More reasons to join Hitsamillion.ning.com!

At hitsamillion.ning.com, first off: it's about the members!!!!!! That's why the members' pictures are on the main page at the top. As the owner of the site, putting the members' pictures at the top of the site reminds me who this site is for! I'm here to help and facilitate!

Next, I will be featuring members on the main page. It will not be the same featured members on the main page. Members will get a chance to be featured on the main page of the site. Members will get featured for different reasons. Putting your name, image and profile on the front page will help you brand and promote yourself. Certain members will have THEIR music on the front page, etc. There will be other advantages that members will have but I gotta keep those a secret. You have to join to find out!

Next, I'll be adding some cool features to my site. Only members will get to participate in those added features.

Also, unlike a lot of social networking sites, there will be industry news and information as well that will help members learn the music business. Currently, there's information on there about how to get an endorsement deal.

Also, at hitsamillion.ning.com, we start our own groups within the site. There's a current group on the site, the Lyrically Speaking group, where we spark each other's creativity, critique each other's music, and a lot more.

So yes, join hitsamillion.ning.com and get involved!

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com

Why join hitsamillion.ning.com when there are other social networking sites?

Hitsamillion.ning.com is networking site for songwriters, producers, artists, managers, engineers, and all music business professionals. I started hitsamillion.ning.com in November 2007 because I wanted to interact with songwriters, producers, artists, engineers and music professionals in a way that MySpace, Facebook, and a lot of other sites I was on at the time really doesn't provide. As an owner of my own site now, I'm not subject to all the restrictions and limitations of MySpace.

At hitsamillion.ning.com, we can talk about issues that concern us as music professionals. I post events to let my members know about what's happening. Members get to change and rearrange and decorate their page. I get to change the featured members on the site so I can showcase members for their contributions. I can showcase my members' music. Plus, members still get to post pictures, videos, blogs, forums, music and comments. They can post events. They can make new friends. They can email their friends at one time. They can join and start their groups within the site. Plus, I welcome all of the new members to my site personally! So it's a great site. With over a hundred members, I'm not the only one who thinks so!

I'm a longtime member of MySpace and Facebook. Personally, neither suited all of my needs. I wanted to not only find out who people were and send them an email (which they may or may not read or respond to) but I also wanted to really interact with songwriters and producers in other ways. At hitsamillion.ning.com, people can really talk. You won't find all the sillyness that goes on on MySpace's forums. I hate their forums.


So yes, I want you to join hitsamillion.ning.com! You're truly welcome there.

Thedy B
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.ning.com

Come join me on Hitsamillion.ning.com!

Visit HitsAMillion.Ning.Com

Hitsamillion.ning.com is a free site for everybody in the music business. Be a featured member! Have your music featured on the front page of the site! Start groups. Post videos, comments, blogs, music, pictures, and events. Post classified ads. Find music industry events. Get industry information. Make friends and contacts. Check it out

Capturing Your Song Ideas Pt. 3 or Songwriting while traveling

In addition to the other suggestions that I mentioned about capturing your song ideas while you're out and about, I found another device that some producers and musicians use to get their ideas down while away from their stationary recording devices. Because I have not personally bought this particular product, I cannot tell you if this device is the best one to use or not. I'd suggest googling this product and reading reviews of it to see which one is best for you.



Meet the ultimate palmtop guitar companion and recording studio. Only slightly larger than an iPod, the tiny-yet-powerful Micro BR is a dream for musicians on the go. The Micro BR offers four simultaneous playback tracks (plus 32 V-Tracks), MP3 compatibility, onboard multi-effects, built-in rhythm patterns, a tuner, USB, an SD Card slot, and more. No guitar case or gig bag should be without one!

Features:
Ultra portable, only slightly larger than an iPod

4-track playback, 32 V-Tracks

Loads and plays MP3 files

Multi-effects onboard; dedicated guitar input

Time-Stretch and Center Cancel features (including MP3 files)

293 rhythm patterns

Built-in tuner and microphone

USB port for data transfer

SD Card slot for recording media, 128MB card included

BR in Your Pocket or Guitar Case
The Micro BR is so small you can put it in your pocket! It measures just 136.0 mm x 81.0 mm x 21.4 mm (5-3/8" x 3-3/16" x 7/8"). But even though it's tiny, the Micro BR packs an entire studio's worth of features into its tiny case. There are a dozen buttons on its front panel, nine knobs, and even a built-in microphone for quick capture.

4 Tracks & More
At its core, the Micro BR is a four-track studio with four simultaneous playback tracks and two simultaneous record / input tracks.However, there's more to this recorder than meets the eye. Each of the four main playback tracks also has eight companion V-Tracks (for a total of 32), so you can record take after take after take, then pick your best material for final mixdown.

Drum Machine & Effects Onboard
Given the Micro BR's small size and low price, you might be surprised to find the next two features onboard: (1) Almost 300 drum patterns are included. Use them for play-along inspiration or even as song foundations. The rhythms don't consume any of the four playback tracks -- they play back independently. (2) A quality multi-effects processor is onboard, including a time-stretch algorithm for changing the tempo of your audio tracks without changing pitch -- a great tool for both audio editing and phrase training. The Time Stretch feature can also be used with MP3 data; the Micro BR's Center Cancel feature can be applied to MP3 data as well.

MP3 Compatibility
The Micro BR is capable of loading and playing MP3 files. Load up your favorite guitar hero song via USB, slow down the tempo with no pitch change, and learn all of your favorite licks. You can even use the Micro BR as a standard MP3 player. All of your data is stored on convenient SD (Secure Digital) media found in common electronics shops. The included 128MB card, for example, can record approximately 65 minutes of audio when one mono track is selected.
Technical Info
Power Supply (Optional): PSA-120S

Careers in Music as a Film Composer

Perhaps I've convinced you that your true passion with music does not involve the business of selling records. Perhaps my blog has convinced you that you love music but you'd rather do something else. Perhaps you should consider becoming a film composer.

Here's a great video on how to become a film composer:

Grind after you sign Part 3

I've been blogging about grinding after you sign. Lyfe Jennings said he forgot to continue to grind after he got signed, noticed the decline in his record sells, and starting grinding again. I mentioned that a lot of folks in the music business like to use the word grind when they talk about how hard they work in this business and I said most are in fact not grinding as that term is really defined.

Well, here's a real life example of a hip hop artist/songwriter, Lil Wayne, whose real grind paid off.




Then even Diddy asks, is the music business right for you?!

Thanks G. Charles Edwards on thestudioexposed.com for finding and sharing this video!

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com

Grind after you sign Pt. 2

In my last blog, I talked about the importance of grinding after you sign a record deal, a publishing deal, a producer's agreement or deal, etc. So read that blog to understand the context of this one.

JaWar also recently blogged about the fact that artists, songwriters, musicians and producers have to grind after they get signed. He added some interesting layers to this much needed discussion. In particular, he blogged about having a displaced vision and the importance of learning how to then change your focus, goals, dreams, and vision after you get signed to then accomplish something greater, and buying and reading books that will help you do that. To read that blog, click here

I've come to almost dislike hearing people say they are grinding in the music industry. What does grinding really mean? The informal definition of grind as reported by dictionary.com means "to work or study laboriously (often fol. by away): He was grinding away at his algebra." Grind also means to "devote oneself to study or work: grinding for a test; grinding away at housework."

So if you aren't studying, working laboriously, devoting yourself to studying or working, then you are NOT grinding!

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriting
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion. blogspot.com

Grind after you sign!

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, I went to an ASCAP event where Lyfe Jennings was on the panel and he said that he made more money and sold more records when he HAD to grind then when he got signed!

He said that once he got signed, he chilled and didn't sell as much as he had when he was grinding. Now he's back on his grind.

With record labels constantly dropping non-producing or low-producing and even mid-producing artists, artists better be on their grind to stay signed!

At another event, they talked about how Kanye West was signed to a record label and nobody at the record label was pushing his project. What did Kanye West do? He started pushing his project himself! All of a sudden the folks IN THE RECORD LABEL took notice and started getting behind Kanye's project!

So you see from those examples that just being signed to a record label is not the END of the grind; it's just the START! In other words, you must grind after you're signed. And you must grind to stay signed!

So if you know NOW that you really don't want to grind, perhaps you shouldn't don't do music to make a profit. You again can save yourself some money, time, energy, and effort by not trying to get involved in the music business. You again can always just play and write music for the fun of it and make your profession something else!

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com

Music is a business you must work!

Again, I'm continuing to help some of my readers decide whether they are in the right business. My other blogs have helped you decide whether you love music, love the music business, whether music is just a hobby to you, whether you are just a fan of music. All of these are very important questions to discover whether you should stay in the tough business of the music industry or whether you should find another fulfilling job in the music industry that does not entail the business of selling music.

So here's my next question: is music only fun to you and not work?

Dictionary.com defines work, the noun, by the following definitions:

1. exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.
2. something on which exertion or labor is expended; a task or undertaking: The students finished their work in class.
3. productive or operative activity.
4.employment, as in some form of industry, esp. as a means of earning one's livelihood: to look for work.
5. one's place of employment: Don't phone him at work.
6. materials, things, etc., on which one is working or is to work.
7. the result of exertion, labor, or activity; a deed or performance.
8. a product of exertion, labor, or activity: musical works.

Dictionary.com defines work, the verb, using some of the following definitions:

1. to do work; labor.
2. to be employed, esp. as a means of earning one's livelihood: He hasn't worked for six weeks.
3. to be in operation, as a machine.
4. to act or operate effectively: The pump will not work. The plan works.
5. to attain a specified condition, as by repeated movement: The nails worked loose.
6. to have an effect or influence, as on a person or on the mind or feelings of a person.
7. to move in agitation, as the features under strong emotion.
8. to make way with effort or under stress: The ship works to windward.
9. to use or manage (an apparatus, contrivance, etc.): She can work many business machines.
10. to bring about (any result) by or as by work or effort: to work a change.
11. to manipulate or treat by labor: to work butter.
12. to put into effective operation.
13. to operate (a mine, farm, etc.) for productive purposes: to work a coal mine.
14. to carry on operations in (a district or region).
15. to make, fashion, or execute by work.
16. to achieve or win by work or effort: to work one's passage.
17. to keep (a person, a horse, etc.) at work: She works her employees hard.
18. to influence or persuade, esp. insidiously: to work other people to one's will.

So if you aren't exerting energy, time, labor or activity, if you are not productive, if you are not employing yourself to earn your own livelihood, and you aren't accomplishing anything with your energy, time, labor or activity, then it's safe to say you aren't working your music business! If you, your team, or your music isn't working to persuade or influence people to buy into you, your music, your brand, and your company, then your time, energy and efforts aren't working, i.e. they aren't productive. If you don't regularly go into your place of employment, which in this case, a studio, then you are not working. If you only go to work from time to time, then you are not laboring and therefore aren't really working.

There are no hand outs, no free rides, no get in free passes, no mandatory regulations or laws saying the music business has to include you! The music industry and success in the music business is solely determined by your level of hard work, dedication and determination.

So again decide for yourself: do I really want to be in the music industry?

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter

Hits A Million, LLC

hitsamillion.blogspot.com

Are you just a fan of music?

Again, I'm continuing my blogs that I started last week on whether a career as a professional songwriter, musician, artist, or producer is right for you. Check out my other blogs on this subject. Next, I want you to examine whether you are a fan of music or a professional music creator?

According to dictionary.com, a profession is a vocation requiring knowledge of some department of learning or science: the profession of teaching. The American Heritage dictionary defines profession as an occupation or career; or an occupation, such as law, medicine, or engineering, that requires considerable training and specialized study.

However, dictionary.com defines a fan as an enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.

So ask yourself this, am I just a fan of music or am I in the profession of making music?

See a fan is somebody who would rather watch others make music on Youtube instead of making music themselves.

A fan would rather google their favorite celebrities to see how famous they are, see how many magazines they are on, how many websites, how many fans they have, how many friends they have on a social networking site, etc. But a professional would work on becoming famous themselves, building their own buzz, making fans of their music, and promoting and branding themselves so that they too are generating fans.

A fan would rather watch TV shows of famous celebrities get awards than work on making award-winning music.

A fan would only admire what other famous people are doing but a professional studies what famous people do and do it themselves.

A fan, when seeing other celebrities in the music business venture out into other businesses and endeavors or expand their musical talents, would say, well I can't do that; but a professional would say, I can learn how to do that!

A fan doesn't study music, the business, and celebrities but a professional does.

A fan merely listens to music but a professional not only listens to music but makes music for them and others to listen to.

A fan knows everything possible about their favorite celebrity but a professional knows the things that he or she needs to know about that celebrity so that the professional can duplicate what that celebrity did to get to where the celebrity got to.

A fan won't do the things that a celebrity does but will only talk about all the things the celebrity does and is doing.

A fan doesn't do music as a living and only buys music; a professional not only buys music but makes music for people to buy.

A fan doesn't want to do music for a living but a professional knows that he is in a profession to make money and to earn a living so he sells his music.

A fan won't sacrifice or give up doing some things to get to where the celebrity is but a professional knows and understands that his or her time is better spent devoting it to studying, learning the business, and doing music.

A fan doesn't care what he or she doesn't know about the music business; a professional does.

What am I saying? As the dictionary.com stated, a profession is a learned occupation that requires considerable training and specialized study.

If you spend most of your time simply watching TV shows of all of your favorite celebrities rather than studying what they do, how they did what they did, finding out how you can do it too, learning your craft, expanding your musical talents, learning the business, etc., then you are merely a fan of music. You are really not interested in being in the profession of music. So again, I'd say, save yourself some money, get out of the profession of music, and find some other way to still enjoy music as a fan, such as becoming a music retailer, and stop attempting to become a professional songwriter, musician, artist, or producer.

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com

I love music but I don't love the music business?

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I hope you've been reading my latest blogs on should you save yourself some money and get out the game we call the music business. And if you read them, you may say well, I love music but I don't love the music business!

I personally prefer calling the music business, the music industry. Why? The music industry, for example, entails the business of selling records, but it's not solely define by that. The record business is solely defined by the business of selling records. The music industry, however, has so many other things that songwriters, producers, beatmakers, etc. can do besides sell records. So you can love music and not sell records and do other things in the music industry.

For example, you can teach people how to create music by becoming a music teacher. You'd still be a songwriter or musician or a producer but you won't have to concern yourself with the song's marketability, or commercialism. That may be a great profession for those who just love music and don't want to sell their music.

Or you can be like JaWar and write some books about the music industry. Or you could write about music, about musicians, songwriters, music industry professionals, etc. I myself am about to write some books about songwriting so stay tuned for more details!

As an author, you can still enjoy music and again you don't have to worry as much about some of the negative things that come with the business of selling records. So yes, you can love music and not love the music business, and still love what you do in the music industry. There's nothing stopping you from doing something else.

Berklee lists over 70 different careers in the music industry!!!!!
Kenfoster.com lists all the qualifications, if any, that are needed to do some of these other careers in the music industry and their salary ranges. Menc.org also has a chart detailing salary ranges and qualifications of other careers in the music industry.

Just do a google search like I did for careers in the music business and you'll find lots of ways to still love music and have a career in the music industry.

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com

Do you love the music business?

Hopefully you've read my blogs before and you know I always try to inspire people to stay in the music business and to see their dreams come true. But again, this week my goal is to encourage you to find your true passion if it ain't music. So in my last two blogs, I helped you analyze whether music was just a hobby to you and whether you love music or not. Hopefully by now, you know music is not a hobby to you and that you love music.

In a recent forum on thestudioexposed.com, I created a forum and asked aspiring producers, songwriters, artists and beatmakers, what they love about the music business. Here's some of the things I said in that forum:

What I like or love about the music business:

1. I love music.
2. I love the creative process.
3. I love the challenge of coming up with a hit record.
4. I like knowing that people can be successful in the music business.
5. I love that there are many places that music is being put now and that companies, businesses, engineers, and inventors are coming up with new ways of hearing, getting, transporting, and sharing music all the time.
6. I love the fact that some artists, producers, and songwriters can have long careers in the music business.
7. I like the fact that I can be an entrepreneur in the music business.
8. I love the fact that it gives musicians the opportunity for people to hear their music and share it.
9. I like the fact that you constantly meet a different array of creative people.


If you can't think of these reasons why you love the industry and more, then again I'd suggest you save yourself some money, stay out the music business, find out what you really love to do, and make money doing that! In my next post, I'm going to talk about what some of the other careers are in the music industry that you can do for those of you who are tired of the music business and want to do something else.

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com

Is Music What You Love to Do?

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So I've been posting for the past couple of days about saving yourself some money by getting out the game called the music business. In my last post, I gave you some tips on finding out if music is just a hobby to you. Again, if it is, save yourself some money: don't attempt to get into the music business. Instead, find something else that you really love to do.

So I ask you: Is music what you love to do? Let me ask you a couple of questions so you can be the judge:

Is music what you think about all the time?

Do you fantasize about music and having a career in music?

Do you see yourself doing music?

Do you see yourself being successful doing music?

Do you spend a lot of your time making music?

Have you sacrificed some relationships over music?

Have you stayed up long nights making and creating music?

Have you spent lots of money trying to make it in the music business?

Have you borrowed money to make it in the music business?

Have you tried other careers, but the music industry is the only thing that you keep coming back to?

Have you even left music alone for awhile but still found yourself missing it?

Do you spend time learning it and studying music?

Do you spend time researching how others who do music, do it?

Do you find yourself talking about music all the time?

Are most of your friends fellow music lovers?

Do you have a large music collection?

Well, if you answered yes to those questions, music is what you love to do.

So do it! Go for it! Stay with it! Be committed! Don't treat what you love to do as a hobby, respect it!

But if you don't love music, save yourself some money, get out the game, find what you REALLY love and do THAT!!!!!!

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com

Is music still a hobby to you?

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In my last post on saving yourself some money by getting OUT the game, we call the music business, I challenged you to ask yourself whether music is a hobby or a business to you. So here it is:

If you are not willing to invest time in YOU: why should anybody else! Music is still a hobby to you.

If you are not willing to invest money in YOU: why should anybody else! Music is still a hobby to you.

If you are not willing to give something up to get what you want: why should anybody else! Music is still a hobby to you.

If you are not willing to dedicate yourself fully to YOUR goals, your dreams, your aspirations, your CAREERRRRRRRRRR, the things you SAY you want, why should anybody else! Music is still a hobby to you.

If you just want to play music for fun, write songs for fun, music is a hobby to you!

If you don't want to put in the time it takes, music is a hobby to you!

If you don't want to learn how to perfect your craft, music is a hobby to you!

If you don't want to get paid to do what you love to do, music is a hobby to you!

If you got a lot of excuses related to your career, your business, and your music, music is a hobby to you!

If you don't want to learn the business side of the music business, music is a hobby to you.

If you only work on your music every now and then, music is a hobby to you.

If you don't want to network, build relationships, make moves, brand and promote yourself, music is a hobby to you.

If all you want to do is create and never handle any business, music is a hobby to you.

If you quit because you got rejected, got a bad critique from someone, didn't hear back from someone, etc, music is a hobby to you.

For all those who find themselves answering most of those statements like, yep, that's me, then I'd suggest you save yourself some time and money, and get out the billion dollar music industry. Find your true passion and make money doing what you really love to do because music ain't it.

Thedy B, Attorney/Songwriter
Hits A Million, LLC
hitsamillion.blogspot.com