Music career support, advice and a £25k giveaway

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Music career support, advice - £25k giveaway

There’s £25K out there, with your name on it. Yes, you… you the aspiring artist. You the songwriter, right there sitting on the end of your bed with relentless harmonies running through your head. And it’s not just for you… it’s for bands, guitarists, directors, DJs, producers, innovators, dreamers.

Music Gateway are giving it away. If you’ve never heard of them here’s the low down. Music Gateway is an online platform where creative project managers/owners can meet their artistic dream team. It’s a cross between linked in and a dating agency, except it’s for the music, gaming, film, advertising and general multimedia business.

This is how it works. You’re the songwriter. You want to get your latest heartfelt lullaby into the movies or an advert. You create an account, write a sparkling profile, post examples of your work, experience to date and location. Mr. Miramax Music Supervisor then posts his project description, budget and requirements. You find him or he finds you. You pitch on his project for free, start a conversation. Let it develop. He decides he wants your latest heartfelt lullaby. You agree terms, a nominal commission is allocated to Music Gateway depending on the deal (but no royalties are taken, that stays with you!) and off you go…. Oscar nomination on the way.

Sounds simple ? Well in reality it is. There’s a few more terms and conditions on the site, but no show-stoppers.

So, the generous souls at Music Gateway have decided to invest £25k in aspiring artists. They want you to log in, create a profile and tell them a bit about yourself. Tell them your goals, your plan, your plan B. Whatever it takes. They will endeavour to help advise, support & promote your careers on the site through projects they post on Music Gateway. They are looking after you to make sure you get the best kickstart to 2015.

The site is www.musicgateway.net. There’s a whole lot more about the Music Gateway crew we haven’t covered yet, that’s for another day. If you want a bite at this £25K cherry, get yourself on the site and start connecting.

Music & emotions: can music make you a happier person?

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There is a saying that “When words leave off, Music begins…” Music is very much essential in day-to-day life. When there are no words to speak at that time music speaks… Music is said to be a universal language… Music is an important part of life. It is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and charm to life…

But can music make you a happier person?

Music is powerful, it can change your mood, the way you feel, and change your heart. The kind of music you listen to controls your mind. Whether you’ve had a rainy day or a bright sunny afternoon music has a positive effect on your mood.
“It is well said that Music is the shorthand of emotion…” Music helps alter our mood… Music is the best way to distress yourself in times of worry, and the best way to celebrate and appreciate the good things in life.
There are many of benefits of listening to music, some of these are: Strong sensation: – Music gives us a deep emotional experience especially if we are performing it on stage.

  • Diversion: Music helps us prevent the mind from unpleasant thoughts which often take over our mind It diverts our mind from negative energy to positive energy.
  • Discharge: Music can discharge us from the bad memories. It helps us to get rid of an unwanted feeling or memory.
  • Mental Work: Music can also bring nostalgia, sometimes we can associate a song with anecdotes and old friends. It can take us through the beautiful moments in our lives.
  • Consolation: When we are disappointed music forgot all our problems momentarily
  • Becoming a Better Listener: Music makes you a better listener. We listen to the voice of the singer, the beats and the notes and the symphony and the moment we are able to distinguish between the different sounds we hear we are on the path of becoming good listeners.
  • Make Better Decisions: Learning music or listening to it can help you make better decisions as it improves focus and concentration.
  • Develops Patience: When we play an instrument it usually takes years of practice and patient listening to perfect it. This practice develops patience in us.
  • It Reduces Stress & Makes You Healthier: When we listen to music we can forgot the stress in our life. It helps uplift our mood. Stress is the worst form of negative energy, we can fight that with music.

The list goes on and on. Music really is the key to success. We all have our likes and dislikes in music. Some like pop and others prefer rock, whichever is your favorite music makes you a happier person!

Post by Binny Sharma. Binny is an all-round musician. He is a singer, lyricist, composer and performer. When he is not singing, he likes to travel. Catch him at his personal website binnysharma.com or on Twitter @beingbinny.

Rock ‘n’ roll job for musical adventures: Pat Baker’s story

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Pat Baker has the rock ‘n’ roll job to die for.

From Rolls Royce mechanic to rock ‘n roll roadie… that’s the story of Pat Baker, legendary music tour manager.

The elements decided his fate when he was working in a Rolls Royce Mercedes-Benz dealership. A local contact approached him, said he needed a truck driver for two weeks. Pat said yes and found himself driving Squeeze around in 1979 in the height of the “Cool For Cats” tour.

“I had the best time of my life,” he grins, “and then they handed me a big bunch of money at the end of it. I suddenly realised I was in the wrong business.” Chatting away in the snug operations office of The Olympia Theatre Pat gives me a modest history of his professional adventures.

After the Squeeze job it took him a couple of years to hit the tour trade full time. He managed to get himself sacked from Rolls Royce the day before a Chris Rea tour started. He jumped at the chance and set off selling T-shirts. He worked his way up, watched and learned. He describes himself as “roadworthy”. Capable, willing, consistent, good craic and able to consume more than a few beers is probably what he really means.

During his ascent through the ranks he did keyboard tech, (having never played a keyboard) for Chris Rea, drum tech and African drums for Paul Simon on the Graceland tour, stage management for Adele and Goldfrapp.

He attributes his progression to two things. One, doing all the jobs. He’s been the truck driver, humped PA’s about, done rigging and set ups, lighting and backline. The other success factor is his mechanical mind and his ability to fix things. “You didn’t necessarily have to play the instrument. It was all about set up, strip down, tune and repair.” Nowadays as tour manager for acts like Chris Rea, Pat reckons that because he’s done every role he can anticipate and deal with the problems the crew might encounter. Small venues like The Olympia for example require a different rig than an arena. So Pat’s job is to have the right equipment planned for the right venue to roll out the set up on the day of the show.

Regardless of whatever issues the crew have the old adage “The show must go on” applies to the crew more than it ever does to the band. So whatever shit happens Pat’s gotta fix it.

But that’s alright, because he loves his job. As any successful professional will tell you, it’s about having the right team around you. Pat stands by this referring to the accountability of the industry. “If you’re crap, you only work once. If you’re good, you’ll work with the same people over and over”. Though the industry is populated with lots of young people Pat is adamant about the value of experience.” It’s fine if you can specialise in one instrument, but if you’ve suddenly got to go into a venue, the truck’s broken down and it’s eight hours late it’s knowing how to cope with those situations that will get you through and will get you hired again.” Passing his pearls of wisdom on to anyone considering the production industry Pat’s advice is “Don’t be cocky, watch and learn. None of this ‘I need a tea break’ because no matter what you must do whatever it takes to get the gig up and running. Finally, check and double check everything.”

The hard work pays off though. A lifetime of rock ‘n roll adventures, travels all over the world. Fun filled encounters with old style rock ‘n rollers with Squeeze. Pat did the Paul Simon Graceland world tour in 1987/88 and The Rhythm Of The Saints Tour.

That was 49 countries in 18 months. He was part of the team for the Paul Simon gig in Central Park to 750,000 people in August 1990. He did 149 shows on that tour with lots of time off. A week off in Bali, a week off in Melbourne and a week off in Florida were just some of the perks Pat was young enough to enjoy and appreciate.

Referring to more recent acts Pat speaks fondly of Adele and Goldfrapp, lovely people, great tour. He’s got some right old yarns to tell, however despite my discreet encouragement he declines. Fair enough. After all, what goes on tour stays on tour.

Professionals like Pat and his rigging crews are under the public radar and highly underrated. These are the guys who unload the boxes that contain the magic that makes the show. Whether it’s Ed Sheeran, Queens Of The Stoneage, The Killers, Peter Gabriel or AC/DC none of it would happen without the crew. The next time the house lights go up and your artist is gone back to his hotel these guys will be taking the kit apart, packing it carefully and taking it to the next venue. Driving through the night to deliver the dream to the next set of fans waiting at the barrier.

They’re not called Fly By Night for nothing.

Post by Ciara Sheahan. I’m a self confessed indie rock n’roller. Live music addict, writer, blogger, festival veteran. Native to Dublin, my degree in Journalism is from The University of Sheffield. With a proven track record in business and a creative side that refuses to recede I’m firmly focused on my future in the music/creative industry.

Taylor Swift, Spotify and the digital music divide

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Taylor Swift: Singer, songwriter, actress, model… warrior?

Her latest endeavors have many pegging her to be the latter as she wages a war against online music streaming service Spotify. She’s not the first artist to do so; Radiohead’s Thom Yorke voiced his opinion on the service over a year ago.

Swift, however, has drawn considerable attention lately by removing her entire catalog off the site, claiming it to be a thorn in the side of artists trying to make a living. Let’s wind back the clock in an attempt to understand the battle between Spotify and the artists that fail to love them.

Human beings have enjoyed music since our first ancestors hit a rock against their cave wall and figured out they liked the sound it made. It can be enjoyed alone while relaxing, communally with others during some sort of ritual or ceremony, and it livens up parties.

You hear it at the ball game and it’s blaring from the garage down the street; music is a powerful binding agent that has the ability to bring us together in even the worst of times. Lately, however, it has demonstrated the ability to tear us apart.

As technology continues on its rapidly trajectory forward, the way music is delivered to us has changed drastically. In the good old days, families would gather around the radio. Then LPs came along and everyone had a record collection. 8-tracks made a brief appearance, then cassette tapes, which gave way to the much more efficient compact disc and finally the birth of streaming music online.

Spotify is an evolved version of many streaming services that came before it. Users can listen to music whenever, and wherever, they want – for free. That means instead of paying for a hard copy (does anyone do that anymore – vinyl devotees, perhaps?) of Lorde’s Pure Heroine you can just download Spotify on your phone and listen for free.

Therein lies the problem; Swift feels she should be fairly compensated for her work. And while Spotify does generate revenue for participating artists – CEO Daniel Ek claims roughly 70% of money made is given back to artists, for a total around $2 billion – Swift and her supporters feel it isn’t enough.

Spotify claims it is progressive and fair because it delivers music to the fans and pays the artists, driving people away from Internet piracy. Its detractors state the compensation isn’t fair and they don’t need a middleman to deliver their art to the masses. So what’s a fan to do – pay for the album, or listen for free? The advantages to paying are clear – you can listen anywhere you want, without commercial interruption, and you know you’re supporting the artists you love.

On the other hand, money is hard to come by, and free is free. And if you can listen to your favorite band for free and know they’re still being paid for it, why not? At this point, artists opposed to Spotify seem to be in the minority. Artists like Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Ray and alt-J have embraced Spotify and used it to promote their music.

The multi-millionaires opposing it claim it is bad for new artists trying to make a living. In the meantime, those up-and-comers are thrilled to have people listen to their music regardless of the medium. This appears to be a battle that will wage on for some time, and while the listeners, with multiple ways to enjoy music, are clear winners, it remains to be seen whether artists –especially emerging ones – will benefit in the long run.

Post by Jack Stokes. Jack Stokes loves soft pretzels and the tranquility of spinning vinyl. He writes for Zu Audio, manufacturers of high-end audiophile equipment.

Keith Cullen follows his dream

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Keith Cullen is a singer songwriter from Dublin. This week he will perform at the international youbloom music festival, showcase and conference in Los Angeles.

Keith is the guy who gave it all up to follow his dream.
He ran a very successful marketing company with his sister Jennifer in Dublin. They started with nothing and built their business into a profitable operation, bringing them both money, success and a good lifestyle. So, you’d think all this would make you happy, right ? Well, actually it didn’t.

Keith had a niggle. And it wouldn’t go away. A musical niggle, a yearning to write and perform. That voice in the back of his head that wouldn’t shut up.

A few years previously Keith had been offered a place in the London School of Music but get this — he didn’t believe in himself enough to pursue the opportunity. He chose the business option instead. In 2010 he decided to let the voice in his head take over. He quit the marketing business to focus on what he really wanted to do. “No regrets, ” he says, “I never wanted to look back on my life and have regrets”.

He started writing again, got a few professional opinions, worked on his voice, wangled a few introductions in the right places, worked the local scene as much as he could. Now as everyone knows, behind every good man is an even greater woman. Keith was blessed in this case as Jennifer took a leap of faith with him. She studied professional management in Dublin and completed her music management studies in London. All whilst juggling the combination of managing Keith, running their Believe Management Company and rearing her son.

As a result of all their efforts and focus , Keith got a bit of a break. He landed the support slot for Shanyne Ward for three nights at the prestigious luxury venue, The Olympia Theatre in Dublin.

This was his first taste of it. He got involved with festival promoters and played relentlessly at numerous festivals around Ireland. During this stint he worked line ups with acts like Bressie, Keywest, Jack L, Jedward and Ryan O’ Shaughnessy. He showcased his own new material and engaged with his audience. Keith and Jennifer were clever here, because they quickly realised the value of social media. They used the festival platform to build Keith’s substantial social media presence. He has 3,181 friends on Facebook and a Twitter following of over 35,000. That’s a lot of fans. Fans = customers = sales = success = sustainable dream of being a performer.

In the last few years Keith has been signed by Notting Hill Music in London, he has acquired an agent in the US. He has invested significantly in his videos and self released singles over that time. He has proven his weight and worth to any prospective labels. He is working his dream like he worked his business and building from the ground up.

He recently supported Hozier at The Academy in Dublin, he has several industry legends to visit when he gets to LA. He was part of the Guinness Amplify programme and just recently performed for the BBC. He has no illusions about realising his dreams. He took a big risk. It will pay off, his talent will endure and everyone will ask about his “overnight success”. Check him out on www.kcmusic.ie

Keith plays La Cuevita on Saturday night at ten thirty. Here’s his video for Eyes Wide Open:

Post by Ciara Sheahan. I’m a self confessed indie rock n’roller. Live music addict, writer, blogger, festival veteran. Native to Dublin, my degree in Journalism is from The University of Sheffield. With a proven track record in business and a creative side that refuses to recede I’m firmly focused on my future in the music/creative industry.

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