It's A New Day

There continues to be an on going debate about the fate of the music industry. It's all about the old way of business versus the new. We are now living in the digital age where people consume music and all products, for that matter, in a completely different way. The old music industry was a members only game that used money and influence to force the buying public into purchasing music. When I say force I mean if you wanted to buy a single you liked you had to wait until the full album came out and most times the single would be the only really great song on the album but it was the only way to get the song you wanted. Even radio airplay would force you, in a kind of subliminal way, to like music you really didn't care for. Well that has all changed. The Internet has leveled the playing field but it seems that most of us traditional musicians that make our living producing and playing music have not quite gotten the memo. We have to understand that it is a new day and this is really to our benefit. Most of us are still looking for record deals. The record deal is dead. We have to become Internet savvy by understanding how to market our music via social sites and other web marketing tools. Selling something is all about the distribution and in the past you had to make a deal with one of the big labels for use of their distribution network. Well now the Internet puts the world at our fingertips, but we have to be willing to do the work. I've been dealing with a lot of traditional music lately such as blues, jazz, rock & roll and Americana and most of these artists are great self promoters and make quite a great living playing shows but they are loosing their shirts trying to supply radio stations and reviewers with product. These stations and reviewers are STILL requesting hard copies which costs tons of money in shipping not to mention the money you loose by giving away a piece of product when you can just send them a digital file of your music and press kit at no cost. I mean most of these stations have to convert the music into mp3s anyway so why make us spend extra money shipping them product that they don't really need anyway. It is vital that these people join the digital age, if not, we will continue to see a decline in the traditional music markets because everyone else in pop, hip/hop, r&b etc... is using facebook, twitter, YouTube, sound cloud, reverbnation, instagram, LinkedIn and the list goes on and on. We have to use this technology to make things easier and less expensive for ALL of us, radio and other media people included. Now this brings me to CD sales. We keep hearing that the Cd is dead and downloads are the new king. Well not quite yet BUT, it's not far off. You can check the following link from the Huffington Post for the latest figures for 2012 sales at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/music-sales-2012-digital-physical_n_2440380.html. CD sales were still the largest percent of the market share but they were down substantially from the preceding year and digital sales where up quite a bit from the preceding year. The writing is clearly on the wall. The CD will eventually go the way of the 8track and cassettes tape formats. In life and art change is inevitable, those that can adapt will win and those that can't will just be left penniless lamenting the "good old days". It's a new day and the future is NOW! Do your research and most of all JUST MAKE GREAT MUSIC! With this great new technology has come even more distractions so if you are going to win fans, your music has to be great to hold their attention and make them want to share it with their friends. Welcome to the new music biz. It's what you choose to make of it. Enjoy the journey.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2013

Never Convenient

The cool thing about this business is it's endless possibilities. There are so many opportunities and careers to be had on and off stage. Most of us have grown up dreaming of becoming this or that and believe it or not, a lot of our dreams have come true but with a price. The truth about success or opportunity is that it's never convenient. I guess this happens in all situations though. Let me explain. Often times we work hard for an opportunity to advance our career only to realize that when it comes we usually have to make some very uncomfortable decisions in relationship to where we are at that particular time. It's never easy. Moving ahead always means you have to leave something behind and most of us are so emotionally attached to situations that when our dream comes knocking, we often won't answer. Success is always about starting over. Once you rise to the top of one level, you have to start over at the bottom of the next. This can be frightening for most of us so we just become complacent and let opportunities pass us by. We have to stay focused on what our BIG picture is. Yes we want everything to be convenient and we want our schedules to work out so that everyone is satisfied but the universe doesn't work like that. Whatever we ask and work for we will have, we just have to be willing to take it. Every call I've ever gotten for a great opportunity has always come when I was fully booked or otherwise obligated and I had to make some decisions. Do I let this opportunity that I have been working all my life for pass by or do I take it and risk hurting some feelings because I have to bow out of some other obligations? I have always taken the opportunity. And yes it's always hard but I've been lucky enough to work with people that support me and want to see me advance because they realize that my success not only benefits me but them as well. I have also had some not so cool situations when people were pretty pissed but I'm like dude it's a chance to be in X movie or do Y tour and I'm sorry I can't make the gig at X local club but I've got to take this chance. I'm finding that it doesn't get any easier. I just do my best to remain upfront and honest with people about my goals and aspirations. So just try to stay focused on your goals and be prepared to make the hard choices when they come and please don't allow emotion or manipulation by others to cause you to miss out on your dream. Always be fair, honest and professional.  Enjoy the journey.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2013

Pay Attention

I've been in the music business for a long time and I've noticed that it's always about the details. No matter what facet whether it's performing, producing, managing . . . etc, the most successful people pay attention to detail. Now this may sound like a contradiction for musicians because people think that we just live wild lives partying and doing drugs and yes that does happen sometimes, LOL, but it's still amazing that even through some of that, artists are still about the detail. I get a lot of calls to play with people I've never met or I'll have to learn a show and play it with no rehearsal so for me it's all about listening AND watching. YOU HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION. There is nothing more irritating than trying to communicate with someone on stage and you can't because they are not paying attention. I mean it's cool to be in a zone but remember we are all playing together and we have to be in that zone as a unit. As cool as it may be for you to close your eyes, YOU CAN'T! You have to watch every move that is being made by the front person as well as make eye contact and vibe with your fellow musicians. Music is all about communication and to do it well you have to stay focused and tuned in to what's going on. Look at it this way, music is truly another language and every time we perform we speaking to people as a UNIT. Each of us has a role to play in this conversation and when it is done well, people really get it. Have you ever played a show and had someone come up to afterwards and express to you how the music affected them and made them laugh, cry, dance or whatever? This only happens when we are open minded and tuned in to our fellow musicians on stage AND the audience. You will also be surprised at how much can be communicated by just watching each other on stage. Every artist I play with has some kind of body gesture they do to indicate one thing or another so I have to pay strict attention their EVERY move. Just remember music is both audio and visual and we have to always pay attention. Enjoy the journey.

The Truth

All Rights Reserved by Airtight Productions 2013