David Lowery is very unsatisfied from what he makes as a musician from his song being played 1 million times on Pandora. He doesn’t agree with Pandora only having to pay compulsory license fees that are set by the government instead of negotiating with the owners of the songs. Lowery points out that artists that feel the rate is unfair are unable to opt out of the service and also in the article he urges Pandora to “get an actual business model” instead of relying on the compulsory rates. Streaming services are very important to the evolving digital music industry. Artists that post their royalty rates to fight that the compulsory fees are too low will most likely be bigger more well-known artists, like Lowery. Many smaller artists are happy for the exposure they receive on the services such as Pandora. Congress is scheduled to review the licenses paid by Pandora and other similar services in the near future.
The 55th Grammy Nominations were revealed at a concert in Nashville hosted by Taylor Swift and LL Cool J. Nominees include fun, Mumford and Sons, Frank Ocean, Kanye West and Jay-Z. The label with the most awards went to Warner Music Group labels. Majority of this year’s nominations belong to the young like Carly Rae Jepsen for “Call me Maybe” and Gotye for “Somebody That I Used to Know”. Some of the most shocking from tonight’s Grammy ceremony were those who were not mentioned like Justin Bieber who received zero nominations but he essentially swept the American Music Awards in November.
Jay-Z, one of the biggest artists in the world, has a new marketing strategy for his upcoming album, Magna Cart Holy Grail. He has partnered up with Samsung, which has offered more than one million of its customers the opportunity to download an interactive Jay-Z mobile app that will allow them to download a free copy of the album before it is officially released. Billboard unfortunately will not count the one million album sales. Bill Werde, editorial director of the magazine, said that “in the context of this promotion, nothing is actually for sale.” Jay-Z wasn’t the first to create a relationship like this and it definitely won’t be the last with important indications like this in the music industry. Radiohead had a similar partnership in 2007 with “pay-what-you-want” release of In Rainbows. If this partnership proves to be successful it will become more appealing to other artists on a large and small scale.
Here at Sage Audio we have the opportunity to work with artists, bands, and songwriters that come from a variety of different musical backgrounds and play every style of music imaginable because we are fortunate enough to work with artists that come from all over the world on a daily basis. Seeing how much talent is out there in the music industry and realizing how highly competitive it is in today’s economy it is now more important than ever to have the right team to help guide your careers and make them become successful and most of all get noticed. Our friends at World Class Talent and Productions do just that with over 25 years of experience they have helped many artists including but not limited to Barbara Mandrell, Randy Travis, Pat Boone, Ricky Skaggs, Michael W. Smith, Lorrie Morgan, and Jars of Clay. The experience through the staff members goes back further than 25 years though by also working with top producers Dick Clark, Michael Omartian, Don Cook, Darren Smith and other well-known artists such as N’SYNC, Gladys Knight, Donna Summer, Dolly Parton, Jim Nabors, Tiny Tim, Kid Rock, and Bekka Bramlett. World Class Talent and Productions certainly have the knowledge and experience to help manage both independent and established artist alike and they are currently offering an opportunity to help take your music to the next level by offering artists a real chance to get their music heard and who knows maybe you could be the next big star. Go check them out today: www.theworldclasstalent.com
A music manager takes care of aspects of a band that range from negotiating booking rates, to paying taxes, to setting up the band as a business, and much more. The managers actual role will vary depending on the artist and what they need done. Managers typically charge a percentage of income and the standard amount varies from about 15-20%. One of the best ways for a manager to make money is by providing the artist with a record deal although it’s not a necessity for a manager to do this but it will boost both of your careers. Whether you have a manager or not always be sure to involve a lawyer in the process of any contracts that come your way.
Apple finally unveils iTunes Radio, Apples new internet radio. iTunes Radio has a wide range of interesting features and some that are found in common with Pandora but Apple being the strong muscle they are obviously have found their own niche in this market as well. Something in common is that they are both ad-supported services and you can pay a yearly fee to not listen to the ads but to help find the differences Apple is already using one main differences they have had for a while and that is having secured deals with all major labels instead of operating under a compulsory license. Unfortunately Apple didn’t reveal how this service can help independent artists. Pandora is set up to be a lot more user friendly to independent artist whereas with Apple you would have the option of going through a digital service such as CDBaby. Pandora is still in a good standing because Apple has to play catch up to Pandora who has 200 million users and Apple only has 70 million active listeners.
Here at Sage Audio we have written about both “Les Miserables” and “The Hobbit” last year, and now that “Man of Steel” has released we will go ahead and take a look into the differences in music audio and movie audio. Some of the differences come from the software and other technology like Dolby Atmos that will allow for more directional control of the sound. Dolby Atmos technology includes front-to-back and up-and-down in addition to left-and-right. When it comes down to it, it is all just a balancing act and both studios could even possibly look very similar with the exception of software within the computers.
The growth of mobile music is starting to have a direct impact on the digital music world as a whole which will in turn have a direct impact on independent artists if leveraged properly. We have written quite a bit about the importance of streaming services and internet radio programs but we have yet to look at the differences on how these are used at home on a desktop as well as on a mobile phone. Junipers new information projects a 40 percent growth throughout the rest of this year in global music subscriptions and that is not including ad-free models. Unfortunately at this time it is rather complicated on how independent artists can use this information on mobile trends to their benefit. However what we do know is when it comes to subscription models these favor independent artists more than more established acts.
Myspace is coming back to being a brand new social network and finding their own niche in the industry. At this point they are aiming towards consumers involved in the music industry, whether that is an independent artist or just consumers that enjoy listening to internet radio in a sense. Myspace is currently allowing users to create playlists and mixes. While doing so in this social network, they are also able to share those with friends and even create animated GIFs on the website. There are a few concerns with coming into this market again and that could range on whether the name they had before will help or hinder them. Also the market they are trying so hard to get back into has already been saturated by other companies such as Spotify, Pandora, and they will soon have to face Google Play Music All Access and iTunes Radio.
TuneCore and CDBaby are two companies in the same industry aimed at the importance of independent distribution. These are key for independent artists getting their music on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and nearly all other major players in the digital music scene. TuneCore opened in 2005 and has paid out more than $300 million to its loyal artists. CDBaby opened in 1998 and has paid out $250 million to its loyal artists. Each service will benefit artists in its own individual way. CDBaby charges a one-time fee and then collects a percentage of net earnings compared to TuneCore who charges a reasonable annual fee (depending on what kind of service you want) and then pays everything it collects from each service to the artist minus fees from each individual service. Both companies provide similar services, so it is really up to which one best suites the needs of the artist and pays them the most.
Daft Punk has had a major influence on EDM from the early stages of this genre in today’s society. Daft Punk gave a surprise call to Mick Guzauski, the engineer for the record Random Access Memories, so he could show him what he could do to help the duo achieve the vision they both wanted. Part of their goal was to have the music sound like it was being recorded in the 1970s when things were not very processed and you could hear more natural sounds. In order to achieve this, they relied less on computers and more on analog equipment and real instruments. Then it was recorded in L.A. at Conway Recording’s Studio C, which is a large and “live” sounding room.
With today’s ever advancing technology and being in the music industry we get to experience new ways to record. Everyone has their own opinions on what they like best whether it’s recording from a computer or from an amp. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. An advantage of recording from a modeler, in a computer, is you don’t have to have your tone perfect because you can manipulate your guitar’s sound to almost anything you want it to be. Now because of this it can also be a disadvantage because of all the options available someone might be putting too many effects on each song which will end up making the sound of the song change so much it doesn't fit well anymore. An advantage to recording with an amp is that no matter what a modeler is capable of it can never reproduce the actual sound that comes straight from the guitar and amp because the sound coming from those are achieved by a real guitar and real circuits. Many prefer to use a combination of both so try and keep an open mind as the music and technology industries keep on changing.
Mic placement can make or break a recording. Here are three tips to get better sounds.
Today’s recording equipment has changed a lot over the years and is now more important than ever. Now it’s possible to record on the go through mobile devices and there is different recording software depending on what mobile device you have. If you have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod GarageBand may be the way to go because this service comes with a lot of virtual instruments and you can have recordable jam sessions with up to three friends via Wifi or Bluetooth that can be stored on the Cloud. If you have an Android your best bet would be to go with Audio Evolution Mobile because it is the most comparable to GarageBand but it is lacking virtual instruments. If you do have an Android and would like to have the option of using virtual instruments you may want to go and get PocketBand Pro because it not only has virtual instruments but you can also import files to the app. If you want something simple and to the point of just recording the J4T for Android is the route you should take and it also includes a loop function as well.
Facebook is the largest social networking site currently and it just so happens to be the second most visited website in the world. This is one great reason you should use Facebook to your advantage and set up a band page to help further your marketing strategies. Once you have your Facebook page set up it is crucial that in order to keep your fans and audience connected with you that you respond and stay interactive with them. On Facebook it is also possible to post songs and if you have a CDBaby account you can also sell your music on Facebook as well.
