Does it still happen? Well, no.

It may SEEM like someone gets a lucky break now and then, but trust me, that particular gig where the (insert national newspaper) reviewer pops along and likes what they hear – that’s because it’s your 1052nd gig and they are there because you’ve contacted them through the whelm of social networking sites. They checked out your UK Music Jobs profile (which is in all your signatures) before replying, which was up to date with info, press shots, new music and carefully crafted branding. Someone in their office had actually heard of you already because you are always chiming in on (insert blog) with insightful comments and linking back to your own regularly updated tour blog. Their friend had won free tickets to your last gig that you’d offered to the local radio station (along with a CD and biog for the specialist genre DJ there).

Here’s the good news, and the bit to focus on. Your career is now in YOUR hands. You don’t have to rely on the top A&R gurus listening to your tape and throwing the other 1,000 away on that particular day.

YOU record your own ideas, dreams and emotions. YOU build your fan base. YOU start your own label and YOU sell the records through YOUR website. YOU do the marketing, publishing, live performances and cost scheduling.

It’s hard, but in today’s model, it’s all very achievable. You may not get it all right first time, and you may need to research for some advice. That’s where I come in

The internet is incredible, and web 2.0 is all about providing free content. There’s hundreds of helpful blogs providing expert help and advice, here’s a few I recommend;

www.leejarvis.blogspot.com (The Digital Revolution, Music 2.0 and tips for Indies and Freelancers; we all get one free plug, don’t we?!)
New music strategies (Does what it says on the tin. Change the way you think if you want to make it in the future music industry)
Berkleemusic (Top US college with some amazing tutors, offering help on all kinds of music careers. Alumi include Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock)

Now that you have control over you own career, go make it happen! Ooh, but before you go, leave a comment and check back soon

Lee.

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I reported the leaks on Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Chinese Democracy’ album recently, and now it’s finally getting a timely full release. Yesterday’s official statement from Best Buy and Geffen Records gave us a street date of November 23rd for CD, vinyl LP (with a free digital download) and digital album versions, and pre-orders have already begun today.

The title single from the album was yesterday sent to radio stations, and they immediately started airing it and eagerly listening to fan’s thoughts. Many US station reps have shared their thoughts over at Billboard.com.

Is it any good? Well, Steve Kandell at Spin.com says, “Once the overture of muffled voices, ominous drums, and plinky Edge-ish guitar gives way to a thick, muscular four-chord riff and that Axl banshee wail, only the most stubbornly jaded will manage to suppress the goosebump reflex”

Want to make your own mind up? You can listen here – add your views in the comment section.

It has been an incredibly long wait for the new GNR material; their first album since 1991’s seminal ‘Use your Illusion I’ & ‘Use your Illusion II’ releases. It’s been such a debacle that soda company Dr Pepper once offered to “provide a free can of the soda to everyone in the U.S. if the album drops this year” (today they kept their promise and made plans for the free deal).

Was it worth the wait? Did the band gain anything by waiting this long? Does anyone still care about the album? Let me know your thoughts…

Lee Jarvis.

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Girls Aloud No 1 with 'The Promise'

Girls Aloud are all set to score their 4th UK number 1 on Sunday with ‘The Promise’.  Cheryl Cole’s wildly popular role as the new judge on The X-Factor and her band’s live performance on last week’s show has paid off in droves. ‘The Promise’ also marks the girls 19th consecutive top ten hit record.

Also sure to make the top ten are Razorlight with their excellent new track ‘Wire To Wire’, while Alicia Keys & Jack White’s collaboration  ‘Another Way To Die’, the theme for the new Bond movie ‘Quantam of Solace’, will hit the top 20.

Chart Predictions: New entries/High climbers Sun 26th October

Number One

GIRLS ALOUD – The Promise

Top Ten

RAZORLIGHT – Wire To Wire
GURU JOSH PROJECT – Infinity 2008
KATY PERRY – Hot N Cold

Top Twenty

ALICIA KEYS & JACK WHITE – Another Way To Die

Top Forty

JOHN LEGEND FT ANDRE 3000 – Green Light
FALL OUT BOY – I Don’t Care
KARDINALL OFFISHALL – Dangerous
BLOC PARTY – Talons

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Its been reported that the independent music scene is flourishing despite the economic downturn.

AIM (Association of Independent Music) carried out their annual members survey and the results showed that 75% of the 300 companies who took part reported increased turnover year on year.

AIM’s Chairman and Chief Executive Alison Wenham commented that “This is some really good news in the current climate and shows our sector is bucking the trend and holding up well”.

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Win a slot to support The Sugababes

Urban music contest Hugo Urban Rules has signed up the Sugababes to headline an intimate show on December 3 in Cargo, London.

The winner of the contest will be supporting the Sugababes at the gig and will have their music professionally produced. The show will be later broadcast on MTV.

On December 2 and 3 industry experts will give the 15 best submissions specialist tutorials in vocal coaching and stage craft.

Artists wishing to take part can upload demos at www.hugofragrances.com/urbanrules by November 17.

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Finley Quaye LIVE @ Koko, London
Saturday 8th November 2008

After a decade on our radios the reggae/folk maverick Finley Quaye will be playing a selection of songs from his acclaimed 1997 album ‘Maverick A Strike’ at this very special concert in the illustrious KOKO, with his full band, celebrating the recent release of his compilation ‘The Best of The Epic Years’.

Finley is unquestionably one of the most prolific songwriters and performers of the last decade. The triple platinum artist (and 1998 Brit Award winner for Best Artist) has worked with the likes of William Orbit, A Guy Called Gerald, Lauren Hill, and Beth Orton, and tonight, in addition to performing tracks from his back catalogue he’ll also be performing tracks of his new album ‘Pound for Pound’.

Once the main event featuring Finley is over, your ticket will also allow you to stay behind for the Soundcrash Reggae after-party with some of the finest DJ’s around until 3 in the morning. They’ll be a live performance by Leeds’ Gentlemen’s Dub Club, the 11 x piece heavyweight dub collective
bringing pure fire to the dancefloor. Smith and Mighty will also be DJing.

http://www.soundcrashmusic.com
http://www.koko.uk.com
http://www.finleyquaye.com

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Dell is partnering with this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards to send one lucky winner to the year’s glitziest music event as a Red Carpet Reporter.

Imagine sharing the carpet with stars like The Ting Tings, Adele and The Wombats, live at the event in Liverpool. You’ll get up close and personal with celebrity guests, enjoy the VIP experience backstage and of course, show off your own star qualities.

To stand a chance, upload a video to http://www.dell.co.uk/mtv to wow us with your unique style . It’s simple:

- Record your video with your phone, webcam or whatever’s on hand
- Upload it on to the www.dell.co.uk/mtv website
- Sit back and wait for the winner to be announced
– the entries will be judged by a panel of style-savvy experts

Visit the competition site at www.dell.co.uk/mtv now to enter.

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So you want to learn a bit more about Barack Obama but can’t be bothered to read through old articles? Never fear because anti-folk musician, comic book artist, lyrical genius and Music Weekly podcast guest Jeffrey Lewis has put together a viral biography urging folk to vote Obama…

Check it out here; A Quick Biography of Barack Obama by Jeffrey Lewis

Enjoy!

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So the rumour mill is in full force that Simon Cowell is a front runner to receive a Lifetime Contribution to the Music Industry at next year’s Brit Awards.  This little nugget of information has caused quite a stir amongst industry players including The Who front man Roger Daltrey, who claims ‘Cowell has done for music what Gordon Brown has done for the economy — nothing,’.  A statement that many serious musicians, artists and industry stalwarts will undoubtedly share but there’s no denying that Cowell is a shrewd marketeer who has made millions for the British music industry.

Problem is, could the man responsible for signing Sinitta & Zig & Zag really step up on that stage and accept an award for contribution to music with a straight face?  Well The Spice Girls did it so why not!

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I’ve been thinking some more about my post last week, debating how much you actually earn from selling your music online these days. Coupled with the news that’s been finally weaned from Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’ Album and the fact that the more forthcoming Trent Reznor’s figures on Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Ghosts I-IV’ album, I thought I’d blog further on the topic of what you can earn by giving your music away.

Regarding ‘In Rainbows’,”More than three million people acquired the album,” points out Warner Chappell Music senior vice president of International Legal & Business Affairs Jane Dyball, who admits “I had doubts there was money to be made online”. That figure includes downloads sold across various retailers, and physical packages sold online and through brick-n-mortar stores, and Dyball noted that 1.75 million copies of the physical, full-priced release were shifted. The band may have decided to not give out any specific figures on sales, but that hasn’t stopped people from estimating revenue ($10m in the first week?) and average price paid per album ($5? $8?). Other companies are saying that these figures don’t allow for those who paid $0 for the album (ComScore.com), and Radiohead’s representatives then reply that those figures are inaccurate but don’t give us anything solid to go on. Despite the option of a ‘$0’ price on the official website, between October 10 and November 3 2007, ‘In Rainbows’ was still downloaded from Torrent websites to the tune of 2.3m downloads. So just about no-one can figure it all out once the Torrent numbers are thrown into the mix.

So how about Nine Inch Nails? Front man Trent Reznor must have thought it a huge success. Not only having the respect of your loyal fans and the Music Futurists out there… not only giving the old major labels an e-middle-finger… but also pocketing $1.6 million dollars in revenue in the first week. It must have been a success, as they’ve made the follow-up album ‘The Slip’ available for free download in multiple formats, all DRM-free and encourage you to “remix it, post it on your blog, and share it with strangers”. What an amazing attitude; these will surely go down in history as all-embracing album experiments. It should be right there alongside Michael Jackson being the first black artist with a video on MTV (Billie Jean, 1983). (your random fact for the day )

It wasn’t that easy though – Reznor reported earlier this year that in the two months up to January 2nd, his previous collaboration with Saul Williams consisted of 154,449 people downloading a standard quality of ‘NiggyTardust’ and just 28,322 of them paying the $5 for the higher quality version. In his blog, Reznor suggested that he was “disheartened” by the results.

So, it wasn’t the quality which drove people to illegally download via torrents. Reznor went back to the drawing board and tried a slightly different approach. He now understood the need for a physical product to help launch the album, in fact he released several variations for both CD junkies and hard-core NIN fans (the $300 Ultra-Deluxe Limited Edition of Ghosts I-IV immediately sold out its run of 2500).

At 43 years old, technically on the upper end of Generation-Y (if not Generation-X). Reznor is refreshing, and a true pioneer in his actions. Major labels may be starting to offer 360 deals for some artists, but GIVING the music away? That must be a long way off (if at all).

What would you give to have a Reznor in charge of your career? Well, maybe you can… YOU. Maybe Indies are gaining more and more advantages over the majors and you want to choose this path. If so, then this is the place to subscribe – I’ll be talking a lot more about this over the coming months.

Lee.

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