Music Business Archive

Top 25 Web Apps To Use For An Up & Coming Artist

Posted on June 11, 2009 | No Comments
Me and The Machine Records

Tools are a plenty online for a artist starting up and doing it on his/her/their own. My friends over at Me and the Machine Records have put a list of the top 25 necessary music sites. I consider them web apps since they’re are tools to get things done easier and more quickly. There’s no better advice than from the people who use them so check out the article.

Further Reading:

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  • The Nashville Scene has a great article the Music Business workings in Nashville. It used to be a Nashville artist (non-country) couldn’t get a record deal but now they get deals and still screws the artists in the long run. It’s a long article but shows how some of our most talented artistsgo through the grinder and end up as little pieces of meat at the other end.

    Lessons Learned, The Music Industry Hasn’t Changed. Beware the “Record Deal”

    Posted on June 10, 2009 | No Comments
    The Nashville Scene has a great article the Music Business workings in Nashville. It used to be a Nashville artist (non-country) couldn’t get a record deal but now they get deals and still screws the artists in the long run. It’s a long article but shows how some of our most talented artistsgo through the grinder and end up as little pieces of meat at the other end.

    Continue Reading...

  • <p style=You're Still Not Playing Here

    CMA Music Festival kicks off officially on Thursday and some start on Wednesday but most people start today. They are attending fan club parties, sight seeing and doing the basic tourist thing. As an artist what are you doing to take advantage of the influx of Country Music fans?

    Last week I posted on how to take advantage of this event with out actually being at the event. Now it might be to late to plan and implement so what do you do if you’re a procrastinator that wants to do something?

    You can still go social but far fewer of your fans are going to be in front of their computers and some will be on mobile. The Country Music fan tends to be a little be behind on this whole technology things. It doesn’t mean you can’t try to connect to those who are.

    Viral might be your best bet to get things rolling but if not implemented correctly or the pay-off falls flat you are going to look foolish.

    What to do? It really is different for everybody. First thing I’d do is find a place to play. I know through a source that the Wild Beaver Saloon downtown might have open spots but you’ll have to check with them. Looking at their schedule it looks pretty booked up.

    Next figure out a way to promote the show online and off. I say figure out a way to make it a surprise. Leave some mystery, let people hunt a little, don’t mis-represent who is playing by making people think its some huge artist. Because when they show up and it’s you and not lets say Kenny Chesney the fans will be irritated and even pissed.

    One idea is partner with a bar to offer a discount. Say $1 off a special drink during your show. Course bars make a killing during the festival so getting someone to offer a discount is nill. If you have the budget you could pay the discount to the bar for a certain number of drinks.

    Key things to do is play out and offer your products at a reasonable price. You’re there to make new fans not a killing on selling CDs.

    Further Reading:

    " title="2009 CMA Fest Small Artist Crunch Time Advice…Hint: Do Something!" />

    2009 CMA Fest Small Artist Crunch Time Advice…Hint: Do Something!

    Posted on June 8, 2009 | No Comments

    You're Still Not Playing Here

    CMA Music Festival kicks off officially on Thursday and some start on Wednesday but most people start today. They are attending fan club parties, sight seeing and doing the basic tourist thing. As an artist what are you doing to take advantage of the influx of Country Music fans?

    Last week I posted on how to take advantage of this event with out actually being at the event. Now it might be to late to plan and implement so what do you do if you’re a procrastinator that wants to do something?

    You can still go social but far fewer of your fans are going to be in front of their computers and some will be on mobile. The Country Music fan tends to be a little be behind on this whole technology things. It doesn’t mean you can’t try to connect to those who are.

    Viral might be your best bet to get things rolling but if not implemented correctly or the pay-off falls flat you are going to look foolish.

    What to do? It really is different for everybody. First thing I’d do is find a place to play. I know through a source that the Wild Beaver Saloon downtown might have open spots but you’ll have to check with them. Looking at their schedule it looks pretty booked up.

    Next figure out a way to promote the show online and off. I say figure out a way to make it a surprise. Leave some mystery, let people hunt a little, don’t mis-represent who is playing by making people think its some huge artist. Because when they show up and it’s you and not lets say Kenny Chesney the fans will be irritated and even pissed.

    One idea is partner with a bar to offer a discount. Say $1 off a special drink during your show. Course bars make a killing during the festival so getting someone to offer a discount is nill. If you have the budget you could pay the discount to the bar for a certain number of drinks.

    Key things to do is play out and offer your products at a reasonable price. You’re there to make new fans not a killing on selling CDs.

    Further Reading:

    Continue Reading...

  • <p style=Riverfront Park Stages at 2008 CMA Music Festival

    The CMA Music Festival is coming around again and the CMA’s focus is big artists for big ratings and ticket sales. So what does a small artist do to take advantage of the extra exposure to grow his/her/their fan base?

    Unless you’re an A and B level signed artist don’t waste your time trying to play one of the main stages. It’s all about money and who can bring the most people in. Nothing against you but it’s a business and has little do about your music or the fans.

    First of all poll your fans. Find out how many are coming to the festival, if at all. It’s harder to play to a crowd when you know that they haven’t heard of you before.

    Next make sure you are playing somewhere, preferably free admission. I can’t help you with booking since that’s not my area of experience. If you have a manager he should already be on top of it. We’re two weeks out and venues to play are getting slim I would suspect.

    Once you know who’s coming do something to embrace and thank them for their support. Impromptu fan only show for those who responded to your poll sort of like a fan club party but only them. Or if you are having an open fan club party, create a special area just for them. What you are doing is re-enforcing that the information they provided is valuable to you hence they are. You will be stupid if you didn’t value your fans, they provide you with a career.

    Harness the powers of your fans. Turn them into an un-official street team, or create an official one. This can be done either online or in person.

    Online: Now that you know which fans are attending, create a one side 8 ½ by 11 flyer promoting your show during the festival. Convert it to a PDF and email it out to your list. Ask your fans to print it out then post them or hand out to other people that should know about you.

    Off-line: Same as online first step but you accrue the printing costs. Now that you know which fans are attending, create a one side 8 ½ by 11 flyer promoting your show during the festival. Go to your local printer and print the flyers out. Then hand out stacks to your fans at your fan club party. Then again ask them to hand out the flyers or post them around town. Please note this only works if you have booked a show after the party.

    Finally make sure you’re accessible which includes your produces for purchase. This isn’t to make fat cash but expand your fan base. Make your products an impulse buy, if you can sell a CD for $5, do it. Create “new fan specials” combos for example CD, fan club membership and t-shirt $20.

    It’s a 5-day marathon so pace yourself and have fun.

    If you need any help with any of this process I am available for consulting, design and project management work leading up and during the festival. Contact me at davidberonja.com.

    technorati tags: , , ,

    " title="Small Artists “How To” Guide to the 2009 CMA Music Festival" />

    Small Artists “How To” Guide to the 2009 CMA Music Festival

    Posted on June 2, 2009 | No Comments

    Riverfront Park Stages at 2008 CMA Music Festival

    The CMA Music Festival is coming around again and the CMA’s focus is big artists for big ratings and ticket sales. So what does a small artist do to take advantage of the extra exposure to grow his/her/their fan base?

    Unless you’re an A and B level signed artist don’t waste your time trying to play one of the main stages. It’s all about money and who can bring the most people in. Nothing against you but it’s a business and has little do about your music or the fans.

    First of all poll your fans. Find out how many are coming to the festival, if at all. It’s harder to play to a crowd when you know that they haven’t heard of you before.

    Next make sure you are playing somewhere, preferably free admission. I can’t help you with booking since that’s not my area of experience. If you have a manager he should already be on top of it. We’re two weeks out and venues to play are getting slim I would suspect.

    Once you know who’s coming do something to embrace and thank them for their support. Impromptu fan only show for those who responded to your poll sort of like a fan club party but only them. Or if you are having an open fan club party, create a special area just for them. What you are doing is re-enforcing that the information they provided is valuable to you hence they are. You will be stupid if you didn’t value your fans, they provide you with a career.

    Harness the powers of your fans. Turn them into an un-official street team, or create an official one. This can be done either online or in person.

    Online: Now that you know which fans are attending, create a one side 8 ½ by 11 flyer promoting your show during the festival. Convert it to a PDF and email it out to your list. Ask your fans to print it out then post them or hand out to other people that should know about you.

    Off-line: Same as online first step but you accrue the printing costs. Now that you know which fans are attending, create a one side 8 ½ by 11 flyer promoting your show during the festival. Go to your local printer and print the flyers out. Then hand out stacks to your fans at your fan club party. Then again ask them to hand out the flyers or post them around town. Please note this only works if you have booked a show after the party.

    Finally make sure you’re accessible which includes your produces for purchase. This isn’t to make fat cash but expand your fan base. Make your products an impulse buy, if you can sell a CD for $5, do it. Create “new fan specials” combos for example CD, fan club membership and t-shirt $20.

    It’s a 5-day marathon so pace yourself and have fun.

    If you need any help with any of this process I am available for consulting, design and project management work leading up and during the festival. Contact me at davidberonja.com.

    technorati tags: , , ,

    Continue Reading...

  • <p><strong><span style=Does an artist keep moving or just add on?

    First there was Friendster where you could connect to each other, and then MySpace replaced it where you could do the same but music artists could get in on the action. It was a real first way for artists to connect to their fan base other than a website and email list. MySpace grew and it was great for artists but then it became like a un-attended garden. Weeds (spammers) everywhere, fake porn and the un-relenting “friend” requests from people you didn’t care about nor knew. It was a great outlet for new music but the more people on your “friends” list the less useful it became to everybody. Facebook opened up to everybody; it was clean and more useful to some. It became the “hip kid” on the Internet block. They seem to be doing things right and releasing new features regularly. It had everything MySpace did and avoiding the things that turned people off.  Facebook is still the “cool kid” but is now trying to compete with the latest “hip” social website Twitter.  In my opinion, this was the first mistake that MySpace made, trying to keep up with the new trends instead of make what they have more solid. Twitter is a simple micro-blogging concept. “What are you doing now?” you’re limited to 140 characters explaining it.

    I haven’t even gone into other social networks like iLike, Bebo, DigitalRodeo, etc. So the question is does an artist add or move on? It really comes down to two things: time and where your fans are.

    Do you have the time to do to maintain all the properties you create? There are tools to help out but it’s still a lot of work. You still have to respond to your fans on all those networks for which there are not tools to manage a of yet.

    Second is you should know where your fans are. If they are MySpace you probably should be on MySpace even though the rest of the Internet are talking about its demise.

    The worst thing to do is create a social property for your band or self and then abandon it. I’m guilty of that with the Nashville Feed website because I didn’t have the time to dedicate. Lesson learned.

    Overview:

    • Know where your fans are online.
    • Go where your fans are only if you have the time to dedicate to these properties.
    • Don’t expand if you’re going to neglect these new properties.

    " title="Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and the Next Cool Kid on the Block. Which One?" />

    Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and the Next Cool Kid on the Block. Which One?

    Posted on June 1, 2009 | No Comments

    Does an artist keep moving or just add on?

    First there was Friendster where you could connect to each other, and then MySpace replaced it where you could do the same but music artists could get in on the action. It was a real first way for artists to connect to their fan base other than a website and email list. MySpace grew and it was great for artists but then it became like a un-attended garden. Weeds (spammers) everywhere, fake porn and the un-relenting “friend” requests from people you didn’t care about nor knew. It was a great outlet for new music but the more people on your “friends” list the less useful it became to everybody. Facebook opened up to everybody; it was clean and more useful to some. It became the “hip kid” on the Internet block. They seem to be doing things right and releasing new features regularly. It had everything MySpace did and avoiding the things that turned people off.  Facebook is still the “cool kid” but is now trying to compete with the latest “hip” social website Twitter.  In my opinion, this was the first mistake that MySpace made, trying to keep up with the new trends instead of make what they have more solid. Twitter is a simple micro-blogging concept. “What are you doing now?” you’re limited to 140 characters explaining it.

    I haven’t even gone into other social networks like iLike, Bebo, DigitalRodeo, etc. So the question is does an artist add or move on? It really comes down to two things: time and where your fans are.

    Do you have the time to do to maintain all the properties you create? There are tools to help out but it’s still a lot of work. You still have to respond to your fans on all those networks for which there are not tools to manage a of yet.

    Second is you should know where your fans are. If they are MySpace you probably should be on MySpace even though the rest of the Internet are talking about its demise.

    The worst thing to do is create a social property for your band or self and then abandon it. I’m guilty of that with the Nashville Feed website because I didn’t have the time to dedicate. Lesson learned.

    Overview:

    • Know where your fans are online.
    • Go where your fans are only if you have the time to dedicate to these properties.
    • Don’t expand if you’re going to neglect these new properties.

    Continue Reading...

  • <p style=Grimey's Music

    Drinking my morning coffee and checking out Digg.com I came across Spin Magazines top 10 Indie Music Stores in the country. Guess who came in at #8? Our favorite music store in Nashville Grimey’s Music.

    A big congrats to all the people who work there and what they do to put Nashville on the map for something besides Country Music, healthcare providers and tourism.

    Go check out the Spin article and give it a digg if you have a moment.

    " title="Nashvilles Very Own Grimey’s Music Makes Spin Magazines Top Indie Stores" />

    Nashvilles Very Own Grimey’s Music Makes Spin Magazines Top Indie Stores

    Posted on April 23, 2009 | No Comments

    Grimey's Music

    Drinking my morning coffee and checking out Digg.com I came across Spin Magazines top 10 Indie Music Stores in the country. Guess who came in at #8? Our favorite music store in Nashville Grimey’s Music.

    A big congrats to all the people who work there and what they do to put Nashville on the map for something besides Country Music, healthcare providers and tourism.

    Go check out the Spin article and give it a digg if you have a moment.

    Continue Reading...

  • <div align=

    I caught Jedd HUghes, Alyssa Bonagura and Wade Bowen at The Rutledge last night. I've seen Jedd Hughes a few times (always a good show) but it was the first time for me to see Alyssa Bonagura and Wade Bowen. I honestly thought she was kidding when Miss Bonagura said it was her 21st birthday. Not because she looks a day over 18, but because her voice and stage presense was that of a seasoned pro. Further research, i.e., meeting a very nice couple at the bar who were family friends taught me that Alyssa is the daughter of Kathie Baillie and Michael Bonagura of Baillie and the Boys. Musical family or not, she is extremely talented and I suspect we will be hearing a lot from her in the future.

    Day 3 Picks (Thursday, April 2):

      Early Shows:
    • Mercy Lounge (6pm/$15): Steve Bogard, Kix Brooks, Bob DiPiero and Craig Wiseman.
    • Station Inn (6pm/$7): Sage Keffer, Matt Rovey, Sabrina, Michael White and Special Guest Callaway
      Late Shows:
      • Station Inn (9pm/$10): Sonny Curtis, Tim O'Brien, Tommy Ramone (yes, THE Tommy Ramone) & Claudia Tienan (Uncle Monk).
      • 3rd & Lindsley (9pm ($8): Peter Cooper, Phil Lee, Bill Lloyd and R.B. Morris.

      Have fun out there! And be sure to check out our updates on Twitter (hash tag #tinpansouth09)!

      Cheers,
      j.

    " title="Tin Pan South 2009: Day Three!" />

    • Tin Pan South 2009: Day Three!

    Posted on April 2, 2009 | No Comments

    I caught Jedd HUghes, Alyssa Bonagura and Wade Bowen at The Rutledge last night. I've seen Jedd Hughes a few times (always a good show) but it was the first time for me to see Alyssa Bonagura and Wade Bowen. I honestly thought she was kidding when Miss Bonagura said it was her 21st birthday. Not because she looks a day over 18, but because her voice and stage presense was that of a seasoned pro. Further research, i.e., meeting a very nice couple at the bar who were family friends taught me that Alyssa is the daughter of Kathie Baillie and Michael Bonagura of Baillie and the Boys. Musical family or not, she is extremely talented and I suspect we will be hearing a lot from her in the future.

    Day 3 Picks (Thursday, April 2):

      Early Shows:
    • Mercy Lounge (6pm/$15): Steve Bogard, Kix Brooks, Bob DiPiero and Craig Wiseman.
    • Station Inn (6pm/$7): Sage Keffer, Matt Rovey, Sabrina, Michael White and Special Guest Callaway
      Late Shows:
      • Station Inn (9pm/$10): Sonny Curtis, Tim O'Brien, Tommy Ramone (yes, THE Tommy Ramone) & Claudia Tienan (Uncle Monk).
      • 3rd & Lindsley (9pm ($8): Peter Cooper, Phil Lee, Bill Lloyd and R.B. Morris.

      Have fun out there! And be sure to check out our updates on Twitter (hash tag #tinpansouth09)!

      Cheers,
      j.

    Continue Reading...

  • <div align=

    Did anyone make it out to Tin Pan South last night? Who'd you see? I couldn't be more excited about tonight!

    Day 2 Picks (Wednesday, April 1):

      Early Shows:
    • The Rutledge (6pm/$8): Jeff Black, Rod Picott, Suzi Ragsdale and Amanda Shires.
    • Mercy Lounge (6pm/$10): Marshall Chapman, A.C. Croce, Tom Hambridge, Colin Linden and Gary Nicholson.
      Late Shows:
      • Bluebird Cafe (9pm/$10): Gabe Dixon, Josiah Leming, Landon Pigg, Tofer Brown & Laura Licata (Family Tree).
      • The Rutledge (9pm ($8): Alyssa Bonagura, Wade Bowen, Tom Bukovac, Jedd Hughes & Special Guest.

      See you around!!!

      Cheers,
      j.

    mdave Update:
    Even though there is so much going on with Tin Pan South there is another worthy show tonight at the Basement. Full disclosure Chip Greene is a friend of mine but I think he writes and plays fine music.

    • Treva & The Suits, Chip Greene & Chelsea Lena at The Basement

    Follow what's happening at Tin Pan South on Twitter. (hash tag is #tinpansouth09)

     

    " title="Tin Pan South 2009: Day 2 Picks!" />

    • Tin Pan South 2009: Day 2 Picks!

    Posted on April 1, 2009 | No Comments

    Did anyone make it out to Tin Pan South last night? Who'd you see? I couldn't be more excited about tonight!

    Day 2 Picks (Wednesday, April 1):

      Early Shows:
    • The Rutledge (6pm/$8): Jeff Black, Rod Picott, Suzi Ragsdale and Amanda Shires.
    • Mercy Lounge (6pm/$10): Marshall Chapman, A.C. Croce, Tom Hambridge, Colin Linden and Gary Nicholson.
      Late Shows:
      • Bluebird Cafe (9pm/$10): Gabe Dixon, Josiah Leming, Landon Pigg, Tofer Brown & Laura Licata (Family Tree).
      • The Rutledge (9pm ($8): Alyssa Bonagura, Wade Bowen, Tom Bukovac, Jedd Hughes & Special Guest.

      See you around!!!

      Cheers,
      j.

    mdave Update:
    Even though there is so much going on with Tin Pan South there is another worthy show tonight at the Basement. Full disclosure Chip Greene is a friend of mine but I think he writes and plays fine music.

    • Treva & The Suits, Chip Greene & Chelsea Lena at The Basement

    Follow what's happening at Tin Pan South on Twitter. (hash tag is #tinpansouth09)

     

    Continue Reading...

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