Blog When it comes to Music ~ Art, Science & Passion = Magic! If you need MASTERING, MIXING (Pro Tools), or a PRODUCER, Check my Resume' page & send me a message. I think you will like what I do, to present your music at its best! Some Great Information METAL BOB on FaceBook How to license & release a cover song for $15 plus royalties New Rules For The Music Industry How do I get my record in the stores? What are the odds of succeeding WITH a record deal? Register your music with Soundscan Register your music with SoundExchange Billboard Charts Arbitron Radio Station Ratings Radio-Locator (formerly known as the MIT radio list) How To Manage A Band David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists and Megastars How To Submit Your Content To Google Music Promotion One-Sheet Sample Sample Emails for Bands What's In A Marketing Plan & One-Sheet Understanding Quick Response (QR) Codes How to Find Music Investors Band Investors How do I become an A & R rep? Find a Music Attorney Europe's biggest music site NME Music Distribution Information Music Distribution Deal Types Manufacturing and Distribution Deals The Role Of Music Distribution Can You Afford Distribution? AMAZON Music Dirtribution Mp3.com Last.fm Radio.com What is a Distribution Channel and why do Bands need one to succeed? It's not Youtube, Facebook, Myspace or Twitter. It is an email list. You need to have the ability to allow people to sign up for it on your website (phplist is free) and collect them on email sign up sheets at your gigs. This is used for twice a month email notifications on what is going on with the Band. Info like touring/upcoming gigs, song/video/cd releases, contests etc.. The cost to cover a song (or what you should be paid for covering your song) The publishing royalty is a statutory rate set by law at $.091 per unit for all recordings up to 5 minutes, and $.0175 per minute if a track is over 5 minutes in length. How does this work for physical CDs? For each physical CD manufactured that includes the cover song material, the royalties owed correspond to the statutory rate of $.091 per pressing per song. For instance, if you were to manufacture 1,000 CDs of an album containing two cover songs, the royalties owed would be $182 (1,000 CDs x 2 songs x $.091 per song). How does this work for digital? The same statutory rate that applies to physical CDs also applies to digital downloads (also known as DPDs). For digital downloads, the royalties are calculated on the actual amount of downloads. For instance, if your album included 2 cover songs and was downloaded 500 times, the royalties owed would be $91 (500 album downloads x 2 songs x $.091 per song). Additionally, if your cover songs are available as singles, the same rate applies to all downloaded single tracks of the songs. If You Are A Gigging Band Provide the soundperson of the venue with a STAGE PLOT, INPUT LIST, MONITOR MIX SHEET. Here's how.., Turn a blank peice of paper sideways to look like a stage. Now, draw in where your Drums, Bass amp, Guitar Amp(s), Keyboards, Mics etc.., are to be located. That's a STAGE PLOT. Now draw in the types of inputs you will need. If you need a line input and a mic input for the bass they will have it ready for you. Also, if possible, provide the mic types. A SM57 or 421 on the guitar etc.., The singer prefers a SM 58 beta if posible. That's an INPUT LIST. To make the band perform at it's best include a MONITOR MIX SHEET. Here's how.., Draw in the monitors to your STAGE PLOT. Usually 3 up front. One centered for the Lead Vocalist, and one on each side of that. As well as one for the Drummer. Then decide what MONITOR MIX the singer prefers. Maybe they like 100% vocals w/ effects and 75% guitars dry. Do this for all monitors. If you play different venues then save and build upon the sheets to perfect your shows. That's a MONITOR MIX SHEET. F.Y.I. The Metal With Bob 15th anniversary DVD was released on 11/15/2007. Originally airing on HGTV channel 10 on 11/15/1992. That Metal Show premiered on 11/15/2008 on VH1 Classic. Just saying.., Before You Publish a song Copyright It How long does the registration process take, and when will I receive my certificate? The time the Copyright Office requires to process an application varies, depending on the number of applications the Office is receiving and clearing at the time of submission and the extent of questions associated with the application. Current processing times are: Average Processing Time for e-Filing: Most online filers should receive a certificate within 3 months. Many will receive their certificates earlier. Average Processing Time for Form CO and Paper Forms: Most of those who file on these forms should receive a certificate within 11 months of submission. Many will receive their certificates earlier. Note: Whatever time is needed to issue a certificate, the effective date of registration is the day the Copyright Office receives a complete submission in acceptable form. You do not need to wait for a certificate to proceed with publication. How much does a copyright cost? Online registration of a basic claim in an original work of authorship (electronic filing) =$35 Registration of a basic claim in an original work of authorship on Form CO (paper filing with 2-D barcode-generated form) =$50 (source) Copyright.gov The Ugly Business of Money or Lets Get Paid There are 2 parts to the business end of a song. They are divided this way, SONGWRITER and PUBLISHER. First is the SONGWRITERS share. It is divided 3 ways to total 100%. The 3 parts are as follows: 1) The Lyrics and the Melody For the Lyrics (usually a 50/50 split to equal 33.33%) 2) The Music (33.33%) 3) The Arrangement (33.33%) (this share usually goes to the songs Producer) Each part is (typically) of equal value and can be subdivided individually as needed for individual co-writers contributions. Second is the PUBLISHERS share. Usually a 50/50 split between the Songwriter(s) and the Publisher to equal 100%. These monies (Songwriters and Publishers) are collected and distributed by a Performing Rights Collection Agency like BMI, SESAC, ASCAP or The Harry Fox agency. Each has their own specialties, so go to their respective websites to see which organization is right for you and join as soon as possible. Each of the 2 shares, the SONGWRITERS share and the PUBLISHERS share, must equal 100% individually. You need ISRCs ISRC, the International Standard Recording Code, is the internationally recognized identification tool for sound and music video recordings. ISRC Code Summary THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD RECORDING CODE (ISRC) PROGRAM: A POWERFUL TOOL FOR ROYALTY COLLECTION, ADMINISTRATION, AND ANTI-PIRACY SAFEGUARDS IN THE DIGITAL ARENA. The ISRC contains 4 codes: COUNTRY CODE: The country where the registrant’s home office is located (2 characters). REGISTRANT CODE: Identifies the Registrant within a National Agency (3 alphanumeric characters). YEAR OF REFERENCE: The 2-digit year in which the ISRC was assigned to the recording. DESIGNATION CODE: The code assigned to the sound recording by the registrant. This code may not be repeated within the same calendar year (5 digits). Example: ISRC US-Z9A-99-00001 (source) RIAA To Get On The Radio How many "Pay for Play" shows can you give up to get "Paid to Play"? Consider becoming a partner in your favorite radio stations success through advertising. How much money do you think it will take to make you their favorite local band? Buy bulk late night and try to get as many ads as possible in the shortest period of time (Drivetime and Primetime cost a lot more than overnight). This will get more spins of your single on their station. The more you spend in a week, the more they will play you. A basic radio advertising campaign would be to work a single for 2 to 3 weeks. Billboard magazine has charts that show "where" different music generes are breaking. this can be used as a tool to help you find "Tastemaker" stations. If they play it, others will follow. So it makes sense to make them a priority. Arbitron is the place to research current radio station markets and ratings. On Bid 4 Spots you get everything you need to set your budget, pick your genere,and the time you want it to play (remember Drivetime & Primetime cost a lot more than overnight)."Bid4spots" is a "Reverse online auction for the unsold radio airtime". There are 11,000 commercial radio stations in the United States. Each one broadcasts 24 hours a day with an average of 12 commercial ad units available for sale every hour. Presuming that most stations have, on average, at least 20% of their inventories unsold during most broadcast weeks, 633,600 commercial ad units go unsold every single day of the year in America! You will still need to build a personal relationship with the station/stations you select. Maybe offer to play their Birthday party or Charity event for free, just to say thanks! Cool Redrum/Synth Tone Tips My favorite PAD tones are 'Glass' for adding Highs to Choruses and 'Metal' for adding tension in the PreChoruses. After you write your midi drums in Redrum, copy the files down to your synths. The prechorus section~to the metal pad synth and the chorus section~to your glass pad synth.., and blend to taste. I hope you get a chance to check it out. That's what I did on the music on my Myspace page (The Black Album) to get those cool 'scribble noises'. Enjoy.., Cool Recording Tips Here's a trick I learned from EQ Magazine. It's called parallel compression~ Say you have drums summed to a stereo mix, make a summed mono send to a mono 'Auxillary' track and put a compressor on it. Then blend that in with the drums to get that smack sound.., Different compressors sound better based on the source material, blend to taste.., How To Write Songs It is all about doing Research and using your Resources to get the Results you want (*The 3 Rs). 1)Here is a link to tell you the emotional meaning of chords/song keys: The Meaning Of Song Keys 2)Here is an online rhyming dictionary: Rhymezone 3)Here is a link to Chord House for chords and scales: Chord House I do recommend following too, but they cost.., I think less than $40 each, and you are worth investing in, so please consider them. 4)To learn how to sing without getting hurt: Zen Of Screaming 5)Here is a link to a Producer whose coarse on song writing is the best: Music Pros Hollywood When it comes to Lyrics, usually, Verses are stated once, PreChorus are stated twice and Chorus are stated 4 times. The Bridge is also referred to as the middle 8 (bars) should take the song to a higher place (climax). Also, study the beats and tempos of songs you like, including your top 10 favs. Can you write out their arrangements? For example; Intro Verse 1 PreChorus 1 Chorus 1 Re-intro 1 Verse 2 PreChorus 2 Chorus 2 Bridge Re-intro 2 Chorus 3 Chorus 4 Outro Basically the 1st minute of a song will go from the Intro to Re-intro 1, and contains enough of the song for people to know if they like it. Songwriters Do Your Research Ok, when you listen to your favorite songs, notice how the Vowels are drawn out and the Consonants are short. This is not an accident. So make it a goal from the start. Also, pay attention to the number of Syllables. Sevens or Eights or a mix of both? (Notice the Syllables go 7,7,9,7? You can make it however you like but you must be consistant in all the Verses) Whatever they are, write that sort of thing down in a notebook for your top 10 favorite songs of all time and your top 10 current favorites. Include the Artist/Song name and tempo info. Is it upbeat (like Dropkick Murphy), medium (like Enter Sandman) or is it slow (like Every Rose Has Its Thorn)? That is called "doing your Research". The best Lyrics should be used for the Chorus because there are usually 4, so it is repeated the most. The Pre-Chorus is usually repeated 2 times. The Verses are only heard 1 time, as is the Bridge. So it should be noted that the best Lyrics should be repeated the most. As Lyricist, here is the 1st question we must ask ourselves. This is very important and concerns the emotional content we are trying to convey. "Is This A Universal Emotional Truth?" (Remember that! It will be on the test.lol) If you beleive that a lot of people have, do or will feel this way, then the answer is.., YES! Ever notice how many songs have 3 words for a title? That is on purpose too. So give it some thought and Research. Then make note of your results in your Songwriters notebook. I suggest you write great title ideas on the inside cover so that you can easily find them when you need them. Consider all the Vowels for rhyme words, you can only use 'I' so many times. A, Ahh, O, E and U will feel left out.lol The goal is to Maximize Emotional Impact from one song section to the other. So do some research on which Vowels your favorite singers use for rhymes in your favorite songs and write it in the back of your Songwriters notebook. You can Google 'Rhymes' (and enter your Lyric). Google also has an online 'Thesaurus'..,