Questions:
1. Is vocal production important to a singer?
2. Is vocal training needed to become a singer?
3. What do A&R’s listen for?
4. Do you need a manager and when should you get one?
5. How do I use Pro Tools for my recording?
6. Home Recording vs. Professional Studio ñ Which is right for me?
7. How to find good recording engineers?
8. How do I get into the music industry?
9. How important is networking to my music career?
10. How can I get noticed in the music industry?
11. Do I need a Music Publisher?
READMORE
1. Is vocal production important to a singer?
There is more to being a singer than carrying a tune. Your voice is your instrument, the tool that you use to make music. Like any tool, you must master it if you are to use it effectively.
Singing is a complex process involving several parts of your body. Your vocal cords produce sound when air is passed over them, but how that air moves and what it moves through is also very important to the resulting sound.
Controlling the air flow is a vital skill for any singer, and one that is often overlooked by the aspiring amateur. Air flow provides the power for your singing. If your power supply is weak, your singing will suffer.
Learn to support the air flow from your diaphragm. This is a powerful muscle that stretches across the bottom of your lung cavity and is responsible for drawing the air into your lungs when you breath. To see how important this is, remember a time when you ‘got the breath knocked out of you’. What has really happened was that the diaphragm was temporarily paralyzed. No matter how much you expanded your chest to try and breath, you still felt short of breath. That’s because the most important part of the breathing process was literally lying down on the job. As the paralysis subsided, breathing becomes easier and more effective.
For a singer, this muscle is the foundation for their craft. It gives you more sound to work with when you are singing.
But support is not the only factor in sound production. The shape of your throat and mouth have an important role in the final result. This area of the body, called the mask by professionals, borrows principles used to make string instruments. With each string, whether violin, guitar, cello or string base, the shape of the instrument is an important element in producing it’s characteristic sound. As as singer, you have the advantage of being able to change your ‘mask’ and alter your sound at will.
To learn more about these skills, you will need to seek the services of a professional vocal coach or singing teacher. You can contact BOSX1NERECORDSPH@GMAIL.COM for resource information in your area.
====
2. Is vocal training needed to become a singer?
Absolutely. While some people are gifted with natural talent, they cannot produce at a professional level without some professional training.
Think of your favorite sports star. They didn’t just get up one day and decide to try out for the NFL. They received training from coaches through grade school, high school, and college to hone their natural skills into an effective on field weapon.
Singing is a physical skill, just like passing a football or making a basket. It requires an incredible amount of coordinated movements each second to produce the sound.
A singing teacher, like a football coach, can use their experience to isolate what you are doing wrong and help you to do it right.
Watch American Idol sometime. To get ready for each performance, the contestants get the advice of coaches and music professionals. The ones who stay in the competition and go on to win are often the ones who listened to the advice that they were given.
There are several ways that you can get musical training. The degree route is a good idea, as it gives you a broad spectrum of musical knowledge including history and theory, and provides you with a number of opportunities to perform. But private coaching is also available, often from people who specialize in the type of music that you want to perform.
====
3. What do A&R’s listen for?
An Artist and Repertoire agent is someone working for a publishing house or recording company who’s job is to look for new talent. They are people who are in touch with both the current and emerging trends in the music industry.
If you want them to be looking for you, you basically need to be what they are looking for.
First of all, the artist portion of their name is misleading, as they are not really looking for artists. A true artist is one who makes the music that they feel inside, regardless of how it is received by the public. While an A&R agent may respect a true artist in this sense, and appreciate their commitment to their art, they are not going to sign them.
What they are really looking for is a performer. Someone who, in addition to their singing skills and talent, can form a bond with the audience and create an experience beyond just the music. Being a performer doesn’t have to mean losing all artistic integrity. But it does mean that you must be willing to partner with the public in creating each performance.
Another thing that they are looking for is a sound. Like food, musical performances have a set of unique ‘flavors’ that combine to make the performers ‘sound’. Some agents are looking for a ‘New Sound’, some are looking for the ‘Current Sound’, and some are on the look out for both.
The point is, develop a sound for yourself and your group. This is done through hours of practice and reviewing your recordings. When you start to sound like someone that you would want to pay money to hear, you have developed your sound.
Remember, music is a business like any other, and brand recognition is important. Think of all times that you have heard a new song and picked out the artist in the first few bars.
A&R agents are also listening for skills and range. Many people think that because they have a few good riffs, they can be a musician. That is like calling yourself a carpenter when all you can do is install a door. A useful skill but you can’t really call yourself a carpenter. A real musician has to have a full set of skills to compete in the business. You may have a great intro to your song or a killer ending, but if the other parts fall flat, so will your career.
The key to getting picked out by an A&R agent is to pick a style that you love, and work at it until you are as good as the people that you listen to.
====
4. Do you need a manager and when should you get one?
Managers can be an important part of your performing career. They have contacts that you will never have and the time and skills to handle details that you don’t want anything to do with. A good manager can get you the jobs and get your music heard by the kind of people that can make a difference in your career.
The problem is, good managers are picky about who they represent. You can always get some guy who will make promises for a cut of your profits, but finding someone who really can really deliver is hard. And getting them to deliver for you is even harder.
Many performers hooked up with a manager early in their careers, and this has often worked out well. But for most performers, they will need to find their own work early on until they can prove that they are what a good manager is looking for.
Managers are looking for more than just a good demo CD. Yes, that is important, but they need to know that you can deliver on stage as well as in the studio. Getting jobs and doing them well will allow you to build the kind of reputation that makes managers want to take the time to talk to you.In the meantime, get to know who is handling the talent in your area. Talk to artists and roadies that you meet on gigs. Check out the credits on the local CDs that you like. Get to know who are the players and who are the pretenders in your market. Then, when you are ready for management, you will know better who to say yes to with your signature on the dotted line.
=====
5. How do I use Pro Tools for my recording?
Pro Tools is a computer software package that can make up the core of a professional recording studio. In fact, with the addition of some specialized sound cards, it can be your recording studio, handling the mixing, mastering and even the burning of your CDs.
Pro Tools will allow you to record from both synthesized and acoustic sources into separate tracks. These tracks can be pre-mixed as they are recorded, and then re-mixed later on.Once you have all of the elements recorded, you can use the Pro Tools utilities to match the tracks together and re-mix them, just like studios do.
One of the advantages of Pro Tools is that in addition to being a full featured recording and production system, it can also integrate external hardware pieces as needed.
For example, complex mixing is easier to do using a real world mixing console rather than the virtual slides on a software mixer. By integrating a commercial mixer into your system, you get the best of both worlds.The manufacturers of Pro Tools offer a wide variety of hardware accessories and software plugins that an expand your production capabilities over time.=====
6. Home Recording vs. Professional Studio ñ Which is right for me?
This is a complex question with no hard and fast answer.
For recording electronic tracks (Beat tracks, etc), a home studio is great. There are plenty studio software packages available that are inexpensive and easy to use.
To begin with, you need a good computer. While most professional sound studios use MACs for production, there is plenty of good quality entry level software and hardware available for either MAC or Windows platforms. And since all of your sounds are generated electronically, you don’t have to worry about sound proofing.
If you want to add acoustic recording, then sound proofing is an issue. Microphones sensitive enough to record your lead singer are also going to pick up the fire truck going down the street outside. Soundproofing is not difficult, but it can be expensive. You will need a large space, cut off from the rest of the building, preferably without a floor or ceiling that is shared by another unit.
Once that is done. You will need to isolate your acoustic recording area from the rest of the room. Start by building a platform from materials that do not transmit sound well. The platform should be elevated at least 10 inches from the floor using as little contact with the main floor as possible. Basically, on short legs. These legs should be set on non-conductive materials, such as rubber. The idea is to keep vibrations from the floor from being transmitted to the recording booth.
The walls and ceilings of the booth should also be away from the walls and ceilings of the room. Sound dampening materials such as blankets or carpet can be put up on the walls, ceiling and floor to help deaden sound in the room.
The booth will need to be made form insulated walls which will keep outside noises outside.
This sounds like a big deal, and it is, especially if you want to record several people at once, or need to include pianos or other musical instruments in the recoding.=====
7. How to find good recording engineers?
At some point, you may want to consider a professional studio. Perhaps you don’t have the room to set up soundproofed booths, or you need a higher production quality than your equipment and experience can provide. Finding a studio can be a challenge. Just looking in the phone book or on line is a start, but that doesn’t guarantee that they will know how to record well or are experienced in the kind of music that you perform.
One way to pick out a good local studio is to get familiar with the CDs that are being produced in town. Find some that you like and check out the studio names on the CD credits.
Talk to people in the industry. Find out who did a good job for them. Be careful about how much credit you give to each opinion, though. Sometimes attitudes can color a review.
You can contact BOSX1NERECORDSPH@GMAIL.COM for information in your area. =====
8. How do I get into the music industry?
That’s the question that has driven millions of star struck young singers out of their home towns for decades.
First, you need to have the chops. Just because your mama thinks you can sing doesn’t mean that you really can. If American Idol has taught us anything, it has taught us that. You will be going up against people who have been working for years to perfect their craft. You need that same level of commitment. Take lessons. Develop your vocal skills and your singing style. Practice, Practice, Practice. Your competition is.
Location can be an issue. Perhaps there is no real music industry in your town and if you could just get to New York/Chicago/Detroit/Hollywood then your success would be assured. But before you hop on that bus, remember that if you aren’t good enough to get work in your own home town, what makes you think you can compete in the big leagues.
Spend some time working with where you are. Do contests, amateur nights, community theater, whatever it takes to get experience in front of an audience. The most important part of being a performer is your ability to bond with an audience and get them to listen to you. That is a skill that cannot be taught, but can only be learned behind a microphone in front of a room full of people. And it is a skill you can learn right where you are, right now, with the opportunities that are all around you.
Once you have proven that you can give a performance, then look into that bus ticket.
To get jobs, you need to have jobs. It’s not fair, but it is the way things are in the music business. To break in, you need to keep hammering at it until you make opportunities for yourself.
- Get to know the successful artists in your market. Find out how they broke in and see if that can give you some ideas.
- Get CDs made and sell them to anyone who will buy them. Build your own fan base one fan at a time.
- Get a good web site and provide some of your music for download.
- Make a good quality video and put it on You Tube.
Get your face and your voice out there as much as you can.====
9. How important is networking to my music career?
Networking is crucial to any musician. Either you or your management needs to be connected in a big way with the local and national music scene.
People get jobs in music from people that they know. The more people that you know, the more jobs you are likely to get.
Talk to the crew and your fellow singers. Find out what venues are out there and how good they are to work at.
Check out the blogs and web sites of performers, producers and managers in your area.
Have a good set of business cards produced. Have a set of small fliers, called ‘leave behinds’ made up as well. They should be eye catching and informative, giving information about what you do and how you can be reached. Then, when the opportunity arises, ‘leave’ one behind.
Get a good web site and a domain name that is catchy but not too long to be used easily. Make sure that your email service is reliable and that you can get at it from as many places as possible. Avoid gmail, msn, or yahoo email addresses. It’s OK to use sites like gmail for your email provider, but check out their instructions on how to manage email for your personal domain name on their service.
Social networking sites are key to promotion now. Get a presence and keep it current. It’s a good way to hang onto your fan base.====
10. How can I get noticed in the music industry?
Step 1. Be worth noticing. To be noticed by the music industry, you need to be performing at a professional level. There are plenty of talented amateurs out there, and the agents and promoters can spot them from 50 yards away. And that’s about how close they will get to them, too.
You need to develop your skills to the level that someone will be willing to pay you to perform for them. That takes work, dedication and the ability to take criticism.
Get lessons. Get a singing coach. Get a mentor. Get to be a better performer.
Develop your skills as a singer.
Once you get to a professional level, you need to get out there and perform. Don’t worry about getting paid right now. You just need to be out in front of an audience that is not made up of everyones parents. Do contests, amateur nights, community theater, whatever it takes to get you on stage. That is where you can develop your skills as a performer.
Once you have the knack of working your audience, you are ready to find professional gigs. The best way to get noticed is on a professional stage. The way you do that is simple. Keep looking.
Simple, but not easy. But there is no easy way to get there. Keep networking. Keep singing. Keep
pushing on every door that you find until some start to open for you.
Put some of your work on You Tube and hope that it gets noticed.
Name recognition is key. Think of all the political signs that are just a name and the office they are running for. Many people will vote for the name that they recognize.
It’s the same with music. Someone who recognizes a name on a CD label or a play bill is more likely buy the CD or the ticket than if there was no one recognizable on the list.
Make sure that you are getting noticed for the right reasons. A tight sound, good production quality, and professionalism. Promoters want performers that will show up and put on a good show=====
11. Do I need a Music Publisher?
Like the manager, music publishers can be an important part of your music career. In the modern music world, the music publisher’s job is mostly to handle the legal and copyright issues related to your music. While they are still involved in the marketing to a degree, it is the legal details that make up most of their daily tasks.
The traditional relationship between artist and publisher involves a long term commitment where the publisher buys into the career of the artist. As a result, the publisher will get a percentage of the royalties on the artists work, past, present, and future, within the limits of the contract.
In return for their share in the royalties and a certain level of control over the material, the publisher usually pays and up from signing fee and will agree to handle all of the legal issues involving copyrights, production, radio and video spots, and covers.
This can be a big deal. In order to make money, the publisher must diligently protect the rights of the artist.
But in many cases, the publisher has been guilty of taking too big a bite of the royalties and too large a share of the control. It is important that you look for a publisher that has a reputation in your area for dealing square with their stable of artists.
Getting a good traditional publishing deal is similar to good, traditional manager. You need to find a publisher who believes that your body of work has or will have value. That takes a lot of leg work, a lot of networking, and a lot of knocking on doors. If you have one, your manager should have connections that will make this process easier. A publisher is more likely to listen to an established manager than just some kid who shows up at the office Monday morning.
Another option is to set up a work for hire situation, where you partner with publishing houses in a ‘co-production’ mode. Here the publisher agrees to protect your rights for a specified amount of money or share of the royalties, but leaves the control with you.
While this leaves you without the some of the connections of a well established publishing firm, is also helps protect you from exploitation.====
1. Is vocal production important to a singer?
2. Is vocal training needed to become a singer?
3. What do A&R’s listen for?
4. Do you need a manager and when should you get one?
5. How do I use Pro Tools for my recording?
6. Home Recording vs. Professional Studio ñ Which is right for me?
7. How to find good recording engineers?
8. How do I get into the music industry?
9. How important is networking to my music career?
10. How can I get noticed in the music industry?
11. Do I need a Music Publisher?
READMORE
1. Is vocal production important to a singer?
There is more to being a singer than carrying a tune. Your voice is your instrument, the tool that you use to make music. Like any tool, you must master it if you are to use it effectively.
Singing is a complex process involving several parts of your body. Your vocal cords produce sound when air is passed over them, but how that air moves and what it moves through is also very important to the resulting sound.
Controlling the air flow is a vital skill for any singer, and one that is often overlooked by the aspiring amateur. Air flow provides the power for your singing. If your power supply is weak, your singing will suffer.
Learn to support the air flow from your diaphragm. This is a powerful muscle that stretches across the bottom of your lung cavity and is responsible for drawing the air into your lungs when you breath. To see how important this is, remember a time when you ‘got the breath knocked out of you’. What has really happened was that the diaphragm was temporarily paralyzed. No matter how much you expanded your chest to try and breath, you still felt short of breath. That’s because the most important part of the breathing process was literally lying down on the job. As the paralysis subsided, breathing becomes easier and more effective.
For a singer, this muscle is the foundation for their craft. It gives you more sound to work with when you are singing.
But support is not the only factor in sound production. The shape of your throat and mouth have an important role in the final result. This area of the body, called the mask by professionals, borrows principles used to make string instruments. With each string, whether violin, guitar, cello or string base, the shape of the instrument is an important element in producing it’s characteristic sound. As as singer, you have the advantage of being able to change your ‘mask’ and alter your sound at will.
To learn more about these skills, you will need to seek the services of a professional vocal coach or singing teacher. You can contact BOSX1NERECORDSPH@GMAIL.COM for resource information in your area.
====
2. Is vocal training needed to become a singer?
Absolutely. While some people are gifted with natural talent, they cannot produce at a professional level without some professional training.
Think of your favorite sports star. They didn’t just get up one day and decide to try out for the NFL. They received training from coaches through grade school, high school, and college to hone their natural skills into an effective on field weapon.
Singing is a physical skill, just like passing a football or making a basket. It requires an incredible amount of coordinated movements each second to produce the sound.
A singing teacher, like a football coach, can use their experience to isolate what you are doing wrong and help you to do it right.
Watch American Idol sometime. To get ready for each performance, the contestants get the advice of coaches and music professionals. The ones who stay in the competition and go on to win are often the ones who listened to the advice that they were given.
There are several ways that you can get musical training. The degree route is a good idea, as it gives you a broad spectrum of musical knowledge including history and theory, and provides you with a number of opportunities to perform. But private coaching is also available, often from people who specialize in the type of music that you want to perform.
====
3. What do A&R’s listen for?
An Artist and Repertoire agent is someone working for a publishing house or recording company who’s job is to look for new talent. They are people who are in touch with both the current and emerging trends in the music industry.
If you want them to be looking for you, you basically need to be what they are looking for.
First of all, the artist portion of their name is misleading, as they are not really looking for artists. A true artist is one who makes the music that they feel inside, regardless of how it is received by the public. While an A&R agent may respect a true artist in this sense, and appreciate their commitment to their art, they are not going to sign them.
What they are really looking for is a performer. Someone who, in addition to their singing skills and talent, can form a bond with the audience and create an experience beyond just the music. Being a performer doesn’t have to mean losing all artistic integrity. But it does mean that you must be willing to partner with the public in creating each performance.
Another thing that they are looking for is a sound. Like food, musical performances have a set of unique ‘flavors’ that combine to make the performers ‘sound’. Some agents are looking for a ‘New Sound’, some are looking for the ‘Current Sound’, and some are on the look out for both.
The point is, develop a sound for yourself and your group. This is done through hours of practice and reviewing your recordings. When you start to sound like someone that you would want to pay money to hear, you have developed your sound.
Remember, music is a business like any other, and brand recognition is important. Think of all times that you have heard a new song and picked out the artist in the first few bars.
A&R agents are also listening for skills and range. Many people think that because they have a few good riffs, they can be a musician. That is like calling yourself a carpenter when all you can do is install a door. A useful skill but you can’t really call yourself a carpenter. A real musician has to have a full set of skills to compete in the business. You may have a great intro to your song or a killer ending, but if the other parts fall flat, so will your career.
The key to getting picked out by an A&R agent is to pick a style that you love, and work at it until you are as good as the people that you listen to.
====
4. Do you need a manager and when should you get one?
Managers can be an important part of your performing career. They have contacts that you will never have and the time and skills to handle details that you don’t want anything to do with. A good manager can get you the jobs and get your music heard by the kind of people that can make a difference in your career.
The problem is, good managers are picky about who they represent. You can always get some guy who will make promises for a cut of your profits, but finding someone who really can really deliver is hard. And getting them to deliver for you is even harder.
Many performers hooked up with a manager early in their careers, and this has often worked out well. But for most performers, they will need to find their own work early on until they can prove that they are what a good manager is looking for.
Managers are looking for more than just a good demo CD. Yes, that is important, but they need to know that you can deliver on stage as well as in the studio. Getting jobs and doing them well will allow you to build the kind of reputation that makes managers want to take the time to talk to you.In the meantime, get to know who is handling the talent in your area. Talk to artists and roadies that you meet on gigs. Check out the credits on the local CDs that you like. Get to know who are the players and who are the pretenders in your market. Then, when you are ready for management, you will know better who to say yes to with your signature on the dotted line.
=====
5. How do I use Pro Tools for my recording?
Pro Tools is a computer software package that can make up the core of a professional recording studio. In fact, with the addition of some specialized sound cards, it can be your recording studio, handling the mixing, mastering and even the burning of your CDs.
Pro Tools will allow you to record from both synthesized and acoustic sources into separate tracks. These tracks can be pre-mixed as they are recorded, and then re-mixed later on.Once you have all of the elements recorded, you can use the Pro Tools utilities to match the tracks together and re-mix them, just like studios do.
One of the advantages of Pro Tools is that in addition to being a full featured recording and production system, it can also integrate external hardware pieces as needed.
For example, complex mixing is easier to do using a real world mixing console rather than the virtual slides on a software mixer. By integrating a commercial mixer into your system, you get the best of both worlds.The manufacturers of Pro Tools offer a wide variety of hardware accessories and software plugins that an expand your production capabilities over time.=====
6. Home Recording vs. Professional Studio ñ Which is right for me?
This is a complex question with no hard and fast answer.
For recording electronic tracks (Beat tracks, etc), a home studio is great. There are plenty studio software packages available that are inexpensive and easy to use.
To begin with, you need a good computer. While most professional sound studios use MACs for production, there is plenty of good quality entry level software and hardware available for either MAC or Windows platforms. And since all of your sounds are generated electronically, you don’t have to worry about sound proofing.
If you want to add acoustic recording, then sound proofing is an issue. Microphones sensitive enough to record your lead singer are also going to pick up the fire truck going down the street outside. Soundproofing is not difficult, but it can be expensive. You will need a large space, cut off from the rest of the building, preferably without a floor or ceiling that is shared by another unit.
Once that is done. You will need to isolate your acoustic recording area from the rest of the room. Start by building a platform from materials that do not transmit sound well. The platform should be elevated at least 10 inches from the floor using as little contact with the main floor as possible. Basically, on short legs. These legs should be set on non-conductive materials, such as rubber. The idea is to keep vibrations from the floor from being transmitted to the recording booth.
The walls and ceilings of the booth should also be away from the walls and ceilings of the room. Sound dampening materials such as blankets or carpet can be put up on the walls, ceiling and floor to help deaden sound in the room.
The booth will need to be made form insulated walls which will keep outside noises outside.
This sounds like a big deal, and it is, especially if you want to record several people at once, or need to include pianos or other musical instruments in the recoding.=====
7. How to find good recording engineers?
At some point, you may want to consider a professional studio. Perhaps you don’t have the room to set up soundproofed booths, or you need a higher production quality than your equipment and experience can provide. Finding a studio can be a challenge. Just looking in the phone book or on line is a start, but that doesn’t guarantee that they will know how to record well or are experienced in the kind of music that you perform.
One way to pick out a good local studio is to get familiar with the CDs that are being produced in town. Find some that you like and check out the studio names on the CD credits.
Talk to people in the industry. Find out who did a good job for them. Be careful about how much credit you give to each opinion, though. Sometimes attitudes can color a review.
You can contact BOSX1NERECORDSPH@GMAIL.COM for information in your area. =====
8. How do I get into the music industry?
That’s the question that has driven millions of star struck young singers out of their home towns for decades.
First, you need to have the chops. Just because your mama thinks you can sing doesn’t mean that you really can. If American Idol has taught us anything, it has taught us that. You will be going up against people who have been working for years to perfect their craft. You need that same level of commitment. Take lessons. Develop your vocal skills and your singing style. Practice, Practice, Practice. Your competition is.
Location can be an issue. Perhaps there is no real music industry in your town and if you could just get to New York/Chicago/Detroit/Hollywood then your success would be assured. But before you hop on that bus, remember that if you aren’t good enough to get work in your own home town, what makes you think you can compete in the big leagues.
Spend some time working with where you are. Do contests, amateur nights, community theater, whatever it takes to get experience in front of an audience. The most important part of being a performer is your ability to bond with an audience and get them to listen to you. That is a skill that cannot be taught, but can only be learned behind a microphone in front of a room full of people. And it is a skill you can learn right where you are, right now, with the opportunities that are all around you.
Once you have proven that you can give a performance, then look into that bus ticket.
To get jobs, you need to have jobs. It’s not fair, but it is the way things are in the music business. To break in, you need to keep hammering at it until you make opportunities for yourself.
- Get to know the successful artists in your market. Find out how they broke in and see if that can give you some ideas.
- Get CDs made and sell them to anyone who will buy them. Build your own fan base one fan at a time.
- Get a good web site and provide some of your music for download.
- Make a good quality video and put it on You Tube.
Get your face and your voice out there as much as you can.====
9. How important is networking to my music career?
Networking is crucial to any musician. Either you or your management needs to be connected in a big way with the local and national music scene.
People get jobs in music from people that they know. The more people that you know, the more jobs you are likely to get.
Talk to the crew and your fellow singers. Find out what venues are out there and how good they are to work at.
Check out the blogs and web sites of performers, producers and managers in your area.
Have a good set of business cards produced. Have a set of small fliers, called ‘leave behinds’ made up as well. They should be eye catching and informative, giving information about what you do and how you can be reached. Then, when the opportunity arises, ‘leave’ one behind.
Get a good web site and a domain name that is catchy but not too long to be used easily. Make sure that your email service is reliable and that you can get at it from as many places as possible. Avoid gmail, msn, or yahoo email addresses. It’s OK to use sites like gmail for your email provider, but check out their instructions on how to manage email for your personal domain name on their service.
Social networking sites are key to promotion now. Get a presence and keep it current. It’s a good way to hang onto your fan base.====
10. How can I get noticed in the music industry?
Step 1. Be worth noticing. To be noticed by the music industry, you need to be performing at a professional level. There are plenty of talented amateurs out there, and the agents and promoters can spot them from 50 yards away. And that’s about how close they will get to them, too.
You need to develop your skills to the level that someone will be willing to pay you to perform for them. That takes work, dedication and the ability to take criticism.
Get lessons. Get a singing coach. Get a mentor. Get to be a better performer.
Develop your skills as a singer.
Once you get to a professional level, you need to get out there and perform. Don’t worry about getting paid right now. You just need to be out in front of an audience that is not made up of everyones parents. Do contests, amateur nights, community theater, whatever it takes to get you on stage. That is where you can develop your skills as a performer.
Once you have the knack of working your audience, you are ready to find professional gigs. The best way to get noticed is on a professional stage. The way you do that is simple. Keep looking.
Simple, but not easy. But there is no easy way to get there. Keep networking. Keep singing. Keep
pushing on every door that you find until some start to open for you.
Put some of your work on You Tube and hope that it gets noticed.
Name recognition is key. Think of all the political signs that are just a name and the office they are running for. Many people will vote for the name that they recognize.
It’s the same with music. Someone who recognizes a name on a CD label or a play bill is more likely buy the CD or the ticket than if there was no one recognizable on the list.
Make sure that you are getting noticed for the right reasons. A tight sound, good production quality, and professionalism. Promoters want performers that will show up and put on a good show=====
11. Do I need a Music Publisher?
Like the manager, music publishers can be an important part of your music career. In the modern music world, the music publisher’s job is mostly to handle the legal and copyright issues related to your music. While they are still involved in the marketing to a degree, it is the legal details that make up most of their daily tasks.
The traditional relationship between artist and publisher involves a long term commitment where the publisher buys into the career of the artist. As a result, the publisher will get a percentage of the royalties on the artists work, past, present, and future, within the limits of the contract.
In return for their share in the royalties and a certain level of control over the material, the publisher usually pays and up from signing fee and will agree to handle all of the legal issues involving copyrights, production, radio and video spots, and covers.
This can be a big deal. In order to make money, the publisher must diligently protect the rights of the artist.
But in many cases, the publisher has been guilty of taking too big a bite of the royalties and too large a share of the control. It is important that you look for a publisher that has a reputation in your area for dealing square with their stable of artists.
Getting a good traditional publishing deal is similar to good, traditional manager. You need to find a publisher who believes that your body of work has or will have value. That takes a lot of leg work, a lot of networking, and a lot of knocking on doors. If you have one, your manager should have connections that will make this process easier. A publisher is more likely to listen to an established manager than just some kid who shows up at the office Monday morning.
Another option is to set up a work for hire situation, where you partner with publishing houses in a ‘co-production’ mode. Here the publisher agrees to protect your rights for a specified amount of money or share of the royalties, but leaves the control with you.
While this leaves you without the some of the connections of a well established publishing firm, is also helps protect you from exploitation.====