tweakin the page

i have recently been so swamped with requests of help on myspace that i decided to put up a small how to and help page couple links for rescources and things like that....its not great visually and i have to get some of the links up but by this time next week it should be up and running so keep an eye peeled for that.

new from dez

because of the popularity in my advice column i have decided to do a teleconfrence and short course on how to promote your music online the cost will be low but so will the available spots email me at dez.rockbeddor@gmail.com for any interested.

i know better

I have been around the music game long enough to have learned all of the tricks. I own my own PR firm and have managed several bands, but there is one thing that all of the successful bands had that most people (especially on myspace) don't have or don't understand.....you need a buisness mind....or atleast understand a few basic things about the industry.
1 its not easy and there are no backdoors into the biz...you have to EARN it.....
2 it takes money to make money....labels put thousands of dollars into you. Why can't you come off of 100 or 2?....
3 people are going to rip you off along the way...you can't stop it from happening...just try to control how often and for how much....
4 the only sure thing is that there is no sure thing...case in point....a few years back on American Idol...a man named William Heung tried out and failed the first audition....an indy label gave him a record deal and he sold more than 100,000 copies of his bad karaoke songs......your thinking 100k big deal....RAY J...mr secret video with Kim Kardashian has a huge PR firm under him and videos on the tv...spokes people and the whole 9....sold a desolate 60,000 copies of his newest album...no sure things....ever!

I'm trying to say this....if you are on here to get your music career started..good...its a great starting point....but thats all this place is....if you are not going to take your music career seriously enough to put a few dollars into yourself why is anyone else supposed to do it for you?
I have helped a lot of you but everyday i get 50 messages saying: "teach me how you do this for free"....so I take the time I have and give away tips on how to do this for free...I could do like everyone else and instead send you to my PR firm and charging you 10k....However I actually enjoy helping out the up and commers...but what I dont like is this.....people who expect to get it all for free.....in the music biz NOTHING is free! Not even my free advice is entirely free....I give it away for free but when it helps people they tell thier friends to look me up and those friends do the same ...eventually I have built a good online presence and more of the major labels start using me and my PR firm for promotions.....in music everything costs...so please if I tell you how to do something for free use it as much as you can....if I say you need to spring for a 40$ website .....in the grand scheme its only 40$ and the advice I have already given you would have cost you hundreds if not thousands in comparison.....so you are already saving money .....have a bit of faith in yourself and go for it.....dont balk at the 40$ then continue to ask me for free tips....it shows me you aren't serious about what your doing and are just wasting my very valuable time, as well as the time a serious artist could be getting.
I recently helped another band on here.....we will call them band X....they sprung for the site from host baby and are doing great I have helped them build a strong street team in thier area.....cd sales are building and they are growing financially....I also spent 2 weeks helping out this other individual artist...he actually had more talent than the other band ..in my opinion...but he only wanted to do the free stuff.....I helped him out and he is building fans......slowly...but they are building and his cd sales have only climbed like 5%. Eventually he will get there but the work he is putting in pays off in small dividens...its what you do when you have to do it the free way.....if its eat and do things for free of it the free way...but if its new xbox game or website to help my musical career...that shouldnt be a hard decision.
Its important you guys know this ...I dont get paid for any of this...I dont get kickbacks from the places I send you, they dont give me buisness in return....they are simly the best places to visit for the cost...the same places i would use in a low budget PR campaign.....infact when i help you I send you on the same path i take ...the reson i dont charge you for what i tell you is because you are doing the work not me....if you went to my firm i would do the same things i am telling you to do but since we are doing them it costs way more...all I actually get from you for my adice is people tlking about me and hopefully talking to thier labels and friends about me. I'm not trying to rip anyone off. Its aggrivating to see people not take the chance on theselves ...its 40-100$ and the tips I give out are worth thousands....I just dont get it....you have already saved so much and being asked to invest so little how can you not believe in your music enough to invest that little bit?

ok im off the soap box ...just people please....put faith in your music and really go for it.....I like to think of things like this
" If you do what you have aways done, You will get what you have always gotten."
in other words ...every now and then take a small calculated risk and hope for the best....if it didnt work...oh well the potential payoff should have been worth the loss ..ie.. 100$ for a website...vs......a possible major music career.
Dez

colleges pay better

I was thinking about ways to get more money quicker....as we all do...and I remembered hearing about a band you may know "the Dave Mathews Band" and how they came up through the college scene....i was thinkin bout how many guys are in that band and how much it would have to make to be able to use music as thier full time gig.....the numbers had to be there....so i started looking into how much money you could actually make playing the college circut...here is SOME of what i found:



Have you ever heard of the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) or the Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities (APCA)?

These organizations have regional and national conferences in the U.S. where independent, unsigned musical acts of all kinds play in front of hundreds -- sometimes even thousands -- of college campus entertainment buyers.If you do well at a NACA or APCA showcase, you should be able to book dozens of college shows worth TENS OF THOUSANDS at one time. The catch is ...most indie artists don't even know about this market, and those who do know about it are confused and or intimidated by it.

there is a submission process and an interview with the heads of the NACA and APCA as well as a few other steps. I am currrently researching and writing a How to guide on how to book in this market as well as find a reputable booking agent. so stay tuned for that.

got your own BIZ?

Recently i was talked into promoting for a couple small unsigned local bands .....they are both doing good but one of them put a little more effort into the promotion and they have blown up! atleast here...i havent done a national promotion yet but just in their local market they have alreadybooked gigs for the next two months and are setting up an east coast mini tour....they opted to set up a street team and we have a full street team in a few hours not to mention the growth of the fan base and now they have three major label offers and a slew of indie offers......it has gone so well for them that i am thinking about opening up a promotion company... I charged them $1500 flat fee to cover everything...set up a few gigs.....got them a website.....doubled ther plays on here (myspace) and set them up with a new website and kicked off thier street team recruiting....and they have already made thier money back!
Sounds like im braggin........I am LOL...they got quotes of 4900 for the same stuff and i produced better than the other place offered.....The funny part is it was so easy to do I could have offered a money back gaurantee...tell me what you guys think...should I open a biz or just help out a few people here and there.....im excited about how well it worked...i just dont want to get in over my head....tell me what you guys would do.
Dez

changing the industry!!!!

I have gotten together with a few web savy friends of mine and we have built an invite only music social networking website its going to have forums, profiles a section for connetcting with labels managers and all kinds of industry reps and other musicians...there is no other place like it on earth....look for its official launch soon....if your interested in an invite please message my Myspace page.....stay tuned for details.

Hello friends,
i have been contacted by a reader of the blog and he informed me of a blog of his own that is designed to help out musicians please check it out here:

http://gigdoggy.wordpress.com

he has a lot of good information and if you cant find it on one of my rescource pages you can find it with him.
Dez