ARTICLE
Registering Copyrights for Musicians
By Cameron MizellCopyright is a form of intellectual property law granting exclusive rights to creators of intangible assets. Under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which the US signed in 1989, copyright is granted the moment the intellectual property becomes fixed in a tangible form. In other words, the moment your write down or record a new song, you are automatically granted a copyright. Unfortunately, that copyright does not have much viability under a court of law, and you should consider officially registering your copyright with your government.
Officially registering your music is a voluntary, but important step if you plan on commercially exploiting your recordings or songs. It will legally protect your intellectual property should somebody else blatantly copy it, or if somebody claims you have copied their work. While copyright infringement doesn’t happen often, every year there are always a few stories of a relatively unknown artist making a claim against a major pop act. To make a claim, or defend against one, the most important piece of evidence is the date the composers created and published their works. The best way to prove that in a court of law is with a properly registered copyright.
If you are a resident of the United States, you can easily register your works with the Library of Congress online at the United States Copyright Office. At the writing of this article, the registration service costs $35. To save money, you can register many works at once, as a single collection.
ARTICLE
Creating a Budget for Your New Album
By Cameron MizellCreating a budget for a new album means figuring out not only how much money you’ll need, but also how much time it will take from your first rehearsal to release day. After releasing a number of my own albums and answering questions from many of my friends doing the same, I’ve been caught off guard enough times to know where the hidden expenses are, how to save money, and where my money is best spent.
Naturally, the DIY environment is changing increasingly fast as technology makes much of this easier than ever before. But just because it’s possible to record an album on Monday and have it available on iTunes on Tuesday doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for your music. Taking some time to establish your goals and determine what you can realistically afford will help you create the best album possible.
ARTICLE
Who Are You Working With?
By David J. HahnThere was a time that railroad had a monopoly on transcontinental travel and shipping in the U.S. For over a century the rail industry made big, big money for railroad tycoons like Cornelius Vanderbilt, John Hopkins and Leland Stanford. But it wouldn’t last forever.
Railroad ridership peaked during World War II, as troops and supplies are moved toward the coasts to fight in the European and Pacific theaters. After the war, though, increased automobile and plane travel led to a decline in rail travel.
By the 1950s and 60s the interstate highway system, modern trucking and the first jetliners took a huge bite out of railroad ridership. As the industry took a dive, they adapted with mergers and consolidations.
ARTICLE
The DIY Musician’s Pre-Release Checklist
By Cameron MizellSo you just finished your new album? Congratulations! Now what?
Before you release it to the world, take a couple days to prepare your music and artwork for all the opportunities that may present themselves. When I talk about an album being finished, I mean the audio has been mastered and the artwork is complete. If you’re pressing CDs, you’ve probably just sent everything to your manufacturer. This is stuff you can do before you have CDs in your hand–in fact, it’s a great way to pass the time before all those boxes arrive. And I’ll be honest with you, none of this is all that fun, but it really does help and you’ll probably never get around to it once the album is released.
Note that this article is not about how to release your own album, it’s about everything else you can do before it’s released so all the effort you’ve put in up to this point, and all the marketing and promotion you’ll do later, will have maximum effect. If you’re looking for information about releasing your album–digital distribution options, production schedules, CD manufacturing, and legal considerations–check out our 4 part series on the Self-Released Album.
ARTICLE
Case Study: One Musician’s Changing Income During the Recession
By David J. HahnIn 2008 I was working nearly full-time as a music director for regional theaters and tours. When I wasn’t working as an MD I was playing 2nd keyboards somewhere else. I made a little money from blogging, a little from copyist work and very little from selling albums.
I experienced a sharp decline in music directing jobs in the 2nd half of 2008. Regional theaters had been hard hit by the recession, and many were not hiring or closing their doors. It was clear that I would need to fill in the income gap with other work.
As you can see from the chart, I tried a lot of different gigs and had the most success with accompanying and church organ gigs. I started my church gig in spring of 2009. Around the same time I found a job as an accompanist at college.
Sign Up for the MusicianWages.com Newsletter
By Musician Wages.comSince 2008, MusicianWages.com has been publishing articles and interviews on topics that are important to working musicians. Thank you to everyone that has become a part of the vibrant musician…
ARTICLE
When To Take an Unpaid Gig
By David J. HahnYou get a call. It’s a friend of yours, they are throwing a big party, and they want you to play for the guests. They don’t have a lot of money, though, so they can’t pay you. But you can pass out business cards and try to sell CDs. There will be lots of important people there and it’ll be great exposure they say.
You get another call. It’s a local non-profit. They are throwing a fundraiser at a fancy venue and they want you to provide entertainment for a couple of hours. They can’t pay you, but you’d really be helping out the cause if you would do it.
A third call comes in. It’s a local venue. They are having an event next month and 5 bands are playing a 30 minute set each. They’d like to invite you to perform. It doesn’t pay, but everyone gets a free drink and you can set up a merch table in the corner.
So what do you do? Do you take these gigs? You know that you have to make a living, but you know you also have to get out there and play for people.
ARTICLE
DIY Musician & Working with a Producer
By Gary MelvinIn these modern times, musicians have ample, low-cost resources at their disposal that allow us to write, record, distribute and promote our own music (often referred to as “Do It Yourself” or “DIY”). But is it always a good idea to do everything yourself? If you are looking to make your album sound as good as possible, when is it the right time to bring in a producer, and how does it work alongside the DIY model?
What does a producer do, and why might I need one?
The producer of an album is like the director of a film: it is his or her responsibility to oversee, and often interpret the creative material, bring out the best in the performers, and deliver it all in a cohesive final product that’s (hopefully) as good as it possibly can be. While there are many variations in the role that the producer can play, it’s fair to say in a general statement that the producer is an added member of the band who can maintain an outside perspective and help guide the performances.
ARTICLE
How to be a REAL World Percussionist: Part One
By Mark PowersHow can you become a REAL world percussionist?
Short answer: Leave the country!
I know, I know . . . easier said than done, right?
For many musicians, the idea of traveling to study in remote regions of the planet is, although alluring, seemingly impossible. They would love the opportunity to get outta Dodge, live overseas for a stretch and be schooled by some rhythmic guru in a faraway land. But how is it possible to even get out of the ‘starving artist’ category, much less afford something like that?
Part One of this series is going to discuss the business side of what we do as drummers. These are topics that should really be reviewed by all of us, regardless of our future goals, and are definitely a prerequisite to ‘Making It Happen’ in Part Two.
ARTICLE
Start Your Teaching Business in 30 Days
By Greg ArneyWeek One: Prepare
Day 01. Psychological hurdles. Are you comfortable calling yourself a teacher? If you don’t say, “I’m a private music instructor,” nobody will. Most of your students will have no experience with music. Would you enjoy helping them learn? Before proceeding, make the commitment to teach, and take pride in it.
Day 02. Clarify your goals. What can you teach? Who can you teach? How much do you want to earn? What percentage of your income should be from teaching? How much of your time will you commit to teaching? Sketch out some figures to get a sense of how these goals can be reached.
Day 03. Decide where you’ll teach. You can teach almost anywhere: community centers, local schools, colleges, or the student’s home. Perhaps there is a section of your own home that you could use. Make your teaching space as presentable as possible. Even a small section of an apartment with wall dividers can make a wonderful teaching environment.
Day 04. Decide on your initial rate. Call comparable teachers and ask for their rates. It is tempting to charge less than your competition to attract students. This is a bad idea. A low rate sends this signal: “I am an amateur. Because of my lack of qualification, I am charging less than a day laborer to teach music lessons.” Let others learn. Aim for median or higher. Be valuable.
Day 05. Write your lesson policy. What is your policy on cancelled lessons? How will students pay you–weekly or monthly? Will students pay in advance? Will you teach a first lesson free? How about a refund for unsatisfied students? If you’re skeptical, see below.
ARTICLE
5 Online Tools Helping Musicians Make Money
By Cameron MizellThere are a lot of great resources out there for independent musicians, but what actually works? Is anybody really changing the game? I’m always watching out for new services that can help me generate more revenue with my music without taking too much time away from actually playing music. Here are fives sites, tools, or services that I love right now and would recommend to any of you.
Taking advantage off all these tools can be time consuming, and sometimes produce little results. My strategy has always been to upload/update/post/set-up/etc. one thing per day. One day I might upload a new track to Bandcamp, and the next I upload a track to YouLicense. It’s overwhelming to take it all on at once, and more importantly, eats into practice time. But it’s also difficult to fight for every dollar you earn, and these tools can help do some of that work for you.
ARTICLE
What To Do When Nothing Is Working
By David J. HahnThings have been slow moving since this recession hit, and at times it can feel like nothing is working. Maybe you’re doing the same things you used to to get gigs, but no ones calling and you’re not making as much money – what do you do?
The short answer is “try something else”.
Consider for a minute animals in the wild. If resources become scarce – what do they do? They have a variety of coping mechanisms. Some migrate. Some hibernate. Over time, some adapt. The one thing they don’t do is sit on their hands and just hope it gets better. And neither should we.
ARTICLE
Booking Your First Tour
By Cameron MizellGetting your band off the ground is full of “chicken or the egg?” situations. One of the things I commonly hear bands say that if they just had a booking agent, they could really get things moving. But booking agents only want to work with bands that already have things moving.
Just because you have to book your own shows doesn’t mean you can’t go on tour. Even if you don’t have much experience booking gigs, a little organization, creativity, persistance and flexibility will make booking your first tour is a simple enough task. After you get the first tour under your belt, going on the road in the future will not be as daunting.
ARTICLE
The Savvy Musician: Book Review
By David J. HahnThe Savvy Musician is written by David Cutler. You can find it at Amazon
There are several striking things about this book. First, the comprehensive depth of material in this book is remarkable. From marketing, to performing, to networking, to composing – this book covers a huge amount of material.
Second, there are 165 short vignettes of stories and interviews from successful, non-famous, working musicians in the book. The vignettes add a lot of credibility to the material without any gimmickry. The fact that they come from successful, non-famous musicians is what makes them genuine. It’s easy enough to make a living as a famous musician – I’m sure Paris Hilton has sold more albums than me – it’s stories from regular musicians that are really interesting.
ARTICLE
What the Arts Can Learn From NASA Budget Cuts
By David J. HahnPresident Obama’s proposed budget came out earlier this week. His arts budget remained largely the same as last year, but the NASA budget was not as lucky. Obama cut funding to the Bush-era plan to return to the moon by 2020 and, instead, allotted $6 billion to the agency for research and commercial development of space-related technology.
It seems that with a record deficit and 10% unemployment, space travel is not a priority to the U.S. government. NASA suddenly finds itself, not for the first time, in a situation where it must argue on behalf of it’s tax-dollar worthiness.
This is a familiar situation for arts organizations. The threat of budget-cuts to arts education is a near constant concern at public schools, and the budget for the National Endowment for the Arts was only recently restored to Clinton-era numbers.
Ok, so the science kids finally got their budget cut, too. The MIT and Stanford grads at NASA are a smart bunch, of course, and I bet they put up a pretty savvy fight. And you know what? I bet the arts community could learn something from the rhetoric that they use to protest the budget cuts.
ARTICLE
Tips for the Piano-Conductor
By David J. HahnThe task of piano-conducting is a complicated skill that is often neglected during most pianists’ formal training. If you want to be a music director in theatre (or a number of other arts fields), you’ll need to learn the basics of piano-conducting. Here are some tips.
The Head Nod
Here’s the problem. You’re sitting at the piano, sending out your part of the groove – and, well, basically – you’re busy. Both hands and sometimes both of your feet are working on your instrument, and you don’t have any appendages left over to cue the band. So what do you do? Nod your head.
A good head nod is harder than it sounds, though. Major complaints from sidemen in pits usually involve some variation of “the head nod doesn’t match the hands” – that is, the head nod brings the band in before or after the piano-conductor plays the beat with their own hands.
If you only take one piece of advice away from this article, let it be this: get your head and your hands together. Practice it and get it right. Video tape yourself to make sure it’s happening the way you intend it. Don’t let this basic part of the piano-conductor skill set be the complaint you get from your band.
Broadway Show Closings Eliminate 97 Musician Jobs
By David J. HahnJanuary 28, 2010
The closing of Broadway shows Finian’s Rainbow, Ragtime, Shrek The Musical, Bye Bye Birdie and Burn the Floor eliminated 97 musician positions from the Broadway industry this…
ARTICLE
Preparing for Tour with an Independent Musician
By Elliot JacobsonTours come in all shapes and sizes, from loading up in an old beat up van for a week to being flown around the world on a private jet for six months. Regardless of the budget or length of the tour, there are certain steps you can take to prepare yourself for life on the road. Touring can be a lot of fun, but not if you’re losing your sanity because you ran out of clean clothes five days ago! From band rehearsals to healthy eating, prepping your gear to getting along with your bandmates, I’ve compiled some tips from my own experience that will help you feel your best and play your best every show, every night.
NYC Music Director Meet-Up, February 8th
By Musician Wages.comMusicianWages.com is helping organize a meet-up for all music directors in the NYC theatre industry. The event will be held at a bar/restaurant in Times Square, the Trattoria Dopo Teatro (44th & Broadway), on February 8th at 8:00pm. The event will be in the cabaret room downstairs.
Please visit the event page on Facebook and RSVP if you plan to attend:
The Savvy Musician: Review Coming
By David J. Hahn
Author, blogger and professor David Cutler sent us a copy of his new book, The Savvy Musician, for review. We’ll be reading it and sending out a review…
