How To Really Get Your Music On Blogs

Posted on 24 June 2010 by zach

GETTING YOUR MUSIC ON BLOGS

Having been recently popped out of the Penn State toaster, Chris Bracco has decided to serve up his Business Management skills by creating a comprehensive play-by-play handbook to help DIY musicians learn how to effectively promote their music in the world of blogs. His handbook is completely free and is available as an e-book online in PDF form of 22 pages.

The handbook in its original form was first established on a blog as a series of updated posts, but now Chris has compiled his blog into one easy to read anecdote titled, “HOW TO REALLY GET YOUR MUSIC ON BLOGS.” The e-book focuses on how to creatively get blog managers on board and feature one’s music on their site. Serving as a mentor to non-expert networkers, Chris Bracco charitably offers his tricks of the trade on several key marketing issues to aid musicians with sharpening their marketing publicity.

DEFINE YOURSELF

Chris’s e-book follows a very organized and simple outline of ideas and strategies that Chris creates through a business and marketing approach. Chris’s knowledge of the DOs and DON’Ts of the industry is very transparent and can be helpful for all skill levels of networking experience. Chris starts off his marketing spreadsheet by suggesting that the musician be able to list and define different characteristics about their music such as:

  • Personality
  • Hometown
  • (sub) Genre
  • Lifestyle & Interests
  • Fan Demographic

FINDING YOUR ADVANTAGE POINT(S)

All these categories, he suggests, will help the musician better understand what to search for in blogs and where they can reach out to like-minded bloggers; ultimately, producing a victory of being featured on a blog that will successfully promote the band/individual’s music. Chris encourages musicians to figure out how their personalities reflect diversity and then encourages them to apply their diverse personality traits to diverse (“non-music) blogs which can prove to be just as effective as music blogs because similar interests are there and waiting to be connected.

“HOW TO REALLY GET YOUR MUSIC ON BLOGS” attempts to compile various networking tools that will help you assist your ability to impact the music blogging world. His example of how this type of networking can be linked reads as:

If, for example, you enjoy exercising regularly, it would be a great idea to search for blogs related to staying fit. Maybe you can present the blogger with the idea of writing a post about listening to music while working out, and ask that your music be mentioned in the post. Targeting location-specific blogs is useful, too

Some crucial references that Chris suggests throughout his guide include: Google blog search, The Hype Machine, Captain Crawl, and Elbo.ws – all of which are can lend a helpful hand in generating music with a similar buzz.

IT’S A BLOG EAT BLOG WORLD!

Since the blogging world is always needing new material and rapidly becoming buzz-worthy, Chris emphasizes the importance of being keen enough to target blogs that appropriately match up with the characteristics (listed above) of your music so that the musician has a better chance and reason why the blog host should feature them on their site.

It’s a blog eat blog world out there and it’s not always as easy as it looks and you might not succeed your first couple of hits which is why Chris underlines the important of persistence. Musicians have to been to be persistent with showing their originality and following up with communicating their creative desires.

All in all, Chris Bracco’s resource “HOW TO REALLY GET YOUR MUSIC ON BLOGS” provides DIY musicians with a well-constructed, detailed, and easy to apply perspective on how they should pursue featuring their music on the buzz-worthy blogs they prefer and should definitely be consulted by any musician entering the blogosphere!

Download it here.

This post was written by Zach Frimmel. Catch more of his antics on Twitter.

P.S. If you are a musician looking to get their blogging game on, check out BandWPThemes, the new premium WordPress theme from Gen-Y Rock Stars. Become a platinum member today.

Making Music Personal

Posted on 13 January 2010 by zach

photo by phillipsandwich

This article will be geared more towards my reflection and relationship with music – in an effort – that musicians might be able to identify with me. I write, and am here, to hopefully provide critical and helpful information to better shape your priorities and understanding (even if it is not shaped like mine) of your relationship with the musical world. I can only offer what I’ve learned so far on my musical journey. I’ve played to the underground network of musicians for about seven years; followed and listened to music of all diversities, eras and popularity; and now I strive to open up my full-fledging journey using what I know and learning what I don’t know.

I understand I have much to learn; and that in itself is a valuable lesson to learn as a musician and individual.

Just within these three articles / interviews that I’ve offered for Gen-Y Rock Stars and Label 2.0 over the last two months, I’ve noticed that while I’m writing these articles it’s been a unique and fascinating learning experience for me, as well, because there is something beneficial about disciplining yourself to sit down and carve out time to simply reflect on what music means to you. This reflection becomes a very eye-opening and satisfying process.

Writing allows me to figure out and solidify:

  • What music means to me
  • And in general, what all sorts of things mean to me.

In the authentic cases, music is driven by what all sorts of things mean to people; passions and personal thoughts cannot become alive until they are written down and fully expressed. Likewise, these personal thoughts cannot become alive (through music!) until they are first realized and shaped from in one’s mind to some kind of written form.

Writing Out Your Ideas

As I continue to learn, writing out my thoughts about music, or anything for that matter, is a completely different process than just simply thinking about it for a short or even long period of time. When ideas are written out they are able to create and connect other ideas in ways that just thinking about them momentarily might not create. An example could be similar to writing a melody, harmony, beat or any musical pattern only in your head and not actually putting it into play on your instrument. (That example right there probably wouldn’t have came to me if I hadn’t taken the time to think and write this article!) If you start playing what you have in your head you might be able to keep the juices flowing and create something that wouldn’t have been created because you kept it in your head.

Only having your musical values in your head is just like only having musical compositions in your head; it does not do you much good; they’re easily forgettable and should be put into written motion.

This might seem kind of ironic, but if you are in some kind of frustrating musical writer’s block, try taking some time to write out (express) your thoughts about music.

This will allow you to stay focused on music, but also allow you to express why you are making music in the first place. After writing your thoughts about music and then going back to writing on your instrument, you might be re-inspired and reconnect to a feeling. The thoughts that you have in your head might be too abstract and when you write them out they might spark the right material, lyric, passion, note or progression that wasn’t occurring to you before because you might have been too tensed up.

Musicians should be able to describe to themselves and to others what music means to them.

Since I am still getting acquainted with what kind of musicians, reviewers and audiences view this marketing site, I am still trying to collect what degrees of musical pursuits, values and expectations might be on the horizon for all of you; all of us as ambitious musical participants. My relationship with music would have me suggest that there is power in writing out your ideas rather than just relying on in-passing thoughts through out the day.

Being able to describe, in writing, how you want your music to sound, what you want for your music’s future, or even what you want for your future, should help make it easier to collect and shape what you want out of your musical journey. I write out my thoughts because it is a liberating kind of expression for me; and similarly, I write music because it’s a chance for me to liberate my appreciations and abilities that I have for music.

Do you write out your thoughts? What are some ways that you use to express your beliefs, thoughts and emotions from being a musician?

This post was written by Zach Frmmel, a senior at UCF majoring in English Literature with a minor in Humanities. He plays in an indie band, GreatFriendofMine, and you can check out their music on Bandcamp here. Your can also follow Zach on Twiiter, @chazlimmerf

Being A Musician In 2010

Posted on 31 December 2009 by zach

hand-made-music

Going into 2010, musicians will see and experience the reoccurring gravity of competition that will weigh down on them from all the other musicians who are trying to make a name for themselves or from the musicians who are continuing to flourish. In all reality, the music industry is becoming oversaturated, and yet, the musical juices keep flowing into the music industry which has continued to create a diverse melting pot of music.

Though this may be the case, it is not necessarily a bad thing; it’s but a hick-up for those who can evolve – adapt and outlast. This concept of adapting and outlasting leave musicians with some constructive ideas that they should consider if they want to emerge.

A thriving musician in 2010 should be able to:

  • define their talents and capabilities
  • creatively apply and improve their talents towards what they want to achieve

In the music world, an array of possibilities can be at a musician’s finger tips as long as they are willing to reach out and find what they want to grasp. For a musician to open up their possibilities they must be able to define- to put into working ideas- what they want to do with their musical talents; and what will make them feel successful in their musical pursuits.

Define Yourself As A Musician

If a musician is not able to define their talents and capacity for becoming a better artist, then they will, more than likely, not be able to promote why the music industry would want to invest in their musicianship. This means they would have failed to adapt to what consumers request which means they will not be able to outlast the new generations of the music industry.

If a musician is able to define (or market) their positive attributes and apply them then they are more likely able to promote why their demographic of the music industry would want to invest in their creativity and potential achievements. This concept means that they would have succeeded in adapting to the request of listening consumers which means they will have opened up their possibilities and taken one step closer to achieving their goals.

Musicians should have an edifying message that they want to achieve for themselves and also achieve for the bigger picture.

The Kanye’s and the Gaga’s

In most cases, musical audiences do not want to be able to see through the pretentious message of an artist. Authenticity should be a first and lasting impression.

Some exceptions to this case maybe Kanye’s arrogance and Lady Gaga’s outlandish style which would seem to be unattractive, but actually seem to work for them and their audiences are compelled by it. From Kanye’s freshman record, College Dropout, to his senior record, 808 & Heartbreak, he has been spitin’ out crucial beats and rhymes that the public can relate to. Kanye was able to understand and define his ability to put emotions and ideas into catchy hooks and rhymes, in which the music industry recognized and rewarded him for that- of course he did have nice connection as a producer for Rock-a-Fella Records- but he still had a considerable amount of make-shifting to do.

When all is said and done, musicians just have to do their thing. They are going to have to find their place in the music industry because the music industry is not going to go out of its way to come find a place for them. The industry knows that music listeners are looking for exciting creativity and something original and compelling that listeners can share with others. Those of us who appreciate music appreciate the artist that create the music.

So, from a musician to a musician, we should try and define ourselves and our music with qualities that would be appreciated by other musical zealots and appreciators alike.

This post was written by Zach Frmmel, a senior at UCF majoring in English Literature with a minor in Humanities. He plays in an indie band, GreatFriendofMine, and you can check out their music on Bandcamp here.

Less Thank Jake on Creative Freedom and Twitter

Posted on 22 December 2009 by zach

So this is the second half of my interview with Less Than Jake. I stopped the first half on the subject of the relationship with a band and their label and picked back up asking JR how the label business has influenced them… (You can read Part 1 here)

Less Than JakeZ: Your drummer, Vinnie, helped support the label Fueled by Ramen which was originally based out of Gainesville, but has been relocated to New York. Do you think Vinnie’s involvement with Fueled by Ramen has influenced the way you guys understand the relationship between a label and their bands?

JR: Yeah, you learn as you go. You can go to school and take classes and whatnot, but theoretically versus realistically are two totally different things. In theory, this is what the contract is suppose to read and what you’re suppose to get to, but in reality you don’t always get there…cause, I mean…there’s a lot of intangibles that you just don’t know about.

So with Vinnie having experience with starting a label…it’s just like…starting from the ground up…starting a label is just like starting a band – you gotta tell people about it. And hey, if you get lucky and sign that one band…say Fall Out Boy… you’ll get off the ground pretty quickly.

Z: Since this interview will be featured on industry’s site for musicians, managers, and indie labels to gather insight, I think this is a smooth transition into the music market. Since you’ve joined the band LTJ has primarily worked with Sire, a major label, and Sleep It Off, a minor label, how would you describe your experience about working with minor labels like Sleep It Off compared to working with major labels like Sire?

JR: I mean they’re all the same and they’re all different whether you work with a major or you work with an indie. There’s an infrastructure and you have to follow certain protocol to get certain things done. It doesn’t matter if you do it yourself or through an actual label. And a lot of times the artists think it doesn’t land squarely on [their] shoulders, but you can sit around all day but really it’s your band.

Z: Yeah, they just help stitch the bigger picture, or quilt to complete the metaphor [hah.]

JR: For sure. They’re facilitators, you should be able to come with an idea and they should be able to help you get you to that next step… maybe…or at least that’s what you hope for. But like I said this is Vegas…being in a band is Vegas, it’s gambling…it’s crapshoot. And everybody’s like, “Well how did that band…” and I can’t tell you…maybe the alignment of the stars [hah].

This is for people who are aspiring to be better off musically. Sure, you’re working with managers so sure you’ll get frustrated, but no one has doing anything wrong. You do the best that you can… People just don’t like the same things you might like. Music is subjective…it’s like art.

Z: Did you feel you had a different amount of creative control on one label over another label?

JR: Of course, on a major level, they’re cutting the checks so they can tell you ‘Yay’ or ‘Nay.’ And they will tell you what they think and that can definitely put you up in a corner…and they could say ‘We are not going to do this unless you do this’…in which they could just say ‘Screw off’ if they don’t want you anymore. I know some close friends who are in bands that that has happened to – and it is currently happening to. Their stuff is just shelved. The label can do that because they’re the ones with the power…the power is your music. That’s all the artist has is their art.

And like I said, the label can’t survive without the artist. And I’m willing to bet there is thousands of bands out there that look and sound like you so it would be easy to replace you – there are just some bands that are expendable.

Z: So you think bands are willing to compromise what they want in a record…

JR: Of course! For success, for fame, live the dream or frickin…whatever…hold on to your beliefs…but beliefs don’t sell records. [This came as a surprise to hear. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of truth to it.] I hate to say it. And maybe that’s un-punk rock of me to say, but this is what it is…I’ve seen it. I see it everyday. It’s kind of gross – and not to steal a term from Bad Religion but it really is – infected.

Z: Less Than Jake has definitely been a prestigious forerunner for the ska punk community given their lasting accomplishments since ’92. What would you consider to be the band’s most effective ideas for getting you guys to where you are now in your larger musical careers? And do you still use the same ideas to maintain your successful status?

JR: Change with the times…without changing. Stay the course. It’s worked thus far. There are certain things that you can change…I’m not gunna make a new boat…we can change who’s in the boat or who’s driving the boat, but we’re not building a new boat. This boat is great. I love this boat. We all love this boat. There’s so many bands you see that just try to keep building new boats and they end up sinking after a few years.

We are who we are. We’re not gunna jam ourselves in tight jeans…with comb-overs. MTV’s not gunna play us…the radio’s not gunna play us. Okay! So we are who we are. People like are band or people don’t.

Z: And they respect that. Has Less Than Jake, in any way, changed their methods of networking to adapt to the change of how people receive information?

JR: Oh, we have to keep up with technology. Yeah, it’s so immediate now with things like Twitter. It’s our fondness of the immediate rumor-mill. A perfect example would be when our shows in Portland and Seattle got canceled and we were able to post on Twitter to let kids know about the relocation of the show and then the show went on. So it was awesome. Shows back in the day were just canceled because there wasn’t much you could do except put a sign on the door [hah]. Networking these days affords you many…many more opportunities. And it freaks me out cause if this networking was around fifteen years ago…good god…what a different place my band would be in. We’re old men playing in a young man’s sport.

Z: Do you think this change enabled bands to become more creative with the way they market themselves or produce music?

JR: Honestly, no, it’s just made it easier. And it just makes being good looking a benefit – a huge benefit. Cause damn, man [hah]…if you’re a bunch of ugly dudes, people…girls won’t even give you a shot. And even guys want to see the guys/girls in bands be attractive these days. But it kinda reminds me about how when you’re a kid and you get a present and it’s wrapped in newpaper…you’re not as stoked.

Z: I hear ya. Do you think this change has been a positive or a negative impact on the musical community?

JR: Meh. I’m indifferent. I think that a lot of the charm of music is gone now. You don’t hear about people sleeping in front of record stores to buy tickets or their new favorite record to come out. No one is excited for records to come out anymore. Music is vast, but no longer as sacred as it used to be it seems.

Z: Yeah, my huge gripe is that the music environment isn’t intimate. There’s no intimacy in our era of immediate gratification.

JR: Yeah, and then there is stealing. If you download music without paying for it, it is stealing. I do it. We all do it. And I posted about it the other day and kids were trying to justify their stealing by saying, “Well, I don’t have money. I didn’t mean to do…” If you can just admit it then you can move on. It’s wrong.

Z: Agreed. On a lighter note, I was told Cage wasn’t allowed to play tonight because of the whole contract business that HOB has with Disney which states that Disney is allowed to read over the lyrics of the bands playing and if they think their lyrics are too vulgar then they don’t let that band play. I know when Shai Hulud was on tour with New Found Glory they were not allowed to play HOB (Orlando) either for this reason. What are your thoughts on Disney’s power to kick off a band like that?

JR: Well, I think it’s an abortion to the First Amendment. I don’t agree with it at all. I think it’s ironic because Shia Labeouf is doing a movie based on the life of Cage and he [Shia] got his break through Disney…there’s a possibility that the movie about Cage might get put out through Disney. But like I said, to me, either it all works or none of it works.

We’re gunna play Cage’s album in between the set up time of The Swellers and us. So take that, Disney!

Z: Let’s loop-swoop and tie the knot by talking about your newest album, “GNV FLA.” From personal experience, I know how different the writing process can be from album to album. Some times the juices flow and sometimes there’s just that writer’s block for bands to find new avenues to create new music. In a recent interview about GNV FLA, you mention the concept behind the album basically stating that, “We should do what we’ve always done, and do what we do best.” Did this help smooth out any indecisive bumps of the writing process?

JR: [hah] No. The creation aspect is never easy. If it was easy…then everyone would do it. We’d be like “Puhh Ftttt, hey we’re already done!” [hah] Of course it’s not that easy, but it definitely helped us focus on what needed to get done. The direction was just to write some songs. We didn’t want to do anything that was too rock based. We just wanted to do what we do best which is ska and punk rock. The new record is a reactionary record. The record prior to that was more pop based and the fans didn’t like that…so we said alright we’ll figure something out.

Z: What were some other influences for the title and music of the album?

JR: The title was a fight up until the very end. We didn’t know what we were going to name it up until the last day. It’s kind of a statement of stability for us saying that we started here and we’re strong enough to have kept things together in this town. It’s what it is. The next portion of career…the next half of our career will stem from here.

Z: Any last comments or promotions for the album that didn’t get touched on? Any comments on what the fans can flirt with about any upcoming plans and material?

JR: Nah…I don’t have any secret information about music. You guys will hear about it when it happens though.

Z: Well, it’s been a pleasure getting your insight on Less Than Jake and the music industry. Take care. Have fun out there.

JR: Thanks. I appreciate that you actually did research and put work into your questions. It made me want to work and give you good, solid answers. Someone once told me that time is one of our most valuable things, you can’t get time back like you can with money or possessions and if someone puts together a quality interview then I don’t mind giving them my time. So thank you.

For more on Less Than Jake:

This interview was conducted by Zach Frmmel, a senior at UCF majoring in English Literature with a minor in Humanities. He plays in an indie band, GreatFriendofMine, and you can check out their music on Bandcamp here.

Less Than Jake Talks Labels, Tours and Festivals

Posted on 16 December 2009 by zach

Less Than Jake House of Blues Orlando InterviewThe night of Less Than Jake’s show, at House of Blues in Orlando, the ska-punk community was thriving, in and around the show, from all sorts of sights such as: checkered garb (suspenders, customized patchwork), Op Ivy and Link 80 shirts, to kids that just wanted to skank the night away. Before the show I sat down, in a classy, “grassy” aroma, tour bus outside of House of Blues, with the saxophone player from Less Than Jake, Peter “JR” Wasilewski, to flirt with their musical journey in the last couple years and to get his perspective on the music industry and how Less Than Jake fits in to the big picture. And this was one picture we captured.

Zach: So, you’re on tour with Cage and The Swellers…how’s that going?

JR: Well, Cage isn’t playing the show tonight…

Z: Yeah, I know. I have a question about that later. [hah.]

JR: Well, it’s been good, a lot of fun. Both acts are really good at what they do. It’s been cool to be on tour with both bands…acts. Cage isn’t really a band, he’s a DJ, but it’s cool.

Z: Yeah, from your tour updates online it seems like you’ve been keeping things interesting. I went to FEST8 this year and it was awesome – just like the first time I went for FEST6 – where I saw you guys play at The Venue. I know you guys played the FEST again this year…how was your FEST experience?

JR: It was different than the last couple years, I suppose. I make the Fest work for me. You know what I mean…a lot of people get worked by The Fest where they go and get drunk all four days…and don’t shower [hah]. I went and I saw the bands that I wanted to see and stayed away from when I didn’t need to be there. So the bands that I wanted to see I got to see…you know Dillinger Four, Dead to Me, I watched Rehatcher…who the heck played…I saw Sam I Am. That was cool. I showed up when I knew the bands that I wanted to see were playing. I saw the Flatliners play, Cheap Girls and a bunch of others. The one thing I guess we have over other people was that since it was our hometown… if I really wanted to see a band I knew each dude that owned the club and so I could just walk in.

Z: [hah] Yeah, must be nice.

And so my follow up question, did you notice any changes about FEST this year compared to recent years…?

JR: Yeah, I mean, it’s gotten bigger.

Z: Yeah, especially the line issue. There were some shows you couldn’t get into even if you waited an hour beforehand to get in. I know I went to wait in line, an hour beforehand, to see Lemuria and still didn’t even get close to getting into Common Grounds where they were playing.

JR: But if it became bigger than what it is right now, than I think Tony would have to do something different…I mean you have hundreds of bands and to do something better would mean they would have to do a Warped Tour…outside…day-type thing. That’s totally not what it is suppose to be.

Z: Fair enough. Since you guys are based out of Gainesville, where The FEST is held, do you notice any difference, over the years, in Gainesville’s music community?

JR: The music community is always pretty vibrant. It’s because it’s a college town. Because it’s a constant influx of kids and different creations, and everyone wants to be in a band. It’s cool, because if you’re in a band and you go there to play a show…if you play punk rock…then you’re guaranteed 70-100 kids because it’s a live music town. People go out to shows. There are a lot of towns you go to where people go out to shows, but Gainesville doesn’t get any better or any worse. It’s more of a constant.

Z: Yeah, we need more lively towns like that in Florida!

On a similar note, a lot of musical talent has been spawned and supported through the Gainesville music community with help from labels such as No Idea and Fueled by Ramen – both of which Less Than Jake has represented. What are your thoughts on the relationship with a band and their label? Is intimacy between them productive?

JR: What is sold to you is that it’s a symbiotic relationship where one can’t exist without the other. I firmly believe that is a true statement if you’re discussing it from the label’s perspective…because a label cannot survive with talent. Talent, on the other hand, can survive without a label.

The way that it should be is that artists should create their art and then the people who run the label should figure out how to market that art to the target demographic. On paper, in theory, in a book, that’s how it should be. And that’s probably what they will teach you in a music business class or a book you check out. In reality, what it is, is there are thousands of bands and there’s only… out of the thousand different bands… probably four or five bands that become successful. It used to be where labels would suggest “Oh you should sound more like this, or you should do more like this.” But now bands don’t even care they’re just like this what is marketable, this is what will make money.

[A second interviewer comes in: and doesn’t shut the tour bus door]

[JR goes to shut it and says on his way back…”Musta grown up in a barn!”]

But no, when I started playing music I played music to play music, and I played music to get free beer and maybe chicks. Now, when I listen to music, I would listen to the record and think, “Wow, this record sounds really good.” And I wouldn’t necessarily take note of who produced it. I would just listen to the music on the record. Nowadays, kids start bands to be famous…if you start a band just to do that then you might as well go to medical school and become a doctor because even if you’re a failed doctor then at least you’re still a doctor.

Z: That’s heavy stuff. I agree with you about just listening to the music. Music should be appreciated based on its content, not simply based on who produced it.

So then how would you describe your relationship to the label compared to all of this information?

JR: Our relationship with the label was how we tried to direct it, but ultimately the label is still bigger than the artist. Do you know what I mean…when I say the label needs the artist to survive…that’s true, but for every one there’s a thousand other [artists] that would take that one’s spot. They’d kill to have that spot. That’s how I perceive what it [label relationship] is and what it’s going to be. Honestly, I don’t think labels are going to be significant in the future. There’s a lot of resistance against the music industry these days where people just want to produce music their own way and so people are figuring out ways to do that. The information and methods of marketing, that are circulating these days, are reinventing a lot of new ways for people to think about music.

JR had a lot of insight on his experience with music and the marketing with labels. In the second half of the interview you can read about JR’s comments on working with Sire, compared to working on LTJ’s new label Sleep on It. Also, I asked JR what he thought of Cage not being allowed by Disney to play the show due to his music’s controversial reputation…and that was an interesting discussion as well!

This post was written by Zach Frmmel, a senior at UCF majoring in English Literature with a minor in Humanities. He plays in an indie band, GreatFriendofMine, and you can check out their music on Bandcamp here.