So many iconic guitarists have made their mark on music history using a Flying V, and a host of others who have made significant use of the guitar, either on record or live. Untold numbers have dabbled with this legendary guitar model, and there are a host of non-Gibson Flying V users who deserve inclusion in the list. Read more.
The Modernistic trio of the Flying V, the Moderne, and the Explorer were first designed in 1957 with the concept of bringing futuristic design elements to the Gibson electric guitar line. Borrowing ideas from other modern designs of the era, Gibson created some of the more exotic production guitars of its day. Read more.
2015 ended with a number of iconic artists dying, and there were many others who passed throughout the year. This list is nowhere near comprehensive – but includes 26 musicians who died in 2015. The names link to the All Music bios for the artists (in most cases), and there are links to videos in the body text as well. Read more.
Whatever you think of Adele’s decision to follow the likes of Taylor Swift and Thom Yorke and sidestep streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify, she’s proven again that she has the star power and “four quadrant” appeal to change the trajectory of album sales for the industry this year. Read more.
A personal exploration into this writer’s lack of enthusiasm for performing live. It’s been a part of my life for over 30 years, I’ve been at this for so long. I’ve been practicing with my buddy and collaborator for three years, and we can be impressive when we play to our strengths. – what’s holding me back? Read more.
“Happy Birthday To Me:” a complicated history – and future – for the world’s simplest song; vinyl sales continue to make headlines, with sales generating more revenue than free Spotify, YouTube, and VEVO combined; JVC and Taiyo Yuden to stop producing optical media – FalconMedia remains a reliable option. Read more.
Engaging on social media is about promoting your act, marketing your music and gigs, and attracting new fans. But that doesn’t mean sales via social media are impossible, and with Facebook’s “Call to Action” button, you’re one click closer to converting fans to buy your CDs, merch, and tickets. Read more.
Apple Music is live and streaming, and for independent musicians who want in on the service, CD Baby is the go-to source to make music available on the platform. In addition to being an Apple approved aggregator, the editors at CD Baby’s The DIY Musician blog have embarked on a series of posts covering Apple Music. Read more.
Music metadata is the information embedded in a digital audio file that is used to identify the content of the song, including the song title, band or artist’s name, the name of the album on which the song appears and which number track it is, the genre of music, and year the song was released. Read more.
Many retailers have expressed concerns over the choice of Friday as the global record release date. The inability to re-stock a popular title over the weekend, as well as limiting the reporting of first-week sales to a mere three days (reports track through Sunday in a given week) are cited among the chief objections. Read more.
For anyone who loves music, digging into the instrumentation and arrangement of any of your favorite songs is part of the wonder of music production. Berklee Online did an analysis of the instruments used on the top 100 songs from Rolling Stone‘s list and put them in this infographic. Read more.
Beyond songwriting, the fact is visuals really matter, so press photos and all your visual material shouldn’t be an afterthought. Enticing photos, videos, album art, and graphic design will go a long way toward getting attention and will help to establish your brand and get people to pay attention and listen to your music. Read more.
A band press kit is an encapsulation of who you are as an artist. These days, of course, there are multiple options for your press kit, including venues to host an Electronic Press Kit. Not to mention that your website is really a press package with an endless bottom which you can fill with your most current content. Read more.
Perhaps the most famous records in the universe are the two copies of the Golden Record aboard the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecrafts. The records feature musical selections and spoken greetings in fifty-five languages. Read more.
If the music program is sibilant overall, the audio can be cut at a lower amplitude, which can help with the distortion caused by the high frequency information. The result, though, is a vinyl record that’s at a lower level, and the surface noise will be more prominent – not to mention, it’s not going to be comparable to other vinyl albums. Read more.