Five Top Music Tips

Once again, I’m here, not only to share my own music journey but also share some of my experiences with you & hopefully help you avoid some of tha pitfalls  . So all you have to do is sign up to these blogs & sit back and relax.

Why would I want to share my knowledge with you for free when I’ve spent years parting with my hard earned pennies only to be shafted you may ask?  Well because there was nobody there guiding me across tha minefield of tha music industry as I was

growing up, I had to go it alone & patch up my own wounds.

So I will get satisfaction out of knowing that I’ve armed you with some of tha tools you need to help you  across, then its up to you. I hope what I tell you here and in future blogs will  help in some small way with tha decisions you make, save you some cash and give you a smoother ride. All I ask is that what I share with you , you pass on to others, think of it as good karma …..seems a fair deal huh? 

1. Avoid  with a mega wide birth any ads or music sites that say something along tha lines of “Let music fans review your music for just $9.99 per song”. You will also be  lured into spending even more cash with offers of being featured band/artist if you get enough review scores etc, its all hyped advertising to make you think your missing out on opportunities of getting noticed  if you don’t sign up to this scheme.

But it’s a Total waste of your time and money, this is just an individuals personal opinion on your track, and if your track is given to a country fan and you play heavy metal its not going to be a match made in heaven. A fan can just write “I don’t like this, its rubbish” and that’s your review done. There are a number of music sites charging for this service,  but its just another way to extract money out of you, and money I’m sure you don’t have to waste?

2. Videos are becoming more and more essential for a band/artist as a way of getting seen and creating more fans, but tha cost of a video is huge, alot of the ones I contacted were charging a minimum of £1000 for a basic 3.30 minute music video.  There were also plenty charging between £250-500, but still not every band/artist can afford that, and to be honest the videos were boring. I know you’re not gonna get explosions and Hollywood productions, but a video doesn’t have to cost tha earth, its about a good idea, its about thinking outside the box, anyone can walk down the street singing into tha camera, use your imagination. There seems to be a movement of artists doing their own now using an iphone4, its what i'm looking into for myself. Tha quality is extremely good considering  and if you can use that along with your brilliant brain cells you could well be onto a winner and save yourself some cash at tha same time. Heres a link to some artists who filmed their trax on an iphone4  http://mashable.com/2010/12/02/iphone-music-videos/  this is one of my faves for sure t  FLAKJAKT "Cascades"  and certainly lets you see what can be done.

  

3 If you’re a band/artist that gigs make tha most of it and grab yourselves some new fans, remember its your job to go out there and find them not the other way around, don’t just turn up and play and think that’s enough.  A lot of gigs are noisy, people are drinking, they might remember you by the morning they might not. Hand out cards with your website or facebook site on & also say theres a free download of one of your trax, give them a reason to want to go to your site.  There are various companies offering some great deals  like 500 basic cards for under £20  . Vistaprint is a popular one http://www.vistaprint.co.uk/vp/welcome.aspx?no_redirect=1&xnav=logo

But if you shop around theres plenty of others, Goodprint have an offer on at the moment   50 cards for £2.39

http://www.goodprint.co.uk/ 

4. Every site is after your money….now we’ve already established if you’re anything like me, you have very little lol! so why give the little you do have away? Facebook, reverbnation, Myspace, Soundcloud, all these sites and others are adding on more and more

services that you have to pay for, and your made to feel you’ll be left behind, or not taken seriously unless you do. Well let me tell you , getting signed or being taken seriously has absolutely diddley squat to do with any of these offers, and all to do with another money making scheme. 

Don’t be teased or panicked by tha hype into buying lots of things you don’t really need or aren’t going to serve you any purpose. Take your time and make sure its something that’s going to serve YOU well, not some fat cats pocket. 

5. How many of us have come across something online where you have to tick a box that says “Terms & Conditions” before you can move to tha next page? & how many of us just tick it and move on without even a glance? I know I have, I do it most of the time because I hate scrolling through pages of “legibility, thus & therefores” For all I know someone out there could actually own my ass…I’m just hoping its not Walmart :o.

But thankfully when it comes to music I have more sense, I will NOT sign anything unless I’ve had it checked over, While it might seem like alot of hassle, its gonna be less hassle than when you find out you’ve just sold your soul to tha devil….then my friends you really will be in hot water.

If any music contract from publishing, to production company, to single release is legit, then they wont mind you getting it checked out first before signing. If someone starts putting pressure on you, or acting offended because “Its just a standard contract, everyone signs it” then hear tha word WAAAAAARNING” ringing in your ears.

I’ve been in this position  with a few outfits myself ,things said like “ its just a single release form, you’re the only one questioning it, I’m offended you think we’d be up to something dodgy, it has to be signed now or tha deals off” etc etc  if this happens be prepared to walk away, as hard as it may be to swallow at tha time, DO NOT SIGN. Remember you’re tha one with tha talent, that they presumeably wanted in tha first place, if its legit, they’ll wait and let you do the right thing which is to get any contract checked over.

I asked around & it turned out a friend of a friend of mine had a family member that was a solicitor, so I explained “poor unsigned musician needed help with not getting shafted” and thankfully they said they'd check it out for me. I’m a proffessional dream interpreter so I offered to do that for them in return. See if you can barter to get a cheaper deal or even for free by explaining your

situation and offering up one of your own skills in return. But If all else fails, then beg steal and borrow to pay, but get that contract checked out.

Unsuprisingly it turned out there were dodgy clauses written in mine, not that you could tell of course amongst tha “legibility, thus & therefores” One meant that even though I was only meant to be signing a single release contract, the company would still have a right to a percentage of any music earnings I made on absolutely anything I did for tha next ten years . One signature & a moments madness …that’s all it would have took & I would have been stitched up like a kipper. Take your time, it will be worth it in tha end & your worth it of course.   

                        Stay Blessed, Back Before Elvis :) xxx