How To Help The Music Industry Take You Seriously

How To Help The Music Industry Take You Seriously

By Chris Stranding,

MusicDish Network Sponsor

Every month I have to listen to tons of artist submissions. Sometimes it's painful, other times it's a pleasure. Usually the pleasure or pain threshold is not to do with how the music sounds, although God only knows that is the ice cream! No, the enjoyment factor begins when I know that a package has been carefully put together.

I'll be honest, and this sounds bizarre, but A&Rs will understand this. Usually I know whether an artist is worth any salt before I've opened the package. What??? I hear you scream - how can this be? Well, let me just say that an artist who is serious will do it right from the start. The size of the envelope tells me what is inside (whether it is a thrown together CD with a Polaroid photo or a proper press kit with 8x10 photo etc). The return address will tell me a great deal too. Is it scribbled from someone's home address or is it a professional label with a company name?

OK so that's a start. Of course the music's got to measure up when I open up the package, but this tells me a great deal right off the bat. Of course from time to time I am wrong, but 99% of the time I know whether something is worth spending time with or not before I've opened it.

So what I want to address here is the power of professional package submission. All too many artists will literally throw something together and hope for the best - kind of like throwing mud against the wall. A poorly put together package reeks of laziness - a trait that no artist can possibly expect to live with today. It's just too competitive. And most importantly, we want to know that you're serious dammit! If you're not serious how can you expect any music industry person to take you seriously?

So please take this aspect of the business seriously. And I'm not talking about just my company here, I'm simply using my experience, for what it's worth, to show you how industry people will probably respond to you. I am talking about any music industry person you send something to. Assume these people are busy and only want to deal with professionals. Even if you are not pro, act like you are because I'll tell you - perception is everything. All right, let's get into the nitty gritty....

Now let's assume that for every musical situation you will be required to put a different type of package together. I want to talk very generally here.

Contact Info

I get packages from some artists who refuse to give me any idea who they are! Why? Why? Why? How can anyone omit this basic information? Your contact info should be on every single item you include in your package. Assume the worst - that items in your package get passed around the office and separated. Of course this could be the best scenario too - anyone passing your ingredients around the office must mean you are damn good (or embarrassingly bad!). Your contact info should include the name of your company (fictitious or otherwise), a contact name, an e-mail address and a phone number. Get a stamp made up or a label and mark this on all the items. Most of all - make sure you have all this information on the CD.

Photo

Why do I get Polaroids sent to me? I'll tell you why. It says on the A&R Online submission form "Photo must be included". So what do many do? "Hey Franky, can you take a shot of me over here with home dude so I can send in my tracks!" Please - No no no! What does this tell me? This tells me you aren't used to dealing with professionals. And from this we can extrapolate that you probably aren't up to the mark. (And I can tell you - I have never listened to a CD that WAS up to the mark when a Polaroid photo was included. Never.) So get a proper photo done. Hire a professional. Spend some money. Save up if you have to. Take pride in how you present your image - it means everything. I'll tell you - in many situations it's AS important as your music! Sad I know but true. How many young pop stars today DON'T look good. You know, the puppets of the world. Not many. So look good.

Make it easy to open your package

The amount of times I have to use a frickin' chainsaw to open a package - it's not even funny. Please, do yourself a favor. Remove the shrink-wrap from the CD and don't over tape the envelope. It's not the bloody crown jewels we're dealing with here!

Label the CD

Here's my real pet peeve. I get so many CDs sent to me with absolutely nothing written on them. No label - not even a felt tip pen marker. Nothing. Nada. Why? Why? Why? For Pete's sake label the CD. Tell me who the artist is and include your contact info. Help me just a little - PLEASE!

Keep everything professional

Another thing that I get constantly is hand written notes begging for record deals. Well first, that is one big turn off because it tells me you need absolutely everything done for you. You are living in a dream world. Do your homework. Know exactly what you want from everyone you are sending a package to. Be specific. Don't just say "Hook me up dude!". What the hell does that mean? I can't tell you how many times I get this. It's meaningless. How should I respond? "OK, Be at my office at 10:30am on Wednesday, I'll have Tommy Mottola waiting. He'll have the money for you!"

Think carefully about any document you include. If it's a one sheet, make it look intriguing and impressive (amongst a sea of one sheets!) Craft a bio that doesn't give away the fact that you've been knocking on music biz doors for 30 years. Create some mystery at every level. The word "veteran" should not be in your vocabulary unless you have had a very successful music career. Get a nice logo and use a computer for everything. If you want a reply, include a stamped self-addressed envelope. Most of all, show those you are submitting to that you really care. If you care, people will pay attention. If you don't, why should anyone?

Now, having said all of this, it's important that you get the music right. This is your number one priority. If the music's just lame, no amount of beautiful presentation can save it. But if the music is stunning, and you present yourself professionally, you just may have something. You just may.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

How To Thrill The Reviewer

How To Thrill The Reviewer

By Ben Ohmart,

MusicDish Network Sponsor

You're in a band. You've gigged and learned thru blood and silence what works and what doesn't on stage. You've gagged your creative self working for the likes of Walmart and KFC, daring to earn enough filthy lucre to release a CD. You've just spent $2k on 1000 CDs with a 4 pg insert and a 1 color cover (all you could afford after mom's silverware went the way of eBay). It's shrink wrapped and bar coded to go to amazon.com, to sell at concerts, to gain airplay. But you need reviews. And you need ones good enough to quote. Here's how you thrill the reviewer.

First, include bio info about yourself. We reviewers are a simple people. If we're too dense to realize what your music sounds like; or if it's been a bad week and the Last thing we want to do is listen to music we not might like for not much or no money; at least we can filler up with biographical content about You and the Band.

In the light of no names to drop, no whopping sales figures to quote, no super powers to expound, just say something. Dreams. Ambitions. Education. Influences. A life's story. In under 2 pages (assuming you have nothing extraordinary to boast on). When 'just' a CD arrives in the mail, that's not all the story. True, the music should speak for itself. But it's just as true that You should speak for Yourself. Surely you've done Something besides make this album.

Also, if you're proud of your lyrics and didn't have the bread to have Disc Makers put them in the booklet, why don't you print a couple out and send them with your release. That's pretty cheap. Even if you don't do rap, but you fancy yourself as a lyric-heavy writer, or words are your bag more than music, you'll do yourself a disservice to assume the reviewer has an ear good enough to catch what you're saying first time out. The listener - the critic - may only play your CD once before passing on to the next in the pile. Make his job a little easier. It could come back and help you.

Money orders, fur coats and expensive jewelry are of course always welcome to the average reviewer. But unless you're a Cole Porter, even a t-shirt with a band name is costly. Still, you must think creatively. Go to the dollar store and scrounge around. See what's interesting, different, check out items that are multi-packed and weigh them in your hand. Will it cost much more in postage to send this with the CD? Alright then, why not buy?

That's not to say that bribery will get your disc a glowing review. But, assuming you're sending your hard work to a critic of note (unless you don't mind quoting papers and zines that no one knows), you Might need an extra edge to get it to the top of the pile. As screenwriters know (and what critic doesn't write unsaleable movie scripts?), anything that puts your brainchild in the eye of the beholder is a good gimmick. Yes, they could hate it or stop the CD turning after 40 seconds, but chances are that would happen anyway if he isn't 'into' your tunes. Look at the positive side:

You're getting your disc looked at sooner because you've included a candy goody or something that made the poor writer laugh for a moment, or because the package smells like Juicy Fruit. I personally know of a few top reviewers that only give a listen to 20% of the submissions they receive. Terrible? Well, considering that often critics don't get paid, or editors only invite them to submit 10 reviews a year for pay because that's all the rag can afford, or the top mags are mostly into top releases (unless you go in for indie-adored pubs), we listeners (reviewers), like audiences, are only human, can only listen to so much while still finding time to sleep with people, eat, screw around with a day job, and other variables. Remember the ol' cereal box ploy. Grab the kid's attention.

Of course, the music is the final leveler, isn't it? Packaged in an expensive folder, including a free frisbee, a raft of Rolling Stone raves, bonus tracks and multimedia extras: the songs are still going to be the deciding vote. I can't comment on how to make That better. It's something you've got to work on and figure out yourself. But I will remind you, the artist, that 'good' is relative. You can always find a competent music expert to love what you do; and hate what you do.

The average critic grew up on Top 40 radio, lived an ordinary life, thinks the same generalities you think. He may hate politicians too, yet do absolutely nothing to see that they're all abolished. He's probably got a couple traffic tickets on his record. The human element may be the same, it's his Taste you have to worry about. Try to find out what they are. Difficult. But discovering personal biases is the key to much promotion, whether you're an actor, painter, or R&B singer. Remember, most guy reviewers will like Mariah Carey's body, but they all won't like the sounds she makes.

Thrilling the reviewer is a monumental task that is hampered by lack of money, reviewer knowledge, time and patience. You should read some reviews at every major site you'd like to see your CD shining upon. Don't necessarily sign up for a PR person to send around your disc unless you're making more money than you need. With a little thought, you can put together a promo pack that's as good as what NY houses submit. Just think about what you want first. If you want to heat up a good reviewer, research to find one that shares your interests, politics, poetry. Don't just send out blindly. It's a waste of resources, and is about as smart as making best friends with your neighbor just because he's there. You never know. Count your knives before they're snatched.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

Artistopia - RSS Music Feeds

Artistopia - RSS Music Feeds

Artistopia empowers online music communities with the ability to syndicate artists, musicians, and songwriters on their websites through a real-time RSS feed service. With Artistopia's RSS, online music communities can display artist information and link directly to their comprehensive profiles located on Artistopia. This information is provided free of charge for use on websites and Weblogs (aka blog).

What is RSS?

Short for Really Simple Syndication (some prefer Rich Site Summary), RSS is a lightweight XML-based technology for sharing Web content. Artistopia currently uses RSS version 2.0 and offers several RSS feeds, each of which contains the relevant artist information and a link back to Artistopia for full profile viewing. RSS feeds are free.

How do I use RSS?

To use RSS, you will need an RSS reader or aggregator. There are a number of different readers and utilities you can use, many of which are available for free. Most readers are free-standing applications that you download and install, while others are Web-based services that work with your browser. After installing the RSS content reader, you can add each feed manually by clicking on the desired RSS feed above. Follow the directions for your specific content reader on how to add feeds. Artistopia only makes content available in RSS feeds and does not provide RSS programming support.

What are the benefits of RSS?

The biggest benefit to RSS is that individuals opt-in to content of interest, totally controlling the flow of information that they receive. Additional benefits RSS provides include:

Delivery of fresh and relevant content to your website, which encourages users to return
Constantly changing content means that search engine spiders will visit more frequently
Automate delivery of quality information from a reputable content provider

RSS ultimately enables you to automatically feed content to your site and create many pages for search engines to crawl and consume. As search engines recognize the content on your site, you will find your site appearing more and more in search engines. The result? More surfers will visit your content rich site.

What are the terms of use?

The feeds are provided free of charge for use by individuals and non-competing organizations for personal use in a content reader or as part of a non-commercial Website or blog. Artistopia requires proper format and attribution whenever Artistopia content is posted on your Website. Please read the Artistopia RSS terms and conditions for complete instructions.

If you provide this attribution in text, you must use: Artistopia. If you provide this attribution with a graphic, you must use the Artistopia logo which is included in the feed itself. Artistopia reserves all rights in and to the Artistopia logo, and your right to use the Artistopia logo is limited to providing attribution in connection with these RSS feeds. Artistopia also reserves the right to require you to cease distributing these feeds at any time for any reason.

Protect Your Gear with Insurance

Protect Your Gear with Insurance

By Jeffrey Fisher,

MusicDish Network Sponsor

What's the best way to insure your music and sound gear? If you consider your gear personal property, your homeowner's or renter's insurance policy should protect it. Ask your insurance carrier to be sure. However, if you do use your equipment for business (and hopefully exploit the tax advantages of this strategy) you MUST check with your insurance carrier. You may need a rider to your personal policy or even a separate policy altogether. Go visit your insurance agent in person and explain your situation fully and accurately. Here are some of the questions you need clearly answered.

* What perils are excluded? You need to be sure that you aren't taking any unnecessary risks. Make sure that the perils you may face (fire, water, theft, and natural disaster) are covered. Acts of war are never covered. Of course, the chances of a war wiping out your equipment are rare. And even if it did happen, you'd probably have a lot more to worry about besides the loss of your gear.

* When and where is the coverage effective? What happens if you cover only home use and something gets stolen from your car on the way to a gig?

* What is the premium? This is the amount you pay for a certain level of coverage. Make sure the coverage amount you choose accurately reflects the gear you have or will replace. Don't pay for coverage you don't need, but don't risk coming up short either.

* What is the deductible? This is the minimum loss you must have before the insurance kicks in. For example, if you have a $250 deductible and suffer a $1000 loss, upon approval of the claim, the insurance company will send you a check for $750. You are responsible for the first $250. This next point is really important: Unlike medical deductibles which accrue during the year, loss policies are per incident. You will pay the deductible for EACH claim that you make. If gear keeps disappearing, and you send in multiple claims during the year, it could end up costing you more than you planned.

* What are the policy limits? This is usually a total dollar amount per occurrence. Is this enough to cover you in the event of total disaster? Also, does the policy pay replacement cost or cash value? Replacement cost pays you the amount to fully replace the item lost while the cash value pays only the item's current market value. If your synth gets ripped, and you choose to replace it, you will get the amount needed to buy a new, comparable synth that is "like kind and value" (even if it costs more than the original purchase).
Make sure you have a clear understanding of what your policy provides. At cash value you'd probably receive only 10-20 percent of the original price you paid. Some policies say that if you choose not to replace the item you will only get the cash value. One of my clients suffered a theft loss and after spending countless hours totaling up the replacement value of the stolen items decided not to replace them. They were surprised when the insurance settlement came, as it had the far, far lower cash value figures instead of the anticipated replacement numbers.

* How are claims settled? You want details about what you must do to expedite approval. For example, if an item gets stolen, does the insurance carrier require a police report?

* What documentation do you need? Do what the insurance carrier suggests. At the very least, record an inventory of all your gear (including computer software). Record its name, model number, serial number, original purchase price, and purchase date. Keep these records off-site and also give a copy to your insurance agent to keep with your file. This is the evidence you would need in the event of a loss. You may want to have regular appraisals for certain items, such as vintage gear, and file them with your insurance agent, too. Also, take photographs or a videotape of your gear. Use a camcorder, focus on every piece of gear for a few seconds, and describe it. Store this videotape off-site.

* Also, if you have people visiting your business (project studio, for instance), you may also need to consider liability insurance to cover accidents. The same rules applies: if the people are there for business reasons, make sure your policy covers it.

Take this article to your insurance agent and make sure you get the answers you need to protect your gear investment and sleep better at night.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

Taking the steps... by Ellery Eskelin

Taking the steps... by Ellery Eskelin

"When Jason DuMars asked me to write something for the International Saxophone Home Page, I asked him what he thought the readers would most be interested in. Jason suggested that I share some information about my career and how I managed to produce my CDs. We agreed that it might be nice to offer some information to those saxophonists who are thinking about becoming full time musicians.

Sounds good to me. I always thought that in today's scene there were more than a few good issues to be addressed. Please bear in mind though, that the following may not necessarily appeal to everyone. It's merely a guide from my own experience, for what it's worth.

There are many ways to "make it" in the music business. It all depends on what you want. If I could give only one piece of advice, it would be this:

TAKE CARE OF THE MUSIC FIRST!"

Read the rest of Taking the steps here. This is a good look at what it takes to get into the business, and stay there.

An excellent article as written by tenor, saxophonist, and composer - Ellery Eskelin. His web site can be found at Ellery Eskelin along with bio, news, discography, reviews, appearances, articles and more.

Preparing Your Release: An Overview

Preparing Your Release: An Overview

By Christopher Knab,

There is more to making a record than just recording it. Here are a few things to think about before you manufacture your release and prepare it for the marketplace.

MusicDish Network Sponsor

How many CDs will you manufacture? What will the cover (and booklet) design and artwork look like? If know the answers to these questions, you'll increase your chances of selling your music.

Let's get into some manufacturing basics.

The cost of making CDs has gone down since the CD debuted in 1982. Manufacturing plants offer dozens of "package deals" to make it easier for artists to release their own music. In fact, when I ask a new client why they pressed up 1,000 copies of their first CD, they usually answer, "Well, I called this company I saw advertising in a music magazine and they had this great deal on pressing up 1,000 CDs." OK‹but please stop and ask yourself these questions before you order:

* Do I have 1,000 potential customers?

* Do I have a good shot at selling more than a thousand records? Or, have I underestimated my needs?

* Will I send promo copies (freebies) of my record to radio stations, newspapers and magazines? How many do I need locally, regionally, and nationally? How many will I give away to family and friends?

* If I'm going to work with a legitimate distributor, how many copies will they need?

Answers to these questions will help you determine the number of records you actually need to make. And that will affect how much money you need for manufacturing. Also, are CDs the only configuration you need to make? What about cassette tapes, mini CDs, vinyl 45s or LPs?

The cover design of your release is also a crucial issue. What is your package going to look like? The time you spend designing your CD cover will pay off in the future‹in many ways. The image you select, the graphic artist you choose to design the cover, the colors and fonts you use, all play a huge role in creating or maintaining your image. It's estimated that over 90% of the time, the first impression people get of an artist's music is a visual impression. Your cover design needs to do two things; reflect your image, and impress industry people and potential customers.

Here are some cover design tips. Where do you place your name on the cover of your CD? If it's too low, it will be hard to find your record in the retail store bins, where product is crammed into the bins. Be sure to print your name clearly in the top third of the cover. Also, be sure your band name is written so that it stands out from the title of your record. For example, if your band name is Soap, and your album title is Suds, either of those two names could be a band name. Unless you have designed a distinctive logo for your band name, or made it obvious in some other way, how are the gatekeepers at radio, retail, and the press supposed to know if your band name is "Soap" or "Suds"?

The back cover must have a barcode if you intend to get your CD into most retail record stores. You could also print the catalog number here as well. The back cover should list the song titles and times of the songs. That helps the DJs at non-commercial radio find a song that fits into their music set. A professional looking photo is cool, too. Contact information for independent releases must include snail mail and email addresses, maybe a PO box for the label, and your Internet URL address. You can list some basic recording credits here, like the producer's name, if he or she is well known, and maybe the studio's name as well. Band personnel could be listed here if you're not printing up a multi-page booklet.

On the spine you must put your name (or that of your band), your logo, the album title, the catalog (selection) number of your release (usually a series of letters and numbers like CJK10001), and the logo/name of the label.

The CD booklet can have just about anything in it. Lyrics, photos, all the thank-yous you want, a brief bio or liner notes about the music. The booklet can be anything that enhances the listener's experience of the music, or tells more about you as a person or group.

Here's an exercise for you. Go to your favorite record store and give yourself one solid hour of browsing through the bins. Look at other artist's covers. Pay attention to how they look. How many truly great covers can you find in one hour? How many bad ones? What made the great covers great, and the bad covers bad?

At the end of that hour you'll be far more aware of your competition. Which pile will some future music director, distributor or store buyer put your CD in? The great pile or the bad pile? I want you to realize that you will be sending your record to people who see more records in a week than you will see in a year. Your cover makes an impression that will last a lifetime. That's right‹a lifetime. That's how long you'll have to live with your decision. How much do you like your cover design now? Every time you look at it, are you proud of it? Or do you think how much better it could have been?

Preparing your record for manufacturing takes as much thought and consideration as writing and recording your songs. If you skip over the steps I've outlined here, you risk disappointment and financial loss. Putting out your own record is a high risk endeavor. Reduce that risk by thoughtfully and professionally analyzing your potential customer base, your promotional needs, and the effectiveness of your cover design.

Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © Tag It 2005 - Republished with Permission

The Big Question Asked by Music Artists

One question asked by so many musicians, is "how can I get a record deal?"

In this day and age of American idol, starry-eyed, want to get to the top wanna be's, artists have to know the details and understand the very hard work it takes to even try to "make it big". Not only is the artist working constantly on perfecting the music created, but he or she needs to be concerned with the promotion, marketing, getting gigs, creating and selling a CD, the whole spectrum of climbing the ladder to the top.

This entire Blog is dedicated to the development of the music artist. Artistopia believes in knowledge is power, so today's input is a collection of links to articles, tips, and ideas on record deals, written by some well-known and respected names across the online music world. It pays to know the game you are trying so hard to break into and you have to know what to do when you are finally handed that contract. Read on...

43 Folders: Five Mistakes Band & Label Sites Make

43 Folders: Five Mistakes Band & Label Sites Make

Kasino.co.uk - What the rock books don't tell you part 1

Kasino.co.uk - What the rock books don't tell you part 1

Audio Recording Center: Record Deal - What You Need To Know To Get One, Article

Audio Recording Center: Record Deal - What You Need To Know To Get One, Article

How To Get A Record Deal: What Every Artist Needs To Know

How To Get A Record Deal: What Every Artist Needs To Know

Vocalist - How to get a Record Deal

Vocalist - How to get a Record Deal