This Allure

Archive for September, 2009

Every true life rock ‘n’ roll television melodrama has the same scene: the unknown artist/band gives their freshly cut 45rpm single to the local disc jockey. He spins it on his top 40 radio show…and a star is born. This legend has been passed down through the generations of wannabe popstars like an ancient family recipe. The ingredients may differ, but in the end you get the same glorious results: radio play equals fame and fortune.

But does this Top of the Charts fairytale still apply today in the sardonic post new millennium world we call “today”? Can a band in our current music scene walk into a radio station with a CD single in their hot little hands, impress and wow the DJ with their enthusiasm and chutzpa, obtain the magic and golden FM radio spins and then ride the wave of success all the way to Graceland? Well, then, I guess the real question would be, “Do you believe in fairytales?”

Unfortunately, the music industry, like the entire Earth, has become so overpopulated and so oversaturated with artists, music, CDs, and radio stations/shows of all kinds, that the chance of your own personal radio fairytale coming true is probably slim to none. But, don’t give up on your favorite audio media outlet. Radio may not catapult you to instant superstardom but it certainly can help to push you down the path to success.

The following are a few tips that will help you to make your own music fairytale and get your music heard throughout the airwaves:

1.) Get Out Of Major Market The Top 40 Station Mentality—There was a day when getting played on a big city Top 40 radio station was like winning a gold medal at the Olympics. Bands that were chosen for play were handpicked by the voices of the airwaves whose ears were finely tuned to pick out the next new rising star. Today, things are a little different. Radio has become a huge corporation with three major conglomerates owning most of the stations in the United States. Sadly, Disc jockeys are no longer the innovators their predecessors were. Station management hands down a playlist (made exclusively of artists signed to mostly major labels) and the voices you hear on your radio are just that…talking heads animating a script. It’s nearly impossible for an unknown band to break into mainstream large metropolis radio and a waste of your time and money to send packages blindly to a medium that will more than likely reject you again and again.

2.) The Specialty Show Is Your Ticket In—Still determined to get played on that hot radio station with 10 million listeners and a celebrity DJ? Well, there is a backdoor that you may be able to slip through. It’s the specialty show. Many huge stations feature a weekly show structured just to highlight the little guy…to showcase unsigned artists from that station’s area and sometimes beyond. These shows are always worth sending your press package to, as they tend to base their playlist on your music and your credentials on not on the typical corporate artist roster. This is where you just might wow that innovative disc jockey and garner play on some of America’s biggest stations.

3.) College Radio Still Rocks—One area of radio that has stayed unaffected by the huge corporate retooling is the college/university station. Unlike companies/labels deciding what the listening audience thinks is cool or hip, college radio DJs and program directors are still setting their own cutting edges, breaking new artists, and finding the hot fresh stars of tomorrow hiding in their local clubs, coffee houses and garages. It’s always beneficial for unsigned artists to send as many CDs (or email as many MP3s, if the station will accept that medium) to as many college stations as you can find. You will find stations to play you and people will be listening. This could lead to new fans, tour possibilities, and will definitely look fantastic on the radio page of your website or EPK. Whether or not it will actually make you a rockstar, it will sure make you feel like one.

4.) The Unlimited World Of Independent Radio—Back in the early days of radio, indie stations were limited to audio pirates in their basements stealing airwaves from unsuspecting Top 40 giants. Now, thanks to the internet, satellites, cell phones, iPods and cable TV, independent stations outnumber their AM/FM constituents in the thousands and new ones are created every day. Since doing a search of indie radio stations online has been known to cause a brain embolism in some, know that you will probably never be able to solicit them all in one lifetime and just relax and enjoy sending music to whomever you can, as you will probably garner hoards of airplay. Furthermore, your wallet will grow to love you as most of these stations will allow you to submit MP3s online.

It’s true that the legendary story of the unknown band that got one single played on the radio and became superstars within a month is probably as outdated as the 8-Track tape. But that doesn’t mean that the process of artists soliciting music for radio play has become archaic. Radio remains, to this day, one of the best ways for musicians to promote their music and their projects in their area….and now, thanks to terrific technological advancements, nationally and worldwide. The repetition of your single in the ears of even the most jaded radio listener, may lead to: CD and merchandise sales, gigging opportunities in your city and others, visits to your website, posts to your fan club forums, potential press and even maybe industry attention. So, don’t stop sending those CDs, and emailing those MP3s because the next person who hears your song on the radio might just be the one who leads, either directly or indirectly, to your much sought record deal. And who knows? You might just wind up becoming bigger than Elvis.

Discovering the best ways to burn free music legally has often been time consuming and plain boring for many people. This is simply because of the confusion that has been created around music downloading services which are known to have created legal problems for the users downloading tracks from their web sites.

Thanks to the Internet, people now have access to billions, if not hundreds of billions of files which allow them to burn free music from their favorite artists instantly. People no longer have to buy new cd’s since they can simply download and burn free music on the web without having to spend a dime on the music they want. This is something that has caused the major labels so much stress and has pushed most of them to chase music lovers with rediculus law suites in hopes of getting them to stop downloading their mp3 tracks for free. The key to avoiding a law suite is to simply find out where to burn free music legally, then use those web sites on a continuous basis.

The first thing you want to do is find multiple sites that let you burn free music legally is to visit a downloading music review site. These kind of sites usually review a growing number of music web sites that help people get all the goodies they need.

Once you get onto their sites, you’ll be directed to the top music downloading sites that don’t mind if you burn free music off their networks without having to spend a dime.

Since the mid-1990s brought the beginning of legal battles surrounding digital music, the subject of downloading music has been a tricky one. It’s hard to know what is legal and what isn’t, and the potential risks associated with downloading anything can sometimes make people hesitate to try new sites for music downloads.

The threat of viruses and spyware would be enough to make anyone wary. Add to that the fact the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been extremely aggressive in its pursuit of illegal downloads, and you have some compelling reasons to be nervous about downloading music.

As long as you take precautions to protect yourself from malicious software and from potential litigation, though, downloading music is the best way to get new songs for your computer or MP3 player. You can buy individual songs rather than entire albums, and you don’t have to deal with having a house full of CD cases. Digital; music is most definitely the wave of the future, so it’s worth finding out how to locate safe and legal music downloads.

When you are looking for a site to download music from, your first concern should be making sure that it is legal. Some companies outside of the US claim to be exempt from US music distribution laws and therefore state that they have a right to offer music for download without a license to do so. The legality of these sites highly questionable. If you find yourself at a site which is offering songs at what seems like an unusually low price, there is probably a good reason for that: they are doing it illegally.

There are five basic factors that you should look at after legality: price, selection, format, digital rights management (DRM), and extras. The first two, price and selection, are very similar between the big download sites. The infamous-but-reformed Napster offers roughly the same amount of tracks as Apple’s iTunes, and the per-track price for both sites is 99 cents. However, Napster also offers an unlimited monthly plan that allows you to pay one price to download unlimited songs per month – something that iTunes has yet to explore. A lot of enthusiasts argue that this makes Napster a better value.

Selection is something that’s extremely important to many of us – more important, even, than price. When you want a particular album or you need to check out a new band, you don’t want to see that your preferred site for music downloads doesn’t carry that artist. Of course, you have to expect that it will happen sometimes – but if you can’t find any of your favorite music on a particular site, it’s time to move on.

If you plan to use your music downloads on a portable music player, it is essential to know what format is offered by the site that you choose and whether it is compatible with your portable player. Some sites or services offer only a proprietary format that can only be used with their software. This is very limiting and can frustratingly lock you into using only one type of musical device forever because your entire music library is in that format.

DRM is an issue that most of the internet community divided. This is a way for music distributors to control what happens to the music that you download. If you want to download music and then use it to burn CDs, you will need to make sure that the DRM allowances for that particular music download site will let you burn CDs of downloaded tracks. Some sites allow a maximum number of times you can burn a song or playlist, some require additional payment, and some will not allow you to burn CDs from downloaded songs at all.

Finally, the extras that you get with your music downloads might be enough to tip the scales one way or the other for you if you are deciding between two sites. Some music download services will include additional files with the download of albums – but not the malicious kind of additional files. These files are like the liner notes that come in CDs. This type of additional offering is great for those who don’t want to miss out on the great cover art and notes that bands include with their CDs.

Armed with this information, you should be able to make an informed decision about which site is best for you when you’re looking for legal music downloads. If you are having trouble making a choice between several contenders, there are plenty of site reviews online that will give you all of the information you need about the music download sites you’re interested in. When in doubt, stick to a well-known service to avoid running into problems with spyware, viruses, and questionable legality.