MP3 – a Brief Overview!
by: Luna Sol

Internet did not only change the daily habits but also the way people do their shop. And more than that: Internet has also increased the space to commit piracy.

Music is a good example of how Internet can contribute to piracy. With all this revolution regarding in the means of communication, more and more files or software are available and can be downloaded. Music is one of these files.

The most common music format is MP3, which is the short for MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3. These are files of music found in a compression version but which keeps the original quality. These files are highly searched through Internet.

With this option of downloading music and creating your own CD, composers and music bands started to claim for their copyrights and royalties. This arouse another question: how to protect the bands and composers?

The exit found was to create laws to protect them. These laws presuppose that both websites that offer free MP3 downloads without the permission of the owners of the copyrights and also websites that offer paid downloads should be punished. In this case, the owners of those websites that don’t respect these laws are sued.

But of course it’s not every website on the Internet that breaks the law. There are websites that offer both free and paid MP3 download without breaking the law and respecting the composers’ or music bands’ copyrights.

And something that people are usually not aware of is that downloading a MP3 without the previous consent of the owner of this music you may also be sued. It doesn’t matter that you just downloaded it. It works like this: these websites only exist because people download their MP3, so if you stop downloading it the website will disappear. Then, you are considered to be accomplice of the website’s owner.

There are, however, some legal ways for you to download MP3, both free and paid.

www.mp3ps.com

About The Author

Luna Sol

I’ve always loved music and stuff related to that. That’s why I started reading about music, MP3 and Internet. And there are so many things we are not aware of. My intention is to help you find the same things I had figured out.

http://www.mp3ps.com

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Four Ways to Attract More Music Fans Faster

by Bob Baker

Attracting more fans. Admit it, that’s what music
marketing is all about — getting more people to come to
your shows and buy your CDs. And hopefully, getting a lot
more people to do those things.

Why else do you work so hard to travel and play as many
places as you can? For what other reason do you meticulously
write and record songs? I don’t believe the reason is so you
can practice and keep up your chops in obscurity. It’s not
because you want to impress influential managers or A&R
people. You work hard because you know you have something of
value to offer … and you want to reach as many people as
possible with your music.

Marketing is the thing that helps you reach that goal.
But marketing is also a subject that confuses a lot of
musicians. Songwriters and band members the world over know
they need to promote themselves. But many don’t know where
to start, much less know how to continue effectively.

Does this describe you? Do you ever feel like you’re
spinning your wheels, not sure exactly what you should be
doing next to market yourself? If so, this would be a good
time to cover some basic marketing concepts for independent
musicians.

The VFW Hall Principle

Let’s say you went to an average U.S. city (such as
Kansas City or Denver) and you rounded up 1,000 people and
gathered them in a giant VFW hall. These 1,000 folks would
be randomly chosen and made up of people from all ages,
genders and backgrounds. Next, you’d distribute information
about your act to these people and play tracks from your new
CD for them.

After this direct exposure, what are the chances that one
person out of those thousand would be attracted to your
music and identity enough to buy your CD or come to your
next show? Most musicians, regardless of what style they
play, should feel pretty confident about being able to win
over at least one new fan from this group of 1,000. That’s a
one-tenth of one percent conversion rate.

Now let’s multiply that formula by the entire U.S.
population of 285 million people. One-tenth of one percent
would be 285,000 people. Mind-boggling, isn’t it? That would
be enough fans to make you a bonafide star.

Meanwhile, Back at the Corporate
Office

Next, switch gears and consider how major labels market
themselves. They select and promote acts that they feel have
the potential to appeal to 10 or more of those same 1,000
people. Then the labels spend millions of dollars in what I
call shotgun advertising. They spray their marketing message
over a targeted chunk of the population (which often amounts
to many millions of people), knowing well that only a small
percentage will be interested enough to respond and become
fans. Sometimes, this widespread tactic works well enough to
sell lots of CDs and concert tickets — but it’s very
expensive.

As an independent artist, you can’t afford that type of
marketing campaign. But you know those potential fans are
out there, and you know that you can be successful by
connecting with far fewer people than a major label
requires. It’s just that your ideal fans haven’t found out
about you yet — and you’re not quite sure how to find them.

What’s a frustrated musician to do?

The answer: You must find creative, low-cost ways to go
directly to those one-in-a-thousand fans. Don’t waste your
time and money promoting yourself to people who will most
likely never embrace your music.

Here are four steps to take to
reach new fans:

1. Define Your Distinct Musical Identity

You must have a firm grasp on what your music is about.
And you must be able to define it clearly and quickly. What
are your strongest musical traits? What sets you apart from
other acts? What attitude or social statement do you make?
Being a generic rock, pop or hip-hop act won’t cut it. Dig
deeper and discover your unique identity. When you do
finally reach some of those rare potential fans, don’t lose
them by not being clear about who you are.

2. Describe Your Ideal Fan

Once you have a handle on who you are musically, it’s
time to paint a clear picture of your ideal fan. Can you
articulate how your fans dress, where they work, what TV
shows they watch, what they do for fun and who their
favorite cultural heroes are? Observe the types of people
who come to see you perform and note what they have in
common? Knowing precisely who your fans are will dictate
what avenues you use to reach them and how you communicate
your message once you do reach them.

3. List Ways of Getting Access to Your Fans

Once you know exactly what type of music fan you’re going
after, start making a list of the various resources these
specific people are attracted to. What magazines and
newspapers do they read? Where do they hang out? What radio
stations do they listen to? What retail outlets do they
frequent? What web sites do they surf to? What e-mail
newsletters do they subscribe to? For example, if your fans
are mostly Harley riders, go to a search engine like Google
and start entering keywords related to motorcycles. Evaluate
the search results and compile a list of the many good
sources you uncover.

4. Network and Promote Your Music

Armed with this targeted list of contacts, get busy! Send
e-mail press releases to niche media outlets. Contact the
webmasters and editors of appropriate publications. Post
messages in specialized forums. Visit and interact via the
web sites of similar-sounding bands. Contact organizations
and charities related to your musical niche.

In short, go to where your ideal fans are. And market
yourself through these outlets relentlessly. Why waste time
and money trying to promote to everyone … when you can
save money and be far more effective by going directly to
those valuable one-in-a-thousand fans?

Bob Baker is the author of “Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook,”
“Unleash the Artist Within” and “Branding Yourself Online.” He
also publishes TheBuzzFactor.com, a web site and e-zine that
deliver marketing tips, self-promotion ideas and other
empowering messages to music people of all kinds. Get your FREE
subscription to Bob’s e-zine by visiting

http://TheBuzzFactor.com today.

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How To Be Professional
By Erica Armstrong

What is being professional? Do you think you measure up? What separates a professional from an amateur?  In days gone by, the definition was simply this — if one was paid for something regularly, one was professional.  Something followed for a hobby, or for fun, and not paid, was considered amateur.

Through the media and at school and college we are all repeatedly encouraged to be professional in our business dealings and working lives.  What does one do to actually be
professional?  And just as importantly, what does one not do?

The dictionary definition of ‘professional’ is  “…engaging in an activity as means of a livelihood.  Extremely competent in a job. A person who conducts his business in a field also pursued by amateurs.  A person who engages in an activity with great competence.”

But is it just competence enough in isolation? Definitely not. Making yourself approachable and reasonable, and giving respect to other people is important.  Ensuring that you present yourself in a businesslike manner, whether in person, on the telephone, or in writing, is essential.  Turning up for an important business meeting with your favorite editor in torn jeans and dirty shoes is just sloppy.  Being lazy and blaming lack of time or pressure of other commitments is definitely not professional.  These constraints should not stop you making sure that you always project a businesslike appearance.

Perhaps the most vital aspect of being a professional is  knowing your subject from A to Z.  Do your homework and know exactly what you are talking about.  Telling people B.S. may come easily to you, but being found out in a half-truth or bluff will lead instantly to a loss of credibility, putting in jeopardy your professional relationships while also compromising your integrity.

Something for everyone to be extremely careful about, not just writers,  is not putting anything on paper unless one is completely and utterly comfortable with it.  This applies equally to websites and particularly to email.  Never send anything in writing when angry.  Hold fire on any emails.  Type out your frustration in Word,  then leave it overnight to simmer. By morning you should have cooled down sufficiently to review your writing in a more rational manner.  Sometimes printing out your rantings, then tearing them into a thousand pieces works well.

Another golden rule to being professional is not to commit to writing anything with which you are not totally comfortable.  The acid test is to imagine your grandmother reading it.  Or imagine it on the front page of a magazine or newspaper.  Importantly,  being accurate and taking responsibility for your decisions and actions is also the mark of a professional person.  In developed countries, a firm grip on punctuality is important in a professional.

Sometimes being professional means knowing who best to delegate tasks to, and then having the courage to stand back.  Being magnanimous and giving credit where credit is due is also a major part of being a true professional.

Looking professional is also part of it.  To create a truly professional image, ensure you always wear clean and appropriate clothing, paying attention to grooming and personal cleanliness.  Being reasonable, and fair, is important, but can be difficult if you are the only one doing it.

Being professional does not mean letting other people take advantage of you.  Sometimes you may not be able to say what you would like, and holding your tongue and biting back certain comments may be difficult at times.

To sum up, it would seem that being categorized as professional means showing you have that rarest of commodities, common sense, and then, actually using it. Another major part is being adult, being considerate towards other people, and demonstrating self-control.  No-one said it was easy, but it is definitely something worth striving for if you wish to be seen as a true professional, in a sea of amateurs.

By Erica of Textwriters.Net

http://www.textwriters.net
making words work

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