Slash Agora É O Primeiro Embaixador Global Da Gibson

Slash Named Gibson's First Global Brand Ambassador

Since his early days in Guns N' Roses, Slash has been known to shred on the guitar and has inevitably become one of the most iconic guitarists in rock history.

Because of Slash’s legacy, the musician has been appointed by Gibson as their first ever Global Brand Ambassador. The music lifestyle company announced on Tuesday (Aug. 15) that Slash will be developing a series of new products with the guitar brands Epiphone, Gibson, and Gibson Custom.

Slash has been playing Gibson guitars for over 30 years, supported the Gibson Foundation, and even collaborated with the brand and Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Brands, on several projects like product development, marketing initiatives, and more.

"It's an honor to be Gibson's first Global Brand Ambassador," said Slash in a statement. "I've been working with Gibson since the early days of my professional career and playing Gibson guitars since before that. I'm proud of the creative relationship we've developed over the years."

“We are thrilled to recognize Slash as Gibson’s first Global Brand Ambassador,” Juszkiewicz said in a statement. "Slash embodies the characteristics of creativity, passion and excellence that are so closely aligned with Gibson and we are very proud of the friendship and mutual success we have shared together for over 30 years. We are also very excited about the future products
we will be announcing soon.”

O Que É Stream-Ripping? Uma Nova Maneira Que As Pessoas Estão Roubando Músicas!

What Exactly Is Stream-Ripping, The New Way People Are Stealing Music

First of all thanks to Hugh McIntyre  for this article.

The music industry experienced one of the rockiest transitions into the digital age of almost any business over 15 years ago, as it didn’t lead the charge. The biggest companies working in music were more than happy to continue to allow people to purchase albums and CD singles, overlooking the potential that the internet could have offered for the field. The business only truly got its act together (at least somewhat) when the public latched onto piracy websites like Limewire and Napster and began downloading anything and everything they could want for free. That kicked off a decade-plus-long slump in the industry that has only just recently been reversed thanks to streaming platforms taking over the world. 

Now, just as things seemed like they were on the up-and-up, piracy is back in a major way, and the industry is yet again finding it difficult to battle the millions of people around the world who want access to the music they love on their terms. 

The latest trend in music piracy is called stream-ripping, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. There are dozens of websites and programs that anybody can find with just a quick Google search that allow any user to turn a file being played on almost any streaming platform, such as Spotify or even YouTube, into one that can be downloaded and kept permanently. Essentially, it rips the stream right off the website of the thief’s choice.

I won’t list any of the services that assist people in stealing music—I am not trying to promote them and help them make more money, after all—but there are a handful of options that seem to dominate the landscape, and those few services seem to be responsible for a disproportionately high percentage of stream ripping. It’s difficult to fight these companies because they aren’t trafficking in illegal files that can be tagged and identified, which was the case when the digital troubles began for labels and artists of all sizes, but rather ones that have been copied directly from the source. 

Last year, the three major record labels—Sony, Warner Brothers and Universal—banded together to file a lawsuit against one of the largest stream-ripping perpetrators in the world, and in their lawsuit, the trio of giants allegedthat "tens, or even hundreds, of millions of tracks are illegally copied and distributed by stream ripping services each month," and with streaming becoming more and more popular all the time and this issue still unresolved, it's entirely possible that hundreds of millions, or even billions, of tracks have been illegally downloaded using this method. 

Now, those tens or hundreds of millions of songs likely wouldn't have been purchased by fans around the world, but the fact that someone can unlawfully download a track they like instead of streaming it on a proper platform robs the artist, songwriters, producers and the many companies and employees behind every successful single or album of royalties they deserve, which can sometimes end up being greater than if the song had simply been sold on iTunes or Amazon. Individual streams aren't worth very much, but it's when someone listens over and over that all those fractions of cents can add up, and stream-ripping means nobody needs to hit replay on a certified, lawful service.

Lawsuits may have just started to roll out in a major way against stream-rippers in the past year or so, but this issue won’t go away by shutting down a few websites or shouting about it. Instead, it will require a massive education effort and a shift in the music industry. What helped stall the increasing number of illegal downloads from platforms like Limewire was a mix of legal action and the introduction of legitimate streaming sites, which provided enough freedom to satiate most music lovers. It is currently difficult to imagine what will come after streaming, or what the biggest players in that vertical can do to stop the rampant piracy that only seems to be growing.

Os 10 Piores Erros Em Uma Demo

10 Worst Song Demo Mistakes

First of all thanks to Johnny Dwinell for this article.

This week Kelly and I got the call to produce new record for an artist on a NY label.  It was a rush project as they wanted it “in the can” by 1st week of December in time to ship for Christmas.  Mostly the songs were already chosen, however at the last minute the label decided they wanted to add 2 more songs to the project.

We put out the word amongst the writing community here that we needed songs quickly as we were planning on cutting in under a week.  Usually this song request process manifests itself in the form of a “Tip Sheet” of some sort.  The tip sheet will dictate the kind of songs styles and lyrics styles that are needed for any particular project like “Up-tempo party songs” or “Mid-tempo island country grooves” or “ballads” or lately we have seen a lot of “AC/DC songs with country lyrics”.  The tip sheet will also tell the reader who the artist is along with a few other do’s and don’ts about song submissions for that particular artist, etc.  Since we didn’t have time for a tip sheet we personally called or texted every writer we knew with specifics on the artist, kind of songs, melodic ranges, and lyric content needed.

After roughly 48 hours, we received just over 250 songs.  Kelly and I sat down this past Saturday to dig into the task of listening.  After hearing the first 2 songs, I knew what my next blog was going to be about.  I want to share the experience that we had going through all these songs to give you a perspective from the producer side as we try to do our job.  I thought this might help you on your future pitches!  The intent here is to reveal what goes through our producer mind as we have to trudge through so many songs to cut the list from 250 to 15 or so that we present to the artist who then chooses the final list of songs that will be cut on the record.  FYI, this is not the most fun part of our job, this part is busy work that we would just assume get out of the way as quickly as possible; every job has this component in some fashion or another.

We are very familiar with the artist brand and voice; we better be, right?  We understand the vocal range, we understand the kind of songs the artist gravitates towards so much so, that we literally predicted the very 2 songs we thought would make the record out of the 18 we presented.

Here are the 10 worst song demo mistakes songwriters make when their cutting and pitching demos.

1. Long Intros SUCK – all we are thinking about during the vetting process is the melody, lyric, and vibe of the song; and isn’t that what you are selling?   For the life of me I cannot understand why ANYONE would have a song demo with a 45 second intro; it seems like a lifetime when you have 250 to listen to (if they all had 45 second intros that would be 187 MINUTES of time we wasted waiting for the damn songs to start!).  Think about It, what’s the purpose of a long intro on a SONG DEMO?  You are trying to sell the SONG not blow people away with your producing skills, so why make us wait?  This is such an annoyance; we had probably 8 songs like this.  Every single one of them pissed us off immediately (because we could tell it would be a long one) and to some extent, we passed a poor judgment on the song before we even heard the first verse.  Fair or not, this is what happens; foretold is forewarned.

2. Crappy/Cheap Production – We did come across a (very) few songs with horrible production; cheap demos.  We just laughed and ripped on them, they provided a welcomed comic relief from the work load we had to complete.  How does that make you feel?  I will tell you honestly, that you have to compete and compete intelligently in your marketplace.  Again, from the first note of crappy production, we are ripping on the demo before we even get to the song and to some extent, it certainly colors our opinion.  Food For Thought.

3. Wrong Song – READ the tip sheet or LISTEN to the instructions on what the project is requiring.  If the producer asks for Up-tempo party songs, don’t send ballads.  If the tip sheet has an artist with a limited vocal range, don’t send huge songs no matter how good they are, who’s gonna sing them?  Don’t use an opportunity to pitch a certain song as a vehicle to send the producers every song you have; we don’t care.  We are only looking for the songs we need for THIS project so we can get on with producing it.

4. Vague/Missing Email Subject Lines – So as you can imagine in about 48 hours, I added 250 emails to my regular daily allotment.  As a writer you definitely want to put the name of the artist pitch into the subject line so your song doesn’t get lost in all the traffic.  How else would one find a song amongst so many emails but the subject line?  That’s called common sense.

5. You Didn’t Research The Artist Before Sending Songs – In the case of this particular artist, his songs have a very positive message; they are on the bright side as opposed to darker themes.  We came across a couple songs about heavy drinking, sex, and adultery that just wouldn’t be right for his brand; clearly the writers that sent those have no clue about the artist, and simply wasted our time.  This doesn’t make a good impression on us about your songwriting no matter how good the song is.  In fact, it makes a bad impression on us that you didn’t listen to what we really needed.

6. You Chose The Wrong Singer – On your demo, it is so important to choose a pro singer; NOT someone who is your friend or who is ½ price, or yourself to save money.  FYI, suitable vocal ranges are very important as it is really hard to hear a big, high, soaring melody an octave lower.  We try, but it really is difficult; especially in the face of a 250 song listening session.  Those demos with poor singers or inappropriate singers (with respect to the artist) are ignored immediately. Sorry.  I strongly suggest if your song would work down in a low octave as well as a high soaring vocal performance, demo it twice; or at least cut a 2nd vocal so you have something that clearly represents both vocal ranges.

7. Your Lyrics Aren’t Strong Enough – We listened to some GOOD songs with average lyrics up through the first chorus.  However, the GREAT songs with KILLER lyrics kept our attention through the 2nd chorus…because we just couldn’t wait to hear what the writer was going to say next; simple artistic curiosity kept us inside that song.

8. You Don’t Honor The Purpose Of The Recording – What is a song demo supposed to do for the writer, EXACTLY?  It is supposed to sell the SONG.  Specifically the lyric, melody, and vibe of the song; anything more than that production wise and you are doing yourself a disservice and frankly wasting money on your demo.

9. You Over Produced Your Demo – I get the impulse for any writer or artist to do this.  It’s really almost a rite of passage; I guess we ALL have to learn “less is more” by doing it.  So for writers with very little studio experience, you tend to artistically get caught somewhere between a song demo and an epic album track.  Stick to the song demo side. DO NOT OVERPRODUCE your song demo!  Put BGV’s only where they are obvious to lift the chorus.  DO NOT put Ooh’s and Ahh’s and fill in some holes with BGV’s because your taste may not be the taste of the person you are pitching to.  Don’t add to many guitar tracks or color instruments, keep it as clean and sparse is possible.  You really want to leave room for the producer to do their job and take the song to another level; remember this should be a solid blue print for a song, not a production idea for a record.  Another good reason not to overproduce is that tastes and trends change constantly.  We definitely heard a few older demos (like more than 10 or 15 years) with production that was cool and in style 10 or 15 years ago but not cool now; so the production choices personally took me out of the song for a second or two.  If they were never there, the demo will certainly be more “durable” over time.

10. Bad Vocal Tuning – Holy cow we had a demo where the damn tuning was borderline Cher!  It’s unbelievably distracting!  Hire a pro singer, y’all, it really is the way to go if you are trying to compete with the big boys.

Fazendo Dinheiro Com A Sua Música - 6 Diferentes Fontes De Renda

A different take on making money from your music: The 6 different kinds of income sources

First of all thanks to Cheryl B. Engelhardt for this article.

Balancing sanity and satisfaction (and your checkbook) in your music career.

There are a bajillion articles, courses, and books on making money in the music industry. Heck, even my mastermind course covers this broad topic simply because we have to talk about it.

All of the different ways to make money — from house concerts to monetization to Spotify playlists to merch — can be overwhelming. I sometimes feel like I’m not doing enough, not tackling enough areas, not following the current trends. It’s information-overload in the scariest form: fear of missing out on an opportunity that can change the course of your music career.

The truth is, there may be a different perspective to take. The most successful independent musicians I know are ones that are wearing multiple hats with different sources of income. Each hat is something that inspires and motivates them, gets them excited to get out of bed in the morning, and something that fulfills them. When what you are doing is fulfilling, the money becomes a secondary conversation.

It just often feels so hard to get there.

It’s taken me over a decade to be able to say I feel that I have a fulfilling and diverse music career. I took a look at what the income source balance is for me, and I’ve discovered three different pairs of income characteristics that require a delicate balance for that sweet spot of fulfillment and ability to pay the bills!

Passive vs. Active Income

This is about time.

Passive income is money you make while sleeping:

• Royalties from radio plays or TV placements
• digital sales and streams
• selling of online products like a teaching video or merch

Active income is what you make when you put your time into something:

• playing a live gig
• composing a film score
• teaching guitar lesson

A lot of passive income comes after putting in significant time upfront creating a product (a CD, course, merchandise product) but gives you longer term freedom than an upfront sale for you time.

Predictable vs. Inconsistent Income

This is about consistency.

Early on, I had the realization that my FAVORITE sources of income were ALL inconsistent:

• writing music for commercials (super competitive with low chances of airing/being paid)
• playing a sold-out show (not something I could do every day)
• scoring a film (which takes months to do for one-time fee)

This lead to some really great months, followed by barely-paying-rent months. Saving was hard and I was always stressed. Teaching piano lessons, on the other hand, is fairly predictable. I only sell packages of 5 or 10 lessons upfront, and have a strict cancellation policy, so even if someone doesn’t show, I still make money.

Balancing predictable and inconsistent income sources has been the source of finding peace of mind, and peace of bank account (not a thing, but you know what I mean).

High vs. Low Paying Opportunities

This is about volume.

When I’m selling CD’s for $10 at a show, I make sure I announce that I have them for sale, where they are, and how you can buy them. I do this because I know that when I’m selling something for only $10, the impact will be in the volume. The more I sell, the more it makes sense to sell them.

When I’m writing demos for commercials, ONE sold track can make the difference. So it’s a great way to plan how I will spend my time.

When you are crowdfunding, you can focus on getting 1000 people to contribute $10 or 10 people to contribute $1000 for the same outcome. But the strategy for each will be VERY different. If you know what you’re going for, you can really optimize your time.

Dividindo A Publicação De Uma Música - Os Co-Autores

A publishing split sheet for co-songwriters

First of all thanks to Chris Robley for this article.

Get it in writing and protect your publishing rights. 

You’ve just co-written a killer song. You’re psyched. But before you leave, before you celebrate, before you tweet about it, before you do anything else, sit back down with your collaborators and fill out a publishing split sheet.

Who contributed, and in which ways? What percentage of the song does each writer own?

There’s no better time to get on the same page with your co-writers than that moment when a song is new, memories are fresh, and you’re all feeling like part of the same team.

CD Baby has created a simple three-step PDF template to help you and all your collaborators make clear who owns what when it comes to your new original song, how the royalties should be distributed, and more.

Download our publishing split sheet so you’re ready to get it in writing the minute your new collaborative work is finished.

'Game of Thrones' 7 Temporada Será Lançada Em Breve

'Game of Thrones' Season 7 Soundtrack Has a Release Date

The selections of composer Ramin Djawadi's music will be released Sept. 29. 

The soundtrack for Game of Thrones' current seventh season will be released Sept. 29, according to a new pre-sale listing on Amazon. 

The album will be available on CD and digitally and will select works from the show's composer, Ramin Djawadi. 

Djawadi recently spoke to Billboard about the new season's music, saying it everything is bigger now that Daenerys Targaryen's dragons are the size of 747s. "That's epic in its own right, so the music has to rise with that as well," he said. 

"There's some really beautiful, emotional scenes in this season and really amazing actions scenes," he continued. "[The dragons have] grown so much that musically I was able to push in both directions -- emotional and action-packed. A lot of times it's very dialogue-heavy and the music stays in the background so I use solo instruments like cello and violin. But now as we're coming to the end with big scenes I can use bigger string sections and brass and choirs and get much bigger orchestra sounds." 

Djawadi has scored other TV shows including Westworld and Prison Break, as well as films such as Warcraft, Pacific Rim and Iron Man, for which he received a Grammy nomination. The first Game of Thrones soundtrack in 2011 peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Soundtrack chart. 

3 Dicas Para Voce Achar O Seu "Groove"

3 Tips for Finding Your Song’s Groove

First of all thanks to Cliff Goldmacher for this article.

One of the unsung elements that helps bring a song to life - and make it memorable - is the groove. By way of definition, groove is a mystical combination of tempo and feel that adds depth and texture to your song. That being said, it’s not uncommon for songwriters to relegate groove to an afterthought. Here are a few tips for focusing on and finding your song’s groove.

1. Try accenting different words in your melody
Sometimes it’s as simple as changing which words in your lyric you choose to emphasize that can make all the difference in finding a groove that works. Experimenting with how your melody falls on each beat can also lead to a more expressive delivery of your lyric while giving the music a better overall feel.

2. Try changing the groove to its opposite
This may sound counterintuitive but the history of hit songs is full of sad/contemplative lyrics set to a killer beat, so if you’re not quite sure why your song isn’t working, try changing the groove completely. Sometimes ballads take on an interesting twist when they’re changed to uptempo/groove-based songs. The same is true when up-tempo songs lack the gravity that you’re looking for - changing the groove to a ballad can shine a whole new light on the lyric.

3. Reference the tempo/feel of popular songs in the genre you’re going for Given that certain lyrics work better in certain genres, referencing a popular song in the genre where your lyrics fit can be a great starting point when you’re looking for a groove. To keep it sounding original though, and not like a copy of the song you’re referencing, don’t hesitate to experiment with rhythmic variations from other genres to make it unique and engaging for your listeners.

Bonus Tip 
Remember that loop software isn’t just for certain genres. It can - and should - be used as a reference point for any genre of music to help you find new rhythmic feels that you might not otherwise come up with on your own.

While your song’s melody and lyric will always be front and center, the decisions you make around the groove of your song can play a big part in how your music is ultimately received.

Good luck!