Mining a Niche and Sticking Together - What We Can All Learn from Post Rock

Given how difficult it is to ‘make it’ in music, it’s easy to see every other musician in your area or genre as a competitor. However, as has been pointed out by some commentators already (notably ?uestlove) it’s actually a much better idea to unite with like minded musicians rather than ignore them at best, or sabotage them at worst. Simply put, some of the greatest acts ever to emerge came from a ‘scene’, whether accidentally or deliberately created.

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Global Music Ecosystem & Cultural Implications

I recently did an interview of this young mash-up artist that turned out to be a really good exemple of how technologies are changing the way music is being produced and promoted. He is 22, comes from the North East of Brazil and rules the Asian Mash-up remix scene. Leaving on his first tour to South America in early 2011, DJ Masa is living proof that the new music ecosystem is emerging and that its cultural implications are real.

You are getting close to 100,000 downloads on official.fm alone. I saw that you have 12 Million + views on your You Tube profile … This is quite significant, can you tell us a little bit of your story?

100.000 downloads already? Wow!! I hope it didn’t make your servers busy! Well, I’m a 22 years old journalist and I’m from Brazil. I’ve been following the Asian Pop scene since 2003, when I discovered J-pop and K-pop through the Internet. That time I joined a lot of forums and fan sites to keep me updated and to contribute with that community anyway that I could. I started to learn about music production software in 2005, when I released my first mashup and shared it with my online friends.

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What Do You Do For Your Band?

Besides your instrument. Any musician can do that. What makes you irreplaceable in your band?

This is important.

Music is a highly competitive industry, and it’s no secret band lineups change all the time. Unless you happen to be a prophet of the guitar like Hendrix, being “good” isn’t enough to ensure you stay in a band. Youtube practicly has a dedicated channel called “12 Year Olds Who Are Better At Your Instrument Than You Will Ever Be”. A Total musician, the kind of person you always want in your band, contributes something that can’t be replaced by someone who can read guitar tabs.

What would qualify as something making you more valuable to the band?

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A Common Music Business Contract Mistake – Not Thinking Long Term

2 Common Examples:

1. You’re offered 10% as an Artist
[Side Note: Make sure it says of the Retail Price! If it says “Wholesale”, make sure you get 20%!!!]

Why not ask for your rate to rise each album you release by 1/2%?

Why not ask that your rate goes up 1/2% for “Gold” and anothet 1/2% for “Platinum”?

Believe it or not, the Record Company will probably say “Yes” to both! Why? Because if you’re doing well, they won’t mind it, and if you’re Not selling, they can always rease you from the contract anytime they want!

2. Thinking you can stop paying a Manager [for example] when the contract is over

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The Creators Project

The Creators Project is a new network dedicated to the celebration of creativity and culture across media, and around the world. At a time in the history of the arts where digital technologies have revolutionized distribution, democratized access, and completely re-imagined the scope and scale with which an artist can create a vision and reach an audience, The Creators Project is a completely new kind of arts and culture channel for a completely new kind of world.

The Creators Project has two mandates: on one hand it’s a modern day media channel that we will continually identify and celebrate the work of visionary artists wherever they are. On the other hand it is also a content creation studio, an arts foundation of sorts that will facilitate the production and dissemination of new work with these artists and their collaborators.

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in collaboration | tagged Artist, creators project, music, musicians

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