Ariel Publicity

Site: www.dailyvault.com
Blog: dailyvault.blogspot.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/dailyvault
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/The-Daily-Vault/13940029846?ref=mf
 

Q: What is your favorite Genre to play?
 

A: All of ‘em. No, really. On any given day my listening habit might include power-pop, progressive rock, jazz, alt-country, soul, classical, blues, folk and the list goes on. The Daily Vault contains over 5,400 reviews of over 2,600 artists and one of the things I love best about the site is that within the universe of music, it acknowledges no boundaries. We’ve done features on punk and Broadway soundtracks, hip-hop and Jethro Tull. We’ve reviewed Japanese New Age artists and Swedish death metal bands and African folk singers. And our writers, past and present, hail from all over the globe — Australia, Canada, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Norway, the Philippines, South Korea, and half the states in the USA. I personally listen to a lot of “guitar music,” but for me that extends from Yes to Fountains of Wayne to Montrose to James Taylor to Switchfoot and back. Even so, I find myself frequently using our “Randomizer” button (the Pandora of music reviews) to get inspired to try something I haven’t listened to in a while.
 

Q: What do you like to see in a CD that you review?
 

A: There has to be a spark. No matter what genre you’re working in, there has to be something — a line, a riff, an arrangement, an honesty in the vocals — that reaches through my speakers and grabs me. If I had one bit of advice to offer — and really, you shouldn’t listen to me because I can’t play a note! — it would be to make sure that you’re making music that you are completely excited about and committed to. If you over think it or spend your time trying to be “the next” anyone else, your end product is almost guaranteed to come out beneath your potential. Figure out what it is you want to say with your music, and commit to that 110 percent. The more of yourself you can give to the music, the more interesting and different it’s going to be. Spark and commitment, that’s what reaches me.
 

Q: In your long history of reviewing CDs, what is your opinion on what makes a good CD great?
 

A: It all comes back to that spark. Albums that I love — Born To Run (Springsteen), Who’s Next (The Who), Innervisions (Stevie Wonder), Close To The Edge (Yes), August & Everything After (Counting Crows) — are albums in which talented artists reached back for that something extra and blew past the highest expectations anyone had of them at the time. They’re albums that speak boldly and with an almost complete lack of self-consciousness, and that take personal experiences and transform them into universal truths. There is so much artificiality in the world. Any album that breaks through the everyday facade and speaks deeper truths — and does it in an engaging and entertaining way — has a shot at greatness in my book.
 

Q: How long have you been broadcasting, and what made you start?
 

A: I’ve actually only been editor of the site since January 2003, less than half its existence. Christopher Thelen launched the Daily Vault in January 1997 and ran it for the first six years. In the first year he brought on a group of staff writers that included me and a couple of other folks who have stuck around all this time. The reasons why are simple — we love music, we love writing, and we want to help artists and listeners to connect with one another. I personally can’t count the number of artists I first learned about from other Daily Vault writers and who have subsequently become favorites of mine. Plus, I’ve made a lot of friends among our writing staff, our readers and even among the artists we cover. When you’re as passionate about something as we all are about music, starting a conversation is never an issue…
 

Q: What do you think is the biggest pitfall for artists to overcome?
 

A: Despite all the changes we’ve seen recently in how music is delivered to market, I think the core problem artists have to solve is still the same as it has always been: how do you find an audience without compromising your art? Art that compromises isn’t really art anymore, it’s shtick — imitation and gimmickry. And art that’s true and meaningful and resonant will always find an audience, even if it’s only a small, devoted one. Don’t get me wrong — I love a good pop tune and as hard as it is out there, I sympathize with bands who end up making compromises in order to make a living playing music. It’s a dream no one would ever want to give up. But with that said, my entertainment dollar is more likely to go to artists who make the sometimes-difficult choice to stay true to their own voice and let the chips fall where they may. People who make that choice have my complete respect.

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http://www.rubyfruitradio.com/

All indie, all female awesome weekly podcast from NYC

Q:  You have aired over 100 shows so far, what keeps you going, why do you want to promote artists?

A: I like hearing new music and I like sharing music I find with people around the world. I sometimes look at the show as being my mixtape for the masses. I used to make mixtapes for friends of music I would stumble upon and this is not different. The internet just takes it to a much larger scale.

Q:  How long have you been broadcasting?

A: The first episode of Rubyfruit Radio was in November of 2005. I have a background in radio as a dj and a producer and I used the podcast to get back into that.

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

A: A good song needs a good beat and a good melody, even songs that aren’t necessarily thought of as being melodic like punk. Great lyrics also don’t hurt.

Q: I see that you did two of Ariel’s artists in your last episode, KaiserCartel and Carla Lynne Hall, what was your reason for choosing these musicians and what do you think of Ariel’s artists?

A: KaiserCartel and Carla Lynne Hall both fit perfectly in with the type of music that I play on Rubyfruit Radio. Carla Lynne Hall is an amazing artist who has been on my list of people to play for a while, but I was saving her for this particular episode. Likewise, the first time I heard KasierCartel, I immediately fell in love with their sound. I saved both of these artists for episode 142 because they are both based in NYC. I recently moved from Atlanta to NYC and did a special episode where I only played NYC based artists.

Overall, I have never seen an organization with such such a high calibur of artsts. I’ve played many Ariel artists in the past and have many set to go for future shows.

Q: How can Ariel’s artists reach out to you to try and get their songs put onto one of your new episodes, what are you looking for?

A: First and foremost, the artists need to be female or be a female fronted band. I play a wide variety of genres on the show from alternative to folk to country to punk so there is a place for almost anyone. They can send me an email at rubyfruitradio@gmail.com with an mp3 or a link to their Facebook or Myspace profiles and we can go from there.

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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

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One key thing I have learned over the past few years of attending workshops and garnering techniques from some of the worlds most successful people is: Those people did not get there alone. Success takes support and this issue of Sound Advice will show you how to create a support group that can help you stay on track and achieve your music career success. It’s called a Mastermind Group.
 

I hear it all of the time – musicians call me up and say: “If only I had a manager,” or a booking agent or a record label etc. And I in turn say: It’s hard to get a manager when you are just starting out However its not hard to get some help!
 

For those of you in bands: Does this scenario sound familiar? One person is in charge of doing all of the business affairs and the other members of the band just show up (sometimes they don’t even show up on time!) If you’ve got a band of hired guns, this sadly is your cross to bear. However, if your band is considered an equal team, I highly suggest that you include your band members in your mastermind group. If you are the only active member of your band on the business side that’s OK – you can build yourself some great support with non- band members.
 

What a Mastermind Group is
A mastermind group is a small team of people that meets one to two times per month, sits down, and brainstorms together, creates goals, makes lists, talks about objectives, and keeps each other accountable so that that you will move forward with your goals and achieve them faster.
 

What a Mastermind Group is Not
A Mastermind is NOT band bitch session where you air your dirty laundry and get angry at each other (We call that a band meeting ). A mastermind meeting is a place for goals and a place for action and a place where you can really focus on yourself and your career.
 

Setting Up Your Mastermind Group
I suggest you create a group of four to six people – if you are married or part of couple and you want to set and achieve goals with your spouse or significant other I suggest a group of 3 couples (it’s OK to have different goals). If you are not part of a couple, I suggest a group of three to four others in addition to you. These people do not have to be in the music business, and it may actually be better if they are not. These people also do not have to be reaching for the same type of goals – they will however need your good input to achieve them, and you will need theirs.
 

Steps To Take

1. Choose fellow masterminders to invite that you admire and that you look up to.
2. Choose people who are strong self-starters and who know how to get the job done, who perhaps own their own businesses. Having someone in your mastermind group who runs a business will really help motivate you.
3. Preset a scheduled date and time every month or twice a month. The third Wednesday of each month, perhaps. Or a dinnertime every first and third Tuesday of the month – Don’t break your commitment – you need to keep this set time to achieve results. How you handle this mastermind is critical to your success.

 
Setting Achievable Goals Is Key
Be careful when setting your goals. Start with ones that you can achieve within the first month (redesigning your newsletter, re-writing your pitch, booking one gig etc) so you feel like you are accomplishing small victories along the way.
 

Please read my previous article on how to set goals and achieve them here:
http://www.arielpublicity.com/sound_advice/setting-goals.html
 

At Your Scheduled Date and Time

1. Come to each meeting with an agenda.
2. Don’t make this a social hour – you are getting together to work – Dive in quick and socialize when you are all done with your meeting.
3. Choose a scribe. One person should be in charge of writing down what happened with measurable goals, actions, and results with dates set for each one and the scribe will e-mail the notes after each and every meeting so that everybody can keep up-to-date with each other.
4. Hold each other accountable – Set check in times to stay on track.

 
Between sessions, you should be in touch a few times to make sure measures are being met.
 

Set up a Wiki
A Wiki is a great way that everybody can stay in touch without losing track of e-mails. I recommend
Ning – http://www.ning.com
PB Wiki – http://www.pbwiki.com/
 

Keep a Reading List
Have a reading list of books and links to articles that may be helpful to the group and reasons why you are recommending these books on your group Wiki. Books on Time management or on small business or on how to tour – whatever you are trying to accomplish there is probably already a book or an article out there.
 

Join My New Mastermind Group For Extra Support
I just started a mastermind group that already has 80 artists in it helping each other out with goals. To get a free membership all you have to do is purchase my book: Music Success in 9 Weeks http://www.cyberprbook.com
 

Have Fun
The last piece of advice I’ll give is This process should be fun!
 

This is you creating your career as a musician and it should feel like a joy, not a dreaded homework assignment.
 

I’d love to hear about your Masterminds. Please report them to me at Ariel@arielpublicity.com

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Related show

• Artist: Ariel Hyatt
• Date: Tuesday, March 16th 2010
• Time: 5:00pm
• City: Ariel Hyatt in Austin, TX
• Venue: Momo’s
• Address: 618 West 6th Street
• Venue phone: (512) 479-8848
• Country: United States
• Admission: FREE
• Notes: Austin Music Foundation presents Party:Smart Join Martin Atkins, Ariel Hyatt (Ariel Publicity) and Charlie Cheney, (Indie band manager). They will share tips, secrets, and suggestions to get your career on the right path!
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

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