Land Of The Free, Home Of The Rave: America's 5 Best Music Festivals

The days of Woodstock, Lilith Fair, and Lollapalooza may be behind us, but that doesn’t mean that the current generation of concertgoer has to miss out on the festival experience. From the highs of enjoying the best in modern music, with tens of thousands of like-minded souls, to the lows of enduring those same people ahead of you in line for the Porta-Potty, anyone with a ticket can enjoy some amazing festival experiences.

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10 Reasons You're Not Getting More Followers, And How You Can Change The Situation

Growing your following on social media is an important part of your social media strategy, whether you are a seasoned veteran or just starting out. If you’re finding that your number of followers is just not going up, take a look at this checklist and decide if there are any holes in your strategy.

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MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: SoundExchange Explained

 

• Liz Lupton | SoundExchange Explained
• Mark Powers | Tuning And Calibration: For Music And Life
• Wallace Collins | What Is A Trademark And What Are Trademark Rights?
• James P. Fahy | 6 Things This Band Did To Make A Sizable Profit From A Short Tour
• Simon Tam | 3 Mistakes Musicians Make To Sabotage Their Own Careers

Tuning And Calibration: For Music And Life

It was a Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis. Charlie Waymire and I were in a studio at college, tuning up his monster double-bass drumset for his band’s recording session later that day. Or maybe should I say trying to tune his drumset. Taking turns wielding the drumkey while the other played, nothing either of us did seemed to get both bass drums to sound the same. All we got were these loud, sonically unmatched thuds.

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SoundExchange Explained

SoundExchange is an independent nonprofit organization that is dedicated to collect and distribute royalties resulting from digital performance rights of sound recordings. When it was created in 2000, this organization was a division of the RIAA but in 2003 it became an independent organization, currently representing the interests of more than 110,000 artists and copyright owners. As reported by SoundExchange, they have already successfully paid nearly $3 billion since they first started doing business.

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The 6 Things This Unknown Band Did To Make A Sizable Profit From A Short Tour

I’m talking with Rolfe Briney IV, lead guitarist for Birmingham, AL, garage rockers Freaky Deakys. He and Trevor Dane, the group’s lead singer and other guitarist, recently returned home from a brief yet busy tour that found them playing 12 shows over 10 days. After talking about the crazy things that happen on tour, there was one thing that totally shocked me: they made a sizable profit.

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3 Mistakes Musicians Make To Sabotage Their Own Careers

Musicians make similar mistakes all the time. When they repeat these kinds of things, it not only hurts them in the long run, but they’re often bewildered as to why things don’t go as well for them as they should.

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MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: Dance And Death

• Emma Sturgis | Dance And Death: The EDM Scene Problem
• Lizzie Cooley | ACM Supports Positive For Youth Awards 2015
• Simon Soundbase | Singer Songwriter’s Guide To Home Recording Equipment
• David Milsont | 5 Necessary Steps In Learning To Play Piano
• Benjamin Samama | Yes, There ARE Rules for Songwriting

Dance And Death: The EDM Scene Problem No One Wants To Talk About

EDM, or Electronic Dance Music, is the newest craze among teenagers and young adults. At huge festivals, thousands of people dance and groove to the pulsating music offered by various DJs. On the surface, these dance festivals are a positive group of people simply wanting to dress any way they prefer and jump around to their favorite songs. However, there’s an underground drug culture that’s putting many people at risk. Drug overdoses, assaults, and even fatalities have marred the EDM scene as of late. A look at the underbelly of this scene and the issues involved could help us understand how to address them.

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ACM Supports Positive For Youth Awards 2015

The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) is proud to support the Positive for Youth Awards. Created by the Legacy Project in 2012, the Awards have sought to recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of young people making a difference in communities across the United Kingdom. 

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Singer Songwriter's Guide To Home Recording Equipment

When designing a studio and purchasing the equipment for it you need to decide what you’re studio is going to be used for, what kind of music you are going to be making? This guide to studio equipment is the essentials for a singer songwriter looking to do release worthy recordings at home. 

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5 Necessary Steps In Learning To Play Piano

When it comes to learning a musical instrument, the piano is one of the very best. It’s incredibly diverse and enables you to play a wide variety of music. Learning the piano may seem daunting at first since there are so many keys on a full size piano, however if you go about learning it in the right way, you can make progress much faster than you think. 

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Yes, There ARE Rules for Songwriting

Professional songwriters are not “artists.” They are craftsmen. They know the rules and play by them. I understand this might sound a little icky to a lot of people, but remember this one thing: every song that has made a lasting impact on the career of its performing artist has been carefully crafted to have this exact effect.

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MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: The 5 Questions Every Serious Musician Needs To Ask Themselves

 

• Angela Mastrogiacomo | Questions Every Musician Needs To Ask Themselves
• P “Barney” Barnes | 6 Dead Giveaways That You’re Uncomfortable Onstage
• William Tait | How To Be Yourself In The Music Industry
• Mylène Besançon | How Songwriters Can Emotionally Connect With Their Audience