Square Room Records – Latest News on Music and Record Industry

Playing in a small smoky bar, making next to nothing, using a small closet to change… it all sounds very romantic and adventurous. But those conditions that you face are not necessarily what they have to be.

Although it can be difficult for emerging artists to get gigs and find places to perform, they should not settle for whatever scraps that are thrown at them. This does not mean that they should let go of opportunities. Instead it means that every performer should know exactly what they are entitled to in terms of worker’s rights.

Once a person declares that they are a working industry professional, they are protected by a set of standards known as OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards govern the way that working conditions need to be in order to ensure the health of the performer. This includes clean toilets, access to drinking water, provision of a changing room and storage room for equipment, etc. It can also regulate playing time and break time. The industry standard is fifteen minutes of break in between every ninety minute set.

Unfortunately, many performers are not aware of these standards and are therefore taken advantage of by the owners of the establishments that they play in. Once they performer knows the standards they can always complain and take it up with the owners if they are not adhered to. This means that the performer will not be in breach of contract if they refuse to play due to unsafe conditions.

Talk about a facelift. With the transformation of radio into its latest offering in the form of streaming radio, this has exponentially increased the number of listeners for any particular radio station that was just aired in one location.

Of course, the internet with its large user base allows one and all to tune into radio free stations that are located all over. Since the radio stations most listened to, play music from the United States, Britain and Canada in general, most people would choose to find these radio stations over the internet.

Obviously, with a wide selection of music readily available, these radio stations play the latest offerings from popular and offbeat artists as well as music that they have recorded from the past as well. Talk shows, the most popular music for the week in the form of the top 40 as well as radio stations that play particular genres are also available to power internet users.

With the increasing popularity of citizen journalism, this also gives amateur radio jockeys to try their hand at playing music that they love, while having a large medium (the World Wide Web) to prove their mettle in.

No matter what happens after this, internet radio is here to stay and will expand over the next few years with the record labels and offline radio stations following suit. For now, it seems that the internet is diversifying (and will continue to diversify) with a range of multimedia that will make the lives of its users more and more convenient.

Thud thud thud thud… that regular monotonous beat that you might hear emanating from a night club, someone’s car or even their home is the hallmark of a genre of music known as House. House Music can be described generally as music with a hypnotic nature coupled with strong beats. It is a form of electronic music.
Its origins can be traced back to Chicago and the late seventies. The origin of the name has never been nailed down properly and several theories are in circulation as to how it could have come about. One states that well known DJ Frankie Knuckles created a brand new type of music by mixing synthesized Euro Pop music with New wave, Industrial, Punk and other types of music. This new offspring was played at the club where he was DJ called The Warehouse – hence the name house music. There is also the story that the genre got its name from the many warehouse parties in the city. The there is the one that says that DJ’s created this music from their homes, because their synthesizers and drum machines were located there and that’s how the name came about.

Nothing short of a time machine can find out about the truth of the origin. However, what is apparent now is that House Music has spread worldwide. From America (where it was born) to Europe to Asia, House has become one of the most popular genres in the world. It has also evolved into many different sub genres which are too numerous to count. At the rate new artists and genres are arriving on the scene, it is safe to say that House Music is here to stay.

For some good house music, check out artist Eye Candy.

Once you are picked up by a record label, you will eventually be asked to sign a music industry contract. This is a very important point in your career. Not only does it mean that your career is possibly about to take off, it also means that you stand to make a lot of money. However, all of this (especially the money aspect) depends on how well you know and understand your contract.

The contract is a legal document that binds you, the artist, with the recording company. After you both place your signatures, there is no going back. This is why the contract needs to be completely understood by you; because you are required to agree to terms that the recording company has set. If the contract requires you to play 250 concerts a year, that is not something you want to say “yes” to. Nor do you want to be short changed on royalties either. You have to understand that no one is out to do you any favors. The only reason a record company will want to sign you up is because they see a chance to make money using your talent. So you have to be careful on how and how far you want to let yourself be exploited.

The reason why most people get into bad deals is that, the contract is swathed in legal jargon. This is difficult to read and also to comprehend. The bottom line here is – get a lawyer. Business is business, so no matter how good the record company people seem, you need to keep your interests covered. You also might want to negotiate for a longer or shorter contract, depending on how you view you future.

The spread of The Internet all over the world has changed many industries radically. The way they operate, approach business and interact with customers has changed forever. The music industry has not been spared either.

The very nature of the way music is purchased has changed. Up until a few years ago, getting music, legally of course, meant that a person had to go to a music store and buy a single or an album. If the song they wanted wasn’t released as a single, they had to buy the whole album. With travelling costs factored in, this amounted to a sizeable cost. Now, all you have to do is go to iTunes or any other such music retailing service and buy whichever tracks you want. Now there is choice.

The way artists can gain exposure has also changed. No longer are they at the mercy of record labels or radio stations. They can upload their videos or music to YouTube or MySpace and within a few days they can be a sensation (providing that the material is good). After that they no longer have to go searching for deals, but deals come searching for them.

Of course with every good thing there is always a bad. Music piracy has grown exponentially as well. With higher bandwidths and better file sharing systems in place, music piracy has soared. Even security measures such as DRM (Digital Rights Management) have not worked very well so far. However, the industry is constantly working towards finding ways to bring these wrongdoers to justice.

There is a good reason why your first studio should cost you nothing. It is because when you start off, you know almost nothing about the industry or how sound should be produced. Investing in expensive equipment and constructing good studio is not advisable at this stage.

Learning how to produce music is not something that can be learned in a day nor is it something that can be learned purely from a book. The process involves understanding all the technical issues associated with recording and manipulating sound. The best way to go about this is to use your home PC.

Using your home PC and the sound card it has, you can begin your venture into recording and producing music. This way your startup cost is zero. In addition to this, you can download open source audio software to keep your costs that way. Couple this with downloading some good tutorials on how to produce music and you are well on your way to becoming a part of the music industry. Granted, the quality of the material you produce won’t be mind blowing; but the knowledge you gain is the important thing here.

Once your knowledge and experience grows you can start making some purchases. Start slowly, maybe by buying a slightly better sound card, then some good microphones, good speakers, etc. The key is to do things incrementally. This way if you lose interest or are forced to switch careers, your financial loss is minimized.

Getting the right mix of people in your band is essential. First and foremost, they have to have the right skills. Second, they need to get along with everyone. This does not mean to say that you should pick people who are plain boring or have no personality. Rather, it means that they have to be people who will handle pressure, commitments and relationships with maturity. This is essential for the long term success of any band.

If you look around the world and back through time you will see that 99.99 % of all bands break up. Sometimes, this is because a band member feels that he/she can make on their own. But most of the time the reason why established bands break up is that personalities and egos clash and creative differences become irreconcilable differences. This is inevitable; but by finding good band members you can put off the inevitable till (hopefully) you are rich and successful.

If you are in a band that has been together for a while and is looking for a new member, for whatever reason, try to get someone that one of you knows. This will help minimize any friction later on and also comforts everyone that the ‘new guy’ is vouched for. If you are putting together a completely new outfit, it would be wise to start with one person, get to know them and then when you are sure you want that person, take them and go hunt for the next one, and so on.

Although time consuming, this method will help you in the long run and help achieve a level of harmony within the band.

Getting into the music business is hard enough, selling records and staying successful is another matter altogether. There is a reality check that you have to face at some point in your career as a musician; this could be before you start, in the middle and sadly towards the end. The hard truth you have to face is – accepting what you are good at and giving people what they want.

For example, you may be a singer/songwriter who loves to sing. But if you come to realize that your writing is way better than your singing, then you have to give up the singing and put all your efforts into writing songs. Being successful also means being prudent. A great example of this is the artist Babyface; he had a decent singing career, but his songwriting and producing capabilities were far superior to his singing. So he ended up focusing more on that aspect which has brought him tremendous success in that field. This is one aspect of figuring things out.

The other aspect is accepting who you want to play to. You could be great at playing a fusion of country western-snake charmer-Australian aboriginal music, but you could be effectively playing to an audience of one. Sometimes your passion has to take a backseat to building a realistic career. You do not necessarily have to turn into a boy band or girlie band and churn out sticky nonsensical hits, but you will have to change to fit a more commercial style if you want success on a large scale.

Figuring out these things early in your career will help you to map out where you want to go and what you want to do. Reality is also a bitter pill to swallow.

In the music industry, your image is everything. Your ability to sing or play an instrument is second to the image that is created. This can be created by you, the artist or by your management company. The Spice Girls are an excellent example of image creation. Each girl was assigned a character which they stuck to and the whole group was given a gimmick called “girl power”. The success of this image is only too evident as you look back. The Spice Girls are probably the only widely recognized group of individuals since The Beatles, as in almost anyone anywhere can name each individual member of the group.

Creating the right image for your self is easy and at the same time is difficult. Confusing as that sounds right now, when you get down to it, it will make sense. The first step is figuring out what kind of band or singer you want to be. Then you can go about following the current trend in fashion or, more riskily, create your own “look” which can give you a sense of authenticity if you can pull it off. Besides the look, you have to walk the walk and talk the talk. For example, rock guitarists don’t really have to contort, jump up and down or even grimace when they fabulous solos. Just ask James Burton, an extremely talented session guitarist who has played on stage with Elvis. But the thing that brought Burton internal fame (as in only the internal industry people knew of his talent) and the thing that brought Pete Townsend, Slash and other great guitarists their fame is what they did on stage. Slash had his traditional cigarette in the mouth, no shirt, top hat, leather outfit and body movements that looked like he was wringing the tones out of his guitar while it caused him physical pain. Though it sounds ridiculous, the image really worked for him.

So think about your image seriously; cultivate and groom it until it becomes your persona and whatever you do – maintain it whenever you are onstage or giving an interview.

It is not the end of the world if you have not yet been picked up by a record label. You can get into the game yourself, but there are a few things you should take note of.

1. Goals – Pick something you want to promote about yourself. It could be a Single, a live show or even your website. Once you pick one, move your focus to only that pick.

2. Target audience – Identify the target audience and focus your promotional efforts on them. If you are going to perform in a town, get through to their local paper and radio station try to get yourself some publicity that way. If you are pushing your single then you can use a mailing list, your website, social media, etc. Whatever it is, choose your audience carefully for maximum results.

3. Promo package – This should always be handy wherever you go, ready to be distributed to influential people. It should contain the latest news about you/your band, short bio, demo or single, previous press coverage’s, contact info and pictures of you/your band.

4. Stick out like a sore thumb – That is in terms of your music and persona. The idea is to avoid being classified as an also-ran. You do not have to do too much, but try to be a little different from the bands in your genre so that there is something unique about you.

5. Freebies – Make sure that the press and industry scouts who come to check out your gigs are well looked after. You should also try to send out freebies to some of the people on your mailing list. Offering a free download to all is a simple way of solving that problem.

6. Branding – Get your name out there. It has to be everywhere in the city. It can be anything from stickers, caps, key tags etc and whatever that keeps your name in people’s minds.

7. Contacts – All these ideas will get you lots of contacts, you should never lose them. Load them up into a database and use it every time you need to send out some promos.