master panel allows you to assign crossfades between slices using either velocity or modulation. Crossfades can be within the same clip, or between two clips: one in Slicex's deck A, and one in deck B. Thus, it's possible to use velocity to crossfade between a hi-hat slice and a bass-drum slice. Slicex is a bit more flexible in all than the Dr.Rex player.

The Articulator section adds even more flexibility. To its left, there is a section of controls that determine, per slice, what changes occur to the signal — volume, pan, filter, frequency, etc. Then there are the articulators — eight groups of parameters that determine modulation of those parameters. There are two rows of tabs along the top of the window that specify a modulation source and destination. It can get pretty in-depth, so Articulator settings can be saved as their own files. Impressive.

Check out the Wave Editor functions. Loading audio into Slicex is simpler than loading into Dr.Rex for the very simple reason that no format conversion is necessary (i.e., no REX files.) To import a WAV file, you only have to find it in the file browser, right-click on it and select “open in new Slicex channel.” Immediately, the sound file is separated into editable slices you can trigger via MIDI. The implications that has for remixing are huge.

Even more detailed editing comes courtesy of per-slice modifications using the Wave Editor menus. A “run script” function allows you to add effects to specific slices, giving you the option of bit reduction, “destructoid,” limiter, “old school” and ring modulation — all with adjustable parameters. In the Wave Editor menus, you find many of the familiar Dr.Rex functions, and the list of options goes on. With Slicex, you can sink hours into editing a single groove and not have wasted your time.

On the keyboard, sliced regions are triggered in sequential order from left to right, so if a new region is added somewhere in the middle (even if it's within another region), the sequence of keys is reorganized to accommodate that addition. That's convenient for the sake of organization, but if you don't want your MIDI content to change, have all your slices sorted before you start creating MIDI patterns. After a thorough once-over of this awesome plug-in, I picked two drum loops I thought contained distinct and appealing slices and split them between deck A and B.

EXECUTE MASTER PLAN
Image Line's instructions are brief, blunt and clear. Its online instructions for accessing the Synthmaker content are: 1) Open Synthmaker, 2) Open the Content Library, 3) Refresh the content list and 4) Enjoy the new content. Done. Synthmaker, like Directwave, links to a large online cache of goodies, and I greedily downloaded everything on the list in the content library.

The Uniretro arpeggiator gave me some very provocative beginnings. I recorded them into Edison and saved them to my hard drive. After that, I keyed line after line of MIDI data using a free VST synth, the Rhodes in FL Keys and Freehand. I soon locked into a downtempo, bluesy Secret-Agent-style groove. I happened upon a sound file that fit perfectly into the mix and brought it into the Play List with no trouble. The Synthmaker Ping Pong, Sweepy Q, and Filter delays all opened exciting new doors. I opened Slicex and began to improvise beats, and before I know it, it was mission accomplished.

FL Studio 8 is one of the smoothest DAWs to use. Is it, as Image Line says, the fastest way from your brain to your speakers? Depends on how big your ideas are.

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Why You Should Master (1 of 2)

2008-07-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

Be Committed!...You'll Never Be Famous If You Don't Show Up!

2008-07-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

by Sheena Metal, Music Highway Radio

Everyone wants to be famous: live in a mansion, drive a sports car, tour the world in your private plane, date a model, float around in the pool while collecting royalties for CD sales, and drink beer right out of your private tap. But not everyone is aware that, with any career that has the potential to end in a bounty of riches and beautiful babes, climbing your way to rock stardom is very hard work.

So, how does your average musical genius go from penniless Pop Tart-eater to Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous? How do you move on up from mom's garage to a deluxe apartment in the sky? What's your first baby step on the Yellow Brick Road to fame and fortune? That's simple…be committed!

It sounds silly, but many a musical boat has sailed with a crestfallen unsigned artist standing confused on the dock, for lack of nothing else but follow-through. Commitment to your deeds and plans is the single most essential skill towards achieving your goal of Ultimate Superstardom. Entertainment is a fickle business and chances don't come along every day. One missed opportunity now could have spiraled into dozens even hundreds of opportunities down the line.

It may be true that talent is a gift you carry with you from birth, but commitment is a learned skill that you need to hone every day. So, how can you make sure that you've got what it takes to gather up your supreme musicality and conquer the universe with it continuously?

The following are a few tips that may help you to make sure that you're truly committing yourself to your musical career on a daily basis:

Follow Up On All Leads---No matter how insignificant they may seem at the time, it's important to follow up on every musical lead that's thrown your way. Letters, calls and emails should be answered politely and in a timely fashion. New contacts should be logged in your address book for future correspondence. Opportunities should be taken, invites accepted, and chances to network relished. By starting out with just these simple rules you'll watch your resources and mailing list grow. Suddenly you'll have music community friends with which to share your leads and ideas, ask advice, trade experiences, and combine talent and energies. Through these friends, you'll meet new friends and fans and from them even more new connections. Soon, you'll have so many opportunities that your concern will change from lack of opportunity to lack of time in the day to pursue each new chance.
Just Show Up---Sounds so simple it's stupid, but you'd be surprised how many talented people have fallen by the wayside because they were unable to simply show up. Cancelled gigs, forgotten meetings, and missed auditions say to the Musical Powers That Be, "I'm a huge flake who doesn't think your opportunity is worth a half-hour of my precious time." This is a really bad thing. Entertainment is a small town with a huge memory. Don't give people any reason to think that you're not the person they want to work with, give the job to, book for the gig, sign to their label, write about, talk about, and help any way they can. Remember there are tens of thousands of musicians waiting to take your place, so step up to the plate and seize each chance with optimism and enthusiasm.
Take Initiative---Don't wait for opportunities to come to you. The world is a virtual cornucopia of information, so reach out and nab yourself some chances at stardom. Comb the internet, join music communities, visit open mic nights, take classes and workshops…put yourself out there where there are cool musical happenings and let others know that you can be relied upon and want to be involved. By going out and seizing your own opportunities, you may double, triple, etc. your resources and chances, and expedite your journey to success.
Do The Best Job You Can---As important as it is to show up, it is also essential that you come off efficient, talented, and professional when faced with a new opportunity. Being there is half the battle but the other half is being the best that you can be and impressing industry, press, clubs and your fellow musicians enough to make them want you to be involved in anything and everything they do. Make a commitment to put on the best live show possible, to have a terrific CD, to make a professional presskit, and to spread the word about your music. Be punctual, be courteous, be positive and be fun. Don't give anyone any reason not to work with you again and you'll see that it becomes easier and easier to get what you want for your artistic career.

It really is as easy as simply showing up, following up and giving it your all. Making it in music is not impossible; it's just a lot of elbow grease, a little organization, a bit of strategy, and the simple sculpting of your talent into a marketable commodity. There are thousands of chances offered every day to musicians...reach out and grab them by the handful, make every opportunity your own, get everything you want from this business and when you're richer than Oprah and more famous than Madonna, remember that it was you who made it happen. You were a pro. You showed up. You committed.

AKG Perception 400 Mic

2008-07-24T00:00:00.001-05:00

I own the 200...

What is Logos?

2008-07-23T22:00:00.001-05:00

Logos is an important term in philosophy, analytical psychology, rhetoric and religion. It derives from the verb to count, tell, say, or speak. The primary meaning of logos is: something said; by implication a subject, topic of discourse, or reasoning. Secondary meanings such as logic, reasoning, etc. derive from the fact that if one is capable of (infinitive) i.e. speech, then intelligence and reason are assumed.

Its semantic field extends beyond "word" to notions such as "thought, speech, account, meaning, reason, proportion, principle, standard", or "logic". In English, the word is the root of "logic," and of the "-ology" suffix (e.g., geology).

Heraclitus established the term in Western philosophy as meaning both the source and fundamental order of the cosmos. The sophists used the term to mean discourse, and Aristotle applied the term to rational discourse. The Stoic philosophers identified the term with the divine animating principle pervading the universe. After Judaism came under Hellenistic influence, Philo adopted the term into Jewish philosophy. The Gospel of John identifies Jesus as the incarnation of the Logos, through which all things are made. The gospel further identifies the Logos as God (theos).

Psychologist Carl Jung used the term for the masculine principle of rationality.

Demo of VST Plugin Glitch

2008-07-23T20:26:00.001-05:00

Soundcard - Audiophile 2496

2008-07-23T18:00:00.005-05:00

4-In/4-Out Audio Card with MIDI and Digital I/O

The Audiophile 2496 embodies a quantum leap in computer audio fidelity and performance unequaled by other audio cards in its price range.

This critically acclaimed PCI card features premium digital audio converters, elegant board design, and ultra-stable drivers just like the rest of the Delta line, but with a simpler I/O configuration. As a member of the Delta family, the Audiophile 2496 supports all computer platforms and major software programs, ensuring seamless integration and rock-solid performance.

All Delta cards contain a 36-bit embedded DSP enabling a software-driven patch bay / router for all analog and digital I/O—all with extremely fast throughput for low-latency software monitoring. A single unified control panel provides settings for clock and sample rates, buffer sizes, individual signal levels for every input and output, adjustable +4dBu/-10dBV pad controls and digital I/O control on up to four installed Delta cards. All controls are also easily accessible through most professional audio software applications for seamless integration and operation.

If you are wondering how you can improve the sound quality of your productions, simply upgrade your sound card!

How to Set-Up Audio & MIDI Recording on a PC

2008-07-23T12:00:00.003-05:00

Technics SL-1200MK6 Turntable

2008-07-23T06:00:00.004-05:00

Technics just announced the newest member of the 1200 family which will be labeled as the Technics SL-1200mk6. It will be available in black and classic silver finishes. The updates to this new 1200 are:

There isn't much of an update here at all, but with the 35th year of the 1200 approaching, I guess they saw it fitting to release a new deck. Also for purchase is a limited 1000 qty run of SL-1200mk6k1 editions which will include a gold framed disc and a 55 page book which shows all 35 years of the 1200 legacy. No prices have been released as of yet...

-High-quality materials OFC (oxygen-free copper wire) adopted by the S-shaped tone arm
-Further vibration damping to the realization of the three-tiered cabinet
-Continuous pitch control accuracy improvement
-Long-life high-intensity blue LED needlepoint adopted

Warbeats FL Tutorial - EZ Sampling Part 1

2008-07-23T00:00:00.004-05:00

Get 10 Percent Off FL Studio 8 XXL At This Link!
http://www.flstudio.com/promo.asp?p=EECCE341

iTunes Hits Two Billion Sold Milestone

2008-07-22T18:00:00.001-05:00

Apple today announced that more than two billion songs, 50 million television episodes and over 1.3 million feature-length films have been purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store.

“iTunes has crossed another major milestone by selling over two billion songs—with over a billion of them sold in the last year alone—making it by far the world’s most popular music store,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “And by selling 50 million TV shows and over 1.3 million movies to date, iTunes is already the largest online video store in the world as well.”

The iTunes Store features the world’s largest catalog, with over four million songs, 250 feature films, 350 television shows and over 100,000 podcasts.

How to Sell 15,000 CDs in 18 Months

2008-07-22T12:00:00.002-05:00

Review: Beats by Dre Headphones

2008-07-22T06:00:00.004-05:00

You'd think that someone with as much musical savvy as Dr. Dre could design some kick-ass audio gear. And you'd be right.

Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones ($400; Spring 2008) are the result of a collaboration between Dre, Jimmy Iovine, and Monster, and they look as good as they sound.

The powered isolation 'phones will feature technologies new to headphones, including new driver technology, in order to offer natural, clean sound and rich, deep bass — something that should come as no surprise to Dre fans.

In addition to all of that, Beats will include a carrying case with anti-microbial cleaning cloths, a special Monster headphone cable, and Monster’s iSonitalk, a microphone / headphone adapter for iPhones.

Information on Pressing Vinyl

2008-07-21T18:00:00.001-05:00

20 Steps for a Successful Blog

2008-07-21T16:30:00.002-05:00

by Lance Trebesch, TicketPrinting.com

Blogs prove to be a tricky field to conquer, especially when it comes to gaining an initial reader-base. However, once you get that reader base, great potential for increasing your online reputation is created. Successful blogs keep their status by following these 20 rules from the start and throughout their blog's lifetime.

Focus the Topic - Thousands of different blogs exist on the web. Only the well-established ones can post general news and see success. Instead, focus your blog around a niche. The more narrow the subject, the more likely you will get a steady reader base.
Search Similar Blogs & Subscribe - Because there are so many blogs on the internet, chances are somebody somewhere will also be talking about your subject. Find these sites and subscribe to them so you get instant updates. The best action to take is to read up on these blogs and know what they talk about regularly.
Create Business Relationships - By helping out someone else and their blog in some way, they will in return help you and your blog out. One good example is devising a list of online radio stations you can submit your music to and give them the list so they can use it for their benefit as well. By becoming business friends, you can promote each other by talking about one another's webpage, music, blog etc.
Make Quality Content - Just writing a blog is not enough. You have to make sure what you are writing is good content. No one will comment or read your blog if the content seems worthless and poorly written. Also, write grammatically. Misspellings are one of the most painful things to witness in blogs.
Work on the Title - The title is a necessity. The first thing people look at and what makes them read your blog is the title. Titles that hint of content with lists and bullets also draw people in due to the pleasing layout and more white space of lists. If the title perks their interest, they will click on your blog to continue reading. Take the time to think about an interesting title and log which titles draw more readers.
Submit to Directories - After creating a good content-and-keyword-rich blog, submit it to different directories. Top Blog Area and BlogFlux are two good sites to submit blogs to according to category of blog. Another option is to write just one blog for an established blogging site in the rock music industry and tell them why they should feature your blog on their site. If they choose to put the blog on their site, you will see greatly increased traffic.
Get a friend to submit your blog to Digg, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Netscape, and Reddit - These search sites generate a ton of traffic to your site if viewed frequently (or "digged," "thumbs up" "favored," etc). However, people view down on you if you constantly submit your own content to these sites, so instead, make a buddy submit your blogs, videos, or podcasts to these sites one or two times a week. Eventually, your good content will make it to the homepage of these content-search sites, generating an unimaginable amount of traffic to your blog.
Ping Every Site - Some submission sites allow you to 'ping' them, which means they get an automatic update when you post a new blog. This is good so they always have your latest posts in their records. These sites also allow you to put in key tag terms. By inputting a tag term, your blog will pop up if someone searches for the term you used. For instance, if you are writing about electric guitar comparisons (tag terms) and the searcher inserts "compare guitars," your blog will show as a result. You must utilize pings and tags to increase your blog popularity.
Write Regularly & Stand Out - The only way to gain a steady reader base is if you write a blog regularly. The best blogs update their content daily or sometimes several times a day. As an upcoming artist, though, weekly will suffice if you write on a consistent day around the same time every week. In addition, you need to stand out from other bloggers. Write properly, but use your personality. Personality keeps the blog interesting and keeps readers coming back. In addition, the readers like to be treated as humans, so drop the business lingo. Blogs are for entertainment, so engage your audience. Write for them.
Host Your Blog on Your Website Domain - Using a different host for your blog not only confuses your readers, but also reduces the amount of quality traffic to your site. The only smart way to host a blog is through your own website. If readers like what they read, or you mention something about your music in the blog, they can easily navigate to your website to find out more information. Creating a blog serves the purpose of promoting your music online, which you can only do if you reader can easily access your website from your blog.
Ask People to Subscribe - RSS feeds allow users to subscribe to your blog and receive an update when you add new blogs. This makes it convenient for readers so they do not need to check for blog updates. An alternative is to send the updated blog through email, so having both an email subscription and a RSS feed is necessary. Also, make the sign-up process simple and prominent. Display the RSS button everywhere and occasionally mention it in your posts to sign-up. The simpler the process to sign-up, the more chance the reader will go through with the process.
Offer a Bribe to Sign-Up - Take an example for Marketing Pilgrim, by offering a $600 cash giveaway by signing-up for a RSS feed. The code to register for the money is in an RSS-only message. Receiving $600 free is pretty convincing to sign-up. Other options to get people to sign up are free e-books related to your topic ("How to Get a Record Deal"), or send a personalized autographed picture of you or the band to those who sign-up.
Comment - Comment on forums. Comment on blogs. Comment on chats. And comment by providing a link back your blog. By injecting your opinion and showing your personality through these comments, people will notice you and want to find out more. Make sure the comments are meaningful and not just some form of spam to create a link back to you. People appreciate when an expert adds their knowledge, so write truthful comments that will help the audience. Comments are the biggest promotion of your blog in the beginning months of the blog.
Leave Blogs Open for Discussion - If compiling a list, ask for comments to add their suggestions for the list. The 5 Rules of Social Media Optimization (SMO) blog by Influential Marketing Blog became instantly popular by people linking to it, posting comments and recommending the blog. After writing a general blog that does not include a list, ask a question at the end to encourage comments and blog discussion. The more, interesting discussion, the more people will link to your blog, promoting it.
Respond to Comments - Read your comments daily and respond when someone asks a question to you through the comments. Once you start getting a steady reader base that begins posting comments, do not discourage them by never responding back. Respond rapidly to make your reader happy.
Start a Podcast - A podcast is a great way to promote both your blog and your music. Podcasts are an audio blog, but you should not update it as often as your blogs (unless you just want to run an audio blog exclusively). On the podcast, talk about interesting subjects related to your blog and mention your music often. Play a fraction of your music just prior to and just after your podcast, promoting both your music and your blog.
Invite Guest Bloggers. Be a Guest Blogger - Your blog gains interest if you occasionally - monthly, quarterly - invite guest bloggers to write. Your business pals become a good place to start when thinking about guest bloggers. The guests then feel flattered by your interest in them and in return promote your blog or music. On the other hand, ask your business friends to guest blog for them, which immensely promotes your music or blog through their site. Whenever you get an opportunity to guest blog, take it.
Add Videos, Pictures, MP3s Etc - Just having words on every blog gets boring. Perk reader's interest by putting a funny YouTube video in your blog, adding a unique MP3 or taking a snapshot of the website you mention in the blog. Any item out of the norm to create a change will boost your blog's appeal. Every once in awhile, make your blog a video-blog through YouTube where you narrate the blog (and act as well). You can also create a music video for you or the band and advertise it through your blog.
Use Tracking Software & Analyze - Find out how many people are visiting your blogs and which ones generate the most traffic. You should re-create titles and content that receives many views. The tracking software can also tell you how people are hearing about your blog, through Digg, Google, etc. It can give you a great insight on your viewers and many other marketing hints if you are creative.
Build a Brand - You want people to recognize your blog as an object, not just another blog. Make your blog worthwhile to the reader. Promote the blog with any sources you have. Tell your friends, family and strangers about it. On your website, promote your blog and on your blog promote your website. Do the same with social networking sites, YouTube videos, podcasts, live performances, etc. By marketing in a bunch of different places, you spread your name and have more sources to promote your blog and music.

Your blog will only see success if you follow all these steps and promote it as often as possible. Blogging takes a lot of dedication but pays off in the end with increased music sales. Never stop blogging and remember, you are writing for your audience.

Tech N9ne on the Industry

2008-07-21T16:14:00.003-05:00

At about 3:45 he starts on about the industry...

Sites to Grab Free Samples

2008-07-21T16:00:00.000-05:00

http://504productions.com/samples.php

http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Music/Sound_Files/Samples_and_Loops

http://www.topsamplesites.com

http://www.freesound.org

http://www.looperman.com

http://www.synthzone.com/sampling.htm

http://www.samplecraze.com

35 Things To Consider When Starting Your Own Record Label

2008-07-21T12:00:00.001-05:00

by Christopher Knab
Fourfront Media & Music

Why are you starting your own label? (What is your motivation?)
Why would anyone want to buy your music anyway?
Is there currently a market for your kind of music? Prove it!
If you are not releasing your own music, have you ever read a recording contract? Are you aware of all the traditional clauses that are in such 75-100 page contracts?
Do you know anything about copyright law?
What is a Mechanical Royalty?
Have you ever heard of the Harry Fox Agency? What do they do?
What do you want to achieve by starting your own label?
What do you know about the day to day business of selling music?
Will your new company be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation? (Do you know the pros and cons of each?)
Have you registered the name of your company to make sure you can use that name?
Will you need any recording equipment or office equipment and supplies to run your label?
Do you have a recording studio you can work with?
Do you know any record producers and/or engineers?
How much money do you think it will cost you to startup your label, and to finance the recordings and marketing of the recordings for the first year?
Where will the financing come from?
What local, state, and federal tax responsibilities will your label have?
How will you sell your records? (Live shows, Internet sales, mail order, catalog sales, Distributors, Stores?)
What specific distribution and retail sales plans have you arranged so fans of your music can easily buy your releases at record and other retail stores?
Do you have the money, time, and determination to compete in an industry that releases over 500 new records a week?
How much does it cost to manufacture CDs, Tapes, and/or vinyl?
What 'configurations' will you need to manufacture your music?
How many copies do you need to manufacture for each release?
What are 'package deals' offered by manufacturers, and are they right for you?
Will you need to make any posters, bin cards, or other promotional materials? If so, how many and how much will that cost?
What specific packaging choices are available and which is right for your releases?
How did you estimate the number of copies you needed?
Did you count into your estimation the number of free CDs you will have to give away for promotions of various kinds?
How will you go about finding new acts to sign to your label?
How important do you think the graphic element is in designing your label's logo, and specific cover artwork for your releases?
Do you know any graphic artists with record jacket design experience?
What specific information should go on the cover, back cover, spine, booklet, and on the CD itself?
Do you have your own Barcode? Why do you need one?
Do you know how to write a music marketing plan, a distributor 1 sheet, and other promotional materials?
Who is your customer? If you think you know them, then describe them in very specific terms. ( Why am I asking you to do that?)

Using Audacity for Creating Mp3s

2008-07-21T10:00:00.002-05:00