Archive for October 2005

Nobody cares about your band’s ringtone.

Oct 24th, 2005 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: Web/Tech

Welcome to spinme.com, where we help working musicians make more money making music. If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or our weekly newsletter. Thanks for visiting!At the risk of coming off a little peevish today…
I have been BOM. BAR. DED. with companies wanting me to plug their [...]



Why your fans aren’t getting your e-mail.

Oct 24th, 2005 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: Growing Your Audience and Tips

There’s an interesting new trend in spam protection that impacts the results you could be getting from your e-newsletters. I often encounter bands that, desperate for attention, add folks to their mailing lists without permission. Ideological issues aside, there’s a bigger reason this strategy will cause you harm.
What’s concerning me is that, when a recipient [...]



Who’s disrupting the market in your hometown?

Oct 24th, 2005 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: General

In the presentation I give at conferences and seminars about hosting house concerts, I note that many music lovers (especially folks who are old enough to own their own homes) are getting tired of shabby rock clubs. Too often, I meet musicians that think that the club circuit is the only place for them to [...]



Are you in a music supervisor’s jukebox?

Oct 23rd, 2005 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: Film and Television

Wired and some other publications are getting around to covering a trend we’ve known about for years. Companies like Pump Audio make blanket licensing deals with independent musicians, then including pre-licensed works in a catalog for use by directors and editors — usually on reality shows and other projects that don’t have the budget for [...]



back from mini-hiatus

Oct 23rd, 2005 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: General

…been totally absorbed on a client’s recording project for the past few days. If you’ve sent me messages or left me voice mail, I’m back on the case.
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Grey’s Anatomy music supervisor blogs her decision-making process.

Oct 23rd, 2005 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: Film, Songwriting and Television

More and more of our clients and members ask me how to get songs placed in television or film. Because directors and music supervisors need songs that “fit” a scene or a series, they’re not so concerned about whether an artist or a songwriter has a built-in audience. In fact, many music supervisors like to [...]



The Arctic Monkeys sell out a 2,000 seat arena — with only one EP.

Oct 18th, 2005 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: Growing Your Audience

I have been harping for what seems like years about the fact that you do not need to sink piles of cash into studio recordings before growing your audience.
Here’s new proof. With only one “official” single on the market, the Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys have built a strong enough audience to sell out a 2,000 [...]



If You’re Using a Free Web Host for Your Band’s Website, Your Fans Won’t Find You

Oct 17th, 2005 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: Web/Tech

I’ve written before about the phenomenon of bands relying solely on a MySpace or a Soundclick website to make information accessible to their fans. Today, there’s more news to discourage you from relying on free hosting sites.
Specifically, if you’re hosting your band’s weblog at BlogSpot, expect it to disappear from search engines, and perhaps even [...]



Rob Thomas Remembers the Struggle

Oct 14th, 2005 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: Selling CDs

Even a record that goes on to sell ten million units (like the Matchbox 20 major label debut) can start out by selling only 600 copies. It takes time and patience, as Thomas attests.

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“If I sold what I liked, I’d be out of business.”

Oct 14th, 2005 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: Selling CDs

A great profile of what it takes to keep an independent record store running these days. When you’re looking at the stores in your own town, are you noticing that what’s selling isn’t exactly what “the scene” is doing? Sales of customer favorites can subsidize the rest of the shop in an 80/20 relationship, as [...]