New Independent Music Business Model: Crowdfunding, Fanffiliates and Webcasts
Since I won’t be able to make it to the Homemade Music Symposium this weekend, I at least wanted to give my two cents on something that independent bands need to think about and adopt into their strategy. Many people think that the reason the music business is tanking is the lack of anew sustainable business model. I agree. Which is why I have provided my own for bands to test out. But first, my take on the two biggest “problems” bands bitch about and a look at why it costs so much money to be in a band.
Problem #1 – Most Bands Have No Money
Unless your daddy is a millionaire or is in the business, independent musicians don’t have money to make proper albums or promote them. While it is very cheap to make music for some people, it’s not for others that are less technically savvy. At the end of the day, even installing Ableton Live (not pirated) on your PC (needs to have serious juice), getting an audio interface (USB or Firewire) and buying 4-5 microphones and necessary accessories can cost thousands of dollars. Then you have to record the damned thing yourself, which takes skill, time and attention. It’s not impossible to do it on your own, but the process can be much simpler and professional if you hire someone to record you. Hence, the need for money. With studios costing anywhere between $15-150 per hour, plus engineer, a 10-song album can be a costly ordeal.
Problem #2 – Music Should Be Free Mentality
Also, it’s a widely-known fact that new music fans don’t want to pay for music, whether it‘s because they know that the “label“ makes all the money, $15 per CD is too much (you only like one song anyway) or that they don‘t care. While us old farts that grew up on tapes and CDs still hold on to them like family heirlooms, today’s music fans go on P2P sites and pillage hundreds if not thousands of songs they like, without having to sit through any of the filler that they don‘t. This devaluation of music has made the perceived price of recorded music near zero.
Economics of Being in a Band
People say, “musicians should make their money on the road touring and selling merch.” Sure. You can. Eventually. These people have obviously never been in a band.
10 Best Drummers of All Time
The drums. The spine and pulse of a band. A bad drummer loses an audience. A good drummer keeps the flow going in unison. A great drummer owns the stage. Being a bass player, I have always been intrinsically tied to drummers as we both have the duty of keeping things “in the pocket.”
It is out of love that I share with you my Top 10 Drummers of all time.
10 – Josh Freese (The Vandals, A Perfect Circle, Devo, Nine Inch Nails, all over Modern Rock radio) – One of the most sought out studio drummers in Rock music, Freese — a Florida native — cut his teeth in a Disneyland band when he was 12. At 15, he was already touring with the seminal/joke/genius punk band, The Vandals. Freese has appeared on close to 300 records.
How to Write a “Professional Enough” Band Bio
Having an objective and effective band biography can be a challenge for many bands. Often, the bands write these bio themselves (they are usually better at their instruments than at basic grammar) and are full of overly flowery explanations of the origin and mission of their sound and myriad influences. Sometimes, these monoliths are multiple pages long, including detailed biographical information about each band member.
Your bio doesn’t need to be so detailed. Save that for books about your legacy and magazine feature articles. Keep your bio short and punchy. Like a brand statement or company overview. While I’m not claiming to have the answer to the perfect and entrancing band bio formula, I can however impart some tid bits of advice that will make your bio much more powerful and relevant.
Attention Unsigned Bands: July 5 is Deadline for No Lip Vol. 3 Compilation
Attention Unsigned Bands: July 5 is Deadline for No Lip Vol. 3 Compilation. Please submit your best song through Sonicbids. Time Left to Submit: 4d , 3h, 35m
RT on Twitter: @mohawkbomb Deadline 2 Submit 4 No Lip 3 Comp Jul 5. Time Left: 4d , 3h, 38m http://tinyurl.com/maj92g #tampamusic #727music
Using Your EPK to Put More Money in Your Pocket Presentation
How to Take Music Reviews (Advice for Bands)
One of the ways people find out about new music is by listening to what their favorite trusted music critics have to say. Whether it’s a local newspaper or Rolling Stone magazine, getting reviewed is very important to bands, especially the songwriters. Reviews provide professional validation and encouragement when they are positive and they derail genius if they are negative or overly critical.
But even knowing the perils, thousands of bands stills send in their CDs to music critics everywhere, hoping that one explains their music in such an accurate and flattering way that fame would be the only logical result from these words being printed. Here’s some advice that may help put things in a more realistic perspective and why it doesn’t really matter.
How to Make a Flyer
In this post I will impart the 6 things to keep in mind when making a flyer for a show or event. It may seem simple and trivial, but a good flyer/poster will give people all the information they need to make up their mind to come to your show or not.
The purpose for the flyer/poster is to entice people who don’t know your band or the other bands playing to come check you out. You are asking them to take their leisure time and hard-earned money and spend a fraction of it with you. Also, the flyer needs to communicate to your fans and provide them an incentive to return to your concert. Here’s what 10 year of making flyers has taught me:
1) Highlight the date – The most important element is the time element. “When is the show?” is the most important question in your potential concert-goers mind. Also, the time the show starts is a nugget of information to never omit.
