There are probably a million ways to rehearse your band and your music for your gig.  Every musicians’ art is personal and emotional and presentable to the public in a very unique way.  In addition, what might play well in a town like New York City, might not play at all in another part of the country and under different music scenes and audiences.

I have been playing in the New York City scene for a decade or so, and I have noticed some issues to consider for this particular music scene and I feel that some bands could improve their chances of highlighting their art if they rehearsed in a way to consider some of the factors in playing a live show.  Here are some thoughts on the preparing for the gig.  Please post comments below if there are other strategies that you have encountered.

THE MUSIC

The main event.  People come out to hear your music, so be sure that the music is rehearsed and tight.  Be sure that the accents in the music are together and that the music has dynamics.  Or if it doesn’t have dynamics, Continue Reading

Just keeping up with music news these days keeping an eye on Live Nation and its’ attempt to take over major acts. It’s always interesting to me to keep up with music business to see how the record labels value certain acts. While I believe that Live Nation takes a cut of the touring revenue of big acts that it signs, it looks like Universal Music Group is looking to capitalize on switching old catalog to “the digital age”.

Is there really still money in this? … Continue Reading

On the topic of finding alternative ways to tour, here is a radio news piece from Soundcheck at WNYC New York, about DIY tours where people perform in living rooms from town to town.

Listen to “Rocking the House”

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2008/02/21#

New ways to expand your audience…Pretty interesting.

Now, BrokeDownVan is all for musicians getting compensated for their work — when appropriate. But in this age of bits and bytes the old way of looking at intellectual property is no longer relevant.

Check out this ridiculousness: Universal Music tried to have a video on YouTube taken down because it shows a, “toddler learning to walk with the Prince song ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ blaring in the background.” Aparently the Big Labels send thousands of these requests a year and most of the time the target just removes the offending video and slinks away.

Well, this time the mom refused to pull it, and decided to smack the label with Continue Reading

Steps

It takes only a couple of minutes to get a basic site, but give yourself more time customize your store and write good product descriptions.

1. Sign up for a PayPal account – You’ll need the email associated with your PayPal account when signing up for bigcartel.
2. Sign up for a bigcartel account – Fill out the sign-up form and choose “Band” as the “Store type”.
3. Products – Login, click on the “Products” tab at the top, and click “Add product”. Fill out the form and move on to your next product.
4. Design – click on the “Design” tab and then “Basics” to add your logo (”Header image”) and change the colors as your see fit. If your techish, change to “css” and go to town. If you have a paying account,

Continue Reading

In caveman times, if there was someone that could beat on a rock in a particular way and please people in a particular way, Neanderthals would surely hand over their prized skins and … I don’t know what Neanderthals traded in, but they would have handed them over. The product was scarce, thereby creating demand. Prices were high in dinosaur days. Today, we consume music in so many ways. On tv, on radio, while shopping in the mall, in the elevator, and on, and on….. In fact, here is a list of free streaming music sites from mashable:

http://mashable.com/2008/07/09/streaming-music-sites/

Since free product is plenty, demand for music product must be less, right?. So, it seems Continue Reading

As I’ve been researching and thinking on the subject of what making music and sharing it with others actually means these days, I was thinking how we are all advertising driven. This website is ad driven, how ever little driving is actually done. Nonetheless, advertising powers the art. So many people are able and striving to “sell” their music, but what does that actually mean in this world we are forging?

In the past music has been a product with many different business models, there was the concert, the tour, the cd, the publishing, the t-shirts. Then came the clothing lines, the sneakers, the branded guitars, and everything else. People are talking about the death of the cd track, and I kind of agree. Music, as a product, Continue Reading

I am fascinated with the fashion business model. In researching and thinking about the new ways that the music business, or independent music business can thrive. I’ve been trying to compare and contrast other business models. Ones where the products are generally the same, but differ enough to garner fierce brand loyalty and continued support. After a shopping trip with my girlfriend at Bloomingdale’s, looking at prices and designs of the dresses she wanted me to buy, I have become interested in the fashion business. Not to do it myself or anything but I appreciate it as an interesting business model as it is similar to the music business model (which is under repair currently).

Fashion is as a shortcut to self expression. In that way, fashion and music are alike, Continue Reading