The Producers Handbook

3 Dj Apps for the Ipod Reviewed

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Sat, 1 Jan 2011 22:24:00 -0600

http://www.djtechtools.com/2010/12/20/djing-on-the-iphone-the-good-the-pretty-and-the-pointless

Newtone Pitch & Time Editor

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 19:04:00 -0600

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MySpace/Imeem Deal Leaves Thousands of Artists Unpaid

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 05:49:00 -0500

Independent artists who sold their music through imeem’s Snocap music storefronts on MySpace and other sites won’t be paid what’s owed even after MySpace Music’s acquisition of some — but not all — of imeem, Wired.com has learned.

MySpace Music bought “certain assets” from imeem, and they do not include imeem’s liability to more than 110,000 independent artists with Snocap storefronts, according to a source with inside knowledge of the deal. Those artists’ contracts mandate they be paid each month if they’re owed more than $20. Some artists have been owed money for more than a year, and the chance of them seeing any money now is, for all intents and purposes, zero, the source says.

Artists attempting to get paid for songs sold through Snocap stores — many or most of which were on MySpace itself — must get in line with imeem’s bank and other creditors. MySpace Music paid less than $1 million for imeem, so it’s doubtful much will remain for the artists.

“MySpace Music bought a limited set of imeem’s assets including the domain name and certain technology and trademarks,” a MySpace spokeswoman said in an e-mail to Wired.com. “The asset sale to MySpace Music was part of a foreclosure process which resulted from the lien certain secured creditors had on all the assets of imeem. MySpace Music did not acquire imeem’s outstanding debts, including the money imeem owed to artists under the Snocap relationship. Upon closing, users trying to access the Imeem website were redirected to MySpace Music. We did not acquire imeem’s contracts or relationships as we have our own in place. MySpace Music has its own distribution platform, which includes relationships with prominent aggregators and indie labels, that provides indie artists ways to monetize their music on our site.”

One source with inside knowledge of the deal said MySpace Music’s rushed purchase of imeem’s assets forced it to “leave behind anything that either had explicit liability or potential liability,” including Snocap and its debts to thousands of independent artists and bands.

Napster creator Shawn Fanning co-founded Snocap in 2002 to let artists sell their music through an embeddable storefront widget. At one point, the service was marketed as the exclusive way for artists to sell music on MySpace. Imeem bought Snowcap last summer. But because MySpace left most aspects of Snocap out of its acquisition of imeem’s assets, all 110,000 or so of those storefronts are gone. The server that hosts them is offline and so is the Snocap website.

Possibly the last band to be paid by imeem for music sold through a Snocap store embedded on MySpace was Javelin, which happens to be my brother’s and cousin’s band. After they inquired about money listed as owed in its online account, imeem sent them a check for about $400 for approximately a year and a half of sales.

That may not be “a princely sum,” as Tim Quirk put it. But for growing bands — many of whose income trickles in from a variety of sources — it matters, especially when you consider that imeem’s payments to major labels helped drive it out of business in the first place.

There’s nothing technically wrong with MySpace Music only acquiring certain assets from imeem, and teams of lawyers scrutinized the deal before it was done. Regardless, in this latest round of digital musical chairs, independent artists who set up music stores in good faith have been left holding the bag.

Producers Resources & Tools

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:46:00 -0600

A collection of links and such to help any aspiring producers out. Some of the things you can grab:

Bookmarks for musicians, producers & DJ's - Download these bookmarks that are all categorized neatly. Links to many sites that are useful to a DJ, music producer or musician. Simply import this file into your favorites in your browser. You will need to right click over the link and choose 'Save Target As' or the link will open as a webpage.
Various Contract Templates - This zip file contains 17 various contract templates. Great for Producers, DJ's and Artists. Some of the templates are Remix for Hire, Mobile DJ, Artist Management, Songwriter, Tour Sponsorship, Producer for Hire, Graphic for Hire, and many many more...

http://504productions.com/producer_tools.php

Ignoring RIAA Lawsuits Cheaper Than Going to Trial

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 16:03:00 -0500

Jammie Thomas-Rasset and Joel Tenenbaum captured the nation's attention when they were defendants in the RIAA's first two trials against accused online infringers. But here's the mind-warping reality: both defendants would have been far better off monetarily if they had simply ignored the complaint altogether and failed to show up in court.

That counterintuitive logic played out again this week in Massachusetts, where federal judge Nancy Gertner issued four default judgments against accused P2P file-swappers who never bothered to respond to the charges against them. Their failure to appear meant an automatic loss, and though the judge does have some discretion in setting penalties, judges often pick the minimum awards in such cases.

That was true in all four cases, where Gertner accepted the record labels' claims and awarded them the minimum statutory damages of $750 per song. The defendants were accused of downloading an average of ten songs, putting total awards in the $7,500 range, in addition to a few hundred more for court costs.

Having $7,500 in damages assessed against you by a federal court is no picnic, but it pales in comparison to the two twenty-somethings who actually showed up to court, got attorneys, went through a multiyear process and a nationally covered trial, and came out the other side owing far more money.

The chart below illustrates the point by graphing the various damage awards per song:

When it comes to total damages, the disparities are even greater. Thomas-Rasset's retrial ended up with a $1.92 million award, while Tenenbaum faces $675,000 in damages. Those who didn't show up owe around $7,500.

In fact, this might well have been Tenenbaum's fate. He was actually included in a massive complaint consolidated into a single docket, and it was only when he showed up to a court hearing that Gertner stopped the default judgment proceeding against him and actually helped find him a lawyer—Harvard Law prof Charles Nesson. Now, Tenenbaum faces a life-altering damage award and the prospect of bankruptcy if not reduced or overturned on appeal.

Update: I was interested more in what happens within the federal court system for this article, but several commenters rightly point out that "not showing up" isn't the cheapest way out of such situations. Settling with the RIAA usually leads to payments of between $3,000 and $5,000, lower than the default judgments issued here by Judge Gertner. Convincing a jury that you're innocent could be cheaper still (if you find a pro bono lawyer), though it comes with certain obvious risks.

Jury Awards $675K in Boston Music Downloading Case

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Sat, 1 Aug 2009 06:58:00 -0500

A federal jury on Friday ordered a Boston University graduate student who admitted illegally downloading and sharing music online to pay $675,000 to four record labels.

Joel Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., admitted in court that he downloaded and distributed 30 songs. The only issue for the jury to decide was how much in damages to award the record labels.

Under federal law, the recording companies were entitled to $750 to $30,000 per infringement. But the law allows as much as $150,000 per track if the jury finds the infringements were willful. The maximum jurors could have awarded in Tenenbaum's case was $4.5 million.

Jurors ordered Tenenbaum to pay $22,500 for each incident of copyright infringement, effectively finding that his actions were willful. The attorney for the 25-year-old student had asked the jury earlier Friday to "send a message" to the music industry by awarding only minimal damages.

Tenenbaum said he was thankful that the case wasn't in the millions and contrasted the significance of his fine with the maximum.

"That to me sends a message of 'We considered your side with some legitimacy,'" he said. "$4.5 million would have been, 'We don't buy it at all.'"

He added he will file for bankruptcy if the verdict stands.

Tenenbaum's lawyer, Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson, said the jury's verdict was not fair. He said he plans to appeal the decision because he was not allowed to argue a case based on fair use.

The Recording Industry Association of America issued a statement thanking the jury for recognizing the impact illegal downloading has on the music community.

"We appreciate that Mr. Tenenbaum finally acknowledged that artists and music companies deserve to be paid for their work," the statement said. "From the beginning, that's what this case has been all about. We only wish he had done so sooner rather than lie about his illegal behavior."

Tenenbaum would not say if he regretted downloading music, saying it was a loaded question.

"I don't regret drinking underage in college, even though I got busted a few times," he said.

The case is only the nation's second music downloading case against an individual to go to trial.

Last month, a federal jury in Minneapolis ruled that Jammie Thomas-Rasset, 32, must pay $1.92 million, or $80,000 on each of 24 songs, after concluding she willfully violated the copyrights on those tunes.

The jury began deliberating the case Friday afternoon.

After Tenenbaum admitted Thursday he is liable for damages for 30 songs at issue in the case, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner ruled that the jury must consider only whether his copyright infringement was willful and how much in damages to award four recording labels that sued him over the illegal file-sharing.

In his closing statement Friday, Nesson repeatedly referred to Tenenbaum as a "kid" and asked the jury to award only a small amount to the recording companies. At one point, Nesson suggested the damages should be as little as 99 cents per song, roughly the same amount Tenenbaum would have to pay if he legally purchased the music online.

But Tim Reynolds, a lawyer for the recording labels, recounted Tenenbaum's history of file-sharing from 1999 to 2007, describing him as "a hardcore, habitual, long-term infringer who knew what he was doing was wrong." Tenenbaum admitted on the witness stand that he had downloaded and shared more than 800 songs.

Tenenbaum said he downloaded and shared hundreds of songs by Nirvana, Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins and other artists. The recording industry focused on only 30 songs in the case.

The music industry has typically offered to settle such cases for about $5,000, though it has said that it stopped filing such lawsuits last August and is instead working with Internet service providers to fight the worst offenders. Cases already filed, however, are proceeding to trial.

Tenenbaum testified that he had lied in pretrial depositions when he said his two sisters, friends and others may have been responsible for downloading the songs to his computer.

Under questioning from his own lawyer, Tenenbaum said he now takes responsibility for the illegal swapping.

"I used the computer. I uploaded, I downloaded music ... I did it," Tenenbaum said.

Associated Press writer Jeannie Nuss contributed reporting from Boston.

Surprise! Study Shows Few Indies on Radio

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Mon, 4 May 2009 14:54:00 -0500

Artist advocacy group The Future Of Music Coalition has released a new report “Same Old Song" confirming that indie music is not getting its fair share of airplay on broadcast radio.

In April 2007, the FCC found widespread payola and ordered the four largest U.S. radio groups (Clear Channel, CBS, Citadel and Entercom) to pay $12.5 million in fines and work with the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) to draft 8 “Rules of Engagement" and an “indie set-aside" including 4,200 hours of unsigned and indie label music.

But FMC's new survey of Mediaguide airplay data shows little has changed in the 2 years since the FCC decree. Indie music did make slight gains at AAA Non-comm. and Country radio. But at all 5 other dominant radio formats (AC, Urban AC, Active Rock, CHR Pop, and Triple A Comm.) the share of indie music played remained stagnant at 78-82% despite ndies comprising 30-40% of the marketplace.

Not surprisingly, the FMC also found that there were very few slots for any new music .There too, new major label songs typically receive more spins than indies. Finally, FMC looked at the indie labels...

themselves and found that only a handful of indies have the resources and clout to garner airplay consistently. For the remaining indies, airplay is infrequent and modest, if it happens at all.

“As this report dramatically shows, we are still haunted by the ghost of payola, whether real or imagined." commented Peter Gordon of Thirsty Ear Records and indie music's lead negotiator with radio.

Rich Bengloff, President of A2IM adds, “Independent music accounts for approximately 38% of digital sales in the U.S. and over 40% of audience impressions at internet radio ,but consistently receives only slightly more than 10% of traditional commercial radio airplay. It's obvious that music fans want independent music, and commercial radio programmers continue to ignore that demand at their own peril."

Wax on the Come Back? Best Buy is Giving Vinyl a Spin?

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:02:00 -0500

The consumer-electronics giant, which happens also to be the third-largest music seller behind Apple's iTunes and Wal-Mart, is considering devoting eight square feet of merchandising space in all of its 1,020 stores solely to vinyl, which would equate to just under 200 albums, after a test in 100 of its stores around the country proved successful.

Though vinyl represents less than 5 percent of Best Buy's music sales, the format is growing while CD sales continue to shrink.

Vinyl sales grew 15 percent year-over-year in 2007 and 89 percent in 2008, making the 1.9 million vinyl albums purchased last year the most since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. This year is shaping up to be even better, with 670,000 vinyl albums sold through mid-April.

By contrast, CD sales have fallen at a roughly 20 percent clip for the past few years.

To be sure, the growth in vinyl, even when combined with digital sales, isn't enough to offset the decline in CD sales. But it does show that consumers haven't abandoned the physical format.

And the fact that a retailer of Best Buy's size is willing to expand vinyl offerings is an incremental positive for the beleaguered music industry. A typical Best Buy store features about 16 square feet to 20 square feet of music merchandise and displays about 8,000 CDs.

"Our goal is to occupy as much square footage as possible with music products," said Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman, whose personal vinyl collection numbers more than 300,000, making it one of the largest private collections in the world.

Hoping to capitalize on the renewed interest in vinyl, all of the major record labels have combed through their catalogs to remaster and re-release marquee titles with their original artwork and packaging -- both of which are essential elements for the vinyl consumer.

For instance, EMI in September 2008 launched its "From the Capitol Vaults" vinyl initiative with such titles as The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds," Jimi Hendrix's "Band of Gypsies," and Radiohead's "OK Computer."

Compared with a CD, vinyl costs more to make and retails for a higher price -- $22.95 vs. around $13.99 for a CD -- but has lower margins.

Both Kallman and Jason Boyd, EMI's senior director of catalog sales, said profits made from vinyl were acceptable enough to warrant producing the format.

The situation is the reverse for Best Buy. Chris Smith, the company's senior music merchant, said margins on vinyl sales are "healthy enough" to mitigate the risk that comes along with not being able to return unsold inventory like it can with CDs.

Musicslu.com - A New Model for the Music Business

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 07:05:00 -0500

FL Studio - Music Theory Cheating

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:55:00 -0500

French Lawmakers Reject Internet Piracy Bill

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Thu, 9 Apr 2009 23:03:00 -0500

French legislators on Thursday rejected legislation to permit cutting off the Internet connections of people who illegally download music and films. But a stubborn government plans to resurrect the bill for another vote this month.

Backers of the bill -- record labels, film companies and law-and-order parliamentarians -- couldn't rally the needed support during in a near empty lower chamber ahead of the Easter holiday. Lawmakers voted 21 to 15 against it.

The measure would have created a government agency to track and punish those who pirate music and film on the Internet. Analysts said the law would have helped boost ever-shrinking profits in the entertainment industry, which has struggled with the advent of online file-sharing that lets people swap music files without paying.

The government, intent on gaining the upper hand in piracy, managed to slip the measure into an April 28 special session devoted to initiatives by President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party.

The president's office reaffirmed Sarkozy's wish to get the law passed "as quickly as possible."

He "does not plan to renounce this whatever the maneuvers" to try to stop the bill's passage, a statement said.

Music labels, film distributors and artists -- who have seen CD and DVD sales in France plummet 60 percent in the past six years -- almost universally supported the measure, hailing it as a decisive step toward eliminating online piracy and an example to other governments. Artists' groups in France have said the future of the country's music and film industries depends on cracking down on illegal downloads, and the legislation received industry support from around the world.

"It is disappointing that the law was not confirmed today," said London-based John Kennedy, Chairman and CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents the recording industry worldwide and supported the bill.

Legislators and activists who opposed the legislation said it would represent a Big Brother intrusion on civil liberties -- they called it "liberticide" -- while the European Parliament last month adopted a nonbinding resolution that defines Internet access as an untouchable "fundamental freedom."

Opponents also pointed out that users downloading from public WiFi hotspots or using masked IP addresses might be impossible to trace. Others called its proposed monitoring structures unrealistic.

"It is a bad response to a false problem," said Jeremie Zimmerman, coordinator of the Quadrature du Net, a Paris-based Internet activist group that opposed the bill, calling it "completely impossible to apply."

He said the bill's rejection is proof of a widespread sense that it was a draconian approach.

Under the legislation, users would receive e-mail warnings for their first two identified offenses, a certified letter for the next, and would have their Web connection severed, for as long as one year, for any subsequent illegal downloads.

French Culture Minister Christine Albanel had said the bill did not aim to "completely eradicate" illegal downloads but rather to "contribute to a raising of consciousness" among offenders.

"There needs to be an experiment," said Pierre-Yves Gautier, an Internet law expert at the University of Paris, noting the plummeting profits of the entertainment industry. "Frankly, it's worth it."

Sidechain Compressing VST

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:56:00 -0500

Sell It Yourself.....

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Wed, 4 Mar 2009 19:37:00 -0600

The system is bullshit that you only make about 77,000 dollars from sales topping 2 million.....let's say each copy was sold for 15 bucks each. At 2 million copies, that is 30 million dollars. And she only sees 77 grand? She is right, someone is getting rich off those sales and it sure as hell aint the one who wrote the material.

Lily Allen Angry for Not Earning Enough Money From Album Sales

Lily Allen is unhappy when finding out that she has earned only 50,000 pounds from her debut album "Alright, Still" despite its impressive selling point, which reached almost two million copies worldwide. "I don't make any money out of record sales at all. I make money out of touring and syncs, publishing," she says during an interview in Q Radio.

"My songs being put on 'Grey's Anatomy' things like that," Lily reveals further. "I don't make any money at all from selling an album, which is probably why I feel so angry about doing all this promotion because I am not earning any money out of it, someone else (is) and they don't have to live with the lasting effects."

In related news, Lily Allen has hinted to make a live appearance at this year's Glastonbury Festival during an interview with Absolute Radio Hometime DJ Geoff Lloyd. "I will be playing lots of festival this year. I'm not allowed to say which. But yes, one begins with a G," she states.

Lily's second studio album "It's Not Me, It's You" meanwhile is due to hit the U.K. market on February 9. Its sounds will reportedly range from jazz, country to dance music.

Image Line Software Releases Sawer

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Mon, 2 Mar 2009 09:53:00 -0600

The synth is available at a reduced price until the end of March 2009

Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium, March 3, 2009 -- Image Line Software, the developer of FL Studio, has released Sawer, its latest synthesizer plugin. Sawer is a powerful vintage modeling synthesizer that cuts through the mix with precise articulation and a punchy sound.

Sawer’s filters have been modeled on the rare 1980s ‘Soviet era’ analog synthesizer, Polivoks. Meticulous attention has been paid to Sawer's filter and envelope design, ensuring a unique sonic character, reminiscent of the Polivoks hardware.

Just as the random variability of electrical components makes analog hardware unique, Sawer’s oscillator design has also been touched by the magic of chance:

”While programming the SAW oscillator, I accidentally set some incorrect variables and immediately the sound gained bass, acquired some light but pleasing noise on the attack and an overall richer sonic spectra. Immediately I realized this was no mistake but a discovery and built on this sound, adding some frequency modulation to give it a touch of analog authenticity and so 'Sawer' was born“, explains Maxx Claster, Sawer's chief developer at Image Line Software.

As modulation is critical for achieving authentic analog sounds, Sawer has flexible modulation routing. An Envelope and LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) source can be used to control a large number of destination controls. Further, the MIDI Modulation Matrix provides the ability to route MIDI controllers to most targets in Sawer.

Finally, Sawer includes CHORUS, PHASER, DELAY and REVERB effects for an overall impressive and polished sound.

Key features of Sawer:

Main oscillator for subtractive synthesis: SAW shape with Sync frequency.
Sub oscillator (-2 to +2 octaves) with level, phase & detune controls.
1 NOISE Oscillator.
Variable polyphony (1 to 24 voices).
8 voice UNISON with user-adjustable stereo panning, detune and ‘Octaver’.
SYNC & RING frequency modulation.
2 ADSR envelope generators (one user-assignable to modulation parameters).
4 FILTER modes - low pass (24 & 12 dB/Oct), band pass and high pass.
Chorus, Phaser, Delay & Reverb effects.
Muti-mode Arpeggiator.

Price and availability: Sawer is available in FL Studio and VSTi formats for Windows and Mac, as well as a Standalone and Audiounit version. Sawer is available for the introductory price of US $79 until the end of March. After this period, the regular price of Sawer will be US $99.

System Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP, Vista/ Mac
Processor: Minimum 2GHz AMD or Intel Pentium III compatible with full SSE support or G4 PowerPC (Mac) with full Altivec support
RAM: 512 MB
Hard disk space: 130 MB

More information about Sawer, including audio demos, screenshots and a downloadable free trial version are available at http://www.image-line.com/documents/sawer.html

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A Recession Is Great For Freelance Work

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:01:00 -0600

Now would be a good time to concentrate on making money with your talents, not skills. Get out and talk to people and offer your services. Advertise your services.

Always thought about freelance work but have not found the right time? Well, if we are faced with a recession, experience shows that a recession can be a good time to be a freelancer.

Many larger companies and organizations lay off full-time employees and contract the work out to freelance professionals. It's cheaper for the some companies because they don't have to pay related benefits or long-term employment issues.

How do you get started? You don't need to even quit your full-time job. Becoming a part-time freelance professional has never been easier. Then, if you decide you have enough work and want to switch to full-time later...you can. Some people just stay part-time and enjoy the extra income.

In order to get started, the first step is finding a good freelance community and search for work that may be of interest to you. There are many different freelance communities with thousands of different jobs available. You will just have to find the one that fits your interests and goals.

Once you have found work that you are interested in, you will either apply or bid on the available work. You may not be chosen for every assignment, but with so many available, you are certain to find just the right work for you.

Then you work with employers, complete your assignments, and receive payment.

As you complete more and more work, you will earn a reputation as a freelance professional...so if a recession hits, they will pick you as their worker of choice.

Making the Most Out of Online Resources

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:21:00 -0600

Written by Daylle Deanna Schwartz
Author of "Start & Run Your Own Record Label" and "I Don’t Need a Record Deal!"
© 2009 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission

Indie artists often complain about not having the budget they’d like to market and promote their music. Nowadays, digital marketing offers a plethora of opportunities for marketing yourself and your music that doesn’t cost anything in dollars. But, it can be hard to know where to begin—and end. While much of it is good for those of you with small to no money budgets, there’s still a big expense for taking advantage of so many opportunities—TIME.

The good AND the bad news: the cost to break an independent act can be more in time than in dollars. It’s great to have free tools! But you could spend all of your waking hours going onto all the different social networking sites and other avenues of promotion and still not make a dent. With all the artists and labels vying for online attention, you must work to make your music stand out.

It’s important to brand your name online. The more people see it, the more curiosity can be generated, which leads to potential fans or clients checking you out. The more you respond to fans who write to you, the more loyal fans you’ll have. But so much of the efforts to find fans is one by one, which accounts for a lot of the time you need to put into it.

It’s not enough to just register on all the websites. While there’s unlimited space for everyone online, you can get lost in it all and not make any constructive progress. I know. I’m always getting links to sites I “should check out.” People email me both to my server and on the social networking sites. It gets overwhelming. Another day ends and I haven’t done any writing. So I must get tough with myself in order to function.

Time isn’t FREE when it costs you your sleep, your personal life and even your sanity. But you can take control of online activities to make the most of the best opportunities. Here are so DOs and DON’Ts for getting the most out of your online resources.

DON’T jump around to everything that seems interesting or the new flavor of the month.
DO force yourself to stay on track. Put aside things you want to check out for when you have some time or accept you can’t look over everything. Learn the benefits of hitting DELETE.

DON’T immediately answer emails when they come in or click when you get a link.
DO: Prioritize what most needs to be done at this point. I have a NEED TO ANSWER folder and put personal emails and those asking questions into it. Have a block of time set aside when all you do is answer emails. When time is up, leave the rest for the next block!

DON’T jump from one site to another and register with every one you can.
DO plan your direction carefully and prioritize your needs to work them properly. Social networking sites allow musicians to seek fans out and interact with them. But working one or two hard is strongly advised as opposed to doing a little bit on many. If you have too many, you don’t work anything well and you can spread yourself too thin. Decide which sites are best for you and concentrate your energy to build up relationships with fans on them.

DON’T try to do everything yourself. DO mobilize fans to help. Get volunteers to assist you in following up with online activities. Ask them to tell other musicians on the site about you, use your music as their default on their MySpace page and drive potential fans to your sites. If you have a budget, hire an online marketing specialist to direct your efforts and do some of the legwork.

DON’T register with any social networking site that you’re not prepared to follow up with.
DO answer every email and make your presence known. Respond to comments. Nowadays, when people hear an artist they like or see you perform, they’ll leave a comment on your MySpace page. It’s important to respond. Musicians who keep in touch with their fans religiously build the strongest communities and get the most support.

DON’T focus just on MySpace and Facebook.
DO diversify. While pure social networking sites are great to exploit, get your music in places where people can find it. Do as many things as you can that don’t require constant attention that give your music potential exposure. Create iMixes up in the iTunes music store. Get your music into streaming radio sites, such as Last.fm, Pandora, Launch, iLike, etc. Send it to MP3 bloggers who review your genre of music. Post videos on YouTube. And get yourself on wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. These efforts often just require doing something once and can drive people to find your music.

DON’T think that selling and promoting your music online is all you need.
DO everything you can in real life too. Touring is still important for creating a strong connection with fans. People do live a good part of their lives off the computer so follow traditional promotion routes too.

DON’T put all your energy into inviting people you don’t know to be your friend or worry about having big numbers of them.
DO be more concerned with connecting to real fans. Successful artists say they don’t worry about how many friends they have on MySpace. What’s important is that they’re real fans who care about reading bulletin posts and getting invitations to your gigs. Of course you can invite people to be your friend if you want to know them. But do that with an email to introduce yourself so they know who you are and why you’re requesting them as a friend. Just inviting for the sake of upping your numbers is a waste of time these days. I don’t have thousands of friends on MySpace but every one of them came to me. I like that better! www.myspace.com/Daylle

Before you begin, make sure you’re ready to commit the time. Even with limits, you’ll spend hours a day keeping up. Find sites that are the likeliest to reach your audience and work them with a vengeance. Take advantage of every function they offer. Join relevant communities. Interact on them as much as you can so people get to know you. Eventually some will come to your page and hear your music.

Being online can be a full time job and you might only have a limited amount of time to devote. ReverbNation www.reverbnation.com has many helpful tools that can save you a lot of time and maximize your online reach. Some people hire a promoter to do it for them. If you don’t have a budget, I highly advise that you put aside time every day to work this new model for marketing and promoting music online, with a real plan.

Pro Tools Tutorial - Creating a Backwards Reverb

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:20:00 -0600

43 Places to Promote Your Music - February 2009

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:16:00 -0600

This month's newsletter features the listings that were submitted to me this past month. The contacts listed are sorted into FIVE sections.

Publications that will REVIEW your music
Radio Stations/Shows that will PLAY your songs
Labels, Vendors and Promotional Services that will help you to SELL your CD
Sites where you can UPLOAD your band's MP3s or videos
A wide range of Helpful Resources for recording artists

http://www.bigmeteor.com/newsletter/feb2009.shtml

FL Studio - Automating Effects On and Off

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:10:00 -0600

Beatport Imposes New Rules That Hurt Indies

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:30:00 -0600

Indie artists are getting a real surprise from Beatport. They have increased their sales quota to a mandatory $500.00 quarterly in sales. This means many artists will be cut and dropped from Beatport.

The explanation is as follows:

The reasoning behind this new, higher benchmark is for several reasons. We want
to keep the quality and the relevancy of content available on Beatport as high
as possible. We acknowledge and understand that labels do take some time to
build a brand, but we also feel that a higher income minimum serves to separate
the ‘hobbyist’ from the serious professional (or aspiring professional) producer
and/or label manager.

I am an indie artist that does every thing by myself plus this is my profession and how I make my money. I am not a hobbyist. I also though am not a machine.

That is about 300 to 400 songs per quarter, per artist. If I was selling that many tracks a month from just 1 site, not including making that from iTunes and so on, I would be selling it all myself from my own site. I only use these places for exposure. Not profit.

I have always felt with Beatport, it was all about the money. They never cared about the artists. They have the money to dominate the market, so they can set the rules as they please.

I do not think that Beatport should dictate who "indie artists" are by the amount of money they have or make. What they are saying is that you are not an artist that creates unless you have money.

It is no surprise to me in this world. For a long time, many talented artists have been silenced and kept down because they had no money. The Internet leveled that playing field giving indies a more affordable way to promote.

I know a quote that says, "It is a flawed society that causes art to be created within a financial means..." - the author is unknown.

So the Beatport fad will end and most probably the site will lose out. I think it is a major mistake to turn your backs on the indies.

There is always iTunes and the other 1000 digital shops to sell your stuff on...

www.504productions.com

Pro Tools Tutorial - Create a Stutter Effect on a Vocal Line

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:10:00 -0600

Congress Restores Arts Funding, Drops Arts Stimulus Ban, After Public Outcry

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:09:00 -0600

Here in the US, Congressional Democrats have reversed not one but both bad decisions on the role of the arts in the economic stimulus package. Provisions that would have blocked any stimulus funds from reaching arts centers, museums, and theaters have been dropped. (Golf courses and casinos are still in the ban. Maybe this time, someone read the actual legislation.) And the US$50 million (out of some $800 billion) that would go to the National Endowment for the Arts, dropped from a Senate version, has been restored to the bill. It appears both of those changes not only cleared the House but are part of the Senate version that’s in votes as I write this.

If you believe artists shouldn’t rely exclusively on government funding, you can still celebrate. The arts will receive far less of a handout than a lot of other industries — and do more with it. Arts advocacy groups estimate that for every dollar of the NEA money, another seven dollars will come from public and private supporters. What the tiny amount of federal spending does is make up for shortfalls in lean times, protecting an arts sphere that depends on a variety of sources for revenue. Nearly 15,000 real jobs could be saved by those same estimates. That means an arts infrastructure in the US that can remain healthy and independent.

But the important story here has nothing to do with the stimulus bill, or even the US. It’s that public outcry from people like you rescued this legislation. And if public support can do that, it can do a lot more for the arts, not only in federal spending but other key areas.

Americans for the Arts says supporters from its organization alone sent some 100,000 messages and letters to their Members of Congress. That’s not counting the many more letters and phone calls from constituents, not to mention letters to the editor and press attention.

Here’s one example from CDM comments, by Dartanyan Brown:

I heard the congressman from Nashville (!) talking down the $50 million for the
National Endowment for the Arts. I immediately called his office and let his
staffers know that (blue dog democrat Cooper) was full of hot air on this issue.
As a synthesist, jazz musician and former NEA artist-in-residence I had the
facts and anecdotes to make my points clear.

If Rush Limbaugh can get his folks to call, we can at least counteract them with some facts and persistence.

Call them, they listen, they respond to numbers.

More background on today’s developments:

House passes stimulus bill with $50 million for artists (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Senate Begins Voting on Obama’s $787 Billion Stimulus Plan (Bloomberg)

To all of you who were active, and to our elected representatives who got this right, thanks.

Targeting the arts in this way may have backfired for those elements seeking to vilify it. Instead, it caused thousands of people to rally to the cause. Here’s an example of organizing meetings in Chicago - and a renewed sense that the arts could be part of the economic solution, not the “costly distraction” so many try to make it out to be.

Organizing Around Art (Chicago Tribune)

Setting Up for a Mix in the Studio

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 09:03:00 -0600

Very good tips on setting up for a mix. He is speaking about real drums, but you can get some basic pointers about mixing. Especially the order.

Ban on Arts Stimulus, Declare Arts Worker Jobs Not “Real”

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:00:00 -0600

Folks, we have a lot of work ahead of us in the good ole' USA...

The plot in US politics, in the space of a few short weeks, has gone something like this:

A new Administration could bring new vision to making the arts part of the economy.
Arts spending is wasteful.
Any spending on anything should be specifically prohibited from reaching the arts, as that would be wasteful and evil, and the arts are the best symbol of Waste itself.

As digital musicians and visualists, relevancy to the rest of the people around us is important. What we do can be meaningful to people, and it can pay for our health care and our loved ones and our kids. It’s often not a life or death thing - but then, neither are many jobs. It’s a gig. Heck, even if it’s a hobby, it supports someone else’s gig.

So that raises some really deep questions about what’s going on with our society when arts-related jobs are singled out above nearly every other sector as meaningless or “wasteful” or not “real jobs.” This stimulus bill will pass, but that fundamental misunderstanding isn’t going anywhere - and it’s time to recognize there’s a problem, and start to work to set it right.

Roughly half of one one hundredth of one percent of the US economic stimulus plan was slated to support job protection in the arts — US$50 million. Meanwhile, we’ve just passed one trillion-dollar bailout of finance and are told another trillion is needed.

You might expect anger to be directed at finance, given their industry was at the heart of the problem. Instead, legislators single out — the arts?

In last-minute negotiations in the US Senate, legislators — including key liberal Democrats — have gone still further to ban any use of stimulus funds for the arts (”museums,” “theaters,” and “arts centers” get singled out). The move was largely symbolically-motivated, not fiscally-motivated. Adding insult to injury, arts institutions are lumped together with casinos and golf courses - literally.

U.S. Senate Votes Against the Arts (Chicago Examiner)
Arts Bashing (Center for American Progress)

Update:

Congress Restores Arts Funding, Drops Arts Stimulus Ban, After Public Outcry

Here in the US, Congressional Democrats have reversed not one but both bad decisions on the role of the arts in the economic stimulus package. Provisions that would have blocked any stimulus funds from reaching arts centers, museums, and theaters have been dropped. (Golf courses and casinos are still in the ban. Maybe this time, someone read the actual legislation.) And the US$50 million (out of some $800 billion) that would go to the National Endowment for the Arts, dropped from a Senate version, has been restored to the bill. It appears both of those changes not only cleared the House but are part of the Senate version that’s in votes as I write this.

If you believe artists shouldn’t rely exclusively on government funding, you can still celebrate. The arts will receive far less of a handout than a lot of other industries — and do more with it. Arts advocacy groups estimate that for every dollar of the NEA money, another seven dollars will come from public and private supporters. What the tiny amount of federal spending does is make up for shortfalls in lean times, protecting an arts sphere that depends on a variety of sources for revenue. Nearly 15,000 real jobs could be saved by those same estimates. That means an arts infrastructure in the US that can remain healthy and independent.

But the important story here has nothing to do with the stimulus bill, or even the US. It’s that public outcry from people like you rescued this legislation. And if public support can do that, it can do a lot more for the arts, not only in federal spending but other key areas.

Americans for the Arts says supporters from its organization alone sent some 100,000 messages and letters to their Members of Congress. That’s not counting the many more letters and phone calls from constituents, not to mention letters to the editor and press attention.

Here’s one example from CDM comments, by Dartanyan Brown:

I heard the congressman from Nashville (!) talking down the $50 million for the
National Endowment for the Arts. I immediately called his office and let his
staffers know that (blue dog democrat Cooper) was full of hot air on this issue.
As a synthesist, jazz musician and former NEA artist-in-residence I had the
facts and anecdotes to make my points clear.

If Rush Limbaugh can get his folks to call, we can at least counteract them with some facts and persistence.

Call them, they listen, they respond to numbers.

More background on today’s developments:

House passes stimulus bill with $50 million for artists (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Senate Begins Voting on Obama’s $787 Billion Stimulus Plan (Bloomberg)

Organizing Around Art (Chicago Tribune)

A Shared Culture

webmaster@504productions.com (Tears of Technology) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0600