The Art Of Selling Music Online

With the abundance of online resources available to musicians, it's never been easier to sell music online. The problem is that it's so easy to sell music online that anyone can do it, and now you have an over-saturation of musicians flogging their material with little imagination, craft or originality. 

The truth is that you should only have a respectable fanbase and some decent material before you even think about selling music. A respectable fanbase should be a few thousand fans minimum. After you've reached this target you should consider these steps:-

1. Develop a mailing list for your fans. Ask for an e-mail for musician updates and news and in return you give them a free track. Many bands have become successful this way by giving away free tracks and other merchandise during their development stage. However, from a producer perspective I have an issue with this. If I'd spent a long time to produce a track or album and then I or another musician gave it away for free, I would feel pretty underwhelmed for getting no monetary reward for my efforts. If you have this concern, consider giving away a high-quality demo or outtake of a track as a freebie.
2. So you've given away a track or more for free and you've developed your fanbase and created a bit of buzz. You should then consider creating a bit of anticipation for your next release, either through a blog detailing the development of your music or by some clever promotion through an online video. If you take this stage seriously you'll keep your fans hungry and they will be ready and waiting for your next release. 
3. Now your at the stage where you have your finished masterpiece, more than likely an album or a collection of strong singles. Try to get as many online reviews of the album as you can, one of the most popular way being through blogs. Have great videos for your singles, post them online on YouTube, and with that well looked-after fanbase you're music will spread and go viral. You should offer all kinds of music-related merchandise, including DVD concerts, limited edition CDs, vinyl editions, extended takes of tracks, outtakes of tracks and any other music odds and sods. This way you'll keep your fans focused on the music. And all this time you'll use your growing e-mail list to keep your fans aware of these updates.  

This is not a concrete and mandatory strategy, it is a guideline, but it is still a very powerful method to sell music.

Reference Tracks For Music Production

If you’re making music then you’ve probably got at least a few musical influences, and from those influences you have a few tracks that have inspired you. These are you’re reference tracks, which you use to model your own production techniques and musical ideas. Here are some things to take note of when listening to your reference tracks.

Panorama – Listen to where the instruments are place in the mix. Most likely the drums and bass will be placed in the centre (although this is not always the case). Often you’ll hear synths, guitars, piano and leads placed on the left or right of the mix. Vocals are generally placed in the middle, but again, if the vocals are double-tracked then they may be placed on both the left and right side.

Tone and Dynamics – There is no definitive tone or perfect sound for a piece of music. This is when you have to judge the emotion of the music. Is it dark, atmospheric, punchy, mellow, or intense? These factors are particularly important if you want to give your music a signature sound.

Volume – Average volume levels vary considerably depending on what kind of music you’re making. Ambient and classical music is generally the quietest, and on the other end of the scale rock and pop music has the highest average volume levels. This is something to listen out for.

Use Of Effects – Listen out for equalization, compression, reverb and delay. There are many, many other effects to consider but in most occasions it is those four that are prevalent in well-produced music.  Most music has EQ to cut away any unwanted noise, or to achieve a more desirable tone. All tracks will feature compression, which helps control the dynamics of each instrument, or the mix as a whole. Reverb is often used on a selection or all instruments   to judiciously bind those elements together. Delay is often used on particular tracks to ‘beef up’ instruments, such as on synths and basses.

Improvements – Not many producers would tell you this, but when you listen back to your tracks, think how the mix could be improved. You might think the bass is too weak, or the drums are too loud, or that the vocals lack a bit of punch. This, of course, is entirely subjective. It may have been the artist and/or producers intention for the music to sound that way. This is not always an essential aspect to look out for but definitely worth bearing in mind.

These skills are essential for any budding producer, composer or songwriter if they want to make great mixes and develop an original style.

Some Words About Sampling

Sampling is the art of taking one track or instrument from an existing song and then implementing it into your own music. It's a difficult topic to explain because it brings up so many issues regarding copyright, usability and it's necessity as a compositional tool.

The whole culture of modern electronic music was founded at least to some extent on sampling, and in the modern era many dance producers still use certain beat, instrument and even vocal samples. To some music cultures and genres this seems a betrayal of tradition. However, such is the range of technology available to composers and producers who implement samples that it's incredibly easy to make the samples sound totally different and original.

There are some cases when sampling is used that make it sound uninspiring and pointless. Take an electronic composer/producer when they use a dubstep sample and implement it into their own dubstep track. It's not very inspiring and sounds fairly unremarkable. However, if you took a classical sample and implemented in a dubstep track then that would sound very original and fresh, and that would put the used sample into a different musical context, or 'recontextualize' to give it it's fancy name. 

Another factor with sampling is copyright. Many musicians have a royalties license from collection agencies like PRS and ASCAP. Composers/producers have to be extremely careful when implementing licensed music into their music, so they either have to pay mechanical royalties for use in their music, or risk getting a lawsuit filed against them because you can hear in their music that they 'nicked' a popular song. There are many good royalty-free tracks available online, so that's a good area to explore if you want to avoid the sticky issue of copyright.

Sampling is a very effective tool within music composition and production, so provided you can avoid the obstacles of copyright and stigma you could have a highly effective element to your music. 

An Introduction To Film Composition

Film composition is a huge subject area in it's own right, and there many aspects to consider before attempting it. Here I will run through some terminology to help you understand music's effect in film.

Diegetic music - Where the sound is visible on screen or when the source is implied to be present by the action/story of the film. The most blatant example of this is a concert film of a rock band, where you can clearly see the band playing the music that your hearing.

Non-diegetic music - Where the source of the sound is not visible on screen. Any background music can be classified as this. It can be used to provide mood for the narrative, make reference to geographic location or the period of time of the story.  

Leitmotif - Use of a musical phrase to identify with a particular character. The mood or emotion of the score could change dramatically when a character's 'theme' is introduced, such as when a hero comes to save the day. Often on many original soundtrack CDs you will find a track that make's reference to a particular character's theme.

Mickey Mousing - Where the music is synced with the actions onscreen. Can be used to add excitement to high-octane scenes and also to heavily exaggerate character actions.

Underscore - Musical accompaniment to dialogue. It should add to the dialogue of the film but not be intrusive or overbearing, as dialogue is more important in this instance. This could be used effectively in a plot twist, in which a character reveals something terrible to the audience and the music starts to turn darker.

Many of these elements work on a subconscious level, and you don't really start to take into account the music being used until you listen to it closely. There are many ways you can use these elements in film music, so it's a good idea to watch as many films as possible before you try them out yourself.

The Beginners Guide To Soundcloud

Soundcloud is an online music platform where you can upload, share and discover music in a variety of ways.

You have the option of uploading a track in any file format you want to, whether it be MP3, Wav, FLAC, AIFFs and so on. You can upload single tracks, remixes, sets, demos, podcasts and any other type of audio you can think of. The fact that you've got this choice shows how incredibly flexible Soundcloud is.

So you've uploaded your tracks, and you want people to listen to them. One of the best ways is to add your track to a group that's tailored to the style of your music. There are thousands of groups you can share your track to, and it's a good way to start getting plays. You can also send messages to other Soundcloud users and share your track on a variety of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and StumbleUpon. You can also provide links to your bands website or video links to your tracks.

You may find at first that your track is a bit of a slow burner, and you'd like to get a lot more plays and comments on your tracks. One of the best ways to improve this is to listen to other artists on Soundcloud and make comments based on what you've heard. Try not to say anything negative or abusive, but be constructive with your criticism and be detailed and specific with your compliments. After this those Soundcloud users will at least listen to your tracks in return. There is also the option to start your own group, where you can choose a theme or genre for the group and encourage other Soundcloud users to join. This is a great way to raise your own profile.

There are three different accounts available to you when you sign up - free, pro and unlimited. In a free account you can upload 2 hours worth of tracks, you can count plays, likes, comments and downloads. With a pro account you can upload 4 hours worth of tracks, get details on who is listening to your sounds and where they are in the world, and you also have spotlight mode, which lets you pin your sounds to the top of your profile. With an unlimited account you can upload as much audio as you want and you can find out what devices, pages and networks your audio is being played on. You have the option of a free 14-day trial on the pro and unlimited account if you just want a taste of those extra features and added audio time.

Soundcloud has a strong sense of community and is widely used throughout the world. It's variety and versatility make it a much more satisfying music platform than other music websites. It's focus is on new and under-the-radar talent, and if you follow some of the steps in this article you can really grow your fanbase.

Take a look for yourself - https://soundcloud.com/

Why A Career In Music Should Be Taken Seriously

I believe that there's a culture in my native UK that a music career isn't a proper one and that you should try and pursue something that's more realistic. I find this very annoying and patronizing given the amount of effort, skill, knowledge and creativity that goes into many different music careers.

Let's start with the career of a musician. There are many musicians who are gifted, talented and experienced, capable of playing many types of music to many different types of audience. This is could be a concert pianist, a rock guitarist or an orchestral musician - all with different skills and experiences but all equally talented. There are often too few opportunities for these musicians to show their talents in live venues and they often aren't paid enough for their profession, so often they have to have other jobs alongside this. 

It is equally difficult to find opportunities in music production. I have a music production degree, and the pressure to find work in this area whilst trying to find a regular income makes my lifestyle very difficult. It's very labour intensive to plan, compose and produce your own material, and competition is fierce from other producers. I feel my effort and skill should be rewarded, but I also understand that there are many other producers in my position.

Then there's the business side of music. Often artist development staff need two years to break a highly successful band or artist. It would be very difficult for these artists and bands to make a living during these two years with the cost of trying to get them to a high level of finance, performance and musicality.  

One of the main reasons people who aren't involved in music don't value it is because of their experiences of music. From childhood they may have been forced to play the recorder or a woodblock at school, neither of which are creatively satisfying and could potentially put you off music for life. Only a minority of students from my school were involved in the different bands and orchestras, so the one's who weren't involved didn't care or had no interest. It's this apathy that's carried through to adulthood and explains why many people have little value towards music and resort to piracy.

So it's important that I should emphasize this commitment and dedication people involved in music have, and no one should feel foolish for having aspirations to break into the music industry.

   

The Truth About Music Streaming

Music streaming is a very popular outlet for many artists and bands to spread their music to a worldwide audience. Many believe that streaming is enough to make a living out of in it's own right. However, the amount bands receive from each stream is miniscule. This criticism has also been echoed by artists like David Byrne and Thom Yorke towards streaming services like Spotify.

It isn't right to say that Spotify is bad because it rips off artists. With over 20 million users, Spotify is a widely used music platform. Artists can make the most of this platform, and can scatter their music to a range of international audiences throughout the world with growing music markets. It raises profile of an artist or band throughout the world.

So in a sense Spotify and many other streaming services are not big moneymaking schemes for artists, but a great promotional tool that could be used to divert towards artists' merchandise and/or music website. However, Spotify doesn't point this out and can mislead a lot of artists thinking they're heading for success by music streaming alone.

In a few years Spotify will receive a significantly higher amount of paid subscribers and maybe then artists will get a better deal from streaming. Until then Spotify should be seen as an effective promotional platform for all types of artists, but they can't live off it.

The UK Vinyl Revival

In the UK there has been a strong and surprising vinyl revival. Vinyl LPs have reached the half a million mark for the first time since 2003. According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) vinyl now accounts for 0.8% of album sales, which might seem small but is actually a big improvement on the 0.1% the format commanded in 2007. In April this year independent record shops sold a massive £2 million worth of vinyl on Record Store Day, an event to celebrate the importance of said record shops.

So why this big vinyl renaissance in the age of digital music? It's largely down to the sound quality of vinyl records. Digital music sounds bright and incredibly pristine, but that also makes it sound clinical and cold. Vinyl sounds warmer and more immediate. Then there's the process of the listening experience - taking the vinyl out of the sleeve, putting it on the turntable, dropping the needle and sitting back to embrace the pure listening experience. It's an activity in it's own right and one where an album should be listened to in full. Then there's the artwork, liner notes and the added benefit of a download code for MP3s.

There's clearly a high level of intimacy associated with vinyl culture, and I believe this doesn't exist in MP3 culture, where playlists damage and overshadow the power of the album format, which showcases a band or artist's hard work and skill over many months. You don't even have to download full albums on digital platforms, just cherry-pick the best tracks. This takes away from the attachment that vinyl has to offer. MP3s don't feel like products, and many bands and artists give them out for free. A vinyl feels like it's been loved and cared over, tailored-made for your ultimate enjoyment. It also confirms that music lovers still buy records. 

So in conclusion I think vinyl has had a great resurgence as a result of the musical isolation digital music has created, enhancing the album experience that the latter simply cannot emulate. Maybe in the future vinyl will become the dominant album format, but there's still a long way to go for that to be realized.

Here's a link to the BPI article on Vinyl's Resurgence.

http://www.bpi.co.uk/home/vinyl-revival-continues-as-lp-sales-reach-highest-level-in-more-than-a-decade.aspx

Sexualisation In Pop Music

There has been much outcry recently in the US and UK news about the sexualisation of the modern female popstar. 

In a recent interview Charlotte Church said that she was put under pressure to wear revealing outfits from the age of 19. She also added that the music business is a 'male dominated industry' with a juvenile perspective on gender and sexuality. There has also been an open feud between Sinead O'Connor and Miley Cyrus about the latter's overtly sexual behaviour in her 'Wrecking Ball' video.

However, the sexualisation of female popstars is not an exclusively modern one. Artists like Donna Summer in the 70s, Madonna in the 80s and Britney Spears in the late 90s have all sexualised themselves for videos and live performances. It's because the fact that there is this legacy that modern female artists believe they must exert this image in order to be successful, therefore they subsequently feel less self-conscious when it becomes realized. And surely Charlotte Church must of known that there were elements of sexualisation involved in female pop performances! The main elements of pop music are fashion, which comes down to looking good, which inevitably has elements of sexualisation.

Because the vast majority sexualize they inevitably sell a lot records, which is good business for the artist and the record label, and any subsequent publicity created sells more records as it gravitates more attention to the artist. The sad fact is there are not enough acts like Adele who don't really sexualize themselves, create a great music performance and sell well.

I can't see female sexualisation ever being phased out in the music industry, as it's a commodity the industry can't get enough of.  

Great Android Music Apps

There are some very sophisticated and useful music apps on the android phone market, many of which are free or have free versions. Here's a quick guide to a few great music apps.

Chordbot is an essential app for any composer or songwriter. It lets you create and play a variety of simple and advanced chord progressions. It is great for experimentation and accompaniment to guitar, piano or vocals. There's a massive range of chord types to choose from in all keys and inversions. You can alter the tempo, transpose the chords and create slash chords. Some of the complex diminished, sixth and seventh chords are probably more useful to experienced composers, and can sound very dissonant. However, this app can create song arrangements from absolutely nothing and it's good fun to play around with. Chordbot Lite is free, but you have to pay for the full version, which comes with extra features like extra instruments and exporting options.  

Songo is essentially a chord finding app without the boring bits of music theory. It's a tool that helps you find chord progressions by joining chords of the same key together. You can create songs in 12 keys, transpose the songs or just have a good old mess about. The design does look a bit too kid-friendly, but that doesn't take away from the fact that this is a vital educational tool for songwriters of all ages, and can help you understand how one chord relates to another. This can be used alongside Chordbot for even more effective chord progressions. The basic free version is fine, but the full version can let you play around with altered chords in seventh and minor seventh variations, see each note of a chord and includes a hands-free auto-play mode.

Piano For You is a great piano app. It has a full piano keyboard (88 keys), you can record it, you can create custom instruments using samples, it loads quickly, it's completely free and has no ads! Even that description doesn't do the app justice, there's plenty to explore on this app and it provides hours of creativity and entertainment. I would personally like to see more keys on the screen to play with, but apart from that this app is fantastic!

For the more experimental music creator, Plasma Sound is worth a go. It is an instrument that acts as a theremin, continuum, keyboard and sequencer. When you touch the screen a note is generated. The left-right axis controls the pitch and up-down axis controls the volume. You can pick the note range, the waveform, tremolo, vibrato, delay and much more. Some of the controls should be used with caution, as they can create some seriously unstable sounds, unless that's your intention. The design is certainly very slick and it's completely ad and cost free!

There's plenty of variety and experimentation available to you with these apps, and are fine examples of how new technology can shape modern music composition.