5 out of 5 amps!

The thing that stands out most when reading Jay Frank’s Hack Your Hit: Free and cheap marketing tips for musicians is his desire to really help musicians succeed. He works to use his own, vast experience, as well as those that he has worked with or helped in the past, to bring this wonderful collection of marketing ideas and tips (“hacks”) to musicians everywhere. The short, punchy chapters offer a great way to present the material in a way that is accessible to anyone. Though Hack Your Hit targets musicians, most of the strategies in this book could be used by anyone looking to get their product to work successfully on the market – especially in today’s world of social networks and digital media. (I’ll be using these hacks to help my writing career for sure.)

Jay Frank uses both successes and failures to prove why his ideas should be implemented. This really helps to show his knowledge and experience – the impetus for writing the book. It feels he has gone through the same struggles as all of us who have tried to get our names out there.

To date, this has been the easiest-to-read marketing book I have encountered. It is written with musicians in mind. This is evident in the use of short, manageable chapters that quickly break down the “what,” “how,” and “why” of each hack. Most musicians don’t want to read a lengthy book on marketing even when they know how necessary marketing is to their music careers. Each “hack” is explained in less than 5 pages, so now there are no excuses.

There are over 40 hacks throughout the book and each one is doable by any band with the desire to be a hit. The only semi-confusing thing is what a “hack” means. Hopefully by reading this review, you get the impression that a “hack” is basically an idea or strategy that if executed will help you to carve your way into the music industry.

It probably can’t be said enough, but Hack Your Hit brings up one of the main drives that should be behind any band: “Live and breathe your music, on and off stage.” Picking up a copy of Jay Frank’s Hack Your Hit is a great first step into the world of marketing in the music industry. With over 40 hacks, there is plenty for a band to do on and off stage no matter what stage you are at in your music career.

Book information:
Frank, Jay. Hack Your Hit. Futurehit, Inc. Nashville. 2012. www.hackyourhit.com.

One of the first steps in getting your band’s business in order is to register with one of the Performance Rights Organizations (PROs). PROs are one of the most important weapons in your arsenal when it comes to getting paid for your music being played. The primary job for these groups is to collect royalty fees for your band, but they also provide music industry contacts and free or low cost seminars. Most are free to join, so the real decision is not if you will join a PRO but which one.
There are 4 major PROs that you need to know about, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and SoundExchange. You can only be a current member of one of the first three, but everyone should join the fourth, SoundExchange.

SoundExchange ensures you get paid for digital performances, like having your music played on Pandora or Satellite Radio. If you want to learn more about SoundExchange, check out this in-depth article about what SoundExchange is all about. An interesting aspect of SoundExchange is they collect money for digital performances even if a band has not registered yet. You may already have money waiting for you.

Choosing a Performance Rights Organization that is right may take a little research.

“[PROs] are the most misunderstood parts of the industry,” Tracie Verlinde, from BMI, said.

PROs have the very important job of finding when and where your music is being played so that they can collect royalties on song-writers and publishers. ASCAP and BMI are the most noted of the bunch, with SESAC only holding a small percentage (1% in 2010) of the artists and songs on the market.

Each PRO offers basically the same services. Most of the time the PROs are working directly with publishers on when, where, and which songs are being used, then paying out the collected licensing fees.

PROs are not going to dump piles of cash on you. If your songs are only getting a few plays a week on a local station, you are looking at a few cents. If you have an outside publisher, that gets split in half. If you are operating as your own publishing company, you’ll have to do much of the leg work yourself. Take your time with these decisions.

Verlinde said the PRO she works for, BMI, was started in 1939 to collect royalties for blues, country, jazz and other genres of song writers that were not covered by ASCAP. Yet now it’s not uncommon to find every genre of artist on all three PROs in the U.S.

ASCAP & BMI, the two largest PROs, are both non-for-profit and relatively easy to join. If you are a songwriter, BMI is free to join, and you apply online. ASCAP has a $35 application, but it is only a one time fee. ASCAP accepts online applications too.

SESAC is a for-profit company and have a reputation for working closely with their members. SESAC is also selective when it comes to memberships, so getting in may not be easy.

According to SESAC, “Unlike ASCAP and BMI, SESAC utilizes a selective process when affiliating songwriters and publishers, resulting in a roster of affiliates who have personal relationships with the SESAC staff. In short, SESAC’s creative staff provides affiliated songwriters and publishers with a level of service and attention unparalleled in the industry.”

It’s possible to work and record with musicians from other PROs. And you can always resign from one PRO and join another, but your old music may stay with the previous PRO.

When you choose a PRO your best bet is to contact a representative from each one, and ask how they could help your career. Each offer services beyond collecting royalties, like song writing seminars and industry contacts, so make sure you find a PRO that cares about your music.

Recently we talked with Shock City Studios recording engineer Tony Esterly, and he described what a music producer job is in the studio.  Esterly records bands with and without producers, but successful recordings need someone to guide the process along and make tough decisions. This can be a achieved by someone in the band, but it’s better to find someone who is not too close to the music.

The Paperclips got their start as street musicians, playing every Thursday for spare change. They have since evolved into much more, gaining/losing members and are now accomplished stage performers featured all over the western half of Missouri.

The key to their success is not a complex marketing plan or spending all day on Facebook. They play great music, and they do it well.

On a standard Saturday night at the 400 Club the bar was packed, there was a line to get drinks, and every six inches, there was a different conversation. But, all that changed, almost instantaneously, when The Paperclips took the stage.

The focus in the crowd was something that seemed almost irregular for this particular venue–there wasn’t a single person in the bar whose eyes weren’t fixed forward. Despite the state of the bar minutes before, it seemed the conversation on everyone’s lips was based solely on the band that occupied the stage.

The club was a far-cry from the city streets that, only a couple years prior, the band used to play on.

“I think it’s important to talk about where it started,“ said Jake Briscoe, guitarist and lead vocalist. “We used to get together and jam on the street Thursday nights, before we really had this together as a band.”

At that time, the band was comprised of Briscoe on guitar and vocals, Chris Evans on drums and other percussion, and Nate Caywood playing bass, keyboard and backup vocals.

They ran into one problem.

Briscoe put it best. “It got cold.”

Eventually, the band began playing acoustic sets at the Tea Haus, where they met their current bassist and backup vocalist, Jason Richards.

Richards was, at the time, performing at the Tea Haus as a solo artist, singing and playing acoustic guitar. As they started performing in close proximity more frequently, they began starting to schedule shows together.

Richards played his set immediately before The Paperclips took the stage, and it wasn’t long before they started discussing the possibility of adding Richards to the group. This past March, he became an official member of The Paperclips.

“The Paperclips have been a really good group to me,” said Rafferty. “Before I was in the group, they were giving me projects for school.”

Being devoted to their craft, Briscoe did divulge one difficulty that they run into as a band.

“It’s a long road, figuring out, as a band, how to market yourself,” said Briscoe. “Because you can be a great band, a fantastic band and not have that type of mentality to where you can sell yourself.”

It’s a hurdle The Paperclips must overcome. However, after watching its show Saturday, there is no denying that the band does not lack talent or musicianship.

Tony Esterly, an audio engineer at Shock City Studios in St. Louis, gave us a tour of the largest live room in the Midwest and sat down with us to talk about the recording process for all levels of bands. In this first video, Esterly talks about the most critical aspect of a great recording, pre-production. Pre-production will save your band time in the studio, so you can save money. It will also help your engineer and producer do their jobs better.

In the next few weeks we will share more of Esterly’s great tips and advice on getting the most out of a recording without breaking the bank.

MySpace launched a redesign today. According to the website, the new focus is on social entertainment. As we have shown, MySpace is making a lot of new features for bands. Yet one of the changes we want, an update to MySpace Friends and Family (MySpace Records), has not launched yet.

If you want to learn more, Mashable took a look at the new MySpace, or you can check out this video.

Like almost every aspect of Facebook, there is no financial cost to adding a Facebook Group. So if you have a few minutes, why not create a group for your band?

Why do you need a Facebook Group?

Your personal manager, touring manager, or just the band member in charge of booking shows needs to know when members are available and to keep everyone in the loop. There are lots of tools out there for getting a band organized including BandCentral, Indie Band Manager, Manymoon and Google Docs. But there are two big drawbacks, most have a monthly cost, and even the free ones require everyone in the band to register and use the program.

Managing your band with Facebook Groups is far from perfect, but it’s likely everyone in your band uses Facebook daily. In fact, every person, band and venue your band interacts with probably uses Facebook.

Treat your band like a business.

The biggest peace of advice I hear from industry professionals and successful bands is “treat your band like a business.” What does that mean? Well, it means  get organized. You have a lot of people, money and time to manage. Creating a Facebook Group for your band allows everyone in the band to stay connected, and give their opinion on what is happening.

How to use Facebook Groups.

When you click on your group from the left-hand navigation, you will be able to see what is going on in your group just like your personal friend feed. Within the group there are two categories to help you get your band organized; Event and Doc. You should create a document for all of the bands contacts, financial situation and goals, and you should put all of the upcoming shows and street team events in here as well.

The one other advantage of Facebook Groups is that it allows the band to communicate in a way in which everyone is familiar. Take advantage of a tool that everyone uses for keeping up with friends, and turn it into a tool to make your band better.

More info on the changes to Facebook Groups.

We are finally getting back into the swing of things after our great experience at the 2010 PLAY:stl music festival. We have a lot of great info, but first we wanted to share what we learned from our new friends in Canasta. CD Baby is working with bands to get them artist profiles on Apple’s new social media arm of iTunes, Ping.

Matt Priest, the lead singer for Canasta, forwarded us an E-mail from CD Baby on what the band needs to do to get an artist profile on Ping. According to CD Baby, they have started working with Apple to add profiles. There is a high demand from independent bands to register, so the process could take several weeks.

To get the process started Canasta was asked to provide iTunes with the following information:

1) Artist Name:
2) Record Label (primary repertoire owner; can be artist name if appropriate):
3) EMAIL (person setting up account):
4) NAME (person setting up account):
5) EMAIL (artist or management; can be same as person setting up account):
6) NAME (artist or management; can be same as person setting up account):

There seems to be no cost for starting an artist profile, so go ahead and contact your CD Baby account representative. And be persistent. The process for creating a Ping account is so new one representative at CD Baby told Canasta they could not get an artist profile.

Image courtesy of Apple.