The time you spend in front of the television could probably be used doing more important things, but why not simply do other things while you watch television?  I’m a big believer in killing two birds with one stone where I can.  Some of the things I find very convenient to get out of the way while filling my brain with senseless movie mania are as follows:

1.   Flaussing (makes my dentist happy)

2.   Catching up on email

3.   Exercising

4.   Cooking

5.   Balancing my checkbook

6.   Tapping my foot in time with a steady beat

7.   Repetitive guitar exercises

If you think about it, there are probably a whole list of tedius things you can get out of the way while you are watching television, which really don’t require a whole lot of concentration.  One reason I like to spend time practicing guitar in front of the television is because my mind is not locked into play mode.  I can really slow things down and work on those finger exercises that would otherwise be absolutely boring to do, if there wasn’t something else going on in the background to occupy my mind.  The pay off is that I get in a good half an hour to hour’s worth of quality practice, which helps out to improve my playing tremendously.  Plus, by distracting my mind from the guitar while I learn to play many of these patterns, I’ve noticed that it becomes far more natural when I go to execute the exercise in a real situation.

If it weren’t for practicing while watching television, I probably never would have put in the time to learn how to pick tap entire scales.  It was one of those two handed exercises that I really wasn’t all that great at starting out.  But, over the course of a month or so, working diligently in front of the television, it just began to feel more and more natural.  Today, I can pick tap my way through scales and runs that are just mind blowing.  And what is great is that you can do things like that too.  So, instead of wasting your time just sitting in front of the television, start using that time to make subtle improvements to your abilities as a musician while you are watching your favorite show.  You won’t believe how time well spent adds up to huge rewards in just a few short weeks.

By Corey Bray

Your band might have a creative sound and a lot of talent, but if you don’t have a solid marketing strategy, you aren’t likely going to be getting outside of your mother’s garage anytime soon. The first step to developing a sound marketing strategy is to do a little basic market research. Although it is helpful to have a manager and a team of promoters to help market your band for you, chances are you will probably have to learn to do a lot of this leg work for yourself until you can afford a team of professionals to take over the bulk of this part of the music business for your band. In the meantime, understanding your local music industry is an important step towards a more successful music career for the members of your band.
Mastering your local music industry starts with evaluating who your band is and what venues you should be playing in. So, getting your hands on a basic list of venues in your area that host live talent is a good starting point. Often there is a local area publication for most cities that makes this information publicly available. From here, you need to isolate the particular venues in your area that hire bands for gigs that play your type of music. Once you have narrowed the choices down to a list of appropriate venues, then you will want to start visiting these venues and take some notes on what it takes to get your band hired. You will also want to take notes on what goes on in each venue. Who is the owner, who works behind the counter, who are the regulars, is it a rough joint, and which nights are scheduled for live shows etc., etc., etc.. It’s helpful to keep a computer profile on each establishment you would like to play in for your personal reference. Remember, you are not just an entertainer, but you are also a business person and a representative of the venues that hire you. And if you want venues to hire your band again and again, it is a good idea to learn to interact professionally and competently with both the staff and the patrons. So, you might have a computerized listing that looks something like this.

Name:
Joe’s Night Club

Location:
3974 Spikeheart Lane
Atlanta GA, 34091

Phone:
770-335-CLUB

Owner:
Joe Prescott” JP@Joe’sclub.com

Staff:
Jack Taylor: Door man
Jimmy Joseph: Bouncer
Jeff Daily: Bar Tender

Regular Patrons:
Andrew Mills: Amills@aka.net
Kate Lemon: Katelem@riverside.com

Comments:
Joe does not advertise gigs and expects bands to do their own advertising.
He seems to be more pleasant if you return his calls promptly.
He mentioned that our pres kit didn’t look very professional (We will want to check into that).
Live bands play every Tuesday and Saturday nights.

Jack says that Joe doesn’t always pay bands what he promises.

Andrew likes it when we play Satriani covers (Remember to throw in a couple next time).

Kate is a big Rush fan (We don’t know any Rush tunes, but maybe we should learn one and add it to our third set).

As you learn more about a venue and the people who frequent it, it is useful to update your information about that establishment. Of course, you will learn through trial and error how much information you really need to keep on hand about a venue, but the more you know the easier it is to avoid problems and insure that things go smoothly when you perform. It also helps when you make the necessary improvements to your band, which both improves your professional image and often works to impress the guy responsible for hiring local talent at the venue. It’s little things like this that other bands fail to do that will give you the competitive edge. Knowing that Andrew likes Satriani covers, for example, helps you to immediately improve your image among your fans, if you give them what they want. Remember, people like Andrew and Kate are paying to see you play, so in part keeping them happy can go a long way towards improving your overall job security, if Joe sees that you keep his regulars satisfied and returning from week to week.

Beyond the bars and parties, there are also key music industry professionals who are involved in other aspects of the music industry in your area. Sound engineers, producers, radio announcers, and the like. You should make it a point to keep tabs on these individuals as well in your informational data base. You never know when you will need the services of a competent sound engineer, or when going out of your way to greet a radio announcer will have that announcer talking positively about you on their show the next time they are on the air. Building solid contacts and getting free advertising like that is all part of what is involved in mastering your local music industry.
Another way to get in touch with your local music industry is to become a supporting member of online music sites like roadierage.com. By creating an artist profile on the Roadie Rage website and getting your band listed in the Ragelist directory, you make it easier for fans and other music industry professionals in your area to find out about your band. If you actively blog about your music on your blog site, you can also get your blog listed in the Roadie Rage directory in the blog section as well. This also helps local people in your area to keep in touch with what is going on with your band. The best part is that it is free marketing for your band and your music. So, make sure to take advantage of these free marketing resources.

Aside from making money through playing gigs, you have to be a good salesman to make money in the music industry.  If people aren’t buying your CDs, t-shirts, and other products, you are missing out on a small fortune.  You really don’t need a degree in rocket science to become a great salesman.  You just have to understand the basic psychology behind helping your fans remove the money from their wallet and invest it in your music career by placing that money in your hand.  What is funny is that musicians lose out on so much of that money, simply because they lack the necessary skills to close the deal.  But, all it takes is one good salesman to turn a track record of poor returns into a lucrative operation where the band is making money hand over fist.

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We all have moments when our creativity just doesn’t seem to want to come out and play.  Maybe your singer is having writer’s block.  Or, perhaps your guitarist is finally starting to realize that there are only so many ways to rearrange the chords C, G, and D before they realize that all their songs sound too much alike.  Whatever the problem is that sufficates your creative genius, it can potentially effect your bands ability to make progress overall.  So, what does a musician do when they find themselves in a slump?

For some, the road to new creative discoveries is long and frustrating. I remember after playing guitar for many years that I hit a rut that kept me grounded for two years.  I would play and play but nothing really new and exciting seemed to jump out and grab my attention.  To make matters worse, I began to get board with practicing the same stuff over and over again.  In all honesty, I became so board i put my guitar in its case and ignored it for nearly a year.  Sometimes a person will put an instrument down and never pick it up again.  Fortunately, I got to a point where I started missing the feel of my strat.  So, one day I pulled it out of the closet, plugged it in, and cranked the amp.  I noticed that it didn’t feel quite so stale to run the neck like it used to.

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Whether you are already playing in a band or just getting yourself prepared to join a band, it is important to spend time alone with your instrument.  Often bands practice songs to iron out rough spots and nail down how they will execute songs by arranging them in sets.  It’s a time when you can make sure that all the members of your band are on the same page and doing what needs to be done to prepare for your next gig. Unfortunately, band practice sessions sometimes don’t leave much room for an artist to work on their own personal growth as a musician. Without some much needed personal practice, you will find that playing the same stuff over and over again just makes the whole experience of being a musician start to feel a little stale and redundant.

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A healthy band atmosphere does more to help a band become successful than the average musician may initially realize.  Sure, people are going to bicker and fight.  A certain level of conflict in any relationship is to be expected.  It is all part of the growing process.  However, at some point, if the members of your band do not recognize that the band should come before self, the end result is not likely one of fame and success.  In this article, I am going to list a few important red flags to watch out for and how to deal with them before they erupt into huge problems.

Creative Megalomania

Is the person who assigned themselves the leader over the band a complete megalomaniac and control freak?  If so, it is usually a waste of time trying to remedy this problem.  You have to ask yourself an important question in situations like this.  Do you want to spend more time working on perfecting your creative potential or playing therapist to other band members being abused by an idiot who doesn’t respect anyone’s ideas but his/her own?  Or, if you are being a control freak, is it really your goal to destroy your band in an attempt to wield power over others?

There is nothing professional or healthy about a band being bossed around by a control freak.  It is generally a good policy to make for the door as soon as you realize that you are in this type of situation. Most bands like this are doomed to failure before they even play their first gig.  So, before you decide to join a new band, it is a good idea to spend some time asking the members how they like being a part of the band in question.  If you find that the members consistantly complain that one of the other band members just takes over and causes lots of problems, you may be inheriting a lot of unwanted issues to deal with. So, make sure you get to know the people and personalities in a band before you agree to be a part of a group that spends more time insuring its failure rather than insuring its success. 

Practice before You Party

We all like to have fun, but an unfortunate problem in the music industry is that some people party to the point that it ruins not only their career but the careers of everyone else in the band.  When another members addictions prevents them from showing up to practice or gigs, it only makes them a liability to everyone else involved.  It’s far more beneficial for everyone in your band if you all agree that practice comes first.  I much prefer to work with people who do not have substance abuse problems than with people who do.  You never know who is going to get you entangled into their problems and people who are involved in over indulgence usually bring the worse kind of problems around.  And more often than not, they are willing to get you entrenched in their problems and not help you out after the damage is done.  So, the question is do you want a music career or do you want to be sucked into someone elses problems and addictions?  If you want a music career, then make sure practice comes first and that everyone in your band is clear about that.  And the minute someone decides that their addictions come first, get rid of them because they are really saying that the band doesn’t matter.  Rather, all that matters is their own selfish desire to indulge at the bands expense.

Be Professional

Immaturity may get you somewhere with the drunken fans that hang around the club where you gig.  But, when it comes to building relationships with other music industry professionals, make sure that they don’t walk away thinking your band is a bunch of immature morons.  I’ve listened to a lot of interviews by bands who are unsigned and struggling to make it, and it is no wonder why they are struggling.  In a lot of cases it is because they never took a good look at themselves in the mirror or listened to themselves talk.  It’s a good idea to have a friend with a video camera sit your band down in a nice setting and help you to develop some interviewing skills.  A little polish on the brass doesn’t hurt to prepare you for the real inspection.  This way, when you do speak to someone who has some clout in the music industry, you might actually impress them enough to want to take a risk on helping your band get the funds it needs to get your music career off the ground. 

It is important to be sure to watch your own home interview videos and to take some notes on where you could personally work on making some improvements.  If you have difficulty with public speaking in general, you can always look into groups like Toastmasters to help you develop the skill of speaking well in front of other people.  It’s a good skill to have even if your music career doesn’t pan out as you had hoped. Also, pay attention to your body language.  Don’t have a retarded look on your face and try to look somewhat interested even if you aren’t. Fans tend to relate better to musicians who show that they are having some degree of fun.

Know your Band’s Financial Status

It’s always a good idea for the members of a band to set up a regular meeting to go over the books.  Whoever is keeping your finances in order should be able to provide every member of the band with a statement of how the band’s money is being spent.  You don’t want to find out months down the road that your hard earned money walked right out from under your nose and went into someone else’s pocket when it should have been going into your pocket.  You also want to be clear about the financial terms.  If a certain portion of your earnings is supposed to go to the band fund to insure that you can replace equipment that breaks or to work on your tour bus, then you want to be fully aware that that is where the money is actually going.  Nothing gets a potentially successful band into more trouble than when the members ignore their duty of staying on top of the finances.  This is one of those areas that will cause more bickering and fighting among band members than you want to believe.  Mismanaged money can destroy a band from the inside out so fast it will make your head spin.

Goals and Deadlines 

It is always a good idea to write out a list of goals and state some expected deadlines to help insure that more of your time is spent working towards real progress than wasting time.  When all the band members are on the same page and know what is expected of them, it helps to keep your band operating like a well-oiled machine.  It’s also good for morale when the members of a band see that everyone is doing their part and that the band is actually meeting its goals from the standpoint of working together as a team.  Again, this sort of formal structure and team work just adds to the overall professional look of a band.

Dealing with Criticism

You could be the best musicians on the planet and still there will be critics and disgruntled fans who will simply bad mouth you every step of the way.  The more you let criticism get between you and your success as a musician, the worse it will be for everyone in your band.  It is often a good idea to sit down with your band and make sure that any negative press will be met with a positive attitude.  The more maturely you handle negative press and critical fans, the easier it will be to put such criticism behind you and move on to what is important.

Dealing with Hardship

It never fails.  No matter how prepared you think you are, something is going to pop up that puts a strain on the relationships in your band. It could be the death of a fellow band member, a tragic accident that severs three fingers off your guitarist’s fretting hand two hours before you open for Ozzie, or your wall of amps might take a tumble causing thousands of dollars in damage.  It’s not a matter of if it will happen but more a matter of when it will happen.  So, you should start to mentally prepare yourself for these sorts of problems early on and be ready for when they strike.  Who knew that your pyrotecnics team would burn down the venue you were playing at killing three people in the process and injuring many others?  It’s publicity like this that can ruin a band even at the height of its career.  But, if you handle things professionally and as mentally stable as you can, it makes your chances of working through hardship like this much better than if you panic.

In closing, it is up to you to make a list of problems to watch out for for yourself.  These are just some of the more obvious problems that can happen.  And it would be nice if I could provide you with an exhaustive list of all possibilities, but unfortunately there are too many to mention here.  But, if you take the time to get together with other members in your band and do the necessary brain storming to cover your bases, you can do a lot to insure that your band will exude a healthy atmosphere for all its members and for your fans as well.