This is Rock-n-Roll

AC/DC hasn't been an indie band for decades, but this song rocks, and the video's about as indie as you can get. It should be every band's theme song.

To maintain our indie cred, here's Billy Corgan doing an acoustic version, apparently on a street in Italy. I've never been a big fan, especially since he put Paris Hilton on the cover of a record, but he seems pretty cool to do this.

Soundproof your Garage

The folks at HomeRecordingConnection.com have a bunch of tips and resources for musicians. Here's an article on soundproofing your garage on the cheap.

In my room, we initially covered every wall completely and ended up with the guitar and bass not being able to hear each other. We could both hear the drums, but not each other. So, we took down crates until it livened up. It ended up in a checkerboard on the back wall and ceiling. We painted the egg crates black for the back wall giving it a real checkerboard look. We painted the crates for the ceiling four different fluorescent colors and ran the colors diagonally on the ceiling. Behind the band, on the wall covering the garage door, we painted a big rainbow on a sky blue background and hung black sheets draping to the side to look like stage curtains on the rainbow wall. It was very colorful and became a minor legend in the South Houston area.

A nice shag rug on the floor and a drum riser 12" high gave us the best amateur practice/jamming/recording room on the Gulf Coast. KHOU FM radio station even brought their mobile recording/broadcast truck out and did a "Seeds of Rock 'n Roll" show taping from our studio. That was a gas, whatta' party ! !

It would be a better site if they got rid of all the useless advertising links in the article. Also, it would help if they added some pics.

I didn't know this...

Band Wanted

Spin Magazine and Music Nation are looking for unsigned bands to enter their Band Wanted contest:

Videos • MP3s • Photos • Event Listings

Music Nation wants to give you a record deal! But to get it, you need to upload your music videos, MP3s and pictures. Post blogs, leave comments and promote your shows. Impress our judges and mobilize the fans to go to the next level.


Embed Your Video • Email Your Friends

The Music Nation player can be embedded anywhere: MySpace, in blogs and on your homepage. Everywhere you can use code, you can place your video. Our player is higher quality than the competition. If you want fans to see your work at its best, use us.


Vote Online • Vote Via SMS • Vote

Let artists know how you feel by casting your votes and rating their videos. You can vote online, via text or ESP. Okay, so you can't vote using mind tricks yet, but we're working on it. Hit up our forums or talk to your favorite artists one on one with our messaging system.


Win A Record Deal • Win Weekly Prizes

Music Nation will reward the very best Spin Hot Pursuit artist with a record deal, professional gear, cool threads and everything else it takes to become a career musician. Weekly winners can take home sweet prizes, too. The biggest fans and boldest talkers in our forums will also be recognized and rewarded.

Win a development deal with Epic, a slot at Spin's SXSW party in 2008, a song inclusion in an upcoming video game, and some more stuff. Perry Farrell will be one of the judges.

Music Nation has another contest going for bands around New England:

NEW ENGLAND BANDS, time to make your hometown's proud! Create your Music Nation profile and get started on your Rock Star Rising entry now. Upload your videos, MP3s and photos, and start using the promotional tools. The judges will be watching, The Phoenix, WFNX and Music Nation communities will be voting. One hard-working band will be handed a record contract, perform at the WFNX holiday show, and be carried on the shoulders of New England rock fans from here to eternity...

In Case You Were Wondering...

Wearing a stocking cap when it's above 70 is stupid.
If you're thinking it says something like "I'm so cool that I can't keep my head warm!", you're wrong.
And you're stupid.
During the '90s, musicians in Seattle would wear stocking caps because Seattle is in the North and it can get chilly there. That's the same reason they wore flannel shirts. I'm betting that alot of those guys didn't dress like that when it was warm, but they had their picture taken that way and it became the style.
That was over a decade ago. It's over. Stocking caps were the '90s version of the '80s headband. You don't see guys wearing headbands much do you? Headbands actually make more sense because they are made to catch the sweat that pours off you when you're rocking out. Maybe headbands should make a comeback. Maybe I'll start wearing one.
Just some friendly advice.
No one else cares enough to tell you how stupid you look, but I do.
You look stupid.
So stop it.

Another Guide to Recording

Mix Buss has tutorials, advice, and interviews. Here's a bit from one of their editorials explaining why the author thinks music deals with major labels are still necessary:

Hold on a sec

But before you go ripping up that contract that’s sitting on your lap from EMI, make sure you look a little closer at the state of today’s unsigned play. Koopa made headlines around the world… but will anyone remember the music? And if we’re honest, they really made headlines because they were the first unsigned band to do it. Do you seriously think you will get the headlines if you’re the second band to do it? Or the third? And it must have been easier for them to persuade their loyal fanbase to buy the single with this historical outcome looming, and something that they could all be part of. (And the fact that they band got to that chart position by only shifting a relatively small number of ‘singles’ also points to a) the fact they didn’t make a lot out of it and b) what it takes to have a hit these days – all subjects for future rants believe me!)

The post seems to assume that every artist's goal is to become a top-forty act - in which case, I agree, a deal with a major would be highly beneficial. But if your goal is to simply build a fan base and make a decent living, then I think it's realistic to do that without a deal.
I don't know much about Koopa's background, but it seems to me that they stand a much better chance at longevity not because they made the top-40 (in the UK), but because they've obviously figured out how to build a strong fanbase willing to spend money on their music. Playing almost 500 gigs in 3 years probably didn't hurt.
A band that signs with a major doesn't have to do much of the work that Koopa did themselves, (and still has no guarantee of a top-40 hit) so when they're eventually dropped, as most are, they'll be back to square one, trying to figure out how to keep the fans they got while their label was (hopefully) keeping them in the public eye.
Despite the fact that I'm right and he's wrong, there's a lot of good information on the site and it should be checked out thoroughly.

Expert Advice

ExpertVillage has a bunch of video lessons for all kinds of instruments and experience, including voice. They even have marketing videos that may be helpful.
They also have alot of non-music related videos. Here's a guy explaining what a typical massage visit is like. It's not the answer I was looking for - it doesn't even talk about how it ends:

I think it's good to have some personal testimony from someone you know. I think that's it's really helpful for people, because it's intimidating when I'm telling them what I'm going to do and how it works. For example, at your massage session, you'll probably hear something like, "I will now leave the room, and I want you to undress to your level of comfort, lay on the table, and get covered up. I'll knock before I come back." Hopefully they'll come back if they feel you did a good job with draping them and not leaving them exposed.

Only 7 Band Names Remaining

From "America's Finest News Source":

NEW YORK—According to data released Monday by the International Registry of Rock Band Names, only seven of the estimated 518 million potential names for musical acts remain available.

"Following the selection of 'The Stripped Amygdaloids,' 'A Purple Spray Of Cloth Violets,' and 'Guestowel' this past weekend, it is essential that new bands pick a name as soon as possible," read a statement on the organization's website. "Bands that wish to form after all names have been taken will be have to wait until a name becomes available, which could take anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 years."

While a MySpace page was created late Monday under the title Whiteboard Ether, one of the few band names left, the IRRBN has not yet confirmed whether the group has actually played any gigs.

Thanks to Jon for the heads-up!

Chevelle's Gear Stolen

Spread the word...

ALL CHEVELLE'S GEAR STOLEN TODAY IN DALLAS, TX!
PLEASE REPOST!
We regret to inform you that Chevelle is unable to perform remaining scheduled tour dates
(until further notice) due to the entire trailer full of our gear getting STOLEN TODAY
05/09/2007 from the Clarion Dallas Park Central hotel at approx 11:00 A.M.

If anyone has any information, or sees a light gray KZ Cargo trailer, with an Illinois plate 57002. Please call 911 or your local police authority.

Most items are labeled "Chevelle" and if you notice anything suspicious on ebay or other online resellers selling "authentic" Chevelle items...guitar, basses, drums amplifiers, risers, backdrops, tee shirts... please call the police... or email:

thestolenchevellegear@hotmail.com

Thank you for your support and understanding. Lets catch these crooked &^*^%!!!
PLEASE REPOST!

Payola

This is a month old, but somehow I didn't hear about it. From the Associated Press...

Broadcast Companies Agree on $12.5 Million Anti-Payola Settlement

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Radio listeners weary of hearing the same songs over and over may have something to cheer about: Broadcasters have tentatively agreed to anti-payola settlements that could shake up music playlists at some of the nation's largest radio chains.
Four major broadcast companies would pay the government $12.5 million and provide 8,400 half-hour segments of free airtime for independent record labels and local artists, The Associated Press has learned.

I'm skeptical about what this means in real life, but read the rest of the article on Yahoo.

Another Resource

Indie-Music.com had a tip sheet page with information for indie musicians. There's a 4 or 5 recent posts about song contests. Here's the latest:

American Songwriter Magazine sponsors a bi-monthly amateur lyric contest. No music - only lyrics needed, and all genres of music are accepted. The winning lyrics, along with the four runners-up, will be published in an issue of the magazine. The contest is open to any amateur songwriter - AS defines an amateur as a songwriter who has not earned more than $5,000 from songwriting related royalties, advances, or works for hire. Submission deadline: May 23.

Roadside Couch

FirstCom Music, a production music library company, announced that they are starting an indie record label to license music for advertising, television, and film:

Dallas, TX-April 6, 2007 - FirstCom Music, a leading provider of music services via CD, Hard Drive and the Web, is pleased to announce the release of their first record label, Roadside Couch RecordsTM, which was created exclusively to provide Music Supervisors, Ad Agencies and the Film and Television industry with a readily accessible source for songs and bands. The label will be unveiled at NAB 2007 and will provide a launching platform for up and coming bands and Indie labels in a wide variety of genres. Roadside Couch Records will deliver the very best in alternative rock, punk pop, singer-songwriter and other mainstream and hard to find talent that producers and music supervisors demand. "We are very excited to be able to offer this unique service to both music supervisors and our artists. Our goal is to deliver fresh new talent directly to producers and directors with 'no hassle' master and synch rights provided to the client", says Ken Nelson, Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of FirstCom Music.

I couldn't find any info on submitting your music, so I'm guessing they won't have a website up until NAB on the 16th.
On a side note, FirstCom is owned by BMG, so I don't know how "indie" it truly is.

The First Step

Apple and EMI sell DRM-free songs at the iTunes store:

Apple® today announced that EMI Music’s entire digital catalog of music will be available for purchase DRM-free (without digital rights management) from the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) worldwide in May. DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just $1.29 per song. In addition, iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 30 cents a song. iTunes will continue to offer its entire catalog, currently over five million songs, in the same versions as today—128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM—at the same price of 99 cents per song, alongside DRM-free higher quality versions when available.

Read the whole press release here.
Here's some related information from Gizmodo. And here's their take on how it relates to their RIAA boycott.

Licks!

Imagine my disappointment when I realized that Learnlicks.com was a site for learning to play the guitar (and drums and keyboard).

LearnLicks.com is a free site for musicians to share: videos of music licks, tips, techniques, and concepts. Learn Licks is a place for you to share what you've learned while learning and connecting with fellow musicians.

"Licks" are videos created by you and other musicians to share musical knowledge. Licks can be: a short series of notes that are fun to play, exercises, advice, questions, scales, concepts, music theory, etc. By posting video licks you can share knowledge, ask questions, and get feedback.

Not much indie rock on this site - plenty of Rush, though. I did find Beck's Two Turntables and a Microphone.

I also found this kind of creepy, yet interesting clip on how to file your nails for classical guitar.

A guy who goes by "abesluciferius" posted 4 clips in the Metal category, but only bothered to put his shirt on for one of them. For some reason, I was inspired to check out his Myspace page. Graphic design is not his strong point.

Pump Your Audio

Pump Audio is a company that licenses independent artist's music for television, film and advertising. You keep ownership of your songs and get 50% of the fees they get, plus performance royalties. It seems like a good deal:

Pump Audio was founded by musicians with experience as artists on both major and independent record labels. We know that the record label system provides no real solutions for the vast majority of independent artists.

In response to this, Pump has created a real marketplace within the production community for independent music. And nobody in the world places more independent music in production than we do—in fact, no one's even close.

Unlike many of the traditional options in the music business, you have nothing to lose by submitting your music to Pump. What you gain is the potential to earn money from having your music placed in a TV commercial or TV show.

And no matter what, you keep ownership of your songs and are free to pursue all other opportunities. We wouldn't have it any other way.

CD Sales Slipping

Here's an interesting article from Rev. Keith A. Gordon's Blog "Ryan Adams Sucks". It's his take on why CD sales are falling.

The shit hit the fan this week, and it wasn’t like a fat kid doing a cannonball into the deep end of the pool but rather like a gale-force hurricane smashing into the state of ship of the recording industry. A front-page Wall Street Journal story by Ethan Smith reported that CD sales have dropped 20% this year-to-date compared with 2006. Smith considers this “the latest sign of the seismic shift in the way consumers acquire music.”

Uh, maybe....

Let’s break down the points covered by the WSJ article and commentary offered by other pundits on a point-by-point basis and the Reverend will offer his own commentary.

Learn Chords the Legal Way

Wired News reports that guitar tabs site MXTabs.net is working with song publishers to share ad revenue and offer legal tablatures for aspiring guitarists:

Several websites have sprung up to help musicians share these notations, but as soon as they get encyclopedic enough to be really useful, they tend to get closed down. One of them -- MXTabs.com -- is being resurrected by MusicNotes as a legal service that will offer a reduced number of tablatures along with ads whose revenues will be shared with music publishers.

I guess the old site was .com, and the new one is .net. MXTabs.com is just a page of links.
Here's a related article about a site that was shut down.
I'd be flattered if someone wanted to learn how to play a song I wrote. It's not like anyone's getting rich playing in a cover band. Am I way off base? Would you insist on getting paid by someone who wanted to learn your songs on their own?

Music Choice

Music Choice is a provider of music and videos to cable companies, on-line, and on mobile phones. They take submissions from independent artists. Here's how you can submit your music (from their FAQ page):

Q. How do I submit my music to be played on Music Choice?
A. Please mail your CD, along with an artist profile and press information to:
Music Choice Programming, Attn: Unsigned Material
328 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001

All music genres will be considered, but there is no guarantee of airplay. Each submission is reviewed individually and tracks are selected for possible airplay. Because of the large volume of submissions that we receive on a daily basis, it is impossible for us to notify artists if their music has been selected or to return materials. Keep listening to your favorite channel to find out if your music was chosen for airplay. By submitting your music to Music Choice, you grant all rights to broadcast and perform your music.

Old News is Good News, or I'm CooCoo for Cracker!

Man, that's a stupid headline.
Anyway - I knew Cracker had re-recorded some of their songs last year, but I didn't know the story behind it. Turns out Virgin, the record label that dropped them, was planning to release Cracker's greatest hits without the band's input. The Cracker guys were a little pissed about that, so they re-recorded all the songs on Virgin's version of their Greatest Hits album, added a bonus track and released an all-new Greatest Hits album on the same day that Virgin released theirs.
Here's more on the story form BloggingMuses, and an interview with David Lowery of Cracker on CMJ.com.
Support Cracker (and Banddot) by buying the album from Amazon. Just click on the link below (please).

More (somewhat) Useful Articles

Record-producer.com has a bunch of articles on producing, a lot of which are interesting even if you're not a producer. My only problem with the articles is that they tend to tell you what to do, but not how to do it. Here's a tip from a particularly un-useful article. Want to know how to soundproof a door? Buy a soundproof door. Seriously - that's what it says. Here's the whole article:

The best solution to access is simply to buy a sound proofed door.

This will be expensive, but it will be worth it. It will probably have magnetic seals around the top and sides, and a compression seal at the bottom.

It will also be very heavy, meaning that the wall it fits into will have to be strong enough to support it.

A reasonable alternative is a heavy fire door, with the jamb fitted with rubber compression seals and extended all the way around the door, including the bottom.

To gain better insulation than a single door can achieve, a 'sound lobby' is sometimes constructed so there are two doors between one side of the wall and the other.

I know it's hard to come up with things to write about, but c'mon. Why not just include that in another article about soundproofing a room or something?
Here's an article for them that I wrote titled "How to Be a Record Producer":
Find someone who would like to be recorded - perhaps a musician or band, or maybe a poet. It could even be an author who wants to make an audio version of his book. Then produce a record for him or her.
I wonder if they pay for submissions?

Too Little, Too Late?

Jon sent me this link about plans to save Rock and Roll. I hope there's still time.

...recent developments in the music world, such as the unaccountable popularity of the Dixie Chicks and Sufjan Stevens, have created a "perfect storm of lameness" from which rock might never recover. While Iommi refused to say when the vault would be opened, hard rock sources believe it will take place just prior to next month's Fall Out Boy–Honda Civic tour, which many fear will suck the remaining lifeblood from all that still rocks.

More on the RIAA

Tech blog Gizmodo (who was nice enough to link to Banddot awhile back) has declared March "Boycott the RIAA Month":

The RIAA has the power to shift public policy and to alter the direction of technology and the Internet for one reason and one reason alone: it's totally loaded. Without their millions of dollars to throw at lawyers, the RIAA is toothless. They get their money from us, the consumers, and if we don't like the way they're behaving, we can let them know with our wallets.

The only people that profit from the RIAA are the lawyers and the RIAA executives. Here's an example of their latest abuse of power from RAIN:

The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) has announced its decision on Internet radio royalty rates, rejecting all of the arguments made by Webcasters and instead adopting the "per play" rate proposal put forth by SoundExchange(a digital music fee collection body created by the RIAA).

Radio Paradise is one of the many internet radio stations that can't afford to pay the fees that the RIAA want. Their view is at SaveOurInternetRadio.com:

There has been much discussion about how unfair these rates are, but our listeners find one fact particularly apalling: while Internet stations like ours are being told they must pay royalty fees that exceed their income, sometimes by several times over, FM stations - including those owned by media conglomerates like Clear Channel - pay nothing at all!

Yes, both FM stations and Internet stations pay royalties to songwriters and/or music publishers. But the royalties in question are owed to the owners of performance copyrights, which means, in most cases, record companies - and to them, FM stations pay nothing at all.

How do you know for sure whether an album was released by an RIAA member? Check out RIAA Radar. Just look up the album you want on Amazon.com and use the RIAA Radar bookmarklet to cross-reference the information, or use their mobile UPC lookup on your phone when you're at the store. Or you could just buy from local artists. RIAA Radar also has a list of indie music so you can find good non-RIAA bands, label info, and other good stuff.

From Radio Paradise again:

What can you do? Sign our online petition and open letter to the US Congress. Then please send an email message to your Congressmembers. You can use our suggested text, change it, or write your own message. We then suggest that you print your email (you'll get a copy) and mail it to your Representative and Senators and, if possible, call their offices. You can look up their addresses and phone numbers here.

IMWS

You probably already know about Discmakers - the DVD/CD duplication company. If you don't already get their catalog, you should sign up for it. You'll also get a free Mastering Guide and a 2-hour Music Seminar DVD.
They also sponsor the Independent Music World Series, which is accepting entries until May 9 for this year's showcase:

The 2007 IMWS features showcases in San Francisco, New York, Nashville, and Austin and will award a huge Grand Prize at each show. This is your opportunity to perform in front of music industry VIPs and win the gear to build your own home recording studio, a 1,000 CD manufacturing package, showcases at major music conferences, cash money, and more!

The IMWS exposes musicians from every genre to music industry participants through our live showcase finals. This isn't a popularity contest. Our goal is to discover, showcase, and reward the best independent artists in the country.

In each region, entries are judged on Songwriting, Overall Vibe, Musical Performance, Vocal/Lead Instrument Performance, and Originality. Genre and production quality are not a factor.

From the initial screening, 100 semi-finalists are selected and sent to the offices of Billboard magazine. Editors at Billboard screen the semi-finalists to choose six acts to play each showcase.

Poll like a Pro

Give your fans another way to be involved by designing a poll from Blogpoll. Get their opinions on what should be your next single or have them choose the art for your next album cover - the possibilities are nearly endless (I could only think of two, but you're much more creative than I am - you're in a band, after all). It's free, quick and easy. When you complete the steps to create one, they give you some code to copy and paste on your site. The only catch is that when you click the "View Results" button, you're taken to their ad-filled site to see the results, but what do you want for free? I added one below so you can tell me what you think of this blog.

Beat It

Ever since I got my kick-ass drum kit (pictured at right), I've been planning to become the next Ringo Starr. Now I've finally taken the first step by finding OnlineDrummer.com. They have all sorts of resources for drummers of any skill level, including lessons, a forum, and videos. Here's one of my favorites.

Finally, a Band-Naming Champion

Brian and I have been looking for a good band name generator for a while now, and bandnamemaker.com may be the winner. Not that people in bands have a hard time coming up with band names (I'm looking at you, Marky Mark and the Donkey Punch). How can you ignore an algorythym that came up with both "Farting of the Spiritual" and "Pants Uranus" within five minutes of each other?

Your Mic and Where to Stick It

From the Home Recording Connection, here is a big list of articles on mic placement for drums, guitar, armpit or whatever else you think should be muddying up your mix. Be patient--some of the links are broken.

5 Ways to a Crappy Band Site

43 Folders has seen your site, and they're not impressed. Here, in no particular order, is the list of 5 Mistakes that Band and Label Sites Make.

Every Link Counts

Submit your band for inclusion on Elektrolab's music page. There's no "About" section to tell who they are or why they have a page of band links, and there's no organization to the list. They're probably just trying to attract more hits to their Google ads, but every link to your page helps raise your site's profile, so link wherever you can.

Interesting Motherfuckers

This is a little off-topic, but Acid Logic has a section devoted to people they deem Interesting Motherfuckers. Each entry is a short bio of or interview with a subject - most factual, some not so much. The motherfuckers include Rick Rubin, David Allan Coe, and everyone's favorite ninja, Sho Kosugi.

Boycott RIAA

In keeping with the anti-DRM theme, here is the site for Boycott RIAA, an organization dedicated to protecting artists' rights. Here's the first paragraph from their mission statement:

Boycott-RIAA was founded because we love music. We cannot stand by silently while the recording industry continues its decades-long effort to lock up our culture and heritage by misrepresenting the facts to the public, to artists, the fans and to our government. Our mission is to represent the position of the consumers and of the independent music artists against this nearly completely foreign-owned cartel which exhibits behaviors indicative of deliberate and outright contempt for the law, and of those whose job is to enforce it. (Simultaneously, they implore the government to persecute grandmothers and children on their behalf!!!)

Even if you're not into their cause, there's alot of good information for artists on their site.

More on DRM

Tech blog Engadget has a good follow-up to all the DRM controversy of late. Here's a paragraph:

Sandisk -- the number 2 audio player maker in the US -- had the gall to blow kisses and bat their eyes in the direction of the Big Four even after publicly chastising their use of DRM just a few weeks prior. Then the RIAA demonstrated their utter befuddlement by welcoming Jobs' non-existent offer to license FairPlay. Most poetically, Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman chimed in to call Jobs' DRM fight "without logic" -- this, from the man who admits that he's "fairly certain" his own children have pirated music, while simultaneously shielding them from his very own RIAA henchmen who merrily and routinely sue other children and their parents for the same crime. More recently, Macrovision's CEO Fred Amoroso presented a pro-DRM argument so fudged it was difficult to tell whether or not he was joking.

Tech geeks sure hate DRM - that's good for indies. Here's one comment from someone named Trent:

I'm coming up on my 9th year of no RIAA purchases. I would love to be able to buy music again but at this point, but I'm not sure that I would, even if there was no DRM. DRM is most assuredly what is stopping my purchases, but at this point, I just want to see the end of the RIAA.

If it were possible for me to buy from the band directly and to feel comfortable that the money is going to the band, I might unleash the wallet again.

Right now I am comfortable supporting my local Houston music scene because I can control where the money goes.

SXSW

The South by Southwest Music Festival is March 14-18. Last week they announced their preliminary lineup of over 1300 acts. Here's their pitch:

Each March SXSW Music presents new opportunities to make your vision reality. Musicians and the companies they work with have used SXSW as a cost-effective way to promote themselves since 1987. They come back year after year because SXSW works! It's a potent method to connect with press, radio, and other music industry players.

By day, the music industry's most accomplished and creative personalities collaborated, argued, and shared their experiences in dozens of panels, workshops, interviews, and meetings. Over 1400 acts showcased last year before more than 8000 registrants from all over the world. Pop, jazz, country, blues, reggae, hip hop, electronica - every imaginable style of music, from nearly every continent - is represented each night at over 50 of Austin's premier stages, many within walking distance of one another.

They have a new blog about the record industry, too, called Idiots Unite. Check it out.

Stage Design

Thehipcola is a blog by Rob Cosh - a musician/songwriter from Ottawa, ON. A post from a couple months ago asks rhetorically why bands don't take the time to dress up their stage:

Ok, now that I’ve completely fan-boy’d Delerium up, it brings to mind something I’ve always been fascinated by. Stage show. Something that seems so elusive to indie bands ‘cuz we’ve got no money to pay for fancy lights and sets. Hell, most of the time we’re not even getting paid if we’re orignal acts. We do it for luv. Ok, and free beer.

That said, think about this. In your scene, when you’re out checking out bands, do they do anything to set themselves apart? I bet mostly they don’t. Are you gettin’ where I’m heading with this? It would be sooo easy to spice up your stage look and stand apart from the pack, it’s not funny. Basic lighting and props is all you need. And I’m talking household stuff. Well, and your imagination.

Who Needs Barnes and Noble?

The Project Studio Handbook calls itself "The web's most complete directory of recording-related articles and links", and that may be an accurate description. I found a few links that didn't work, but you could still stay busy for days exploring all the articles on pretty much any topic, from the basics of music theory to microphone placement to adding EQ and effects. And if the articles aren't enough, they also have a forum.

Steve Jobs on Music

This week, Steve Jobs published his thoughts on DRM (Digital Rights Management) on Apple's website. He explains the theory behind DRM, Apple's past experience with it and his thoughts on the future. The overall theme is that DRM schemes don't work and he'd like to do away with them:

Today’s most popular iPod holds 1000 songs, and research tells us that the average iPod is nearly full. This means that only 22 out of 1000 songs, or under 3% of the music on the average iPod, is purchased from the iTunes store and protected with a DRM. The remaining 97% of the music is unprotected and playable on any player that can play the open formats. It’s hard to believe that just 3% of the music on the average iPod is enough to lock users into buying only iPods in the future. And since 97% of the music on the average iPod was not purchased from the iTunes store, iPod users are clearly not locked into the iTunes store to acquire their music.

Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That’s right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player.

After Jobs' announcement, The New York Times reported that record label EMI is considering doing away with DRM, but the company didn't comment for the article:

EMI, which releases music by artists including Coldplay and the Beatles, has discussed various proposals to sell unprotected files through an array of digital retailers, including Apple, Microsoft, Real Networks and Yahoo, said the executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Reports of the EMI plan surfaced in Europe this week when music executive speculated that EMI was close to a deal with several online music services that went beyond the relatively limited experiments with non-copy-protected music that it had conducted so far.

Tone Deaf?

Electronic musician and med student Jake Mandell has developed fun little tests for tone deafness, pitch perception and rhythm. Each test plays 2 sets of notes and you're supposed to say whether they are the same or different. I don't know how scientific they are, but it only takes a few minutes to complete each one. Unfortunately, I found that a few minutes is too long for my meager attention span. My mind started wandering instead of listening to the tones (at least that's my excuse for such poor scores).

Another Blog

Bob Baker has a blog with tips on promoting music. He's the author of a bunch of music promotion books and has a free e-zine you can subscribe to on his website, along with articles and podcasts on the subject. Here's a sample from his latest blog posting, titled "The Talent Myth":

...But there's still this gnawing problem I have with some of the comments surrounding this well-intentioned but misguided notion that talent carries more weight than popularity.

I get where the idea comes from. We all see amazing musicians who don't have much of a following; then floozies or pretty boys with little or no "talent" who suck up all the limelight.

Fine. Life and the distribution of wealth and fame can seem unfair. If that's hard for you to bare, wear a helmet.

But let's take a closer look at this talent thing. The pontificators talk about it like it's some absolute quality that only certain artists possess. When in reality, being "talented" is a purely subjective opinion.

Consider this quandary: If a guitarist played a smokin' lead solo in the woods and nobody heard him, should he be considered talented? The only way he could in that situation is if he decided for himself that he had "talent."

Indie Band Survival Guide

Here is the best single resource I've found yet for indie musicians - Beatnik Turtle's Indie Band Survival Guide. It's a completely free, no-strings-attached guide to how and why to stay indie, written by an indie band for indie bands.

We're sharing this Survival Guide because its our belief that indie bands need to stick together. There's no reason to repeat our mistakes and there's certainly no reason to waste time and reinvent the wheel. We're happy to share with you what we've learned. We sincerely hope that you get something out of this. If you like it, or want to talk to us, go ahead and send us comments. This Survival Guide is a living document. We will constantly update it as we learn more on our own, or from other bands that wish to share.

Beatnik Turtle is a very active band from Chicago. One of their projects is to post a new original song every day this year at thesongoftheday.com.

Make a Virtual 45

Go here to make a virtual 45 (or 78) with funny words on the label.

Note: Trying to play this record ruined both my record player AND monitor. It did sound, however, vaguely like Glenn Branca.

Miss Manners for the Indie Set

Mean spirited, but informative list of the 39 Annoying Things That Bands Do when you're playing a show (or trying to book a show), compiled by The Creepy Crawl in St. Louis.

8. Bands that spell their names with a strange spelling twist e.g., junkeez, katz etc. After meeting the band, however, we are left with the impression that they didn't intentionally try and spell their name with a twist but rather they probably just don't know how to spell.

Sony Music buys the Internet

The internet is becoming (or has become) the Great Equalizer for artists of all sorts. You no longer need to rely on radio or TV networks in order to build a following and sell music. But what if the corporations that controlled web access could give preferential treatment to whoever paid the most? That's the topic of this article by members of the Future of Music Coalition and a discussion that musicians should get involved in:

What would happen if Sony paid Comcast so that sonymusic.com would run faster than iTunes or, more important, faster than cdbaby.com (where over 135,000 indie artists sell their music)? Would a new form of Internet payola emerge, with large Internet content providers striking business deals with the dominant Internet service providers? How would that affect indie artists? Would it shut down the burgeoning new economy and replace it with one that looks a lot like our closed media market?

For musicians, net neutrality means they should have the unfettered ability to make their work available to potential fans without undue interference from corporate gatekeepers. Similarly, music fans should have the ability to access this music via a range of legitimate business models. Net neutrality also ensures the continued innovation that has spurred the growth of the indie sector, the transition to a legitimate digital economy and, more widely, consumer adaptation of broadband services.

To understand the importance of net neutrality for artists, look at the lack of a similar principle in modern commercial radio. When informally polled as to why they sign away their copyrights to major labels, most artists explain that they need to be on a major label in order to have a shot at commercial radio airplay. And, sadly, these artists have a point.

Jebus Site Outs Everyone Who Ever Played Guitar, Ever

Thanks to the good folks at lovegodsway.org, you may never again have to waste your hard-won, heterosexually-earned dollars on the Rock That Dare Not Speak Its Name.

Among the "Bands to Watch Out For":

Scissor Sisters
Rufus Wainwright
Wilco
Tech N9ne
Ghostface Killah
Cole Porter
The String Cheese Incident
Eagles of Death Metal
Polyphonic Spree
Interpol
Tegan and Sara
Erasure
The Grateful Dead (AIDS)
Le Tigre
Marilyn Manson
The Gossip
The Magnetic Fields
The Doors
Phish
Queen
The Strokes
Sufjan Stevens
Morrissey
The Pet Shop Boys
Metallica
Judas Priest
The Village People
The Secret Handshake
The Rolling Stones
David Bowie
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Man or Astroman
Jay-Z
Depeche Mode
Kansas
Ani DiFranco
Fischerspooner
John Mayer
George Michael (texan)
Velvet Underground
Madonna
Barry Manilow
Indigo Girls
Melissa Etheridge
Eminmen
Nirvana
Boy George*
The Killers
Lou Reed
Lil' Wayne
Motorhead
DMX
Lisa Loeb
Ted Nugent (loincloth)
Dogstar
Thirty Seconds to Mars
Lil' Kim
kd lang
Frank Sinatra
Hinder
Nickleback
Arcade Fire
Bright Eyes
Audioslave
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Panic at the Disco
Elton John

What, so the Eagles of Death Metal made the cut, but not Queens of the Stone Age? But it says it right...in...the...name. Also making the list was rapper "Eminmen," which is either riotous christian wordplay or proof that good typing is the work of the devil.

This site is run by Donnie Davies, and if you're wondering what hatemongers do when they need to take a break from hate-mongering, you can check out his own band, the "Evening Service" which features one of the most homoerotic music videos ever laid straight to VHS.

Swimming in Shit

That's how legendary producer / musician Steve Albini describes working with major labels in his essay "The Problem with Music":

Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says "Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim again, please. Backstroke". And he does of course.

He goes on to describe how bands get taken in by the promise of big money and then charts where it all goes.

This is Indie Rock

Deep Elm Records has an ongoing contest for bands. Submit exclusive songs to them for a chance to be on the next CD of their series "This is Indie Rock":

Created to document the music, spirit and resolve of the independent artist, each volume of This Is Indie Rock: The Best Bands You've Never Heard features twelve UNRELEASED and EXCLUSIVE songs from the hottest new indie rock bands / artists throughout the world. You'll find a diverse mixture of hardcore, punk, rock, emo, metal, pop and more. By uniting all genres of indie rock, these compilations are destined to surpass the popularity of Deep Elm's other highly acclaimed compilation series. Bands were selected to participate based on open submissions of their music. Only the music mattered. Extremely high recording quality characterizes each compilation. This Is Indie Rock has already been proven to be a springboard for several talented young bands. From Volume One, Clair De Lune (now on Deep Elm), Lakota (now on Pop Up) and The Kidcrash (now on Lujo) all signed to established labels. Volume Two band The Forecast recently joined the ranks of Victory Records. Volume Three band Free Diamonds recently joined the Deep Elm roster.

They don't say if there's any compensation for the featured bands, but I'm guessing not. It would be nice to know how many copies they've sold of previous volumes so you'd know what sort of exposure to expect for giving them exclusive tracks.

All decisions made are based upon the SONG, not the band. It's the music that matters. ONLY previously UNRELEASED songs are eligible. UNRELEASED means the song(s) submitted is currently Not Available on any medium (CD, MP3, compilation, etc.) from you, a label or anyone else. The more unreleased songs we receive, the better chance a band has of being selected.

5000 Fans Theory

This is almost a couple years old, but still valid, so here it is...
Musician Scott Andrew posted a theory that basically says if you can build 5000 hardcore fans that will spend just $20 a year each on your stuff, you will bring in $100,000 and can quit your day job:

Now, 5000 is a big number, but not that big. That's like, what, one-eighth of an average baseball stadium? And you might not even need that many. Here's an exercise: take your own salary, pre-taxes, and divide it by 20. If you were to quit your job right now and start living as a full-time musician, poet or author, that's how many fans you'd need, spending $20 each year to support your art. So, if you're making $30K yearly, you'd need 1500 paying fans each year to replace your salary. And it gets better if you're willing to take a pay cut. In Washington state, where I live, a person working for minimum wage would only need around 700 paying fans. As Hobbit sez, there are a lot of people working for minimum wage doing stuff they hate.

Of course, as the commenters on his site pointed out, if you have a band, you have to divide that between the number of members, and it doesn't take expenses into consideration, but it still seems like an attainable goal.

Musictoday

This month's Fast Company has a cover story on Musictoday, a business that provides behind-the-scenes support for merch, tickets, websites, and more:

While the big money is still in touring, Musictoday rechannels revenue streams--merchandise margins and ticket fees that traditionally padded someone else's pocket--in the talent's direction. For new or lesser-known bands, that money could mean the difference between touring and trading in that Stratocaster for a busboy tray. "Somebody you've never heard of will sell $10 million in merchandise in two years," says Jim Kingdon, executive vice president. And for megabands like Dave Matthews, which has more than 80,000 fans paying $35 a year for fan-club membership alone, the money can snowball.

"We're heading to a do-it-yourself world where artists will be taking more control of their careers," says Michael McDonald, John Mayer's manager. Or as Legend puts it: "In the not-too-distant future, this could mean you won't need a label anymore. That's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."

The article implies that they work with not-yet-famous bands, but it's hard to tell from their website. There's no price listing that I could find, either. You'll have to contact them to see whether it's worth your while.
At the very least, though, you can add your tour dates to their calendar.

Daytrotter and others

Just read about Daytrotter in Wired (they're also mentioned in a Wired blog from last year). These guys bring indie rock bands into the studio and record songs to post on their website. They also have interviews, reviews, and some other stuff. One of our future featured bands, Headlights, was just featured on Daytrotter. We're shooting them Feb. 2 at The Highdive in Champaign, IL.
Daytrotter had a link to the Take Away Shows, a French site that takes bands out in the street and shoots one long shot of the band playing, then posts the videos as podcasts.

On a related note, I got an email from a guy that hosts a video podcast of indie hip-hop videos (independentmvc). We've produced a couple of rap videos, so we've thought about doing a Banddot-style rap site, but he's already doing it - also in the Midwest (Ohio), just like Daytrotter and Banddot.