Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Contemporary Savage
In todays American society, there is a certain kind of person I find infesting our streets. Zombies of lust, rage, and the American Way. They are, 'The Contemporary Savage'. These people are the ones committing unthinkable crimes, inside and out, to live the 'contemporary' life, all of them legal. Whether it means thinking like a savage, or acting like one; in todays urban jungle, many would agree that you don't have to look very far to find one. In my personal opinion, the worst savages are the ones that live hundreds of stories over the streets, watching us scurry like mice through a cheese maze from plush leather chairs, and the sound of money falling in the background. Yes, the people living at the top of our culteral console, and controlling a large portion of our day to day world. The only problem is, they are not contemporary.
No, the contemporary savage is the one doing all he can to live our supposed 'middle class' life. The urban jungle calls for an equal supply of intellect, and behavior. Cold, cut-throat tactics are all that will get you ahead here. That is, if you don't possess a well of recources. These people are the ones that will beg borrow and steal to achieve what they feel they have to in order to find happiness, and success. The ones that want to be everywhere they are not, and only see reasons as to why the place they are in is not where they want to be. Considering our current economical status, the statistics of these blood suckers will start to bloat due to poor job markets, and plenty of hungry mouths and late mortgage payments.
Not to get too Zen on you, but it is an important step to finding where you want to be, by learning to accept where you are. In todays fast paced life style, change come and goes so fast, we barely have a solid ground to accomodate ourselves with for very long. But ah, to no avail. This circiumstance could still be percieved as the solid ground we need to make strong, well learned decisions from, as well as find peace. With all of these inner dialogues happening every second, most of them not even you, telling your mind what does, and does not need to get done. And the price of our to-do lists is taxing our world as we know it.
A persons lack of ability to share any compassion with the people close to them, and I dont mean emotioally, with inevitably be their downfall. A good song survives due to good harmony, what makes a species any different. Filled with childhood nostalgia, and promises of wealth, fame and happiness, we search on a never ending path of trials and pitfalls, never quite reaching the goal of satisfaction. Greed and gluttony run rampant, and the dead inherit the earth. Emotionless shells of pre-meditated responses and actions, all bred to tell you just what needs to be done to attain the goals you were told you should have.
This is why I live in the suburbs.
No, the contemporary savage is the one doing all he can to live our supposed 'middle class' life. The urban jungle calls for an equal supply of intellect, and behavior. Cold, cut-throat tactics are all that will get you ahead here. That is, if you don't possess a well of recources. These people are the ones that will beg borrow and steal to achieve what they feel they have to in order to find happiness, and success. The ones that want to be everywhere they are not, and only see reasons as to why the place they are in is not where they want to be. Considering our current economical status, the statistics of these blood suckers will start to bloat due to poor job markets, and plenty of hungry mouths and late mortgage payments.
Not to get too Zen on you, but it is an important step to finding where you want to be, by learning to accept where you are. In todays fast paced life style, change come and goes so fast, we barely have a solid ground to accomodate ourselves with for very long. But ah, to no avail. This circiumstance could still be percieved as the solid ground we need to make strong, well learned decisions from, as well as find peace. With all of these inner dialogues happening every second, most of them not even you, telling your mind what does, and does not need to get done. And the price of our to-do lists is taxing our world as we know it.
A persons lack of ability to share any compassion with the people close to them, and I dont mean emotioally, with inevitably be their downfall. A good song survives due to good harmony, what makes a species any different. Filled with childhood nostalgia, and promises of wealth, fame and happiness, we search on a never ending path of trials and pitfalls, never quite reaching the goal of satisfaction. Greed and gluttony run rampant, and the dead inherit the earth. Emotionless shells of pre-meditated responses and actions, all bred to tell you just what needs to be done to attain the goals you were told you should have.
This is why I live in the suburbs.
Three Essential Sites for Any Musician
The following is a list of the three pages I use and frequent to help utilize, and promote my music, and my friends, digitally. And no, I'm not talking about MySpace.
1. Reverb Nation
Reverb Nation is an essential online promotion tool that every spawning indipendant musician can use to chart and design their growth. Its fun to use, and so full of tools, that there is no reason for you to not use this site. Your most valuable tool is a great looking music widget that contain songs, pics, videos, show dates, and store. You can see in depth stats covering every angle of your on and offline prescence, and even gives you a score on your potential equity as a group, or individual.
2. SnoCap
SnoCap (recently purchased by the Network Site iMeem) is your first stop for turning your tacks into money. If you have an album, or just some songs, or maybe samples, you can set them all up for available download, at a price you determine. You have to make it at least .39 or else the site wont make any profit. Simple to use, and semi-effective, it's a great start for someone with a product to sell. Hopefully we will se some fun new features now that iMeem has purchased the site.
3. Spreadshirt
So maybe you have a logo for your band, but you want to have more product to have it placed on. Well, spreadshirt enables you to be able to paste your logo, or saying, or whatever on to a ton of different kinds of merchandise. Everything from T-shirts and ladies underwear, to pins, messenger bags, hats, and mouse pads. The only down side is you will have to pay at retail price to recieve your own shirts, but it is still better than no product at all.
1. Reverb Nation
Reverb Nation is an essential online promotion tool that every spawning indipendant musician can use to chart and design their growth. Its fun to use, and so full of tools, that there is no reason for you to not use this site. Your most valuable tool is a great looking music widget that contain songs, pics, videos, show dates, and store. You can see in depth stats covering every angle of your on and offline prescence, and even gives you a score on your potential equity as a group, or individual.
2. SnoCap
SnoCap (recently purchased by the Network Site iMeem) is your first stop for turning your tacks into money. If you have an album, or just some songs, or maybe samples, you can set them all up for available download, at a price you determine. You have to make it at least .39 or else the site wont make any profit. Simple to use, and semi-effective, it's a great start for someone with a product to sell. Hopefully we will se some fun new features now that iMeem has purchased the site.
3. Spreadshirt
So maybe you have a logo for your band, but you want to have more product to have it placed on. Well, spreadshirt enables you to be able to paste your logo, or saying, or whatever on to a ton of different kinds of merchandise. Everything from T-shirts and ladies underwear, to pins, messenger bags, hats, and mouse pads. The only down side is you will have to pay at retail price to recieve your own shirts, but it is still better than no product at all.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Three Writers Resources You Need to Use
In todays world, writers have a plethora of utilities and resources available to help you gain a strong foothold on their potential markets. Being an aspiring writer, I currently use all of the services listed, and find them to really help me to improve as a writer, and a business man.
1. Helium.com
Helium is an ingenius writing community, capable of helping to stimulate the creative juices of anyone. Essentially, you browse through the list of topics available to everyone. There is an endless amount of topics, and if you don't find anything that interests you, you can start a topic of your liking. When you choose a topic, you are then included into a pool of other people writing on the same topic. You will then be rated by the other writers in the community against other articles in your category. The higher the rating, the higher the value, the more you make. I love this site, and it can really help you find your voice, and refine your work against others writings.
2. Triond.com
Similar to helium, but not as in depth, in my opinion. You upload articles or pieces you have written and they are avaialble to be picked up by different publications, online, or maybe off, and used for profit. You make a cut, and are paid through paypal.
3. LuLu.com
LuLu is your one stop shop for free self publishing. Whether is is a book, photographs, music, or anything in-between. The downside is that you lose about 60% of your sale to LuLu, but they empower you to have your products available for sale, whether it be download, or hard copy.
1. Helium.com
Helium is an ingenius writing community, capable of helping to stimulate the creative juices of anyone. Essentially, you browse through the list of topics available to everyone. There is an endless amount of topics, and if you don't find anything that interests you, you can start a topic of your liking. When you choose a topic, you are then included into a pool of other people writing on the same topic. You will then be rated by the other writers in the community against other articles in your category. The higher the rating, the higher the value, the more you make. I love this site, and it can really help you find your voice, and refine your work against others writings.
2. Triond.com
Similar to helium, but not as in depth, in my opinion. You upload articles or pieces you have written and they are avaialble to be picked up by different publications, online, or maybe off, and used for profit. You make a cut, and are paid through paypal.
3. LuLu.com
LuLu is your one stop shop for free self publishing. Whether is is a book, photographs, music, or anything in-between. The downside is that you lose about 60% of your sale to LuLu, but they empower you to have your products available for sale, whether it be download, or hard copy.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
A Guide to Cyber PR for Musicicans
Todays musicians need to learn just how important of a role the web will play in their bands promotion. You can do an innumerable amount of things to earn your band exposure, collect fans, send out mass notifications, and earn money. Here is a quick getting started guide to a musicians online PR.
First and foremost, get a Myspace Music Page (Unless you already have one). Myspace sets the standard for online band promotions, and will act as your home base. It isn't necessarily the best, but it has the largest number of users, a great amount of customization, and the ability to sell tracks online(which we will cover later). You get a four track limit, unless you befriend a MySpace affiliate, BoDog.net. Make them your friend, and you get a fifth song for your profile.
Second, go to ReverbNation.com, and set up a profile. Reverb Nation is similar to Myspace, except this entire website is dedicated to musicians. Reverb Nation has a plethora of tools available for the online musician. From music players you can spread accross the web with your music, the ability to get on facebook, and a fan reach widget which lets people add themselves to your email list from your web page. They also have a show schedule widget with map and directions to your shows that is much more functional than the myspace tool. Your music will also be available on the Reverb radio, their website's streaming radio station. You also get a complete statistic section to see how many people are playing your music, from where, and a complete age and gender demographic of who is listening to your music, and submitting to your email list. Pricless.
OK, so you have an online prescence, with promotion, and graphs to understand your bands growth. Now, if you have a digital version of your bands logo, and maybe even a catch phrase, take them to the site, www.spreadshirt.com. Spreadshirt offers you a free printing service of t-shirts, hats, bags, underwear, anything. You pay nothing, and you actually earn about a 30% profit off of every item sold, and you are spreading your seed in the digital and real world. Promote your spreadshirt store from your myspace page, and you can sell from your main hub.
Now you can set your tracks up to be sold. There are two major websites that can enable you to sell your tracks, and both differ greatly in their pro's and con's. I suggest you use both, but you decide what works best for you. The first is SnoCap.com. SnoCap is a free service where you uplaod your tracks, create albums, and then have a digital store, capable to be linked with myspace and reverb nation to sell your tracks online. They take a pretty sizeabe commission from each sale (for every .99 song, you make roughly .59), but its more than your making now. Your SnoCap store can be displayed on your myspace page, just under the songs you are allowing to stream.
The other site is TuneCore.com. TuneCore works similar to SnoCap, but doesn't take a comission, and gives you a barcode for your album so it is retail ready. For a small charge your album can be placed in iTunes Music, Windows Media Player Music Database, and RealPlayer. People can also purchase a physical CD, rather than just a downloadable version.
So there you have it. You now have a great head start to an oline enterprise, and your band can start maximizing your success on, and off, the internet. Enjoy!
First and foremost, get a Myspace Music Page (Unless you already have one). Myspace sets the standard for online band promotions, and will act as your home base. It isn't necessarily the best, but it has the largest number of users, a great amount of customization, and the ability to sell tracks online(which we will cover later). You get a four track limit, unless you befriend a MySpace affiliate, BoDog.net. Make them your friend, and you get a fifth song for your profile.
Second, go to ReverbNation.com, and set up a profile. Reverb Nation is similar to Myspace, except this entire website is dedicated to musicians. Reverb Nation has a plethora of tools available for the online musician. From music players you can spread accross the web with your music, the ability to get on facebook, and a fan reach widget which lets people add themselves to your email list from your web page. They also have a show schedule widget with map and directions to your shows that is much more functional than the myspace tool. Your music will also be available on the Reverb radio, their website's streaming radio station. You also get a complete statistic section to see how many people are playing your music, from where, and a complete age and gender demographic of who is listening to your music, and submitting to your email list. Pricless.
OK, so you have an online prescence, with promotion, and graphs to understand your bands growth. Now, if you have a digital version of your bands logo, and maybe even a catch phrase, take them to the site, www.spreadshirt.com. Spreadshirt offers you a free printing service of t-shirts, hats, bags, underwear, anything. You pay nothing, and you actually earn about a 30% profit off of every item sold, and you are spreading your seed in the digital and real world. Promote your spreadshirt store from your myspace page, and you can sell from your main hub.
Now you can set your tracks up to be sold. There are two major websites that can enable you to sell your tracks, and both differ greatly in their pro's and con's. I suggest you use both, but you decide what works best for you. The first is SnoCap.com. SnoCap is a free service where you uplaod your tracks, create albums, and then have a digital store, capable to be linked with myspace and reverb nation to sell your tracks online. They take a pretty sizeabe commission from each sale (for every .99 song, you make roughly .59), but its more than your making now. Your SnoCap store can be displayed on your myspace page, just under the songs you are allowing to stream.
The other site is TuneCore.com. TuneCore works similar to SnoCap, but doesn't take a comission, and gives you a barcode for your album so it is retail ready. For a small charge your album can be placed in iTunes Music, Windows Media Player Music Database, and RealPlayer. People can also purchase a physical CD, rather than just a downloadable version.
So there you have it. You now have a great head start to an oline enterprise, and your band can start maximizing your success on, and off, the internet. Enjoy!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
The Music Industry is Killing Itself
The music industry is killing itself with its constant feelings of having to manufacture the next big star. The people running these industries are looking only at their pocketbooks, and missing touch with the one thing that actually matters, the music.
People have completely forgotten the thought of doing something for ideal, rather than its marketability. Musicians get lost in dreams of the limelight, and lose complete focus of why they even began their journey in the first place.
The birth of digital music, on line streaming and downloading, all landed huge blows to the industry. Something they just were not prepared for, and a service that tore the whole entertainment industry apart at the seams.
Similar to the strikes in professional sports, Music stars started demanding more security, more compensation, and fighting their potential loss in profit, and the labels doing just the same. Legal ramifications became a mainstay, and the freedom that so much of our best music stood for, suddenly became lost.
Even some of the independent, outsourced labels are finding it difficult to adapt to these new circumstances standing between them, and the mainstream. Mainly because it is no longer a stream, but an ocean of music and artists associating with countless categories of taste and preference.
With the American public becoming bored with the manufactured success created by big record labels and Television Channels like VH1 and MTV, they are starting to find new places to turn. As well, musicians are finding new and innovative ways to distribute themselves to the masses with the medium created by the Internet.
If the Big 5 labels are going to survive, they will have to utilize new and freedom based ways of enticing artists to work with them, rather than treat them like indentured servants, at the disposal of some corporate suit. When a band can release their music world wide, while retaining rights, and making near 100% profit, it will be difficult to sway someone to the creative blocks created by labels and managers.
A new age of music is being born, as the dust settles from the turn of the century. All we can do, is wait and see who comes out on top of this musical drought we have been instilled in for almost a decade now. Your best bet is to start looking into the cracks of the Internet, and watching who has what it takes to be our savior in these times of darkness.
People have completely forgotten the thought of doing something for ideal, rather than its marketability. Musicians get lost in dreams of the limelight, and lose complete focus of why they even began their journey in the first place.
The birth of digital music, on line streaming and downloading, all landed huge blows to the industry. Something they just were not prepared for, and a service that tore the whole entertainment industry apart at the seams.
Similar to the strikes in professional sports, Music stars started demanding more security, more compensation, and fighting their potential loss in profit, and the labels doing just the same. Legal ramifications became a mainstay, and the freedom that so much of our best music stood for, suddenly became lost.
Even some of the independent, outsourced labels are finding it difficult to adapt to these new circumstances standing between them, and the mainstream. Mainly because it is no longer a stream, but an ocean of music and artists associating with countless categories of taste and preference.
With the American public becoming bored with the manufactured success created by big record labels and Television Channels like VH1 and MTV, they are starting to find new places to turn. As well, musicians are finding new and innovative ways to distribute themselves to the masses with the medium created by the Internet.
If the Big 5 labels are going to survive, they will have to utilize new and freedom based ways of enticing artists to work with them, rather than treat them like indentured servants, at the disposal of some corporate suit. When a band can release their music world wide, while retaining rights, and making near 100% profit, it will be difficult to sway someone to the creative blocks created by labels and managers.
A new age of music is being born, as the dust settles from the turn of the century. All we can do, is wait and see who comes out on top of this musical drought we have been instilled in for almost a decade now. Your best bet is to start looking into the cracks of the Internet, and watching who has what it takes to be our savior in these times of darkness.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Reviewing LuLu.com
In todays entrepreneurial world, everyone has a product to be produced. Thanks to the net, and all of the options now available, there are plenty of ways to produce, promote, and distribute products that you come up with, free. Lulu.com is one of these pages that will hand you the opportunity to do all this, with a simplistic interface, and tons of options, paid and not, to keep you working with your product.Whether you are writing a book, making a CD, or publishing a photography album, LuLu will enable you to keep all of these projects held in one place, and offer you tons of tools to help get the most put of your work. You even get your own website called your Store, simply enough. With your store, all of your products are on display, and people can view a small bio of you, and you can post your contact info.
All of the prices are set by you, and lulu takes a percentage of every item sold. You will make your largest profits working with digital download, because there is no physical product, and you wont have to pay for production, but there is retail space, made to order, or digital options for whatever project you are working on.
If you have something you are developing, or are just not happy with how your current publisher is handling your work, take your career into your own hands. Take advantage of this great service that LuLu is offering, and start your project today!
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Current TV. Your World. Live.
Since August 1, 2005, Current TV has been revolutionizing the way people view their television. Utilizing the aspect that keep people using the internet as their major informational medium, they are displaying special shows to the public through a creative styling, that could change how you absorb information. They use the format that supplies customizable content, and consumer participation, and break the norm of twenty-three minute programs with seven minutes of advertisement filler.
The realm of topics are very encompassing of, and understanding to, the subjects people in the demographic of 18 to 34 are absorbing right now. All shows, dubbed pods, are viewer created, and generally last between 5-10 minutes. Some of the pods are designed by producers for Current, but they remain focused on keeping fresh film makers submitting as often as possible. Granted, some experience in filming, and editing would be a plus, the editors make sure to plug many fresh and new pods full of great content, and full sectrum perspectives. Sudying fashions from all kinds of cities, to secrets of the rainforest, or the thrill of kite surfing.
Taking this idea to the next level, Current TV also has a community based website, located at http://www.current.com/, where you log on, make your profile, and contact other people interested in what current is doing. You can view their television schedule, or watch shows online. leave feedback on everything, with text or video, and find what stories they are looking for people to cover right now. The conversations can go on forever, and may wind up on TV.
The station was pioneered by none other than Al Gore, the Chairman of the Board, has instilled a great role of morals and ethics into the style of programming and direction, so that anyone with a passion will find inspiring, fresh, and interesting. Something for anyone, including the advertisements. Thats right, even some of the ads are designed by viewers as well.
Also on board is Joel Hyatt, Chief Executive Officer and creator of Hyatt Legal Services. A company described as supplying good quality legal services to medium and low income people. With these two individuals helping to steer this company in the right direction, you can only imagine what could come next in their line of ideas to embetter the way people view the world around them.
Carriage:
50 million paying subscriber households in the U.S. and the U.K.. Current is
carried on DIRECTV’s “Total Choice” package on channel 366, Echostar/ Dish
Network’s AT200 package on channel 196. Comcast’s Nationwide Digital Basic
tier on channel 107 and Time Warner Cable’s Nationwide Digital Basic tier.
Current is also available on AT&T’s U-verse Expanded Basic channel 189. In
the U.K., Current is available on Sky Basic on channel 229 and Virgin Media
Basic on channel 155.
By Robert Abby
info from current.com
The realm of topics are very encompassing of, and understanding to, the subjects people in the demographic of 18 to 34 are absorbing right now. All shows, dubbed pods, are viewer created, and generally last between 5-10 minutes. Some of the pods are designed by producers for Current, but they remain focused on keeping fresh film makers submitting as often as possible. Granted, some experience in filming, and editing would be a plus, the editors make sure to plug many fresh and new pods full of great content, and full sectrum perspectives. Sudying fashions from all kinds of cities, to secrets of the rainforest, or the thrill of kite surfing.
Taking this idea to the next level, Current TV also has a community based website, located at http://www.current.com/, where you log on, make your profile, and contact other people interested in what current is doing. You can view their television schedule, or watch shows online. leave feedback on everything, with text or video, and find what stories they are looking for people to cover right now. The conversations can go on forever, and may wind up on TV.
The station was pioneered by none other than Al Gore, the Chairman of the Board, has instilled a great role of morals and ethics into the style of programming and direction, so that anyone with a passion will find inspiring, fresh, and interesting. Something for anyone, including the advertisements. Thats right, even some of the ads are designed by viewers as well.
Also on board is Joel Hyatt, Chief Executive Officer and creator of Hyatt Legal Services. A company described as supplying good quality legal services to medium and low income people. With these two individuals helping to steer this company in the right direction, you can only imagine what could come next in their line of ideas to embetter the way people view the world around them.
Carriage:
50 million paying subscriber households in the U.S. and the U.K.. Current is
carried on DIRECTV’s “Total Choice” package on channel 366, Echostar/ Dish
Network’s AT200 package on channel 196. Comcast’s Nationwide Digital Basic
tier on channel 107 and Time Warner Cable’s Nationwide Digital Basic tier.
Current is also available on AT&T’s U-verse Expanded Basic channel 189. In
the U.K., Current is available on Sky Basic on channel 229 and Virgin Media
Basic on channel 155.
By Robert Abby
info from current.com
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