Q: I just got a call from a PR firm who heard my music on myspace and is trying to convince me to try their service. They offer a 5 day trial for $2.95 automatically recurring at $60.00 a month until you cancel. I think I should decline.
A: here's the questions I think you should always ask yourself before you purchase a service:
- what is your definition of success, and what is your business plan for your music? how does this service support your goals?
- what is this service going to do for you that you're not doing or couldn't do yourself? You should do it yourself first so you understand what is required, and only purchase help when you don't have sufficient time to do it anymore / or if you can't access that area of the market yourself.
- what is their track record? One assumes a proactive musician has been building their network, reading newsletters and forums to do with music all the time. If this was a fantastic service that really helped artists, then why haven't you heard of it before now?
- who do they accept as members? Have you listened to that music? Is it well-produced, commercially viable?
- how do they go about executing your "pr" for you? What specifically will they do and how will they report the results to you. If they're going to be lumping your music in with other artist's music on a compilation CD, forget it. If they're going to be pitching your music to radio stations... get yourself a copy of the Indie Bible, read the articles and pitch yourself (and follow up your pitches as advised in the book).
- even if they do succeed in getting you "pr" what is the point of that? Do you have a product you are selling, do you have a tour you're selling tickets for... how is this investment going to end up as dollars back in your pocket?
- I don't put any reaccuring charges on my credit card if I can help it. $60 a month = $720 per year. Do they offer a discount if you pay the year up front? (That's more than double a TAXI membership, or an SongU membership, or a NSAI membership. These organizations have good reps.)
See the left hand column of this blog for resources on marketing & PR.
HTH
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I started this here "advice column" cause, for some darn reason, people seem to think I might actually know something and have been asking me all sorts of questions about songwriting and the music industry. So this is Hummingbird's "Wise Bird's Blog".
Resources
- Ariel Hyatt (CyberPR)
- Bob Baker (The Buzz Factor)
- Bob Fraser (Show Biz How-to)
- Eckhart Tolle (Conscious Living)
- House Concerts (Booking)
- Indie Bible (Marketing)
- Jason Blume (Songwriting)
- John Braheny (Songwriting)
- Julia Cameron (Creativity)
- Musican's Atlas (Booking)
- Pat Luboff (Songwriting)
- Seth Godin (Music Marketing)
- Shakti Gawain (Creative Visualization)
- Susan Jeffers (Author)
Songwriting Forums
Book List
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- *Songwriting - Creativity n' Inspiration List
- 101 Songwriting Wrongs 'n How to Right Them
- Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook
- Inside Songwriting
- Music Success in 9 Weeks
- Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting
- Six Steps to Songwriting Success
- The Artist's Way
- THe Craft n' the Business of Songwriting
- This Business of Songwriting
- Writing Better Lyrics
- Writing Down the Bones
'bout "'Bird"
Singer/voice teacher Vikki Flawith is a well-respected lyricist and a successful songwriter/composer for film & television. She specializes in world, techno-orchestral, electronica, and new age with a focus on creating music for sci fi, horror, suspense, drama and comedy. Over the past year she has signed over two dozen instrumental tracks to five different music libraries.
Ms. Flawith sang in church and school choirs from an early age, composing and performing solo folk music at Prince George's Knox United Church and on tour with the Prince George College Chorale. She began her voice studies with maestro Luigi Wood in 1990 and has trained privately in the Italian method since then. She coached with Bliss Johnston (Virago); attended Master Classes at the Vancouver Academy of Music with Phyllis Mailing; and trained with German-Australian tenor Gerhardt Zeller, Canadian soprano Catherine Lewis, and Canadian soprano Barbara Livingston.
Her credits include: Carmen, The Tempest, Lucia di Lammermoor (Pacific Opera Victoria, 03-04), M'alachim (Western Concert Opera); The Magic Flute (Vancouver Academy of Music); Carousel, Brigadoon, La Cage aux Folles (Theatre under the Stars); Faust, Die Mutter (Theatrespace); Hair (Vancouver Musical Theatre); Kiss Me Kate (Victoria Operatic Society); Toad of Toad Hall (West Niner's/Ldn, Eng); and Puss & Boots (Metro Theatre).
Ms. Flawith began teaching group vocal lessons in January of 1996 and established her own vocal studio in May of that year. In Vancouver, she taught at the Kerrisdale and Dunbar Community Centres (1996 - 1998) and at the Burrard Music Studio (1996 - 2002). In 1997 she established and directed Gospel Voices, a popular 6-week performance workshop for beginning singers, which was held several times in Vancouver.
With over twelve years experience in teaching, and over eighteen years of training, Ms. Flawith is a popular teacher and mentor who passionately believes that everyone can sing, if they wish to... and if they are willing to do the work. She specializes in working with those who have always wanted to sing, but have felt too intimidated to try.
Ms. Flawith sang in church and school choirs from an early age, composing and performing solo folk music at Prince George's Knox United Church and on tour with the Prince George College Chorale. She began her voice studies with maestro Luigi Wood in 1990 and has trained privately in the Italian method since then. She coached with Bliss Johnston (Virago); attended Master Classes at the Vancouver Academy of Music with Phyllis Mailing; and trained with German-Australian tenor Gerhardt Zeller, Canadian soprano Catherine Lewis, and Canadian soprano Barbara Livingston.
Her credits include: Carmen, The Tempest, Lucia di Lammermoor (Pacific Opera Victoria, 03-04), M'alachim (Western Concert Opera); The Magic Flute (Vancouver Academy of Music); Carousel, Brigadoon, La Cage aux Folles (Theatre under the Stars); Faust, Die Mutter (Theatrespace); Hair (Vancouver Musical Theatre); Kiss Me Kate (Victoria Operatic Society); Toad of Toad Hall (West Niner's/Ldn, Eng); and Puss & Boots (Metro Theatre).
Ms. Flawith began teaching group vocal lessons in January of 1996 and established her own vocal studio in May of that year. In Vancouver, she taught at the Kerrisdale and Dunbar Community Centres (1996 - 1998) and at the Burrard Music Studio (1996 - 2002). In 1997 she established and directed Gospel Voices, a popular 6-week performance workshop for beginning singers, which was held several times in Vancouver.
With over twelve years experience in teaching, and over eighteen years of training, Ms. Flawith is a popular teacher and mentor who passionately believes that everyone can sing, if they wish to... and if they are willing to do the work. She specializes in working with those who have always wanted to sing, but have felt too intimidated to try.
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