I was in a meeting at the day job today when one of the marketing folks mentioned an awesome, mind-exploding idea that fits perfectly with setting music career goals: write a press release, then work backwards. The idea is to…
Interpol Signs Major Label Deal with Capitol Records
Though it might have seemed that Interpol was already on a major label, it was really a solid critical and fan presence that elevated them to today’s deal. Selling nearly a million records on Matador Records had something to do…
Retail Promotion Strategies for Independent Musicians
I’ve just posted a new video to the spinme.com members area! It’s a broad overview of the ways I recommend that you use retail to grow your audience. Members can log in and access it here.
Orientation for New Spinme.com Members
I finally had a chance to give you a personal tour of the new site and the membership area. If you’re interested in joining our music business mentoring program, check out this video for the technical details.
Nashville Star 5 Auditions Begin This Month
Nashville Star’s on USA again this January — I was a huge fans of the first two seasons, though I didn’t catch much of the past two years. Still, I always enjoy the emphasis the show puts on live performance…
Musicians Fascinate UK Youngsters
By Brian Farley In the UK for the last 18 years at least, a whole generation has been virtually starved of live musicians for a variety of reasons. The advent of computers being a standard household utility with their accompanying…
Meet You Halfway
Random, non music-biz fun for a Sunday…
Radio Consolidation Causes Unemployment
The guys at MusicBiz.com, with whom I usually agree on a lot of things, are taking an oddly defensive tone to the recent report from the Future of Music Coalition exploring how government-sanctioned consolidation has choked off a once vibrant…
MP3 Links Generate Album Sales
I’d love to see someone do a formal study of this (not that the RIAA would fund it, or anything), but it’s always been my personal belief that direct links to MP3’s in places like blogs and bulletin boards ultimately…
Keeping Independent Record Stores Alive
Putting the gloom and doom of the Tower Records post behind us, there are still opportunities for indie record stores to stay alive and stake a claim for relevance in their customers’ lives. To survive, a good record store should:…
How to get a guitar on an airplane. (Or any other musical instrument, for that matter.)
I know that we’ve covered this topic in passing over the past few months, but with today’s news of a foiled airplane bomb plot in the U.K., airport security’s going to be on condition red for at least the next…
CD Baby Ripping Off Artists?
Either someone’s out astroturfing for a competitor of CD Baby, or somebody must have had a freakishly screwed up order. Someone calling themselves John Miller is sending e-mail and posting forum and blog comments to just about every independent music…