The path to success is no longer labeled

No longer needed? By Geoff Boucher January 31, 2010 BROKEN RECORD: Music and money in the download era Hunting for a record deal won’t cut it anymore. Modern bands are focusing more on the Internet, looking for film soundtrack opportunities and piggy-backing album sales on designer T-shirts. The Troubadour, awash on a recent night in indigo light and chiming guitars, doesn’t look all that different than...

Not EVERYTHING Has Changed

Written by Ben Campbell, CEO of OurStage With all the upheaval in the music industry one might think that EVERYTHING that used to be true in the old world order has changed forever. As easy as it is to believe this, it’s simply not the case. Of course some major things about how the industry functions have been changed forever—but it’s important to understand which key success factors that used to be important...

When You Make A Mistake – How Fascinating!

Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, treated the Pop!Tech audience (and Nikolai, his lucky student) to a transformative music lesson. Now you can view the Pop!Cast and watch as Ben coaxes the magic out of his student, who before our eyes infuses his playing with more passion and joyous emotion then you would think possible from a fifteen-year old. Zander, a long-time advocate for...

How Do You ‘Unleash’ Your Talents?

by Bob Baker Let’s talk about artist empowerment — one of my favorite topics lately … Not long ago I presented one of my first Unleash the Artist Within workshops. While promoting the event, I discovered that different people have different interpretations of what it means to “unleash” themselves as an artist. Many people assumed at first that the workshop was about developing your...

Be Committed! You’ll Never Be Famous If You Don’t Show Up!

By Sheena Metal Everyone wants to be famous: live in a mansion, drive a sports car, tour the world in your private plane, date a model, float around in the pool while collecting royalties for CD sales, and drink beer right out of your private tap. But not everyone is aware that, with any career that has the potential to end in a bounty of riches and beautiful babes, climbing your way to rock stardom is very hard...

A Data-Driven Artist and Fan Perspective

By james.lamberti I was fortunate to attend the Digital Music Forum West conference this week and help set the table for 2-days of discussion with Eric Garland from Big Champagne and Russ Crupnick from The NPD Group.  In only my second speaking gig with Topspin, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Frankly, the industry has an appropriate fascination with what we are up to, but an unrealistic view on how quickly our...

The Difference Between You & an American Idol

by Kevin English I speak to musicians everyday who desperately want to become famous, sell millions of records and pack arenas. Once in awhile I have a chance to chat with entertainers who have been to the mountain top only to look down at how far they had to fall. The space in between is reserved for those who live a “normal” life, but I’ve always been curious to know what it feels like after the crowd has...

How To Survive The New Music Industry

by Kevin English Every time you crack open a new book, read an indutstry blog or attend a music business seminar, you hope that something will be said to make your life as a musician better. Unfortunately, nothing ever seems to work and artists are left looking for answers. Wait. What’s the question? As I sat through the sessions at last week’s CMJ Music Maraton Film & Film Festival, I couldn’t help...