Musician’s Notebook

Artists tend to focus on copyright as the be-all and end-all for the protection of their work and careers. While copyright is the most essential thing to know in-depth, there is something that is quite important that falls under the umbrella of intellectual property law: trademarking.

You can spend years building up a brand and reputation to support your name or your band’s name. If you’ve done that, it really doesn’t matter how many songs you write or how good you are - the name is the thing that sells, that piques interest in the ears of potential customers and potential investors, and therefore protecting that name is paramount to protecting your career. You do this by trademarking.

If you don’t trademark it yourself, you may end up with the same problem Prince had - and for many artists, it has meant the end of a career.

You can find out more on trademarking from the WIPO.

Building on yesterday’s post about themed collections, it’s important to choose strong themes that you know you believe in, that are broad enough to write several songs about, and that are powerful enough to stand the test of time and be interesting and important for listeners. You can do political albums, or albums that attack a particular set of world issues - environmental ones perhaps? Or if you prefer something a little lighter, and agree with me that love albums are overdone and overrated, how about something on the importance of family? There are so many angles to draw on using that theme that you could write several albums on it - family from the child’s point of view, the marital point of view, broken families, whole families, families under stress and tension, families being pushed to the edge of destruction thanks to the fading values of the society we live in…

Choose a powerful theme that you can believe in. Even if it seems a bit narrow at first, it’s not hard to take different angles and viewpoints on it to come up with more material. You can throw in a few songs with related but not quite on-topic themes too, just to keep things interesting and shaken up. The danger of this method of working is falling into repetitive habits, essentially re-writing the same song over and over again.

So long as you stay away from that habit, the effort is worth it for the end result.

I came across the Future of Music website and really enjoyed their manifesto. I think you will too.

Recent advances in digital music technology are loosening the stranglehold of major label, major media, and chain-store monopolies. Digital download and online streaming technology offers musicians a chance to distribute their music with minimal manufacturing and distribution costs, with immediate access to an international audience. Songs that would never be programmed through currently-existing narrow commercial channels are slipping through the radio industry programming stranglehold and gaining exposure, thanks to the new breed of file-sharing programs.

Here’s a group that’s working to educate, inform and act on behalf of musicians who once had to put their careers in the hands of mega-corporations, and can now take it back for themselves. I really like what the Future of Music Coalition is doing and the issues they’re pushing, such as net neutrality.

Most musicians look at the individual song as a piece of art and the album as a means of distributing a collection of songs conveniently. But the album can be so much more than a means of mass distribution! It requires a small shift in viewpoint, but if you learn to see the album itself as a work of cohesive art, made up of songs that form a larger whole just like words form sentences, you can create something more powerful for the listener and fulfilling for you.

This is done by theming your albums and collections. If you start with songs, you end up with a mish-mash by the end, but if you determine the theme of your album and then work on songwriting and repertoire, you’ll have formed the basis for that cohesive themed work.

Begin by shifting viewpoint and seeing the album as the work of art, and then you can take the next step - determining the theme that’ll work best for you.

Positioning is important for artists, and one way to go about building a particular reputation and brand for oneself is to write and publish articles that espouse a point of view on an issue. Well, Colin Preston decided this would be a great idea over on his MySpace blog, but he made one stupid mistake.

He didn’t write the article.

Instead, he lifted an article that my friend and colleague, NDK Creative Artist, wrote and claimed it as his own. What’s the bitter irony of this situation? The article he lifted espouses anti-piracy.

As always, the Free Articulator did its job and exposed the situation. People like this who pretend to be artists are a despicable stain on humanity. The bottom line is this: DON’T ever steal other people’s content to promote yourself (or for any other reason!). It’s stupid, it’s pathetic, and you’re probably going to get caught. And if you do get caught, you freakin’ well deserve it.

Morgan Cryar recently commented on this blog that while it’s important to have a good application base set up for digital songwriting, it’s also important to be able to capture ideas while on the move:

I seldom lose a song idea when I’m surrounded by computer, paper, etc. My biggest losses have been IN MY CAR!

The radio inspires, an idea grabs me by the throat, and there I am without my digital recorder. I have resorted to voicemail several times in that moment. But those little digital “one-button” wonders are best for me.

And she’s right - it’s when you’re out and about, letting your mind wander and not really focusing on creative output, that your best ideas come to you, and unfortunately, when your best ideas slip through your fingers - if you’re not prepared.

1. Capturing Melodies - What I Use

Morgan mentioned a digital recorder, and she also mentioned using voicemail in times of desperation. My solution is somewhere in between; I use my phone, but not for the voicemail. If you have a smartphone or PDA, like my O2 XDA mini, you can usually hit a “Record Note” button on the side of the phone, allowing you to quickly and easily capture whatever auditory data you’re trying to retain. I have had at least a hundred melody ideas on my phone - if you’re like me, you’ll need a decent SD card for extra storage.

2. Capturing Melodies - Alternatives

Of course, going all out and buying a new phone is probably not the answer for most. For the best bang-for-back, you’ll want a device that can perform more than just the function of recording audio in the car. You’d probably want playback too. I can’t wait until the iPhone ships in Australia for this reason - at the moment I record melody ideas on my phone, but my main playback device is my (getting quite outdated) iPod, which I use to listen to music while commuting or to spend that time listening to and critically examining my own music. Having both functions integrated into one device would be superb.

While you’ll still have to carry around a separate phone, you can grab a device that records audio as well as plays audio just like an MP3 player - something like the Olympus WS-320M 1 GB Digital Voice Recorder and Music Player, perhaps.

3. Capturing Melodies - The Natural MacGyver’s Way

If you don’t want to spend a bunch of money on new equipment, there’s a cheaper way to do it. I had a friend who did this and it worked out well for him: set up Skype on both your phone and your home computer. If you’re around wireless networks all day, you can call your home Skype and leave a voicemail - one that gets saved as a digital audio file on your computer for ease of use. If you’re not around wireless networks, then you can get a SkypeIn number and do the same thing with a regular call.

4. Capturing Ideas & Lyrics - Automatic Backups

Most musicians find that capturing audio is the best way to hang on to good ideas, but there are times when it’s easier to get a written record of ideas or lyrics down. My favorite method is great because it not only gets your idea out of your head and into a fixed tangible expression, but keeps an automatic backup. In this age it’s not hard to find internet access wirelessly, and almost all laptops and many phones can pick it up; failing that, many smartphones and PDAs can send and receive email without a whole lot of expense. If you set up a mechanism to send email while you’re out and about, you’ve got a double back up of your work; in the sent box on your phone or laptop, and the inbox on the other end.

5. “Low Tech can save your creative neck”

That’s a quote from my friend NDK, whose favorite tool for capturing ideas is the good old notepad and pencil. Personally, I prefer pens, but whatever writing utensil you use isn’t the main point; having this low tech solution around can save you from losing a great idea, such as a lyric, and protect you from the terrible plagues of data loss, hardware failure, and malicious electronic device-seeking children. And if you can fill a few hundred of these, it’s a great bragging point!

After my last post on using your own ringtone as a cheap and effective audience building device, Jeff, a Musician’s Notebook reader, left a comment about MyxerTones. The dilemma he mentioned was the difficulty that many people face with getting the ringtone from the computer and onto the phone. I use an O2 XDA which allows me to transfer an MP3 over pretty easily, and hadn’t thought of the potential difficulty for owners of numerous handsets.

MyxerTones looks like a great solution - you select the sound file from your computer, and it’ll send it straight to your phone. Difficulty erased!

It’s pretty common for someone to ask you where you got your ring tone after it rings; who sung it? Where did you buy it? People ask these things every day. Are you missing an opportunity to promote your music by using another artist’s ring tone?

You can reach the masses through blogs, but loyal audiences are developed one by one. Next time someone asks where you got your ring tone, take the opportunity to create a fan.

DevDad.com is the blog of stay-at-home dad Mike from Tampa Bay, Florida. He’s a 21 year old father, and I can sure sympathize with him for working out of home with a (wonderful) distraction running around. It’s interesting for me, personally, to read his blog and see how he handles business and family simultaneously. It’s a great blog, especially if you’re a parent of any kind. My son was conceived near the end of high school, and since most people tend to be in their thirties before having kids in this era, I feel more of a bond with what’s written on his blog than I might if he were 31.

Mike is running a competition, the Stay At Home Dad iMac Give-Away, for readers of his blog. The iMac is a fantastic home studio machine (for those who can’t afford something like a Mac Pro) - sure as hell beats the Mac Mini I have to forge my demos on - and I figured that readers would appreciate the heads up on this competition. If you can win this one, you’ll be churning out great new songs and tunebacks like a dog on heat. Go and check the Stay At Home Dad iMac Give-Away, and even if you don’t enter, subscribe - it’s a fun read.

This competition is sponsored by SitterCity, a leading American babysitting agency (it even does petsitting!), and while I’m out here in Australia and would more babysitting for Axl, I know Mike would not be partnering with them unless they were the best in their field. Thanks for the opportunity, SitterCity.

What are you still doing here? Go enter!

The exit clause is perhaps the most important clause in the band agreement. It stipulates the conditions under which a band member may leave the band, and outlines the actions that can be taken when a band member must be terminated, and for what reasons this may be done. It prevents long, drawn-out arguments over these particularly sensitive issues of band life and prevents one member’s departure from creating problems, or even a collapse, for the whole band.

The purposes of the exit clause are:

To facilitate the departure of band members in as clean and professional a manner as possible;

To ensure that the departure of a band member does not jeopardize the band financially, structurally, perceptually or with regard to intellectual property issues;

To ensure that the information the media and public receives from the band and the departing band member is uniform and consistent;

To ensure that a replacement can be brought in smoothly, trained in the songs that the former band member played on that instrument, and with no legal roadblocks to recruitment left in place by the departing band member.

A good band agreement will have a thorough exit clause that meets these goals and resolves any issues arising from them, and will typically contain the following stipulations:

1. Media Release on Exit

A media release must be developed on the exit of any band member. This is a joint public statement which can be sent to media, or on a smaller scale, placed on the band website so that loyal fans have a unified view, and not opposing views, of what occurred between the exiting band member and the rest of the band.

2. Payment Withholdings

Any payments/settlements owed to the departing band member will not be paid until they have worked with the band to craft and publish a media release, under the agreement that they will not make statements that contradict the release.

3. Completion of contracted performances

No band member intending to exit the band will put contracted performances in jeopardy. This one is a HUGELY IMPORTANT one. Imagine it: you’ve just scraped up the huge amount of cash it takes to put on your own tour, and one of the band members wants to leave. They’ve not only sent you broke with no means to recoup that money, but hung you and the band out to dry. The condition must be that the member will give sufficient notice to the band and complete any remaining contracted performances. If this is disregarded, there are grounds for legal action and the band will collect damages.

The band can also use their discretion to determine whether the exiting band member is reasonable in wishing to leave before the completion of contracted performances.

4. Transfer of professional relationships

If the exiting band member is the holder of professional relationships directly affecting the band, the exiting band member must transfer this relationship to the band before leaving, without damaging or defaming the relationship between the band and the professional.

5. “Negative position”

The exiting band member should not leave the band in a negative position that could allow the band to sue the exiting band member.

6. One month’s notice

The exiting band member must officially notify the band at a meeting one month before exiting. This condition is superseded by (3) Completion of contracted performances, so if there are contracted performances a month and a half from the official notification, the exiting band member must attend them. Again, the band can use their discretion to determine whether the exiting band member is reasonable in wishing to leave before the official exit date set in the meeting.

7. Successor recruitment

Depending on the way in which the band member leaves, they may be expected to assist in recruiting a replacement and teaching the band’s repertoire to them. The exiting band member must do as best they can within their skills to document any musical notation or tablature for their instrument, or obtain help to do so.

The second clause, regarding the withholding of payments, can be modified to stipulate that all exit conditions must be met before payments are issued, but otherwise, the consequence is often legal action.

Having a band agreement with a strong exit clauses is one of the best things you can do for the longevity and success of your band. Get to it!

Read more about the Band Agreement in the Establishing Your Band series.

There’s a fantastic Web 2.0-style guitar tuner at How To Tune A Guitar. It has a myriad of alternative tunings in its database and plays each note repeatedly until you get it right - great way to tune up and work on your ear-tuning at the same time.

Create Digital Music has an excellent tutorial on creating a foot pedal from a QWERTY keyboard for use with Ableton Live so you can record hands-free. Check it out at Create Digital Music. If I knew of something like this for Logic and Reason, I’d be building it right now!

I’d like to see an implementation that accounts for the small key size; maybe some kind of modification that makes the pushable area larger. If you’re an Ableton user, head on over and take a look. I think it’ll be worth your time.

Update: Michael Una, the author of the tutorial, left this useful comment:

Hi Joel. With a little bit of ingenuity, you can apply this DIY footcontroller to any DAW.

The trick is all in the key scripting programs I mention in the article- you can very easily script any combination of keystrokes and mouse actions to be triggered by the push of a single key.

So, with a little fiddling, you could assign each of the buttons on the footcontroller to a different function, such as play, record, mute, solo, etc.

Also, it’s a bit hard to see in the pictures, but I did hot glue some larger bits of plastic to the keys to increase the surface area of each button. I used a transparent plastic so I could still read which key was which, but you could really glue anything on there.