Longing for the day ...: Tips for Indies Archives

12 Good Bars and True - NSAI Feedback

Having put all of my "Alive and Alone" songs up for evaluation I had one more free evaluation left. In a rush-of-blood moment I decided to put 12 Good Bars and True into the system to see where it sits... More

Posted by Hughie at 1:57 AM | Comments (0)

Red Hot - NSAI feedback

I co-wrote Red Hot with Shanon Watkins. He came over one afternoon and we explored a guitar riff that I had in my head. He came up with a melody and some placeholder lyrics. He left it with me to... More

Posted by Hughie at 3:23 PM | Comments (0)

Home Free - Be Free re-write - NSAI feedback

Home Free is one that I have already re-written plenty of times. It has evolved a long way but I still feel it could be much better. However, I really think it has great potential if I can get it... More

Posted by Hughie at 2:38 PM | Comments (0)

Somebody Else's Skin - NSAI feedback

Somebody Else's Skin was an attempt at being silly and catchy and not particularly anything. I've just realised that I never posted it when I first wrote it - probably because I was never happy with it until I recorded... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

Simplicity - NSAI feedback

Simplicity is one of the first songs I wrote. I've been dragging it around for decades (literally) knowing that it's weird and not likely to mean anything to anyone apart from me and a few very close friends who love... More

Posted by Hughie at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

When It's Over - NSAI feedback

When It's Over is, to me, a novelty song. It came from mucking about with a guitar and trying to be catchy and groovy. That said, it is, according to some people, one of the catchiest darn things ever so... More

Posted by Hughie at 8:01 PM | Comments (0)

She Don't Want Your Love - NSAI feedback

Next song I received feedback for was She Don't Want Your Love.This one is a very personal song to me, which I also had critiqued by Jason Blume some time ago. I thought I had improved it a lot ...... More

Posted by Hughie at 3:35 PM | Comments (0)

Angels - NSAI feedback

Next song to be critiqued was Angels. Remember that this was not originally my song - it's my re-write of Ann Leung's song. Here's the version I submitted, as distribute to YouTube by CDBaby: I enterd this in the "Gospel"... More

Posted by Hughie at 3:05 PM | Comments (0)

Baby I Need Your Soul - NSAI feedback

OK, so at the start of this year I decided to get value for my NSAI membership and throw as many songs in for feedback as possible. It's been a long time since I got the feedback, and I ended... More

Posted by Hughie at 2:01 PM | Comments (0)

Week 9 update - getting places at last

Got to spend lots of time on music this week - but not enough, still ... Most of this was reworking "Forever Mine" for the Tetrafasi demo, but a little was on writing another idea that came to me. I... More

Posted by Huge at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

Forever Mine - vox and strings (Mon, Wed, Thurs)

Got nothing done on the weekend due to family and other commitments. This is a good thing, because I have a bad habit of over-working and disappearing up my own butt about these things. Down time is essential! (Gotta keep... More

Posted by Huge at 7:48 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Forever Mine and arranging strings - Friday

Just finished the third version of the string arrangement, based around a reasonable guitar take and a placeholder vocal. Thought I'd better document the entire process from a technical and musical point of view: Recording device: 2011 Macbook Pro running... More

Posted by Huge at 7:58 PM | Comments (0)

Week 8 update - ready for action

This week marked the end of my commitment to work at the office on Wednesday and Thursday. My load there has now reduced to something I can manage from home by checking in each day. That will change back again... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

Forever Mine - Three's Company version for Tetrafasi

I have decided to direct my creative efforts towards making a demo of the Tetrafasi concept focusing on making four versions of just one song: Forever Mine. I do this in the hope that the concept and its practical reality... More

Posted by Huge at 8:28 AM | Comments (0)

Forever Mine - NSAI feedback

I decided to continue seeking feedback from the Nashville Songwriters Association International about my songs. After the last two I thought perhaps I'd go back to the drawing board on all of them before wasting my precious feedback opportunities on... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)

Week 7 update - sigh ...

At least the pattern is becoming increasingly clear - what I'm planning to do its largely getting lost behind day jobs and distractions (there's a song in that!). Feels like I have barely done a musical thing since this began... More

Posted by Hughie at 6:58 PM | Comments (0)

Week 5 update - not happy, Jan!

Lots of Day Job activity this week. Serious amounts of marking and so on. Plus a little family time due to a funeral and more footy. Also had a big chunk taken up on my special "Other" project, which I... More

Posted by Huge at 7:05 PM | Comments (0)

Week 4 - day job blues

This week the day job requirements started in earnest. Tutorials to attend, marking to do already ... dominant. This was, of course, exected, but it's still mildly annoying. Far too much blue in this picture: Still, that's what's paying the... More

Posted by Huge at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)

Week 3 update - slow but steady

Last week went a little better from the point of view of my ability to predit what would happen and manage my time accordingly. Tuesday was nearly spot on, Thursday pretty close ... the rest not even: Of course, the... More

Posted by Huge at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

Week 2 update

Week 2 went a lot like week 1 - lots of intended things didn't happen. Hope this doesn't become a pattern, though perhaps it tells a story ... Here's what the week looked like: Lots of hours on day job... More

Posted by Huge at 7:47 PM | Comments (0)

Week 1 of the new enterprise - mixed results

One of the key complaints among independent musicians is the lack of time they have to do what needs to be done. I was pondering this - and the counter-argument that there's plenty of time but people don't manage it... More

Posted by Huge at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)

Maccas' Drive Through Blues

It's a wonderful exercise for an artist to deconstruct the works of the great artists. It's also a dangerous practice to re-write them into a modern scenario - it can leave to some completely inappropriate outcomes. Nonetheless, this is what... More

Posted by Huge at 2:11 PM | Comments (0)

Having a proper go at this music career thing.

"The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it." Debbi Fields Things haven't been working... More

Posted by Huge at 1:09 PM | Comments (1)

Heart's With You - NSAI feedback

Following my feedback from the Nashville Songwriters Association about Whiskey and History I thought I'd get more straight away. This time I thought I'd try my most obviously hooky song - went with Heart's With You from I am Leaving!... More

Posted by Huge at 4:44 PM | Comments (0)

Whiskey and History - NSAI feedback.

OK, so I joined the Nashville Songwriters Association. It seemed a logical step if I want to be serious about developing my chops as a songwriter. I love the Australian Songwriters Association and will keep being involved locally when I... More

Posted by Huge at 8:17 PM | Comments (0)

Grant funding - knockbacks and new tracks ...

OK, so I applied for some government grants to support the Tetrafasi Project late last year. I asked for about $40k each from Arts Queensland and The Australia Council. That's a lot to ask for straight up! The AQ grant... More

Posted by Huge at 4:39 PM | Comments (0)

CD Launch today!

OK, so "Alive and Alone" has been written, recorded, mixed, mastered, duplicated, and promoted. Today is the big launch party at Bellbowrie Tavern! Here's the flyer I bashed together to promote it: Cute, huh! I came up with that hook... More

Posted by Huge at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)

Whoops! Missed this one, too ...

So, while I wasn't really paying attention (actually, I looked every day but didn't find it), Youtube released "Alive and Alone": Apparently this happened 6 days ago, but when I searched for "The Genre Benders" in Youtube and saw the... More

Posted by Hughie at 2:49 PM | Comments (0)

Whoops! Big opportunity for support missed ...

Some time ago I entered Dad Joke Blues into AMRAP's Airit program, which connects radio broadcaster to new music. It is an essential step for self-published musicians - several radio stations have played the songs off the back of this... More

Posted by Hughie at 5:48 PM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone radio host feedback

Came into contact via Facebook with Anita Monk, who hosts a radio program in Victoria that is part of a radio segment called Wrokdown. Her target audience is dscribed as follows: "The older audience are very particular in their choice... More

Posted by Hughie at 3:08 PM | Comments (0)

Funding Tetrafasi in future

OK, so "Alive and Alone" is done and distributed via CDBaby. Happy with that - I did it all myself and it cost me nothing but my time. Trouble is, the next one is gonna need more people to play... More

Posted by Hughie at 7:01 PM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone is in iTunes!!

Well, it took a week, but 7 days after being sent to Tunes (according to CDBaby) here it is: https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/alive-and-alone/id1300393014 That took longer than I had hoped, but goves you some idea of the realities of preparing for a launch.... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone has made it onto Spotify!

Only took a few days and it's there, just as CDBaby promised: Not bad at all ... in Spotify thre days after approval by the CDBaby minions ... happy with that service. Now ... iTunes, where are you?... More

Posted by Hughie at 6:33 PM | Comments (0)

Distribution approved - we're off to the races (so to speak)

Approved! Alive and Alone is on its way through the digital realm to the major digital music retailers! CDBaby sent it to 24 retailers on the first day - including iTunes and Spotify, which are by far the biggest and... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

Tetrafasi launched ... sort of.

OK, so two important things have happened recently. First, I created a logo for the Tetrafasi project: Pretty cool, hey? Only a full day of work last Friday ... and acoupe of days reflection and refinement ... I had the... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

Release stuffups - Or, I should have known better by now ...

Confession - when I released Alive and Alone via CDBaby last week, I entered the meta data late at night after a few celebratory drinks. That was a mistake - you should ALWAYS be professional and do your best work.... More

Posted by Hughie at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone distribution

Right! Album is in the can. As happy as I am prepared to fight for with the performances, mixing and mastering. Artwork done, based on the Tetrafasi artwork: Note that this is simply the first panel of the Tetrafasi artwork,... More

Posted by Hughie at 1:55 PM | Comments (0)

Mixing Alive and Alone - Day 2: Mastering

Hmmmm ... not as bad as it could have been in the cold light of day. Pretty happy with most of the tracks. Suzie and I listened to the whole album at bedtime and I noticed three thigns I wanted... More

Posted by Hughie at 6:23 PM | Comments (0)

Mixing Alive and Alone - Day 1

Wow! So that went better than expected - got a first mix of all ten tracks in one day! I put this down to the consistency of the recordings, the use of a mix template, and the simplicity of the... More

Posted by Hughie at 7:02 PM | Comments (0)

Mixing Alive and Alone - setup

Right! The time has come to mix this thing ... need to just get it out. I have a bad habit of agonising over the imperfections and wanting to fix things, but after watching Macklemore on the subject, I have... More

Posted by Hughie at 6:18 PM | Comments (0)

Australian Songwriters Conference review

In June I attended the Australian Songwriters Conference at Ettalong Beach. It would be an expensive exercise and I knew nothing about the conference but I am trying to develop as a songwriter so I felt the "not inexpensive" fee... More

Posted by Huge at 5:57 PM | Comments (0)

Australian Songwriting Conference - song feedback

Well!! A while ago I wrote about the idea of taking my songs and pitching some of them to publishers at the Australian Songwriting Conference. Will write a full review about that experience later (short version: awaesome!) ... but wanted... More

Posted by Hughie at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)

Found me a producer ... and got the Dad Joke Blues

Recorded the Dad Joke Blues for a fun home project - two versions. Gumby and Mike came over a while back and we jammed on it for an afternoon and recorded some stuff. One version is electric - that's how... More

Posted by Hughie at 7:22 PM | Comments (0)

Australian Songwriting Conference - opportunity for feedback

A while ago I signed up to attend the Australian Songwriting Conference in Ettalong Beach, NSW in June. I wanted to expand my networks and find new influences and opportunities. It's gonna cost a heap (I'm paying it off) but... More

Posted by Hughie at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

Think I need one more stage ...

Been thinking about the three stages of album development in the multi-album project. Three is good, but I think it sells the process short. Now that I have all the guitars down and most of the vocals down, I've been... More

Posted by Hughie at 6:07 PM | Comments (0)

Recording setup

Wanted to share the technical aspects of my recording process ... just for all you nerds and gear sluts. It's not very impressive, I'm afraid ... I'm using Pro Tools 9 on a 2011 Macbook Pro. I have an M-Audio... More

Posted by Hughie at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - Day 7

Spent most of today figuring out how to play "She Don't Want Your Love". Came up with something completely different to everything I'd play on it before. Rather proud of that ... especially since the song has always been cowboy... More

Posted by Hughie at 4:31 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - Day 6

Right! Got "Angels" down ... eventually. Still not happy with the ending, but at least it's in the can at close to what I want it to sound and feel like. Gonna take a break for a few days and... More

Posted by Hughie at 6:17 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - Day 5

More completed today. Lots more? Well, actually, it felt like a lot but today was compromised by other activities with kids and work and so on. Not as many hours put in, so not as much accomplished. Managed to get... More

Posted by Hughie at 7:53 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - day 4

Better progress today. Took yesterday off to think about it (and do some work that pays for my house) and then ripped in today. Got the following in the can: The rest of Simplicity Home Free Raindrops (that took a... More

Posted by Hughie at 7:39 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - day 3

Today I started again, recording just the guitar parts. Took longer then expected because I was able to pay more attention to the nuances of what I was doing and didn't like some of what was happening. I used exactly... More

Posted by Hughie at 6:26 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - day 2

Got the remaining songs in the can as single-take roughs today. Total of 12 down now. Still not happy with this approach, tho. Cry to Heaven, Simplicity, and When the Angels Came are in the can along with the 9... More

Posted by Hughie at 6:32 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - day 1

OK, so I got most of the songs down as guide tracks to pick them apart. Don't think this was a very useful thing to do - I'm not happy with the results and it took me all day due... More

Posted by Hughie at 5:08 PM | Comments (0)

Collaborators ...

Been thinking about who to work with on this multi-album project. Quality producers in Brisbane are few and far between. Magoo mixed my last single, "Budget Crisis" and I learned a heap from him. Great bloke to work with ...... More

Posted by Hughie at 6:30 PM | Comments (0)

Stages of album development

Right! Riffing on this concept some more: what are the stages of development that I would have to cover? Seems to me there are a bunch of ways songs get made ... and they all involve collaboration - even among... More

Posted by Hughie at 2:45 PM | Comments (0)

Multi-album project - how?

OK, so I got a lofty ambition and launched into a crazy idea and now I have no idea how I'm going to do this. It's just sunk in to me how much work is going to be involved in... More

Posted by Hughie at 5:35 PM | Comments (0)

Multi-album setlist

Riffing on this a lot lately. Thinking the setlist will look something like this: Red Hot Simplicity She Don't Want Your Love Raindrops Cry to Heaven When It's Over Forever Mine Home Free Whiskey and History Also wanna get some... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

Multi-album project update

OK, so been thinking about this idea a lot. I reckon I can do four versions of the same songs ... start with a worktape and finish with a full production, anything goes sort of thing. About a dozen songs... More

Posted by Hughie at 4:26 PM | Comments (0)

Got me an idea ...

Been thinking about the things that songwriters ask me at Wax Lyricals and other events. There's a theme emerging that I think I can help with ... but it's gonna take some doing. :-) People keep asking me about getting... More

Posted by Hughie at 9:11 PM | Comments (0)

The trouble with Spotify ....

There's been a stack of discussion about Spotify and its effect on the music industry lately, mainly driven by Taylor Swift's label's decision to withdraw her entire catalog from Spotify, which adds her to the list of acts who want... More

Posted by Huge at 12:34 PM | Comments (1)

Turning attention into traction - Mouthzoff column

This is my ninth column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in December. While a network fo highly skilled and motivated people in the indutry is vital, so is the attention of fans. Only they can form a foundation for... More

Posted by DrHuge at 2:21 PM | Comments (0)

Independence - the power is in the network - Mouthzoff column

This is my eigth column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in November. This one concerns an essential skill that any business owner - especially an independent artist - needs to develop: networking. You can't do it all yourself, so... More

Posted by DrHuge at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)

The art of making enough good art - Mouthzoff column

This is my seventh column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in October. This one aims to help reassure artists that they are already good enough and that they simply need to get there stuff out into the market, seek... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)

Beware the trap of fixed ongoing service fees - Mouthzoff column

This is my sixth column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in September. This topic doesn't seem important to a lot of Indies, who just want as much cash as they can get quickly. But it's vital to make smart... More

Posted by DrHuge at 1:42 PM | Comments (0)

The technology trap - Mouthzoff column

This is my fifth column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in August. The topic is one that many Indies find confusing and upsetting: technology. If it's all so easy and helpful, why isn't it working for me? Last edition's... More

Posted by DrHuge at 11:18 AM | Comments (0)

Your fan base wants a relationship - Mouthzoff column

This is my fourth column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in July. The topic is one of vital importance to anyone building a career using new music models - because in this environment, he who dies with the largest... More

Posted by DrHuge at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)

Review: Jason Blume songwriting workshop - Mouthzoff column

As readers know, I'm a keen songwriter and heavily involved in helping Brisbane songwriters develop and grow. So when the opportunity came up for me to attend this workshop by one of the best, Jason Blume, I jumped at it.... More

Posted by Huge at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)

You need fans before you can ask for fan funding - Mouthzoff column

This is my second column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in June. The topic is one that causes a lot of confusion among Indie - fan funding - because they can see it work for others and don't understand... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)

You can't lose sales you would never have had - Mouthzoff column

This is my first column for Mouthzoff magazine. It was published in May. The topic is one that I get asked all the time by Independent Musos: should I protect my copyrights and if so, HOW?In 1999 global record sales... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)

Writing for Mouthzoff Mag

OK, so some time ago I started writing a monthly column for my good friend Randy G's monthly e-zine. It's a brand new publication aimed at the south-east Qld music scene and I like to support anything that supports local... More

Posted by DrHuge at 5:12 PM | Comments (0)

Step 10: Regularly take time to review your goals and efforts

(Photo credit: Wikipedia) You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards.- Steve Jobs Sometimes, if all you're doing is focusing on your next goal, its very easy to forget how far you've come... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

Step 9: PLAN each step of your development

I have not failed 10,000 times. I have successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.- Thomas Edison It's a cliché that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. As we discussed in the intro, just by... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)

Step 8: Design each step according to 5 principles

(Photo credit: Engineering at Cambridge) You usually find that what works is better than what looks good. You know, the looks good can change, but what works, works. - Ray Eames New technologies have made the life of a... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)

Step 7: Work hard to maintain those relationships

(Photo credit: Career Attraction) The most important ingredient we put into any relationship is not what we say or what we do, but what we are. - Stephen R. Covey Most musicians think that their job is to get... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

Step 6: Look to build relationships

(Photo credit: Burns!) Artists, of all people, understand that the more information we all share, the better it is for our business and for ourselves.− Janis Ian Business, and the music business in particular, is built on relationships. To... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)

Step 5: Use your abundant musical assets as gifts

(Photo credit: Wikipedia) You're far more likely to have a song that is not heard than a song that is heard and stolen.- David Hooper Digital stuff is "non-rivalrous", which is fancy economist-speak for "me having it doesn't stop... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

Step 4: Work hardest on creating the best art you can

(Photo credit: A.Davey) The key is in not spending time, but in investing it. - Stephen R. Covey Successful people are very good time managers who maintain a healthy work/play balance. Of course, that's much easier when you regard... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

Step 3: Understand your art

Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.- Frank Zappa Your art starts with your music but goes way beyond it. Every show you put on, every video, every interview, every album cover, every T-shirt, every class you teach, every... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone - and slow

You might have noticed by now that I've stopped posting about the Alive and Alone recordings. That's because I burned out badly (literally) trying to record in my house in the heat, then turn up to work feeling refreshed. Also,... More

Posted by Huge at 5:12 PM | Comments (0)

Step 1: Define your musical goals clearly

Don't die with the music in you.− Wayne Bennett Take time to know who you are, what you are good at, and what you are prepared to do to build your career. Be realistic about how you are best... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:24 AM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone - stage 1 accomplished

Recorded all the guide tracks today. Happy with that but it's not as much as I'd hoped to achieve. I was hoping to have some of the main guitars down as well.There were several reasons for delays - one was... More

Posted by Huge at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

If I Had Stew - The major label response

Well, I'm gobsmacked! No wonder the major labels are in so much trouble. A complete contrast in the response from two publishers in my pursuit of a simple clearance to record my parody.First things first - credit where it's due.... More

Posted by Hughie at 7:59 PM | Comments (2)

If I had Stew - Update 2

Still no word from Sony, despite me following their advice. However, I did get a response from tomas at Maratone on 14 Sept. He very kindly told me that I need to get in touch with Kobalt Music Publishing, who... More

Posted by Hughie at 8:31 PM | Comments (0)

If I had stew

I like to think I'm a pretty funny kinda guy with an ear for satire, so since I first heard Adam Lambert's "If I had you" I've known it would be dead easy to rip off. I've been playing with... More

Posted by Hughie at 2:26 PM | Comments (0)

Next chapter

Well, I've been absent from this blog for far too long. What I've been doing, however, has (hopefully) set up the next chapter of my life, which will see a lot more action around here. At long last, the PhD... More

Posted by Hughie at 1:01 PM | Comments (0)

Free is just one form of convenient

Lately I've read several articles providing "the artist's side of the story" as to why music "can't be free". These include: Mark Mulligan's Why Music Can't Just Be Free: The Artists' Side Of The Story, Rick Chazan's On Music Piracy,... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)

It's all about engagement ...

This morning there are some great articles in various other publication that point to something I've been thinking about for a while now: building a career as an Indie is all about directly engaging with people who like what you... More

Posted by DrHuge at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

Responding to a reviewer

Found this review of my E-book. So happy that someone has engaged with the ideas!! Actually, I'm honoured that although Jillian disagrees with the central premise of Part 1, she still wants to read Parts 2 and 3. Working on... More

Posted by DrHuge at 1:00 PM | Comments (1)

Review of Music Xray's S2O service

I read about Music Xray's S2O service in a LinkedIn forum and thought "what a great idea" so I signed up and entered The Genre Benders' album into the system (free). The "matches" the S2O system produces are based on... More

Posted by Huge at 12:57 PM | Comments (4)

The best New Music approach is holistic

Mike Masnick makes a lot of sense when he points out that big concerts are only a fraction of the live concerts staged,and in some ways they are more difficult to run profitably than smaller concerts. He's also right that... More

Posted by DrHuge at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)

How the record industry got it so wrong (and how their mistakes point to your glorious musical future).

OK, well the E-book is out. I have completed Part 1 with the assistance of the incredible art of Mr Darren Fisher. The blog version is here and free but a more convenient version can be downloaded for free... More

Posted by DrHuge at 4:04 PM | Comments (0)

How NOT to impress music-business decision makers

Just read this blog from my colleague Rick Goetz. Rick advises musos to do three things at music industry conferences: Find like-minded peers Make sure you and your product present well Have a plan He's spot on, but I'd take... More

Posted by Hughie at 12:40 PM | Comments (1)

Never a truer word spoken ...

Just read this rant from Street Carnage, which points out the brutal reality of playing in bands and advises people not to. Can't say I disagree, ironically. Life on the road can be boring, but it's also an opportunity to... More

Posted by Hughie at 6:00 PM | Comments (0)

16 Answers from an Entrepreneur and Freelancer

Just read Seth Godin's latest. As always, brilliant in its insight and thought-provoking in its focus. He posed some questions that seemed highly pertinent to the space I'm about to enter, so I thought I'd answer them with respect to... More

Posted by Hughie at 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

Breaking an act ...

Just read this post from Mike McCready. I like the way Mike thinks about a bunch of things, but I think he's on slightly the wrong track with this one. To start with, the whole notion of "breaking" and act... More

Posted by Hughie at 9:00 AM | Comments (0)

Seth Godin on the value of social networking

The lessons of Tila Teqila in 2 minutes … http://www.brandinfection.com/2009/08/01/seth-godin-on-social-networking/ Great stuff and so important for indie musos to understand. Seth's talking about business, and Indies need to understand that that's what they are if they want to make a... More

Posted by Hughie at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

Reznor's latest advice ... another beauty

Techdirt has another gem from Trent Reznor. Advice for indies on how to run their business. It's fairly general advice, but pretty good. Some of the comments provide interesting additional advice and so on. Rather than just report this, I... More

Posted by Hughie at 4:44 PM | Comments (0)

Hypebot's top Music 2.0 posts

Hypebot has posted a summary of their best Music 2.0 posts of 2008. It's got some really good stuff in it. Very important in years to come, I'm sure. Check it out, read their literature and get into the resources... More

Posted by Hughie at 7:36 AM | Comments (0)

"Debunking the Long Tail"?

The Register published an article some time back about new research that claims to "debunk the Long Tail". It takes a critical mathematical approach mainly to the precise shape of the curve - is it a Pareto curve, as Chris... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

What it means to do it the hard way

John Watson had a lot of gems at the Big Sound conference, but on the "big industry" panel he addressed the issue of getting signed and whether that meant anything in the new environment. He and the others gave several... More

Posted by Hughie at 3:24 PM | Comments (0)

The most important ingredient for success

One of the most compelling, thoughtful and thought-provoking panellists at Big Sound 2008 was John Watson of John Watson Management. He's the guy who signed Silverchair, among others. John was the most aware and articulate person I've ever seen at... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

Where we come from

At the "Managing your own release" panel at Big Sound 2008, Danny Rogers, manager of Gotye, Clare Bowditch, Litlte Red and Temper trap, among other things, was discussing how artists can build networks and find other people to help them... More

Posted by Hughie at 2:55 PM | Comments (0)

Making a pitch to the punters ...

At one of the final session of the Big Sound 2008 conference, entitled "Managing Your Own Release", Carlo Santone from Blue King Brown made a great point about the way entertainers should think about their interactions with the music-buying public.... More

Posted by Hughie at 2:40 PM | Comments (0)

Musowiki turns 100

Yesterday I put the 100th entry into Musowiki.net. There are now 114 entries. This is wonderful progress and I am so happy about it ... but there's a long way to go before it becomes a really useful resource. The... More

Posted by Hughie at 2:24 PM | Comments (0)

My version of a Free Song Strategy

I've not been an avid reader of Bruce Warila - but I like what I do read. Now Bruce has enunciated (almost) exactly my thinking on the best way to "give away" your music. This is a brilliant and very... More

Posted by Hughie at 9:49 AM | Comments (0)

10 Best Practices of Online Music Promotion

Just found this list by Nancy Baym of 10 best practices for online promotion. Nancy is a professor at Kansas U and has been studying fans culture and fan behaviour for a while now. She has some great ideas and... More

Posted by Hughie at 9:22 AM | Comments (0)

The power of radio

Anyone who doubts the importance of radio airplay in establishing your value as a musical performer needs to take a long, hard look at the APRA awards. The nominees for Song of the Year are all big radio hits, as... More

Posted by Hughie at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

Meeting the millenials

Interesting report released by Music Tank last week called "Meet the Millennials". It's written, at least in part, by Nettwerk's Terry McBride, so it's certainly worth reading. Now, I'm always highly skeptical of anything that makes broad claims about the... More

Posted by Hughie at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

The best advice you don't have to buy

Derek Sivers has just released his manifesto for being heard. Derek has long agreed with the view, which I believe was first expressed by Cory Doctorrow, that the enemy of the unsigned artists is not piracy, but obscurity. This is... More

Posted by Hughie at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)

Myspace has very little to do with it ...

The other day I read this interview with Ingrid Michaelson, which is billed as revealing how MySpace can help musos "make it" on the same scale as Ingrid has. Since I found the article via Myspace For Musicians, I think... More

Posted by Hughie at 9:35 AM | Comments (0)

How to form and run a rock band

Just found this resource via an e-mail list. It looks like a pretty cool heads-up for the muso who wants to get started in playing in a band, or whose wondering (as we all do) what went wrong in their... More

Posted by Hughie at 9:19 AM | Comments (0)

The "musical middle class"

Over at Hypebot there's been an interesting discussion going on about the idea of a musical middle class. This is the idea that more acts, bands and/or artists are now making a living from music than ever before. They may... More

Posted by Hughie at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)

Another great summary

Seth Godin has been raking over the entrails of the music industry figures from 2007 and has come up with some lessons from recent experience. I'm not convinced about some of them or the order in which they're placed ...... More

Posted by Hughie at 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

A great summary ...

Just found this post by Ian Rogers about how new technologies have changed the music industry. It's a fantastic summary of the impact (or not) of the new environment. Complete, thoughtful, insightful. You have to read it and understand it... More

Posted by Hughie at 9:46 AM | Comments (0)

Being not boring

I was at the Art of Record Production conference at QUT last week and listened to Hank Shocklee talk about the creation of Public Enemy. It's an amazing story and Hank was very open, frank and forthcoming about the music... More

Posted by Hughie at 7:02 AM | Comments (0)

Coke or Moonshine?

David Byrne, formerly of Talking of Talking Heads, had a great piece published in Wired, in which he examines the future of the music industry and maps out some strategies for independent artists. Packed with real data and analysis, it... More

Posted by Hughie at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)

Giving music away or making it available??

An interesting point came up on the MusicThoughts list yesterday and it peaked my interest - especially in light of an article from Andrew Dubber that I'd read earlier. Here's the original meme and my response: >> When you give... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

Music files may be abundant, but listener value and attention are still scarce.

Just came across this Techdirt article, in which Mike discusses the economics of abundance and therefore the virtues for an artist/band of making music available for free. This is an example of slightly muddled and mistaken thinking but before I... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

7 Stupid Mistakes

I found this yesterday. The e-book is not bad and you can get it free if you tell four other people about it. It's called "The 7 Stupid Mistakes People Make Trying To Get Into The Music Business" and it... More

Posted by Hughie at 9:50 AM | Comments (0)

Song contests

Coupla years ago a friend of mine won a major songwriting contest in Australia but, much to his frustration, told me that success didn't translate into better fortunes as a performer. Since I heard that story I have been wondering... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

Hypebot's 100 Free & Affordable High & Low Tech Music Promotion Tips

I've been following this for a while now and there's some really good stuff in here. Handy, simple and cheap. Of course, not all of them will work for everyone and some of them will not work at all once... More

Posted by Hughie at 7:41 PM | Comments (0)

Jmag's best advice ...

Jmag, Triple J radio's print extension, has started publishing its "How to ... " section on a blog. I've not read many of these, but they seem to be packed with a bunch of great advice for indies on various... More

Posted by Hughie at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)

Radiohead wrap

This came out of a discussion on MusicThoughts. There's heap of commentary about the new Radiohead approach to releasing albums but I think a lot of people are reading far too much into this. The strategy is transparent and ...... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)

Keeping fans' interest

At IMC, one of the more unexpectedly interesting perspectives came from David Cooper, who's an accountant. He specialises in making stuff to help artists at the back end - the accounting and management jobs that most artists struggle with. We... More

Posted by Hughie at 1:46 PM | Comments (0)

How to stand out in the crowd

Jim Fetzer was great for a quote at the Independent Music Conference. At one stage we were discussing the difficult issue of how a band can get people to notice them in this world that is flooded with acts doing... More

Posted by Hughie at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)

Have the confidence to be rejected

Got this one from Derek Sivers' website. Derek's an incredible guy who I had the honour to meet a couple of Big Sound Conferences ago. He knows what it takes to be in independent artist and delights in helping indies... More

Posted by Hughie at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

Keep your eyes on the prize ...

James Fetzer, fetzer music management, covers, covers bands, covers songs, originals bands, original songs, covering songs, playing covers, independent music, independent artists, independent musicians, original music More

Posted by Hughie at 2:12 PM | Comments (0)

Confidence to be rejected

Got this one from Derek Sivers' website. Derek's an incredible guy who I had the honour to meet a couple of Big Sound Conferences ago. He knows what it takes to be in independent artist and delights in helping indies... More

Posted by Hughie at 5:46 PM | Comments (0)

Why should people care??

Jim Fetzer has a unique approach to managing Indie bands ... or any band, for that matter. He has an interesting take on life. But in one of the IMC07 panels, he made the point that for all the new... More

Posted by Hughie at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)

Words you will never hear ...

At the IMC07 I attended a session on song arrangement run by Lawrence "Gelboni" Gelburd. It was very informative. He basically just showed us how he had re-worked a song by a band he was helping. The song was already... More

Posted by Hughie at 5:00 PM | Comments (0)

The Big Picture

Independent music conference, IMC07, independent music, tips for musicians, tips for artists, tips for independent musicians, tips for independent artists, help for artists, help for musicians, how to become an independent artist, independent music career, music business, music industry, independent music business, independent music career More

Posted by Hughie at 1:46 PM | Comments (0)

Category: Tips for Indies

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