The new Fiona Apple record is finally hitting the streets after six years! As we’ve discussed here before, it probably wouldn’t even have seen the light of day without significant support from her audience, even though many of the parties…
Author
Joe Taylor Jr.
Commissioned Songs
If you’ve been listening to any of my recent teleclasses, you’ll know that I’m big on the idea that the centuries-old concept of direct patronage is coming back in a huge way. And here’s another example: commissioned songs for special…
Would you like to be fired next?
Remember when Trump kept telling the project manager on last week’s Apprentice not to bring a certain person into the boardroom? And he said it again and again? And the dude brings that guy back anyway, so Trump fires him…
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Leaps Into Digital Music Distribution
Hey, orchestras can be indie artists, too! And the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is launching its own e-label to distribute live recordings of its events. This is an innovative move, because the tight union contracts at most orchestras have made it…
“Street Team 101” Teleseminar Series Starts Tonight!
If you’ve been struggling with getting your street team off the ground, sign up for tonight’s first installment of my new “Street Team 101” series. We’ll be recording this for our membership area and for a new CD release, but…
Open Phones, Wednesday @ 3pm ET
We have some room left on my next Open Phones conference call! It’s your chance to get all your specific questions about finding success in the music industry answered without having to pay a consulting fee. If you’re not already…
Cubase Tops the Pro Audio Shootout
The Digital Music Doctor unveils his latest Pro Audio Software Shootout, and the $599 version of Cubase comes out on top. If you’re inclined to whine about the $599 price tag, remember that it was only about ten years ago…
Lori McKenna Made Oprah Cry
Here’s exactly the kind of story that I wish I could tell more often. Catching today’s Oprah with Faith Hill, the show opened up the songwriting process and laid it bare as Lori McKenna played a song on the cream…
What do YOU want to be when you grow up?
Bob Baker asks that question of independent musicians in today’s insightful blog post.
Forget Napster, Forget KaZaA, just Bluetooth those songs like the Europeans Do!
Lefsetz has some insight into today’s Music Managers Forum conference in the UK — sounds like lots of whining with not much in the way of solutions. But he makes two great remarks that independent, working musicians should note: First,…
Snow Patrol’s Manager Issues a Wakeup Call Re: iTunes Royalties
UK music manager Jazz Summers and the Music Managers Forum are sponsoring a mini-conference to spotlight the fact that artists still get a tiny percentage of the profits from digital downloads through iTunes and elsewhere. Commenters over at iPodNN rightly…
Understanding Scenario Planning
In both Grow Your Band’s Audience and More Gigs Now, I use a stripped-down form of scenario planning to walk readers through the first few steps of forming a long term success plan. If you’re not familiar with how scenario…