How do you get a record deal and earn lots of money? I don’t know. But I do know there are a lot of misconceptions around what a record deal is and what it can do for you. At the heart of it, a record deal is a bit like a bank loan. Its just in this case the bank is a specialist in the music industry with contacts & procedures in all the right places.

Another way the record deal differs from a normal bank loan is the amount of control they have over what you spend the money they lend you on. Record deals quite often insist on you spending $10,000 just on new instruments. I worked with a band last week who were so stuck on what to spend the money on they bought matching white flight cases for everything! The contract may demand that you tour europe and take & pay a sound man, tour manager & use a particular tour bus & driver with you. Once they have insisted on you recording with a top quality producer in a huge studio there isn’t much left of that $500,000 you secured.

So suddenly your 500,000 in the red and you ain’t even sold a record yet. Im not sure about you but its not the sort of position I’d like to find myself in!
I heard of a local band near me getting an offer from a record company in London. The record company pays for them to come down to London, puts them up in a flat, pays for them to record their album & puts it out for them. No money changes hands, if the band does well the record company keeps 100% while but also pays all of their bills. If the album flops they just say their goodbyes and leave it at that. Sounds like a great deal to get started if you ask me.

My point, I guess, is that getting a record deal isn’t the be all and end all of the music industry. Touring & publishing deals are also important & enjoyable aspects of being in a band that you can aspire to. Check out the book The DIY Music Manual: How to Record, Promote and Distribute Your Music without a Record Deal and see what you and your band could do!

I just run a PA Hire & DJ Equipment Hire company so Im not claiming to be an expert but Ive seen many bands do very well without a deal & I think its possible for anyone with the know how!

I thought that this was worth posting on the blog. Ive seen the technique used in still photos before but not video & with the shots of the stage and the crew I felt it qualified for this blog.

I mixed a great band on Saturday. They had an acoustic gypsie swing edge to them. Drums, guitar, cello & acoustic guitar with vocals. The band were fairly tight, unique & had some nice ideas but they were missing one important thing…..:BASS!
There was a decent crowd that had defended on the venue to watch their friends band and everyone seemed content watching the band. The lack of bass however ment that a band that was supposed to be upbeat & fun left the dance floor static & they struggled to keep the attention of anyone.

I tried my best to get the most out of the cello and acoustic guitar but there simply wasn’t any bass there. The lack of bass left a big hole in the mix. There was nothing there go gel the whole sound together.
My point is if you want people to nod there head, tap their foot and eventually dance you need bass! Bass is the thing that makes people instinctively dance. No bass means no dancing. If you a band that wants fun, upbeat tunes & you want the dance floor full, don’t even consider playing without a bassist!

Ive decided to do a weekly rant on here regarding things that have happened during the week that have either annoyed me or got me thinking about the way things should be done.

This week its self indulgent jamming bands. Ignoring the fact that [Read more...]

I always talk about keeping things simple and only playing what you know you can play. Dont go over the top by adding things you cant do competently. Having said that – Check this guy out!

The Orb are currently recording their new album with an option to listen in 3D60 sound. Although there isn’t much documentation on their site, or anywere online about how it works, the demo on the home page does sound quite interesting. It sounds like they have used lots of microphones set up in strategic places around the room as well as panning to capture the sound, what do you think? Ive contacted them for more info so I will hopefully have more on this soon!

In the mean time check out the new single from The Orbital here.