Tasmanian Musicians. Carry That Weight

Since recently dabbling in assisting bands increase their public profile by way of an online music newspaper that was initially called "Music In Tasmania," I was underwhelmed by the lack of responses that I received after contacting them. The major response was/is a surefire winner. A chap called Mat from "Argusband" contacted me with other websites that the band is on so I have tweeted them with the relevant hashtags with moderate success at this stage.

I didn't bother contacting Rod Fritz as his online presence is making my job pretty easy as far as "Music In Tasmania" goes.

What took me aback was that I received four letters complaining that they hadn't been featured and the bands that I have featured are "....crap...." "rubbish...." "....wankers...." and so forth. Such letters were the first correspondence that I had received from these bands. Needless to say, they're off my schedule.

Having a small population base put me behind the eightball to start with. Having such useless and pointless comments from some bands narrowed my field even more. This saw me launch straight into 'Plan B.' This entails a name and content change for the paper. It is now called "Music And Arts In Tasmania." It is now including tourism, art, photography and theatre as well as the original topic of music.

Where am I going with this blog? I was heading away from my original theme of discouraging musicians from being aloof when nobody knows who they are for a start. Added to this, it's not a good idea to send unprofessional slurs about other bands to the likes of myself with my mere 26 years as a professional musician. My word travels far and fast. Make it work FOR you. It's not rocket science!

If any bands are viewing this entry as criticism, then you're way wrong. It's the music business. Are you into your music as a hobby or are you treating it as a business? If your answer is the latter then I suggest spending some time exploring legitimate and worthwhile to your specific needs. It really is worth it. You don't have to upload you're entire catalogue of music to each site. I do recommend, however, having a consistent bio. and profile picture.

The music business has been around longer than we have so they know all the tricks. You can make yourself stand out simply by being easily reachable via Google search. This is where consistency comes in. People will be more likely to 'join you' on another site if your presentation is consistent with the other sites that you're on.

It takes time for each site to 'generate' you and make you Google friendly. Patience is a virtue.

The best promotion that I can offer you is via "Music And Arts In Tasmania" (below) which is heavily reliant on my Twitter activity. All you have to do is send an occasional tweet my way and I can get you great mileage; namely in the form of a "featured article." In order to keep up to speed, simply subscribe to the daily edition of my newspaper.

Music And Legal Matters

Whether you realize it or not, the creative side and the business side of the music industry is inevitably linked. Unfortunately, for artists, the business side of the industry is boring and overly technical but that does not change the fact that you must be informed to stay successful. These two sides become linked with talk of music contracts. Music contracts are legal documents that specify terms and conditions for all parties involved in any type of situation.

No matter how great of an artist you are, when it comes to music contracts, you need to operate like a professional businessman or businesswoman. Aside from just contracts, your music career can be affected legally by record contracts, publishing contracts, copyright law, name protection and business organization.

The legal aspect of the music business is unavoidable, that is why you have to educate yourself. And don't just educate yourself on the legal requirements of the artist in music contracts, study how a music contract can affect everyone involved, engineers, agents, managers, producers, recorders etc...

Every individual working in the music business today should convert themselves into a business person in addition to being an artist. Here are some things you should understand to be a success in your music career.

- Learn who is involved in the music industry, the main players, who they are and when you may need them.

- Your music career is your business, so aside from just music contracts, you need to know how to run your business, your finances, your administration and your rights.

- What legal issues are a unique concern to artists and songwriters? You need to grasp copyright law, recording agreements and publishing agreements.

- Explore the common types of music contracts including club contracts, distribution agreements, production contracts and label agreements.

- In music contracts there are several parties that play a role including; managers, agents, producers, club owners and investors. Understand the roles of everyone involved.

- Lastly, keep yourself informed of changes in legal issues concerning artists in the music industry.

I completely understand if this all sounds overwhelming to you but at the same time, it is vital to your success. Take a course on the legal aspects of music contracts and the music industry. At the very least, read some books on the subject. You really need to arm yourself with knowledge in this industry before you sign any music contract. Don't be apart of the rising statistics of great artists who failed because of signing bad music contracts.

Educate Yourself. Your Music Is Your Business

I know from personal responses to this particular blog that both full-time and fledgeling independent artists take no offence at the terminology and suggestions used here. I am thankful for this but I am even more thankful that they/you are gaining something from this blog.

If you are a serious musician, you might take your profession on top of everything. There may be times when you had to accept gigs and deals which might not really translate into getting monetary revenue, just as long as you get publicity or you get to make your music available to a wider public base. This usually ends up with the artist spending a lot more for the publicity and his "musical expression" rather than earning from it.

Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. After all, the real essence of art cannot be measured in terms of how much it is sold for. However, as you go on and pursue a musical career, you will incur expenses along the way. Also, you'd want to grow bigger and bigger as a musician, and that usually means more expenses. Want a new guitar? Want new clothes to wear during gigs? What about communication expenses? Truly, the financial aspect of being an artist can get in the way of your artistic success.

This is why, if you are given a chance to earn (and really earn!) from what you already love doing, why not push your envelopes and make money out of it? Perhaps you can sign up with legitimate music business programs which can help you manage your finances well while helping you move forward as musicians.

Look at the people who earn from what they love doing. They maximize their productivity well. If they earn, they can buy things to upgrade what they already do. Anyone can always use a better phone, laptop, car or a musical instrument. Or maybe get extra assistance from a PR entity, use the money to produce your next album, invest in other non-music related things (music as a career is not that stable, after all), et cetera.

Also, another advantage with enrolling yourself with legitimate music business programs is that you will learn some technical music handling stuff, some things you might find difficult to ride on with if you just plunge into the music industry without any form of orientation. Such programs will help you understand and appreciate industry essentials such as artist royalties, proper trainings, professionalism and networking. The certifications that you get from such music business programs will help you build a more solid repertoire in music once you get across the hardcore technical managers, producers or hotshot music network.

Most likely these programs were made with emphasis on helping the young independent artists get their names on the mainstream music. So the design that you will be working with will be a ladderized design, something which won't overwhelm you.

Are you convinced with taking a look at some music business programs which boast of the potentials they've made famous? One of these artists could be you! So do you research as soon as now and get hooked with the best programs in your side of the country. This is one musical investment you don't want to miss out on!