How To Sound Better Live

Live shows are what a lot of our careers center around. Whether we’re in a band, manage a band, or run sound for a band, one thing is for sure, the better the band sounds, the better the show. After reading this post you’ll be able to implement some changes that will help you gain more fans, sell more merch, and have people leave with happier ears.

For the Band

“What could we do better?” is the number one question I am asked by bands after a show. Without fail, this is the answer I give them:

“Improve your tones”

Here’s what I mean: Say you are a singer songwriter. You play by yourself, your vocals and your guitar is 100% of your sound. First of all, record yourself playing, and listen back to that recording. What is the tone of your voice? Deep? Boomy? Nasally? Harsh? Thin? Full? Listen with an open mind, and see if there are things you can improve on. Next your guitar. How does the pickup sound in comparison to how the guitar sounds when you play it unplugged? Does the pickup add low end or sound too harsh in the highs? Spend some time listening to how your instruments sound, and make them sound as best as they can.

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Fan Friction - How The Internet is Failing Artists by Adam Bernard

The internet has a million ways to communicate, and a million ways to sell things, but it’s failing when it comes to creating fans. The reason for this is that there are very few fan experiences on the internet.

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Five Bucks

I met up with a group of music industry professionals this afternoon, and as we were chatting, we got on the topic of the problems that exist in the area of live shows.  I’m not talking about soft-seater or stadium shows, I’m talking about gigs in small, local venues.

It’s clear that there are lots of different opinions on what works and what doesn’t, but right as we were wrapping up, I made a comment that I think warrants publishing, and it’s this:

There’s nothing that bothers me more than shows that cost $5 to get into.

Five bucks, in my mind, is WAY too low.  When I played in bands in my early twenties (about 10 years ago), shows cost five bucks THEN. You know what else cost five bucks? A pack of cigarettes. Try finding a store that sells you smokes for under $10 now. (Note: I’m in Toronto, Canada, so your prices may vary depending on where you live).

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: First Impressions Count & more

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud

• Glen Brown: Why Play on the Facebook Freeway? Meet Me In My Inbox Instead.
• Bruce Warila: Who wins the race for investment money, the artist with the epic song or the software developer with the snazzy iPhone app?
• Mark Knight: First Impressions Count. The Importance Of Brand For Your Band
• Ariel Hyatt: Ariel Hyatt’s 2012 Guide to SXSW
• Kelland Drumgoole: 3 Reasons Spotify May Never Be the OS of Music

3 Reasons Spotify May Never Be the OS of Music

So, most of you are probably aware of the recent changes that Spotify has made in regards to opening up its platform for developers to build apps upon. In March, the social music service will be opening up an app store to help app developers get paid for their hard work. Last week, I read a really interesting article on the Gaurdian titled Spotify: ‘We have to turn ourselves into the OS of music’.

As a heavy user of the free version of Spotify  , I really love what they are doing for social music but there are few major problems that I feel will prevent it from becoming the OS of music.

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Ariel Hyatt's 2012 Guide to SXSW

Having attended every SXSW for the last 16 years, and being an active member of the SXSW Accelerator advisory board, I’ve seen it all. The following are some tips on how to successfully navigate your through the most overwhelming music conference of them all.

Envision What You Want Before You Arrive

My first bit of advice: Arrive prepared. Know who will be attending and create some goals before you get there.

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First Impressions Count. The Importance Of Brand For Your Band

Without doubt, the biggest challenge any new band or artist faces is getting their music heard. So it’s important you give yourself the very best chance of cutting through. Sadly, just having great music is not enough. Bands frequently spend months writing and recording new material and then rush it out before considering the importance of presentation or brand.

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Who wins the race for investment money, the artist with the epic song or the software developer with the snazzy iPhone app?

The problem with the “fuck copyrights, you can make money from live performances” argument is that this thinking limits an artist’s ability to scale to: his or her capacity to perform (live) on a consistent basis.  If music (for example) is consistently stolen borrowed or free, where does the capacity to scale through minimal additional investment come from?  T-shirts?
 
One might argue that if you reach the top tier of the profession that the capacity to generate easy, incremental income scales far beyond the income generated via performances.  However nobody wants to invest in a business or an industry where the only way to obtain a financial exit is to hit a home run.  There are far too many investment alternatives where you can pile up rewards by hitting singles and doubles…while preserving the opportunity to hit a home run also.

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Why Play on the Facebook Freeway? Meet Me In My Inbox Instead.

I live in my inbox. Don’t you?

It’s like this. I sit down at my computer, or I pick up my smartphone. First thing I do? I check my email. There I go. I just went into my inbox. I’m at home and I’m greeting people or sending them away.
I like to keep my inbox clean and tidy, just like my real home. Okay, there’s a bit of dust and some dirty socks kicking around. But generally, I keep the place in order because I live there.

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MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: Bandzoogle: "Your website should not be a blog"

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud

• Kellan Drumgoole: Bandzoogle: “Your website should not be a blog”
• Ariel Hyatt: 5 Critical Things To Add To Your Monthly Newsletter
• Jeremy Belcher: Exactly how NOT to use an email list

Exactly how NOT to use an email list

I was thinking recently about what to write about next, and lo and behold, this beauty arrives in my inbox. I don’t know why I was on this email list, as I never signed up for anything of the sort. This alone annoyed me. Yet, in any case, the subject immediately caught my attention.

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5 Critical Things To Add To Your Monthly Newsletter

So – as you know I am a newsletter evangelist!

I believe it is the NUMBER ONE thing that will help you create a career in the music industry; communicating with your fan base regularly and consistently. 

If you do not already have a schedule mapped out for sending your newsletters – get your calendar out NOW and pencil in 12 dates – 1X per month (I suggest you send your newsletter 2X per month but start with once a month and grow from there). 

Studies show that the best days to send newsletters (for the highest open rates) are Wednesdays and Thursday so make sure to send them out mid week.

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Bandzoogle: “Your website should not be a blog”

Bandzoogle is one of the most effective platforms for musicians to build their website and manage their direct-to-fan marketing and sales. Their platform is one of oldest web hosting tools available for musicians and I have created a few websites through them myself.

Bandzoogle sites are very easy to create, stylish and they come with some great built-in features.The service is free to try, and offers affordable monthly subscriptions plans, with great customer service. Below is a brief Q/A that I recently had with Bandzoogle’s CEO David Dufresne.

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MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: Facebook's Timeline & More

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud

• Bas Grasmayer: The Next Music Format Case-Study: Twisted Music
• Dave Cool: The Four P’s of Playing Live Shows: Promotion
• Brian Thompson: The Twitter Trolls: How to Deal with Criticism Online
• Ariel Hyatt: Musician’s Arsenal: Killer Apps, Tools & Sites - Facebook’s Timeline
• Jamie Leger: What Can We Learn From Indie Band Pomplamoose?