One Book To Rule Them All! The Elusive "It" Factor in the Music Industry

I have always been a creative entrepreneur, and not allowed the world to get the better of me, but instead, let the world fuel me. Throughout 13 years in the music industry I’ve worked with some of the best in the business: Anita Baker, KC Porter, Jim Henson Studios, Never Land, OK GO, George Duke, Lauren Mayhew, Pomplamoose, and as far as I can remember, I’ve heard of “it,” this elusive thing setting apart the extraordinary from the ordinary. These people encapsulate: auras, energy, and empower all that are near; you’re drawn to them.

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MusikFly: Makes it Easy to Submit and Receive Music

As a musician it is extremely important for your music to be heard by the right people. As a blogger, it is extremely important to discover artists and help them gain publicity as efficiently as possible. I recently launched a service, Musikfly that helps both the musician and blogger to acheive these goals. Right now there are limited options out there for music submissions. Musikfly offers a simple submission platform that can be embedded into a blogger’s site and used in place of email for their submissions. So when a musician goes to their favorite blog and wants to submit their music, they just click a link, connect to their soundcloud or youtube, and add the songs they want to submit. Then once sumbitted, instead of having a clogged email inbox, the blogger has a clean filtered submission feed where they can listen to the songs and learn about the artists all on the same page.  

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MINI: Music Business: It's a Dirty Game!

MINI: Music Business: It’s a Dirty Game! FULL COLOR eBOOK & INSERTS! Preview Chapters 1-6 for only $2.99 This MINI version is AVAILABLE NOW at the low cost of $2.99 Direct from www.sevenwestpublishing.com for a limited time! See full color inserts showing firsthand some of the tactics used to deceive the masses and to hide the truth behind decades of abuse. FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF WHY AND HOW IT ALL BEGAN!

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Music Without Labels Live Tour 2012

At Music Without Labels & Beat-Play we know you want, and deserve, exclusive coverage of all of the best summer festivals and concerts; which is why MWL Live is embarking on journey across the United States! MWL spokesperson, Katie McVeay, and leading videographer, Shane Suski, are crossing state lines to showcase musical acts at festivals, small town concerts and everywhere in between, providing up-to-date photos, video interviews, and giving you the opportunity to interact with today’s top artists and musicians.

During Shane’s first year with MWL, he has had the opportunity to photograph over 75 artists including big names like Immortal Technique, GZA, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Young the Giant, and more! Katie McVeay started her MWL work in NYC where she interviewed numerous up-and-coming bands such as Caged Animals, Dustin Wong, The Beets and Canon Logic. In February, Katie relocated to MWL Headquarters in San Diego and has had the chance to interview talented acts such as Puscifer, Lost in the Trees, Rachael Yamagata, Talkdemonic and many more!

MWL Live will be traveling approximately 11,000 miles in 108 days featuring popular musicians at Sasquatch, Free Press, Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, Lollapalooza, Bumbershoot Music Festival and everywhere in between! We also know that not all of your favorite musicians are located near hub cities where their music can be properly showcased, reviewed or featured. Are you one of these artists? Do you know a great band in your location? We are reaching out to artists and fans! We want to visit you during the MWL Live Tour!

A trip like this takes funding! How much? $10,000! Right now we have $5,749 towards the project, but it’s not enough! Our Kickstarter goal of $6,000 helps cover the (high) price of gas, food, accommodations, tolls, festival fees, equipment and other expenses that we need to make the MWL Live Tour 2012 a reality!

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How Important is a Lyric Anyway?!

I am about to propose that lyrics are perhaps less important than one may first think. I’ll admit, I am playing devils advocate a little because we all know that lyrics are very important, but stick with me, I may have a point and it may throw up a nice debate!

The overwhelming majority of people will say that the lyrics are the most important part of a song. They’ll claim that the lyrics are the thing they like most about a given song, especially a ballad.

This afternoon I played devils advocate with my girlfriend who told me how she loves Stevie Wonders’ “Over Joyed”. I agree with her that the song is awesome, but I wanted to know why she likes the song so much. She told me that the lyrics are beautiful and explained that the lyrics are the primary reason she loves listening to the song.

I proposed that the lyrics play a tiny role in why she likes the song. I explained that if we took the lyrics and sung them in a grungy, upbeat punk way (which I know she dislikes) then the lyrics would carry no meaning and she would avoid listening to the song!

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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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Ten Tips For Do-It-Yourself PR and Publicity For Bands

1. Learn how to sell yourself.  Want media coverage? Ask.  Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and ask to speak to the person in editorial who handles music or entertainment.

2. Be Creative.  News doesn’t happen.  News is created… and develop a sense of humor, especially about yourself.  If they’re laughing, they’re listening.  Let’s be real… you’re playing music, not curing cancer.  Try not to be so serious, but don’t be a buffoon either. 

3. Grammar. Learn how to spell and know the fundamentals of grammar.  (Use the spellchecker).

4. Proofread your work.  Then have someone else proofread your work… and then have someone else proofread your work.  Then let it ‘marinate’ for a few hours or overnight.  You’ll be amazed at how many spelling and/or grammatical errors will appear, as well as glaringly required edits, when you come back to it with fresh eyes.  Sloppy, incoherent press releases or introductory pitch letters will result in their instant deletion.  You only get one chance to make a first impression. 

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Internet Radio Is The Future......Duh

On my site called IntoTheMusic.Biz I wrote a little rant about articles I had been reading:

I run across articles with titles like “Internet Radio is the Future”. This cracks me up. Its like writing a book on the fact that the sky is blue.

But, last night, a friend of mine and I were talking about how I’ve never owned a tv. My friend said “how do you get the news then?”. I didn’t know how to respond. I’m not in Orange County anymore and this person is a little older than me, but really?

Here’s some links to articles like this (I hope they’re written by people who live in the jungle):
Internet Radio A Favourable Choice For All Your Favorite Music

Is Internet Radio The Future?

How to Record an Album in 7 Days

We, as modern musicians, are spoilt. We can have anything we want in a snap. Instruments from Abbey Road, snap. Ultra high resolution Pro-Tools recording, snap. Performing an entire set using only a mobile phone, snap.

So, when anyone can record a song, why are so few people recording quality albums?

Because they require focus.

When you have 50 unfinished tracks floating around, how can you pick 10 to fit together into an album? A good album isn’t simply a collection of songs thrown together, often they are written and recorded during the same sessions. Unlike single songs, albums require a focus on the bigger picture. How will the songs sound next to each other? What order would they work best in? Do all the tracks belong on there?

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Songwriter & Producer workshop

Hello my name is William i have managed songwriters and producers for over twenty years i came across this site while looking for ways to promote my event, if anyone has ideals on how to promote a music seminar please share with me, I’m hosting a Songwriter & Producer workshop in Universal City California Sat. Oct. 9, at 2pm our class will give attendees the skills for creating hit songs and the winning mentality you need to make it to the finish line, we will be sharing our secrets for success my team has one Grammy and two nominations we have worked with Timbaland,  50 CENT, Flo Ryda, Jennifer Lopez and many more we have sold over fifty-million records world wide and it hasn’t been easy for more info copy and paste the link.

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The Difference Between an Artist and a Wanna Be!!!

I’m getting kinda sick of hearing the word ‘Artist’ being thrown around Hollywood and other social media circles as though anyone who has a talent automatically qualifies as an ‘artist’. That is so not the case and in my opinion needs to be clarified.

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How to Write a Bio that Doesn't Suck!

A bio can be a tough nut to crack for independent artists. So how do you write a good bio?

First of all, proper spelling and punctuation are imperative. Don’t have errors in your bio! Have other people proofread your bio, especially if this isn’t one of your strengths. (I’ve been guilty of spelling and grammatical errors plenty of times myself – just make sure you don’t let yourself off the hook too easily. Proofread. Care. It matters)

Structure your paragraphs in a way that’s easy to read. Be digestible. Giant paragraphs and run-on sentences are amateur and make your bio difficult to read – not what you want!

As for the content, there are many ways to approach it. Here’s one of them:

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