Almost everyone has heard about the massive crack down on Internet music piracy that has been occurring over the past few years. Napster was taken down (although it has now returned as a pay service), other file sharing programs now require users to pay for a license and the RIAA and other similar organizations are doing their best to hunt down copyright offenders and put an end to their crime sprees. The consumers on the other hand argue that their actions hurt nobody, that there is no damage done to anyone by their not buying an album. Furthermore, they claim, MP3s allow them to sample a CD before purchasing it, thus actually helping sales.
I’m not here to argue the pros and cons. Basically it’s not worth it, as neither side of the argument will ever see the opposition’s point of view. What I’d like to do is take a look at the completely free and legal alternative to ’stealing’ music. Those wonderfully talented musicians who are willing to put their creations online to download for free, solely for the joy of spreading their creations to the masses.
Free music is surprisingly easy to come by, even music by famous bands. Sometimes it needs to be ’streamed’ from the Internet, meaning that you can only listen to a song while you’re online, but with the ever-growing popularity of broadband Internet this is really no longer a problem. Sites such as MP3.com and purevolume.com provide free music by almost any band you can think of, although there is a large amount of it that has to be streamed and not downloaded. A search for ‘free legal MP3 downloads’ will reveal a huge number of pages to visit.
For something specific, try visiting the artist’s website, or the site of their record label. These will often offer a few sample tracks to download for free. It’s not quite as convenient as having access to every song that you want, but it’s not a bad alternative.
But how about we forget about the mainstream for just a while and move towards the alternative? Towards the hopefuls, the talented bands that have yet been ‘noticed’. There are a huge number of these smaller bands out there that are sticking their stuff online for any and all to listen to, just so that they can be heard. These can be easier to find, because most MP3 sites will be filled with these smaller acts. A great place to start is http://www.garageband.com/ or the aforementioned http://purevolume.com
The great thing about smaller bands is that you can often find bands that come from your local area and then go and see them play live. Being able to see a favourite band live more than once a year (or lifetime) without expending huge amounts of money and time is pretty cool. Many music search engines will let you search for bands of a particular genre in a particular area, which makes it all quite easy.
A fairly major contributor to the online music scene is the remixer. These people take other tunes and redo them, usually in a techno style because one person can do this competently. Chief among the tunes selected to be remixed are those old ditties that used to play through the simplest of sound chips on aging consoles: the video game theme songs. People now go and grab the main tune line from an old favourite and fill it out, making real the work our imaginations used to do for us to turn the single tone melodies into orchestral masterpieces. A few good places to start are http://remix.kwed.org and http://remix.overclocked.org as well as a personal favourite band http://machinaesupremacy.com
I hope this has given you something to think about. It’s not hard to come across illegal MP3 rips, in fact it’s often hard to avoid them, but if you give the free music scene a look you may find something completely different and new that will really do it for you. With web hosts already being penalized hugely for illegal content being stored on their servers (having an entire server taken down because of one inconsiderate user is damaging and irritating beyond belief) and moves being made to charge ISPs for the content being accessed by their users, it makes more sense than ever to get out there and grab yourself an awesomely original and completely legal music collection.
John Pawlett
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/free-legal-music-online-91496.html
As a web designer, you should design your websites to give your visitors the greatest ease of use, the best impression and most important of all a welcoming experience.
It doesn’t matter if you had the greatest product in the whole world — if your website is poorly done you won’t be able to sell even one copy of it because visitors will be driven off your website by the lousy design.
When I’m talking about a “good design”, I’m not only talking about a good graphical design.
A professional web design will be able to point out that there are many components which contribute to a good website design — accessibility design, interface or layout design, user experience design and of course the most straightforward, which is graphic design.
Hence, I have highlighted some features of the worst web designs I’ve come across. Hopefully, you will be able to compare that against your own site as a checklist and if anything on your site fits the criteria, you should know it’s high time to take serious action!
1) Background music
Unless you are running a site which promotes a band, a CD or anything related to music, I would really advise you to stay away from putting looping background music onto your site.
It might sound pleasant to you at first, but imagine if you ran a big site with hundreds of pages and everytime a visitor browses to another page on your site, the background music starts playing again.
If I were your visitor, I’d just turn off my speakers or leave your site. Moreover, they just add to the visitors burden when viewing your site — users on dial up connections will have to wait longer just to view your site as it is meant to be viewed.
Gerald Mason
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/web-design-elements-you-should-avoid-109596.html
From Belgium, Arax is a band of folk/classical musicians who play mostly Armenian melodies along with other Western influences.
Band members:
Vardan Hovanissian - Duduk & Shvi
Tigran Ter Stepanian - Guitar
Jean Marc Finn - Flute
Dominique PEYNSAERT - Cello
Osvando Hernandez - Percussions
Band Website: http://www.araxbel.com
Download their album “La Brise” from itunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=77260448&s=143441
Visit http://youtube.com/watch?v=HhhH1mrym08 to see the high quality version of Erzeroumi Shoror - which has been uploaded by the actual band.
Duration : 0:4:31
The band has two 13 year olds playing bass and guitar. Hank is older than them, he is drums. The kids names are Jake and Edwin. Bass is all black (the instrument) guitar is balck and white. My cousin recently went to a Mayfest and heard them play. THEY ROCK!!! I looked everywhere, maybe u all would have better luck. Some songs they played were Fire and Heartbreaker. Edwin is red haired, Jake is balck haired. Good luck!
http://www.theoldschoolband.net/
Our teacher told us to look for some music we would want to play next football season but I can't find any websites. I would like to listen to a sample of the arrangment so I can determine if it resembles the actual song. P.S. I want to find music that I actually listen to.
Thanks.
Heal the world - Michael Jackson
2 bad - Michael Jackson
Weve had enough - Michael Jackson
Who wants to live forever - Queen
Im going slightly mad - Queen
These are the days of our lives - Queen
Within You - David Bowie
Heroes - David Bowie
Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
go to the site: http://tp3reviews.com/mp3downloads.htm
can get every one!
One of the most crucial things you can do for yourself and your band is to promote the gigs that you book. After all, getting that gig was hard work, now what you need to focus on is exposure. The only person who is going to market for you is you. Over the next few minutes I am going to give you some tips on how to market and promote after you get gigs.
The first place you can hit up, after you find gigs, is the media outlets. Start with radio. Call or fax all the relevant radio stations in town, let them know when you book gigs and ask them what they can do to help you promote it. You never know, they might want to give you a quick spot or interview on their station.
Next, call all the publications in town when you find gigs. Send them a press kit and let them know when you will be performing. Ask them to put you on their calendar or somewhere in their music section of their publication. Do you have a video? Send your video or clip to the local TV stations and see if they will play it some time for a little extra exposure. The worst they can do is say no.
Hit up your local college campus with flyers and posters. Hang them in the student union or any place with a bulletin board. Put up posters all over town, the coffee shop, book store or any other relevant place.
Next, spread the word. Word of mouth advertising is free and can work wonders when you book gigs. Tell everyone you know about it. Ask friends to pass out flyers as well. If a few friends tell a few friends then they will tell and so on…
Post it on your MySpace page. In fact, you should have a calendar on your page so you can easily advertise when, where and what time your gig is. Don’t ever underestimate the power of MySpace when it comes to promoting your shows when you book gigs.
If you have a website, other than MySpace for your band then you should do a newsletter type deal about your band and your gigs. Send it out each time you have a new show booked. When people go to your website then they can opt in to your email list and you can use email marketing as a promotion tool. Try to include some other valuable information in your newsletter to keep your readers interested.
Lastly, have products to sell when you get gigs. Any time you book gigs or play at a venue is an opportunity for you to bring in some cash and market your music. Have a few t-shirts made up, make some CDs, solicit the help of an artistic friend to design a poster for you and then get some printed. You may have to drop some cash but if your music is good then you should get a return on your investment every time you book gigs.
Ty Cohen
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/after-you-book-the-gig-96364.html
An update video on 5-3-09 explaining what’s been going on.
In summary, i’m gonna be busy for the next two weeks, but videos soon after that. Also explanations of why I quit WoW, why I came back, etc.
“Shoe Box” is a song by Canadian band Barenaked Ladies, released as a single in 1995. It is notable for being featured on the first soundtrack to the television series Friends, as well as the last track on the band’s Born on a Pirate Ship album.
Wikipedia Article(song): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe_Box
Wikipedia Article(band):http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barenaked_Ladies
Band Website: http://www.bnlmusic.com/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej0aiNpgFBs
(Note: The quality in the Youtube song is pretty crappy.)
These videos are for entertainment purposes only, I am not profiting nor getting anything from it, besides entertainment myself. I give credit where credit is due in the Details of the video, and in the credits.
Runescape is an mmorpg. You can find it at http://www.runescape.com/
Duration : 0:3:10
Is there any software available to increase my speed of broadband connection … internet connection is very slow.. i want to incresase it…
Unless your ISP is having trouble, your slow connection probably means you have caught a virus and/or spyware. Make sure your antivirus software is up to date.
If you are like most independent recording artists, one thing that you can always use is more CD sales. Below, are ten alternative unique actions that you can take now to begin tripling your CD sales overnight.
A. CD Gig Sale Co-Op
I’ve mentioned this one in a previous issue, but it bears reiterating. Basically it works this way:
Arrange a cooperative agreement between your band and
similar bands, say 2-3, whereby you each agree to promote and sell each other’s CDs at each other’s respective gigs. You also stipulate a sales price and an agreed upon number of units.
B. Distribute Samples At Genre Nightclubs
Here, you will contact club managers in your area whose deejays either play your genre of music or host live bands in your genre. This works best in clubs that specifically have deejays and do not have live bands. You ask the club manager for permission to distribute your samplers to club patrons. Even better, is if you agree to pay the club a small fee for allowing you to do so.
On the sampler, simply include approximately 2 minutes
of each song. Naturally, these sampler discs are CDs
that you will “burn” in your computer or you may choose to have your samplers manufactured. You also want to be sure to leave your website address on the sampler’s cover, as a file within the compact disc, and on the sampler’s label itself.
C. Distribute Samples At Football Games
What a perfect opportunity to get some free exposure than by distributing your sampler at football games. However, be sure to obtain permission from the school prior to doing so. If this feat works, you can also distribute at other school sports as well.
D. Distribute Samplers at Colleges and their Dances
Not only are colleges great territories to distribute your free samplers, but they have several opportunities to do so that include; games, dances and other school and social functions, as well as by simply walking around the campus and handing samplers out to students. Again, be sure to obtain permission from the college administration or student activities office beforehand.
E. Tee Shirts
If your budget will allow, you could make an investment in an order of tee shirts that promote your band name, logo and website address.
F. College Radio Interviews
Contact area colleges and offer to interview with them as a part of their content. If agreed, be sure to provide the host or producer a copy of your complete CD in advance.
G. College Television Interviews
Same as above. Contact college television stations and offer to be an interview subject. If you also have a video, this is a perfect time to have it aired during your interview. In fact, if you have a professional video, this may be the only calling card you need to get the interview.
H. Interview with College Newspapers
College newspapers are a boon for exposure because they can feature both interviews and music reviews. Hence, you should strongly consider them as an interview possibility as well as consider them for low-cost advertising of your new music release.
I. Flea Markets
There are some incredibly large flea markets that are open to the general public on weekends. And, there is the likely chance that, at least, one exists in your area. Contact the management and offer to play for free as entertainment in exchange for management allowing you to sell your CDs. I have been to many large flea markets but I cannot recall ever seeing a band performing. This could be a great start in exposure and sales for you and fellow bands.
J. Customized ID Checks
Offer radio stations a free customized station ID check for them to air. If you have a fairly good area following, this will work even better. Station ID checks sound something to the effect of…
“Hi, this is John Thomas from The Stinging Lizards.
Whenever I awake in the morning, my alarm clock is always set to KTAV 103 FM.”
With these ten steps, you can easily see how implementing only several of them regularly and consistently, could, indeed, quickly and easily triple your CD sales.
Kenny Love
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/10-actions-to-take-now-to-triple-cd-ales-overnight-53113.html
Please subscribe, comment and also rate!
http://www.tmottgogo.com
The Business of Music - And Your Role In It - Episode 4: Songs in the Keywords of your Band Site
When it comes to your band’s website, just like in music, playing in the wrong key can hurt you. In this episode we tackle on the topic of the band website keywords and the importance of it in regards to SEO and placement.
——————————————————–
The Music Business is just that - A Business.
The more that you keep abreast in the knowledge of it, the more successful you will be able to stay on top of the game.
The following are excellent material to help keep you there:
* Build A Solid Website for your Band
http://tinyurl.com/co2g7x
* BLUE HOST
http://tinyurl.com/co2g7x
* This Business of Music, 10th Edition
http://tinyurl.com/d4mpwy
* This Business of Global Music Marketing: Global Strategies for Maximizing Your Music’s Popularity and Profits
http://tinyurl.com/d6q8eu
* Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook: 201 Self-Promotion Ideas for Songwriters, Musicians and Bands on a Budget
http://tinyurl.com/ca7k5b
* Web Marketing for the Music Business
http://tinyurl.com/ca7k5b
* The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly
http://tinyurl.com/cc9wu2
* I Don’t Need a Record Deal!: Your Survival Guide for the Indie Music Revolution
http://tinyurl.com/cc9wu2
* Plug Your Business! Marketing on MySpace, YouTube, blogs and podcasts and other Web 2.0 social networks
http://tinyurl.com/c2ysf7
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Duration : 0:5:8
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