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Why Artists and Musicians should hire a Music Public Relations Professional or Agent

Music Public RelationsAs an independent artist, you thrive at doing it all yourself; you write your own music, created your own blog or website and love working on all aspects of your ‘business’. However, it can sometimes be more than beneficial to work with experts in their field. When it comes to Public Relations, working with a professional can certainly serve you well. Why? Because while you may think that public relations is merely serving a marketing purpose, something you try to do on your own, it is so much more than that. Read below to find out more about what PR really is and how you can use it to your advantage by hiring an expert.

An Overview of Public Relations

By definition, PR is used to enhance the reputation of a company or individual and better make the connection between the company or individual and the public. For example in the music industry, PR experts are often asked to organize events, such as a CD release party, showcases or any other event that could lead to more visibility for an artist or band. So, in short, PR does look like a marketing machine at first. But have you ever heard of a PR professional’s Rolodex? The Rolodex is a prized possession (or at least it used to be before everything switched to digital!) for any PR professional and includes the contact info for all their connections in various industries. This means that while PR seems to be only a boost in marketing, your PR firm or expert can get in touch with reputable individuals or companies that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to approach on your own.

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So You’re Thinking About Investing in a Home Recording Studio

A home recording studio is vital if you’re a recording artist, producer, or audio engineer. There are different types of home recording studios. In this article, we’ll discuss how to start a home recording studio for business purposes.

home recording studioLooking back to the early years of my production career, I remember the excitement of building my first home recording studio. My eagerness took me Guitar Center’s pro audio department, even though my budget was mediocre.  All I wanted to do was record music so I could be in the music business, for real. My first studio started small and worked its way up to being worth upwards of fifty thousand dollars.

If you’re planning to build a home studio for the purposes of making money, you’ll need to consider the information in this article. My goal is to inform new recording studio business owners and developers of exactly what to consider when building a business in their homes or in a house.

  • Security

Studio security should be the first priority on your list, even if you only plan on recording a small group of people. Home recording studios rank extremely high on thieves list of place to break into; therefore, invest a substantial amount of your total studio budget into home security and studio protection.

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Tips to Surviving as an Independent or Private Music Teacher

Guitar Music teacherThe reality of choosing a career in music is not for the faint of hearts; unlike traditional career path starting with a 4-year undergraduate degree and resulting in a cozy 9 to 5 office job, being a musician offers a different reality. While there certainly are many work opportunities for skilled musicians, it can sometimes become puzzling to find gigs or contracts that will keep a roof over your head for more than a month at a time. Let’s face it; being a musician is incredibly rewarding but most of us end up turning to teaching lessons in order to supplement our income. Some of us may choose a safer path and apply for teaching jobs through music schools and extra-curricular elementary school programs, but a big majority of musicians go down the independent route, teaching out of their own studio or home – some teachers even opt to drive around to their students’ home.

Get started

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Freelance Photographers with a Passion for Live Event, Band and Concert Music Photography

live music concert photographerJust think, a good photograph can make or break whether people will like you, follow you, hire you, feature your music in a magazine, or even just stay on your website long enough to check out your music or read your bio.

Does your image tell a story? Does it portray your artist brand and music accurately? Is it compelling? Does it speak to your music?

Artists will always need photos for general use on the web, press articles, profiles, websites, album arts, promotional shots etc;

Finding just the right music photographer who understands this… and can also bring that conceptual mind image to life while feeding life into your brand should be a top of your to do list as an artist.

To get you started I scoured the web in search of music photographers who are passionate about what they do and specialize in this field. It is a work in progress, but I will continue to add to the list as I go along. If you know of someone who belongs on this list and has their own website, feel free to contact me  music_admin (at) gighive dot com

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Music Photography History Came to Life with Rock & Roll

music photography history rock n roll

When you flip through the pages of your favorite music magazine, you expect to see professional shots of your favorite bands. In the 80’s, magazines such as Kerrang and Rolling Stone used to have entire pages dedicated to live shots and promo pictures of the biggest bands. These shots were taken by music photographers. While some may argue that the career of music photographer is not as alive as it used to be, due to the more ‘indie’ approach of many bands (we need to remember here that music photographers were usually associated with major labels), there are still many individuals out there who offer their services to bands and artists; photographers can capture your raw energy at a concert or get you professional shots for your press kit. Whether you are interested in music photography or in need of shots for your upcoming album and promo kit, read below to learn more about the history of music photography.

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Do you have what it takes to become an indie music blogger?

indie music bloggerBlogging is taking a whole new level these days; everyone has a blog and everyone is a bonafide blogger. However, there are many people actually making a living out of blogging and dedicating their entire time to maintaining various blogs. Music bloggers, for example, are a breed of individuals who do not hesitate to spend hours writing blogs and articles related to various genres of music, artists and aspects of the music industry. Music blogging is time-consuming for various reasons: you can’t blog about something you don’t know, so you need to do your research, know what’s going on in your local scene and learn more about all the new indie artists coming out everyday. So, do you have what it takes to become a indie music blogger?

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Write or Compose Music? Go to College. Connect with the Up and Coming Talent Pool

Music Composition classesEvery time I go back home to visit family and friends, I get the same ol’ speech from my dear mother: when will you get a real job? For many – most, actually – being a musician and making a living out of doing what you like is not really a ‘job’ or ‘career -worthy’. The truth is entirely different, of course, and you know that already. You don’t have to be a wildly successful touring artist or have your face on top of the tabloids to declare yourself a musician. In fact, most of us live in the shadow and work quietly out of our home office or recording studio. If you’re into music composition, you definitely have a few different avenues in front of you and you might be able to build a solid career behind the scenes.

One of those avenues certainly is film composition. Just like the music industry, the film industry has changed dramatically in last decade and with the rise of indie music came the rise of indie films. If you’re hoping to write the score to one of Hollywood’s new release, you’ll most likely have to jump through hoops and get in touch with many inaccessible individuals only to get rejected because Trent Reznor got the job, once again. The secret lies in getting in touch with the up and coming individuals – you really need to forget about getting in touch with Steven Spielberg and target the future generation.

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Spotify: Independent Music Friend or Foe?

Spotify LogoIn the last year, the Swedish music platform Spotify has gained considerable media attention in the United States with their free online streaming service. Although many are hailing it as a great way of discovering new artists and music, many are also criticizing the site claiming that it fails to properly compensate independent artists.

Spotify offers a free service that can be accessed online, while access from a mobile device requires a paid “premium” membership. Furthermore, the paid membership allows you to bypass the video and audio advertisements that are present with the free account.

In 2010, Napster founder Sean Parker invested $15 million in Spotify’s development, and has since been involved by sitting on their board. Spotify cracked the ten million user mark that same year, with a quarter of the accounts belonging to paying customers. After many delays and years of negotiation with major record companies, the site finally launched its US version in July 2011.

Spotify compensates artists via their record labels by paying for both downloaded content and streaming. In some countries, record companies have marked a significant increase in revenue since joining Spotify. Not everyone is happy however, American rock duo The Black Keys have gone as far as pulling their newest album El Camino off the site. So why are so many speaking out against Spotify?

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