Just an old soul who decided he needed a place to express himself and stumbled into blogging.

http://bondsbigleathercouch.blogspot.com

Q: How long have you been blogging?

A: I began back in 1972 on the campus of RIT in Rochester, NY. I then went on air at the local FM station for a time. I have also worked with a company that distributes content to stations around the country who need to fill air time. Recently, my music disbursement is mainly through my blog “Bonds Big Leather Couch” (http://bondsbigleathercouch.blogspot.com), where I review new artists, new CD’s and also put together history’s of artists and bands. I am also affiliated with BlogTalk Radio, where I am part of the team of hosts for “Doctor Blogstein’s Radio Happy Hour”. We have had many new artists on the air for interviews and are always looking for new talent to feature. I am also in the middle of trying to get airtime on the local community radio station here in Memphis.

Q: In your opinion, what does a good song need to consist of?

A: For me, a good song contains real musicians playing real instruments. I tend to lean toward rock, but enjoy all genres. When listening to a new CD, I am listening to the interplay between the rhythm section and the lead instruments as well as the depth of the music itself. A great song does not have to be complicated in it’s arrangement. Some of the great songs of our time are simple 2/4 - two chord songs. Lyrics are also important. I am looking for the story…the guts to what the composer was trying to get at. Of course, it is not always a straight line to their meaning, but that is part of the fun.

Q: What is your favorite band or favorite genre of music and why?

A: Favorite band has to be the Allman Brothers. They opened the door to so many other bands from the south including Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels, Marshall Tucker etc…I am partial to the Southern Rock genre, but also have a deep love for the San Fransisco sounds of the 60’s and the Delta Blues artists of early last century including Sonny Terry, Howlin’ Wolf, Pinetop Perkins…and I could go on for 3 pages!

Q: What changes in content laws, broadcasting rights, etc. have effected you most?

A: Not sure I have been effected by the new law changes, as I honor the artist’s rights to own their music. I tend to shy away from music that uses graphic language or that promotes violence, so i don’t have to worry about content, though that really is not a new concern.

In the 70’s Janis had many live songs where she would drop the F-bomb and we tended to not worry about it for a one time shout.

I do believe the record companies have gone to the extreme with the rash of court cases against individuals over peer-to-peer sharing. The rash of artists taking control of their own music through self-recording, or making individual distribution deals and by sharing their music on sites like MySpace and Facebook or on their own individual web sites is bringing the power back to the artist and stripping the record companies from owning everything.

Q: A recent study found blogs to be more effective than MySpace in generating album sales, do you feel blogs have that power?

A: As a blogger, I want to agree with that statement. I am not a user of the MySpace area, though i have visited the sites of artists I have been introduced to and want to find more about.

I can speak from experience that a number of the new artisits or albums I have reviewed have generated a response from my readers and they went out and purchased product.

http://community.livejournal.com/mossip/

Mossip is a community made by people who love music. We are here to provide you with Concert/Album Reviews, happenings in the music world and last but not least music gossip.

Q: How long have you been blogging?

A: The mossip blog is fairly new. We’ve only been up and running since July.

Q: In your opinion, what does a good song need to consist of?

A: A good song has to have a great lyric, a melody that’s going to stick in your head and a good vocalist to sing it. The best song in the world will be ignored if the singer is terrible. Just as a great lyric can only take you so far if the music behind it is awful. Take The Beatles All You Need Is Love, which is a great example of a good song. Its got a simple yet great lyric with a message. The horn section in the chorus is what makes the song what it is. Then there’s John’s lead vocal. Combine all three of these and you have not just a great song, but pop perfection.

Q: What is your favorite band or favorite genre of music and why?

A: The favorite band question is a tricky one, I love so many. My top two artists right now are The Moody Blues and Elvis Costello. I love both of them because of their unique songwriting, even though the Moodies and Costello are about as different as night and day. You might guess that I’m a classic rock kinda girl. I always have been. It seems like the artists from 20 + years ago were the lucky ones. Technology and Mtv hadn’t taken hold, so music was made by people that really cared about music, more so than image. You don’t see many artists like Cass Elliot today. If you don’t look like you could be on the cover of a magazine your chances of making it big diminish greatly.

Q: What changes in content laws, broadcasting rights, etc. have affected you most?

A: Thankfully there haven’t been any that would touch us too much. Our site provides reviews of albums old and new, musical gossip and discussion of things going on in the music world.

Q: A recent study found blogs to be more effective than MySpace in generating album sales, do you feel blogs have that power?

A: Blogs are a bit more organized than MySpace, so I definitely can see that. Both have their pros and cons though. The main thing that can make a blog more attractive, is its not confined to being on just one server, like Myspace and that allows for better site design and the ability to add whatever content the webmaster allows. Let’s face it, attractiveness is what draws people in. With blogs you have more ways of showing off your product, with Myspace you’re limited to what Myspace will allow you to do.

By Ariel Hyatt (@CyberPR) & Laura Fitton (@Pistachio)

I recently interviewed my friend Laura Fitton AKA Pistachio (that’s her twitter handle) and I asked her to walk with me through creating a musicians roadmap for Twitter. It answers the question: If you wanted to create a community to promote yourself as a musician on Twitter and you didn’t really have a lot of technological “social networking know how” How do you do it?

The full interview can be found on my blog here: http://arielpublicity.com/blog/archives/148 and I encourage all of you to please go to my blog and leave your feedback.

Step One - Think About Your Brand First
Set up and account and use your brand name, your band, whatever name it is that you want people to be able to find using Google. That’s very important. Don’t just pick a name you like. Whatever name you choose on Twitter it becomes very Googleable.

So the thing you want fans and prospective fans to find you as. If you’re just starting out, you might use a generic like singer/songwriter or something. But choose something you’re comfortable with, that you want to do well in search results and that’s the name you want to get out there.

Step Two - Sign Up
Go To: http://twitter.com to sign up.

First: You may want to watch the video that gives an easy-to understand overview of Twitter - It’s right on the homepage - just click the button that says Watch a video!

Second: Twitter will take you through a few sign up steps and you will enter your username and your password and your email

Third: Twitter will help you search your email address book to see if anyone you know is already on it. You may be surprised at just how many people you know are already using it. You will also have the option of sending email invites to your friends.

TIP: Take some time and set up your profile properly. Think about it this way: You probably had a website made for your music and that either involved spending a bunch of money or hitting up a friend for a favor. You put a lot of thought into it and you really worked it out. Well, here’s a chance to have a free website. It’s not going to be as souped up as your own website, but put a little bit of time. You can set up a static electronic image as your background, just single image, maybe an album cover, maybe a candid of you on the road. Put up a good profile picture. Tha’s the little, tiny square picture that goes next to all your messages. If you’re in Twitter, you’ll see what I mean. Write a couple things about yourself. Make sure there’s a link to your web page. Just get it all nicely set up so it looks cool when you get there.

Step Three - Link Your Mobile Phone
You should enter your cell phone number (it is up to you if you want to accept tweets via texts) this depends on your text messaging plan and your tolerance to loads of texts hitting your mobile constantly. You will have the option of receiving tweets to your phone from individuals so you can have only a few select people tweet straight to your phone.

TIP: To text from your phone send messages to: 40404 and they will immediately go to your Twitter feed

TIP: To message friends that follow you from your cell phone you can type d (for direct) then their username.

Step Four- Search Keywords
Next go to the search page: http://search.twitter.com

On this page, start searching key words, words that are important to you, topics that you like to write about, words about the music you play, whether it be the genre or the instrument. And f you want to really bond with other musicians just to start, you can even search the brand names of your band equipment. Like your amplifiers are from so-and-so, you search that keyword, you’re going to find a bunch of other people who’ve made remarks about that word. That gives you a jumping off point.

You can click in each of their profiles. Remember how I said reading one to four pages of someone’s Tweets gives you a surprising accurate sense of their personality? Just find random strangers that way and start following them and see if you have anything in common. If you don’t, you just stop following. That’s the way to find people with common interests.

Step Five - Link Twitter To Update Status At Facebook
Next go here: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2231777543&b&ref=pd and you can link your Twitter page directly to your Facebook and you will be able to update your status on Facebook by using twitter from your phone

Step Six - Follow At least 100 People
Twitter does not work in a vacuum (OK - unless you are Dave Matthews!) But even Dave is directly responding to people and really connecting with his fans - It’s amazing to see.

Here are some people to check out and follow:

TIP: Take the time to look at each persons profile to get to understand them more deeply

Ariel
http://twitter.com/cyberpr

Laura
http://twitter.com/pistachio

Musicians Who Twitter
http://twitter.com/DaveJMatthews
http://twitter.com/SLessard
http://twitter.com/QtipTheAbstract
http://twitter.com/matthewebel
http://twitter.com/NicholasHoward
http://twitter.com/Reykjavikband
http://twitter.com/andrewhand
http://twitter.com/joshcharles
http://twitter.com/kellyrichey
http://twitter.com/NatalieGelman
http://twitter.com/carlalynnehall
http://twitter.com/HeatherMariePh
http://twitter.com/jodyg
http://twitter.com/steinebone
http://twitter.com/MarkWilliams13
http://twitter.com/johntaglieri
http://twitter.com/KaitlinMcGaw
http://twitter.com/RBPviolinist
http://twitter.com/IncaMaya
http://twitter.com/kalliopimusic
http://twitter.com/bjork
http://twitter.com/tellingontrixie
http://twitter.com/SaraBareilles
http://twitter.com/JeffKrantz

Music Industry Thought Leaders
http://twitter.com/dubber
http://twitter.com/kavitharia
http://twitter.com/MrBuzzFactor
http://twitter.com/sivers

Music Bloggers & Podcasters & Zines
http://twitter.com/rnrgeek
http://twitter.com/coverville
http://twitter.com/fave
http://twitter.com/weheartmusic
http://twitter.com/indiefeed
http://twitter.com/cc_chapman
http://twitter.com/billpalmer
http://twitter.com/jeffhinz
http://twitter.com/wellroundedradi
http://twitter.com/zaldor
http://twitter.com/MikeyPod
http://twitter.com/rubyfruitradio
http://twitter.com/cybster
http://twitter.com/indieradiochatt
http://twitter.com/fascinated
http://twitter.com/DprShadeOfSoul

Web Thought Leaders & Brilliant Marketing Peeps
http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan
http://twitter.com/briansolis
http://twitter.com/davedelaney
http://twitter.com/cspenn
http://twitter.com/leelefever
http://twitter.com/stevegarfield
http://twitter.com/charleneli
http://twitter.com/Ed_Dale
http://twitter.com/jeffpulver
http://twitter.com/jowyang
http://twitter.com/jasonvo

The Superstars Of Twitter
http://twitter.com/BarackObama
http://twitter.com/scobleizer
http://twitter.com/leolaporte
http://twitter.com/kevinrose
http://twitter.com/JasonCalacanis
http://twitter.com/dooce
http://twitter.com/laughingsquid
http://twitterholic.com/twitter/ijustine/

News Feeds, Celebrities & Products
http://twitter.com/cnn
http://twitter.com/nytimes
http://twitter.com/CNETNews
http://twitter.com/bbctech
http://twitter.com/nprnews
http://twitter.com/BreakingNewsOn
http://twitter.com/digg
http://twitter.com/JohnCleese
http://twitter.com/andersoncooper
http://twitter.com/woot
http://twitter.com/macworld
http://twitter.com/amazonmp3
http://twitter.com/pandora_radio
http://twitter.com/GuitarWorkshop
http://twitter.com/RhapsodyMP3

People Who Work At Ariel Publicity/ Cyber PR
http://twitter.com/cyberpr
http://twitter.com/cyberprvideo
http://twitter.com/cyberprurban
http://twitter.com/cyberprsports

Step Seven - Tweet 3x A Day
At first it seems really weird - just keep answering the question “What are you doing?” It will feel strange to just broadcast what you are doing at first but soon it will all make sense!

TIP: Don’t Over Hype Yourself If you set up a Twitter account and every day, every Tweet just says, buy my album, buy my album, you’re not going to get any audience there.

Step Eight - @ People you like!
To comment back at things you would like to react to or to connect directly with someone just tweet: @ and then their username. So if you want to say something directly to Derek Sivers type @Sivers - this will turn up in the @ Replies in Derek’s Twitter dashboard and he will see your comment.

TIP: This is a public message that everyone on Twitter will see.

Step Nine - Connect Directly
To send someone a direct and private message - go to your dashboard homepage at Twitter and click on the right where it says “Direct Messages” and then choose the person you want to send a message to from the pull-down menu at the top of the page

TIP: This is a private message that only that user will see.

Finally, please read the full and in-depth interview with Laura which will give you useful strategies and insights about how to best maximize Twitter!

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

http://www.daveslounge.com
http://www.myspace.com/daveslounge

Dave’s Lounge is a weekly podcast that showcases the best in chillout, trip hop and downtempo music found on the Internet.

Q: How long have you been broadcasting?

A: I did some college radio back in the early 90s, but I didn’t really do my own show again until I opened Dave’s Lounge in 2005.

Q: In your opinion, what does a good song need to consist of?

A: Wow, that’s a really open question. There are lots of things that make a great song, but for the most part, it just needs something to hook the listeners. Cliche as it sounds, the hook does bring you back. That hook, however, could be anything — a catchy chorus, a solid guitar riff or keyboard pattern, a quality sample loop, or even just a certain vibe that makes the listener want to listen multiple times.

It’s a different sort of hook for every genre. The thing that makes people want to listen to Thievery Corporation is different from what makes people want to listen to, say, B.B. King or early 80s Michael Jackson. But there’s always something there to catch people’s ear, and sadly, I don’t think I can describe it any better.

Q: What is your favorite band or favorite genre of music and why?

A: I got into trip hop in the mid 90s after being a total hip hop junkie for much of high school and college. It takes that feeling you get when you find the perfect 2 or 4 bars of a record and make something entirely new with it, and it combines that with a melodic element in a way that just works. I first heard it in 1989 when Fresh 4’s cover of “Wishing on a Star” was in heavy rotation on my local R&B station, and I figured all R&B was going in that direction — except I didn’t hear that sound again until 1995, when Portishead unleashed “Dummy” on the world.

Trip hop and downtempo electronica can be very versatile as a genre, so much so that people try to split it into a hundred subgenres. But it all works for me, and even though it’s mostly designed for a chilled out mood, a good song can get me pretty excited. (Not that you could tell from my podcast voice, of course…)

Q: What changes in content laws, broadcasting rights, etc. have effected you most?

A: I try not to concern myself with specific laws, really, though I keep an eye on them. I just abide by some very basic rules for my show. I don’t play music from RIAA labels, and I avoid cover songs (although I’ve inadvertently broken that rule once or twice). I stick to legal outlets, like the Podsafe Music Network and IODA Promonet — which are excellent resources for podcasters seeking music — and anyone who emails me and asks me to consider their music will get a listen, provided they fit into the genre of my show. (Punk rockers and bluegrass fiddlers who try to be my friend on Myspace get on my tits. A little research never hurt anyone.)

Most of all, though, I only work with people who want to work with me. If I don’t have permission to play your song, I’ll email you and ask permission. 49 times out of 50, the artists will grant it, because they want the exposure. If they don’t reply, though, I respect it and move on.

Q: A recent study found blogs to be more effective than MySpace in generating album sales, do you feel podcasts have the same power?

A: In theory, yes. In practice, it’s a little trickier. People do buy music they hear on my show, and I’ve made it as easy as possible for my listeners to do so, but it does seem like many people just listen to the podcasts themselves and leave it at that. Why buy the cow, y’know? It’s a bit of a double-edged sword for me, too, because I want to put out a great show each week, but I also want people to go out and support these musicians, because they help make my show what it is. (This is one reason why I don’t ask for donations on my show. It never felt right to me to take cash on the backs of other people’s creations.)

Still, what makes a good music blog or music podcast is the unified voice behind it. Here’s one person saying, “This is a great song, and you should listen to it.” It’s the reason certain DJs are so popular in electronic music: they have a good ear for good tunes. It’s easier than ever to get music out there, but because there’s so much of it now, we still need the gatekeepers and tastemakers to guide us to the good stuff. That’s one part of the music business that won’t go away any time soon. We’re just seeing a slow transition of those gatekeepers from radio and TV to the Internet.