Updates from November, 2009 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

• Nick 10:34 pm on November 23, 2009 Permalink  

  TuneCore: If You Don’t Know, Now You Know 

  While traditional labels are looking as clueless as Nas on tax day, TuneCore has found a way to make recorded music more lucrative than Gucci Mane’s kitchen. Launched in 2005, TuneCore is a platform that aggregates every major online music store into a single manageable interface. TuneCore operates on a flat rate; a user simply uploads a song or album for a low price, and TuneCore puts those tracks for sale on iTunes, Amazon, and elsewhere. Meanwhile users can easily track their sales across online music retailers on a dashboard which adds up the total sales. TuneCore’s artist friendly business model has made the company not only popular, but highly profitable with reported revenues of over $30Million in 2009. If you’re interested in selling your music online and not already using TuneCore, get on it.

  

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• Nick 7:45 pm on November 22, 2009 Permalink  

  Who NOT to Sign With: EMI 

  

  EMI is currently four billion in debt to Citigroup, and at the center of a raging debate over that debt’s restructuring process between Citi and private equity firm Terra Firma. Most of the money EMI generates goes towards servicing that debt. Also since 2007, eighty of EMI’s top one hundred executives have been replaced. What does that mean for artists? Well, it means that EMI‘s marketing and promotion budgets are scant, and that ongoing projects will be disrupted by staff changes. Peter Lauria has an interesting story on the situation in Thursday’s New York Post here:

  http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/emi_on_shaky_ground_0U5GND22NI5IInUCcHK2mK

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• Nick 7:25 pm on November 22, 2009 Permalink  

  Twitter introduces Geotagging 

  

  Late pass on this one, but for everyone who hasn’t heard–ten days ago Twitter introduced Geotagging, a function that attaches a location to your tweets. Geotagging is off by default but a single click in your settings page will activate it, and inject your posts into the local scene. Geotagging is, for now, an API only release meaning that your location will be mentioned in third party applications like Birdfeed, rather than on your twitter.com page. Geotagging increases Twitters functionality and is definitely worth looking into for bands promoting concerts to targeted audiences.

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• Nick 5:55 pm on November 21, 2009 Permalink  

  Chicago Baby Band Raises $10,000 in 48 Hours 

  

  Raising $10,000 in 48 hours would be a daunting task for a small business owner in any industry. When that small business is your unsigned band and that industry is the music business 2009, chances just went from slim to slimmer. Enter Chicago video game rock band I Fight Dragons who beat the odds by offering a limited supply of lifetime memberships at $100 a pop. Members of this exclusive club will receive free entrance to any I Fight Dragons concert, and all of I Fight Dragons music for free. Lead singer Brian Mazzaferri speculates that the promotion’s success was due to the offers’ unlimited potential and to the grass roots support the band had built by giving away music digitally through a fans’ list. It all raises a good question: how are I Fight Dragons going to get 100 lifetime members on every guest list if they all decide to show up at the same time?

  Mazzaferri writes about his experience here, http://www.wearelistening.org/blog/, but leaves that question unanswered.

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• Nick 5:47 pm on November 21, 2009 Permalink  

  Jerking Article in New York Times: 

  

  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/fashion/22jerking.html

  Jerking is a Hip-Hop dance style originating in Los Angeles. Thanks to the internet, flashy dance steps, and the tendency of major labels to parasitically attach themselves to youth movements, Jerking has gone mainstream. Earlier this year, rap group New Boyz sold over 750,000 downloads of the Jerking themed single “You’re a Jerk” on Asylum. Despite what participants may fervently claim, Jerking is more an entertaining fad than the cultural zeitgeist the Times’ article suggests. Still, before Jerking becomes as loathed as Ed Hardy shirts and Hammer pants, check out the sick dance moves that started it all: Ranger$: Jerkin’ in Jerkville

  The Jerking phenomenon offers an interesting case study about a trend that quickly went viral, and a lot can be learned from Jerkings’ ascension. With distinctive fashions, sounds, slang and moves, Jerking had everything it takes to get the internet going nuts.

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• Nick 5:41 pm on November 21, 2009 Permalink  

  Welcome to Headliner, the definitive resource for aspiring and established musicians. This blog will provide an ongoing dialogue on the creative, technical, and business aspects of working as a musician in a rapidly changing music industry. Topics will include artist interviews, how to efficiently leverage online marketing tools, how to design DIY electronic projects, problems, solutions and more. If you are interested in contributing to Headliner’s blog or have any inquiries, email Nick at

  Nick@headliner.fm.

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• admin 3:45 pm on November 17, 2009 Permalink
  Tags: getting started   

  Why, Hello There! 

  We’re just getting underway. Check back soon for updates!

  Thanks!

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