Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.

Internet Geek-rocker Jonathan Coulton (hereafter often referred to as “JoCo” because apparently neither he, his die-hard fans, nor I really enjoy repeatedly typing “Jonathan Coulton”) was recently interviewed by NPR’s “Planet Money” podcast/radio show, and he blogged about ( Read more... )

Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.

It’s the ugly truth.

Pundits tap dance around it. There are hundreds of music blogs that tell you all the Important Things You Need To Do To Make It Big, but they all noticably ignore one big thing.

Luck.

Obviously, nobody wants to talk about it, because frankly it’s ( Read more... )

Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.

The band press kit or one-sheet is like the band photo - it’s a necessary evil.  You’re gunna come off looking like a douchebag no matter what, but you still need to do it.    It’s a lot like a resume in that you can’t get a job without one, you can’t outright lie on it, ( Read more... )

Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.

I saw the documentary “it Might Get Loud” this weekend.

Interesting film.  It’s quickly very clear why those particular three guitarists (Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White) were picked - they each represent a different era of guitar heroics, and they’re also the kind of ( Read more... )

Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.

“Recursions” has been out for a month now and I’ve been tracking it with much interest.  For me, it’s not merely a release, it’s part of a continuing experiment in distribution models.

We did “Footfalls” as a giveaway, to see if it would boost album sales for “Sublimation ( Read more... )

Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.

Recursions is almost done.  I’m in the process of getting the final masters together.

It occurred to me, with a bit of prodding from Matt Fanale, that I’ve never actually talked about what mastering really is.  I’ve blogged passionately about what to do and what not to do, ( Read more... )

Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.

Continuing my random stream of music-industry/marketing blogging…

Yesterday, I was talking to the good Dr. Goedken regarding all the recent blasts of marketing ideas, sales concepts, promotions, etc etc that I’ve been itching to try.

Eric asked me “so, well…what’s the goal ( Read more... )

Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been following the twitter feeds and the blogs and the RSS and all that for various “music marketing” sites.

In the past week alone I’ve seen three heavily buzzed digital music marketing handbooks come along.  These handbooks are spreading more virally than anybody’s ( Read more... )

Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.

A short little video, in which Zoe Keating outlines life on the road, and what it takes to make the leap from techie to pro musician.

Click to view

It’s by turns funny and kind of painfully close to home.

Originally published at The Null Device Blog. You can comment here or there.

In an era where a music consumer can pick and choose tracks from a digital distro site, and in an era where the breakneck pace of the internet makes keeping buzz going practically a full-time job, I wonder…is there a point to a traditional “album-length” album?

The argument ( Read more... )