Ustream Opens Pay-Per-View To General Public Including "Your Brother's Band"

Live streaming platform Ustream recently launched their Open Pay-Per-View (OPPV) program after extensive beta testing. The service is available to all Ustream users and requires no upfront costs with a 50/50 rev share. It sounds like a great opportunity for indie producers, DIY musicians and venues wishing to put on their own PPV events. Ustream's announcement of Open Pay-per-view coincided with their presentation on Tuesday at SF MusicTech 2013. In addition, presentations and panels from SF MusicTech were...

Ashley Monroe Finds Her Own Way

Though Ashley Monroe is hardly a newcomer to Country Music, many fans will hear her for the first time on her own with Like a Rose – her first solo effort since she achieved visibility as a member of The Pistol Annies, which also includes Miranda Lambert and Angaleena Presley. But for Vince Gill, who produced Like a Rose with Justin Niebank, his acquaintance with and admiration for Monroe goes back about a decade. “I first met Ashley when she had just moved to town. I called her up to figure out a time...

Kim's Songwriters Toolbox: What is a Hook and Where Can I Find One?

Hi Everyone - I'm starting a new series of articles called Kim's Songwriters Toolbox. Planning to share some great insights on writing and tools for making your songs stronger! Hook the listener! Get to the hook! Write to your hook! The hook is the message of your song consolidated into one clever or profound line. It is the one line that a listener will remember from your song even if they forget all others because of its placement in the song; it’s musical and melodic spotlight; it’s “singability” (aka rhyme, meter, alliteration...

Kellie Pickler Is on the Case with Trϋ Protection

When Keiko Napier and her sons founded Trϋ Protection in 2009, they had several top priorities. One was to create a line of high-quality accessories for Apple iPhones, iPods, iPads and other products. Equally important, they wanted to support charities through sales of dedicated designer items. So when she took note of Kellie Pickler’s Bald Beauties campaign to encourage women to get mammograms and detect breast cancer early, Napier knew at once she had found an ideal cause and partner. As it happens, Pickler...

Amp Troubleshooting and Repairs for Road Dogs

One thing you can count on if you’re a touring musician is that at some point your amp is going to stop working or fail to operate correctly. That’s why it’s always a good idea to travel with a backup and to have some simple amp fixes, which are all many failures require, within your skill set. First, a word of caution. There are dangers associated with major amp repairs, since transformers can retain their raw voltage and deliver serious, harmful shocks unless they are properly discharged. But tube...

Alvin Lee: Legendary Guitarist Dead At 68

I am still numb upon hearing the news about the death of singer-songwriter-guitarist Alvin Lee. Only 68, the virtuoso guitarist apparently passed away in the wake of "unforeseen complications following a routine surgical procedure," according to his Web site. Throughout the day I have received a number of texts and emails from friends who know that I am a long-time fan of the Ten Years After icon. I only had the chance to interview him once, and then subsequently see him shortly after that. I'll never forget the excitement of seeing him...

Concert Review: Great Big Sea Still Going Strong 20 Years On

Canadian folk-rockers Great Big Sea at City National Grove of Anaheim made it clear Tuesday night: No matter what the musical brand, it takes something special for a group that sails mostly below commercial radar to stay together and continue to fully connect with fans for two decades. "Anaheim, California – the first day of the tour!" Alan Doyle, principal vocalist and one of the band's three multi-instrumentalists, declared early in the night. "Twenty years in the making. Thank you very much." The export from Newfoundland ...

20 Years of Radiohead

Radiohead released their debut album, Pablo Honey, 20 years ago in February 1993. Since then, they’ve achieved their own low-key megastardom. What makes Radiohead so very special? I first listened to Radiohead via “Creep.” Sure, I’d heard them before but “Creep” was when I really listened. On its second single release – it flopped first time – it became an alt.rock smash on both sides of the Atlantic. Dramatic and dynamic, with outrageous guitar tones, it hit a nerve with the grunge generation looking for...

The Gibson Flying V: 20 Essential Facts

Back in 1957, Gibson’s then-President and chief designer, Ted McCarty, undoubtedly had an eye on the ‘50s tailfins of cars by Cadillac and Chrysler when he designed the V, part of Gibson’s 1958-launched Modernistic line alongside the Explorer and super-rare Moderne. The Flying V has a rich history in music of all genres. You’ll be needing this Flying V 101 to impress your buddies. 1. Ted McCarty’s earliest 1957 prototypes were made of mahogany, and had the ‘V’ sides but a rounded Les Paul-like rear bout...

The Mavericks – Built to Last

Take one quavering tremolo guitar chord, a rattlesnake shaker, some Farfisa carny keyboards and a few picante horn punctuations, and you’re on the brink of “Back in Your Arms Again,” written by Raul Martinez, Gary Nicholson and Seth Walker, the opening track of In Time, the first new music in seven years from the celebrated progressive Country sensation known as The Mavericks. More than 20 years after their first critically acclaimed major label release, From Hell to Paradise, the Miami-born, two-time CMA Vocal Group of...

Free Singing Online Lessons - Good Idea or Futile Fantasy?

Free singing online lessons initially sound like a perfectly sane concept. And indeed, they could be just the thing for those singers who don't have easy access to an urban center teeming with singing coaches. These singers are forced to reach out beyond their home base in order to find good vocal teachers. On the singer's side of the equation, we know the price for free singing online lessons is right. Free is free, after all. Voice lessons are expensive and not all aspiring singers are living on a trust fund. So maybe free ...

Music Sampling: A War Rages within the Music and Art Community on a Legal Battleground

Many believe that the birth of rap began with Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight,” but it also was the first popular rap single to employ ‘sampling.’ This was not sampling in the traditional sense, however, because the Gang rapped over the recording of a live band playing the backing beat. It was actually Grandmaster Flash and others in the 70’s and 80’s, instead, who pioneered the direct use of others music in their own creations and laid the groundwork for the fight over music sampling to come. The first salvo in this...

The New Live Music Experience: Tech, Bands and Fans

In 2005, live was considered the golden goose of the music sector, all hopes were invested in the small venues and festivals, while pundits and executives preached it to be the future; the alternative to the sinking and piracy-ridden recording industry. By 2010, hopes were still up, but there were many issues to be faced: rising booking fees, rising ticket prices, and a slew of cancelled or underperforming concerts and festivals. Nonetheless, income from live was the primary reason (along merchandising) artists...

Music Video Strategies for Promotion and Monetization

Caroline Bottomley from Radar recently chaired a panel at legendary music industry conference, Midem where top industry professionals discussed strategies for promoting and making money from your videos. Here are some of the top tips they shared: The importance of Youtube. Having your video on YouTube is essential for musicians: • availability (Youtube is the primary search tool for music). • shareability (it’s easy to share and embed from Youtube). • monetisable streams (Youtube LOVE music videos and encourage...

Making Money With Music Licensing – Part 3: Who’s Buying and How to Connect

To develop an adequate understanding of the path to earning money licensing music, four essential areas make up the key foundational knowledge, and we cover them in three posts. In part one, "Copyrights and Revenue," we look at the different copyrights and the basic blueprint for how revenue is generated by licensing your original music. Part two, "Creating Value and Income," addresses how to create value and earn income through music licensing. In this third and final post, we explore the diversity of buyers for original music...