Archive for the ‘Industry’ Category
Life without music would be horrible. It is the rhythm of our lives. It is what keeps us going on our daily routines. It could be thought of as the soundtrack to our being. Much like the cadences that armies march to, whatever beat is in our head, is the cadence which keeps us all moving.
Some of us have a talent to be able to create music to not only make ourselves feel better but also others. It is an art that some of us have that requires sharing. In sharing it, we become better people. We have always as a people come together with music to share in celebrations and mourning. Music truly is a part of human nature and will continue to be for generations. We should never forget that and creating it needs to continue and be encouraged.
The more I listen to current pop stars, the more I hear sounds from another decade. Most of the new artists, including the Jonas Brothers, borrow a large amount of their sound from artists that made history in the 80s. It’s almost as if I can switch from a current pop station to one that plays the 80s and hear the same riffs and rhythms. Heck, even some of the vocals could be mistaken.
We’re almost done with the first decade in the 21st century. Will we continue to hear muisal tones and ideas be borrowed from the past? Will there be anything new and exciting? I’m sure it’s out there, but finding it is more of a challenge that finding rehashed matterial.
There seems to be quite a stir as we enter the Christmas season about whether or not the Jonas Brothers should produce an album of Christmas favorites and maybe an original or two. Considering how other popular artists have done with holiday albums in the past, the Jonas Brothers probably should follow suit in more ways than one. The two major reasons are: their origins in church and previous boy bands, such as 98 degrees, have all done Christmas albums.
What would make the album different? The biggest difference I could see is in the sound that they have. The JB have a sound that almost resembles The Rembrants and Rick Springfield. People really get into the home based sound and personal life involvements. That sound combined with many Christmas favorites would make for a great album.
As the holidays come upon us again, an interesting thought popped up. There have not been any new notable Christmas songs written. It seems that the traditionals keep getting redone in new ways, but no new good ones have come to the surface and stayed. With all the new things done and rush jobs initiated, there is probably tons of material that could be tapped to create a couple funny songs that would impress the A&R people.
Author: Daniel Medeiros
By Daniel Medeiros…
The life of a professional musician has all the allure of a million dollars and a one-way ticket to being famous. Is it worth it? Heck, yes! But the only way to becoming a professional musician (and by “musician,” we mean singers and bands, not professional flautists) is to land a record deal. Whether you’re aiming for a mainstream or an indie share of the pie, you need that label to get heard.
Wait, but it’s tough to get signed to a label, right? True. And while there are many changes happening in the music industry right now (especially on the technological side), there is still no better way to make money as a musician than by having an established record label market your music. So how do you sell your soul to the corporate devil? It’s rather tricky, but we’ll walk you through the steps. (And don’t worry, it won’t involve an evening with RIAA President Hilary Rosen, a bottle of tequila, and a Barry White album.)
Unless you’re the next Beatles, there are a thousand other bands like you – so make yourself stand out from the rest by being professional from the beginning…No one will want to sign you unless you’re going to make them money. As such, you and your band must be confident, experienced, dedicated, and have it together (in other words, you must look like you will bring in money).
I have the assumption that you do not have a manager and that you are trying to get signed on your own. If you do have a manager, let the poor guy or gal do his/her job and you just stay out of the way. Otherwise, you need us bad.
http://www.reverbnation.com/jazzalikes
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/no-business-mindno-record-deal-605842.html
About the Author:
DM is an excellent allround world jazz guitarist ,fulltime studio musician,project leader,show case session host and a full time concert touring artist in the music business and entertainment projects…As an unsigned and independent artist he’d released various CD compilations on his name such as “remix & pickups”,”Spreads”,”MindCure” which contain not only his own original work material but as well influences of other world artists he likes,played with or scouted…he works always within legal contracts,uses discipline passion and fun in his own work…works with different people but only the finest…He is an improviser who uses talent and virtuosity combined with technic..Travels for his own work,composes,arranges and believes in nature…He is a capricorn by birth and on earth that’s what he believes!…He is a child of the world a world cosmopolitan someone with an interesting character to know, a friendly guy always ready to help others in any circumstance of life but depends what and who!… Somebody experience courageous ambitious, warm,with a dream…A hard worker,direct to the point but always respecting the meaning of others…Somebody who’s not to be taken for granted & who’s never afraid to speak languages or to be mixed in different worldwide cultures socially and musically.
http://www.reverbnation.com/jazzalikes
Author: Tim Eutin
Today’s music business is more complicated then ever. The digital revolution has made it easier and less expensive to make a quality CD. There are more outlets to reach the public with your music then ever before with MySpace, Playlist.com and web-based radio outlets. There is also more competition then as well.
What can a new group or artist do to increase their odds of getting heard by the mass public or getting better and more frequent bookings? Paul Crowley, of Paul Crowley Music Marketing, who has worked with artists such as The Police, Janet Jackson, REM, suggests, “The first thing is to not look at recording a CD as the end product. It is just one part of the overall marketing plan.”
“To many people make the mistake of not having a an overall plan of where the group wants to be in a year, two years or five years down the road.” Paul continues. “Without a plan it is almost impossible to make serious progress in today’s music business. Groups without a plan seldom last in today’s competitive market.”
Another key mistake that artists and groups make is to not budget for promotions. Paul states, “I’ve heard a lot of great music over the years, fantastic music, but unfortunately the public never got to hear it because the groups didn’t take into consideration budgeting for professional promotional services. The groups falsely assumed that a record company or DJ would hear their music and it would take off from there. That just doesn’t happen in today’s competitive market. There are a lot of great artists vying for limited airtime. You need professional help to get through to the key people that can help you out.”
This brings up the third point that will help new groups reach their goals. Hire a professional to promote your music to radio and give you sound advice. “There is the music business and then there is the business of music”, smiles Paul. “It is important to find a talented professional to represent you to radio and give you solid music business advice. A good manager will help you to plan your resources, both time and money, to make the correct move at the right time.” It is important to find someone that can make those moves on the artist’s behalf.
As the music business continues to evolve and grow the need for professional representation and management is more important then ever. Groups that heed the advice in this article will find themselves ahead of the pack when it comes to realizing their goals.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/top-three-things-new-artists-and-bands-need-to-know-to-jumpstart-their-careers-608406.html
About the Author:
Tim Eutin has worked in radio for over a decade. He is also the host of several popular websites.
In a recent issue of Recording Magazine, there was an interview with Taxi and several songwriters. One of the questions that was raised by one of the visitors at the Road Ralley where the interview was held was “What is the best time to start writing?” In a nutshell, all the panelists had something unique to say, but all said the same thing. It is never to early to start writing songs and music. The only difference is the maturity of the works created and the expertise of the writer from how much they have written.
In thinking about this topic, I realized that the first time I wrote a song was when I was probably 9 or 10 years old. It was a very quick and silly piece, but it was my first. The words were simple, but I had never written music before either. After the words, my piano teacher at the time showed me the basics of putting words to music and the rest is history. Since then, I have written over 40 songs.
I would recommend to anyone at any age that it is never too late to start writing songs and music. One may not be able to sing them or play them directly on stage, but through companies like TAXI, it is possible to market them to other bands and publishers.
We all can write a song and record it. The challenge is getting that song heard by the masses. In the days gone by, the only way to make it big was to get signed by one of the major record labels. There were no other mediums of getting your music heard. Now, there are many ways to publish that song (as long as the necessary copyrights have been filed). Some of those ways just to name a few are:
- Band or Personal web site
- MySpace
- Tunecore
The two most popular are definitely publishing the track on MySpace and/or listing the tracks for download on your own site. Facebook has just recently gotten into the music segment of the social networking game. If profit is part of the plan, one can use distribution services to help promote your name.
Let us not forget the method that can work wonders, word-of-mouth. With current technology, we can make copies of our works on CDs and MP3 on the computer and graphically make it look good. Make many copies of CDs or MP3s and hand them out to friends and family. If they think it’s good stuff, they will start the snowball effect rolling.
Another way of promoting yourself is to have someone host a performance featuring you either at their home or at the park. These concerts tend to be very personal, so make sure to have copies of your songs available to hand out. If the guests like what they hear, then others will want to have you play your songs at their events and the calls will start coming.
Even though it has become easier to get music out there for people to hear and experience, it involves a lot more time on the artists part to market. It is only after tons of hours of hard work and practice that one might get picked up by the big labels. In the meantime, we keep plugging along doing what we do best and that is writing great songs with great music and getting people’s opinions.
Many artists start out trying to be role models for their audience, but then something goes wrong. It seems that the philosophies and goals of the record labels and the artist don’t always meet in the middle; the philosophies and morals of the artist get derailed by marketing efforts of the labels. Unfortunately, a very large message is delivered through the wardrobe of the artists and when dealing with certain age groups, it is imperative to influence in a positive way rather than negative.
We all know that style is heavily dictated by stars who wear them. Style and the clothes that are worn by the artists on stage make an impression. Therefore, if an artist is made to wear something provocative, it sends out a non-verbal message that it is Ok to wear styles of that type when it really should not be. Wearing those styles can also send out misinformation about yourself. For example, if you’re going to wear something provocative just because an artist wore it, it is saying to others that you are seeking sexual pleasure when indeed you are the opposite.
We need more artists and record labels to promote positive actions in our current society rather than the negative that we have been bombarded with over the last couple of decades. Artists have always been able to make people aware of what is going on in the world and the changes that need to be made. Well…The one change that can be made can begin with them and that is doing what is right if they want to be models for others.
Songwriting is an art form. It is a medium by which the songwriter portrays ideas, visions, thoughts and feelings through music. Since before recorded time (No pun intended), peoples have been creating songs to tell stories, celebrate events, and display feelings. However, because of the changes that humankind has gone through, we have suppressed our natural desires to express ourselves musically. Therefore, we have come to rely on people to write songs for us to help us with our feelings and emotions.
Songwriting is not difficult. It just takes great practice and perseverance. Even though one might seem to think that there are rules that have to be followed when writing a song, there are none. We are free to write whatever we’d like and how we’d like. They are an expression of us, the writers. It may seem daunting at first, but that is because we let our critical thinking interfere with our creative thinking. If we begin to inhibit our critical thinking, our ability to create great songs is possible.
We all at one time or another have sung something original in the shower. This happens because we are actually relaxed and thinking not with our critical side but our creative side. It is this portion of thinking that needs to be let loose more. The trick is to be able to catch those moments with paper and pen or with a recording device before we loose them. Whatever comes to mind needs to be caught in its rough stage without thinking.
From the various gatherings of ideas, full structures can be created that will become songs. Those thoughts whether lyrics or musical thoughts, will help create full fledged pieces. We just have to be there to acknowledge the creativeness that is part of our humanity.