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My Life As A Music Pirate (Part 3)

This article is the third in a four-part series on piracy. Click here to read the previous entries.

We love creating content for this blog, but the true mission of Haulix has always been to provide the most secure music hosting and distribution services available online. It’s no secret that piracy has crippled the music industry in many ways over the last decade, and we strive every day to do whatever we can to prevent future music leaks. You see, we may not be musicians ourselves, but recognize that the livelihood of everyone in the music business is dependent on the continued success and support of the artists we sign, promote, and otherwise get behind. If we do not do our part to help them support themselves however we are able then how can we expect anyone to help us when piracy eventually erodes entire segments of the industry?

Recently, it dawned on us that we did not have a strong grasp on what actually makes someone want to leak music. The assumption has been made in the past that these so-called ‘music pirates’ think the praise from anonymous commenters on message boards and forums is enough of a reward to convince them to hurt artists and those who fund them, but frankly we thought that felt a bit too simple to be entirely true. So we decided to do something we had never done before: Seek out a music pirate and convince them to share their story.

This afternoon we are thrilled to share the third in a four-part series that aims to take a closer look at music piracy as seen through the eyes of someone directly responsible for the leaks of several high-profile albums. It’s the story of one individual who managed to engrain themselves in the music industry professionally while simultaneously sharing unreleased records with the world, and it’s told entirely in their own words.

**As part of our agreement with the author of this series, a number of names and websites have been altered to protect identities and certain brand reputations. We have no intention to reveal the author’s name or location.**

When I began my first music-related blog. I had no real appreciation for music journalism or how that sort of thing worked. I just wrote about bands I liked and offered free downloads of their songs via filesharing websites like Mediafire and MegaUpload. It seemed innocent enough and as far I was concerned, I was doing these bands a favor. Free publicity! So that’s what I did. I downloaded songs, re-uploaded them, wrote blurbs, and shared them around.

Through this, my blog saw some success. A few hundred hits here and there added up. I made friends with others who ran similar sites like BrokeNoise, It-Leaked, MP3Boo, Get an Earection, Strike Gently, and a crudely named site I would later admin called LeakySlut. It was a community. We raced against and supported each other. This is what made it fun.

I ran LeakySlut, my own blog, as well as a forum or two for over a year. The first taking priority as a direct competitor to Strike Gently’s fall into poo porn and t-shirt sales. I leaked music and I was good at it. When we got a hold of things early, we’d upload the tracks laced with ID3 tags sporting our brand and push them out to the masses. I pushed the site to my friends and on Internet message boards. When I visited universities I would change the “ready” prompt on printer displays to “leakyslut.com.” I left the site open on public computers. The name alone generated enough interest to click around. When someone asked if it was porn they were looking at, a person would have to show and explain that it wasn’t. The site was self marketing. When I came aboard in fall of 2010, I took a blog posting once or twice a day and turned it into the new #1 source for music leaks in the alternative music community. This was something I was very proud of and later ashamed of. The thrill of delivering copyrighted content to thousands of fans hungry for it felt good, if only for the minutes following the initial post. I felt like I was doing something worthwhile. I thought I was part of the process when, in actuality, I was hindering it.

LeakySlut is gone now. It began to fizzle out once I left for more legitimate work. In spring of 2011, I left the leaking game and never looked back.

A week after leaving LeakySlut, I started an editor’s gig at a music webzine. No more links to zip files and mp3s. Just words on sounds. I had shed the peg leg and eye patch and it felt good. It was every bit as exciting as what I did before, only constructive and beneficial for the artists that I wrote about.

Now I didn’t have to go to sketchy sites to download songs. Instead I was getting albums sent to me unsolicited because I just might listen to it and write about it. I felt important. The feeling here lasted much longer than it did with leaks. I didn’t have to worry about links getting broken because of DMCA takedowns or emails from labels threatening legal action. The words were enough and they were eternal.

I still write about music today. I’ve contributed to a number of publications and haven’t leaked an album in almost 5 years. I’ve never even considered it. I’m in a place where artists, managers, and publicists trust me with their livelihood. They send me their songs trusting that I won’t put them online. I know that doing so could seriously jeapordize their marketing plans and corresponding income. I’m bigger than that. I’m not a villian. I’m a fan of music. Promoting and sharing my taste with others is reward enough. The perks of music journalism are just a plus.

Do I still download music without paying for it? Certainly. But thinking back on the last year of my life in music, I can’t think of a single instance where I didn’t later purchase the artists’ full release. If I want to hear a song now, I can pull up Rdio and listen to it. I pay $10/month to the service and the artist gets a small payout for the play. If I love it, I’ll seek it out on vinyl to add to my collection. I take up Soundcloud download offers when I find them and only rip songs from streaming services if they are no longer available (I’m still an avid demo hunter).

My life as a digital pirate is drawing closer and closer to an end every year. With advancing technology and a deep sense of admiration and respect for my industry’s peers, I have no need for it anymore. I think that this rings true with a lot of fans as well. A majority of the sites I named about no longer exist due to a lack of interest. Even the existing torrenting communities like what.cd are withering away with declining traffic and membership.

In the end convenience is key and if there are better, more legal, alternatives for listening to music, people will take them. Streaming services like Spotify, Rdio, and YouTube are clear indicators of that. The benefits to these serves opposed to piracy are numerous and are topic for another day.

I’m not completely ashamed of my piracy history. It got me to where I am. I learned valuable lessons about art and property through my experience and I think I’m better for it. The Jolly Roger has been lowered and my tri-cornered cap has been hung in the locker of Davy Jones. I won’t be fetching it again.

Savvy?

x Rackham

Categories
News

My Life As A Music Pirate (Part 2)

This article is the second in a four-part series on piracy. Click here to read the first entry.

We love creating content for this blog, but the true mission of Haulix has always been to provide the most secure music hosting and distribution services available online. It’s no secret that piracy has crippled the music industry in many ways over the last decade, and we strive every day to do whatever we can to prevent future music leaks. You see, we may not be musicians ourselves, but recognize that the livelihood of everyone in the music business is dependent on the continued success and support of the artists we sign, promote, and otherwise get behind. If we do not do our part to help them support themselves however we are able then how can we expect anyone to help us when piracy eventually erodes entire segments of the industry?

Recently, it dawned on us that we did not have a strong grasp on what actually makes someone want to leak music. The assumption has been made in the past that these so-called ‘music pirates’ think the praise from anonymous commenters on message boards and forums is enough of a reward to convince them to hurt artists and those who fund them, but frankly we thought that felt a bit too simple to be entirely true. So we decided to do something we had never done before: Seek out a music pirate and convince them to share their story.

This afternoon we are thrilled to share the second in a four-part series that aims to take a closer look at music piracy as seen through the eyes of someone directly responsible for the leaks of several high-profile albums. It’s the story of one individual who managed to engrain themselves in the music industry professionally while simultaneously sharing unreleased records with the world, and it’s told entirely in their own words.

**As part of our agreement with the author of this series, a number of names and websites have been altered to protect identities and certain brand reputations. We have no intention to reveal the author’s name or location.**

PART 2 – High School

Throughout my last years of middle school and the beginnings of high school, I kept on collecting. These were formative years by means of my general taste in music. Many of my favorites today were discovered on new release shelves at libraries and in my friend’s collections. I continued to plunder and steal and tally. It was around this time that I first came into contact with the idea of torrenting.

I was always good with computers. My Powerpoints and Windows Movie Maker projects were always the most detailed and animated in classes. If a teacher’s PC wasn’t starting correctly, I was normally the first they’d ask to look at it. My family relied on me for setting up, fixing, and cleaning up their Windows XP-based desktops and I took pride in that. Still, there were things could admit to not understanding and torrenting was one of them. Limewire was one thing. To search and download was easy enough, but somehow the idea of torrenting from The Pirate Bay seemed daunting to me, so I brushed past it and stuck with the citrusy latter.

Oh Limewire, you dangerous little thing. You never did quite know what you were getting with this P2P service. Mistitled songs, incorrectly attributed ID3 tags, viruses abundant… My grandparent’s PC was at the whim of Internet strangers when I began using its services. This was my first real taste of the dangers of piracy and its use was the first thing that made me question not only the legality of music downloading, but the morality as well.

At this point, my library was starting to get a bit messier. I was downloading more single songs than albums. Correctly naming them took time and time was something I began to have less of due to after school activities and clubs. So my collection grew untidy and my care for the music I was getting outgrew that of the number of songs I had. This is when I started becoming a “fan.”

As high school progressed and more Internet access was available to me, I started using my computer ability to my music hunting advantage. First I’d navigate around my school’s Internet blocker of choice using a proxy (or occasionally the actual bypass password itself if I could find it). Then I’d bring up Myspace, Purevolume, or YouTube and peruse the charts. If a download was available, I’d take it. If it wasn’t. I’d make it. Audicity was good for that. A quick switch from “microphone” to “wave out mix” made any listening experience an act of copyright infringement.

Then came blogging. Once I found WordPress and Tumblr, I took piracy a bit further. I went from music collector to music distributor with ease.

My Life As A Music Pirate will continue next Thursday, April 3. Follow Haulix on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

Categories
News

My Life As A Music Pirate (Part 1)

We love creating content for this blog, but the true mission of Haulix has always been to provide the most secure music hosting and distribution services available online. It’s no secret that piracy has crippled the music industry in many ways over the last decade, and we strive every day to do whatever we can to prevent future music leaks. You see, we may not be musicians ourselves, but recognize that the livelihood of everyone in the music business is dependent on the continued success and support of the artists we sign, promote, and otherwise get behind. If we do not do our part to help them support themselves however we are able then how can we expect anyone to help us when piracy eventually erodes entire segments of the industry?

Recently, it dawned on us that we did not have a strong grasp on what actually makes someone want to leak music. The assumption has been made in the past that these so-called ‘music pirates’ think the praise from anonymous commenters on message boards and forums is enough of a reward to convince them to hurt artists and those who fund them, but frankly we thought that felt a bit too simple to be entirely true. So we decided to do something we had never done before: Seek out a music pirate and convince them to share their story.

Today we are sharing the first in a four-part series on the life of a real-life music pirate. Each entry will tell a chapter of one pirate’s life in music, beginning with their introduction to CD duplication and building to a role in what was once one of the internet’s fastest-growing music leak communities. It’s the story of one individual who managed to engrain themselves in the music industry professionally while simultaneously leaking highly-anticipated records to the world, and it’s told entirely in their own words.

**As part of our agreement with the author of this series, a number of names and websites have been altered to protect identities and certain brand reputations. We have no intention to reveal the author’s name or location.**

Part 1: The Early Years

I suppose my foray into the world of piracy started like most, by digging through my parents’ entertainment cabinet, plundering their CDs and cassettes. I’d store these in my room and listen to them in secret. I doubt I would have gotten into much trouble if caught, but the idea of listening to something that wasn’t delivered to me by radio stations my parents chose excited me to the ends of my tiny little world.

My first cassette was by a boy band. It was the 1998 re-issue of Backstreet Boys. I was probably 10 years old then. I listened to that tape day in and out until I received my second tape, by yet another boy band, ‘N Sync. No Strings Attached.

It was from these humble beginnings that I fell in love with music. From that point I was determined to listen to more than what my mother’s preset FM stations could provide. That’s when the raiding began. I’d sneak listens to CDs by Journey, RUSH, Chicago, and Simon & Garfunkle whenever I could. I strayed as far as possible from my family’s country-western obsession as possible in that cabinet. I found an old walkman and used it when listening on my room’s stereo wasn’t an option. These were my first steps.

Eventually I was found out and encouraged as long as I was careful not to scratch anything. That made listening to these albums unadventurous and obsolete. I needed something else. Something forbidden. That’s when hip-hop came into play.

My childhood best friend had a much different set of parents than I. Whereas mine sheltered me from anything thuggish or promiscuous, his parents allowed him to indulge in violent video games and sexually-charged music. Playing with him meant hours of Duke Nukem and SWAT 3 while Eminem and Nelly played in the background. I learned a lot in that house.

It was during that time that I got my first portable CD player/AM-FM tuner combo. This gave me much greater access to music my parent’s weren’t down with. I’d listen to Casey Kasem’s countdown every week and the local college stations in the days between. While my parents thought I was listening to “Weird Al” Yankovic in my backyard tree-house, I was actually becoming a young rap aficionado.

Outkast, Jay-Z, Usher, Chingy, and the Ying Yang Twins became my soundtrack. Biking around town with my padded headphones on and my CD player in my backpack, I felt like I not only owned my neighborhood, but myself as well. While I certainly wasn’t free to listen to what I wanted by my parent’s rules, I felt free in the music I chose. Hip-hop guided me out of parental restriction and into musical expression.

My rap days faded as the Internet became more prevalent in school and society. Internet blockers weren’t as strict back then, which allowed me to indulge in music videos and websites like SingingFish (RIP). This is about the time pop-punk music started taking hold of my life. Bands like Green Day and Fall Out Boy became my favorite thing. I’d download System Of A Down songs at school, copy them to a disc, and bring them home to burn to another disc. This was by no means an ideal process, but I had no real Internet connection in my house until I was in college. AOL’s dialup service notwithstanding.

No, I wasn’t an Internet pirate until my 8th grade year. Until that point I found other means to obtain music without pay. I’d borrow CD’s from friends and copy them using Windows Media Player at home, returning them the next day. They were none the wiser. This idea carried over to the local library when I realized that it was more than a haven for bookies.

After school each day, I raced to the library to grab one of 4 computers before the other kids arrived. During my hour of registered computer time, I would log onto Runescape and collect coins and medieval weaponry. In a second window (this was pre-tabs), Yahoo! Music would be loaded and ready to go, introducing me to new bands every day. When I heard a song I liked, I’d switch from my game to the player and capture the artist’s name. This would be added to a written list that I would use in my last 10 minutes of each web-session. If my library didn’t have the CD by the artist I wanted to hear more of, I’d order it in. For the next several years, I’d have a new stack of jewel cases waiting for me every week for pick-up. I’d take them home, rip them to Musicmatch Jukebox (Later Yahoo! Music Jukebox and Rhapsody), and then return them after school the next day.

This is when my obsession with collecting music began. Watching the number of albums and hours of audio grow became a drug to me. It became less about listening to the music as it did cataloguing it on my family’s computer. My library grew substantially through the years via my library ordering method. I became the guy my classmates would come to for music. They’d hand me flash-drives and CDs and ask for music. Nothing specifically, just things I thought that they would like. Music became more than a hobby for me in my middle school years. It became an identity.

My Life As A Music Pirate will continue next Thursday, March 27. Follow Haulix on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

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News

How To Kill Your Band #4 – Don’t Tour. Yet.

Hello and welcome to the fourth installment of Eric Morgan’s How To Kill Your Band series. We run this column every other week and encourage anyone who enjoys the material found below to visit previous editions of HTKYB they may have missed. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

An Introduction:

I’ve been in the music industry as an artist for nearly 10 years now. In that decade I’ve achieved nearly all of my childhood music dreams, but I’ve also made just as many mistakes that run over my mind before I fall asleep each night. A wonderment of how a few different decisions, rerunning in hindsight, would work out in some alternate universe. This ever creeping determinism is a fallacy I’m quite aware of but one that I will never completely shake, though it’s these experiences I’ve learned the most valuable lessons. These are the things I’d like to share in a series of mini-blogs I call How To Kill Your Band.

Part 4 – Don’t tour. Yet. 

Learning to book your own tours is perhaps the most important skill you can learn as you make your way in music. It’s not only useful because of it’s immediate impact on your ability to promote yourself on the road, but is also one of the few skills that can pay dividends after your own band calls it quits. Becoming adept at booking takes practice more than anything, but it heavily favors those who are a bit obsessive. Locking in a tour dates takes a certain neurotic tendency necessary to piece together a complex puzzle that never really has a exact solution. No tour is ever going to be 100% perfect from start to end, something that tortured me early on, though the key is learning how to adapt and work to the constantly changing variables – venue closings, promoter drops, competing tours in the area, etc. But before we get to the actual mechanics of tour routing, we’re going to spend this week answering just one question: 

Why would anyone book your band?

Every young band would want to be out there promoting their music nightly but it just isn’t something most should do. There has to be a reason for a promoter to book your band and you need to be able to communicate that clearly. As I touched on in HTKYB #2, being signed gives you immediate value to a talent buyer even if he’s never heard of you before. They can build a show around your band because local bands are smart and know every single label so it gives them a reason for sharing the stage with you – essentially something to put on their resume and the fleeting hope that you’ll be so amazed by their set you’ll personally recommend them to your label. 

If you’re not signed it’s still possible to tour diy, plenty of bands do it successfully, but you need to be able to offer another kind of value to the promoter. Here it helps to be different – why would a promoter in Toledo book an unknown metalcore act from out of state when there are plenty local bands who actually draw? Offering something not already saturating the market gives them an unique event to promote while also just supporting the basic economics of the situation. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need be genre defying but could also stem from having a distinct live show or an unconventional type of branding. If all else fails, you can even separate yourself by brute force through effort. Offer to set up your own publicity for the show with local radio stations, get posters hung at local joints, and even go out on foot to promote. On many of the early AHAF tours, we’d call ahead to Hot Topics and FYE stores at malls located near that days venue and set up our own in store meetups. We’d get to the store around noon to ready our merch table by the entrance where we’d handout show flyers and promo items to people as they walked in. During the holiday season it was even more valuable because parents would be rushing around looking for last minute stocking stuffers and it was it was easy to convince them they could end their search with an album or t-shirt. 

The long and short of it is that it all comes down to giving a talent buyer something they can promote. Whether that be through label support, originality, or meticulously growing your support region by region, you must understand the basic economics through a promoters eyes and give them something they can build a show on. There are bands that get insanely lucky by starting out with notable agent even before their first show (Woe, Is Me, Capture the Crown) but that’s rare and having the ability to book your own tours is a highly valuable skillset if you plan on working somewhere in the music industry post bandlife. Perhaps what I’ve learned most from my experiences on the road is that you shouldn’t rush into touring. I’ve witnessed many bands, who while sounding great, simply weren’t ready to be on the road and eventually succombed to the depleted morale and mounting struggles of unsuccessful tours. It’s much more financially and emotionally supporting to be patient before going on the road, as the consequences of premature touring could end even the most promising bands. 

Now if you’ve decided that you have a band ready to tour but unsure on how to get started, then check back next week when I’ll go through some tips and tricks from my experiences on creating your own promoter lists, negotiating prices, and communicating effectively in your offer sheets. 

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How To Kill Your Band #3 – Road Burn

Hello again. We may only be five days into March, but we have a good feeling this month is going to be something special. Our features thus far have been fairly exciting, and this afternoon we are rolling out the third – and perhaps best- installment of Eric Morgan’s How To Kill Your Band series. We run this column every other week and encourage anyone who enjoys the material found below to visit previous editions of HTKYB they may have missed. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

An Introduction:

I’ve been in the music industry as an artist for nearly 10 years now. In that decade I’ve achieved nearly all of my childhood music dreams, but I’ve also made just as many mistakes that run over my mind before I fall asleep each night. A wonderment of how a few different decisions, rerunning in hindsight, would work out in some alternate universe. This ever creeping determinism is a fallacy I’m quite aware of but one that I will never completely shake, though it’s these experiences I’ve learned the most valuable lessons. These are the things I’d like to share in a series of mini-blogs I call How to kill your band.

#3 – Road Burn

In my last post, I discussed my ‘$200 Hump Theory’ and how breaking through that barrier signals the difference in a band’s financial outlook. However it can take a few, if not many, $100/night tours to get to that point. In that post I mentioned how important it is to tour smart, and now I’m going to give the five most important money saving tips I’ve learned during my time on the road.

1. Stick to water.

Probably the most overlooked facet of tour is it’s effect on your health – fast food, limited sleep, and catering exclusively from Little Caesar’s every damn night wrecks your entire body. Not to mention living and sleeping in a cesspool of germs that take advantage of your weakened immune system. All these things work together to do one thing – make you feel like shit. And when you’re under the weather, it’s a lot easier to justify superfluous purchases on comfort items like junk food and soda which only perpetuate the problem.

This simple rule is by far the hardest for me personally, but it really does make a difference. Not only does sticking to water make you feel better in general, it saves an easy $5 per day. A little trick I learned from Patrick Jeffers during AHAF’s touring days was to fill your water bottles up whenever you stop at gas stations. All the soda fountains carbon filter their water and we’ve never been given trouble from owners, though I reckon spending hundreds of dollars of gas at the same time helps.

2. Free Breakfast

Skipping a meal is an easy way to save money but it’ll just make you hungrier later and that only ends up countering your first move. Plenty of bands do their best to sleep through breakfast but we learned early on that there was a much (well, not that much) tastier trick – continental breakfast. Rather than sleeping in a Walmart parking lot, we always preferred the more serene quarters behind a Hotel Inn Express. In addition to not being tempted all night by Walmart’s endless spoils, there’s the benefit of being just a 30 yard walk from hot free breakfast. Even though the front desk clerk that watched you plow through their parking lot isn’t usually the same one working in the morning, you should still be smart about how you walk in – mainly don’t all half dozen homely looking dudes walk in at the same time. Stagger it.

This might sound sort of like stealing…and well I can’t really argue that. However in four years of touring, I’ve only ever been kicked out of one hotel breakfast. While I’m sure more managers figured out what we were doing, being a courteous and clean definitely keeps you from getting the boot. In fact we’ve befriended some pretty cool people working at these hotels, several of which even ended up coming out to shows.

3. Grill the fuck out.

We first learned the art of tour bbq from Dr. Acula on the RAGE Tour but it took a while for us to start grilling ourselves. A couple years ago my girlfriend gave the band her old portable charcoal grill and that was the spark we needed to finally start cooking on the road. From grilled wieners n’ beans to marinated chicken with roasted vegetables, we never ate better fourth meals than tours with the grill Not only was it delicious, but it ended up being significantly cheaper for all of us to pool our money on bulk items.

For touring bands, that fourth meal is more important than dinner in most cases. On your typical day the band loads in by 3pm, gets “catering” (Little Caesar’s) at 7pm, but doesn’t finish packing and settling with the promoter until after midnight. By the time you’re on the road scoping out the next sleeping lot, it’s been 12 hours since your last bite. Grilling out to finish off the night is not only an effective way to curb the hunger pangs, but it gives you something to do with your bandmates. The boost in morale and camaraderie are pleasant side effects of saving money grilling out and something that helped us all unwind at the end of the night.

Looking back at my tips, I think there’s an obvious theme here: food is expensive. Other than gas, it’s the most costly aspect of life on the road. This also means it’s the area where your personal choices can have the greatest impact on your bottom line. Being smart with your food choices can mean a difference of hundreds to thousands of dollars over the duration of a tour. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but if you’re just starting out touring I hope it helps keep some cash in your wallet.

If you have any tips of your own, please let us know below.

This column was contributed by Eric Morgan. Eric spent a number of years touring the world as part of the Victory Records band A Hero A Fake. He’s currently developing a new project,Bornstellar, which plans to release its first EP later this year. Click here to learn more about Eric’s time in music.

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News

How To Kill Your Band #2 – The $200 Hump

Hey there, everyone. Thank you for stopping by the official blog of Haulix! We are thrilled to be sharing the second installment of our recently launched How To Kill Your Band column this afternoon, and hope you’ll continue stopping by as this series continues in the weeks ahead. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

An Introduction:

I’ve been in the music industry as an artist for nearly10 years now. In that decade I’ve achieved nearly all of my childhood music dreams, but I’ve also made just as many mistakes that run over my mind before I fall asleep each night. A wonderment of how a few different decisions, rerunning in hindsight, would work out in some alternate universe. This ever creeping determinism is a fallacy I’m quite aware of but one that I will never completely shake, though it’s these experiences I’ve learned the most valuable lessons. These are the things I’d like to share in a series of mini-blogs I call How to kill your band.

#2 – The $200 Hump

Deciding to go out and make a living as a musician is less a career decision and more a statement on your mental health. It’s never been more apparent how arduous it is for modern musicians to earn decent money from their craft. Album sales have been nosediving since 2000 (even digital sales decreased in 2013, the first time ever) and though paid streaming services are growing, they provide even less in terms of revenue to the actual composers. “Make your money touring”, has been the go-to answer over the past couple decades but as Oh, Sleeper’s Shane Blay so eloquently broke it down a couple years ago, even that has become a breakeven prospect, at best, for mid-level bands.

Is it still possible to make money touring? Definitely, but it’s harder and more competitive than ever. Never have there been more bands on the road battling for a relatively fixed amount of fan dollars and so to be successful you have to surpass this little thing I like to call “The $200 Hump”. If you can make it over this hump, there’s money making promise. But if not, you often end up in eternal band poordom where ending tours means less money to your name then when you started.

Why $200? This seems to be the per show guarantee a lower level signed touring act needs to pass in order to keep growing and I have a few good theories as to why. First, for local talent buyers there is an inherent value in booking even a smaller signed band. In most cases, these bands won’t even draw enough on their own to justify a $100 guarantee but it does give promoters a band to build a show around. Locals are smart and know who is signed to what label and sharing the stage is enough incentive to open a show and basically donate their friend’s ticket revenue to the touring act. Pretty much no matter what, even the freshest of signed acts can get $100-200 any night of tour and that is the just the value of investing in yourself enough to get a label deal.

Now that’s not going to come close to paying bills. That might cover gas (and tolls, I’m looking at you Long Island…) but that’s pretty much it. Everything else: breakfast, lunch, hygiene, etc are all coming out of your savings. At this level you cycle from saving money working while home and then quickly blasting through those reserves on tour. It’s not a sustainable way to live, but it does offer you the opportunity to do what you love and is a step towards more rewarding pastures.

To break this $200 barrier you have to do one thing – draw. No shit right? But in such a saturated market it’s a tremendously difficult thing to do – bringing 50+ people to your show on a nightly basis across the country is pretty damn impressive. The instant promoters see you can reliably deliver even just a few dozen in ticket sales, it becomes exponentially safer to offer you more money. Bands that can break this barrier usually have buzz gained from past touring, online celebrity, or just raw talent – these are things that tend to keep growing. Passing the $200 mark usually takes this level of significant draw which is based on more than just your associated label and so once you break the barrier, it’s much easier to keep it going.

That’s basically the difference, at some point you prove you can draw and it’s what makes or breaks your band. Further, as a mid-level band earning $300-700 per night, that increase can actually start becoming tangible profit for each member as long as you are smart on the road – something that’s not easy in itself. What I think my $200 theory ultimately suggest is the gap between a low-level and mid-level band is much bigger in reality than it may seem in dollar amount even if that difference is felt in your pocket. It marks clear the separation between the bands struggling to stay alive and the ones that have found their niche and can see the promise of perhaps, one day, maybe pay rent.

This column was contributed by Eric Morgan. Eric spent a number of years touring the world as part of the Victory Records band A Hero A Fake. He’s currently developing a new project,Bornstellar, which plans to release its first EP later this year. Click here to learn more about Eric’s time in music.

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Haulix Advice: Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Hello and welcome to the final Advice column of the week. We have been overwhelmed by your response to this feature’s return and are very much looking forward to sharing what we have in store next. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

One of the hardest things to overcome as an artist in any medium is working outside of your comfort zone. The term comfort zone is just what it sounds like – the place where you are most comfortable – and as an artist remaining in that place can be a hazard to your career.

The idea of a comfort zone is that it allows a person to exist in an anxiety-neutral state. You’re still engaged with the world around you, but you do so in a way that creates and maintains mental boundaries, which in turn lead to a false sense of security. You’re unable to grow and develop because to do so would be to take on new challenges, each with their own inherent risks and stressors, and as a result you become stuck in a creative rut that will ultimately drive away fans.

There is no on/off switch for comfort zones, and like any other challenge related to continued creativity there is a battle to be fought nearly every day. Comfort zones offer us short term happiness at the expense of longterm development, and for many deciding to chase the latter option is far harder than it may appear. Whether you are forcing yourself to write material for a certain genre/audience because it helped you get your start, or make it a point to play the same cities every time you tour because you know people will come to your shows, every artist faces numerous challenges to their comfort zone if they want to take their career to the next level. 

You want to write the next hit song? You want to play arenas instead of basements? You want to be sponsored by Gibson and Orange? The biggest obstacle you have to overcome to reach these goals is stepping outside your own comfort zone. Money, geography, and everything else is just another excuse for not taking it upon yourself to make something from nothing. It will not be easy, and there is no promise things will work out for the best in the end, but if you do not take chances in life you are holding yourself back from realizing your true potential.

If you really want to take your career further you must step outside your comfort zone and the best way to start doing that is by setting an attainable short-term goal. It can be anything you want – writing five new songs a month, booking two shows a day, attending a music business conference, reading some books on better marketing techniques – just set a goal, a deadline, and stick to it.

This post is part of a new series on what it means to be a professional. Those who make a career in music do so because they abandon their comfort zones to expand their horizons. Click here to read the previous entry in this series.

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Haulix Advice: Embracing Internet Radio

Hello and welcome to the very first ‘Advice’ column of 2014. We have been planning a number of these articles for the weeks ahead and are beyond excited to begin rolling them out this afternoon. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

If you read our feature with Vince Edwards from Metal Blade Records last week you may recall him mentioning how radio is still one of the best pathways to a career in music available today. This was directed towards aspiring professionals at the time, but the same applies to independent musicians as well. Radio has always been one of the best avenues to new listeners available to artists, and even though your time at terrestrial stations may still be far away, the age of the internet has created countless new stations/podcasts/outlets for reaching consumers. We cannot guarantee airplay for anyone, but if you follow the advice below you will position yourself as well as you possibly can for exposure on radio in 2014.

It’s worth noting that it is possible for artists to hire people and companies who specialize in radio promotion, but for the purposes of this column we are speaking to those who prefer to go the DIY route. It usually takes more effort on the part of the artist, but the costs are much lower (and people tend to appreciate the personal touch).

As I mentioned above, the digital age has brought a wealth of new radio opportunities for artists that were not possible even a decade ago. Whether you hope to be in the mix on Pandora, spotlighted with other newcomers on New Music Inferno, or if you want to sit across from comedians like Marc Maron and talk life, the boom of internet radio has created a variety of new and innovative avenues for your music to reach people who may have otherwise never knew your art existed. Before you can reach them however, you need to set some goals. Decide what type of audiences you hope to reach and in what ways you want to reach them. Do you want to have your song added to a bunch of shows, or do you want to promote the new record with an interview? Every radio show is different, especially online, and knowing what type of programming you want to be a part of before diving any further into your quest for digital exposure will aide your efforts later on.

Once you have a handle on the type of shows you want to contact, you will undoubtedly need to research the best programs that fit your criteria. To help get you started, we’ve included a few links below:

  • Want to be featured on Pandora? Make sure you meet the requirements outlined in this article and then head to the official submission site to apply for placement.
  • Need a list of popular radio shows? Wikipedia can help get you started. We also suggest combing through the top radio stations and music themed podcasts available on iTunes.
  • Looking for airplay and are open to exposure from anyone will to share your art? Signing up for Music Alley will help make your media available to broadcasters in search of new music.

After your list is compiled, you will need to research each outlet individually to understand the procedures that you must follow in order to submit your music. There will likely be similarities along the way, but every station is unique. Keep this in mind and do whatever you can to personalize the messaging that is sent alongside your media. Sending a blanket message to every email you find is tempting, but crafting original messaging can go a long way towards forging relationships with hosts, DJs, broadcasters, and beyond. You never know who will read your message or who will hear music as a result of your submission. Don’t take any opportunity for exposure for granted.

Need more help on this topic? Maybe this article can help:
Advice: 5 Tips For Crafting The Perfect Pitch Letter

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Haulix Advice: 5 Questions Every Artist Should Ask Themselves Before Hiring A Publicist

Hello and welcome back to the Haulix Advice series. We have covered a lot of ground in recent weeks, and this afternoon we’re returning to the world of PR for a quick conversation on what should take place BEFORE bringing someone in to represent your art. If you have any questions, or if you have a suggestion for a future installment of this column, please do not hesitate to email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts.

Last week we wrote to you about the roles various people can play in the life of your band. We covered lawyers, managers, publicists, and beyond, but one thing we forgot to include is how to know when the time is right to bring these people into your career. Today we aim to fix that, or at least do a better job of supplying you with the information you need by offering a series of questions bands need to ask themselves before bringing on a publicist.

We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating that every single artist’s career is different, and just because something is right for one group does not mean it will work for you. The questions we’ve put together today are relatively vague, but it’s of the utmost importance your answers be as detailed as possible. Discuss the questions below with your bandmates, debate the pros and cons of each response, and together formulate a plan for yourselves before bringing anyone else into the mix. This will save time, patience, and most likely a little bit of money as well.

Now without further ado, here are 5 questions you need to ask before hiring a publicist:

1. Is my career even at a point where I need a publicist?

The idea of having someone in your life who spends a part of their day doing whatever they can to get the word out about your efforts sounds like a smart decision, but unless you have something worthwhile to share with the world you’re going to end up wasting a lot of money. Focus on creating the best album/single/video you possibly can, which I can tell you will likely not be your first release, and then think about bringing in someone to help promote. While many professional publicists will tell a band if they think the band is not ready for such a business relationship, there are a number of those out there who will happily take your money and never look back. It’s not on them to have something worth sharing, it’s on you.

2. Can I financially afford a publicist right now?

This may seem like a rather obvious statement, but the truth is many artists do not fully understand the costs associated with having a publicist. Most PR firms require a minimum commitment of 3-months for any project, regardless of whether it’s an album, video, or single. This means for three months you will be expected to pay whatever price you negotiate at the time of signing, and failure to do so will likely result in monetary penalties being issued against your group. Avoid this unnecessary trouble (not to mention looking amateur to industry professionals) and double-check your personal finances before seeking representation. Set a budget and work to find someone who offers you the most ‘bang for your buck.’

3. What am I hoping to accomplish with this campaign, and do I actually need a publicist to pull it off?

It’s common sense that artists and bands hoping to promote their new releases turn to publicists to help get the word out, but depending on your situation you may be able to handle marketing perfectly fine on your own. There are a growing number of articles and sites dedicated to empowering independent artists, and if you’re willing to put in the work yourself it’s perfectly reasonable to assume you can gain at least a small amount of press on your own. Blogs and smaller publications usually post their contact information online, and by reading up on PR tactics anyone can craft a pitch letter, so as long as you’re okay with Rolling Stone and/or Pitchfork not giving you the time of day you may be able to do it on your own.

4. Do I have high quality promotional materials ready to go (masters, photos, etc.)?

Publicists spend their day trying to get the word out about their clients, but that does not mean they’re going to create promotional materials to help get the job done. As the client it is on you to provide your publicist with everything they need to promote your efforts, and it should go without saying that quality plays a big role in whether or not journalists give you some of their oh-so-rare free time. Before you even consider bringing someone else into your career, make sure you have quality materials you want shared with the world. If you turn in mediocre media the returns will likely be mediocre as well. Publicists work with what they’re given, so be sure you give yours the best material you possibly can.

5. What marketing ideas do I have for the release of my album/music video?

This is probably the most important part of this entire list because it’s the area artists most often overlook. Publicists can make amazing things happen for your career, but without guidance and direction from you they will have no idea what it is you’re trying to convey with your art. This is why when deciding to bring on a publicist it is absolutely imperative that you first come up with your own set of goals and ideas for the release. Publicists want to help you, not do the work for you, and starting the relationship with a wealth of ideas on deck will simplify the promotional efforts on their end. By knowing what you expect, publicists can work with you to craft a campaign that’s designed to accomplish your specific goals, and that will lead to better results down the line.

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Haulix Advice: 4 Reasons Buying Followers/Likes Is Always A Bad Idea

Hello and welcome to the beginning of an all-new week of music industry insight here on the official blog of Haulix. We’re turning the tables just a bit this afternoon and kicking things off with a brand new Advice column that aims to put one digital debate to rest for good. If you or someone you know has an idea for a future installment of this column, please do not hesitate to email james@haulix.com and share your suggestion.

Like it or not, there is definitely something to be said for artists who have the ability to amass a large online following without the help of a record label or top 40 single. Labels and managers love this kind of artist because it paints the perception of a successful, or at least well-liked artist even though everyone knows Facebook likes and Twitter followers do not correlate in any way to sales or actual financial success. Still, in a business where image means a lot there are those who are willing to do anything to raise the numbers associated with their so-called digital ‘supporters,’ and all too often that means turning to companies that offer guaranteed likes/follows for a price. These businesses may seem legit, but today we’re going to look at 4 reasons why going this route almost always ends badly for the artist.

1. Engagement means more than your like or follower count ever will.

You know that saying about how you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot force it to drink? The same goes for gaming your social media stats. You can make it seem like 25,000 people love your one-man band from the middle of nowhere, but you cannot force their nonexistent bodies to show up at your next gig. Likewise, unless you go all-in and decide to buy followers as well as social engagement (plays on Youtube, streams on Facebook, etc. – it’s all possible for a price) it will not take long for the actual, living people who view your profile to notice a severe discrepancy between followers and people interacting with your account.

2. You increase the risk of spamming actual fans.

The idea of giving some unknown entity twenty dollars in exchange for 10,000 followers seems relatively catch-free, but anyone digging into the agreement users make when signing up for these companies will notice they more often than not require clients to allow the company to post on their behalf. That mean that at some point down the line, likely when you expect it the least, messaging will be blasted from your account to everyone connected with your group. If you’re on Twitter, this often means mass private messaging, which most people will report as spam. When that happens enough the fine folks at Twitter HQ will shutdown your account, and upon review of your activity it’s likely your recent ‘social boost’ will come to light. That will result in the loss of your account, and at that point you’ll be even worse off than when you began.

3. No one wants to work with someone who is trying to game the music industry.

No one holding a position in music that can help your career is stupid. That should go without saying, but click around the social media accounts of unsigned artists long enough and you’re bound to find dozens boasting followings that in no way reflect their actual status as performers. These people brag endlessly about their hype ‘on the streets,’ and for awhile this tactic may work, but there are a growing number of tools that industry professionals are using to unmask those hiding behind fake followers. People who are caught or discovered to be engaging in this practice of gaming social stranding are often blacklisted from many press outlets, and we’ve even heard from multiple PR reps who claim they have refused to work with artists in the past because they suspected them of boosting their stats.

4. You will get caught.

Music is hard for everyone, and that includes both professionals and artists. Those who make a career in this industry have worked extremely hard to get that far and they do not take kindly to people who try to cheat the system. Do the work. Post interesting content whenever you’re able, engage with the people who are already following your efforts, and over time you will begin to organically develop an online following. Anyone promising you a massive social media change over night is either lying to you or withholding key details that will eventually come back to haunt you. 

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