Band Touring – Getting out and Staying out

In my new music industry book, The Artists Guide to Success in the Music Business, 2^nd edition, chapter 5 is called Solo or Band Touring. This chapter addresses what musicians today need to think about when it comes to band touring or solo touring, along with the realities and the preparations that need to be in place to create the best tours possible.

Any of the top music business books out there touch on band touring. It is a crucial part to getting your name out there, getting seen and really doing what it is you truly love. Still, the biggest issue with band touring is when things don’t go as planned. Those that work to problem solve, work out the music business budgets in advance and think analytically, will find that band touring will not only be that much more fun, but that you will be able to stay out on the road that much longer.

Touring for musicians today is all about the larger picture and not destroying hotel rooms anymore. The better you plan, the better you market, the better you network, you will in turn be able to keep your band touring that much longer over those that don’t.

Touring bands that you may look up to and think it is just that easy to emulate or copy may have advanced touring budgets already in place which will allow them to be out that much faster for that much less. Look at all the costs, layout the budgets and see where you can trim down the costs of band touring so that tour can reach more cities, more fans and for longer periods.

This is a big part of why you wanted to be a musician and be in the music industry in the first place, so make sure you got your band touring elements in place, in check and under budget.

Marketing Genius you cant shake a fish stick at.

Unless you were hiding under a rock, the marketing genius or what many may consider the insane egomaniac interviews that Kayne West has been given are everywhere. Kanye West has made statements comparing himself to Michael Jordan, claiming that Kanye West is God. Yes, I referenced that in the third person for him as I am sure he would or has. Now with all the coverage that has crossed all the multi medias, could this be exactly what Kanye West intended as a marketing genius that is pushing the album promotion in a very egomaniac but effective way?

Take a step back and look at how album promotion for Kanye West’s new album started shortly before that Saturday Night Live appearance a few weeks ago, then small snippets coming out about some recent collaborations along with all the regular marketing genius of the tabloids that Kayne West was cheating on Kim.

When you look at it for pure album promotion tactics, from the Kanye West is god statement to the Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan and how great he is as well as how he doesn’t need to apologize… it was enough to send major media, social media, bloggers and everyone in between to go nuts. Whether standing behind him, against him or anywhere in between, he said the right words at the right time to make media explode. So that is why I see it as marketing genius and excellent music marketing for his new album and the album promotion to lead up to the release. It really is Marketing Genius you cant shake a fish stick at. Going for the South Park reference there. 

Now on the same theme of marketing genius and music marketing like a moron, be careful when you try to copy or emulate someone else’s methods. Kanye West has over 20 Grammy’s, has been a fixture in the music industry for a long time and love him or hate him, he is incredibly talented. Lastly, he is incredibly high profile. This marketing genius move he made shows that he can say and get away with a lot. When thinking of copying his methods for album promotion, remember where you are and how the results can be very different and even very bad.  

Music Industry & You – How do you define it?

In my new music business book, The Artists Guide to Success in the Music Business, 2^nd edition, chapter 1 is called The Music Industry and You. This is the shortest chapter in the music marketing book and cuts right to the chase. The Music Industry and you chapter in TAG2nd asks personal questions that you need to address in a realistic way for your self and your career in music.

From facing the realities and getting out of the delusional mindsets of overnight fame, fortune, genies giving wishes, girls in bikinis and everything else that is far and few between, the music industry and you chapter focuses on helping you define success, the type of music career or music careers you want for your life.

There are many options and choices when it comes to music careers today. Still, as there are many more options, it takes someone that can zero in on the foundation of a plan and then build off of that blueprint. Things can change and be altered down the road, but those that start with the most solid understanding with the most solid foundation, get that much further in the music industry of today.

When you can get your head out of the clouds and focus on the round beneath you, you can then and only then, prepare to reach the clouds, the sky, the moon or whatever with that much more of a chance of finding success in todays music industry.

Lastly when you build the foundation in reality and understand the options of your place, your goals and your relationship with the music industry of today, you will be able to achieve that much more on so many different levels along the way. 

Music Marketing Book – Does one of these things look…

In The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business, I have small music marketing book tips in gray through out the book. So if you are skimming you can find little tidbits and helpful music business tips to think about and apply.

One of the music marketing book tips that I did not include in the new music industry book was about checking and double-checking your bands logo and bands font to see how similar or close the might be to others.

Very often a musician or band will get a design that they really like and run with it, not realizing till later how close it might look to some one else’s or some other product. The horror stories, which I do include in the music marketing book, include a group that had paid a small fortune for merchandise before receiving a cease and desist order on being able to sell any of it for being too close to another image in the suit it was termed “likeness.”

So what do you do? You cant know everything that’s out there. But what you can do is take your font, your logo or even pictures and drop them in to the Google Images search page. Then after you click search, you can go to the field where it is marked, find similar images.

This will help you see if your bands logo is already out there or looks like something too similar to something else. When I first got back the cover design for my music marketing book, it was the first thing I did. I searched the image and decided it stood out in a way that I liked and was not too close to anything else.

Those little extra steps that cost nothing but a few minutes here and there can save you all sorts of hassle down the road. Make sure whether its your bands logo, the font or anything else, that you are standing out and not looking to close to something that is already out there, especially if it is already established. 

Music Business Careers – Its about making decisions

There are plenty of tips out there on things people can do to ensure they have the best music careers possible, but all too often, one of the key tips is left out. If you are looking for a successful career in the music business, you are going to have to be able to make decisions, have solid decision-making skills and avoid being one of those passive aggressive, flip flop, shitty driver types.

Success in music can be an illusive thing and to some people, success in music or even the idea of having a successful career in any medium can be a down right scary thing. There are many out there who can make smart decisions and stick to their guns while they look at their music business careers and the decisions that need to be made and waiver, become passive aggressive on decisions and flake out on locking down a plan, a path or even being able to say yes or no.

In my new music industry book, The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business, I offer up ideas, avenues and options for artists, record labels, managers and entertainers to apply to their own careers. Still, they have to choose to apply them. They have to choose to follow through and they have to make a plan and commit if they are looking for successful music business careers. The passiveness and weakness of not being able to make a choice or commit to a decision, can keep you spinning your wheels till you are out of gas.

Committing and smart decision-making are two crucial skills that are needed for everyone looking for success in music or any where. You do need to make sure you are making the best choices and doing your research, but you also need to make sure to follow through and not just sit there for years at a time spinning wheels, running out of gas and never going anywhere.  

Music Industry Book – Booking the studio Chapter

In Chapter 7 of the new music industry book, The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business, I focus on the ideas of being in the recording studio. Many of these ideas are concepts to be applied before you go in the recording studio, including preproduction, planning, budgeting and laying out a blueprint plan for your recording studio session or sessions.

The best recording studio experiences comes from the best laid plans. Not to take away anything from the magic of being in the studio or trying to improvise in the studio. This chapter in the Artists Guide focuses on how you can organize, plan and prepare in the best ways to have the most freedom, fun and productivity while you are in the recording studio.

This chapter of the new music industry book gives you an outline of ideas that you can personalize and customize to your exact session or sessions plan. This chapter in TAG2nd also gives tips about what to avoid as well as what to watch out for. From the questions such as, what is the best recording studio for me and my project to what is the best recording studio for my budget and my music, Chapter 7 of TAG2nd will give you ideas to mull over, consider and apply in an individual way to each individual.

Of course every recording studio experience is different. From music to people to goals to budgets to goals and everywhere in between, you never know exactly what is going to happen when you arrive in the recording studio. Even with all the planning in the world, you are still going to get hit with surprises. Knowing, planning and preparing can make the over all experience in the recording studio easier as well as make the issues that may come up that much easier to fix.