All Things Must Pass. Maybe.

Atari has filed for bankruptcy in the USA. The filing was not nearly as surprising as the realization that the company, a pioneer in arcade-style video games, is actually still in business in 2013. Atari is not alone. The downward arc of the personal computer technology cycle is bringing about exits by several former industry leaders. Is there a lesson here for the fate of music formats?

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25 Social Media Resources For Musicians

Social Media Resources For Musicians - At this point in time our society at large must have the “news” the instant it happens. With the evolution of social media this instant gratification is not only possible but prevalent. There are several forums available to the consumer at large the choice is all based on your wants, needs and who you are trying to reach.

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Trends in Booking Shows

Every few years, promoters and venues begin trying new ideas to make their show successful:

Pay to Play

In the 80’s, “pay to play” was a trend that forced artists to pre-sell tickets for their shows to help made up money lost for shows with a low turnout. This is something that still continues today (especially in Los Angeles, where the movement was birthed) and in the UK. The concept is pretty simple: you guarantee to sell a certain number of tickets for your show. However, if you don’t meet the quota, you’re personally liable for the difference. In most cases, even if you sell the prerequisite number of tickets (it can be 15-50 tickets or more), you only get paid a fragment of whatever you sell above the agreed minimum (usually 50%), not the entire batch of sales.

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Hal Leonard Publishes Less Noise, More Soul

Thought-provoking essays on the search for balance in the art, technology, and commerce of music

MONTCLAIR, NJ (February 11, 2013) – Less Noise, More Soul features the unique perspectives of highly accomplished performers, engineers, and producers on the question how modern technology has influenced and shaped the way we create and consume music today.

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The basics of side chain compression

This is a post by mastering engineer Barry Gardner who operates SAS Mastering
http://www.masteringmastering.co.uk/onlinemasteringservices.html

What is side chain processing?

Side chain compression is often seen as a complicated production technique but assuming you understand the basics of compression there should not be any troubles understanding how it works. Most audio compressors work by controlling the input signal using the same signals dynamics, so for example when there is a loud section in a vocal recording the peak in the vocal gets reduced in volume. This has the effect of evening out the level of the singing. It is a very common and useful technique for many types of instrument and most modern music mixes will have a reasonable amount of compression occurring.

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How Do You Get Someone to Read Your Email?

I love this meme. I can still hear the AOL sound clip in my mind saying “You’ve Got Mail!” Back then, email was such a phenomenon (especially through AOL), that a film plot with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan was built around the concept. Not long after, email became so common and inundated with spam that most users end up ignoring most messages that come in.

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New Austin Music Reality Show to Focus on "Classic" Song Stories and Remakes.

Cover Me is a “Behind the Music” series based in Austin, Texas. It will feature a group of musicians and singers collectively known as “The Cover Kings”. The show is currently running a campaign on Kickstarter.com.

This musical biography will explore some of the the greatest hit songs of our time and the artists that made them famous. Cover Me will examine some 90 iconic artists ranging from ABBA to ZZ Top, relate the story of the song and the artist - and then create a modern interpretation of the material. Combining new music technology and Austin’s world-class talent pool, the Cover Kings will create fresh versions of many hit songs from decades past and present.

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Blues Debut - Forging new path in Internet radio

Blues Debut (www.bluesdebut.com) answers the eternal question of blues fans everywhere, “Where can I hear what’s new in blues?”

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PRESS RELEASE

Steve Mramor and Friends to Perform

At Miners Hall Museum June 21-22

FRANKLIN, KS—Singer-songwriter Steve Mramor has been invited to perform his original song Uncle Johnny, chronicling the 1936 death of his great-uncle, Johnnie Femec, in Franklin’s Mine 24, along with other original and traditional folk music June 21-22, 2013, at the Miners Hall Museum.

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Artist Launches Platform to Streamline Music Promotion

Music United, which launches on February 14^th, is a new web-based service aimed at helping independent musicians to streamline their marketing and promotional process.

Music United was founded in 2011 by Jay Gulotta, a musician who was excited about the opportunities created by social media, but was frustrated by the fractured nature of social channels.   “I found myself spending more time making people aware that we were around, posting to 5, 10, 20 or more sites, and less time actually writing, making and playing music.  It was really frustrating, actually,” said Gulotta 

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Considerations for dance music mastering

Dance music is split into a number of genres and sub genres so it covers quite a wide range of music such as house, garage, trance, dubstep, drum and bass, techno, breakbeat and electropop. A good mastering engineer should be capable of mastering music in any genre. His or her experience should be all encompassing, being able to understand enough about all genres and how they should sound. Most mastering engineers will have their own internal references and intimate knowledge about their mastering set up. This gives the engineer a high chance of satisfying clients needs across a wide range of genres.

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Making the most out of touring...

I’ve been touring for almost a decade now and have developed some strategies that have helped…….. When we first started hitting the road, we’d leave town in our ice cream van with a bottle of Jack Daniels, some other accoutrements, and just took off for the first city… our plan was always to see which guy in the band could score a girl to like him that night, then we’d all follow her to her house and crash there. Well, that didn’t always work and when we started getting real girlfriends, you can imagine the drama that THAT caused!
 These days, whether I’ve got label money for tour support or we’re going out on our own I follow a few simple rules that end up saving me a crap load of money.

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Ben Taylor Benefit Concert for Songs of Love

Ben Taylor, gifted son of James Taylor and Carly Simon, will be performing a benefit concert for Songs of Love on Thursday, February 21, 8PM, at Symphony Space in NYC. Ken Dashow of Q104.3 Radio will be the nights host and will also be honored at the concert.

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Reverb Rip-Off and the Endless Music Circle

Is Reverbnation a good citizen in the music industry?

Reverbnation who currently boasts the title of being the #1 music site on the internet leads artists to believe that their tools, gadgets and widgets can help an aspiring musician achieve maximum success using their services.

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