How to Network in the Music Industry: Successful Business Networking Tips, Basics & Career Advice

What is networking about? As the saying goes, "It is not what you know or do, it is who you know." While technology is a reliable tool for artists to spread the word about their music, the most effective medium to get music publicized, heard, distributed or artist booked is through people. DIY (do it yourself) musicians can become successful, but the odds are stacked up against them because being an expert in everything is literally impossible. Writing great songs is a challenging task as it is. Focus on your strengths and delegate everything else to others whose strengths are your weaknesses.

The objective for artists looking to become successful is to delegate tasks to individuals who are experts in those fields. Finding who these people are can be accomplished through networking. You can start with family, friends and then reach out beyond that. This will ensure that you increase your odds for being at the right place and the right time. Sitting at home doing nothing will not get anyone anywhere, however great of an artist one is.

As your network grows, problems become easier to tackle because you can identify people that can effectively solve with those issues. Before you network, it is recommended that you do your homework and figure out the areas where you have weaknesses in and then finding the appropriate network and resources that can help you turn those weaknesses into strengths. It is critical that the networking relationship is a reciprocal one and the individuals you are networking with are appreciated and respected. Successful networking is linking together people who can help each other out through trust and relationship building.

Things to keep in mind:

• Networking is about being genuine and authentic 
• Figure out what you are trying to accomplish so that you can select who can be a suitable candidate to help you get what you are looking for. Focus on quality contacts as opposed to quantity.
• Have plenty of professianal looking business cards to give out and be visible. Do not be shy.
• Make a positive first impression. Make a powerful impression by asking them what they do before talking about what you do. Make them feel comfortable talking to you. Embrace all people, not just the right people. Who knows, they might be the next Bill Gates. Everyone demands respect and a second chance.
• Ask questions that are discussion-friendly. Questions relating to "who, what, where, when, and how" can be more effective than ones that can be answered with a mere "yes or no." This form of questioning opens up the discussion and shows listeners that you are interested in them and makes you more memorable. Questions such as "How did you get started in your business?" , "What do you enjoy most about what you do?" and "How can I know if someone I am speaking with would be a good prospect for you?" can be impactful.
• Honor people's time and pay attention when people are talking to you.
• Become an expert in your field so that others can turn to you for input, suggestions and ideas. make it easy for them to reach you.
• Have a clear perspective about why you do what you do, what you represent and seperates you from the crowd. 
• Learn how to pitch in 3 or less sentences. Keep the pitch under 30 seconds.
• Make small talk, establish common bonds and schmooze. Offer your help.
• Follow up quickly with the people you connected with and thank them for their time. Make sure you let them know that you you found their input valuable and would love to extend the conversations further and keep them in the loop about what you are doing.
• Be a matchmaker. Introduce and help others connect with each other. This is a skill influential and powerful people have.

Artists looking to find people to fill positions that require unique skillsets can reach out to individuals including:

• Managers
• Attorneys
• Accountants
• Booking Agents
• Publicists
• Photographers
• Producers
• Recording Engineers
• Distributors
• Video Crew & Editors
• Web Designers
• Webmasters
• Online Marketer (SEO, SMO)
• Graphic Artists

Musicians can also target people that can help create new opportunities for them as well as introduce their music to a new audience. These people include:

• Music Journalists
• Radio Hosts & DJs
• Bloggers
• Music Website Owners
• Podcasters
• Booking Agents
• Concert Promoters
• Venue Owners
• Video Game Designers
• Music Directors
• Film & TV Scouts for Music
• Companies & Brands
• Other Artists/Musicians/Bands
• Your SuperFans

Networking is all about ongoing relationship building. Build relationships that last and always strive for growth and volunteering your time and resources to others with great need. Online networking can be very valuable as well. Finding communities online with similar interests is the name of the game. Interaction, communication and sharing is what the web is all about. Reach out and touch everyone and your network will expand significantly. Become the ultimate connector.

Music Video budgeting Templates Examples

How to Make a Budget-Friendly DIY Music Video

How to Make a Budget-Friendly DIY Music Video

By Mree

I tend to be rather nit-picky when it comes to my music, so it’s always been important for me to have the control over my music videos. I’m lucky because I actually really enjoy filming and editing music videos, as I see them as an extension of my artistic vision. What works for me may not work for everyone, but if you’re working under a small budget and have a vision and the passion and drive to carry it out, these tips may be helpful for you.

For my latest music video for my song, “Into the Well,” I created the concept and did the editing as I usually do for my videos, but this was the first time I had someone else do the actual filming for me.

The first thing I did was brainstorm a video concept. What do I see when I hear the song? What is the heart of the song about? What lines can I draw out from the lyrics that would be the most visually compelling? I wrote “Into the Well” about my fascination of false nostalgia and the coexistence of dream and reality, therefore, I wanted my video to extend that vision. I wanted to place the audience in the beauty and unrest of the in-between. Being underwater captured that feeling of being both serene and suffocated at the same time.

I also wanted to pay attention to the line, “Bleeding borders run with colors seen before my time” because I thought it was one of the strongest in the song. In the video, I wanted the strings to appear to “cut” my hands, suggesting that the “well” is an internal thing. Our bodies, our skin and bones are mere borders that are filled with spirit, lost memories (which is the paint that spills from my hands) from the internal well.

Next, I created a basic video outline. The more detailed your vision is, the better. Especially when you’re planning to have someone else film your idea, it’s important that you are both on the same page.

Find someone to do the filming. I was super lucky that fan/photographer Joey See came out to one of my shows in NYC and took some pictures. I loved his work and we got in contact. I told him my rough outline to see if it would be doable, and he hopped on board. Having someone else film made this project such a great experience. I didn’t have to worry about guessing to make sure I was in focus, or having someone who didn’t know their way around a camera guess at filming the shots I wanted. Joey took care of all that as well as lighting, helping to make the sets, and providing feedback.

Finalize your outline. Like I said, the more detail, the better. Any sort of visual aid (even if they’re stick figures) is better than none, so use as many examples as possible to ensure that others can see what you’re seeing in your head and can carry it out.

Plan ahead. Search for shooting locations, schedule dates, and get your props in order. You don’t need to rent out expensive locations – get crafty! Use blank walls around the house, hang rugs, change the lighting, wear a different outfit/make-up/hair to create new scenes. Then, figure out which scenes you can tackle at each location. The more, the merrier, but make sure you give yourself enough time for set up and break down at every location (especially if you’re renting out a space).

There were three locations and three days of shooting for “Into the Well.”

1. I rented a simple studio space for the shots with the hallway of strings
2. Joey’s relative’s pool in Long Island for the underwater scenes
3. In front of a blank wall in my basement for the shots with my hair up

Go out and get filming! Pretty self explanatory. Again, make sure to give yourself enough time fore prep and breakdown. In my experiences, filming always takes longer than expected. Also remember to save and back up your files. And, of course, have fun! Filming can easily get stressful as things don’t always go as planned, but think positively and productively.

After you’ve collected all of your video files, invest in video editing software. I use Sony Vegas for video editing. I’ve never had any training in video production/editing, so what really helps me is to learn by watching other music videos I appreciate and try to emulate what I like about them—how they do their transitions, what color correction looks good on certain shots, how the story flows across the video. *Sometimes, I bring my videos into PhotoShop, convert the video to layers and do my editing in there to get really pretty edits. Reading forums and watching tutorials online is also a great help if you get stuck on the technical side of working with the editing software.

Remember to save often and name saves differently so if you end up hating something you’ve been working on, you can go back to an earlier version of the project.

Render out your video and get feedback. Editing can be stressful and time consuming, so it’s important to step back from your work and get fresh eyes to take a look. It’s great to have who hasn’t been working so closely with the video as you have take a look and give their notes. Afterwards, make your adjustments and repeat if necessary.

And that’s my process for making my own music videos. I think this is a great approach for independent artists who don’t have the budget to hire a director and film crew. In addition, you have the utmost control over all that goes into the making of the video, which is great for nit-picky artists like myself.

If you do end up doing the filming yourself (as I have for my previous videos), invest in a good camera. I use the Canon Eos Rebel T2i (550d) which has been a great purchase. It can shoot up to 60fps which is wonderful because I love slowing down footage. Also, having a helping hand around, even if they aren’t extremely camera savvy, is great on set.

Marketing Basics for Event Entertainers

Marketing Basics for Event Entertainers

In order for event entertainers to get booked for gigs, they'll need to market themselves properly. Think about it ? is anyone going to hire you if no one even knows you exist? Every entertainer should know the value of a good marketing scheme, especially if they hope to make a decent living out of their craft. Every event entertainer, then, should also know the basics of marketing their services.

Planning

Any marketing endeavor, if it's going to be a successful one, needs a good plan to follow. Event entertainers need a steady course of action when marketing their services. There are several things you should consider when drafting a marketing plan:

• Budget
  First of all, event entertainers should decide how much they're willing to spend on marketing. Not everyone can afford to write their names in the sky. Think of a reasonable budget for your marketing scheme, and make sure that you'll still be able to live comfortably once that money's gone.
• Method
  Once you?ve determined your budget, look at your options on how to market yourself. Can you afford to get flyers printed? How much of your budget would it take to put up an ad in your local newspaper? Remember to work within your budget, not beyond it. .
  Luckily, there are a lot of relatively cost-free ways to market yourself. The internet offers you numerous angles ? social networking sites, blogs, personal websites, online classifieds ? for you to make your presence felt. Besides, there's always good old word of mouth to help get your career going. .
• Target Audience
  You?ve also got to know who you want to talk to. This can be a little bit easier for event entertainers, since your talents pretty much defined who?d be interested in them. If you're a musician, you?ve got a pretty good fix on who listens to you. If you're a dancer, you?d probably know who enjoys watching the human body in motion. You should also consider marketing yourself for corporate events. Large companies are always looking for talent for their events, and they pay pretty well. .
• Desired Result
  Of course, getting work should always be your desired result. However, it should help to specify those goals. Try to set a deadline for your next gig ? by what date should you be working? It might also help to set a goal for the amount you want to earn. Setting goals like these will naturally motivate you to increase your marketing efforts. .

Execution

Now that you?ve got a plan, you now have to make it happen. If you followed the tips above, you shouldn't be having too much trouble sticking to the plan. However, you?ve got to remember to be flexible. Opportunities can come at you out of nowhere, and they may not necessarily fit in with your plan. Don't let stubbornness get the best of you and miss out on any chances.

Other than following your plan, you?ve got to remember to be persistent. Starting out can be the most trying part of your career, but once you get the ball rolling, it'll only be a matter of time. Stick with your marketing plan, adapt it to any changes that may arise, and you'll eventually join the ranks of successful event entertainers.

Celebrities, Entertainers, Actors, Musicians & Models

Celebrities, Entertainers, Actors, Musicians & Models

Camera, lights…. action!  Or should we say, “Check one two…..”

Any actor, musician, model or celebrity (also known as “Talent”) without a social media presence, whether they have an agent or not; is one who will probably struggle to get found.  There is so much competition in this cut-throat industry that you need to find a way to maximise to opportunities and find your “unique selling proposition” or what will make you stand out from the crowd – in this case, your competitors.

Providing your online presence is one of value which showcases you and your talents in a favourable manner, your chances of being found somewhat increase.  Placing yourself online seriously increases your odds; heck everybody else is already online, so you’d be foolish not to try!

You need to ensure that your message of who you are and what you’re all about is conveyed in the way in which you want to be known. It’s all about reputation!  Your online presence can literally make or break you.

As Talent, you have inherent qualities that make you irresistible to us mere mortals so you need to draw upon those qualities to market yourself by highlighting your strengths and what sets you apart from your fellow Talent.  There is a way in which to do this; and a way in which not to do this.  Use your marketing skills, promote yourself, your latest job, pic, musical, song, film or showreel and really showcase who you are and what you’re all about.

Leave the nasties at the door and don’t get drawn into anything but focussing on building your solid online reputation and you will surely increase your odds of being noticed.

What you need for your online presence:

§  A professionally written biography

§  Professional headshots

§  A kick butt resume

§  Your show reel and it must be professionally edited (unless you’re a gun at creating your own!)

§  Professionally recorded samples of your work

§  Reviews of your work

§  Contact form

§  IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SECURED YOUR OWN NAME DOMAIN YOU MUST DO SO AS A MATTER OF URGENCY.  You need your FirstNameLastName.com  (eg. mariannerom.com).  This will be used for your website

§  Oh yes, and you must switch the brain and your moral compass on!!!

Then you’ll need to find what works for you in order to bring traffic to your site. Your posts must be entertaining (haha, surprised?) and engaging.  You want to build a following of loyal fans who love you so much that they will become your marketers — and your brand ambassadors!

You’ll need to learn how not to leave spam on everyone’s Timeline (if you’re using Facebook and you should be) and more importantly what is considered spam.  You’ll need to accept that “free speech” doesn’t necessarily give you free range to post whatever you think!  You will need to choose your words and pictorials wisely. You will need to display your passion for your craft so that you get chosen based on your paper trail and online presence.

It doesn’t make a difference what type of performer you are; but the social media presence is a must for all. With just one link you can instantly share your images, showreels and more.  Consider your social media presence as your “Vault”, the one central place to house every bit of what makes you shine in your industry.

We will show you how to link your images and information and profiles from Showcast, StarNow, Vimeo and  YouTube.

We all know that bad news travels fast but in this cut-throat industry, your reputation is the key to your success.  This may sound daunting right now; but I guarantee you that you do have the ability and qualities to be able to market yourself in the best way possible.  After all, who knows you better than YOU!

There are some awesome sites that you should link yourself up with suck as LinkedIn, StarNow, Showcast, YouTube and Vimeo.  We will show you how to link your profiles between platforms.

The Essential Rules Of Music Videos Part 1

The Essential Rules Of Music Videos

Part 1

  

I've been in the music video industry long enough to have seen nearly every mistake that's ever been made. And that includes many videos which have never officially see the light of day. There are many essential rules for making a music video. These are just three, but it's a start. As with all creative endeavors: Feel free to break all of them, but only if the artist and director are really talented. Otherwise, keep calm and follow the video rules.. READ ON

Over the next few weeks/months we'll be presenting other points of view — some more technical, some more practical — plus additional rules and much more. And yes, some will be obvious, but those are only inclued to make you feel smart.

For now, here is my perspective, as someone who has seen practically every music video made over the past 15 years, in addition to consulting on many video productions and promotional campaigns to all sorts of channels and other outlets.

These three rules won't guarantee you make a good video, but it will at least ensure that you're setting out to make something worthwhile...

Rule 1: Figure out why you're making a music video

I personally believe that every song should have a visual partner, especially in an age where YouTube is the primary way many people "listen" to music. And someday that will surely be the norm, but for now you're only expected to make videos for singles or focus tracks. But even then, there's certain questions you need to figure out:

• Is it a video you hope people will watch and pass around?
• Does it just need to a placeholder to put on YouTube and send out to the usual video outlets?
• Does it need to prove some point about an artist or band? That they're an amazing live band? That they can dance? That they are attractive to the opposite sex?

Figure out what you're trying to accomplish. It should be obvious. A good video forRadiohead is not a good video for Omarion, which in turn is not a good video forBrad Paisley. Imaging a pop artist can be substantially more expensive than imaging a punk rock band for all the obvious reasons. And realize you probably can't achieve everything, so pick your poison. Most likely you can't position the artist as a crossover star, break amazing technical ground and make an important societal point all for a bare-bones budget. 

Know your artist, know your audience and have realistic expectations. Otherwise you're wasting time and money. 

Rule 2: Don't Spend More Than You Absolutely Have To

Music videos do generate revenues, but unless you hit the "Gangnam Style" jackpot, it won't be enough to buy a boat, let alone recoup the budget. So, whatever you make is going to essentially be an investment in the overall artist. 

One of the (many) weird quirks of music videos is that the budget is usually roughly determined before you even start to decide upon the creative aspects. That's because most record labels are (fairly) good at determining the commercial viability of an artist/single/album and know that a music video budget can single-handedly destroy an otherwise decent P&L sheet. 

This is why Beyonce gets to spend well over $100k on a video and a baby band gets to spend less than $10k. Beyonce has a defined market, a track record and needs to be competitive in a high-stakes pop marketplace, which often means lots of glam and other flashy bits. An indie band usually just needs to be cool and creative, which is somewhat harder, but generally less expensive.

As Fall Out Boy put it: This ain't a scene it's an arms race. Use the appropriate firepower. (They have a #1 album this week. It's totally cool to quote them. Trust me.)

Rule 3: Figure Out Why Anyone Would Watch Your Video

I'm pretty sure I cribbed this rule from director Keith Schofield, but he's probably used to being copied, so it should be fine.

When you are deciding on what kind of video you're going to make, ask yourself:

"Why would anyone watch this video"

If the best answer you come up with is, "Because the artist is my cousin," then you are not making a good video.

Rule 1 and 2 come into play here. Not every video is designed to go viral. Maybe what attracts the views is that it's a great song and the video is a placeholder. Maybe you're just trying to define an artist's look and vibe. Maybe you're concerned about the video overshadowing the song.

But, if you can clearly and realistically identify what elements of your video are compelling, then chances are you are making a video that will achieve your goals.

10 Tips From Billy Wilder on How to Write a Good Screenplay

in Film, Writing | August 6th, 2013 4 Comments

.

There’s an old story — Orson Welles called it “the greatest Hollywood one-liner ever made” — that when someone attending the 1958 funeral of Harry Cohn, the fearsome president of Columbia Pictures, asked how it was possible that such a huge crowd would show up for Cohn’s funeral, Billy Wilder quipped: “Well, give the people what they want.”

The story is almost certainly apocryphal. The line may have been spoken by someone else, at a different Hollywood mogul’s funeral. But the fact that it is so often attributed to Wilder says something about his reputation as a man with a razor-sharp wit and a firm grasp of the imperatives of popular movie-making. In films like Sunset Boulevard, Some Like it Hot, Double Indemnity and Sabrina, Wilder used his formidable craft as a director to tell stories in a clear and efficient way. It was an ethic he picked up as a screenwriter.

Wilder was born in Austria-Hungary and moved as a young man to Germany, where he worked as a newspaper reporter. In the late 1920s he began writing screenplays for the German film industry, but he fled the country soon after Adolf Hitler became chancellor in 1933. Wilder made his way to Hollywood, where he continued to write screenplays. He co-wrote a number of successful films in the 30s, including Ninotchka, Hold Back the Dawn and Ball of Fire. In the early 40s he got his first chance to direct a Hollywood movie, and a long string of hits followed. In 1960 he won three Academy Awards for producing, writing and directing The Apartment.

Wilder was 90 years old when the young director Cameron Crowe approached him in 1996 about playing a small role in Jerry Maguire. Wilder said no, but the two men formed a friendship. Over the next several years they talked extensively about filmmaking, and in 1999 Crowe published Conversations with Wilder. One of the book’s highlights is a list of ten screenwriting tips by Wilder. “I know a lot of people that have already Xeroxed that list and put it by their typewriter,” Crowe said in a1999 NPR interview. “And, you know, there’s no better film school really than listening to what Billy Wilder says.”

Here are Wilder’s ten rules of good filmmaking:

1: The audience is fickle.
2: Grab ‘em by the throat and never let ‘em go.
3: Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.
4: Know where you’re going.
5: The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.
6: If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.
7: A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.
8: In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing.
9: The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.
10: The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then — that’s it. Don’t hang around.