James Moore's Blog, page 116
July 26, 2013
Call Out To Rock, Punk, Hardcore And Metal Bands For Free Compilation
Very few publications do a good job of focusing on rock, punk, hardcore and metal, while also keeping their eyes and ears open and supportive of the underground. My friends at Intamission Music so excellent work, so when they provided me with information about their new compilation album that is planned to be free for independent artists, I felt it was something I’d be more than happy to spread around. For full details, check out the news release below:
Intamission Music: Boys and Girls we’ve got something cool coming your way! We’re going to be making a compilation of the most badass tracks to date, whether signed or unsigned, in order to help get as many ears as possible listening to some of the best bands around.
So we need rock, punk, metal and hardcore bands to come forward and submit your songs for our new compilation album, we need between 15 to 20 songs, so you can choose your best song to date and hopefully it’ll make the final cut! Then after we have chosen all the songs, we will only be releasing 5 hard-copied albums as a competition prize! But these albums are special, as there will only be 5 in the world, very unique and hopefully signed by some of the bands!! Then after the competition has ended we will then release it on bandcamp as a free download!
Well if you’re up for being in the album then you know where we are, give us a message!
Requirements:
- One Song (Your best song and it has to fall under the genres of rock, punk, metal, hardcore and must not be a cover!)
- Bio and photo of your band
Send everything to: intamissionmusic@ymail.com
As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.
July 25, 2013
Twerking, Miley Cyrus, And How The Music Media Became Gossip Rags
Are you online looking for something interesting, newsworthy, inspirational, or merely useful in some way? You may be looking for a long time, because, well, those things are hidden beneath other, more pressing matters. If you’ve read Ryan Holiday’s book “Trust Me, I’m Lying”, you’d be familiar with the fact that our current mainstream media (music and otherwise) and blogosphere want polarizing issues, trivial gossip and controversial content, whether it’s true or not. Rage pays. Apologies, corrections and updates simply mean more traffic at a later date.
Many comments on music blog’s features add up to “Is this really newsworthy?” and “Why would you guys post this?” as of late. We look for music news and instead we’re faced with endless posts such as “Earl Sweatshirt trashes Jay Z” (shouldn’t that be between them?) or “Bieber did WHAT off a balcony?” (from the Huffington Post today. I’m still not sure what he did), meant to anger us so that we click. Once we click, nothing more is needed of us. We realize that we’ve been had and the site earns. Two days after Earl Sweatshirt trashes Jay Z, he announces his new album. What a particularly sad promotional trick. Who’s time was wasted? Ours.
Traffic is the currency, from the bottom to the top, and your success often depends on what you’re willing to do to get it. Gossip magazines used to be something people would purchase in the same way as, say, condoms or rash cream. Throw a few other items in the mix and hope it goes unnoticed. Now, the internet keeps our squeamishness intact and everyone engages. It’s gone mainstream, from the very highest to the smallest. Traffic means advertising, after all.
Until someone (come on, Google) comes up with an internet filter where we can block certain things from our viewing (to remove, say, Lana Del Rey from our news feeds for example), we’ll have to contend with this trend. To make things entertaining, I thought I’d Google a particularly silly piece of news that made the rounds worldwide. Miley Cyrus “twerking”. I must admit, when this first started showing up on just about every music blog I frequent, I didn’t read, and still haven’t read, any of the articles on the subject…because personally, I just don’t care, not to say that you shouldn’t. In this list you’ll see initial posts by major publications, which pave the way for endless follow up posts. This is a technique often used to gain more traffic. Spread something apparently scandalous and put celebrities in the position of defending themselves. Bandwagon hopefuls gets involved, too.
If you were recently promoting a major event, a charitable cause, an important piece of news, a groundbreaking company, or artist, and wondering why appealing to the mainstream media was so difficult, this is why. This is what gets the hits.
The Guardian features a headline saying “Nicki Minaj reminds Miley Cyrus that she can twerk in the pool”, while The Huffington Post highlighted a piece on Demi Lovato and how she “avoids twerking”.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2013/07/ying_yang_twins_miley_cyrus.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/demi-lovato-miley-cyrus_n_3643721.html
http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/jay_miley_cyrus_is_god_for_twerking_Hn9aevtsWJClVvN6Ie50hM
http://guardianlv.com/2013/07/nicki-minaj-reminds-miley-cyrus-that-she-can-twerk-in-the-pool-video/
http://www.salon.com/2013/06/24/is_miley_cyrus_twerking_racist/
http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/07/10/jay-z-defends-miley-cyrus-twerking-hot-97-interview/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/rihanna-miley-cyrus-mollie-king-2022032
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/granny-trio-copy-miley-twerking-video-article-1.1396967
This case study is one of thousands of examples. I don’t want to name names, but your favorite music blog’s news feed probably has many similar “stories”.
What’s the positive side?
There are many publications who provide excellent content, such as Consequence of Sound, Pop Matters, The Quietus or Pitchfork, and of course, thousands of smaller publications. Focus on them for your press needs, and don’t give gossip rags your valuable hits. Once you click, they’ve made money from their advertisers. Support the blogs you feel are doing good work. Give THEM the traffic. Next time you see a great music feature, take the time to comment. Share it. Resist the urge to click on the next “beef” piece. Contribute to the culture by starting a quality blog of your own. It’s up to us how we communicate with each other and what we cover. Things change depending on the choices we make every day, and you’re your own filter.
As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.
July 21, 2013
Paul McCartney And Nirvana Bring 3 Hour Rock Masterpiece To Safeco Field
Photo credit: Blog Critics
Why do we gather together as human beings when it’s often more comfortable and convenient to be alone? Is there potential for true communion when we gather? It is possible to rid ourselves of artificial divisions? What is the purpose and potential of music? If it inspires, what can we do with that inspiration to make it useful? Can it be used as a vehicle for compassion?
These are questions that were running through my mind as I sat among a sold-out crowd of 45,000 other people at Safeco Field in Seattle on Friday, July 19th. Most of the questions were answered by Paul McCartney’s explosive 3 hour performance, and they’re still questions that I’m pondering in the aftermath of the historical event. Do I think too much? It’s very possible. But I can’t help but think that events like these, where we temporarily forget our horrid cliques, our particular belief systems, our judgements, our knowledge, and our biases, opting to come together with no agenda other than celebration and good will, are among the most valuable things we can possibly do.
This was not a nostalgia show. In fact, there was no division, and that’s significant. Unlike, say, a Rod Stewart show or your typical Casino fodder, all ages came together to see Paul McCartney on Friday night, and that in itself was a thing of beauty. No judgement. No barriers. Just communion.
There was the chaos associated with any massive event of this scale, of course. A rock n’ roll show at Safeco Field had never been attempted before. The surrounding streets were almost impossible to get through for blocks, and opportunists were charging up to $60 for event parking. Line-ups and insane crowds. $10 beers. Small annoyances. Infinite distractions. Expensive tickets.
But then the music started. The familiar Beatles favorite “Eight Days a Week” got the crowd warmed up after a lengthy (and quite beautiful) pre-show video/musical presentation. McCartney and his band (Guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, and drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr.) were on point throughout the set to say the least. Not only do the band back up Paul’s musicianship. They back up his contagious and persevering positive attitude. It’s the people behind the instruments that is just as important as the technical skill.
Running through an inspired selection of Beatles, Wings and solo hits and welcome deep album cuts, the setlist couldn’t have been improved, short of asking Sir Paul to stay on stage longer than the 3 hours he did. Highlights for this reviewer included “Paperback Writer”, “Blackbird”, “Your Mother Should Know”, “Lady Madonna”, “Here Today”, “Mrs. Vandebilt”…well, this is getting rather pointless, isn’t it? There wasn’t a bad performance all night. Special surprises included spot on renditions of Sgt Pepper tracks “Lovely Rita” and “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite”, along with an unusual but welcome cut “All Together Now” (from “Yellow Submarine”).
One could say that while the show was amazing in it’s own right, it really lifted off with the massive fireworks display accompanying “Live And Let Die”, a spectacle that lifted the whole crowd to new heights. After this, “Hey Jude” completed the main part of the show. Enter the encores, and there were many. After returning with “Day Tripper”, guess who Sir Paul called onstage to join him. Dave Grohl, Krist Novaselic, and Pat Smear…with Nirvana being my favorite band growing up, and one of the reasons I got into rock music, this was almost too much. A historical event to say the least. Not only did the boys join in for “Cut Me Some Slack”, the track included on the recent “Sound City” documentary directed by Grohl…they stayed on stage for the rest of the set (except “Yesterday” of course)! Seeing this massive ensemble blow 45,000 people away on the roaring “Helter Skelter”, well, that answered my question about the potential music has to inspire, to create change. I’m still piecing together everything, deciding how I’ll use the inspiration in my own life, and how I can bring it to the world.
This is the most profound effect that Paul McCartney has as an artist. He is a vehicle of compassion and love, as we all are, and he uses his gifts to maximum potential. You cannot be cynical in the presence of an energy like this. Thank you to Paul, his wonderful band, and the surviving members of Nirvana for a deeply profound experience.
Setlist:
Eight Days a Week
Junior’s Farm
All My Loving
Listen to What the Man Said
Let Me Roll It
Paperback Writer
My Valentine
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
The Long and Winding Road
Maybe I’m Amazed
I’ve Just Seen a Face
We Can Work It Out
Another Day
And I Love Her
Blackbird
Here Today
Your Mother Should Know
Lady Madonna
All Together Now
Lovely Rita
Mrs. Vandebilt
Eleanor Rigby
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Something (Paul on ukelele)
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Band on the Run
Back in the USSR
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude
Encore:
Day Tripper
Cut Me Some Slack (with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear)
Get Back (with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear)
Encore 2:
Yesterday
Long Tall Sally (with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear)
Helter Skelter (with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear)
Golden Slumbers (with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear)
Carry That Weight (with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear)
The End (with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear)
As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.
July 18, 2013
The Top 5 Ultimate Albums For Summer Listening
The sun is now in control. The summer is heaving along. Your back is sticking to the chair. The AC is cranked and you’re not sure what to do because the second you move, you’re sweating. Grab a lollipop, or an ice cube, get comfortable and sweat to these albums of summer.
***
#5
Feels
Animal Collective
Lyric: “I have my fits / You have your fits / but feeling is good.”
“Hop the fence, leave the street, and wet your feet to find the swimming pool,” sings Avey Tare on “Banshee Beat.” When he holds out the ‘oo’ in pool it’s like a blast of AC to the face. Feels came out in 2005 and elevated Animal Collective to indie cult status and cemented their careers as outre musicians. Here their formula is perfected using all their talents at their grasp: an intoxicating use of harmony and wordplay, rhythmic delusion, and equal amounts of abrasion and lucidity. It’s the soundtrack for cooped up muggy apartment life. “Did You See The Words?” splashes like a water slide and by the time “Bees” comes on, the mirage in the living room will appear.
***
#4
Brian Wilson Presents Smile
Brian Wilson
Lyric: “Sleep a lot / eat a lot / brush ‘em like crazy / run a lot / do a lot / never be lazy.”
The long-gestating Beach Boys’ masterpiece follow up to Pet Sounds finally came out, under the helm of Brian Wilson, in 2004. The production is as slick as a surf board pulled right from a wave. The speckles of flutes, kazoos, wind chimes and bells add to its summery charm. Smile is a bright sounding record. It’s all sunflower yellow, burnt orange and light green. Perfect for morning eggs and coffee as the sun is rising to full strength. From “Heroes And Villains” to “Vegga-Tables” to “Good Vibrations” this album paints scenes of California on the back of your eyelids.
***
#3
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
The Flaming Lips
Lyric: “What is love and what is hate? / And why does it matter?”
I once listened to this album while having a staring contest with an owl as the sun went down. The bird perched on the roots of a tree; I sat at a table. It was tragically beautiful. The sky turned different shades of red, pink, yellow and orange and Wayne Coyne’s voice was a soothing breeze. All manners of time and space rushed past me on The Flaming Lips’ electronic vibrations and aching melodies. The record put my body into a permanent buzz. There is such a perfect balance of psychedelia and pure pop ambition that you might end up in tears by the end.
***
#2
Hello Nasty
Beastie Boys
Lyric: “I love it when you spazz out all alone.”
Really, any Beastie Boys album could take this place. They have managed to package summer vibes into every note, hook, beat and rhyme they’ve created. Hello Nasty makes the cut because it’s their last true front-to-back classic (with absolutely no disrespect to To The Five Boroughs, The Mix-Up or Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2). It’s the Beasties at their loosest, bringing the party early on and making it last throughout. “Body Movin’” and “Intergalactic” are freak-dance purveyors. All this album wants you to do is get nice. The philosophy of the Beastie Boys is centered on free will and loving life and when we spin closer to the sun there’s nothing more appropriate.
***
#1
Screamdelica
Primal Scream
Lyric: “Gettin’ out of the darkness / My light shines on.”
This one is DRY. Released in 1991, Screamadelica, found common ground with UK 90s rock and house music. It’s loaded with psychoactive energy. The beats crawl up your spine. The subtle arrangement of effects and loops spaces everything out. The keyboards reach out to the horizon like sun-rays. Their version of “Slip Inside This House” by 13th Floor Elevators manages to be trippier than the original with jabs of Sly Stone laughing. “Loaded” opens with Peter Fonda exclaiming, “We want to be free to do what we want to do,” as it slides into a blurred gospel anthem with jilted guitar solos. “Higher Than The Sun” takes you to its title and “I’m Comin’ Down,” sets you adrift.
As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.
July 11, 2013
On Why Independent Musicians Should Ditch The Question “What Should I Do?”
“What Should I Do?” It’s the most common question asked by independent musicians, and it’s part of our culture in a major way, in every matter from spiritual growth to education. Artists often fail to recognize that they tend to follow the same guidelines and step unknowingly into the same traps as the general public, young business hopefuls, actors, writers, and other creative types. Imitation, not only of content, but another kind that is just as detrimental to anyone seeking success. Imitation of path.
Have you ever noticed that there are endless volumes written by individuals who have “made it”, whether as a self-help guru, a music superstar, or CEO/business owners aimed at sharing strategies? And yet, for the most part, besides very straight forward “life hackers” such as Tim Ferriss’s work, there really isn’t much content. The books are riddled with case studies and the articles are misleading, only optimized for SEO and the benefit of the site. Weekend seminars on how to make more money don’t actually teach you how to make more money.
The public wants a transmission, a quick fix, but the result cannot be transmitted.
It needs to be acted upon. Those who make it, act in their own way, and it usually doesn’t apply to anyone else. The authors actually don’t have a lot to say. It worked for them because they were there, doing it, in their own lives, and they found their own way to a lavish situation. They often have a few actionable tips, but not much in the way of solid help. There’s no plan; only your actual life, and you’re the only one who can work with that.
The art of “selling a plan” or “selling a blueprint” is one of the biggest businesses there is, and it’s also a big hoax, since everyone’s blueprint is, and must be, completely different. It’s important, as a consumer, to realize this as we’re constantly faced with strange promises such as “How To Become Famous”, “Get Rich in ___ Days”, “The ___ Diet Plan”, “How To Walk The Spiritual Path”, “The DIY Musician’s Strategy”. Tips and actionable advice are one thing. They can be used as levers. They’re helpful, because the artist can weave them into their own strategy, which they intuitively build by acting, and through trial and error. The advocating of linear plans, though, leaves no room for true creativity in the promotion process.
They’re dead; artifacts from the past no more useful than diary entries.
The birth of these plans that seem to take route out of every aspect of life is the question “What should I do?” It’s a wrong question, because you cannot know this from the starting line. You must act, and then things will become clearer as you move. Many artists I come across want to quantify everything, analyze everything before they move. They want to project, or guess (because that’s really what projection is all about) what will happen if they make this move or that move. But, as you’d probably guess, although it seems like a smart way to approach things, it’s very much like trying to survey the jungle before setting foot inside. You have to take a walk and react as you go.
That’s not to say you don’t plan. Planning is encouraged, but it should be your own plan. Think of your musical project as an object flowing down a river. When you hum and haw too much or expect others to take up your mantle for you, the flow is disrupted. Maybe the object hits a rock, loses momentum, and that’s that.
However, if you continually act, you’ll see something different happen. Natural growth. Not sure whether to participate in that magazine’s compilation opportunity or not? Research if necessary by contacting past bands who’ve done it, and decide. Or just do it and find out what happens! Don’t be jagged in your decisions. Set up that Facebook or Twitter advertising campaign and tweak it along the way. Make it fun, and drop the negative hesitation. Making moves like this, as well as applying for licensing libraries, joining performing rights organizations, actively promoting your music, using Sonicbids to apply for music festivals (only when your page is optimized with good press, by the way), contacting venues with a smart email pitch, outsourcing duties, working with people you trust who have resources you don’t, and staying on top of mail outs, are all aspects involved in building your musical chi, or flow.
Once again, tips and actionable steps are useful in that they are relevant in the now. This is why I focused my book “Your Band Is A Virus” on actionable ideas, not any prescribed linear path.
No movement means you sink. Confusion is an energy. If you’re confused or energetically conflicted about any aspect of your music or it’s promotion, here’s something you may not be aware of. People can tell. Maybe you’re not comfortable “selling yourself” because you think it’s manipulative. Maybe you don’t trust social networks. Maybe you wish money were not such a focal part of our culture, and you resent it. All of these ideas will ensure you don’t get to where you need to go. If you want to be famous but you’ve got 200 Facebook fans, you have some work ahead of you. It’s a perceptual rat race, and eyes/attention are the new currency.
To give a concrete example and put myself into the mix, if I tried to quantify what would happen before launching Independent Music Promotions, I certainly wouldn’t have gotten anywhere. Instead, I had to act, even when, to others, my actions appeared to result in no immediate ROI (return on investment). I decided to work only with “music with depth” as a long-term strategy, so when I would say no to say, a keen mainstream pop artist, many would shake their heads at my business sense, or lack thereof. I’ve invested a fair amount into Facebook advertising, another long-term strategy. If I were concerned with immediate ROI, this would make for a stupid decision. And yet, if I continually work and build, these tactics bear fruit. However, if someone were to ask me how to run a PR business or a successful blog, I could tell them some great tips, but most would not follow them. It’s hard to move forward when you’re walking into uncertainty. It’s also completely necessary.
So drop any and all concepts and have fun. Music promotion should be creative, and it is certainly possible to have as much enjoyment promoting your work as it was making it.
As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.
June 26, 2013
Try This Easy (And Legit) Way To Get More Followers For Your Band On Twitter
The following method for getting more followers on Twitter has been promoted by other music social media guru’s such as Ariel Hyatt of CyberPR. This article goes in-depth on an easy way of earning new followers.
First off, when you’re promoting your band on Twitter we absolutely want to stay away from spam. That means no direct messaging people with links (if you haven’t spoken to them before). Same for using the @username to get someone’s attention. No unsolicited links or promos!
If you haven’t spoken to that person before, then you shouldn’t be bombarding them with links to your album. At the very least, give them a shout out and start a conversation. As long as your Bandcamp or website URL is in your profile description, they will organically check you out.
Now that we’ve gotten spam out of the way, let’s look at how you can target fans who would listen to your band, and how to get their attention and get them to follow you.
The Process
Start by making a list of about 5-10 bands who meet this criteria:
You love them
They have similar music, or a similar audience to your music
They have at least 3,000 followers (if not much more)
Take a look at their followers list. The main technique here is to follow the people who are already following music like yours.
So go through these bands one at a time, and follow their followers. This will get their fans attention.
Depending on a few factors, about 5-20% of them will follow you back.
Ways to maximize the ones who follow you back
First off, get yourself custom graphics. That means profile picture, header image, and background. Do not use any of Twitter’s default graphics.
Heck, even a plain white background is better than the default blue twitter background.
Bands that I do this method for have had a great response if they have custom graphics. Any bands that I’ve worked with who have default images consistently produce worse results.
Also, it’s important that you are tweeting regularly.
If you only have 8 tweets, don’t expect this technique to produce great results.
How many should I follow per day?
At max, I recommend you follow 100 people a day. Any more than that and you might start to get flagged as a spammer by Twitter (who follows 1000 people per day, seriously?)
If you have a brand new account, and you only have 10 followers, I would only follow 20-40 per day. Once you’ve gotten over 80 followers though, I would say it’s safe to start hitting the 100/day mark.
What about the people who don’t follow me back?
You’ll want to keep track of anyone who doesn’t follow you back, and after about 3-5 days, unfollow them. This gives them some time to follow you back.
It’s very important that you don’t keep followers around who aren’t following you back (unless you really like their updates or you know them personally) so that your Twitter presence doesn’t get tarnished (it just looks bad when you’re following 10,000 people and you only have 500 followers).
It can be a bit tricky to realize which people you followed each day, and calculate the date since you followed them. Tracking people in an excel spreadsheet can work, but it takes some time.
What type of results should I expect?
If you take the 5-10 minutes a day (about 4 hours a month) to follow about 100 people each day, you should expect between 75-225 new followers each month, depending on how well you’ve optimized your profile graphics and how often you tweet.
About Andrew (And How You Can Get This Twitter Strategy Done For You):
My name is Andrew Muller, and I run a website called therealmusician.com, which is about personal development for musicians.
If you want more Twitter followers, but don’t want to do it yourself, there’s hope for you yet!
I run this exact Twitter campaign for artists for a super low fee of $50 a month. The artists that have signed up have had really awesome results. They love it because it saves them a ton of work and the hassle of having to remember to do this everyday.
The service I provide is also included whenever you purchase one of James Moore’s 3-month marketing packages.
You can view my service here, and you can view James Moore’s band promotion packages here.
As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.
June 20, 2013
Why Yeezus Is Not Worth The Hype
Kanye West, it seems, is just behind Daft Punk in terms of complete world domination and endless hype (I don’t think I’ve seen anyone infiltrate as many markets as Daft Punk on their recent release). No matter what he does, there is hype. But how is the work itself? Well, let’s just say he’s not the best musician since Michael Jackson, as he claims. When the pummeling and poignant brilliance of “New Slaves” and “Black Skinhead” were introduced to us a few weeks ago, the hype was warranted. Though, of course, taking cues from far edgier acts like Death Grips and Nine Inch Nails, those songs were breaking new ground and saying some refreshingly risky things. Kanye deserves serious credit for taking a step to become a kind of Jim Morrison in the hip hop game (screaming has rarely been a part of the genre typically, so it’s nice to see the energy). He’s merging industrial with hip hop, and creating a worthwhile hybrid in the process. It’s a mixed offering, though, which may come as a surprise if you’ve read the mostly glowing reviews.
One issue with the full-length “Yeezus” release is that much of the remainder of the material fails to live up to the promise of those two lead singles. The lyrics, too, have moments of lucidity brilliance (“What you want? Fur coat? A diamond chain? All you blacks all want the same things.” from New Slaves), while others are so uninspired they show signs of writer’s block and are hard to sit through let alone take seriously. (“I just talked to Jesus/he said, ‘What up, Yeezus?’/I said “S*** I’m chilling/trying to stack these millions” from I Am A God)
You’d think that, with all the talk surrounding this album there would be a bit more to offer as far as message, but it seems Kanye is content with only sampling a mind revolution, while leaving 80 percent of his output laughable egocentric jokes, cheesy lyrics or sexual innuendo.
The most terrifying thing about this album, though, and a point I’m surprised we haven’t heard more negative things about…”Strange Fruit”, where we hear a beautiful Nina Simone sample, and then Kanye blathering over her in full autotuned glory. From 4:30 onwards, he’s attempting to sing, and for the next minute, it has to be some of the most unlistenable work ever put out by a major artist. If you can get through that, you’re probably a devotee.
Those are the gripes. And yet, it’s a good album with some amazing songs. “On Sight” is Atari-born furiosity with some familiar lyrical missteps, but it’s energized and worthwhile. “I’m In It” is a fantastic, heavy downtempo track only dragged down by Bon Iver’s very popular fake falsetto.
The production choices on the album are incredible. Most producers and beat makers will hate it, but that’s the point. If everyone’s albums sound great, they cease to be great. Go dirty when everyone else is clean. Kanye made a good call with the minimalist approach.
For those seeking “the new style”, you’ll find inspiration in “New Slaves”, “Black Skinhead”, and the thick keyboards and screaming at the end of “I Am A God”. We’ll have to wait for someone else to deliver the real sermon, though.
As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.
June 19, 2013
5 Reasons You Would Fail Epically, If You Ran a Business Like the Music Business!
I don’t know about you, but these days when somebody draws reference to the “music industry” or “the business” I cringe a little. In fact, the “inner goings-on” of any world dominating business induces images of shadowy silhouettes devoid of all emotion, reacting only to the sound of a “kerching” – Although it’s quite possible I’ve watched way too many movies about soulless businesses…(The Firm/Network).
Conspiracy theories aside, one thing is clear – there is no way you could succeed running a business the way the music business is run:
1) Broken contracts
In music:
Forget verbal promises from one pal to another, I’m talking legally binding contracts where money has changed hands. The kind of things that create disgruntled fans, like celebrities being absent for appearances or cancelling shows at a moments’ notice (usually due to sudden illness), these happen all the time!
In real life:
Imagine hiring someone on the basis that they’d receive a salary, and then choosing to pay them in teabags. I’ll admit that it that took me a millisecond to conclude this would be ridiculous, but in all truth you’d probably be dealing with a highly caffeinated and very soon to be ex-employee!
2) Excessive misogyny
In music:
“Bitch”, “ho”, “slut” (and several others) are terms that are readily accepted in music today – popular examples include Ludacris’ Move Bitch or Dr. Dre’s Bitches Ain’t Shit. While I’m not condoning them, it’s true such pejorative terms have caught on good and proper, have grossed large sums of money in sales and are even embraced by women across the globe!
In real life:
Imagine your employee Jane turned up late for work to which you yelled, “bitch, where were you?” It’s likely this incident would be swiftly followed by a heated tribunal leaving you jobless; whilst feminists everywhere gathered to burn effigies of you!
3) Secrets and lies
In music:
The music industry is flooded with covert attempts at controversy, from phony album leaks to lying celebrity show-offs and fake YouTube views! Forget reality, it’s all about perception…
In real life:
Remember Matilda’s fantasy depiction of school in the movie? And then the actuality of school, with a terrifying Miss Trunchbull who’s idea of a fitting punishment was to lock children in a claustrophobic closet filled with spikes – absolutely inconceivable, right?
4) Blatant nepotism
In music:
Music is full of platforms created simply because two people are well acquainted or share the same bloodline.
Whilst this is totally acceptable when it is clear the famous offspring was created for the spotlight much like the late but über-talented Whitney Houston (niece of Dionne Warrick), sometimes this is just not the case. Sometimes the music ain’t great and sometimes for every Whitney Houston, there is a Brooke Hogan…
In real life:
It’s actually quite common that a business is passed through the ages, generation to generation from grandfather to father, to son. However this is usually based on the offspring taking the reins and learning the ropes – not by pushing little Jr. into a pair of shoes 3 sizes too big.
5) Confusing rebrands
In music:
So it was Puff daddy, then it was P. Diddy and sometimes still it’s Puffy, or Puff or simply, Diddy. And it was Snoop Dogg but we all just called him Snoop and now he’s Snoop Lion? So we had Lil Bow Wow, but now he’s just Bow Wow and I’ve heard Lil Wayne is sometimes known as Lil Tunechi, too. And hold on, is Prince still just a symbol? I’m so confused…
In real life:
Once you create a business, spend time and money building the brand and creating a rapport with customers – the last thing you want to do is change the name. Unless out of complete necessity, no good can come from confusing loyal customers and you are likely to end up with two mindsets; those who refuse to adapt to the new name, and those who are confused, become weary of the reasons for change and so jump ship!
These are just a fraction of the many questionable ethics and morals behind the business of music yet despite its many flaws, it is a business that continues to function, year after year.
Does this prove that when a product is genuinely valuable, room for error expands? Or perhaps this sheds light on the consumers made up of artists and fans; who buy into a business so well honed in escapism, that room for reality is limited…
This article was contributed by musician Dreama; who describes herself as ‘a girl-emcee sat somewhere sipping tea’. You can read more of her musings or jam-out to her tunes on her official website: http://dreamasreality.com.
As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.
June 17, 2013
Don’t Put A Chokehold On Your Dream
I always enjoy a good conversation about music.
Just the other week I stopped in at a guitar shop that I don’t often go to, and I ran into my friend Carter Felker (https://soundcloud.com/carter-edwin-felker), a bearded traditional folk & country singer/songwriter. Apparently he had been working as a sales guy at the guitar store for a couple of months.
Because I arrived at the store close to closing time, there weren’t many customers about. Carter and I were able to sit ourselves down on drum thrones and chat for an hour or so in the humid acoustic room, surrounded by expensive wood and steel.
As I strummed and plucked at the black Taylor in my hands, I talked about the fact that I was making some changes in my life. Though I enjoy music, and though I still teach and play guitar quite a bit, I’ve scaled down my involvement with music projects and bands considerably.
My goals have changed quite a bit in the last two years or so. Perhaps breaching the third decade of my life has had something to do with that, but I’ve also been carefully evaluating what I actually want out of life. If I had to sum it up, freedom of time, money and choice is what it comes down to.
Carter asserted that he was in a similar mental space. “I don’t think you have to be doing it all the time. In today’s world, music is something you can set down and pick up again at any time”, he noted.
Though I am probably the last person on this planet to undersell the importance of consistency – especially as it pertains to achieving goals – there appears to be a balancing point that some people cross.
Carter and I chatted about the importance of accepting help from others. There are people we know that seem so hell-bent on having things go their way that they are completely blind to what others may be able to do to assist them on their journey.
I think it’s a good thing to be sold out to your dreams. I certainly am. At times it may even take a seemingly fanatical commitment to see those goals come to fruition. But I’ve also noticed that there are some things that don’t seem to come to you when you have them in a chokehold.
For example, when I started cutting back on my involvement with various bands, I began to see new opportunities come into my life. I’ve been contacted by a couple of licensing & placement companies, I’ve been presented with new gig opportunities, and I’ve had three or more offers for live session work. I even appeared on TV recently.
You might suggest that it was just my hard work finally paying off. After all, I’ve been active in recording and performing for the last 12 years. But if I hadn’t let go of the projects I was involved in, would all this have happened? I don’t believe so.
I didn’t go looking for those opportunities. They were just possible avenues that opened up for me to explore. If I had tried to plan for it, it probably wouldn’t have happened.
As important as commitment and dedication is, you also need a willingness to adapt and iterate, and even let go if necessary. If your vision changes, you have to move with it instead of trying to pin it down.
Think of it this way. If you smothered your girlfriend or boyfriend with a barrage of texts, hourly phone calls and daily gifts, how likely are they to stay with you? Everyone likes attention, but they’re probably going to start freaking out if you keep it up.
Ignore a cat and it comes back to you. Let your significant other have some space and they will miss you. Water your garden periodically and it will grow. Play your instrument a little bit every day and you will get better.
Conversely, if you try to get the attention of a cat, you will chase it away. If you overwhelm your significant other, they will push away. If you water your garden too much, it will begin to die. If you play your instrument too often, you will injure yourself.
If one of your blood vessels was clogged, your heart wouldn’t be able to pump blood through it. But if the blockage was removed, your heart could do its job again.
I’m certainly not suggesting that you should do nothing in the pursuit of your dreams. I think there is a huge difference between passivity and proactive faith. Passivity is waiting for the call. Proactive faith is putting action behind your dream and doing the things that will get you the call.
Develop the sensitivity to know when it’s time to move on. The realization of your dream will always take hard work and consistency, but sometimes the format has to be shaken up. Sometimes the vision has to be expanded. Sometimes you’re on a different trail than you initially thought you were on.
And sometimes, you just have to open up. Life isn’t meant to be lived out alone. It’s meant to be lived in community. You never know what the next person you meet might bring to the table.
Author Bio
David Andrew Wiebe (https://plus.google.com/u/0/116199439246577204995/) is a musician turned blogger, podcaster, online marketer and entrepreneur. In the last 12 years, he has built an extensive career in songwriting, live performance, recording, session playing, production work, and music instruction. He’s no slouch at guitar either (http://www.youtube.com/davidandrewwiebe).
Today, he works as an online marketer for TuneCity (http://www.tunecity.com/), an innovative online music store concept that rewards and incentivizes its users for music purchases. Wiebe also writes on his own blog at DAWCast.com (http://www.dawcast.com/).
As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.
Don’t Put A Chokehold On Your Dream
I always enjoy a good conversation about music.
Just the other week I stopped in at a guitar shop that I don’t often go to, and I ran into my friend Carter Felker (https://soundcloud.com/carter-edwin-felker), a bearded traditional folk & country singer/songwriter. Apparently he had been working as a sales guy at the guitar store for a couple of months.
Because I arrived at the store close to closing time, there weren’t many customers about. Carter and I were able to sit ourselves down on drum thrones and chat for an hour or so in the humid acoustic room, surrounded by expensive wood and steel.
As I strummed and plucked at the black Taylor in my hands, I talked about the fact that I was making some changes in my life. Though I enjoy music, and though I still teach and play guitar quite a bit, I’ve scaled down my involvement with music projects and bands considerably.
My goals have changed quite a bit in the last two years or so. Perhaps breaching the third decade of my life has had something to do with that, but I’ve also been carefully evaluating what I actually want out of life. If I had to sum it up, freedom of time, money and choice is what it comes down to.
Carter asserted that he was in a similar mental space. “I don’t think you have to be doing it all the time. In today’s world, music is something you can set down and pick up again at any time”, he noted.
Though I am probably the last person on this planet to undersell the importance of consistency – especially as it pertains to achieving goals – there appears to be a balancing point that some people cross.
Carter and I chatted about the importance of accepting help from others. There are people we know that seem so hell-bent on having things go their way that they are completely blind to what others may be able to do to assist them on their journey.
I think it’s a good thing to be sold out to your dreams. I certainly am. At times it may even take a seemingly fanatical commitment to see those goals come to fruition. But I’ve also noticed that there are some things that don’t seem to come to you when you have them in a chokehold.
For example, when I started cutting back on my involvement with various bands, I began to see new opportunities come into my life. I’ve been contacted by a couple of licensing & placement companies, I’ve been presented with new gig opportunities, and I’ve had three or more offers for live session work. I even appeared on TV recently.
You might suggest that it was just my hard work finally paying off. After all, I’ve been active in recording and performing for the last 12 years. But if I hadn’t let go of the projects I was involved in, would all this have happened? I don’t believe so.
I didn’t go looking for those opportunities. They were just possible avenues that opened up for me to explore. If I had tried to plan for it, it probably wouldn’t have happened.
As important as commitment and dedication is, you also need a willingness to adapt and iterate, and even let go if necessary. If your vision changes, you have to move with it instead of trying to pin it down.
Think of it this way. If you smothered your girlfriend or boyfriend with a barrage of texts, hourly phone calls and daily gifts, how likely are they to stay with you? Everyone likes attention, but they’re probably going to start freaking out if you keep it up.
Ignore a cat and it comes back to you. Let your significant other have some space and they will miss you. Water your garden periodically and it will grow. Play your instrument a little bit every day and you will get better.
Conversely, if you try to get the attention of a cat, you will chase it away. If you overwhelm your significant other, they will push away. If you water your garden too much, it will begin to die. If you play your instrument too often, you will injure yourself.
If one of your blood vessels was clogged, your heart wouldn’t be able to pump blood through it. But if the blockage was removed, your heart could do its job again.
I’m certainly not suggesting that you should do nothing in the pursuit of your dreams. I think there is a huge difference between passivity and proactive faith. Passivity is waiting for the call. Proactive faith is putting action behind your dream and doing the things that will get you the call.
Develop the sensitivity to know when it’s time to move on. The realization of your dream will always take hard work and consistency, but sometimes the format has to be shaken up. Sometimes the vision has to be expanded. Sometimes you’re on a different trail than you initially thought you were on.
And sometimes, you just have to open up. Life isn’t meant to be lived out alone. It’s meant to be lived in community. You never know what the next person you meet might bring to the table.
Author Bio
David Andrew Wiebe (https://plus.google.com/u/0/116199439246577204995/) is a musician turned blogger, podcaster, online marketer and entrepreneur. In the last 12 years, he has built an extensive career in songwriting, live performance, recording, session playing, production work, and music instruction. He’s no slouch at guitar either (http://www.youtube.com/davidandrewwiebe).
Today, he works as an online marketer for TuneCity (http://www.tunecity.com/), an innovative online music store concept that rewards and incentivizes its users for music purchases. Wiebe also writes on his own blog at DAWCast.com (http://www.dawcast.com/).
As featured on Indie-music.com, Examiner.com, I Am Entertainment Magazine, Antimusic.com, and recommended by countless music publications, “Your Band Is A Virus! Expanded Edition” is the ultimate music marketing guide for serious independent musicians and bands. Get your copy now.
