Tag: Guest Blog

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What It Means to be a music blog in 2016

Every now and then we stumble across something our friends in the media have written about life in the industry and we beg them to allow us to post it here on our blog. Sometimes they say no, but this time our pal Scott Fugger said yes! What follows is a piece Scott wrote about his experiences as a blogger, as well as what he feels it means to be a music blog in 2016. Whether you’re new to blogging or a veteran of the online writing game, there is something in the following post that everyone can enjoy.

If there’s one thing we know it’s that the music industry is constantly changing. It may not be clear how, why, or what’s next, but this beast never stays the same for long. What it means to be a music blog today is vastly different from what it was five years ago and in many ways even from this same time last year. With 36vultures going through structural changes and a refocus on original content, what better way to kick the year off than by discussing what a music blog can and should be?

The basic building blocks of any music site are simple: news, reviews, interviews, and features. These four things build up the substance of what is created and ultimately delivered to the audience. On a deeper level, the goals of a blog are greater – to expose others to up and coming artists, to spark conversation, and to become an extension of the personal tastes of both the staff and the readers.

With so much news continuously coming from so many bands it is impossible to report on everything. For those who enjoy a wide range of music, the unfortunate truth is that this leads to a fragmented music news experience. No one website will ever be able to deliver all of the news that you, let alone every single one of their readers, want. But is that such a bad thing? Now that social media is commonplace it is possible for fans to get up to the minute updates right from the source – the bands and labels themselves. This fosters a stronger connection by opening the possibility for great interaction as well as allowing each person to decide specifically whose information they want to see. There is, of course, always the fear of missing out on some extremely important news, which means it is still useful to canvas a variety of blogs for news stories. Throwing away the idea of covering everything blogs then necessarily focus on the news that is most important to its audience and creators; thus each site is able become a unique extension of its viewers’ personal tastes and creating a community around it. However, because news is simply a basic requirement, blogs must find a way to also make a name for themselves in other ways and to actually make a statement.

In this digital age of streaming, anyone can listen to anything with a few taps of a screen meaning that reviews in their traditional sense become somewhat pointless. Why would someone care what you think about the new big album when they can just listen to it themselves? This doesn’t mean reviews should be thrown out altogether, just that those who write them need to find creative ways to dig deeper. Just like any other type of article, a review should have a hook that makes it special. It’s not enough to say the music is good or bad while talking vaguely about the sounds coming out of the stereo. Readers are looking for a more analytical approach because most of them come in with already formed opinions. A more in-depth look at the lyrical content, an interesting point about the structure of a song in relation to the album as a whole, or a personal connection that has come out through the music are just some options for this. If something can be offered that puts the music in a different light or causes critical thinking and introspection can cause a review to be worthwhile both to be written and to be read. Similarly when reviewing an up and coming band it is important to discuss why the band is worth sinking time into and persuading others to do so while still allowing for a back and forth, furthering the conversation. Ideally a review, like a persuasive essay, isn’t just “I think this and you should too,” but a summary of assertions that are backed up and logically presented.

Property of Zack is dead, long live Property of Zack. Since their relaunch at the start of 2015 original content has become more important than ever. The site revolutionized themselves by completely removing reviews, cutting back on news, and focusing on real, substantive content. It may not have been the first website to do it, but it made waves that were felt throughout the Internet. While anyone with an Internet connection has the ability to start a blog in mere minutes, original content is what draws in readers and keep them coming back. Features and interviews offer the opportunity to shine the spotlight and give a deeper look at important artists and subjects. Interviews with artist can quickly become mundane for both the artists and readers. No band wants to be asked the same questions over and over again and no fans want to read them. When interviewers do research and plan their questions, but also allow the conversation to flow musicians really open up, revealing more of themselves than even they expected and creating a fresh, enjoyable story to bring to those who read it. Additionally, breaking new ground in features produces a similarly enticing experience. Making predictions, bringing new thoughts and ideas into others’ minds, and keeping them up to date on the cutting edge is how to do this. The most meaningful connections happen through education, the voicing opinions, and encouraging others to join the conversation. Articles like this allow sites to show off their own unique and unified voice. This in turn leads to a passionate fanbase of likeminded readers, much like the lyrics of a song do for any band.

Many of the major outlets fall into these traps out of necessity. They serve too large an audience, which leads to an overwhelming amount of news items, each only relevant to a small portion of their readership. While some articles may have proper substance, they do not shine through in the same way they would otherwise. Chasing the bigger bands and web traffic may be what makes them money, but it is also their downfall. Much like independent bands, independent websites now have the chance to shine. 2016 is the year of the passionate, individualized blog. Do it for the music, do it for the readers, and do it for the love.

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Do You Know the True Costs Involved With Recording and Releasing a Single?

This post is the latest in our ongoing collaboration series with Sonicbids.

Often, when musicians start writing a single, they’re not thinking of all the steps and costs it will take to actually release it. But all those costs catch up to you really quickly. There’s just so much to take into account – from the rehearsal and recording, to the mastering and distribution. And if you put it off instead of planning everything out from the get go, you could find yourself scrambling for time and money to get your single out on time.

Just a little planning from the start of the process could save you a ton of headaches, so in this article we’re going to go through all the costs you can expect when recording and releasing a single.

Rehearsal

If you’re lucky enough to have a big enough garage (and understanding neighbors), this won’t apply to you, but for everyone else, the first cost you’ll hit when releasing a single is rehearsal space. You want to make sure you have the song 100 percent worked out and know all the parts like the back of your hand before you set foot in the studio. This will keep the recording process going smoothly.

Copyright

Next, you should take the time to register your copyright with the federal government. If you’re going to be working with other musicians or a producer, they’re going to want to know that you own the copyright to your song. In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t a big expense at all – about $55 – but it’s still something a lot of musicians skip.

Recording studio

Next, you’ll hit the studio. Keep in mind that if you’re not fortunate enough to have a good local studio, you’ll also have to factor in transportation and lodging costs to get there. Studios will usually charge by the hour, or sometimes they’ll rent out a couple hour blocks or even a day for a little cheaper. Some studios will give you a lower price for low-traffic hours, like night and early morning.  

Equipment rental/purchase

Sometimes a new song requires new gear. Maybe you need a new pedal to get that sound you’re hearing in your head, or a six-string bass to get a bigger range. You should also make sure you’re stocked up on the basics like extra strings, sticks, and picks. The last thing you want to do is spend your expensive studio time out looking for a music store when your strings snap.

Session musicians

Sometimes your creative vision goes beyond the instrumental capabilities of your band, and that’s where session musicians come in. These musicians specialize in recording other people’s music, and they will usually charge by the hour. If you’re on a tight budget, try to pull in local or amateur session musicians or friends who will do the job a little cheaper or in exchange for your services on their album.

Producer

The producer is the creative director of your song. They’ll help you with the arrangement and channeling your creative ideas, they’ll help the engineers with the overall direction of the sound, and they’ll help keep the project on track and on budget. They will often charge by the hour or by the project.

Recording engineer

Recording engineers are in charge of setting and hooking everything up, and manning all the equipment to capture the best sound. Like producers, they will usually charge by the hour.

Mixing engineer

The mixing engineer will take all the tracks you recorded in the studio, find the best takes, and put it all together into a song. They’ll adjust the levels, add EQ, effects, compression, reverb, and the like to make the song sound as good as possible. Most mixing engineers will charge per track, though some may charge more if you have really long songs.

Mastering engineer

Mastering engineers get the song ready for release. A lot of what they do is raising the level, evening things out, fixing minor problems with the mix, and adding text information to the track. Like mixers, mastering engineers will often charge per track or album.

Artwork

If you’re looking to distribute your song on major online retailers, it definitely helps to have some great looking artwork to go with it. Plus, this will also give your some cool images for your promotion. Artwork doesn’t have to be super expensive. More likely than not, there are a bunch of talented artists in your town who could come up with something really cool for a few hundred dollars.

Distribution

Once the single is done, you need to get it out to your fans. It’s probably not worth putting your single on a physical CD by itself, so you’ll just be dealing with digital distribution. Both CD Baby and TuneCore will distribute your single to the major digital retailers for about $10. Other services like DistroKid will let you distribute as many songs as you want for about $20 per year. Loudr will also let you distribute an unlimited number of songs for a 15 percent commission.

Promotion

Depending on where you are in your career, promotion could be completely free or a pretty big expense. Social media and your email list are both definitely great tools to get your music out there. Try to come up with a creative campaign that builds off engagement and sharing, and give early sneak peeks to get your fans hyped. You could also use the album art and make an easy lyric video for YouTube.

If you have a bit more money, you could boost some posts on Facebook to get more exposure when your single is released, hire a publicist to get some great reviews, or create a music video.

As you can see, there is a lot to think about even if you’re just releasing one song, and going into it with a plan is the name of the game. Just like recording and releasing music, you should also have a plan for your music career. You need to know where you want to go and how to get there, and that’s exactly what you’ll learn how to do in the ebook Hack the Music Business. Click here to download the ebook for free.  

Dave Kusek is the founder of the New Artist Model, an online music business school for independent musicians, performers, recording artists, producers, managers, and songwriters. He is also the founder of Berklee Online, co-author of The Future of Music, and a member of the team who brought midi to the market.

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The Introverted Musician’s Guide to Performing

The following post is the latest in our ongoing content collaboration series with the fine folks from SonicBids. If there is ever a music related topic you cannot find covered on our blog we highly recommend giving their site a visit. Heck, go ahead and make them a bookmark. They’re great people doing great work for the same reason as us: They want to see the industry continue to grow for many years to come.

Being a musician involves wearing many hats. Most great musicians have mastered the art of both practicing their chops alone, and displaying those chops in front of large crowds. As an introvert, you may feel more comfortable practicing alone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be an amazing performer as well; you might just have to change the way you approach performance in order to make it work for you. Here are some tools introverted musicians can use to improve their stage presence and overall performing abilities.

1. Throw away the misconceptions

Many people (including introverts themselves) have misconceptions about what introversion actually means. Susan Cain, bestselling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, points out that shyness and introversion aren’t the same, even though most of us assume they are.

“Shyness is the fear of negative judgment, and introversion is a preference for quiet, minimally stimulating environments,” she writes. Barbra Streisand, for example, is someone that most of us would immediately identify as being comfortable in front of other people, but not so, says Cain. “Barbra Streisand has an outgoing, larger than life personality, but a paralyzing case of stage fright: she’s a shy extrovert.”

Another misconception is that introverts get stage fright. But even if you’re a shy introvert, that doesn’t necessarily mean you have performance anxiety. (By the way, if you’re curious to see if you’re a shy introvert or not, you can take this online shyness test developed by researchers at Wellesley College.) Most shy people are moderately shy and can get by just fine in front of people despite their shyness. It’s only when this shyness becomes extreme that it can lead to cases ofperformance anxiety (which, by the way, it something you can conquer, just as other performers like Barbra Streisand have).

2. Develop a pre-gig routine

Just like in other areas of DIY musician life, introverts have the upper hand over extroverts in some ways when it comes to performing. Psychologists have found that introverts often make better public speakers than extroverts, because introverts tend to take more time to prepare and think things through. So while your extroverted bandmates might be chatting it up with fans or other musicians before the gig, you can feel justified in taking this time to go over the setlist in your head, warm up your voice, or simply spend some quiet time alone.

3. Prepare some topics for between songs

Sometimes the most daunting thing about performing is not playing the songs, but thinking about what to say between songs. Because introverts don’t tend to be as quick on their feet as extroverts in social situations, it could be a good idea to prepare some topics beforehand to help fill those awkward silences if you’re the one tasked with talking to the audience.

4. Know when to fake it…

As Cain has pointed out, introverts don’t always act like they feel. “Introverts are capable of acting like extroverts for the sake of work they consider important, people they love, or anything they value highly,” she says. This is because of a phenomenon she calls Free Trait Theory, which says that people are born with certain natural dispositions, but can successfully act against these dispositions when pursuing “core personal projects.” So even if you don’t feel like going up onstage every time you have a gig, you can learn when to turn on the extrovert tap, so to speak.

5. …and when to be real

At the same time, going too far into Free Trait territory can be dangerous for your stage presence, if not for your personal health. According to research from Cambridge University, faking your personality for too long could lead to health problems such as decreased immune system functioning. Plus, there’s always the danger that you could get tired of pretending to be an extrovert onstage and come across as fake and awkward.

It’s also important to remember that performing onstage isn’t the same as interacting with people at a party or a networking event; while it may serve you well to act more gregarious than normal in a networking situation, you might actually have more luck capturing the attention of fans on stage simply by being real. Sometimes you can actually exude more energy simply by standing stoically rather than jumping around like a spastic monkey.

6. Take time to recuperate

Both extroverts and introverts need time to recharge. Research has found that extroverts feel less stressed at work when they take time throughout the day to be social. If this is the case, then it would follow that the opposite is true for introverts. If performing takes a lot of your energy, then naturally, you’ll want to take time after each gig to regain that energy.

Even if you don’t feel comfortable at all onstage, it may help to think of performing as part of your art, just like writing songs or recording an album. It may be the part you dread the most, but for your fans, it could be the best way to experience your music. You may find performing exhausting, but if you learn to do it right, your fans will find it exhilarating. And after all, isn’t playing music all about creating amazing experiences?

Casey van Wensem is a freelance composer, musician, and writer living in Kelowna, B.C., Canada. You can hear his musical work at birdscompanionmusic.com and read his written work atcaseyvanwensemwriting.com.

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5 Ways To Make Friends With The Person Running Sound (And Why It Is Important To Do So)

The following article was created with assistance from the fine men of Whosah. If you don’t know about this amazing group and the unforgettable music they create, follow this link and get familiar before you’re caught looking like a fool. 

Let’s face it- everybody who has run sound or a musician has at least a small handful of shameful war stories about how the other side has totally blown it at a gig:

“The sound guy didn’t know what he was doing and the mix sounded terrible.”

“The frontman cupped his hands around the mic and kept pointing it into the monitor.”

etc. etc etc.

The reality is, the relationship between the venue or headliner’s audio crew and the bands involved is the most important relationship in putting on a great show. You need each other. It doesn’t matter how well prepared the band is to perform, if they aren’t working well with the sound crew, the vision of the performance won’t translate to the audience with nearly the impact it could if the sound person and stage techs are completely on board with that vision.

Always assume you’re talking to someone who’s smarter than you- who’s a person who might surprise you when you get to know them.

I’ve stage-handed for 17,000+ attendee festivals, been the A1 at convention centers, and designed and installed AV systems in small Universities- but when I walk into a venue with skinny jeans and drum set, nobody I talk to knows what my background is. Conversely, how can I walk into a venue and assume to know the background (or lack thereof) of the guy standing across from me who’s running sound or stage teching that night? There have been times when after the show, I find out the guy mixing used to work for Journey, Steely Dan, or Prince. The stagehand could have just come off a tour with All Time Low or Hey Violet and be working this show as a favor for a friend. You never know what someone’s contacts are, and you never know what their chops are like until you actually interact with them. In this case as in any, always assume the best in the people around you.

Be friendly and personable.

Now, I can tell by their demeanor that many of these guys have been treated like crap over the years, but if I avoid the pitfall of being the stereotypical arrogant, diva musician, I may be surprised at the wealth of resource in front of me. I might even make a friend. Memorize their first name and use it regularly when speaking with them. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes that friend I make at the soundboard references me to a local band who just sold the place out last night or gives me the contact of a promoter who puts us on a sweet show next time we’re in town.

More than that, it’s just generally a sad and disappointing reality that many bands are disrespectful or dismissive of sound crew. I’ve met some of my closest friends through this industry- as a general trend sound guys are some of the most selfless, generous, and authentic dudes and ladies out there. If you lead with a friendly handshake and a smile, you might be surprised by the connection you inadvertently make.

Be accurate and specific in your rider.

You’ll make a bad impression early on if you don’t pass along your tech information or if you walk into the venue and the first thing you say is, “oh yea, that email was wrong. We actually also have….” Not only does this make the sound guy roll his eyes and probably not like you, but it will also take you twice as long to set up for your soundcheck and will have you playing catch up the rest of the night before doors. Not fun. Much better to plan ahead with specific information so that everyone’s on the same page. Make sure your technical rider is crisp, clear, as simple as possible, and up to date.

Leverage your gear so that processes are streamlined. The time it takes you to load onto stage and be ready for soundcheck should take no more than 5-8 minutes.

I’m a little bit of a fanatic on this. In order to avoid any need for a monitor guy and to significantly reduce stage volume, I built my band a custom in-ear-monitor rack controlled by everyone’s iPhones. This system contains 5 wireless in ear systems, a digital mixer, and a splitter for all the channels going to front of house for every show. Regardless of venue or stage size, this setup is pre-configured and tested fully at rehearsal. It has labels on everything, and has repeatable steps for assembly each time we set it up. Each person in the band has a rough aspect of this system he is primarily responsible for, but everyone is at least vaguely aware of how it all goes together so that during setup time we’re always ready to help each other out if one part needs more time than another.

Now, I recognize that not all bands are equipped financially or tech-minded to be able to have a system this robust, but the principles still apply to any band. Label all your equipment. Have general responsibilities on stage for who sets up what. Have labels (color coded if possible) for all your cables and other common equipment so you can quickly glance at a pile of gear and know which one is yours. Preset as much of each member’s equipment as possible off-stage before your allotted setup time, so that when it’s your turn, all you’ll need to do is lift your rig onstage in 1-2 trips and patch into the system.

There’s are several huge wins you’ll earn for your band if you take on this mentality. First, it’s never a bad thing to be thought of as “easy to work with”. For sidemen and sound dudes, this is the best way to earn a positive regional rep. Second, it makes you an easy book as support for a big show- if they know you aren’t a lot of work and you have a professional changeover time, you’re more likely to be asked back. Third, being a quick setup means you’ll have more time at the show to interact with your fans and meet new people, which is still the number 1 way bands build a following. The faster and simpler your setup is, the more time you’ll have for this critical face-to-face interaction.

Always be explicitly thankful and grateful.

Not only is this just a good rule of thumb for how to do life, but it is a simple, unassuming way you can breathe life into the day of the guy running sound. It’s one of the most thankless industries to work in, and one in which the people slave away on crazy hours for often very low pay. While these types of folks might typically come off as a little gruff and weathered, a simple, non threatening way to meaningfully “see” them is to just thank them explicitly and behaviorally throughout the gig. Truly, your fans experience of your show would not be even possible without them, and when human beings feel valued and appreciated, they always produce their best work.

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…On Being Socially Conscious With Your Music

The following guest blog was written by up and coming rapper Marco Pavé.

What does music mean to you? According to Huffington Post writer Selena May Santos and participants of her 2013 survey music is far more important than meets the eye, or better yet, the ear. One anonymous participant responded with, “Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand.“ For me, music is a means to discuss issues that you have experienced or have heard others experience. There’s always a lesson in every song, even if the writer wasn’t explicitly trying to teach that lesson. For example, the singer/songwriter, rapper, modern-day blues man—Future. Who recently was quoted saying,  “Yeah because I feel like that’s the number one thing everybody likes to talk about. It’s a catch,” after an interviewer asked him, why he portrays himself as a drug addict. For me as person who knows numerous people who have some form of drug addiction, this is jarring for me. Not because I think that he is making people want to do drugs (even though there are kids that are going to experiment with drugs because, future), but because drug addiction, or any addiction for that matter is a serious issue in communities around the country.

Artists need to be a bit more socially conscious, and no I am not saying that everyone needs to make a heal the world song, I’m just saying think about the message that you are sending and have a better fucking answer to why you’re sending said message than, “it’s a catch.” It’s not a catch when teens are being admitted into rehab for prescription pain medication overdoses. It’s not a catch when father pawns his kid’s bikes to get money for his next fix. It’s not a catch, period. Some may disagree, and say that it’s fine for it to be a catch, but the fact that we do have so many artists who have overdosed on drugs and who are currently addicted he walks a fine line between being a straight up sell out and a liar (maybe he is actually addicted and is trying to backtrack now that we are catching on).

To me being a socially conscious artist doesn’t take much, I believe 100 percent that Future’s music is already socially conscious. Okay, before you call me a hypocrite, let me finish. He is using his music and his brand as an artist to talk about all the problems of being a drug addict. He is also walking the line of having a shit load of survivor’s guilt– he made it from a crazy place and now he’s a multi-millionaire, it takes tremendous strength to handle all that emotionally. His music is very socially conscious it features everything from, drugs addiction, to hyper-sexuality, to misogyny, and the occasional person (groupie) with ulterior motives, these are all social issues. But what makes him not a socially conscious artists, is future outside the studio, in an interview where he can say, speaking someone’s truth is “a catch.” Even if he is playing a character, as any novice acting coach can tell you, “NEVER, break character.” When he stated that it was a catch, he stopped being a social conscious artist that is aware of people pains and is going through, or at least pretending to be going through similar pains, and became a sellout, because this means that he is only making music about drugs because it sells and not because he is thinking about the social effects of drugs and addiction.

In 2016, artists don’t have to make the next “We are the world,” they don’t have to enlist the help of all the neighborhood kids like Nas in, “I Know I Can,” they don’t even have to donate to charities and start foundations, they just need to be more aware of their messages and how they are socially affecting people. Jay-Z, one of the notorious know drug dealing rappers in hip-hop history once said “As a youngin, dumb and, gun in the waist / Sold crack to those who couldn’t take the pain and had to numb it with base.” But when asked about the repeated mention of drugs and crack in his music in 2013 by a reporter with Vanity Fair Jay-Z said, "There wasn’t any place you could go for isolation or a break. You go in the hallway; [there are] crackheads in the hallway. You look out in the puddles on the curbs—crack vials are littered in the side of the curbs. You could smell it in the hallways, that putrid smell; I can’t explain it, but it’s still in my mind when I think about it.” That’s socially conscious, we can tell that even through all the fucked up things that Jay-Z had to do he still has a heart and he fells pain just like any of us. Being a socially conscious artist doesn’t mean that you play holier than thou, it just means that you don’t make a mockery of people who are dealing with issues that you are rapping or singing about, even if it is just a catch.

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Journalism Tips: Life Is About More Than Music

In just over a month I will turn 28, and at that point I will have officially been working towards my goal of being a career-long professional in the music industry for a little over a decade. I started by promoting and booking for a local venue, which lead to street team work for a variety of indie labels. From there, I left for college and pursued a degree in music business while also running the campus radio station and launching my own music blog. Upon graduating from college I continued to build my blog while seeking work and, after securing a job, moved from Michigan to Boston to continue pursuing my career. That job eventually fell apart, but I luckily secured the role at Haulix I hold today before that time came to pass. I don’t know if I will ever want to work at another company after the wonderful experience I have had here so far, but if there comes a time when that is what I must do then I will find the strength to move on. I have no choice. The music business is a hustle or die industry, and even a decade into my work I feel I must hustle just as hard as I have every day before today, if not harder, in order to continue having a place in this business to call home. It’s stressful, but it’s what I signed up for, and if you’re reading this now you probably agreed to the same.

When I was younger, making sacrifices in the name of music was a no-brainer. By the time I started booking and promoting concerts I had already consumed numerous books and essays about life in the music business. I had also watched Almost Famous about a hundred times, which at the time I believed would one day serve me well (it hasn’t). All this was done because I knew music was the place for me, and I wasn’t going to let the fact I grew up surrounded by cornfields and country roads prevent me from leaving my mark on entertainment. My parents were supportive, but also understandably cautious. They had lived far longer than me and knew all too well about the dark side of entertainment. They saw their heroes fall from grace, as well as good artists go unnoticed. They had read how music, like film or television, chews up talent and spits it out with no regard for the welfare of the human possessing said talent, and though they were happy to see me drive to succeed they were concerned I too would be used and discarded. While I don’t think that has happened to me yet, there have been times when it felt like it could. Whether it was the period when my full-time job in Boston lost funding and couldn’t afford to pay its staff, or the countless times a website I was associated with went offline for seemingly no real reason, my career has been littered with moments when it seemed like all hope was lost. Still, I dug in harder than ever before and kept working. I kept grinding in the face of no pay and no industry future because I believed – like I do still today – that hard work pays off.

Recently, and by that I mean this past weekend, something changed for me. After years of putting my career and the desire to leave a mark on the entertainment industry above everything else in life I finally broke while on an otherwise normal day-cation with my fiancé, Lisa, and my parents. The original plan was for my folks to visit us in Boston, but due to the death of a distant relative my parents had to make a last minute change and visit New Jersey instead. We were initially going to call off our plans altogether, but Lisa and I decided to make the 4.5 hour drive down because it had been several months since we were able to visit anyone in our extended families. You see, while we may live a happy life in Boston, it has come at the cost of being half a country away from our families in the midwest. This was another sacrifice made in the name of music, and though it has rarely weighed on me over the last half decade this day was different, and I think every day moving forward will be different as well as a result.

The tipping point came in a music store of all places, at a time when I wasn’t even thinking about my life or career. Lisa and my mother were ready to leave, so they asked me to find my father and tell him we were planning to head up the street. As I scanned the aisles, I couldn’t see the man I’d known my entire life. I walked up and down before catching someone that looked like him in the corner of the shop. As I approached, I caught myself stopping momentarily because the man I was seeing had an almost complete head of grey hair, or at leas the back of his head was almost completely grey. I was about to turn and walk away when the man turned and, as you can probably guess, revealed himself to be my father.

That was it. In that moment when I realized the man I thought to be ‘too old’ to be my father was actually my dad something inside my broke. My dad may have turned 50 earlier this year, but in all my years on this planet he has always had a full head of dark brown hair. We joked about his incoming grey hairs whenever they would appear, but it wasn’t until this moment in Jack’s Music Shoppe in downtown Red Bank, New Jersey that I realized my father was getting older. In that fleeting moment my brain finally grasped the concept of our fleeting existence, and I knew in my bones for perhaps the first time ever that a day would come when my dad was no longer among the living. I realized that his time, as well as mine, was growing shorter by the passing minute. We were dying, and we always had been, but for whatever reason my mind and soul chose this exact moment to come to terms with the fact the amount of time I have to spend with my father is slipping through my fingers at an alarming and completely unstoppable rate.

As this wave of immense emotion rolled over me I felt tears begin to form in the corners of my eyes, but I tucked them away before they could see the light of day. It wasn’t until Lisa and I were in bed back in Boston that I actually had to sit and take in everything that had crossed my mind in the preceding hours. When I did, at three in the morning, the sobs poured out of me like a child who just lost their favorite toy. Lisa sat with me, telling me that she felt some kind of inner turmoil weighing on me, and she held me until I could find the power to stop shaking. We talked about life, death, and the people we had lost along the way. We talked about the possibilities of eternity, and what it means to be conscious. We talked about a lot of things far too personal to detail here, but the one thing we never discussed was my career in music.

I’ve always known that I will one day cease to exist. That fact had dawned on me at an incredibly early age when, on the day of my birthday, my grandmother on my father’s side passed away. I recall crying in my father’s arms in the dead of night pleading with him to find a way to let me avoid death, and he was honest in saying that was impossible. He told me instead that death would not come for me for a very long time, and that the same was true for him. I believed him, and even though I still feel unsettled by the rush of feelings I had in Jersey over the weekend I still believe that to be true. With the exception of that one grandmother, most people on both sides of my family live long, fulfilling lives. I can only hope the same fate befalls my parents and I, but of course there is no way to know just what life holds in store.

And that is why I felt compelled to share this story. The grey hairs on the back of my father’s head taught me more about what is important in this life than anything I had seen, heard, or been taught throughout my existence. In that one brief moment I realized that I, nor anyone else, can be Peter Pan. I may have a career in an industry that thrives off making the feeling of youth last forever, but eventually everything I know will turn to ash, including the bones, muscles, and tissues that make me a person. Everyone I love will eventually pass from this existence, and try as I might to believe one philosophy or another I have no idea what comes after our brief time on this Earth. All I know is that when I saw the grey hairs on my father’s head I could not have cared less about my place in music history, or even music today. All I could think about were the sacrifices made to get to where I am, and what I realized is that most of the things I had to cut out of my life related to the people in it. Whether it was moving across the country for a job in a city where I don’t know a soul, or simply spending every waking hour blogging instead of enjoying the company of friends and family, I had lessened the time I have with the people I love the most for a selfish goal that would mean nothing when I died, and that thought has now kept me awake for days.

Music is a wonderful industry to be a part of, and it’s filled with brilliant people whose presence in your life is a gift you can never repay, but if success comes at the cost of losing time with those who already mean the world to you then I’m not sure that success in this business is something I still want. No job is worth losing the time we have with those we love the most, and starting this week I am taking a very hard look at how I can make changes that allow me to better focus on the things that really matter in this life. I hope this story will inspire you to do the same.

James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.

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Finding Strength In Your Pain

Hope Vista is a fast-rising singer-songwriter with a unique flare for pop aesthetics that is impossible to resist. Like many artists, her journey to find confidence in what she’s trying to convey through her art was a long and twisted one ripe with heartache, including the death of her father. Today, in a very open and honest guest editorial, Hope tells us about losing her father and how she found motivation to succeed in what most would consider her darkest hour.

If you like what you read and wish to learn more about Hope’s music we highly recommend you visit her official Facebook page. Hope will release her debut EP on November 6 of this year.

There was never been any question in my mind as to what I’ve always wanted my career to be. It’s always been music. Always, and there was never a time when that wasn’t what I wanted to do. It’s interesting though how loss can fuel your passion even more, when you thought that fire couldn’t burn any brighter. One major loss is all it takes, really. That’s all it takes to give you that extra amount of motivation you need to get something done.

The number one person in my life has always been the same; it’s always been my daddy. He was that heroic-like figure to me, who was a hero in my eyes simply because he was my dad. He was the classical jazz guitar-playing veteran music teacher with a love for Banana Republic and a temper that really showed every Sunday during football season when the Giants were losing. Every morning at the crack of dawn, he’d sit on the kitchen floor of his apartment and spread sheet music out from wall to wall, just jumping around and playing whatever felt right. He was a brilliant talent to watch and open your ears too; just a fiery passion for everything music.

Having a parent diagnosed with cancer is one of those things that you don’t expect to ever happen to you. It’s not something you really think about, but you also don’t think you’ll ever experience it, because it’s honestly a pretty morbid thing. When he told me last year about his diagnosis, I pretty much lost my mind. It took that one sentence, “your dad has cancer,” to promise myself that I would succeed in the career path that he inspired me to take. In that singular moment, I dedicated my entire life from there on out to making my dad proud in any way that I could.

We lost him just 7 months after the diagnosis, and that was another one of those singular moments; something that keep re-igniting that pre-existing flame to succeed in the music industry and make him the most proud angel in heaven possible. Every choice I’ve made, especially in regards to my music career, is always based on whether or not I think my dad would approve. I will never in my career do something that I think would’ve caused him to say “I’m disappointed in you.” I owe nearly all of my inspiration and motivation to my dad; I wouldn’t be Hope Vista without him. Technically, based on my birth certificate, I still would be named Hope Vista, but the elements of my career sure as hell wouldn’t be. The fire, pushing him to teach me how to play a Fender Strat in 5th grade, learning how to digest and apply constructive criticism; none of that would exist otherwise.

I will never think that 21 years was enough time; I’ll always think there should have been many more years together after that. But this new era is where I prevail (hence the EP title). It’s where I take everything my father instilled in me and continuously apply it to my entire being, and I think that’s exactly what he would’ve wanted me to do.

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Make Your Emails Count

Steven LaClair, founder and editor for Nothing Original, joins us today to share some thoughts on email, publicity, and why many in the industry need to think about the way they communicate with music bloggers/journalists.

The time I have available to spend blogging about music has decreased dramatically over the last three years. There was a time when I could wake up at 8am, catch up on any emails I received during the night, respond, and post accordingly in a surprisingly small amount of time. Sadly, that is not the case anymore. It’s a full-time job trying to keep up on the world of music. The news cycle never stops, and falling behind can be detrimental to a blog. When I decided working 15-18 hours a day for a few dollars wasn’t worth it compared to a full-time job, I scaled everything I did back and believed I could still make my site, Nothing Original, work. I was dead wrong.

I always preferred to have a constant flow of fresh content on Nothing Original. I’d consider it a good day if I could get post somewhere around 10 articles, if not more. Going through emails and albums trying to figure out what I care about and what I think my readers would care about was fun, but it took a toll on me day after day. I kept at it though, because I love writing about music and I love sharing my opinions on music with others. I wish I could still do it, but there’s only so much time in a day. When I do have the time, I open up my email to over a hundred pitches that are a mix of press releases, requests, album advances, and whatever else a publicist or band is trying to get posted that day. It’s simply overwhelming.

Some publicists share three to four press releases a day, if not more based on the amount of clients they have and the number of releases being worked on that particular day. With ten or more publicists doing the same thing I’m receiving well over fifty emails daily, which makes determining what’s worth posting incredibly difficult, and that is before I scan the net for stories or streams I may not have been directly pitched.  I have to figure out what is the best material to post and then find a way to say it that actually engages an audience that is already inundated with an untold number of headlines, advertisements, and clickbait-readied tweets before myself or the Nothing Original team even make an attempt at grabbing their attention, and I have to do all that in a very little amount of time. There is no possible way to make every publicist and every reader happy, but I do my best. Still, even on the good weeks, a lot of potentially great material gets discarded.

This is not the way writers should feel about receiving email. The idea of checking for pitches should not incite an overwhelming sense of anxiety or stress, but it does and that can lead one to wonder why they bother trying to be a writer at all. Most of us only have so much time in a day, and when we spend half of it going through just emails on things that honestly don’t really matter. What makes the first pitch from a publicist on a particular client different than the four follow-ups they send in the next two days? Writers cannot meet every request, and if we’re going to meet any while delivering quality content to our readers then writers’ schedules needs to be considered. I’m not asking for a world where we only receive one email a day, but I am asking for those pitching writers to be more considerate in the amount of content they shovel our way. Make the headline grab our attention, ensure the content is remotely interesting and keep it short. Also, don’t follow-up more than once in 48 hours.

I love writing about music and I wish I had more time to do it, but the truth of the matter is that adulthood and the responsibilities that come with it make writing for next to nothing a hard hobby to justify. When I do have the time, I wish looking through requests wasn’t a chore. Let us care about your band. Make each band try and seem special to you. Making them feel special to you will make the band feel important to us and then hopefully we can write about it. Make your emails and requests count. I can’t meet them all, but I’d like to at least try.

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Email Will Out-Live Social Media

“So what’s the next big thing online to get the word out?”

The singer from a popular hardcore band asked me this recently. They’re no slouch, with 5+ albums and a few European tours under their belt. But most smart bands are always looking ahead, no matter how big they are.

Years ago Facebook worked great, but now they charge you to reach all your “Likes.” Twitter is fun, but have you looked at your analytics to see how many people who actually see your updates? Toss in Snapchat, WhatsApp, Vine, Instagram, YouTube – what works? What’s the easiest way to reach your audience? What will work next month?

Email. Email will work.

Two amazing statitiscs:

According to this report from the Radicati Group, “there are three times more email accounts than Twitter and Facebook accounts combined.”

Chances are 99% people of your last gig had an email address. Think that many people were on Twitter or Instagram?

When your main “getting the word out” message is via networks that some people – believe it or not – aren’t using, you’re talking to a brick wall. Telling your fans “Follow us on Twitter and Facebook!” means nothing to people who aren’t on either.

And from Campaign Monitor, “you are six times more likely to get a click-through from an email campaign than you are from a tweet. 

Seriously – look at your analytics! Amongst the barrage of marketing messages, pleas for clicks and RTs and “share this” – this is 2015! It ain’t gonna get better in 2016, folks.

And yes, 10’s of thousands of social media followers looks great. But take a look at the Bit.ly links of some media outlets (by adding a + sign to the end of the URL); some have six-figure followers and can’t even get 1% of their audince to click a link. If less than 1% of your fans are clicking, what’s that make the other 99% of your followers?

If you’re looking to magically convert your 10,000 Twitter Followers and 50,000 Facebook "Likes” to email subscribers, good luck. Remember, if you’re “fortunate" to have 1% of your fans click on ANYTHING (let alone a link to join an email list), it’s going to take months to grow your list from your social media following.

But you should start doing that now. Remember, MySpace was the #1 music site online in 2006 and now it’s gone. Do you think we’ll still be talking about Twitter and Facebook in 2020? There’s a chance we might not, but you can be sure that email will still be around.

And those “Likes” may not be.

Seth Werkheiser is the quiz master of metal trivia at Skulltoaster. He’s also the founder of some music sites you may have heard of, including Noise Creep (2009) + Buzzgrinder (2001). He’s anti-Facebook, anti-clickbait, and anti-growth hacking. You should most definitely follow him on Twitter. Yes, right now.

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What Makes A Band Worth Signing?

I’ve been involved in running a small record label based out of Boston for the better part of four years at this point, and I will be the first to admit I don’t know everything. I probably don’t know half of everything there is to know about running a record label, but I do think I know a thing or two about music. I’ve been working in the industry in one way or another since I was 16, and I even have one of those fancy Music Business degrees you see promoted in the back of rock magazines. In just a few months I will be 28, and I like to tell myself I have something to show for twelve years of long days that almost always turned into late nights, even if it is just an understanding of how the industry works.

This post could go in-depth on how big labels operate, as well as the many factors that are considered before signing an artist that lie beyond the quality of their music, but that isn’t the reality I know. The world I know is small and mid-size labels, often started out of bedrooms or dorms, that are ran by people who are making records for no reason other than the desire to help further expose the artists they know and love. You can call these labels passion projects if you must, but if you understood the work involved it probably wouldn’t sound quite so glamorous. The financial return for running a label is honestly smaller than any other project I have been a part of even though most our albums have sold incredibly well. People don’t start a label to make money though, or at least I didn’t.

For Antique, the artists we seek to sign are the ones who we cannot resist. We want the creators of the ear worms people will be trying to shake for days or weeks or (preferably) even months at a time. I don’t mean pop artists necessarily, though we would certainly consider them. I simply mean the kind of artist whose material punches you in the gut with something so universally true, be it happy or sad, that you feel as if they’ve just described your very existence. We want talent that speaks to the reality we know, the struggles we have faced, and the hope we have for the future. There are plenty of sad song about sad things and there is always a time for them to be enjoyed, but we tend to like artists that offer a silver lining to every rain cloud. The artists who recognize when times are bad, and then take steps to make themselves better instead of simply wallowing in the turmoil that surrounds them.

Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with artists who create music that falls outside this description. I pride myself on being someone who loves a little bit of everything, from Kacey Musgraves’ tongue-in-cheek country croon, to the skull-shaking heaviness of Fit For An Autopsy, but just because I enjoy something doesn’t mean I want to release it on my label. I am sure there are label who release a little bit of everything that makes them happy, but we prefer to curate a select pool of talent where every artist is different, yet just similar enough to fit alongside one another on, say, a mixtape or compilation. That isn’t something every label seeks with their roster, but for us it’s important.

We decided on our latest signees, a Kentucky based band known as Father Mountain, about two months after we first spoke with them. The band had released an incredible EP on their own in November 2014, not to mentioned performed numerous shows all over the US, but as far as we could tell almost no one with influence in the alternative community had quote/unquote ‘discovered’ them just yet. We reached out initially to ask if the band was preparing to release something new in 2015, but after learning they only had plans for an acoustic EP our talks cooled for a bit. We liked the idea of the EP, but if we’re going to invest a lot of time and money into a group we want to have a proper release to support. Still, there was something about the band’s EP we kept coming back to again and again. We asked if we could wait until we heard their new recordings to make an offer, and the band told us that was perfectly fine.

Fast-forward several weeks and the band sends over a demo of a new track entitled “Jamais Vu.” The song is a heartfelt and honest depiction of that moment when your heart shatters from a surprise break up. Like Ralph Wiggum when Lisa told him she no longer wanted to date, “Jamais Vu” makes you want to clench your chest, if only to know your heart hasn’t stopped altogether. It’s sad, yet beautiful, and no matter how many times you want to huge the member of the band who had to experience the breakup in question you keep reaching for the repeat button. I knew from the first time I heard the opening lines that the band had not only delivered something special, but something we had to put out. It was no longer a question of whether or not the EP was the right thing to do because every bone in my body was telling me if I let Father Mountain get away someone else will come along to scoop them up. I was hearing a band poised for greatness, and I had the rare opportunity to help them take another step toward reaching that point.

Months later, and a just a day or two after “Jamais Vu” was shared with the world at large, I still find myself scrolling to Father Mountain’s music every other time I am looking for something to play. Antique ultimately decided to reissue the band’s 2014 EP, with the addition of three acoustic tracks, and I think it’s really the best decision we could have made. The early sales have been good, but even if they were’t I would not have a single regret about bringing the band into our label because I know the talent they possess. I know there are other bands with great songs and a lot of promise looking for their shot at national exposure, but there is something about Father Mountain that keeps me coming back again and again. I know if I were not involved with this band I would be a fan of their when someone else signed them, and someone else would definitely sign them. They’re THAT good. Some will disagree, but that’s okay because they don’t have to pay our bills. We pay for everything and as long as we’re happy with what we’re putting out then our label is a success, and that is something no one can take away.

This is a long way of not really providing a solution the question at hand, and I apologize if you went into this article thinking you would find a concise answer to what makes a band worth signing. I think the answer is, if one exists, that you have to find an artist that you connect with on a deeply personal level. Hype and proven road chops are already a plus, obviously, but at the end of the day you have to love what you’re putting out before anyone else will be willing to give it a listen. No label ran by people who are working for passion rather than money wants an artist they wouldn’t listen to themselves, and no artist should want a label that is comprised of anyone other than their biggest fans. The bond between artist and label has to be real from day one, and there has to be a mutual respect for one another as well. Labels need to trust that an artist will continue to grow and create great work, while artists need to believe the label will do everything in their power to get that record in front of consumers. If that connection is not strong no amount of great music will make a difference.

James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.

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