7 TIPS FOR NETWORKING IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY

Something that comes up frequently in my music consulting work and talking to artist is the topic of music industry networking. This is one of the most important skills you must have in order to take your music career to the next level, because there are many talented and skilled musicians fighting for the same gigs. So, as a prerequisite for taking the advice in this post, you should already be a badass musician who has put in all of his or her 10,000 hours preparing for the “big show”. If you haven't done this work, networking won't really help your cause. So without further ado, here are my
 7 quick tips to help you network in the music business.

1) Stop Talking About Yourself – OK, this may seem counterintuitive to some, but most people don’t want to listen to you brag about your achievements.  Instead, they would rather talk about themselves. So, if you want to “get in” with someone, ask them questions about their lives and be genuinely interested in what they have to say. Don’t pretend to listen while checking your Twitter feed or text messages either, really listen and keep them talking.  Networking in the music industry is all about making friends, because friends will hire you for gigs or refer you down the line. So just be an awesome person and an awesome listener...easy right?

2) Don’t be Pushy – Appearing overeager and pushy in your networking endeavors will not help your music career.  If you don’t know someone, avoid pushing your business card, your demo or any other piece of promotional material until they ask for it. Remember, you are trying to make friends in the industry, so acting like an unsolicited spammer will definitely turn people off.  Try to think of networking in the music business like the inbox of an email account, spam usually goes directly to the junk mail filter.

3) Go out and Hang – If you are at home watching a “House Hunters” marathon instead of attending a music industry event, gig or party, you're really doing yourself a disservice.  You must go out and hang, because that’s how you make friends. And if you check out another musician’s gig, don’t show up at the end of the last song just to show your face.  This will expose you as a transparent networker who is not interested in supporting other musicians.  So, you must put in the time to get to know everyone in the scene and soon you'll be sitting in, joking around, getting called for gigs and more.

4) Get Some Skills – Having useful skills that aren’t 100% related to your craft can be very useful. For instance, if you understand how to build websites (php, html, wordpress, etc.), repair a motorcycle or fix a broken computer, you might be able to meet important music industry people under different circumstances. These are just 3 random examples, but essentially networking is based on give and take relationships and having non-music skills to offer gives you an advantage over the sea of musicians trying to “make it”.  So, if you happen to be chatting with a high-profile music producer at a bar and he or she mentions that their MacBook Pro or Ducati died that morning, you can offer to help them out. This will get their attention much quicker than telling them about your hot new tracks or your prowess on the guitar...trust me!


5) Tell the Truth – Now, I know you want to portray yourself in the best light possible, but don’t lie about your credits and/or contacts. Eventually someone you are trying to impress will call you out on your BS and your name will be tarnished within the scene. People don’t take kindly to liars, especially in a tight-knit music scene where word travels fast.

6) Utilize Social Media Properly – Social media is a powerful tool for musicians networking in the music business, but you must use it wisely. In general, you should consider social networking as an extension of your regular networking practices, meaning that you shouldn’t try to sell yourself all the time. Think of it from an outside perspective. If someone posted only Viagra ads on their Twitter wall, would you want to follow them?  This is really the same as a musician constantly promoting themselves, their album, etc.  You must intersperse your personal advertising with fun or resourceful posts, otherwise nobody will want to be your fan or follower.  So, be likeable, witty, unpredictable and don’t come off like a salesman.  Also, don’t @mention people unless it’s relevant to your post. If you @mention people frequently in the wrong circumstances, they will stop reading your notifications which will hurt your marketing efforts.

7) Be Cool – Most musicians want to hang out with fun and cool people, so try not to come off too arrogant, too competitive, too depressed, etc.  In all the big music cities, there are many musicians who can get the job done, so attitude is often the defining factor in getting the gig.  Remember that as a musician, you might be required to hang on a tour bus for months or sit in a studio collaborating for hours on end, so you must be likeable and have awesome people skills.  And no matter how good you think you are, there’s always someone who can do the job just as well right around the corner (and they might be more fun to be around). So be cool!

7 Reasons Christians Are Not Required to Tithe

Many think believers in Christ should tithe (defined as giving 10 percent of one’s income), and many use the language of “tithes and offerings” in worship services. Others are equally convinced tithing is not required for believers.

Which view is more faithful to God’s Word?

This certainly isn’t a matter over which believers should break fellowship. Love is far more important than our view on tithing (1 Cor. 13). Still, I would argue tithing isn’t required or even encouraged for believers in Jesus Christ. But such a stance needs to be explained.

TITHING IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

What does the Old Testament say about tithing? Abraham gave a tenth of his spoils of war to Melchizedek (Gen. 14:20), and Hebrews appeals to this account to support the superiority of Melchizedek’s priesthood over Levi’s (Heb. 7:4–10). God met Jacob at Bethel and promised him covenant blessings; the patriarch promised God a tenth of everything granted him (Gen. 28:22).

A tenth of Israel’s seed, fruit, and flocks were given to the Lord (Lev. 27:30–32; Deut. 14:22–24; cf. 2 Chron. 31:5–6; Neh. 13:5, 12). The people gave a tenth to the Levites to support them (Num. 18:21–24; cf. Neh. 10:38; 12:44), and the Levites, in turn, were to give a tenth to the chief priest (Num. 18:25–28). Those who didn’t tithe were threatened with a curse, while those who did tithe were promised blessing (Mal. 3:8–10).

Though we might assume Old Testament Israel gave a total of 10 percent, it’s actually difficult to discern how much was given. We can’t linger over details in this short article, but some think the Israelites gave 14 tithes over seven years; others believe they gave 12. Regardless, when we add the required tithes together, the amount certainly exceeded 10 percent. In fact, the number was probably somewhere around 20 percent per year.

WHY TITHING IS NOT REQUIRED TODAY

There are seven decisive reasons for saying Christians are not required to tithe.

1. Believers are no longer under the Mosaic covenant (Rom. 6:14–15; 7:5–6; Gal. 3:15–4:7; 2 Cor. 3:4–18). 

The commands stipulated in the Mosaic covenant are no longer in force for believers. Some appeal to the division between the civil, ceremonial, and moral law to support tithing. Yet these divisions, I would observe, are not the basis Paul uses when addressing how the law applies to us today. And even if we use these distinctions, tithing is clearly not part of the moral law. It’s true the moral norms of the Old Testament are still in force today, and we discern them from the law of Christ in the New Testament, but tithing is not among these commands.

2. The examples of Abraham and Jacob are not normative patterns. 

Some think tithing is required because both Abraham and Jacob gave a tenth, and they both lived before the Mosaic covenant was in place. Such examples hardly prove tithing is for all time, however. Abraham’s gift to Melchizedek was a one-time event; there is no evidence he regularly gave God a tenth.

Jacob’s giving of a tenth signified his gratefulness to God for promising to be with him and to protect him. His gratefulness and generosity still speak to us today, but a historical description of what Jacob gave doesn’t support the idea that all believers must give God a tenth of their income.

3. Tithes were given to the Levites and priests, but there are no Levites and priests in the new covenant. 

Levites and priests were tied to the sacrificial system of the old covenant. Now all believers are priests (1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6), with Jesus as our Melchizedekian high priest (Heb. 7).

4. The tithe is tied to the land Israel received under the old covenant. 

Israel was supposed to celebrate a tithe every three years in Jerusalem. But that requirement cannot apply to Christians today. It related to the Jews as a nation—to Jews who lived in the land of promise. With the coming of Christ, the Jewish nation is no longer the locus of God’s people, though individual Jews are part of the church through faith in Jesus.

The earthly Jerusalem is no longer central in God’s purposes (Gal. 4:25). Believers are part of the heavenly Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26) and look forward to the city to come (Heb. 11:10), to the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 21:1–22:5). Abraham isn’t heir of the land of Israel, but of the whole world (Rom. 4:13).

5. If tithing is required today, how much should we give? 

As noted above, the number was certainly more than 10 percent and closer to 20 percent. Those who advocate tithing should probably settle on 20 percent.

6. When Jesus affirmed the tithe, it was before the dawn of the new covenant.

Some defend tithing by saying Jesus praised tithing, even if he said it was less important than other things (Matt. 23:23; Luke 11:42). This argument appears strong, but it’s not persuasive. Jesus also mentioned offering sacrifices in the temple (Matt. 5:23–24), but Christians don’t think—even if the temple were rebuilt—that we should do that. Our Lord’s words are understandable when we think about his location in redemptive history.

esus spoke about sacrifices and tithing before the cross and resurrection, before the dawn of the new covenant. He used tithing and sacrifices as illustrations when addressing his contemporaries. He kept the law since he was “born under the law” (Gal. 4:4). But we can no more take his words as a commendation for tithing today than we can his words about offering sacrifices.

7. Nowhere is tithing mentioned when commands to give generously are found in the New Testament. 

When Christians are instructed to give to the poor, they aren’t commanded to give “the poor tithe.” Instead, they are instructed to be generous in helping those in need (Acts 2:43–47; 4:32–37; 11:27–30; Gal. 2:10; 1 Cor. 16:1–4; 2 Cor. 8:1–9:15). For example, 1 Corinthians 16:1–4—a passage often cited in popular circles in support—doesn’t mention tithing; it relates to a one-time gift for poor saints in Jerusalem.

GIVE GENEROUSLY

Even though tithing isn’t required today, it does not follow that believers should hoard their possessions.

We are commanded to support those who preach the gospel (Matt. 10:10; Luke 10:7; 1 Cor. 9:6–14; 1 Tim. 5:17–18). And while we should enjoy the good things God gives us, we are also called to be generous to those in need (1 Tim. 6:17–19; 2 Cor. 8–9). Wealth can so easily become an idol, leading us to abandon the Lord.

Since God is to be our treasure, believers are to give generously and freely. For many in the West, this will mean giving more than 10 percent.

Still, Scripture doesn’t command Christians to give a tenth—and Scripture, not tradition, is our rule and authority.

7 WAYS TO FIND YOUR MUSICAL INSPIRATION

Are you having trouble finding your creative muse? Have you lost your musical drive and/or motivation? Here are 7 ways to get your musical inspiration back...so let's get to it!

1) Practice, Practice, Practice – The best way to stay fresh and inspired is to practice new things. If you are stagnant with your musical vocabulary, it will be difficult to stay inspired and creative. So, make sure to practice regularly and push yourself beyond your comfort zone.  “If you always sound good in the practice room, you’re probably not doing it right.” ~Unknown

2) Go Outside – If you’re feeling a little burned out due to gigging and practicing, you might need to get out of the house for a while. Taking a walk, hike or bike ride can give you a fresh perspective which may help replenish your creative energy.  Also, while you’re on this outdoor excursion, try not to think about your musical struggles...just enjoy the moment and be present!

3) Listen to music – Now you’re all are probably saying, “Dude, I listen to music all the time”, but are you really critically listening without distractions? I recommend finding a quiet place and listening to some great music for a set period of time, as if it were scheduled study time for school (but hopefully more fun, lol). You really need to focus on the music without looking at your phone, email, computer, etc. You’ll find that this type of “critical listening” is much different than listening in your car or even while walking.  So try to include this very important listening time in your daily practice.

4) Isolate Yourself – It’s very important to find a distraction-free environment while practicing, listening, songwriting, etc. So shut off your phone if possible, close out any unrelated browser windows and tell everyone in the house that you need some alone time (unless you already live by yourself). If you're in a house with many people and responsibilities, you may not have much time to yourself, but at least try to schedule ½ hour a day for this important work. If you can’t even pencil in ½ hour a day, try to work at night with headphones (while others are asleep) so that you can capitalize on the evening’s tranquility.  Note: This isolation usually works better for periods longer than 1/2 hour, so try to get a decent block scheduled every day if possible.

5) Set Short-Term Goals – Nothing is more inspiring than the momentum of success, which is why short-term goals are so important. If your only goal is to be an amazing instrumentalist or a famous musician, you'll probably have problems figuring out what to do first. This can be frustrating and can lead to motivation and inspiration problems.  But, if you set achievable short-term goals, you'll be able to see the finish line, which will supply you with the motivation to succeed.  Once you've achieved a short-term goal and experienced the positive results, you'll be inspired to set the next goal ASAP. These goals can be technical, musical, music business related, whatever.  So, go make a plan!

6) Read a Biography or Watch a Documentary – Many musicians (including myself) have found much inspiration in the form of music/musician biographies or documentaries. This is due to the fact that we (as viewers and readers) are able to suddenly see these great musicians in a regular light which allows us to relate to them in a much more personal way. Many of our heroes struggled with insecurity, had money problems, were rejected, dealt with health issues, family problems, loss, etc.  These are problems that many of us face and it can be inspiring to see how these successful musicians dealt with this adversity and eventually achieved greatness.  And in the case that the documentary or biography highlights a musician's fall from grace or a deterioration, you can also learn what not to do which is also very important.

7) Dream Big – OK, I saved the strangest suggestion for last. If you’re still having problems finding your musical inspiration using methods 1-6, you can always try to tap your subconscious. Yup, I’m talking about dreams. John Lennon, Salvador Dali and Edgar Allan Poe were just a few famous creative types who found inspiration from their dreams. There are many resources available if you're interested in learning about lucid dreaming, dream journals and more...so let your subconscious mind break down the walls of frustration and unleash your creativity!

7 TIPS TO HELP YOU LICENSE YOUR MUSIC

I get a ton of questions from musicians regarding how to place their music in films or on TV. Now before I even get started with this post, I want to say that there’s no way I can cover even 1/10th of this subject in a “quick tips” format. Music licensing is very in-depth 

1) Performing Rights Organizations (PROs) – You must be set up with a PRO (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC in the US) before you even begin discussing the subject of music licensing. All the US PROs are either free to join or require a small one-time application fee. None of them have annual dues, so if you're not currently a member, join right now!

2) Input – Once registered with a PRO, you should go to their website and input all of the information for the tracks you're interested in licensing (or may be interested in licensing in the future). The online system will allow you to enter your writer info, publisher info, alternate titles, co-writers, etc.

3) Publishing – It’s important to note that when you write a song, you own the publishing by default unless you give it away for some reason. This is true even if you haven't set up a separate publishing entity with your PRO. Publishing is one of the most important and misunderstood elements of the music business in my opinion, so do your research on this subject before you blindly sign it away. For example, here’s something to consider: If you don't own 100% of your publishing, you will not be able to place your music without permission. This means that you won't even (legally) be able to post a YouTube video featuring your song(s) without consent from the publisher (or co-publisher). Don't get me wrong, there are situations where you must give your publishing away, but always do your research first and obviously try to hold on to your publishing if possible.

4) Be a Critic – Does your music sound as good as your favorite band, composer or album?  In today’s cutthroat environment, your music must compete on every level or it will be lost in the bottom of the pile. Demos containing rough ideas won't cut it anymore and your music must be mixed professionally, be loud enough, be polished (mastered), etc. In a recent masterclass video I filmed with composer Ron Jones (Family Guy, American Dad, etc.), he suggested making a playlist in iTunes with all of your best music mixed in with your musical heroes. Then play the tracks at random and make a detailed list of notes comparing your music with the other selections. Is your bass mixed too loud compared to the professional tracks? How about the panning, sounds and the overall level? These are just a handful of examples, but essentially you must figure out the differences and fix your tracks, so that they are equally as good. And if you're having trouble hearing the differences, ask someone who does know. This is very important work!

5) Understand the Format – Television/Film music has specific considerations due to how it’s used. For example, fade outs are usually frowned upon because music supervisors often like to cut to a strong ending before a scene change. Also, if your music is very busy or mixed too densely, it might not work well under dialogue. These are just 2 examples of many and I suggest really analyzing some music from your favorite shows or films (especially if you are going to be pitching to these people). If you really understand what music is being placed, you can provide something that music supervisors actually want to receive, which will increase your success rate enormously.

6) Do Your Research – OK, now I'm going to assume that you have some awesome sounding music and you're ready to start reaching out to music supervisors, music departments, etc. But before you buy one of those music industry directories, it’s super important to do your research! You must only pitch your music to shows or films that use your genre/style, or you will burn bridges that may be beyond repair. This is because you are wasting the time of the person accepting music (since they are on a deadline and have very specific needs) and they may hold a grudge…seriously this happens!  So, what do you do? Find shows and films with music like yours…easy, right?

7) Don't be Pushy – When you've finally found the perfect opportunity for your music and you get in touch with the person in charge, don't be too aggressive. Be polite and tell him or her that you are familiar with the show/film they are working on as well as the music that they usually place. Keep the email short, sweet and be respectful of their time. Remember, no matter how good your music is, it won't be right for every project so don't act entitled or pushy. You must approach these people with humility and respect or you won't last long in this business!

Facebook Can Ruin Your Music Career! (Sorry about the dramatic title)

Recently I became aware of an incident on Facebook involving a young NYC saxophonist who posted “F$%& Wayne Shorter” on his timeline (he spelled it out of course). This person was one of twelve semi-finalists for the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition (2014) and was a young talented up-and-coming cat in the New York jazz scene.
His post, “F$%& Wayne Shorter”, which he probably thought would only reach his friends, went completely viral and provoked over 500 hateful comments on his FB page in no time. Many of these remarks were from well-known and highly respected jazz musicians who were not on his FB friends list at all. Many people attacked him for being disrespectful, uneducated, racist and more. Others simply commented, “Say goodbye to your career”. Since the jazz scene in NYC is so close-knit, this is a hole that is almost impossible to crawl out of.

Now, my post has nothing to do with attacking or defending this saxophonist (hundreds of people have done that already). This post is simply to warn musicians about the power of “putting things out there” in social media. For the record, I’m a big Wayne Shorter fan though…

Disclaimer: this article is only relevant to people that want to make a living playing music. If you just want to make great music without the politics and pay, my words are most likely meaningless…ha. Also, this is just my humble opinion…so here it is…

The first thing musicians have to understand is the separation between the business and personal side of their lives. Many musicians cloud these two aspects because “music is art”. Now I won’t deny the art of music, but if you want to make a career out of it, you must treat it like a business. For instance, if you are a White House chef working for the Obama administration and you happen to be a republican, you probably shouldn’t talk about politics at work. Pretty obvious and not so difficult to accomplish, right? I mean, you probably have a really good paying gig cooking for the president and it would be pretty stupid to mess that up over something so silly. This doesn’t mean you’re weak and that you can’t speak your mind in other situations, it’s just not appropriate behavior at work.

As a full-time musician, you’re a freelancer which some musicians erroneously consider “not having a boss”. This is the wrong way to think about it in my opinion. I believe that as a full time musician and a freelancer, almost everyone is a potential boss. If you subscribe to this way of thinking, you’ll come to the realization that everything you “put out there” is a potential job interview. You want people to look forward to working with you. You don’t want to bombard them with annoying rants, conspiracy theories or controversial subject matter.

Here’s where Facebook and Twitter come into play. Due to the architecture of FB and Twitter, nothing you say is private anymore unless you specifically set it up that way. Twitter is very clearly an open line of communication with the world. People can follow you and therefore they can see all of what you have to say; pretty obvious right? Facebook on the other hand seems to be more private because of your friend list. After all, you can decide whether or not to accept a friendship request or not. The truth is that you don’t have to be friends with people for them to see your posts (unless you adjust the FB settings). If one of your friends comments on your post, then that person’s friends can also see the post. This can become incredibly viral which you can either use to your advantage or for your demise (as I spoke of in the beginning of this post).

I don’t want to get into the technical aspects of all of this because most of you know this stuff already. My point is simply to think about your professional image before posting something you may regret. Some people make separate privacy settings for their “business friends” so that only close friends can see their personal posts. This is certainly one way to go if you are motivated enough to set it up. The other way to do it is to think of Facebook as a promotional tool and a casual way to interact with friends…this is what I do. You don’t have to censor yourself in life, just on social media. You can still go out to see your friend’s show and talk about how the aliens are controlling us and how Bach is overrated (I am a Bach fan for the record).

Here are a couple more examples of how people have screwed up their careers with Facebook.

Example 1 – A musician went to a show and was disgruntled by the vibe of the band performing as well as their aesthetic. The band playing that night happened to be very respected and popular in the LA scene (with a lot of friends). The disgruntled musician posted on FB when he got home, “I just heard some of the most unmusical jamming in my life. All chops and no substance…horrible.” Now, if he had said this to his close friends, it would’ve been fine, but unfortunately it was out there on Facebook. The problem was that a few people knew that he was at the show (music communities are always smaller than you think) and within minutes the word spread. He has had problems working ever since because no one wants to be associated with a negative musician who’s calling people out.

Example 2 – A musician was posting on Facebook about how a recent national tragedy was a conspiracy. One of the bandleaders that employed him was related to a victim of the tragedy. The bandleader found these posts distasteful and offensive and stopped hiring the musician. End of story.

Now, I completely believe in freedom of speech so by all means say whatever you like on Facebook. But you must realize that potential employers also have the freedom to hire someone else. Again, all of this is simply my opinion and I wouldn’t want to pretend that I am the authority on professional networking. All I know is that I have a decent number of friends in real life as well as on Facebook and I don’t think any of them can say that they have a reason not to hire me (unless they don’t like my playing…ha). There are a lot of super talented musicians out there trying hard to get the gig. It’s never advisable to give people a reason not to hire you!

The Mental Game Of The Music Business (It’s all in your head)

The so-called “mental game” has become widely discussed in sports as many athletes have admitted to receiving help from sports psychologists, therapists, etc. Most professional athletes realize that at a certain level the playing field is so competitive that the difference between winning and losing is truly all in your head. This concept is well known to sports enthusiasts because they’ve seen the drama unfold before their very eyes. Whether an athlete cracks under the pressure of a big game or rises to the occasion when it’s all on the line, the mind is usually the defining factor in these situations.
Musicians are the same as athletes in this regard. Instead of pitching out of a bases loaded situation, we might have an important audition or performance. Instead of being tormented by a past mistake such as a game losing fumble, we might have been scarred by an abusive teacher, a bad performance, or a negative association with a song we can never seem to remember.

Now, I don’t want to sound like a self-help guru here, but I believe that the mental game might be the single most important aspect involved in being a professional musician. There is so much talent and competition in the music industry that a strong mind could be your best asset in separating you from the pack. Also, this mental fortitude can help you overcome other obstacles as well.  Many mentally tough musicians battle physical odds/handicaps and become successful despite their disadvantages. For example, the late, great jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt lost use of his third and fourth fingers (on his left hand) in a caravan fire. This probably would have caused many musicians to quit and find new professions, but Django vowed to relearn the guitar despite his new handicap. He eventually emerged as one of the best jazz guitarists who ever lived, which is a testament to his strong mind. I’m not denying his insane innate talent, but his mental fortitude and unwillingness to accept defeat was the reason why he was able to bounce back. Now you may or may not have a physical handicap like Django, but the music business will find ways to throw adversity at you at a rapid pace. If you don’t adopt this survivor-type attitude you will most likely fall by the wayside.

Note: I’m not a therapist but as a full-time professional musician for the last 20 years I’ve seen a ton of talented people who struggled with success due to their own minds. It’s a really difficult subject for me to explain, but I’ll try my best here. So, here we go…



Lost Confidence

Confidence is a very fragile thing for musicians and it can be rattled or destroyed by a number of factors. Once your confidence is low, it will obviously affect your performance, social interactions and more. You won’t sound as good or inspired, which will directly impact your work. Also, since the music industry is based heavily on relationships and appearance, you never want to come across as insecure. Here are a few things that could lead to low confidence.

1) Rejection – The first thing that can destroy a musician’s confidence is rejection. This is an unfortunate reality of the music industry and pretty much every musician has to deal with it. If you’re unable to effectively deal with rejection in the music business, you won’t be around that long. I did a separate blog post about overcoming rejection here, so I won’t waste time rehashing the info in this article.

2) Abusive Teachers – There are some music teachers and professors that are so strict, mean, scary or demeaning that they can seriously affect musicians’ confidence for years to come. I’ve seen more talented musicians lose confidence due to bad learning experiences than almost anything else. If you are told that you “suck” enough times, you may start to believe it and if you don’t believe in yourself, it’ll be hard to convince people otherwise.

3) College Experiences – Most people who attend music school (colleges, universities, etc.) were “big fish” in High School, therefore they usually enter into higher education with a lot of confidence. Unfortunately music schools are full of talented individuals and some people are not prepared to embrace this level of competition. When I was a student at Manhattan School of Music, I saw many musicians deal with this reality in different ways. Those who persevered came to grips with the environment and began trying to find their own niche and voice. Most of these “successful” students were not very concerned about the success or failure of the others…they were just focused on their own reality. Those who failed in adapting to their new roles in higher education seemed to either develop anxiety, depression or both. Note: When I refer to the “successful” students above, I’m simply talking about the success they had dealing with this competitive environment. I’m not claiming that they had any more career success than the people who had a tough time dealing with this competition. Many of the people who struggled with this in school ended up bouncing back and becoming more successful than these “college stars”. I’m simply illustrating these points to show you that higher education can sometimes cause low confidence that musicians will need to reverse in order to be successful.

4) Traumatic Musical Situations – Sometimes a bad gig or musical situation can actually result in a form of Post Traumatic Stress. I know that sounds extreme since the music business is far from an actual battlefield, but it happens all the time. Here are a few hypothetical situations that could produce lasting confidence issues and intense anxiety symptoms.

• Situation 1 – You’ve been attending a jam session (with talented players that you would like to network with) for about a year, but have never had the nerve to sit-in until tonight. You ask to play and the band calls a song that you’ve never performed. You struggle to make the chord changes and it’s a complete disaster. The entire band stops playing abruptly mid-song and the bandleader then asks you to get off stage. All the musicians on the bandstand give you the cold shoulder and you’re on the verge of a panic attack. The audience is aware that you messed up too because most of them are also musicians and it’s pretty obvious something went wrong. Since your career is all about your reputation, you’re humiliated, depressed and worried that the entire professional music community will think you suck. You pack up your instrument and try to get to the door without anyone seeing you.

• Situation 2 – You’re a songwriter and you’re opening for a bigger band. During your set, the audience gets bored with you and most of the crowd walks outside. The remaining audience members proceed to boo you offstage. They heckle you and make it clear that they only came to the venue to see the headliner. Humiliated and depressed, you pack up your stuff and leave.

• Situation 3 – You have been trying for a year to get a music production job with a well-known artist and you finally have your shot. The artist’s representation has decided to give you chance since you’ve been so persistent, so they send you a bare-bones song idea. Their instructions are simply, “just make it great and we’ll let you know.” You produce the track non-stop for 2 weeks and eagerly send in your final version (of which you’re super proud). After a quiet, nail-biting week, they finally get back to you and they absolutely hate it! There’s literally not one thing they like about your production and it took you nearly 100 hours to complete. You’re emotionally crushed because you love this artist and you fear that you blew your only shot. Also, your confidence is rattled because you thought the track sounded great before their horrible critique. Doubt creeps in, then depression…

So…

All of my examples above are obviously horrible, but they’re actually very realistic in this business. These situations represent some things you may have to deal with in the music industry and all of them can be turned into a positive. For example, in situation 1, after you go home with your tail between your legs, you must regroup and come back stronger. First, you should learn the song you screwed up and then you should beef up your entire repertoire so that a similar train wreck doesn’t happen in the future. You essentially have to chalk this up as an important musical experience and learn from it. Don’t look back and rehash these painful memories, just try to improve yourself and vow to return to that jam six months or a year later and “kill it”.  In the second example (situation 2), you have to accept and understand that not everyone is going to like your music and that’s OK. If you search for your favorite band or musician on YouTube, you’ll see that no matter how popular they are, there are always a fair amount of “dislikes” too. You can’t please everyone and you shouldn’t worry about it. One famous example that I cited in my article about famous musicians who overcame rejection pertains to a new artist named Jimi Hendrix being booed off the stage while he was opening for the Monkees in front of a large audience. The moral of this story is, sometimes you just have to trust your vision and move forward with blinders on. In the third example (situation 3), you simply have to take a deep breath and try again. If you are able to get a revision to this artist, great, if not, it’s not the end of the world. You have to understand that music is not a “get rich quick scheme”. It’s a long game so you must keep at it, pay your dues and keep improving. The bottom line is that every successful musician I know has a few traumatic stories they can tell you and they’ve all learned from these experiences and moved on. The truth is that these horrible situations are actually good for you in a weird way, because they teach you valuable lessons and make you more resilient for whatever happens next…



The Power of Confidence

Self-confidence is responsible for making good musicians great and lack of self-confidence can make great musicians mediocre. If you are confident in your abilities, you will most likely get further than those with comparable skills who doubt themselves. Also, if you believe in your musicianship and fear nothing, you can easily surpass those with more raw talent than yourself. Of course, you must put in the work and be great at your craft, but your mental approach will either “make you” or “break you” in the end.

This is easily illustrated in terms of the placebo effect. If you were given a sugar pill that claimed to “make your time better”, I bet that your time would improve (if you actually believed that the pill was legit). This is obviously not airtight because some people with bad time (who don’t work on improving it) would continue to have poor time. But many other people with chronic timekeeping problems are simply having a mental block, because they don’t have confidence in their “time”. Some of these people may have been told that they were dragging or rushing by a musician they respected or maybe, for whatever reason, they are simply obsessed with analyzing their time while performing. BTW, if you’re contemplating whether you’re rushing or dragging during a performance, that’s never a good sign. You should always be thinking of the bigger picture during a performance or preferably not thinking at all. Confidence is the key here and it will help much more than just your time. It will help you solo though difficult chord changes, adapt to musical situations quickly, compose music in different styles, whatever! Essentially, confidence will make every musical task easier, because your mind isn’t second-guessing your every move. This mental efficiency will allow you to effortlessly perform without the mental anarchy. If your mind is criticizing or analyzing everything you do, this lack of mental efficiency will manifest into musical problems, inspiration problems and more. Basically, your mental state will come out in your music for better or worse. Note: Being prepared is probably the best way to build your confidence. If you practice frequently, know all the tunes, etc. you should be naturally confident, which will lead to mental efficiency. After all, if you’re prepared, what do you have to worry about?



Anxiety and Depression

Many of these situations I’m talking about can cause anxiety and depression for musicians too. For instance, if you know that you have a gig coming up with a few of the musicians from “situation 1” (above), you might be freaking out a bit. I’ve actually seen musicians get physically ill due to situations like this because they weren’t able to deal with the stress. Also, the same event (situation 1) might cause a musician to spiral into depression and not want to perform for a while. These psychological scars can be long lasting. Again, you must find a way to be resilient and turn these things into a positive.



Anger and Resentment

Some musicians harbor anger or resentment towards other musicians and/or musical situations. This is good way to waste valuable energy, burn bridges and screw up your mind. When you are in a musical situation, you have to be solely focused on the task at hand. If you’re focusing 50% of your energy toward negative emotions, you’re only performing at half your ability. Also, the other musicians on the gig will probably notice this drama, which will make you less likely to get work because nobody wants “bad vibes” on the stage. You have to find a way to get this chip off your shoulder or it’ll bite you in the ass. Wait until after the gig to hate the drummer or be resentful of the money situation. If you can’t trust yourself to “be cool” with a certain person in a musical situation, it’s probably better not to take the gig until you resolve these emotions.



Emotional Resilience

Again, as I said in one of my past articles, you must learn how to handle rejection in this business because you’ll have to deal with it often. This doesn’t mean that you can’t be scared, anxious, humiliated or depressed. It just means that you must be able to cope with these emotions and come back stronger. For example, many famous musicians have battled with stage fright including Adele, Bob Dylan, Carly Simon, Cher, Rod Stewart, Fiona Apple, etc. Their fear was a natural reaction to putting themselves “out there” and I doubt many people would categorize these artists as weak. A good example of this concept in action can be seen in MMA (mixed martial arts) and boxing. Most fighters will admit to being nervous before a fight and some will even admit to throwing up occasionally in the dressing room due to nerves. The successful fighters are able to “flip a switch” when the bell is rung, which enables them to forget about everything except for the task at hand; essentially putting them in the zone! This is an important lesson to musicians – you have to drop all of the BS that’s on your mind, go out there and kick ass! Another thing that some MMA fighters and boxers have to deal with is coming back after being knocked out. Think about being knocked unconscious in front of hundreds of thousands of people, going back home to train and finally getting back in the ring/cage. The true champions are able to come back stronger after improving themselves and their game, while many other fighters are never quite the same and they end their careers on a low-note. Again, I’m not claiming that these “true champions” are impervious to fear and emotion. They’ve just dealt with this situation in a positive way and made it a learning experience. This is exactly what you have to do as a musician, although hopefully you won’t have to get physically knocked out first!



Summary

So remember, your music career is a rollercoaster and you have to go along with the ride. You’ll go up and down and there will be unexpected bumps in there…hopefully nobody sitting in front of you (on the rollercoaster) will puke on you. OK, maybe I went too far with the rollercoaster thing. Anyway, just be strong and consider your music career one big learning experience. Also, have confidence in your abilities, because this will transfer to your attitude and your music. People will be drawn to your vibe and doors will open. Like I said before, you must be great at what you do before you take this advice, but once you’re ready, believe in yourself!

Overcoming Rejection in the Music Business (and making it positive)

You have to have “thick skin” in the music business and you must be able to handle rejection. As a musician, you will typically be rejected between 50%-80% of the time. This applies to auditions, demo tracks, commercial music, record deals, licensing deals, composition, production and more. I know that this seems like a high percentage, but it’s what all professional musicians go through and your reaction will either kill you or make you stronger. You must be able to deal with these situations clinically and avoid the temptation to take them personal or act emotionally.
Here’s an example. Let’s say that you’re a carpenter in a town with 10 other carpenters. This is a situation where you must be competitive in order to make a living in your field. If you lose a bid to another carpenter, what do you do? The first thing you should try do is to figure out why you lost the bid. Where you too expensive? Was the other carpenter highly recommended or did they have more comprehensive marketing materials? Maybe they had a better web presence or more Yelp reviews. If you want to remain competitive in your field, you must analyze this situation, improve and move forward. All of these problems (that may have lost you the bid) are easily addressable. You can adjust your price, bolster your web presence, ask clients to review you on Yelp, boost your advertising, etc. Also, in the case that this other carpenter was simply recommended by a friend of the client, there’s not much you can do…so don’t sweat it. If you continually do a good job, people will be recommending you too.

So why do we take rejection so personally when we’re really just freelancers like the carpenter in my example above. It’s because we equate music with art and we consider ourselves artists. We’ve spent countless isolated hours practicing and music is incredibly personal to all of us. Now don’t get me wrong, I totally get it and I have to remind myself not to take things personally as well. But the fact is that being depressed, angry or defensive will only hurt your career. You must figure out how to disconnect your emotional responses and tackle these problems analytically. If you don’t land the audition, try to find out who did and why. Maybe he or she had more playing examples on Youtube or was already connected with the musical director. If the reasoning behind your rejection is that you aren’t familiar with the people in the band, make a point to meet more musicians in the future. That would be a productive! It’s also possible that he or she was just a better fit for the gig, but that happens in a competitive field like music so you must accept this and move on. There are more than enough gigs to go around and you can’t have them all. Perspective is a powerful thing and while you may be jealous of a “higher up” musician, there’s always someone looking up at you with the same feelings.

Anyway, the point of this article is that you must think of yourself like a business. This means analyzing your data, tweaking your approach, meeting current demands, strengthening your weaknesses and powering through! Good luck and try not to take it so personally…

How to communicate in the Music Business

Recently I overheard a 16-year-old girl say that she refused to talk on the phone and that email was “so 10 years ago”. When asked how she communicated, she replied, “with text and twitter”. This interaction spawned the idea for this blog post because it directly relates to the music business and the importance of communication.
With technology advancing daily, there are seemingly endless ways to remotely communicate with people in the music business (Twitter, Facebook, Email, Google +, Tumblr, Text, Phone, etc.). While new devices and trends make it easier to track somebody down, they create a whole new set of problems and rules you must follow.

Before I break down the pros and cons of these methods I’d like to say that it’s incredibly important to well versed in all modes of communication if you want to be successful in the music business. Remember that you are a freelancer and that you will be building new relationships with people of all ages, nationalities, technical proficiency and availability. Since technology and trends move so quickly, a 16-year-old, a 26-year-old, a 36-year-old and a 46-year-old may all have completely different preferences about how they want to “talk”. Since the music industry includes important and influential individuals of all ages, you must constantly adapt your style if you want to make a connection with these important people. Remember, at the end of the day you’ll be hired by those that are familiar with you, trust you and like you.

Now let’s break down some of these methods…

Face-to-Face: There’s no substitute for having a live conversation with someone in this business and that will never go out of style. You can get a feel for if a person is cool, uptight, flaky, arrogant, interested, sloppy drunk, etc. You can read a person’s body language, observe their personal interactions and more. You can also sell yourself to others by being friendly, intelligent, witty, professional, charismatic, etc. and set the stage for future correspondence. For instance, if you randomly start chatting up a music industry exec at a bar and he or she has a lot of friends surrounding them, you don’t want to corner them for an hour with your sales pitch. This will get you nowhere, because they’re most likely done working for the day and want to relax. Instead, you are probably better suited giving them a quick overview of your pitch, exchanging contact info and getting in touch later. After your brief talk, you could say something like, “I know you have a ton of friends here, so I don’t want to talk your ear off. Do you mind if I call or email you this week?” Anyway, I don’t want to get too deep into networking because I’ll save that for a future post.

Phone: I know, phones are so Alexander Graham Bell, right? If you don’t understand that reference, please look it up. Anyway, a phone conversation is the next best thing to a face-to-face meeting. If you talk to someone on the phone, you can get a sense of his or her personality, sense of humor and more. You can also have a true conversation, which means that you may bounce ideas off of them or respond to a specific thought or concern instantly. In order to have the same interaction via message, it would take 10,000 characters, a bout of carpal tunnel from excessive typing and way too much time. Not to mention that it’s impossible to truly show your personality in a message, plus nobody wants to read the entire novel you just wrote. For instance, if I ask someone to do a gig with me via message they can easily say no because they might not know all of the details. If I talk to them on the phone, I can ask them about their concerns directly and respond to each one. I can get a feel for what their stance is and possibly work something out. This is not usually possible via message.

Email: Email is still a very important tool in the music business and it’s universally acceptable. Many busy people list their email addresses as the sole way to get in touch with them because they only have time to talk to select people. They are able to respond at their own pace and sift out the spam. They may not like to be contacted through Facebook and/or Twitter for business reasons and prefer to keep social networking separate for their personal lives. Also, with email there is no character limit and you can encode html directly into the message itself making it look more desirable than other forms of electronic communication.

Text: Texting is obviously a great way to send people messages in 160 characters or less, but it’s really only appropriate if you already know the person you’re texting. If you text someone you don’t know, it could annoy the recipient and will probably be discarded. Also, the character limit makes writing and reading longer passages difficult. Another consideration is that most businesses and corporate offices still have landlines, which don’t accept texts, so don’t assume that you can text any number. Also, not everybody likes to view links and browse the web on their phones. Many business people like to keep the business stuff on their computers so they can categorize links, leads and more. Texting a link to your music or bio will most likely be discarded so email would probably be more appropriate for this. Lastly, people are guarded about their cell phone numbers and don’t like random people texting them.

Facebook: Facebook is a very good way to promote your career and stay in touch with friends. It also can be an effective way to get in touch with people if you cannot find their email address. Messaging in FB is obviously more effective if you have friends in common, but it has lost the credibility it once had in terms of legit connections. Since most people have “friends” that they have never actually talked to in person, the mutual friend list is not as highly regarded as it used to be. This is where LinkedIn excels, but that is for another blog post. The other problem with FB is that some people do not check their messages often, while others receive them instantly on their phones and tablets. You must know how actively a person checks their messages before trying to contact them. And again, some people really like to keep their business and personal lives separate, so trying to get in touch with them via FB messenger could be annoying to them.

Twitter: Twitter is a great way to broadcast to the world in 140 characters or less. You can also shout people out like @MMMClass (BTW please follow us on Twitter…LOL), in order to converse or tag them in a subject. The messaging in Twitter gets a pretty bad reputation though, because it’s mainly filled with spammers, etc. This leaves Twitter as a very casual way to alert people to your presence instead of actually having a detailed conversation. Twitter is a fantastic promotional tool and device for casual conversation, but it’s not a great way for an introduction or real correspondence. Also, many people arduously craft each tweet like a sonnet so you can’t really get to know someone when they are on their best and coolest behavior.

So: I’ve gone over the basics here and most of this stuff may be fairly obvious to you. Unfortunately, others struggle with these concepts daily. Here’s an example: I recently met a young musician at a music venue and after talking with him for 5 minutes he said he wanted to record a Masterclass Video for the site. He will remain nameless, but he’s a very talented young player in the scene. Anyway, I gave him my info and 2 months later he texted me and had to reintroduce himself (because it took so long for him to get in touch). Also, the text was obviously written quickly, spelled poorly and most likely composed while driving or something. Think of it from my perspective, this musician approached me and asked for an opportunity. I gave him my info and not only did it take 2 months for him to respond, but it was a flaky (I don’t have time to talk) kind of response. Since I was put off by the nature of the communication and needed to get a sense of his vibe, I asked him to call me anytime during the week to discuss the details. If I was going to film this musician (and fully produce and promote the video), I would need to talk to him on the phone and see if he was serious or a waste of time. This was the last I ever heard from him, which means I made the correct decision by requesting the call. I’m not sure if he couldn’t be bothered to pick up the phone (because he preferred texting) or if he simply flaked out and became too embarrassed to call after time had passed. It doesn’t really matter what the reasoning was, because he contacted me and that’s how I preferred to communicate with him. Now, this isn’t personal at all and I’d gladly hang out and grab a beer with this musician at a bar next time I see him, I just won’t work with him professionally. Again, this is bordering on a music networking and people skills post, but communication is an accurate portrayal of a person’s personality. If you don’t communicate effectively, it will hurt your career.

I hope this post was helpful and I definitely do not want to sound too “preachy”. I just believe that it’s important to understand how these things affect your public image, reputation and overall music career.

YOUNG HOLIDAY ANOTHER PHENOMENAL RISING LYRICAL LEXICON FROM 237 RAP SCENE

The year 2017 will go down in history as a period of transition for hip-hop culture. Although ageism in rap has become all but irrelevant, the shift towards a changing of the guard is imminent with the new influx of rap talent that has taken the Cameroon music industry by storm.The rapper's meteoric rise is evident by taking one glance at the track-list for his debut EP project, which features appearances from some of the hottest unknown to be known artists in vocals at the moment. Young holiday is capable of holding listener's attention on account of his colorful flair alone, as he does on "Worth Living and Resurrection,"

As the latest rapper with a propensity of dynamic and versatile lyrical word play and rocket lunching punchlines , an affinity for prescription  music drugs and an appetite for clarity and consciousness In spite of occasional undertones that can be pegged as nihilistic and upright  in nature, hip-hop has always had an open conversation when it comes to religion and been tolerant of all forms of faith.Wasting no time getting into the thick of things, HOLIWEEK EP touches on his experiences and lessons learned over the past few years, as well as issues plaguing his community and the world at large on the introductory .



Young Holiday continues to reach new heights and break new ground, with Hail The King  and Crucifixion  Together serving as another stepping stone towards rap immortality. Last Super is devoid of the transcendent material that time stamps an era in a cultural scope, The EP it's value as a strong collection of songs that whets the appetites of those hungry for food for thought is not to be questioned.bUT to be welcome and embrace by global hip hop heads