I’m writing this while flying over the ocean on my way back from an extraordinary week in Reykjavik, Iceland. The land of fire and ice has long been on my list of dream places to visit since I fell in love with The Sugarcubes’ “Birthday.” As a freshman in college, I used to put that song on repeat and imagine a far away land where the sounds were coming from.

I went because I was invited to participate in a music conference called “You Are In Control,” a two-day conference produced by the Icelandic Music Export. Fabulously, it coincided with Iceland Airwaves, one of Europe’s most celebrated music festivals. I arrived in Iceland the very week the world had all eyes on them and it was being reported that the country is going bankrupt. Their tiny population of only 300,000 people are no doubt headed for some very rough times. Many people, if not all, will be affected in some way.

Here is what stood out most for me: The creative community. My guide-book pointed out that Icelanders have a rich cultural heritage, and a “impossibly high literacy rate.” It claimed that most young Icelanders play in a band, write poetry, or create some form of visual art. From what I could see, this seems true. Such a small population forces deep community.

Throughout my visit on streets and in clubs, I spotted one of Iceland’s most well know musicians, Jónsi Birgisson’ the lead singer of Sigur Rós, who goes everywhere unmolested. I met many of Iceland’s most popular artists including members from the band Jeff Who, and had a great hang with them. One of them pointed out that even their prime minister works out at the local gym.

Another thing I noticed is all the artists and musicians played together in multiple projects. This level of co-collaboration breeds an incredibly rich community, and a serious flow of musical ideas. As I was heading for the airport, Terry McBride of Netwerk Management commented to Anna Hildur, the organizer of “You Are In Control,” that the level of talent that he witnessed in Iceland was very high, I couldn’t agree more.

I had the pleasure of speaking on panel with one Mugison an artist who newspaper Fréttabladid claims has released best album in Iceland this year. He is a hard working musician who told an amazing story of how he recently toured 13 dates through Canada and personally sold 2,500 CDs just by meeting his audiences and selling his CD directly to them.  I was floored.  Even though he was not officially playing Airwaves Festival I saw him repeatedly at other musician’s showcases and around town.

No one seemed to be in a panic or freaked out about the state of the financial situation in Iceland.  One taxi driver said to me when I asked if the crisis would affect him, “those who don’t anything in the beginning have nothing to lose in the end.” I met with a social media expert who I met through Twitter and he told me that he had lost all of his savings in less than one week, and then in the next breath he informed that he was going to be taking his entire family on a three week vacation to Disney World next month.  The boys from Jeff Who told me that their new album is supposed to be out by Airwaves but because of the credit crisis the masters were not released to the CD manufacturer on time and so the album was not ready.  Judging by how packed the music venues were and by the happy and appreciative audiences were behaving it felt to me that young Icelanders are takig it all in stride. Maybe they have more faith in their government than we do in the USA.  Definitely they are a hardy lot.

I know during times of crisis the only thing to look forward is the great art that comes out of it because of great suffering comes great art.  Mugison said on our panel and he’s got a point.  Here’s hoping that Iceland can quickly come through this crisis and I’m betting that there will be much more great art coming from them.

My Photos: http://tinyurl.com/IcelandAriel

Some of my new Icelandic favorites:

LayLow
http://www.myspace.com/baralovisa
Icelandís bluesiest chanteuse Lovisa Elisabet Sigrunardottir ñ a.k.a. LayLow - is ready with a new album. After setting worlds ablaze and topping the Icelandic charts with her 2006 debut ìPlease Donít Hate Me,î the unassuming starlet is back with a new record that continues her forays into traditional blues and country sounds.

Mugison
http://www.myspace.com/mugison
“If you dumped blues, power pop, psych rock and heavy metal into a transmogrifying machine, the machine would rumble mysteriously, then spit out a brightly colored block of a hitherto unimagined polymer known as Mugison.”
-    Paste Magazine

For a Minor Reflection
http://www.foraminorreflection.com/
The band For a Minor Reflection has been active for over two years now. It started as a hard rock duet in a small garage in Vesturbærinn, Reykjavík, then got into an indie rock trio which lasted for about a week or so, after that a blues quartet and then finally the type of band they are today, an instrumental post-rock quartet.

FM Belfast
http://www.myspace.com/fmbelfast
FM Belfast started out as a duo at Christmas 2005 when Arni R Hlodversson and Loa H Hjalmtysdottir made a song as a present for their friends. What was initially thought of as a studio concern became a live band in the summer of 2006 when Arni and Loa performed an art opening in a cave in the Faeroe Islands. Later that year Arni Vilhjalmsson and Orvar Th. Smarason joined the band. In October 2006 they played their first full concert at the Iceland Airwaves festival in Reykjavik
-   
Borko
http://www.myspace.com/borkoborko
Borko brings together melancholy and rhythm-machines in a unique way, playing on his passion for the repetitive and altogether explosive enthusiasm. It is a scintillating blend. Borko has been profilic in writing music for both theatre and modern dance as well as honing the art of “lifskunstner” to a frolicky science

Ólafur Arnalds
http://www.myspace.com/olafurarnalds
Ólafur Arnalds brings his unique classically inspired music to the clubs, warehouses, and festival stages. At only 21 years of age, Ólafur Arnalds is Iceland’s latest export. Having already sold out The Barbican Hall in London, toured major European festivals and having opened for Sigur Rós on their most recent European tour, the future seems bright for this young, extraordinary talent.

Klassart
http://www.myspace.com/fridaklassart
If you like the sound of Cowboy junkies or early Tom Waits you should not miss Klassart. Smári and Fríða Dís, brother and sister, are Klassart. Their 2007 debut CD, released by Geimsteinn, hit the stores and it is getting good reviews all over. Örlagablús, their Icelandic version of the Tom Waits song Invitation to the Blues, was one of the most popular tunes on local radio stations in the spring of 2007.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Several months ago I wrote an article on my 6 favorite Facebook apps. Since then Facebook has relaunched with a new design and now as a musician you can create a band / musician page.

Here is an updated version that explain how to set up a page from scratch and my favorite apps for you!

Getting Started & Ariel’s Top 6 Facebook Apps For Musicians

Facebook is here to stay. I know a lot of artists who are already overwhelmed with MySpace tend to feel daunted by the whole concept of introducing yet another social network into their lives. On September 4, 2008 Facebook launched “new” Facebook and the new interface is easier to use than before.

You won’t believe how many people who you never saw around MySpace are on Facebook. All of a sudden you will be back in touch with your babysitter from grade school, a ton of old friends, and even the drummer from your first band. And, if you have been resisting because you think Facebook is just for kids in college, you are mistaken. The largest demographic on Facebook is over 25. It’s the 4th most-trafficked website in the world and it’s the number one photo sharing application. Read the full stats here: http://www.new.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

With over 110 million active users it’s here to stay so my advice is DIVE in (if you haven’t already).

Here is a quick rundown for newbies on how to create a page as a band / musician and my favorite apps for Musicians when pimping out your Facebook profile!

FACEBOOK FOR NEWBIES – HOW TO SET UP A PROFILE

STEP ONE: Create a Band / Artist Profile
Go Here: http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/create.php

STEP TWO: click on the third button down, it will say: Artist, Band, or Public Figure

STEP THREE: Select Band or Musician After you select it, a pull down menu will pop up. Select band it if you are a band, or musician if you play solo or want to create a solo-page (you can create as many as you want so you can create one for you and one for your band).

STEP FOUR: Enter Your Name Name your page and select create page. You are now off to the races!

The rest is pretty self-explanatory – you will upload your photo for your main user icon, your bio, band members and photos and details.

STEP FIVE: Click Create Page Now you are live and ready to add Apps! What is an App? It’s short for application and it is simply a cool additional tool that you can add to your page so that you can display features such as music, photos, and videos.

Facebook has a great page that explains how to help you with apps. FAQ’s are here: http://www.new.facebook.com/help.php?page=25

And the whole list of available apps is here: http://www.facebook.com/apps/

Here are my top picks for musicians and links to where you can download the apps for your own profile.

1. Music By Reverb Nation
Play Your Tunes
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=6452028673&b= &ref=pd_r_c

Musicians and bands can post unlimited songs for streaming or download, add bios and band photos, sell your music and have your friends add your music and share with their friends (viral marketing for you!). This app also includes links to your homepage and you can add up to 30 of your songs (full-length) to your Facebook Musician Page. And the best part: great stats track song-play activity.

2. Vod:Pod
Display Your Videos
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2398125241&b&ref=pd

I am a big advocate in creating small casual videos to share with your fans. Videos are an excellent viral marketing tool. This app is the easiest way to show your videos and your favorite videos. This is a good place to display backstage moments, live shows and of course your music videos

3. zuPort
Show your Flickr photos
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2893465429&b&ref=pd

If you are a Flickr user zuPort automatically imports your public Flickr photostream so you can show off even more photos to your friends. zuPort: Flickr keeps your sets, collections, tags, comments and everything else linked so you only have to update only once.

4. Twitter
Tweet Away and Have It Synched! http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2231777543&b&ref=pd

This app allows you to update your status on Facebook straight from your mobile phone. So you can be on the road but your facebook page can be updated from your van! Pretty cool eh?

5. Facebook Mobile
Bring Facebook on the go
http://www.facebook.com/apps/#/mobile/

This app allows you to use Facebook on the go. With it, you can quickly to upload photos and notes from your camera phone straight to Facebook. You can also receive and reply to Facebook messages, pokes and Wall posts using text messages, or use your phone’s mobile browser.

6. iCast By iLike
Tell your fans your news
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=6917629807&b=&ref=pd_r_c

Send bulletins to fans with iCast, the best bulletins system on Facebook. You can send multimedia or mobile bulletins, or just plain blogs. Your bulletins will show not only to Facebook fans, but also via iLike across 10 different networks. They are the go to app for communicating your music to your fans.

7. iLike this Artist
Show off to your fans
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=6627984866&b=&ref=pd_r_c

Musicians, you can show off your fans on iLike on your artist page. This will add an “iLike this artist” button on your page, and will show your (larger) fan count across the entire iLike network.

Happy facebooking and please find me and join our group which features loads of free tips for musicians:
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ariel_Hyatt/571390595

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I am delighted to re-post Charlie’s post on me at Well Rounded Radio!  He is featuring an interview we did together back in February at my office and his podcast has been one of my favorites to listen to for years now so I was very flattered…  Take a listen and please sign up for Charlie’s wonderful podcast.  He will be including many more music industry profiles in the future for artists who are interesed in hearing about the state of the “new” music Business - Thanks Charlie!

From Well Rounded Radio Post:

http://www.wellroundedradio.net/episodes/2008/09/arielpublicity.html#more

Thanks again to everyone who took our recent online survey. I learned some great information about who is listening to the show, what you like and what you’d like to hear more of. I was especially surprised to learn from the group that responded that 57% of you identified yourselves as musicians.

I have had fun doing interviews with music industry thought leaders in recent years as it’s obvious that the music business is in a great deal of flux for both musicians and music fans. Truthfully, though, I haven’t heard or read many good interviews about these changes. If you go to music conferences or subscribe to things like the Pho list you get to be on the inside of all these changes, but otherwise, it’s a classic case of being shut out of ideas that are advancing around you.

I hadn’t realized that musicians are tuning in to Well-Rounded Radio as an educational outlet, but that does seem to be the case and this episode, with an interview with Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity, it’s a perfect case of providing some additional insight that I think can be very helpful to musicians.

As Hyatt explains in the interview, she started out doing traditional publicity in the music business, but realized that the world of music marketing was changing and so her own agency changed with it.

Ariel Publicity helps artists and labels get their music in front of the growing legion of citizen journalists or prosumers, as folks like me have started to be called, who are creating text, audio, and video for others to access via the Web.

Hyatt and her team also help to educate musicians through various online and in-person boot camp sessions and seminars and they’re helping to connect independent musicians with independent media outlets like Well-Rounded Radio.

At the same time, music fans are discovering music in a wide range of new ways, from podcasts and audio blogs to recommendation engines, streaming stations, and mobile devices to simply speeding up the word of mouth process that have always happened, but now is happening faster and globally with new technologies.

As print publications cease production, terrestrial and satellite radio tries to evolve, and more people around the world start using these technologies as a matter of course, how will we each discover our next favorite band? I have heard the story again and again how music fans who used to simply listen to what was in the charts or featured on the cover of music magazines now are finding they listen to very little mainstream music and are finding all kinds of niches online that take their curiosity in new directions. The idea behind the Long Tail is very much changing what we consume.

This episode features a number of artists that Ariel Publicity has worked with over the last year or two. You can find links to their web sites below.

I met with Hyatt at her office in mid-town Manhattan back in February to discuss:

* how the agency came to be born and her own experience leading up to it
* some myths about the old music guard that need to be shattered
* how musicians can be smarter and strategic about using social media to advance their careers

If you enjoy this interview, be sure to listen to other interviews I have done with music industry thought leaders. Tell me who else you’d like me to interview and I’ll do my best to get them on the show.

Music featured in the show includes:

1) Le Rug: Gloss (Bleenex) (in preview)
2) Fiskum: The Crossing (Darkness/Fire/Dancing)
3) Kaliopi: Naked (Around the World)
4) Kito Peters: CEO (Stories)
5) Booze Monkey: Solitaire (The Old Way)
6) N Side: Bad Manners (Just a Broke Brotha’ Trying to to Come Up!)
7) Howard Britz: Scatterbug
Dudley Saunders: Take Me Back Home Again
9) Sarah VonDerhaar: It’s Not the First Time
10) Animate Objects: Clive (Riding in Fast Cars with Your Momma)
11) Black Fortress of Opium: Dulcet TV (Black Fortress of Opium)
12) Blood Red Sun: Pray for Rain (A Nation of Saviors)
13) Inga Swearingen: Black Crow
14) The Callen Sisters: Wake Up
15) I/O/I: Compass (I/O/I)
16) Michael Wolff: Solar
17) Yahweh’s People: Oh My Lord (Yahweh’s People)

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I just completed the 5-day World’s Greatest Marketing Seminar in California and it was an amazing amount of information condensed into 5 jam-packed days of fantastic information. While I was on my way back to New York I had an hour long conversation with Derek Sivers about marketing for Independent Musicians…

Mobile post sent by ArielCyberPR using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

  

From the Las Vegas airport - a quick wrap up of my first NME - I met a lot of great people who I feel like I already knew from being a podcast junkie…  

Mobile post sent by ArielCyberPR using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

One of the main reasons I went to L.A. was to see a band that is very near and dear to my heart - The Dave Matthews Band who I began to follow back in 1993 when I was working in my first job in the music business at What Are Records? representing The Samples. Back then The Dave Matthews used to open for The Samples and I watched his meteoric rise up through the ranks of the music scene from the front row of dozens of shows.
 

I have gotten a lot of flack for loving this band and people really have a visceral reaction to them but that is not what I want to talk about in this post. So, for those of you who are judging me for my music taste please stop now.
 

As I was standing in the Staples Center on the first night of shows Dave Matthews came out on the stage and after playing one song seemed overly talkative and the band looked weary and tired on the big screens. Then he announced the sad news that LeRoi Moore - a founding member of the band who played Saxophone, pennywhistle and has passed away that very day.
 

There was a collective gasp from the audience and I stood there with many stunned people, and they and played the most bittersweet set that I have ever seen them play (and I have seen them many many times). Dave played all of Rois favorites.
 

What’s The Lesson?
 

Do what you love with passion - this life we have is short and sweet and you never know what a day will bring.
 

I was in the Fox Theatre in Boulder the night Dave Matthews found out that his sister had passed away and when I see them play I am reminded of my personal experience as a young person who moved to Colorado because I was totally inspired by the music scene there and because the only thing I wanted in my life was to live in that community of talented musicians.
 

Watching one of the most successful bands on the touring scene today move through their own shock and grief was moving and inspiring and sad and incredible and I am so happy I was there to cheer and to cry and to support them. And Dave spoke many times throughout that night and the next about how thankful the band was to have fans and how blessed they were to share a stage with LeRoi and I was again reminded that no musician can succeed without a community no matter how huge they get, how commercial their music is , no matter how much money they make and no matter where life takes them.
 

I’ll leave you with a moving story Dave told about Roi’s pennywhistles:
 

On a trip to South Africa, a South African musician the band was friends with gave Roi 2 of his old penny whistles to play (I imagine they must have played together) and Roi returned the favor by sending this musician a full beautiful set of brand new Pennywhistles to play.
 

That musician passed on last year but Dave received a note from their mutual friend saying that another band was using the penny whistles and the sentiment is the people who make the music may pass on but the music lives on in some form or fashion… So Rest In Peace LeRoi Moore and thank you for being a square on the quilt that makes up my life. You brought me joy at the Fox Theatre, at Red Rocks, at Madison Square Garden and at dozens of places in between. Thank you for making your music.
 

- Ariel Hyatt

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

A few weeks ago I spoke at Bob Baker’s Indie Buzz Bootcamp with 5 other music industry vets: Derek Sivers, Nancy Moran, Bob Baker, Tom Jackson and John Taglieri. We all delivered same message: Make great music that is a full expression of your creative self, then go out and connect your expression to people using technology and with a little learned marketing knowledge and discipline you will earn money. John Taglieri delivered an inspiring talk about what he did to go from full time day job to full time musician
 

As a social networking cheerleader who works full-time creating exposure for artists online I often find myself asking in my head: Why all of my artists be more like John? John Taglieri is a rare breed of musician: A natural sales person who understands the importance of working just as hard on his musical craft as he does on his marketing and sales and for him it comes naturally.
 

I know that this is not the case for a lot of artists who can get fully frustrated with the idea of sales and marketing and they “just want to play.” I’ve heard it thousands of times: “I just want to play, I hate doing that online stuff,” if you hold on to this attitude you will be left behind in the dust.
 

You have to be willing to get on the court and learning to play this game takes time and energy, and the rules change quickly so you need to adapt and go with the flow and not crucify yourself when something is not working. This is where John Taglieri excels - he is open to learning new things and trying them - taking the parts that work and discarding the parts that don’t.
 

This stuff is not brain-surgery and the great news is unlike true musical talent (which, in my humble opinion is not a learned skill - it’s a gift) marketing and sales is TOTALLY LEARNABLE…. and there are thousands of gurus to learn from, endless free information to find online and plenty of people to model (yes - copy the ones that have success and watch success come to you - no need to re-invent the wheel).
 

OK - I’m getting off my soap box now and I want to share some of the best nuggets of John’s talk with you because even though I am friends with him and I work with him he shed some light on what goes on in his mind and I was delighted to get a peek into his thinking. I think you will be too…
 

The BIG Three Questions:

When John decided it was time to quit the day job and REALLY go for it in the music business he looked at himself in the mirror and he asked himself 3 key questions:
 

1. What Do You Want? (Be honest with yourself)
2. How Bad Do You Want It?
3. What Are You Willing To Give Up For It?
 

Question 1: What do you want?
He wanted to make it as a full time musician. Period. What he understood by asking himself this question was that he may not get his ultimate dream of being an international rock star and playing huge stadiums and touring the world in a private jet like Motley Crüe but that he wanted to play music full time and not hold a second job to pay for that dream and he was OK with giving up the private jet part of his dream.
 

When you can give up being totally attached to exactly what you thought it would look like miracles begin to happen and John explains that his dream was to play Giants Stadium - he ended up doing that… 10 times singing the National Anthem
 

Question 2: How bad do you want it?
John talked about his inner motto:
 

“I want what I want and you are either going to help me or get out of my way”
 

This meant that he had to disassociate from some friends that were holding him back by telling him that there was no way he could make it.
 

Question 3: What are you willing to give up for it?
Making it takes something.
If you are really not OK with working really hard to get it than this dream may not be for you… Getting there will take a lot of discipline, patience and time.
 

You may have to go out to dinner less, spend less time with your family, wake up an hour or two early to study whatever it is you need to get better at - it will force you out of your comfort zone and it will take going that extra mile.
 

Visualize what you want
Every year for 5 he wrote on his yearly goals to quit his day job - he did it after 5 years. It took strong will and getting out of his comfort zone to achieve this goal.
 

You have to be able to SEE what you want - visualize what you want to do and always focus on moving forward
John talks about a very important distinction: focus on baby steps vs. big leaps. This is not to say that you should not set a huge goal but think in baby steps while you are working for the big goal. When you achieve a small goal don’t forget to celebrate it and acknowledge that you achieved it. The music business is HARD, not easy to make progress so take the wins when you get them.
 

It may not be what you thought
Not everything you want when you get it turns out to be what you wanted when you get it. If what you get is not the right thing its OK to not keep it. Adapt to what feels right for you.
 

Face the crowd for perspective
To help visualize his dream, John would go to concerts and from the audience, he would turn around and look at the crowd burn the image of the crowd into his head and keep that visual of what a crowd of really excited fans looks like.
 

Don’t let yourself be overly structured
John’s tips:
 

- Use a calendar or outlook to make a schedule - set it and forget it
- Have goals and carry over your goals from year to your
- Contact database management
- Prioritizing daily tasks
- Be flexible for changes -things crop up
- Automate the mundane tasks
 

John presets the tasks like changing the filter in the dogs bowl - then he does not need to think about things that can suck his creative time.
 

Create multiple income streams
John has 5 streams of income that all tie together

1. Plays original gigs
2. Plays cover gigs
3. Runs a music studio out of his home
4. Handles sales & marketing for Cyber PR
5. Owns a CD duplication machine and makes CDs for people
 

Have a strong brand
Branding is key in getting people to remember who you are.
 

In this world where niche marketing is key do not be scared to have a strong brand John’s is: If Edwin McCain and Bon Jovi had a baby you would have me. He then set out to ingrain that into your head it’s on all of his sites - MySpace, Twitter, CD Baby and more.
 

Bands Are Small Companies - DELEGATE!
Do not try to do everything on your own - learn to find people who can help you who are in your league - fire people who are not working as hard as you.
 

- If you are delegating YOU are responsible for making sure the people that you delegate to are accountable - give them dates and times to achieve things and by when
- If you didn’t do it - it’s your fault
- Eliminate negative people and situations
- Stay positive
 

And Finally…Don’t Ever…

• Grow Up
• Say I Can’t
• Give Up
• Blame Others
• Whine
• Bitch
• Moan
• Complain

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

 
I usually blog about marketing and PR tips but recently, Kaiser Cartel came to my office and we got into a deep yet brief discussion about children and how they learn (Courtney teaches music to children with special needs) and it struck me that I have never really talked in depth about Why I work in music for a living and I want to share my story.

 
I often get asked why I’m in this business and what draws me to it, and I jokingly say that I dated a bass player in college…which is true, but my love of music started way before that, back farther than I can even remember. And I have a visceral connection to music. In my 15 years since I’ve worked in this industry and of the thousands of people I’ve met, from promoters to radio DJs to club owners to label owners to marketing people to publicists, you may have different philosophies and different income brackets, but one thing bonds everyone that I’ve met. We all love music…. But we all have very different reasons for being in this business. My Reason – music makes the world make sense….

 
At age six, I was thrown out of a prestigious private school on the Upper East Side called Dalton, where New York City’s celebrated intellectuals, and rich and famous send their children. Diana Ross’ daughter was in my class, as were members of Ralph Lauren’s family (and many more) and I was very happy there. In the middle of second grade my parents got bad news - I was not going to be invited back for third grade, due to the fact that I was not learning as fast as the rest of the class. My reading and writing skills were below average and Dalton couldn’t keep me. In a panic, my parents began a long journey to help connect me with someone; a tutor or a teacher who could help get me up to speed, and I spent countless hours with tutors learning things that most other kids were picking up naturally in school.

 
This pattern went on for years and even after my parents enrolled me into a less competitive grade school, I spent my lunch hours and my after school time in tutoring. One of my tutors discovered something that changed my life; I couldn’t memorize multiplication tables or understand how to conjugate French verbs and reading was an absolute nightmare of a struggle, but I could retain lyrics to songs – lots of songs. Music class was the only thing that I did not struggle with because I had dead on pitch. I couldn’t read music, but if it was played once, I could sing it along with the rest of the class effortlessly. As soon as my tutor began to teach me in singing, I began to catch up with the rest of my classmates. I learned to rhyme my times tables to my favorite song and that made it easy to memorize. Singing and rhyming everything, from the state capitals, to proper grammar got me through. I graduated high school as an A student.

 
I stopped singing the day I finished college, but throughout my university years I sang in two campus a cappella groups and I was the only one in both groups who couldn’t read music.

 
My connection to music, to listening to music, to seeing music played live, and to being in community with artists that create music totally drives me. I moved to Boulder Colorado in 1994 because music there took me there – the artists that were playing live there, the venues that they were playing in took me there (and I had the privilege of working in those venues) and my whole life at that time centered around building a business that could support me in that community.

 
My natural underlying talent was always communication. My current passion is learning and teaching others how we can all use social networking and Internet Marketing and community to increase our footprints and to make more money. There is no magic pill that can solve the quandary that the “new” music business has presented us with but I’ve overcome some seemingly impossible personal battles and I’m up for the challenge.

 
There’s one thing I learned through having the life that I’ve had: Everything is learnable and achievable if you set your mind to it and you work to get there. It is critical that you insert your piece about joy and expression – if you are playing music that’s the easy part. If you are a musician, it is a calling, and making music is not a choice. It’s what you have to do. And I can’t imagine being around people who do anything else…

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

 

I spoke at Bob Baker’s Fabulous Indie Buzz Bootcamp in St Louis MO on June 20-22, 2008 with Derek Sivers of CD Baby, John Taglieri, Tom Jackson, Bob, and Nancy Moran and it was hands down the best music conference I have ever attended for Musicians. 

Mobile post sent by ArielCyberPR using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

  

At this year’s Podcamp NYC, I met the delightful Cliff Ravenscraft, and his energy, enthusiasm and kindness were nothing short of infectious. Cliff gave up his day job in the family insurance business and he now he makes a living completely on podcasting and consulting. Cliff runs GSPN http://www.gspn.tv/, which is a network of 17 Podcasts. And his message about core purpose really struck me. Podcasting has changed the course of Cliff%u2019s life completely since he’s become involved.  

Mobile post sent by ArielCyberPR using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

  1 | 2 | 3  Next Page »