How
to call attention to your music
by Derek Sivers, CD Baby, HostBabyIn a quick light-hearted read, you
will learn:
* how to call attention to your music
* how to get in Rolling Stone or play the biggest club in town
* why persistence is polite
* how to sell an average of 5 CDs per order
* why marketing costs nothing
* how two curious words can turn your career around
* the biggest mistake most musicians make
This is my best advice to help every musician sell more music, win more fans,
and have the music business open its doors for you. I kept everything
intentionally non-genre-specific, so the same tips apply to country, klezmer,
and classical. I'm always trying to make it easier for musicians to make a
living making music, so I hope this helps.
LEGAL
PROBLEMS WITH CO-WRITERS
by Kent Klavens
It's critically important to understand how your rights to a song
are affected when you write with other songwriters, because the majority of
hit songs are written by more than one person, and it's likely that you will
have to collaborate with someone at some point in your career. This is a
very common area of difficulty and disagreement between songwriters, because
most co-writers do not understand their rights and obligations in these
situations. It doesn't matter whether you've written a song with your
sister, your wife, or your best friend. A lack of knowledge of these issues
can cause you a lot of pain later, and if your song becomes a major hit, it
may also cost you a lot of money.
Four
Online Promotional Steps Every Band Needs To Implement
Today’s artists have a wide range of possibilities to promote themselves,
especially online. But that means you must compete with other groups to gain
an online presence. There are four key steps in online marketing to gain a
successful start with promoting your music on the internet.
Eleven
Ways a Band Can Utilize their Website to Promote their Music There
once was a day when the only way to promote your music was by going downtown,
printing off 500 postcards, licking 500 stamps and peeling 500 labels. Now in
less than 5 minutes, artists can compose an email list of the 500 people and
send it off with one click. Websites give people all over the world a central
place to find band information. This was not possible a short while ago.
With all the technology advances, artists must make the most of their
resources and create a webpage that make fans want to return to their site.
20
Steps to Creating a Successful Blog for Your Band Part 2 of 2 This is part two of how to build a successful blog. Part one talks about
setting up the blog in the right format to gain reader interest. Part two
discusses about more promotion techniques and how to keep your readers. Your blog will only see success if
you follow all these steps and promote it as often as possible. Blogging
takes a lot of dedication but pays off in the end with increased music
sales. Never stop blogging and remember, you are writing for your
audience.
20
Steps to Creating a Successful Blog for Your Band Part 1 of 2
Blogs prove to be a tricky field to conquer,
especially when it comes to gaining an initial reader-base. However, once
you get that reader base, great potential for increasing your online
reputation is created. Successful blogs keep their status by following these
20 rules from the start and throughout their blog’s lifetime.
Fan
Email Marketing Made Easy
Using emails for online music marketing
proves to be a very difficult task to master, but a very important one that
every artist must master. Fan club newsletters allow fans to stay connected
with the artists without the added effort of returning to the artist’s site.
I have simplified it into three key areas for a successful fan club email
newsletter.
Are
songwriters double-dipping? When a performance isn't a performance
Should songwriters get paid for a public performance when you download a
song? Thanks to a New York legal case, we'll soon find out.
In the United States, three organizations license
"public performance" rights for music on behalf of their music publisher and
songwriter members: ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Typical public performances
include live performance in clubs and concert halls, radio, television, and
streaming music on the Web. Until now, "downloading" music has not been
considered to be a public performance.
You are your own Island
by gilli moon
You never know who’s going to be in your vicinity (or your own workshop, that’s one for me), and two, you are your own island.
This means that even though you may want to "make it" somewhere else, or think that somewhere else is better than where you are now, don’t ignore the very real possibility that right where you are has the most magnificent, awesome opportunities and
rewards. It’s like owning your own island.
by gilli moon
This year I spoke for my second time, at Berklee School of Music in Boston. It's such an honor to
be able to do this and I thank the insightful and prolific Berklee author Peter Spellman for the opportunity, as Berklee is one of the most prestigious music schools in the world. It was very timely to speak to students there, not for the sakes of the
writing progress of my new book which I always feel inspired to write a chapter or two after a public outing, but also because the was so fitting with everything that i have been focused on lately. I don't know who learned more, the musician filled
audience, or me. What I do know is that through my speaking engagements, i'm getting more and more in touch with my higher mission as an artist and a human being, and much of it has to do with the art of leaping forward by "going within." I was asked to give my thoughts on the topic of "the inner game of music entrepreneurship." This statement conjured up some fascinating thought and ensuing dialogue.
It All is all of me
by gilli moon
Whether you do a lot, or you do a little, it doesn't matter. It's ALL of you. You can be a consummate artist, prolific in your writing, or you can be choosy and selective, outputting seldomly. You can work part time, or full time for someone else, and
still be a professional artist pursuing your creativity. You can run several businesses, or none at all. You can do whatever you feel is right for you. It doesn't matter. There is no blueprint you have to
follow. You are the master of your own destiny.
All about Copyright Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software,
and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed.
What is copyright? Do I need to copyright my songs? How to copyright
music.
What are royalties? What are the different types of royalties and how are
they paid?
Recording someone else's song. What must be done to comply with copyright
laws? What sort of royalty payments need to be made? How much is paid? How
is this done?
What happens if an actual sound recording of a song is used as part of a
compilation cd?
Printed music. What are the royalty payments?
What should standard music copyrights notification include?
What is "Fair Use" copyright? Can I make copies of my music CD?
Podcasting my tastebuds into your mind
- by gilli moon
The world has gone crazy over podcasting,
and I have to. It has been said recently that Podcasting is
growing faster than anything in history. To think that
each and every one of us can become a radio programmer and people can
subscribe to our taste in music is just simply amazing.
Music in Film
and TV. Sharks to look out for
- by Jennifer Yeko
In doing my job, I sometimes come into contact
with music supervisors that are less than ethical. They will ask for a
band's publishing, not just for a placement, but to own the band's songs
just so that they'll help get a song placed. I think that's a HUGE
conflict of interest - a music supervisor is hired to find the best music
possible for a project - a film, tv show, video game, etc.
What is a Performing Rights Organization
A P.R.O., as they are often called, collects
money owed to songwriters for the public performance of their songs.
Writing a Good Query Letter Keep your
query short and to the point -- ideally around 150-300 words.
Start with a compelling subject line,...
How to sell more CDs at your Gig
Using the CD Seller to help generate sales
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