Today’s required reading: 21 Ways To Do Everything Better by Dumb Little Man
If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my Newsletter. Thanks for visiting!
According to a recent survey, independent musicians have no more access to major market radio now than they did before major networks agreed to settle over charges of payola.
What I can’t figure out is why, in the year 2008, when radio is a declining force in the way Americans learn about new music, do we [...]
Just spent most of the last week on the couch, recovering from a really freaky infection of the sinuses and inner ear. Plenty gross. And on top of that, it caused my tongue to swell up, so I couldn’t even speak! Probably the worst thing that can happen when you’re a professional trainer and speaker, [...]
It’s an unassuming title for a free e-book, but Derek Sivers has created the most important piece of literature you will read this year, hands down. In it, he documents the shift in indie music culture from “Do It Yourself to Decide It Yourself,” and he uses real world examples of music marketing and promotion [...]
I love that Derek Sivers is blogging his experiences as a music business mentor, if only to see him live through some of the same experiences I enjoyed on my first few “book tour” appearances.
Derek gently reminded an audience of musicians that “pigs kill more people than sharks” to point out how obscurity threatens more [...]
Just one of those neat things… You know how when you hear a song you love so often that it just resonates with you, and it doesn’t surprise you when it pops up other places?
I’m working on an article in the office, and I can hear Lori watching Men in Trees from the living room. [...]
With not a whole lot of rumor or speculation, the fate of the American Idol Songwriter contest for 2008 was up in the air until this week, when officials reopened the contest site to the public.
By all accounts, this year’s contest is just like last year’s contest. Key points:
It’s tough enough to be a record executive these days. Your budget’s shrinking, your staff keep leaving to join tech startups, and you keep having to figure out which one of your interns is the one who’s leaking your biggest acts rough mixes to BitTorrent.
At least you always had SXSW to look forward to, right?
Apparently, [...]
Ann Powers writes longingly of the “wave of Eva-mania” in the late 1990s, and I remember it well. So it surprised her and others when American Idol contestant David Archuleta won compliments from the panel for his “original” cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
It’s a peculiar thing about music that you internalize the first time you [...]
Jon: haha coincidentia ly i am also going to california in july and was very skeptical about bringing my guitar. im still nervous, but thanks a lot for the tips.
One guy: CD baby said they had digitally distributed my music to 14 digital retailers but after a year I searched each one and came up short on 4 accounts! They sent me emails saying 'sorr...
Ptack: After reading all these articals Jim is the only one that has it right.