Name: RootMusic

Quick Pitch: RootMusic is all about making musicians’ professional lives better, be it through building software or building community.

Genius Idea: RootMusic’s debut product is called BandPage, and it makes MySpace-like band page features possible inside a Facebook fan page.

At present, Facebook fan pages are laid out in such a way that you can’t share your music with your fans while letting them continue to browse for information. You can deploy a music player tab, but as soon as your fans click on the Photos tab to see pictures of your band, the music stops.

Never believe in overnight successes. They’re like the tooth fairy. They’re make-believe. How many times have you heard about the struggling actress who moves to Hollywood and bumps into the guy at the coffee shop who happens to know a producer at Miramax? Then bam! The next week, she’s on the set of the next Quentin Tarantino flick.

Or how about the starry-eyed rapper who’s desperate to be the next MTV sensation? So he starts free-styling on the street one day at just the moment that the head A&R rep at Jive happens to be walking by. Next thing, he’s working on his own major label album.

You’ve probably noticed already that in the real world, things don’t usually happen that way. The overnight success is and always will be a myth. The big reason is that there’s too many layers of complexity between an idea and a real world end result.

Are you too lazy to blog? Are you sick of everyone telling you that without an updated blog you are not a band? Does blogging feel like a huge, annoying, and daunting task that is evocative of being a kid again being assigned homework?

Well, fear not. I’ve got a great and easy blogging solution! at Flickr

They say a picture says a thousand words, and it’s true.

This issue of Sound Advice will walk you through yet another handy dandy Web 2.0 site that is on my top 10 list of sites to join. I am In Love with Flickr! It’s one of the most user-friendly Web 2.0 sites and it’s owned by Yahoo so millions of potential new fans are waiting for you to discover them and make friends. Flickr works in many ways just like MySpace or Facebook. You create a profile, upload your main image, join groups, and make friends, and you can also direct message people and leave comments on any photo you like.

Photos Tell A Complete Story of YOU!

Born in Melbourne in 1969, Lisa discovered her passion for music at an early age. Encouraged by her musical family, she began piano lessons at the age of six. At the age of eight she gave her first solo performance to an audience of 400 people – for an eight year old, this was a very important experience. From here on Lisa knew that her life would be music!

Today, wherever she performs, she dazzles her audience. Although only 164cm tall, Lisa has a big voice which covers 3 Octaves. Additionally she is a trained pianist, actress and dancer. Following her comprehensive training at the “Australian College of Entertainers”, Lisa worked in Television, Film and Theatre. To name a few examples, she performed in the musical “Cinderella”, was a member of the well known “Swing Sisters Trio”, was a regular guest on the Television show “Good Morning Australia” and was also active as a singer/pianist in the renowned hotels of Melbourne. In 1994 Lisa travelled extensively on cruise ships presenting her own solo show. In 1995 she released her first CD with the Title “Don’t Let Go” featuring a number of her own compositions.

Gabe Hizer is a Nashville, TN-based singer-songwriter, originally from Long Island, NY. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, played in various rock and pop cover bands in the 70s, and more recently led a blues band for a couple of years. He is now performing as a solo artist, featuring his complex guitar arrangements, well-crafted songs, and wide vocal range.

He is clearly influenced by the singer-songwriters of the ’60s and ’70s, such as James Taylor (especially in his guitar parts), Joni Mitchell (especially his use of high falsetto notes), Jackson Browne, etc.

A born musician, Gabe Hizer was already playing the accordion at the age of 6, the ukulele by the time he was 8 and the guitar by age 9. Known for his amazing guitar skills and his ability to incorporate blues, jazz, soul and pop into his original songs, Gabe has come a long way since his ukulele-days.

One rule people:

The Size Of Your E-mail List = The Size Of Your Income

So, how big is yours?

Myth: I don’t have any shows to promote. Therefore, I’m not going to do a newsletter.

Reality: 50% or more of the artists that I work with don’t have any shows to promote. Zero, zilch, none…and they still want to be artists in the world getting their music out and heard and liked and listened to (why in the heck would you hire me if you did not want your music out there?).

1. The Definition of Publicity - First, we are going to start out with the very basics–some definitions of what publicity is exactly. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Publicity – “An act or device designed to attract public interest; specifically: information with news value issued as a means of gaining public attention or support. Also: The dissemination of information or promotional material.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Publicity is EXACTLY these things.

A music publicist is hired as a member of your team to represent you to the media. Media is defined traditionally as editors and writers at newspapers, magazines, dailies, weeklies, monthlies, college newspapers, and television. Some publicists may also cover radio for interviews on tour stops, but if you want to get on the radio charts (like CMJ), you will need a radio promoter. Some publicists also cover Internet PR, like my company, but not all traditional publicists do! A publicist’s job is to liaise with the press. They are not hired to get you a booking agent or gig, a label deal, a distribution deal, or any other type of marketing deal. That is what a manager is for. They will not get you played on radio, either. This is what a radio promoter is for. A well-connected publicist, however, may be able to hook you up with all of the abovementioned things, but it is not in her job description.

Every Indie music artist should think about starting a blog.

First though, a little rant. I’m always shocked by the amount of crudeness people will allow on their MySpace pages. It’s not always their own content either. In fact, usually it’s the comments other people leave on their page.

If people start dropping comments on your page like, “Yo man, ur shits smashin, check out my dope new tracks !!”, not only should you not check out their dope new tracks, but disable comments on your page altogether because your page is becoming a spam farm. If your page is attracting these types of numnuts, pretty soon you’ll be inundated with more garbage than a Mumbai slum.

Tired of traveling to and from the music studio every time someone calls for a band practice? Fret no more. Why not build your own home music studio instead? Having a home recording studio has numerous advantages, most especially for musicians and audiophiles.

Here are the top 10 reasons why you should start your own home music studio now:

1. Convenience – Gone are the days when artists and band members need to pack their electric guitars and other musical instruments to rent a professional recording studio and rehearse. Nowadays, music enthusiasts can simply practice anytime, right in the comforts of home.

First of all, I am not saying that you should go and join a “networking group” (although Meetup.com is a great place to do that). I’m pointing out that simply leaving your house can be looked at as a networking opportunity.

There Are 3 Reasons Why We Network

To find a direct target or a customer. For example, a fan who will buy tickets, music, or merch and support you.

To gain a sphere of influence, and therefore a source for referrals (i.e. the people who like the people who know & support your band).

I was approached by this guy the other day. He hollered at me from across the street. It happened at night, so I couldn’t really make out his face, but I could see that he had on a backwards baseball cap, baggy jeans and a CD in his hand.

He said, “Yo man, can I talk to you real quick?…” I thought to myself, “Oh crap. Not another numbnuts trying to sell me a CD out of his car trunk.”

By the way, if you approach your customers by saying, “Yo man…” I suggest you stop it. Like, now. It’s kind of rude if you get my drift.

So anyway, this guy asked me if I wanted to buy his album. I said “No” and went home.

And What You Can Do About It

As I clicked on a popular music business forum, I was greeted with a question. “Why won’t commercial radio play music by Indie Artists?”

My reply to this person was as follows:

“As a former Operations Manager and Music Director on both the Comm and Non-Comm sides, Let me break the reason down for you.

Commercial Radio needs ratings to get paid from advertisers. Most advertiser’s, on radio, are ad agencies. Ad agencies base their “buys” (sponsorships) on a Cost per point (”CPP”) basis. CPP is based on how many thousands of listeners a radio station can capture in a 15 minute period (or cume).

Boy Without God is the solo project of Boston native and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Birnbaum, who at his young age has already passed through many musical outlets, from the violent power-electronics of Catholic Skin and the saxophone fronted spazz-rock of The Abraham Lincoln Brigade, to stints with Virgin Records new signing Eli Reed and blog-buzz darlings Drug Rug and a continuing membership in the campfire singalong folk-pop group The Tiny Tornadoes.

Growing up in a musical family (brother Adam is a jazz pianist and sister Sara is a classical cellist) and studying the tenor saxophone through high school, Birnbaum initially pursued a career in avant-garde improvised music, performing in NYC with such luminaries as Andrew D’Angelo and Jim Black, and running the short-lived Boston Jazz Composers Collective.