Why Don't They See It?

I think we are all tired of hearing about how the music industry is a terrible business.

I get several email newsletters every day chronicling the steady, downward spiral of the major labels. These emails also report about infringers, pirates and the fact that you need more zeros than most simple calculators can handle to find your percentage royalty share from the much loved and hyped Spotify. Doesn’t anyone in the music business talk to people who have been through gut-wrenching changes before in related (or perhaps not related) businesses?

So what are the problems? Buying and consumption patterns of the customers have changed, the labels have lost control of pricing, and barriers to entry across the spectrum have evaporated (to name a few). When I see these problems which seem completely insurmountable, I think of two companies who have lived through this firestorm, and as of today, are thriving, globally dominant operations. The first is IBM and the second is Getty Images.

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Tom Getter Slack's "Looking Glass" Released

Pittsburgh, PA – December 27, 2010 – Looking Glass, the long awaited second independent release from veteran tunesmith, guitar player, and keyboardist Tom Getter Slack, is now available at all of the most commonly used music download sites.

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Where's The Music?

As an unsigned act you’re probably no stranger to spamming an industry pro’s inbox with “check out my band” links.  There are always better ways to go about this, but for the most part we welcome the opportunity to discover and listen to new talent.  The problem is often FINDING THE MUSIC, once we click the link!

Myspace is the most linked to music page in these requests. Unfortunately, this dying network seems much slower and clunkier than it once was. It often takes more time than we’ve allotted to try and listen to a Myspace band.  Making matters worse, are the bands with huge headers and/or numerous graphics, animations, and embedded Youtube videos, not to mention the new Myspace ad structure.

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3 Tips For Studio Pre-Pairedness

We have all been there, booking studio time then when the day comes we end up working out parts & dealing with issues that should have been taken care of before hand. The clock is ticking in the studio and money being used that could have been saved or used for what it was intended for… tracking the magic.

Here are some tips to make the most use of your studio time:

1. Your Going To The Grammy’s. Practice & Pre-Pair like it.

A. Give yourself 15min to practice each song a day. Don’t burn yourself out, it is important to maintain your sanity and stay focused on the song. Two Times through each song is a good goal. Do this each day for 1 week before the session.

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5 Tips For Managing Your Work Load As An Independent Artist

So, you’re living the ultimate indepenedent artist lifestyle. You write and record constantly releasing something cool every few weeks. You rehearse with the band and throw gigs regularly. You draw great album art and design your own t-shirts. You make wicked YouTube videos, and write great blog posts. You Tweet and Facebook and keep up with some great blogs and inspirational artists. You take care of business, track merchandise levels and order new stock in time. Oh yeah, and you take care of your physical health, have a happy relationship and a day job.

How exactly are you supposed to do that?

1. Keep it manageable and consistent

Divide your work. Keep it regular and consistent. Read and respond to blogs, tweets and facebook posts when you’re having your morning coffee. Walk or jog to work. Have an allocated evening for songwriting, rehearsing and business. Edit and post videos on Sundays. Don’t do anything on Saturdays unless you have a gig. Doing a little bit every day accumulates over time. Keep it steady and manageable instead of burning out.

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Musicians Love Facebook, But Does Facebook Love Music? The Data Says…Not Sure

Here are some quick stats about Facebook and music that basically add up to this – Fans and artists love to connect on Facebook, but not for spending money on music related items.

1. Music-related pages are about a third of the top 20 pages on the site (Inside Facebook)
2. Music-related pages are fourth most likely to be “liked” (HubSpot Blog)
3. BUT – there is only one app in the top 50 apps on the site that is music related (All Facebook)

Apps are where money is made on the social network itself, and the music industry needs to learn how to better take advantage of them. Even RootMusic, the one music-related app in the top 50, simply turns into an app what we already knew – that music fan pages were very popular on Facebook.

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Indie Artists: Keep Your Social Media Profiles Unified

We receive many submissions from independent artists and bands who want to be featured, but they leave out important information about their projects. So we research their website, blogs and social media profiles to see if we can put the missing pieces together in a timely matter.

Unfortunately, we regularly find that bands are inconsistent with updating their social network accounts. Their websites offer outdated information or just don’t offer the basic information a fan or news/feature writer would be looking for.

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7 Tips For Maintaining Relationships In The Music Business

In my dealings and conversations with successful artists, managers, labels, and other industry workers, it has become abundantly clear that increasing your chance of success can be done by embracing two very simple concepts: create great music, and develop great relationships.

Unfortunately, the second half of that equation is sometimes (mis)labeled as simply ‘who you know,’ which implies that an existing connection is required in order to succeed. Sure, having an uncle that works for a label, or having a friend from high school who is now the guitar tech for Coldplay can help, but that’s rare. Those who have succeeded have done so by working hard at developing, and maintaining, great relationships with those they work with.

Here are some tips for developing contacts with meaning:

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Kimya Dawson - Adding Value

Here is a perfect example of what can happen when the principle of ‘adding value’ is taken up by an artist who understands the interweb perfectly.

Kimya Dawson, clearing her nasal passages

Think on, gurus.  Here is the future.

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BandSoup.com Re-Launches Site & Blog

BandSoup.com is making big strides in 2011 to become a larger and smarter music community. On top of constructing a new interface, adding new interactive tools to engage users, updating our affiliated blog, and strengthening our online marketing presence, we are making it a point to interact with current BandSoup users to gain their insight and experiences in using the site.

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Hoodgrown Magazine: The First Hip Hop iPad Magazine App Launches!

What started as a print magazine that ceased publication due to increasing print cost and decreasing advertising revenue has returned as the first hip hop magazine app to hit the Apple store. Spearheaded by Chris “Cartel” English and Lord Jamar (of Brand Nubian fame), the Hoodgrown Magazine app is now available for download in the Apple App store.

“Though the website has been gaining in popularity I always knew that one day we would return to our print roots.” says Hoodgrown’s CEO, Chris English. “This app allows us to combine the best of the print and web experience in a whole new package. I’ll admit it took a little longer to bring to fruition than I would have liked, but already we’re improving on design and interactive elements.”

The app ia available as a free download in the app store as will each issue due to it’s advertiser supported model.

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Music Industry Secret to Success #4 – Have Integrity

I have developed a set of music industry “secrets.” These “secrets” are designed to develop positive behavior, so do not expect a ton of tactical talk. Strategy will be the ultimate takeaway. In each shared “secret,” I am going to give ideas that should help you make the right changes toward a substantial music career. Be sure you check out the previous “secrets” of “Be Yourself”, “Reach Out”, “Listen” and “Have Humility” on FryinginVein.com before reading this.

By definition, there are two ways you can interpret integrity. Regardless of whether we are talking unfettered completeness or moral soundness, having integrity is crucial to succeeding in life - period. In this piece, I will list key actions you can do to increase your level of integrity in your music career.

When you are a person with integrity, you are a person that people can trust. You are someone that can be depended upon to do what you say you are going to do. That is where the “completeness” ties into the definition, so for the first key action:

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Musicians: Get Your Facebook Page Done Right

Today artists, bands, labels, even promoters do their marketing on Facebook. Technology has become “social” and social media can create unforeseen opportunities as a communication, distribution and sales channel. It is not easy to figure out how all this works despite there being millions of social media “consultants” and wanna-be gurus. A lot of knowledge is needed, especially in technology, design (not decoration), psychology and social science. If this expertise is lacking, misunderstandings can happen easily and the potential is wasted.

Tip: in a hurry? Skip to “Let’s get to work”

Facebook and Pages

Facebook is the dominant social network in today’s world; the site allows musicians to fully harness the power of the social graph. What? Well, I mean Facebook friends. Why? Because music is a very social vertical. You would rarely go to a concert alone. If you like a song, it is very likely you will share this experience.

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Managing Your Band Bank Account

So you’ve reached the point of making money from your band’s music and merchandise. Most likely a majority of this money will be poured back into your gas tank or will be put toward new merch items. An initial reaction would be to entrust a member of the band to hold on to any extra money in a personal bank account or in a merch booth money drawer. This method of accounting lacks transparency and can easily cause tension among band members. Even if you don’t have extra funds floating around it’s a good idea to create a bank account that keeps all band money separate of personal funds.

Opening a band bank account can be a sure-fire method of keeping money safe, well accounted for, and organized, but can still cause headaches if not managed properly. Poor organization and money management skills will almost always lead to uncomfortable conversations and cause tension within most bands. To provide some advice to get you started we’ve put together this list of tips for anyone interested in setting up and managing a band bank account. 

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