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August 18, 2011 The guys in Rose Hill Drive have seen a lot in the 11 years that they’ve been bandmates. What has it all taught them? That while staying independent is inherently more work, retaining total control of their career has allowed them to make decisions that may otherwise be unavailable to a major label band.
August 16, 2011 If you are an original artist, of any kind, I’m sure there are times you get immense pleasure from what you do. I’m sure there are other times when you get incredibly frustrated. And yet other times when you begin to doubt yourself. It’s completely normal to compare yourself to what is already out there; but don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because the “established” art that is out there currently, and “liked” by the masses, is better than your work for that reason alone. Or that your original work isn’t as good, because it doesn’t have thousands of fans, comments every few seconds, and invitations to large awards shows.
August 15, 2011 We have an amazing conversation to share with you for Episode 20, a candid conversation with Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater about fan engagement, social media, music marketing, technology, and his favourite iPhone and iPad apps.
This is a must listen episode…
August 9, 2011 Need a little help here. I want to get a really good list going of all the great websites artist should watch or use. There are so many of them and i was just thinking it would be great to have a killer reference. I’ll edit the post and try to update the list regularly. I’ll get things started, and I am sure I’ll forget a lot i just hope everyone chimes in.
Band Website Tips | tagged music website, social media August 8, 2011 It’s been seven years and Facebook has gone from a small, exclusive social network - for college students only - to now being almost as ubiquitous as your driver’s license. Everybody has it. Even your grandparents. But how much longer will Facebook last? With the advent of Google +, which has started as an exclusive social network - by invite only - it’s appears that Facebook may have finally run its course.
Marketing, Mindsets, Social Media, opinion | tagged Music DIY, facebook, google plus, marketing, social networks August 4, 2011 …should each album have it’s own distinct feel/concept throughout? Or should it be a compilation of your best songs during that period of songwriting?
Advice, Branding, Songwriting, Tips, organizing, production, recording, selling | tagged album, compilation, concept, recording August 2, 2011 A test to measure the impact of video banner advertising on album sales resulted in an 80% lift for Different Gear, Still Speeding, the debut album by Liam Gallagher’s new band Beady Eye, according to web analytics company Buzzdeck.
The campaign was delivered by the cost per engagement advertising network Silence Media and was commissioned by media agency The 7 Stars for the band’s record label Beady Eye Records.
The ad featured videos for the band’s singles The Roller, Bring The Light and The Beat Goes On. Fans on numerous male lifestyle and sport websites were invited to rollover and expand the ad to watch the videos.
Click here to watch the ad.
Buzzdeck measured these engagements in a timeline that also included total album sales. All other advertising and promotion was suspended during the test. The campaign produced a sales spike that lifted sales by 80%.
music marketing | tagged advertising, album, sales July 28, 2011 Making a great recording need not be difficult. I suggest a quality cardioid microphone and a great all rounder would be the Audio Technica AT4033. It’s a condenser microphone and will require 48 volts phantom power supplied by the mixing console or your sound card microphone preamplifier. (this is very common on mic preamps).
recording, studio | tagged Instrumental, audio engineering, recording July 27, 2011 It’s summer time in the city of New York and while most every music artist is concerned with putting out a ‘hot’ single to compete with the season’s heat or ‘making some noise’ via an oh so cliche ‘buzz’, one in particular has decided to thread so far left, he’s ends up right. iAreConscious currently in the midst of an ‘indefinite musical hiatus’ releases a free e-book entitled, “Clear & Lucid & Natural & Simple.”.
Book, Creativity, DIY, Digital, Marketing, Promotion | tagged DIY, e-Book, indie artists July 26, 2011 A quick chat with road warrior and pro musician Andy Sheridan.
How did you get into music?
My life has revolved around music from an early age. I started taking piano lessons classically at age 4. Both my parents are musicians. Guitar came in high school. I was just trying to be cool! Piano wasn’t cool to me then, I hated it actually when I was younger but my parents made me stick it out. Boy am I glad they did!
Advice, Music Industry, Touring and Gigging, interviews | tagged bass, getting gigs, guitar, playing live, touring July 25, 2011 Spotify could add an extra charge if users wanted to make their local files available to their friends via shared playlists. They could do so for an extra charge, to cover the added bandwidth costs and royalties.
July 21, 2011 Ticketometer (www.ticketometer.com), an online service that allows artists to create shows that only happen if a minimum number of tickets are sold, has been released in beta version. The site is fully functional and is targeted toward up-and-coming artists who would like to expand their touring presence into new cities without the risk of playing to empty venues. Local and touring artists can also take advantage of ticketometer by preselling tickets to shows and using guaranteed attendance to increase their clout with venues.
Performance | tagged live performances, selling music, shows, tickets July 20, 2011 Author David Meerman Scott made a honest and realistic quote, “if you want 20,000 fans you must do 2000 different things that each generate 10 fans.” This was my favorite quote from 2010 and I am going to take this on as a challenge for 2011 for an ambitious project to give you 2000 different things you can do to generate 20,000 fans.
July 14, 2011 The 2011 Dynamic Producer Conference, held in Los Angeles on August 26 – 28, marks the tenth annual convening of some of music’s most influential executives along with the hottest up & coming producers and musicians from across the world. This three day event, created to help educate and provide opportunities for aspiring music producers, will host an array of sessions to assist aspiring producers navigate through the ever changing and selective music industry. From discussions on music publishing, copyrights, digital rights and downloads, to drum workshops, this years’ conference theme - “This Is My Drum Beat,” is sure to inspire producers to march to the beat of their own drum.
Music Industry | tagged business, career, conference, music