no, not Andy Kaufman…

The owner of Taxi, a great a&r service out in LA.

Anyhoo, Discmakers did a great interview with him about how to get heard in the music biz…

Keyword: marketing. Bands don’t market themselves at all, and that’s why they don’t make sales. Seems obvious, but most artists don’t pick up on it.

Read the article here. Seriously, do it. It isn’t that long…
-t. Laskas

So I was trolling around myspace and happened upon Halestorm (one of my favorite bands). I checked out their gig schedule, and noticed that they have a residency at The Viper Room in LA. What a gig!

How, you might ask, did they get the gig? First off, they are super talented, and second, they are signed to Atlantic Records, and they have a great team working for them as well as strong fanbase. They have been at this music thing for quite some time, and they are seeing some great rewards.

Anyway…I digress. I checked out the Viper Room’s booking policy, and I think that it is something every artist should note. It is a short, yet very sweet, checklist of how to get a gig at the Viper Room, and I think their tips are universal for any gigging musician. Main idea: PROMOTE!!!!!

Click here for the link (once you are there, click on the “booking” page…I tried to get a direct link to it, but for some reason it goes to their main page…)

Well, it looks like Lou Pearlman, the High Preist of the evil Boy Band Cult (N’Sync and Backstreet Boys) of the late ’90s is finally getting punished for his actions. Unfortunately, it is not for causing young males to “frost their tips”, load up on the Dippity- Do, and have that weird thin-mustache and beard combo.

He has just confessed to scamming investors out of $300 mil. using some shady business tactics involving his airline company (yes, an airline company…he said he had 41 airplanes, and only had 2…clever!), a mysterious german fellow, and a dead guy doing business from beyond the grave a- la Vincent Price. It looks like he may face up to 25 years in prison.

Click HERE for the full article from Yahoo! News.

Well, I guess his going to be getting some new fans…

Bye Bye Bye!

Oh, check out this awesome commercial for Dippity Do…

Caution! Large amounts of Buzzwords to follow!

Listen, I know this isn’t a politicin’ site, but I just want to point out what Mr. Obama is up to. I think all of us should take note of how he is using social networking to get to the top of the popularity contest.

In a recent article at Wired.com (click here for the article), Sarah Lai Stirland writes:

” The use of technology like blogs, mass texting and online phone banks has been key to Sen. Barack Obama’s surprise sweep of recent primaries.

The Illinois senator’s campaign has been making use of a range of technologies — from ringtones to SMS — to inspire Obama-mania. And it’s working. Obama’s recent parade of victories in the primaries has given him a slight lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.”

Granted, I know that he has a huge army of free laborers (street team, anyone????) working for him, but this whole concept can be scaled back and applied to artists trying to get the ears and eyeballs of potential fans. Blogging and Text messaging are tools that have been around for a while, but only a few bands have tried them. Heck, Obama is even getting his fans to create YouTube clips that go viral!

Broadtexter(.com) is a great (and free for a while) texting widget that you can embed into your MySpace or website, and fans can sign up to be on your text list so that they get your text updates for shows.

Blogging, well, there is no mass blog program that I know of (yet), but there are sites where you can find many of the active music blogs out there, and the authors of these blogs are really easy to contact. Ask them if they want some free music, and in exchange for your album ask them to write a review for you. This is something we have been doing at the UnLabel for a while with great success.

The music business is no different than the political business…it is just a popularity contest, and the spoils usually go to the most creative, relentless, and resourceful candidate, even if they are not the most qualified (no dig intended).

Well, it finally happened. The Grape closed its doors on Feb. 2nd. As a performer, this is a huge loss for the Philly music community. I played back in the day at the old Grape Street, and also lately with a bunch of my new groups. The booking and bar staff always supported the artists, and it is a shame to see them go.

However, maybe this is a good thing…Maybe Philly can start fresh..Maybe we can get back to what the old Grape Street was all about: original music and a great scene.

Remember when Y100 was on the air as an alternative station? Remember when they went off the air, and everyone said that it was the end of rock in Philly? Well, guess what. The few staffers that remained in the area went underground and went to the web. After a year or so of being underground and super DIY, they have emerged and now are hooked up w/ WXPN, and are just as influential as ever.

Lets hope that the staff of The Grape can do the same and bring back the love to Philly. Anyone know of any available VFW’s or FireHalls?

-t.L

by the way, if you want to see a post on the closing, click here.