Hello!

We’ve added some new content and features that I’d like to tell you about.

First, we have added a discussion area to the site for our community to interact with one another, promote themselves, and direct questions to our editorial staff. Check out the discussion zone here.

 

There are several new articles for those of you interested in opportunities within the music business. George Howard has started in on his Music Business 101 series with two pieces: An Introduction to the Music Business, and Music Business 101 Essentials. George does a great job at breaking down the complicated business, and frames the process using real-world examples (Nirvana being a very interesting subject).

 

We encourage members of our community to contribute content to us. Jeanine Guidry from the band Offering, has created two social networking pieces that detail the phenomenon of social networking, and the sites that an independent musician should be aware of. Mike Scott has outlined some amazing concert experiences (including Cream, Tom Waits, and Rickie Lee Jones) here in our discussion forum.

 

Debbie Cavalier, our resident education expert and children’s musician, has written a wonderful piece on performing music for children: knowing your audience, business considerations, selling your CDs, and building your mailing list. Check it out here.

 

I’ve written a few pieces related to music industry sales and distribution. The first piece differentiates UPC Codes from ISRC codes, what they do, and how you apply for them. I’ve also outlined how an independent musician can go about getting their music up on the digital retail sites like iTunes by using the online distributors CD Baby and TuneCore. Lastly, I’ve outlined the process that independent musicians must use to report their venue sales to SoundScan. It’s not an easy process, but possible!

We’ve also added a number of video interviews with education experts from UCLA and USC’s Thornton School of Music, as well as interviews with Jay Cooper, Chair of the Los Angeles Entertainment Practice of Greenberg Traurig, former president of NARAS, and a noted author in the fields of intellectual property and contract negotiation.

Artists House is also in the early stages of a partnership with NARAS (The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences). Click here to watch the Indie Impact! series of workshops and discussions by NARAS on how to survive and build a career in the music industry.

 

Finally, producer, engineer & songwriter Aaron Sternke demonstrates many of the advanced features of Pro Tools, from fundamental to advanced, in this Pro Tools Tutorial.

02/13/2008