WHO'S ENDLESS WIRE

For a band with a legend of being one of the top British bands ever and influencing many bands such as Green Day, it must be tough to write new material and have it live up to their original heyday.

The Who have released their first recording in almost 25 years and the album titled "Endless Wire" is receiving critical praise from Rolling Stone, Mojo and All Music Guide.

You can read here "An interview with the Who's Pete Townsend".

[Resource http://www.presstelegram.com/entertainment/ci_5300147]

technorati tags:songwriting, pete+townsend, the+who,

TIPS FOR SONGWRITERS

How do you come up with and original chord progression or a song that stands out from the crowd as unique? With millions of songs around, how do you find something that hasn't already been done a zillion times over? Start here with these couple of great tips for songwriters.

For further reading, go to the website Blogging Muses where you'll find a whole bunch of articles all about songwriting.


[Resource http://www.bloggingmuses.com/archives/songwriting_tips_project_an_update_000619.php]

technorati tags:music+songwriting, music+chord+progression, song+structure, writing+original+music, songwriting+tips, indie, independent, musician

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR ROCK BAND

Here a a few easy quick tips for cover bands that can greatly improve your band. Small things that are overlooked by bands that are big things to the audience.

Rock Bands - Tips to improve your band

[Resource http://www.recordingreview.com/articles/articles/92/1/Rock-bands-tips-to-improve-your-band/Rock-bands-tips-to-improve-your-band.html]

technorati tags:independent+music+promotion, live+music, promote+your+music, music+promoter, indie, independent, musician

BRICKFISH

A San Diego company called Brickfish has come up with an interesting way to do marketing.

Invite other people to come up with ideas for free.

Rock band, Incubus has tried it out by letting Internet users design an album cover and were delivered 150 Cd artwork designs.

The cost charged by Brickfish (from $5000) is probably out of reach of most independent musicians, however here's an idea. Use your own fan base to get free marketing ideas and offer a prize to the winner. You could ask for ideas on innovative Cd launches or your new Cd releases.

Read the article "Why not let Internet junkies do your marketing for you?"



[Resource http://venturebeat.com/2007/02/20/brickfish-lets-you-tap-the-masses-for-marketing/]

technorati tags:independent+music+promotion, market+your+music, promote+your+music, music+marketing, indie, independent, musician

YOUR BAND WILL BREAK UP!

Well hopefully not at least until you've played some great music together and had a lot of fun :-)

When things are going great for your band, it’s easy to think that great things will continue to happen. Well, it’s very tough keeping 4 or 5 people together over the years. This article will discuss the unfortunate truth that your band will break up and will give some tips for you to confront and hopefully avoid it.

Your Band Will Break Up - Prepare ahead of time

[Resource http://www.recordingreview.com/articles/articles/140/1/Your-Band-Will-Break-Up---Prepare-Ahead-of-Time/Being-Prepared-For-Band-Breakups.html]

technorati tags:independent+music, live+music, indie, independent, musician

RECORDING TO PLEASE THE FANS AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

If you think your music's great, record it!

So how can you make sure that your recordings do justice to your songs so that they appeal to both your fans and the industry?

Here are some really practical and valuable tips to consider before you hit the record button.

I wont bother summing them up, I think you should read them yourself here at The Fifth Column Online Magazine.



[Resource http://www.fifthcolumnmagazine.com/?p=151]

technorati tags:independent+music+promotion, recording+tips, sell+your+music, recording+music, indie, independent, musician

STARTING A BAND

Starting A Band? Here's a few tips.

This article may save you a few huge headaches down the road when it comes to starting and keeping together a band.

A Beginners Guide To Starting A Band

[Resource http://www.recordingreview.com/articles/articles/67/1/Starting-A-Band-A-Few-Tips/A-Beginners-Guide-To-Starting-A-Band.html]

technorati tags:independent+music+promotion, market+your+music, promote+your+music, music+promoter, live+music, starting+a+band, indie, independent, musician

SMASHING THE MYTH OF THE PRESS RELEASE

"Publicity "gurus" are springing up all over the Internet touting the press release as the answer to all marketing ills. Just knock out a release, mass e-mail it to journalists, sit back and wait for Oprah to call.

Here's the reality: the press release is no more important to your potential of scoring free publicity than the demo tape was to our musician friend. If he had no talent, if his songs sounded like garbage, the best recorded demo tape in the world wouldn't get him signed. Ditto for the publicity seeker. If you don't have a story to tell, your press release is utterly worthless."

To read 4 great tips for making a press release worth writing read: Smashing the Myth of the Press Release

[Resource http://www.your-lease.co.uk/leasearticles10.html]

technorati tags:independent+music+promotion, market+your+music, promote+your+music, music+promoter, music+press+release, music+promotion+marketing, independent+music+promotion, indie, independent, musician

THE ABC OF GETTING A RECORD DEAL

The one thing all record labels have in common when looking for an artist is this. They all want someone who is marketable. Exactly what does marketable mean?

Labels and independent artists all want the same thing, to be able to sell your band (or you as a solo act) and your music and other merchandise. And what sells is a whole package that a certain group of people can identify with. Unfortunately, your music alone will probably not be enough to convince a record label that they can 'sell' you. Other marketing factors are your band name, logo, publicity photos, stage presentation and even who your fans are.

Whether you are marketing yourself directly to your audience or pitching your act to a record label, you'll still need to learn to market yourself if you are serious about building a music career.

Look at how you and each of your band members present themselves, what is your overall 'image'? Be original and professional, it's great to have influences but find a look and style that is original to your band.

Here's an article called The Marketing ABCs of How to Get a Record Deal which goes into a bit of detail about exactly which areas you should look at and some suggestions to improve your marketability.

Once you've got that sorted you can start to look at some marketing strategies that you can use.

Here are some links for self promotion tools that will put your band ahead most other bands and most importantly help you market and sell your music. Click here or visit one of the pages below:

50 Ways to Promote & Sell Your Music on the Internet

How To use Video to Promote Your Music Online

Ezine Music Marketing

[Resource http://www.articlesmaker.com/arts-and-entertainment/music/the-marketing-abcs-of-how-to-get-a-record-deal.html]

technorati tags:independent+music+promotion, market+your+music, promote+your+music, music+promoter, indie, indie, indie, indie, independent, musician

PIRACY NOT THE ONLY ENEMY

Are the major records companies becoming the dinosaurs of the music industry?

We always hear about how free downloads are affecting their sales but are there other factors?

This article insists that Piracy isn’t the only enemy and even offers an analogy between music and water to describe the two things music companies are not doing very well.


[Resource http://www.newsday.com/features/printedition/ny-ffcol5094444feb18,0,4441697.column?coll=ny-top-headlines&track=mostemailedlink]

technorati tags:independent+music+promotion, indie, market+your+music, promote+your+music, music+press+release, music+industry, music+distribution, major+record+label , music+promoter, indie, independent, musician

7 TIPS TO GET YOUR PRESS RELEASE NOTICED

If you intend to let people know about your new Cd or a gig and you don't have your own PR person you'll have to do one of two things.

Pay a public relations agency to write one for you, or learn to write one yourself.

To make sure you have all the basics covered and you know how to write a press release that doesn't fly under the radar, take a look at "7 Tips to Getting Your Press Release Noticed".


[Resource http://www.your-lease.co.uk/leasearticles12.html]

technorati tags:independent+music+promotion, indie, market+your+music, promote+your+music, music+press+release, music+promoter, indie, independent, musician

TIPS AND TRICKS TO GET YOUR MUSIC OUT THERE

This is a Q and A article I came across on the Australian Triple j website. It's an edited chat with John Watson, band manager for successful Australian bands Little Birdy, Missy Higgins and The Dissociatives and Kirileigh Lynch triple j's assistant music director.

They discuss website promotion verses street press promotion, how to go about getting a manager, sending demo Cd's to touring bands and A&R, does the Cd cover design make a difference to whether the Cd will get listened to and marketing your music to community radio.

And plenty more great tips which you can read here.


[Resource http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/music/tipsntricks.htm]

technorati tags: little+birdy, missy+higgins, the+dissociatives, indie+music+promotion, market+your+music, indie, independent, musician

ONLINE MUSIC'S CRUNCH TIME

The debate is on.

Since Steve Jobs open letter last week ("Thoughts On Music") about DRM, much has since been written about the direction online music should take.

This article "Crunch Time Coming For Online Music", gives a good account of the background and reasons behind the debate.



[Resource http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/February/10/style/stories/08style.htm]

technorati tags:digital+music+downloads, digital+rights+management, drm, internet+music+promotion, indie, independent, musician

ARE YOU MAKING THESE MISTAKES?

Do you know the 10 things every independent musician should know to help their career?

Sometimes it takes only a small and simple idea to produce big changes to results.

Here's an article I came across called 1o Things Every Independent Musician Should Know To Help Their Career and I think it's worth a read to see if you making some of these mistakes?


[Resource http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/140227/10_things_every_independent_musician.html]

technorati tags:promote+your+music, indie, independent, musician

ADWORD MARKETING TIPS

Do you use Google adwords as part of your marketing strategy?

If so, you may be interested in an article I came across with an example of how one small change can increase your traffic by over 200%. Read about it here.


[Resource http://blog.mindvalleylabs.com/marketing/sure-fire-headline-for-google-adwords-boosts-roi-by-200/]

technorati tags:google+adwords, music+marketing, internet+marketing, indie, indie, indie, indie+musician

NEXTUNE

NexTune is a music marketing company bridging the gap between the music industry and technology.

You can read in this press release (below) how NexTune are providing for retailers, records labels, music consumers and have found a largely ignored online music Cd market.

NexTune Bridges The Gap BetweenThe Music Industry and Technology

[Resource http://sev.prnewswire.com/music/20070212/CLM07912022007-1.html]

technorati tags:digital music downloads, indie, music distribution, indie, nextune, promote+your+ music, sell+your+independent+music, indie+music+promotion, indie, independent, musician

WAITING FOR THE MUSE

Would you like to be able to choose from dozens of songs for your next recording?

If you're not naturally a prolific songwriter, you might find these tips helpful to get those songs coming. It's not a magic pill, it's just common sense and a method used by some of the worlds best songwriters.

Read, "Songwriting, and being ready for the muse".



[Resource http://davedturner.blogspot.com/2007/02/songwriting-and-being-ready-for-muse.html]

technorati tags:independent+music+career, free+music+career+resources, songwriting, independent, indie+musician, independent, musician

YOU PICK THE HITS - SONG COMPETITION

Here's a song competition with a twist on the usual.

The judges are not industry professionals, songs are judged by the public and it's an online competition. The cost to enter is USD$30 per song for each category (eg. 1 song entered in 2 categories would cost $60).

The 2007 song entry deadline is April 23. For entry forms and details, go to U-Pick the Hits.

[Resource http://www.upickthehits.com/]

THE EASY WAY TO GET GIGS

Would you like an easy way to keep all your gigs organised?

The Indie Musician's new resource 'The Easy Way To Get Gigs' is a FREE resource written by a musician for musicians.

To get your free resource, join The Indie Musician's free "Tools For Success" program here.

The Indie Musician

MAKE YOUR OWN FREE LOGO IN MINUTES

If you're taking your music marketing seriously, you should have a logo. You can use this to 'brand' your music or band as well using them as banner links on websites.

If you're not a graphic designer and/or you haven't got some lazy money sitting around, your problems are solved!

Cool Text is a free Graphics Generator website where you can create and download your unique logo in a few minutes. There's plenty of choice from layout design to color, font and size and you'll get your own jpg file to download in seconds from completing your design.

As they say...."Here's one I did earlier"

[Resource http://cooltext.com/]