Entering your music video into the International Songwriting Competition is easy – it’s just a click away on Sonicbids. If you’re looking for exposure for your music, this is an excellent opportunity to get your video into the hands of the people who make the decisions at MTV, VH1, and record labels. ISC accepts videos of original songs only. Videos can be any style, including live performance. All genres of music are accepted. There are two ways to enter your video on Sonicbids: either upload it to your Sonicbids Supersonic EPK or put on the entry form the URL where it can be viewed (you don’t even need to upload it!).

ISC awards over $150,000 in cash and prizes, including a $25,000 cash prize to the Overall Grand Prize winner – the largest cash Grand Prize in any songwriting competition.

ISC has some of the most prestigious judges of any songwriting contest, so you also have the chance to have your music heard by some of the most high-profile and influential figures in the music industry. Judges for 2009 include: Amy Doyle (Sr. VP of Music and Talent, MTV), Rick Krim (Executive VP Talent and Music Programming, VH1); Monte Lipman (President, Universal Records), Seymour Stein (Chairman/CEO, Sire Records); Amanda Ghost (President, Epic Records); James Diener (President, A&M/Octone Records) and well-known recording artists such as: Tom Waits; Robert Smith (The Cure); Kings of Leon; Steve Winwood; Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20); Journey; McCoy Tyner, Wynonna; Timbaland; Jeff Beck; Adele; and many more.

Last year was ISC’s inaugural year for the Music Video category. Candace Avery, the Founder/Director of ISC, states, “Introducing a Music Video category last year was really exciting for ISC. We received so many great videos ranging from high-quality, professionally produced videos to more organic, indie videos. I was extremely impressed with the creativity, artistry, and originality exhibited in the videos.”

The First Place winner last year was the impressive animated video “Overexposed” from the South African band The Parlotones. Known for their cutting edge and creative videos, The Parlotones are one of South Africa’s best-known rock bands. Kahn Morbee, the lead singer and songwriter of the winning song, talks about the video and winning ISC.  ”Winning a competition is always a great honour no matter the size of the competition. The fact that this is an international contest with entrants from around the world makes it just a little bit sweeter. The music video was pretty easy to make. We took photos of ourselves from back, front, left and right and then each of us was filmed with a static shot performing the song once. These images were then sent to the animators who did the rest of the work….easiest video we’ve ever done.”  Go to www.sonicbids.com/TheParlotones to view “Overexposed.”

To enter ISC, go to www.sonicbids.com/ISC.

Many college radio stations are always eager to add emerging artists, especially if you’re from the area. Almost all major colleges and universities have radio stations at this point, and each station is filled with shows spanning almost every genre imaginable. College students are always eager to help out a local band, and when there isn’t a specific show playing, you can always just get added to their regular rotation. Try getting in touch with your local college radio stations to see if they would be interested in featuring your music. Here’s a site that I found after some quick browsing that might help you get started.

Just these past few weeks, I’ve seen several local artists gain quite a bit of recognition around their respective areas (in this case, Boston) because they have been featured on college radio. One artist reached out to a friend of mine, who has a show on Northeastern University’s station, 104.9 WRBB-FM. They had never met before, but he expressed interest in coming in to the studio and playing live on-air, and in a week, they had everything planned out. The show has had several local acts pass through, simply because they asked to be on the show. Also, new bands are constantly being added to their list of recommendations to play. So go ahead and put yourself out there – get on the phone or email your EPK over to local college radio stations. The people who are listening are the ones that are particularly interested in finding new undiscovered music, and it’s always great to find a new way to get yourself out in the open.

So where did the EP come from, who/what made it popular, and more importantly, what can it do for you–the independent musician?

Before the EP was introduced in the early 1950s, music was mostly released as the 45 rpm vinyl single or the 33 rpm vinyl LP album. Then in 1952, RCA released the “Extended Play” 45 as a competitor to the LP. The EP was still playable by the standard 45 rpm equipment, but used narrower grooves to achieve 7.5 min of playing time per side, and containing about 4-6 tracks total.

Record companies used the EP as a promotional tool to release an artist’s just-cut tracks to generate interest in an upcoming album, and also to package several radio hits onto one vinyl record for a cheaper price.

The EP, although occasionally released in the U.S., never really caught on with consumers here, but it was a big hit with music aficionados in the U.K. and parts of Europe and Asia. In the 1960s popular bands such as the Beatles , the Monkees, and Frank Sinatra all achieved major success with EP releases in the U.K. and Japan.

By the 1980s, singles were being released in formats that allowed for more than 2 tracks (think cassette tape), transforming the EP to be defined by more than just its extended playing time. A release of 4 or more tracks of equal importance became the new standard for the EP, differentiating itself from the 4-track single, which included one main hit and three accompanying songs.

Nowadays, an EP is generally thought of as having up to 36 minutes of music and around four to six tracks, and an album has anywhere from 30-80 minutes of music and about eight to twelve tracks. So who’s releasing EP’s these days? Matisyahu released his “Shattered” EP in October of 2008, and Death Cab for Cutie, Destroyer, and Modest Mouse (The Open Door EP, Bay Of Pigs EP, No One First And You’re Next EP, respectively) all released EPs in 2009.

Most importantly, as an independent artist what are the advantages of releasing an EP (as opposed to an album)? Ultimately you’ll be releasing your new music at a much quicker pace and getting your music to fans faster; since you’ll be recording fewer tracks, you’ll cut down on studio and post-production time, and get your EP out more quickly. And what fans don’t want new music sooner?

Also, professional production costs will be reduced because there are fewer tracks to record. And fewer tracks means a unified sound will be more easily achieved, which we all know is hard to do on an 8-12 track album. Plus, your shorter release will leave fans wanting more, and anticipating your next release!

And one more thing–if you’re producing your EPs for cheaper, releasing them more often, and selling just as many as you would if they were full-length albums, that results in more financial gain in a shorter amount of time.

So when’s your EP release party???

(1) Evolve
There are always the exceptions (see: Rolling Stones), but if you want a long career in music, you’ll need to continually challenge yourself to think differently than you have in the past. MJ re-invented himself through time and it was a huge reason why he was able to appeal to such a wide spectrum of people. He started with the Motown soul and R&B, danced his way through Disco with “Off the Wall,” added some rock here or there (‘Beat It’, ‘Dirty Diana’), then started trying some Gospel (Man in the Mirror, Will You Be There?). If that wasn’t enough, he beat-boxed his way through Dangerous and HIStory, the Blood on the Dance Floor featured some pretty awesome mixes for you DJs out there, and to top it off, he crooned some serious slow jams on “Invincible”(Example: ‘Butterflies’ – released over 8 years ago and still sounds like something Justin Timberlake would release tomorrow.)  With all the changes and genre bending, the most accurate way to classify Michael Jackson’s music was just “Pop” — because Popular was just about the only consistent thing.

(2) Embrace the latest innovations
Most of MJs career was before social media and all the bells and whistles of the internet, but the media that was available to him, Michael owned it, namely the music video.  No one needs to mention how innovative and cutting edge the music video for ‘Thriller’ was when a music video was a fledgling form of media, but let’s not forget just the cool stuff he did as the medium grew.  MJ holds the Guinness Book of World Records for Longest Music Video (and if you want to watch the whole thing, you can here), the morphing faces in ‘Black or White’ still look awesome, and if you haven’t watched it in a while, watch ‘Scream’ again: the video was released in 1995 (that’s over 14 year ago, folks) and doesn’t even look dated. And yes, MJ and Janet had a 7 million dollar budget, but think about the sophisticated and fairly affordable tools you can get online or at Best Buy, or the free tools you have online ready for download. And there’s always the local college, library or community center to get in touch with to see if there are any tools available for your use in case you’re not 100% ready to invest all that technology has to offer.

(3) Sometimes, you have to be a shrewd businessman
Michael may have sung and danced his way up the ladder, but he wasn’t messing around. In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit. He partnered with the likes of Pepsi (although, admittedly another big love in my life besides MJ is Diet Coke) and along the way, he purchased the Beatles catalog. What can musicians learn here? 1) Read your contracts and negotiate to make sure you are protected and getting the most out of your talents and ideas, 2) don’t be afraid from the exposure a consumer brand can offer, and 3) whenever possible, make some good investments.

(4) Find your sequined glove.
By this, I mean go ahead and be a little flashy and demand some attention. Remember, you’re in show business – so it’s okay to be ‘showy.’ Don’t go outside your personality, but the last thing you want to do is hide it. Flashy can be via your clothing, or if that doesn’t feel right, do something creative to your album artwork or do a crazy Youtube video series. In business it’s called marketing, and if you want your name out there and want to get noticed, sometimes you have to be a little different.

(5) Give back.
Okay, I get it: you’re not a big MJ fan. That’s okay. But let me ask you this: are you a fan helping the planet and say, feeding hungry children in Africa? Well, then you and Michael still have something in common. When he wasn’t winning Grammys, wowing the world with his crazy dance moves, or unfortunately fighting off lawsuits, MJ was truly trying to make the world just a little bit better. Did you know that the Millennium-Issue of the “Guinness Book Of Records” named Michael as the Pop Star who supports the most charity organizations? His humanitarian awards started around May 14, 1984, when Michael was invited to the White House to receive an award from President Ronald Reagan for his support of charities that helped people overcome alcohol and drug abuse, but if you want to get a good idea of everything he’s done, check out the list created for the debated House Resolution 600.  Remember: giving back doesn’t have to mean money. It’s easy. Go volunteer together somewhere and post some photos to your website to share with your fans; not only will you have done something good for your community, you may inspire someone else who admires you to do the same.

Finally, a note from the author: It’s sappy and corny and I’ve talked about Micheal Jackson on-end since his death. But this is the first time I’ve actually written anything about him since and I just want to say: Michael Jackson, you made the world better in so many ways and will continue to do so with your legacy–I love the King of Pop!

There are several ways to market a product.  When you first look at it from a musician or artist standpoint, many people tend to think – spend money and make flyers for an event.  Yet this is not the way to keep your overhead low nor is it the only way to get the word out about your gig.  What is called “The Four P’s of Marketing” must be taken into action to be successful at selling your product.

The first “P” is Product. You have to be able to have a product that is sellable.  If you are an emcee, you want the cover of your album to appeal to your direct demographic, be professional, packaged properly, etc.

The next “P” is Price. You want to price your product in a way that meets your demographic needs.  Always remember the cost of your music or art product vs. what your audience is willing and able to pay.

The third “P” is Promotion. This is where it can get fun but also costly.  Another good idea is to get a publicist who can create a professional press kit for you so that media [print, online and radio], booking of events and consignment comes a lot easier.  It also allows the artist time to work on their craft and perform.  You want to communicate on different levels: flyers, mixers, events and online marketing through social networks.  There are several professional ones in our own city such as MidtownGrid.com, SACScene.com and SACVibe.com.

The last “P” stands for Placement. Where will your product go?  If you are a visual artist it belongs in art galleries or possibly an online web store.  If you are a musician, your music belongs online at websites such as Pandora.com or CDBaby.com.  Getting into iTunes, Amazon.com and other stores will help with sales.   Physical locations such as The Beat, Dimple Records and R5 Records will help in sales or you can go one step ahead and try for Target, Wal-Mart, Frys or Best Buy.  Often having your publicist contact these outlets and drop off albums with your press kit is the best bet and the most professional.  Props to all inspiring artist who not only believe in themselves but also have others close to them who believe in there artistic abilities; they are truly the ones in need of the knowledge at hand.

Check out more thoughts from Aaris A. Schroeder on the UBO Magazine blog at ubomag.wordpress.com. ♦

As an independent musician first you need to Produce your Music, second you need to Sell your Music and third you need to Support your Music. These are the 3 categories that MusicNomad uses to organize thousands or resources to help independent musicians.

In the third and final category (Support Your Music) MusicNomad has ranked the top resources to keep your playing.

Top Resources by Category

-Band/Fan Management Tools – Reverb Nation, FanBridge, Artist Data
-Music Media Contacts – We list over 100 top contacts in Newspaper, TV, Magazine, and Internet
-Musician Forums – Harmony Central, Sputnik Music, Songstuff
-Music Industry Blogs – Ariel Publicity, Buzzsonic.com, New Music Strategies
-Musicians Health Support – Rock for Health, Hearos, HINT, Future of Music
-Finding Musicians Wanted/Available – Musicians Contact.com, Find a Musician, Craig’s List
-People to Hire – We list over 15 categories ranging from insurance for musicians to street teams.
-Music Industry Conferences – SXSW, ASCAP, NAMM,

We also list the best articles to help you in these categories, which include

-          Speaking to Your Fans Through More than Your Music by FanBridge
-          It’s All Good: There is No Such Thing as Bad Press by Sheena Metal
-          Finding a Manager by Ben McLane
-          Your Band Submissions Schedule to play Top Music Festivals by MusicNomad

This was our final article in a 4 part series. We hope you found our top ranked resources by category helpful in your music journey.

MusicNomad is a musicians advocate organization that tries to make sense of the vast and fragmented music industry through researching, interviewing, reviewing and ranking thousands of companies in the music industry and filtering the ones that can really help musicians. They then do write ups on the companies, rank them and give you a direct link to their website.  There are also tips, news and articles for musicians to explore.  The Website (www.musicnomad.com) is free to use and focuses on fighting for the underdog, independent musicians!

So how do you do it, with your band, with your strengths? Well there is no single answer, every artist is going to need their own unique approach and it’s up to them to find what that is. Obviously having great music is first and foremost, but you also need to get people to listen. One trick is using the skills you develop in your day to day jobs to your advantage, and design your marketing campaign around those strengths.  Things like getting the grammar nut in the band working on copy and the really friendly one working the email list after the show is obvious. However thinking outside the box is the best way to survive in a music business whose box is constantly changing.  One thing to think about is combining skills sets of the different members of your musical team to create something greater than the separate items. For example if you’re a web designer and your guitar player works in sales. You can design a functional and effective way of selling music online more so then most. If you have a carpenter, an electrician, and an artist, you can design your own lighting system, and a killer, totally unique light show.

Last example I’ll throw out; if you have a auto mechanic, welder, and someone with a love of spray paint, build your own trailer and save yourself a few grand, and have it be custom designed to the band when you drive around, we call that a functional moving billboard.

Take a look at the members of your team who work with your music business, and figure out what skills these people have, besides being a killer bass player, and try to see if you can combine those skills into something you can use in conjunction with the music. A unique merch display, creative cd packaging with an interesting email campaign, fundraising events for recording an album, a treasure hunt for the new album, any number of ideas that you can combine using your skill set will not only be as unique as the people in your band, but will also be of quality much closer to quality of your music.

If anyone has any creative combos, post em.