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March 25, 2014 Being able to objectively communicate who you are, why you make music and what that sounds and looks like is square one in marketing your act. A bio is often the first piece of information a prospective label, manager or talent buyer will look at when deciding if they want to work with you. So what are you going to do?
March 24, 2014
music production | tagged Online Ableton Live courses March 22, 2014 What’s more important than how many fans you have? Of course, as an artist you always want more fans… And who knows, you might blow up and gain a million followers over night, but honestly: What are the chances? So what matters more to the average artist is…
March 18, 2014 If you want to cover this topic in detail, it requires thousands of words; I don’t, and won’t bother. Email is too deep a system, with twists and turns not only from a technical perspective but also etiquette.
Let’s put spam aside with this one note: Email should never be used to contact a person about what you are doing without the recipient requesting it. It may be used for initial contact, though, if the message is one sentence asking for permission to contact in the future and plainly states, “Unless your response is ‘yes’ I won’t contact you again.”
Putting out an email blast to names that you’ve gathered from a variety of sources is SPAM. You don’t like getting unsolicited emails anymore than the person who gets one about your music or gig dates.
March 17, 2014 Hello Al! It’s back, it’s free, and it’s bigger and better then ever. MelodyFusion’s 2014 Band Gear Give Away is back with way more chances to win (over 14 winners this year and mini give-aways every month starting in April).
Yay, another “Band Gear Give-Away”!
The last “Band Gear Give-Away” was such a great success that we’re doing it again! It is really simple to play: you are automatically entered if/when you join Melody Fusion. By promoting your music and gigs or discovering and reviewing other’s tracks, you automatically stack up entries.Think of it this way - MelodyFusion is helping you, help yourself, by offering such a nice GRAND PRIZE to promote your tunes or find and listen to new music…it’s ALL FREE!
March 13, 2014 The Art of the Mixtape. In this new music era mixtapes are a huge part of the hip-hop and r&b genre. Recently, I’ve seen and heard a lot of questions posed about mixtapes through word of mouth, blogs and social networking platforms. Questions like what’s the difference between an album and mixtape? And, why do rappers release mixtapes? The truth is there is no one reason but these days as far as the fan is concerned most albums are basically free albums.
Here’s my quick A-Z Breakdown. In the old days, a mixtape was a DJ mix where DJs would not only showcase their work, but also break new records and they often re-mixed songs and mix matched popular vocals to beats from other popular current hits.
Fast-forward to todays fast pace consumers demand market. In order to understand the mixtape you have to understand the recording process. To mass-produce, distribute and market an album on a national, let alone a worldwide level, it takes a boatload of money. Someone has to foot the bill. Before a label, distributor, sponsor or investor puts up this kind of money; they need to believe on paper they will see a return in their investment.
March 13, 2014 Album Release, Electronic, Music Industry, Music Management, Music Reviews, Music Think Tank, Music Video, New Album , Press Release, Promotion, album, artist, digital music, music , music art, music distribution, music production, music promotion, musician, new age, pop culture, public relations | tagged ambient music, concerti, concerti friuli, electro rock, electrosonic, elettropop, erasmus song, musica elettronica, musica live friuli, new sound, udine, veneto March 13, 2014 Neil Young’s career has spanned nearly half a century, from songwriting to rocking, to filmmaking and environmental causes. Now he is trying his hand at technology, and in doing so, he is taking on the music industry as we know it.
Inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame not once but twice, Neil Young is a cultural force. As the visionary of Pono he took his star power, connections, and money to get the product off the ground. His passion seems real. Now he serves as the leader of the movement, with a business behind him.
Music Industry | tagged Music Service, design, device, function, kickstarter, music news, neil young, pono March 12, 2014 March 11, 2014 NY, NY—Today, SongSplits Solutions LLC announced the launch of SongSplits 2.0, the free digital split sheet solution for songwriters to manage copyrights in real-time. As the world’s first cloud-based split sheet, SongSplits is a simple and universal process for global songwriters to declare and validate their ownership of created works and ease the friction in licensing music.
SongSplits.com 2.0, the free real-time technology for songwriters manages, verifies, confirms and communicates their song’s ownership declarations online and in print. Additional user features include online music catalog and contact management.
SongSplits’ simple process aids in the reduction of delayed and/or forfeited royalties by songwriters and music publishers due to their inability to confirm and/or demonstrate ownership interest in songs. As global copyright laws and revisions are being considered, the use of the Company’s technology can minimize orphaned works and copyright disputes as copyright data is digitally managed by the creator.
March 11, 2014 Today, social media is the cornerstone of your music career. It’s what lets you stay in touch with your fans and easily notify them with exciting news. With all the social media guides out there, you’d think no one remembers one of the key behavioral aspects to being human - socializing. I know, it’s hard to find a balance between social and promotional - afterall, you still need to sell your show or record. Here’s 10 secrets to help you find that social media balance.
March 8, 2014 As a musician, you’re looking for a way to showcase your your talent to as many people as possible. But how do you go about doing that?
In today’s world, you have to go online. And one of the best ways to do that is to build a website. When building your site, you really have two options available to you.
WordPress is the most popular platform and is used by many well-known musicians. The Rolling Stones, Katy Perry and Jay-Z are just a few who have chosen the platform.
The best thing about WordPress is it’s cheap, easy to use, and extremely powerful. There’s no shortage of themes and plugins that you can use to build in any features you want.
March 4, 2014 You’ve done the hard part - you’ve created your own music that you’re proud of and want to share with the world. After hundreds of hours writing, practising, recording, mixing, and editing - your tunes are ready to go. But, have you thought about the next step? How are you going to promote your music beyond your immediate fan base to start getting that all important exposure?
We’ve put together 5 ways to promote your music in the digital age. Hopefully these will help you take your music to the next level, so jump in and see what works for you:
1. Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms, and in particular Facebook, allow you to get a new audience listening to your music quickly and cost effectively. You can use Facebook Ads to target people interested in similar artists to you, whilst excluding your current fans. This allows you to generate a new fan base quickly and relatively cheaply.
Album Release, Band Marketing | tagged band marketing, facebook marketing March 4, 2014 From cheating managers and promotors to IRS issues and straight up financial mismanagement, there are many reasons the list of music legends who have lost it all is a long one. David Acosta, CPA is an expert in helping music artists navigate and protect themselves from the financial downside of the music industry. Here’s what he has to say regarding royalty fraud.
How does royalty fraud happen?
There are many variables when it comes to royalty distribution and the calculation of rates. It is an extremely complex and controversial process. Not only do rates vary by type (CDs, digital, streaming, television and film, video games) but the calculation of royalties is different for songwriters, publishers and the recording artist. As Courtney Love pointed out in her letter to music artists, “Record companies also reduce royalties by “forgetting” to report sales figures, miscalculating royalties and by preventing artists from auditing record company books.”
Advice, Business, managing money | tagged fraud, royalties