Friday, March 26th, 2010
CIRAA (Canadian Independent Recording Artist Association) has a series of music industry focused discussions (podcasts) called The New Indie.
The New Indie, CIRAA’s flagship educational initiative, is an in-depth audio series featuring interviews with music industry experts discussing the new realities facing today’s independent recording artists. The New Indie was created to help artists navigate this music industry paradigm shift.
Topics:
Money (getting funding for your music)
Promo (coming April 5)
Live (coming May 3)
Labels (features Bob Lefsetz)
Management
Publishing
These are definitely worth checking out if you’re a musician, manager, or even producer as these topics regularly come up (Canadian or not). Music Industry business may not be fun to you but take this opportunity for some free education anyway.
Another great resource from the CIRAA website is the LINKS PAGE which leads you to more information than you can handle.
Posted in Industry, commentary, interview, music | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 1st, 2010
This is a guest post from Geoffrey Granka of Fresh Produce Productions. Find him online at www.freshaudio.ca and @gmgranka on twitter.
“I haven’t had a day job since September of 08! And I ain’t ever going back!”
The economy is crapped out. So is the music business. One could easily be tricked into thinking it’s a bad time to be in the business. EMI almost sold Abbey Road Studios at a discount, and other big three similarly desperate.
What’s good is that now people have to use their brains instead of their chequebooks to “make it”. Acts like Lily Allen all the way to Drake have achieved success with the bargaining power on their side of the table. Getting big on their own dime, and having labels beg to sign them.
Outasight is an enviable position. Through strategic placements of his songs and good old word-of-mouth, he’s gotten over 250k downloads of his debut album Further, and he’s just inked a deal with Warner Music. We could all learn something from him.
How important do you think that fan interaction has been in getting this far?
I personally love interacting with fans who reach out to me, as it’s important in the growing stages to build a relationship with the people who can support and help your career all the way through.
When did you first start to have fans that you didn’t personally recognize?
Over the past few months that has really started to happen, random stuff, you know people coming up to you at events and parties, and even a few times in the street. It’s really flattering, especially knowing that I still have a long way to go, and I certainly appreciate it.
How early in your career was online marketing a part of your marketing campaign?
From the beginning of me taking my career serious online marketing was integral. A few years ago the dream started with a MySpace page and a couple songs. Now more than ever there are a million (free) mediums to try and expose your music to new people all over the world, and I definitely took advantage of that from the get-go.
I first heard your music as the closing music on a high subscription YouTube channel called BreakingNYC. How did that come about?
Ray reached out to me through a public email saying that he has been a fan and would like to use some of my music. I was unfamiliar with his work and a little confused at first, but the exposure has been incredible… He has a loyal and awesome fan base that really took a liking to what I do as well, and I am thankful for such a great exposure opportunity!
How many downloads have you reached on your free album?
As of right now, because of Ray’s help, and also all the major hip hop blogs support, we are over 250,000 downloads of “Further”. It’s almost too good to be true really, every time I see or hear a new number I have to shake my head like, “Did I hear that correctly?” Haha.
If you give away your music for free, where do you expect the money to come from to support yourself?
Artists today release music for free to gain fans and exposure, and if your good enough, work hard enough, and get some lucky breaks, you can turn those fans and exposure into a financial gain. It’s a little sacrifice for the big picture.
Where do you expect to be career-wise in 3 years?
Well, I just signed to Warner Bros, so my goals right now are to get my music ready for a mainstream audience and push through to millions of listeners. So in 3 years, maybe a Grammy or 2, sold out shows across the world, and a great fan base that I will always work hard for!
If you weren’t in music what would you do?
Most likely creative writing, with a focus on fiction and short stories.
When were you able to quit your day job?
I haven’t had a day job since September of 08! And I ain’t ever going back!
What would you tell a young musician looking to market him/herself effectively?
I would say first focus on your music. Artists have become better at marketing than music in some instances, and I think that’s the backwards way of going. If your music is solid, and it’s something you continue to work on and get better at, then the ideas for marketing will come because you will know what you want to do. Persistence is also a huge key, stay on it, keep growing, and be honest to your craft and if you’re good, things will happen…
Check out Outasight here: http://www.myspace.com/iamoutasight Follow Outasite on Twitter @imOutasight
Posted in Industry, interview, music | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008
This article is a steaming pile of bullshit, and honestly thats being too nice about it.
Pop Matters – How Pro Tools Is Destroying Music
“Computer programs are killing the old recording studios, and the engineering knowhow once harnessed there is disappearing.” - Scott Oranburg
Read the comments by RWC, I can’t say it any better than him.
Quote:
| “With the human touch inherent in any performance autocorrected digitally, we lose much of the element that gives music its emotive contours. Sometimes, playing slightly behind the beat or slightly below the correct pitch is what makes a piece inspiring” |
“I am not sure about how anyone else works, but the only time I break out such tools is when it is such a joke, that it has absolutely no chance of not being LAUGHED AT to begin with. This brings total trash into the realm of mediocre.”
“I, and most other competent people, aren’t going to snap to grid or Melodyne an amazing fucking song just because the chorus is slightly faster than the verse.” - RWC
This is the best time to be making music, you don’t need to worry about what the label wants, just make good music and do whatever it takes to do it. Sure, budgets are lower, a lot lower these days, but its just less money for artists to waste on extravagance in the studio.
Posted in Industry, Pro Tools, Software, commentary, music | 5 Comments »
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
After a series of very vague blog posts from Trent:
“Soon”
“Tick tock…tick tock…”
“2 hours”
The new album has been released (minutes ago). Titles Ghosts I-IV.
Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I – IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I – IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.
Trent Reznor explains, “I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn’t have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective – dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I’m very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts.”
You can listen to some online, and you can download the first 9 tracks in 320 kbps 100%DRM-Free Mp3.
http://ghosts.nin.com/
Posted in Download, Industry, music | 1 Comment »
