Blog and Destroy

Top Ten in Eleven!

2011-12-29T14:31:00.000-08:00

~ Mrs Blasko and I have complied our year end top 10 wrap up of music that we dug in 2011. All posts are linkable to iTunes. Enjoy!

My Fav Albums of 2011:
Nekromantix - What Happens In Hell, Stays In Hell
Black Veil Brides - Set The World On Fire
Speedwolf - Ride With Death
Gallows - Death Is Birth (EP)
Cerebral Ballzy - s/t
Amebix - Sonic Mass
Mastodon - The Hunter
Pentagram - Last Rites
Steel Panther - Balls Out
Black Veil Brides - Rebels (EP)

Mrs. Blasko's Fav Albums of 2011:
Arctic Monkeys – Suck it and See
Dum Dum Girls – Only in Dreams
Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost
The Kills – Blood Pressures
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Self Titled
Puscifer – Conditions of My Parole
Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire
Seasick Steve – You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks
Trash Talk – Awake (EP)
TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light

Mrs. Blasko's Fav Songs of 2011:
Battles – My Machines (feat. Gary Numan)
The Black Keys – Gold On the Ceiling
Black Lips – Family Tree
Foo Fighters – Walk
Kasabian – Velociraptor!
Mastodon – Octopus Has No Friends
My Morning Jacket – Holdin On To Black Metal
Raphael Saadiq – Radio
Theopholis London – Neighbors
The Vaccines – Post Break-Up Sex

New Podcast Episode 8

2011-11-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

Check out Podcast # 8 HERE!

Subscribe NOW!

Send me your questions: askblasko@gmail.com

Your Bands "To Do" List

2011-11-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

~ This post originally appeared on LiveUnsigned blog. Article by Matt Stevens, illustration by Paul Linus Claassen.

The following is an example of things you can do regularly to make things happen (and it goes without saying your music has to be brilliant and remarkable for it to work). Some bands may do things at different times (i.e. only blog once a week or post videos more often) but this is a general example of a social media tasking sheet for a band:

Daily:
- Post updates to Twitter/Facebook.
- Re-tweet and share the links of other bands within your genre (then they will be more likely to do it for you).
- Update Your Blog.
- Upload Photos to Flickr.
- Tell one person about your music and thank them for listening (someone you know, not spam).
- Comment on a blog you are looking to have review your music (relevant content, not spam for your music).
- Post on a forum (not spam) and engage with people who enjoy the music in your genre.
- Reply to fan mail/@messages on Twitter and Facebook posts (essential).
- Check Google Alerts to see who is talking about your band online and engage with and talk to them.

Weekly:
- Update your gigs on Live Unsigned
- Post links to your music and ask fans to share them with their friends on Twitter (keep this to once a week to avoid it seeming like spam).
- Hang out at a gig where bands within your niche play and hand out fliers.
- Post a Youtube video (perhaps an acoustic cover/video blog/live footage).
- Submit your music to a music blog (that you are commenting on daily and engaged with)
- Upload a rough demo/rehearsal or live track/remix to Soundcloud.
- Contact promoters about booking gigs
- Contact local/national print press about interviews and reviews.
- Contact podcasters about playing your music and post an episode of your own podcast.
- Update band website with news and the other content generated in the week.

Monthly:
- Post a new song/EP on Bandcamp (and allow people to Download it in exchange for an email address).
- Upload a high quality video to Youtube.
- Do a UStream concert and post the show on Live Unsigned.
- Send out an email to fans.
- Review band finances.
- Review where the band is at with regard to long term goals.
- Start a contest for fans (perhaps to make videos or remixes)
- Create a new line or merchandise (T-Shirt/Mug/Box set/Multi-buy). A monthly time limited special offer is a good idea (i.e. 2 - CDs for £10 etc).

Long term goals:
- Get 5000 people on the email mailing list.
- Release an album and sell 1000 CDs
- Do a national tour.
- Collaborate with a major artist.

Music Biz Wisdom From The Godfather

2011-11-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

~ Brian Slagel is the king shit of Metal Blade Records, and with the exception of Black Sabbath, has probably contributed more to the community of Heavy Metal than anyone else. Metallica and Slayer were introduced to the world via the Metal Massacre compilation series. He also signed my first band Cryptic Slaughter way back in '85! Here he is dropping some knowledge from his experience that you young bands should take to heart.

“A 360 deal for those of you asking is when a label signs a band and they take money from every form of income the band gets. Touring, Merch Music sales, etc… So they want their fingers in all the money a band makes. Not cool if you ask me. Bottom line this is a business and I always say first thing a band should do is learn about the business as it is easy to get ripped off Also artists need to know that management, record labels, etc.. we all work for you! It is ultimately your business and dont entrust running it to everyone else, always make sure at least one guy in the band understands and knows business. The successful bands always have this.”

“Labels get a lot of bad press and some deservedly so, but also watch out for shady merch companies too. Merch is so important to bands these days, you have to be with a good company there as well. WIth a good deal too. Ultimately to be a successful band you need the whole team around you. Good label, booking agent, manager, lawyer and merch company. All need to be on the same page and working TOGETHER! It is like car, you have 4 wheels and if they do not all go in the same direction at the same speed, your not going to get anywhere.”

“In regards to health insurance, remember a record company is just a part of a bands income and deals. They have deals with publishers, merch companies, booking agents, etc… So a band is it’s own entity, merch companies do not provide health insurance for bands. Once a band is big enough they themselves need to be a corporation. Then they can get their own health insurance. That is how the system works. If bands were employees of the record company we would also have to take out taxes on all the money given to the artist. That would really limit what they would get as we would have to hold up to 42% of all the money for the government. So in the end it does kind of work and we try to help out the bands get insurance etc, also managers are supposed to help with that as well. As we have all said, this is a business and can get pretty complicated. I knew NOTHING when I first started out and learned mostly by mistakes. Knowing about business is really, really important for all! I know it kinda sucks, but better prepared than sorry.”

~ Cryptic Slaughter released 3 records from '86 - '88 on Metal Blade. 3 of us were teenagers in high school, and Les the guitar player was a few years older. By default he became the "business guy" simply by being not as immature as the rest of us. Back in that time the "360 deal" was not even on the menu. Hell, our first 2 records were only released on vinyl and cassette... yup it was that long ago. We all still lived at home and were on our parents health insurance. We all eventually parted ways after our summer tour in '88 in pursuit of adulthood and responsibility. I am happy to say that we all have stayed in contact and everyone is healthy and doing well. Thanks Brian for believing in us! Those were some Golden Years!

Podcast and Destroy!

2011-11-09T19:14:00.000-08:00

Seth from HowToRunABand.com and I have a podcast and it is up on iTunes. You can subscribe and listen for FREE!
Click HERE to check it out!

Please hit me up at askblasko@gmail.com if you have any topics and/or questions you would like us to tackle.

TAXI Road Rally 2011

2011-09-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

I will be speaking on 2 panels this year at TAXI's Road Rally Convention on November 4th. The Alternative Genre A & R Panel @ 2:45 and the Management Panel @ 4:30. Go HERE to sign up if you are a member or are looking for more info on the company and their annual convention.

Hope to see ya there!

Behind The Suit and Tie

2011-09-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

A new preview clip from the long awaited heavy metal documentary "Behind The Suit And Tie" can be viewed above. The two-minute 45-second video clip features segments from Alan Becker (Red Distribution), Eddie Trunk (VHI Classic, That Metal Show, Q104.3, Sirius XM), Blasko, (Ozzy Osbourne), Missi Callazzo, (Megaforce Records), Al Dawson (Earache Records), Brian Slagel (Metal Blade Records), David Ellefson (Megadeth) to discuss piracy, corruption, manipulation issues and the future of a record label.

Due in 2012 on an as-yet-undisclosed European label "Behind the Suit and Tie" "pulls no punches and features some of the prime movers in the heavy metal industry drawing back the veil of mystique surrounding the music business and addressing tough questions about the industry itself, how it's run and where labels see their role in a digital future.

Through a series of interviews with players from both indie and major labels, "Behind The Suit And Tie" "will showcase the truth of how the music industry is being affected by the downward spiral of CD sales and how new and up-and-coming artists must learn to adjust to changing times, according to a press release.

The film will contain insight from:

* Ed Rivadavia (RCA Music Group)
* Jason Lekberg (Eleven Seven Music)
* Brian Slagel (Metal Blade Records)
* Blasko (Mercenary Management, OZZY OSBOURNE)
* Doug Keogh (Roadrunner Records)
* Missi Callazzo (MegaForce Records)
* Carl Severson (Good Fight Entertainment)
* Paul Conroy (Good Fight Entertainment)
* Alan Becker (RED Distribution)
* Al Dawson (Earache Records)
* Burt Goldstein (Big Daddy Distribution)
* Eddie Trunk (VH1 Classic, Q104.3, Sirius XM)
* Pat Egan (Relapse Records)
* Ray Harkins (Century Media Records)
* Ralph Graupner (Indevent Music)
* Gary Susalis (Music Choice)
* Ged Cook (Demolition Records)
* Bryan Mechutan (Demolition Records)
* Lee Barrett (Ascendance Records)
* Adam Watson (Plastic Head Distribution)
* David Ellefson (MEGADETH)
* Ryan Forster (Moshpit Tragedy Records)

Commented creator/producer Robert Bolger, after five years in the making I'm proud to announce that this project will finally see the light of day!

For more information, visit www.behindthesuitandtie.com

I Got An Answer

2011-08-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

~ I do on occasion receive industry insider questions from some of you. Here are a few that I will do my best to answer:

1. How is an artist/band selected to be on your roster? What do you look for in an artist/band?
Typically I look for bands that are hard working. Ones that have already built some buzz on their own by taking their careers into their own hands. What I do NOT look for are bands looking to get to the "next level" without putting in the initial work themselves.

2. What do you consider to be a "successful" artist/band?
Success is arbitrary. I always say to young bands- Define success by how much music you make, not by how much money you make. Ensure that your music has integrity.

3. What exactly is your firm's job for/to the band? (Tour booking, Legal representation, etc..?)
To simplify, the manager is the CEO of your band business. All managers take on different responsibilities depending on the needs of the artist.

4. You most likely have a dividend of the earnings, how is that acquired? (album sales, tour?)
The manager is paid by a negotiated percentage fee of the artists income. This number can vary. A typical percentage is 15% of the gross income.

5. Is any of those earnings owed if the band does not make it?(break up, no crowds?)
15% of 0 is $0.00.

6. How is the marketing done, through YOU? The band? Do you hire a marketing firm?
As labels lean more towards sourcing out this component, in my opinion I feel that aspect of an artists career should be handled by the management.

7. Does your firm ONLY answer to labels, or do you take on indie artists/bands as well?
We are living in a new age. Artists are reinventing the wheel as we speak. None of us will succeed if we keep a narrow focus. This is a new era for the music business and the possibilities are limitless.

8. What steps are taken to BOOST your artists'/band's repetoire and sales?(details are a plus here)
There is no magic answer here... if only it was that easy. Every artist requires different attention to detail. Square pegs do not fit in round holes without some kind of modification.

9. Have bands been recommended to you that you have taken on? If so, how does one recommend them to you?
Yes. All of my clients have been referred to me. I am grateful to have made those connections. I try to repay those favors when I can.

Hit me up: askblasko@gmail.com

Pay Attention

2011-07-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

~ This is pretty much on point with what I have been saying to bands that hit me up looking to get to that "next level". The old school mythology of a label hearing your demo and signing you on the merit of your music alone and then the label does all the work is no longer a reality... and has not been for some time. Pay attention! Check out full article HERE.

Across the board, the companies that sell music on a national or global level are all looking for the same three things:

1. Ready-made artists
Record labels are no more in the business of developing artists than Wal-mart is in the business of growing apples or raising cattle. The A&R people who once brought some amount of expertise (meager as it may have been) to making records, choosing songs, or helping an artist define his or her sound have either been downsized into the role of an occasional consultant, or upsized into being label presidents, which of course means they don’t have the time to spend making records, choosing songs, or helping define an artist’s sound. Labels need a product that is ready to sell, but they are no longer in the business of making that product. That’s someone else’s job.

2. Marketing platforms
Even with allowances made for the impact of file-sharing and free YouTube music videos, it’s hard to deny that music, by itself, no longer packs the entertainment punch that it once did for the general public. Today, music competes with video games, social networking, and homemade movies of someone’s funny cat—and at the moment, we’re losing the game. As one A&R veteran bluntly told me, it’s simply not enough to try to get a song on the radio and hope that it will cut through the pop cultural clutter. This is why Columbia has just done a deal with the upcoming TV show “Smash”, that they hope will be the next “Glee” (another Sony Music project). It’s why Universal signed on for not one, but two, talent contests, with “American Idol” and “The Voice”. It’s why Bono and the Edge are spending endless hours reworking “Spiderman”. To be effective in the present entertainment economy, music needs to be teamed with some other entertainment or marketing element, whether it’s theater, live performance, television, brands, video games, books, or nightclubs. Music is becoming like sugar—it’s part of everything on the plate, but it’s not really a meal in and of itself.

3. Machines that are already up and running
They don’t have to be Big Machine’s, like Taylor Swift’s. But in the same way that a record label’s A&R department is not looking to develop an artist, a marketing department is not looking to create a marketing plan from scratch. Everyone wants to be part of something that is already happening. A marketing plan is a theory, which often looks good on paper, but doesn’t play out quite as expected. A marketing campaign, even on a very small, local scale, is already generating a response, showing what strategies work, which ones don’t, and whether or not there is an active audience passionate about the artist. Whether it’s artists selling their own downloads, YouTube videos getting seven figure responses, hot mixtapes generating a buzz, or high-profile guest spots with established stars, music companies are looking for artists with a story—and they’re looking to enter that story on page 50, not on page 1.

Music Connection July 2011

2011-06-27T18:01:00.000-07:00

Check out my "Exec Profile" in the new July issue of Music Connection. On stands now.

The Music Biz Quiz

2011-06-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

~ Are you cut out for a career in the music biz? Honestly answer the following questions and find out...

1. Do you love writing, recording and performing music? YES / NO

2. Do you hate your day job? YES / NO

3. Are you willing to make sacrifices and take risks? YES / NO

4. Can you live on $10 a day? YES / NO

5. Do you think most bands suck? YES / NO

6. Are you typically a lucky person? YES / NO

7. Do you know what social networking is? YES / NO

8. Do you like to travel? YES / NO

9. In your opinion, are you great at what you do? YES / NO

10. Do you acknowledge that statistically you have little to no chance being a successful musician? YES / NO

~ If you answered:
YES on all 10 - Congrats! You will probably do well in the music biz.
YES on 5 or more - Not a total loss. Try and improve your answers to YES if you are truly serious.
YES on #6 - Well, any things possible. I would say good luck, but I guess you won't need it.

How To Run A Band

2011-06-25T04:38:00.000-07:00

~ If you are not familiar with Seth and his real time experiments within the music biz, you should now! Check him out here:
HOW TO RUN A BAND.

This Is A True Story

2011-06-23T04:41:00.000-07:00

~ Well, here it is directly from a horses mouth. This is a true story.
Article source HERE

“Isn’t it such a shame that the music industry is no longer about music? I started playing instruments when I was 10. 16 years later, I find myself leaving a career that I strived over half of my life to accomplish. I gave up almost everything to live in a basement in another country and make music with my bandmates in search of a record deal. We did the impossible and got signed to Roadrunner Records. It was my childhood dream and I had everything I ever wanted. Or so I thought.

“My love for singing and performing soon started to diminish as time and time again we got screwed over by the industry in some way or another. I love being in a band because I love singing and i’ve just found that everything i’m doing is for the wrong reasons. There’s no passion or drive to wake up in the morning and make music with the guys, so i’m not going to do that anymore. Maybe a new venture will come my way and it will restart the fire that I once had.

“We live in an age where labels don’t just take money from music sales, but from almost every form of a bands income. This isn’t the labels fault. They front money to let the bands make their music and put it out. They’re businesses and want to make a profit. But what happens when a band is given money to record an album, puts it out, and then doesn’t sell enough records…? They are evaluated and either dropped or given a second chance with a strict budget… We were dropped. We didn’t even hit 10,000 legal album sales in the USA. Yet looking at torrent sites around the internet, you can easily find 60,000+ illegal downloads. Our music was stolen, the label didn’t make enough money, and now there will be no more music. Why am I saying this? Because this happens to so many other bands and they stay quiet about it.

“After 4 years of working almost every day with the band, the reality is i’ve earned $100 in all that time. I simply cannot afford to continue on. Visa costs, living costs…people seem to think i’m rich because i’m a musician but many of you will know the reality of the industry. I don’t know the future of Mutiny Within, I wish them the best if they decide to continue without me, but i’m moving on and I hope that I find that drive and love for music that I once had.

“I’d like to thank our fans for being awesome and so loyal to us. You’ve been there for us on the road more times than I can remember and it’s you guys that have kept me going through all the bad times because standing on that stage and hearing you sing along is the best feeling I could ever have. We’ve had plenty of haters and i’d like to thank them too for entertaining me over the past few years. I play metal because I love metal. Some people seem to rip anything apart which isn’t their favourite band, yet if I sounded like your favourite band you’d hate me for copying them.

“I’m still on good terms with the band and there’s no bad feelings, so thanks again to the fans, the band, and everybody who has supported me along the way.

When Dreams Become Goals

2011-05-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

~ This is simple, sound advice...
article source HERE.

Humans have the amazing gift of dreaming. It allows us to imagine things that are absolutely crazy, and completely out of our reach. Like flying, staying hours under water – or world domination. That’s what we do. Ambition is a great source of energy. Being able to dream big will give you guts and make smaller dreams feel much more attainable. Ambition will make you creative and more resourceful.
Dreams are only dreams until you write them down. Then they become your goals. – Anonymous

The difference between a dream and a goal is just a question of attitude. Dreams are by definition something that’s out of reach. A goal is something that you plan and work towards. If you start treating your dreams as your goals, then you have already taken the first step towards making them come true.

1. Start Small

The first step towards your dream is to get started. Do something every day, anything. Don’t go and spend tons of money on fancy instruments and studio equipment. Don’t waste time on trying to get a gig at the best venue in your town before you’ve played the toilet around the corner. Start with the stuff that matters and that you know you are capable of handling. Give yourself time to learn your art and the tricks of the trade.

2. Live Cheap

You are immediately limiting your options if you get yourself into too much debt. If possible, start saving so that you have a bit of a buffer if you need to take time out of work, or your car breaks down. Don’t jump at every fancy new gadget that comes your way. Buy stuff only when you really need it. Keep your every day expenses reasonable. The less you spend, the less you need to make money. And that will give you more freedom to do whatever you want.

3. Plan Regularly

Ok, so you played that toilet around the corner a few times now. Maybe it’s time to move on. Take a step back and map out the road to your Big Dream. Break it down to monthly, quarterly and yearly goals. Decide what to do and make time to do the tasks you set yourself. By having a good plan will make each step a bit clearer. It will give you ideas of what you should be aiming for next. It will also help you realise what is useful and what is a waste of time. Set yourself a budget and stick to it.

4. Make Friends

Connections are gold. Your genius will go unnoticed if no one knows about it. The myth of the lonely genius is exactly that – a myth. Successful people are without exception well connected. Luckily making connections is easier than ever before. Connect with other bands, bloggers, music lovers, friends of friends and random people. Don’t try to gain anything from these connections. Have inspiring conversations and people will remember you. Offer to help and people will help you back.

5. Commit

No dream is going to come true if you don’t make a commitment to it. Everything that can, will go wrong. You will lose faith. You will suck. You will run out of money. You will play empty venues. You will be too busy. Sorry, you’ll just have to keep your head down and keep going. Without a commitment life will get in the way and before you know it the attainable goal has turned into a distant dream again.

The Lemmy Interview!

2011-04-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

~ A few months back I interviewed Lemmy from Motorhead for the cover of Bass Player magazine. That issue is on the stands now. Lemmy is a huge influence on me, and it was an honor to get this opportunity. Thanks to Lemmy for taking the time and Brian Fox at Bass Player for making it happen. Due to editing restrictions, some elements on the interview got clipped, so I am posting the interview in it's entirety now. Enjoy!

Blasko: Lemmy, I would just like to start off by saying what an honor and a privilege it is to interview you today for Bass Player. I was lucky enough to convince the magazine that I was the right guy to pull off this interview…

Lemmy: Ha-ha, you probably are man.

Blasko: Was there a defining moment in your life when you decided you wanted to play Rock ‘n Roll for a living?

Lemmy: When I saw how many chicks you could get. I was watching this show that used to be on English TV in the 50’s and 60’s called 'Oh Boy!'. It was a live kinda show that always had these visiting singers. They had Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent on one night and they were both fucking great and they were surrounded by screaming women who appeared to be tearing their clothes off. And then I thought, hey that’s the job for me ya know? That was the very moment right there.

Blasko: I had heard that you were able to see the Beatles before they even had a record deal. Musically speaking, were they a heavy influence on you as well?

Lemmy: I was way into Rock ‘n Roll before that. I mean Little Richard, Elvis, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, and Ricky Nelson. I was into those guys long before the Beatles.

Blasko: As a songwriter outside of Motorhead, is there someone living or dead that you would or would have liked to collaborate with?

Lemmy: There are a few of them. Kurt Cobain for one. Lennon and McCartney of course, although you really couldn’t write with them could you? I mean you would end up being beaten to death by the awe of it all. That girl from Evanescence, I would like to collaborate with her. I bet she is a really good writer.

Blasko: Your band Motorhead is one of the worlds most consistent and reliable Rock ‘n Roll bands. You are about to release your 20th studio album*, which is a fucking tremendous achievement. *(The World is Yours available worldwide Feb 8, 2011). There has never been a time when you have changed direction to fit into current trends. Motorhead fans get 100 percent from you on every album and every tour. What would you credit as the secret to the bands “never say die” work ethic?

Lemmy: Well that’s just it, never say die ya know? I mean for one thing, and you have to realize this, I am not qualified to do anything else. I am not going to suddenly quit and become an eye surgeon any time soon. And if I quit, the other thing is… They said we were going to be finished in six months at the beginning of the band. Well, I can’t let all those bastards be right. I would rather die, than let them be right. So here we still are, and now they’re all gone.

Blasko: Sure, but there are numerous musicians that have dedicated their lives to Rock ‘n Roll, however they don’t produce nearly as much material as you do: 20 studio albums, 5 live albums, 8 compilations, 4 ep’s and 21 singles. There has to be a pretty strong amount of love for what you do as well?

Lemmy: Well yeah of course. I always loved Rock ‘n Roll from the first day I heard any. I knew that it was me. It was like an invocation, like being called to the priesthood.

Blasko: Was the writing and recording process any different on the new album “The World is Yours” in relation to any previous ones?

Lemmy: No, it was just the same really.

Blasko: So what continues to inspire you?

Lemmy: One of the factors is that not enough people have heard us yet. We aren’t selling a ton of records, but I will keep on making ‘em until they do buy them. So if they want us to stop making records, all they need to do is give us a number one hit (laughs). Well, that’s not totally true. I mean it is one thing, but really I just enjoy doing it. I love doing it. It’s my life.

Blasko: Sure that makes sense, but do you ever get to a point where you think, “fuck, do I have to play Ace of Spades again”?

Lemmy: I used to get that moment a couple of times, but I killed it. Ace of Spades has been really good to us and it is in fact a very good song. It’s one of the best that I ever wrote. So I suppose you have to put up with it because everybody wants to hear it every night. And you have to realize that just because you have played it every night, they haven’t heard it in this place every night. In a small town on one night it may be the first time that someone has ever seen us, and they have to hear Ace Of Spades because it’s part of our fabric. It wouldn’t be fair not to play it.

Blasko: Speaking of Ace of Spades, the bass intro riff is legendary. As much as say, “Smoke on the Water” or “Paranoid” in my opinion. You’re mid range driven tone and hard-hitting pick style is uniquely undisputed. I assume some of the origin comes from your history as a guitar player, but for readers that maybe don’t know can you explain a little about how your style came to be what it is today.

Lemmy: Well as a bass player my idol was always John Entwistle from the Who, and he had this tone too if you remember. A little bit deeper, but still very much the same. They were one of the best bands I have ever heard in my life. But Entwistle didn’t have to cheat ya see, because he didn’t have to sing. He didn’t have to sing and play the bass line as well. But also as you said, like a guitar player, I like to be heard. I don’t like to be mumbling away in the background. You know, I am a front man. I didn’t get into this thing to be not noticed.

Blasko: You have been very loyal to Marshall and Rickenbacker for as long as I can remember. I suppose if it ain’t broken why fix it, but is there any particular reason you gravitated to those companies?

Lemmy: Marshall because I saw The Who using them and they sounded wonderful, and when I was working for Hendrix he was using them as well, and I thought 2 out of 3 ain't bad. I always liked Marshal anyway. I got my first stack when I was with Hawkwind and it sounded fantastic to me. Like ya said, why fix it?
And the Rickenbacker I just got it for the shape. It was just so wild. The neck was just so skinny as well. I am a guitarist turned bass player don’t forget so it was easier for me to play a Rick because of the thin neck. When I first started Playing Rickenbacker you had to change the pick-ups because the old toasters were no good. They were to trebly. I used to replace them with a few different ones. The original one I had I replaced the pick-up with a Gibson Thunderbird one. That was a great sound, but I wore it out. I killed it. Now Rickenbacker is using much better pick-ups. I don’t have to switch them out anymore.

Blasko: Can you give me a little insight into the history, death and eventual resurrection of your amp Murder One?

Lemmy: Well Murder One we had to lose for a while so that Marshall could copy it. They lost the blueprints to the original. My amps were mostly from the 70’s. The JMP Super Bass 2’s which is quite an exotic animal now a days. You can’t find those things anymore. They are like antiques. Now Marshall has started to make the Lemmy stack and so they copied the Murder One. They are very good amps and I use them quite a bit. For the cabs I use 4 x 15’s flat front and 4 x 12’s flat front in each stack. I have 2 stacks on stage.

Blasko: Wow, that is some serious power.

Lemmy: Yeah it is. That’s what I was after.

Blasko: Personally, I have never worn earplugs in rehearsals or live, and I will probably be worse off for that decision in the long run, but I subscribe to the notion that “ it doesn’t hurt if you like what you are listening to”. Have you ever had your hearing checked?

Lemmy: No, I don’t understand that. If you can’t handle it, stop doing it. What you said is a true statement. If you like the material, than the volume is immaterial. It doesn’t matter. Rock and roll is supposed to be loud by its very nature. What’s the point of quiet rock n roll? That’s fucking nonsense.

Blasko: “Everything Louder than Everything Else” then becomes quite the appropriate slogan. Motorhead is notoriously one of the loudest bands ever. I once heard a story, and I am paraphrasing, but it went something like this… You were at a sound check, and you asked the monitor engineer if he could hear the deafening volume that was coming from your monitors. He looked at you kinda curiously, and your response was “Great, now fucking turn it up’! Is that close to how that story goes?

Lemmy: (laughs) Yes, that’s pretty much it. I think that bit is in the movie*. *(Lemmy: 49% Motherfucker 51% Son of a Bitch, in theaters now and due out on video Feb 22, 2011).

Blasko: The movie is out now, and hopefully by the time this issue comes out that more people will have seen it. I was fortunate enough to see an advance copy of it, and I thought it was incredible by the way. I don’t even have a question here; I just wanted to say I thought it was awesome.

Lemmy: Well, thank you.

Blasko: You may be too deep in it to see Motorhead from an outside perspective as I do, but Motorhead is probably the most significant brands in Rock N Roll. Whether it’s the logo, the song titles the record covers or the band members nicknames, it all comprises one complete vision and presentation. How much forethought went into the Motorhead branding?

Lemmy: Back in the 60’s almost every band had a distinctive way of writing their band name. You know, the Yardbirds, the Beatles or the Who all had their specific logos on their kick drums and record covers. That’s where I come from. As a band ya gotta stand out… ya gotta be customized.

Blasko: Where did the concept of the Motorhead logo originate?

Lemmy: I designed all that, and I still do today. I have all the initial ideas, but we don’t always use them if they are too silly.

Blasko: You have one of the most recognizable looks in rock n roll. So much so, it has been immortalized in video games and cartoons just to name a few. I don’t get the impression it is anything short of 100 percent genuine, but in terms of branding a self-image, how important do you think it was to your career?

Lemmy: Very! It was essential. You see that every night with Ozzy don’t you? You would recognize that guy from 30 miles away.

Blasko: Well, to me that’s the school that I come from. Everything has an identifiable look. Something where you take one look at it and go “yup, that’s me”! And today, I feel that a lot of that has been lost. Nothing makes noise anymore. Nothing stands out.

Lemmy: That’s because there are no heroes anymore. That’s the problem. People are too scared to be heroes.

Blasko: What wisdom can you share with the aspiring rock stars reading this magazine right now?

Lemmy: I’ll tell ya what wisdom I can give ‘em… nothing. And I’ll tell ya why. It’s because the problems I encountered on my way up this ladder they aren’t ever going to experience. They will have their own problems because they are in this time. I never came across their problems because I was in that time. So they are going to have to make their own mistakes and figure out a way to cope with them. And even if I gave them all my advice from chapters 1 through 56 it still wouldn’t help them. There is no real advice you can give to anyone about anything. If you want to do something enough, you will just cope with it ya know? Stop waiting on a bail out clause from someone else’s advice, because that won’t help. It won’t be a cushion, and it certainly won’t help you avoid anything in the future. My advice may end up just causing confusion (laughs).

Blasko: Lemmy, I have just one last question for you. If Little Richard is one of the originators of Rock ‘n Roll, and Motorhead is one of the kings of Rock ‘n Roll, what is the future of Rock ‘n Roll?

Lemmy: I have no idea. I hope it cure’s up a bit though, because it been pretty miserable for a long time.

The New Music Business Model: Integrity = Bullshit

2011-03-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

~ You hip to this Rebecca Black "hit" Friday yet? As a young musician with aspiring dreams and goals in 2011 this will either be a source of inspiration or suicide depending on how you look at it. Allow me to paraphrase / quote Peter Shankman in relation to this topic: "We like destruction. We embrace mediocrity because we need some level of proof that we're not the worst things out there". Enjoy the article, but I refuse to post the video.

Move Over Major Record labels, independent artists are becoming top sellers on iTunes today. New music artist Rebecca Black is living proof independent careers are more possible than ever. Recently going viral with a $2000 music video shot in California, her single "Friday" is going to earn over $1 million dollars thanks to her innocence.

Rebecca Black "Friday" YouTube music video has over 44 million views to date. According to iTunes, the song itself has sold over 2 million units, making her one of the hottest selling artists today. The only artists to strike double platinum in single sales lately is Justin Bieber, Lady GaGa, and Wiz Khalifa who she tops individually in daily averages on video views.

QR

2011-03-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

Anyone hip to QR codes?

Launch Music Conference 2011

2011-02-21T22:43:00.001-08:00

If you are on the east coast, or maybe need an excuse to travel to the east coast, you might want to think about attending the Launch Music Conference April 21 - 24. This is it's 3rd year running, and for what you get it is definitely worth the low price tag.

Network. Build relationships. Get your music heard. All things that your career requires.

Check out more info on their site HERE.

See ya there...

Success or Death

2011-02-20T11:09:00.000-08:00

"Success or Death" should be your new mantra.
Without dreams we are nothing.
We might as well be dead.

I will tell you this: Please DO NOT think that your success is defined in the music business by how much money you make. If that is your goal, then I politely suggest you quit now, or wrap you head around this: Please DO measure your success by how much music you make.

Make great music. Make music that makes you happy. Make music that gets you out of bed every morning. Make music that is an escape from the responsibilities of everyday life.

Do this and consider yourself a success!

What are you doing right now?
What steps are you taking to reach your goals and make your dreams a reality right now?
How will you define your own success right now?

~ Thanks to Hugh Macleod and his new book Evil Plans for inspiration.

Your Daily Online Check List

2011-02-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

~ I found this on the Music Think Tank. Read the full article HERE.

Do you or your band have a daily online routine? You better. At the speed this world moves you can’t afford to miss even one day of what is happening. Your competition is not sitting still, so you better be out there. But as a band you have to find a balance that is not going to hinder your ability to be a band. You need to write, rehearse, record, perform… if you don’t do any of those things, being online won’t mean much.

So I thought I would take a look at my daily online routine and maybe you can apply to it your routine.

10 Things Every Musician Should Do Online Every Day

1. Quick Email Scan. – When you wakeup, you’re a band, so whatever time of the day this might be is fine. Grab your iPhone or smartphone and do a quick scan of your email for anything important or urgent. Respond to those very urgent emails right away. You will know what they are when you see them.

2. Clean out garbage email. – Get out of bed, get yourself some coffee, breakfast, whatever you need to get going. Sit down and open your laptop, clean out all the garbage email you received overnight. Even with spam control all our inboxes get filled with crap. Get rid of it now so you only have real messages to deal with.

3. Review all new Twitter followers. – Twitter will send you a email for every new follower you receive. Do a five second scan of those new followers. No profile picture, no website link, no profile description, nobody follows them; delete the email and go on to the next one. If they have these items go check their profile in Twitter. Do a quick three second scan of their tweets, if it interests you follow them back. If they are clearly a music fan, a fan of your band, a fan of your style of music, a fan of similar bands… follow them back and send them a quick Direct Message thanking them for following you. Do this for everyone who is following you.

4. Do a Twitter brand review. – While in Twitter check for new Mentions of your Twitter ID. Check for any of your tweets that have been retweeted. Review your saved searches. Basically you are doing a review on who is talking about you on Twitter. Personally reply to everyone who mentions or retweets you. The searches could be for your real name, maybe your site URL, album title, anything. The key here is to get involved in the conversation!

5. Facebook initial review. – Review any friend requests. Check Notifications. Check Facebook Messages. See what is happening in your Facebook world. Just as you reviewed Twitter followers, do the same for Friend Requests. Do you have any friends in common? Are they clearly a music fan, a fan of your band or a similar band? If you accept their request, send them a quick message, or leave a wall post thanking them for the request. Check all your notifications. Who Likes your posts, left you comments, etc. Respond to comments that have been left. Check your Facebook messages. Same sort of review you give to your email can be applied to Facebook. Delete the garbage and respond to those that are important.

6. Facebook News Feed Review. – Do a quick review of your News Feed’s Top News. This will let you see what stories have the most activity. Leave comments and Likes on anything you like or anything that could help promote your band. Then switch over to your News Feed’s Recent News. This is a full list of everything all your friends have posted. Again, leave comments and Likes as you see best. Review everything since you last logged in. The key here is to get involved in the conversation!

7. Facebook Page Review. – Same drill, review all posts by fans. Review all comments. Respond to EVERYONE who left you a post or a comment. The key here is to get involved in the conversation! See a trend here? You have to talk with your fans on Twitter and Facebook.

8. Back to email. – Respond to any important emails. If using Gmail which I highly recommend… Star important emails you need to follow up on later.

9. Review your RSS feeds. – Switchover to Google Reader or your RSS reader and do a initial review of important feeds. Look for new, interesting and important stories. You can Star them in Google Reader to come back later for a full read. RSS feeds are the fastest way to keep up with new content added to your favorite websites, without having to visit every single one of them. You only visit the site when you find a new story that interests you. Be sure to review RSS feeds from other bands, see what they are doing.

10. Check your web or blog stats. – I bet most people never do this. This is so important, do not ignore it! Stats will tell you what your fans like and don’t like. Where they are coming from and where they are going. Be sure to look at these few numbers daily: Total traffic, Top stories, Referring sites, Top searches inside your site and searches that delivered you traffic and top exiting links (what links to external sites are being clicked). Google Analytics is a great free web stats tool to use on your website. WordPress.com Stats is a great plugin for a WordPress site that delivers great stats. Numbers don’t lie, so pay attention to them.

Now go write a song!

Innovate Don't Imitate

2011-02-09T19:12:00.000-08:00

~ A few words of wisdom I scoured from the famous Lefsetz Letter. Check out the whole article, and the blog as well HERE.

Be unique. And stay there. If you’re like everybody else, you can be imitated into oblivion.

If you make metal music, don’t start working with beats, don’t follow the flavor of the moment. You might have momentary success, but then what? You’ve alienated your core for an evanescent new fan base?

Don’t mind the slings and arrows. It goes with the territory. If you don’t have haters, you don’t have a profile.

Let this be a lesson to you. Don’t go for world domination. Be happy you triumph in your own niche. Maximize the brand you’ve got. And don’t change your identity!

how bln.kr works

2011-02-07T22:50:00.000-08:00

Why Is My Band Not Signed Yet?

2011-01-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

~ Here is an interesting post originally penned by music attorney Martin Frascogna. You can read the entire article HERE.

1. There’s Nothing Unique About Your Group
At this point everyone knows music alone doesn’t get you signed. Music is indeed the lowest topic on the totem poll. Labels are looking for a unique hook, a hook which enhances the groups musical element. More so, labels are looking for something which they currently don’t have. Bands need to show they’ve penetrated a niche in the market which labels don’t have access to. Show you’ve got a niche, and labels will recognize you’re the vehicle to take them there. Don’t show a niche and you’ve placed yourself in the same category as the other thousand bands standing outside the label’s office looking to take your head off.

2. Attitude
Never under estimate the power of a good attitude. Labels are essentially entering into a business relationship with artists and the last thing they want to do is enter into a relationship with a group who feels entitled to being signed or someone who's arrogant. You won't find a person in any industry who wants to do business with an asshole. More often than not, bands enter negotiations with this attitude of “what could you possible do for me.” Wrong. In their defense they think this is the way business is done. Hard noise negotiations tactics are for the insecure and entertainment wannabes. Rather, have your entertainment attorney negotiate. They negotiate for a living, understand subtle negotiation tactics and know which buttons to hit.

3. Funds Aren’t Flowing
Contrary to any preconceived notion, labels don’t have money. There is a small percentage of labels who are in the financial position to take on new acts. On top of this daunting nibble of information, there is even a fewer number of legitimate labels. Record labels are everywhere but the numbers means nothing. Musicians should only sign with labels who (a) are legitimate, (b) have money for development, and (c) have distribution in place. Today this is the equivalent to finding a unicorn wearing a diamond saddle who’s sitting in a pot of gold while smoking fountain of youth cigarettes with a leprechaun.

4. Timing Is Everything
Simply put, some bands don’t get signed based on timing. You may have the right package, the right deliver system, unique music, and a solid niche market but the label says “no”. If the label tells you the timing isn’t right, they are telling you the truth. Cycles in the music business make and break sales. If you aren’t falling in the right cycle in terms of market demand and genre success, hold tight, the cycle will more than likely rotate back in your favor. At this point, stay ahead of the curve and approach the label when the timing is rights.

5. The Delivery’s Wrong
Bands rarely get themselves signed and A&R is dead and has no pull. Unless a label approaches you, which is a rarity, labels hear about musicians from entertainment attorneys. Entertainment attorneys know how to structure label proposals and better yet, work with label executives on a personal and daily basis. They know which labels have money, which labels are signing, and which ones will bite on particular clients. Like it or not, attorneys can navigate past the gatekeepers and get straight to the decision makers. Rejections are common when bands pitch their products inappropriately. You get one shot. Pitch incorrectly, the door closes. Attorneys know how to pitch, when to pitch it, and where to pitch it. Use them and maximize your chances of getting signed. Not to mention your attorney should be the consistent figurehead who helps you navigate all levels, indie or major. Use them on the front end and allow them to grow with you throughout your career.

10 Tips for '11

2011-01-16T10:31:00.000-08:00

~ some good tips here from The Future of Music Blog. Check it out HERE.

1. Living a life in music is a privilege. Earn it.

There is very little more satisfying then spending time making music. If you make this your life’s work, then you can be truly joyful. However, the chances of being successful are extremely low and the only people who are going to get there are going to have to work hard and earn the right to be a musician. Respect the privilege of being free enough to have this choice (if you do) and honor the opportunity.

2. No one is in charge of your muse but you. Be happy and positive.

People can be their own worst enemy. Countless times I have heard artists tell me the reasons why their career is not working out. Most of the time they are putting blocks in their way and pointing fingers at people and things that are holding them back. Stop whining and blaming other people and make the conscious decision that you are going to be successful and that things are going to work out in your favor. You are creating your own reality every day, so make it a good one and excel.

3. Practice, practice, practice – then go for it. Over prepare.

You can never be ready enough for opportunity. Your live shows can always be better, your songs can be more amazing, and your playing can only improve. As the CEO of your own musician business, you can learn how to run the company more effectively, reach out to more fans and be an more effective social media marketer. Don’t hold yourself back by not being ready. Be a professional.

4. If you suck, you will never make it. Find a way to be great.

Lets face it, it is really hard to be amazing. Some people have the natural talent and you can see it in the first 5 seconds of meeting them. They are truly blessed. The rest of us have to find our niche, our passion, our calling and then reach for it. Ask people around you for feedback. Find what you are good at and focus on that. Get other people to help you. If you don’t stand out and rise above the pack, you will struggle forever. Be amazing.

5. Learn how to breathe and keep your focus. Stay calm.

There is nothing more pleasant than working with someone who knows who they are and what their goal is. Remember the old adages of thinking before you speak, and taking a deep breath before you lay into someone. Most of us have a lot going on in our lives and we can all benefit from staying focused on our goals and remaining calm in most situations. Learn yoga, exercise, run, meditate, sit still, breathe, learn who you are.

6. Don’t take yourself too seriously, no one else does. Have fun.

I am amazed at how many people spend so much time looking backwards and trying to understand what people think of them. This is worrying about the past and not embracing the future. Reviews are important, but don’t run to them or let them ruin your day. Not everyone is going to like you, but more people will if you are having a good time.

7. No matter how difficult things get, move forward. Don’t give up.

The only thing that will help your career take off is forward momentum. That is how you are going to reach your goals. A lot of people are stuck in their own mud. Take action, make a move and then see what happens. Don’t spend time procrastinating or worrying about how hard it is, just do something positive to advance your cause. You will feel much better by acting instead of waiting or worrying.

8. Find a way to make money. Start small and grow. Avoid being in debt.

This is probably the most important strategy of them all and why so many artists have gotten into trouble in the past by taking label advances. All that is, is a big loan. Get some kind of cash flow happening right away, no matter how small. Sell merch, play for the door, license your songs, play sessions, teach, write, start your musician business. The biggest mistake you can make is to borrow a lot of money and then spend it on things that don’t matter.

9. Be unique and true to your vision. Say something.

The people that we remember are the ones that are unique, exciting, special, provocative, fascinating, original, inventive, interesting. Music is a basic form of communication. The really successful artists have something to say and work on delivering their message. Your chances of success go up exponentially if you have a unique position and message and create a following of fans who really listen to you because you have something important to say.

10. Work and play with people you like every day. Collaborate Often.

Music is a tribal experience. You cannot make great music alone. Surround yourself with talented people, write together, play together, try new things. Bounce inspiration off of each other and learn. Listen to each other and let the music weave it’s way around you. Find a producer, songwriting partner, other musicians and dive in together. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

D.I.Y or DIE!

2011-01-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

~ Rick Goetz rules as does his Musician Coaching Blog. He recently capped off 2010 with "The Top 5 Business Mistakes of 2010"... Music business that is, in case you weren't following. If you are setting your dreams and goals on a future as a musician, I highly suggest you read the entire article HERE. In the meantime, here is a teaser to get you going...

I will let you in on a little insider secret – since the un-bundling of the album EVERYONE is making this shit up as they go along. There is no hard science to the initial stages of breaking new artists – it is a series of best guesses. Since no one is ever going to care about your career more than you do (at least I hope not) you may as well give it a try for yourself. Even if you fail you will no more about the job and be better qualified to find the right person who compliments your strengths and weaknesses.

There will, of course, be times when you are forced to wait for circumstances to change. It happens to all of us no matter what business we are in but I urge you to find ways of making these periods productive. No matter what major event in your career is looming large – get out and play, meet people and record as much as possible and remember – there is never going to be a perfect time to start that next phase of your career. Something will always be in your way if you let it.

Who Is The Enemy of the Industry?

2011-01-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

~ Happy New Year! Someone sent this gem of an article to me, and thought it might be appropriate here... and they were right!
Original article source can be found HERE.

How the Artist Became the Enemy of the Music Industry

By Jeff Price

In the 80’s when I was in high school, smoked clove cigarettes and looked like a bad reproduction of Robert Smith, musicians were larger than life. They were a persona, a style, a representation of what I was and how I wanted people to see me. I connected with them and they represented me.

I would spend hours listening to 7” singles and cassettes, reading fanzines, scouring the shelves of a record store to discover that next artist that might mean something to me and, as importantly, that no one else knew. The more obscure, self-released or “indie” the artist or label the better.

And the RIAA agreed. Music was special and the artists that created it were valued. Thou shalt covet the musician and fan. And the enemy? VHS movies and video games vying for my money and attention. The RIAA embarked on a campaign to frame music, and the artists that created it, as more important and of a higher cultural value then these other newcomers. I remember buying The English Beat’s “Special Beat Service” vinyl album with a big circular sticker on it stating in all caps, “Music, More Value for Your Money”. And I actually agreed with the RIAA. The VHS of Buckaroo Bonzai and the new Mario Bros. Nintendo game cartridge would come and go, but the song “I Confess” would forever hold a place in my heart.
The lines were drawn. The RIAA worked hard, even spent money to define music, artists and their fans as belonging to a higher cultural status that had more value than those of movies and video games.

More competition showed up for my “entertainment dollars” until new technology shifted the enemy from those competing with the music industry to those stealing from it. The problem got much larger than the episode of What's Happening!! when Rerun is at the Doobie Brothers concert with a tape recorder under his jacket (forward to 3:30 to re-live the stinging moment). Cassette recordings of albums were being mass produced and handed out or sold, CD burners chugged out crappy illegal copies of albums, smaller handheld recording devices allowed live shows to be more easily recorded and bootlegged. The enemy changed and grew in numbers.

Along came the Internet and MP3 compression technology as well as a new breed of technogeeks converting the huge song files on CDs to smaller ones and sending them around via the Internet. As net access via dial-up morphed to DSL and cable, the 25 minutes it used to take to download just one song changed to just minutes (or faster). Hard drives got bigger, computer sound cards and speakers improved, broadband net access became cheaper; it began to swirl out of control. Then Napster arrived: the first peer to peer filing, with the ability to scale in an unprecedented way allowing tens of millions of people to get their hands on music at the (double) click of a button. It quickly became the music industry’s public enemy number one.

And Napster was the event that triggered some in the industry to slowly lose their minds and creep towards insanity. Some in the industry began to move their cross hairs from Napster to ISP services and they kept going, looking to find someone, something (or anyone) to blame for the looming changes in control and revenue. Publicly and privately the industry attacked just about everything – retail stores, radio, press, the internet, computers, MTV, YouTube, MP3.com, instant messaging, CD burners, eMusic, Soundscan, independent promoters, all technology, but they could not slow it down. New enemies had to be found. Reason flew out the window and they went after the very thing that kept them alive, the music fan.

The RIAA, with the backing of its label members, started suing the very people that paid their salaries and made them money. Get grandma, get the high school student, get the college kids, take them all down. Sue them, scare them, serve them up legal notices, force them to settle in the hope that a message would go out to the world and stop their behavior. Use fear and intimidation to get the genie back in the bottle. Don’t bother to explain copyright or the value of it, scare the crap out of them.

But this too did not work. The shift accelerated. Someone must be blamed. This MUST be someone else’s fault – panic ensued.

Public service announcements were launched featuring major label artists stating that downloading music via peer to peer services was stealing, but there was no real educational campaign embarked on to truly, honestly explain the situation. Where was the new campaign of “Music, More Value for the Money”, the “Music is Special”, the “We love our Music Fans”, the, “Wow This is Awesome, There are More and More People Listening to Music Now so Lets Figure Out How to Take Advantage of This Great Opportunity” campaigns?

The industry started to crumble faster as the media and distribution outlets opened to everyone:

eMusic launched creating the first on-line digital music store with unlimited shelf space and inventory.

MySpace took off, every band, signed or not, could now have a fan webpage.

YouTube exploded, anyone could now make a music video and let potentially tens of millions of people see it.

iTunes launched, the iPod came out and music fans loved it. Everything could be available to buy and would never be out of stock.

TuneCore launched, every musician now had access to have his or her music distributed and be on the shelf to be bought.

And some in the old school industry lost their minds, completely. They searched for new people or companies to attack, but they had already blamed them all. With no targets left, in a last moment of desperation, these few weary disillusioned out-of-touch with reality souls attacked the only thing that was left, the artist. The very creators of the music, who were needed to fuel the machine they built, became the problem.

The artist was now the enemy.

In their minds, it was these other artists’ fault that the music they wanted to sell was not selling. These other artists just made too much music, and all this music confuses people, makes music fans not like music, makes them throw their hands up in the air and say, “There is just too much choice, I need someone else to tell me what I like. I can’t deal with other people suggesting bands and songs to me that are not working for record labels or radio stations.”

Sitting board members of the RIAA, A2IM and SoundExchange went on campaigns and made public statements to the press that “these” artists, these evil bad artists, were to blame! It was these non-sanctioned artists hurting album sales and revenue for the labels. They are the reason why the music industry is failing. We did not let them in, but here they are making and recording music. These artists are “crap”. These artists “clutter” the world with their non-sanctioned, non-approved songs. These artists are not “developed” and are failing, taking us all down with them. Through their magical ways, these artists stop the sales of “good” music. The problem is THESE artists. They have to be stopped. We must force them all back into the old model where the RIAA member record labels get to decide who gets to put music on the shelves of iTunes, Amazon and other stores.

To make matters worse, these “crap” musicians actually record music without first checking with us. It’s bad enough it’s on their own hard drives, how dare they put it on Apple’s to be found or bought if searched for. Radiohead, Justin Bieber, Arcade Fire, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, The Black Eyes Peas, Jay-Z are being hurt by these “other” artists having their music available for people to buy on iTunes. And whose idea was it in the first place to let them have a MySpace or Facebook page or upload a video to YouTube! Berklee School of Music, how dare you teach these artists anything without first getting our approval to let them in.

A last desperate witch-hunt started. Some other old guard industry professionals started hammering in on these foul, evil, who-the-hell-do-you-think-you-are artists – it’s your fault! You are now the enemy. It bubbled up and became a drumbeat to the point where other musicians in legendary bands even began to echo the sentiment.

You’re all crap. You are the problem.

Instead of embracing this new world – a world where more music is being created, distributed, bought, sold, shared and listened to by more people and more musicians than at any point in history - the RIAA, A2IM, SoundExchange complacently sit silent as their board members, and in one last desperate attempt, attack the creators of music.

But it did not work. 2010 was the year of the artist with more artists selling more music now than at any point in history. And now as these few old school guard sit and ramble insanely about how music is killing music, after they have attacked and blamed everything and everyone for the shift in power and loss of control, there is only one more thing left for them to blame…themselves.

5 Predictions for the Music Industry in 2011

2010-12-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

~ This is amazing...
Article source HERE.

1. Subscription Services Will Be Popular, But Not Profitable

If Spotify’s $26.7 million loss in 2009 is any indication, subscription services still have a ways to go before they’ll actually become profitable. Hell, Last.fm isn’t even turning a profit yet — although it could be getting close.

Still, this year and the end of last year saw services gaining even more steam — MOG launched its all-you-can-eat service in December, followed by Android and iPhone apps, and, most recently, an app in the Chrome Web Store. Rdio also launched to much excitement, and Slacker Radio announced that it would be launching an on-demand offering as well (possibly across a variety of devices to be unveiled at CES).

Yes, streaming music services have been around for a while now, but what’s changed in the past year is the number of devices you can access them on — everything from the iPad to Roku to the Xbox Kinect to the upcoming Chrome OS devices. The ability to listen to music on-demand across a variety of devices is sure to be a hit among consumers — it just remains to be seen how these services will monetize.

2. More Artists Will Finally Get Social

You know your friend in that band that never gets gigs? The guy who basically has no idea how to use Twitter and thinks Foursquare is a playground game? Well, even that guy is going to start realizing in the coming year that he can’t just keeping sticking his head in the sand where social media is concerned.

I mean, Billboard recently tapped Next Big Sound to gather stats for its “Social 50″ Chart; we’re talking about a publication that’s been around since 1894 paying attention to social metrics where artist popularity is concerned. Let’s hear that date again: 1894. So basically the fact that you’re over 30 is no excuse for not having a social media presence.

Add to that MTV’s burgeoning interest in the social space — its assignation of a Twitter DJ and the launch of its new music discovery tool — and you’ve got a lot of eyes on the digital sphere.

In the coming year, I see more artists following in the footsteps of socially savvy bands like Kanye West (for better or worse), Ben Folds and Pomplamoose, and learning how to use social tools to their advantage.

3. Music Videos Will Continue Their Renaissance Online

This past year, a very sizable player entered the online music video space: Vevo, which launched at the end of 2009. In just one year, Vevo has become a very worthy adversary to sites like MTV.com when it comes to hosting music videos, and MTV, for its part, has started amping up its online/on-air video output as well.

Now, we’re not saying Vevo has single-handedly sparked the renaissance of the music video, but it has helped give the format a kick in the you-know-what. That platform, coupled with the growing ability of artists like OK Go, Arcade Fire and Kanye West (he’s everywhere on this list) to create true cinematic, and sometimes interactive masterpieces — which are the bread and butter of the viral web — have ensured that online music videos will continue to be eminently shareable in the coming year.

4. Ping Will Never Take Off — Never

Apple’s new social network, Ping, launched to much excitement this year, only to disappoint those of us in the media who were keen on replacing MySpace with a new locale for music discovery. Why? Well, there were scant few bands on the site at launch, and two months out of the gate, the site boasted only 2,000 artists. (The process to get an account on Ping is not as simple as creating a username and logging in; Apple needs to vet bands before granting them access.)

In the ensuing months, Ping has made an effort to become more social, adding Twitter integration and social playlists, but the site’s focus — predictably — seems to be more on commerce than social. For example: Yes, you can create and share playlists, but you can’t use your own songs to build said playlists — you must assemble them from iTune’s song previews. So, basically, by sharing playlists users are creating free advertising for iTunes rather than trading tunes.

Yes, MySpace may be suffering some financial woes (and a bit of an identity crisis), but it’s obviously a much more social sphere than a place for commerce (which may explain the financial woes). Case in point: It just added a suite of fan management tools for artists. Ping may not die this year — Apple is a tenacious beast — but I don’t see it gaining any traction either.

5. Music Piracy Will Not Die

Despite the looming spectre of the COICA Internet Censorship and Copyright Bill, people will continue to file share and steal music. They’ve been doing it for 10-plus years and they’re not stopping now.

Unfortunately, artists will continue to have to find creative ways to take advantage of the leaky nature of the web by adopting pay-what-you-wish models (a la Girl Talk and Trent Reznor) and taking advantage of the buzz that a leak builds (a la The National).

That’s not to say that matters are looking sunny for artists. It’s likely they will have to continue to diversify their methods of garnering cash by ramping up touring and licensing deals.

Shameless Promotion

2010-12-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

MTV Shows

Focus Your Efforts

2010-11-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

~ Article source found HERE. This is just one opinion, but I find it to be pretty on point. Of course there are the few lucky ones that will slip through the cracks that will be able to avoid grinding out some real hard work and sacrifice, but ya really can't count on that if you take yourself seriously.

If you're a hobbyist, then enjoy the considerable fruits that come from musical composition, performance, and direct distribution. Music is one of the greatest pleasures in life, whether performing, listening, mashing-up, or discussing. But pretending to pursue a professional career - while actually living the life of a hobbyist - is a tragedy.

So if your statistical chances of making it are close to zero, what's the better approach? It's not a romantic, DIY, Long Tail-inspired game plan. It's slogging it out on the road for 200-plus dates a year, sleeping in the van, getting your stuff stolen, finding it again, getting ripped off by the club owner a day later, fighting with your bandmates.

It's sitting in a room for hours writing incredible music. And recording, performing and perfecting that music every day. Even on Thanksgiving.

It's saying goodbye to comfy nights on the couch with your girlfriend, a round of beers with your buddies, or two-week vacations. And the same thing goes for the team, which needs to be equally committed to sacrifice and total success.

Why not just get a real job? It's also explaining to everyone - including your family - why you're barely surviving, why your art takes precedence over everything else in your life. And this is not a modern-day reality: artists have struggled for centuries to make ends meet. The numbers have always been stacked against musicians, internet or not.

And then, when all of those sacrifices are made, when you cut out all the comforts you think you're entitled to... then what? You get a lottery ticket, to possibly become self-sustaining and even wildly successful.

And if your number comes up, what happens then? If you actually get substantial traction, if you can fill 200 rooms a year, then you're now ready to work some more - a lot more. To expand the base, structure partnerships with professionals, distribution partners, management agencies, and even labels. Because even total control needs to be sacrificed at some point.

Copyright Your Music!

2010-11-27T09:19:00.000-08:00

SATAN IS MY TOUR MANAGER

2010-11-26T01:59:00.000-08:00

Music Submission

2010-11-21T14:42:00.000-08:00

I get a lot of requests from bands / musicians to check out their press kit / demos / videos etc.

Well now you can send me all that stuff HERE.

Thanks,

Blasko

The Fight Continues

2010-11-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

U.S. Senate takes up bill combatting illegal downloading
by Adam B. Vary (EW.COM)

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee announced today it had unanimously approved a bill giving the Justice Department new powers to combat websites that illegally offer copyrighted content for sale, download, or streaming. The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D, Vt.) and Orrin Hatch (R, Utah), would allow federal law enforcement to effectively shut down websites that demonstrably participate in the regular unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material. Several Hollywood guild organizations, including SAG and the DGA, issued a joint-statement in support of the bill, saying, "We believe today’s committee action is the first step in making it much more difficult for rogue site operators to run their sites with impunity."

Tour Reality Check

2010-11-13T13:51:00.000-08:00

~ A buddy sent this to me. Just thought it was kinda funny... enjoy!

How to Tour in a Band or Whatever

by Thor Harris

1-Don’t complain. Bitching, moaning, whining is tour cancer. If something is wrong fix it or shut the fuck up you fucking dick. Goddamn.

2-If you fart, claim it.

3-Don’t lose shit. Everybody loses shit. Don’t fucking do it. (Asshole).

4-Don’t fuck anyone in the band. There are tons of people to fuck who are not in this band. Dumbass.

5-If you feel like shit all the time, drink less at the gig. You will play better & feel better. What are you… a child? Some have the endurance for self abuse. Most don’t.

6-Remember the soundman’s name. He will do a better job.

7- Eat oranges. Cures constipation & prevents colds.

8-Masturbate. Duh… Where & when? Be creative. You’re an artist right?

9-If YOU can’t carry your suitcase 3 blocks, it’s too goddamn big.

10-Respect public space in the van. Don’t clutter, you fuck.

11-If you borrow something, return it. Not Fucked Up.

12-Do not let the promoter dick you or talk you out of the guarantee.

13- Driver picks the music.

14-One navigator only (usually sitting shotgun). Everyone else shut the fuck up.

15-Soundcheck is for checking sounds. Shut the fuck up while everyone else is checking.

16-Don’t wander off. Let someone know where you are.

17-Clean up after yourself. What are you… a goddamn toddler?

18-Touring makes everyone bi-polar. Ride the waves as best you can and remember, moods pass. So don’t make any snap decisions or declarations when you are drunk or insane.

19-Fast food is POISON.

20-The guestlist is for friends, family & people you might want to fuck. Everyone else can pay. They have day jobs.

21- Don’t evaluate your whole life while you’re sitting in a janitor closet waiting to go on. You think you’re above having shitty days at work? Shut up & do your goddamn job.

LimeWire Gets Shut Down

2010-10-28T23:14:00.000-07:00

~ What do you all think about this?

A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday granted the music industry’s request to shut down the popular LimeWire file-sharing service, which had been found liable for copyright infringement.

The ruling by Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan federal court halts one of the world’s biggest services for letting consumers share music, movies and TV shows for free over the Internet.

Saying that LimeWire’s parent Lime Wire LLC intentionally caused a “massive scale of infringement” involving thousands of works, Wood issued a permanent injunction that requires the company to disable its “searching, downloading, uploading, file trading and/or file distribution functionality.”

Record companies “have suffered — and will continue to suffer — irreparable harm from Lime Wire’s inducement of widespread infringement of their works,” Wood wrote.

She called the potential damages “staggering,” and probably “well beyond” the New York-based company’s ability to pay.

The signed ruling was made available by The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents music companies. It has said Lime Wire has cost its members hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. A copy of the ruling was not immediately available on the public court docket.

In a statement, Lime Wire expressed disappointment at the ruling. “While this is not our ideal path, we’re working with the music industry to move forward,” it said.

Lime Wire said the injunction lets it continue testing a service that allows users to buy music from independent labels. The company said it hopes to negotiate agreements with the entire music industry ahead of a full launch.

Founded in 2000 by Mark Gorton, Lime Wire has been a thorn in the side of record companies because millions of fans used it as an easy means to find and download music for free.

U.S. recorded music sales have fallen in value to $7.7 billion in 2009 from $14.5 billion in 1999 according to the RIAA. The music industry blames online and physical piracy as the primary reasons for the decline.

Tuesday’s injunction “will start to unwind the massive piracy machine that Lime Wire and Gorton used to enrich themselves immensely,” the RIAA said in a statement. It said the court will consider damages at a January trial.

The RIAA represents labels owned by Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Group, owned by the Terra Firma private equity firm.

LimeWire has said it has more than 50 million monthly users. These users accounted for 58 percent of people who said they downloaded music from a peer-to-peer service in 2009, a survey by NPD Group showed.

As technology and broadband speeds have improved, LimeWire has also been used to illegally share movies and popular TV shows, attracting criticism from Hollywood as well.

Wood’s decision to shut the LimeWire service followed a unanimous 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling against file-sharing service Grokster Ltd.

In that ruling, the court said companies could be sued for copyright infringement if they distributed services designed to be used for that purpose, even if the devices could also be used lawfully.

The case is Arista Records LLC et al v Lime Group et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 06-05936.

Some Great Advice

2010-10-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

~Here is some good advice pulled from a much longer interview with Neil Patel that I found on Musician Coaching. You can check it out HERE.

MusicianCoaching.com:
Last question, if you had a group together and were trying to get their music heard online and offline what would your (very basic) strategy be for getting heard? I know the core music business isn’t your expertise but the music business is disarray at the moment. I figure you might have some great ideas.

Neil:
I would first create band pages with my music on all of the major social networks. After I have done that I would go to all of the other popular bands that are similar and make them my friends. And lastly, I would then interact with other bands through their social profiles. I would do this through commenting, which is a great way to drive their visitors back to my band profile page.

I Want To Meet You!

2010-10-15T04:56:00.000-07:00

Well, if a life of being hungry and tired sounds like a good idea, I would definitely like to help you achieve your goals... seriously, if you would like to chat about your music and / or a career in music I am now available to do so. Music180 is a brand new company that I am proud to be a part of. You can check out my profile here

I look forward to meeting you!

Blasko

Get Signed to RoadRunner Records

2010-10-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

Yup kids, ya heard it here first... now get uploading!

http://signmeto.roadrunnerrecords.com/

Ask Blasko

2010-10-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

October... a great time of year. I must be feeling inspired. I made a few changes around here. Some of you may notice a new Blog title and this months poll. Social networking: how important is it to you? I recently deleted my MySpace, Twitter and Facebook as I found them to be distractions. I felt my focus was better served here and on my company.

That being said, the new Blog plan is to be more interactive. I want you to email me at askblasko@gmail.com and send me some pertinent questions that you would like to get some perspective on. I am also going to bring on some guest bloggers (peeps from the business) to tackle some answers as well.

Thanks,

Blasko

So Ya Wanna Be a Rockstar?

2010-10-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

~ I nabbed this off of the Music Think Tank blog. Originally penned by Jonathan Ostrow (his info is at the bottom of the post). Enjoy...

The idea that any emerging artist can become the next multi-platnum recording artist is null and void. Save for very rare instances, there is just not the level of demand in music that creates the necessary environment for a superstar to develop, and those who do break through at that level either had the connections or the marketing team that was smart enough to mold the musician to look and sound exactly how the labels want them to. But this is nothing new.

As the DIY Musician movement strengthens, musicians are continually gaining more understanding as to how they can sustain a career in music without the need to sign to a record label and sell over 1 million copies. There is a seemingly limitless way for musicians to use their knowledge of any and all aspects of music to create a sustainable career doing what they love:

Music Licensing

Music licensing is a great opportunity for any aspiring musician to get paid for their recorded works to appear in TV and film. Helen Austin, a musician who has dedicated her career in music to licensing her works has put together a wonderful article on laying out the 4 Steps to Film and TV Placement.

Live Performance

The live performance sector is seen by many as the new focal point of the music industry. Although ticket giant Live Nation reported a drop in ticket sales for the summer of 2010, the live performance scene surrounding the emerging music scene has been flourishing. A new trend for musicians, especially in the upcoming hip-hop scene is to forgo signing with a record label, only to sign with a major booking agency who can effectively act as the liaison between the artist and other, well established artists and venues.

Studio/ Session Musician

There is always a demand for highly trained, highly qualified musicians to step in and add support on an album. This is not limited to any instrument or genre and can range from freelance work to working contractually for a major label. However, as the demand is high, so is the competition - in order to work as a studio/ session musician, you MUST be able to read music at a fluent rate and be able to adjust your playing to suit the needs of the client.

Band Manager

The negotiation skills and industry understanding gained from your own endeavors are the perfect skill set to get you started as a new band manager.

Music Teacher

Teaching music can be done at quite a few different levels of understanding and pay-grade, ranging from private in-home lessons up to collegiate-level music study. While it is certainly an attainable goal to establish a few clients and teach out of your own home without having a degree in music, it is almost guaranteed that you will need to have a degree in music and possibly even teaching in order to teach in any sort of professional setting.

Pit Band For Off-Broadway Productions

Although most broadway productions use classical music and orchestras, there are many off-broadway productions that contain much more contemporary forms of music. National Shows like Cirque De Sole and Blue Man Group, as well as many other smaller performances have scaled down from the orchestra to a smaller, Rock n’ Roll oriented music section.

Instrument Repair Technician

This can be done as either a part-time or full time job, and depending on your level of specialization, it can greatly range in pay-scale. Though you may be able to find work based on understand you’ve gain from your own research, this is one of those jobs that typically requires some sort of apprenticeship before you are fully hired as a professional technician. If this is something you are considering, there are quite a few resources out there, such as NAPBIRT that provide a free exchange of information for instrument repair technicians.

Book Bands For a Local Venue

Booking other music acts for a local venue is a great way to not only learn the inter-workings of the live music industry, but to gain some potentially valuable contacts should you ever decide to give it a go yourself.

Ghost Songwriter

Many musicians and artists have forged especially lucrative careers out of ghost songwriting for singers, performers and pop-stars. It is a fact that while Britney Spears was at the height of her fame, a woman named Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was writing the songs for her. More recently, Stefani has gone on to become one of the most successful pop stars of all time under the name Lady Gaga.

House Band/ Residency

There are clubs, bars, theaters, restaurants, hotels, resorts and even cruises all over the world that look for groups or solo musicians willing to act as the resident band. These residencies can range from nightly to weekly to monthly and offer a steady stream of income while you take the time needed to write and establish a fan base.

Page Turner

This one seems a little ridiculous, but there is actually a demand for ‘page turners’ who can literally sit and read along with musicians, turning the pages of sheet music at exactly the right moment. Check out this article from NPR that explains how it all works.

Music Transcriber

There are plenty of musicians and singer-songwriters who lack the understanding of music theory to be able to transcribe their music. Many musicians have found freelance work by charing an hourly rate to sit down with other musicians who play back what they’ve written while it is all transcribed on sheet music. Not a bad gig if you enjoy listening to music at an extremely slowed-down rate…

Film/ Video Game Scoring

Similar to music licensing, there is a plethora of major and indie film and/or video game makers looking for musicians to score their work.

Freelance Music Journalism

There is no one with more potential to become a freelance music journalist than a musician. The understanding of music theory and the music industry as whole can be just the qualifications needed to write insightful reviews of albums or live performances or maybe even essays for about the current trends or state of the music industry.

Music Production

Of course, with the DIY music movement becoming so contagious, many musicians have begun to take the many aspects of music production into their own hands. Ranging from recording to mixing to mastering, many musicians have created sustainable careers in the field of Music Production, allowing them to then later fund their own projects with their own money and experience.

These are just a few of the many, many ways to use your love for music to establish a sustainable career. While not all of the possibilities are glamorous or even all that lucrative, meaning it may take a few different revenue streams to make this music-filled lifestyle sustainable, you can at least rest assured knowing that your life is fueled by what you love… Music.

Written by Jonathan Ostrow (@miccontrol); he is the co-founder of MicControl, a music blogging network based on a social networking platform. This article originally appeared on the MicControl Blog on Sept. 21, 2010.

Home is Where You Park the Van

2010-09-28T05:36:00.000-07:00

~ The easiest way to make money is not to spend it. When you are starting out it is essential that you cut corners and sacrifice as much as possible so that you can hopefully turn a profit. Thanks to the DIY Musician blog for these helpful links. I wish we had these tools when we were touring and couch surfing in the mid 80's! http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/2010/09/tour-smart-dummy-couchsurf-and-save-money/

Touring: an extended period of physical exertion, grueling drives, bad nutritional choices, and little rest, where breaking even is often regarded as a smashing success. Sounds fun, right? It is! But don’t make it any harder on yourself by sleeping in the van every night. There are two great websites that can help link you up with some free, hospitable accommodations.

http://www.couchsurfing.org/- is “a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit.” Basically, this is an online resource for those who want to travel cheap and then return the favor or pay it forward when someone else from the CouchSurfing community is headed through your neck of the woods. Home-stay experiences are rated so that both the host and the guest feel confident and safe.

http://betterthanthevan.com/- “free places to stay for bands on tour.” Essentially, this is like CouchSurfing geared specifically towards musicians and fans. You get a warm bed, soft couch, or a hard floor with a sleeping bag (either way, it is better than the van or paying your hard-earned gig money on motels every night). The host gets to show their appreciation and feel a stronger connection to you as an artist and potentially forge a lasting friendship that can be vital to your continued touring efforts.

Check both sites out and see which one works better for you. And remember, the key to using these kinds of services/communities successfully is to reciprocate the generosity. Don’t be a take-take-take/gimme-gimme-gimme kinda person. Go out there and tour and stay at peoples’ homes for free, but open up your house or apartment to other musicians when they’re on tour, too.

Twit Tips

2010-09-25T04:57:00.000-07:00

~ Some helpful twitter tips I grabbed from here: http://mashable.com/2010/09/15/twitter-tips-bands/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

1. Build a fan base:

So you’re just about to burst on the scene, showering the populace with your synth-heavy, electropop goodness. How do you go about capturing the attention of those who will make or break you: your future fanbase?

According to Brian Levine, manager and social media consultant for the emerging act Bananas for Mowgli, “Up and coming bands with little to no released music are able to take advantage of Twitter by aligning themselves with artists who share a similar fan base or aesthetic. First thing you should do is start following these people as well as the most relevant taste makers in your genre or ’scene’ if you will. Use Twitter management tools to expand your network and be in the right circles.”

That’s what Levine is doing right now for Bananas for Mowgli, whose debut album drops on October 26.

2. Collaborate:

Do you follow some awesome band on Twitter that you would kill to jam with? Why not tweet at them? It can’t hurt. You never know who’s going to be down to hook up with you — especially if you don’t try. Eric Victorino of The Limousines was able to score a kind of collaboration with DJ Samantha Ronson by merely paying attention to mentions of his band on Twitter.

“We keep tabs on who’s talking about [us] and who’s mentioning us,” Victorino says. “Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan were both talking about us once, so we just reached out to them, like, ‘Hey, hi.’ And from that came — I wouldn’t say a friendship — but just sort of an e-mail conversation with her. And whenever Samantha would go DJing, we’d give her a new track.”

3. Trade a track for a tweet:

Are you a smaller band with a pretty strong fan base? Well, use the hell outta them, we say — but give them something in return. Paul Lamontagne of Bearstronaut used Twitter as both a method of releasing the band’s new single, “Shannon,” [click to download] and gaining more followers.

“We used something called ‘Tweet for a Track,’” he says. “Fans can — for the cost of one tweet — [get the song]. It gets reposted on their Twitter to all their followers, and they get the single. No money changes hands, but we get to reach as many followers as possible.”

4. Get your fans to promote you:

Similar to trading a tweet for a tune, crowdsourcing your fans when it comes to promotions can also be a boon. Brian McClelland of He Whose Ox Is Gored told us, “[Our Twitter following] really did pick up once we started talking with people, and it’s kind of snowballed from there… We’ve been getting some radio play, so we’re going to go on our Twitter and do merch giveaways to people who call up and request a song.” Get He Whose Ox Is Gored’s new single, “Cloven Hoof” here.

5. Have a personality:

Yeah, your lyrics may be tight and your beats danceable, but that doesn’t mean you’re socially literate. Pick the wittiest member of the band and assign him or her the role of official Twitterer, or “Twitter Czar” as Westin Glass of The Thermals deems himself. If fans can tell you’re having fun via your tweets, they’re much more apt to engage with you (and attend shows, buy records, join a cult in your name, etc.).

“Last May, when we were doing our spring tour, we were posting on our Twitter and we were just going crazy on there,” Glass says. “One of us would be sitting in the front of the van and one of us would be sitting in the back of the van and we’d be just like just posting all kinds of crazy inside jokes, nicknames for all the people in the band. We were just trying to make each other laugh by posting all sorts of weird stuff that probably made no sense to anyone, but people seemed to like it…. I just post jokes and song lyrics from ‘90s epic hit songs, pictures of Axl Rose and, I don’t know, just whatever.”

6. Organize and aftershow:

According to Jon Foreman of Switchfoot, “The best music happens after the show.” Foreman often uses Twitter to organize said aftershows. He merely sends out a time and location, and the crowds come running. Most of the time, they’re totally lo-fi, with just an acoustic guitar — but the audience can number up to 500 fans.

Recently Foreman had a run-in with the cops in Florida after they broke up one of his on-the-fly gigs. What’s more rock ‘n’ roll than that, really? Still, Foreman is now taking greater care to run his Twitter-organized shows by the local authorities before rocking out.

7. Retain your independence:

When you’re in the public eye, most of what you say and do goes through a kind of filter, which makes it hard to retain some measure of indie cred. Remember Hanson? The teen pop group from 1997 who took the world by storm with their jam “MMMBop?” Of course you do. Don’t front. We all had that tape.

Back in the day, Hanson was signed to Mercury Records. But after Mercury got swallowed by Island Def Jam in the merger of PolyGram and Universal in 1998, Hanson left and put out their third release, Underneath, in 2004 on their own label, 3cg Records. They’ve been indie ever since, releasing their latest album, Shout It Out, this year.

“[Twitter] allows you to take out the middle man,” Taylor Hanson tells us. “If we had had Twitter [back when we started], it would have moved us even more rapidly toward the idea that has made it possible for us to continue as a band, which is, in part, that direct connection with your fans…. And with Twitter, it’s really about, ‘how do you make that connection?’ …. It would have been a really key component for us, probably moving faster toward being independent. Because it would have even further empowered and encouraged us by being able to communicate with our fan base, and stay really proactive with them, regardless of changing label structures and corporate mergers.”

8. Share photos:

While we wouldn’t suggest giving followers a flipbook of your life, sometimes a picture can — to be totally cliche — be worth a thousand words. “I enjoy putting up pictures of [my] kids doing things because it humanizes [me] just enough with photographs without getting too much closer,” Ben Folds tells us. “It’s a pretty mean world out there sometimes, it’s kind of nice to make someone a little more human.”

Folds also includes his wife, Fleur, on the action. “[Fleur] feels like she can provide another angle to it,” he says of his wife, who once ran the main newspaper in the Turks and Caicos Islands for five years and was also a photographer for that paper.

“We’re actually going to make a book of TwitPics together — like a coffee table sort of thing,” he says. “So on the left page, if you have Fleur’s photograph of the moment and on the right page you have my photograph of the moment, it actually tells kind of an interesting story that way.”

9. Have a contest:

Everyone loves a good contest — it combines fierce, tooth-and-nail competition with prizes. What could be better than that? If you’re edging up to an album release or a tour, a contest can be a great way to drum up some publicity and to engage your fans by letting them feel like a part of your creative world.

“I wanted to give out commemorative posters to all of the concert-goers at my first two record release party shows,” says Pete Yorn, whose self-titled disc drops on September 28. “So I was like, ‘Make a poster everyone, it will be fun.’ It’s cool that people actually made them; it’s just another way to see the artistry of the fan base and how creative they are. Usually that’s the best stuff. I’m blown away by how talented they are; they come up with really cool stuff.”

10. Keep up with tech trends:

OK, so Twitter basically approached Arcade Fire about offering a deal on their new album, The Suburbs, through the @EarlyBird program. Still, the band has been majorly into social media of late — playing a live-streamed show on YouTube and even launching an interactive in-browser video with Google. The band was therefore a natural choice for Twitter when it came time to pick an album to sell via the service.

“We saw that Arcade Fire had a new album coming out, and there was a lot of anticipation around it and the fact that they were doing a live stream on YouTube and taking a Q&A from Twitter,” says a rep for Twitter. “We knew that they were familiar with the platform and open to using it in innovative ways, so we thought it was a great opportunity to get them involved in our @EarlyBird program and also make a pretty compelling story to help with their album sales.”

Pics from Russia

2010-09-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

~ Thanks - http://www.darkside.ru/report/4864/

The Jerk and the Music Business

2010-09-11T02:39:00.000-07:00

Demo-Listen!

2010-09-04T04:13:00.000-07:00

So, I am starting a monthly poll. This month, Sep 2010, the poll is how much would you pay to have an industry professional listen to and critique your band's demo?

There are many sites that offer this service like www.taxi.com and www.citylightsent.com just to name a few. Have you or anyone you know used these services or ones like it? How was the experience? Could it be improved somehow?

Thanks for your feedback,

Blasko

The King is Dead; Long Live the King

2010-08-29T03:41:00.000-07:00

~ Check out this highlight from a longer article I found here: http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/2010/08/has-the-internet-really-destroyed-the-music-business/

And isn’t that what this should be about? The fall of the music industry – and the ascendence of online music – hasn’t benched the careers of musicians destined for stardom, it’s opened up opportunities for people who never would have gotten any playing time in the first place. Never before have bands had so many avenues with which to get their music out to potential fans, and we should be embracing that instead of mourning the loss of a machine that will never be resurrected in its previous form. Are you going to become a millionaire musician with this new model? Probably not. But you probably weren’t going to in the first place.

Adjust your expectations. Play more shows. Offer more merch. Use the new technology to your advantage, because it’s not going anywhere. Don’t waste your time wondering what could have been, if only major-label support were still a cash-cow reality. It’s pointless. Push forward, and don’t become one of those people who complains about how things were better back in the day. They weren’t.

Are You Ready For A Manager?

2010-07-02T03:51:00.000-07:00

~ Hmmm, do you think you need a manager? Well if so, this little piece by Rick Goetz I found on Musicthinktank.com might be the info that you are looking for. Enjoy...

Let’s start at the very beginning – do you have anything to manage? I know – sounds like a stupid question, but is it? I’m not asking you if you have lots of work that you could use help with, nor am I making light of the pure volume of work that is the creation of both recorded and live music. What I am asking you is do you have something ready to bring to market that needs managing or are you still building out your product? There is no shame (I’ll repeat it again) NO SHAME in being in the developmental phases of your career. We live in an instant gratification kind of world, which is why when I write articles like this I know statistically that a majority of people won’t have made it this far because they were looking for a “get famous now” button. Take your time and develop your product – this will help you rise above the MILLIONS of other people who went out to guitar center purchased their first instrument and recording gear and had the first song they ever wrote up on MySpace the next day hoping for some kind of miracle won’t ever come.

Back to management – let’s talk about what you should have together before even considering approaching someone to invest in your career. *** Notice I said invest because whether or not they spend a dime on you management is an enormous expenditure of someone’s time*** Before approaching anyone to manage you- have most of these together:

No apology recordings of your music
Professional looking photos of you or your group
A basic – findable website (custom URL) you can update yourself
A Mailing list and a place where people can sign up on said list
A social network presence (twitter, facebook, myspace, youtube)
Live performance footage (preferably in front of a crowd)
A well written bio highlighting your accomplishments

These are the building blocks and the marketing materials you will use over and over and over again. There are no words, no email sales pitch and probably not even naked photos of an executive in compromising positions that will get you taken more seriously than having the items above in place. Many of these items can get pricey so do your homework and shop around if you feel that any of these items are best done by work for hire. Having these materials will get your more gigs, will get you taken more seriously by your peers and potential fans and ultimately (if you have a product people want) will help you build a business in music.

“Okay – wait – isn’t this super basic? Does he think we are Idiots?” No, absolutely not. All I can tell you is that if you buy into Google querries as a representative sample of the population (I do) it would seem that aspiring musicians are searching for the wrong things to get ahead. Check out what people search for online for music related terms according to a Google AdWords querry in June 2010:

Term: “Get My Music Heard Online” Global Monthly Searches: less than 10

Term: “Get more people to my shows” Global Monthly Searches: less than 10

Term: “Make a Living In Music” Global Monthly Searches: 46

Term: “Marketing My Music” Global Monthly Searches: 110

Term: “Get a Music Manager” Global Monthly Searches: 590

Term: “How to Get A Record Deal” Global Monthly Searches: 18,100

Draw your own conclusions but I think too many people are looking for a shortcut to fame that barring an act of God or Justin Bieber just doesn’t exist.

Who Is Your Audience?

2010-06-29T03:40:00.000-07:00

~ As a band it is important that you understand, acknowledge and engage your audience. The world is not your target demographic, at least not at first. It is important to focus on a specific group and then spiral out from there. Here is an article I found this morning on www.theartistfarm.com that backs this concept:

Typically when the term “lifestyle business” is used it means a business that is established to afford the founder a particular level of income so they can enjoy a specific lifestyle. In this definition we are talking about the lifestyle of the business owner. As a lifestyle business owner you might choose to have a business that allows you to work out of your home, or an internet-based business, or as an artist you could choose to tour the country playing your music. This is part of the lifestyle you desire to live.

There is another definition for “lifestyle business” that implies the business is makingproducts or services for customers that choose to live a certain lifestyle. There are many businesses that appeal to people based on their lifestyle. Businesses that fit into this category include music, yoga, natural grocery stores, and skate or surf shops among others. The actual product made or sold by these businesses appeal to customers who appreciate, embody, and live a certain lifestyle.

This second definition is the most important one to understand as you grow your business. In this post I’d like to point out how I have seen artists successfully capitalize on this understanding.

First, think of who your audience is – visualize them. What defines these people? What do they have in common? Next, recognize that you are a business… period. This means you must sell products in order to sustain yourself. Yes, I realize that’s not as sexy as just being a musician but it’s the truth. You are making products for your customers/fans. What do they want? Almost every band sells t-shirts and caps but what else might your customers/fans want? What else fits in with their lifestyle and the lifestyle you promote? Thinking this way and creating these products is not selling out – it’s giving your customers/fans another chance to get closer to your brand. This is good, healthy business.

Some examples:

Jack Johnson – Jack comes from the surfer culture in Hawaii and California. His songs evoke this feeling. He makes films that speak to this. Though this isn’t a revenue stream, he has greening partnerships that embody his message. He has arecord label that signs bands of a similar vibe. Each year he produces a festival on Hawaii that benefits schools on the island. Jack clearly sees that he’s in a lifestyle business.

Zac Brown Band – A southern rock band (part country, part roots rock) pushes the southern message in their songs and through a beautiful cookbook. Zac owned a restaurant so it fits with his message and branding. He also holds a BBQ before shows which you can buy passes to. I even read somewhere that he sells a line of BBQ sauces. Zac has created a solid lifestyle business and each product reinforces his brand.

Unkle – Jame Lavelle and his team clearly decided that they are also in the visual art business, not just the music business. Their vinyl releases and limited edition releases include posters and full books with gallery style art. Even the packaging is top notch with unusual layout and design. The presentation elevates the music, the image, and the brand of the artist. Though it must be time consuming to craft such an involved product, it also sells for a higher price than the standard product and fans appreciate it. Unkle gets that they are in a lifestyle business.

Jimmy Buffet - Of course, Jimmy Buffet is the king of lifestyle business. He has frozen food products, margarita mix, restaurants, apparel, books, albums, beer, and more all of which strengthen his image as the ultimate summer time, good time brand.

It’s most important to focus on building your business where the momentum is. If that’s touring or albums then by all means focus on that. But as you start to get some traction and business starts moving, see that you are in business just like any other business owner. Find products for your fans/customers that they will want and that will bring them closer to you. Creating other products that fit the lifestyle of your fans can be just as artful as creating music and your fans will appreciate it just as much.

Article source: http://theartistfarm.com/2010/06/the-music-business-is-a-lifestyle-business/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theartistfarm+%28The+Artist+Farm+Ideas%29

the Blasko Overdrive Pedal

2010-05-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

~Sorry for the shameless promotion...

Blasko and Pro Tone Pedals team up to bring you the Blasko Bass Overdrive pedal.

Crossroads, TX – May 18, 2010 – Widely recognized bassist, Blasko (Ozzy Osbourne, Ex-Rob Zombie) , and cutting edge guitar effects manufacturer Pro Tone Pedals have joined forces to deliver to you a bass overdrive designed to bring new levels of tone shaping, growl inducing, low end pulverizing distortion.

The Blasko Bass Overdrive pedal is meant to be as versatile as Blasko himself. In the course of an evening onstage with Ozzy, Blasko will need to cover a wide range of styles from tender ballads to hard charging metal anthems. This pedal performs perfectly in such an eclectic set list.

The Blasko Bass Overdrive comes equipped with a Baxandall EQ system for ultimate tone shaping capabilities and sits in the pocket of low to medium-high gain; at low settings you’ll be pleased to feel its vintage amp like response and tone, while at high gain settings you’ll get some spicy gain heating up your signal, sending it into a modern metal/industrial realm. Pushing the ‘Hi’ and ‘Low’ controls will give you a more scooped midrange and add additional grit to your signal. Additionally, the unit can be powered anywhere from 9-18volts. At higher voltage you'll get increased clarity, more output, and an overall edgier tone.

As with the entire Pro Tone Pedals product line, the Blasko is hand made in the USA, is 100% true bypass with grounded input for noise free operation, and comes backed by a 5 year warranty.

Release date: June 15, 2010

List Price: $249

For information visit www.ProTonePedals.com or www.Blasko.me

Combat the Haters!

2010-05-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

~ Holy shit, I haven't posted in a while. Been totally slammed as of late, and consequently my social media input has been sacrificed in light of other priorities. However... I found this little article written by Tim Farris, author of the 4 hour work week. Even though it is not directly about music it certainly applies to all artists operating professionally in 2010. Enjoy...

1. It doesn’t matter how many people don’t get it. What matters is how many people do.

“It’s critical in social media, as in life, to have a clear objective and not to lose sight of that,” Ferriss says. He argues that if your objective is to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people or to change the world in some small way (be it through a product or service), you only need to pick your first 1,000 fans — and carefully. “As long as you’re accomplishing your objectives, that 1,000 will lead to a cascading effect,” Ferriss explains. “The 10 million that don’t get it don’t matter.”

2. 10% of people will find a way to take anything personally. Expect it.

“People are least productive in reactive mode,” Ferriss states, before explaining that if you are expecting resistance and attackers, you can choose your response in advance, as opposed to reacting inappropriately. This, Ferriss says, will only multiply the problem. “Online I see people committing ’social media suicide’ all the time by one of two ways. Firstly by responding to all criticism, meaning you’re never going to find time to complete important milestones of your own, and by responding to things that don’t warrant a response.” This, says Ferriss, lends more credibility by driving traffic.

3. “Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity.” (Colin Powell)

“If you treat everyone the same and respond to everyone by apologizing or agreeing, you’re not going to be recognizing the best performers, and you’re not going to be improving the worst performers,” Ferriss says. “That guarantees you’ll get more behavior you don’t want and less you do.” That doesn’t mean never respond, Ferriss goes on to say, but be “tactical and strategic” when you do.

4. “If you are really effective at what you do, 95% of the things said about you will be negative.” (Scott Boras)

“This principle goes hand-in-hand with number two,” Ferriss says. “I actually keep this quote in my wallet because it is a reminder that the best people in almost any field are almost always the people who get the most criticism.” The bigger your impact, explains Ferriss (whose book is a New York Times, WSJ and BusinessWeek bestseller), and the larger the ambition and scale of your project, the more negativity you’ll encounter. Ferriss jokes he has haters “in about 35 languages.”

5. “If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.” (Epictetus)

“Another way to phrase this is through a more recent quote from Elbert Hubbard,” Ferriss says. “‘To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” Ferriss, who holds a Guinness World Record for the most consecutive tango spins, says he has learned to enjoy criticism over the years. Ferriss, using Roman philosophy to expand on his point, says: “Cato, who Seneca believed to be the perfect stoic, practiced this by wearing darker robes than was customary and by wearing no tunic. He expected to be ridiculed and he was, he did this to train himself to only be ashamed of those things that are truly worth being ashamed of. To do anything remotely interesting you need to train yourself to be effective at dealing with, responding to, even enjoying criticism… In fact, I would take the quote a step further and encourage people to actively pursue being thought foolish and stupid.”

6. “Living well is the best revenge.” (George Herbert)

“The best way to counter-attack a hater is to make it blatantly obvious that their attack has had no impact on you,” Ferriss advises. “That, and [show] how much fun you’re having!” Ferriss goes on to say that the best revenge is letting haters continue to live with their own resentment and anger, which most of the time has nothing to do with you in particular. “If a vessel contains acid and you pour some on an object, it’s still the vessel that sustains the most damage,” Ferriss says. “Don’t get angry, don’t get even — focus on living well and that will eat at them more than anything you can do.”

7. Keep calm and carry on.

The slogan “Keep Calm and Carry On” was originally produced by the British government during the Second World War as a propaganda message to comfort people in the face of Nazi invasion. Ferriss takes the message and applies it to today’s world. “Focus on impact, not approval. If you believe you can change the world, which I hope you do, do what you believe is right and expect resistance and expect attackers,” Ferriss concludes. “Keep calm and carry on!

Article source: http://mashable.com/2010/04/29/deal-with-haters-tim-ferriss/

Hook Me Up!

2010-03-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

~ I often get asked about how to get endorsements, aka "free shit". I found this helpful little piece off of the Schecter Guitar myspace. www.schecterguitars.com Enjoy...

Musicians performing at all levels consider acquiring endorsements at some point in their career. Some play with the idea; others move on it. Ultimately, it is the reasoning or motive behind one’s actions that determines success as an endorsing artist.

From the manufacturer’s point of view, endorsements are designed to help promote the credibility of a company’s instruments or accessories. They also exist to give the appropriate support to established artist and to help the company sell more instruments.
Ask Why

When someone asks a manufacturer that they want to endorse their instruments, they listen without interrupting until they are completely finished with their pitch. Then, after a long pause, they look you straight in the eye and say one word, which is one of the most empowering words in our language. They simply ask "Why?’

The artist’s response will ensure or quell any interest on the manufacturer’s behalf. If they continue talking about how good they are, or how close they are to signing that big record deal, or how they would be crazy not to sign them, then they’re invited to send a package and the conversation is ended as quickly and politely as possible.

If, on the other hand, the artist says that they love the instruments, have found complete freedom in musical expression playing them, and indicate that they will continue playing them whether they are endorsed or not, they continue to listen.

Be Professional

It is amazing that musicians will apply to several manufacturers at the same time. Consider the lack of credibility involved here. What does this say about their musical decisions? What they are really saying is that it doesn’t matter, musically, what instrument they play and that they are just looking to find the company that will give them more.
Musicians "get a clue." If you want to be taken seriously in the big leagues, act like a professional, make a musical decision, and stay with it. If you want to be considered for a corporate, musical, and personal relationship through an endorsement, consider the following:

1) Cast a clear vision for yourself: know who you are; determine your own sound; devote yourself to music … the songs, the group, the sound, your students, and your career. When you are making a living playing music and have something to offer others, then move on to number two.

2) Ask yourself why. Why are you asking for an endorsement? What are you willing to offer? What do you bring to the table that would matter? What attributes do you have as a person and as an artist that would make you invaluable to a company?

3) Do you have an established career in music? This is a yes or no question. Be realistic, as this is the real world. Some guidelines: how many thousand or tens-of-thousands of recordings were sold last year with your name listed as the main artist? Are you currently on a major tour? How long have you been in your current band or symphony? Of what college or university are you a faculty member? If you are still in college, stay focused on your music and forget about endorsements.

4) In order to merit clinic support, you must be a great clinician. A great player is not necessarily a great teacher or clinician. This is an important point. Before you ask for clinic support, have 100 clinics under your belt and make sure that belt is a black belt in the art of teaching. It is important to the manufacturers that someone who calls himself or herself a clinician is indeed artful and effective at this work.

5) Make yourself an expert on the company that manufactures the instruments you play. You show know its history, philosophy, current artist roster, and position in the market. If you want to be an endorsing representative of a company, you simply must know and respect whom you would be representing before you approach them. Study the company’s website and determine how it represents its artists. Do you fit in the roster?

6) Establish rapport. Introduce yourself at trade shows to the company’s staff without presenting a package or even mentioning the word endorsement. They assume, if you are talking to them, that you can play. Remember, many of the people working for instrument manufactures are fine musicians. Many of them would surprise you if you ever heard them play. In the endorsement context, you need to present yourself as a businessperson. They would like to know what it would be like to work with you.

7) Prepare a well-crafted promotional package. Your package should include a short letter, a biography, a recording, a photo, and the URL to your website. Take time and have fun constructing this package; it is your first impression. Do some background work and be sure your sending it to the right person. Get the correct spelling of his or her name, as well as that person’s correct title.

8) Don’t expect free instruments or to be paid money in return for playing a company’s instrument. Artist discounts will be discussed after your package has generated interest. Companies expect endorsing artists to play their instruments exclusively; to mention their companies at educational events; to thank the company for their support; and, when possible, to include the company’s name on recording materials. Individual companies may have other expectations beyond these, which will be discussed if they are interested.

9) Keep focused on the music while paying attention to your sound and to your business skills. Music manufacturers are, above all, interested in being represented by good, professional musicians who truly love the tools of their trade.

An endorsement relationship with a company is a privilege. It is a truly reciprocal relationship, which is based on trust and great communication. Endorsements do not exist to propel anyone’s career. Rather your successful career will propel endorsements.

Outsource Your Weaknesses

2010-03-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

~ I snagged this from www.genyrockstars.com. I love this concept. Focus on your strengths and outsource your weaknesses. Check out the article here: http://www.genyrockstars.com/2010/01/musician-outsourcing.html

Being a musician in today’s economy is not an easy task to tackle. You know everything you need to do and that list never seems to get smaller, only longer. Here is one of the secrets of business that took me a long time to realize - you need to play to your strengths and outsource the rest.

This goes against everything you are taught in school or probably have ingrained in your head. We are always taught to educate ourselves and practice on our weaknesses. I am here to tell you to stop. You are a musician. You have a special set of talents (hopefully). You can’t do everything no matter who tells you that you have to (and I am one of the ones saying you need to do everything).

The fact is that as an upcoming musician you have the same number of hours that any business has to get done in one day - 24. No more, no less. Focus your time on achieving your goals and doing the things you are great at - not ever good, there are others that are great that will help you be 100% more productive.

Here is a video I shot on the topic of Music Outsourcing:

Music Outsourcing

From the video here are some resources to get started in learning about outsourcing:

The Four Hour Work Week - if you want to get more done with less, pick this book up. It wasn’t mentioned in my top 5 marketing books for musiciansbecause it is so much more. After you read through this, everything you thought you were doing right, you will question. Your time management will be better and you will be focusing on results oriented projects.

eLance - Have a project you need done? Write a description, set a budget and have freelancers bid to work on your project.

Guru - Same as eLance.

Scriptlance - Same as eLance and Guru, only there is a focus on people that write scripts from advanced to very basic.

Criagslist - Post a job or opportunity in a specific market. This is great if you want to oversee the project locally or have someone join your team full time.

oDesk - This is the best resource I know to find a virtual assistant. If you are a band on the road, or one that has to juggle press, booking, sales, finances and other business related tasks that are not to your strength, get an assistant. You can find a good English speaking assistant for anywhere from $3 - 6 an hour.

123employee - Higher caliber of virtual assistant. Have them handle tasks such as SEO, managing your email, your social networking, article writing, booking, research and so much more.

99 Designs - Need some logos, t-shirt ideas, album artwork? Outsource it. 99 Designs is an amazing community of top notch designers looking to work on your project.

Source Control - This is a course by David Walsh where you can learn how to talk to these companies and get the most out of your outsoucing. When working with outsourcing companies you need to provide great directions and detail. This ebook and templates will help you maximize your money spent.

Hollywood Music Mag

2010-03-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

~ Here is an article from Hollywood Music Magazine that I contributed to. You can check out the source here: http://hollywoodmusicmagazine.com/?p=750

Blasko said quite frankly that the base of the formula has not changed, that there is no secret “Holy Grail” of information that only a few people know. This is not the Masons. Bands still have to work hard and be creative and create their own buzz in order to get noticed. Seemingly a lot of bands today rely on MySpace and YouTube and the viral aspect of the digital age, thinking that is their ticket and have gotten lazy. If you think that label execs are digesting who has the most friends on MySpace trying to find the next band they want to sign and spend their money on, then chances are your band will continue to play the same local bar and the same people will see you over and over. If you play music as a hobby and that is the ceiling of what you want to do with your music, then everything beyond this point is just filler. If you are striving for something more, chasing the same dreams as those in Decline of the Western Civilization 2 and you want to be a rock star, you want to play in front of thousands of people, you want this to be your job then you have to treat it like it is a business not just recreation.

It is no secret that if you want to have a record label give you money to record, to tour, pay for public relations, and for merchandise there has to be a “perceived value” backed up with a demonstrated value. As Stevens elaborated, musicians that want to fight the exploitation of artists by labels are fighting the wrong fight. Yes, record labels are going to exploit you in every way that they can. Exploitation is their business. Contrary to some belief, labels and their network of promoters, booking, marketing and production professionals at their disposal are not in business to make sure everyone gets a shot at their dreams. They are in business to make money and if you can make them money, well that is how you get to where you want to go. Where do you even begin?

The days of plastering Sunset with flyers may have fallen by the wayside but the premise is still the same. If you handed out 1,000 flyers and got 20 more people to your show, then it seemed like it was worth it. With email, social networking sites, uploading videos, Twitter, there is a far broader potential fan base that can be reached; however, just as handing out flyers and the ratio of the number that you handed out to the number of fans you actually reach, the key is being able to connect with your target audience and getting your message to the right people. Blasko elaborated that not “knowing who your demographic is; who you are trying to reach,” is where many bands stumble and end up wasting their time and resources. He further intimated that “Labels are no longer putting their money towards just pure musical value; you have to have something going on.” What that “going on” is can’t be defined, but rest assured if the only thing you have going on is that you write good songs, the road is far more difficult to navigate. Some think that having something going on means that you have to have a gimmick, whether it is wearing make-up, or costumes or pyrotechnics or theatrical show, etc. and that has been a feature of some very successful bands/artists like KISS, GWAR, Alice Cooper or even Poison. There is no one thing that is going to propel your band. It is a combination of things; promotions, touring, establishing a solid fan base, being able to connect with people, image and oh yeah, good music.

Although, 20 years ago, it may have seemed that bands were getting record deals just because of their image; that is an aberration. As Blasko said, “Poison didn’t get signed or sell all those records because they looked like girls. It was because they had good songs; that connected with people and were marketed properly.” Yet he also asked rhetorically, “How important is image? Why don’t you ask Lady GaGa how important image is because she sells a lot of records.” Image may play a role, but it is only a piece of the puzzle, even if you are anti-image. Stevens added that even not having an image, is an image in itself. Case in point: Grunge. All those Seattle bands of the mid 90’s were determined to just play music, wears jeans or shorts and a flannel and have no image; however, that in itself became the image of a huge movement in music. So much so, that Collective Soul, who hailed from Atlanta, were dressed in flannel, at the behest of their label, after their song “Shine” broke and the label wanted to cash in on the grunge image. The band that arguably has succeeded best in a demonstration of anti-image is Tool. Yet, that is their modus operendi and thus, their image.

Billie Stevens extensively talked about the first step aside from writing songs and music being connecting with people; building relationships and a solid fan base. The music plays a huge part in that, just as image and promotions do. But like any relationship you have to connect with people. You may write songs that when digested by fans the song is about something totally different than what you were thinking when you wrote it. Nevertheless, you connect with people through your songwriting. Maybe the guitar riff musically expresses; without words, the rage or energy that someone feels. The bass line and drum beat may depict the building anxiety. Musically connecting is the premise of what defines most musical genres. The metal scene was formed and gained notoriety because there was a musical movement happening that connected with the angst of teens that expressed their rage, their anger with parental units, school, etc. People want to feel like they are a part of something.

Steve Bartolone touched on the approach to the different age of music and how it is received, distributed and promoted with the following: In today’s Music Industry, the artists need to grasp the power of the Internet much more fluently, but the trick is to know what works and what doesn’t. It’s a time to run your band like a business, you can make more money in a band today by investing into yourselves, being smart, professional and most importantly getting off your ass and promote than you could have ever done in the past. Most bands think that just because we have the internet to promote they think they can just sit around writing songs without connecting on a personal level with their fans. This is the same idea business professionals thought when Amazon.com launched; they thought that people would never go to their local mall ever again because they could get everything the needed online. Last time I checked, people still go to the mall and the ones that don’t are affected by the economy more than they are Amazon. Most people want to get out, and bands need to go out and meet your fans, and make new fans, make them feel part of your family or that they are a part of something. Myspace and other social Networks have crippled bands in many ways when they are not sure on how to separate the two promotional styles, and grasp each of them to benefit their success.

This is just scraping the surface of the Industry Insider series. Come back to future issues for more thoughts on how to move forward with your passion from the people who know.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Going Back to Basics

2010-02-26T08:21:00.000-08:00

~ Interesting... kinda basic, but sometimes that is an effective strategy. I found this via Daniel Kohn and you can check out his blog here: www.AskKohnny.com and check out his book here: Inside The Music Biz

1. Never Take “NO” For An Answer

In this business persistence is everything.

I know so many bands that get disheartened by one sour review or one agent who doesn’t like them or one radio station that will never play their music.

Remember this fact and be inspired by it – The Beatles were turned down by every single major record label before they released their first single.

The Offspring recorded a bunch of albums and toured for ten years before having their breakthrough album Smash. TEN YEARS!!

The point is that there are so many times and cases where you just don’t know where or when that big moment is going to arrive and the key is to never stop and never ever, for any reason take NO for an answer.

2. Find That Little Wedge or Opening and Milk It

The same holds true with the music business. There are so many ways to penetrate and get to the right people in this business. The first trick is to really know and understand who your prospect actually is. This is really a whole process in itself.

Once you’ve covered this ground, then it’s a matter of understanding how to pull their strings and find their soft spots. Finding that wedge or opening to lure them in and get whatever it is your looking for from them.

In most cases, it might just be the need to have a great story up your sleeve to suck them into your world or being able to rattle of some compelling statistics about your band to prick their ears up, but the key is to be able to find that wedge and milk it.

3 Frequency Frequency Frequency

When a message is thrown at you over and over again in a concentrated period of time, the chances of escaping is very hard.

Frequency works!

All successful ad agencies will tell you that a consumer needs to hear a message at least eight times until they’ll act or respond.

I guess for bands, it means that to really create any sort of ground swell you must be out there working all the angles in your music scene so potential fans and industry insiders cannot avoid you.

Play play play. Even if it’s to no-one at first. Even if it’s at your local library BBQ. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that your creating some sort of frequency and consistency.

Email your fans once a week, post on your facebook page every few days with updates. Whatever it is, just keep doing it….. If anything, just for the sake of frequency.

Once an A&R guy sees you in three or four places that he himself is already prowling for new acts, or hears about you from two of his trusted friends or see’s you in a trade journal he trusts, you’ll start to see how the tides turn and the interest in your band will take shape.

Frequency for your band’s profile also involves understanding the different types of “media” (radio, TV, online, print etc) that are out there and knowing how to get free exposure and frequency from them.

Again, there is so much to be said about each topic, however leveraging these “medias” and creating frequency is so important to help attract industry attention and build your fan base.

Can You Handle the Truth?

2010-02-22T10:21:00.000-08:00

~ This is an excerpt from an article I found on www.thefutureofmusicbook.com. you can read the entire piece here: http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/2010/02/the-challenge-for-the-music-business/

The tried and true methods of creating success in the music industry are over and are never coming back. The economics just don’t work for most acts anymore. The greatest risk in the next 5-10 years for music is that no one will want to fund the development and promotion of new musical acts the way the major labels did in the past, until we see a new financial model.

To survive, musicians and their managers need to innovate and break out of the old ways of thinking about the business. The oft quoted conventional wisdom that artists can survive on touring and merchandise income is simply not going to work for most bands. Instead, real blockbuster success in the future belongs to those ready to break the rules and create new engaging musical experiences, and unique products and services that cannot be duplicated.

Musicians of the future need to face the fact that living a life in music is a privilege that they will have to earn through hard work, preparation, innovation and collaboration. Young artists need to be willing to take risks and push the edges of creative expression by embracing the reality that nothing about music is normal anymore.

We need fresh thinking and risk capital to fund the next wave of musical innovators. The Challenge for the Music Business is to create value in the place of falling revenue and to energize the new generation of music fans to really support music. Do you have what it takes to reinvent the business? What ideas do you have that could light the way into the future?

Advice for Newbies!

2010-02-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

~ The following was copied from the interview pertaining to Music Think Tank

1) Decontextualize first, promote second. Artists are in love with their songs/music, and they should be. However, prior to throwing a year of your life into promotion, force yourself to get anonymous feedback from at least thirty friends, twenty artists, and from ten industry professionals. If most love your songs, then promote. Otherwise, go back to the classroom/studio and learn how to make “better” music first.

2) Don’t listen to industry promotion professionals that were successful in 1999. Nobody has the answer to obtaining and sustaining mass-market exposure. Nobody! I don’t care what someone says they did in the past; make them demonstrate the success they obtained six months ago.

3) Seek experienced production people. When it comes to making music, experience is way under-rated in this industry. Studios have gone out of business because everyone is a producer/engineer now. Find the most experienced/successful producers, engineers and songwriters you can find. Money spent on a successful producer or a great songwriter will go further than money spent on a promotion “expert”.

4) Don’t go it alone, it’s almost a waste of time! (translation: promote and collaborate with other artists)

5) Act like a software startup. Expand your definition of a “band” to include people that can handle things like social media, video production and software development. Find someone to help you use the equity in your venture to compensate everyone involved.

Looking for More Fans?

2010-02-06T16:59:00.000-08:00

~ I found this article from the LA Times. You can check out the full read here: http://tinyurl.com/yfeonaz

1) Play nice with search engines. So the obvious thing is to get people’s email address. One of the less obvious ways to get new fans is to have good [search engine optimization]. Thirty percent of new fans come from emails. But 30% come from Google or Yahoo. It’s people who are using search engines to find you. You need to make sure that if people look for you, they will find you. – Ian Rogers, Topspin

2) Use SMS texting. You can give away a song download or wallpaper or ringtone to people who text you their email address. Next time you’re playing in town, you can tell them and let them in free if they bring three friends. So your 100 fans suddenly become 300 paying fans. With live concerts, the goal is to sell 300 tickets. That’s incredibly hard to do. – Tom Silverman, co-founder, New Music Seminar

3) Buy a Facebook ad. "I spent $10 on a targeted Facebook ad and got 50,000 impressions and a good click-through rate. You can target only people who work at certain companies, like Google. You can target fans of other bands like yours. You can target only people in L.A. or San Francisco. So go to your band page on Facebook. There's a link that says, 'Get more fans. Promote your page.' Just click it." – Corey Denis, music marketing consultant, Not Shocking

4) Speak to the fringe. "We had a client who spent 11 months out of the year sailing and one month recording an album. Her songs were all about sailing. And she pitched her story to these boating and yachting magazines, and they all did these stories on her. She sold 10,000 albums a year, and most of them were to other sailors." – Derek Sivers, founder, CD Baby

5) Talk to your fans. A lot of bands disappear when their show is over when what they really need to do is come out and talk to them. Have them engage in your show. Give them a video camera during the show and have them pass it around. Get their email addresses and then send them a notice when you post it so they can embed the video on their own sites. – Mike Doernberg, founder,ReverbNation

Does This Apply to You?

2010-01-30T16:16:00.000-08:00

~ Borrowed from Hugh Macleod's book and blog. Check it here: http://gapingvoid.com/books/

Kinda cool how this applies to musicians in this new music biz 2.0... in my opinion anyway. Enjoy.

IGNORE EVERYBODY

So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. Here are some tips that have worked for me over the years.]

1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.

3. Put the hours in.

4. If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being “discovered” by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.

5. You are responsible for your own experience.

6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

7. Keep your day job.

8. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.

9. Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

10. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.

11. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

12. If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.

13. Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.

14. Dying young is overrated.

15. The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.

16. The world is changing.

17. Merit can be bought. Passion can’t.

18. Avoid the Watercooler Gang.

19. Sing in your own voice.

20. The choice of media is irrelevant.

21. Selling out is harder than it looks.

22. Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.

23. Worrying about “Commercial vs. Artistic” is a complete waste of time.

24. Don’t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.

25. You have to find your own schtick.

26. Write from the heart.

27. The best way to get approval is not to need it.

28. Power is never given. Power is taken.

29. Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.

30. The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

31. Remain frugal.

32. Allow your work to age with you.

33. Being Poor Sucks.

34. Beware of turning hobbies into jobs.

35. Savor obscurity while it lasts.

36. Start blogging.

37. Meaning Scales, People Don’t.

37. When your dreams become reality, they are no longer your dreams.

New Music Seminar 2010

2010-01-30T13:42:00.000-08:00

~ This coming Tuesday Feb 2, I will attending the NMS, New Music Seminar, at the Fonda in Hollywood. If you see me there feel free to chat me up. Tickets are still available, and here is more info on the event:

NEW MUSIC SEMINAR LOS ANGELES DATE: February 2, 2010 LOCATION: Henry Fonda Theater, 6126 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90028 From the co-founder and director of the original legendary New Music Seminar comes a seminar for the new business of music. This low-cost one day event will give you the knowledge and the tools to step into tomorrow’s music business today. The day will kick off with a keynote speech, followed by four sessions filled with vital information on how to see it and how to do it, accompanied by the New Music Seminar Guide Book filled with important contact information and vital new music business basics. The Schmoozatorium will have important industry exhibitors and an opportunity for you to network with the other Seminar delegates. Delegates will also receive the NMS Directory, an invaluable guide filled with vital information, including forms, contacts and discount offers worth well over $100.	Contact: info@newmusicseminar.biz For sponsorship opportunities contact: sponsorship@newmusicseminar.biz


NEW MUSIC SEMINAR LOS ANGELES Monday, 1st February 7:30pm: OPENING NIGHT PARTY - The Roxy Theater SEE DETAIL OF SHOW TIMES AND PERFORMERS Tuesday, 2nd February 7:30am: REGISTRATION BEGINS 9:00am: INTRODUCTIONS Welcome to the New Music Seminar. 10:00am: First Movement Welcome to the New Music Business: Everything You Know Is Wrong Setting your targets to the new definition of winning. The Story of 1000 true fans. Fan Relationship Management and an introduction to the new science of The Fan Pyramid and how to maximize revenues from your different types of fans. 12:00 noon: KEYNOTE SPEECH: Daniel Ek, Founder, Spotify 1:00 pm: Second Movement: Get Arrested! Marketing and Promotion in the New Music Business. New and old ways to expose yourself regardless of genre. This movement will discuss the best of the old marketing that still works and the best of the new on line marketing that works. How to encourage a quantum event. What are some innovative ways of marketing using new and old tech and methods. What is the story you are trying to tell? Is your marketing approach going to best tell that story. 3:00 pm: Third Movement The Creative Process and Radical Differentiation: The creative quartet and how to master it. 5:00 pm: Fourth Movement Your Live Show and Tour: Simple Steps to Cut Through the Glut and Reach the Magic 300 Ticket Mark: Why does your act deserve the slot on the show more than any other Artist? How do you make your show hotter and build your touring base while maximizing your merchandising sales and profit per show? 6:30 pm: Conclusion and Closing Tom Silverman (NMS Founder and Director, Tommy Boy) 6:45 pm: NMS Cocktail Reception

"No Label Needed" CONTEST!

2010-01-20T08:55:00.000-08:00

~ Here is a project I am involved with. If you are an unsigned band, this might be a great opportunity for you...?!

For Immediate Release

TAKE YOUR TURN FOR SUCCESS

SCION AND METALINSIDER.NET TEAM NOW ACCEPTING ENTRIES FOR THE NO LABEL NEEDED CONTEST AND SERIES
The No Label Needed Contest and Series presented by Scion, in collaboration with MetalInsider.net, will help one band leave labels behind and take on the industry all on their own. The series will show readers how it's done, all while helping one special contest-winning band get ahead in a spectacular way.
From 1/20 NOW EXPANDED through 2/8, unsigned acts can submit demo packages atwww.metalinsider.net/nolabelneeded. Twenty finalists will be selected and one winner will be voted on by the public and a panel artists, agents, writers and managers who work with the likes of Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying and Shadows Fall. Voting will run from 2/9 through 3/8. The grand prize winner, to be announced on 3/15, will win all the help and education they need to become a truly self-sufficient artist without having to sign a traditional record deal.

The winning band will receive a personalized, all-encompassing tutorial focused on the secrets and tips needed to achieve success in the music industry through DIY means of marketing. Winners will be mentored by the members of Shadows Fall, record an EP produced by Machine (Lamb of God, Every Time I Die, Suicide Silence), shop for their stage and photo shoot clothing with Maria Brink (In This Moment) and Rob "Blasko" Nicholson (Ozzy) and receive advice from the likes of Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan. Their website will be re-designed, their merch re-imagined and radio and press campaigns mounted to promote their EP by the best in their fields. The series is not only meant to be a learning experience for one band, it is meant to teach any dedicated musician who wants to learn how to properly market their craft. Readers will be able to interact with contest partners and contributing musicians and professionals through the site to get some real insight into specific areas of expertise. For further information, please contact Jamie Roberts (roberts@bigmachinemedia.com) or Leo Lavoro (leo@bigmachinemedia.com) at Big Machine Media at 646-395-2600.
About Scion
Scion, from Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., was developed with a new generation of youthful buyers in mind. Scion's mission is to provide distinctive products, the opportunity to personalize, and an innovative, consumer-driven process at the retail level. The Scion brand features three groundbreaking models with a wide array of standard features: the xD urban subcompact five-door, the iconic xB urban utility vehicle, and the tC sports coupe. The brand often applies new practices in all aspects of its business and pushes the creativity envelope with non-traditional advertising and marketing to engage young consumers. Scion also supports originality through its programs in the artistic community. For more information, visit www.scion.com.
About MetalInsider.net
MetalInsider.net is a metal music industry blog, reporting news, gossip and analysis from every aspect of the metal biz. Metal Insider explains and analyzes everything from record deals to marketing strategies to weekly record sales and radio charts.

Income $tream$

2010-01-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

~ I grabbed this from www.thefutureofmusic.com

The artist music business model has been in flux for years. The record deal dream that most artists sought is no longer the viable alternative that it once was. The leveling of the music distribution playing field by the Internet is virtually complete. Terrestrial radio is on a path towards destruction that even the major labels can’t compete with. People now access and download music from multiple sources, usually for free. D.I. Y solutions are everywhere, but for many artists hard to integrate into their daily lives.

Where does this leave the average independent artist? At the beginning. Every artist wants to know how they can make music, make money and survive to write and play another day. Here, in no particular order, is a list of possible income streams.

• Publishing
• Mechanical royalties
• Performance Royalties from ASCAP and BMI
• Digital Performance Royalties from Sound Exchange
• Synch rights TV, Commercials, Movies, Video Games
• Digital sales – Individual or by combination
• Music (studio & live) Album – Physical & Digital, Single – Digital, • Ringtone, Ringback, Podcasts
• Instant Post Gig Live Recording via download, mobile streaming or flash drives
• Video – Live, concept, personal, – Physical & Digital
• Video and Internet Games featuring or about the artist
• Photographs
• Graphics and art work, screen savers, wall paper
• Lyrics
• Sheet music
• Compilations
• Merchandise – Clothes, USB packs, Posters, other things
• Live Performances
• Live Show – Gig
• Live Show – After Party
• Meet and Greet
• Personal Appearance
• Studio Session Work
• Sponsorships, and endorsements
• Advertising
• Artist newsletter emails
• Artist marketing and promotion materials
• Blog/Website
• Videos
• Music Player
• Fan Clubs
• YouTube Subscription channel for more popular artists
• Artist programmed internet radio station or specialty playlist.
• Financial Contributions of Support – Tip Jar or direct donations, Sellaband or Kickstarter
• Patronage Model – Artist Fan Exclusives – e.g. paying to sing on a song in studio or have artist write a song for you
• Mobile Apps
• Artist Specific Revenue Stream - unique streams customized to the specific artist, e.g Amanda Palmer
• Music Teaching – Lessons and Workshops
• Music Employment – orchestras, etc, choir directors, ministers of music, etc.
• Music Production – Studio and Live
• Any job available to survive and keep making music
• Getting Help From Other Artists and Helping Them - Whatever goes around come around. – e.g. gig swapping, songwriting, marketing and promotion

Write or Wrong?

2010-01-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

Well here I am in the wake of recuperating from NAMM 2010. I probably logged in more hours than any previous year. No complaints though. It was great connecting with with friends and fans! Nice meeting and seeing you all.

Anyway, so getting caught up on my RSS feeds and I ran across this little tidbit from www.lefsets.com...

"There are a lot of holes in the music business. A hole is something you see that the mainstream does not. If you want respect, if you want instant accolades, entrepreneurship is not the right road. You’re betting against the mainstream. But the mainstream is so calcified in the music world that the landscape is ripe for innovation.

But your best avenue is to come up with hit music. It’s the cheapest way. And hooky, melodic songs sung by people with good voices never go out of style. That’s the huge hole in the music business today. Exploit it."

The entire article is much more epic and you can check it out here: http://tinyurl.com/yh8glwf

So, maybe he is right? As simple as it sounds, the future of the music biz are great songs? What a concept! Sounds easy enough, right? Well it isn't! Unfortunately for most, writing a great song is not something that comes all that naturally.

The bulk of my music career has been playing other people's songs. I have zero regrets for that being my path. I do not claim to be a song writer, and early on I realized that playing great songs live that were written by musicians that I highly respect was ultimately more gratifying than anything else I had previously experienced while being in a band. That's just me though.

So I guess all musicians that want a fulfilling career in this business really need to be honest with themselves in terms of ability and talent. Just because you know the difference between a pentatonic scale and a paradiddle does not by default make you a song writer, it makes you a musician, and there is a finite difference between the two.

So, my question is why do musicians feel the need to boast at the fact that they write their own material, and mock the ones that don't? If you feel that you are not reaching the goals that you have set for yourself, or that you are finding your motivation has plateaued, be honest with yourself and don't blame other bands and circumstances around you for your perceived failures... maybe your songs just suck? Maybe you need some outside writers to assist you in crafting your sound? It happens in the publishing world all the time... they are called "ghost writers".

Maybe the record biz wouldn't be in the shitter if they had decided to release a lot less mediocre music? No wonder why all the record stores are closing and the new generation just wants the shit for free... maybe that is all it's worth?

Subscribe or DIE!

2009-12-31T17:26:00.000-08:00

Well here we are just hours away from 2010. What will the new year enlighten us with in terms of a new music business? From my stand point, it would seem that every year it gets increasingly more difficult to successfully have a career playing music. Now sure, there are some exceptions I imagine, but I am just speaking generally.

I do not have all the answers. Anyone that claims they do is totally full of shit. All any of us have are simply predictions. So, why not, here is mine.

Subscription based band websites. Yes, I know this is not a new idea and I am not claiming to be Columbus of music biz 2.0. When I say "subscription", I am not referring to Napster, Spotify etc. I am talking about individual bands having their own living and breathing sites full of fresh, constantly updated content that simply caters to the fans and their requests, needs, wants, etc.

The one thing that is for certain, looking at the NIN and Radiohead models for example, is that not every band will see rewards from similar strategies. Bands will have to be willing to experiment and expect to do a substantial amount of trial and error.

For the cost of a CD, I would probably be more than willing to subscribe annually to my fav bands and artists if in return I received MP3's, exclusive content, 1 on 1 interaction, exclusive merchandise, concert ticket pre sales, etc. The list of options is endless. Is this also of interest to you? How about from a band perspective. Would your fans be into something like this?

Anyway... I will leave you with a quote from Bob Lefsets that I stumbled upon today that was somewhat of the inspiration for this post:

"Really, think about this. In a world of unlimited options, that’s just what you are, another option. You’re a speck in the firmament. You’re making less money not because people are stealing, but because you just can’t get enough people to pay attention. That’s what you’re fighting for, ongoing attention. With the emphasis on "ongoing". If it’s momentary, it’s meaningless. Stunting is worthless. You’ve got to campaign endlessly, slog ad infinitum. Continually release music, continually engage your audience."

Hello 2010!

2009-12-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

~ As you enter into music industry 2.0 you WILL need a plan of action. No longer can you just write songs, play some local shows, get a record deal and have the label do all the work. If that is how you think it works, get out now and do not look back. However, those that are willing to take their career into their own hands as we enter 2010 please read on, enjoy, debate and once again, most of all... good luck! Go here for the full article originally penned by Ariel Hyatt: http://tinyurl.com/y9u9z7w

Here are my tips to you and a roadmap to follow for planning your 2010 (and beyond) goals

TIP # 1:
THIS IS A GAME YOU CAN CHANGE THE RULES AS YOU GO

Musicians tend to be perfectionists – I know this because I have spent my entire adult life working with musicians. My dear musicians take note: Goals are never written in stone and they are not the word of the almighty! They should be looked at as beacons and guiding points for you to keep yourself on track along your musical journey.

I would not recommend changing them every week but the music industry is changing so rapidly it’s hard to know what goals are reachable in this landscape. So if the course of the year your goals change its OK to cross one off or modify another or start the game again and write new ones down as you go.

TIP #2:
DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP!

You will have your days where you may get frustrated, and you may start to crucify and criticize yourself when you are not achieving goals as fast as you want them. (sound familiar?)

Self-criticism will interfere directly with achieving your goals and dreams. So, the next time you are making yourself wrong for the fact that only 20 people showed up at your last gig or railing against yourself because your couldn’t hear yourself in the monitors try to turn that around immediately, Take a step back and acknowledge the good, and instead celebrate your wins, no matter how small.

TIP #3:
WRITE DOWN 5 SUCCESSES EACH DAY

I’m inviting you to write down five little victories a day for this entire year. I learned this powerful technique from T. Harv Eker, who says that you should write down five positive things you do every single day. Once you start getting into this habit, you are training yourself to put the focus on the positive and get your brain to stop being so self-critical.

So put a notebook in your gig bag or next to your bed.
Each day write down 5 things. Make one or two of them music or band related.

Here are some examples:

1. Went to gym.
2. Started writing lyrics to a new song
3. Called three clubs for potential booking.
4. Did laundry.
5. Reached out to a music blogger who will love my music.
6. Made dinner for my boyfriend/girlfriend/wife/husband/kids/ friends (etc).

Right now, stop what you’re doing and write down five tiny successes you had today and yesterday.

YOUR GOALS - SETTING THE STAGE:

IDENTIFY & WRITE DOWN YOUR FOCUS AREAS

Here is a list of some areas you may want your goals focus on.
Skip the areas that do not resonate with you and start by identifying what areas your goals will center around.

Think big, be unreasonable, and don’t hold yourself back.

Building Your Brand:
Honing your unique selling points
Color Scheme
Logo
15 second pitch
Photo shoot
New website
New album
Video creation
Personal health so your performance is better – exercise, eating etc.

Marketing:
What will you do this year for your overall marketing plan?
PR – Traditional print media
PR – online media
PR – TV and videos
Radio campaign
Have friends or family members help you

Communicating:
How many people should be added to your e-mail list each month?
monthly newsletter
Posters
Flyers

Social Media Strategies:
MySpace page reskin
Twitter stream
Facebook Fan page
Facebook ad campaign
Photo sharing
Last.fm
Blogging
Podcasting
YouTube channel
Linkedin profile
Artist Data profile

Booking:
Local gigs
Number of people at your next gig
Touring regionally
Touring nationally
Touring internationally
Opening for who?
Getting a booking agent
Getting a college agent

Releasing Music:
Are you recording an album this year?
Who are you writing songs with?
Full Length vs. EP ?
Live album
Who is your dream producer?
Where are you recording?

Money:
How much money you would like to earn?
What will you spend?
Buying a new instrument?
Number of CDs you would like to sell
Film and TV placements.
Number of downloads you would like to sell
Getting a manager

Here’s to your success in 2010!

Goodbye 2009!

2009-12-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

~ Here are some excerpts from an article I found on the Creative Deconstruction blog. In some ways this is a good summary of 09, as well as, some positive and motivating insight into the future of the biz in '10 and beyond. Hang in there, and most importantly GOOD LUCK! You can read the full article here: http://tinyurl.com/y8rn5y9

2009 may not have lived up to everyone’s expectations, but there remain so many reasons to stay positive as we enter the new year. 2009 was transitional, as every part of the music industry struggled to find new footing.

Artists appear to growing frustrated with a lack of success relative to what they feel they’ve been promised by the Music 2.0 gurus.

Where are my 1,000 True Fans? I’m killing myself on countless social networks – why am I still not making any money?

I get the frustration, and I sympathize with you. The business of extracting revenue from music is not easy, and it takes a whole lot of work. DIY promotion is not a silver bullet. Hopefully neither I nor anyone else have led you to believe that it is. Signing a lucrative record deal would possibly be a lot easier (assuming you aren’t neglected or dropped unexpectedly of course.) But independence can be much more rewarding, and even more profitable than signing your rights to the majors.

Hang in there. Success doesn’t happen over night. Independent artists are small business start-ups. Any entrepreneur will tell you that most new businesses go 5 years before leaving the red. That scenario isn’t for everyone, but fewer and fewer alternatives are left. It’s important that you know what you’ve signed up for.

The DIY movement is one of those unique opportunities that only appear every generation or so. Music is leading the charge into modern, technology powered, socially connected business. This transition will only accelerate as other related industries begin to follow down the path of creative deconstruction. It’s the perfect time to establish a new career and make something happen. There is still room on the ground floor, but space is becoming limited.

2010 is going to be the year of execution for many – whether artists, new services or start ups. My advice? Do whatever you have to do to make sure that you are one of them.

My Top 10 CDs of '09

2009-12-02T21:03:00.000-08:00

Well it's not exactly the end of the year, but it's close enough for my top 10 of the year.

10. SHRINEBUILDER - s/t

9. GOATWHORE - carving out the eyes of god

8. DOOMRIDERS - darkness come alive

7. THE CASUALTIES - we are all we have

6. ALICE IN CHAINS - black gives way to blue

5. THEM CROOKED VULTURES - s/t

4. BARONESS - blue record

3. MASTODON - crack the skye

2. SLAYER - world painted blood

1. GALLOWS - grey britain

All in all I feel like this was a pretty good year for heavy music!

What did you all get into this year? Did I miss anything? Hit me up!

A Musicians Top 10 Career Tips

2009-11-28T22:25:00.000-08:00

~ Here is some great advice I stumbled upon. Originally penned by Lauren Weisman. You can check out more here: www.braingrenademusic.com

All in all though there is some really great info here and I already do my best to apply most of this in my career and business. What about you? Anything that was overlooked? Enjoy...

Ten Tips that Every Musician Should Apply to Their Career. These apply to both the music and business sides of he equation. Many apply to those who are not musicians but work in the music business.
Hell, a few apply to anyone working in any business. So, New title: Ten Tips for Everyone Alive on the Planet.

Number 1. – Answer your emails.

Show a little respect and answer your emails. If you can’t respond at that moment, then acknowledge that you received it, let the sender know you’re backed up and when you hope to get back to them. Then, either list the email as unread, flag it, or mark a little notch in your calendar to respond to the sender when you promised. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I respond to every email. Sometimes it takes a while, but I get back to everyone I can that has a direct question or is requesting something. It is a common courtesy that I am sure you would want when you send out an email, so do the same.

Number 2. - Have the guts to address concerns or questions.

Kind of attached to number one, if you have a concern or a question brought to you and you are not sure how to respond or are afraid to give a solid answer, toughen up! If you need to say no, then say no. If you want to say “Maybe, but there is an issue I need cleared up before we proceed,” then say that. But the passive-aggressive non-responses, the runaround when people just delete an email, toss away a phone message, or avoid a confrontation is much more insulting than a flat out “No way.”

And you do not want to be insulting people, even if at this particular moment in time time, they are asking for something and you are in the position to say yes or no. Things change (see below). Things always change. Next time, it may well be you doing the asking. A polite, respectful “I can’t do that” or “I am not interested” goes a long way to making that later approach easier.

Show some honor and address questions, concerns, or issues without shoving them in a drawer and hoping they’ll go away. They never do.

Number 3. – If things change, then keep everyone informed and problem solve.

Things change. They change all the time. From a club burning down and a gig being cancelled to a deadline being changed or a payment being missed. It happens, and it happens all the time. The problem is that when things change, many people are affected. Too often, discomfort over the situation leads people to delay notifying everyone who will be affected. Nobody likes delivering bad news—nobody is happy there is bad news to deliver. But other parties still need to know.

If you are supposed to pay someone by a certain date, and something comes up where you can’t do it, TELL THEM! It may mean they will now be unable to pay someone else by a given date, and that is important information for them to have.

I have no problem with someone saying they can’t make a payment when it comes to my production fees or consulting fees. In this economy, it is almost a given that out of so many clients, something will happen to someone at some point. As long as they come to me and say “this isn’t happening like I thought it was going to, I am not going to be able to make that payment on the date we agreed on, but here is what I am going to do about it…” how can I complain? They are acting with honor, treating me with respect, and in many cases, backing it up with a partial payment that lets me know they take the situation seriously. That is a person I want to go on working with. In showing me respect, they just won my respect—and that’s an artist I want to do business with.

Take the initiative to make others aware when situations change—whatever the change is. If your drummer is in three bands and has a sudden conflict, share that information asap. Right now everyone has more options than they will two weeks from now. Be the communicator, the problem solver, the responsible adult, and in 6 months no one will remember what the bad news/stumbling block was, they will just remember who rose to the occasion, who was considerate of other people’s situations, and who must have left their phone off the hook that week.

Number 4. - Be on time or give a heads up.

Just like things change, things can come up that make you late to a gig, to a session, to a meeting. Still, with practically everyone having a cell phone, it seems crazy that someone who is running late cannot make contact with those who are waiting for them.

Once again, it comes down to honor and professionalism. If you are scheduled to be somewhere or simply said you were going to be somewhere, then be there. It comes down to a simple awareness of and respect for other people. As soon as you know you are going to be late, give a call, send a text. “Running late” and your new ETA. It’s easy and it will show you in a very professional light.

Number 5. Get your gear off the stage when you are done.

I hear more bands bitch about this, and yet some of the same people that complain about other bands will leave their own instruments up on the stage while another band is waiting to load on. When your set is done, get your gear off the stage if another band is following you. There is a schedule to keep, whether the band before you loaded off fast or not, there is still a schedule. Be the better and more responsible group, and get your gear off stage so the night can continue.

Some bands say they need to promote and sell and connect immediately with the audience, and that is fine. Have one person with the least gear head to the audience while the rest of the group gets the gear off stage. Do it quickly, too. You do not need to take cymbals off stands on the stage if you are a drummer, you can take the cymbal on the cymbal stand off the stage so that next drummer can get moving on his set up.

The same thing goes if there is room in a club or venue side stage to set up some. Put together some of your set up so loading on can be faster as well. Get out of the selfish zone and consider the night, the other bands, and the club as a whole. You will get a reputation as a group that is easy to work with and professional, something that is a rarity in many places.

Number 6. - Follow up with booking agents, clubs and other bands.

A single gig can be more than a gig if you conduct yourself well. Playing one night with another band can lead to more than just that single show. Follow up with people, keep organized contacts and check in with them. Keep a spreadsheet or a file with the contact, how you connected with them, where they are and what your experience was with them. This is the real networking, and it predates the Internet, folks. This is networking in the most grassroots sense, and it can lead to many more opportunities than you realize. Send thank yous to clubs, cross link to other bands and stay in touch with people. Even if you take five minutes out of your week to keep in touch, update, or cross promote, you will create a larger more effective network that will allow you numerous opportunities instead of single one time events.

Number 7. - Stop f*%^ng over posting on Facebook and other network sites.

Stop with the stupid posts that no one cares about. Yes, maybe some larger scale stars can post, twitter and update about eating a Twinkie, but a fair amount of them have the fame and the celebrity status that draws people’s interest. For the rest of us, the technical name for that kind of post is “pointless crap.” Use quality, not quantity with your posts. While you think that all these people are reading everything you are putting up on Facebook, considert how many people have you as hidden just so they don’t have to read that stuff.

Separate your personal page from the music ones. On a music page, put up the info that will draw people to your links, your pictures, and your posts. If you are using it for a personal page, then by all means, do as you wish. But if you are trying to connect with other artists and fans, if you are trying to network and utilize the social networks as one more avenue to move yourself forward, then it is a professional tool, treat it professionally. Get away from the mafia wars, the farmer games, and anything that makes your page like a series of graffiti advertisements. As a musician, give them something that will draw them in as well as make them want more instead of giving them way too much information.

Number 8. - Be confident but not arrogant. Admit when you don’t know something.

Confidence is great, but arrogance can lock you out of opportunities and close doors that would otherwise be open for you. Too often, arrogance is clumsy camouflage for a lack of confidence or outright insecurity. Nothing is less attractive.

Lay back some on the arrogance and let your confidence shine through. Agents, venues, labels and industry executives are subjected to so much ego and arrogance-driven excesses every single day. By coming off strong, quietly confident and not over the top, you will be a breath of fresh air. You’ll be much for effective capturing the attention of whomever you’re talking to, keeping their attention longer, and being remembered afterwards in a positive light. There is simply no way to achieve that beating your chest and being an arrogant blowhard.

Number 9. - Follow the instructions when it comes to sending out packages , calling, emailing distro, etc.

File another one under “N” for “Not rocket science here”. If you are submitting music for licensing, going after a gig, a recording deal, an agent, a producer or whoever, follow the directions that are given on websites when it comes to soliciting materials. This is another one that predates the Internet. Everyone in every decision-making corner of entertainment is INUNDATED with hopefuls, wannabes, and actual legitimate applicants. They all have rules and requirements to keep this potential avalanche under control. None of them are going to toss those rules aside for you or look at your application favorably because you had to do it your way.

So, if someone has it written on their website to only send emails, then DO NOT CALL THEM. If someone has a certain format they require, then send your materials in that format. I have talked to way too many artists who send out things the way they want to send them out and ignore directions—and then wonder why they never hear back. It’s called attention to detail, and while you may still not have a response, you will at least be considered. You will not get that far if you walk in the door and announce yourself who cannot follow simple instructions.

Number 10. - Stop talking shit about other bands, people, etc.

Basically, be nice and shut your mouth. A lot of bands that rip on other bands get a reputation of being shit talkers. This is not a reputation you want to have. Be considerate. You don’t have to like everyone or everything, but as you are out there in the spotlight, in the media, and around many people who may like the person/band/thing you are tempted to bash, it is much better to keep your mouth shut. Be viewed in a positive light rather than one who is always ripping on other bands—bands which, incidentally, you may have to work with again in the future or who may be able to help (or hurt) you down the line. Be smart when it comes to opening your mouth.

Conclusion

This stuff is basic and yet often ignored. Try professionalism, open communication, attention to detail, and give consideration and respect to those you are working with. It can go a long way for you and your career.

© 2009 Loren Weisman
www.braingrenademusic.com
www.twitter.com/bgellc

Watch out for Loren Weisman’s “Realistic Music Careers 101 Seminar” coming to a city near you and Loren’s book “The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business” coming in 2010.

Take It From a Platinum Artist

2009-11-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

~ Like this dude and his band or not, but this is insightful... and you don't have to read a bunch of crap. Check it, let me know what you think.

The 7 Steps to SUCKcess

2009-11-12T20:31:00.000-08:00

~ I found and ripped this from thedailyswarm.com. Originally penned by Bob Baker. It's funny that I actually know band members like this...

Everybody wants to know the easy, proven steps to music success. Therefore, most experts offers tips and strategies to help you reach your goals in a positive light — including me.
Well, it’s time to shake things up and serve a new audience — which explains why this post takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the dark side: How to destroy your music career in seven easy steps …

1) Give Away Your Personal Power

The first step to destroying your music career is to realize that your destiny is in the hands of other people and circumstances beyond your control. Fully embrace the fact that you need to be in the right place at the right time to get your “lucky break” and be “discovered.”

Know that industry people and music critics must deem you worthy of success for you to have value as a musician. Also, cling to the belief that all the answers are “out there” somewhere and out of your control and you will be incredibly successful at failure.

2) Turn Marketing, Promotion and Sales Into a Huge Burden

Do you really wanna fall flat fast? Then start referring to marketing as a “necessary evil” right away. Realize that you don’t have what it takes to “sell yourself” and reach more fans. In fact, there’s probably a biological reason you hate promotion: you were born without the critical marketing gene that all those “gift of gab” people have. Therefore, you are destined to live a lifetime of hardship as you struggle with having to engage in the ugly chore of self-promotion.

3) Be Fearful of Being Perceived as a Greedy, Capitalist Pig

Paranoia will go a long way to helping you fall short of a thriving music career — especially when it comes to earning money. Just know that every one of your fans is watching you and waiting to jump ship the second they smell any scent of capitalism. Therefore, if you make any sales pitches at all, they better be so low key as to be barely perceptible.

In fact, it would be best not to even make people aware that you have things for sale. Just wait till they come to you. If they’re interested, they’ll ask. And if you want to score extra points, when they do ask, tell them you left all your CDs and T-shirts at home.

4) Use a Lack of Time, Money and Connections as Your Biggest Excuse

Here’s a surefire way to go down in flames. Have convenient scapegoats based on scarcity. Tell anyone who asks (as well as a lot of people who don’t ask or care) how lousy your career is because of all the lack in your life. Frequently use phrases such as “There aren’t enough hours in the day,” “If I had that kind of money, I’d be a rock star too,” and “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” To spice things up, every now and then throw in an angry reference to “The man.”

5) Market Yourself to the Faceless Masses Using Traditional Big Media

Why spend all that time dealing one on one with fans, when someday someone could just throw a bunch of money (you know, the funds you don’t have enough of now) into a massive marketing campaign? Realize that it takes big bucks spent on radio promotion, retail placement, billboards, and paid display ads in national magazines to succeed. This mass media mindset is your ticket to success … at hitting the fast track to failure.

Bonus tip: Never answer your email from fans, and rarely — if ever — log into your Facebook, MySpace or Twitter accounts. Better yet, don’t even start these accounts, since they are time-wasting fads.

6) Promote Yourself Sporadically and Only When It’s Urgent

If you have a mailing list (and with piss-poor email delivery and open rates these days, why bother?), be sure the fans on your list don’t hear from you very often. One of the best “road to ruin” marketing tactics is blasting your fans with urgent “come to my show” or “buy my new album now” messages when they haven’t heard from you in months. Your ultimate goal is have fans read your promotions and go, “Who is this band again?”

7) Know That Everyone Owes You Something Simply Because You Exist

I’ve saved the best way to destroy your music career for last. Simply know that everyone will care as much about you and your music as you do. Understand that complete strangers will indeed listen to every note of your 70-minute concept album and read every word of your 10-page bio. Be sure to send long, in-depth emails and leave lengthy, rambling voice mail messages for the imbeciles who don’t recognize your greatness. Also, be sure to insult anyone who doesn’t get back to you within 10 minutes.

There you have it — the top seven ways to ruin your music career.