Live Music Archive

Now testimonials have got a wonderful reputation, generally…well see for yourself, this is one individuals view of this actual article:

Wow, I did not realise how simple it may be to implement this music marketing technique! R.G, Chicago.

What is the problem with this? Well for one, it is made up. I just done it. And two…who on earth is R.G?

Now this is what I automatically think about when I go through any web site, be it musical or not. The problem comes in the fact that the majority testimonials are just too distant.

Sure people could put a Internet address down and even a picture. It does actually advocate a very big amount. It makes you less distant, and now more reliable. Still, all of us are now in the 21st Century and our selling techniques ought to really keep up with the technology on offer.

The technology? That’s Flash. Now I’ve said in the past that a Web site should not be made out of Flash…with the primary reason being the search engines won’t select it up. But Flash is such a simple tool that it must be integrated into our Web sites for us to stand a slightest chance of selling anything.

So what do we need to do?

1st up is to actually embed Flash into our web sites so that it’s simple to work, like ably free, looks wonderful, simple to  set up and more than anything…fool proof for the user.

Now I’ve searched high and low for a flash player that meets those demands (I could not tell you how a lot of I’ve downloaded), and I’ve found one. Now I think that it’s a traversty that this software has not been shouted about.

You need a player- MP3 or Video (which may be found at this address: www.jeroenwijering.com. All you need to do is download either a movie player, or an MP3 player, upload the numerous players components to your website, upload an MP3 or Flash movie file (FLV), then tell the wizard (which may be found at this address: http://www.jeroenwijering.com/extras/wizard.html) where everything is stored. It will automatically give you the code. You copy and then paste it in to the source section of your HTML where you want the player…and thats it.

Simple.

As a side note: You see all of us should do everything ourselves so that all of us are not reliant on any other service. Youtube has a habit of stopping videos overnight, their quality is poor and it looks prefer all of us are cheap. Sure use YouTube for traffic generation and generating leads, but I wouldn’t use it to sell on my web site – it is not professional specifically if you are selling DVDs or software. Doubts will go into customers minds about your products quality…and the sale will walk away. There are additionally dedicated movie web sites that charge per month…but all of us want to decrease our resources output. So what do all of us do?

So the optimum way is to be clever at the start and buy a Web hosting package that’s cheap yet plentiful. Just be careful about your monthly bandwidth. Many hosting businesses now offer incredible bandwidth solutions/ month so you should not worry about that. I’m with Superb Internet Hosting who give me bandwidth of 750GB/ month…which is more than ample and at a normal hosting price. I don’t need specific video hosting, poor quality free hosting and I don’t need to pay anymore cash…bargain!

Anyway what do we actually do with our Flash players?

Ahh, I’m glad that you asked. Now this is what your competition are not doing. You see you may record customers reactions to your music (especially at a performance ) and place these as testimonials.

Promote shows by recording previous concert s/ performances. Then question some of the goers before and following to see what they think? Promise them a free ticket, T-Shirt, compact disc  etc for their trouble. If you get some bad reviews (which can happen), edit them out.

If you’re friendly with your testimonial makers, why not get them to do a short piece on your stuff? Only a handful (literally) of web sites have done this. Completely novel- they have interviewed buyers of the product to see what they think. Now that “nobody testimonial” has become a a person. It doesn’t matter now who they are. How convincing is that style of testimonial? It generates thousands of sales weekly for some web site s.

You should be using the Flash players to play your music (please no lower d quality or 1 minute play versions). Now I have better my sales by well over 100 % by doing this technique. Throughout my texts I have placed an MP3. So instead of having a bulk amount of MP3s in one place – where they may readily be forgotten, I have placed them throughout and leveraged the same  set of MP3s to a better advantage.

The Flash players ought to be used to interview your group or yourself. Because the Internet is so faceless, adding a “face” to your web site boosts your credibility ten-fold. If you are the head of the company/ web site, have you on your sales pages stating what you are actually selling- pointing out rewards to the customer, backing up your text.

If you don’t prefer what you look prefer, the Flash players should be used to play your voice to endorse and direct individuals into making the proper decision.

Got a video or DVD? Flash player it at a reasonable size and quality to demonstrate what you have. Sales will increase with a demo of what you have.

Always remember though, that some people do not want to sit down and listen to you stating what you can be done. They want to see what can be done… that is the difference. If you performance the guitar…Flash player yourself playing a certain specific style on one page and another style on another page. Therefore if I want to know how to make Flamenco music I do not want to see loads of other styles before you get to mine. Don’t speak the specific style, just performance it (and make it sound cool, vibrant and listenable).

So as you can see, there are a very large amount of scope for Flash players and they should be right up there with your top music marketing strategies.

Music is major part of our everyday life. Music also has a long, complex and captivating history. It could predate language, and most certainly predates the written word. It’s found in every known human culture, both past and present, varying wildly between certain periods and locations on the globe. The music of every culture is influenced by all other aspect of that culture, such as social and economic organization, climate, and access to technology.

The development of human music occurred against the backdrop of natural sounds prefer the lapping of ocean waves, the rippling of river water, the singing of birds and sounds created by other animals. Prehistoric music, more commonly referred to as primitive music, is the name given to all music produced by preliterate cultures, beginning somewhere in wonderfully late geological history.

The prehistoric period is considered to have ended with the creation of writing, and with it, by definition, prehistoric music. “Ancient music” is the term given to the music that followed. This music has been produced by various early cultures, particularly Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Mesopotamians and citizens of the Muslim world, as well as Asiatic cultures.

Following ancient music, came “early” music which is a  surprisingly general term referring to music in the European classical tradition from the fall of the Roman Empire in 476, until the end of the Baroque period in the 18th Century. Music within this enormous time span has been extremely diverse, encompassing multiple cultural traditions throughout a expansive  geographic region. What unified these a lot of cultures in the Middle Ages has been the Roman Catholic Church, and its music served as a focal point for music development for the first centuries of this period.

The Medieval period (from the 9th to the 14th Centuries) was rich in musical history as attested by the artistic renditions of instruments, writings about music, and other historical references. The only collection of music which has survived from pre-900 AD to the present is the liturgical music of the Catholic Church, the largest part of which is called the Gregorian chants.

Renaissance music followed the medieval era, but the beginning of Renaissance music is not as evident ly marked as the start of the Renaissance in the other arts, and began, not in Italy, but in northern Europe specifically central France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The invention of the printing press had an immense influence on the dissemination of musical styles and by the 15th century, composers and singers from these Low Countries begin to spread over all of Europe.

Baroque music became quite popular following 1600, and instrumental music became dominant. Although strong religious musical traditions continued, secular music came to the forefront with the development of the sonata, the performance o and performance o grosso. In Baroque music the keyboard, particularly the harpsichord, is the dominant instrument. The three the majority outstanding composers of this period are J.S. Bach, G. F. Handel and A. Vivaldi.

The early Classical period was ushered in by the Mannheim School which exerted a profound influence on Joseph Haydn, and through him, on nearly all subsequent European music. Wolfgang Mozart was the central figure of this period and his phenomenal and varied output defines our perception of the Classical era.

Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert were transitional composers who led Europe into the Romantic period with their expansion of the existing genre s, forms and even uses of music. During this Romantic period, music became more expressive and emotional. By the late 19th century, there has been a dramatic expansion in the size of the orchestras, and in the role of gigs as part of a rapidly increasing urban society. Strauss, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Verdi and Wagner comprised a influential group of Romantic composers. A prominent feature of late 19th century music is its nationalistic fervor, as exemplified by figures like Dvorak, and Sibelius.

The 20th Century saw a music revolution as radio gained popularity world wide and new media and technologies were created to record, capture, reproduce and distribute music. Because music has been no longer limited to performance venues and venue s, it became possible for music musicians to obtain fame and fortune quite speedily.

And music became more mobile with the use of headsets, compact disc  players, and iPods. Music of the 20th Century brought a new freedom and expansive  experimentation with styles and forms that challenged the accepted rules of earlier musical periods. Heavy metal music and rap entered the picture and joined hip-hop, jazz, country/western, ballads, folk, acid rock, Christian rock and a variety of other genres to create today’s fascinating world of music.

For the novice producer and creator of beats, marketing your sound is going to be one of the most c hall enging obstacles to overcome. This is mainly because the music business is an old beast where the new and unique are not always welcomed with open arms.

The Web has certainly advocate ed the new comers, however, providing a place for new blood to get the recognition they deserve. Still, marketing is tricky unless you may be as creative as you’re with your beats.

Whether you make your own beats from scratch or you download already made beats and customize them, finding a fan base and a potential record label to listen to the finished product will have the same problem. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, musicians had to rely on the coveted “Lucky Break”. You performed each show whether it was at a bar or venue as if a representative from a record label was out in the crowd waiting to see if you had what it takes. While this is still a possibility, musicians are now  promote d to be more proactive with their approach.

Social networking web sites prefer MySpace cater to artists of all forms understanding how hard it really is to make a name for oneself. Producers, hip hop artists, and really everybody is  promote d to use such arenas to its full advantage. It pays to use the Internet and flood every possible area with news about a new beat you just made along with other information prefer show dates and times.

often times, if you are downloading already made beats with the intention of customizing them later, these websites will have areas devoted to performers. In these areas members of the website will be able to post their beats and other songs. This is a amazing occasion to bring together performers in one place so labels could efficiently browse through the selection to find what they want. This is, perhaps, the biggest innovation in marketing of recent date; the notion of bringing together performers in one place so large wigs could find them.

Even though you live, eat, and breath the Digital Age never underestimate the power of the spoken word. Establishing a strong fan base both Internet and offline will stimulate legitimize your ability and talent. When you make it extensive it will be these first few fans that you may continue to rely on to stimulate your record sales. Word of mouth will continue to be a exceptional asset for the artist. When word of mouth spills over into the Internet it is called viral marketing and has proven to be highly effective. Even though you’ve your own website and are a presence on those websites that provide downloadable beats you’ll still need to join every forum, group, and any where else that guides your projected fan base and peers that also make beats.

By having a visible face and a loud voice you will rise to the top and be noticed by labels. Do not fool yourself into thinking that your 1st few beats will rocket you to stardom. It may take years for your sound to find a market.  A lot of artists, no matter how skill ed, will feel discouraged by this fact, some will even give up. Just because the marketing campaign isn’t going as you prefer does not mean that you’ve just reason to give up. Be persistent in marketing and you will find that niche group which will then deliver you to fame.

When marketing your beats, it will be important to use all of the sources you’ve at hand. Even if you think that a particular method will only reach five individuals ; do it. Five individuals are better then virtually nothing and no telling how a lot of individuals those five individuals will tell.

Hip-hop took birth as American street culture. Hip-hop culture emerged from 1970s block get togethers (large outdoor get togethers, thrown by owners of expensive stereo equipment) in New York(NY) City, especially South Bronx. Pioneered by Black Americans, it includes rap music, break dancing, ‘b-boy’ fashion, and a defiant stance.

Amid predictions it wouldn’t outlive a season, hip-hop music managed to create its own race. Anyone who dismisses Hip-hop as rap music does not understand its history and the influence hip-hop has on youth culture. True audiences appreciate that hip-hop is not just about music; it’s a way of life, a language, and a unique perspective that uses music to address racism, oppression, and poverty issues, and transforms the music into a political movement. The aim is to motivate young adults to get active in ways reminiscent of the civil rights movement. Hip-hop narrates the stories of inner city African-Americans trying to live the American dream from the bottom up. It’s about the youth culture of New York(NY) City taking over the world someday—about dance, art, hurt, love, racial discrimination, broken homes, overcoming adversity, and fulfillment.

Hip-hop includes four key forms of expression: mixing (combining sounds using turntables or other sources), “b-boying” (dancing), graffiti art, and emceeing (a individual who might control the crowd with his lyrics). This culture manifested itself throughout New York(NY) City around the mid-1970s. There’s a message passed down from the godfathers of hip-hop: to earn respect, you must be skilled on the mic, possess the ability to rock a crowd with sheer lyricism, and explain why you were better than the man next door.

Hip-hop has had a serious influence on several type ofs of music. R&B, in particular, was the the majority influenced as to necessitate a sub type of. The key difference was that the sub type of was coarse and contained less of an R&B influence.

Pop and R&B singers, including Mariah Carey and Destiny’s Child, appropriated hip-hop in order to relate to young, urban audiences s, thus creating a sub genre coined “”hip-hop Soul”". This genre features hip-hop backbeats, superimposed with vocals that were sung in the style of soul music; the lyrics, however, integrated street lingo and adult themes.

Impudence characterizes the styling of hip-hop soul. These hitherto conventional singers sported tattoos, wore leather, and wore a defiant look in the vein of hip-hop musicians. Pop singers, who were reluctant to change their images, began collaborating with a rapper to remix one of their tracks, and in corporate d the remix in their albums. These remixes were pegged as singles, and allowed the singers to retain their signature styles.

These remixed tracks soon became all the rage, and hip-hop soul crossed racial divides, earning its musicians mainstream recognition. Veteran Rythm & Blues musicians additionally generated interest among young, contemporary fanss through their association with hip-hop. Patti LaBelle has performed with Outkast; Chaka Khan granted permission to Kanye West to re-mix her tracks. By joining forces with hip-hop musicians, Rythm & Blues singers thus reached out to a new age group.

Hip-hop soul is considered more mature than contemporary Rythm & Blues (R&B), and targets an adult audiences. This is primarily due to the type of’s focus on the seamier facets of life; hip-hop soul singers also use adult language and themes, which has drawn censure from individuals who feel the genre of music, similar to hip-hop, glorifies negative stereotypes.

Although hip-hop soul witnessed a dull period with the emergence of Neo Soul, another Rythm & Blues (R&B) sub genre in the late 90s, it’s now experiencing a surge in popularity due to singers prefer Jaheim, Amerie, Keyshia Cole, and Anthony Hamilton.

Hip-hop music is the vehicle of hip-hop culture and contains “rapping” (superimposed with vocals) by emcees. Owing to this, hip-hop music is on occasion referred to as “rap music,” However, those who dismiss hip-hop as rap music do not comprehend its rich history and the influence this type of music has on youth culture.

Hip-hop music is a vehicle used by the singers to address racism, oppression, and poverty issues. It narrates tales of inner city African-Americans living the American dream (through hard work, courage and determination one may achieve prosperity) from the bottom up, and bitterly touches upon racial discrimination, broken homes, and overcoming adversity.

Invented by Jamaican migrant disc jockey Kool Herc in the early 70s in NY City, it has since then spread its tentacles across the world. Herc shifted from reggae records to funk, rock and disco. Owing to the short percussive breaks, he began extending them using an audio mixer and two records. As the unique style of music became a hit, performers (emcees) began superimposing the music with vocals; initially, they introduced themselves and others in the fans. Later, the rapping became more diverse, incorporating brief rhymes, generally with a sexual or violent theme, in an attempt to entertain the fans.

In the mid-1970s, hip-hop split into two groups. One focused on getting the crowd dancing, another highlighted rapid-fire rhymes. The 1980s witnessed further diversification in hip-hop; highly metaphoric lyrics rapping over multi-layered beats replaced simple vocals. In the 90s, gangsta rap (glorified outlaw lifestyle) became mainstream. Hip-hop was soon an integral part of mainstream music, and nearly all the pop tunes featured an underlying element of hip-hop.

In the 90s and into the following decade, elements of hip-hop were integrated into diverse type ofs of music: hip-hop soul combined hip-hop and soul music; in the Dominican Republic, a recording by Santi Y Sus Duendes and Lisa M was coined “Meren-rap,” a fusion of hip-hop and meringue. In Europe, Africa, and Asia, hip-hop has undergone a transition from an underground occurrence to the mainstream market.

Classical music, prefer other forms of classical art, has not as many takers as those of light music. Nonetheless, classical music has its listeners too and lots more are falling to its charms. Yet, those who turn to it regularly find it rather beyond their understanding and real appreciation. They are charmed by it, but they can’t critically explain why it appeals them. You can’t rationalize its appeal or beauty.

An additional reason why a large majority of individuals are not  surprisingly comfortable with classical music is its complexity and a sense of distance from the artist. Light music can be effortlessly sung by ordinary musicians with whom ordinary fans might identify easily. It expresses the feelings of ordinary persons in their personal language. Classical music, on the other hand, is rather mysterious and is rendered in diverse styles and it takes years, every now and then a life long time to understand .But its study has its rewards too. The more you study it, the more you find pleasure in it and the more you find it exceptional and benefit the endeavor and hard work to study it.

The study or appreciation of classical music depends upon your individual taste. A form of music that appeals to you could not appeal to another person. You could come across experts who could try to influence you by their judgments about the quality of music. You could listen to them, but you should not compel yourself to prefer the music that they prefer. Or if you come across a much-acclaimed piece of music that you can’t really appreciate, you do not have to blame yourself for not liking it. You could of course try to find out why the particular expert prefers a given piece of music. can be, you find some point to learn.

The the majority vital thing about classical music is to listen to it as much as you can. Classical music CDs are available from a lot of sources. If you are a student, your college library may have an abundant stock of classical music CD s. You may listen to radio, watch television, and go to shows and recitals. You may also get free downloads from the Web, if you do not want to spend resources.

Key West has always been a hot spot for live music. When tourists finally get to the end of the road after making the long trek down the Keys, it does something to their psyche. Normally respectable citizens of the mainland tend to breathe in the free air of the tropics and start doing some pretty uncharacteristic things – things like drinking rum runners and stripping down to barely perceptible clothes. And they naturally congregate on Duvall Street, where the Local/Regional clubs are happy to contribute to the anything-goes atmosphere. Live music pours out of nearly every bar.

The music leans heavily towards a Jimmy Buffett, island-flavored sound, and you’re sure to hear “Brown-Eyed Girl” at least ten times a night from ten different club s. And that’s as it ought to be, because anyone is again and again in an island kinda mood. But there is much more to be found. You might hear jazz, reggae, hard rock and blues, from places prefer Rick’s, Sloppy Joe’s, The Bull, La Concha, The Hog’s Breath, and, if you do not mind walking an extra ten blocks or so, Jimmy Buffett’s own Margaritaville Cafe. What makes the whole scene so appealing is that the majority of the clubs are open to the outside, and all this music makes a potent gumbo of sound in the humid air as you walk down the street.

Long ago, before there has been ever a road to Key West, the majority of the town has been populated by pirates, who endorse ed to ‘salvage’ wonderfuls from ships that were wrecked on the reefs because someone had switched the signal lights around. Everybody knew who switched those lights in the 1st place, of course. But salvaging has been a tempting, lucrative profession in those days. That outlaw spirit still lives in Key West, and it can be heard in the music of performers in the clubs and from street performers on nearly every block.

I personal ly got to experience Healthy doses of Key West music every April for 15 years, when I played at Sloppy Joe’s with the duo Faust and Lewis.

We developed our music and comedy act on that famous stage, and wrote gobs of funny songs about life in the islands. all of us always did the 5-9 PM shift, so following our show there was plenty of time to do the Duvall Crawl and check out the other acts in town. I became a wonderful fan of Hugo Duarte, who was performing at the Hog’s Breath Saloon late one night in early April. It was uncharacteristically cool that night, with the temperature all the way down in the low 60’s, but my wife and I braved the chill to listen to Hugo for over an hour. His original songs are nearly perfect, and tell wonderful stories about life in the islands, and about ship captains heading somewhere down south.

I likewise got to know Terry Cassidy, who still does following noons at Sloppy Joe’s. He adds a smooth, bluegrass feel to his island music, and his song “Hooked On the simple Life” just about sums up the attitude of the Regional s.

Pete and Wayne currently handle the 5-9 shift at Sloppy’s, and you may be sure they’re continuing the “What Me Worry?” attitude down there, with their adult humor and songs.

There are so many more performers that have made a real splash on the Key West scene. Pat Dailey, the legend of Lake Erie, has been performing in February and March at Sloppy Joe’s for over twenty years. Bill Wharton, The Sauce Boss, one of the finest blues players I’ve ever seen, furthermore makes hot sauce during his shows and serves it up in gumbo to individuals who stay around until the end. He makes regular appearances at Margaritaville. Ben Harrison, who with his wife Helen own Harrison Gallery, is furthermore a renowned singer-songwriter who puts on mini operas about some of the colorful characters in Key West history, including a guy who kept his wife’s body in his parlor for years after she died.

All of us who have performed and written tunes about Key West owe a tremendous debt to Shel Silverstein, who lived in Key West until his death a few years ago. Shel wrote a lot of famous tunes, including “The Unicorn Song,” and “Cover of the Rolling Stone,” as well as countless award-winning children’s books, including “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” He generously gave of his time and talents to mentor songwriters that made their way to Key West. I personal ly spent an following noon at his house, and I knew I was truly in the presence of greatness.

I recently did a weekend back at Sloppy Joe’s for the first time in four years. You might rest assured that the music and fun continue on, as vibrant as ever. might be it is the gulf breeze. might be it is the rum runners. Whatever it is, I hope it goes on forever.

When you’re giving a presentation, whether it’s a keynote speech or seminar, the Venue and facilities could have a very large impact on the success or failure of your presentation, so here are three tips to make your presentation successful.

Small is more

A few years ago, my band was offer ed a headline show in one of the live music Clubs in Cape Town. The problem is that while our band can draw a crown of about 50-100 individuals, the Club held over 700 individuals we reluctantly turned down the show and instead asked to play in their smaller Club downstairs that only held 80 individuals. The downstairs show was amazing – it was full, crowded and had a amazing vibe – we would have needed at least 500 individuals upstairs to get the energy we had downstairs.

The same happens when all of us speak. Occasionally all of us think “let’s rather book a bigger room – just in case,” but in general, the small yet full room has far more energy than the large and empty room. Resist the temptation to book the larger room. You may always bring in extra chairs at the final minute if important.

Arrive Early

What’s been promised by the Venue, and what they actually provide are not always the same thing. If you arrive early you’ve plenty of time to make final minute differs to the room performance up. If possible, check it out a day or two before so that you’ve time to see the room and make a DJ ustments adhead of time.

Get to know the AV Guy

The AV (audio-visual) guy is the individual that (usually) works for the Club, and he’s responsible for all of the audio visual equipment. They are the people who know where the hidden button is that reduces the projector screen, or where to get an extra extension cable at the final minute etc. If you are speaking at a large conference, you might have a dedicated AV guy, but if it is a smaller function, the Club might have one individual responsible for the entire conference performance up.

This person can make or break your presentation. Befriend him and he’ll be willing to support. Antagonize him, and he can not be able to find that extra adapter that you left at home!

(I say AV guy – but in all honesty I have never met an AV gal!)

I hope the pointers stimulate – nice luck with you next presentation!

Three times in the last month I’ve been asked the question, “what do I need to do to organize a gig?” In reality, when this question is asked it could mean several things: How do I find a Club? How do I sort out the PA? How do I get an listeners? And so on.

But there is a stage before all of this: the budget. I would suggest that the moment you start thinking about organizing an gathering you ought to write a budget. This budget spreadsheet informs you of the majority things that you will need to contemplate and will likewise show you the risk, projected profit and the breakeven point. A sample spreadshhet is available to download from this address http://www.josaka.com/features/2005/Organize-A-Gig/Event-PandL.pdf

If the budget numbers do not look like they are working perhaps the get together is not the right thing to be running. If you do not like the level of risk, perhaps you aren’t cut out to be a  promoter.

So the start point is a spreadsheet. This should include all expenses and all incomes. The key headings for expenses should include: band cost, PA, lighting, Venue hire, marketing, box office expenses etc. The income is prefer ly to be largely ticket sales but don’t forget the chance to add a sponsor to the event.

The spreadsheet will advocate you work out the breakeven point for the party i.e. how a lot of tickets you need to sell to cover all expenses. Every sale beyond breakeven is of course profit (exluding any box office commision). The added bonus of creating an party spreadsheet is that advocates define all the key tasks to be performed.

The realisation of the forecasted numbers becoming actual figures suggests that all gatherings have got the deal they were looking for or agreed to. The sample speadsheet furthermore illustrates that anybody else involved in the concert is largely earning a fixed fee and and so the only person taking a financial risk is the  promoter.

So if you are thinking of organizing a live event I coomed you to work on the numbers 1st. This will help ensure you deliver a great show and have control over the resources.