Ba Rock Obama Fundraiser in Greenpoint NYC

A few weeks ago, my band AM, played this fundraiser for Barack Obama’s campaign. It was basically a hipster neighborhood event in Williamsburg/Greenpoint in NYC where they got a bunch of bars together to host a bunch of indie bands. One ticket got you a bracelet that allowed you to go to any bar that was hosting this thing and see all the music that was being made. It was called Ba-Rock Brooklyn.

So, it was pretty cool to meet all the bands there that night, and to my surprise (since I am a pessimist when it comes to people showing up at shows), there were a lot of people out that night and everyone raised $2500 for Barack. Not bad for a neighborhood thing.

I realized that part of the success of these kinds of nights is the “Music scene” aspect of it all. It works better to ask your audience to go to an event where they will be able to hear lots of different musics than just hear your band. So, the draw is “Come see a night of local indie music”, rather than “Come see my band”. A slightly different Continue Reading

So, in addition to being a superbly failed indie musician, I’m also a tv editor during the daytime. And I have been looking into other ways that musicians can make money in the future, as music as a commodity is everywhere. I use stock music everyday when I cut pieces into tv shows, and I feel that it might be a good way to at least pick up some coins until the touring money comes in. Or the T-shirt business fashion money comes in. Either way, it’s an interesting thing to get involved in to compose for TV. Sometimes the pay is good, if you’re good and sought after, and sometimes the pay is exploitative because there are always people trying to get in the door. 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

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

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

Music and musicians were a more rarefied group, or so it seemed to me. Not only did one have to practice on their own while everyone else was out playing, but it also required a certain expertise with esoteric information in order to learn and get better. It all felt like we were reinventing the wheel each time as we tried to figure out how come we didn’t sound as good as professionals on records. I still am trying to figure that out! But the production of the art, and the audience at gigs that consumed the art were able to share something cool in the same room. And that magical “live” feeling in a room where this is going on is important, and I believe it is the core of what has kept musicians in the game while the music business continues to crumble all around. Continue Reading

I’ll start my first BrokeDownVan.com blog with this statement that I think most readers would agree with: Musicians are fucked.

OK, maybe I should qualify that a little. Up until recently at least, all but a random few musicians were totally fucked. These days, musicians are for the most part still fucked but with a small glimmer of hope. A hope nicknamed the Internet.

A good number of musicians are surviving by using tools already available on the web, from MySpace to iTunes to Rhapsody to homegrown websites. This site intends to help share that information through blogs, website reviews, resource guides and more.

We often ask ourselves, Of what use is today’s music industry? Continue Reading

I’ve been thinking a lot about the way that the craft of music has been done in the past and the way that it is going to be done in the future. With every technological push forward, independent artists and musicians seem to find it harder to make money creating their art. There is a lot of good that comes from the distribution of songs and music more accessible through the Internet, but there is something lost in the process. As the means of producing music becomes cheaper and cheaper, the ways in which audiences consume music is also changing, making it difficult to pursue the craft of music. Will new media kill and old art? Continue Reading