Band Manager: Why You Need One

Posted on November 20, 2012 by admin

If you’re in a band and you’re getting regular paid shows and events, you might have trouble scheduling, especially if you’re “pointman” for the day. When things are getting quite hairy and your shows are getting farther and more expensive to pull off, that’s the time you’ll need a band manager. Here are a few good things that they can do for you.

1. Accounting

Band life is not all about music; you’ll have to acknowledge that your passion can bring in great expenses. A good manager can help you in accounting, from the gate shares, to talent fees and other expenses, a manager can do all these tasks for you. Even the food you eat and the gas used on tour will also be considered.

2. Scheduling

Not everyone has a knack for keeping schedules and organizing new events as they come. A manager can do the scheduling of the band’s activities, from interviews, to practices, tours and other shows. Scheduling is important for a band to assess the resources they’ll need to fulfill their obligations to their shows.

3. Micro-Scheduling

Some managers would also prefer keeping schedule about the other commitments of band members in the professional sense. This means that if one of your mates have another musical commitment or is working a regular occupation, the manager can take note of these schedules so that no conflict for every new event is present or is avoided.

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Linkin Part Concert Joins Coldplay: One Killed, 19 Injured as Scaffolding Falls

Posted on November 9, 2012 by admin

In June, rock band Coldplay’s concert in Toronto, Canada, was cancelled as a drum technician was killed due to scaffolding falling inward to the stage. It injured 20 people in the process. Linkin Park’s South African concert in Capetown pushed through, but left one dead and 19 people injured.

The rock band was not informed of the incident and only learned about it right after their performance. A woman was killed and 19 were injured as scaffolding was blown down right before the concert. The scaffolding, located outside the concert venue that displayed the sponsor, Lucozade’s billboard, fell down due to strong high winds, which landed on the unfortunate concert goers.

Linkin Park released a statement to the families of the victims that they are concerned and saddened by the event and offers condolences to the family of the woman who died as scaffolding fell on her.

Safety standards were a priority for Linkin Park, but the band management stated that they did not have any collaboration with Lucozade in establishing the stage, nor its contractors who worked on the stage structure.

A South African news outlet verified that the scaffolding was safe. However, the turnout of events deem otherwise, making the event the second concert-related disaster that killed fans.

Source: USA Today

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The Core of PPI Mis Selling: Bad Bank Practices

Posted on October 31, 2012 by admin

The Financial Services Authority Managing Director Martin Wheatley mentioned previously in his speech that the PPI crisis was caused by one thing, incorrect motivation of employees. Upon their investigation of several UK banks, the FSA found that the banking incentives system encouraged many financial advisers to sell high-rated products at the expense of providing a “fair” deal for customers.

The incorrect banking incentives system gave way for “bonus chasers” to mis sell to almost everyone in the United Kingdom a mis sold PPI policy. The Financial Ombudsman seconds the motion, stating that bad bank practices is the core of PPI mis selling and banks are entirely responsible for the fiasco and not their customers.

To date, the PPI crisis has escalated to the FOS handling at least 1,500 claims on a daily basis. Banks have paid out at least £13 billion for PPI. Banks such as Barclays and Lloyds have incurred large bills for PPI payouts, having respectively £2 and £4.3 billion respectively.

Banks were blamed by the FOS for the slowing of the PPI claims process. However, banks have pointed towards the FSA and claims management companies for “clogging” the process with billions of fraudulent claims as a result of inviting people to make a claim and urging the banks to call customers potentially mis sold PPI.

Claims management companies continue to mention that they are only helping hands for customers who intend to make a PPI reclaim as it is only a given right for customers. They take payments in which they’ve earned the money. Banks and authorities accuse CMCs of making billions for just doing simple tasks. CMCs state that they might be simple, but they take time and attention to details to perform.

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A List of Good Music Publishing Websites

Posted on October 12, 2012 by admin

Demos and other recording projects that you have can get you funding from fans or people who would like to hear more from your work. However, when you plan on getting your record on bigger record labels, they have standards, which you and your audio producing capabilities might not live up to yet. As the Internet is a great resource, here is a list of good music publishing websites that could help you earn for doing the things you love.

1. Social Media

Social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace all have something in common: they allow you to publish music online and allow your music to be heard by people in the community for free. While you won’t be getting much money as this is a free stream and listen service they provide, you could create your network fanbase without much hassle, which is the first step towards publishing and earning from your musical projects.

2. Kickstarter

Kickstarter is a web service that delivers for both producers and fans. Projects in Kickstarter aren’t really focused just on music, they tackle almost everything from fund-raising for disasters or disease-control and taking on spectacles and beating world records. The best thing about Kickstarter is that your community can be updated about your progress and continue funding your project. You can upload it piece-by-piece or promise a date where you’ll be providing the project as a whole. Note to extreme music producers that if Kickstarter finds your project offensive, they may not allow it to flourish, so be careful.

3. Rdio

Rdio is a starting up website but is gaining famous musician followers such as Snoop Lion and upcoming bands. It allows musicians to refer other musicians and earn commissions. The artist program of the streaming service pays musicians at least $10 for every subscriber or fan they get to sign up for the service. Musicians can also share their tracks on social media websites. However, a subscription fee of $10 is required for both parties.

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PPI Claims Up by 2.2 Million in Just Six Months

Posted on October 1, 2012 by admin

High street banks Barclays, Lloyds and Santander may need more reserves to address mis sold PPI as payment protection insurance claims reach 2.2 million this September. PPI claims have reached 80% of the 3.6 million financial complaints in the last six months. Ratings show that the complaints have reached 129% complained to last year’s surge of complaints.

The Lloyds Banking Group is on the top part of the chain with over 22,000 claims filed for mis sold PPI. Next is Barclays with 19,000 and Santander over 15,000 claims. In total over six months, Lloyds has 860,000 complaints and Barclays has 442,266 claims for mis sold PPI.

The consumer group Which? states that banks will need to set aside more money to address the claims. It is slated that Lloyd’s reserves may run out by November based on the current mis selling rate. The high street banks, along with HSBC and RBS, have provisioned a £10 million compensation package for the entire United Kingdom last year.

PPI is an insurance product designed to protect customer loans, mortgage and credit cards in the event they are unable to pay due to sickness or unemployment. Because they are a “bonus” product for high-priced financing or advised by financial experts, customers overlook the policy’s exclusions. This primarily drove the High Court to rule in favor of the public having everyone mis sold PPI refunded immediately by their banks. Reaching 2.2 million in six months, Which? CEO Peter Vicary-Smith states that it is the biggest financial scandal the UK has ever faced.

Martin Wheatley, the managing director of the Financial Services Authority, states that future problems involving mis sold financial products may be dealt with by changing the incentives system. Brokers and financial advisers are motivated to sell higher-rate products to customers because they can have higher cuts. By changing the motivation and the system, there can be a great reduction to the number of PPI complaints nationwide.

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Making a Good Playlist for Yourself

Posted on September 28, 2012 by admin

With the easy ways to purchase music online and get music online (through many illegal means), you’ll find yourself stuck with tons of videos and music that you might not have time to watch. Some people find having their music playlist play random music from their entire selection to have a taste of every album they have. However, this compromises the “artistic integrity” of the album. Album song orders are there for a reason and that is to deliver a certain kind of theme to the entire album.

The same is true for a playlist. Playlists should suit different kinds of moods and themes. To make a good playlist, take the time to listen to at least five albums completely for three times each. When making your playlist, try to think about movie musical scores and even musicals; these music were made to fit certain themes and moods. So what fits a mood when making a playlist?

For example, depression. What kind of music makes you feel depressed? Which kind of instruments tug at your heartstrings and make you feel depressed? What kind of voices, lyrics and song genres make you sad. First, categorize the songs you have genre-wise, then fit them to a certain kind of mood when making a playlist.

Including your personality with your playlist is what makes it a unique playlist from the rest. Following the example above, people have different perceptions of depression as much as you do. This means different genres, instruments, moods, but still, they all fit a certain kind of theme that reflects their perception and personality with the music.

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The Never Ending Playlist: Indeed, It Doesn’t

Posted on September 18, 2012 by admin

Don’t have all the money to purchase your favorite music artist’s discography? Well, here’s a good way to help you listen to your favorite artist and their other music. A website called the neverendingplaylist.com is something that you should definitely check out. Not only is it true that the playlist never ends (it almost doesn’t, imagine all the world’s music artists in their database), it also enables you to discover new artists.

The main feature of this website is getting all the music from your favorite artists while not infringing any copyrights. The website has gained copyrights for almost every country in the world who accesses their website. You’ll be able to go through their discographies. Some artists even have the earliest demos they have being unsigned, which can be interesting for most people.

The website also suggests music depending on the artist you are currently listening to. This is a good way to discover new artists that you might like depending on its genre. As usual, you’ll be able to listen to all the artist’s songs, even if the albums stretch as far as the 70s.

The only downside to the neverendingplaylist.com is that it doesn’t enable you to make your playlist, or customize it in an arrangement or a compilation you want other artists to appear on your playlist. However, this is just a small setback. Being able to listen to your favorite music artists in at least 128kbps of mp3 is enough to make the service worthwhile.

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Tips on Audio Processing Vocals

Posted on September 4, 2012 by admin

One of the most difficult audio to edit are vocal tracks. Vocal tracks are dynamic; they have soft passages and loud passages. Making them sound alive on your track with loud instruments can be problematic. However, there are ways to make sure that they sound alive in your track. Here are a few of them.

1. Identify the Genre

Sometimes, soft-played instruments can give way to vocals. Don’t use compression instantly. Instead, try to see if the vocals can stand out naturally, then use the compressor to bring out the natural dynamics of the audio itself. Don’t kill the natural dynamics unnecessarily. If it’s a rock genre, you’ll need a stabler waveform for all the audio to stand out properly.

2. Limiters

Compressors and limiters work differently. The best way to maximize the vocals for “loud” or “hot” tracks is through the use of limiters. Limiters flat out the entire sound. While it might kill the dynamics of the vocals, it helps it avoid clipping by standing out in the entire mix. So all loud and soft passages are nomalized, you won’t have much problem with adding it into the mix.

4. Frequencies

Vocals stay on a certain frequency, namely somewhere between 100hz to 1.2khz. It would be important to consider the frequencies you’ll be using in your songs. It is important to find the right sound of the instruments you’ll use to avoid conflicting with the frequency of the vocals itself. Allow the singer to sing a sample and adjust your instruments and the sound completely to make the entire mix “coherent” with frequencies.

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The Best of Japanese Rock Music

Posted on August 22, 2012 by admin

Japan is well-known for the music they use in their animation. Since Japanese “anime” became internationally accepted worldwide, rock music in Japan became celebrated worldwide as well. For their unique styles, the appearance and their expression of culture, Japanese rock, or J-rock, is known as a genre in itself, devoid of any classification for metal, progressive or even heavier music.  Indulge yourself in the following music and see for yourself if you dig it.

Sylvia – Janne Da Arc 

 

Cross Game – Alice Nine

 

STRENGTH. – Abingdon Boys School

 

D-Technolife – UVERworld 

 

R- Matenrou Opera

 

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What You Need For Personal Home Recording

Posted on August 8, 2012 by admin

Making music on your own is possible now, and to record and share your music online is also possible. The things that you actually need for home recording aren’t too complicated, but you’ll need to shell out a few bucks. Here are a list of things you need.

1. Your Instrument

You need to record an instrument if you’re not singing. Be sure to have the basic set to produce music. Having a guitar, a signal chain and an amplifier is a good example. Ensure that you understand the basic ins and outs of your instrument before you decide to record.

2. Cables and Microphones

The precise recording of an instrument depends on a series of signals recorded from different areas. For example, an acoustic guitar records audio from the sound hole and the fretboard to get the acoustic sound of switching chord fingering and the acoustic strumming sound. Cables are also important specifically to balance out the signal with higher powered instruments such as guitars and basses.

3. Mixers

Unless you’re a drummer, a five channel mixer can work for you. Be sure that its USB compatible to allow it to interact with your computer. Most mixers work with Digital Audio Workstations for recording. Mixers usually cost around $350 – $400 depending on the number of channels. A five channel mixer usually goes around $200-$250.

4. DAW

Your digital audio workstation (DAW) works directly with your mixers in recording the signal of your instrument. DAW’s usually cost around $300- $400. Open source DAW’s are also available over the Internet and can par with standard DAW’s as well.

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