Can You Predict A Hit? The 21st Century A&R Answer

On Saturday, Bob Lefsetz asked this question in his post located here.

I have dedicated the past 10 years (of my 20 in this business) to precisely this question - or as I ask it now, “How can we make the A&R process more efficient and more accurate?”

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Get new fans on Google Plus

So you’ve got a great Google Plus profile set up, you have videos and links to your music posted, and you’re connecting with as many music industry professionals as possible. (If you don’t have a profile, you should). The next logical step is start converting other Google Plus users into rabid online fans of your music. There are two ways to go about this.

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MyMusicExec.com - Tunnel Vision: Today's "Internet Entrepreneurs"

Clearly the Internet has transformed the manner in which music is promoted and presented to the public. Never has the relationship between art and money been so complex- I mean, who would have ever thought of the day we would see artists who use to sell 3-5 million records first week now struggling to hit Gold? (500k) I can assure you some of the biggest business guru’s were hit with a taste of reality when the Internets power would become somewhat of a overnight success.

Let us rewind- pretend it is 1999 (Good days right?) Billy Joel is given an award for his “inspired songwriting and exciting performances”, Britney Spears releases her debut album “Baby One More Time” (we all remember that video!) the Chili Peppers release Californication with John Frusciante and sell 13 mill worldwide and of course the debut of Hip Hop icon Eminem releases “The Slim Shady LP” - Great time in music right? Now, keep in mind Napster debut July 1998. What if Britney, the Chili Peppers and Eminem had the foresight to see the impact the internet would have and all decided to release their album digitally? What change would have been brought on if they embraced the idea of “internet entrepreneurship”? Do you think they would have been the megastars they are today? Or would would the Label say “Your crazy! This internet thing is a phase and it will pass! It’s like the Record…or like the 8 Track Player..or like the Cassette Tape…or like the CD”

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STAYING AWAY FROM GLUTEN BUT STAYING CLOSE TO SINGING

Los Angeles – Amanda Marie uses her 20+ years of musical talent to sing for a variety of non-profit organizations but it’s only possible after a diagnosis of Celiac Disease (auto-immune disease & gluten intolerance). So what’s Celiac? An allergy to gluten, wheat, flour, barley, & hops.

Physical complications inhibited Amanda Marie to sing & perform optimally until the recent diagnosis of Celiac. The overall vitality is affected; voice inhibited coupled with esophageal problems for singers suffering from Celiac is common.

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myShuffle - an iPhone app that lets you play the music you like

myShuffle, an app that lets you shuffle through your music library while learning your music taste to maximise your musical experience. myShuffle puts you in control of your shuffle. With its simple and intuitive interface, myShuffle allows you to change the likelihood of songs and artists to be played again. With one-touch, myShuffle learns your musical taste and tailors your shuffling experience to match your very own musical taste.

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Online mastering - advice on choosing the right service for your music

Online mastering studios have been around for a number of years now and many musicians maybe be attracted to the lower prices. There is no doubt that saving some money is on a lot of peoples minds these days. This is understandable, however the online mastering services you can find on the internet are wide and varied along with the pricing that you can find. As an operator of a professional online mastering studio myself I find it quite alarming when looking at the websites of some people offering online mastering services. It is very obvious to a mastering professional what studios seem ill equipped or lacking in experience and skill that mastering requires. As such I thought it would be a good idea to list some of the things to look out for when choosing mastering. Firstly I will clarify what mastering is. Mastering is preparing a body of music works for final release medium. This involves fades, spacing, tonal sonic tweaks, tweaks to the dynamic range of the material, entering sub code data such as ISRC codes and UPC/EAN codes  and quality control. (click, glitch removal etc) A master format might be a CD-R pre master disk or a DDP file or .wav and MP3 files.

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Musicians Takeout - Online resources for all musicians

Musicians Takeout was created by musicians for all musicians. People of all ages and musical diversities are able to benefit from the resources we have presented on our website. Musicians Takeout was launched December of 2010 with the intension to compile useful tools, lessons and information for the benefit of all musicians.

Why you need to be on Google Plus now

The music blogs lately have been wallowing in pessimism about the new social network from Google. The general line of thought seems to be that Google + is yet another added burden along with Twitter, Facebook, that old website called Myspace, etc. However, Google Plus has several features that no other website or social network offers.

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Daniel Levi Goans, NC folk artist released new album! Get a free download!

After seven years of touring and writing with Nashville based outfit The War, Daniel Levi Goans recorded Choice Cannonballs in the heat and humidity of a North Carolina summer in the very basement where he discovered his love for playing music as a child. His early explorations of the piano evolved into an attempt to capture the rich tradition of American folk. The songs are stripped down tributes to the folk storytelling tradition with sparse soundscapes that evoke the feverish density of the summer in which it was recorded.

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What To Wear When Nominated For An Award

“Something warm and comfortable” I replied when someone asked me what I was wearing to the Exposure Music Awards. The awards show is in mid-October. There is no way I’m walking around England… half-dressed, trying to look sexy, when in reality I’m freezing and probably wet from the cold, drizzly rain! When you’re nomiated for an award, the least you can do is treat yourself well. I think it’s important to feel physically comfortable in the clothes that you’re wearing because it’s highly likely someone will be staring at you whether your name is called or not when the prize winner is announced.

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Every Piece of Music Has a Story

Every piece of music has a story. Mikael Mutti reverse engineers found electronics and game controllers to create instruments.

“When I find things like this, I am like a child. When I found that circular keyboard in New York, I immediately started playing it like a pandeiro (Brazilian hand drum) and the guy at the store was like, ‘what the %^(+!’”

This piece of music was made entirely with the controllers you see in the video.

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New Facebook App Lights The Fuse For A Full-blown Music Revolution

Most of all, we need artists and fans to really take ownership of this community, and take advantage of the free options we’re putting out there. This really does need to be a team effort, and I think we have the strength and the ability as indie artists to build something huge, so we can have the kind of impact that we need in order to benefit all of the incredibly talented independent artists out there that are struggling right now, and also to impact the fans that are missing out on a lot of great music because of it. We’ve had a great response from artists so far, and we’re confident that these solutions will bring some big changes to the way the music industry operates in the coming years. The best is yet to come!”

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Attend Major A&R Listening Session at Sony Music NYC

Artists, Song Writers, and Producers of all genres of music, this is your exclusive and rare opportunity to showcase the SINGLE BEST song or video clip of your live performance to get heard and discovered by executive A&R’s of JIVE/ RCA/ SONY MUSIC and BMI. These A&Rs have the power to immediately sign a Recording Contract with you.

Submission Timeline: Submissions start on September 21st and end on December 21st.

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Music Isn't Dead........

She’s not dead, but she isn’t well. I don’t want to be like any one of the other Nine Million Music blog posters out there and write about a day gone by like it was perfect, or even that great for music herself. Long ago, music lived in the air, for free, no matter where, no matter what. The only way you could hear instruments being played, is by proximity to a performer, or do it yourself. This is not the time so many seem to sing the praises of. They sing praises of a funnel system, that advocated control of music, and mechanical rights licensing and other dirty words.. They sing of the 50s or 60’s or 70’s or God forbid the 80’s as the hey day for music. I strongly disagree…

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