Buying in bulk.  Discounts.  Loads of trusted vendors.  These are a few reasons people shop at Walmart.  People like the safety of having someone do the hard work for them.  The searching for low prices, quality products, and the latest trends.  You walk in, take a look at the shelf that has already been carefully researched and stocked, and you purchase the item.  You’re in and out and on your way in no time.
How the Charts Are Like Walmart
The charts are similar to the Walmarts of the world; they curate a list …

I am beginning a new series of blog posts regarding the new music industry.  In it I will layout some definitions, myths, and truths as they pertain to the music industry, record industry, radio industry, and more.  These industries are notorious for confusing the musicians, fans, and businesses that work in them.  Let’s try to get some things cleared up.
First, the music industry is not the record industry. Let’s get that straight. The music industry is comprised of musicians; the record industry is made up of corporations and business people.
Secondly, CD …

Lately I have been feeling like there is too much “stuff” demanding my attention.  Or appearing like it is demanding my attention.
I’ve got a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head.  Some are pretty solid while others are still blobs of unformed thought.  Regardless, I have had a difficult time in the past trying to make something out of these ideas.  I would wait on them (or forget about them altogether) while someone else accomplished them before I did.  This was extremely frustrating.  I didn’t get frustrated with that …

We all know that artists in today’s music industry are in general not making loads of cash. The question is, “why?”
The surface answer would be that the labels are taking all of the money for themselves. How much are they taking? How much does the artist get? It varies from artist and label, but typically it’s to the tune of pennies per album sold to the artist and the rest is divided up between the label, management, producer, etc. That huge advance that the artist …

If you’re a musician today preparing to record an album, you have a question to ask yourself.
Do I take my budget and go to a real recording studio or use the cash to buy my own recording gear and have my friends help?
Recording studios are closing more and more often these days.  The reason?  Artists don’t have the money to spend $125 per hour and make a full-length album.  But they do have enough money to buy enough gear for a 16 channel rig.
So is the “bang for your buck” tradeoff worth …