Posts

Jack of all trades

If you have read the past few posts I have made you may start to realize that being a musical artist isn't always about writing and performing music. Especially if you are a DIY or an independent artist. You have to be your own booking agent, manager, tour manager, publicist and sometimes even your own record label. These dual roles or "wearing many hats" is not easy and sometimes your performance can suffer as a result of it. Many managers also have law degrees, but do not practice. However their education in law helps them read and write contracts for their clients in order to be more effective as representation to their clients. If you would like more information on this topic, I suggest reading this book on Music Law . Here is a musical fact you may not know: Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis & the News actually managed the band he created. Dual roles in music are so common that nobody even gives them a second thought. How bands do you know engineer their own

Behind the Booth: an indepth look into the world of the DJ Featuring interviews with DJs Ian Fford & Alex Von Nihil

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As you probably guessed, this entry is dedicated to the DJ or Disc Jockey . Technically they are not musicians, however they are a big part of the music industry and club circuits. They can also help further a musical artist's career by playing their music on their show or during their club sets. So it's a good a idea for bands to work along side of and cross promote Djs (as I stated in the past the business is give and take, you should help those when you can). I mentioned in previous entries most radio play is handle through a radio promoter, however it is in most cases ultimately the Dj that decides what songs get airplay. Like musicians, these Guys and Ladies usually focus on a specific genre of music and in many cases develop a style and personality to add flair to their overall appeal. In some cases have even established a certain "rockstar" status by making a name for themselves after years of spinning at events geared towards the genre they chose to spin.

Cool your engines

Hello again everybody, this entry I will be focusing on running a smarter campaign to avoid the backlash overdoing your promotions or (worse case scenario) being labeled a "Spammer". Yes, people do throw that and many other terms around too loosely, we all do. And I admit I have been guilty of overdoing posts in the past. But instead of defending myself and starting arguments I decided to evaluate how I was going about spreading the word about my music and this blog while sharing what I learned with you. Your goal when being on social media is not just to get people into your music music but also, entertaining them or engaging them with an interesting post, like a picture you took or asking them a question about a music related topic. Make it interactive and not just about you, people will respond more and, to quote Bill Cosby but you may even learn thing or two (Hey Hey Hey). Yes it can be nerve racking to think that so many bands are out their posting their music an

Back to the grind: Featuring an exclusive interview with Aline Queen

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Now that the Holiday consumerism fest is over, those of us that have their sights set on accomplishing projects can finally get down to it. Although, it may be a bit harder the first weeks with all that extra Holiday weight you maybe carrying around. For myself, it is a very difficult part of the Holidays having to drop everything and trying to celebrate with not even one major task out of the way. Although the New Year does bring us hope that we can make things better for ourselves and many believe how you enter the New Year is how you shape the rest of it. As I'm sure you noticed by now, this a downtime for the entertainment industry as a whole. Show attendance and club events usually don't have as many numbers as they do in the months prior to the Holidays. The music industry actually shuts down and all business starts up again in the New Year, as there are many behind the scenes things happening and many trade shows in January, such as the NAMM show. So what is th

Never Say Die!

Some of you that are linked up with me on Facebook probably know why I chose this title. I have been posting a video for a song with the same named from a band called the 69 Eyes around lately for various reasons. I felt the message of the song is good and I have been listening to this group a lot recently. Also, I just felt this was a fitting message to send people into 2014 with. A few weeks ago I warned everyone about the dangers of being sidetracked during the Holidays. Which I'm sure may have gone wayside, and justifiably so. I have found myself practically in panic mode not being able to get even the simple of tasks done(actually I'm lying I did come up with a few new riffs and lyrics) forgetting that this is a well earned break from all the pressure and stress that comes along with being a D.I.Y. musician/owner of a soon to be launched independent record label. I found myself very anxious too when thinking about spending time with the people that will accept

Steady is the course

Hello again, I'm sure most of you that live in places the have seasons are already braving the cold or may have come down with one already. This time of year just sneaks up on us. Not to mention having the Holidays and the pressure to spend being forced on you. And of course all those Christmas songs, which I'm sure you have heard so many times that you may have created your own parodies of. After all " its the most annoying time of the year " lol. It is nice to spend time with family and friends during this time and celebrate after working all year. But the cold weather does make us more run down, unmotivated and more prone to over eat. A few things that are poison to anybody that is trying to focus on being successful in any field, especially in music. I decided to post this entry since this time of year is an easy one for us to lose focus on working towards our goals. Many work overtime if they are stuck in retail, and not to mention the music industry does

The Vicious Circle

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I took the name of a Facebook group that I joined for the title of this post. I believe the group deals with ranting, but I realized that ranting takes away from the time needed to become successful. However, we all do it from time to time so here is the link to that group if you feel the need to do so. The one good thing about a rant is that many people can relate to do it. For those of you that are linked to my Facebook and Twitter accounts, you may noticed that I created my catchphrase for the most dreaded day of the week, Monday. I figured, we have "Feel good Friday" and "Throwback Thursday" why not "Bitch and Moan Monday"? Come on you know we all do it, so feel free to post it but make sure you include these hashtags: #BMM #ihatemondays #mondayssuck. The Vicious Circle I am referring to is that which as artists we must be a part of. My last few posts focused on learning how the music business operates,putting out and promoting a professiona