Great Songs From An Independent Band Will Make Money

The only way to make money with anything as an independent band is supply and demand. If they're equal you'll make decent cash. If there's more demand your independent band need more supply and vice versa. Many of you would like a record deal. That's understandable, but how many of you would your independent band to have a record deal just for the money? Fame you could care less about? Well, you wouldn't need a record deal then. This is where the supply and demand takes place though. Think about it like this, supply would be the deals and the independent artists would be the ones demanding them. Of course, deals aren't that easy to obtain but it's possible as long as you know what you're doing or what you need to be doing.

Here's where your independent band come in. Instead of chasing a deal for money, make money from those who are chasing the same thing as you! Of all the things needed to get a deal, great songs is the perfect way to help and make you a lot of money while helping them. Many people want deals but many lack great material.
Basically, you have the demand now supply it. Now you'll need amazing songs

in order to have people really spending money to get them. How do you achieve this? Not music theory or composition. Those will help but there's one thing you'll need to really prosper...a trained musical ear. Seriously! You can start writing amazing songs without even knowing how to sight read. You can base it off of what sounds good. From there you could learn all the theory you'd need but the fact is, great songs are great songs whether you can read music or not. Do lots of research and you'll find out the many of the most successful artists never took a music class let alone learned music notation. If it sounds good it sounds good. From there lyrics and song structure will be easy. Just listen to some great song writers in all genres to figure out what's the average structure per genre. Those songs will make you plenty of money because many people don't have trained ears. You can write a song in your head without an instrument being within a mile with a trained music ear. I do it all the time, infact I never enter the recording studio 'cold,' ie. With no idea of what I'm hoping to achieve. Once you train that ear and get the songwriting to that same level, you'll never be broke again.

So how exactly do you make that cash in 6 months? Spend two months working on your songwriting. While doing that train you ear. There is plenty of information on it if you just Google" music ear training." In my opinion though, I'd use software. It's faster to learn and it will track your progress for you. Okay, month three and four should be used to find those people looking for the songs. Use the internet and network where there is anything music related. Be sure to have some songs prepared for them too. If you cant sing, find someone who can and create a demo with four of your best songs on it. The last two months is where you work pays off. This is when you negotiate fees and start counting that money! What are you waiting for?!? TRAIN YOUR EAR! You won't regret it. Master that songwriting and in six months, you may be counting your cash for another six months!

I discovered Bandcamp some months ago and now use it as my primary distributor. Why? It's a no-frills site where you can upload on pretty-well any sound-file format....all high quality. Likewise, if fans choose to stream the album "Mean Business," for example, to your left as often as they like. Fans can also download singles in any file format that they choose. Again, all of the highest quality AND they download quickly. In the instance of "Mean Business" if you enter the codeword thistle at the checkout you receive a 50% discount. To view the discount doesn't leave you obliged to purchase it. On top of all of this, the artist keeps 100% of profits, thus encouraging us independent artists to drastically reduce our prices in comparison with the 'big guns.' I've always believed that transparency & honesty are the two most useful tools that independent bands should utilize to the hilt.

Getting back to perfect pitch, it  is almost essential when it comes to making money with your songwriting. Once at least relative pitch is achieved, it could do wonders for your music career. Don't wait until it's too late. Start ear training today and start counting cash tomorrow.

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Make Your Audience The Stars

Entertaining can be very rewarding, but it can also feel like a huge responsibility. When anyone takes the stage in front of thousands of fans, there's a job to do and a lot at stake.

Entertaining is as much as an art form as the music one plays. It takes many years to learn that when a true entertainer takes the stage, that the concert is not about the entertainer, it's about the people in the audience. The entertainer is not the star, the audience is the star.

For example, for many years you to take the stage and the first thing  that you do is to start blasting away and showing off your quick hands on the guitar trying to impress the crowds, your fellow musicians, and yourself. This works, to a certain degree. You should have a thick press kit of critics comparing you to the legends but the problem was that it didn't translate at all into good CD sales. The fact is, the better you get, the slower your sales.

What was happening? You're playing for your own pleasure expecting audiences to dive into that realm with you. Some do, but others became alienated because they just don't have the musical knowledge to go there with you. Also, you're playing from ego and not from the heart.

Many performers seek validation outside of themselves by showing off and many don't even care what the audience thinks. But, the truth is, most should care what the audience thinks and what the critics think. Because, bigger audiences and more press equals more gigs and more money.

However, seeking the approval of colleagues, media, critics, and fans can be self-absorbing and self destructive if you're not careful. You should care what the audience thinks but at the same time be conscious of not trying not to impress them.

While I have always possessed a natural ability and desire to entertain, I learned that I didn't really understand how highly choreographed and entertaining were supposed to be. Certainly I understood that lighting, good production and communication with your audience from time to time was a good thing. But, I learned that just by using a proven template for winning presentations I could up the ante quite a bit.

The difference in my career was dramatic. I changed almost overnight from self-absorbed and trained technical performer to an entertainer. And, the best part is my sales increased exponentially. And, I didn't have to give up change genres to become an entertainer. I just had to learn how to package it.

So, what's important to anyone wanting to make a mark in entertainment? First, learn the psychology of human behavior then learn how to lead an audience. Then, find and study a proven template for winning presentations. That will help you to overcome any limitations you may have. Entertaining is an art form that can be mastered if you get the right information from the right master entertainer.

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Your Bands Press Kit. An Essential

Any serious rock band must come up with an impressive band press kit to be given out to venues and recording studios. The press kit or portfolio is a musician's first step to success. Furthermore, quality music portfolio can bring more opportunities for a specific rock band. With this, it is important for the band members to focus on the things needed to complete the package.

Printed Documents

Printed documents like cover letter, band profile, song list, record of gigs and shows must be included in a band press kit. These documents must tell potential clients about a band's objectives, history and profile. Moreover, recording studios may want to ask what kind of genres and the cover songs included on the list of a specific band. It is also important to provide a band photo so that the profile will become reliable.

Music Sample

A start-up rock band must come up with a demo CD that records at least three of its best songs. Representatives from a certain recording studio may want to hear a specific band's music for evaluation. Before recording a demo CD, it is important for the band members to rehearse their part. They just have to remember that they need to produce a quality demo CD to impress the clients.

Visual Identity

A professional business card for the whole rock band can be included on the press kit. Most of the time, the name of either your manager or the band 'leader' is indicated on the business card. It is also important to come up with a creative and unique business card design to create visual identity. The logo, band name and contact details are also important in printing this kind of material.

These are the things that should be included in a band press kit. A start-up rock band must take this first step in order to achieve their dreams of becoming popular in the music industry.

Choose a specific offered at Vistaprint, and create a professional business card for your band.

Get your 50% discount for "Mean Business" by entering codeword: thistle

Make Your Website Pay

Following on from a recent blog on establishing your bands website, it's now time  to get your music site rolling by understanding the machinations of your music website.


Let's say you are a great singer or you have a small band or even your own label. You have big ideas but only a tiny budget. Your father doesn't own a record company, like Sony BMG and your mother isn't a Hollywood actress like Nicole Kidman, so your network is confined to the local press writers and groupies.

Maybe you already have your own CD's and have made a few sales but you can't seem to find the time for promotion. The gigs you play bring in a little money but things don't seem to be getting anywhere. So how to progress?

One very realistic option is to exploit the potential of the internet with your band website. Of course, the internet has often been cited as the answer to everything, but in this case, it really can provide impressive results. And this is the key: it's a cheap and it's quick. It can even be free if your band is its embryonic phase.

The music industry is changing. We are in serious transition now. The discontent amongst music buyers has created a gap which the internet can adequately fill.

The internet music market is real. A survey by Georgia Tech found 41% of all internet users have purchased music from the web. Forrester predicted a market volume of $76 million USD for digital music downloads in 2003, rising to $541 million USD in 2005 and continuing to reach $2 billion USD in 2007.

The statistics suggest there is a genuine market for legal, modestly priced music.

The internet is a perfect platform for marketing your band website. Promotions, press releases and positioning are cheaper here than in the real world. Your audience is already here.

The internet's function as a communication medium gives you a direct line to your listeners, peers and even your critics. Email is the perfect mechanism for keeping in touch with fanclubs and sending newsletters and it's cheap.

That doesn't mean if you start a music website today and get busy selling music downloads online that you'll be able to give up the day job immediately! However, the internet can provide a lot of things you need to promote yourself as a musical artist.

This is what your music website will do for you:

1. Provide news to your fans when your latest CD is ready, read it here!

2. List gigs or concert dates (and any changes)

3. Sell your songs as music downloads to fans all over the world

4. Provide press information

5. Publish interviews, photos and biographies

6. Provide a communication center for dialogue with fans and other bands

7. Act as a "calling card" for getting new bookings or attracting the attention of major labels, getting contracts for incidental music etc.

A website can represent your music in multimedia, such as YouTube....much better than print or radio, and it is much cheaper than TV. And you can sell your songs as music downloads anywhere in the world!

mp3 downloads are emerging as a serious alternative to the CD. In an age where most modern kids burn their own CDs, it makes sense to adjust your strategy accordingly. Selling songs as moderately priced downloads means you have no production costs. You can even treat members of your band website with free mp3 downloads. It means you don't need a record deal and you are free to do what you want with your music. Package a CD cover along with the songs and your fans can burn the CDs themselves.

Buying mp3 downloads is potentially a more satisfying buying experience than traditional music shops. It provides instant satisfaction for consumers when they discover, download and play your songs immediately.

The internet is an amazingly flexible format. Theoretically, you could record a live show, encode and upload it later that evening so that the entire show would be available for sale the next day. Fans would love to have this as a reminder of a great concert. Better than a T-shirt!

Treat your music website seriously. Your music website is often the first port of call for people - fans, label managers and A&R to check you out. It makes good sense for you, as an unsigned artist to have one.

How To Get Your Band A Killer Website

In an earlier entry in this blog I gave a very brief overview of tips and what is entailed with setting up a website for your band. Now it's time to get to the hard-core aspect of this topic to make your site really fly. I deliberately 'softened' that entry for fear of scaring you off. Ideally, by now, you may have read that particular post and surmised that there is an awful lot more to it. Now I'm going to 'cut to the chase.'


It is inevitable that you will  have to, initially employ the services of a web site design expert. Ideally they are already an experienced webmaster. A competent and experienced webmaster will know webmaster tricks that you've never even heard of and probably not notice. Obviously, your webmaster will keep you up to speed on these intricacies. Your webmaster will also work closely in conjunction with your manager and your band. Once your web site design expert has every piece of knowledge that he requires he will immediately register your site under a domain name. The financial 'cap' on this should be pre-determined.


He will then busy himself making the site as visually appealing without too much 'clutter' whilst making literary tweaks in the interests of seo optimisation. SEO optimisation can make or break a site....and both factors can be achieved all too easily. This is why I highly recommend a web site design expert.


Once a 'draft' website has been completed, both band and management should be given access for either approval or further advice. Bare in mind, 'further advice' means further spending. Don't fall into the trap of having to borrow money merely for a website.


You are more than likely, if the person that you hired for your web site design is giving you their

all, tastefully and relevant Google Adsense Ads should appear on your site. If implemented properly, this can be a very handy form of residual income for your site.


On a final note, YouTube videos should be utilised on their site. Great care should, however, should be taken. YouTube videos of your band taken on a hand-held video from the back of a room aren't going to encourage return videos. I took the hint of a friend of mine. I mimed to my own soundtrack.....and it worked a treat.


Also, with regard to YouTube videos on your site, don't be afraid of saying a few words; a mini-blog, if you like. This brings your fans 'closer' to you. My advice in this department is....keep it short; ideally under 2 minutes. Keep your YouTube video content relevant but I encourage you to add your own personal touch


If you implement the above-mentioned strategies, I guarantee that your seo optimised website will very soon skyrocket in numbers on  a global scale.


To claim your 50% discount on "Mean Business," enter the codeword: thistle