musician

Top 5 iPhone guitar tools

Guitarists are typically a pretty hesitant bunch when it comes to adopting new tech. In fact, most guitarists I know spend their time lusting after vintage guitars and vacuum tube amps--casting disdainful sneers at anything that looks as though it were invented after 1980.

That said, the majority of my musician friends are also iPhone owners. Their excuse for allowing a smartphone into their otherwise low-tech lifestyle is that they want to stay connected with their fans via e-mail, SMS, Twitter, or whatever app of the month might help them promote their music and their shows.

If you're a … Read more

CD Baby will let bands sell singles, download cards

CD Baby remains an essential part of any independent musician's toolbox, offering musicians an easy and relatively inexpensive way to sell CDs and MP3 downloads from a personalized Web page. It's not necessarily the cheapest way to sell music online, but its long track record and wide variety of services, including digital distribution through iTunes and other stores, and short-run CD manufacturing (provided by Discmakers, which bought the company last August), still make it my top recommendation for independent artists.

This July, the site will relaunch with several significant improvements, including more attractive artist pages, the ability to … Read more

Zoom H4n gets tested, reviewed, adored

The best sounding songs you'll ever hear are the ones you record yourself. Just like amateur photography or amateur film making, amateur musicians take a lot of pride in their art and are always looking for new, affordable tools to take things to the next level.

Computer-based recording software, such as Pro Tools and Garage Band, have gone a long way to help today's musicians create digital recordings that rival the results from professional recording studios. But even the best laptop-based recording rig can be limited by battery life and a less-than-convenient jumble of components (external sound cards, … Read more

Bill backs payment to musicians for radio play

Songwriters get paid every time one of their songs is played on the radio; the Performance Rights Act (H.R. 4789) would do the same for the musicians who played on the recording. With income from CDs and download sales on the wane, they could use the money.

Under current law, musicians get a big fat zero when their music is played on AM and FM radio (they do get royalties from satellite radio, cable radio services, and other nonterrestrial broadcasters).

According to Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the United States is one of the few industrialized countries (with the exception … Read more

Report: YouTube may usher in Hollywood stars

YouTube reportedly wants the William Morris Agency to make it a star.

The video-sharing site is reportedly close to clinching a deal with the William Morris Agency, in which the talent agency's clients would create videos for YouTube, according to a report Thursday in The New York Times.

The deal apparently would give William Morris Agency clients an ownership stake in videos they create for YouTube, and, in return, YouTube would receive professionally produced videos, according to the Times report.

For YouTube and its owner Google, the question is whether such efforts will eventually generate advertising revenue.

YouTube and … Read more

No up-front costs to sell music on Audiolife

Update, Thursday 1/30: Today, I received a followup e-mail from Audiolife CEO and co-founder Brandon Hance. Audiolife has changed its cut on digital album downloads from $3.50 to $3.00, and on digital singles from $0.35 to $0.30. The company has also posted a detailed price list, including prices for different configurations of t-shirts. I've modified the original post accordingly.

I stumbled across a new service on Wednesday that, at first glance, seems to trump CD Baby for selling CDs online.

Audiolife not only lets you create an online store to sell CDs and digital … Read more

Pay-what-you-like download site

When the history of the early 21st century is written, I'm afraid Radiohead will be included for pioneering a new business model rather than their groundbreaking music. Last year's digital-first release of In Rainbows allowed users to pay whatever they wanted for the download. Now there's an entire Web site devoted to pay-what-you-like: Aralie.com. It's a no-risk way for listeners to discover new music from independent bands.

It's also a no risk-way for independent musicians to get some exposure: it costs nothing to upload a song, there's no contract involved so you can … Read more

Guitar Rig 3: Kontrol Edition

Ready to toss off the training wheels of Guitar Hero and learn to play an actual guitar? Maybe you already know how to play guitar, but your wife hates it when you turn on your crappy old practice amp and treat the neighbors to your rendition of Slayer's Raining Blood. My comrade in rock, welcome to Guitar Rig 3: Kontrol Edition.

Wondering what the hell I'm talking about? Guitar Rig 3 turns your computer into the guitar amplifier of your dreams, and the Kontrol Edition comes bundled with a sweet foot controller that doubles as a USB audio … Read more

Gadgettes 78: The Last Gadget on Earth Episode

If that one missile that was shot at that one satellite was to, oh I don't know, miss that satellite entirely and redirect itself at the earth and blow everything up except for one of us and a small handful of gadgets...Well, let's just say you'd NEVER see us using them. Not even if they were the last gadgets on earth. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 78 Why didn't I think of that? What the HELL?! This Week in Hello Kitty