With this in mind, I have come up with what I believe to be the best strategy for new and emerging bands or artists.  I am in a band my self and I also produce other bands and artists and this is the strategy that I have been using personally and suggesting to those I work with.

1)  Unbundle your album.
I highly recommend reading Unbundling The Album:  A Business Case For Releasing Single Songs.  In his blog, Frank Woodworth describes the benefits of embracing singles promotionally, artistically, and financially.  By creating a strategy where you release your songs weekly, monthly or quarterly you keep your material fresh, you keep your fans engaged, and you can determine which songs do well and which ones don’t.  I would also release the tracks as digital only to keep costs down on manufacturing.

2)  Throw in some B-Sides or extras
When someone buys your single, you can throw in one or two B-Sides (traditionally a B-Side is a song that wasn’t strong enough to make your full length album), demo tracks or offer some kind of added value.  You can get creative here.  Maybe you offer a special event or exclusive content on your website to anyone who bought your single.  I would suggest reading the blog The Future Of Music Business Models (And Those Who Are Already There) by Mike Masnick.  He talks about giving fans a reason to buy your music and has several examples of what both super stars and indie artists are doing creatively to add value to what they offer.

3)  Make a compilation album
Pick other bands and artists in complementary genres and put one to two tracks each on a compilation album.  This way you leverage the efforts of a group of people (as opposed to just your self or your band) who are trying to promote the album.  You can release several of these a year with various artist line ups again keeping your material fresh and capitalizing on the current trends.

4)  Music videos
Take 3-4 songs a year and release a music video for them.  Youtube has become the new MTV and people love seeing as well as hearing.  These do not need to be high budget productions (you can probably record the whole video on your phone) but should be creative and project the best image for your band that you can.

5)  Release a full album every 12-24 months
This should be aimed toward true music fans and should include the best of the best songs that were released through out the year (get feedback from your fans which again gets them engaged and makes them feel more like a part of your musical community) and perhaps 2-4 new tracks never before released.  You should have great art work and design and offer as many extras as you can creatively think of.

6)  Tour and sell your merchandise
This almost goes with out saying but you need to be out there in front of people playing music and selling your merchandise (which includes CD’s, T-Shirts and apparel, and what ever else you can think of to sell).  Your live show is where you will make the most new fans and make a lot of your money (especially for newer bands and artists).

Now I could talk about social media, websites, promotion and so many other things, but I am assuming that you are already doing all of that.   Remember back to my earlier blog The Future Of The Music Industry: Part 1 where I talk about the key to success in this or any business is community.  Everything you do should be geared toward building your community.  I believe that by utilizing the strategies above, that you will be able to leverage your efforts more effectively and build a huge community.

Cary Crichlow, Senior Producer and Engineer
RCR Recording Studios

Success demands hard work.

History has proven we can’t escape it if we want to achieve great things in life. Just look at the former jobs of famous musicians: Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie) was an environmental inspector for an oil company; Chad Kroeger (Nickelback) sold phones. Gwen Stefani scrubbed floors for Dairy Queen, Philip Glass was a cab driver and plumber, Jack White an upholsterer. Even P. Diddy cleaned toilets.  On the journey to success, no one escapes paying his dues.

Still, hard work alone will never be enough.

Plenty of us are already working hard. I know a lot of you reading this are. So clearly, if all it took to be more successful was hard work, we’d all be further along than we are currently.

Success demands smart work.

Author Henry David Thoreau said “it is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?” The truth is most people who have been working 10 years believe they have 10 years worth of experience when what they probably have is 1 year’s worth of experience repeated 10 times. To truly achieve greatness, hard work must be coupled with smart work.

That means the the formula for high achievement in anything looks like this:

Hard Work x Smart Work x Time = High Achievement

Applying it to music.

First, I would recommend that you read Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoffrey Colvin and Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.  These two books discuss the principle of mastery in any field of endeavor. They are well researched and backed by substantiated data.  Both authors do a fantastic job of proving that mastery in anything will require 10,000 hours of intentional practice.

So what is intentional practice?

Intentional – Deliberate, meant, planned, studied, designed, purposed, calculated, wilful, premeditated.  These are all words that come to mind when you think of doing something intentionally.  It won’t just happen on accident.  You need to take steps to make it happen.  It will take hard work.

Practice – To do or perform (something) repeatedly in order to acquire or polish a skill; To work at, especially as a profession; A habitual or customary action or way of doing something; repetition or exercise of an activity in order to achieve mastery and fluency.  Do you see a common theme emerging here?  Practice will require consistency or repetition as well as effort.

Intentional practice therefore means that you deliberately put in effort (hard work), in a planned or designed way (smart work), consistently or habitually (over time) in order to achieve mastery.

If it worked for The Beatles…

One of the examples used in Talent Is Overrated is The Beatles.  They had already been playing together for awhile (minus Ringo) when they went to several labels and were turned down by all them.  They then went to Hamburg, Germany and played covers in a strip club for 8 to 10 hours a day, 6 days a week for over a year.  When they returned home to England they once again auditioned for several labels, eventually signing with Parlophone Records.  The time spent in Hamburg allowed the group to hone their skills and sound.

The intentional practice payed off in a huge way propelling The Beatles to super stardom.  Now it’s your turn to take this formula and apply it to your life and watch as your dreams and goals are realized.

Unless you plan on spending years developing your skills as an engineer, let’s assume you’re going to use a professional studio because, as we’ve mentioned before, there is no substitution for years of experience, no matter how nice the gear is.  So the next question is:

How do I choose a recording studio?

Several factors go into making the right choice but here are the 3 most important keys:

1. People

Recording an album can be quite an undertaking; you often can wind up spending hundreds of hours with the people you’re working with on the project. I know from personal experience that people skills have huge impact, regardless of the industry. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to who used an expensive studio and the engineer just didn’t seem to be into the music. Make sure you are working with the right people and they will bring out the best in you and your album. No one likes to work with a jerk, no matter how much he/she may know (or thinks he knows).

2. Experience

I’ve worked in several studios over the years. Some have had more gear than others, some have had bigger spaces than others, but the one thing that really separates the best from the rest is the experience of the engineer.  I learned recording and mixing both through the painful process of trial and error (and trying to re-invent the wheel), and through the less painful process of mentoring with other great engineers.  It’s taken almost a decade, and I still have much more to learn.  This is why most people’s home recordings don’t sound quite the way they’d like.  It has much less to do with the gear (though there are advantages to having high quality gear) and room (I have heard some great recordings come from less than perfect rooms) and everything to do with how well you can use the equipment and space you have.

3. Prices

Pay for people, not gear. If you can afford to spend the money on the best people and equipment then more power to you, but most people don’t have those kinds of resources.  In fact, the majority of bands and artists usually end up borrowing the money (typically from a record label) to pay for the producer, engineer and studio and then owe those huge sums of cash to whoever loaned them the money. The good news is you don’t need to spend your life savings if you know how to shop for the right studio. If the studio has a big enough space for your project and a couple of nice mics that’s really all you need for a great recording as long as you’ve got an engineer/producer who knows what he/she is doing.  Most engineers charge relatively little compared to the studio they typically work in so if you can find an inexpensive studio and a great engineer/producer you can get some pretty fantastic results.

If what you are looking for is a quality album for all your adoring fans, you want to invest in a studio that has great people with lots of experience at an affordable price.  If you are looking for that kind of studio then check out RCR Recording Studios.

Cary Crichlow, Senior Producer and Engineer
RCR Recording Studios

A Brief Music History Lesson

Way back in 1991, Nirvana was just a small-time band from Aberdeen, Washington, getting ready to emerge onto the national scene. They had been around since 1988 under various names and drummer lineups, and after working very hard and touring for years with modest results, the band finally released their breakthrough album, Nevermind. At one point they were selling 400,000 albums a week!

Do you remember what happened shortly after that?

Artists Nirvana knew and respected all of a sudden started seeing huge success as well. Bands like Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and Pearl Jam were witnessing huge rises in their own record sales. They paved the way for bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer and Green Day.

What Bands Working Together Actually Looks Like

Success follows success. So why not start working to build a community of local bands? With bands working together, you can actually:

• Promote each other’s music. Five or ten bands working with five or ten fan bases is a big boost all around. Leverage each other’s skills and talents.
• Tour together. Pool your resources, gig swap and switch off opening for one another, especially for long distance groups (bands in Cleveland open for bands in Columbus and Cincinnati and vice versa)
• Release more CD’s. When bands can pool their resources to put out compilation CD’s, they can save money, and keep their material fresh. Everyone loves singles, so why not just put out one or two songs at a time?
• Push people to shows for the full artist catalog. This ties into the compilation CD’s. Use your music as a promotional tool. Drive traffic to the live shows, where you’ll sell more CD’s! It’s win-win.

A word of caution is warranted here. One of the biggest reasons for failure is ego.Take it out of the equation. Too many bands and relationships have been torn apart due to the simple fact that someone’s ego got in the way. Focus on what you want to achieve, not who gets the credit. I would rather be successful than right.

Cary Crichlow, Senior Producer and Engineer
RCR Recording Studios

Watch your spending.

Most people spend as much as they make or more a month (the average American has around $7,000 of debt outside of their mortgage).  By cutting back on your discretionary spending, you can save money over a period of time that can be used towards your next album.  For example, a 3 piece band where each person puts $100 a month away will accumulate $3,600 over 12 months.  That money will buy substantial studio time.  For example, at RCR Recording Studios you could get 144 hours worth of recording and mixing time.  Even a single artist using the same principle could save $1,200.  The more you put away, the more you can invest in the studio you choose.  Maybe you could cut back on junk food, soda pop, Starbucks, movies, and other little things that add up over time.  Is your next recording worth it?

The bottom line is if you can discipline your self with the small things, you will have more than enough money to record your album and get the high quality you might not be getting otherwise.

Cary Crichlow, Senior Producer and Engineer
RCR Recording Studios

A New Age

Few people could have guessed how profoundly the dawning of the information age would impact all our lives. Development of new technologies has almost leveled the playing field, and now what used to take months takes days, what used to cost thousands costs hundreds, and what used to take years of specialized training can be accomplished by watching a few videos on YouTube or doing a few searches on Google. There’s never been a time in human history where it’s been easier or more inexpensive to create and distribute your music. Any kid with a microphone and a computer can be a “producer” and/or “engineer”.

This is not to say that there aren’t major advantages to high-end equipment and an expert knowledge-base, which typically does takes years to develop (as we have already stated); what it does say is that we are now dealing with such a massive influx of music (whether quality or not) readily available to the masses that the supply has far outgrown the demand. And we all know that when there is less demand for a product than there is supply for it, people stop making money. So how do you set yourself apart in this new information age when the Internet is already filled to the brim with new and established artists all fighting for the spotlight?

In a word? Community.

The 3 C’s

In 1999, billionaire business magnate Michael Dell (founder of Dell Inc.) gave a keynote speech (which you can view here) addressing the dilemma facing most businesses in today’s economy and the game plan needed to succeed in the new era. While we can’t spend much time discussing all the details of his talk here, the bottom line for him was that the game plan required three components:

1. Content: A world-class product or service.
2. Commerce: A way to make money off that product or service.
3. Community: A loyal group of customers that are borderline evangelical (think Apple users) about your product or service.

While most businesses like to spend their time focusing on the first two elements (content and commerce), Dell argued that community was actually the biggest and most important piece of the puzzle, and with good reason. With so many great products conveniently available online, if the customer has little-to-no background knowledge on what you’re offering, chances are price is going to the determining factor in where he/she chooses your product over your competitor’s. The customer’s loyalty can shift in an instant, regardless of how great your product or business plan is. Michael Dell was never able to build that solid community. But when we look at companies like Google, Facebook, and Apple, it’s clear some people have. And they are ruling the game.

The Future of the Music Industry

It’s clear that the future lies in the art of building communities in the music industry. No one at RCR Recording Studios will claim to have all the answers, but we’ve seen what can happen when bands and artists stop competing for less and less dollars being spent on music, and start working together. Grassroots movements have taken hold all over the nation. You can throw your music up on Itunes or MySpace or any of dozens of music sites for consumers to listen to and use social media sites such as Facebook to drive traffic to those sites. There are unprecedented opportunities for collaborations and cross promotion. Imagine five to ten bands within similar or complimentary genres all working together to promote each other to their respective fan bases.  Would it be hard to believe that people can like more than one band at a time?  Is it hard to imagine that they might be enticed to buy more than one album at a time?  Perhaps those same five to ten bands could pool their resources and put together a compilation album in which each band gets one to two songs on it.  We live in the age of music singles as it is, so why not capitalize on that trend?  You could release three or four albums a year using that formula and keep your music fresh and up to date for the ADD generation instead of every two to three years as has been the common practice.

The future of the music industry rests on the shoulders of the individual groups banding together to raise the tide for all ships.

Cary Crichlow, Senior Producer and Engineer
RCR Recording Studios

The music of the 60’s (and even the 50’s to a degree) was all about rebellion and fighting against the current cultural values. While the top hits of 1955 were songs like “Mr. Sandman” by the Chordettes and “The Ballad of Davey Crockett” by Bill Hayes, ten years later the hits were songs like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones and “Mr. Tamborine Man” by The Byrds. Instead of embracing the values of religion, family, duty and service, the music instilled the new values of “Sex, Drugs and Violence.”  The youth of the 50’s and 60’s looked at what their parents’ were doing (the segregation of blacks, the horrors of war, etc…) and didn’t like what they saw. This new “counter-cultural” music influenced an entire generation that extolled virtues such as equal rights, peace and free love.

The “life’s a party” mentality emerged strongly in mid 70′s and 80′s with hits like “Get Down Tonight:” by KC And The Sunshine Band and “Walk Like An Egyptian” by The Bangles.  Now, instead of embracing the altruistic views and sense of service, it became about looking out for number one and self-gratification.  Music was pushed heavily as a commodity. A lot of it was watered down and over produced.

The 90’s brought us back to a more raw and visceral sound rebelling against the greed and conglomeration that was rampant in the 80’s (Pearl Jam and Nirvana were very much against the commercialization of their music).  The music spoke to a lost generation who grasped for answers but never applied the solution.  Whether due to complacency, lethargy, or ignorance, it lacked the activism of the 60’s.  During this time we looked to the very institutions causing the problems to solve the issues for us.  The music became even more of a commodity, resorting back to the cookie-cutter model yet again.

Now we come to the present day, where we’re standing on the brink of a new rock revival. The music today is once more about partying and self-gratification (Lady Gaga???), and the backlash will be rebellion. It won’t be enough to just point the finger and hope something gets done.  The new wave of music will actually empower people to do something about their situations. The rebellion will come with a cause and action plan.

If you want to set this “new” emerging trend, I would encourage you to evaluate the current values in our culture and go in the other direction.  You will not be able to offer generalities or finger pointing.  You must be authentic and provide solutions.  If you are able to that, you will be among the rare artists that are able to create and define a culture rather than merely echoing the current trends.

Cary Crichlow, Senior Producer and Engineer
RCR Recording Studios

With the continuing changes happening in the music industry, it is crucial for us to know what is happening right now and use that information to develop a game plan for going forward.  With this in mind, I have discovered a survey that focuses on the musicians and how they are earning their income.  It would be worth your time to take a few minutes out of your day to help gather this crucial information.

Cary Crichlow, Senior Producer and Engineer
RCR Recording Studios

The full article can be found here: http://futureofmusic.org/blog/2011/09/07/survey-says-future-music-coalition-seeks-earning-data-musicians-and-composers

Future of Music Coalition is urging musicians and composers of all types — from session players to songwriters, from self-released rockers to major label stars — to participate in the online survey that will be available nationwide in September – October 2011.  Given the crazy configuration of the music industry, this survey isn’t meant for the faint-hearted — it asks questions about specific revenue streams, and why your earnings may have increased or decreased over the past five years. But have no fear: all participants are anonymous. The data will be compiled and analyzed, and delivered back to musicians and music fans to help us all better understand the complex nature of being a creator in the 21st century.

Do your part and contribute to the project. Take the survey here. http://futureofmusic.org/ars.

I thought it would be easy to record my music and so I invested thousands of dollars in gear, equipment, and sound design. Once everything was set up, I discovered my recordings didn’t quite sound like the songs I heard on the radio (they sounded like garbage!). It has taken many years of study, internships and trial and error to get to where I am today in my musical journey, and I am constantly learning something new every day. Looking back it would have been cheaper to go to the professional studios to record my music but I had to learn the hard way through years of experience to hone my skills in the elusive art of sound recording.

Through my experience as a song writer, musician, sound engineer and producer I’ve had the unique opportunity to be on “both sides of the glass” in a recording studio.  I’ve wasted tons of time and money on projects due to my own lack of experience or knowledge of the process.  The purpose of this article is to help you use your time in the studio as effectively as possible, and as we all know, time is money!  These are just a few things to keep in mind before going into a recording studio.

1. Know the song. Please keep in mind; it’s almost never a good idea to write the song or music in the studio.  Unless you have a substantial budget and don’t mind dropping hundreds and perhaps thousands of dollars to write your music, you should probably have it written and mapped out before coming in.  Make sure you have a solid idea of how the song should sound and what instrumentation you want to use.  Have some firm ideas about the direction you want to take your music, or work with someone that can help you develop that vision (i.e. a producer).   If you are a song writer but don’t play any instruments, the studio is a viable option to help put the song together.  Many times the studio will have instrumental tracks that you can license for a fee or you can work with a producer to put together the instrumental track.  Just know that it is very easy to quickly rack up quite a studio bill.
2. Practice the song. If you don’t want to spend a fortune on session musicians or producers, you may want to look into putting together your own band, or instrumental tracks before coming in.  If you are playing with a band, make sure that you practice the song plenty of times before going into the studio.  This helps keep the song tight and reduces wasting time on getting the perfect take.  If you have trouble playing to a metronome, you may want to think about practicing with one for a while as most engineers and producers will recommend recording to one.  Bottom line, be prepared.  If you want a professional sound, put in the effort before going into the studio.
3. Invest in experience. By doing the above, you now can invest in the part of the process that has the highest value. It is becoming much more affordable to record music these days if you look for the right kind of studio.  The benefit of working with professionals is that they can help you quickly and cost effectively, create the music you want.  You might be surprised at the results you can achieve working with someone who knows what they’re doing.  At the end of the day, you will get far better value working with someone who has experience (as opposed to the Do It Yourself method) because they’ve learned their lessons the hard way…  With experience!!!

So if you want to produce the best results, it is clear that the investment should be made in leveraging the experience of seasoned recording professionals. To avoid overspending your time or money, check out RCR Recording Studios.

Cary Crichlow, Senior Producer and Engineer
RCR Recording Studios

The answer to that question is really the actual answer to the question ‘why use a recording studio?’ To dig deeper into the question, we need to establish an understanding of some things that make up a good recording of any song. Basically, there are three areas that cover what goes into a recording. The three areas are equipment, environment, and people. These basic areas are the same in many disciplines, some of which, many of us are familiar.

When my wife and I discovered our water was not filtering properly, I decided to fix the problem myself. I decided to install a new filter in line with our main water pipe in our basement. I proudly bought a new filter system, and then began the process of learning how to cut the pipe, weld the correct attachments to the pipe, and then connect the water filter. As most of you that have experience in this area are now thinking, I had problems from the start. I got the wrong parts, miss welded pieces, had to buy new parts, buy a welding torch, and after spending a full day working on the project, finally had to bring in someone who knew what they were doing. This story still brings chills to me when I think about it. I wasted a lot of time and materials, and still did not get what I wanted.

So let’s dig into the 3 areas of recording that are necessary for a quality outcome.

1. Equipment - It really does matter what equipment is used. The quality and purpose of the microphone can make big difference in sound that is recorded. For example, using a high-end vocal microphone for vocals can radically enhance the subtle nuisances of a singer’s voice. Knowing what microphone to use or even where to place it can improve the sound. Using outboard analog gear, including compressors, EQ’s, and pre-amps to warm up the signal and bring out the sounds you are looking for is also very important. The use of this equipment to its fullest extent requires a lot of experience and well trained ears to get the intended results.
2. Environment - The rooms used to make the recording need to be acoustically adjusted to dampen the sound within the room and prevent sound from occurring from outside the room. This requires knowledge of acoustics, sound reflection, sound proofing, and room size requirements. The room where the mixing is done must also be acoustically correct, including using the right kind of speakers to produce the sound while mixing. Even the placement of the sound monitors can affect how the engineer hears the different layers of a song.
3. People – There can be no substitution in this area. It may be easy to actually set up the signal flow and record a song into multiple tracks using easy to learn software, but that is the least important part of the process. Experience has shown that by having someone other than the artist involved in producing the final recorded song adds many attributes that would likely be missed. This person, let’s call them a producer, can bring ideas to the table to improve the overall sound of the song. Sometimes simply changing a tone on an electric guitar, the mic placement, knowing which gear to use, or layering additional tracks not covered by other instruments can dramatically improve a final recording. Also the engineer doing the mixing and recording needs to know how to use the equipment to get the results the artist wants from their music, which requires a lot of experience and proven track record. I hate to sound redundant, but experience (and lots of it) in a producer and engineer is crucial for getting a professional sound.

I suspect most of us know this already, so why do we want to go the ‘Do-It-Yourself’ route? The answer is almost always cost. We believe we can do it cheaper and get away with it. The evidence is not in our favor. If we start off doing it ourselves, we will ultimately invest more than would have if we had gone the professional route. And in the end, we are unlikely to be satisfied with the quality.

The key is to find a recording studio that has reasonable rates, but provides the quality we are looking for. Most people do not realize there are recording studios available that offer quality for a lower cost. As an example of one, I recommend you check out RCR Recording Studios.

So what is the answer to ‘what is missing’? Evidence suggests a professional recording studio.

Rob Crichlow, CEO
RCR Recording Studios