They didn’t know (From BRASH! - A Music Marketing Blog)

“They didn’t know how to market me….”

“They didn’t know what to do with me….”

How many times have we heard GREAT artists say this?! Well as for me, I’ve heard it more times than I care to hear anymore. It is important for an artist to be surrounded by the right team that is willing to teams go that extra mile to  push quality artists to the mainstream.  Just because an artist does not fit into a specific mold does not mean that their career has to suffer and miss out on a promising chance. With that being said, artists must be receptive of constructive criticism and understand that they have a team of professionals who are experienced and knowledgeable in their craft.

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App for Musicians to create Setlists

Gigster - Setlists at your fingertips

With this great iPhone-App you can:

Create, play and share setlists for gigs and shows as a band, individual artist, manager or fan.

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"Are you engaged?" from BRASH! A Music Marketing Blog

Getting involved with your following

When I speak of being engaged, in a Marketing perspective it doesn’t mean to “Put a ring on it”. As we all know, you can be engaged with people by becoming involved whether its in a business aspect or a relationship.  As an artist, you should want to have engaging conversations with your fans, interested media outlets, and industry professionals.  This will help you to expand your brand and exposure in the industry.

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Why People Buy or DON'T Buy Music

With much debate surrounding streaming services and file-sharing sites, I brainstormed reasons why people still buy music in 2012. Although scarcity is a factor, it was omitted because theoretically once music is digitized it is vulnerable to mass sharing. Also, although there are many opinions about the overall quality of music being unworthy of purchase these days, but I believe that goes without saying.

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Guerrilla Promotion; Building Better MI Relationships

Contacting music industry professionals can be easy if you have the right approach. Unfortunately, many independent artists do not use the right approach and have limited success. The Guerrilla Promotion tips in this post are designed to help musicians that find it difficult to get in touch with or to work with music industry professionals. If you find yourself leaving a lot of message that don’t get returned, or cant get people on the phone, this article may help.

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Justin Bieber, Mr Blobby and David Hasselhoff head the list of least favourite Christmas songs. We’d rather hear Slade, Wham or Paul McCartney

Britain’s shoppers feel they are being bombarded by the same Christmas music again and again on the High Street.  This comes as a study reveals the songs people most and least want to hear while out buying Christmas presents.  

Immedia Plc, which provides music solutions to retailers, carried out research among UK consumers to find out what they liked listening to the most and the least at Christmas. 

The results show that the festive classic ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ by Slade remains the favourite song to put Britain’s shoppers in the holiday spirit.    Meanwhile, Mr Blobby’s Christmas in Blobbyland is the one song that people don’t want to hear, with Justin Bieber’s ‘Mistletoe’ and David Hasselhoff’s ‘Stille Nacht’ not far behind.  

Crucially however, while shoppers enjoy hearing ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’, they don’t want to hear it over and over again as they go from store to store.  Over two-thirds (68%) of shoppers polled by Immedia felt that the music they hear in shops over Christmas is too repetitive.  

According to Immedia’s survey, the list of favourite Christmas tunes is dominated by songs from previous decades.  The top ten includes:

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Competition: Win A Year's Subscription To The IMA Music Business Academy ($181 Value)

Hi guys. I’ve been a long term reader and contributor of Music Think Tank, and thought it’s about time I gave something more back to the community.

As some of you may know, I recently released my course ‘The IMA Music Business Academy’. It’s a course that aims to teach the independent musician the business side of the industry, giving them all the knowledge and practical skills they need to fast track their music career.

The course has received a lot of good feedback so far, and with the door now back open, I want give you the chance to get involved free of charge.

I’m giving away three prizes of a year’s long access to the IMA Music Business Academy (Each prize valued at $181). If you want to win this great prize, all you have to do is:

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Top 9 Song Pitching Platforms

Many musicians fail to achieve success in the music industry due to lack of “follow through”. The simple act of following through on a few crucial things can make all the difference.

Going round in circles

I used to lack follow through. I’d write song after song but rarely send it to anyone in the industry. Was it laziness, fear of rejection or simply being too focused on my next musical creation? Too be honest I don’t know, but whatever the answer, the non action resulted in stagnation of my music career without me even realising it. I was busy writing songs, working hard and pushing forward, but in reality I was simply going round in circles.

I now view music “creation” as a form of preparation and nothing more. The real job is to send my work to the industry and get their thoughts and literally expose my music more. Shifting my focus in this way means I am able to follow through with each song I write.

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BBox: Brooklyn’s New Community Radio Station: Call for Entries!

Hi Music Think Tank, We are BBox Radio, a new community-powered platform and internet station broadcasting from NYC’s creative center: Brooklyn! Take a look at our Call for Entries — we’re asking everyone in and around the borough to help us reinvent radio! The idea is to create something new, expressive and decidedly LOCAL, yet global in reach. We hope you can help us spread the word! Visit BBoxRadio.com for more information and let us know if you have any questions. We’ll keep you tuned in. Love, BBox Radio

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Don't Get Screwed!!! Music Contract Terms Every Artist Should Know, In Plain English-Part 2

In Part 1 of this list, I began listing common terminology you will see over and over again in the contracts you receive. And although an entertainment attorney and other experienced professionals should be reviewing and explaining them to you, it is always good to have at least a basic understanding of some of the jargon. So here is Part 2 of Music Contract Terms Every Artist Should Know, In Plain English…

Common Contract Terms Every Artist Should Know

License - This has nothing to do with your driving…A license in the entertainment business is permission a company or any other 3rd party gets when they want to use your music. If you write a song, and Lady Gaga wants to sing it, she has to get a license from you to use it. If “Ride Or Die San Andreas-The Movie” wants to then use her version of that song in their new game, they need a license from you AND her…Radio gets a license for every song they play. So does every bar, club, and restaurant! (Well, they’re suppose to anyway…) This license is needed because under copyright law, you own the song, and therefore have a right to decide who gets to use it (for an exception, see compulsory license below).

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7 Words Every Artist NEEDS To Know: Publishing

If you’re serious about making this business of music your full time career, then one of the first things you need to understand is the lingo of the business! Today we will discuss, in plain English, the top 7 terms you need to understand about publishing. Something important to remember about publishing is, this is how songwriters earn their living. If you are an artist who only records other peoples music, you are usually not entitled to the publishing income. However, if you are an artist who rights some or all of your own material, or a writer/ composer (beat-maker for the rap producers), this is where ALL of your money is coming from! So without any more chatter, here is:

7 Words Every Artist NEEDS To Know: Publishing

1. Copyright - Copyrights are the rights given to you under US law that states, once you create an original work (known as Intellectual Property), you are the only one who is allowed to profit from it for a specified amount of time (for most of you, that would be the rest of your life, plus 70 years). Now, by law, as soon as you put the song in a form that anyone else can hear it or read it, it is considered copywritten. The question is, how do you prove you did it first? Although there are a lot of suggested ideas out there on how this can be done (ie. mail it to yourself and don’t open it, upload it to a website so the date is saved, etc…) they are ALL wrong. The ONLY way to ensure that your music is protected and will stand up in court when you sue someone for stealing your song, is to register the song with the US Library of Congress. Once submitted, your copyright is secure, and you can rest assured that your music is safe.

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Finding Affordable Mixing & Mastering

With the low prices of recording equipment and software, it is no surprise that the number of musicians trying to make it big on a DIY budget is on the rise. Seasoned industry veterans will testify that not only does an artist need to possess the talent and determination to succeed in the music business but their success depends on the team of dedicated industry professionals surrounding the artist. As more and more layoffs take place within major labels, these professionals become more accessible to the little man.

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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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Simple website builder for artists launches while declaring end of recession

Canadian startup Sayvee has just launched a simple and easy way for musicians to create a professional website without the need to be a geek. Their launch is combined with an announcement declaring the official end of the recession and a creative Facebook contest.

Not often do you find a technology company with a lot of personality. Sayvee is changing that by turning the heads of their biggest competitors with their tongue-in-cheek promo videos and their latest contest on Facebook where they declared July 1, 2010 as the official last day of the recession.

“We decided that it was time for the recession to be over,” commented Steve Devries, co-founder and photographer. “We’ve been building Sayvee for the past 2 years and figured that since people are doing things like selling stars and space on the moon that we could claim a date for the end of the recession.”

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