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Friday, September 29, 2006

Profile Content Upgrade

Artistopia has upgraded all indie and unsigned member profiles to have more space for describing yourself and your band! Members now have 5,000 characters available to them in the description field to add a comprehensive, informative, and interesting description about themselves and their determination to create music that they want heard. Artistopia member profiles are in essence a biography, a resume, that can be converted into a press release in the Pro plan. Information should be styled to fit that criteria.

Need help on writing a Biography? Artistopia provides a lot of help:

Help Center

What Your Music Profile Should Say About You


Why is this extra space important?
Search engines, the Internet itself, loves words, lots of words. This is called content in the language of webmasters. Words put together in an interesting way makes for great content, thereby making content the “King” of the web world.

Keywords are words that people use to find information on the web. If you were searching for a band that plays jazz and wanted to go to a jazz show in your town, there are obvious words you would type into the search engine of choice to locate the info needed. The very top results the search gave you would reflect not only how well a band’s profile described themselves…but how search engine friendly the web site the band bio resides on is to be found on the net.

Therein lies an entirely different topic on web site optimization and timing of how content is added to search engines, but the main theme here is to know that as long as a musician, singer, songwriter or band enters good content in their Artistopia profile, that information will eventually come up in the search engines.

So add your content today! Get your member profile in tip-top shape!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

News You Can Use

Artistopia presents the latest special interest music news topics and events directly relating to indie and unsigned bands, musicians, singers and songwriters – we surf so you don’t have to! The hand-picked news articles range from music marketing, promotion, music industry changes and trends, artist development, career tips, what’s new on the web and interesting stories and reviews. The events cover small and large music festivals, conferences, competitions, contests, and sometimes career opportunities.

Artistopia has so many “nooks and crannies” of info, if you aren’t cruisin’ the news on Artistopia…you’re missing out.

The latest music industry news:
http://www.artistopia.com/Music-News/Industry-News.asp
Daily music news online from across the world featuring articles on artist development, marketing, and promotion of special interest for musicians, bands and songwriters

Artistopia members press releases:
http://www.artistopia.com/Music-News/Member-News.asp
Artistopia member press releases, interviews, latest songs and CDs dropped, current haps and band news

The Artistopia Times Newsletter:
http://www.artistopia.com/Music-News/Newsletters.asp
The Artistopian Times newsletter with artist development articles, marketing tips, featured music competition, corporate message, top Artistopians by genre, useful services & products and starving artists recipes.

Don’t miss an event!
http://www.artistopia.com/Music-Events/Index.asp
Music Industry Event :Find out the latest competition, battle of the band, music conference and music event you need to get into.
Music Artist Event: Find Artistopian’s gigs by monthly or daily gig calendar or by location.

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Friday, September 15, 2006

Artistopia Personal Email Account

Recently, a recognized producer that once worked with the late and great Tupac Shakur visited Artistopia. This producer contacted a prospective member for collaboration, however, to our dismay this members email bounced back as invalid. Unfortunately, this member missed an opportunity that could prove to be a once in a lifetime shot, all because this member opted not to use their real email account. Instead, he/she used some free email account to complete their member registration.

At Artistopia, your information is YOUR information. We take our Privacy Statement seriously and treat it as an oath to all of our members. Artistopia does not sell, outsource, lease, or use private information to third party businesses for any reason. Therefore, Artistopia asks all of its members to put trust in the information they provide and to keep their profile up to date. This advice is strictly to your advantage, as Artistopia stands nothing to gain or lose. - Artistopia Corporate Message, The Artistopian Times newsletter, Monday, April 10, 2006

Simply put, members can now have their own email accounts on top of the artistopia.com domain (yourname@artistopia.com). Members can easily update their membership plans to include the free email functionality from the member console homepage.

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Free email account for life
The free Charitable Indie membership plan includes email too!
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Professional artist presentation
Yourname@artistopia.com will simply make you look good!
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Bullet proof Spam filtering
Many options for getting rid of unwanted SPAM!
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Online calendar and address book
Manage your time, appointments, and contacts...

Come by Artistopia today and get started on your music bio, upload your music, get your personal email address and be a part of this fast growing community of indie and unsigned artists, bands, singers and songwriters.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

September 2006 - Top 100 Song Charts At Artistopia

Here are today's current Top 100 Songs Chart at Artistopia - The Ultimate Music Artist Resource, by up and coming indie and unsigned artists. Listen in at Radio Artistopia! or browse artist profiles at Indie Music Artists by Last Active, Music Genres, A - Z, Top Ranked, Most Viewed and Rank Movers. Join Artistopia and be seen and heard today!


1. Kiss from a rose Claudia
2. Dance with my father again Claudia
3. I'm Wishing On A Star Claudia
4. My Sweet Love Claudia
5. I Love You Claudia
6. Fever Acappella Claudia
7. Fever D&B Remix Claudia
8. Rock A Bye Baby Claudia
9. Danza e ridanza Antonio Bruno & Bellitamburi
10. Running With Scissors Cindy Nelson
11. Sneak Preview Claudia
12. You Be You Claudia
13. so blue, i'm feeling red Bohannon
14. Walking Alone Claudia
15. i sing the perfect stroke Antonio Bruno & Bellitamburi
16. Non dirmi mai Antonio Bruno & Bellitamburi
17. Never Let Go Claudia
18. Fever remix by 'Jesse the mind' Claudia
19. Out of your mind Chris Vaughn
20. Libre de ti N.o Subject
21. 8 Mins of Death Hip Hop/Rap Missiles
22. the legend of bohannon Pop & Rock Bohannon
23. But I Do Blues Allen Talbott
24. e dai e vai remix Undetermined Antonio Bruno & Bellitamburi
25. storia della terra mia Alternative Antonio Bruno & Bellitamburi
26. A Mothers Touch Country Markler
27. She's Opaque Alternative Frank Lordi
28. Friend or foe clip Gospel N.o Subject
29. SCREAM LIKE CRAZY Metal Rainsweep
30. I Could Be There For You Alternative Cindy Nelson
31. No matter , rain or shine Alternative N.o Subject
32. Materia World Antonio Bruno & Bellitamburi
33. Did you ever really care Urban/R&B Claudia
34. Requiem Gospel Cindy Nelson
35. Hush Urban/R&B Julia
36. Intimate Undetermined Julia
37. Art of War Metal Losing Another Battle
38. Without You Pop & Rock Loz
39. The Wind Country Chris Vaughn
40. Crackhead Blues Blues Allen Talbott
41. Shootin' From the Hip Jazz Allen Talbott
42. FOR YOU, MY TIME IS GRANTED Electronic Rainsweep
43. toughen up girl Electronic Claudia
44. Absolution Metal Losing Another Battle
45. Another Joy Blues VJ King Jr | HeartBeat Australia
46. [O.O.M.P.] Occupational Overri... Electronic Rainsweep
47. He's Still On My Mind Country Ernie Redquest
48. The Peacock Jazz Marco Lopomo
49. Thinking Of you Hip Hop/Rap Legitimate Generalz
50. true Alternative Bohannon
51. il fattore di potenza Alternative Antonio Bruno & Bellitamburi
52. As we go on through the night Country Bob Richard's
53. Sincere Dedication Alternative Cindy Nelson
54. Last Fair Deal Blues Allen Talbott
55. What You Ridin Hip Hop/Rap Moe-D
56. Hello Alternative Cindy Nelson
57. Worst of Days Urban/R&B Muhammad Abdul Jami
58. Remember Gospel Rainsweep
59. Street Life Hip Hop/Rap 2007 WorldWide
60. Love Is The Key Country Chris Balatgek
61. OVERTURE IMAGE INFINITE Undetermined Rainsweep
62. Under Pressure Christian Skylla
63. GOOD GIRLS ARE BAD GIRLS Country Shane & Blane
64. Putess impazzì Electronic Antonio Bruno & Bellitamburi
65. 'Walk Away' shortened edit Pop & Rock Jamie
66. huggy bear Alternative Bohannon
67. In The Nazarene Church Pop & Rock Mike Visaggio
68. VOCAL FX Undetermined Rainsweep
69. FRONT'N Urban/R&B David G.
70. This is not my war double ya Alternative Randy Hartley
71. Create not to Destruct Hip Hop/Rap 2007 WorldWide
72. Ninnaooh Dance Electronic Antonio Bruno & Bellitamburi
73. my turn now Country Milinda Baird
74. Hung Up Pop & Rock Christy Jones
75. SOLACE CRY Blues Rainsweep
76. bitter sweet lovely Alternative Bohannon
77. We're Not Falling From Grace Pop & Rock Cindy Nelson
78. musica mai, musica vai Electronic Antonio Bruno & Bellitamburi
79. I Like It, I Love It Country Bob Richard's
80. Count Your Blessings Country Chris Balatgek
81. Knockin Heads Off Hip Hop/Rap Moe-D
82. Sugar Daddy Alternative Jackie Barnett
83. Music's Coming To Us Pop & Rock Mike Visaggio
84. The Last Whale Classical Ken Mahren
85. Ain't Nuthin' Hip Hop/Rap La Femme Nikita
86. charlemagne Blues Bohannon
87. Under The Mountain Country Ernie Redquest
88. For Always Latin Cool Garden
89. God Rest Ye Merry Gentelmen Jazz J. Golden
90. Boom Ba Ba Boom! Latin "Harmony" ynez reyes
91. hey bohannon Alternative Bohannon
92. E komo mai Christian Peter Pacyao
93. When We All Get To Heaven Gospel Ramond Yzer
94. Silent Screams 1 Christian Katuv
95. KNOCKIN' Blues Wildsang
96. devoted Country Milinda Baird
97. My ship Jazz Marco Lopomo
98. Swing Down Marchin' World Allen Talbott
99. Noche Escondida Latin Vonnell
100. Half Alive Electronic DJ Zenon

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Artistopia's The Artistopian Times Vol. 5

Artistopia has released it's latest edition of The Artistopian Times today with some great articles of interest to indies and unsigned artists. The articles covered in this edition are:

Why Artist Development Makes A Difference by Artistopia
The Importance of Objective Music Mastering To Get That Hit Sound by Hans Klein
Stop Burning Bridges - Or Your Career Might Go Up In Flames! by Sheena Metal

The Artistopian Times also includes in every issue:

Corporate Message
Top Artistopians by Music Genre
Online Marketing Advice
Featured Music Competition
Music Industry Satire
Starving Artist Recipe

Always a great source of useful music artist development information, you can subscribe to The Artistopian Times at Subscribe Now!

Stay informed! Get exposure! Make friends!

At Artistopia, music artists, musicians, and songwriters across the world come to display their talent and professionally manage their music careers. Launched with the undeterred focus of building an independent music community that “also” attracts industry professionals, Artistopia is quickly becoming the one-stop shop for artists and professionals to meet under one roof and speak one language - potential success. Artistopia takes pride in pioneering the next revolution in the music industry: how independent artists and musicians are discovered.

The Ultimate Music Artist Resource

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Tips For Learning to Play the Electric Guitar

Author: Anthony Lee

The electric guitar is one of the most powerful musical instruments today. It dominates every popular genre and style of music in the modern world. The sheer flexibility of the electric guitar in terms of volume, tone and sound quality makes it an ultimate musical instrument.

The electric guitar is an instrument of power or finesse, of speed or subtlety, but definitely, it is an instrument of musical glory. For those people who would want to learn how to play the electric guitar, here are some noteworthy tips:

1. Use a nylon guitar first

If one is thinking about learning how to play a guitar by using an electric guitar, he should think about it twice. If one is just learning how to play the guitar, he shouldn’t do it with an electric guitar. Electric guitars use steel strings which can be very uncomfortable for beginners. Besides, learning the basics from an acoustic guitar teaches one to use a holistic guitar playing approach rather than relying on the effects and features of an electric guitar. Electric guitar playing should come subsequently after learning how to play using an acoustic guitar.

2. Know your electric guitar

If one already knows how to play a guitar and is thinking of buying an electric guitar, he should know the different features and qualities of the electric guitar. The same thing goes for people who are using an old electric guitar. Playing with the knobs and controls of the electric guitar will give one an idea of how to mix everything properly to be able to get an optimal sound. Electric guitars are not plug-and-play instruments, they require a lot of sensitivity in terms of mixing sounds and tones together.

3. Buy a decent amp

An expensive electric guitar will sound crappy on low quality amps on any given day. When getting an electric guitar amp, make sure to test the amp at the store. If possible, turn all the knobs to the highest value and listen to the sound that the amp will produce. There are also amps out there that have a built-in distortion option which can be switched on and off. This feature is especially useful for people who have no money to buy an effects box since a distortion feature is the most essential for any electric guitar.

4. Buy a decent effects box

An effects box is a great tool to have when playing an electric guitar. One can make all sorts of sounds using an effects box. The basic tones that one should look for in an effects box are: good distortion sounds, chorus, reverb, amp simulator and easy adjustments modules.

5. Get durable cables

Cables are also an integral part of the whole electric guitar system. Cheap and low quality cables are not worth investing into because they will wear out soon.

6. Listen to electric guitar tracks

A great way to holistically grasp the basics of electric guitar playing is to listen to great electric guitar classics. Many lessons are learned just by listening to different riffs and tunes that are produced from electric guitars.

Electric guitars are somewhat different from unplugged guitars. There are skills that are needed to play the electric guitar properly aside from the basic ones. Practice is always the best way to learn how to play the electric guitar.

To learn more tips on guitar playing, please visit http://www.improve-guitar-playing.info/

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com

Monday, September 04, 2006

A Free Shortcut For Getting Massive Publicity To Launch Your Successful Music Career

What's an easy way to gain Massive Publicity?

Massive publicity can give your music career an enormous boost which can mean more music sales and much more exposure. There are many ways to get publicity. Certain tactics and gimmicks like controversial stunts have been utilized by countless musicians to get public attention and many these work great.

One of the exceptionally effective ways of promoting one’s music is by attracting music journalists. The key is to leverage the extensive media resources of music journalists in your favor.

Music journalism is a form of journalism which deals with writing reviews and criticisms about music. You may encounter several music journalism columns in the major dailies and the magazines. These people know how to write, therefore attracting people to read their columns and read about a musician and their heart-felt music. Many have a huge reach and can get your name, web address and event dates in front of a huge audience.

There are tons of music journalists out there and they can be the best way that a budding musician can get into the spotlight if you don't already have connections to the big leagues. A good strategy is to put the elements of the Internet and music journalism together. A musician can strike a deal with a music journalist that they will do an interview and the write-up can be displayed on-line by both parties. A website would be more interesting to read if there is a section on “Interviews” or “What music journalists are saying about the music.” Interviews convey interaction and it is more interesting to read write-ups which are based on wonderful interview questions.

Some tips for attracting music journalists are:

1) Study the stories that various media journalists publish on a regular basis.
2) Ask yourself what made these stories newsworthy.
3) Choose similar newsworthy characteristics about yourself or band and create a write-up that you can submit to these music journalists.

Another good idea is to have a live chat interview that can be accessed through the website, if possible. This way, people can also participate in the question and answer portions. This can be done using the free Voice Over IP telephony service called Skype. http://www.skype.com

What you do is record your call using pretty much any sound editing program that will pickup the sound that comes through your sound card. A excellent and free program to use for this is Audacity located at: audacity.sourceforge.net . Next save this as an mp3 for easy distribution.

Facing a music journalist is no joke. They will ask questions that the interviewee should be prepared to answer instantly. Preparing for an interview takes nothing more than being sober and being punctual. All the questions can be answered by a musician from their heart and that’s all that matters. Many musicians screw up their interviews with music journalists because they want to sound sophisticated whereas they would have done better if they stuck to the truth and be simple.

After having an interview, it would be best if the music journalist can be able to see the gig. The interview is actually the easy part, it’s the gig that really matters. The music journalist will have ears for the notes and eyes for the whole performance. Music journalists know their stuff and how they are going to write their experiences.


About the Author:

WMP Article Staff Start Selling Your Music Online Within The Next 20 Minutes Website Music Player http://www.websitemusicplayer.com

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Friday, September 01, 2006

Songs That Sell & Singers That Sing Them

As with any business, finding the specific targeted key is always the adventure when trying to climb to the top. Many fail and fall by the wayside in their attempts to climb the mountain. And many, quite honestly, just stall out without the right talent and management to back up the endeavor. The same holds true in the music business with singers and songwriters. The countless hours that A&R spend trying to find that key song for that new “baby” act is sometimes a relentless task. Oftentimes, the success or ultimate failure of an artist, isn’t the talent or in fact having the unique talent, but the songs that will carry their success down radio airplay lane. Without the right ingredients in the CD mixing bowl, you can almost guarantee failure. What makes for a good song? What songs do up and coming acts look for and how do you obtain these songs that almost create magic in the hearts of the listener when even the intro is played? These are great questions, and many have tried to answer them. I will give you some advice as to what holds true for many of your potential listeners.

If you’ve ever tried to get inside the mindset of a potential fan or one that will purchase your CD, you will notice some distinct differences in their thinking than what is popular or in vogue within the music business culture. To begin with, songs and artists that are currently selling are not the only thing that will sell. You say da, but most get on the current bandwagon with the same old tired sound and song structure and then wonder why they can’t get a record deal or get their songs cut or wonder why people aren’t buying their music. You will have to learn to think outside the box. Think back through the music era as of late and look at all of the styles and how music has progressed from big band, to the Beatles to the many 70’s rock bands to Boston, to the new Chicago (David Foster) albums to the slicker pop artists of the nineties with the barrage of improved keyboard sounds to today. Now I know that we could list hundreds to thousands of bands here, but for the sake of time I think you get the idea.

Are you really thinking about the next layer of the musical cake? What will that sound like? What are you currently doing to write not just off the wall music and productions to sound different, but music that will be the next level of the music era that people will look back at as a turning point in music history? As a singer looking to obtain A side songs for you’re your next CD, you will want to think about how and where you will obtain them. As a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency, I know how difficult it can be for artists and writers not only to break into the industry as a whole, but to maintain a credible ongoing writing career writing fresh and new creative lyrics and melodies. Yet the gotta have it today and write it from a fresh perspective is still king. At ReelMusician.com we are always looking at new and fresh production ideas for writers who obtain song production services from our company, and I can tell you that it’s a challenge. We pride ourselves in writing incredible productions and we do, but the art of making it a little different to the point where it stands out, really takes time and effort. Anybody can throw a song production together on the computer with a keyboard and a mic, but to create a unique, yet with musical integrity to the artist’s or writer’s original intent, and within the marketing bounds of today’s music buying crowd, isn’t always easy – It’s an art.

Even within the jingle production side to ReelMusician.com, we are always looking for new and creative ways to really showcase singers trying to break into the jingle singing market. The marketing behind the singer’s jingle demo reel is key. So again, when individuals think they can record their own jingle demo reel with a computer, keyboard and mic, they are most likely mistaken and I would guess most end in failure. Same thing holds for writers and singers trying to obtain top A sided tunes that will be a hit on radio lane. You have got to be writing and recording with individuals who have a proven track record, who think outside the box, utilizing their players ideas even when they overturn your original production idea, because it’s plain a better idea. And seeing that the overall production is the end goal, there is no attitude and hopefully A sided album cuts are produced and recorded.

There are numerous outlets on the web that most everyone is familiar with where up and coming acts can review and contact the writers or artists to obtain permission to record their music. The flood of sites available is astounding. As a writer or singer, comb through these sites and listen for not only valid recording material, but for ideas and ways to steer your next production close enough to mainstream marketable music, but close enough to the edge where your music and production sound fresh and new. See, it’s not that easy. It’s easy to write it here as a valid idea, but significantly harder to put into practice.

As we close, I will offer a few suggestions, and I am well aware that many claim to have the “answers,” but I will just remain confident that you are building your career, making career corrections as needed along the way and are practicing your craft, not merely as an art, but as a way to get a recording contract or plain get your songs cut by a major recording artist. You’ve heard it before, but writers do get significantly better with their writing and productions over time – keep doing it. Don’t be afraid to admit it when either your music or production isn’t working, but keep looking up, because there is hope in your admitting it and moving forward and learning how to better you productions. Don’t have an attitude about your music or the ability to change it, but don’t necessarily change it at every beckoning, because someone else “claims” to always have the superior idea. Lastly, just hang in there, keep at it and don’t be afraid to contact us should you have further questions about song production or jingle singing. Look forward to hearing from you.


About the Author:

Mr Gauger is a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency and founder of http://www.ReelMusician.com. You may contact the author at tgauger@reelmusician.com. Free e-books “The Jingle Singer’s Guide,” and “Secrets To Great Song Demos,” may be downloaded at http://www.ReelMusician.com.

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