From the monthly archives:

January 2010

Disc Makers Palooza X: The Highlights

by Disc Makers January 28, 2010

April MonetDisc Makers hosted its 10th Disc Makers Palooza musical extravaganza on January 15th, 2010 at the legendary World Café Live in Philadelphia. The show featured various musical configurations – each of which included at least one Disc Makers employee. This year’s show raised over $1,600 for the Red Cross’ Haiti relief efforts and Philabundance (a Philadelphia non-profit that provides food for the homeless and needy). Total donations from all 10 Disc Makers Paloozas come to more than $10,000! See photos…

2 comments

Free Music = Free Advertising = Smart Business

by Dexter Bryant Jr. January 26, 2010

Free music is free advertising. You, as the music creator and/or promoter, need not pay a single cent to get your music into the ears of consumers. This is assuming, of course, that you’re aware of how to distribute and market your music online with social media and web 2.0 tools and you believe in the power of the mailing list. Read more…

10 comments

The Digital Guy: Bruce Nazarian Delivers His State of the Industry Address

by Lee Purcell January 25, 2010

Despite justly being known as a digital jack-of-all-trades (aka Mr. Digital Guy), Bruce Nazarian thoroughly enjoys his vinyl collection, including many records he personally produced early in his rich and varied career. Much of his work has involved pushing the outer boundaries of creativity in the digital media realm – from pioneering achievements in direct-to-disk recording to evangelizing the potential and use of DVD and Blu-ray discs. Read more…

3 comments

Behind the Glass with Joe Chiccarelli

by Howard Massey January 22, 2010

Joe ChiccarelliAs the producer of classics from Frank Zappa, The White Stripes, and Kurt Elling – Joe Chiccarelli draws inspiration from a variety of sources.

Unlike many producers whose sonic stamp is immediately recognizable (a Roy Thomas Baker or a JohnShanks, for example), you’d be hard-pressed to identify a Joe Chiccarelli “sound.” It’s hard to believe that the same individual who produced the rough-and-ready White Stripes’ Icky Thump was also responsible for the ephemeral, moody ambience of the Shins’ Wincing the Night Away or the smooth, slick jazz tones of Kurt Elling’s Night Moves. Read more…

11 comments

10 Marketing Basics for Musicians

by Scott James January 20, 2010

With the barrage of new websites and blogs targeting independent artists, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to marketing your music. Information and ideas are everywhere and unless you’ve got a strong marketing foundation it can feel like trying to put together a giant puzzle without being able to look at the box. With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of 10 marketing basics to help expose the underlying structure that makes a music marketing campaign successful. Read more…

19 comments

Online Music Marketing: 38 Metrics and 7 Tools To Measure ROI

by Dexter Bryant Jr. January 18, 2010

Using the Internet to market and promote your music is one of the most affordable ways to establish and build a following. The abundance of free tools and music-based social networks has made music marketing more accessible than ever for musicians around the globe. Rather than investing boatloads of cash into advertising, PR, and radio promotion, instead musicians invest their time. Through social networking and direct-to-fan engagement musicians can achieve remarkable results with online marketing. Read more…

7 comments

How Do I Become a Studio Musician?

by Bobby Owsinski and Paul Ill January 15, 2010

On the journey to becoming a successful studio musician, a lot of roads lead to the same place. But the way it usually works is that someone hears and likes your playing and either hires you or refers you as a result. Here are some of the many ways it could happen. Read more…

19 comments

Frankie Negron: The Next Definitive Voice

by Disc Makers January 13, 2010

Frankie NegronReclining on his couch in a beautifully appointed living area at his New Jersey home, Frankie Negron strikes you as a pretty relaxed guy. As he recounts his accomplishments, it would be understandable for Negron to now finally sit back on this sunny afternoon and coast a little: child performer and student at the school of performing arts, Broadway showman by age 20 and, most famously, salsa superstar, earning him Grammy Award nominations, Billboard Award nods and two Premio Lo Nuestro awards for song of the year, not to mention several number one singles and four gold and platinum album awards to his credit. Read more…

0 comments

It’s Called a “Call to Action” for a Reason

by Disc Makers January 11, 2010

All the marketing in the world doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if it doesn’t elicit a response from your audience. That’s why it’s so astonishing that so many marketing materials lack the key ingredient to ensure success: a strong call to action. Read more…

0 comments

Tips to Ensure Success with Mastering

by Disc Makers January 11, 2010

Paul Elliott, senior mastering engineer at Disc Makers’ SoundLab mastering studios, offers a few tips to help artists get the most out of their mastering sessions, as well as some of his own opinions about the role of mastering in the album-making process.

First, prepare an accurate track listing – in the proper order – of all the songs you are sending to the mastering engineer. If there are any alternate mixes, be sure those are clearly labeled and tell the engineer which one you prefer be used. Read more…

13 comments

Making the Case for Mastering

by Keith Hatschek January 8, 2010

Before the advent of affordable home recording technology, most bands and songwriters struggled to save up enough money to go into a professional recording studio to cut a demo or a record that would help them get noticed. Invariably, once they were in the studio, these bands realized just how good they could sound if they only had a little more time in the studio to perfect their music. Read more…

19 comments

John Two-Hawks Receives GRAMMY Nomination!

by Disc Makers January 7, 2010

Wind SongsDisc Makers client John Two-Hawks has received a GRAMMY nomination for his Wind Songs CD for “Best Native American Album of the Year.” Wind Songs, which is comprised entirely of remarkable first-take flute solo improvisations, is Two-Hawks’ 17th musical release to date. This GRAMMY nomination marks yet another milestone for a phenomenal artist whose list of accomplishments already include a Platinum Album award, an EMMY nomination and 6 Nammy (Native American Music Award) nominations. Read more…

0 comments
Request our free musician's guide to recording