Hey everyone, a new episode of our new tracks podcast is online at iTunes! Subscribe on iTunes
This Episode features music by Dan Foster, William Peklinsky, Alexander Makeev, Robert Johnson, Chris Nickel, Gordon Mcginnis, Stephen Baird, and Robert Critchley:
Opposites (PT161060)
Strange Craft (PT161040)
Secret Transmitter (PT161039)
North Light (PT161029)
Rumble Thump (PT160956)
Bluelight Variations (PT160943)
Funny Style (PT160939)
Tremolo Tide (PT160938)
Drive Test (PT161069)
A new episode of our New Tracks Podcast is online now at iTunes and YouTube. Check it out, and preview new music on your own schedule! Subscribe on iTunes here.
This weeks episode features the following tracks:
160072 Afternoon by Scott Taft, Jr.
160071 Shanghai Sunset by Jim Rieder
160070 In A Silvery Afternoon by Diapason
160062 Clev 2 by Gordon McGinnis
160068 Tears of Joy by Dan Foster
160029 Still Time by Scott Taft, Jr.
159987 Lambs of Silence by Garry Cribb
159121 Deadly Graveyard Soundtrack by Bobby Cole
159904 Freewheelin by Jeanette Clement
159546 Dark Side by Dan Foster
Social media has become the standard for promoting your music online. According to Alex Pham of the LA Times, “musicians who don’t take advantage of social networking tools will soon perish in the La Brea tar pits of old-school media.”
According to Pham, and a panel of social media rock-star experts, the five following tips can help you maximize your usage of social networks, and take your next album from bronze to platinum.
1. Be real. “It can’t just be about commerce. People want to connect with you and get to know you. They don’t want to connect with you if you’re just telling them to go buy your record. They don’t want you to be perfect, either. They want you to be real.” — Evan Greene, chief marketing officer, the Recording Academy
2. Pick a couple of services you like and focus on them. “There are so many services out there that trying to do everything and be everywhere is impossible. Play around with them. It’s okay to mess up. And don’t have a PR person handle your tweets. It should be all about having a real conversation with your fans.” — Kevin Rose, founder, Digg
3. Have something unique. “There’s so much already out there, and people have so little time that having something unique about yourself and your music can give you a competitive advantage. Figure out what’s unique about you and ask: What is the distilled message? It has to be something so remarkable that other people will have to share it.” — Pete Cashmore, founder, Mashable
4. Share things that you are most excited about. “Share things you find, love, hate and create. Share the things you’ve made, even if it’s not finished yet. That’s what makes it engaging.” — David Karp, founder, Tumblr
5. Embrace anarchy. “We had an event called the summit. A thousand people would participate and become part of the recording process. I got a Twitter message from someone in Iran who was frustrated they couldn’t come. We came up with a program that allowed them to sit at home and participate. It’s a world of chaos at times. But there are lessons. It’s a fertile ground for creativity.” — Jared Leto, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter for the band 30 Seconds to Mars
Do you do these already? What else do you do to stay in touch with your fans and your customers?
I recently found this “white paper” from Filmmusic.net while perusing the filmandgamecomposers.com forums:
http://www.filmmusic.net/dlx/Getting_Your_Music_Into_Film_TV_in_Economy_Today.pdf
Mainly, it explains that, in today’s economy, the value of custom work is being diminished daily by over-saturation of talent and declining budgets and spending. The key to success in the creative field of composing relies heavily on a little financial savvy and a whole lot of networking.
While it’s an excellent practical guide for career survival in today’s marketplace, I have to disagree with their notion that music libraries are partially to blame for the devaluation of custom scoring work. Custom work and library music serve two distinct market segments that have traditionally been separated by budget and deadlines/production process. Low budget films, student projects, fly-by-night radio ads, low budget and local tv commercials, all call for quick, low-cost solutions that simply cannot be met by a composer who specializes in custom work. Extend that to personal slide shows, corporate office presentations and the like. The meetings, spotting, and time commitment, not to mention creative mind-power required for custom scores are simply not worth the allotted budget for these types of projects. Hence the need for low-cost library music. On the other hand, scoring a feature film, or a national commercial campaign, or a mass-market video game release all call for a huge time commitment and a high level of expertise.
The mentality that composers should avoid the music library business is ridiculous, especially if one wants to survive in today’s business climate. Creatives should embrace the opportunity to diversify their business, and expand into new creative markets. If devaluation is a concern, Productiontrax.com gives all of our contributors full price control.
It is true that there are a ton of composers and songwriters today, and it seems as though everyone with a Mac is a musician. But media buyers, music supervisors, and film directors are not stupid — they have ears for musical quality as well, and for both library music and custom scoring jobs alike, there is always room at the top for the uniquely qualified and super talented.
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