I’ve had the distinct pleasure and honor working with The Minneapolis Pops for a couple seasons now. The Mpls Pops is a professional orchestra, mostly comprised of musicians who are also employed with the Minnesota Orchestra and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, that plays free concerts for Twin Citians. Over the years, the Mpls Pops […]

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Image via WikipediaFor the newbies to the cultBLOG, I like to use Jay Conrad Levinson’s definition of “Guerrilla Marketing” –mostly because he coined the term and has written about infinity and a half books on the subject. His basic definition of Guerrilla Marketing is accomplishing ordinary business/marketing goals by unconventional means. In the same respect, […]

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Image via WikipediaIf you’ve been reading the cultBLOG at all, you get how much I stress the need for merchandising; but properly merchandising your band or music organization is about more than just buying a run of one-color t-shirts and schlepping them to all over the place. No. There is actually logic behind all the […]

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In my various dealings with clients, I’ve come across surprisingly few bands that have taken the plunge… no… not getting married -or maybe it is- but forming a legal business entity. If your group is serious about being professional and being the sole source of income for all the members, than maybe a legal business […]

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Image via WikipediaToday I’m focusing on the “street team” –which is really something that I never really got.
I’m a total business nerd and I love talking about marketing, pricing strategy, branding, financial management, and any number of other topics that are probably tripping your gag-reflex. That being said, I think that there are way too […]

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After writing yesterday’s post, I did some “over-due-diligence” (copyright ME 2008) and came across a YouTube post from Dj Jazzy Jeff commenting on the Record Industry.
The basic premise goes hand-in-hand with what I said in yesterday’s cultBLOG post. –being that the world-wide record industry has gotten WAY to greedy and controlling and will now suffer […]

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Image via Wikipedia“How can my bad get signed” seems to be the running question for a lot of musicians out there. It’s almost as if getting your band onto a major record label is the climax for many bands; but is it right for your band?
Back in the day (which was a Wednesday… thank you […]

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Image via WikipediaTo append to yesterday’s post, I had some more ideas.
The essence of the post was that musicians should consider partnering with other creative firms and individuals to exchange some shared synergy with one another. If a band were to carry this to the professional extreme,  said musical group might hear their music in […]

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Even though most people get into the music industry because it’s their passion, it’s pretty safe to say that everybody’s got to make a living. This is exactly why I can be heard/read daily pounding in the necessity of looking at your band or orchestra like a for-profit business. Think of yourself as a “Lifestyle […]

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Source: FlickrI love that the music industry is evolving away from big business into a vibrant and authentic, market-supported local/national arts scene. Competition is carving new music genres and niches, and the little guy can now easily get a national record deal… without the backing of a major label.
Have you thought of using your […]

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