SeeJoeRock In The Spotlight!

January 6th, 2012

SeeJoeRock Gets a Spotlight on Mashable.com!

I know, we’re still pinching ourselves!

SeeJoeRock.com was selected to be featured on Mashable.com’s Startup Weekend Roundup starting THIS WEEKEND (Jan 07, 2012)!!

Mashable.com is the largest independent news source covering web culture, social media and tech.. and yup, we’re going to be on it!!

Can I get a whoop whoop!!

So starting tomorrow, (not sure what time), go here: MASHABLE STARTUP WEEKEND ROUNDUP and check out SeeJoeRock’s article!

We’ll be the FIRST of 3 features covered.

This so freakin’ Rocks!

Pass it on and share the love!

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Posted by Mary Filed in Just for You
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2011 Music Conferences & Festivals You Should Check Out!

April 6th, 2011

Calendar of Events for:

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

Sept 2011

October 2011

November 2011

2011 Worship Conferences

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Posted by Mary Filed in Just for You
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Promotion 101: Getting People To The Gig

September 30th, 2010

Promotion 101: Getting People To The Gig

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If you or your band are just starting out, playing out can seem like a pretty daunting process, especially if you’re the sensitive artist type. While some folks feel perfectly fine playing to the handful of locals at the pub down the street, you can be sure that the folks that booked your show booked you for a reason: to bring people in the door. If you’re playing to an empty house, the club’s bills aren’t getting paid, and the chances of you being invited back to play are about the same as the chances the townie sitting at the bar will buy your record. There are certain unavoidable events (competing shows, acts of God, etc.) that every performing artist has to deal with, but there are also a number of very basic grassroots-type things that you can do to publicize your show, get people in the door, and make the club happy to have you.

As this is Promotion 101, we’re going to assume you haven’t really played out yet, and that your local market is what you’re looking to conquer. Which is great, as the first rule of thumb for a successful show is to INVITE YOUR FRIENDS.

It may sound too sales-ey, or disingenuous, or presumptuous, or whatever, but this is the music industry, and no matter what role you play in it you’re going to have learn that no matter how distasteful it may seem, self promotion is the key to success.

The number one thing you should do is to invite everyone you personally know to your show, twice - once a week or two before the show, and again the night before. Preferably through e-mail as well as a personal call. Before your music has a chance to speak for itself, the people that are going to go see you play are there to see you, personally. Hopefully you’ll pull off what you’re trying to pull off on stage, and your friends will turn on their friends to what you’re doing, and you’ll have the beginning of a little fan base. And of course these friends will mark the beginning of your mailing list, which you will keep up religiously.

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Posted by Mary Filed in Just for You
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The Importance of Connections

September 30th, 2010

The Importance of Connections

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While it is fine (and often refreshing) for a manager to have a low-key persona, they must be able to sell themselves and, more importantly, the artist. In so doing, they will build connections.

The record business is one where you live and die by how connected you are. You can make the greatest music in the world, but unless you can get it heard, it doesn’t much matter. Simply put, at all stages in your career—from getting an A&R person to listen to your demo, to getting your video played on MTV, to getting a gig to perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Extravaganza—it is often connections that make the difference.

The reality is that the strength of the connection is frequently as powerful as the strength of the music. There are many examples of someone who makes mediocre music but is well connected getting a record deal before an artist who makes the most amazing music in the world but has few connections.

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Posted by Mary Filed in Just for You
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Seven Rules To Getting Your Music Career on the Fast Track

September 30th, 2010

Nobody Loves A Starving Musician: Seven Rules To Getting Your Music Career on the Fast Track

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Have you ever been a starving musician? Not metaphorically, but in reality.

It’s no fun.

Wondering where this month’s rent money is going to come from, scrounging up change in the sofa to put gas in your car to get to an audition, hoping that a string doesn’t break during the gig…

You get the idea. It isn’t pretty.

But most musicians know that no one goes from unknown artist to self-sufficient professional overnight. So how DO you do it?

Here are seven rules that will help you make the transition from someone with talent to someone with talent and a level of financial self-sufficiency. Someone who is well on their way to building a successful career in music.

Rule 1: Always Bring Your “A” Game

Making the decision to spend your life as a professional musician is a big commitment. Once you’ve made that decision, you need to focus on bringing your “A” game to every interaction that impacts your music studies, performances, networking and other points of contact with what we loosely call the music industry.

Never put a half-hearted effort into anything musical. First, the competition to get work and keep working is fierce in every city and town in the world. Second, since so much of the music industry is based on personal relationships and reputations, if word gets out that you gave a weak effort at a gig or rehearsal, chances are you may not be getting a call back in the future.

Rule 2: Get Out of Your Practice Room

Isn’t practicing supposed to be the road to musical success, more gigs and maybe even superstardom? Well, no, it’s not.

Actually, your musical chops, whether you are a shred guitarist or a composer of madrigals, is only one part of your overall career skill set. Not to say that playing, singing, of composing extremely well is not absolutely essential. It is.

But there are thousands of talented guitarists who can play every lick by whoever the hot guitarist of the month but seldom play a gig. Why?

They spend their lives studying music, perfecting their skills, however they are unfortunately violating one of the most important rules of music career building. You must develop connections to people and institutions (think clubs, radio stations, booking agents, other bands, etc.) that are like-minded and can help you. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Mary Filed in Just for You
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STUDIO TIP: “Synthesize Me”

August 24th, 2010

By Range Producer Aaron Levinson

This Studio Tip comes from SeeJoeRock.com “PRO”, Range Recording.  You can connect with them at www.SeeJoeRock.com/RangeRecording

From their first real introduction in the early 70’s the synthesizer has played a unique role in popular music.  From the pioneering work of groups like Can and Kraftwerk on the Krautrock side to the slippery funk of Sly Stone and Stevie Wonder, the synth has had its ups and downs.  Some years it’s all over stuff and then for some reason it goes into the musical witness relocation program.  I think it is safe to say that today it has come out of hiding again and is back with a vengeance.  Like any weapon, it can be used responsibly or it can be misused with tragic consequences for all involved.

In part this rise and fall can be located in what kind of synthesis we are talking about.  When they first came into prominence the reigning design model was multi-oscillator analog synthesis with names like Moog and Arp dominating the landscape.  Further down the road various other designers and manufacturers got on board and those quirky sounds give way to the dreaded digital synthesis of the 80’s and the emergence of Yamaha and the ubiquitous DX-7.  The DX-7 is the kind of beast that can give any instrument a bad rep for years to come.  That is exactly what happened.  The cheese factor of digital synthesis was so insanely high that it basically broke the cheese-o-meter in half. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Mary Filed in Ask the Experts
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What I learned at the 2010 Launch Music Conference

May 7th, 2010

by: Steven O’Donnell, Ph.D., Esq.
Registered Patent Attorney

Create, Consult, Control

News & commentary on intellectual property issues.

Apr 20, 2010 | Steve O’Donnell

What I learned at the 2010 Launch Music Conference

It’s been a long time since the last music conference I attended (when I was on the other side of the fence). It’s interesting to see how little has changed over the last 20 or so years, but what can we do to change the things that should change?

I had a table at the 2010 Launch Music Conference last weekend and met a nice group of musicians and promotional professionals (and handed out a lot of brochures). It’s oddly comforting that some things have remained the same over the years, and probably will forever–musicians still wear genital-crushingly tight jeans and spend a disproportionate amount of time on their hair, they still get tattooed and still wear boots. Unfortunately, musicians still get screwed over. I’m not going to convince anyone to spend less time on their hair (and I’d never try) but hopefully I can convince someone that with a little planning, and a little legal help, they can avoid some of the most common headaches they’re likely to run into.

First off, a poor-man’s copyright isn’t worth the postage. Just don’t bother. Copyright registration is relatively inexpensive and quick. Copyright is also one of the few things that can benefit from an economy of scale, i.e., the more tracks you register at once, the less your attorney is probably going to charge you for each registration.

Secondly, about your band’s name, someone’s already using it. Ok, maybe that’s not the case, but you should assume it is, at least until you do some research and make sure that it’s not. Also, even it it’s all yours today, what happens when someone across the country comes up with the same name? What if they get picked up by a label before you, and register the name as their trademark? Do you then have to change your name? The best thing to do is to register a trademark for you band’s name. Maybe it doesn’t make sense right now to spend $1000 or so right now on a federal registration, but a state registration is a good first step, and probably a lot cheaper.

Thirdly, homemade contracts aren’t necessarily better than no contract, and might be worse. On one hand, I guess it shows to that punk isn’t dead, the DIY attitude is still thriving, but the business side of things should be left to the business people. No episode of Behind the Music contains the line “I’m sure glad we never hired a lawyer.”

The biggest problem I heard was bands just not getting paid. Whether your agreement is for a flat payment or for a percentage of the gate, a lot of venues don’t like to pay musicians. The best way to avoid this is to have a contract upfront, if possible. It seems a lot of (especially smaller) venues shy away from contracts and think you should just trust them, maybe so they feel better about not paying. If that fails, the natural inclination is to resort to a little violent self-help. Generally, that’s not the best way of doing things and can lead to some other problems, such as not getting booked anywhere but the police station. Something that’s usually pretty simple and straight forward is a District Justice (Small Claims) lawsuit. These suits can be handled for a pretty small filing fee and without a lawyer, although it’s always a good idea to hire a lawyer if you can–some may take your case for a cut of what you win. Small Claims is limited (in PA) to claims under $8000 so if your agreed fee was more than that, you’ll need to file somewhere else.

Lastly, I also learned that some people like to dress as members of the Imperial Fleet and walk around the convention center.

Got more questions about protecting your music? Connect with Steven O’Donnell on his SeeJoeRock.com profile: www.seejoerock.com/AttorneySteve

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Posted by Mary Filed in Uncategorized
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