Banddot-The Blog

Pomplamoose

2010-04-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

According to an article on NPR, these guys are a Youtube sensation and are making a living from their music without ever burning a CD. I think one of the commenters said it best:

Ian Slagowski (feed_the_world_with_PEZ) wrote:
Whether or not you like this band or think they are sellouts or posers or boring or riding others coattails is completely irrelevant. The band is an example of the possibilities opening up for the average person. Social media and the internet are revamping the entertainment industry. Giving artistic control back to the artists where it belongs. Its an example of how a good product can sell itself.

Record labels take good product make it as emotionally manipulative as possible and then cram it down everyone's throats until they can't bare to turn the radio on anymore. That's not art, it's mind control. Then while they are bleeding the artist dry they pay them 5% of the profits and make billions for the industry. The record industry is a dieing beast and just like any living thing it will fight for its survival hence all the hoopla over file sharing and take down notices on Youtube. That's the death knell of business not the artists.

10 Affordable Mics

2008-07-23T20:59:00.000-07:00

Audiotuts has a good article on affordable mics and what to use them for:

Making music is perhaps one of the most expensive hobbies in the world—that is, aside from tasting truffles. When you’re looking to set up a decent home studio, it’s hard to find a way to stay within budget without ending up with a terrible sound. Here are ten options to minimize expenditure while still getting a decent sound out of your system at the end of the day, by buying smart when it comes to one of the most important types of studio equipment: microphones.

Mosquito Tones

2008-04-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten around to checking out the so-called "Mosquito Tone" that I've been hearing about for awhile. For those who aren't familiar with it, a mosquito tone is a 17 kHz tone that can be heard by younger people, but not usually by those of us over thirty. Some kids are using it as a ringtone so teachers or parents won't know when they get calls or text messages. Ironically, it started as a system to stop kids from loitering.
Plasticmind//Journal has a series of tones to determine what frequencies you can hear.
As a music fan (and as someone approaching middle age), I don't like the thought of losing my hearing, so I was hoping that it was an urban legend or at least that I'd be able to hear it. Alas, I couldn't hear the 16, 17 or 18 kHz tones. My 5-year old boy could, however (I even tried to trick him, but he always got it right).
I don't think I'm missing much though, considering how my ears felt after listening to the tones. It was designed to annoy people, after all.
Here's a more thorough article with an explanation of Presbycusis - the gradual hearing loss associated with aging.

This is Rock-n-Roll

2007-12-18T07:41:00.000-08:00

AC/DC hasn't been an indie band for decades, but this song rocks, and the video's about as indie as you can get. It should be every band's theme song.

To maintain our indie cred, here's Billy Corgan doing an acoustic version, apparently on a street in Italy. I've never been a big fan, especially since he put Paris Hilton on the cover of a record, but he seems pretty cool to do this.

Soundproof your Garage

2007-11-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

The folks at HomeRecordingConnection.com have a bunch of tips and resources for musicians. Here's an article on soundproofing your garage on the cheap.

In my room, we initially covered every wall completely and ended up with the guitar and bass not being able to hear each other. We could both hear the drums, but not each other. So, we took down crates until it livened up. It ended up in a checkerboard on the back wall and ceiling. We painted the egg crates black for the back wall giving it a real checkerboard look. We painted the crates for the ceiling four different fluorescent colors and ran the colors diagonally on the ceiling. Behind the band, on the wall covering the garage door, we painted a big rainbow on a sky blue background and hung black sheets draping to the side to look like stage curtains on the rainbow wall. It was very colorful and became a minor legend in the South Houston area.

A nice shag rug on the floor and a drum riser 12" high gave us the best amateur practice/jamming/recording room on the Gulf Coast. KHOU FM radio station even brought their mobile recording/broadcast truck out and did a "Seeds of Rock 'n Roll" show taping from our studio. That was a gas, whatta' party ! !

It would be a better site if they got rid of all the useless advertising links in the article. Also, it would help if they added some pics.

I didn't know this...

2007-10-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

Band Wanted

2007-09-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Spin Magazine and Music Nation are looking for unsigned bands to enter their Band Wanted contest:

Videos • MP3s • Photos • Event Listings

Music Nation wants to give you a record deal! But to get it, you need to upload your music videos, MP3s and pictures. Post blogs, leave comments and promote your shows. Impress our judges and mobilize the fans to go to the next level.

Embed Your Video • Email Your Friends

The Music Nation player can be embedded anywhere: MySpace, in blogs and on your homepage. Everywhere you can use code, you can place your video. Our player is higher quality than the competition. If you want fans to see your work at its best, use us.

Vote Online • Vote Via SMS • Vote

Let artists know how you feel by casting your votes and rating their videos. You can vote online, via text or ESP. Okay, so you can't vote using mind tricks yet, but we're working on it. Hit up our forums or talk to your favorite artists one on one with our messaging system.

Win A Record Deal • Win Weekly Prizes

Music Nation will reward the very best Spin Hot Pursuit artist with a record deal, professional gear, cool threads and everything else it takes to become a career musician. Weekly winners can take home sweet prizes, too. The biggest fans and boldest talkers in our forums will also be recognized and rewarded.

Win a development deal with Epic, a slot at Spin's SXSW party in 2008, a song inclusion in an upcoming video game, and some more stuff. Perry Farrell will be one of the judges.

Music Nation has another contest going for bands around New England:

NEW ENGLAND BANDS, time to make your hometown's proud! Create your Music Nation profile and get started on your Rock Star Rising entry now. Upload your videos, MP3s and photos, and start using the promotional tools. The judges will be watching, The Phoenix, WFNX and Music Nation communities will be voting. One hard-working band will be handed a record contract, perform at the WFNX holiday show, and be carried on the shoulders of New England rock fans from here to eternity...

In Case You Were Wondering...

2007-09-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

Wearing a stocking cap when it's above 70 is stupid.
If you're thinking it says something like "I'm so cool that I can't keep my head warm!", you're wrong.
And you're stupid.
During the '90s, musicians in Seattle would wear stocking caps because Seattle is in the North and it can get chilly there. That's the same reason they wore flannel shirts. I'm betting that alot of those guys didn't dress like that when it was warm, but they had their picture taken that way and it became the style.
That was over a decade ago. It's over. Stocking caps were the '90s version of the '80s headband. You don't see guys wearing headbands much do you? Headbands actually make more sense because they are made to catch the sweat that pours off you when you're rocking out. Maybe headbands should make a comeback. Maybe I'll start wearing one.
Just some friendly advice.
No one else cares enough to tell you how stupid you look, but I do.
You look stupid.
So stop it.

Another Guide to Recording

2007-08-13T18:03:00.000-07:00

Mix Buss has tutorials, advice, and interviews. Here's a bit from one of their editorials explaining why the author thinks music deals with major labels are still necessary:

Hold on a sec

But before you go ripping up that contract that’s sitting on your lap from EMI, make sure you look a little closer at the state of today’s unsigned play. Koopa made headlines around the world… but will anyone remember the music? And if we’re honest, they really made headlines because they were the first unsigned band to do it. Do you seriously think you will get the headlines if you’re the second band to do it? Or the third? And it must have been easier for them to persuade their loyal fanbase to buy the single with this historical outcome looming, and something that they could all be part of. (And the fact that they band got to that chart position by only shifting a relatively small number of ‘singles’ also points to a) the fact they didn’t make a lot out of it and b) what it takes to have a hit these days – all subjects for future rants believe me!)

The post seems to assume that every artist's goal is to become a top-forty act - in which case, I agree, a deal with a major would be highly beneficial. But if your goal is to simply build a fan base and make a decent living, then I think it's realistic to do that without a deal.
I don't know much about Koopa's background, but it seems to me that they stand a much better chance at longevity not because they made the top-40 (in the UK), but because they've obviously figured out how to build a strong fanbase willing to spend money on their music. Playing almost 500 gigs in 3 years probably didn't hurt.
A band that signs with a major doesn't have to do much of the work that Koopa did themselves, (and still has no guarantee of a top-40 hit) so when they're eventually dropped, as most are, they'll be back to square one, trying to figure out how to keep the fans they got while their label was (hopefully) keeping them in the public eye.
Despite the fact that I'm right and he's wrong, there's a lot of good information on the site and it should be checked out thoroughly.

Expert Advice

2007-06-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

ExpertVillage has a bunch of video lessons for all kinds of instruments and experience, including voice. They even have marketing videos that may be helpful.
They also have alot of non-music related videos. Here's a guy explaining what a typical massage visit is like. It's not the answer I was looking for - it doesn't even talk about how it ends:

I think it's good to have some personal testimony from someone you know. I think that's it's really helpful for people, because it's intimidating when I'm telling them what I'm going to do and how it works. For example, at your massage session, you'll probably hear something like, "I will now leave the room, and I want you to undress to your level of comfort, lay on the table, and get covered up. I'll knock before I come back." Hopefully they'll come back if they feel you did a good job with draping them and not leaving them exposed.

Only 7 Band Names Remaining

2007-05-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

From "America's Finest News Source":

NEW YORK—According to data released Monday by the International Registry of Rock Band Names, only seven of the estimated 518 million potential names for musical acts remain available.

"Following the selection of 'The Stripped Amygdaloids,' 'A Purple Spray Of Cloth Violets,' and 'Guestowel' this past weekend, it is essential that new bands pick a name as soon as possible," read a statement on the organization's website. "Bands that wish to form after all names have been taken will be have to wait until a name becomes available, which could take anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 years."

While a MySpace page was created late Monday under the title Whiteboard Ether, one of the few band names left, the IRRBN has not yet confirmed whether the group has actually played any gigs.

Thanks to Jon for the heads-up!

Chevelle's Gear Stolen

2007-05-10T19:55:00.000-07:00

Spread the word...

ALL CHEVELLE'S GEAR STOLEN TODAY IN DALLAS, TX!
PLEASE REPOST!
We regret to inform you that Chevelle is unable to perform remaining scheduled tour dates
(until further notice) due to the entire trailer full of our gear getting STOLEN TODAY
05/09/2007 from the Clarion Dallas Park Central hotel at approx 11:00 A.M.

If anyone has any information, or sees a light gray KZ Cargo trailer, with an Illinois plate 57002. Please call 911 or your local police authority.

Most items are labeled "Chevelle" and if you notice anything suspicious on ebay or other online resellers selling "authentic" Chevelle items...guitar, basses, drums amplifiers, risers, backdrops, tee shirts... please call the police... or email:

thestolenchevellegear@hotmail.com

Thank you for your support and understanding. Lets catch these crooked &^*^%!!!
PLEASE REPOST!

Payola

2007-04-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

This is a month old, but somehow I didn't hear about it. From the Associated Press...

Broadcast Companies Agree on $12.5 Million Anti-Payola Settlement

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Radio listeners weary of hearing the same songs over and over may have something to cheer about: Broadcasters have tentatively agreed to anti-payola settlements that could shake up music playlists at some of the nation's largest radio chains.
Four major broadcast companies would pay the government $12.5 million and provide 8,400 half-hour segments of free airtime for independent record labels and local artists, The Associated Press has learned.

I'm skeptical about what this means in real life, but read the rest of the article on Yahoo.

Another Resource

2007-04-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

Indie-Music.com had a tip sheet page with information for indie musicians. There's a 4 or 5 recent posts about song contests. Here's the latest:

American Songwriter Magazine sponsors a bi-monthly amateur lyric contest. No music - only lyrics needed, and all genres of music are accepted. The winning lyrics, along with the four runners-up, will be published in an issue of the magazine. The contest is open to any amateur songwriter - AS defines an amateur as a songwriter who has not earned more than $5,000 from songwriting related royalties, advances, or works for hire. Submission deadline: May 23.

Roadside Couch

2007-04-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

FirstCom Music, a production music library company, announced that they are starting an indie record label to license music for advertising, television, and film:

Dallas, TX-April 6, 2007 - FirstCom Music, a leading provider of music services via CD, Hard Drive and the Web, is pleased to announce the release of their first record label, Roadside Couch RecordsTM, which was created exclusively to provide Music Supervisors, Ad Agencies and the Film and Television industry with a readily accessible source for songs and bands. The label will be unveiled at NAB 2007 and will provide a launching platform for up and coming bands and Indie labels in a wide variety of genres. Roadside Couch Records will deliver the very best in alternative rock, punk pop, singer-songwriter and other mainstream and hard to find talent that producers and music supervisors demand. "We are very excited to be able to offer this unique service to both music supervisors and our artists. Our goal is to deliver fresh new talent directly to producers and directors with 'no hassle' master and synch rights provided to the client", says Ken Nelson, Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of FirstCom Music.

I couldn't find any info on submitting your music, so I'm guessing they won't have a website up until NAB on the 16th.
On a side note, FirstCom is owned by BMG, so I don't know how "indie" it truly is.

The First Step

2007-04-02T20:27:00.000-07:00

Apple and EMI sell DRM-free songs at the iTunes store:

Apple® today announced that EMI Music’s entire digital catalog of music will be available for purchase DRM-free (without digital rights management) from the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) worldwide in May. DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just $1.29 per song. In addition, iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 30 cents a song. iTunes will continue to offer its entire catalog, currently over five million songs, in the same versions as today—128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM—at the same price of 99 cents per song, alongside DRM-free higher quality versions when available.

Read the whole press release here.
Here's some related information from Gizmodo. And here's their take on how it relates to their RIAA boycott.

Licks!

2007-04-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Imagine my disappointment when I realized that Learnlicks.com was a site for learning to play the guitar (and drums and keyboard).

LearnLicks.com is a free site for musicians to share: videos of music licks, tips, techniques, and concepts. Learn Licks is a place for you to share what you've learned while learning and connecting with fellow musicians.

"Licks" are videos created by you and other musicians to share musical knowledge. Licks can be: a short series of notes that are fun to play, exercises, advice, questions, scales, concepts, music theory, etc. By posting video licks you can share knowledge, ask questions, and get feedback.

Not much indie rock on this site - plenty of Rush, though. I did find Beck's Two Turntables and a Microphone.

I also found this kind of creepy, yet interesting clip on how to file your nails for classical guitar.

A guy who goes by "abesluciferius" posted 4 clips in the Metal category, but only bothered to put his shirt on for one of them. For some reason, I was inspired to check out his Myspace page. Graphic design is not his strong point.

Pump Your Audio

2007-03-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

Pump Audio is a company that licenses independent artist's music for television, film and advertising. You keep ownership of your songs and get 50% of the fees they get, plus performance royalties. It seems like a good deal:

Pump Audio was founded by musicians with experience as artists on both major and independent record labels. We know that the record label system provides no real solutions for the vast majority of independent artists.
In response to this, Pump has created a real marketplace within the production community for independent music. And nobody in the world places more independent music in production than we do—in fact, no one's even close.

Unlike many of the traditional options in the music business, you have nothing to lose by submitting your music to Pump. What you gain is the potential to earn money from having your music placed in a TV commercial or TV show.
And no matter what, you keep ownership of your songs and are free to pursue all other opportunities. We wouldn't have it any other way.

CD Sales Slipping

2007-03-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article from Rev. Keith A. Gordon's Blog "Ryan Adams Sucks". It's his take on why CD sales are falling.

The shit hit the fan this week, and it wasn’t like a fat kid doing a cannonball into the deep end of the pool but rather like a gale-force hurricane smashing into the state of ship of the recording industry. A front-page Wall Street Journal story by Ethan Smith reported that CD sales have dropped 20% this year-to-date compared with 2006. Smith considers this “the latest sign of the seismic shift in the way consumers acquire music.”

Uh, maybe....

Let’s break down the points covered by the WSJ article and commentary offered by other pundits on a point-by-point basis and the Reverend will offer his own commentary.

Learn Chords the Legal Way

2007-03-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Wired News reports that guitar tabs site MXTabs.net is working with song publishers to share ad revenue and offer legal tablatures for aspiring guitarists:

Several websites have sprung up to help musicians share these notations, but as soon as they get encyclopedic enough to be really useful, they tend to get closed down. One of them -- MXTabs.com -- is being resurrected by MusicNotes as a legal service that will offer a reduced number of tablatures along with ads whose revenues will be shared with music publishers.

I guess the old site was .com, and the new one is .net. MXTabs.com is just a page of links.
Here's a related article about a site that was shut down.
I'd be flattered if someone wanted to learn how to play a song I wrote. It's not like anyone's getting rich playing in a cover band. Am I way off base? Would you insist on getting paid by someone who wanted to learn your songs on their own?

Music Choice

2007-03-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

Music Choice is a provider of music and videos to cable companies, on-line, and on mobile phones. They take submissions from independent artists. Here's how you can submit your music (from their FAQ page):

Q. How do I submit my music to be played on Music Choice?
A. Please mail your CD, along with an artist profile and press information to:
Music Choice Programming, Attn: Unsigned Material
328 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001

All music genres will be considered, but there is no guarantee of airplay. Each submission is reviewed individually and tracks are selected for possible airplay. Because of the large volume of submissions that we receive on a daily basis, it is impossible for us to notify artists if their music has been selected or to return materials. Keep listening to your favorite channel to find out if your music was chosen for airplay. By submitting your music to Music Choice, you grant all rights to broadcast and perform your music.

Old News is Good News, or I'm CooCoo for Cracker!

2007-03-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

Man, that's a stupid headline.
Anyway - I knew Cracker had re-recorded some of their songs last year, but I didn't know the story behind it. Turns out Virgin, the record label that dropped them, was planning to release Cracker's greatest hits without the band's input. The Cracker guys were a little pissed about that, so they re-recorded all the songs on Virgin's version of their Greatest Hits album, added a bonus track and released an all-new Greatest Hits album on the same day that Virgin released theirs.
Here's more on the story form BloggingMuses, and an interview with David Lowery of Cracker on CMJ.com.
Support Cracker (and Banddot) by buying the album from Amazon. Just click on the link below (please).

More (somewhat) Useful Articles

2007-03-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Record-producer.com has a bunch of articles on producing, a lot of which are interesting even if you're not a producer. My only problem with the articles is that they tend to tell you what to do, but not how to do it. Here's a tip from a particularly un-useful article. Want to know how to soundproof a door? Buy a soundproof door. Seriously - that's what it says. Here's the whole article:

The best solution to access is simply to buy a sound proofed door.

This will be expensive, but it will be worth it. It will probably have magnetic seals around the top and sides, and a compression seal at the bottom.

It will also be very heavy, meaning that the wall it fits into will have to be strong enough to support it.

A reasonable alternative is a heavy fire door, with the jamb fitted with rubber compression seals and extended all the way around the door, including the bottom.

To gain better insulation than a single door can achieve, a 'sound lobby' is sometimes constructed so there are two doors between one side of the wall and the other.

I know it's hard to come up with things to write about, but c'mon. Why not just include that in another article about soundproofing a room or something?
Here's an article for them that I wrote titled "How to Be a Record Producer":
Find someone who would like to be recorded - perhaps a musician or band, or maybe a poet. It could even be an author who wants to make an audio version of his book. Then produce a record for him or her.
I wonder if they pay for submissions?

Too Little, Too Late?

2007-03-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Jon sent me this link about plans to save Rock and Roll. I hope there's still time.

...recent developments in the music world, such as the unaccountable popularity of the Dixie Chicks and Sufjan Stevens, have created a "perfect storm of lameness" from which rock might never recover. While Iommi refused to say when the vault would be opened, hard rock sources believe it will take place just prior to next month's Fall Out Boy–Honda Civic tour, which many fear will suck the remaining lifeblood from all that still rocks.

More on the RIAA

2007-03-07T19:10:00.000-08:00

Tech blog Gizmodo (who was nice enough to link to Banddot awhile back) has declared March "Boycott the RIAA Month":

The RIAA has the power to shift public policy and to alter the direction of technology and the Internet for one reason and one reason alone: it's totally loaded. Without their millions of dollars to throw at lawyers, the RIAA is toothless. They get their money from us, the consumers, and if we don't like the way they're behaving, we can let them know with our wallets.

The only people that profit from the RIAA are the lawyers and the RIAA executives. Here's an example of their latest abuse of power from RAIN:

The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has announced its decision on Internet radio royalty rates, rejecting all of the arguments made by Webcasters and instead adopting the "per play" rate proposal put forth by SoundExchange(a digital music fee collection body created by the RIAA).

Radio Paradise is one of the many internet radio stations that can't afford to pay the fees that the RIAA want. Their view is at SaveOurInternetRadio.com:

There has been much discussion about how unfair these rates are, but our listeners find one fact particularly apalling: while Internet stations like ours are being told they must pay royalty fees that exceed their income, sometimes by several times over, FM stations - including those owned by media conglomerates like Clear Channel - pay nothing at all!

Yes, both FM stations and Internet stations pay royalties to songwriters and/or music publishers. But the royalties in question are owed to the owners of performance copyrights, which means, in most cases, record companies - and to them, FM stations pay nothing at all.

How do you know for sure whether an album was released by an RIAA member? Check out RIAA Radar. Just look up the album you want on Amazon.com and use the RIAA Radar bookmarklet to cross-reference the information, or use their mobile UPC lookup on your phone when you're at the store. Or you could just buy from local artists. RIAA Radar also has a list of indie music so you can find good non-RIAA bands, label info, and other good stuff.

From Radio Paradise again:

What can you do? Sign our online petition and open letter to the US Congress. Then please send an email message to your Congressmembers. You can use our suggested text, change it, or write your own message. We then suggest that you print your email (you'll get a copy) and mail it to your Representative and Senators and, if possible, call their offices. You can look up their addresses and phone numbers here.