From the monthly archives:

March 2010

Give Away The Secret

by stinson on March 31, 2010

Here’s another one I lifted from my other blog, Producer Notes, my scribblings on record making and how that relates to my general enthusiasm for creativity. I’ve published a few posts there which I think also fit this context of what we talk about on this blog, so I’m lifting them and re-posting them here. I’ll continue to point out when I do this.

They’re not going to steal your idea. Because it’s impossible to steal mastery of a trade.

You can’t out out “George Martin” George Martin. Or out “Prince” Prince

YOU are the magic puzzle piece that makes it all work. Don’t worry about giving away the secret to the sauce. No one can make it all work like you, because you are the magician. You are the integral piece that connects all the dots.

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So you look at all these bands who have had hit songs through the decades. And how often do you come across a band from years ago that you really didn’t know about? Not only that, but come to find out that this band had a significant hit that you also didn’t really know about?

So how does that happen? How can a band have a hit, but you never knew about it? And if that’s the case, who exactly determines that this unfamiliar music is a hit?

Take the artist Aretha Franklin for example. Certainly she had some huge hits (Respect, anyone?). But Aretha Franklin’s music may not be your thing.

Or maybe it’s Nirvana that you don’t like, but they certainly had hits too.

Then there are bands which are a little more obscure, like Catherine Wheel or The Chameleons. They had huge hits (Black Metallic and Second Skin respectively), and a huge following.

So if either A) you knew about a particular artist all along, but didn’t care to pay attention, or B) it slipped through the cracks and you simply never knew about it before, then just how did it become a hit, and who determined that it was a hit?

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When Will You Get There?

by stinson on March 29, 2010

What’s the destination, how will you get there, and how long till you reach that end?

That’s all up to you…

Is it once you have some kind of record deal?

Or once you have no record deal, but a great backing from Microsoft or Google instead?

Or once you get a manager? Or a Publicist? Or a Booking agent?

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Chatroulette: They figured it out

by stinson on March 24, 2010

A few months ago I was poking around on Twitter. As I was checking out who the people I follow were otherwise connected to, I came across someone who had shared a link to Chatroulette (I’m not going to link there, due to all the naked weirdos).

The next couple days was a weird experience for me. I got sucked into a slight misuse of time, as I experimented with the service, contemplating whether or not it had any usefulness in the realm of promoting music-or if it was simply some time-wasting addiction for perverts (again, it’s disturbing the amount of strange naked men on this site) and underage teens, who’s parents need to restrict their internet access (parents-do you know what your kids are doing right now?) After a few days, I concluded that Chatroulette really had no use for music promotion.

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Mother/Father Video On Spinner Today

March 23, 2010

Last week we mentioned that Mother/Father will have a new video featured as the “Video of the Day” on Spinner. Well, today’s the day. The video will be going up at 6pm eastern time here: http://www.spinner.com/category/video-of-the-day/ Also, in celebration Mother/Father is offering a download of the song Order to anyone signed up to their email [...]

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Mother/Father Video at Spinner on 3/23

March 16, 2010

Last week we made the announcement via our newsletter that the music video for the Mother/Father song Order will be featured as the video of the day at Spinner on 3/23 This being the first music video ever from Mother/Father, we’re all pretty excited about it. We’re looking forward to showing it to you, so [...]

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Mother/Father Headed Northeast

March 13, 2010

Mother/Father hit the road this morning, making their way up to New York City to kick off their 2010 spring tour of the northeast. The band will spend most of March playing shows throughout this part of the country, starting with two shows in NYC-both at The Mercury Lounge: Tue 3/16 at The Mercury Lounge [...]

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Be like Chuck Norris

March 8, 2010

What controls you? Do you wake up each morning with a burning desire to get things done, with a thirst for progress, with goals? Do you immediately act on them? Does your passion guide you? Do you hold the keys to your success, and your destiny? Or are you a victim?

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