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"Because so much of recording deals with trying a lot of different ideas to see which ones work the
best for each song, it requires a certain level of patience. Knowing when to record is very
important. By "when to record", do I mean like at 12:00 or 3:00? No, I'm not talking about times.
I'm talking about your frame of mind. If you're feeling uptight about something, or stressed out,
please do yourself a favor, and don't try to record at that time. The recording of a song is not
something that you can just throw together, especially if you are planning on playing the parts
yourself.
Having patience is twice as important when you are just starting out in recording. Please know in
advance, that there are so many options and techniques that will give you a lot to think about. You
might have to go through 50 different guitar effects just to get to one that you think is right. It may
take you weeks to get a vocal part to come out the way you want it. So you cannot try to rush
your way through it, or get impatient. Taking breaks and keeping your eye on the end result is a
great way to stay relaxed and optimistic. Try not to put unrealistic expectations on yourself or
your recording.
Another good way to keep it fun and stay focused at the same time, is to set small goals. For
example, you may set a goal to find the best sound when recording your acoustic guitar by the end
of the day. Or, to spend the morning editing drum parts. The reason why these short term goals
work so well is because each time you accomplish one, it will feel like you are making progress.
And that will keep you interested in your recording every step of the way.
It's easy to get really involved in the recording process and spend hour after hour working at it.
Just be careful not to do too much at one time. Try to take as many breaks as possible. If you
keep recording for too long, eventually you will lose concentration, and start making mistakes. So
pace yourself, and take it one step at a time. As I said in another section, this isn't a race. Your
song won't come out any better if it gets done faster. In fact, if you rush or try to do too much at
one time, it will probably come out worse. You can spend hours at a time learning and
experimenting, but when you are working on a song, and trying to record it, that will just put more
stress on you. It's a good idea to record when you're feeling refreshed and you have energy. That's
why taking breaks work. Everyone knows their own limits, and it's up to you to judge for yourself
what yours are. Give it your best, be dedicated and determined, but don't push yourself too hard
with unrealistic demands."
(taken from the Chapter: Patience and Timing (When to Record). Song Warrior Music Publishing.)
best for each song, it requires a certain level of patience. Knowing when to record is very
important. By "when to record", do I mean like at 12:00 or 3:00? No, I'm not talking about times.
I'm talking about your frame of mind. If you're feeling uptight about something, or stressed out,
please do yourself a favor, and don't try to record at that time. The recording of a song is not
something that you can just throw together, especially if you are planning on playing the parts
yourself.
Having patience is twice as important when you are just starting out in recording. Please know in
advance, that there are so many options and techniques that will give you a lot to think about. You
might have to go through 50 different guitar effects just to get to one that you think is right. It may
take you weeks to get a vocal part to come out the way you want it. So you cannot try to rush
your way through it, or get impatient. Taking breaks and keeping your eye on the end result is a
great way to stay relaxed and optimistic. Try not to put unrealistic expectations on yourself or
your recording.
Another good way to keep it fun and stay focused at the same time, is to set small goals. For
example, you may set a goal to find the best sound when recording your acoustic guitar by the end
of the day. Or, to spend the morning editing drum parts. The reason why these short term goals
work so well is because each time you accomplish one, it will feel like you are making progress.
And that will keep you interested in your recording every step of the way.
It's easy to get really involved in the recording process and spend hour after hour working at it.
Just be careful not to do too much at one time. Try to take as many breaks as possible. If you
keep recording for too long, eventually you will lose concentration, and start making mistakes. So
pace yourself, and take it one step at a time. As I said in another section, this isn't a race. Your
song won't come out any better if it gets done faster. In fact, if you rush or try to do too much at
one time, it will probably come out worse. You can spend hours at a time learning and
experimenting, but when you are working on a song, and trying to record it, that will just put more
stress on you. It's a good idea to record when you're feeling refreshed and you have energy. That's
why taking breaks work. Everyone knows their own limits, and it's up to you to judge for yourself
what yours are. Give it your best, be dedicated and determined, but don't push yourself too hard
with unrealistic demands."
(taken from the Chapter: Patience and Timing (When to Record). Song Warrior Music Publishing.)
"Many record companies are using the internet to their advantage by having web sites set up for their
artists. This gives fans a chance to get all kinds of information on their favorite performers, and lets them
know tour dates and album release dates. It's also a great way for the label to make some extra profits by
offering merchandise too like shirts, hats, different CDs, etc. It's easier and faster than ever to get
information about an upcoming album to fans now with emails. And for the fans, it's usually free to sign
up to receive newsletters about that artist. But for the labels, it's direct advertising and a way to keep the
interest level up on an artist that may not have an album currently out. This is one of the biggest ways
that the internet helps the music business. Before, it was always a challenge to not lose momentum of an
artist in between albums. Tours helped with that a lot, but fans are always wanting new material. Now,
they can literally find out what the artists are up to on a day to day basis. This keeps things new, and
they never really "go away" in between records.
Another way the internet has helped labels is by providing instant feedback. There are so many forums
that fans can go on and post messages on. This gives the record companies a chance to see what they like
and why. In any business, this is invaluable because knowing what the people who are buying the
products want is the most important key to selling. So, for example, if an album comes out, and the fans
are on the artist's official web site forum saying how much they like a certain song on it, that song may
very well become the next single released. Forums are also a great way for the fans to connect with the
artists themselves. I think that most entertainers read the posts on the message boards on their official
sites, and they can really get a feel for what their fans are like. There's no doubt about it, the internet has
made it possible for people to communicate all over the world with anyone.
The last ten years have brought about a steady growth of the quality and ease of home recording. It's now
affordable to record your own professional sounding CDs without having to pay for studio time. As a
result, many smaller recording studios have closed, and the music industry has had to take notice as well.
Once upon a time, the only way to get an album recorded was to get signed by a major label, or buy
studio time for yourself. Then came the independent labels, and multi track recorders, which paved the
way for professional home studios and independent marketing. Simply put, artists no longer need a
major label to record an album because they can do it on their own. What the record companies can
provide is access to being played on the radio and distribution. Even if you have a great sounding album
that you produced by yourself, labels still have the power to promote it and book major tours. However,
more and more artists are choosing to market themselves using the internet to even the odds a little. I'll
talk more about how that's possible later on in the course.
One of the ways the music business has tried to compensate for the impact of the internet and home
recording is by channeling their advertising through different mediums. One example is reality television.
Many artists have their own shows (some good and some bad), and there are also shows that literally
"make" an artist right before your eyes. When the Backstreet Boys and other bands similar to them were
poplar, there was a show called "Making the Band", where we got to see the process of selecting and
training people to be in a band. Each week, the audience got to know more and more about the members
of the band, and when their CD was released, it did very well because they were already "known". This
takes a lot of that risk factor out of the equation for record companies. American Idol took the same
concept a step further by having the fans themselves pick who made it, and Rockstar INXS followed that
model. I think that was a brilliant idea on the part of the music industry because it involved the fans and
allowed them to have a say in who they wanted to listen to. At the same time, it was a very successful
business move for record companies, as all of the top finalists have sold an extraordinary amount of
records and merchandise.
Seeing why those kinds of things work is important to you because it gives you a sense of how the
business thinks. The common thread in the above examples is the decrease of risk for the labels
themselves. Basically, the lesser the risk, the greater the chance that a record company will be a part of
the idea. So, when you present yourself in hopes of getting a record deal, remember that you will have a
much better chance if you can eliminate most of the risk for the company you are dealing with. In other
sections of this course, I'll give you a lot of ideas on how to do that. But for now, just understanding that
basic concept will put you ahead of most other artists who are also trying to get a record deal."
(taken from the Chapter: Understanding the Music Business. Song Warrior Music Publishing.)
artists. This gives fans a chance to get all kinds of information on their favorite performers, and lets them
know tour dates and album release dates. It's also a great way for the label to make some extra profits by
offering merchandise too like shirts, hats, different CDs, etc. It's easier and faster than ever to get
information about an upcoming album to fans now with emails. And for the fans, it's usually free to sign
up to receive newsletters about that artist. But for the labels, it's direct advertising and a way to keep the
interest level up on an artist that may not have an album currently out. This is one of the biggest ways
that the internet helps the music business. Before, it was always a challenge to not lose momentum of an
artist in between albums. Tours helped with that a lot, but fans are always wanting new material. Now,
they can literally find out what the artists are up to on a day to day basis. This keeps things new, and
they never really "go away" in between records.
Another way the internet has helped labels is by providing instant feedback. There are so many forums
that fans can go on and post messages on. This gives the record companies a chance to see what they like
and why. In any business, this is invaluable because knowing what the people who are buying the
products want is the most important key to selling. So, for example, if an album comes out, and the fans
are on the artist's official web site forum saying how much they like a certain song on it, that song may
very well become the next single released. Forums are also a great way for the fans to connect with the
artists themselves. I think that most entertainers read the posts on the message boards on their official
sites, and they can really get a feel for what their fans are like. There's no doubt about it, the internet has
made it possible for people to communicate all over the world with anyone.
The last ten years have brought about a steady growth of the quality and ease of home recording. It's now
affordable to record your own professional sounding CDs without having to pay for studio time. As a
result, many smaller recording studios have closed, and the music industry has had to take notice as well.
Once upon a time, the only way to get an album recorded was to get signed by a major label, or buy
studio time for yourself. Then came the independent labels, and multi track recorders, which paved the
way for professional home studios and independent marketing. Simply put, artists no longer need a
major label to record an album because they can do it on their own. What the record companies can
provide is access to being played on the radio and distribution. Even if you have a great sounding album
that you produced by yourself, labels still have the power to promote it and book major tours. However,
more and more artists are choosing to market themselves using the internet to even the odds a little. I'll
talk more about how that's possible later on in the course.
One of the ways the music business has tried to compensate for the impact of the internet and home
recording is by channeling their advertising through different mediums. One example is reality television.
Many artists have their own shows (some good and some bad), and there are also shows that literally
"make" an artist right before your eyes. When the Backstreet Boys and other bands similar to them were
poplar, there was a show called "Making the Band", where we got to see the process of selecting and
training people to be in a band. Each week, the audience got to know more and more about the members
of the band, and when their CD was released, it did very well because they were already "known". This
takes a lot of that risk factor out of the equation for record companies. American Idol took the same
concept a step further by having the fans themselves pick who made it, and Rockstar INXS followed that
model. I think that was a brilliant idea on the part of the music industry because it involved the fans and
allowed them to have a say in who they wanted to listen to. At the same time, it was a very successful
business move for record companies, as all of the top finalists have sold an extraordinary amount of
records and merchandise.
Seeing why those kinds of things work is important to you because it gives you a sense of how the
business thinks. The common thread in the above examples is the decrease of risk for the labels
themselves. Basically, the lesser the risk, the greater the chance that a record company will be a part of
the idea. So, when you present yourself in hopes of getting a record deal, remember that you will have a
much better chance if you can eliminate most of the risk for the company you are dealing with. In other
sections of this course, I'll give you a lot of ideas on how to do that. But for now, just understanding that
basic concept will put you ahead of most other artists who are also trying to get a record deal."
(taken from the Chapter: Understanding the Music Business. Song Warrior Music Publishing.)
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