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.