When we think of search we automatically think of Google, but that’s not the only one available to us. In the West there’s also Microsoft’s Bing, Yahoo (which is still going strong), and a few smaller specialty ones like DuckDuckGo. In China, Google is eclipsed by Baidu, but the one big search engine that is […]
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My guest today on the podcast is trumpet player and vocalist Mark Pender, who’s played with Southside Johnny, Little Steven and Bruce Springsteen, and, as a member of the Miami Horns, toured and recorded with Diana Ross, Joe Cocker, Robert Cray and Bon Jovi, among others. Since 1993 Mark has been a fixture on late night TV, performing on over 4,000 episodes of Late Night with Conan […]
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It’s probably no surprise that if you’re between the ages of 13 to 24, music tends to be a bigger part of your life than when you get older. Since that’s the case, it stands to reason that social media used by that age group would also be driven by music, as this recent report […]
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Most every Thanksgiving we all have so much to be thankful for, and for you this one might be no exception. There are many people suffering as a result of the devastating fires in California however, and more than a few of them are music figures that you know and love. One is guitar maker […]
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It’s big news that Taylor Swift has left the Big Machine label for Universal Music, but a byproduct of that deal is that the label’s artists would receive all of their share of the revenue from a sale of the company’s holdings of Spotify should it decide to sell. That means that the total amount […]
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My guest today on the podcast is engineer Paul Hollman, who mixes and edits sound for film, TV, and streaming broadcast. His work currently airs on Netflix, Amazon, SyFy, Discovery, Seso, Go90, and Hallmark Channel, and he’s also mixed documentaries which aired on Fox, NBC and PBS. Paul offers clients a full range of sound […]
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One of the byproducts of the digital age is that our collective attention span is a lot shorter than it ever was before. If something doesn’t grab us immediately then it’s highly likely that we’ll skip right to something else that does. This is outlined by a recent study regarding skip rates of songs played […]
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Those of us who grew up with rock tend to remember the stadium concert as a bastion of the legendary rock performers like The Rolling Stones, The Who, and Black Sabbath among many others. While those bands and more from that era still manage to play stadiums (at least before they retire), that part of […]
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As I’ve said many times here and in my book Social Media Promotion For Musicians, just being on a social network doesn’t mean that you’re using it effectively for promotion. There’s a mindset that’s needed before you can use any network as a promotional tool. That said, we see many celebrities, athletes and politicians get […]
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Throughout the digital age, artists have learned to game the system in an effort to move their careers ahead. It’s easy to buy fake YouTube views, Twitter followers, Facebook friends and followers, playlist rankings, and just about anything else where the number seems to validate the artist’s popularity. It’s gotten to the point where labels […]
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My guest today on the podcast is one of the most revered recording engineers in the world today. Al Schmitt has won 22 Grammys, worked on 160 gold and platinum albums, and even received his own star on Hollywood’s famous Walk of Fame. Al has worked with so many of the real legends in the music business, including […]
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All the focus has been on streaming music the last few years, with the comeback of the vinyl record getting much attention as well. Meanwhile the once mighty CD has been pretty much written off as a relic of the past. After all, who needs a round plastic souvenir when the same music can be […]
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While artists have long felt that they’re not making enough from streaming, songwriters and publishers have it even worse, making as little as a tenth per stream as that of an artist. Although the rates may not change, Spotify is at least attempting to provide more info to publishers to help them understand their payouts […]
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Artists and bands need to make their fan base aware of any upcoming gigs. A single email isn’t enough to get the word out, but many artists are afraid to send out more. Here’s an excerpt from the second edition of my Social Media Promotion For Musicians book that outlines a gig reminder strategy that has proven […]
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It’s not uncommon to day to find an artist that will spend a great deal of time, energy and even money to get a placement on one of Spotify’s major playlists. The current consensus in the business is that a playlist appearance can make a career, but is that really the reality? An example that’s […]
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