Blog Archives

5 TYPES OF RECORD DEALS AND THEIR PROS AND CONS

10/31/2018

1. The 360 Deal

Pros:
You're signed to a major label. This comes with all the bells and whistles, like world-class producers, worldwide tours, and a world of potential fans.
Having the label's connections makes your touring and marketing easier. Agents will book shows for you, set up your travel, and get you on radio shows. You just need to sit back, be you, and make good music.

Cons:
If you're a self-built artist, the label could be using you for what you've already created. If you've got a huge fanbase already, millions of YouTube plays, and have cracked radio, a label deal can't offer you much more.
You have the potential to be shelved. If the label doesn't think you've got what it takes, they have the option to do nothing for you. Not to mention, your deal prevents you from doing much without them or their approval.

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THE 9 DEADLY SINS OF MUSIC WEBSITES

10/27/2018

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With so much interaction happening on social media these days, many musicians think that maintaining their own personal website is a thing of the past. But that couldn't be further from the truth! In fact, artist, musician, composer, and music company websites are more essential than ever for establishing and developing a brand.
Your website is your home base. It's where you ultimately maintain control of what and how you communicate with your fans and/or customers. It's your virtual HQ. And whether you know it or not, it speaks volumes about you and your music before anyone ever hears a note.

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THE SONGWRITER’S GUIDE TO CO-WRITING

10/24/2018

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One of the skills a successful co-writer will learn is ﬁguring out who they need to be in the room each day. As I start writing each day, I’m trying to ﬁgure out exactly who I need to be in the room that day in order to come out with the best song we can possibly write. The extent to which I play my role best is usually directly proportional to the quality of the song we create.

Here are roles I might play on any given day.

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EVERY ARTIST IS A MEDIA COMPANY

10/20/2018

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Every company is now a media company. This isn't a new take or an innovative take. It's the reality of today's business landscape. It's the standard. CEO and Marketing expert, Gary Vaynerchuk has talked about it. Consulting firm PWC has written about it. With the barriers to entry to media creation shattered by innovative technology, there's very few reasons not to play in the content creation game.

In most instances, the focus is on traditional businesses evolving as media companies, but I want to talk about why this is essential to artists and how they can employ similar tactics.

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IT’S IMPOSSIBLE: SONGWRITING MYTH BUSTERS

10/17/2018

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I don’t know how many times each week I hear the words “It’s impossible”. The ridiculous part of it all is that the things they are saying are “impossible” are not impossible at all. Here are some examples I hear all the time: “It’s impossible to get a song cut if you don’t live in U.S. and more particularly New York or LA”. – False.
It’s impossible to get a song cut unless you write it with the artist. – False. I’ve had a number of #1 songs. One was written with the artist. Out of 10 top forty hits, 2 were written with the artist. Out of more than 90 cuts, less than 5 were written with the artist. Writing a great song often trumps writing with the artist.

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DOING THE RIGHT THINGS

10/13/2018

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I’ve come to believe that successful people do “the right things” more than unsuccessful people. Part of the trick is finding out what the right things are. Early in my career, I wasted a LOT of time doing the wrong things. I bought equipment that I would never use. I spent days and weeks learning how to use it. I continued to write with people even though we didn’t write well together. I wrote ideas that were not likely to be cut. I was working hard, but I wasn’t working smart.
I finally realized that I was going to lose my writing deal if I didn’t step up my game. I looked at successful writers I knew. I saw what they were doing differently. I started figuring out what the right thing were. And I started doing them religiously. Here are the “right things” that I began doing and that I still do.

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DON’T BE THAT GUY

10/10/2018

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If you want a career in music, great co-writes, meetings with publishers, artist co-writes and the like, you CAN’T be “That Guy”. You know, the guy (or girl) who does these things or anything similar to these. These pointers are symbolic ones, talking of some of the worst behaviors one could so subconsciously.

Drops off a CD with ten songs. Let’s be real. Nobody has time to listen to 30 minutes of music from someone they don’t know. If someone has requested that I send them songs, I usually limit it to 3-4 songs. If they haven’t requested them, I keep it to 1 or 2. Less is more. You want them to ask for more, not to throw your CD in the trash because you overload them.

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BRIDGES

10/6/2018

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One of the most difficult moments in the process of writing a song is “bridge time”. I have been in many co-writes where we agonized over whether we need a bridge. At one point, early in my career, I came to my publisher to ask him if I needed a bridge in a song I was working on. He asked, “Is there a river to cross?”. I had no idea what he meant, so he said, “Don’t build a bridge if there’s not a river to cross”.

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YOU ARE WHAT YOU CHASE

10/4/2018

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You can tell a lot about a person by what they are chasing. Some chase money. Some houses or cars. Some chase relationships. Some chase better jobs or promotions. Some chase dreams. I watched an interview one time with Ted Turner. The interviewer asked him what it was like to look at your net worth and, for the first time, see $1,000,000,000. A one and nine zeros. Ted sat there thoughtfully and then he spoke some profound words. With a sigh, he said “It‘s an empty bag, but you don’t know it’s empty until you get it”.

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5 TYPES OF RECORD DEALS AND THEIR PROS AND CONS

THE 9 DEADLY SINS OF MUSIC WEBSITES

THE SONGWRITER’S GUIDE TO CO-WRITING

EVERY ARTIST IS A MEDIA COMPANY

IT’S IMPOSSIBLE: SONGWRITING MYTH BUSTERS

DOING THE RIGHT THINGS

DON’T BE THAT GUY

BRIDGES

YOU ARE WHAT YOU CHASE

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