Musicians Cooler
Showclix.com - Sell tickets to Your Next General Admission Show
If you're ever in a "play for pay" situation, ther are times when things get a bit sticky when it comes to count the number of tickets sold, who holds the money etc. Well there is a new solution and its from www.showclix.com
The offers the ability to add events (gigs) AND sell tickets to the show (minimum selling price of $5.00 for which they take .50). SHowclix does tack on a processing fee of $2.00 but unlike Ticketmaster that per transaction (not per ticket). So if you buy 1 ticket it's $2 fee, if you buy 10 tickets (the most allowed) its a $2 fee. That fee is in addition to your cost (so you're not paying for it).
While other sites charge a set up fee, there is no such thing.
Venues could sign up as an event producer, enter a gig, and enter their venue. From that point forward other artists can now use their information if they play the same venue.
While the site is only less than a month old (as of 5/06) it has potential and I spoke with the owner and he is all about supporting local musicians, and helping the local scene.
Check it out at www.showclix.com
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Get Out of Cover Charge Free
Dona Oxford is an artist in California who is having a showcase in Hollywood California at the Cat Club at 11 PM on the 14th of April. Obviously you don't want to be on TV playing in front of any empty room so she created a flyer to promote the show and by bringing the flyer the fan gets in free.
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Make Your Band Stand Out with Proof
By Dave Jackson
Author of the book "Get Your Band Out of the Basement and keep them out of the asylum" available at www.musicianlibrary.com
I always drop of posters, or flyers to a club a few weeks (if not a month) before the gig to help promote my band's appearance. In some cases the club did not put them up (I always offer, and bring my own tape). I've had some club owners ask what other actions I've taken to promote the band. While you can answer "I sent out an email to our fans" you can also prove this. Let me explain
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Promoting Your Band With Podcasting
Author: Dave Jackson
(Author of the book “Get Your Band Out of the Basement (and keep them out of the
asylum) – available at www.musicianlibrary.com )
To read this article (including pictures) view the pdf of the document HERE
The goal of this article is to not only you get your song played on a podcast, but to make sure you go through this process efficiently without wasting lots of time. This article assumes you have your music recorded, and is an mp3 format.
Different Markets
The College Market
Sure, it’s cool to get your song on a college radio station. Well it is as long as you can stay up late on a Sunday night and hear that 1 hour show dedicated to local bands. It also assumes that your CD wasn’t stolen by an intern who took it home and “forgot” to bring it back to the station.
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Have you VideoTaped Your Band? SURVEY
There were alot of video ipods sold last quarter. More and more shows are being sold on itunes. The fuze has been lit and video podcasting is going to explode. PEOPLE NEED VIDEO CONTENT. I'm looking into a future tutorial on making your band ready in terms of getting a video on your website. If you got 2 minutes, I'd love if you fill out this survey.
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TuneCore - New Digital Distribution Service
TuneCore has arrangements with iTunes and Rhapsody can place your music in their online stores and subscription services. You get 100% of the money that iTunes and/or Rhapsody pays.
Upload your music via our Website, or mail your CD to them.
Use our online art tool to design your own album cover, or upload your own.
Here is a sample
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MySpace or WhySpace?
You can hear this article in THIS ISSUE of the Musicians Cooler Podcast (www.coolerpodcasts.com )
That podcast also includes insights from David Hooper and Brian Stephens (music business consultant, and Musician/Producer/Podcast Host).
David Hooper has www.indiemusician.com and Brian Stephens can be foudn at www.brianstephens.com
Myspace.com is a community website. You sign up, and "friends" can
link to each other. As you view your friends page, you might see
another interesting friend. When you click on their page, you see
another, and another, and another. Click, click, click. Next thing
you know you haven't slept in days, and you're going to the
bathroom in a cup. Its very addicting. Is it worth the time people
are putting into it? Here is what people had to say:
I mostly run my band Bombs Away's MySpace. Since starting it, it
has helped to get the word out on upcoming shows. We have a link on
the main page for anyone interested in buying CDs and I think the
exposure that the band is getting through the site has helped them
to gain fans from all over the world. They can get feedback on
their songs and similar to Purevolume, then can see how many plays
they get for the day and in total.
The only downside to MySpace is when they're doing routine
maintenance because nothing can be accessed on the site and that
can run from a couple hours to a day or so.
Other than that, the site has been excellent in promoting shows.
Hope this helps with your feedback.
-Claire & Bombs Away
http://www.myspace.com/bombsaway
http://www.bombsawayband.com
—-
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Music Business Radio Needs Your Demo
In 2005 David Hooper started a Podcast for muscians. It had some great content, and now its starting up again for 2006. One of my favorite segments was his "Demo Derby." I jsut saw tis on his blog, so I thought I'd pass it along.
Music Business Radio is back in production for 2006! If you'd like your music to be featured on our "Demo Derby" segment, feel free to send us a demo.
This is your chance to have your music critiqued by major label music biz people, established artists, and more. And it's all live on the air.
Send a CD plus one-sheet bio and complete contact information to:
WRLT
ATTN: Music Business Radio - Demo Derby
1310 Clinton St
Suite 200
Nashville, TN, 37203
NO PHONE CALLS!!
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Getting Video On Your Website
In 2006 you are going to see a HUGE amount of software that will help you put video on your website. Some want monthly fees. Some want 100s of dollars. I found a tool that includes a free FLV converter (which converts your video to flash so ANYONE can watch it (mac or pc). This site has tools to put audio on your website ($29.99) and video ($39.99) or you can buy them both for $49.99.
Check it out at
The Webmaster Media Maker
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Musicians Cooler NOW ON MYSPACE
Well I've jumped into the pool. The Musician's Cooler now has it's own MY SPACE page at www.myspace.com/musicianscooler
I’m looking for feedback from any bands who are using my space as a networking/marketing tool. Are you getting any results? Is it a waste of time.
Now the question is, "WIll you be my friend?"
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Google Video - Does Your Band Have a Video?
Google now joins iTunes as a place to view and download (AND PAY) for videos. As there will be many people coming over to check out this new service, this may be a good oportunity to upload a video of your band (hopefully with a link, or your url displayed). While there will be content available for pay, why not be one of those who is offering video for free. For mroe information go to
https://upload.video.google.com/
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Indie Rythm - Another Place to Pimp Your CD
I just found another webstie to sell your CD. It's
www.IndieRhythm.com
Here is the scoop
You select your own selling price
We scan the artwork, and upload clips of your songs.
When your CD sells, we take a small $3 commission, and send you a check for the rest.
We ship the CDs out to the customers, at no charge to you
They plan to open in March of 2006
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David Kersh Officially Quits Music Business
So you want to make it big? Get a Major label?
David Kersh, who notched several Top 10 hits in the late '90s, is "closing the book on my singing career," according to his monthly letter on his official Web site. In part, the letter reads, "My heart is just not in the music business anymore. I can't deal with all of the B.S. that goes on in this industry now. Nothing is in my control anymore, and it all just makes me a miserable person." He also intends to shut down his Web site, according to the post. Kersh's hits include "Goodnight Sweetheart," "Another You" and "If I Never Stop Loving You."
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Trying To Raise Some Cash?
By Dave Jackson
We’ve had other products shown where you might be trying to raise some funds for a new PA, a CD printing, etc. I came across a site www.donationbooster.com It uses paypal. Allows you to email those people that donate, and if you want, display the top 5 people who donated.
There are two versions. The free version contains and extra link to some other website (its at the bottom of the graphic). The paid version ($4.99 a month) has no additional links. Both version display a graphic that shows your progress towards your goal. For more information go to www.donationbooster.com
I found donation booster after seeing the “Support My Music” tool (http://www.galaris.com/SMM.htm ) This is $45 software that allows you to list “Virutal” products (a gallon of gas, a pair of drum sticks). It looked interesting, but I had a feeling there would be a less expensive version.
In general, I’m not sure “begging” for cash is a great way to build fans in the first place (although it does build a relationship with your fans I guess…).
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How to Flush Your Band Down the Toilet
By David Jackson
(Author of the book Get Your Band Out of the Basement - and keep them out of the asylum available at www.musicianlibrary.com
My band has been together going on 7 (maybe 
years. Except for the drummer, we’ve kept the original people (OK, we’ve had a few horn players come and go too). When I moved this year, I saw a picture of my band on the cover of the entertainment section of my local newspaper. Lucky for us, we captured out worst gig ever in the picture. Playing in front of hundreds of people, we just smelled up the place (we had substitute for our horn section and they were just awful). I would say three years ago we had our “hey day” where we turned away gigs. Clubs were calling us for gigs. It was great. So today’s advice comes from seeing what works, and how if you get to comfortable with yourself, you can lost it just as easy as it was to build it.
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