Artists are mostly brooders; we are, let’s face it. We worry too much. We are constantly tripping about where we should be and therefore look down on ourselves about where our careers currently are and as a result, we get depressed, crotchety, upset, and some of us get downright mean.
I got news for you, this mental process is breaking the 10th commandment; THOU SHALT NOT COVET. This isn’t a religion thing; it’s a great piece of 2000 year old advice. Somebody already articulated the damage and ruin that Coveting creates ages ago!
Coveting is a killer of artists, creativity, and careers; oh, and a completely nonproductive exercise. Yeah, yeah, I know, most of us can’t help ourselves; it’s what makes us artists! However, mastering the art of avoiding nonproductive thinking and behavior is what makes us successful in whatever endeavors we choose to pursue.
· It’s what makes us mature.
· It’s what makes us true professionals
· It’s what puts food on our table
· It’s what makes us ready!
Here are five methods to avoid coveting and focus on what is truly important to our success.
1. Don’t Look In The Rear View Mirror: David Lee Roth summed it up best by saying “If you keep on looking in the rear view mirror, man, you will drive off the road and keep on going.” We can grasp a simple calming perspective by internalizing the fact that our past is EXACTLY that; the past. There is literally NOTHING you can do about the past, so spending 1 second of energy on it is an EPIC fail and a colossal waste of time. The past is what got us here; our successes and failures are part of who we are so we have to embrace them. I mean, WTF else can you do with them that will help your future? When I was a pro artist and depressed, my manager, Barbara Strauss, used to make me sit down and think about how far I have come and everything I accomplished to get where I was. I highly recommend this mental exercise as it always helped me kick the blues.
2. Focus on What You HAVE Instead of What You Don’t Have: I promise the answers to all our future career questions and successes lies within the blessings we currently have, NOT in what we don’t have. Think about that for a second, it logically HAS TO; every artist that we know did not break and become the icons we love by getting something they didn’t have. Simple math really. Any thoughts we entertain about what we don’t have is a cop out and quite damaging as it only sets up excuses to quit; negative thinking will never help us succeed, so STOP IT.
3. You Can Only Control RIGHT NOW: The past is the past, the future is the future the ONLY thing you ever have control over in your life is RIGHT NOW. So worrying about the past is a waste of time. Worrying about the future a fruitless search. We have to take action and work TODAY…RIGHT NOW!! Think about that, it’s the ONLY way we can possibly succeed and realize our dreams. Huge selling artists like Motley Crue, Brantley Gilbert, Florida Georgia Line, Ratt, and the Zac Brown Band thought this way. They all had success and record sales LONG before they had record deals, y’all. They went to the negotiating table with the majors that ultimately signed them with a ton of leverage. How could they have achieved all the record sales and success they did BEFORE they got signed if they were sitting around saying, “if we just had a record deal so we could get paid, then we could be stars.” They didn’t wait for anything.
Rest of article is at Music clout
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Juochi / Blog
What Do You Do Inside? Psalm 139:7-12
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sear, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
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5 Important Things Record Labels Look For
Everyone today wants to be on a label, but are they actually prepared? Let's take a look at what today's artists are missing, dimishing chances for success. lookforWhen it comes to seeking a label deal, there are some important bases I'd say about 80% of artists are lacking, so I'll go over the top 5 aspects labels are looking for from you that you most likely don't have or think you've got.
Now don't get offended by that...If you can't handle some honesty or critique in general, you're going to have a rough time reaching the top.
I won't even be mentioning music here, that should be a given! If your music rocks then you've got one part of the puzzle complete, just remember to quit copycatting other artists and be UNIQUE, though familiarity is a GOOD thing. Rap/hip-hop artists, quit using samples, especially if they aren't cleared.
Truth be told: Uncleared sampling is what's causing you not to earn money with your music. Stick to original exclusives and no leases. Will it cost more? Definitely. Will you benefit from it? Massively.
Now that that's off my chest, let's run down these 5 things record labels are looking for.
1. Branding/Marketing- Who are you to the world? Branding establishes a a direct connection with the world. Not everyone uses their real name, everyone mostly has some sort of moniker they go by, this is a simple way to think about branding. What's also included in branding is your image...Your haircut, clothes you wear, what you represent basically.
If you have neither of these why is a label going to be interested either? Proper marketing plan is important as well since it's direct communication with your audience. Social media should definitely be included in your marketing plans. Feel free to contact me to schedule times for my music marketing classes, they'll do much for you.
A Guest Post by Astral Plane Studios Read More at https://musicclout.com
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When Nothing Seems To Be Working
Isaiah 43:18-20: Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a g new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls; because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
The scripture says, that God will make what is impossible to become possible, "I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert". God said in that place also that the animals and beasts in the desert will appreciate it too; and that all these will happen because He will visit His own people. "The beast of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls; because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen". Child of God, when things do not seem to be working, remember that God has promised to make things work for you; and they must surely work for you in Jesus name. Amen!
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The Gain In His Death: Galatians: 3:13-14
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
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The Trend-Interesting Article
Guest Blog Post by: Jake Sharp
I’ve often been surprised at how conservative musicians can be. Not conservative in any political sense but in the resistant-to-change sense. One place where this is abundantly clear is in the digital recording domain. There is a hard line that separates the older recording musicians who could learn from the digital whiz kids and the younger ones who could really use the experience and wisdom of the older generation. Unfortunately, these voices seem to never be in the same room together.
This split is very apparent when the subject turns to “The Trend”. That is the ongoing trend that continues to lead away from commercial studios and toward home recording. It’s telling that this trend is almost 15 years old by now and no significant advances have been made toward fixing it. As a result commercial studios have closed and continue to do so. Obviously, there is work to be done on both sides of this issue.
The older generation of producers, mixers, engineers etc. have a very antagonistic view of this trend and rightly so as they have paid a very real price in hours billed. Many of the younger studio pros got their start using home recording software and, as a result, have a more relaxed attitude toward its use. It’s not always easy to see common ground between these two factions but it is there.
I recently gave a presentation on this subject and found myself host to quite a few different opinions after the event. It was a diverse crowd in terms of age and musical style and the content was well received in general. However, the age split was there to be seen and there were a few who had technical questions and concerns and a few who said my project shouldn’t exist at all! I wasn’t surprised at all to find a few long time studio pros who were upset at the notion that they should play nice with “those people”. The subject of the presentation was my Indiegogo project called Profound Studio and its goal is to bring home recorders together with the people they need to make better recordings…pros.
The typical home recording enthusiast will struggle for years to make sense out of the complex and powerful software that is available to them. Many of them are also working hard to learn to play an instrument and all this stress can be really detrimental to music making. In this process they’ve suffered more and wasted more time than is necessary and could have benefitted greatly from access to the knowledge and skill of pros.
The funny part of all this is that the solution is right there contained in the problem and I’ve come up with a little “formula” for explaining this problem:
The Knowledge still rests with the pro.
The Need for Knowledge still rests with the client.
The more people turn to home studios, the greater this “Knowledge Gap” becomes and the more pros are needed to fill the gap.
I’ve created Profound Studio to give home recorders a place to work with pros in a friendly environment without resentment over
“The Trend”.
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What does singing mean to you? By Per Bristow
We have a great conversation going on. Come and join it. I asked this question once before and got more than a thousand amazing insights, because it's a really important question. Let's see what happens this time.
== What does singing mean to you? s also a reason why all these talent competitions are flooding our TV channels and why they are so popular both to watch and participate in.
And there is a reason why there are so many choirs, groups and bands that come together and sing and make music.
So what does singing mean to you? Please share.
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ARE YOU OVERLOOKING THIS STRATEGY TO BECOMING A BETTER MUSICIAN
Coming together with your friends and starting a band might be the start of something great. Writing music and rehearsing is definitely a lot of fun but to make it in the long run you’ll need something more than just music skills. Marketing skills Even if you’re groaning right now, hear me out. Marketing your band is one of the most important things you can do to get more gigs and reach more fans. And at the heart of marketing there’s one thing your band desperately needs. Branding Tell me, if you were to describe your band’s brand right now, what would you say? Something generic like “pop rock band” or “electronic musician” ? What does that even mean? If you had somebody tell you they were in a pop rock band, would you really know what they sounded like? Absolutely not. It’s like walking into a bar with 25 different beers on draft and asking for a beer. The bartender will just look at you funny and ask all annoyed, “what kind?” So when somebody tells me they play “pop rock” I’m not really anywhere closer to knowing what kind of music they play. The trick is in the branding. Which do you think works better: A) “I’m in a pop rock band” or B) “I’m in a pop rock group that’s like a modern version of Fleetwood Mac with a female lead vocalist and a combination of acoustic and electric guitars” To me that’s a no-brainer. If you were talking to a band that you wanted to open for, or a concert promoter that was looking for a band like yours, I’m betting the second description will give them a much better idea of what you sound like. Branding yourself and being descriptive about your music is just the first step towards marketing yourself as a musician. Describing yourself is the initial way you market and brand yourself to potential fans and concert venues. The next part is finding your niche as a band and playing into what makes your band special. In the next lesson of the Becoming a Better Band series we’ll talk about what your product really is. You might think it’s just “your music” but it’s not. It’s a little more complex than that, but when you realize what your product really is, you can start marketing your music more effectively.
A Guest Post by Crowd Audio
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When Nothing Seems To Be Working- Isa 43:18-20
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old, Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, The beast of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls; because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink so my people, my chosen.
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5 Strategies That Guarantee Success-by Johnny Dwinell of Daredevil Production
Artists are mostly brooders; we are, let’s face it. We worry too much. We are constantly tripping about where we should be and therefore look down on ourselves about where our careers currently are and as a result, we get depressed, crotchety, upset, and some of us get downright mean.
I got news for you, this mental process is breaking the 10th commandment; THOU SHALT NOT COVET. This isn’t a religion thing; it’s a great piece of 2000 year old advice. Somebody already articulated the damage and ruin that Coveting creates ages ago!
Coveting is a killer of artists, creativity, and careers; oh, and a completely nonproductive exercise. Yeah, yeah, I know, most of us can’t help ourselves; it’s what makes us artists! However, mastering the art of avoiding nonproductive thinking and behavior is what makes us successful in whatever endeavors we choose to pursue.
· It’s what makes us mature. · It’s what makes us true professionals · It’s what puts food on our table · It’s what makes us ready!
Here are five methods to avoid coveting and focus on what is truly important to our success.
1. Don’t Look In The Rear View Mirror: David Lee Roth summed it up best by saying “If you keep on looking in the rear view mirror, man, you will drive off the road and keep on going.” We can grasp a simple calming perspective by internalizing the fact that our past is EXACTLY that; the past. There is literally NOTHING you can do about the past, so spending 1 second of energy on it is an EPIC fail and a colossal waste of time. The past is what got us here; our successes and failures are part of who we are so we have to embrace them. I mean, WTF else can you do with them that will help your future? When I was a pro artist and depressed, my manager, Barbara Strauss, used to make me sit down and think about how far I have come and everything I accomplished to get where I was. I highly recommend this mental exercise as it always helped me kick the blues.
2. Focus on What You HAVE Instead of What You Don’t Have: I promise the answers to all our future career questions and successes lies within the blessings we currently have, NOT in what we don’t have. Think about that for a second, it logically HAS TO; every artist that we know did not break and become the icons we love by getting something they didn’t have. Simple math really. Any thoughts we entertain about what we don’t have is a cop out and quite damaging as it only sets up excuses to quit; negative thinking will never help us succeed, so STOP IT.
3. You Can Only Control RIGHT NOW: The past is the past, the future is the future the ONLY thing you ever have control over in your life is RIGHT NOW. So worrying about the past is a waste of time. Worrying about the future a fruitless search. We have to take action and work TODAY…RIGHT NOW!! Think about that, it’s the ONLY way we can possibly succeed and realize our dreams. Huge selling artists like Motley Crue, Brantley Gilbert, Florida Georgia Line, Ratt, and the Zac Brown Band thought this way. They all had success and record sales LONG before they had record deals, y’all. They went to the negotiating table with the majors that ultimately signed them with a ton of leverage. How could they have achieved all the record sales and success they did BEFORE they got signed if they were sitting around saying, “if we just had a record deal so we could get paid, then we could be stars.” They didn’t wait for anything. Rest of article is at Music clout
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When God Fights For You, Enemies Are Subdued
Genesis 1-4:26-28 And the Lord said unto Moses, stretch out thine hand over the see, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared, and the Egyptians fled against it, and the Lord overthrew the EGYPTIANS IN THE MIDST OF THE SEA. And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, and all the host of pharaoh that came into the sea after them; , there remained not so much as one of them.
Many by nature is are struggling beings, They struggle to achieve success and fight to subdue their enemies. In most cases, the devil fights. There are times men are subdued by their enemies. As in the case of the enslaved Israelites in Egypt. They were subdued by their Egyptian task masters but when God arose to fight for them it became a different ball game. The prey became the predator. God made a way in the Red sea for the Israelites to pass on dry land but when the Egyptian soldiers pursued them. They were all drawn int he sea. This is divine intervention. Whenever God fights for an individual or for a group of people. He subdues the enemy but your part is to cry unto God for help. The Israelites cried unto God for help and He heard them and came and rescued them.
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