Seth Godin Draws Some Lessons From The Sinking Music Industry
January 11, 2008
2 CommentsSeth Godin dishes 15 tips to musicians on the cusp between old and new media.
- The new thing is never as good as the old thing, at least right now
- Past performance is no guarantee of future success
- Copy protection in a digital age is a pipe dream
- Interactivity can’t be copied
- Permission is the asset of the future
- A frightened consumer is not a happy consumer
- This is a big one: The best time to change your business model is while you still have momentum
- Remember the Bob Dylan rule: it’s not just a record, it’s a movement
- Don’t panic when the new business model isn’t as ‘clean’ as the old one
- Read the writing on the wall
- Don’t abandon the Long Tail
- Understand the power of digital
- Celebrity is underrated
- Value is created when you go from many to few, and vice versa
- Whenever possible, sell subscriptions
The opportunity of digital distribution is this:
When you can distribute something digitally, for free, it will spread (if it’s good). If it spreads, you can use it as a vehicle to allow people to come back to you and register, to sign up, to give you permission to interact and to keep them in the loop.
This is a philosophy to commit to memory. There’s much needed explanation at his original post: Music lessons
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Loading ...5 Sure Fire Ways To Kick-Start The Songwriting Habit
October 26, 2007
3 CommentsIf you don’t already write songs regularly, then it’s safe to say that you don’t yet have a songwriting habit. Because if you did, you would feel compelled to write songs every day and perhaps all day long.
We could talk about motivation or anchoring overwhelming desire to the thought of writing songs, but one sure fire way to develop a consistent songwriting practice is to make it an unconscious habit.
Here are 5 tips to help you develop the habit of writing songs.
- Write nothing but song titles
If the thought of writing a chorus, a bridge, and multiple verses is overwhelming to you, then just write some simple song titles. For song title inspiration, read my post on The Astonishing Hit-Making Magic of Song Titles. - Write for the garbage can without feeling guilty
The 80/20 rule will tell you that 20 percent of your writing will make the cut, 80 percent won’t. If you write 100 words a day, 20 of them might be useable. So if you need 100 words to complete your song, you need to write around 500 words. That’s why I write for the garbage can. - Schedule songwriting appointments
Think of something you do everyday that requires little effort or self-motivation, like eating when you’re hungry. You probably don’t need to schedule your meals in a calendar. You eat when your body tells you that you’re hungry. That’s the kind of habit you’re looking to develop with your songwriting. It’s automatic. But to get to that level, it might be useful to schedule your songwriting sessions and never break them. Keep it up for thirty days and see if you don’t get “hunger pangs” when you haven’t written anything for more than a few hours. - Edit older songs
Sometimes tinkering with an old song feels better than starting a song from scratch. If that feels like the case for you, then follow your desire to tinker. You’ll still be exercising your songwriting chops. Now, if you have an aversion to writing new songs you’ll need to look into your reluctance. But you can do that after you’ve developed a strong songwriting habit. Who knows, it might just disappear on its own. - Transcribe your favorite songwriter’s songs
Rewrite the lyrics to your favorite lyricist in long hand. Pretend you’re in their head and creating the song from scratch. Transcribe melodies, hooks, chord changes, anything to immerse yourself in the art and craft of songwriting.
As with all tips, they don’t work until you do them. Go schedule some time to write now!
(Inspired by Freelance Folder)
(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5) Loading ...Headlines On The Web Benefit From Passive Voice
October 25, 2007
0 CommentsBoing Boing posted an article summarizing Jakob Nielsen’s findings that web-headlines benefit from the use of the passive voice.
Great copywriters will tell you that your headlines need powerful action words and compelling benefits to get the reader engaged into the rest of your sales letter. While this can be true in the headlines of long-form direct sales copy, writing HTML titles and descriptions requires more thought that just duplicating your headline and first paragraph.
These findings also provide some best practices for writing blog post titles and excerpts, which are similar to the copy that viewers might scan a Google search engine result page.
Key point: Get the first two words right. Help scanning eyes pick out the meaning of your page or post quickly. This rule also includes other page elements on which readers fixate: subheads, summaries, captions, hypertext links, and bulleted lists.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Tips On Using Wordtracker
October 14, 2007
3 CommentsJohn Alexander, who, by the way, is giving away his ebook, Wordtracker Magic, which I paid good money for a couple years back, gave some great tips for finding keywords using Wordtracker.
When you attempt to research a specific phrase that is lodged in the front of your mind, you are limiting the results you will see to those that using that exact two word combination together. In the meantime, there could be hundreds of searches being done that you will never ever see or find, because you are logically guessing at a specific phrase that you ***think*** may be important.
He begins by using a single keyword rather than a keyword phrase which allows Wordtracker to show him how that keyword is being used in keyword phrases.
Many people take the approach of checking all of the keywords that make the most logical sense, rather than using a root word that is not illogical or not the most obvious.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 15
September 4, 2007
0 CommentsThis will be the last dominant 7 pentatonic scale pattern in this series. This pattern begins in the “outside key” and moves to the tonic key for two notes before switching back. The second part of the pattern begins in the tonic key, switches to the “outside key” for two notes, and then returns to the tonic.
If you can keep the key signatures straight as you play this, then you’re definitely ready to move on to something more challenging.
And hopefully, if you’ve been following this series, you can imagine phrases that aren’t confined to the tonic key.
That was the purpose of this series on playing outside. To stretch your ear and technique beyond conventional tonality. I hope you’ve enjoyed the exercise.
Download the full pattern:
Playing Outside: The Dominant 7 Pentatonic Scale Pattern 15
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