“Brick and Mortar and Love” Added to the Nashville Film Festival

Growing up in South Jersey, I didn’t know there was such a thing as a music business – it was just me and Barbara (Streisand that is) in my dining room with vinyl records and headphones. I just thought people sang through the radio and on stage. I never gave any mind to the massive machine behind the curtain. I wasn’t aware that you could track trends, study best practices, and redo what others had done before (only better) and rake in the big $$$.

Hope For Music: The DIY Generation

“If the milk industry can make their product seem sexy and increase consumer demand, there must be hope for music.” Gary Arnold, Merchandising Manager, Best Buy.  Using that logic, the hope that Spring evokes in all of us should be doubled in the hearts of those fighting the good fight in the ever changing landscape of the music business.

2011 Summer NAMM Kicks Off… GO!

Are you thinking about setting up a home studio and learning recording technology? Are you seeking to improve your guitar tone or vocal miking skills? Perhaps you’re interested in checking out some of the newest musical product innovations that the industry has to offer. If so, you better not be missing out on 2011 Summer NAMM in Nashville!

Singer-Songwriters Growing Younger By The Year

Turn on the radio, tune into your favorite music video channel on TV, or watch the latest viral sensations on YouTube and you will find stars in the making getting younger and younger. Has it always been this way?  Are we now so saturated with media and the internet that we are simply more aware or is it a trend in the making?

2011 CMT Music Awards Highlights

Collaborative Video of the Year WINNERS Justin Beiber & Rascall Flatts

Last night, Bridgestone Arena was alive with energized country music fans and the artists they love and admire.  The 2011 CMT Music Awards kicked off the busy week here in Music City with belt buckle awards landing in the laps of deserving Country artists.

How Is A Gumball Like A Song? (Part 2)

By: Amanda Williams

This story (Read part 1) may sound far fetched, but it is an illustration of the epidemic facing the music business, the wide spread practice of illegal downloading. Just like the Smithfield family in the story, songwriters and independent musicians rely on the few cents they make from selling their recorded music as downloads online. With the internet, it is easier than ever to distribute music

How Is A Gum Ball Like A Song?

Amanda Williams

By: Amanda Williams

Suppose your favorite restaurant has a bubble gum ball machine by the front door. Every time you leave, you pop a quarter into the machine & out pops a gum ball.

Now suppose there is a man named Herman Smithfield who owns that gum ball machine. Herman is a family man with a wife named Sarah, a son named Norm, a daughter named Kelly & a dog named Rip. He makes a modest living stocking the gum ball machines in town.

Each week, Herman buys a bunch of gum balls at wholesale & then visits all his machines, stocking them with treats.

KICKStart Your Next Creative Project

When the members of Herrick brainstormed ways to raise money for their next music project – they decided to go with Kickstarter.com.  Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative projects.

Kickstarter believes that…

On The Road Again

“On the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again…”  With radio plays and unit sales down, artists are earning their frequent flier miles on the ground with arduous touring schedules maintaining the pulse of the music business.

The top musical money makers of 2011 were recently announced by Billboard Music and Taylor Swift was the only Country Music Artist to make the top ten, congrats Taylor. 

Singing to the Bank: Increase Fan Base with SEO

Today's blog is written by Jeffrey Gross from nPromote

There’s nothing Rock, Country, or Blue Grass about search engine optimization (SEO), and I can just see eyes glazing over as you read.  But with the slow agonizing death of the Radio Star (Buggles told us it was Video who did him in, turns out it was internet… and corporate greed naturally), you need a way for people to hear you.  Almost everyone finds their music online now, most steel it online, but regardless if you want to be heard by more people than can fit in your local bar, then putting yourself online is a must.