SYNC UP- SUCCESS IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS?

Kristin Hersch from throwing muses, George Howard, co-founder of tunecore and Peter Hinberger, manager of Dr John talk about making music from sync-ups - music licensing, why people feel they still  need a major label to make it big and whether it is actually possible to make money from sync-ups - that is music on TV or film.

Sync-ups seem to be the hot topic in music conferences - and the so-called saviour of independant musicians.  But there seems to be some doubt about how these work in practice, for example, some large TV networks now appear to be asking for unsigned musicians to send music in, but will not pay them for it's use - not even PRS royalties.  The excuse they give is "it's promotion for the artist".

When competition is so fierce and young, upcoming artists are happy to be exploited in this way - how can an artist survive?  Interested to know your thoughts below...

By Jez with No comments

Webdocs - complete with Soundcloud integration

Soundcloud announced as part of their soundcloud lab, integration with webdocs - an online document storage facility where pictures and sounds can be imported and hosted and then made into transferrable widgets like the one shown above. 

As well as being embeddable on other platforms like tumblr, blogger or you own webspace, it also features neat little app integration such as the twitter one above, or a countdown timer to your next gig. 

Check them out here:

http://www.webdoc.com

By Jez with 2 comments

How to get your music onto Beatport

If you make dance music then the chances are you've heard of "Beatport". In their own words:  "Beatport is the recognized leader in electronic dance music downloads for DJs and club music enthusiasts."  Whilst certainly not the largest online audio store they are certainly the most recognised.  They certainly have the power to make careers - with progressive house producer Deadmau5 and Steve Duda amongst those whose careers have been launched through the site.

Beatport are renowned as having a strict policy in regard to their record labels.  In order to launch a deal with them you have to either be a recognised label and have some marketing muscle behind you.  They rarely deal with "vanity labels" - those labels set up just to deal with one artist - unless you are the kind of artist who can guarantee large volumes of sales.  In addition they monitor all sales - if you're sales dip below $500 per quarter then the chances are they'll cull you from their roster.

By Jez with 59 comments

NPR, the music powerhouse?

The Washington Post details the growing influence of National Public Radio in the USA.  It is now second only to MTV in terms of visits per month. Record labels are gradually waking up to the importance of NPR music. 

But as the audience for NPR Music grows, it appears to consist of a demographic that’s actually shrinking: music fans who still buy music.

When NPR pushes a group, “there’s a spike in sales and chatter online,” says Steve Martin, the publicist for Radiohead, Arcade Fire and Paul McCartney — all of whom have felt a tangible boost from NPR’s support. “It’s something that reaches an audience that a lot of other people don’t reach.”

And the fact that NPR has music fans reaching back into their wallets has forced both independent and major labels to make NPR Music coverage a top priority in their publicity campaigns.
Label representatives for British soul singer Adele say that NPR was an “important piece” of the publicity strategy that pushed her new album, “21,” to the top of Billboard for two weeks earlier this month. NPR Music recently streamed both the album and an exclusive live performance.
For lesser-known indie acts, NPR Music’s stamp of approval can feel downright momentous.

Read more here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/npr-the-music-powerhouse-totes-dude/2011/03/14/ABvg1Cs_story.html?hpid=z13

By Jez with 1 comment

We are living in a digital world....

Like it, or lump it, the internet has been a decisive force in music distribution for at least 10 years now.  From the very first p2p networks like Napster and Audiogalaxy to torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay or Mininova to Music Blogs to the new legal alternatives like iTunes, Beatport, Junodownload and so on.  The great revolution in the internet has been in providing greater access to distribution for artists.  

Nowadays a track can go from mixdown in the studio to being downloaded by a large audience within a matter of hours.

Opinions are split between those who download music "illegally" from torrent sites and largely the music industry and their representatives about just how ethically sound it is to download music for free.  The fact remains that whilst it has become easier to distribute your own music online the chances of a musician earning a living wage from recording has become increasingly hard.

Part of this is due to competition from the sheer number of people actively recording and releasing music.  Part of this has been due to the process of illegal downloading and the notion of free online music itself.    Recorded music is no longer a profitable commodity.

So, in this overly competitive era where access to the public has been levelled, can an artist make a living wage?

What we hope to do over the coming months is to log and record our experiments with online distribution, music licensing, gigging and so on, looking at the various different options available and ways to make income - not all of them through selling the music itself.  

We fully expect to make lots of mistakes on the way but hopefully learn from them.

By Jez with No comments