Music Time: 2011

The Music of Today

Musicians have been around since the early 1900's and people have always been interested to either pay to listen to their favorite artist, or pay to see them in action. The more popular music became, the more people got involved to earn their chunk of the riches that spurted from the music industry. When the Beatles arrived at this scene, they were an instant hit due to their positive lyrics and LSD psychedelic styles. It was new, it was fresh, it.. it made lots of money! To this date the Beatles have sold over one billion units worldwide (almost one seventh of the population). They have sold more units than any other artist in the history of music. Period. No one can deny the quality of their music, even the most hardcore gangsta rap fanatic. Another band that produced a similar quality of music material is known by the name "Zeppelin". Everyone who's anyone knows about this band. Led Zeppelin is recognized as the first hardrock/metal band and influenced many artists over the next four decades! Their crowning masterpiece, Stairway to Heaven is probably the best written song ever created. It was so good that people who went into music shops and even attempted to play it on any guitar were immediately thrown out. This song is legendary and is still played on the radio 40 years after it was released. It is a song that is cemented into music itself and will be remembered for generations to come.

As a reader, you are probably wondering why I'm still living in the past, when clearly I should be discussing the music of today. So, the question is, why am I stuck on the music of the Stone Age? The answer should be clear to all. Just take a minute, breathe in and out, and reflect on a few artists of the past. Elvis Presley, The Eagles, Pink Floyd, Aretha Franklin, and Sir Elton John. Now examine the "artists" that I mentioned at the very beginning. Just for fun why don't we all compare these two categories of musicians? If you have ears at all, you should notice a huge difference between the two. The difference can be represented by only one word. Quality.

Unless you're some preteen girl or fashionably troubled human, you should be able to determine which music is better quality. I'm going to stop prancing around the answer and just give it to you now. The music of today is of inferior quality. Human beings are extremely advanced and have always developed since the beginning of time. From caves, to tents, to houses and skyscrapers, humans have always advanced to live a better quality of life. So why then has music actually deteriorated in quality? Upon studying the musicians in the past that made extremely great music, I was able to determine that the songs were so good because of their meanings. In fact, it's a safe bet to claim that people then cared less about money and more about the music. That's exactly what makes a musician. The ability to take your feelings and emotions and expel them into a form everyone can enjoy. I find that near the end of the 90's, people started to care less about the meaning and more about the profit. This deeply saddens me because music exists so people can truly enjoy the sense of hearing, not so people can double the width of their wallets. I believe that once we hit the 2000's, music was so diluted that it was not the same as it used to be. The music of today is crap.

I know some people will disagree or even be offended by my statement, but I truly believe it is the honest truth. The music of today is very bad. Okay, I will admit that I am being a bit unfair right now. There actually are a few good quality artists of today. Eminem is actually a lyrical genius and Coldplay has a good range of songs that make someone really feel great. I secretly enjoy listening to the song Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye when I'm alone. These musicians are a handful of people who actually care about the meaning of their songs. They are musicians that should be set as an example of how to create good music. Making music is something that should be done naturally, either with an instrument or your voice. Not with a machine that resembles a robot on crystal meth. Those people just use money to make music and not their own God-given talent. This is wrong.

This message should not be taken lightly by anyone on Earth who listens to music. We need to shun music created in a day solely for profit. We need to educate the morons who support this nonsense. We as humans need to bring back music that has a purpose, meaning or is in any way, an asset to our huge library of audio. Doing so will make Nikki Minaj disappear, and the world will be full of great sounding, great quality music. Just let it flow and enjoy the effects.

How To Become A Singer And Enjoy It

The entertainment industry has grown very fast in the last few years due to the changing lifestyles of the people. Technology has made it easy for people to entertain themselves on very many forums, thus offering many opportunities for entertainers across the globe. If you like to sing or you asking yourself, "How do I become a singer?" you now have many platforms to reach out to your fans and you can do it in a short time.

Some singers start utilizing their talents at a very young age such that by the time they reach professional level, they do it perfectly. However, this should not discourage you if you would like to become a singer. Start by asking yourself, "How can I become a singer?" The answer is very simple. Follow this systematic series of instructions and you will be a good singer in good time.

The first thing you should do is learn how to sing. Many people think that singing is simple because once you know the song you just rip it. That is not the case with good singing. You should learn how to control your voice, how to handle different keys, how to sing certain notes, how to breathe while singing and many other singing basics. These will help you to sing well even on a professional platform. You can enroll in a class or you can download free lessons online. Keep improving your singing by trying new challenges every time you do a new craft and widen your scope by trying different genres.

Once you learn how to become a singer, study the singers who you admire. Listen to their music, especially songs that have been done live, since they have not been tampered with by computer software. Do a study of how they sing and look at their portfolios and album arrangement. Do some research about why they are successful and where they started their career from since you will learn a lot of diverse ideas and motivation.

Sing some samples for your friends and family members and let them judge you. Encourage them to give you an honest opinion of your song before you sing it in front of strangers. This will also help you to become a comfortable performer. Spread your wings by performing in many forums when you get a gathering. You can start with karaoke, parties, talent shows and other platforms will come up.

Keep practicing and develop your own style. Do not stop exercising your voice since it gets better with exercise. Find a craft that portrays your personality and make it grow. You can try to apply for singing jobs so that your portfolio grows and people can take you seriously. Get your songs out on YouTube, twitter, Facebook and many other platforms where many of your fans can share them.

Double Bass Pedals: Is The Set-Up Critical?

Most drummers prefer to use a double pedal for use with one bass drum, unless they are professional recording musicians in which case they would generally prefer to use two bass drums each with a single pedal. That is because recording artists feel they have more control, and also because a recording is more likely to show the slight lag generally associated with double pedals.

This lag between left and right pedals, although slight and not normally noticeable during live performances, can be detected when recording. However, for the vast majority of drummers, double pedals are generally acceptable. Like most items of musical equipment you get what you pay for, and the more responsive the pedal drive system, the less this lag will be. Apart from this, the set-up of the pedals is critical and important that they are matched?

The Drive Systems for double pedals

The drive system can be important to many drummers, and you would generally have a choice between direct drive, chain drive and belt drive driven pedals. What's the difference between these? A lot depends on how fast you want to drum: really fast bass beats are best carried out with chain or direct pedals, since belts tend to slacken slightly and so lose their responsiveness.

Chains may have to be tightened occasionally, but usually remain responsive as long as they don't get too slack. Double chains are more responsive than single chains and are also more expensive. This is largely because double chain pedals tend to have a more stable pedal board, and greater stability offers more control and speed of bass drumming. Direct drive pedals are most responsive, and offer a direct transfer of energy from the foot to the beater. It is important that your pedals are balanced with each other. The foot plates should be adjusted independently to suit each foot action, and each beater should move perfectly together when pulled back and released. Double Bass Beaters The beaters are another important component of the pedals. It is important that the beaters are matched to give as close to exactly the same sound as possible. If your beaters have differences, then it doesn't matter how perfectly your respective drives are set up, you will not get the same sound from each.

The material, shape and size of the beater all contribute to the result, and those attached to each of your two pedals should be identical. You can purchase beaters with different surfaces according to how they are oriented, so make sure that if you use these, each different surface is the same on each beater for double pedal operation.

The set-up of the pedals is critical if you want your bass tones to sound right, particularly with fast drumming. They should be set so that the lag is at a minimum and that the beaters hit the drum at the same time and on a position that provides the same tone. This might take a fair but of trial and error, but once you get there, the pedals are almost as good as having two bass drums - it is next to impossible for non-professionals to tell the difference.

Summary: The set-up of the double pedal is important to ensure that both beaters give the same result. Factors which can affect this include the lag between left and right pedals, the drive system and the beaters themselves. It is important to set your pedals up correctly so that each gives as close to the same result as possible.

When choosing the most suitable set of double bass drum pedals for your needs, you should be aware of the factors that affect their performance. More information is available from Tom's website where you can also find the much desired TAMA Double Bass Drums along with a large selection of pedals of every kind.

Stock Music Licensing Explained

Stock media companies provide ready-made media content that can be legally added to your work in a matter of minutes.

Off-the-Shelf Solutions - Stock Media includes photographs, illustrations video footage, music recordings, Flash animations, web site templates, PowerPoint backgrounds and clipart.

Many stock companies refer to themselves as libraries because, like a library, they carry a broad array of materials that tries to satisfy a wide range of tastes and needs.

Licensed Not Sold - With stock media, what you are really buying is a license that gives you permission to use the material you're interested in.

Once you have a license you don't in fact own the material. It is still owned by the stock media company. They remain the copyright holders. Your license lets you legally use the material in your production.

There are two main types of stock licenses.

1. Rights Managed - The price of a rights managed license depends on how you wish to use the media you're interested in.

For instance, is it going to be used in a national advertising campaign or is it for your company brochure? Is it being considered for a PowerPoint presentation or is it going to be used in a motion picture? Each usage has a different price.

A rights managed license also takes into consideration how long you will use the media. Periods usually range from 3 months to several years.

If you are going to include the material in a product, your license will be based on how many pieces you plan to manufacture.

With a right managed license, at the end of the license period, you no longer have permission to use the media. Your relationship with the company ends (unless you extend your license).

2. Royalty Free - Royalty free means you are not charged a fee for each separate commercial use of the media. You can use the material as often as you'd like for as long as you'd like. You pay an initial fee for the license and are then free and clear of any further licensing restraints. Licensing is fast and easy, with one price you acquire synchronization rights to use the music as background music in your production.

A rights managed license is more expensive Why? Because when you license, for instance, a rights managed photo, the stock company removes the photo from circulation for the period of your license. No one else can use it.

This is the main advantage a rights-managed license provides. It protects against simultaneous use - so your competitor won't be using the same photo as you to launch their ad campaign. When you use royalty free content, there is no such protection. The same photo or music track may be being used by hundreds of companies at the same time.

The question to ask is...is this important to me? Do I care if another company is using this image or this particular web template? If you do, then you will want to pursue a rights managed solution. If, on the other hand, it really doesn't matter to you, then you'll want to take a serious look at royalty free media because it is so much cheaper.

Stock by any other name - Rights managed recordings are known as "needle-drops" in the stock music world. This name came from the act of actually lowering a phonograph needle onto a record to place the music in a production. Now with compact discs, they've started calling it "laser-drop". I find "rights managed" to be a much better description.

Royalty free is sometimes called "buy out". I've also seen it referred to as "copyright-free" but this is really an error. The material is in fact fully copyrighted by the stock media company.

UniqueTracks is a royalty free stock media company. We began licensing stock music in 1998. Since then we have grown to include stock sound effects and stock animated footage. All of our products can be licensed on a royalty free basis.

Getting The Best Quality Without Mixing!

A lot of rappers and singers are under the misconception that you can record a song with the worst equipment and it doesn't matter cause they will fix it in mixing and mastering. That is the complete opposite of the truth and I don't want you to fall in that trap.

I have mixed dozens of artist's tracks and the hardest ones (the ones that won't come out sounding good anyway) are the one's that have the worst quality to begin with. The reason is because music is not alchemy, you cannot turn something already bad into a masterpiece. If you were a chef with the worst quality beef you are not going to throw seasonings and the trimmings on it and make a decent hamburger. The starting product must be fresh or else the whole song is ruined.

Of course there are people who cite Soulja Boy's rise when he was making Crank Dat and it was all distorted. Soulja Boy was a unique case but don't expect the same results for you. Most likely no one will take you seriously if your quality it bad. To them you will just be another want to-be who spams their page with "NEW HOT MUSIC" and it turns out it just gives them a headache.

Now I know you guys have great material and it's important that you express it with the world. You must have authority for people to want to listen to you though. That's why getting the best quality before hand is starting out on the right foot and it will be much easier to gain a fan base like that. It will also be easier to sell more of your music and merchandise.

1. Microphone & Cable

These 2 items are crucial in recording audio of any kind. If you want great quality before you mix you need to invest in a great low cost microphone (I have a post on my home site that has a great list from you to choose from) and a great microphone cable. Artist's usually think of the microphone cable as the least thing they need to worry about but in more ways than one it's more important than the actual microphone. Do yourself a favor - invest in a Monster cable and make sure people are not stepping on it!

2. Preamp/Interface

This will connect your microphone to the computer. Your recording tends to be better when there are less connections from the audio source (ex: The microphone to cable) to the recorder (ex: Pro Tools on your computer). That means invest in one that has USB or Firewire capabilities - not only is it fast loading but will give you a powerful edge quality wise.

Don't overlook the quality of the beat either, if the beat quality is bad it will drag down the whole song. Buy exclusive rights to the beat from the producer and get the mix handled by a professional. If that's not possible do not use that beat at all!

Before I close this out I just want to mention that if your on a tight budget you can get great quality at a low cost. I have a post on my site about the best cheap microphones I advise you to check out. After that you will need the best microphone cable and preamp you can afford. If you do all those 3 things correctly there should be no issue with the quality of vocal after that.

What Makes A Great Wedding Band

What makes a great wedding band?

If you are planning a wedding whether as a private individual or a wedding planner then you will be concerned about making the evening entertainment the best that it can be. That means thinking long and hard about what kind of band to book for the wedding party.

Here are our top tips for wedding band hire.

1. Check the band have all the correct public liability insurance required by most wedding venues

2. Check that the bands equipment is pat tested.

3.Check out video and sound files before booking. There are a number of websites online that will have lots of videos for you to check over.

4. Check out customer reviews. Find out what other clients thought of the band.

5. Think of your guests. Will the band meet with all the guests tastes or are you only going to appeal to a small section of the guest list.

You can make many of the decisions involved in hiring a wedding band considerably easier by using an entertainment agency. Wedding entertainment specialists are able to offer you best value prices and invaluable advice about the kind of band and what you should be looking for when hiring live entertainment for a wedding. Your wedding day is very special and you need everything to be perfect. The evening party should be a time for you to relax, kick off your shoes and dance the night away. You can be certain of being able to do this if you have the knowledge that a wedding professional has organised the wedding band for your event.

This does not necessarily mean that you have to pay more for the entertainment as a wedding professionals will use their special relationship with bands in order to give you discount prices unavailable to a one off purchaser of entertainment.

The best way forward when hiring anything is to have a recommendation but if this is not available to you then using a well established agency with a pedigree is the next best thing.

With modern media such as video and sound files it is not always necessary to go and see a band live before booking. Its is sometimes very hard to find the time to see a band live before booking however beware of really professional sounding music clips as these can sometimes have been created in a studio and bare very little similarity to the natural sound of the act. Video is the best representation but again keep your eyes (and ears!) open for doctored sound and miming bands.

Why Most Artists Fall Short

If you're making music you should have at least these basics covered, online profile on the popular social and indie websites along with at least 3-4 songs for people to listen to, pictures of you or your group (2-3 if possible) a bio and some YouTube videos.

If you don't have these basics in place get busy getting them together because they help people discover you and people who are already familiar with your music learn more about you, get a feel for your personality and what you look to bring with your music. Any one of these may cause someone to take an interest in what you're doing musically in addition to what they have already heard from you they'll check back to see what's new.

Artist that falls short of gaining the progressive momentum they seek usually happens because:

They are inconsistent in making music They are not working regularly to hone their craft and improve on the music they deliver They have not found a unique way to tell their story or make their song memorable They don't know how to write a good song Poor production quality and/or track selections Those are just some of the more common reasons artist don't progress the way they'd like to. As an artist whether you sing or rap, you need to be continuously working on improving what you do and the more you do it the better you'll get. Everyone listens to music and as listeners we know the difference between a singer/rapper just starting out and a polished singer/rapper that's put some time in. How they sound, the clarity in their voice, their delivery, the song structure and quality of their music production as well as the overall sound quality of the song are all indicators that lets us know where that singer/rapper stands musically.

People will rock with whatever they like as long as they like it. If the look and quality is up to par with what they expect they will support and stick with you. So artists should be writing every day and if you produce your own music then you should be doing both every day.

Another thing that I didn't mention in the list above is strategy, many don't have a plan of how to effectively create awareness and promote the new music they're creating.

A$AP Rocky (a rapper from Harlem, NY) made a low budget music video for his song "Purple Swag" put it on YouTube, promoted it and increased awareness about the video being out and ended up doing impressive numbers with that song. Note: though the video might have been shot on a shoe string budget or maybe he didn't even have to pay to get it done but the point I want to make is that the audio production for the song was in step with industry standards.

So with that, know that the details behind the music are important, even before you think about selling or promoting your music and a lot of artist lack consistency in their work ethic and quality in the products they turn out.

Check out the Disc Makers website to download free guides that cover many of the points that in my opinion prevent artists from seeing next level movement. These are very basic points and checks but I feel it's necessary to say because I come across a lot of artist that don't realize they fall into some of the pitfalls I listed previously.

How To Get the Right Song!

From my understanding and experience of how people make money within the music business, all 3 components must be at the highest possible level. In this article I want to tell us how to get the song component of the product.

Contrary to popular opinion amongst artists, not many individuals can stand in the place of Paul McCartney or Cathy Dennis as real singer songwriters. You will find that someone like that late Whitney Houston did not write all of her songs. For example, 'I Will Always Love You' was written by Dolly Parton with Whitney's version going Platinum in key territories. Let me give 3 ways of getting hit songs on your albums.

1. Cover Versions: the law is that once a song has been released to public domain anyone can cover that same song. Although you will still need to get a clearance license from the appropriate bodies, in the UK that will be MCPS/PRS. Technically you can cover any song. Now think of all the songs you are able to sing that you do not need to write. Sometimes artists have been told to only sing songs they have written. That is bad advice because 100% of 0 is 0. Although the writers royalty will not come to you, the performance royalties will be all yours (in the UK system). A song that does not make money will not make you money. So search for songs that have been released that will really suit your voice you will be on to a winner.

2. Sing Cross Genre Hits. 'I Will Always Love You' was originally sung by Dolly Parton who is a Country artist; Whitney Houston was an R&B artist. Why don't you find great songs in other genres you can sing? You will be amazed at the hits songs that are transferable to your genre. Find R&B hits that can be sung in Rock. Remember the song 'Walk This Way' by Aerosmith the Rock Band? It had a rendition by the group Run DMC 11 years later and took the track to number 4 on the Billboard charts.

3. Find Song Writers Who Will Write For You: many people feel intimidated if they realise they aren't such great writers. Please snap out of that kind of thinking. Be sure that the way GOD made us; no one has all the knowledge. Think about Michael Jackson; most of his hit songs were written by other people. If he was not embarrassed to sing other people's songs but made them a fortune in the process, why would you shy away from a process that can make you extremely successful!?

Start looking for songs today, knowing that good lyrics are always good whether they were sung 10, 20 or 30 years ago. The music and style is what requires an update. So why keep on struggling to write songs when you can also sing other songs too!

Booking Local Shows

Are you sick of playing the same songs day after day in your drummer's garage fantasizing about making a career out of your music? You need to get out and play some shows in your town, but you probably don't know where to go, or what to ask. First you need to ask yourself: do I want to play for free to get exposure, or do I want to get paid for this gig?

Free Gigs. I'm a big supporter of starting out playing for free. This way you will get more people to show up, because they have nothing to lose, except maybe an hour or two of their life. Also, supporters of your band can bring their friends because they won't complain about having to pay for a band that they don't even know. The way I go about getting free gigs is going into or calling the establishment, bar, club, old folks home, etc, and ask if my band can play during 'x' time on 'x' day. I tell them that I don't want their money, and don't want a ticket cost. If it is an establishment that sells beverages or food, then chances are your fans/supporters will reimburse whatever costs are associated with your playing that night. Cause they like food. Or drinks. Hell, even lap dances if you're playing at a strip club. Another thing you could do is ask to open for a bigger band to be exposed to their audience. There might be a ticket cost, but as I said, you don't have to reel in an audience yourself, there will be one there already.

Paid gigs. I suggest these if you have already done a number of free gigs and have developed a fanbase in your local area. These might require more work to land, because you will either need to have a reputation of being a money-maker for the establishment, or prove to them that you can make it worth their while. A lot of people will recommend making a press kit or a demo tape to show to them how good you are, or how your music is relevant to the people that regular the place. The venue will either pay you directly, or the ticket cost will go to your band.

Lastly, if a festival of some sort (fair, music festival, or any other large gathering) is coming to your town, it's a big opportunity for your band. Ask around about who you should talk to in order to play a gig at it. You might get paid, you might not, but who cares! You have a great opportunity to play in front of a lot of people and hopefully score your band some new fans.

When To Go To Radio

I've talked with a lot of artist that say if they could only get their song on the radio that would make all the difference. Well, as manager of an indie artist and now a co-owner of a New Entertainment company/label, I have firsthand knowledge of why that's not necessarily true.

First off let me reiterate "indie artists" are the targets of many industry veterans who have started boutique companies looking to profit off of you, the "indie artist", hunger for stardom. The easy access to music consumption has enabled any and everyone to record something whether audio or video and get it heard and/or seen. And so while the knowledge and assistance of people/companies like these are needed to help the serious artist progress and achieve advancement in his/her career you must do your homework on everyone you're looking to hire to work with you on your career.

It looks and sounds good until half way through, you realize they haven't produced the results they told you "yes we can make that happen" like they said they would.

So you need to have realistic goals and expectations before you get involved with an Independent Radio promoter. Now, independent Radio promoters have the relationships in place with the DJ's and PD/MD's that can get your song on the radio. Now before that you should have a few things in place first to make paying for radio promotion something worth doing.

For many young rappers and singers and their team they're looking to break out from radio play maybe get a few paying gigs and possibly the signing. Depending on who you're dealing with, they'll let you know how many spins you can expect to get within the specified time they've told you they'll work the song at radio and they may have even told you we "GUARANTEE" that your song will get play on the stations we say it will. Let me digress for a bit here to speak on this point a little further. I've gotten emails from online promo companies that Guarantee to get the songs played and will even bolster your Twitter and Facebook "followers" and "likes" numbers and tell you that they promoted some of the songs you like on radio now.

And you know what? That might just be the case however, the difference is, and I know for a fact this is the difference maker and that is, all the artists they're referencing are either already signed or they're part of a team(click or label) that is industry "movers and shakers".

Example, Lloyd banks drops a new single from an upcoming mix-tape and Ashanti drops a new single to reintroduce herself and sound to the public under her new label (cash money). Both hire an independent radio promoter to get their songs to move at radio across a few different markets to test the waters and read public interest in their project.

Now here are the difference makers in these two examples; I'm not sure if banks has a deal at the moment or not but he is known to the public as being a member of the onetime "industry shaking" G-Unit group and label so radio station personnel (Dj's, PD's, MD's) once they came across this song some might have checked it and gave it a few spins just because it's Banks.

Especially in his home market along with other markets G-Unit songs where big could very well have gotten mix-show segment spins for free without the promoter having to turn station personnel on to the song (I'll explain how in other article).

Likewise for Ashanti, granted she hasn't had many successful songs since, well, you know but the difference factor here is who she's with, Young Money/Cash Money!(Universal), they're the difference in her scenario. Young Money/Cash Money has 3 of the biggest artists in music signed to their label so any artist they want to move at radio will run its course the way it's supposed to for their artists.

So while both songs might start out getting played on the mix-show segments at radio, they will manage to get some different day part spins and the all important, prime time (drive home) spins. In most cases, like this example, the song finds its way into rotation and it's golden from there. However, this process is what it is for artist, who like I said, either have name recognition already and/or is running with a team (click or label) that is industry "movers and shakers". You, the indie artist, cannot afford to pay an independent promoter to get your song into rotation (I'll talk about that in another article too).

So to pick up where I left off, because the promoter can point to other songs they've helped get started at radio that means nothing to you, the indie artist, so don't be impressed by it and many times the young rappers and singers and their team get blinded by that.

They end up falling into what we, my partners and I, call the vanity of making a move. That is, it looks and sounds good when they talk about it with others. They seem to be making moves but real progress in these scenarios are in the numbers and if you haven't made any money from incurring that expense (immediate income or ongoing residuals from the effort) then you really don't have much to show for it not to mention, money to pay for the next radio campaign. That's a lesson I hope many of you reading this will learn.

Steps in Becoming a Professional Wedding Guitarist

Being a wedding guitarist can be professionally fulfilling especially when music is your passion. The income of a wedding guitarist is also decent considering the limited hours you spend on each gig. For anyone who wants to consider becoming a guitarist for weddings, here are the things you should consider to become successful:

Passion

The first characteristic a wedding guitarist must possess is passion for music. He must be able to pour his feelings into the music he creates. Knowing the techniques in guitar playing is important, but it is passion that makes a musician a cut above the rest.

Presentation

Great wedding guitarist dress exceptionally. It is wise to invest in high quality outfit to leave an impression to everyone in the event. Word of mouth is among the biggest source of engagements for wedding musicians, so it is important that you present your brand very well.

Repertoire

It is essential that a wedding guitarist has an extensive list of music. These should include the most common wedding music, classical pieces, and contemporary songs. When the bride and groom runs out of ideas about which music to be played, an experienced wedding guitarist must be able to suggest those that are readily appreciated.

Reference

For a relatively new wedding guitarist, it is essential that he builds his network of connections on the wedding services industry. To accomplish this, he could submit his portfolio to bridal shop owners, wedding planners, and even to wedding cake makers. Providing a referral incentive is not a must, but it will surely go a long way.

Online Presence

In this internet age, wedding musicians that are highly visible online have better chances of landing an engagement. The fastest way to achieve this is building a Facebook page about your services. However, your reach could be limited only to your circle of friends. A great alternative is to submit your portfolio to music agencies covering your area. In doing this, be ready to include recorded performances both in video and audio format so that the agency could properly promote you in their website.

Never Stop Marketing Your Brand

Whether you are just starting out or already on top, it is important to continually build your brand. Having a professionally designed and printed business card is an inexpensive, yet very effective way in building a name in the industry.

If you have the resources and you think it is financially feasible, building your own website is a great way in improving your popularity as well.

It is also wise to build alliances with other musicians as there are weddings that require several performers. If you have more offers than you can cover, referring the client to other musicians can be considered as investing in your future engagements as well.

Cristopher Laguna Abanil is a freelance writer for the Classical Guitar Agency, a website dedicated in helping people find a great wedding guitarist anywhere in the UK and Ireland. Our guitarist listing is extensive and covers all parts of the region so you have a wide array of choices to enjoy.

Music Business Terms Everyone Must Know

Have you ever been among a group of people who use terms you are supposed to know? What did you do? Did you act like me and pretend you understood perfectly? I remember my time at primary school when a would teacher use big words to describe a situation and everyone else would appear to know until I discovered the truth at break time.

It can still be like this in the music business especially when digital sectors are discussed. So in this article I want to help us understand certain terms used. They are:

1. Bundling and Unbundling: Bundling is when tracks available for download have to be purchased as an album/EP. It means you have to buy the whole "Bundle" or nothing at all. Unbundling means that the music owners have made it possible to buy one or any number of tracks from the same album/EP without the requirement to purchase the whole release.

2. Bundle: this term is used to describe a tie up of music to other services. For example Universal Music Group had a deal with a bank in France where young people requiring a credit card can also have a music service. That is a "Bundle" because it ties up financial services with music.

3. Re-Bundle: This term is used where an artist puts together high value packages by selling all they have as one package. I.e. an artist may sell a package that includes a CD, T-Shirt, DVD, Concert Ticket all at one price to their fans instead of selling the same items through various outlets. This is particularly useful where the artist has a good database of fans.

4. A la Carte: this is a process where the consumers choose what they want from different genres. So what iTunes offers is typically an A la Carte service because those who purchase from their stores can have the pleasure of choosing from anywhere in the store to make up their order.

5. Streaming: in terms of music, streaming is where you are listening to music as it is been delivered by the provider. It is distinctly different from a download, where you transfer the complete track/album to a listening device/pc/storage before you listen to the content. Where streaming is offered you cannot download the content (legally).

6. Subscription: this is a new business model that allows the consumer to listen to as much unlimited music per month for a monthly fee. It is the type of service Spotify offers.

7. Ad-funded Model: this is a type of service that shares revenue with content providers. I.e. Spotify has adverts running before the music is played. The advertisers pay Spotify to play the ad and Spotify in turn share this revenue with the music owners.

8. Music on Demand: The ability to be able to listen to, play back or watch high quality content as soon as the play button is pressed. The recent technological development of bandwidth has made this possible.

How Do Contracts Stop Selective Memory?

Why do many people in the music industry make the same mistakes that eventually cost them thousands if not millions of dollars?

Many recording artists, managers and independent record labels are putting their careers and business agreements in jeopardy. They are meeting the right people, and they come to reasonable compromises with their business associates. They think that they have a deal completed, but they usually forget one major ingredient.

What Is The Missing Ingredient?

They do not put their business agreements in writing. If you do not have a contract for your business agreement, it usually does not exist in most situations especially in the music industry. You should always have a contract for all of your music industry related business agreements and compromises.

How Does A Contract Protect Me?

A contract protects you if your business associate does not remember making a commitment to you or your company. Anyone can totally deny a handshake agreement when it is convenient for the person to do so. A convenient loss of memory cannot help a person deny an agreement when you have his/her signature on a contract.

You need to understand a few important things when it comes to selective memory and contracts.

SELECTIVE MEMORY POINT 1: SOME PEOPLE WILL NOT SIGN CONTRACTS

Many people in the music industry will make you small promises. These promises will not require contracts. You will be in an inferior position because you must depend on a person keeping his/her word.

Are Your Prepared For The Worst?

In these situations, you should always expect to be lied to. You are now mentally and emotionally prepared for disappointment if your business associate does not deliver on a promise when you do not expect him/her to. You are prepared to find another solution for your problems if things go wrong when you are always prepared for the worst case scenario.

The Good News

If you are prepared for the worse, you can only be surprised when a person in the music industry keeps his word. Enough people will lie to you that you will enjoy when you are pleasantly surprised.

SELECTIVE MEMORY POINT 2: A CONTRACT IS PROOF NOT A COMMAND

A contract only proves that you and your business partner have an agreement. It does not make anyone fulfill their contract obligations. People might still attempt to back out of your business agreements with them.

New Flash: The Length And Wording Of A Contract Does Not Matter!

Some people have the wrong idea about contracts. It does not matter if you have a contract with complicated legal terms, or you sign a simple, straight to the point contract. If people want to break their business agreements, they will do it.

Contracts Do Not Stop Crooks From Being Crooks

A thief will still attempt to steal from you even when he/she signed a contract saying that he/she cannot. A person might attempt to get out of his/her contract ahead of time even when the contact has a specific time limit.

How Do Contracts Stop Selective Memory?

Why do many people in the music industry make the same mistakes that eventually cost them thousands if not millions of dollars?

Many recording artists, managers and independent record labels are putting their careers and business agreements in jeopardy. They are meeting the right people, and they come to reasonable compromises with their business associates. They think that they have a deal completed, but they usually forget one major ingredient.

What Is The Missing Ingredient?

They do not put their business agreements in writing. If you do not have a contract for your business agreement, it usually does not exist in most situations especially in the music industry. You should always have a contract for all of your music industry related business agreements and compromises.

How Does A Contract Protect Me?

A contract protects you if your business associate does not remember making a commitment to you or your company. Anyone can totally deny a handshake agreement when it is convenient for the person to do so. A convenient loss of memory cannot help a person deny an agreement when you have his/her signature on a contract.

You need to understand a few important things when it comes to selective memory and contracts.

SELECTIVE MEMORY POINT 1: SOME PEOPLE WILL NOT SIGN CONTRACTS

Many people in the music industry will make you small promises. These promises will not require contracts. You will be in an inferior position because you must depend on a person keeping his/her word.

Are Your Prepared For The Worst?

In these situations, you should always expect to be lied to. You are now mentally and emotionally prepared for disappointment if your business associate does not deliver on a promise when you do not expect him/her to. You are prepared to find another solution for your problems if things go wrong when you are always prepared for the worst case scenario.

The Good News

If you are prepared for the worse, you can only be surprised when a person in the music industry keeps his word. Enough people will lie to you that you will enjoy when you are pleasantly surprised.

SELECTIVE MEMORY POINT 2: A CONTRACT IS PROOF NOT A COMMAND

A contract only proves that you and your business partner have an agreement. It does not make anyone fulfill their contract obligations. People might still attempt to back out of your business agreements with them.

New Flash: The Length And Wording Of A Contract Does Not Matter!

Some people have the wrong idea about contracts. It does not matter if you have a contract with complicated legal terms, or you sign a simple, straight to the point contract. If people want to break their business agreements, they will do it.

Contracts Do Not Stop Crooks From Being Crooks

A thief will still attempt to steal from you even when he/she signed a contract saying that he/she cannot. A person might attempt to get out of his/her contract ahead of time even when the contact has a specific time limit.

How Artists Can Build A Home Studio From Scratch!

You want to record those great tunes you've written right? You have a band project going and you need a place to record your work? You got the material, but you need to record that demo for the record companies?

Well, building your own recording studio is a great place to start.

When you're based on computer recording, good audio recording software is essential. You need software that doesn't use up all the resources in your computer, but still has the power to get the job done.

You should look for audio recording software featuring:

Great quality, low latency, audio recording (16 bit, 24 bit or 32-bit-float at frequency 41000 Hz or higher)

Low latency midi recording (support for ASIO drivers)

Good mixing capabilities (i.e. multi tracking)

Good plugin support (VST/DX software synths and samplers, effects plugins)

Good Mixdown/Export capabilities (you should be able to export your final mix/recording to a high quality audio file which you can burn onto a CD, ship to a record company and get the deal of your dreams!)

Now onto the audio recording software:

In my opinion these are the most important things to look for in audio recording software.

The sound card (a.k.a. audio interface, sound interface) is one of the most important parts in your recording studio computer.

Audio interfaces handle the input and output of audio (and midi) to and from your computer. A few pieces of advice here on what to look for in a good audio interface for recording purposes.

The following benefits are what you should get out of great audio cards:

Support of great audio quality, both input and output.(24 bit, 96000 Hz, high quality audio)

Capability of low latency sustained recording of both audio and midi.

If you intend to use recording software like Cubase SX, the sound interface has to support ASIO drivers.

Among the variety of audio interfaces I can recommend the M-AUDIO Audiophile 24/96 for any home recording environment.

In recent years the USB and Firewire external audio interfaces have grown to be of good quality as well. So if you plan on using your laptop as a studio computer, or you simply don't have any PCI slots to spare in your computer, this would be the way to go.

The Popularization Of Hindi Songs In TV Serials

TV serials and musical scores go hand in hand as they do in movies, because sound adds drama to the plot. It's the soul of the story, and it conveys hidden truths to the audience that allows them to follow its development better. For example, in a crime thriller, the lead can say convincingly that he is fine, but the audience will know that he isn't or he won't be, because of the accompanying music that is being played. Regardless of the choice of songs being mainstream or orchestrated, it is clear that they are important to television production.

In recent years, Hindi songs have found their way into television sitcoms with their rising popularity. Thanks to the marriage of Bollywood and Hollywood concepts, American shows today have not only embraced cultural fusion in its casting, but also applied a variety of cultural music to make the experience more genuine. Shows like Weeds, Community, Human Giant, House and Big Bang Theory have paved their way with the incorporation of Indian characters in the main billing. Going beyond that, Indian music has also taken over all forms of visual media, from film to scripted, unscripted and informational show genres, with crossover hits like Jai Ho and Chammak Challo.

Ever since 1955, foreign acts began incorporating Indian music influences and instruments into their hits. But, in the 1980s, the fad died down, leaving a few die-hard immigrant fans with no other option but to entertain underground Asian compositions. In the year 2000, Indian music slowly began to re-establish itself, like "Indian Flute" and "Don't Phunk With My Heart" (sampling Asha Boshle's "Yah Mera Dil").

As of the moment, Bollywood movies are the second most watched films in America with a built-in audience of 3 million. Imports such as Slumdog Millionaire, 3 Idiots and Ghajini earned accolades from American audiences and critics, which incited the creation of the foreign (Sony) funded Bollywood film Saawariya.

Hindi music, however, has yet to achieve a substantial following due to the fact that it is inaccessible in the area. Unlike movies, Indian songs are not mass marketed in retail stores like Walmart and Best Buy. They are also not given substantial radio airplay. Therefore, people who are interested have to look online in order to appreciate what they are all about.

Some of the most popular hindi songs for 2011 were "Teri Meri Prem Kahani" by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, "Ooh La La" by Bappi Lahiri, "Laung Da Lashkara" by Mahalakshmi Iyer and "Sadda Haq" by A.R. Rahman (Funfact: He won an Oscar for Jai Ho). But frankly speaking, there are plenty of other must-hear Hindi artists aside from those that have been mentioned, that are not yet featured in TV serials in films. There are a lot more to appreciate about Indian songs with seven types of folk music genres and of course hip hop, dance, rock and raga rock interpretations.

Music Business Terms Everyone Must Know

It can still be like this in the music business especially when digital sectors are discussed. So in this article I want to help us understand certain terms used. They are:

6. Subscription: this is a new business model that allows the consumer to listen to as much unlimited music per month for a monthly fee. It is the type of service Spotify offers.