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Welcome to MusicBizAdvice.com! MusicBizAdvice.com contains music business advice and lifestyle tips for working musicians, bands, songwriters, indie artists, and behind-the-scenes music industry professionals from the local to international level. Whether you work in songwriting, publishing, recording, live music performance, artist management, production, concert promotion, or as part of the crew, we strive to provide you with the most accurate information. As of August 01, 2010 MusicBizAdvice.com has readers in 77 countries and territories.

MusicBizAdvice.com's content is primarily the equivalent of PG-13, as outlined in our Terms of Use. (Our Body and Soul musician's health & lifestyle section may contain material intended for readers over 18.)

Remember: Legitimate music industry companies never ask a minor to come to a meeting alone. The parent or legal guardian is required to be present at all meetings and must sign any contracts on the minor's behalf.

Follow our Editor in Chief on Twitter @MusicBizAdvice! 

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Check out our Ed in Chief's Playlist on Blip.fm
under DJ name RandiReed_MBADC

This month on MusicBizAdvice.com:

Packing up for a gig? Use our printable checklists so you don't forget anything. You'll find them in The Gig Bag: What to Bring to the Show Whether You Sing or Play Guitar, Banjo, Mandolin, Drums, Bass, Flute, Horns, Brass, Percussion, Saxophone, or Woodwinds.

Stage presence: you know when someone has it, and you want to improve yours. What do the American Idol judges mean when they say things like "create a moment" and "you have to own it"? In From Lead Singer to Front Man: 10 Ways to Improve Your Stage Presence and Entertain an Audience we'll show you exactly what to do onstage to improve yours.

Ever noticed how after Graduation season a slew of new (read: inexperienced) promoters & small labels pops up? This article explains what to ask an unfamiliar promoter, plus gives you easy tips on how indie bands and small label touring musicians can keep from getting ripped off by someone who may not be telling you the real deal about their company finances (especially in light of the mortgage & credit crisis).

Planning a photo shoot for your band's new photo? Darcie Wicknick's Photos, The Media, and Photogs: What Every Artist Needs to Know about Photo Shoots, Promo Shots, and How Photos Are Used in the Media tells you what you need to know before you step in front of the camera--straight from the mouths of mega-publicist Anne Leighton and celebrity photographer Jeff Ufberg.   

In How To, we discuss why double-bookings should never happen, along with five easy ways to prevent them (whether you're a DIY indie band or an artist with an agent), our own Office Guru Jinjer Hundley gives you simple tips on how to manage your band's schedule with Outlook, we offer a Quick Tip on how to use MySpace more effectively to gauge response to your tracks.

How to Read a Live Performance Contract aka the AFM Standard Performance Agreement tells you everything you need to know about what should go into a performance contract, including specific contract language and wording to help avoid potential conflicts. In this article you'll also learn the important aspects of Deposit and Payment Terms, Radius clauses, Transportation, Settlement, Force majeure, What Happens When a Show is Canceled, and Why Artists, Agents, and Managers Won’t Work with Promoters they Don’t Know.

Ever wonder why some talented, hard working local musicians never make it past the local level, or why some artist's careers seem to stall out just past the starting gates? Check out 20 Reasons Why Musicians Get Stuck at the Local or Regional Level, which helped inspire an article in Independent Weekly. 


Think a Poor Man's Copyright (mailing a copy to yourself and not opening the envelope, or emailing yourself a copy of the song) will protect you against copyright infringement? It won't. Read this, as well as the MusicBizAdvice Blog, to find out why.


Speaking of Copyright, did you know there is an all-in-one form called Form CO? Or that online registration is available through the Copyright office? Try it out here on the Copyright Office website. (If you're confused about how to fill out copyright form CO, Darcie-Nicole Wicknick breaks it down for you here.)

Need to get organized? Even "paperless" offices need a little paper file management. We'll show you easy ways to do it our new, updated How to Create and Manage a Filing System. Gigging musicians can even learn the easy way to create and maintain show files, just like platinum-level pros.    

Looking for a music industry internship, or about to start one? Learn how to make the most of it with How to Be a Good Intern and How To Get the Most Out of Your Music Industry Internship.

Our Reviews section covers music, as well as music industry related film, TV, and DVDs. 

In Body and Soul, our cold and flu prevention tips are tailored especially for musicians...including how to handle the meet 'n' greet. Also in Body and Soul a hard hitting interview with Soraia's Sue Mansour about heroin addiction and more.

If you missed it, check out our interview with Soraia's Sue Mansour. In it, Sue tells how she went from studio intern to recording at the legendary Henson (former A&M) Studios with Bon Jovi recording engineer / producer Obie O'Brien...later going on to open for Bon Jovi at several large capacity venues.


Over on our blog, MusicBizAdvice.com Editor-in-Chief talks about a slew of topics from Facebook to
the addicted client and role of artist managers, and more.

Congratulations to Contributing Writer Darcie-Nicole Wicknick, who is a 2009 ASCAP PLUS composer award recipient in the Jazz/Pop category!!!  You can check out some of the article's Darcie's written for us in Features, where Darcie gives you the scoop on the difference between a record label and a production company, and explains the history and evolution of the production company. There you can read about The Production Deal, the Imprint Deal, the Joint Venture, and Pros and Cons of Recording and Production Contracts, as well as things to consider in a major label deal. Also in Features, Darcie, who is the co-founder of the Boston Hip Hop Alliance, has written a provocative op-ed about use of the n word and the b word in pop culture. 

Want to analyze what happened with American Idol 2009 and why Kris, not Adam won? We've got the complete rundown for Season 8 (and for previous seasons too) in the MBADC American Idol Armchair Quarterback.

In Q&A, we answer a promoter's question about hiring an A-list band, how to become a preliminary round judge for reality show talent competitions such as American Idol, we update our advice about double commissions for artist managers, and advise a young songwriter how to stop making excuses and just write. Also in Q&A learn why it’s important for artists to write their own songs, why label execs don't smile much when they go to see an artist's show, How to Find a Manager and What You Need to Know Before Contacting Management Companies, and what the biggest factor is in deciding whether to go for an Indie label deal or a major label deal.

The MBADC Performance Coach helps you learn how to turn an unusual performance setting into a winning one, getting more emotion out of the lyrics during your performances, and how to make a cover song your own.  

Ever wonder what became of those bands that populated the Sunset Strip in the 80's? Jinjer Hundley's Where Are They Now: The Decline of Western Civilization Part ll: The Metal Years  tells you what became of the bands featured in the documentary, The Decline of Western Civilization Part ll: The Metal Years.

In Music Business Lesson from Berklee Press
check out The 5 Primary Functions of a Music Publisher.  Also in Music Business Lessons:  Management: Finding it and Making it Work for You,  3 specific things focusing on one musical genre does for your songwriting or publishing career, and more.


Body and Soul has HIV/AIDS Prevention Tips and Facts, voice care tips,  how to prevent getting colds or flu at your band's next Meet and Greet, and more.

Check out James Auburn's interview with Red K Records CEO Clayton Savage
. In it Clayton talks about his work with Sugar Hill Records, the early days of Hip Hop and how its musicianship and live performance have changed over the years, and ugly breakups in the music industry...stuff any artist can relate to, regardless of genre.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Bon Jovi, whose single for "Who Says You Can't Go Home" made them the first rock band ever to hit  #1 on Billboard's Country Singles chart, have been going strong for over 25 years now. Maintaining visibility in a music industry career for over two decades takes as much business smarts as talent, and our MusicBizAdvice.com Case Study: Why Bon Jovi is Music Business 101 highlights some of their key marketing decisions. Meanwhile, Jon will be speaking at the Advertising Week Billboard Live seminar in New York on September 25, 2008 at 12:00 noon.

If someone you know still insists on using online modeling and talent agencies, show them our ScamAlert Safety Alert report about kidnappers posting fake audition notices. Although some of the facts of the story sound hard to believe, we verified it with Emmy Award winning reporter Kristin Stinar, who first presented the story on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch. This story contains material some parents (and parental filters) may find objectionable, but it's important to get the information out there.

Also in ScamAlert, see if you can spot the 6 red flags that indicated the audition notice was fake. They apply to other online modeling and talent agencies as well. (The Red Flag Safety Quiz Answers contain no material that parental filters should object to, so you can still learn the red flags that indicate a potential scam.) 

Join us at our Social Networking sites:

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Not done yet?  You can also check out our Editor in Chief's blog at http://musicbizadvice.blogspot.com . There you'll find reviews and commentary on a variety of issues pertaining to the entertainment industry.

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Also on Facebook, you can Become a Fan at the MusicBizAdvice.com Fan Page, where you'll get links to new content before anyone else, as well as exclusive content just for Fans. (If you have trouble finding the MusicBizAdvice.com Fan page, type MusicBizAdvice.com in the Facebook search box. Our logo will pop up.)

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MusicBizAdvice.com recommends Barbara Brabec's home business books, such as this one.

For a list of Barbara's other books, click
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