About a month ago I posted about Scottish singer-songwriter Sandi Thom, who had had enough of the road life and decided to webcast her performances live from her living room. At one point she was drawing up to 200,000 viewers.…
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Roll-your-own recording studio
Huh, check out this fairly exhaustive how-to guide to building your own studio. It’s cool how home recording technology has made it so you can do quality recording in your garage. On the other hand, sometimes I think it’s worth…
When did the Beatles become THE Beatles?
Another great post from Seth Godin, this time on the Beatles’ rise to megastardom: At the beginning, they were playing two or three clubs a day, dives, making a few pounds if they were lucky. Not for a month or…
Things could be worse…
…at least your tour van didn’t spontaneously combust on the road.
Managing risk is key
I plucked this bit from the website of a guy I sorta-kinda know, attributed to another guy I sorta-kinda know: “It’s not about luck. It’s about managing risk, so in the end it looks like luck.” Q: How do you…
Music, taxes and the “$400 Myth”
It’s tax time in the US, which means it’s also the season for what I call the “$400 Myth” to start circulating in musician circles. Here’s the myth as I hear it goes like this: “If I made less than…
Can’t beat piracy? Work with it, instead!
There’s no way to compete with people who are downloading music illegally, so why not team up with the system so the songs that people download could be yours? Indie distributor Jeff Price, who started TuneCore, uses digital distribution to…
Praise Canada!
Honestly, I think one line in this article sums it up pretty well: Seneca College is the first Canadian post-secondary institution to take part in a first-of-its-kind initiative in Canada to highlight independent music and get it heard by the…
Raise the roof, not the volume
Ever hear that iPods and other mp3 players are dangerous ? Well, they are. Or, they *can be* if you don’t know how to use them appropriately. In the news these days: the kinds of headphones that often come with…
Playing the subway: a hot new ticket
Well, well, well! It’s great to be back (it’s like my very own Saturday Night Live intro!). I’m excited to be back on board with the spinme.com site, and I hope you all can work with me so that Scott,…
Street Musicians Sponsored by Sony
To promote the soundtrack to Walk the Line, Sony is paying street musicians $80/day to play sets of Johnny Cash songs. My head asplode.
How To Break An Act
Abrasive-yet-insightful music industry commentator Bob Lefsetz knocked one of the park a few days back with his post, Breaking An Act. A must-read, even if half of it is just plain common sense.