Grumpy Old Musician

How Will You Start 2012?

2011-12-30T17:53:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia
With everyone in the midst of the festive season, it's easy to get 'too' involved in the goings-on. Many people get so tied up with the countless deadlines that rather rapidly impinge upon the whole idea of this time of year; namely enjoyment. I'm part of this sort of scenario but not by choice.

The hustle and bustle form both sides of the family has left me sitting here on the afternoon of New Years Eve with part of the family going out to a full-throttle booze up while the other side of the family (myself included) shall be celebrating quietly at home. The fact that I'm a recovering alcoholic led me to the decision of staying at home. Getting drunk doesn't appeal to me. Neither does having just the one drink. If things go according to my own plan, I'll be woken at midnight to 'see in the New Year' and return to bed shortly thereafter.

As boring as this sounds, the lead-up to it is already causing some angst. My cousin is playing in a band at the full-throttle drinking event. I'm taking him out there and will be picking him up tomorrow at goodness knows what time. This may not sound stressful as such but he's still making phone calls, organising this, that and the other. Just to put the icing on the cake, his kids will be staying here but are already asking if their Dad can stay at home. Even I can't pin him down to a departure time.

So....for the afternoon I envisage two ratty kids. Tomorrow will be the same until my brother arrives home sleep-deprived at best. All of this comes at the end of a great Xmas and busy but enjoyable five days with my children.

As you can imagine, my lack of sleep has to be caught up on. I was hoping that it would be some time tonight or even tomorrow. Evidently I was wrong. Despite any urge to consume alcohol, a series of unexpected changes to the routine of a manic depression have a more severe impact than those who don't suffer from the condition. In my case the symptoms are constant lethargy and higher than normal anxiety levels.

Having said all of this, it will all pass very soon and I have promised myself to get back into the recording studio early in 2012 as it has been very 'patchy' in 2011.

I'd like to wish you all the best for the New Year and thank you for your ongoing support.

Internet Vanishing Act

2011-12-18T17:16:00.001-08:00

Image via CrunchBaseWith the ever-increasing rate of Xmas approaching, it's time to prepare for an extended absence from both my internet activity and recording activity. At this point there are few certainties time-wise. What I do know is that my children will be spending Xmas day with my ex-wife. Due to the fact she's a Nurse and works shift-work, this will be the first time in quite a few years that they will spend with her.

On the flip-side, at this point it is unsure if my younger brother has his kids Xmas Eve or Xmas Day. If he does have them Xmas Eve and Xmas Day, this will entail myself and my parents spending Xmas Eve at his house. (How this works out is a mystery to my brother and I).

The aforementioned activities were to put you in the picture for the real purpose of this blog.

Between now and Boxing Day when I pick my children up to have a 'second Xmas' at my place there are quite a few 'plans of action' to put into place online which will allow me to skip the internet for the entirety of my children's visit. When my children are here for 2-3 days, it's no big deal but their trip up on this occasion will be an extended one and I don't want to be feeling the need to update anywhere.

After my recent highly successful and rapid-fire 'Xmas Shopping Blitz' I had a day messing around with a few tracks from my upcoming. On paper the the album looks half-completed but in reality I would say that it's about one-third of the way through. The album, when it eventually surfaces, will be initially released on Bandcamp where I currently have two albums and three singles. Bandcamp will always be the cheapest online store for my releases. Two-three weeks after this, the new album will be released on iTunes and then Amazon mp3. The only major reason that I have my material on iTunes and Amazon is purely for their 'reach' as far as searchability is concerned.

As far as Facebook is concerned, I shall simply be leaving a Xmas greeting on both my profile page and the Bob Findlay Music Page.

The most pre-Xmas work regarding my online presence will be getting my Twitter page 'loaded' using Hootsuite. With a Klout score of 51, I'll be interested to see how successful my pre-scheduling will be. There is one thing that I do know, it will have no effect on Tasmania Today. I have now got "Tasmania Today" running smoothly and enough 'backed-up' material for it to run for some time on its' own. It can be viewed at the bottom of this entry.

I have between now and Thursday to make these preparations but having said this, who knows what 'surprises' may appear by the deadline?

This may be last blog entry before Xmas so I would like to take the opportunity to thank you all for your support, friendship and laughter in 2011 and wish you and those close to you a fantastic festive season.
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://bobfindlay.bandcamp.com/album/mean-business"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Mean Business by Bob Findlay&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Internet Vanishing Act

2011-12-18T17:15:00.000-08:00

<p>&amp;lt;a href="http://bobfindlay.bandcamp.com/album/mean-business"&amp;gt;Mean Business by Bob Findlay&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;</p>

Fatherhood And Music In 2011

2011-06-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

My musical reality checks come in the form of my two children who are in their early teens. In many ways it's a two-way street.

My daughter, the youngest, is well into all of the internet gadgetry and keeps me up to date on what's "fully sick" and what these new iphones can do. I was just starting to get my head around the iPad when all of a sudden there's a second version(!). My rather simplistic take on the iPad is that it must be a hassle to carry. Let's face it, in todays' era of nano-technology the iPad isn't exactly as portable as the pundits claim it is. In defense of the pundits I'm not 100% sure of what the iPad is capable of doing....and don't really need to know.

Recently I was browsing a brochure from an electronics shop and had to get my daughter for some assistance. Once I got past the huge televisions and computers I was confronted by four pages of an vast array of iphones....in all of their different forms and names. The phone that my daughter is keen on for Xmas (I forget its' name) has a 3.2" touchscreen and slides out to reveal a tiny keyboard. Whilst I sat there nodding mindlessly I calculated that in order to use this particular iphone properly, the user would have to be about 7 inches tall. Failing that, they would have to have their fingers whittled down to the size of toothpicks to use the keyboard and a set of binoculars permanently fixed to their heads in order to see the screen.

As if to add insult to injury, my daughter wants a pink or purple one. I suppose they must be better(!).

My son, on the other hand, is at the opposite end of the techno-world. No mobile phone, no Facebook, no Twitter, etc. He's more into hands-on, old-fashioned creation. He's content to go into his Grandfathers shed & create some amazing things from pieces of wood, metal...pretty-well anything that Dad isn't using. He' currently planning a miniature magnet-driven car!

When it comes to music my son & daughter consider my music 'old-fashioned'....and they're quite correct. I have, however, managed to show my son some tricks on the guitar. I did this by showing some old rock classics that he had heard before but hadn't 'listened.' The first was "Alright Now" by Free. I told him to really listen to the verses and tell me what he noticed. half way through the first verse he said; "There's only one guitar and drums playing." I did the same with "Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones. I went on to show him a few 'tricks' based on the Eric Clapton 'less-is-more' theory. He is now applying it of his own volition. Something that can only be done if one actually 'feels' the music.

So....between iphones, musicians like Katy Perry, Lady Ga Ga, and All That Remains, this middle-aged musician still maintains that there is still something to be gleaned from the past.

"It's only rock and roll but I like it."

Guilty Of Music Piracy? Walk The Plank!

2010-08-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

Piracy is the act of duplicating anything without prior permission and consent of the rightful owner.

Music piracy is nothing but the act of duplicating an original recording in an unauthorized manner in order to generate commercial gains. There is no consent in any form, from the rights owner of the recording. Piracy has forced many an upcoming artist to shut shop, and does not give artistes the recognition and money that they deserve to get. Record companies lose revenue and face heavy financial losses because of piracy.

Pirated copies of music are usually a compilation of several tracks of the performing band or artiste and are available in the market in CDs, Cassettes and DVDs. The advancement in technology and the availability of this technology to the public, especially the pirates has led to a dangerously high increase in the flow of pirated music in the market.
The internet is helping the growth of piracy?

When is the last time you wanted to download a track from a torrent site on the internet? Well, this is an act of supporting piracy, and in some countries, where copyright infringement is a big issue; you could be committing an offense. The extensive reach of the internet throughout the world, the inability to police the net effectively, and the humongous number of users the internet has, has indeed made the internet a haven for pirates. Pirates no longer find the need to burn music on scores of music CDs or DVDs, pack, and finally smuggle them, to be sold on the streets. All a pirate has to do is buy the original CD, rip the tracks from it, and upload it to his website on the internet. A few links around, and within days, his website will be flooded with traffic, most of whom only want to download the song.

Some pirates even sell the music for cheap rates! They end up making money on a bulk scale. When this is repeated for thousands of songs, they eventually build up a download library of sorts, and end up making enormous amounts of illegal money. Some sites also use illegal downloads as a tool to increase their website traffic or to gain popularity and make money advertising. This is also illegal and constitutes music piracy. Some people also have doubts regarding the use of P2P software to "share" music. If the music being transferred via the P2P file sharing network is not copyright protected, then it is perfectly legal. However, transfer or download of copyrighted music via P2P networks is illegal, as P2P facilitates the unauthorized distribution of the music, and it is done without prior authorised permission from the record label or artiste.

I urge every independent aratist to properly copyright their material as they may (already) be losing out big-time and losing out legally if not copyrighted.

Fishing For A Music Album Theme

2010-08-21T19:12:00.000-07:00

I entered my home recording studio early last week for the first time in a few months. I have commenced my latest album recording. All I had to 'run' with was a thread of a bass guitar track. Four days later, I re-emerged with five full tracks, minus vocals. The album, even at this early stage has taken on a life of its own. I'm not particularly 'involved' any more. Ideas are hitting me left, right and centre and they're all of a vaguely similar nature. Luckily they're not SO similar as to be blatantly repetive album-wise.

I generally stop the 'creating' process when I have around sixteen or seventeen tracks fully completed. As far as a 'theme' is concerned, it is currently happening right now which is why I can't divulge any more at this point. I shall, however, be addressing the album HERE on its release.

Creating an album is a process, and keep the basics in mind. An album, in itself, consists of two elements. First is catchy tunes that appeal to a large audience. Secondly is the often overlooked 'theme' of the album. It's not just a matter of recording ten or twelve songs and comiling them haphazardly

Too many ideas will spoil an album. When listening to an album in its entirety, you will often notice that the music is made of certain phrases that repeat themselves or appear as a slight variation of a previous track. They are called themes. A theme may be melodic, rhythmic, harmonic or combination of these. When you hear the themes, it registers to the brain and that makes it easier to remember, particularly when applied with care to an entire album.

A common mistake of songwriters is they make it boring, where the listener has no urge to want to hear the song again. Remember, if they like it, they want to hear your song again and again and again (which can translate into more record sales for you).

Sometimes a songwriter will experience "writer's block". When this happens, you might want to use a different approach, such as creating the melody first, or experimenting with some chord progression first then melody, or even rhythm first, then melody, and chord progression last. I've doing this all week.

Remember, there is no correct way of creating a theme for an album. Experiment with different instrumentation. Relax. Take a break. After a few days out of the studio, I have deliberately gone for a walk up the street, to the Post Office and newsagents and returned, every time, with at least a handful of lyrics. I KNOW that at least some will be used on my upcoming album

It's every independent musicians goal to produce an album full of great songs. You think they are perfect, where the girls go gaga over your songs and the guys elevate it to the national anthem of angst and raging hormones. But!....you need to record those songs and try to find a way to put it in public in a manner that is even more conducive to sales than an individual song alone, right? Much to a musician's chagrin, there are steps and systems to follow. Yes, the way to the gold pot at the end of the rainbow requires a keen sense of direction from here to there.

Despite many years of vodka abuse, I have a surprisingly good memory for things musical. Having said this, like everyone else, my neurons my misfire at anytime and you may lose those precious, MTV award-winning lyrics (Well, some musician's neurons misfire ALL the time. Why am I not surprised...?). Make sure that you record all of the lyrics or, at the very least, put them to paper/notepad. Don't be afraid to use different schemes also (acoustic or amplified instruments, or if you feel operatic -- solo, duet, or acapella). The more variations, the better your chance of hitting that sweet spot for airplay cut. Anyway, you need to record that track. Once every track is to your liking and you're ready to compile your album, this is where things get very frustrating and indecisiveness reigns....if you let it.

Fine tuning: Any portion in any part of a song can be repeated in throughout the album as often as you want. The more, the better but keep it subtle. You may cut the portions that makes no sense, portions that puts the great rhythm in the grey instead of concrete, defined colors. Edit out any unwanted portions of any song. You can polish up on those areas that needs polishing, strengthening the areas of the album where the tune must flow freely and the thought unobstructed.

Mastering: Here, you try to maximize the tracks and optimize the cuts by stuffing tracks that are weak in between strong tracks. Or you place weak tracks at the latter portion of the album and the strong ones as the opening singles. This is an indirectly VERY time-consuming affair. I say 'indirectly' because it means walking away from what you think is a well-themed album for a few days, only to return and listen to it wondering what the hell you were doing.

Copyright: Here, you stamp it down and tell the whole wide world that the song is yours, with a great heaping of blood, sweat and tears. You put enough protection and fence around the real estate of your mind's work, telling them to get lost or else...well, depends on you and your vigilance to protect what is yours.

Is ReverbNation Losing It's Original Spirit?

2010-08-02T17:19:00.000-07:00

Without doubt, ReverbNation is one of the most beneficial specifically music sites
around for the independent artist. ReverbNation offers the new online musician
outstanding free statistics, promotional tools & means of maintaining contact with your fanbase. Over the last 12 months,however, more tools have been offered to independent musicians and guess what? Yup! They come with a price.

Before you enter ANY data into ReverbNation, I suggest both finish reading this article and then jump over to ReverbNation and go through it with a fine tooth comb. It will make things much simpler & MUCH more effective as you can quite easily become sidetracked. It will save you money.

The promotional & statistical tools offered by ReverbNation are a real online highlight. Supporter sign-up forms come in varying sizes with colours also being able to be
customised. They can be deployed on your website, pages that you have on other
sites blogs & other online areas.

Additionally, ReverbNation have an assortment of mini-players that can be similarly
deployed. These players can be set on 'auto-play,' as suggested by ReverbNation. I
suggest NOT doing this & the vast majority of online listeners will agree. More of that
shortly.

As I recommend for all sites, upload no more than 8-14 tracks. Keep track 1 at the top
of the list as it greatly affects your statistics & continuity. It also helps you climb as far as Google is concerned.

ReverbNation keenly encourages artists to offer a track, or tracks, as “fan exclusive”
free downloads. I have had this conversation with everyone from D.J.s to promoters,
musicians & followers. Their argument is the same old “people like free things.” They
use this philosophy as a means of attracting followers.I find this extremely patronising towards listeners in general & statistics show that it DOES NOT boost a musicians true following. You want REAL followers, not transients.

IF you do opt to offer a free download, use it wisely. NEVER use what you consider to
be your best track or your most requested.

The “free download” widget IS a handy tool forplacing on your website, blog & so forth but bare in mind there's a lot of people will be put off by the fact that they go to
download the track only to discover that they have to sign up as a
ReverbNation member. Even though it's free, people STILL feel that they're being
roped in.....and roped in by YOU, not by ReverbNation. Don't try to dupe the public.

Once you have your ReverbNation page ready, launch it by making it known on other
music sites and; social networking sites using the assortment of widgets and banners
provided. Word will travel quickly, believe me.

ReverbNation gives your followers the option to join your mailing list. To my mind,
when used properly, it's THE single most powerful in-line communication tool for
musicians. To see it both under-utilised & abused by musicians played a part in me
embarking on the writing of this book. Unfortunately the limit for your mailing list is 500 fans. What happens once this limit is reached? I don't know.I'm still awaiting a response. IF it means that I lose my mailing list then I'll be catching the next train out of there.

Initially you will have a reasonably high percentage of followers who also sign up to
your mailing list. By checking the locations of who truly is paying attention via clickthrus'
in combination with song-play locations can help you delineate a target
audience, geographically & demographically. Through human nature your mailing list numbers will drop over time. Don't be disheartened by this. A mailing list of between 10 and 20% of your total followers is a good figure.

Mailing your supporters is FREE. One paid service offered by ReverbNation is
professional templates for your emails with additional features. From my experience
this paid service makes no difference at all. Keep your credit card in your wallet and you will save almost $120 a year.

The most common mistake I've encountered is artists emailing supporters with news
that people aren't interested in. This is a sure-fire way of watching your mailing list
plummet. Paradoxically, make your followers aware of upcoming & new releases. Let
them know that you are still thinking of them.

Don't email your list every time you hit a chord. Emailing your list every 2-3 weeks is ideal. Ensure your emails are relevant, well laid out & maintain continuity regarding previous mail. Spending a little extra time (not a great deal) on these little thing really DO make a difference.

If you enjoy it, your fans will too.

I am now wondering what their next move will be. No doubt it will entail a fee. For this writer/musician, ReverbNation began losing its' independent nature when it jumped into bed with Audiolife with regards merchandise & CD production. My monthly 'fair share' amounts plummeted without me doing a damned thing.

Call me paranoid but it appears tome that ReverbNation may well be trying to be the Amazon or Sony BMG of the independent music scene. Time will tell.

Custom Search

Internet Radio

2010-07-31T23:28:00.000-07:00

Independent music relies on alternative means to promote alternative music, since the idea is to eschew the standard music industry models of promotion. Independent music therefore has created it's own record companies and ways of doing things. It relies a lot on radio stations and websites on the Internet, for one thing.

There have been many things going on with this side of the business model that the average listener has, perhaps, been unaware of. For example, Sound Exchange recently decided that radio stations on the Internet should be held accountable for royalties and retroactively.

Naturally, there were parties who had disagreements about the fairness of this. On one hand, it seems like the fair thing to do for independent artists. On the other hand, the amount of royalties due from major providers of Internet radio such as Pandora would be in the millions of dollars and, for smaller Internet radio broadcasters, this would threaten to wipe them out.

A bill known as the Internet Radio Equality Act was introduced and rallied for, but the net end result of all of this was that the price of being a broadcaster went up.

It would seem that, sadly, the Internet is just absorbing the old business models and that these ways of doing business are what makes it difficult for the average listener to find and listen to new music, new independent rock and other alternative music.

Another example of this is that many Internet radio stations are so purely business that they charge the artists for airplay. The artists either pay a one time fee for airplay or can purchase a certain number of plays. This, of course, inflates the idea of just how popular the artist really is.

Even by voting, such as is done on some radio stations and music websites, the artist or band can more or less 'stuff the ballot box..'

Even though the consensus seems to be that the day of the critic is over, and it is true that they can often be wrong. Perhaps the need for reliable, knowledgeable sources to provide good music reviews is what is needed once again.

What's With Guitar Hero?

2010-07-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I posted a blog entry on independent rock bands and what it took to 'get there.' I received a humorous comment from one chap who suggested the video game Guitar Hero.

Well, I have a confession. A few months ago I actually did have a go at it. My personal take on this Guitar Hero trend took something of a turn that weekend when I was actually introduced to it by a friend. Having never been one for computer games, I was pleasantly surprised Guitar Hero. Although the price of the guitar can really be a budget buster, (the guitar isn't needed, but I'd recommended one), once you get the gear however, playing this game is a great experience on your gaming system or even on your personal computer.

Guitar Hero is an outstanding music game which offers a number of great choices for gamers; but there is some serious confusion about the guitar controllers out there. There was a Wikipedia article that had an easy to understand chart. You may want to check it out before you get to far along or totally frustrated with this. The song selection is fantastic. The music will range from Punk to power pop-rock to heavy metal. Songs like "Raining Blood" by Slayer (which I hadn't ever paid any attention to in the past), will literally have you pulling out your hair.

Making sure you hit each and every long note will earn you the achievement award. Notes will sometimes seem to be behind the music and it's not uncommon to see notes just skip on down the fret board to catch back up I'm not sure how you are suppose to handle this just yet. For a rhythm game this is brilliant, since precise timing is needed for your success. Notes are represented as circles that fly down a timeline and when the moment comes, you need to press the appropriate key on your guitar and 'strum', tilting your guitar upward while doing these sets off a bonus scoring mode.

Hit the right notes, and the crowd will go nutso. If you miss or hit some notes at the same time, and you'll be greeted with a sharp "twangy" noise, if this happens very often you will have to listen to the booing and eventually a fast exit, stage left.

In 'Battle Mode' you can send attacks to your opponent by twitching your guitar like you do when trying to build Star power. These attacks really work best when you send a couple of them at a time.

While I only had one afternoon playing Guitar Hero, and it was an apparently outdated version, I loved it.

So....finally....I confess that video gaming can be fun.

The Price Of Music

2010-07-12T01:22:00.000-07:00

We are much more reliant today than ever before on technology and the many contributions it makes to our lives every second. Perhaps most notable is the many options technology has given to the Internet and the world of entertainment, making many artistic projects and productions, from digital music albums to e-books to short and long films and television programs available to a larger audience of people.

Steadily children that grew up with the Internet and don't remember a time without it are reaching adulthood, and attitudes about both the monetary value of artists' works available online and the cultural value of these works are changing. This revolution began with the introduction of CD's, which became easy to copy and distribute to friends.

There are certainly varying opinions about the worth of downloadable music and purchased music in general; while a younger generation of music lovers is certainly divided on whether music downloaded online should be free music, there are definitely more in that generation deciding that perhaps people should be more freely allowed. When it is so much easier to copy mp3's online and from friends, and also easier to record entire albums in the studio with full digital capabilities, many young music listeners wonder, is a musician's work and the musician him/herself really worth as much as at the dawn of the recording industry?

Many studies have shown that adults that remember a time when recorded music was expensive and more difficult to obtain are much more cognizant and respectful of basic music Copyright Law. They understand why certain laws are in place, and some that are artists themselves have relied on Copyright Law to protect their creative expressions. Copyright Law also allows music and other art forms to perpetuate in the world, and is the reason there is so much variety available.

The music industry has been cracking down on how people get their music recently in response to the increased availability of downloadable music and digital music on the Internet. The music industry was largely unprepared for the sudden introduction of file sharing programs to music lovers, and it has taken several years for them to realize their impact on musicians, songwriters, other music professionals and record companies. Before the Internet, most young people bought CD's, and shared them by simply burning a copy for friends. While this was certainly a violation of Copyright Law, it somehow did not pose as large of a problem as when mp3 players became available and people downloaded free music off the Internet en mass through high-speed connections. The music industry has recently started filing lawsuit after lawsuit to stop this phenomenon and put systems in place to make music lovers pay for downloadable music. As was evidenced in recent lawsuits that were filed against those in small towns in middle America, you do not have to be high profile to suffer consequences for violating the law when it comes to digital music.

The industry has been driving hard to try to get the public to recognize that not paying for music takes money away from artists and musicians that they deserve for their hard work. While music is a source of entertainment and a cultural commodity for most, for those involved in creating it, it is a job that they rely on to make lives for themselves. Like any other professional, musicians can't be expected to do their work for free. While the amount some receive is certainly debatable, what is not debatable is that they should receive something. The latest drive to enforce Copyright Law by the music industry is causing a stir among young people. New anti-piracy software is now being put on CD's to cut down on illegal CD copying. The software prevents listeners from burning the CD more than five times.

Teens especially are noting that this will not stop others from discovering new ways to get music. Many adults agree that someone is bound to come up with a way around the software, as technology always seems to find a way to surmount obstacles that prevent free sharing of music, DVD's and other media.

Many teens note that there is an obvious and simple way around the anti-piracy software; all a person has to do is make a copy of the CD once and then use the copy to make more copies. Those invested in the downloadable music and digital music craze feel the anti-piracy software is really just a way to slow down some of the most avid copiers while the industry thinks of a more permanent solution.

Other teens support these new attempts to prevent people from getting music for free. They feel that music is a valuable part of everyone's lives that touches so many aspects that certainly free music or even cheap music should not even be an option. They fully understand why musicians deserve to be paid for the privilege of owning and listening to their music over and over again.

So what are some alternatives to illegally downloading digital music or free music?

There are many services that provide low-cost and virtually free music for professionals and individuals simply hoping to expand their music collection. For those still entrenched in the CD movement, there are some subscription services in development that will allow people to freely share unlimited CD's through the mail at very low cost and without violating Copyright Law.

As more services for downloadable music and digital music arrive on the scene and make a more competitive market, track downloads and album downloads are becoming cheaper. Even iTunes offers songs as 99 cents apiece, and entire albums at cut rates, so even young people can afford to buy music legally to enjoy.

As an alternative to digital music provided by major music providers, reputable royalty free musiccompanies are bringing original tracks of music plus many high quality royalty free music versions of some favorite classical pieces to listeners at affordable prices and sometimes even free. Royalty free music companies such as Royalty Free Music.com offer huge and very comprehensive downloadable music libraries with collections from every genre from classical and jazz to rock, techno, dance and Hip Hop. And with royalty free music, you pay to satisfy Copyright Law upfront so you don't have to worry later about any additional fees. Many royalty free music companies even offer totally free music that is of excellent quality and different from anything else available.

The point with digital music is that listeners will continue to try to find ways to get free or cheap music; at this stage of technology, finding loopholes and ways that allow for freer sharing of information is just human nature.

Sexuality In Song Lyrics

2010-06-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Rock and roll and sex have always been inseparable bedmates. And it’s been no secret affair. Many musicians admit that they only learned how to sing or play an instrument so they could enjoy the fringe benefits of band membership. They don’t mind sharing the details of these fringe benefits in their lyrics, either. Some lyrics are blatantly explicit, while other lyrics hide their sexuality behind metaphors. Here are some lyrics that seem very suggestive—or maybe we just have dirty minds!

“Brand New Key” by Melanie.(....I'm showing my age here....).

Remember this novelty hit from the early 70s? Also known as “The Roller Skate Song,” there seemed to be plenty of innuendo in the lyrics, “I got a brand new pair of roller skates/You got a brand new key/I think that we should get together and try them out, you see.” Also, many listeners interpreted the lyrics “new key” as “nookie.” Although Melanie didn’t intentionally write sexually suggestive lyrics, she did admit that, “I guess a lock and key have always been Freudian symbols, and pretty obvious ones, at that.”

“Knocking at Your Back Door” by Deep Purple

The blatant title, which also makes its way into the song lyrics, needs no explanation. But the band wove more subtle suggestiveness into the lyrics, “So we put her on the hit list/Of a common cunning linguist/A master of many tongues.” If you don’t get it right away, quickly say the lyrics “cunning linguist” out loud several times. Oh, so that’s what he’s saying! The lyrics flew under the censor’s radar, and were played on numerous radio stations. According to the liner notes in the band’s Greatest Hits, they wrote the lyrics as a joke, and never expected the song to get any airplay.

“Little Willy” by The Sweet.

This incredibly catchy tune by glam band, The Sweet, initially drew critics’ scorn for its “nursery porn” lyrics, “Little Willy, Willy won’t go home/But you can’t push Willy ’round, Willy won’t go.” The song lyrics were supposedly inspired by late singer Brian Connolly’s nonstop nightclubbing. Since “willy” is also British slang for a man’s you-know-what, there’s also speculation that the lyrics regard that organ’s endless desire for satisfaction. In any case, the song and its lyrics ignited a succession of 14 hit singles, including 11 chart-toppers.

"Cherrie Pie" by Warrant.

The lyrics of “Cherry Pie” are filled with so many humorous sexual metaphors, where do we begin?

Well, here are a few of those lyrics: “She wanted me to feed her/So I mixed up the batter/And she licked the beater,” “If I think about baseball/I’ll swing all night,” and “Tastes so good/Make a grown man cry/Sweet cherry pie.” Singer Jani Lane wrote the song’s music and lyrics on a pizza box in 15 minutes. Talk about a quickie!

“Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel

Influenced by sexually suggestive soul music lyrics, the lyrics of “Sledgehammer” are loaded with innuendo. In addition to “I want to be your sledgehammer,” the lyrics refer to steam trains, bumper cars, pollination, fruit, bees and a big dipper. Regarding the lyrics, Gabriel said, “Sometimes sex can break through barriers when other forms of communication are not working too well.”

That theory may work well in song lyrics, but it’s a line that might backfire if you’re trying to pick up someone in a bar!

Grab your 50% discount on "Mean Business by entering the codeword: thistle

<a href="http://bobfindlay.bandcamp.com/album/mean-business">Snake Eyes by Bob Findlay</a>

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Record Companies

2010-06-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

Music is art, but to record companies, it’s about money. Keep in mind that it’s a business. Keep in mind everyone is out to make money. The minute people believe that you will not make money for them, you will be dropped and these same people will turn to seek other new artists that they believe will make them money. Unfortunately, the record business doesn’t believe in grooming people. If your first CD isn’t a success, you are out. There are rarely second chances. There are always other talented people behind you who what their shot at fame.

Most major retailers such as Tower records will not carry a CD unless the record has a distributor. A strong distributor ensures that your CD will be available in enough places so your CD will sell to ultimately make money. Major labels use large distributors who are better able to get record stores stocked. After years of consolidation, there are only 5 major national wholesale distributors in the US who are owned by conglomerates who also own major record labels. They are BMG (distributes Arista, BMG and RCA), EMI (distributes Capital and Virg.), Sony Music (distributes Columbia, Epic and Sony), Universal Music Group (distributes Interscope, Island/Def Jam, and MCA) and WEA (distributes Atlantic, Elektra and Warner Bros.)

Distribution via the Internet Record labels and artists are increasingly using the web to distribute their music, however, unknown artists will still have to work hard to get the buzz going about their music. Ultimately, signing a contract with a major record label is the way to go. The major record labels have the financial muscle and people to give you a good shot at becoming famous.

Let’s face it. It’s all about money! Yes, the entertainment industry seems fun and exciting, but people are in it to make money. As an artist the most important contract in the music industry is the record contract. The royalty is a portion of money from record sales paid to the artist for his/her music. The record contract which is a negotiated legal agreement between the record label and artist will state how much royalty an artist is entitled to among other things.

When money is made for the record sales, these costs are deducted from the artist’s royalties. This is called re-coupment. Therefore, if the artist’s record isn’t successful, the artist may never see a dime. If the royalties are less than the deductions, they artists may well owe the record company money by being in the red! This negative cost maybe carried over to the next album release. A good record contract will not allow a negative cost from one album to be carried over to another album (cross collateralization). If there isn’t another album the record company generally eats the loss.

There are many other costs that the record company will not charge the artists. This includes marketing and in-house promotions (free CD give away, etc.)..

Of course because of the Internet, the rules royalties are changing. Many people now buy their music via the Internet. Just think, no packaging required and no distribution to traditional retail stores needed. Some websites allow customers to buy individual songs as oppose to an album. Changes are currently taking place on how royalties are calculated because of the Internet. Many attorneys are pushing to have royalties be based on each song sold as oppose to each album sold. So stay tuned!

35% Discount Code for "Redemption": lusty

<a href="http://bobfindlay.bandcamp.com/album/redemption">(You & Your) Poison Pen by Bob Findlay</a>

Musicians! It's 2010. Join The Program.

2010-06-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

One way that musicians and bands can supplement their income is to have a blog. They are surprisingly effective if carried out properly and professionally. All you need is a laptop, be it be a rental or otherwise and a little time on your hands. No additional software is required. You can drive traffic to your blog in numerous ways.

I shall discuss here what I consider to be the most effective and (probably) obvious ones. I won't cover the basics as you already know them but there are some points that I'd like to share with you. I do hope that you find them both interesting and helpful.

How much traffic you want can vary. If you want to make money blogging you need traffic in millions of page visits. A percentage of those (outrageously small) will either click your ads or buy your products. Having said this however, even if you don’t blog for money you still need traffic to come to your blog. From the traffic you get comments and potentially more traffic.

To get traffic to your blog, people have to know about you. You need to get indexed by Google to get organic traffic and there are countless articles which show you how to do that, using strategic linking so I won’t go into this through fear of confusing you with my own 'organised chaos' routine.

Practically every entrepreneur I meet these days is on Facebook. With over 62 million users and a 'sharing' popularity which has just surpassed 35% of the market, Facebook can’t be ignored for exposure and driving traffic. I have been on Facebook for some time and for a while I’ve hesitated at putting my business/music activities on my personal Facebook profile. After more than a little humouring, research and great advice (very important if you're serious) I set up a Facebook Fan page for my musical endeavours and it has reached almost 1,500 signed-up members in 12 months. No other sharing or comercial music site has come even close to this rapid increase. Facebook Fan Pages are pages you set up for your business profile. Fan Pages allow for great interaction between members and Page owners, a great if not the best business asset.

Personal Pages have a limit of 5, 000 friends whereas Fan Pages have no such limits. They are completely separate from profile pages, so you can keep the two separate if you wish.

You can import your blog posts with RSS and a lot more. If you want exposure and potential traffic for your blog Facebook Fan Pages are worth a second look. They are also indexed by Google. Keeping ones' Fan Page Wall updated with fresh content is of key importance.

Through Twitter I inadvertantly discovered Mari Smith. Mari has published an excellent article (in fact several articles) on her blog Why Facebook? She also has an excellent video tutorial on how to set up Facebook Fan Pages. They are completely separate from profile pages, so you can keep the two separate. You can import your blog posts with RSS and a lot more. If you want exposure and potential traffic for your blog Facebook Fan Pages are worth a second look. They are also indexed by Google.

For driving traffic to your blog Twitter gets a definite thumbs up. After initial reservations, Twitter traffic to my blog has increased exponentially. Twitter is fast becoming my second biggest source of referral traffic. On Twitter you register and select people to follow. After a while people will follow you and it grows from there. It does fluctuate and I have observed that having too many niche markets isn't the way to go. I'd suggest two or three and certainly no more that four, unless you have a system that pays your wage (yes, they do exist) while you're busy keeping people in each niche updated with exciting content. Irrespective, you will soon create an audience, or audiences, interested in what you have to say.

To use Twitter effectively, however, (in fact any Social Networking Site) sharing useful information, resources, networking, and aiming to build relationships are the key things to keep in mind. It does require patience and work. If you only ever tweet your own stuff, people will be less than impressed and you won’t gain much.

Find and share information in your niche or niches and jump into the conversations and it becomes a two-way street. I am slowly (and predictably) finding that that people don't fall for the "get-this-free" routine. I am, however, finding that people are much more interested in a venture that is new, unique, and accessible to them for a discounted price, in favour of gimmics.

Whenever you do a new blog post, you can "tweet" about it on Twitter – giving you more exposure and traffic over time. You can even have your posts re-tweeted if someone finds them interesting enough and wants to share with their own followers. It's imperative to let people know what you're tweeting about. Just putting the link or TinyUrl isn't particularly enticing. Be inventive. We all need relevance and continuity. I make a distinct point of using hashtags for my music-related tweets. My other tweets are generally humorous, off -the-wall one-liners that do pertain to what is 'behind' my tweet, ie: what one can (almost) expect.

Driving and increasing traffic to your blog is part of marketing your blog. If you don’t market it, it doesn’t matter how good it is, no one will know you exist. So if you’re not blogging, get out there and introduce yourself.

Discount Code For "Redemption": lusty

<a href="http://bobfindlay.bandcamp.com/album/redemption">(You & Your) Poison Pen by Bob Findlay</a>

Musicians Can't Force Fans To Buy Their Music

2010-06-03T22:05:00.000-07:00

Flying in the face of the widespread notion amongst a large majority of musicians I am not doing the world a favour by making my music available to listen to. I am making it available to listen to as, firstly, I enjoy creating it immensely. Secondly I would like to think that someone out there somewhere might get a kick out of it and it may brighten their day, take their mind off unpleasantries or give someone some food for thought or discussion. Thirdly, there is nothing more that I can do with it.

Having put my music here, there and everywhere for the above reasons, at the end of the day the choice is yours as to whether you decide to listen to it or not. It doesn’t take hours of listening to figure out whether you dig someones’ music or not.

The next choice that is yours is if you decide that you like a particular artists work enough to follow their progress then it is easy enough to follow them. If you decide that you like my genre of music then the form immediately below places you on my mailing list thus enabling me to immediately notify you of a current release.

Hopefully you are not swayed by glossy posters expensive advertising campaigns and the likes. Keith Richards oft-quoted view on music is, "Pass it on." I like to take his perspective on music one step further, particularly with regard to my own personal musical road and add, "Nothing is weird." I choose to record the genre of music that I do, that’s all. It’s you who make the choice as to whether you dig it or not.

Instant Xmas Musical Message.

2009-12-29T18:19:00.000-08:00

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Back in my day, nine-year-olds were able to talk to their cousins merely by traipsing through a crossfire blizzard for half an hour to visit them at their house. This was in Scotland in the 1970s where telephones were as rare as the term 'suave' was common.

No sooner had I pressed 'publish' on my previous entry, which aired my perspective on gadgetry, when I was bombarded by technology at every turn, as if being laughed at, pointed at and kicked in the nether-regions by The Devils Hoof. Not being one to believe in coincidences I attempted and am still attempting to discover what all the fuss is about.....and why.

The first 'techno-oddity' that I encountered was that the date of publication of the first entry to this blog. It states December, 22nd. It was, infact, published very late on the 24th. Even allowing for global timelines there should be no such discrepancy. I haven't lost any sleep on that one. Two days later, as my kids were messing about with their Xmas presents, I was more than taken aback when I switched on the television to check on the cricket score. Typically, it was an ad break.

Down here in Australia we have become immune to this, amongst other forms of advertising. What I couldn't swallow was the fact that every single advertisement was for toys! As if parents hadn't gone out of their way enough for their children and children weren't already enjoying the festivities, these bright, loud and slick advertisements bombard us in what can only be called 'inappropriate.' (Actually, I have a few other words to add but not here). The age-group targeted was to be from 6-10. No secret was made of this as each advertisement hurriedly mentioned it at the end. When it came to the fifth advertisement I gave up on the cricket score. Such a small luxury at a supposedly festive time was blasted from my mind. (Fortunately the game was a walkover and I was only seeking a score to satisfy some deep-seated tradition that I have developed since emigrating here in 1979).

Later on that day I was in for a real eye-opener.

My nine-year-old daughter was sitting next to me on the couch messing about with her mobile phone. The phone, which she acquired from her Mum, had the numbers of her Mum, myself and her nine-year-old cousin. There is enough credit on the phone to ring either her Mum or myself in an emergency or to text her cousin at 1c per text. My curiosity got the better of me and I asked her what the phone actually 'did.' As she flipped from one 'app' to the next I could myself increasing in age more rapidly than I was ten minutes earlier.

After the third or fourth app I started becoming light-headed as my interest wained until I saw something on the screen that I actually recognised. P.D.F! I'd seen that before.....but I wasn't 100% sure of what it was. This was enough to re-ignite my interest, however. Imagine my delight when my daughter reached the part of the phone where the ringtones were stored. I thought I'd died and gone to Vegas when I saw the first two were 'Smoke On The Water' and 'The Benny Hill Theme.' It got better. My daughter told me that these were two of her three favourite ringtones with the third being 'Advertising Space' by Robbie Williams. (I kid you not).

So there I was being over the moon that not only did my daughter have 'my' kind of music on her mobile phone but she did it without being brainwashed into it by ads or her parents. 'Smoke On The Water' is occasionally advertised on 'Best Of' albums, 'The Benny Hill Theme' doesn't need advertising, nor does the Robbie Williams track, both for totally different reasons.

So where does this leave the independent musician?

Fortunately, sites such as Nimbit, Audiolife, ReverbNation and MyMusicSite have made it possible for us to make our own ringtones available for download on a near-global scale. In internet terms it's still somewhat primitive, with editing

and costing being done by the site. Reading the blurb from each of the sites, they state that they are still attempting to improve the costing issue but due to the fact that it is dependent on a vast array of service providers globally, no adequate solution seems imminent....so we're told.

I find this unfortunate on every front that this is the case. First and foremost, service providers stand to be the first to gain from allowing independent musicians the flexibility to set their own price. As is the case with having a free account with Nimbit, as I do, a minimum price is set by the company. Surely with the potential supplementary cash flow that we're dealing with here, this could be achieved. Admittedly this wouldn't allow independent musicians the ability to offer free ringtones but it would be a vast improvement on the current situation where a 30-second ringtone costs can cost upwards of three times the entire track. This doesn't have to be the case.

There is one area of producing ringtones that baffles me. I have no idea why one is unable to create their own 30-second ringtone as opposed to either the first 30 seconds of a track or a randomly selected clip. I find editing song-clips as previews to my commercially available material on Nimbit not only immensely enjoyable, it has proven to me that it really does make a difference as to how it is received.

Although a baffling oversight on behalf of the major players who seem able to squeeze money from every quarter and at every turn, I suspect that this may well change.

In the meantime, I'll exercise my right to misplace my mobile phone for a few days only to have it turn-up floating in the bath or inside a CD cover.

mp3? iPod? Blackberry? Where's The Music?

2009-12-22T00:21:00.001-08:00

The Rolling Stones via last.fm

Once upon a time, not so long ago, all one had to do to listen to music was switch on what was called

a radio. Admittedly the reception wasn't always the best and the selection of music left something to be desired but it was all we had and were happy with it. It has become blindingly (and deafeningly) obvious that we weren't.

The next great leap forward was the record player. People were now able to pick and choose who they listened to and when. The tape deck soon followed, making it possible to not only store larger amounts of music which was increasing in diversity faster than technology at the time but to transport around with us almost everywhere we went.

One morning I woke up and discovered that the aforementioned sound-players had been trampled almost to death by 'things' with names that still make no sense to me. CDs were but a dream. Admittedly I am middle-aged in years but I have never viewed myself as being middle-aged in mind. I guess most people my age don't. I have something of a minor mental dilemma with the speed at which technology is advancing today and my reaction to it and the speed at which it was advancing a generation ago and middle-aged peoples' responses to it then.

My parents speak first-hand about the invention of the television. There's no mention of confusion about the event. Quite the opposite. They tell me that my grandparents were the same. They also speak first-hand of 'Beatlemania' and how The Rolling Stones arrived as the bad boys of the scene merely because of their supposedly long and unkempt hair. Imagine how two groups of English guys playing music seemed to have more of an effect than the television?

Slightly earlier in the United States Elvis Presley caused something of a stir with his adventurous hip-swivelling. It was hardy the work of Satan but certain parts of American society at the time made enough of an issue about it that he was only filmed from the waist up on The Ed Sullivan Show. This merely served to increase his popularity. (I wonder if those people are still around?).

Now that music has become so easy to access it's difficult to take in. One certainly can't take in all of it and even taking in what you like would be more than a full-time occupation. Irrespective, record companies, internet sites, companies producing sound devices and a string of other interested parties are doing their darndest to force-feed their 'products' upon us. By 'products' I refer to anything to do with you listening to a song. The band, the individual artist, the record label, the merchandise, the sound device, the box-set DVD, the speakers, the earpieces and so forth.

I still have no idea what 'mp3' actually stands for. I know that it's a type of sound file and the type of sound file that my music is stored in. I know that an iPod plays mp3 files. I have only a vague idea of what a 'Blackberry' is. I assume that it's a 'fifty-billion-devices-in-one' affair with another

ninety-billion apps. I know that an app is an application and in the computer world it's something that's added on which makes something do more.

As a musician you may wonder why I'm so ignorant about these things as they are part of what I do. I choose to remain ignorant, not as something to boast loudly about as do (far too) many people who think inverted snobbery is cool (man). I do so because I don't need to know. I don't need to know how many Mbs a song is. I do need to know at what bit-rate it's processed at for various sites. These are things that I have picked up along the way through necessity. This very laptop on which I'm typing can do 90% more than it does but I don't need it to, just the same as I don't have any need to learn rock-climbing.

I'm on Twitter as scotsbob. That's a funny sort of thing. I was rather enjoying it until they got rid of FutureTweets. The only reason that I go on there now is that, for what ever reason, it does well in the Google search engine. Really well, infact. I only have to think about Twitter and an alert comes up. It's a bit beyond my scope of knowledge or great interest, but I'll take what's there.

I deliberately mentioned Twitter as a segue into percentages.

As an independent musician it's all about percentages. For those of you reading who are independent musicians, sit down and have a

shot of something strong. You're not going to like what you hear initially but ideally it will spur you on, as it has me, to keep chiseling away without waiting for every day to be 'the day' or to lose faith in yourself.

I've always had a great fascination with statistics. My manager, Haych Storm© will verify this. At any given time I can give you an estimate to the nearest 5% of songs listened to, emails opened, responses received, and so forth from any given site that I'm on. This can then be relatively accurately translated to a 'hit rate' with regard to downloads or CD sales.

The hit rate for the independent musician is approximately 0.1%. This figure is pretty consistent across each individual set and thus, obviously, them all combined. One sale per thousand supporters. It doesn't sound good, eh? There is an upside. I have found that this one sale per thousand transfers somehow. It may not be the same person but it does seem to transfer. Any independent musician who gives astronomical percentages should be signed by Columbia Records or the likes as it is such figures that attract such companies. Either that or their family and friends are buying multiple copies of their material.

As for supporters, such a small percentage is partly to do with 'cross-supporting,' that is supporting an artist on different websites. This gives a falsely high reading and should be accounted for. There is also the sincerity factor. In the age where one can type compliments to an artist the actual sincerity of it may be questioned. On the flip-side it can be argued that a compliment doesn't need to transfer in financial terms to be sincere. I enjoy many genres of music but I don't purchase it.

This leaves the independent musician with a few punches to roll with and some rough calculations to do. I don't believe that there is such a thing as too much advertising. I do, however,

believe that there does exist advertising which is too aggressive and inappropriate.

Spreading oneself far and wide is all very well but it should be calculated, weighted and timed. I'm not one for putting every song that I have recorded on every website that I'm on. I only put a few on each site, generally a similar collection but not identical. I have recently taken to making each single available for download as soon as it is released. I use the same message on each of my sites and run a brief 'coming soon' campaign. I also make it clear on each site that they are not available on iTunes as some sites deceptively give the impression. I discovered through experience that once I had paid my fee for an album I basically vanished into a tiny silver button. Not at all handy for promotional purposes.

I have been distributing digital downloads via Nimbit for some months now using their free account and can't speak highly enough of them. I have been reliably informed by numerous people that the download process is a smooth affair and the fact that they offer PayPal as an option is a real bonus to those who have downloaded. For the artist they also provide outstanding tracking statistics, an easy website install with individual codes for each storefront to track performance and their MyStore can be added as a tab on both Facebook profiles and pages.

I have also been using Audiolife for some time as they cater

for physical CDs. Again, their digital downloads are an easy affair and CD delivery is prompt. I would suggest using the cheapest option as this option took 14 days exactly to reach Tasmania from the date of purchase. Audiolife is also now in partnership with ReverbNation whose store utilises Audiolife software.

If you are an independent musician who is reliant on music as a an income, as I am, prepare yourself for stress and be patient. many people say that hope is over-rated. It's only over-rated if you become totally reliant on it.
To become totally reliant on hope is detracting from your primary focus in the industry. You are a musician first and foremost. The remaining factors are necessities but one has to have a song to advertise, show off, and so forth. Keeping ones eye on the song and not the dollar will reduce stress no end.

So, am I a grumpy old musician? You bet.....but not really.

Grumpy Old Musician

How Will You Start 2012?

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Instant Xmas Musical Message.

mp3? iPod? Blackberry? Where's The Music?