In this book, it talks about the truths and secrets of the music industry, one thing that was very interesting to me in this book was how the author talks about how CD record sales are dying and how digital platforms are the best way for a musician to gain his or her success and how it will continue to be for many years. Also, one thing I learned from the book is that since digital platforms have become very popular with music sales, artists don't necessarily need a record deal. It states in the book how before 360 deals use to common when it came to signing a deal with an artist so that the label could have rights to publishing, performances and many other sales from the artist and this was at a time when digital media wasn't big because media such as: Spotify and iTunes didn't exist but labels would still try to get a 360 deal with an artist which in a way seems very selfish. However, it also says in the book that this certain deal started to decrease over time but since media platforms have become so big and the signing of artists has decreased due to this and artists can now be independent, it seems that the 360 deals have now increased because since artists can be independent, labels use the 360 to their advantage as they will try to use this deal when they are looking for an artist who might not have a massive experience or knowledge of the music industry and use this to get as much money as they can from this deal. I will most definitely use this for my own career by being very careful when a record label approaches me and use lawyers to know what kind of agreement I'm getting myself into.
Kimpel, D. (2005). Networking strategies for the new music business. Boston, MA: Thomson Course Technology PTR.
.Literature Review
This review is about the process of song writing and the book has interviews from around sixty songwriters from the industry, they talk about their process of writing music and ways to make a good song. Songwriter Willie Dixon writes about how his inspiration from song writing comes from his life experiences and his preferred genre of blues came from the slavery times in the 20th century. He also says that writing poems helped him get a song together rather than forcefully trying to get a melody come out from his voice. This book relates to me as an artist as it can help find different ways to write music and make the songs that I write more special and contextually more interesting to hear. He also talks about the importance of practice and how practice will always lead you to success, "just do it, badly at first, then better every time." This quote was something that interested me very much because I have grown up with quotes similar to this in terms of being aware that in the beginning of something new that you are learning from will always involve making mistakes which a lot of people see as a bad thing but is actually a good thing because without mistakes you cant develop and get better at your craft and also knowing that it is a gradual process when it comes to progressing which also relates to not giving up and following your dreams.
Zollo, P. (2003). Songwriters on songwriting. New York: Da Capo Press.
Literature Review
In the book "The Musicians Way" it talks about the process of an artists' life within music and how practice is the key to success and to reach your goals. On page 76 it says, "Timeouts are significant when working for an extended period of time and serve as rewards after an affective practice" this is very important in relation to my own practice because I tend to overwork my vocals and music every day which in a way can be unhealthy for the brain and the vocals as it can make you feel very tired. This will impact my future as when I start to get into the bigger industry, I will need to manage my time and practice very carefully and make sure I don't injure my vocals or don't get too tired and then I wont be able to perform to the best of my ability and I wont be able to focus. However, this also comes down to experience which I evidently have in my 7 years of music making and performance but I have this thought in my head where if I don't work as hard as I always do, I feel very uncomfortable or anxious, its almost as if it is a sense of security to keep working and to avoid spending a day doing nothing. Furthermore, one thing that I have learnt that balance is very important, if you spend a whole week down work and making music and you don't have any social life or don't go out with friends or family, it'll become unhealthy for you mentally and physically. I done a research in regards to overworking and a Stanford research study claimed that overworking surprisingly decreases productivity and decreases attentiveness which is evidently a negative thing as it suggests that overworking doesn't necessarily get the best out of you, if anything it gets the worst out of you because your brain gets tired and you won't be able to come out with good ideas, that's why short effective practice a few days a week is the best way to go as your body will be less tired and your brain will have more ideas.
Klickstein, G. (2009). The musician's way [electronic resource]. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Literature Review
This review was written based on the business of artist management, the book contains information which relates to me as an artist due to the fact that it talks about how an artist can become successful and succeed in the music industry. The book says how an artist in the beginning of their career needs to recognise and be aware that they will have to put all focus and dedication to their life in music. This is one of the biggest steps in music decision making because it requires an artists' full time effort. Also, it mentions the steps to getting a record deal, it says that the key to a successful music career is to mainly perform and work hard enough to a point that you are recognised by a label otherwise a career in music is unrealistic, however, this book was written in 1997 which makes this book outdated, in this day and age their are many artists who aren't signed to a record label. A key example of this is the rapper Not3s, he was an independent artist who got a fan base without any support from a record label, he constantly released music but relied on his fans to share his music and create opportunities for him. Also, in this day and age, social media has become the main platform to release music and gather attention from other people from around the world which has become a very good way to promote yourself and get opportunities such as: being signed, performing and writing songs for other artists, but the growth of media platforms proves that being signed isn't necessarily a must when it comes to being a successful musician or songwriter as artists such as: Macklemore and Chance The Rapper, Chance was also the first artist to win a Grammy as an independent artist which shows that being signed isn't vital, its optional depending on where you are in your career.
Frascogna, X. and Hetherington, H. (2004). This Business of Artist Management. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.
Literature Review
In the book "Practical Recording Techniques" by Bartlett and Bartlett in talks about various techniques in order to make all your music sound the best you can get it to be, and this involves evidently getting your set up to meet great standards in order to have the best final product. On page 31 it talks about the techniques to making a quitter studio as it is important for the studio to be sound proof to get the cleanest sound and to avoid any noises from outside the studio such as police cars and the wind as if it interferes with the recording it evidently wont make the final product sound professional which will stop an artist from showing the best of their music ability and can also decrease the chance of a career opportunity because it shows a lack of professionalism and this is very helpful to my career as I know to not commit these errors and know what I'm doing in the process of making these project. "Put several of plywood and carpet on the floor above the studio", this technique was something I found very useful because in my own studio I don't have carpets on the floor but yet I can still get a very clean sound on my recordings so it makes me think imagine the difference that carpet on the floor would make. When putting carpet on the floor, it causes any significant sounds to not be made as when using a mic stand it is possible for the stand to move an cause a disruptive sound to the recording and that's why carpet will decrease that sound since the softness of it will stop any sound from getting into the recording. For example, I have pets at home and if any pets will be moving around the sound wont be in the recording due to the carpets stopping the sounds from being heard in comparison to wood. Also, using plywood and carpets will make the room soundproof which will stop any unwanted sounds to be recorded into a project which will make the process of recording much easier and less stressful.
Bartlett, B. and Bartlett, J. (2017). Practical recording techniques. New York: Focal Press.
Literature Review
When it comes to mixing my songs for my EP I have to be able to mix the song the best way possible in order to create the best final product. This involves various steps when it comes to mixing, such as: compression, reverb, equaliser etc... It also involves making sure the tracks are bounced properly so the quality isn't different to the logic quality. At this moment in time, I am very experienced in terms of making my songs and going through the process of making the final product sound good, however, I looked at a video on YouTube which involves a man producer talking about the process of mixing and the simplicity of it and to not overthink it. For example, using reverb isn't complex but when it comes to finalising a track everyone seems to complicate it because we all want to hear a pleasant sound but we might not specially know what we want which can cause delay in getting our projects finished. The most important thing to do is just to listen to the mix and make sure the instruments mix well with the vocals in terms of space and identifying what is what in the mix. This video helped me a lot because it talks about things that I wasn't aware about in my mixing such as listening to your track on different speakers and headphones, I never used this technique during my time but it seems to be that it helps in terms of seeing what way you can make your track be balanced enough so that it is pleasant for others to hear and to get the best final product so that the audience can enjoy your music.
YouTube. (2019). The Basics of Mixing a Track | Logic Pro X. [online] Available at: https://youtu.be/5clxt2xacjw [Accessed 29 May 2019].
