If your band would rather concentrate on making music instead of spending precious time booking gigs, perhaps you should consider employing a booking agent. A booking agent (commonly referred to as a talent agent) shares similar duties to that of a band manager.

Booking agents are the official representative of bands, ensembles, orchestras and other musicians. Their primary function is to arrange live performances for musicians, acting as a liaison between the artists and the producers.

Like any promotional representative, a booking agent actively promotes recording artists and other entertainers for live performances, and earns a commission on his marketing efforts. For example, a booking agent will help set up work for artists on commercials, film, television, stage and other types of performances.

In addition to setting up gigs for bands, a booking agent can also help to arrange publicity opportunities for recording artists, and assists with logistics as well. A booking agent has the professional expertise to get steady work for musicians, and to keep the name of their client foremost in the minds of producers and the public.

If you would like to share an article on booking agents and how they can be of benefit to professional Musicians, or if you would like to share a booking agent story, feel free to do so at Media Positive Radio today.

Copyright 2006 – All Rights Reserved Michael O. Brickell, in association with Media Positive Communications, Inc. for MediaPositiveRadio.com

Notice to Publishers: Please feel free to use this article in your Ezine or on your Website; however, ALL links must remain intact and active.

Michael O. Brickell is the General Manager for Media Positive Communications, Inc. in association with MediaPositiveRadio.com. Find Booking Agent information at MediaPositiverRadio.com; meeting your needs as your music resource to locate music related services.

I remember when I first put the Brobdingnagian Bards on MP3.com and started to learn the ropes. I would listen daily to music there, but I never listened to bands that were higher in the charts than we were because I didn’t want to boost their ratings any more than they already were.

I guess greedy. It totally dog-eat-dog. But it wasn’t until I started to listen to my own advice that I started to make some changes and helping my fellow musicians. And it wasn’t until I started to help you that our success took off.

Yeah, there are many reasons why we’ve done consistently well on the mp3.com charts, but one of the main ones is that I’ve been willing to scratch someone elses back with no expectation of a return. And while there’s no expectation, there always is a return.

It’s one of those great conundrums, I guess. I mean, how is it possible that when you help someone else You will benefit… Yet I’m amazed to see that it happens. And it happens all the time.

The more I am willing to give, the greater my return.

Just yesterday, I got an email from a Nagian (one of our fans) saying he loved our music and would do everything he could to promote us. Just ask.

But the only thing I can do is to humbly ask him to turn around and see if he needs his back scratched.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

I remember a while back reading David Nevue’s book, How to Successfully Promote Your Music the the Internet. In it he threw out a cool suggestion for increasing the searchability of your band.

His suggestion was to write a review of CDs that you feel are similar to your style of music or CDs that inspired your music. The idea is if you promote traffic to this webpage, visitors will also see a review of your band, and check out your music.

I loved that idea so much that I was psyched when I learneda very simple and similar promotional idea on Amazon.com. Here’s what you have to do:

First, you need to sell your CD on Amazon.com OR at the very least offer a free MP3 in their Digital Music Network.

Second, do a search for a band or album similar to yours. In my case, my group, the Brobdingnagian Bards, released a CD inspired by the Lord of the Rings. So I went over to the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack.

Third, scroll down and you’ll see either a link that says,

Recommend an item!
or a box that has
I recommend in addition/instead of this album.

Fourth, grab the ASIN from your webpage. (The ASIN is the 10 charcter code listed in the Produce Details). All you have to do is insert you ASIN into this blank to make your recommendation.

Your music is now linked to the artist you consider yourself similar to. The beauty of this promotional idea is that it all takes place in the Amazon shopping environment.

This means, more than likely, they’ll go straight to your Amazon page. They’ll read about your album. They’ll listen to your MP3s. And hopefully, they will buy an album, and/or hunt down your band’s website where you’ll earn a new fan.

PS. The 2004 Edition of How to Promote Your Music Succesfully on the Internet by David Nevue is now available.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

Ever since turning 35 years old I?ve had a nagging feeling that my life had somehow changed. Where once there was wonder and amazement at the simple things in life like a cloudless summer day, or the unspoilt scenery of the countryside, these things stir little inside of me. It takes a lot more to excite me now than a few years ago. I talked to my friends who were the same age as me, and yes they felt the same way. What was it – what?s changed?

We came to conclusion that it was hope we had lost – the hope of a better tomorrow. When we were younger the future was always there and we?d always be young enough to change our lives and change our fortunes. The realisation that we?ve reached and passed the peak of our lives is a shocking one. It?s too late for me now to get that degree and become a lawyer. I?m never going to go to university and then on to become a world famous brain surgeon. Don?t get me wrong, I love my life and I love my family, it?s just that I always thought that one day I?d make the ?big time?.

I?ve played guitar and sung since I was nine years old. Learning more and more songs and even writing a few of my own. I believed that one day I?d make it. Perhaps a talent scout would hear me play or I?d get around to making that demo tape and sending it off. Sadly a hundred and one other things got in the way – girls, cars, motorbikes, work, marriage and kids. I wouldn?t change any of that for the world, but now I?m in my mid-thirties it?s finally occurred to me that my big breaks just not going to happen.

The answer to being happy once in your mid-thirties, I?ve decided, is to fill your life with the things you always wanted or thought you might one day have, just on a more realistic scale. Thus begins my quest for musicians to jam with. I tried the band thing when I was a teen and wasn?t impressed. There were too many people with large egos trying to railroad everyone else into doing it their way. Now I?m looking for people like me. I?ve readjusted my dreams. Now I just want to find some people to play with. No false hopes of becoming famous and gigging way into my seventies! Just regular guys and girls who also have lives they love, but want to play music with others.

For me playing the guitar and singing helps me feel grounded and at peace with the world (ok ..Maybe just a little more at peace) and I know others feel the same way about their hobbies. It?s important not to lose sight of the fact that just because we?re not young doesn?t mean life is over. As long as I?m still physically capable I will still be riding my motorbike and playing my guitar. The dream of strapping the guitar to my back and riding my motorbike around the world might be gone now but that doesn?t diminish the pleasure both give me.

So who cares if my band is never going to get a song in the charts (or even play on stage at Butlins!)? Does it really matter if I?m never going to be champion motorcycle racer? There are enough people in my life who love me and enjoy listening to me playing guitar and singing to make me feel perfectly happy with today ? and tomorrow. My wonder at the world we live in has finally returned.

Please visit my web site at www.iwantedtobeapopstar.co.uk

Sam Salmon runs http://www.iwantedtobeapopstar.co.uk helping amateur musicians find others to play with.

No wonder we all seek to express ourselves in some way. To achieve success in music we need a band, as a solo career is no longer popular. And now you are between decisions how to choose the band members to share you dazzling ups.

Well, there are two ways out:
1.To involve professional musicians into the project and to divide obligations in advance. The only thing acquired is your own professional skills.
2.To surround yourself with deer friends and start following the path of studying altogether.

No matter which way you will go, just don?t haste. It may happen the guitarist will tear a strip off or the drummer will misfit a drum set. It?s no use shouting on them. We all make mistakes every now and then. First of all try studying few easy songs, like My Girl by Nirvana. But don?t jump into mastering jazz or grind core, as the Suicidal Tendencies, the Red Hot Chili Peppers or the Slipknot represent.

For joint work to be fruitful enough, you should organize rehearsals into two parts, the way, one will be devoted to revising already studied songs and the other one will be used for improvisation, which is of a great value, as the band members study to predict every next step of each other. Its? you feeling every sense of music in the result. You can feel it?s aliveness by letting it through your mind. But the main thing is not to feel down in case everything is not as excellent as you have imagined. It?s much worse to loose pleasure in playing and creating music.

What concerns recommendations of experienced musicians, they are worth listen to, however, keep it in mind, it?s up to you, which of them to choose to follow.

Article source:

Art of Band Creation. Music Babylon is a site with lyrics, discographies, artists’ biographies, music forum and some articles for those who’s interested.

The recent changes in the payback formula at MP3.com had catastophic results to indie artists everywhere. My band, the Brobdingnagian Bards, was making over $100 per day when the system dropped out from beneath us. But you know, it didn’t hit us as hard as many artists.

The reasons is that about two months ago, I saw the changes that were happening and decided to make a change in my own marketing procedures. Vivendi was taking charge. They want to hinder free downloads and keep CDs viable for as long as possible. Alright, so we need to sell CDs. How do we do that?

That’s when I started surfing to the masters. Fellows like Jim Daniels of BizWeb2000.com, and even to some of the SPAM marketers.

You see, I read a book on ad copy about a year ago, and I started to understand what these people do. Sure, when you head to some SPAM marketer webpage, you see ad copy three pages long that doesn’t tell you jack. It kinda beats around the bush. But you know what…some of that stuff ACTUALLY SELLS!

It’s true. Ad copy for your CDs is all about convincing your potential fans to buy your albums. It’s easy to write because all you need to do is tell your fans what you think is so great about your album. Why do they want to buy your album?

No, you don’t have to write ten pages to sell your CD. Just write one. Or head over to our Celtic Wedding CD page. I setup that page in late July of 2001. Since then, our wedding CD has been our best selling CD. What does it do that is so special?

Not much. It directs traffic to the site. Tells visitors about the CD. It gives them free samples to listen and download. Offers a few testimonials. And it tells them why I think our CD is the perfect album for someone who is getting married or just in love. Finally, it gives them something extra. That’s all ad copy is. And it works!

Hey, follow my example. Steal my ad copy and cater it to your own needs. And start selling CDs.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

As I receive emails from many different musicians on my radio station, I tend to get about 35%-45% that do not know, or do not have their music in a digital format. This is a major problem!

You might think having a CD and sending it out to the stations is the best way, but it really isn’t. First off your wasting waaay to much money for postage, the CD, and any other costs involved in that process. If you have your music on your computer, you have many advantages. Not only can you send your music faster, but you also keep it in great condition. Meaning a computer file will not get damaged or scratched, however your CD you can lose, scratch, or damage.

Now having CDs is a good thing to sell to people, or give them as promotional material, but you should also have them in digital format. The way to do this is to RIP the CD onto your computer. There are many different programs to use to do this, the easiest one for everyone to use is Windows Media Player.

This will probably be already installed onto your computer if you have Windows, which I figure 85%-90% of you do. If you don’t have it download it. Its free so don’t worry about it.

Once you have installed it, you want to insert your CD, and then go to the RIP tab, which will show your CDs information. Now it won’t have your information, so change it right there before you RIP the CD. All you need to do is click once and it should go into EDIT Mode. The text will be highlighted and you just change the information.

TIP: Go to Tools, Options, and Rip Music tab. You should rip your music to at least 128kps bitrate (lower quality) or what I recommend is 320kps bitrate. The higher the bitrate the better the quality, so you might as well go to 320kps and use MP3 format, however burning WMA files wouldn’t hurt as well.

After putting the correct information in you will click RIP MUSIC button, at the upper right hand corner, below the Music Tab. It will take about 10-20 minutes depending on how many tracks and what quality you want to RIP at.

TIP: Go to Tools, Options, and Rip Music tab. Above the bitrate and audio file format, you’ll see RIP Music Folder. This is where once the CD Ripping is complete will go, so make note so you can find your music.

That is pretty much it! Just rename your music files to Artists Name – Song title.(mp3, wma, or wav), doing so will result in a better and more professional looking song file!

Hope this helps many unsigned musicians, if you need more information or help please reply in this thread. And I will try to help you.

Nick Willever Currently Runs An Entire Unsigned Music Network Main Site – http://www.supportingunsignedmusic.com Community Site – http://www.unsignedmusicforum.com

Two weeks ago, I went to Italy to visit family and see the country. I was a military brat, so I’ve been there plenty of times before, but nevertheless, it was a magnificent and learning experience, both artistically and as a guerrilla marketer. So for the next few weeks, I’m gonna take you on a brief tour of Italy, and show you what I learned from my trips. I’ll take you from Venice to Florence, Pisa and Rome, plus few places thrown in. The travel industry is an outstanding resource for learning about marketing, so let’s get started.

Italy Lesson: Venice

Of all the cities in Italy, Venice is my favorite. There’s some sort of deep connection between me and Venice. Perhaps it is the old, rustic look to the city? Perhaps it is the enchanting waterways? The exquisite food? Or the beautiful and friendly people? Or maybe it’s just a town that truly has a sense of itself. IT is one of Italy’s greatest former city-states, and it currently is one of the most-visited vacation spots in the world. Yes, to many it is just a tourist town that sometimes smells bad in the summer, but the people there know marketing. They know how to get tourists into their shop, or drop a tip.

Let’s take, for example, Rondo’ Veneziano. This band has gained a small degree of fame in Italy, particulary in Venice. I suspect part of the notoriety is due to their name which alludes to Venice, and also their musical style. They play Classical music to upbeat electronic drums. After years of listening to copies of their tape, I was surprised to find that there was a five-piece band behind the music. Five women playing their violins with such incredible timing and skill you’d think there was a DJ.

Well, I was thrilled to find they would be playing Venice that night we arrived. And I found out in a fairly unusual manner. Among the hordes of street merchants, a man dressed in Victorian garb approached us and spoke in Italian, then English to tell us about this band. He was selling tickets…in the streets. Sure you find Hawkers doing this all the time, here, but it struck me as interesting… Even more so when we came across the second and third groups of Hawkers. It was a coordinated effort.

You see, what this lesson is about is getting people to your shows. It takes work, but think about it for a minute. What if they next time you had a gig, you went down there a week in advance, handed out flyers, sold tickets, gave out discount coupons that many clubs are so fond of? What if you had a mailing list with you telling them you could send them more info? Could you bring in twenty, thirty, fifty extra people to see you play, even though they’ve never heard of you before? Maybe. What if you add a theme to it? Dress to impress your selected audience. Or a theme that would inspire people of all ages. Think you could bring out a helluva lot of load of people out to see you. Do you think the club owner would consider booking you again? On a better night? Opening for one of the top local acts or maybe even a national act?

I’ll tell you what. If you show that you’re willing to put in that much effort, then hell yes! They’ll book you. If you can pack a place, particularly on a bad night, then you are an asset to the club that they don’t want to lose. They’ll book you and treat you right. Plus, you will entertain countless people and gain some new fans, sell some CDs, and get people talking about you.

It just takes a little effort to learn from the Venice Lesson and that of Rondo’ Veneziano. Organize your friends and bandmates, ask them, convince them, even bribe them if you have to (just weigh the costs), to help you hand out tickets and get some notice. Your musical career will proceed only as fast you are willing to work.

Bard Marc Gunn of the Brobdingnagian Bards has helped 1000′s of musicians make money with their musical groups through the Bards Crier Music Marketing and Promotion Ezine and the Texas Musicians’ Texas Music Biz Tips. Now you can get personal advice by visiting http://www.bardscrier.com for FREE how-to music marketing assistance.

No time to visit the site? Subscribe to the BardsCrier.com distributed weekly for Free. Just email subscribe@bardscrier.com

If you’re a digital music fan, you probably have problems organizing your music file collection. For me, I used to have hundreds of MP3 files lumped in one folder in my hard drive. Can you imagine the pain I had to go through to find one specific tune to listen to?

Organizing your music files is an important skill to learn. Once your collection is nicely sorted out, you’ll be able to find the songs you want quickly and easily. So set aside some time and read through the following tips I’ve come up with.

1. Create Subfolders

The single most important tip for organizing your music files is to create subfolders in your hard drive. Don’t ever leave your MP3 files in one huge folder called C:My Music. Create subfolders like C:My MusicClassical, C:My MusicPop and C:My MusicSoundtracks.

2. Ensure your ID3 Tags Are Correct

ID3 tags are used to store important information about MP3 files. Things like the song title, artist, album are kept and will be displayed by your MP3 player. Take the time to properly edit these tags – many MP3 files you download have the ID3 tag information all wrong. A good software program for editing ID3 tags is TagScanner.

3. Invest in Good Music Management Software

There are several excellent pieces of software out there for managing music files. Two good ones come to mind. The first is MediaMonkey and the second is MusicMatch Jukebox. Both programs offer excellent music management features like an integrated music player, CD burning features and ID3 tag renaming.

4. Get Your Music Files from Legal Sources

If you’ve been downloading music using P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing programs like KaZaa, you will very likely get music files which have strange names like 56HeyjAck.mp3. My advice: Get your files from legal sources like online music services iTunes or Napster and you will avoid this problem.

5. Create Good Playlists

Most software music player (e.g. Winamp) will allow you to create playlists. For example, say you’re in the mood for rock songs, you can point to your folder called C:MusicRock and create a playlist from that folder. Save the playlist after it is created. When you next feel like listening to those songs, all you need to do is load that playlist instead of trawling through your hard drive and folders.

6. Get A Huge Hard Drive

I know this sounds a little crazy – but running out of disk space can and will ruin your well-organized music collection. Make sure you have enough hard disk space to store your music files. Say you have 10,000 music files that you absolutely must retain and listen to. It is a very bad idea to store, say, 8,000 files in Hard Drive A and 2,000 files in Hard Drive B. Very messy. It’s better to store them all in one hard disk. So get your hands on the biggest hard drive you can find.

Conclusion

I hope this article helps you to organize your music collection a little better. I know it takes effort, but once your music collection is properly catalogued, listening to your music collection will be a much more pleasant experience. So don’t hesitate – get organized now!

About The Author

Gary Hendricks is computer enthusiasts. He runs three websites about digital video, digital music and computers.

garyhendricks@digital-music-guide.com

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OK, say you’ve got one thousand of your favorite MP3 songs sitting in your hard disk. What’s the best way to enjoy those files? Most of us probably will use the Windows Media Player to listen to those files. but did you know there are other more innovative and interesting ways playback MP3, WMA and WAV files?

Let’s take a look at the five methods.

Use MusicMatch Jukebox

If you think most that most PC programs for playing digital music look like the built-in Windows Media Player, think again. There are programs out there that go far beyond the Windows Media Player in functionality. One great example is Musicmatch Jukebox from Musicmatch. Musicmatch Jukebox is quite simply the world’s best digital music player. It supports playback of various music formats like audio CDs, MP3s, Internet streams, WMAs, WAV files and more. You also get CD burning, music ripping and music organizing capabilities. The Plus version even allows you to automatically tag your music files with detailed info and album art!

Use a Portable MP3 Player

Portable music players like the Apple iPod, Creative Nomad and Rio Nitrus have taken the market by storm. You don’t have to be confined to your desktop PC or laptop to listen to digital music! The portable music players can allow you to take your music anywhere. The compact size of MP3 and WMA music formats means that you can literally take a jukebox of thousands of songs whereever you go! You may also want to check out my review of the top 5 portable music players here. There are also other portable music options, including handphones with MP3 support.

Use a PDA

The latest Pocket PC or Palm-based personal digital assistants (PDAs) can also act as music players. Pop in a large memory card (e.g. 64 MB) and you can store many MP3 or WMA files. Then hook up a headphone, launch the music software in the PDA and you’re good to go! I personally own a HP iPaq 2210 which effectively keeps track of my appointments and doubles up as a music player.

Use Your Car Stereo

This is my favorite way of listening to my MP3 collection. I recently bought a car stereo that can playback native MP3 songs. This means that I can pop in a data CD containing hundreds of MP3 files and the car stereo will play them! This does not work on conventional car stereos. If you own a conventional car stereo, but still want to listen to your MP3 songs, one way is to create an audio CD from your music files first. The car stereo will then have no problem interpreting and playing back the audio CD. Of course, in this case, you’ll be limited to about 14 to 17 tracks of music only.

Use Your Home Stereo

If you’re a music lover, you probably already have a home stereo. Use it to listen to your MP3 music files! However, take note that Like car stereos, conventional home stereos will not be able to play back native MP3 songs. You will need a newer home stereo set with MP3 playback capability. New models from Kenwood, Panasonic, Pioneer and Sony usually have MP3 support.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many ways to enjoy that digital music collection of yours. My favorite methods of listening to digital audio files is via a portable music player or the car stereo. Of course, you may have your own preference – some people like to listen to music off their desktop PC or laptop. Decide which method(s) is suitable for you and go for it!

About The Author

Gary Hendricks – http://digital-music-guide.com

garyhendricks@digital-music-guide.com

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