Articles of the Day

(Note: this blog will begin with a backlog of articles I had saved up)

Donald Passman on Royalties
Here's a short interview by knowthemusicbiz.com with Music Attorney Donald Passman.  For those of you who don't know, Donald Passman is the author of "All You Need to Know About the Music Business," long considered one of the most useful  and enlightening books about the Music Industry (and one that I highly recommend).  In the interview, Mr. Passman reviews what type of royalties independent artists who retain their copyrights can expect to receive.

Musician's Roadmap to Setting Goals
Music Think Tank has a nice piece about the importance of setting goals, and the very simple act of writing them down.  People who write down their goals 1) have a better understanding of what they are trying to do and 2) are more likely to actually do it.  Personally I use the Mac program Things which lets me sync my to-do list between my desktop, laptop, and iPhone.  It actually makes doing things fun in a nerdy way.  In fact, upon finishing this post I will probably pump my fist in the air, then look around to make sure no one saw me.  Try it!

New Ideas: Christopher Bryant
Christopher Bryant has a unique way to open up his act.  He starts off by playing a few covers of an artist who has influenced him.  This can be a great way for an artist to break the ice with an audience who is not familiar with him.  By playing their music and talking about them, you can build a common ground with the crowd.  I think this especially works well if the artist they are covering is someone whose style is substantially different from the artist who is performing.  It shows depth.  Peoples like depth.

John P. Strohm- Creative Commons
Many of you may have heard of Lawrence Lessig's creation Creative Commons, which essentially is a blanket license for certain types of use of material.  Here's a quick breakdown of the types of licenses available.  Don't worry, there will be much more on this topic to come...