Music Biz Academy Digest - Issue #58 - November 2003
An update from http://www.musicbizacademy.com.

This is a subscriber only newsletter. If for any reason you wish
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THE MUSIC BIZ ACADEMY
http://www.musicbizacademy.com

The Musician's Online Directory:
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/directory

The Academy (Articles and Tips)
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles

The Bookstore
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore

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Hello subscribers, and welcome to the November edition of the
Music Biz Academy Digest!


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

I've received emails from a few of you wondering where I've been.
After all, it's been *FOUR MONTHS* since the last issue of the
Music Biz Academy Digest. What's going on? One of you even wrote
to ask me if I was still in business!

You bet I'm still in business! I'm all about business! That's
all I do all day (and a good deal of the night, too!)

In any business, there are times you've got to set aside the
'daily routine' stuff (like newsletters) to work on projects
you've been putting off for awhile. That's exactly what I been
doing.

Most of the projects I've been working on are things you, as my
readers, could probably care less about - like my setting up a
new payment gateway, switching merchant account vendors,
researching shopping cart systems, redesigning web sites for
dynamic content and working on a new CD release. I won't bore you
with the details of those.

However, one of the projects I've been working on is extremely
cool, and I just have to share it with you.

On August 1st, I launched a radio broadcast to promote my music
on Live365.com. The program is called "Whisperings: Solo Piano
Radio" (http://www.live365.com/stations/pianoradio). In just
three months time, I've taken the station from obscurity to one
of the most popular radio broadcasts on Live365.com. Right now,
it's in the Top 10 for Classical music, and on the brink of the
Top 10 for the Easy Listening and New Age genres.

Check out these numbers:

"Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio" has accumulated 17,705 listening
hours in just the last *30 days*. In the last week, "Whisperings"
been generating nearly 1000 listening hours *per day*.

1,948 Live365.com listeners have added "Whisperings" to their
station presets.

and 102 listeners have voted "Whisperings" their *favorite*
broadcast on all of Live365.com

For three months of promotion, this is just astounding.

As many of you know, I used to be a big proponent of MP3.com (for
all the good that does now!). At Live365.com, I'm getting more
exposure for my music than I *ever* received at MP3.com. While I
managed between 2 and 3 thousand song listens a day at MP3.com,
I'm doing almost *twice* that at Live365.com.

And, as a result of the broadcast, I've had the great pleasure of
corresponding with a number of 'name' solo piano artists who are
now participating with me on the Whisperings Radio project.

I tell you all this for one reason: to encourage you.

For those of you looking for another venue to promote your
music, particularly now that MP3.com as we know it is history,
invest some time in marketing yourself to Internet Radio. It's a
wide open market. Literally anyone can set up their own radio
broadcast to promote their music.

And while you ponder that, think about how many *existing*
Internet broadcasters might consider your music for their
broadcast. Most broadcasters on Live365.com are normal folk, not
ClearChannel clones. They are people you can actually talk to,
people you can email from their station.

So get on Live365.com, find your genre, listen to a few stations,
and contact the DJs where appropriate. There are a whole lotta
listeners out there looking for new music.

I know, because their finding me.

I cover the topic of Internet Radio in my book, 'How to Promote
Your Music Successfully on the Internet.' In the 2004 edition,
which I hope to have out in January or so, I'll be addressing the
issue in much more detail based on my recent experiences. So keep
an eye out for that.

Until next time,

David Nevue
Editor, The Music Biz Academy
http://www.musicbizacademy.com
Author, How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet
http://www.promoteyourmusic.com
Musician, Recording Artist & Composer
http://www.davidnevue.com


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HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR MUSIC SUCCESSFULLY ON THE INTERNET
September 2003 Edition!
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/htpromotemusic.htm
Learn the marketing and promotion methods that one musician uses
to bring in over $5000 a month in income from the Internet! There
are no 'pipe dreams' sold here. The author details step-by-step
how he finally said good-bye to his day job and starting spending
more time on his music. Download Version available for only
$16.95! Includes one free PDF update!


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Latest Additions To The Academy
http://musicbizacademy.com/articles/
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HOW TO WRITE A MUSIC-RELATED PRESS RELEASE
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/knab/articles/pressrelease.htm
All the basics, straight and to the point. How and when to write
a press release, what the print and broadcast media need, layout,
essential information, and press release structure. Article by
Christopher Knab.


INTERVIEW WITH AN INTERNET MUSIC MARKETING PIONEER
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/internet/interview1103.htm
This interview with Music Biz Academy founder David Nevue is
courtesy of Louise Hall, Vertigo, student magazine of Sydney
Australia's University of Technology. Get David's take on being
an flourishing independent musician in today's digital world.


TOP 10 FREE MUSIC PROMOTION NEWSLETTERS
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/internet/top10ezines.htm
Our good friends at The Bard's Crier have updated their list of
the top ten music marketing and promotion newsletters available
on the net. We totally agree with them... with one exception. In
their humility, they didn't include their own newsletter, which
should definitely be there!


MONEY FOR YOUR MUSIC: THE FACTS ABOUT MUSIC LICENSING
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/gman_money.htm
Where music meets licensing, there's money to be made. How much
money? "I have synched quite a few thousand songs into
productions over the years," states Peter Jansson of Janssongs,
Inc., "and have charged anywhere between US$1.00 and US$250,000
for each one." That's correct: he said a quarter of a million
dollars. And there are a great many places to earn money from
music... Article by the G-Man.


HOW RETAIL AND RADIO WORK TOGETHER
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/radio/retail_radio.htm
"...if a label gets to where it has at least four or five acts,
and EACH one is charting in their respective airplay chart, and
is doing 100+ gigs per year, and is getting 50+ articles/reviews
per year, then it MIGHT be time to consider real retail promotion
and distribution." Article by Bryan Farrish


AUTOMATING YOUR CAREER INTO GEAR
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/comment/klovemanage.htm
Most musicians deplore working the business aspects of their
careers, only doing so as a necessary evil and, usually, as a
means to an end. Like it or not, most musicians are relegated to
serving as their own manager. How can an artist keep their act
progressing until they attract interest from a real manager?
Article by Kenny Love


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Popular Archives From The Academy
http://musicbizacademy.com/articles/
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PLANNING YOUR RADIO PROMOTION CAMPAIGN
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/knab/articles/radiocampaign.htm

GUERRILLA MUSIC MARKETING SUGGESTIONS
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/knab/articles/gmm_suggest.htm

COPYRIGHT AND SONGWRITING BASICS
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/knab/articles/copyright.htm


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MUSICIAN'S FRIEND - ALL THE GEAR YOU COULD EVER WANT (AND MORE)
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/musiciansfriend.htm
Musician's Friend is the worlds largest direct mail music gear
company - and one of the most respected and trusted companies of
it's kind. With a huge catalog featuring over 900 manufacturers
you can find pretty much anything you want. Check out their
'scratch and dent' specials which include their 100% satisfaction
guarantee. Order their free catalog online or enter their free
weekly $2500 gear givaway


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Recent Additions/Updates to the Musician's Directory....
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/directory
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ABOUT.COM: MUSICIANS' EXCHANGE
http://musicians.about.com/
About.com's Musicians' Exchange is a great place to just drop by
and surf for awhile. There are some cleverly written articles,
along with the usual slew of useful links, resources, and
reviews. You'll find information on promotion, legal, gear,
labels, producers, and organizations. Lots to look at.


BANDNAME.COM
http://www.bandname.com/
Bandname.com, 'The Worldwide Band Name Registry' is much more
than that. It's an information hub containing data on thousands
of resources of interest to independent musicians. You'll find
databases for booking agents, venues, publishers, management and
a great selection of articles on the business as well.


BANDPASSES.COM
http://www.bandpasses.com/index.html
At BandPasses.com, you can have some very cool laminated security
and promotional backstage passes made for your concert or other
event. The basic package, 12 passes with 1 side printed in color
and neck cords, just $39. Also available - laminated mini key
chains, baggage tags, tickets and clips, printed guitar picks and
buttons. Actually, all in all, a unique, creative service idea.
Check out the sample gallery.


FESTIVAL FINDER
http://www.festivalfinder.com/
At FestivalFinder.com, you'll discover the latest details on more
than 2500 music festivals in North America. Festivals are
categorized by genre, or use the search feature to locate
festivals by date, location, performers or festival name. A quick
browse of each category tells you what's coming up in the next
couple of months. A simple design that provides you the info you
want very quickly.


GIGORAMA: GIG TRACKING SOFTWARE
http://www.gigorama.com/
"The incredibly easy to use gig tracking software for musicians."
Do all this and more: book gigs and appointments, produce
ready-to-sign contracts in seconds, generate and print financial
reports, build and save your favorite song/set lists, create
musician/contacts databases, develop an equipment inventory
database, fill out and print real copyright forms, import over a
thousand clubs and venues, use customizable business letter
templates, auto-copy and calculate repeat gigs and more...
available for as low as $69.95. *Note*: this is not an
endorsement from the MBA. It just looked interesting to me, so
I'm passing the info on to you.


LIZ KALLOCH GRAPHIC DESIGN
http://www.lizkalloch.com/pages/graphic.html
Liz does some very nice design work for CD packaging, as well as
calendars, books, logo design and mixed media. Very stylistic,
and definitely NOT your typical cookie-cutter art design.


RECORD LABELS ON THE WEB
http://www.rlabels.com/
An excellent, no frills, searchable database of record labels on
the web. Contains over 5000+ links, searchable by location or
category.


TALENTMATCH.COM
http://www.talentmatch.com/
The Music Biz Academy remains very skeptical about services such
as TalentMatch, however, with success stories from the likes of
Annie Minogue, it's hard to discard them entirely. TalentMatch
resembles a 'dating service' for artists seeking work - you can
create your online portfolio, search job and showcase postings,
and hope you hook up with someone in need of your services. There
is a 'free' membership option, but the real guts is in the 'pro'
service, which is only $8.99 per month. In reality, this
membership gets you some cool stuff - a fan club manager, event
calendar, an ePortfolio, on-site email and more. All in all, not
a bad package.


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Contests, Competitions, and Opportunities
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/opportunities.htm
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The Music Biz Academy has no connection with the below contests
or opportunies. They simply looked interesting to us, so we
thought they'd be interesting to you. *Participate at your own
risk.*


DIY MUSIC FESTIVAL - CALL FOR ENTRIES
http://www.DIYMusicFestival.com
The 2004 DIY Music Festival is now accepting entries for its
annual awards ceremony and showcase, which teams top independent
talent with nationally-recognized acts as part of the 2004 DIY
Convention in Los Angeles. This year, for the first time, we are
holding year-round showcases in various cities, including
Nashville, New York and Los Angeles. Entries to the DIY Music
Festival are eligible for consideration for all dates,
culminating in our grand finale in February, 2004 that will team
winning entries with national acts in a major concert showcase.
Submissions to the 2004 DIY Music Festival must have been
released after Jan. 1, 2001 and created using recording equipment
and other tools generally available to anyone. Deading for
entries is January 25th, 2004. $25 registration fee.


12TH ANNUAL BILLBOARD SONG CONTEST
http://www.billboard.com/bb/songcontest/index.jsp
Billboard, the world's leading authority on music, is looking for
songs. Whether your style of music is Pop, Rock/Alternative,
Rap/Hip Hop, Country/Folk, Jazz, World, Gospel/Contemporary
Christian, Latin, R&B/Blues, or Dance, the 12th Annual Billboard
Song Contest could offer you unparalleled professional exposure
among some of the music industry's most influential names. There
are over $30,000 in prizes, including musical equipment, song
placement on the 12th Contest Winners CD, a subscription to
Billboard Magazine, and more. Final deadline: Midnight, March 20,
2004. $30 Entry fee.


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News and Articles From Around The Net....
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/newsfeed.htm
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MP3.COM ACQUIRED BY CNET
http://tinyurl.com/vksj
The web site as we know it will cease to exist on December 2nd,
2003. CNET will introduce a new MP3 service in its place.


CD BABY ANNOUNCES FREE DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION FOR INDIES
http://members.cdbaby.com/about/rainmusic
CD Baby will now be offering its members free digital
distribution to services like iTunes and Listen.com’s Rhapsody.
Once you’re a member of CDBaby you can elect to make your music
available to these services, as well as eMusic, AOL's MusicNet,
MusicMatch, the new Napster and more for FREE.


"NEW" ORCHARD LAUNCHES WITH NEW INVESTORS, MANAGEMENT TEAM
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=58179
Orchard Global Media Group (GMG) announced today that it has
finalized a high seven-figure equity investment by a private fund
investing exclusively in independent music. In addition, the
company has selected Greg Scholl as its new president & CEO. "Our
first order of business is getting right with the artists and
labels that have patiently stuck it out with us despite the
challenges The Orchard faced over the past several years," said
Scholl "After receiving funding, we paid out a substantial amount
to our artists and labels. We are in the process of implementing
clearer policies about payment terms, along with making
technology investments that will allow artists who use our
service complete transparency into their accounts – what is
where, what sold when, and what was paid when."


YOUR 99c BELONGS TO THE RIAA - STEVE JOBS
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33850.html
Wasn't the Internet, this weightless kingdom of bits and bytes,
supposed to make distribution costs just vanish? Apparently not.
At an Apple financial analyst conference on Wednesday CEO Steve
Jobs admitted that Apple makes no revenue from the online
download service, the iTunes Music Store, that he launched in
April. As iTMS is the leading download service, with 80 per cent
market share (or so Jobs claimed), where's your 99 cents per song
going? "Most of the money goes to the music companies," admitted
Jobs. "We would like to break even/make a little bit of money but
it's not a money maker," he said, candidly. So now we have it on
record: the music store is a loss leader. Jobs said Apple would
pay its dues to the RIAA, then seek to make money where it could,
from its line of hardware accessories.


THE GROWTH OF SATELLITE RADIO
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=58994
A couple of years ago, investors and radio listeners alike
wondered if a satellite subscription service could compete with
so-called 'free radio.' Today, that question has been answered as
XM Satellite Radio celebrates a milestone -- its one-millionth
customer.


DIGITAL SINGLES CLOSE TO ECLIPSING HARD COPIES
http://tinyurl.com/vktf
Digital tracks are outselling physical singles by a growing
margin, a sign that consumers increasingly are embracing the
brave new world of Internet downloading. Digital download sales
outpaced physical singles 857,000 to 170,000, according to
Nielsen SoundScan figures for the week ending Oct. 26. That's
slightly more than a 5-to-1 ratio. Sean Ryan, VP of music
services at RealNetworks, says that the rise of digital track
sales carries a "symbolic significance," illustrating the music
industry's shift to online delivery options. He also says it
indicates a real opportunity for the music business: "Selling
individual songs as an offline strategy wasn't working all that
well, but online it can be a huge hit."


DREAMWORKS TO EXIT THE MUSIC BUSINESS
http://tinyurl.com/vktq
Chalk up one more vote of no confidence in the music business:
David Geffen's. The music mogul turned deal-maker and his
DreamWorks SKG partners, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg,
have agreed to sell their company's small music label to Vivendi
Universal for less than $100 million, according to people
familiar with the deal. The sale means DreamWorks, originally
envisioned as a multifaceted entertainment company, is now purely
a live-action and animated-films studio. Vivendi's Universal
Music Group, meanwhile, will add a small number of artists, most
notably country star Toby Keith, to its roster, bolstering its
title as the world's largest music company.


NAPSTER 2.0 GOES LIVE
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33655.html
Napster goes live today, segueing from the beta release launched
earlier this month into a fully fledged version 2.0, whose only
real connection with the infamous file swapping service of yore
is the headphoned cat logo. Like Apple's iTunes Music Store,
which provided the template for the new service, Napster 2.0
offers downloads for 99 cents a song or $9.95 for a whole album's
worth, with 30s previews of each song available for punters who
want to try before they buy.


1 MILLION COPIES OF ITUNES FOR WINDOWS DOWNLOADED IN 3.5 DAYS
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=58354
Apple today announced that Windows users have downloaded more
than one million copies of its new iTunes for Windows digital
jukebox software in just three and a half days since its launch
last Thursday, and over one million songs have been purchased and
downloaded by iTunes users in the same period. "We're off to a
great start, and our competition isn't even out of the starting
gates yet," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. An astounding 14
million songs have been purchased and downloaded since the
original iTunes Music Store launch in April, solidifying the
iTunes Music Store's position as the number one download music
service in the world.


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Recommended Resources
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HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR MUSIC SUCCESSFULLY ON THE INTERNET
September 2003 Edition!
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/htpromotemusic.htm
Learn the marketing and promotion methods that one musician uses
to bring in over $5000 a month in income from the Internet! There
are no 'pipe dreams' sold here. The author details step-by-step
how he finally said good-bye to his day job and starting spending
more time on his music. Download Version available for only
$16.95! Includes one free PDF update!


THE INDIE BIBLE - The Fifth Edition!
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/indiecontactbible.htm
Need to create some BUZZ about your music? Looking for reviewers?
Radio station contacts? Promotion services? Then grab The Indie
Bible. This fantastic musicians 'black book' contains pages
filled with contacts with publications and radio programmers all
over the world. These are people who actively look for music to
review! Download or Hard Copy Version Available for $27.95!


MUSIC IS YOUR BUSINESS
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/musiciyb.htm
This great offering from music biz consultant Christopher Knab is
now available in PDF format! Find out why so many musicians fail
and how you can get the 'edge'. Learn how to attract
distributors, radio play, and how to create a demand for your
music. Music Is Your Business includes excellent flowcharts and
graphs, demonstrating in simple terms how the industry operates.
Sample artist bio, fact sheet, and checklists for jump-starting
your career and/or running your own record label! PDF Edition
only $19.95!


THE GUERRILLA MUSIC MARKETING HANDBOOK
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/guerrillamusic.htm
This guide to independent music success features over 175 ways to
thrive and prosper with your own band or record label. Download
Version Available! The PDF version of this great book is now only
$24.95!


THE INDIE MUSICIAN'S PDF POWER PACK!
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/index.htm
Get three of our best-selling books for one low price! Set
includes 'How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the
Internet', 'The Indie Bible' and 'Music is Your Business' - All
for only $52.95!


INTERNET MUSIC MARKETING PDF POWER PACK!
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/index.htm
Get the PDF editions of 'How to Promote Your Music Successfully
on the Internet' and 'How to Build a Music Web Site That Sells' -
Both for only $31.95 - Instant Download!


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Services available through the Music Biz Academy!
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These are partnerships we've created though channels and
connections we've established over the years. In other words, we
recommend them because we trust them. If you're looking for help
in any of the following areas, these should be strongly
considered.


CD MANUFACTURING and DUPLICATION
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/cdmanufacturing.htm
MusicBizAcademy.com has teamed up with Northwestern Media to
bring you quality CD manufacturing and duplication at a very
reasonable price. Why NW Media? Because this is the company we
ourselves use. We have partnered with them because we know how
very hard it is to find a good, reasonably priced manufacturer
that offers both great service and a high quality product. We
have been VERY satisfied with the work NW Media has done for us.
You simply cannot do much better, on quality, service, or price.


GET REPRESENTATION
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/representation.htm
The Music Biz Academy has partnered with NOMA music, a very
well-established song placement and promotion agency, to help you
get your music heard. NOMA represents worldwide bands,
songwriters, instrumentalists, and composers seeking song
licensing for motion pictures, television, commercials, and video
releases. Recent song placements include licenses with "Freshman
Diaries" (Showtime); "The Shield" and "Hatchetman" (Fox
Television), "Initial D" (animated DVD series), "Paris" starring
Karen Black (CBS Television), "Dorm Day Crazy" starring Tatyana
Ali and Randy Spelling, "Latin Dragon" starring Gary Busey; and
"Street Fury Inferno". NOMA offers tremendous opportunities from
the hundreds of production companies, directors and producers
they have working relationships with, and your music is
aggressively pushed on a day to day basis. There are NO up-front
fees, period. NOMA Music earns its money through licensing on a
commission only basis. Thus, the only way NOMA benefits
financially is when YOU benefit financially.


MUSIC CAREER CONSULTING
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/consulting.htm
If you'd like some help getting your music career off the ground
or preparing for that next step, contact our expert music
consultant, Christopher Knab. Chris has been called "One of the
Most Influential People in the Northwest Music Industry." by
Seattle's Rocket Magazine. He is owner of FourFront Media and
Music, a consultation service based in Seattle that helps
musicians develop marketing and career plans.


RADIO & RETAIL PROMOTION
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/radiopromo.htm
If you're looking to promote your music either via radio or
through retail, we've teamed up with a radio promoter who has
quarterbacked campaigns for RadioHead (before they were stars),
Lit (Malicious Vinyl), and others. Our contact will help arrange
on-air interviews, CD reviews, and create a custom campaign
custom designed for your music.


ART DESIGN - CDs, Posters, One-Sheets, and Web Sites
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/artdesign/
In this business of music, image means everything! You know it,
we know it, the music industry knows it. Our hand-picked graphic
designers will help you make a powerful statement about your
music! Whether you need art design for your CD package, or just a
quick logo, it's all here. Check out the very cool one-sheet
designs, the perfect item to make your press kit stand out!


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Advertise....
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ADVERTISE HERE!
Yes, you can advertise your web site or service in this
newsletter at rates starting at just $30 per issue. Email us at
musicbiz@... for details.


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The Music Biz Academy Digest is brought to you by David Nevue and
The Music Biz Academy (http://www.musicbizacademy.com) .

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