Posted: Apr 9, 2018

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by John Kay, a touring and performing songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer, and the leader of John Kay & Who’s To Say.

"..the burning question which keeps those who are truly passionate about their local music scene is: Why? Why does “the scene suck”? Why does it need fixing? What is the root of the problem? It’s more complicated than a one-answer summation, but I proffer that a major contributor to why a local scene suffers—and new/young/up-and-coming bands ultimately fail—is the recording engineer’s decision to manipulate an amateur band’s recorded performance into a near-perfect production."

Posted: Mar 19, 2018

Category: Recording

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**Guest post written by Cassie Steele, content editor for GuitarFella.com.

"While many successful indie artists are still tied to big labels for distribution purposes, many are seeking alternatives in terms of recording and producing. We are living in the age of the home recording studio with especially indie artists producing top-quality tracks with inexpensive gear. While creating a home recording space to produce your dream indie album can be time and energy consuming the end result will be well worth it, especially if you want to achieve the best sound possible without sacrificing your artistic integrity."

Posted: Aug 28, 2017

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Scott Aumann, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.

"One of the best things to do in order to improve your live performance is to record your shows. You can record audio only, or record video. Either way, make it a point to review your recordings and critique yourself. Don't be too critical, but be honest with yourself. This is a great way to find what works, and what doesn't work."

Posted: Jul 31, 2017

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post by Vinnie Hines of Artist Collective.

"For ages, there’s been a cliché dream for any would-be musician...You’re immediately bombarded by these different suits throwing you offers from every record label you could think of, and finally, you’ve made it. You’re “signed...It’s all bullshit.”

Posted: May 30, 2017

Category: Recording

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**Guest post written by Ben Jacklin.

"For any touring outfit, life on the road can be fun, but can also mean a lot of fast food, cramming in the back of vans and plenty of spare time. For musicians, this can present an opportunity to write, practice and even record songs whilst making your way from one show to another. We’ve put together some top tips for putting together your next demo whilst you’re touring, the perfect way to fill the hours from one city to another and at a time when many bands and artists can be at their most creative."

Posted: Jan 30, 2017

Category: Recording

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**Guest post by Dane Myers, CEO of Custom Tracks, a virtual recording studio that offers low-cost session musicians and studios to artists around the world.

"Whether you're just getting started or you're a seasoned studio vet returning to make your next production, figuring out what a new album costs can be tricky. Here are some things to make the picture a bit clearer..."

Posted: Sep 26, 2016

Category: Recording

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**Guest post written by Clay Mills, hit songwriter, producer, performer, and founder of SongTown.com.

"People often ask me if they have to do full-production demos to present songs to publishers or major artists? I do a fair amount of full demos, but I also have had about half of my major cuts from pitching home demos done on a very basic set-up on my mac laptop..."

Posted: Jun 2, 2014

Category: Recording

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**Guest post written by Bobby Owsinski, producer/engineer and best selling author, as featured in his blog The Big Picture Music Production Blog.

A fairly large project usually has numerous rentals of both long and short term. The trickiest long term rental is always the studio, since if you don’t complete what’s needed on time, then you’ll have to move somewhere else if the studio has booked time after your booking has run out. This can be a royal pain, since it means tearing everything down and setting up again, losing some time and momentum, and your sound, in the process. Here are 5 types of studio time that musicians should be aware of...