Studying Music Online

Michael Moyes is a Senior Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He finished his studies at Baylor University, where he studied Piano Performance and Business. Michael has performed Piano as a soloist, in combos, and accompanied by full Orchestra. He holds Master Certificate in Arranging and Orchestration from Berkleemusic. He also teaches bluegrass banjo in the Boston area. You can hear some of Michael’s music on the Berklee Music Network and on Soundcloud.

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For the purposes of this blog, lets imagine that I am taking the role of the renowned psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin and you are my ambitious patient, Bob Wiley.

If you don’t know these characters, do yourself a favor by finding a VCR (the preferred way to watch a classic of this magnitude) and pop in “What About Bob?”.  Now Bob Wiley has just about every possible phobia known to man. Despite Bob’s difficulties, he makes an astounding transformation from a man who fears anything and everything to a capable, and valued member of society.

It is surprisingly common for students to call me and tell me they are going to quit their jobs, study Music Business full time and then become an A&R, a highly competitive job that requires extensive experience in the music industry. In short, quitting your job for a risk this big is not a good idea. I am in no way saying that people with such lofty goals are in the same category as Bob Wiley, but I often find myself giving advice that I learned from his psychiatrist, the great Dr. Leo Marvin. Baby Steps….

Student: “I have 3 kids and a mortgage and I work in the legal field. I don’t like my job so I am going to quit and start a record label.”

Michael: Baby Steps…

 

Student: “I write songs using a computer program. I am thinking about dropping out of college to move to LA and give Film Scoring a shot”

Michael: Baby Steps…

 

The “Baby Steps” idea definitely comes into play when you are interested in getting into the music industry (in any capacity). The talents who are discovered performing on YouTube and rocket straight to the Ellen Show are few and far between. It is ok to take your time and develop a foundation that you can build your future career on.

Step one: Come up with Measurable and Attainable Goals

It is fine to have a stretch goal like “I want to make music my primary means of survival”. The chances of this becoming a reality increases greatly if you have the foresight to break it down and get specific. For example, in 2011 I was studying Orchestration and I gave myself the goal of writing 10 new songs in one calendar year. The purpose was twofold: Get familiar with the regular writing demands required to do this professionally and to further develop my craft and portfolio. The exercise was challenging and contributed greatly to my goal AND I didn’t have to bet the farm to meet it.

Another exercise works for performers and teachers. Set a goal like the following “I want to make $500 this year from gigging/teaching banjo lessons/doing studio work/anything else related to music.” This will teach you how to manage your opportunities and how to follow-up! If you have convinced someone to study music with you and they have taken $100 worth of lessons and suddenly dropped off of the face of the earth, you need to make sure you nurture the relationship so that they come back and of course, tell their friends. Baby Steps…

Step two: Be Persistent

So, you have been baby stepping along and things are going great! Lets say you have a ton of music produced and you want to get some of that sweet, sweet royalty money. You have heard that Music Libraries and Sound Catalogs are a good way to get your foot in the door so you send some demos out and wait…and wait…and continue to wait.

You will keep on waiting unless you are persistent and leave no stone unturned. Call, email, and even show up at every music library you can find and be prepared to tell them why they should listen to your tracks. Have everything labeled and neatly organized to make it as easy as possible for them to hear your work. Just because you get one person to listen to your stuff does not give you an excuse to stop calling more libraries.

Step three: Never leave an opportunity on the table

I have tried my hand at transforming nonsensical synth midi recordings into orchestral scores so that an ambitious hobbyist could hear his creations performed by a studio orchestra. One time I had a gig transcribing extremely complicated Liberace piano solo’s from old video clips for a client who was dead set on reviving the old tunes. I even had the opportunity to score music for a group involved in supervised (yet illegal) intravenous drug use (that was a wild one). Sure, I made money in some of these cases. Others were utter financial failures. What gained in every instance was experience, and just as importantly, a reputation. Now if a transcription/film scoring/weird orchestration gig comes up I have demo’s to show them AND I have references. Be creative and realize that getting out of your comfort zone can lead to a breakthrough!

Working with music is extremely rewarding. Even if it takes you longer than you want to reach your financial goals, enjoy the ride. We are performers, producers, orchestrators, songwriters, artist managers, and more. It is amazing that people are willing to pay us to do something so fun! Take baby steps and you can make a transformation…just like Bob.

-Michael

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Berkleemusic’s next term begins on September 24th, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

 

Doug Orey is a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2009 where he earned a degree in Music Business and Management. He is currently an avid gigging musician heavily involved in the Boston rock scene. He is the lead singer/rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for The Field Effect (www.thefieldeffectmusic.com/). He enjoys pizza and also has a beard.

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So you have the line-up. You have the name. You have the songs. You’ve practiced until your fingers hurt and your lungs are empty. You’ve even picked those killer new shoes. You’re ready to take the stage and unleash your sonic awesomeness live upon the masses. So how do you get that first show?

When you have a brand new band booking those first few shows can be the hardest part. No one has heard of you so why should they book you at their venue? Johnny Slick says you can play his bar on Wednesday night at 6pm if you pay him $100 and guarantee you can bring at least 20 people willing to pay a $15 cover! As enticing as this deal sounds…don’t take it. I’ve heard a few different folks say you should expect to pay venue managers or promoters to play early on in your young band’s career. I’m here to tell you that you should NEVER pay to play. So here are a few tips, from my own experience, to help you nail down that first show.

Go to other shows. There is no doubt in my mind that there are other bands where you are. Get out there and go meet them. Become friends with them, especially bands that play music similar to your band. Don’t be afraid to talk to them about your project and what you’re hoping to do. Build up a solid rapport with the other bands on the scene and express your interest in opening one of their shows. We’re all in this together and every band remembers what it was like to book their first show.

Open mics are your friend. While not my favorite thing in the world, I acknowledge they can be a lot of fun. One thing about open mics that tends to be true nearly everywhere you go is they are run by fellow musicians from the local music scene. I just mentioned going to shows and meeting other bands…this gives folks from those bands an opportunity to hear some of your songs. If they like what they hear, you just upped your chances of landing an opening slot. Not to mention you might be able to earn a few fans!

Start small, be realistic and be honest. Everyone wants to play on a Friday or Saturday night to a packed house. The chances of this happening your first time out are going to be slim to none. If you’re e-mailing venues in town looking to book a show, start small. They are bound to ask what you think your draw is. If you think you can only get 10 friends out to the gig…tell them 10. Clubs talk to each other. If you tell one club that you can bring 100 people out and only 13 people show up they aren’t going to be happy. Start small, build your fan base and keep your reputation high.

If you want to be part of your local scene it’s important to immerse yourself in it. Be social and be sure to show your support for the other bands. We’re all in this together and want to help each other out the best we can.

Doug

www.thefieldeffectmusic.com
@thefieldeffect

Check out our Online Music Marketing course if you are interested in leveraging all of your digital marketing efforts.

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Berkleemusic’s next term begins on September 24th, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

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Doug Orey is a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2009 where he earned a degree in Music Business and Management. He is currently an avid gigging musician heavily involved in the Boston rock scene. He is the lead singer/rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for The Field Effect (www.thefieldeffectmusic.com/). He enjoys pizza and also has a beard.

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In my last post I tackled some things to help you with your presence on Twitter. This post is all about the things that can hurt you when amassing a following. These things are easy to avoid and just as easy to do.

Auto Tweets

This is something I actually fell victim to. A lot of your social media is going to be tied together. Be careful not to blast your followers with multiple copies of the same tweet in short succession. For instance, my band’s WordPress Blog was set-up to push any new posts to Twitter and Tumblr. Problem was that our Tumblr was also set-up to push to Twitter! In a matter of seconds our followers were hit with redundant tweets. I quickly put a stop to this, I know personally I have unfollowed people for such things.

Ask for Followers/Likes

This is something that I see all the time. It’s one thing to promote your Facebook page or website on Twitter. Those two sources are where people can get more information about upcoming dates, news and listen to your music. Asking for likes on social media is not the way to build a dedicated fan base. “Liking” something for “Following” someone is a passive act. Seeing a high number of “Likes” or “Followers” is definitely an ego boost and feels good…but are these fans buying your record and coming to your shows, or just clicking “Follow” and forgetting about it? If you’re nearing a personal milestone such as 500 followers or 1,000 likes, it can’t hurt to point that out and maybe garner a bit more attention. Look at it as a relationship though; you don’t want to seem needy.

One too Many Retweets…

Share what YOU have to say. It’s great to retweet interesting stuff and share things your fans are saying but people are following YOU! I have unfollowed on a number of occasions because all they did was retweet things over and over. You might think, you don’t have anything interesting to say and that is where you are wrong. Conor Oberst of @brighteyesband could tweet “I prefer Skippy brand peanut butter” and 90% of his fan base will think “WHOA! Conor Oberst likes the same peanut butter I do!!!” You can keep it light, just remember to keep it you.

Don’t Think You’re Better Than Your Followers

Too often I see major stars openly dissing their fans. Most recently, Rihanna went after a fan on twitter. Not cool Rihanna, not cool. You have to remember that not everything you do will jive with your fans but never under any circumstances should you attack them. People might talk trash, but let it go. No need to go after them. You could very easily loose more fans by doing so, let them talk, no one will notice.

So these have been my thoughts on the Twitter game. This is the approach I am taking and it seems to be going well! Let me know what you all think! What are you doing to keep fans engaged on Twitter?

Doug

www.thefieldeffectmusic.com
@thefieldeffect

Check out our Online Music Marketing course if you are interested in leveraging all of your digital marketing efforts.

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Berkleemusic’s next term begins on June 25th, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

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Doug Orey is a Student Advisor at Berkleemusic.com. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2009 where he earned a degree in Music Business and Management. He is currently an avid gigging musician heavily involved in the Boston rock scene. He is the lead singer/rhythm guitarist and main songwriter for The Field Effect (www.thefieldeffectmusic.com/). He enjoys pizza and also has a beard.

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Every musician should be on Twitter. It’s a quick, simple and direct way to engage and grow your fan base when you are away from the stage. Just like everything else, there is a right and a wrong way to using Twitter, and you want to be sure that you are using it for good and not EVIL! Below I’ve outlined a few tools, tips and tricks that can help you manage your Twitter presence and max out it’s potential.

Content, Content. Content!

Not a day should go by with out a tweet from you or your band. But Doug, I have nothing cool to say or talk about! That’s where you are wrong. Your fans want a little glimpse into your day to day. What are you doing when you’re not rocking faces? Something as simple as “Listening to the new @yellowbirddd_ track and it rules!” puts you on their level and might help them discover artists you enjoy. Bottom line is don’t over think it. Share what you’re doing, listening to even eating. Tweet a picture of your view from your seat in the back of the van while you’re touring. People connect to your music. Let them connect to you as well.

Interaction = Awesome Sauce

No doubt you follow some of your favorite musicians on Twitter. How often do you see fans soliciting re-tweets and replies from the superstars? It would just make by birthday if I got a RT from @KarminMusic!!! Obviously the more popular you become and the more followers you amass it will become difficult to respond to every tweet, but setting aside just 10 or 15 minutes a day to tweet at some fans can make their week, month or even year! Let them know they are appreciated, welcome new followers, it takes all of 30 seconds to write 140 characters or less. If they tweet back at you then you’re showing up in their feed and all of their followers see it as well. Don’t forget your fellow musicians in all of this. You’re playing the game together, always nice to have some allies!

Navigating the Vast Realm of the Twitterverse

So your music rules and people are paying attention. You’ve been interacting with your fans and pumping out the tweets but now there are so many you can’t keep up! There are a few tools out there that can really help you manage all this awesome madness.

TweetDeck – Personally I use TweetDeck. It’s the official aggregator of Twitter and is super easy to set-up and use. You can use it through the web, install it as a Chrome App if you use Google Chrome as your Browser or install it on your Mac through the Mac App Store. It displays your Twitter Feed, Mentions, Direct Messages and custom searches all on one screen. It can also sync up multiple accounts so if you and your band members all have personal twitters you can manage those as well!

HootSuite – HootSuite tends to take things to the next level. With a paid subscription you can get detailed analytics on your Twitter traffic and even further customization in terms of display and search options. A label rep, manager outside marketing team, and not the band itself will most likely utilize the paid options. You do need to save sometime to write songs and practice after all.

Twitter Mobile App – Chances are at least one if not all of your band members have a smartphone. Great way to hit your followers on the go, the van can be a boring place on those long drives between gigs…unless you have a small TV and a VCR, but seriously you can only watch Twister so many times! Tweet a picture of the audience from stage, let them feel the thrill of staring out into a packed house!

So for a quick recap – stay active, interact with your fans, there’s an app for that. Share your thoughts below and be on the lookout for a follow-up blog about some things NOT to do on Twitter!

Doug

www.thefieldeffectmusic.com
@thefieldeffect

Check out our Online Music Marketing course if you are interested in leveraging all of your digital marketing efforts.

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Berkleemusic’s next term begins on June 25th, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

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Brian John is a Student Advisor at berkleemusic.com. He has a Bachelors in Piano Performance from Miami University of Ohio, and a Masters in Composition from Longy School of Music. Brian’s background is primarily in Classical music, but a 4 year stint in a home-grown jam band gives him a unique perspective on both genres. He continues to compose and perform for people across the US.

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SOPA and PIPA – two acronyms that were made infamous on Jan. 18th 2012 as thousands of individuals and dozens of websites took part in what is now being called “Blackout Day”. The Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act were originally drafted to allow US Government agencies to bring criminal charges against, and to subsequently shut down, overseas websites illegally hosting copyrighted content. The broader Internet community, including giants like Google, Wired, and Wikipedia, became involved because these bills contained wording that was dangerously vague and open to interpretation and abuse. With these two bills now essentially dead in the water, it will be months or even years before another piece of legislation is in place to combat the piracy of copyrighted content.

A major portion of pirated content is media, which includes television, movies, books, and music. While this attempt at legislation was intended to punish those websites which provide pirated content, very little attention has been given to why pirating websites are so problematic in the first place. The true issue here is one of access. When creators do not make media available, consumers will search for, and find, other ways of acquiring it.

While governments need to step forward and create laws to protect copyrighted content, and in turn the copyright holders, no amount of legislation will be able to stop piracy. World-wide, the expectation of consumers is shifting to one of immediate and complete access anywhere at any time. The biggest piracy deterrent will be media companies catching up to the ‘access race’, thus making pirating websites obsolete and unnecessary. It is incumbent upon these companies to make their product easy to find and affordable to acquire. The average consumer will only turn to piracy websites if/when the company refuses access. By making the content available, the creator not only discourages piracy, they also control the medium in which it is distributed, which in turn allows them to control any and all revenue streams.

Independent musicians have been following this trend, and capitalizing on it for the past few years. It is common now for musicians to give music away for free to build a fan base, and to build a social media following. This trend actually allows independent musicians to capitalize on music piracy – by encouraging the sharing of their music, they are able to reach more people and build a larger group of fans. Once consumers become fans, they are more likely to have a vested interest in an artist and to support them by purchasing what the artists is selling, whether it be music or merchandise.

Established artists have also found ways to catch up in the ‘access race’ by allowing the sale of their music via sites such as iTunes and CD Baby. There are now also streaming sites such as Pandora, Rdio, and Spotify that offer access without ownership. If Sweden is to be any indicator, this increase in access directly leads to a decline in music piracy. According to Media Vision, a Swedish polling firm, illegal downloading of music is down by 25% since 2009. Considering that Sweden was the origin of some of the world’s largest pirating services, such as Pirate Bay and Pirate Party, this is a clear indication that legal avenues of access directly result in a decline in piracy.

One would expect the large, established organizations to take advantage of this trend. They have a captive audience that is clamoring for access to their product. A study released by telecommunications giant Ericsson indicates that over 70% of consumers are streaming, downloading, or watching recorded content and 36% of consumers are watching streamed on-demand movies. With access to the Internet now widely available through televisions, this trend is only expected to increase.

If content creators, especially the creators of major motion pictures, were to invest in direct-to-consumer access portals, their potential for profit due to monthly fees and advertising revenue is immense. Copyright holders, and the organizations that represent them, know that the content is out there and available already, so there is nothing to be lost in such a venture. In fact, there is everything to gain. Netflix, the predominant television and movie streaming company, currently claims more than 20 million subscribers globally, and they don’t even have the rights to stream the latest blockbuster films. Major networks like NBC, PBS, and Fox stream full episodes online. Consumers are starting to expect that their media will be available to stream online, and if it is available legally or illegally, they will find it.

The discussion surrounding copyright-protected material and how to best protect the creators of such material in a digital age will continue long after this blog is written. While SOPA and PIPA have been tabled, comprehensive reform is needed that takes into account all of the concerns raised in the recent debate. Whatever regulations are finally passed, it is up to the people involved in media creation to recognize and capitalize on all forms of distribution. It is also up to the people consuming this media to respect the work that has been done, and to recognize that these artists deserve be paid for their efforts.

Brian

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Berkleemusic’s next term begins on April 2nd, 2012.

Find out more at berkleemusic.com or contact a Student Advisor:

1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

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Hey, it’s Amy Heidemann!  Like my fellow advisor Liam mentioned, we get to chat with students everyday, so we wanted to feature a “Weekly Favorite” Certificate Program to give you guys the inside scoop.  I’m actually in the midst of the Master Certificate in Music Business and Technology myself, so you’re getting the DIRECT inside scoop here…

My ultimate career goal is to be a self-sufficient artist.  I want to write, perform, record, produce, and market my music!  The reason I chose the Music Business and Technology Master Certificate is because I already have a pretty solid background in performance and songwriting.  I wanted a program to teach me the business lingo and important topics on royalties, publishing laws, and marketing techniques for getting my music out there.  I also needed to know how to record my own, professional sounding demos at home.  There are so many great Certificates to chose from, so why this particular one?

First, I like that it splits Business and Technology right down the middle.  You get half business courses (all essentials for any artist or producer) and half technology or production-based courses.  Hiring a lawyer to consult me about that certain paragraph on a contract or agreement about money issues just doesn’t sit right.  I want to know the basics on how to read contracts and get what I want in terms of revenue and copyright ownership. On the other hand, when I write a song or want to put something down, I can just flip on my system and go!  I am also excited to learn how to edit my performances, tweak the vocal sound, and get a real effective demo put online as an mp3.  Paying $50 -$100 per hour at a studio got very frustrating, especially when it didn’t come out sounding the way I wanted.

Finally, after you’ve gotten into Publishing, Marketing, Recording, Producing, and other valuable areas of study, you have three elective courses.  I chose Critical Listening 1 because I had some issues with feedback and noise interference in my audio tracks.  Finding the solution for this can take a good amount of trouble-shooting, so I figured, why not eliminate it entirely?

Since I chose the Critical Listening course from the provided list of “Recommended Electives,” I am now able to choose the other two electives from ANYWHERE in the catalog.  So, naturally I took a guitar course (so much fun)! Rhythm and Groove Guitar with Bruce Bartlett taught me the real meaning of “pocket.”  Now my rhythm playing/accompaniment to my singing is a lot more natural sounding and diversified.  Prior to this course, I caught myself playing only one rhythmic figure—problem solved.  I’ll be saving my final elective for later because I’ve heard Berkleemusic is launching some awesome new courses this Fall.  In fact, Berkleemusic launches new courses almost every term—so why get tied down?

In conclusion, the Master Certificate in Music Business and Technology is a fantastic program that fits me perfectly.  I’ve recommended it for many other students who have similar interests and they always seem very relieved that there’s a Certificate Program that fits their goals so perfectly.  Get in touch with a Student Advisor if you’d like to find out if this is a good fit for you. If not, there are many other Certificates we’ll be featuring in later weeks.

If so, I’ll see you in class!

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Contact a Berkleemusic Student Advisor
1-866-BERKLEE (USA) | +1 617 747 2146 (Intl) | advisors@berkleemusic.com

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