Other than doing lots of reading and research online, I have some experience on the inside of the music industry. I worked for two years for a music promoter. We booked artists, promoted all kinds of events, and even produced a few shows. I don’t consider myself an expert on music business, but I have learned a lot about it. We worked with a number of artists and bands, some just local acts trying to gain exposure, and even some big names that have been signed, toured, been on tv, etc. It was this work with the promoter that showed me what the inside of the business looks like, and, more importantly, what it takes to break in as an artist (though I feel my knowledge on the subject has more than doubled in the last two days due to Loren Weisman’s book The Artist’s Guide To Success In The Music Business, http://tag2nd.com/).
I have played with bands, done small shows as an artist (drumming and bass guitar), dj-ed house parties, dance clubs, karaoke; I was the house dj at a gay bar for a while. I’ve dj-ed school dances since Jr high (though back then it was just doing the best crossfades possible given what I had to work with). I’ve used electronic music programs to create plenty of music (which I don’t consider quality in content, unless you’re looking for music to use for a small video game). I’ve been using and learning many different mixing and recording software for almost ten years, as is evident on my soundcloud page, [link coming soon]. I’ve helped my friend write and record most of a rock opera. I have worked as a volunteer for the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, where I either drove artists around or helped at certain sites with whatever needed to be done (set-up, artist/band registration, sound, etc). I’ve had my own radio show at a volunteer-ran radio station for a year- not like doing real radio though; instead of running ads we had PSAs, and I could play whatever I wanted as long as it was FCC ok, though lack of consistency would mean less listeners (though I don’t think many people listened anyway). Basically, all this adds up to where I am now and what I know now. This blog is basically for me to share my knowledge and experiences and hopefully make it that much easier for the next artist or band that wants to break out but doesn’t know how.
So why have I been so active at this recently? Well, there’s kind of a funny story about that. I hooked up with a girl from the bar one night, a very attractive girl, a few years older than me. She’s a single mother in a valley full of losers. I hate to say that about this place, but it’s pretty much true. So she asked me at one point what my goals were. At the time, I told her I didn’t really have any solid goals, though because of my work history (inside and outside of music) I have plenty of options, I just don’t really know what I want to do yet. Well, suffice it to say that it was a one-night stand and I never heard from her again, and I’m sure this answer was the reason. But it got me thinking about what I want to do, and there’s absolutely no doubt that it has to do with music. I’m thinking that if I had to declare a future goal right now, I’d say it’d be to own my own recording studio and be (justifiably) able to call myself the producer.
Anyway, that’s what got me motivated to jump back into this so passionately. That goal (subject to change, but you get the idea), mixed with my recent acquirement of new music software and the book mentioned above, is pretty much why I started this blog and am pushing myself so adamantly on soundcloud and facebook.
Mikl Moose 