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Showing posts with label Compact Disc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Compact Disc. Show all posts

Monday, December 23, 2013

http://productionadvice.co.uk/how-to-make-your-music-loud/ by Ian Sheppard

Sorry there is no video in this post.
[Update - I've posted a video demonstrating many of the techniques I talk about in this post - to check it out, click here.]
Today I’ll tell you how to make your music loud.
Yes, you read that right.
This post will tell you how to get your music really loud. Regardless of the fact that I’ve been interviewed on Radio 4 arguing passionately against the Loudness Wars, even though I’ve always said that the best way to get your song to stand out on the radio is to avoid pushing the level too hard, and despite having started Dynamic Range Day to raise awareness of the fact that listeners don’t care about loudness…
Today I’ll tell you how to make your music loud.
Why ? As a response to this article on MusicRader.com
How to make your music loud
(Subtitled – “Win the loudness war with our step-by-step and audio guide”)
Now immediately I should say – I love MusicRadar. It’s a great site – I highly recommend it. Masses of news, posts, discussion and information for anyone interested in music and music technology. They were one of the first places to pick up and post about how bad Death Magnetic sounded, and link back to my blog. As a result, Wired magazine and the Guardian found the story and started writing about it, and the rest, as they say, is history. The bad press generated by Death Magnetic has done a fantastic job of raising awareness about this issue, and I for one am very happy about that.
So, MusicRadar rocks.
But that post is useless.
Sorry, but there it is. My reasons for saying so though, may not be what you’re expecting.
Here they are:
It doesn’t explain anything – All you get is a list of steps, with no reasons given, or discussion of what they are intended to achieve. Without the whys and wherefores, people will just cherry-pick suggestions and end up doing wrong or harmful things to music that didn’t need it
No concepts - I’m going to list some fundamental rules that will help you make any piece of music louder without killing the sound. None of them are mentioned in the MusicRadar post
Some horrible suggestions - The article refers to a “mild” 4:1 compression ratio – that’s the harshest setting I ever use !
The example song is almost useless for learning purposes. Anyone can crush and compress the life out of electronica – no-one has any idea what it’s “supposed” to sound like anyway. You can’t hear if you’re doing any damage to anything. How are you supposed to “win the loudness war” with a tutorial that deliberately tries to get “crunch from the upper mids and trash from the highest frequencies” ? Surely “winning” is getting a high level without making it sound terrible ?
It doesn’t even end up that loud - The dynamic range of the clip at the end of the tutorial is about 7 or 8 dBs. That’s loud – as loud as I ever happily make anything, but it’s hardly going to win any awards for loudness when Metallica and others crush their music down to only 2dB DR.
And sadly, it sounds bad, too. No impact in the kick or snare, distorted bass, two-dimensional sound and linear dynamics.
Now I’ll tell you what should have been in that post. It has some useful techniques hidden away in it, but how you’re supposed to figure out what they are, I have no idea…Here are some rules to help you make your music masters loud (if that’s what you want to do)
Make the mix loud
All too often loudness is treated as a mastering issue, but steps 1-10 of the MusicRadar post are actually about mixing – and that’s exactly the right way to do it, they just don’t spell it out clearly enough. There’s no point in recording everything as dynamically as possible, and then deciding to squash it to hell at the last minute.
Compress guitars, bass and vocals in the mix – guitars and bass at the amp itself, ideally. I don’t advise compressing to tape, though – with 24-bit audio it’s not necessary, and it’s too easy to overdo it.
Balance EQ
An unbalanced sound will never feel loud. This has happened to me on several occasions – I’m looking at the meters pegging, and listening and thinking “but it doesn’t sound loud”. Then I take a step back and realise there’s no bottom end in the mix. Whack in a low shelf EQ or broad parametric, and suddenly the room is heaving.
Coming at it from another angle, you can use our ears’ sensitivity in the 2kHz region to make guitars and drums sound aggressive and loud, without pushing up the average level too much. Don’t overdo it though, or it will sound harsh and thin. Whatever strategy you decide on, don’t overdo it. Balance is everything. (Here’s a post with more tips on using EQ.)
Take it easy with bass
Having made sure you have a balanced mix, be restrained with the bass. Bass is one of the first things to distort as the levels go up, which is why if you listen to most “ultra-loud” CDs you’ll find they either have distorted bass, or are actually fairly bass-light. Again this is a technique the MusicRadar article uses, but doesn’t spell out.
Using a low-cut filter to stop very low frequencies getting out of control is a good tip, too – but again, use with caution. Personally I love bass and prefer to sacrifice a little level for a nice big bottom end : )
Work to retain dynamics – by hand
This may seem paradoxical, but it’s absolutely key. As I’ve said before, without quiet, there can be no loud. Often when mixing, you work hard to get the balance between sections of songs to work dynamically – so the chorus kicks in when you want it to, for example. At the mastering stage though, this can be too much.
If you lift up the intro to a healthy level, by the time you get to the end all the processing will be flat out. If you get the end right, the intro may still be too quiet.So, either automate the compression to adjust to each section of the song, or do what I do and adjust the overall level of each section of the track going into the compression. If the chorus is compressing too much, reduce it’s level a little.
You’ll find there’s a balance point where it sounds just as loud, but the compressors aren’t flat out. Give the mix room to breathe, even if it sounds punishing most of the time – every time you ease back on the accelerator a little, the more scope you have to floor it 8 bars later.
Use multi-band compression
Once again, MusicRadar suggest this, but don’t explain why – and, I have issues with the settings they’re using. Multi-band compression is a great way to boost the average level of a mix, without introducing pumping (for example in the high frequencies when a kick drum is triggering gain reduction). It’s also a great way to completely mash a mix. Here are some multiband rules of thumb to avoid this:
Use the same ratio in all bands – different ratios can sound unnatural
Use similar amounts of gain reduction in all bands – this avoids changing the sound of the mix too much
Never push a band beyond the point where the gain reduction returns to zero several times per bar – it doesn’t achieve anything except unnatural, squashed sound, and the compression doesn’t work efficiently
Multiband compression is a complicated subject, and I get so many questions about it that I’ve released an eBook and video about using it in mastering. To watch a free 50-minute webinar about multiband compression, click here.
(By the way, if you’re new to compression in general or would just like a refresher, this article may help you out: Using compression to add punch, warmth and power to your mix )
Use low ratios and avoid short attack times
This is a general rule for any kind of compression. Almost all of the time I use ratios between 1.5:1 and 4:1. Once the ratio gets much above 4:1, you are almost limiting anyway. Remember, the higher the ratio, the higher the threshold should be, to avoid over-compressing your mix.
Short attack times kill audio – I seldom use an attack time shorter than 20ms, except where I have a particularly “spiky” sound to deal with. (A very clicky bass drum, say) In mastering I often use attack times of 70ms or longer. We have limiters for controlling peaks and transients, why try to use a compressor to do this ? Check out the screenshot in the MusicRadar article – they have attack times of 2ms in every band ! No wonder the result sounds dull and lifeless.
(Note – All multiband compression is not created equal. I’m lucky enough to be able to use TC Electronics’ compression in their System 6000 processor. I can’t promise you’ll be able to get such good results with other multibands. If you’re interested though, I’ve written about the best multi-band compressor plugin I’ve found so far.)
Use multiple stages of compression, with low gain reductions
Once again, the MusicRadar post does this, but doesn’t tell you, or say why. Heavy compression is always audible. Use compression gently at different stages throughout the recording and mixing process – some on the instrument when playing, some in the mix, maybe some on the mix buss for some styles of music, then some gentle multi-band, and finally some mild limiting. These gradual increases will allow you to get higher average levels without killing the music.
Don’t overdo the limiting
Limiting is an important part of the “loudness chain” – as I’ve said, it allows you to use longer attack times on compressors and not worry about any peaks that might get through. Limiters are brutal, though, and more than 2 or 3dB gain reduction almost always has a detrimental effect on the audio. Don’t over-compress your mix.
I’ve covered this before, in my post How to avoid over-compressing your mix. How can I say it again, in a post titled “How to make your music loud” ? Because it’s crucial. As I said above:Without quiet, there can be no loud
That doesn’t stop you having a loud mix and master, but the truth is, there is no point in consistently going lower than DR8. (Don’t know what “DR8″ means ? Read the last link : ). Beyond that level of compression, you simply suck impact and loudness out of your track. It makes your track sound quieter (because people, or broadcast limiting, or playback normalisation, turn it down anyway) and it will be crushed, distorted and fatiguing as a result.
So, there you go. Hopefully that gives you some extra understanding of what the MusicRadar post and example are doing, and where they’ve gone wrong. Listen to how much cleaner the version at Stage 12 sounds, for example.
I regularly use these techniques to master songs that are actually louder than the example I’ve been criticising, but sound better – hopefully you will be able to, too, if loudness is your goal. Just remember my catch-phrase:
Louder is better, but too loud is worse
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What PlayStation 4 Means for Music and Sony

People are interested in the new PlayStation 4 interface, so for starters, here’s what Sony Music Unlimited looks like on the Sony PlayStation 4:
It’s pretty. As I watched Sony demonstrate the $400 PlayStation 4 at a Manhattan hotel on Tuesday, I was impressed by the music experience’s clean interface, the smoothness of the transitions, and other graphical elements. But the really interesting stuff is under the hood.
We’ll leave the videogaming judgments and specs talk to the gaming publications — other than that the PS4 has a digital optical output, which means audiophiles can process any music source on the DAC of their choice, (good), but that it can’t (yet?) play MP3s or CDs (bad; also, updated with link). We’re into music, so we sat down with Mike Aragon, Sony general manager of global digital video and music services, to find out what you need to know about the PlayStation 4 if you care about music, and are considering this new console.
What we learned:
1. You can finally play your own music inside games
When I had more time for videogames, I used to mute the game’s music and run its sound effects through my television at a loud volume, and then play whatever music I wanted to on the sound system. According to Aragon, you can now do that with the PS4, using any song on Sony Music Unlimited — and you couldn’t do that with the PS3.
Most gamers Sony’s music and video division have surveyed would do something like my old trick, but with earbuds connected to a phone. The new solution is way easier, not to mention better, and it lets you alter music volume independently of the videogame’s sound effects without leaving the game. And all of the music and sound effects come out of whatever speakers you’re gaming on.
2. It’s kind of like Facebook
When you first fire up the PlayStation 4, you’re presented with a mix of stuff in one unified interface — music your friends have listened to, music your friends have liked, and music you are likely to like, all within the same mix of stuff from the rest of your Playstation 4 friend network. For example, if your friend scored a great goal in FIFA 14, they might share that to the network with the Share button, right alongside your Javelin likes.
“It’s almost analogous to your Facebook feed,” explained Aragon to Evolver.fm, as he demonstrated the PS4 What’s New welcome screen. “It’s kind of a mash-up of all the cool things online with your friends, and we think this is going to be a really integral part of discovery for both video and for music.”
The screen also contains artist stations, genre stations, mood stations, and more, using Sony’s internal recommendation system.
3. Gamers listen to more on-demand music
We figured that since gamers are more focused on, well, games, that they’d be more likely to listen to artist, genre, or mood-based stations — a phenomenon we figured would be exacerbated by hard it is to request a specific song by entering text on a videogame controller. We also knew that because Sony Music Unlimited reaches gamers on Playstation as well as non-gamers on iOS, Android, and the web, Sony would have insights into the listening behavior of gamers vs. the rest of us.
Contrary to our suspicion, Aragon said gamers actually like to choose exactly what to listen to more than non-gamers. However, we were correct in assuming that they don’t do this on their gaming consoles. The default behavior, he said, is that people create playlists on iOS, Android, or the web, and then access them on their PlayStations — a trend that will likely continue with the PS4.
Eventually, search will be easier on the platform, but in a roundabout way: Gamers will be able to search for Sony Music Unlimited tracks on the PlayStation 4 using their Android or iOS devices.
4. 30 free days of 22 million tracks comes with every PS4
As with certain Sony televisions, each PlayStation 4 comes with 30 free days of Sony Music Unlimited, with on-demand and programmed access to 22 million songs.
5. The PS4 might help Sony Music, the label, in some small way
Sony Music Unlimited has about 22 million songs, from all the major labels and most of the indies (other than the usual on-demand subscription holdouts). It needs that other music in order to provide a comprehensive service, but the fact that Sony owns a label, a music service, and a gaming console means it can do some interesting cross-promotion. So far, Sony has experimented with having Sony Music artists curate playlists for Sony Music Unlimited on the PlayStation 4.
6. The PS4 music interface will replace current iOS/Android designs
Eventually, Sony plans to scrap its current iOS and Android app designs, and roll out something quite similar to the new PS 4 interface across those platforms, for a unified look and feel on all screens. We imagine that a great deal of Sony Music Unlimited users are coming from PlayStation, so this will give them a consistent, updated interface, with access to all of the Facebook-style social updates of the PlayStation 4.
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Thursday, October 24, 2013

What Publicists Need From Musicians – Guest Post by Anne Leighton


Posted By: Michael Brandvold (Michael is a 20 year music marketing veteran who has worked with unsigned indie bands and international superstars. Michael owns Michael Brandvold Marketing a site dedicated to providing tips and advice for musicians.)
This is a guest post by Anne Leighton.
The best, savviest musicians listen to their publicist’s expertise. Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and Tower of Power’s Emilio Castillo pay attention to what I tell them when I disagree, find a wrong fact in their bio, or if they NEED to do an interview during a vacation. They also tell me when something needs to be fixed. We’ve never had an argument. Sure, we’ve all made mistakes that were based in misunderstood e-mails or my faulty research for an address. All my artists have missed interviews, but we rebound and reschedule. We’re human.
Your publicist interfaces with you: the media, other world and industry tastemakers, or gatekeepers to get you more known in your career.
We work together. Whether it’s you or Ian, artists have to realize the type of coverage (radio, print, TV, internet) they will receive in conjunction with where they are at the time of their album’s release. If you’re at Lady Gaga’s level, most everyone will devote space and time to you. If you had hits more than three to 40 years ago, selected national outlets might be interested, but chances lie more in local print and radio. If you’re still determined to wake up early in the morning, you could get some local TV coverage.
If you’ve never had a hit, you need a fireball publicist who believes in you to get media coverage. You may get newspaper, radio, maybe even TV. As far as national coverage, you might get whoever that publicist has contacts with, plus some new outlets, and significant web coverage.
A good publicist will help educate you on how to work with the media. I’ve combined thoughts based on both my experiences and those of other publicists I’ve grown to know over the years.
As the artist, your responsibilities are divided up into Three Categories: Personal Responsibility, Information and Customer Service. Technically it is all about personal responsibility, but I’ll show you what to emphasize.
For your career and the publicist.
At the independent level, you are probably underpaying your publicist, who is always responsible for getting more media people to cover you with the hopes that fans will read those articles. Let’s say you’re paying them $2000 per month. The standard pay for publicists is $150 to $250.00 an hour. And yet, these folks will be working for you, probably over 20 hours in the next month.
That work will include summoning the press to your tour dates, posting on the internet and in social media, writing a bio (unless you already have one….then it’s tweaking your bio). It’ll include follow ups with journalists who did interviews with you, rescheduling interviews you missed, event planning. The publicist’s agenda might include mail outs. Even journalists they know don’t respond. It’s a challenging job to be an advocate for talented musicians, but it is rewarding.
The publicist is also taking your phonecalls, coming to your shows, then going home the rest of the night trying to catch up on e-mails.
If you ask publicists for some advice on your career, don’t be insulted by thier answers. They are not jealous or gossiping, but giving feedback for you to be aware of, and—at least—file away in your head.
Decide that you’re going to take criticism because that publicist cares about you, wants you to grow, flourish and prosper, so he or she can work with you forever. If you disagree, be logical not accusational. Don’t be insulted if the publicist says, “You’d look better in tight pants.” Discuss why you don’t want to wear tight pants. Then, while you’re alone, look at the photos of you in the pants she hated, and assess how they really look on you. Sneak out to the clothing store, and try on some different pants, making sure—of course—that you evaluate how your ass (the only one you’ll ever need in this business) looks. Think about the feedback you’re getting.
Accept where you really are in your career. Look, you know you’re special, but just in case you weren’t warned, neither America, the media, venues, other rock stars and their entourages agree… yet. One or two people, yes. Maybe a few more every month you gig, but at the end of the day, this is a country of starfuckers. Just know that nobody in this business is going to make your way easy unless, after they listen, they decide you’re good. And then it’s just one person; who knows if their hot shot music industry colleagues will agree or if they’ll be pushing their unknown fave.
Oh, and make sure you get to know your fans. They already know you or think they do—pay attention to their expectations, you’ll learn something. Never travel incognito. If you’re waiting on line at a pitstop, talk to the people next to you, give them a flyer, ask them about their musical expectations. Engage the whole line in conversation.
Everyone in the industry gets lots of music; the bigger media outlets (like JAY LENO, ROLLING STONE, NEW YORK TIMES, ELLEN DEGENERES) and their counterparts receive more pitches and music than you can imagine. The talent booker or a major writer only has two ears, and they pretty much need to listen to the same thing at a given time… and there’s only so much time. In fact, I’ve seen name publicists NOT get THE placement in ROLLING STONE, RELIX, NPR SONG OF THE DAY, PITCHFORK, and national TV over and over again, even for a seemingly-hip act with a track record.
I can’t tell you the amount of people—including best friends—who didn’t listen to some really great musicians, even some semi-famous folks over the past few years. Busier people listen to two notes, or click a YouTube page, turn it on, walk away to get a snack, come back, and go, “nah…” I have no idea what “Well, they’re really talented, but it’s not my kind of music” really means, but we get that line a lot from media people. DON’T TAKE ANY OF THOSE ANSWERS PERSONALLY, EVEN IF IT’S THE OUTLET YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BE IN; KEEP PLUGGING.
A west coast publicist stresses that artists need to manage their own expectations of what publicists can deliver. Be realistic about knowing where you are in their career when a publicist starts working with you. The general rule of thumb is if you’re not new on a major or super hit roster, where a record label is funding a full-on media outreach campaign like you saw over the last year for Florence and the Machine, it will be harder to get mass media attention. Know that your publicist will be sending out more albums to more media people and getting less results than what a glorified major label artist receives.
Again, if you are absolutely an indie artist, consider doing a long campaign in which the publicist works your album intensively for three to five months before an album’s release, and then on a maintenance plan where he or she would follow up over the course of a year to at least18 months. After all you’ll be touring and building your career during that time. Records should not be left on the curb to die. The idea is that you’ll be at a higher level with your career for the next album, and will receive some automatic placements with journalists who covered you over the last album, and—if you have a story that’s bigger than just great reviews–bigger media could be interested.
These three months get a minimal amount of placements and only start the awareness for artists (even those with the humongous push). Hiring a publicist for just three months—well that time is pretty much prep for the releases and mail out. Those CDs are now lying in wait along with dozens of packages.
Be grateful for the placements, especially if you go with a three month campaign.
INFORMATION
At the beginning of the campaign, the band and the publicist need to develop a collaborative working relationship when it comes to the media. A recommended way to get everyone on the same page is to have the bio, press release, song description sheet actually originate from the band. They should talk with the publicist, brainstorm on angles and the most important reasons their new album exists. What’s it about? The band will write a draft, and then the publicist builds on that. Depending on how throrough you were, she might ask you, “Well, since we’re aiming to work what a great live act you are and how you broke the songs in live, then maybe we should talk about some of the festivals you played at. Do you have a list of festival you played it?”
Bands should be maintaining their web sites and social media pages. Bands should add the publicist to their fanlist. Publicists should be posting the best articles on her social sites, and telling industry colleagues she’s working with these artists. Create a buzz about them with everyone, including industry tastemakers.
As soon as a show is confirmed, let the publicist know via e-mail.
Communicate. If you won an award, are collaborating with someone famous, tell your publicist. If you’re planning a charity event, plan the event with your publicist. How it should be named, who are the priority acts are on the bill. Send your publicist any extra thoughts related to the event, keep the publicist up-to-date. I worked a concert that was one of those once-in-a-lifetime events. After the event was a critically-acclaimed success, I heard from two musicians that a special guest was not happy with how the show was billed. All through the campaign I had sent him e-mails and also private messages through his Facebook page about the press release, but had never heard from him. So don’t be disappointed in the marquee if you don’t communicate either in the beginning or as the work progresses.
Take advantage of the publicists’ expertise. If they specialize in sponsorships, pay them to do a campaign to reach out for sponsors. You can negotiate up front money along with a percentage. Supply them with information.
Give the publicist your media contacts, including phone number, e-mail, and special comments. Who has covered you in the past? Bands need to always be updating their contacts; be prepared for the future.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
I know stern taskmasters and I know assholes. There’s a difference. When my workers don’t do something right, I have to give criticism, “Let’s work on this,” and I tell them exactly what I want. If they don’t follow up, I repeat myself. At some point I plead, even cry but without an insult; “I’m trying to help you be better at this work, it’s pleasing the customer.” I explain why something should be the way it is. I listen to them. I also get a good vibe about whether they can take criticism.
If you yell at a person, it makes criticism hard. If someone yells at me a lot and doesn’t let me speak then I know they’re not able to have any dialog, then I’d rather talk with them at a time they’re capable of expressing themselves. Look at criticism as something that needs to be fixed. Think “constructive criticism.” Insults are another case—people who give insults need to fix themselves. Constant rants and rages show they’re problem clients and it’s best to stay far away from them.
These are actual lines clients have insulted their publicists:
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results and I’m not going to drive myself insane” on something little.
“You’re driving me crazy,”
“Why are you so lazy?”
“You’re jealous,”
“I was being sarcastic when I said, ‘Let’s do the bloody interview.’”
“I want your report, which probably has nothing on it.” The publicist sent the report with plenty of placements and got back, “There’s nothing on the report!”
All of those are rude and nasty things and have no place in a business relationship.
Being late is another way some people feel insulted, so being prompt is good. If you’re scheduled to do an interview at 3 PM, call the journalist at 3 PM. (Of course the publicist has to check with you to make sure you’re available for a 3 PM interview!!!)
Sometimes you have an interview scheduled for 3 PM the next day, and something else comes up. Whether it’s a family outing or a last minute gig, you need to notify the publicist as soon as something comes up, so we can notify the journalist and reschedule the interview. Chances are if you tell the publicist at the last minute, the journalist will not give you a second chance. It’s hard to build careers, and harder with a diva.
Yes, there are times where there is a family emergency. My client had to take his wife to the hospital one time when we had a slew of interviews. He called and e-mailed me 10 minutes to the first interview. That was a name act, and all interviews were rescheduled.
If you have apprehensions about a media interview, discuss that with the publicist. Technically you should be doing all the interviews you can, but you might not want to be in something like a very poorly produced cable show, blog that just started, interviewer who seems scary, or an early morning TV show. Discuss that with your publicist enough in advance so that the journalist can find a replacement if this was confirmed. If it wasn’t confirmed, it will be up to the publicist’s diplomatic skills to figure out what to tell the journalist.
It’s funny. I recall a diva who was really upset about doing a late night radio interview. So the publicist said, “I want you to take a break and think about why you want to cancel the interview tomorrow night. Then get back to me with your decision.” And now that diva is great friends with that late night radio host.
You just don’t know where your career is going to go, what unique path you’ll be working as you become more known. Will you be a household name or will you be the sound that music fans from 2015 and 2025 discover? If you use common courtesy, and keep the channels of good communication open with your publicist, you should be able to develop some great relationships with most media people. And at least your unique road will be happier.
–
Anne Leighton believes artists can create their own opportunities to grow their careers, and has done this with her own career. These days she handles publicity and music services for a range of master musicians including up-and-comers Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius, Mike Keneally, KJ Denhert, Emily Hurd, Jann Klose, plus classic artists Vonda Shepard, Jethro Tull, Tower of Power, Grand Funk Railroad, the Strawbs, Yardbirds/Jim McCarty, and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. She also works with America’s Got Talent audience favorite The Kinetic King. Anne’s books include USING YOUR ART & THE MEDIA TO COMFORT PEOPLE (Free to Run books, US) and PAWS FOR THOUGHT: HOW TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR CAT IS THINKING (Rockwell Books, UK). Her web site is http://www.anneleighton.com .
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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

9 Critical Things You Should know about music publicity before you make your first move


By Ariel Hyatt, a regular contributor to MusicThinkTank, whose Ariel Publicity is an indie music focused digital pr firm and educational experience wrapped up in one very cool package..
I just got back from teaching social media master classes throughout Finland, Norway and Iceland and many musicians asked me to help them understand what traditional publicity is and how it fits into their overall planning. This is a past article I wrote which I have recently updated for you for navigating the world of traditional PR. So, it’s back to the basics today…
I talk to musicians all day who call looking to hire a publicist, and I’ve noticed that many artists don’t really understand what publicity is. The following list will clarify the concept of publicity for you.
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, college journals, 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. More and more publicists also cover Internet PR, like my company. But not all traditional publicists do this, so make sure to ask before you hire.
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. A well-connected publicist may be able to hook you up with all of the above-mentioned things, but it is not in her job description.
2. You Are in the Driver’s Seat.
Remember, as the artist, you are the buyer here, and you are shopping for PR. You are in the driver’s seat. It’s your money and your music that keep publicists in business. Hiring a publicist is like hiring another guitar player for your band. Choose one you like, who fits your vision and your goals. All too many times I’ve heard that a publicist was hired in spite of the artist’s personal opinions. You should like your publicist, and she should be the right one for you.
3. With Publicity, You Pay for Effort – Never for Results.
I have had disgruntled artists call me and say, “I hired a publicist and I only got six articles. That cost me $1,000 per article!” Sadly, this is not how you quantify a PR campaign. How you quantify a PR campaign is by how many albums were sent out and what the responses were, even if they were inconclusive or negative. You pay for the amount of effort the publicist made on your behalf. Of course, you should get some and even many results. Getting nothing is totally unacceptable. But you never know when your publicist’s efforts will show up months, and sometimes years, after your campaign is complete.
4. A PR Campaign Needs to Be Planned Well in Advance.
For long-lead press (that means magazines with national distribution like Spin and Rolling Stone), the editors put their publications to bed three full months before they hit the newsstands. So if your CD is coming out in October, you must have it pressed with full artwork and ready with materials to mail in July. Of course not all PR campaigns focus on national press, but no publicist will take you on with zero lead-time, so you definitely need to prepare lead-time in every case.
Recommended Publicity Campaign Lead Times:
National Campaign – 3-4 months before the release
Tour Press Campaign – 4-6 weeks before the shows
Local Campaign – 4-6 weeks before placement
Online Campaign – 2-3 weeks before placement (minimum)
(Placement = article, CD review, calendar listing, TV/radio interview, etc.)
5. The 4 Components of a Press Kit.
I see fewer and fewer actual press kits these days. A great one sheet will suffice in today’s digital world, however a thorough press kit consists of four parts: the bio; the photo; the articles, quotes & CD reviews; the CD.
The Bio – Create a one-page bio that is succinct and interesting to read. I strongly advise hiring a bio writer (this should cost between $100-$400). If you are not ready to pony up the cash, enlist an outside source to help you. I find people who are great storytellers make great bio writers. I have recently new affordable bio writing service available at http://www.ReviewYou.com if you would like to hire one of our trusted writers to help you craft your story.
The Photo – Arrange a photo shoot; if you take this seriously, you will benefit deeply. Create a photo that is clear, light, and attention-grabbing. Showing movement is a plus (sitting on a couch or up against a brick wall is not interesting). If you have a friend who knows how to use PhotoShop, enroll him to help you do some funky and fun editing.
The Articles, Quotes & CD Reviews – Getting that first article written about you can feel daunting. Two great places to start are your local hometown papers (assuming you don’t live in NYC or Los Angeles), and any music websites or blogs you like.
The CD – The CD artwork, like the press kit, must be well thought out. Do not bother sending out advance burns of your CD – instead send a link so the writer can download the tracks. When you do have your CD ready and it is being sent to a targeted press list, full artwork is always preferred. Put your phone number and contact info in the CD so if it gets separated from the press kit, the writer knows how to contact you.
6. Publicity is a Marathon, Not a Sprint.
PR is very different in nature from a radio campaign that has a specific ad date and a chart that you are paying to try to get listed on. There is no top 40 publicity chart. With the sheer number of albums coming out into the marketplace (approx 1,000 per week), it could take months longer than your publicity campaign runs to see results.
7. Online Publicity is Just as Important as Offline Publicity.
I would argue that online PR is more important, because today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s recycling. This of course unless the newspaper also posts the article online (which most are doing now). Online publicity goes up fast, and it can be around for months and sometimes for years.
Current sales figures show that people are reading newspapers less and less with every passing day. More people rely on the Internet as their main news source, and on recommendations from friends, so Internet placements are absolutely wonderful and totally legit, and they can help your Google rankings as well.
8. Publicity Does Not Sell Records.
If you are hiring a publicist to see a spike in your CD sales, I have news for you: There is absolutely no correlation between getting great PR and selling CDs or downloads.
PR is designed to raise awareness of you in the press, to help build a story, and also build up critical acclaim – and, of course, a great article can lead to sales. But overall, if selling albums is your goal, PR is not the only thing you will need to reach it; you will also need to build your loyal fan base and take care of fans with sweet offers.
9. All Publicity is Good Publicity.
I know we have all heard this, but it’s a great thing to really understand. If one of your goals in PR is to get your name out there (and this should be a goal), the truth is that the average person remembers very little of what they read. Only a tiny percentage gets retained. If you really think that readers are going to remember a tepid or a mediocre review of your album, the answer is, they won’t.
And never ever take your own PR seriously. As my favorite artist Andy Warhol once said, “Don’t read your press; weigh it.”
More @ Ariel Publicity
- See more at: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2011/10/9-critical-things-you-should-know-about-music-publicity-before-you-make-your-first-move-.html?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzEmail&utm_content=395530&utm_campaign=0#sthash.j772I1B8.dpuf
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

35 Things To Consider When Starting Your Own Record Label


35 Things To Consider When Starting Your Own Record Label
The following guest post is an excerpt from the new 4th Edition of Music Is Your Business by Christopher Knab.
Deciding to release your own record is only a good idea if you know what you’re getting into. As you read through the following questions, mark the ones that you can’t answer and make an effort to find the answers. We answer some of these questions throughout the book. There are, however, some questions that only you can answer, and a few that are outside the scope of this book.
(Answers to any business start-up issues are widely available on the Internet and in many books devoted to that specific topic.)
35 Things to Consider When Starting Your Own Record Label
1. Why are you starting your own label? (What is your motivation?)
2. Why would anyone want to buy your music?
3. Is there currently a market for your kind of music? Prove it!
4. If you’re not releasing your own music, have you ever read a recording contract?
5. Are you aware of all the traditional clauses that are in such 75–100 page contracts?
6. Do you know anything about copyright law?
7. What is a mechanical royalty? What is a performance royalty? Internet play royalties?
8. Have you heard of the Harry Fox Agency, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC? What do they do?
9. What do you want to achieve by starting your own label?
10. What do you know about the day-to-day business of selling music?
11. Will your new company be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or some type of corporation? (Do you know the pros and cons of each?)
12. Have you trademarked the name of your company to be sure you can use that name?
13. Will you need recording equipment, office equipment, and supplies to run your label?
14. Do you have a recording studio you can work with, or will your laptop recording really do the job?
15. Do you know any record producers and/or engineers?
16. How much money will it cost you to start your label, record your records, and market the recordings for the first year? Second year? Third year?
17. How will you raise the money you need to start and run your record label?
18. What local, state, and federal tax responsibilities will your label have?
19. How will you sell your records? (Live shows, Internet sales, mail order, catalog sales, distributors, stores?)
20. What specific distribution and retail sales plans have you arranged so that people can easily find your releases at retail stores?
21. Do you have the money, time, and determination to compete in an industry that releases over 1,000 new records a week?
22. What configurations, (CD, vinyl, MP3, etc.), based on your knowledge of your fans habits, will you need to make?
23. How much will it cost to manufacture your CDs and/or vinyl, and convert your recordings to downloadable formats?
24. How many copies of your releases do you think, realistically, you can sell?
25. What deals are offered by CD manufacturers? Will you use their barcode or buy your own?
26. Will you need to make posters or other materials for retailers? If so, how many and how much will that cost?
27. Will you be making special novelty items like t-shirts, baseball caps, etc., and how much will that cost?
28. How did you estimate the number of copies you needed to manufacture?
29. Did you count into your estimation the number of free CDs you’ll have to give away for promotions of various kinds?
30. How will you go about finding other acts to sign to your label? Are you the sole artist? Then how many new releases will you have every year or so?
31. How important do you think graphic design is in making your label’s logo and cover art work for your releases?
32. Do you know any graphic artists with record design experience?
33. What information should go on the CD cover, back-cover, spine, booklet, and label?
34. What will your website look like? What online marketing news and fan opportunities (blogs, podcasts, etc.) will there be for your fans to interact with you?
35. Do you know how to write a marketing plan, a distributor one-sheet, and other promo materials?
Plus an extra question (this may sound familiar):
36. Who are your customers? NEVER forget this important question! If you think you know them, then describe them in very specific terms. And keep in touch with them. Create an event page on Facebook and invite them to interact with you on Twitter.
And on and on it goes. Welcome to the new music business!
By Christopher Knab, Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. The new, 4th Edition of Music Is Your Business has 100 pages of more info to help musicians help themselves with the business of music.
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35 Things To Consider When Starting Your Own Record Label


35 Things To Consider When Starting Your Own Record Label
The following guest post is an excerpt from the new 4th Edition of Music Is Your Business by Christopher Knab.
Deciding to release your own record is only a good idea if you know what you’re getting into. As you read through the following questions, mark the ones that you can’t answer and make an effort to find the answers. We answer some of these questions throughout the book. There are, however, some questions that only you can answer, and a few that are outside the scope of this book.
(Answers to any business start-up issues are widely available on the Internet and in many books devoted to that specific topic.)
35 Things to Consider When Starting Your Own Record Label
1. Why are you starting your own label? (What is your motivation?)
2. Why would anyone want to buy your music?
3. Is there currently a market for your kind of music? Prove it!
4. If you’re not releasing your own music, have you ever read a recording contract?
5. Are you aware of all the traditional clauses that are in such 75–100 page contracts?
6. Do you know anything about copyright law?
7. What is a mechanical royalty? What is a performance royalty? Internet play royalties?
8. Have you heard of the Harry Fox Agency, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC? What do they do?
9. What do you want to achieve by starting your own label?
10. What do you know about the day-to-day business of selling music?
11. Will your new company be a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or some type of corporation? (Do you know the pros and cons of each?)
12. Have you trademarked the name of your company to be sure you can use that name?
13. Will you need recording equipment, office equipment, and supplies to run your label?
14. Do you have a recording studio you can work with, or will your laptop recording really do the job?
15. Do you know any record producers and/or engineers?
16. How much money will it cost you to start your label, record your records, and market the recordings for the first year? Second year? Third year?
17. How will you raise the money you need to start and run your record label?
18. What local, state, and federal tax responsibilities will your label have?
19. How will you sell your records? (Live shows, Internet sales, mail order, catalog sales, distributors, stores?)
20. What specific distribution and retail sales plans have you arranged so that people can easily find your releases at retail stores?
21. Do you have the money, time, and determination to compete in an industry that releases over 1,000 new records a week?
22. What configurations, (CD, vinyl, MP3, etc.), based on your knowledge of your fans habits, will you need to make?
23. How much will it cost to manufacture your CDs and/or vinyl, and convert your recordings to downloadable formats?
24. How many copies of your releases do you think, realistically, you can sell?
25. What deals are offered by CD manufacturers? Will you use their barcode or buy your own?
26. Will you need to make posters or other materials for retailers? If so, how many and how much will that cost?
27. Will you be making special novelty items like t-shirts, baseball caps, etc., and how much will that cost?
28. How did you estimate the number of copies you needed to manufacture?
29. Did you count into your estimation the number of free CDs you’ll have to give away for promotions of various kinds?
30. How will you go about finding other acts to sign to your label? Are you the sole artist? Then how many new releases will you have every year or so?
31. How important do you think graphic design is in making your label’s logo and cover art work for your releases?
32. Do you know any graphic artists with record design experience?
33. What information should go on the CD cover, back-cover, spine, booklet, and label?
34. What will your website look like? What online marketing news and fan opportunities (blogs, podcasts, etc.) will there be for your fans to interact with you?
35. Do you know how to write a marketing plan, a distributor one-sheet, and other promo materials?
Plus an extra question (this may sound familiar):
36. Who are your customers? NEVER forget this important question! If you think you know them, then describe them in very specific terms. And keep in touch with them. Create an event page on Facebook and invite them to interact with you on Twitter.
And on and on it goes. Welcome to the new music business!
By Christopher Knab, Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. The new, 4th Edition of Music Is Your Business has 100 pages of more info to help musicians help themselves with the business of music.
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Tuesday, July 23, 2013

The Paradox of Music: Why More Is Less


As part of our 9th Anniversary, we asked our regular contributors to share their favorite Hypebot posts. This one comes from Kyle Bylin, former Hypebot editor and user researcher at Live Nation Labs.
I. New Choices
Often times, in discussions about how our culture has become abundant with music and the potential that it has to cause choice overload in the minds of fans, it does not take long for someone to recall the amazing lecture that psychologist Barry Schwartz gave at TED back in 2005, where he explores the central thesis to his book The Paradox of Choice. Let us use his talk as a starting point for this conversation and try to figure out if the effects of the culture of abundance that he outlines in it also relate with the perils that we suspect fans experience in the digital age. In doing so, we will get a better idea if fans may fare worse and be robbed of satisfaction in a culture abundant with music.
In Schwartz’s opening statements, he presents what he calls the “official dogma” of all western industrial societies, which, in his mind, goes something like this: “if we are interested in maximizing the welfare of our citizens, the way to do that is to maximize individual freedom,” and the way to maximize it, he argues, is to "maximize choice." He sums up his thinking on this issue, by saying that: “The more choice people have, the more freedom they have, and the more freedom they have, the more welfare they have.” No one would argue against the idea that in order to have a sustainable, healthy, and lively music culture—there needs to be diversity. This idea states that the more music options people have to expand their taste with, the more cultured they turn out to be. As a result, it could be said that society, as a whole, is better off; its citizens—having experienced this multitude of perspectives, life experiences, and views of the world—are marked by the refinement in their taste and knowledge.
Indeed, throughout the last decade, fans have experienced the splintering of genres into niches and an explosion in music choices. As our current logic would tell us, this is a good thing. Rather than being limited to the top-down, corporate created music that the record industry provided, fans could wade through the plethora of music that had risen through the bottom-up participatory culture of the Internet. So, too, during this time, the media landscape fractured into pieces and fans witnessed the rise of the personalized music experience. Now, each fan could find a media outlet that more perfectly matched their taste. Hell, if they wanted to, they could even create their own stations on sites like Pandora and Last.fm that were specialized to their taste—no matter how arcane. Also, fans could download whatever music suited their interest—for free—and edit out every moment of their musical experiences that did not suit their needs.
Thus, much like the proliferation of choices in the supermarket, careers, and consumer electronics that Schwartz goes onto describe, fans have experienced a similar revolution. Both in terms of what fans consume and how they consume it, the amount of choice that each of fan encounters has greatly increased in a short number of years. The paradox of music choices though, is that while the number of options that a fan faces in the physical world has contracted, due to shrinking of shelving space devoted to music in retail outlets, online, the amount of music that they can experience has exploded. What’s paradoxical about this situation is that judging by decreasing diversity of commerical radio stations and the drastically reduced selection in music departments; a coming of age fan might be left with the overwhelming sensation that there is less music available today. When in fact, there is actually more music being made available now than at any other point in the entire history of popular music.
II. The Tyranny of Choice
No doubt, many of you are old enough to remember what it was like to purchase music before the Internet, the epidemic of file-sharing, and the fracturing of the album format. Likely, some of you even spent a few the early years of your career working in a record store. The selection was vast, but not so much that it was overpowering, and if a fan did need some assistance in navigating these choices, there was probably a clerk like you to offer them a bit of sage advice about what music they might like. Whether or not they listened to you, of course, is another story entirely. Even so, since we all seem to know what’s good about a record store full of music; let’s talk about what is bad about it.
At this point in Schwartz’s lecture, he makes the argument that in this culture of abundance, “All of this choice has two effects, two negative effects on people. One effect, paradoxically, is that it produces paralysis, rather than liberation. With so many options to choose from, people find it very difficult to choose at all.” In effect, the more albums that a fan is attempts to choose from, the more likely they are to either kind of freeze up and go with the path of the least resistance, like the lastest pop album, or to simply leave with no albums at all.
“The second effect,” Schwartz says, “is that even if we manage to overcome the paralysis and make a choice, we end up less satisfied with the result of the choice than we would be if we had fewer options to choose from.” Why is that?
Well, there are several reasons to make note of: First, when a fan goes into a record store that has thousands of albums to choose from, if they buy one, and it’s not what they thought it would be—after all, what new album is? Schwartz explains, “It's easy to imagine that you could have made a different choice that would have been better. And what happens is this imagined alternative induces you to regret the decision you made, and this regret subtracts from the satisfaction you get out of the decision you made, even if it was a good decision.” In this line of thinking he further contends, “The more options there are, the easier it is to regret anything at all that is disappointing about the option that you chose.” Fans are candidates for regret when they buy an album and it turns out to be either not what they expected, or not as good as they expected. Also, they are primed for regret when they purchase an album and, soon after, realize that they could have selected a different album that sounded better.
Next on the list is what economists call “opportunity costs.” These are, in respect to music, when there are lots of alternative albums to consider in a fan’s purchase—given that they are a somebody with limited funds, and have to be satisfied with this album; it’s easy for them “to imagine the attractive features of alternatives that [they] reject, that make [them] less satisfied with the alternative that [they’ve] chosen.” Even if the album that the fan chooses happens to be one of the best that they have heard, it is exceedingly likely that many of the passed up albums also contained several fantastic, brilliant songs on them too; ones that they had to go without. The more that a fan considers these other songs, the more their satisfaction with the final purchase is diminished.
Third is the escalation of expectations. “With so many options to choose from,” Schwartz writes, “it is hard to resist the expectation that what one finally chooses will be perfect, or at least, extraordinary.” When a fan is shopping for a new record and all these albums are bouncing around in their head, yet they can only buy one; it is entirely possible that their expectations for how good that album should be, go up. By the time the fan does put the CD in their player, experience of it and the amount of satisfaction they derive is lessoned. In a sense, the CD they bought is disappointing in comparison to what they expected. Perhaps what happens when a fan encounters this surplus of music is that all of these added options increase the expectations that they have about how great these artists and their albums should be. “And what that's going to produce,” Schwartz further clarifies, “is less satisfaction with results, even when they're good results.” Put differently, it’s possible that the good album was really a great album.
Furthermore, for previous generations, one consequence of buying a bad album when there were not that many available is that when a fan was dissatisfied, and they asked why and who was responsible, the answer was clear. The record industry was responsible; they put out a bad album and made a misjudgment about its quality. Since both the fan and their friends listened to the same music, it was a more of a reflection of the quality of music available at the time and not of the quality of their taste. When there are thousands of albums to choose from in the record store, there is no excuse for failure. “And so when people make decisions, and even though the results of the decisions are good,” Schwartz explains, “they feel disappointed about them, they blame themselves.” The industry did nothing to the fan, they did it to themselves.
III. Why Culture Might Be Different
The corollary to the effects of choice overload in the domain of music, and perhaps cultural objects in general, is that, unless the limitations of a fan’s disposable income do in fact force them to be selective when they purchase music, buying one album doesn’t necessary mean not buying the other. Although they may still experience a degree of anticipated regret or buyer’s remorse, it is likely that it would not be too severe. Granted, that does not mean that satisfaction that they get out of the album they did buy—even if it was a great album—will not still be lessened as a result. Whether the fan is conscious of it or not, the experience they have of that collection of songs will be dampened more than it would have, had it been the only option they considered—resulting in a decrease in their overall satisfaction.
Then again, it could be argued that most fans do not truly experience the entire selection of the record store anyway. By the time they can afford to purchase music their taste has already been refined. Plus, while a fan may notice an unusual artist name or some remarkable cover art, they may not know who the artist is or if their style exists outside of their preferences, so these additional options would go mostly unnoticed. Since radio and MTV played such a vital role in promoting music in the pre-Internet era, and a great number of the titles carried by the store reflect their playlists, most fans had enough familiarity with a small cache of artists already. Again, this had the effect of dramatically reducing the amount of choice that each fan experienced. Thus, while a fan may have felt many of the symptoms that we associate with choice overload, it is hard for us to know how great of an impact it had on their music experience and to what extent the amount of their satisfaction with it may have been reduced.
However, anyone who has read Chris Anderson’s book The Long Tail would remember that he does not necessarily agree with the arguments made by Barry Schwartz. In the chapter titled The Paradise of Choice, he writes, “The paradox of choice is simply an artifact of the limitations of the physical world, where the information necessary to make an informed choice is lost.” From his point of view, “The paradox of choice turned out to be more about the poverty of help in making that choice than a rejection of plenty. Order it wrong and choice is oppressive; order it right and it’s liberating.” In other words, sure, in the record store, when faced with a large array of albums, fans may feel discouraged, but in an environment like Amazon, the selection process is easier. Fans have more information to take into account before making a decision and various ways to segment the current array of options into categories that are more meaningful. Also, if they get stuck and need a little extra help, the recommendation engine is there to further simplify the number of albums they have to choose from; it presents them with the albums that “people who bought this album also bought.” Therefore, due to the way Amazon eases the selection process, it’s likely that the amount post-sale regret that a fan experiences will be minimal. “After all,” Anderson reasons, “if everyone else picked a given product, it can’t be that bad.” Still, as it is with anything else, we will see if there is more to it than that.
In research paper published shortly after The Paradox of Choice, Schwartz points out that almost all the research that has been done on ‘choice overload’ has involved some kind or other of goods and services. “Though,” he says, “I don’t for a minute believe that choice overload is restricted to the material domain… it is important to ask whether there is something about the world of culture that makes it different.” To which he then asserts, “I think there are reasons to regard culture as a special domain, and I also think that the profusion of cultural options has positive externalities that make it good for society even if, at the same time, it adds to the frustration and confusion faced by individuals.” The thing is, he writes, “Yes, we all have limits of time and financial resources, but cultural objects and events are not substitutes for one another to the same degree that ordinary material objects are. Perhaps because culture is an ‘experience good,’ participating in cultural events may whet the appetite for more participation. ‘Doing’ culture may stimulate demand for more culture. This may be enough, in and of itself, to make choice in the domain of culture an unalloyed blessing.” To conclude: no. In the physical world, more music is not less—that even if the abundance of choice available to fans decreases the amount of satisfaction they derive from their music purchases; the social ecology of our music culture, collectively, will be better off. The benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Yet, these two viewpoints still leave a question left unanswered: Has the Internet actually created a paradise of music choice? Or, does it too have paradoxes?
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