Crowd Funding and the Art of the Album Pre-Sale

People buy concert tickets months before an event. People pre-order books on Amazon before the book has been released. We all buy dinner at a restaurant before it’s been cooked. Why not pre-sell your album before it exists?

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John Lennon on Sale

“This is the only statue of the uniquely talented and legendary John Lennon created during his lifetime. Sculpted by Brett-Livingstone Strong between 1979 and 1980, this work of art honors John Lennon’s life and his vision for world peace. The statue has been unveiled in Los Angeles in 1981 by LA Mayor Tom Bradley, and in New York by Andy Warhol.

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The Twin Cats

Indianapolis, Indiana’s prog-funk ensemble, The Twin Cats, have been on the path to creating their own distinctive approach to fusion music since their line up was finalized in 2004 by blending influences from funk to prog rock, jazz and electronica.

The Twin Cats have been crushing dance floors at venues throughout the Midwest and are looking to take their show even farther. They have shared the stage with world renowned artist such as Charlie Hunter, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, The Greyboy All Stars, Rusted Root, Here Come The Mummies and Garaj Mahal and have made appearances at the Summercamp, 10,000 lakes and F.U.N.K. festivals.

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Anything Can Be Accomplished in Life with 3 Things

This is the first chapter of a story that both you (the readers) and I (the author) will have the pleasure of seeing and helping unfold in real time. Here is the basis of the story:

I believe that ANYTHING can be accomplished in life with three things:

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Stanmore’s Top 5 Songwriting Tips (Pt1)

This list is an excerpt from a collection of songwriting tips you can find on my blog. I’ve accumulated these tips over my 10+ years of writing, listening, discussing & reading. Where I can remember I will try to reference where I learnt each tip. Every songwriter wants to write more killer & less filler. Hopefully these tips will help you drill some fill from your grill & chill with some dill…

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Tour Marketing Book - A Gift For You

I own a music management company in Charlottesville, VA called The Artist Farm and both my partner and I used to work at Red Light Management.

Over the past 2 years we crafted, tested and honed a tour marketing system for our artists. The idea was to have a consistent way of marketing shows (the primary revenue stream for most artists) so that the little things don’t fall through the cracks.  This leaves more time for innovation and gives us an easy way to mentor new employees or interns.

Recently we took the time to commit this system to written word in a book called Squeezing The Show.  Today, I am offering up this book as a gift to the industry.  It may change your life… or you may hate it.  In either case, I hope you check it out.  You can read more about it and download it here: http://theartistfarm.com/ideas/?p=458

Thanks!

Ben

Beyond Direct-to-Fan

Brooklyn, NY. March 24, 2010 - Everybody is talking about direct-to-fan, and how it is changing the way musicians can sustain themselves. Never before have musicians had so much direct communication with their tribes’.

Sometimes I look at this progression and think, “What could possibly be next?” Boundaries are often pushed so far so fast that it is difficult for us to even forecast a possible next step, let along carry one out.

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Pandora: easiest buying experience of net radio stations

Pandora One is not only a discovery tool, it works very well at leading you immediately to further information on the artists and options to buy merchandise.

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5 Things Music Supervisors Are Looking For In You And Your Music

This post is one part of an ongoing, 16-part series by Josh Collum at www.sortednoise.com. The series details the journey and strategies behind the next release by Josh’s band, Secrets in Stereo. Josh also looks back at what has allowed him to quit his day job, and write, record, and perform music full time. One of the biggest reasons is that Secrets in Stereo has had over 50 placements in TV/Film/Advertising. The following post gives insight into this world. If you want to read the other posts, go to www.sortednoise.com.

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You're on the radio out of your market, now what?

So I recently was talking to Shane Sauers of Miss Massive Snowflake on North Pole Records about how things are going with his new record as I’d seen in the charts at a few stations.  He told me, “Yeah, it’s getting some airplay in Michigan & stuff, but now what am I supposed to do?”  Because he’s in Portland, Oregon & the odds of him doing a tour of the scale to get to Michigan is asking a bit much.  So I thought I’d throw out some of my general ideas on the subject & things I sometimes do & maybe should always do because I imagine a lot of people are in the same boat.

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‘Sounds Digital’ Seeks Digital Music Innovators

London, UK. March 17, 2010 – Sounds Digital, the digital music event, is calling out for innovators in the UK and international digital music space to apply to join the Sounds Digital Lab, which offers mentoring, proposition development and international networking with some of the biggest names in music, technology and business.

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The Eagles Spring 2010 tour

A few days ago CC Entertainment presented a rock concert paying a tribute to one of the greatest rock bands ever created, The Eagles. The Laycock St Theatre was filled to capacity. Among the guest singers who performed classical pieces like Hotel California, Desperado, Heartache Tonight, New Kid in Town, Tequila Sunrise and Take It To The Limit, were Kevin Bennett of The Flood, Simon Meli of Ooh la la, Steve Balbi of Noiseworks, Robyn Loau, Spencer Jones, Louise Anton and Kristal Collins, and Jenny Morris. Joseph Calderazzo directed the band and clearly enjoyed himself. He shared that all performers love the music of The Eagles and that made the concert so special.

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Experimenting with new business models

I’ve spent the last few months desperately trying to figure out new ways to make money through releasing my music online. As part of an experiment, I am trying out a new business model based on the Street Performer Protocol.

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The Question of the Decade

For the last few days I’ve been going back and forth in the comments section of my favorite music industry blog, Hypebot with a gentleman by the name of Jason who owns the little known label called Viper Bite Records. The post we were so passionately discussing was primarily about metrics but also rasied the question of whether or not the full length album was still a relvant business model. The conversation struck a nerve among readers and became so intense that I’ve decided to expand on these topics in a post of my own. Here is an except from the original blog written by Alex Mann of Trendrr called, “With Mixtapes & Social Media, Is The Album So Far Gone?”.

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