----- MILESTONE MEDIAWORKS FEATURE ARTICLE -----
HAVING THE RIGHT STUFF – So I sat down to write this after my family left this morning. It was quiet and I could let my mind wander. I was thinking about what I could write – and by the way, I am not a writer – so that make it tricky! I wanted to say something that might make a difference for someone who was perusing music and wants to make it their career. So I want to talk a little about what we see as the Right Stuff needed to make it in music.
We get these emails all the time that say – “I want to be famous, can you do that”, or “Produce me – I will make you rich” and other absurd statements. They always make us cringe! Unfortunately, we cannot by ourselves make you famous, or even guarantee that your productions are going to sell. We are just one very important step of a long journey, all of which must be made by you. I always like to boil everything down to a list of five easy bite-size steps. So here are five essential steps to being successful in your music career. There are many more but this seems like a good start...
1 – First some talent - Obviously you need to have some of this, and you either have it or not. Be clear, EVERYONE has talent, but in this case I am talking about musical or lyrical talent. To a certain extent this can be taught but most successful artists have a natural gift for this. If you're a Rapper you better be lyrically talented and you need to be literate. If you don't know what this means please unsubscribe to this newsletter now. Basically – if you want to write rap lyrics and deliver them, you must be able to effectively communicate since that's what this is all about.
2 – Next have some money - If you're an upcoming and untested artist no one is going to just sign you and give you a free ride. And if someone does, it's probably not a ride worth having. This is part of paying your dues. Most good producers feel that if you're not willing to invest in your career and work at it then why should they. We never pay the way for an untested artist. But – once we get to know them and have worked with them for a time we begin to help them in many ways. It takes time to build up to that. Be prepared to have a job and save your money. Choose the producer and other help wisely and invest in yourself by getting the help you need.
3 – Get out and perform – If you can only be talented in your bedroom or bathroom then stop now! All artists that make it learn how to perform for a live crowd. This is also an essential step to getting signed to any label, be it an Indie or Major label. You need to build up a fan base and become known in your area. Go to open mic's and any other kind of show you can get into. Form a touring band and get out and play and perform.
4 – Be a business person and sell yourself – Be smart about how you do things when you are not up on the stage. Many very talented artists go nowhere because they have no clue how to treat this as a business. Learn to effectively communicate and follow up on opportunities that might come along. We see this as the single most overlooked point.
5 – Luck, Persistence and Passion – Even with all the aforementioned points you must have these. Luck is something that will happen to everyone – eventually. The key is to have “eventually” in your lifetime! So having passion and persistence help to hurry up this process.
So there you have it – I could probably go on and on; people who know me know how good I am at this. These are just some honest ideas that may make a difference.
NEXT ISSUE – We will compile a list of 10 websites that can help you with your music career and get you noticed! It's all about marketing yourself.
-- Gene Engelgau – Music Producer
----- MILESTONE HOTBEATS -----
We continue to see tremendous activity in the Hotbeats section of our website. Many people are listening to every track we have. Feedback continues to good. We are working on licensing new content and plan to have over 200 beats within three months time frame so check back often!
HOTBEATS WEBSITE CHANGES – We have made a few important updates to the site to improve its usability.
- Cool new Media Player – When you view the catalog and play a track it now plays in a little Flash media player. Once the player is launched you do not need to close it between tracks. Just click on the listen links in the main page. Once started the player will initially play a 45 second preview version of the track. If you like the track you can listen to the whole track by clicking on the “play all” button. If you like a track then click “save”. This will bookmark the track and allow you to come back later to listen. If you want to tell someone else about the track you can send him or her a link to the track using “send track”. Check it out – we have tried to make the user experience as easy as possible.
- Updated Details Page – Like the cool little media player the track detail page now automatically plays the preview version. If you like the song select the “Full Version”. You can also book mark and send this track to a friend.
PRICING CHANGE – We have changed our basic pricing for NE tracks back to $19.95. But we have lowered the Broadcast License to $99.95. Sorry if you waited to purchase – but even at $19.95 it really is a good deal for a professional, fully arranged track.
WHY DO I NEED A BROADCAST LICENSE? The Broadcast license allows you to include your song created with out Hotbeats track on a for-sale CD or downloadable song. Without this you can only create a Demo version of the song and you cannot sell it. Our Broadcast license does not have any pressing limits; you can make 100 copies or one million copies. Just give everyone credit where credit is due. It really is a good deal.
----- ABOUT THE MILESTONE BEAT -----
The Milestone BEAT is delivered on the first and third Wednesday of the month. Here we bring you the latest updates about Milestone Mediaworks as well as Milestone Hotbeats. You are receiving this newsletter because you either opted-in to receive it from our Website, you are a Hotbeats customer, or are an Affiliate Producer. You may un-subscribe at any time - please refer to the link at the bottom of this email to discontinue this service.
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That's all for now!
Milestone Mediaworks Team
http://www.milestonemediaworks.com/