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IndieBible's blog
| Monday, October 30th, 2006
The New 2007 Edition Of The Indie Bible Has Been Released!
David Wimble, musician and founder of The Indie Bible, announced the release of the 2007 edition of the ever-popular music industry resource. Listing over 4200 publications that will review artists' music and 3500 radio stations that will play their songs, the 8th edition of The Indie Bible has become an indispensable tool for recording artists looking to take the DIY route to success.
"The first edition was a photocopied spiral bound book with a plain white cover," reminisced David Wimble, Publisher. "Even though its appearance was unimpressive, the feedback was amazing! Now in its 8th Edition, The Indie Bible continues to grow! It still remains as the only resource totally dedicated to those artists that have recorded a CD or demo."
The Indie Bible has 330 pages of valuable contacts and informative articles:
- 4200 Publications that will REVIEW your music!
- 3500 Radio Stations that will PLAY your songs!
- 600 Labels & Distributors looking to SIGN artists!
- 500 Websites where you can UPLOAD your music!
- 50 articles that will help your career
* Listings with email, web url and physical address, phone and fax
* Worldwide listings in US, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, etc.
* Sorted by genre and location for precise targeting
* Local and international press
John Foxworthy of GarageRadio.com has called The Indie Bible "a 330-page collection of the most useful resources on the planet and presented in an easy-to-follow format ... quite possibly the most valuable piece of literature to occupy any recording artist's library."
Visit The Indie Bible website, http://www.indiebible.com
The Indie Bible has also started making an impact in the social networking universe, establishing presences on sites such as MySpace, iSound, Nextcat and Music Forte.
http://www.myspace.com/indiebible
http://www.musicforte.com/member/indiebible
http://nextcat.com/indiebible
http://www.isound.com/profile/IndieBible/
David Wimble is a Singer/Songwriter from Ottawa, Canada. His band, Big Meteor, put out their first CD in 2000. The CD, titled "Wild River," received rave reviews from around the world. "Wild River" features a wide blend of music ranging from Acoustic Rock to Blues to Old Time Country. To date, songs from the "Wild River" CD have been used in one made-for-TV movie and 50 television shows on networks such as NBC, A&E, MTV and VH1. For more information on Big Meteor, visit http://www.bigmeteor.com/bmr or listen to clips of their songs on their CD Baby webpage http://cdbaby.com/cd/bigmeteor
Posted By IndieBible @ 12:54 PM | Comments: 0 |
| Friday, September 1st, 2006
Helpful Resources
August 2006 - Helpful Resources For Your Band
CDDVD Now!
2560-A San Carlos Ave. Castro Valley, CA 94546
PH: 510-888-6800 FX: 510-888-6805
Phil Peretz phil@cddvdnow.com
www.cddvdnow.com
CD and DVD production services. Short and long runs. Retail ready. Great prices, great service and great people!
Holy Ground Coffee House
304 W. Allen St., Springfield, IL 62704
PH: 217-391-0450 FX: 217-585-1534
Don Hunt don@cggm.org
www.cggm.org
A place for Christian indie artists to share their gifts.
Public Revolution Video Gig Guide
musicians@publicrevolution.com
www.publicrevolution.com
Allows indie fans, labels and venues to preview artist's live gigs before going.
RealMusicNC.com
realmusicnc@gmail.com
www.RealMusicNC.com
Covering the North Carolina music scene.
Band Weblogs
Jenny May & Dave Tommo info@bandweblogs.com
www.bandweblogs.com
Submit band press, reviews, links to MP3s, music videos, podcasts and more.
Sonarus Corporation
5 Vertical Dr. Cannonsburg, PA 15317
PH: 888-757-3472 FX: 724-746-0745
Derek info@sonarus.com
www.sonarus.com
Whether you need one copy or millions, we will produce the job on time and on budget. Our award winning Digital Cloning Laboratory(TM) thrives on CD replication service and DVD replication service perfection. You get exactly what you want, when you want it.
Tape & Disc Services
7570 Springhill Ct. Gladstone, OR 97027
PH: 888-655-2272 FX: 503-656-4742
Steve Zielger info@tapeanddisc.com
www.tapeanddisc.com
A full-service CD duplication and replication company that also specializes in DVD replication and duplication.
Busy Beaver Buttons
PO Box 87676, Chicago, IL 60680
Christen Carter buttongal@busybeaver.net
www.busybeaver.net
We make custom buttons good, fast and cheap!
CDstands.com
30 Compton Way, Hamilton Sq. NJ 08690
PH: 609-689-1711
Scott Clark info@cdreview.com
www.cdstands.com
We manufacture our own line of CD boxes for artists to sell their music at shows or in stores.
ALLPARTS
13027 Brittmoore Park Dr. Houston, TX 77041
PH: 713-466-6414 FX: 713-466-5803
info@allparts.com
http://www.allparts.com
America's premier guitar and bass parts supplier.
Festival Network Online
www.festivalnet.com
There's nothing like a live performance! FNO lists more than 7,000 events throughout the U.S. and Canada seeking performers, from local & regional to national & international. Search by 22 different music genres, event attendance, zip code radius & more. Plug in festival dates with club dates.
Westone Music Products
2235 Executive Circle, Colorado Springs, CO 80906
PH: 719-540-9333 FX: 719-540-9183
Paul Carhart music@westone.com
http://www.westone.com/music
In-ear musicians monitoring and hearing protection products.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE INDIE BIBLE NEWSLETTER!Every month you will receive our free newsletter with 50 New Listings of music services looking to review your CD, give your songs radio airplay, distribute your music, sell your songs, and music more!
You could also win a Sennheiser E835 Microphone, a pair of Sennheiser Headphones and MANY other valuable prizes in our monthly draw!
Visit www.indiebible.com to subscribe.
Posted By IndieBible @ 4:47 PM | Comments: 0 |
| Friday, September 1st, 2006
Upload MP3s or Videos
August 2006 - Sites Where You Can Upload Your Band's MP3s Or Videos
Soundation
Halsingegatan 9, Stockholm, Sweden
PH: 001-46-8-660-9910
martha martha@powerfx.com
www.soundation.com
Sell your music directly from your website or MySpace page. Wwe don't take a percentage! This is the future of online music sales. Don't wait to be signed to a label, be your own e-label.
Kerascene Music Digital Distribution
16 Russell Ave. Dunchurch, Rugby, CV22 6PX UK
PH: 07790957028
Stephen Parfitt info@kerascene.com
www.kerascene.com/business.htm
Our primary goal is to make independent music available via digital retailers. We get your music onto the biggest internet stores; iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, eMusic, Sony Connect and MusicNet (including Yahoo!, Cdigix, Synacor, iMesh, Virgin Digital, HMV Digital, FYE), giving you access to a potent revenue source with NO commission on sales, and little work on your part.
Textango
121 N. Hamilton Dr. ..106, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
PH: 908-309-6716 FX: 360-294-3777
Lee Wasser Lee@textango.com
www.textango.com
We allow anyone to buy your music by sending a text message. It bills their cell phone bill!
OySongs.com
www.OySongs.com
The worlds central source for Jewish audio and sheet music. In addition to complete artist information, the unique music service has single-song or full-album audio downloads from the ever-expanding genres of Jewish music.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE INDIE BIBLE NEWSLETTER!
Every month you will receive our free newsletter with 50 New Listings of music services looking to review your CD, give your songs radio airplay, distribute your music, sell your songs, and music more!
You could also win a Sennheiser E835 Microphone, a pair of Sennheiser Headphones and MANY other valuable prizes in our monthly draw!
Visit www.indiebible.com to subscribe.
Posted By IndieBible @ 4:46 PM | Comments: 0 |
| Friday, September 1st, 2006
What is "Podsafe" Music?
August 2006 - What is "Podsafe" Music?
by David Wimble, The Indie Bible
Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
As you visit the hundreds of music podcast and MP3 blog sites you'll notice that most them feature something called PODSAFE MUSIC. For this article I have gathered information from various internet sites in order to help clarify what podsafe music is and how it can become another helpful tool to place into your marketing utility belt.
Definition of podsafe music (from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org)
Podsafe is a term created in the podcasting community to refer to any work which, through its licensing, specifically allows the use of the work in podcasting, regardless of restrictions the same work might have in other realms. For example, a song may be legal to use in podcasts, but may need to be purchased or have royalties paid for over-the-air radio use, television use, and possibly even personal use.
The effective definition of "podsafe" for a given work depends entirely on the contract through which the podcaster licenses the work; there is no single podsafe license. The concept of podsafety, in its true form, greatly favors the artist and the profitability of the artist's product, in exchange for only very limited concessions to the podcasting community.
While some works such as public domain works or works under some Creative Commons licenses are inherently podsafe, the only actual requirement for a work to be podsafe is that any licensing requirements it has, if applicable, allow for the work's free use (typical broadcast use in its original form, if in no other form, depending on the specific license) in a podcast or web broadcast. This gives specific favor to podcasts only, allowing the artist to impose more traditional constraints on everyone else. Podsafe licensing can, for example, continue to require non-podcast consumers to pay for the work, require royalties on derivative works, and profit significantly from the work's use in traditional radio, television, or film.
The licensor of any podsafe work must be legally capable of making it so. An artist cannot distribute his or her own work through a podsafe license if doing so would break any laws or breach any standing agreements (e.g. with the RIAA). The creator of a derivative work may also not claim this work podsafe without express permission from the original copyright holders. (PMN has more specific and stringent terms to this effect in its agreement.) Another point of contention is that not all podcasts are non-commercial works; in fact, an increasing number of podcasts are taking on sponsors and looking to make a profit. In general, no significant distinction is yet made between podsafe for non-commercial use and podsafe for commercial use, but it could easily arise at any moment.
Motives for the podcaster to use podsafe music (from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org)
As podcasting grows more and more popular, illegal use of heavily licensed music (as through the RIAA) becomes increasingly difficult to hide. This is in general of greater concern to podcasters than to the typical sharer of music, because podcasters usually produce their shows for and promote them to the public-a far more overt and traceable action.
Including such licensed music legally has its own set of caveats. Indeed, under many jurisdictions it's currently impossible, but the message from those in the know is that many licensing agencies, if they do intend to allow the use of their music on podcasts, will require not only the payment of royalties but also the use of DRM on the shows. (DRM, because of its proprietary, system-specific nature, would be destructive to the general openness and system independence of podcasts.)
Use of podsafe music instead of more stringently licensed material allows a podcaster to continue to produce an inexpensive, legal program with little hassle. Not least important for an independent podcaster is the promise of being able to avoid the confusing maze of licensing organisations.
Motives for the artist to use podsafe music (from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org)
Conventional radio (and television) can present a difficult, and not always logical, barrier of entry for a musician or other media artist involving large sums of money and often a great deal of surrender in both ownership and creative freedom.
In contrast, podcasting, an increasingly popular medium for audio programs, is as a whole very receptive, indeed thirsty for artists and input. This is due in part to the creative and economic nature of the largely independent podcasting community and further fueled by its need to avoid repetition. While a conventional radio show may be able to risk replaying a large part of its music selection from day to day, there would be little point in downloading a music podcast whose selection did not vary significantly from a previous show. Podcasting is thus a voracious medium. With a growing and international audience podcasting is now becoming an effective means for inexpensive artist promotion often aimed squarely at the people most like to be interested in that type of music.
What is The Podsafe Music Network?
The Podsafe Music Network (music.podshow.com) is a comprehensive source for podsafe music. It was founded in 2005 by ex MTV VJ and current podcaster Adam Curry (Daily Source Code). PMN brings a large group of podcasters together with a wide variety of all-podsafe music and the artists who produce it.
According to PMN, podsafe music is music that meets all of the following conditions:
1. Works submitted to the Podsafe Music Network are the property of the artist, and all rights to these works, including lyrics and music, are the property of the artist.
2. All works contain no recordings, lyrics, copyrights, or other elements that are the copyright of any other artist, except under the limited provisions of the Creative Commons License Agreement www.creativecommons.org
3. Despite any recording contracts with RIAA, ASCA, BMI or other recording industry entity, the artist retains ownership of the works and is free to distribute, broadcast, license or sell these works at the artist's discretion.
The licensing agreement between the artist and PMN: music.podshow.com/music/artistTerms.htm
What are Creative Commons Licenses? (from www.creativecommons.org)
Creative Commons Licenses help you publish your work online while letting others know exactly what they can and can't do with your work. When you choose a licence, we provide you with tools and tutorials that let you add licence information to our own site or to one of several free hosting services that have incorporated Creative Commons.
1. Standard License License your song under your terms. Our set of standard licenses will let you share music with fans while protecting your song from limits you put in place. Or, choose a prepared license for audio works.
2. Sampling License People can take and transform pieces of your work for any purpose other than advertising, which is prohibited. Copying and distribution of the entire work is also prohibited.
3. Share Music License This license is aimed at the musician that wants to spread their music on web and filesharing networks legally for fans to download and share, while protecting the music from commercial use or remixing of any kind.
How does a Creative Commons license operate?
Creative Commons license are based on copyright. So it applies to all works that are protected by copyright law. The kinds of works that are protected by copyright law are books, websites, blogs, photographs, films, videos, songs and other audio & visual recordings, for example. Software programs are also protected by copyright but, as explained below, we do not recommend that you apply a Creative Commons license to software code or documentation.
Creative Commons licenses give you the ability to dictate how others may exercise your copyright rights-such as the right of others to copy your work, make derivative works or adaptations of your work, to distribute your work and/or make money from your work. They do not give you the ability to restrict anything that is otherwise permitted by exceptions or limitations to copyright-including, importantly, fair use or fair dealing-nor do they give you the ability to control anything that is not protected by copyright law, such as facts and ideas. Creative Commons licenses attach to the work and authorize everyone who comes in contact with the work to use it consistent with the license. This means that if Bob has a copy of your Creative Commons-licensed work, Bob can give a copy to Carol and Carol will be authorized to use the work consistent with the Creative Commons license. You then have a license agreement separately with both Bob and Carol.
Where are the forms that I have to fill out?
Creative Commons licenses are expressed in three different formats: the Commons Deed (human-readable code), the Legal Code (lawyer-readable code) and the metadata (machine readable code). You don't need to sign anything to get a CCL. Just select your license here: www.creativecommons.org/license
Hmmm …what if I change my mind?
This is an extremely important point for you to consider. Creative Commons licenses are non-revocable. This means that you cannot stop someone, who has obtained your work under a Creative Commons license, from using the work according to that license. You can stop offering your work under a Creative Commons license at any time you wish; but this will not affect the rights with any copies of your work already in circulation under a Creative Commons license. So you need to think carefully when choosing a Creative Commons license to make sure that you are happy for people to be using your work consistent with the terms of the license, even if you later stop distributing your work.
Before you do anything, make sure you have the rights!
Before applying a Creative Commons license to a work, you need to make sure you have the authority to do so. This means that you need to make sure that the person who owns the copyright in the work is happy to have the work made available under a Creative Commons license.
Where do podcasters find podsafe music? (from Dave's Imaginary Sound Space soundblog.spaces.live.com)
Discovering new music and the ability to use it fairly without fear of copyright infringement is a key issue for podcasters and listeners alike. Artists, composers, producers and consumers can all benefit from clear, fair and flexible copyright licenses that embrace new technologies. 'Podsafe' means non-RIAA audio and video that can be used legally in podcast productions and freely distributed online for downloading. Podsafe music can be found in many locations on the web including: artists websites, MP3 blogs, open source music communities, podcast directories, netlabels, P2P networks and BitTorrent hosts. A quick search for "podsafe" in a podcast directory like PodcastAlley.com reveals a rich and diverse array of productions featuring podsafe music. Unfortunately it becomes extremely time consuming for podcasters to source available music and listen to it. Recommendations by listeners and fans play an important part in the podcast production process.
The definitive list of podcasting safe music sites can be found HERE!
It's always about the music
For an artist just entering into the podcast/MP3 blog universe, the amount of information to take in can be overwhelming. It's not unlike a lifelong typist being plopped in front of a computer and asked to create a spreadsheet with colored charts.
As you watch the internet continue to explode with new technologies, it may feel like life has passed you by and left you lying in the dust. However, the truth is we're all still tightly bundled together. No one is ever left behind. The opportunity to move towards the cutting edge is available to anyone (my father-in-law has just learned how to use a computer at the age of 81). Don't let fear (and the excuses it can conjure up) lessen your attempts to succeed.
Remember, it has always been, and always will be about the music - that unique expression that you have to offer to the world. Podcasts, podsafe music, MP3 blogs, Creative Commons licenses and all that other bounce-off-the-head stuff is simply a collection of new and useful tools to help you get your music heard by more people.
Final thoughts
For the newbie, my suggestion would be to take it slow. Open one small door at a time and get a feel for it all. You'll eventually discover that bloggers and podcasters are simply human beings with a passion for music - a collection of music lovers that are ready and willing to help you get your songs heard by a new stream of potential fans.
David Wimble is Editor and Publisher of the Indie Bible - a yearly music directory for recording artists that helps them to gain exposure for their music. The Indie Bible was first published in 1999. www.IndieBible.com
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE INDIE BIBLE NEWSLETTER!
Every month you will receive our free newsletter with 50 New Listings of music services looking to review your CD, give your songs radio airplay, distribute your music, sell your songs, and music more!
You could also win a Sennheiser E835 Microphone, a pair of Sennheiser Headphones and MANY other valuable prizes in our monthly draw!
Visit www.indiebible.com to subscribe.
Posted By IndieBible @ 4:45 PM | Comments: 0 |
| Tuesday, August 29th, 2006
Selling Your Music Online - A Reality Check
SECTION SEVEN OF THE INDIE BIBLE - 7TH EDITION
Articles That Will Help You To Succeed In The Music Business
While creating The Indie Bible I have been fortunate enough to have met many of the most knowledgeable people in the Independent music industry. Successful authors, publicists, music reviewers, entertainment lawyers etc. I thought it would be a perfect fit if I presented several of their articles to help you gain insight on how to deal with the many twists and turns of this complicated industry. The articles in this section are sure to be helpful to musicians and songwriters, and especially to those that are just starting out. Every author I asked was kind enough to submit an article that will help you to move forward with your music career. Do yourself a favor, and put their experience to work for you!
www.indiebible.com
by David Nevue, author of "How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet"
(Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission)
I am often asked how much money a person can really make selling music online. I hear both extremes, both from artists who think they'll use the Internet to make it rich, and others who don't believe anyone can make any money online selling music. The truth is somewhere in between.
What follows is a brief, edited excerpt from the introductory chapter of my book, How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet.
Will You Make Millions?
Let's get real for a moment. Promoting your music successfully on the Internet is hard work. Don't ever forget that. I've spent years doing this. The Internet is not a shortcut to success -- it's simply another tool, one that can be very effective in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. Still, it's important to have realistic expectations before investing your time and money marketing your music online. You're going to face some very heated competition. There literally tens of thousands of musicians out there who already have web pages on the Internet (as of this writing there are over 98,000 artists registered with CDBaby.com alone). How can you compete with all those musicians? They are just the tip of the iceberg, though. Once you embark upon your promotional journey, you are, in a very real sense, competing with every other web page out there. How can you possibly stand out in that crowd? Pretty daunting, isn't it?
According to the Neilsen Netratings web site, there are over 299 million people actively using the Internet. A Georgia Tech survey of actual buyers provided some very interesting statistics: 70f all buyers searched for the item they bought, 16 earched for a topic related to what they bought, and 4 earched for the name of another product which led them to the final product they purchased. Adding it up, 90f all buyers used the Internet as a modern-day, digital Yellow Pages. So the question is, what does this tell you about selling your music on the Net?
Quite simply, it means that creating a web page to sell your music is not enough. That's something I discovered very early on. Even if you submit your site to the search engines, you're not likely to see a significant traffic increase. Think about it. If 90f the buyers out there already know what they are looking for and are searching the Internet for that particular item, how will they find you, someone whose music they have likely never heard of? If they are not looking for you, they won't find you. So, what ARE they looking for? Therein lies the key.
Here's the slap-in-the-face reality: In my experience, the average musician sells between two and five CDs a year from their web site. Sales that low do not justify the expense of putting your music online. Can you do better than five CDs a year? Yes, you can do much, much better, but only if you have a quality product people care about and market it properly. Let me be up front with you. To succeed on the Internet, you must prepare yourself for the long haul and prepare to work hard. Success on the Internet won't come overnight.
As you read on, keep the following questions in the back of your mind. They hold the key to successful online music promotion:
1) What is unique about my music?
2) What general style of music are my fans most interested in?
3) What other artists do my fans compare my music to?
and most importantly...
4) Who is my target customer?
5) What kind of information is my *target* customer searching for on the Internet?
6) How can I use that information to bring that target customer to my web site?To answer the question I posed at the beginning of this article, no, you are not
likely to make millions on the Internet doing just music. But you can bring in a good, steady income. In 2004, I was able to generate an average of about $6,000 per month in total sales just from the Internet (that doesn't include gigs and CD sales at gigs). This income comes not only from CD sales, but sheet music sales (of my own music), book sales, partnerships, advertising revenue, and other sources. But every single thing I do online is related to the music business I love.
It's Not Just About the Money...
There is still the question of using the Internet to advance your music career, and that's something the Internet can help you do also. I've been able to generate a lot of publicity for my music online, and as a result not only do I sell CDs, but I often receive requests to have my music used in independent film and media projects. I've negotiated three distribution deals overseas as a result of someone finding my music online. One company is using my music on an internationally distributed DVD series that raises funds for various charities. Even NBC contacted me to inquire about using my music in a made for TV film. Finally, I'm playing a lot more gigs in a lot more places as a direct result of marketing my music online and as you know, the more you play live, the more doors get opened up for you. You, like me, can use the Internet to create a huge amount of exposure for your music. The more exposure you generate, the more likely you are to gain new fans, sell more music get more gigs and of course, make those contacts you want to make within the music industry.
David Nevue is the founder of The Music Biz Academy, an online resource for musicians at http://www.musicbizacademy.com. He is also a professional pianist, recording artist, full-time musician, and author of the book, "How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet" which you can read about at http://www.promoteyourmusic.com
Posted By IndieBible @ 1:45 PM | Comments: 0 |
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