A great example of this is Bruce Springsteen. When he started out with Columbia Records, he had two so-so albums before he hit a good one with Born to Run. If Born to Run had not been a success, then Springsteen would have seen the end of his recording career. Now could you imagine that as he is a rock icon 30 years later? Back in the 70s Columbia had backed both previous albums which had lack luster sales. When Springsteen began writing for Born to Run, Columbia was ready to drop him as an artist. If Born to Run had taken a dive, that would have been the end. Fortunately, that album was the beginning of the career.

Today, this would not be the case. It’s either a go or no go hit and record companies are only looking to sign for one hit. That also makes it harder to ensure a success. Therefore, the independent labels have become the king over the majors.

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

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 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.

• Band or Personal web site
• MySpace
• Facebook
• 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.

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.

Because of this cookie cutter philosophy, musicians have had to become more creative and more self-reliant. Since the big companies are not searching the way they used to, musicians have to promote their  work. Getting our work out there and noticed requires relying on connections and increasing the impression upon the target markets. Thus, letting people know you have a unique sound requires some marketing skills.

As listeners, to find new we have to search outside traditional means. Since indie musicians are the ones with a unique product, the most obvious place to look should become the Internet. If we search places suc as MySpace, music download sites, and indie distribution channels, the odds of finding something fresh is likely.

Like a good snack or meal, it takes trial and error and when we find a good one we should notate it and share the word with others. That’s the way music is right now. It’s like that little hole in the wall restaurant that’s been there but had to go out and sample it to realize that it can compete with the current competition.