The Music Snob

True Love Waits

brian — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:17:25 +0000

Radiohead – True Love Waits

’nuff said.
====================================

I’ll drown my beliefs
To have your babies
I’ll dress like your niece
And wash your swollen feet

Just don’t leave
Don’t leave

I’m not living
I’m just killing time
Your tiny hands
Your crazy kitten smile

Just don’t leave
Don’t leave

And true love waits
In haunted attics
And true love lives
On lollipops and crisps

Just don’t leave
Don’t leave

No related posts.

Capturing Inspiration on the Fly

brian — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:36:26 +0000

Many of my best song ideas seem to “happen” during brief windows of creativity, moments where I lose all “thought” and self awareness and just imagine what this unborn song sounds like, trying on different moods, tempos, vibes and vocal sounds. Typically I will have some rhythmic thing or riff on the acoustic guitar, and then just make up vocal sounds that seem to reflect whatever the music is conveying. I don’t bother with real words, just nonsensical stuff, sometimes just vocalizations of syllables.

What I typically do is just let my portable recorder run, and then go off for several minutes on the idea. Stop listen play back see if there are any bits of gold to be found. Once I have essence of something I really like, then I may spend weeks or months trying to polish that vision. But the best part has already happened, the idea has been born, and often times the non-words weird sounds vocal stuff is more appealing to me than actual lyrics, because it is that much closer to pure instrumental expression. But this is coming from someone who hears the music first and lyrics second practically always, and I know there’s a strong camp for the opposite.

Anyway. Not that this is that important. But in the past I would have to setup my laptop to record any small stupid idea I had, and then I bought a crappy dictaphone, which works at least to capture something so you don’t forget the rhythm or whatever entirely next time you sit down to play it. But what I use now is this neat and inexpensive recorder called the Zoom H2 Handy Portable Stereo Recorder that I got as a gift for Christmas. It records at whatever level of digital quality you could want, mp3, wav, etc, is super easy and portable, and has great sound quality for capturing off-the-cuff moments of inspiration.

Sometimes I’ll write out ideas on staff paper so I don’t forget them, but this is usually too tedious for me, since my music notation skills are truly rusty and were never that good anyways.

What do you guys use to capture your rough ideas?

No related posts.

How to Maximize Your First Studio Recording Experience

brian — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:49:28 +0000

This is a “guest post” taken from an email exchange with Adam von Gootkin, co-owner and producer at Onyx Soundlab.

How to Maximize your First Studio Recording Experience

You have to have a plan going in. Are you recording to put together your first demo to hand out at shows, or are you ready to start submitting material to record labels? Will you be selling the material, or just trying to get something simple recorded? Having a good plan going in leads you to putting together your reasonable budget for a project. Your expectations should match the size of your budget. I get a lot of clients that call up and their main question/concern is what is our hourly recording rate. One of the things I try to educate our clients on, is that it’s better to have a budget in mind before you start calling studios. If you know you’ve got $1,500 and want to do a demo, then we will customize a package based on that price.

Pro Studio Rates: Value vs. Cost

It is VERY important to understand that cheaper prices don’t mean anything. I often say, if you’re primary concern is finding the cheapest recording rate, then we will not be the studio for you. You really get what you pay for in terms of recording. For example, we include a producer with ALL recording packages we offer to independant artists. That comes included in our standard recording rate, which is very rare. And our prices are comparable with other high end studios in the area. An experienced producer can sometimes charge upwards to $250 an hour, so there is a lot of value there and it definitely shows in the end product. Remember to shop for studios on a value basis, not necessarily price. If you find a home or garage based studio and there price is super cheap, recognize it is likely the acoustics are not great, the equipment is cheaper and the skill set of the engineer/producer may not be to the level you require.

One Great Song is More Valuable than Five Mediocre Ones

It is important to look at the big picture. If you’re a young band with no funding, and your intentions are to get a pro-sounding 5 song demo for $300, the fact is that will not be a reality. So you have to alter your plan. I always say having one really well recorded songs instead of 5 songs that haven’t been well mixed is a much better way to go….but again, that depends on your end goal.

Have a Plan

At the end of the day, you have to look at pro recording and a music career as a business venture. You have only one product, you and your music. If I was getting started in a band or as a solo artist and had a limited budget, I would spend a few months saving and raising money to do a pro recording. I would look for a studio that could offer guidance and help with production in addition to just recording. That would ensure I could do the recording once, and have some solid material to hand out, shop out, or sell for the next year or two. It will save you money over the long run and likely get you where you want to be faster. Have a plan, know your goals, organize your funding, and have reasonable expectations. Like they say in construction: "Measure twice, cut once!"

=========================================
Thanks again to Adam for giving his feedback. As a pro studio owner, he didn’t necessarily agree with my previous post about sticking with my home recordings for the time being because my limit budget has led to some disappointments in pro studios in the past.

Audio Recording Software – Home Studios I’m at the point where I want to start putting...
Networking & Music Placements – Onyx Soundlab Interview Having just written a post about my home recording experiments,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Networking & Music Placements – Onyx Soundlab Interview

brian — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:45:05 +0000

Having just written a post about my home recording experiments, here’s a great interview from the professional recording world with Adam von Gootkin, co-owner and producer at Onyx Soundlab in Manchester, CT.

I had the pleasure of recording a track at their studio last year, and definitely enjoyed my experience. I was doing a pretty basic classical guitar and vocals track, and we pumped it out in an hour or so. The studio was very nice, and the guys there are very professional.

From my discussions with Adam, I knew they were heavily involved in pitching music to major labels, TV and film, which I knew would interest themusicsnob readers, as most of our popular posts have been about revenue sources like music licensing. So here’s what Adam had to say on some of today’s hot topics for indie musicians:

What types of music projects are occupying most of your time these days?

Actually we’ve been doing a large amount of singer/songwriter acoustic rock-pop type stuff. Historically, we’ve done a lot of hip hop, R&B, and pop. So it’s definitely been nice to diversify a little more. When we first got into the music business we were doing almost exclusively hip hop and R&B. Now, projects here can range from classical music scoring for film, to regular rock projects. It’s really cool how we’ve expanded out into many genres. As a producer, I’ve really expanded my musical interests. I actually have a jazz vocal project coming up with an independent singer. Kind of a Michael Buble meets Zooey Deshanel and I seriously am excited about getting started because it’s a little out of the box for me as a producer.

What are some of your biggest accomplishments in terms of production or song placement?

We’ve had a large amount of high profile recording artists in the studio. Just recently, we worked with Asher Roth on his "Asleep in the Bread Aisle" album, which has gone on to do quite well. We had a lot of fun doing the song "White Lies," with Jessica Sutta of the Pussy Cat Dolls and DJ Paul van Dyk. They did a full music video for that a couple years back and it is up on youtube. We’re working on songs now for the debut album of Shanika Knowles (of the Hannah Montana show,) and think that will be a great album. I really like Shanika’s voice and she has a unique style. We’re also getting tracks together to submit for the next Mariah Carey album.

We have a couple new publishing companies we’re working with right now and expect to be moving a lot of our material much more aggressively in the coming months. We’ve been pursing a lot more tv and film opps as well.

How did you network your way into placing songs with major labels?

Really it’s all about establishing relationships. It’s important to keep in mind that A&Rs and publishing agents have a job to do. Their job is to find great music that fits the respective project. The easier you make it for them to do that job, the more success you’ll have. After years of going to conferences, shaking hands, reaching out via myspace and facebook, and making cold calls and emails, after a while you start developing a solid network. We’re fortunate enough to be in a place now, where we don’t just shop out our material, but also that of our studio client’s if the music is up to par. We have so many opportunities from our different connections right now that placing songs into projects is becoming a regular part of my job. As producer/songwriters, we can only create so much product on our own.

Where do you think the biggest opportunities are for indie musicians and songwriters right now?

Honestly, I would say in the film and tv publishing side. While the budgets aren’t what they once were, there are hundreds if not thousands of opps on a daily basis. Connect with the right publishers or agents and stay on the opportunities. If you don’t have many direct personal contacts, starting with a company like Taxi.com or pmpworldwide.com is a great way to get material in front of some decision makers. But success in this business is tied directly to persistence, consistency, and longevity. You have to keep making the music and keep getting it out there over a period of time.

What are some common mistakes or misconceptions you see among musicians trying to get into the industry?

Owning a busy recording studio allows us to see musicians at all different levels of preparedness. From a music side, I’m surprised at how many aspiring recording artists and bands neglect vocal training. Even songwriters should have a good understanding of vocals. I see a lot of R&B singers, and lead band singers that are just kind of winging it. If singing is your reason for getting up in the morning, you better get those vocals right! There is such a flood of music in this business right now, only the truly excellent shine through. So it’s crucial to present top notch product from day one. On the business side, many independent singer/songwriters and bands haven’t educated themselves on the different opportunities that are available to them. I’ve told a band before, "this song is great, would you give me permission to submit this to a publishing agent for a film opportunity?" and they have no idea what I’m talking about or how that works. If you intend to be in music as a full time career, you have to learn the different ways that exist to generate an income. There is a lot more to it than playing gigs and getting an advance from a record deal.

What tips would you give a potential recording client for getting the most out of a session?

The first thing I tell a client before coming in is that they better have their material memorized. If you have to read lyrics off a sheet then you might as well not bother. At that point, we’re recording you reading instead of recording a performance, which is the true reason for professionally recording in a studio. Know your material front and back so we can use our time in the studio focusing on the creative side, instead of just trying to get something down that is a decent take. Also, do a bit of reading online or get a book about the recording process. If you understand some studio basics, such as recording, production, mixing and mastering, that will help you understand the process much better.

Are there any developments in recording or the music industry that you’re excited about that you think indie musicians should know about?

It seems like for the past few years the music business has been full of a lot of bad news. It’s like weekly headlines of, major label sales decrease due to itunes downloads and blah blah blah. At the end of the day, the system will correct itself. Companies are figuring out new ways to increase sales, labels are getting creative, and due to technology, opportunities are more available for bands and artists that are organized enough to take advantage of them. As far as great developments, I don’t really know of anything new at the moment. I think, kind of like the state of our economy right now, everything is slowly regrouping and heading towards an upswing. Hopefully in the next couple years, there will be some exciting new music as we watch the industry evolve. People that are preparing and developing their sound now, will be ready to take advantage of it.

How to Maximize Your First Studio Recording Experience This is a “guest post” taken from an email...
Inner Rhythm – New eBook on Building a Successful Music Biz On the other side of the pond, Kavit Haria is...
Audio Recording Software – Home Studios I’m at the point where I want to start putting...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Audio Recording Software – Home Studios

brian — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:43:59 +0000

I’m at the point where I want to start putting more demos together of songs that have been accumulating in the back of my mind, as well as record a couple things of decent quality. In the past, I’ve looked at professional studio recording as the most desirable route, and always saw my home recordings as a stepping stone for final studio versions to come down the road.

Home Studio Sounds vs. Never-Good-Enough Pro Studios
In retrospect, however, some of my favorite recordings are the ones I’ve done myself over the years, in various semi-isolated basements and apartment bedrooms, etc. The recordings were solo efforts with relatively simple orchestrations, and perhaps because of that they have a real naked personality and warmth to them. With my pro studio efforts, good is never good enough. If I’m paying a ton of money for something, I want it to be perfect, but it never is. No matter how much I spend, it’s just not going to sound as good as the major label releases I hear. And that pisses me off. There are analog instruments like the drums, for example, that I’m convinced you need huge studio budgets to get top quality recording sounds.

So instead of spending more money I don’t have on pro studio recordings that I will find fault with, I’m going to focus on bare-bones home demos for a while. It’s really just a few songs that I want to focus on, but I love the intimate nature of hearing the full voice, a guitar, some nice subtle effects and maybe another instrument or two. And given my limited technical knowledge, that’s about all I can successfully capture in my home studio. I also want to venture into electronic instruments, which by their nature don’t require nearly the same level of expense to get good sounds.

Audio Recording Software: Which to Choose?
I’ve been researching again the possibilities for home studio audio recording software, so I may post some reviews of what I look at. In the past I’ve used Digital Performer with great success, but my Mac is old and barely running. Unfortunately it looks like my options are limited to PC platforms for now. If anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them. I’m considering: Cakewalk, Cubase, Audacity (free open source software for really basic recording), and a few others.

How to Maximize Your First Studio Recording Experience This is a “guest post” taken from an email...
Pump Audio Reducing Licensing Payments to Artists by 30% Yo yo yo. Any of you guys using Pump Audio...
Pump Audio Music Licensing Controversy I’ve obviously been quite occupied with things unrelated to this...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Music Licensing Opportunities & Companies

brian — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:23:31 +0000

Clearly I haven’t been posting anything in several months. Hopefully I will get some new content up here during the next several weeks.

I get emails from time to time from people asking about music licensing opportunities, what the best companies and resources are, etc., and typically I only have my old posts to point them to, as my research is getting a little outdated at this point.

But today someone posted what seems to be a really good link in one of the comments, but unfortunately I lost the comment as I messed up my site’s migration to a new server. So the comment is gone, so whoever it was that posted it, I thank you.

This looks like a great long list of Music Licensing Opportunities and companies. Check it out! Let me know how it is, and if you know of any additional resources or companies, please post them in the comments for everyone to see.

That’s it for now! Happy music to all…

Tips for Evaluating Music Licensing Opportunities We’ve looked at a ton of different music licensing services...
Pump Audio Music Licensing Controversy I’ve obviously been quite occupied with things unrelated to this...
Music Licensing and Re-Title Publishing, Pump Audio… Who is this man?! Why is he on this site?!...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Man Attacked by Giant Guitar

brian — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:34:34 +0000

I’m not sure what the deal is here, but I was walking down the street across from Penn Station the other day and saw this dude playing a gigantic guitar. He wasn’t actually being attacked by it, but me and many others were struck by its ridiculous size. The guy was playing real music on this thing. I think at the time he was doing an improvisation around the Star Spangled Banner or something…

It’s funny to think of the mad scientist mind that decided it would be a good idea to create a super-size guitar and make it entirely playable, although unwieldy, for a normal rocker dude. It sounded like, well, an electric guitar, though the lower strings had this huge deep open-string vibrating tone going on, kind of like how you can tell pretty much instantly when the low E on a guitar is in dropped D…

I hope this guy is making some nice spare change with his freak-show guitar. Props my man. It must be a total pain to carry to gigs. Or bring on the subway.

Music in the Dominican Republic Right now The Music Snob is in the Dominican Republic,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Pump Audio Music Licensing Controversy

brian — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:36:14 +0000

I’ve obviously been quite occupied with things unrelated to this blog for the past several months, but I’ve been impressed by the passionate responses here to Pump Audio’s decision to change the terms of their licensing split from 50/50 to 65/35 in their favor. The post I wrote (holy sh*t!) exactly a year ago today Pump Audio’s Re-Titling of Songs for Publishing and Pump Audio Reduces Artist Licensing Payments from back in May are still getting pretty frequent comments from musicians pissed off by Pump Audio’s unilateral action to reduce artist payments.

I’m also delighted(!) to see that we have the third-ranking site in Google’s organic results for Pump Audio. I LOVE that someone new to music licensing that is searching for info on Pump is going to see this headline on their first Google search “Pump Audio Reduces Artist Licensing Payments”. Those of you inclined to lean against the powers that be can continue to help the indie musician cause by linking to these articles.

I too received their announcement about the licensing agreement change, and so I’ve decided to just let my agreement lapse at the end of the year, which I think is what happens if you don’t sign and submit the new contract. I can’t claim to have done much business with them. In fact, I’m not sure they’ve licensed any of it…

This is clearly an issue affecting a lot of musicians out there, and we depend on every little income source we can find these days. Best of luck to those of you that are going the music licensing route! And good luck to all of you fighting the good fight…

Pump Audio Reducing Licensing Payments to Artists by 30% Yo yo yo. Any of you guys using Pump Audio...
Music Licensing and Re-Title Publishing, Pump Audio… Who is this man?! Why is he on this site?!...
Pump Audio’s Re-Titling of Songs for Publishing A reader sent me an email recently asking: When you/I...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Music Label 2.0

brian — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:11:32 +0000

Friend of themusicsnob Eric Hebert over at Evolver is busy launching a new service for musicians called Label 2.0. It’s a service they will be offering to educate indie musicians on how to promote music and create buzz in the post-record label universe.

Check it out!

Label 2.0

Your Online Music Marketing Strategy – Evolvor Media For some great tips on marketing your music online, we...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Realistic Expectations of an Indie Manager

brian — Tue, 26 May 2009 14:46:51 +0000

Today’s guest post is written by Jonathan Sigmon, aka “Sigs”, founder of Signature Entertainment:
————————————————————————-
Many artists and bands looking to take their music careers to the next level are looking for an artist manager. Putting together the right team around your band can be the difference between being a very talented local band or being able to actually tour and sustain a living. So what should you, the band, be looking for in an artist management company/representative and what are realistic expectations from them?

The answer to the first question is fairly easy. Simply look to see the results the manager has delivered in the past. Every artist manager is going to drone on and on about their connections to many industry executives (which can be legitimate or not), but the question you should be looking at for every person on your team (band mates included) is, “What can you deliver?” This sounds very business-like, which most artistic people want to run away from, but it is the reality of the situation if you are trying to make a sustainable career.

As for the realistic expectations of the manager, I think that both sides must spell this out during the contract and negotiations stage. For every manager it looks different and each one is going to have areas of strengths and weaknesses. However, there are some key questions about personal attributes and connections that you definitely want to explore, including:

What is the past experience and reputation of the manager?
Do they believe in your vision and are they willing to become your advocate?
Is there a connection to a recording studio that can produce the kind of sound your band is looking for?
Can the manager find you a booking agent?
Does the manager have business and contract negotiation experience?
Are there connections with a merch/graphic/web designer? Is there knowledge of your key music business websites and how to create a solid SEO for the band?
Does the manager know of a place for the band to practice?
Can the manager help you define and achieve your goals, as well as help decide where to invest your limited money?
Does the manager know how to find good writers for press, websites, contracts, etc. (i.e. publicist)?
Does the manager know how to get your songs published and ensure your royalties will be paid?
Does the manager have connections with a photographer and videographer?
Does the manager have relationships with any record labels in which you are interested? Do they at least have good phone conversation skills in order to discuss matters concerning your band?

Obviously, you may not need your artist manager to fulfill all of these duties, as you may already have some of these needs met (such as a practice space or a recording studio where you feel comfortable). As a band, it is important to prioritize the needs of the group and search for those attributes.

In today’s online world, you are looking for a person who has marketing expertise, an understanding of your target demographic, and is enthusiastic about you. As a band, remember that the manager is only getting paid a commission off of the money you are making. If you are a band that is at the level of only playing a couple of local shows, you can not have expectations that the manager will have connections or experience in all of these areas. However, most artist managers will look to get between 15-20% of your gross (with certain deductions). As a band, you have to ask if that type of investment is worthwhile for you. Hiring a manager may seem like you are giving up a lot of control and money, but not doing so is the mistake that many talented bands make across the world. When your music and fan base starts growing, so should your team. The person who assembles that team is your artist manager. This is by no means an exhaustive article for an artist manager, but for independent bands, this could give you a starting point in attributes to look for in your quest for an educated and connected artist manager.

——————————————————————-

About the Author:
Jonathan Sigmon (aka “Sigs”) is the founder of Signature Entertainment, an artist management company in Lancaster, PA and a blogger at TaintedCanvas on music business, faith, and marketing.

Crash on My Couch! Tour Lodging for the Indie Musician Finally, a company to serve those of us that wish...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.