From the monthly archives:

October 2009

iTunes Success in 12 Steps

by Ariel Hyatt October 29, 2009

How indie artist Making April went from 0 to 1,000 sales a week on iTunes in one year.
I recently was having lunch with my dear friend, music attorney extraordinaire Dan Friedman, who was in town to showcase a band he represents who he mentioned was selling 1,000 singles a week on iTunes. Read more…

10 comments

DVD-9 Compatibility: Creating a Suitable Master for Replication

by Craig Elliott Hanna October 29, 2009

With the advent of inexpensive desktop DVD authoring applications, it’s now possible for almost anyone to make a DVD on their Mac or PC. And with replication facilities accepting recordable DVDs as masters, the workflow has become even easier and more streamlined than in the past. Read more…

2 comments

Designing Custom DVD Menus: Part II

by Craig Elliott Hanna October 29, 2009

DVDmenuIn Part I, we discussed some of the basics for designing DVD menus. In Part II, we’ll expand on these basics and by discussing some of the rules and tips that will help you create professional DVD menus.

Before the advent of desktop editing, graphics were created on specialized equipment specifically designed for video production. With the advances in video editing applications for the PC, you’re going to create all of your graphics on a computer. This presents a problem because applications like Photoshop weren’t designed to create graphics for video. Read more…

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Behind The Glass with Daniel Lanois

by Howard Massey October 29, 2009

LanoisMany of your best known recordings were done to analog tape. Do you prefer the sound of analog to digital?
Not necessarily. When I listen to my records from the seventies and eighties and compare them with newer recordings, I can hear a difference, but it’s not just the tape – it’s where we have traveled in our minds and where our expectations have taken us. It’s a slow creep, and year by year a little bit of the old way of doing things just disappears. It’s an erosion rather than a change of technique. So I don’t really miss the sound of tape, but I miss some of the philosophies that we operated by back in the day. I think that was probably more significant than the sound of tape versus digital. Read more…

30 comments

Designing Custom DVD Menus: Part I

by Craig Elliott Hanna October 28, 2009

DVD authoring software makes it easy to create and design template-based DVD menus. But many of those templates have limitations and drawbacks that may produce a less-than-acceptable DVD menu. At some point you may need to abandon templates and create your own custom designed menu. This may seem intimidating at first, but if you have the design talent, it’s really not difficult at all. Read more…

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Spinning Lucy: On Their Own Terms

by Disc Makers October 27, 2009

Spinning LucyIt’s pretty obvious that if you throw 30 bands onstage that you’ll get 30 completely different sounds. But its also true that each of those bands will tell you a different story why they dedicate themselves to making music, what they are trying to get out of it, and how they spread the word about their band. Read more…

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Update: The Jason Parker Quartet

by Disc Makers October 27, 2009

Disc Makers client The Jason Parker Quartet was featured two weeks ago in one of our Artist Showcases. At their CD release party for No More, No Less, they tried the “pay what you can” model for their CD sales. I asked Jason to report back to me after the show and let me know how the test worked out. This is what he had to say:

Throughout the CD Release Party on Saturday I announced that I wanted everyone there to leave with a CD, no matter what it took. I had a “suggested donation” price of $15, but told the crowd they could pay $10, $5, $2…or just take one for free.

Read more…

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Start Your Own Scene

by Scott James October 26, 2009

I hear a lot of people complain that their band can’t really get anywhere because there’s not much of a scene where they live. However I don’t see a lot of people doing anything about it. If there’s going to be a scene, someone needs to have the vision and initiative to start it. So if you don’t have a booming scene where you live – start your own! Here’s how:

The first thing that you need to do is to scout out at least one good venue. What you want to look for are venues that are: Read more…

2 comments

Classic LP Covers and Why They’re Still So Fresh Today

by Disc Makers October 26, 2009

The 1st album cover, created by Alex SteinweissIn 1938, Alex Steinweiss invented the album cover. It’s almost unimaginable that there was a time when records didn’t have covers (up until that point, they were sold in relatively plain brown paper wrappers advertising the record companies. See photo at right). Steinweiss’s idea was a huge marketing success which exploded into a new and exciting world of art and design. Now artists could explore their creativity in more expressive ways in a new commercial market. During the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s Jim Flora, Ben Shahn, Rudolph de Harak, Reid Miles, Steinweiss, and even Andy Warhol were major contributors to album cover design. Read more…

20 comments

What We’re Listening To – October 22, 2009

by Disc Makers October 22, 2009

This week's albumsEvery week five Disc Makers employees talk about an album they’ve been listening to. We’d also love to hear what you’re listening to, so leave a comment with your album pick for the week! Read more…

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Open Mic Performance Tips

by Marc-Alan Barnette October 21, 2009

In the back of most everyone’s mind who has ever picked up a guitar, manned a keyboard, or stepped behind the microphone on one of those open mic nights, there is always that dream of performing for thousands of people on stage or television. For those of us that are actually attempting to make those dreams realities, from New York to California, and all over the world, one of the physical manifestations of this dream is the songwriter’s night. Read more…

10 comments

Pandora: Changing the Way We Discover Music

by Disc Makers October 20, 2009

Rob Walker wrote an article called, “The Song Decoders,” which was published in the New York Times Magazine this past Sunday. If you’re unfamiliar with Pandora it’s a great way to get up to speed; if you already use it, it’ll help you understand the way the recommendation engine actually functions. Pandora’s model is unique partly because of the musicologists behind the scenes – the people who rate each song on its melody, harmony, rhythm, form, and sound (and dozens of smaller categories within each of those aspects). Surprisingly, Pandora only has 700,000 songs in its library, significantly less than some of the other online streaming sites. Read more…

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Artist Showcase: double-breasted

by Disc Makers October 19, 2009

double-breastedDisc Makers client double-breasted is a harp, cello, and drum ensemble based out of New Jersey. They wrote, produced, and packaged their first album, Who Will Love You?, completely independently. With the help of some talented friends, they were able to put out a great sounding and great looking record! Read more…

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From DV to DVD: Tips for Outstanding Results

by Disc Makers October 15, 2009

From the time your video content has all been shot, acquired, and compiled, your post-production efforts are likely to include thoughts of DVD. DVD is an inexpensive, efficient way to deliver your work to your audience, whatever the content and purpose. Though you may have mastered some of the intricacies and challenges of production, getting your work onto DVD requires attention to some technical considerations that may be unfamiliar to you. Read more…

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9 Ways Releasing a CD Can Help Your Career

by Andre Calilhanna October 15, 2009

The news surrounding the music industry these days might make you wonder if anyone is buying CDs any more. Major-label CD sales are down again. Downloads are up. So the question on the table is: As an independent artist, do you really need to make CDs these days? Read more…

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