You're Going to End Up Underneath a Bridge...

  My dad said that to me my senior year in high school after he asked me if I was going to college. He actually said to me, "You're going to wind up underneath a bridge with a jug of wine in your hand". At the time I thought it was a really lame thing to say to your son but after few days of thinking about it I kind of understood why he said it. He was a mill worker and he came from a what was then a middle class background and he wanted me to "become somebody". He wanted me to be more than just a mill worker like him. 

  About 9 years later I gave him a cassette tape of the Heart "self titled" record that I worked on. Before I handed it to him I had thought briefly about reminding him of his insult back in the day, but I thought better of it. Reality was, I had "become somebody". My name was on a record that was selling millions of copies and I worked my ass off to put myself in a position for that to happen. It was all good between me and him from that point on :)  

   To "become somebody" in the music business now days is a lot more difficult than it used to be. There's millions of bands/artists to compete with now. The music business itself is playing catch up after years of making high priced records with one or two good songs on them, letting the bit torrent sights consume their profits and not organizing within themselves. Now we're at the point where our creativity is rewarded with 99 cents a song and a computer company rules the industry. Sorry about the rant, but I'm very passionate about music and the people that create it. Now our music is almost worthless monetarily. I guess the upside is it still means something to people.    

  I do think there's a bright future ahead for those who are willing to put in the time. There may be even more opportunity out there than there used to be in many respects. With all the widgets, apps and social networks to utilize, you can gain more exposure than ever! You can have your music all over the place if you get hooked up with the right distribution outlets. Live music is a big draw still so we have that going for us :)

   That's the optimist in me talking, and yes, all that's true. But reality is, we musicians are not about that. Playing music is what we're all about. Write it, play it, live it. That's what we want to do. We prefer to take the "if we build it, they will come" approach. But that type of thinking is simply idealistic. It takes thousands of downloads to pay for merch, record and promote your record, plus pay the bills. Several years and a couple fashion trends can go by before you get somewhere thinking like that.

   Every city in America has several bands that do a lot more work than play. Many of them aren't very talented, yet they draw more people than bands that are twice as talented as they are. Those are the bands that have taken advantage of the access they have to people and accepted the fact that no one is going to do it for them. I applaud those who are willing to adapt to the environment and survive. They're not just "dreaming" about it, they're taking the bull by the horns!  

  Congrats To Indie Bands and Labels (and of course, my Jibe Records)!

    
           

Social Sites and "Epiphanys"

  Back in the day, we musicians had to call people to "network". We'd go to our telephone, open our address book and dial a number. That and going out was the only "social networking" system we had. When the computer and cel phones arrived it was a whole new ball game. It was like a whole new world. Then came AOL and Soical Networking became a "thing". Each year that passed, more and more people were getting easier to communicate with. It was Awesome!

 Now here we are in 2012 and we musicians have more tools than ever to gain popularity. Most bands use Facebook now as MySpace became a "media" site. There's also several sites that feature bands exclusively. We have CDBaby, Smart Punk, iTunes and a host of other sites  to sell our products. I use Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, MySpace (not much), Tagged, Reverb, Lastfm, Reverbnation, and more.  I'm also subcribed to several blogs as well (which is another way to get more people talking about you band).

  Today I read Guy Kawasaki's blog about an epiphany he had about the difference between Facebook and Google+ which I wanted to share with you as I think those two sites are probably the most useful to you.

  Facebook is a no brainer, but he interestingly points out is the difference between the two. The long and the short of it is (you should still read the blog post), on FB you have a ton of "friends" and many of them you actually know but for the most part, if you anything like me, the rest are just on your "newsfeed" posting their problems, pictures of their kids,  etc.. and that's not going to do much for your band. And since you are a band with a "Band Page" your competing with the other million bands to get likes and shares like (only with way more people and content as MySpace used to be.

  Google+ however is more content oriented and it has a really cool "hangout" feature (which is an amazing tool for bands). There  are a lot more people on G+ who are interested in the same thing you are (getting more fans). It has an entirely different mentality than FB and I think you should seriously consider doing some homework on how to utilize it.

Enough Said,
Scotty Olson

Jibe Records
2212 Queen Anne Ave N #417
Seattle WA 98109-2312  

An Idea is the most valuable thing you can have :)

 It's so easy to discount the true value of an idea. I'm guilty of  it myself quite often. It's really easy to move on to the next one. Much easier than dedicating the time to get over the hurdle that dissuaded you from taking action. Haven't you had the "I thought of that!" happen at one time or another? It seems like one would, at some point, realize there should be a procedure to catalog and at least run some "what if" scenarios on each idea you come up with. And that's the point of this blog.

 The brain is truly remarkable when it comes to filing things. Sometimes you can remember the most useless piece of information ever. It pops up at random times and you find yourself thinking about a lobotomy to get rid of it. But every once in awhile there's a gem filed away in there that comes back right on cue. So frustrating isn't it? I gave up on leaving it to chance a few years ago and started carrying a small digital recorder with me (especially when driving). It's been both a hilarious romp through moronville and a savior all in one small package.

 We all have the ability to be brilliant on occasion (except for a few celebrities and some athletes). That's why it's important to consider keeping a record of all your ideas. You just never know when one of those ideas passes the "litmus test" and vaults you from gas station attendant to CEO :)
Best,
~S~