Here’s my short list.  It is in no way exhaustive, though.  I will be doing more in depth posts on some of these topics in the future, so get the RSS feed now!

6. Have some talent.

You don’t have to be the best, but at least try.  And if you don’t have any talent but have lots of passion, try another part of the music industry like management.  Just because you’re not cut out to be in a band does not mean you can’t have an integral part in the industry.

5.  Create a roadmap of where you’re going and how you’ll get there.

Take out a piece of paper and on one side put “I’m Here”.  On the other side, make a circle with wherever it is that you want to be.  Connect the two with a line and then put hash tags with “checkpoints”: people to meet, certain number of shows to play, marketing goals, etc.

Make sure that you stick to your roadmap.  Otherwise you’re likely to get lost on your trip and wind up playing cover songs in local bars for the next 20 years.  While that may pay the bills, it probably wasn’t the destination circled at the end of your roadmap.

4.  Cut a quality demo of some of your tracks.

You’ll want to put your best foot forward, so only showcase your best material.  Book time at a real recording studio and go into the studio practiced and prepared.  Don’t try to cut corners and do it yourself.  Choose some songs that show your ability.  You never know who you’ll run into that might be interested in your sound.  Speaking of…

3.  Network and surround yourself with other people who are likeminded and serious.

These people may see some potential in you and take you under their wing.  If they see that you are also serious about what you do, you stand a better chance.  Always have business cards and a copy or three of the aforementioned demo with you.  You’ll run into people in the most unlikely of places.  Be prepared.

2.  Run your band like a business, not a party.

Consult with a music attorney (here’s one – Kenan Farrell in Indianapolis) and they will help you determine how to form your business, tax guidelines, help you copyright your songs, and more.  That person can give you great advice on ways to navigate the industry and keep your head above water.  It will be much easier to take care of these details now as opposed to years down the road after things have gotten more complex.

1.  Take yourself seriously.

If you don’t, no one else will.

As I mentioned, that is the short list.  Obviously there’s a lot more to it, but if you start with these points, you’ll be well on your way.  Good music, passion, and persistance are what will get you through.  Knowing people and being in the right place at the right time can also have a helping hand.  That ties right into point #3, so you’re covered.

Go out, make a plan, and drive till you get to your destination.

Cheers,

Josh W.

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 not having your album recorded in a proper studio?  Here are some things to consider:

• The acoustics of your friends living room are not equal to those of a recording studio designed by Lawrence P. Swist, no matter how much egg crate you staple to the walls.
• You can buy a set of monitors for cheap, but they won’t reproduce all the frequencies that you need to hear while mixing. And they’ll be affected by the acoustics of the room that you’re in. (See above)
• While your laptop is great for Facebook and email, that Dell or HP machine is not designed to handle 11 tracks of simultaneous recording while playing back the other 27 MIDI tracks in your next #1 pop song.
• Not all microphones are created equal.  Believe it or not, you usually get what you pay for.
• You little sister is great at singing along with the radio, but she is not a studio vocalist.  She can’t even read music for that matter.
• You can watch YouTube videos for ways to tie a tie, but not so much for how to mic a drum kit or acoustic guitar.  It’s all about experience and actually hearing the placement of the mic.
• Studios have people with highly trained ears and technical abilities.

Audio engineers and producers are in these roles because we have the ability to take your idea and performance, capture it with the highest sonic integrity, and then help interpret that into a final mix.  We do this day in and day out.  We go to bed thinking about the best way to EQ the kick drum so that it’s not competing with the bass guitar track.  Believe it or not, the EQ we do on instruments changes from song to song, from band to band.  So please don’t call me asking for “settings” so you can really make your song slam.  I can hear it, and I know how to manipulate the sound.

At the end of the day, home recordings are home recordings.  If you’ve read about bands that have self produced their albums in their home, chances are that: 1. They brought in an engineer to do the entire project, or 2. One of the band members is also a legitimate audio engineer.

If you don’t know how to change your oil you probably wouldn’t risk swapping out a transmission on your own.

So why then would you risk harming the overall quality of your art that you’ve invested so much of your time and energy in?  Make it the best it can be.  Call the professionals.  You can reach me here.

If you’re not even sure where to start when it comes to parallel compression on drum tracks or microphone placement to get some natural reverb on your vocals, you need to book some session time at a studio.  Give me a call.

We’ve been using Facebook and Twitter now for awhile.  Some prefer one over the other.  Some only use one tool.  Others are addicted to both. (Then there’s MySpace.  Remember that?  Facebook needs to take a hint.  But that’s another post…)

Twitter and Facebook.  They’re two completely different platforms.

Like oil and water, they both have their place.  We use both.  Yet they don’t always mix.  Likewise, Twitter and Facebook are two very different mediums with two very different niches.

Facebook.

When Mark Zuckerberg was at Harvard, he had an idea.

He and three classmates got together and developed their idea into a platform that connected them with their friends.  They kept it exclusive to begin with (you had to have a .edu email address).  This allowed them to test it out and have their ideal demographic figure out how they wanted to use it.  Once they were able to set the standards, they slowly started opening the gates to other people.  This exclusivity only helped to build anticipation (can we say Apple?) for the release of updates and the allowing of everyone to participate.

On Facebook you are able to post native pictures, embed links, write comments and replies, send personal messages, and more.  You can see full conversations at a glance.  Entire photo albums.  All within Facebook.  You aren’t limited too much in terms of content length, either.

An interesting thing has happend with Facebook.  The original users (mostly college students) set the standard methods of use.  After a few years, we’ve seen the way Facebook is used transform into something that it wasn’t originally.  This is most apparent with all of the Farmville and Chef’s World updates you probably see in your Live Feed.  The people that started out with Facebook in its early days are easily frustrated by this and many other little things that have popped up, such as privacy issues.  Yet the new Facebook users have no preexisting concept of how it is supposed to be used; to them, it’s a networking/gaming platform.  Others use it specifically to share photos from family trips.  Still others use it for the messaging and chat.  It’s quickly developing into a catch-all platform where you can do just about everything you need.

These things aren’t necessarily bad.  It’s to be expected with anything.  Facebook started with an idea.  Mark Zuckerberg had no idea what it would become. Evolution and growth.  Adaptation.  These all propel success.

Twitter.

If you can’t adapt to this format, it’s probably because you wish it were more like Facebook.  But it’s not, nor is it supposed to be.  Twitter is a different platform where a different language is spoken.  Hashtags (#), replies (@), and retweets (RT) are just a few items.  Then there’s Follow Friday (#followfriday or #ff) and Music Monday (#musicmonday or #mm).  And the ever popular Tweetups (#tweetup) in their various formats and locations.

Twitter was developed to allow people to communicate and update what was happening in their lives at that moment.  It was not designed as a sales tool for businesses. Too often I see companies just using it to throw out their sales pitch in hopes that people will respond to the call-to-action and buy the product or service. These companies spew out their content without adding value to anything other than their own messages.  It’s a shame to see this misuse of a wonderful communication medium.  To use it effectively, listen more than you speak.  Create relationships.  Build networks.  Engage in conversation. Neither was it designed so much as a communication tool where you see a back-and-forth conversation, though this does happen routinely.  It is more of a tool that helps you propagate your content, ideas, and thoughts to the masses.  Let people know what’s going on.  Quickly and efficiently.

We’ve seen Twitter expand and adapt as well.  From the news anchors using it to update the world to the bands keeping fans posted on show times.  Twitter has helped me gain new real life friends and freelance work.  I’ve been able to meet some really great and interesting people thanks to Twitter.  When I first started using Twitter, I was overwhelmed by the fact that I had 13 followers while these other guys had 5,000 or more.  Then I realized that it’s not about how many followers you have, it’s about the relationships you build.  When people see that you’re using Twitter effictively and unselfishly, they will be more likely to follow you.  Then your numbers go up, and all without the help of a third-party app or bot.

If you’re looking to find ways to use Twitter more effectively and live in the Northern Indiana area, the #nwitweetup is a great place to meet people that are using social media in one way or another.  There are many, many more Tweetups around the country.  I encourage you to find one close to you and see what it’s all about.  It there isn’t one in your area, start one!

That’s about it for this post.  I’d love to hear your comments and experiences concerning Facebook and Twitter.  How do you use these tools?  And remember, it’s not that one is better than the other.  It’s not apples to apples here.  We need to learn how to maximize the effectiveness of each tool while realizing what works on one platform won’t always work on the other.  Now, go take a look at this video by @equalman that shows the magnitude of social media today.

If you’ve got hundreds, or thousands, of people in your area that share common interests, why not engage the local businesses and partner together to host events, shows, and festivals? Not only will this bring the businesses revenue from their local (and hopefully regional) patrons, it also shows the community that they don’t need to drive 40 minutes to do something fun. Bringing in regional artists and musicians will help the community remember why art and music are important in our school systems. The arts promote creativity, innovation, and raw emotion. These are characteristics that one carries for a lifetime and are applicable in all different arenas of life.  I am a big fan of all different types of art.  I find things to be art that others might not.  And I truly appreciate it when people take action and create their art in various forms.

Being a part of a smaller community, I’ve decided to help take action and try to help the arts regain that traction that was once great. To do my part, I’m helping put on regularly occurring shows with some regional (and even international!) artists. We’ve got a great venue, art gallery, and recording studio in Indiana (not to mention The Sisters’ Tea & Eatery!) that all come together to make great things happen.  It’s $5 at the door, and there are great local eateries within walking distance that will fill your stomach with their specialties. It’s a great way to reconnect with friends as well as discover the undiscovered.  This month we’ve got The Great Flood Catastrophe, The Rendition, The Jill Hagen Band, and From the Rooftop.  Not only will you get to see and hear some great music, you’ll also witness the visual art of Sayaka Ganz, Angela Leed and Adam Parsons.

I encourage you to do the same in your community. Talk with your local businesses and artists and see what kind of ideas are floating around. Sometimes all it takes is a few like minds to get together. Before you know it you’ve got more on your plate then you can handle and are forced to bring in more people to help make everything happen. It’s a beautiful thing and a good problem to have. If you’re in the northern Indiana region and want to find out how you can help, let me know!  The most simple of ways that you can help make an impact is by going to the local events, shows, and businesses. Just showing up is more than enough support. Let me hear your thoughts about ways to help impact the local communities, businesses and arts!

Cheers,

Josh Walker

If you’re online and have any sort of web prescence, you need to understand the importance of search engine optimization, or as it’s also known, SEO.  You don’t necessarily need to know all about SEO, but you should at least know someone who does.  And that person is Nate Findling.

The internet has transformed.  It is changing month by month.  Day by day, for that matter.  And we need to keep up.  If you are looking for a way to maximize your online presence, check out what Nate is capable of.  Todays internet, and our presence there, is much broader than just one url; now, all of our social media activity is a part of who we are online.  Our reputation and legitimacy.  Not all of us have a way with words that communicates our ideals fluently; that’s where a copywriter comes in.  Someone that can take your idea and concept and translate it into an understandable and comprehensible story.

Nate is that guy.  He can help your company or organization really reach your target audience.  In words they’ll understand.  Not only does he write for other people and companies, he’s writing a book of blues himself.  A book about the ups and downs of life, and how he got to where he is.  Where he’s going.  And everything in between.  As an internet marketing specialist for Chicago and Indiana,  he understands the importance of using digital media to help make his publishing dreams come to fruition.  Don’t think for one second that because you’re writing a book for print that you don’t need a solid and sharp online presence.  Let Nate take a look at your situation and set you up for a successful journey.

If you have a website for your company (and if you don’t, you should), you need to talk to Nate about how to maximize the potential of your site.  You, like many others, may not realize the full potential of the content on your site.  Nate Findling can and will.

Again, thanks for reading.  We’re all in this together, so why not take a few minutes every day to get to know those around you?  You never know when they’ll come in handy.  Even if you never need their services or talents, they will bring a little joy into your life that would otherwise have been absent.

Cheers,

Josh Walker

I’ve had the opportunity to build and open a recording studio that will not only be used to track and mix bands, but also benefit the local community.  I’ll be using this space to host frequent workshops and seminars to educate and teach young and old alike about music, recording, and managing techniques.  There are many misconceptions and bad habits when it comes to making music; I’m looking to help curb this and fill that void.  There are young kids that have a passion for music as well as older people that have been around and creating music for decades.  I’m looking to foster community and education in the local area while helping artists and bands create the music they love.

I’m also doing artist management for a small venue.  I’ll be bringing in local and regional artists and bands to perform every two weeks.  If you or anyone you know might be interested in performing, get ahold of me.  These performance will include live streaming video and audio during the performance.  The studio is tied into the venue, and I’m offering live recording to any artists that perform there.

I’ll be documenting the progress of the studio as we build.  Right now, we’re in the framing stage with cabling, drywalling, and more.  I’ll be moving in recording gear throughout the next couple weeks along with studio furniture and lighting.  In the coming weeks and months we’ll be painting, applying acoustic treatment to the rooms, and completing the “vibe”.

You can keep checking back to keep up with the progress and see how it’s coming along.  And if you know of any bands that could use my services and experience, let me know.
Cheers,

Josh Walker

When it comes to the internet, social media is absolutely the direction we’re all headed.  If you are a business, an individual, a band, or a presidential candidate, you can and should be utilizing the whole social media concept.  Gone are the days that the internet was only for gaining information on a certain topic.  Now we use it to communicate and network with people both locally and globally.

Kathy provides great social media training seminars.  She is also available for various lengths of general social media consulting and auditing, as well as her Social Media Bootcamp.  This is a four hour workshop that will educate attendees on the best ways to use Facebook and Twitter for their business or organization.  More in-depth topics are discussed as well.  I believe that you’ll find her social media training and consulting very beneficial.

Not only is Kathy recognized for her work in Northwest Indiana social media, she was recently voted as the “Social Media Name of the Year” in the female category for 2009 at the Indiana Inaugural Social Media Summit.  Unfortunately I was unable to attend this year, but from the people that were there I hear that it was a great time.  She won because of her work and dedication to educating others about easy as well as intricate ways to use the internet and social media.  No one is too young or too old to start learning.

I know that I’m continuing to learn more and more about social media on a daily basis.  Little things like frequency, the value of content, how to give back, and more.  Some of it I learn by simply doing, while a lot of my insight has come from people like Kathy.  We can all learn from one another, so I encourage you to check out Kathy Sipple and see how she can help you implement solid social media marketing services and practices.  She will show you how to effectively use Facebook, Twitter, and more to expand your business and gain positive exposure.  I know that a lot of people only use it for keeping up with pictures of family members.  Kathy will show you how to really use it.

If you aren’t already, follow Kathy Sipple on Twitter, or check out her Facebook page.  Take the time to do yourself a favor and find out more about how to improve the way you interact with customers, fans, clients, and people in general.  You can catch up with her at various networking events or her workshops.  Follow her on Twitter and she’ll be sure to fill you in and give you great tips and advice.

Thanks for reading, and till next time, pass this along.  After all, it’s all about the people.

Cheers,

Josh Walker

Lead by example. Cliche?  Yes.  False?  No.  If you take just one thing away from this, let it be that.  If you set the standard that you’d like to see carried out, you can’t ask for much more.   When a person is working under another person, the subordinate might feel as though they could do the job better.  It’s up to you, the leader, to show your subordinates that you are in the position because of your experience, expertise, judgement, and general leadership abilities.  You don’t have to say all of this; you need to show them through your work and example.

Add value to the relationship. I know that most people are overworked and underpaid.  I also know that I’d take a slight pay cut in exchange for an awesome team to work with.  The value that you can give someone in a working relationship often times exceeds the value of a bonus or more cash.  How do you feel at night when you lay your head down?  Are you happy with your coworkers and team members?  If so, you probably don’t worry about the fact that you don’t get paid X.  You go to bed happy and satisfied with the work your team is able to accomplish and look forward to growth and relationships.  However, if you’re unhappy with them, that’s probably all you think about.  About how you don’t get paid enough to put up with it.  Adding value can mean a lot of different things to different people.  It can be as simple as making the morning rounds with your coffee and just chatting with each person individually about how their week is going.  Listening to them.  Remembering what’s going on in their life.  Or, it can be something like taking the money set aside for you to get a new work computer and using that to take the team out for drinks and a show after a long day at work.  Doing something to show your team that you value them and their time just as much if not more than you value your own speaks volumes about your leadership mentality.

Listen. And repeat.  And repeat .  And repeat.  And repeat.  Okay, I think you get the point.  Make it a personal mantra for yourself as a leader.  Your team has boots on the ground and they know what is happening better than you.  You can read all the reports and sit in on all the meetings you want to.  You’ll get so much more information and feedback over an informal lunch with a couple people in regular discussion than in a meeting with charts, presentations, and 20 people.  It’s all about building relationships with those people and helping them feel comfortable enough with you to be honest.  To build their trust in you that they feel as though they can rely on you to do right by the team.  You have to constantly be listening.  And hearing.  And attempting to understand where they’re coming from.  If you do this, your team will know they can come to you, count on you, and rely on you.

Being able to build a team that trusts you and will support you is not always easy.  But if you’re honest with them and you show then that you care, that will go very far in gaining trust from them.  You need to show a willingness to sacrifice.  You need to be real with them.  And never hold your power over their heads.  This being a short post, there are obviously many more ways to be successful with your team.  These are just a short few examples I’ve learned over the years.  I encourage you to find ways to bring value to relationships.  And comment any stories or experiences you had.  I’d love to hear them.

As a producer/engineer, musicians rely on and trust my ear.  They know that I will be able to guide them through the writing or recording process with confidence.  I have no personal interest or investment in their music other than to see them succeed.  I approach each project with this mentality.  I guess that some people have it while others do not.  I’ve been fortunate enough to have professional training as well as more than my share of unconventional training.  I attribute the larger portion of my overall ear training to my father.

When I was younger, I remember riding in the car with him.  We’d be listening to music (he is one of the greatest guitarists I know) and he’d always ask me, “What song is this?”  Or, “How many total instruments are in this song?” Or, “Listen to the guitar.  What band is this?”

These questions, while seemingly a game to me at the time, really helped develop both my listening capability and discernment.  Without knowing it, my father was training me to be a very critical listener.  Highly detail-oriented.  I have always retained this ability and am always seeking to improve it.  I have my favorite music that I listen to, but I always enjoy putting in a new CD and finding out what makes this song or band different from the rest.  To me, it’s a game as well as a necessity.  I find myself asking my wife the same questions my father asked me.  And I know  that I’ll be (and am looking forward to) asking my future children the same questions.

One misconception that a lot of amateurs will make when mixing, editing, or even listening to music is the overall volume.  I agree, it can be enjoyable to turn it up and feel the music.  But this is only ruining your ability to really listen and appreciate the music.  Try turning it down and listening at a lower level.  This is where your real listening and mixing skills come to show.  If the mix and song sound good at a lower level, it’s going to sound good loud.  And you’ll be able to get more hours out of your ears without falling victim to ear fatigue.  Lower level listening will help you refine your critical listening capabilities as well as preserve the life of your ears.

If you’re in the music or audio industry, your ears are your money makers.  Whether you play guitar, drums, produce, mix, or sing, you need to be able to hear (we’re not all as gifted as Beethoven).  Try turning it down for a little bit.  Try writing down the total number of instruments in a song.  Listen for that faint violin or set of shakers.  You’ll find over time that your ear will become much more refined and sensitive to changes in the music you already listen to.

Your old/new friend goes on to describe their dilemma and the fact that they actually happen to have a great need for your “XYZ” service.  So the two of you decide to schedule a time to get together for coffee to talk about how you can collaborate.  You go home happy that you’re just a cup of joe away from sealing another deal and making a couple bucks, all the while getting to help an old/new friend.

As time leads up to the meeting, you quickly jot down a couple of ideas and points that you really want to hit before the deed is done.  Things like overall cost, timeline, and other details.  You might even go so far as to search Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In for your old/new friend.  You make a mental note of any sort of news or related data that would be useful.  And you grab your keys and wallet and head out the door.

The meeting couldn’t have gone better; you talked to them about how you could benefit them, and they expressed a lot of interest in having your help.  They give you an outline of what they’re looking for and ask you that dreaded question, “So, how much will that cost?”

Think before you answer.  You have approximately 17 milliseconds to decide the fate of you and your old/new friend’s new business (and personal) relationship.  The next words to come out of your mouth may very well be what dictates the coming weeks and months of your business with this person.  The road leading you to this fork was inevitible.  However, you are now forced to make a decision.  It will play out one of two ways:

Pathway 1: Your old/new friend has just asked you how much it will cost for you to provide them with “XYZ.”  The friend side of you is trying to justify doing it for cheap.  You don’t want to scare them, offend them, or confuse them.  You certainly don’t want to say something that may cause them to never talk to you again.  And your professional side is vying for your attention, all the while screaming, “Full and normal cost structure!  Charge them what it’s worth!”  You weigh the two against each other and come out somewhere in the middle.

You’ve decided that you will respond to your old/new friend and tell them it will cost $XXX.  The look on their face implies satisfaction mixed with a hint of surprise (that it’s so cheap).  You both shake hands and part ways, happy that you’ve left the meeting at an agreement.

The outcome:  You were forced to give a response.  This is typical of an asked question.  You chose to give a response that had a figure attached to it.  Not good. By breaking under the pressure of a required response, you sold yourself short and gave them an unnecessary discount simply because you felt rushed.  You probably felt that if you told them you couldn’t quote them right then and there that you might lose the sale.  The fact that you’re sitting with them and they’re your old/new friend should tell you that they aren’t going anywhere.  If you would have gone with Pathway 2 it would have shown them another level of professionalism and efficiency.

Pathway 2:  Your old/new friend has just dropped the “How Much?” bomb on you and this is just your first meeting to discuss the simple possibility of even taking on the project.  You were certainly not prepared to actually tell them how much it would cost; you did, however, come to the meeting knowing what ballpark you would charge them, assuming the project fell within the guidelines that you had previously deduced from talking and researching.

If you’ve chosen this pathway, you won’t even attempt to run the numbers in your head.  Instead, you let them know that there is a bit more criteria that you’ll need to gather from them and that you’ll then be able to let them know your quote.  Tell them, “Right now is just too soon to affix a cost.  I need to know a little more about your project and needs to be able to accurately and confidently quote it.” This shows them that you’re serious and interested.  It also shows them that you don’t run headfirst into anything before analyzing the costs, risks, and benefits of a project.

The outcome: After you’ve responded and they’ve shown their understanding, you set up another meeting, either over the phone or in person.  This meeting is specifically to nail down the fine details that will dictate your price.  Then, after you’ve left the meeting and had time to evaluate your notes and estimate your time, money, energy, materials, and other costs, you will give them an official proposal.  This proposal outlines everything from the overall project, how to accomplish the clients goals, a real and actual cost, and an associated timeline.  This is something real and concrete that they can refer back to.

Time goes by and you’ve made it halfway through the project.  You realize that it’s taking longer to accomplish or more of your resources.  Looking back at the proposal (that you both signed), you recall the part that says the overall cost may be affected by unforeseen expenses, needs, and such.  You contact the old/new friend and explain the situation and they pay you accordingly.  The job is soon finished and all parties are happy with the outcome.

If, instead, you were to go with Pathway 1 and just a handshake (you’re old/new friends after all, right?), you end up putting in double the hours you’d originally anticipated and can’t go to the old/new friend and ask them for more money because there was no original agreement in writing.  With nothing to refer back to, you can’t alter the original cost, timeline, or terms.  You’ve effectively shot yourself in the foot.  Good job.

Try using both.  A proposal and a handshake.  We’re real people doing real business, after all.

How do you communicate and interact with clients both old and new?  Is it down and dirty or professional and efficient?  Or a mix of both?