As announced in one of our prior newsletters, Music2Deal now offers the possibility to also embed your music video to your music offer. To celebrate this new function, we started a competition about the videos, here you can find the five best entries of our Music2Deal users.
Eva Gisler
She is a singer/songwriter/vocalcoach from Switzerland and loves different styles of music from soul to pop – rock, funk – jazz and she has got a variable voice to sing all these styles.
The music producer in the Alternative genre, is also the owner and CEO of IKONIC Artists LLP, DEAD Famous International Pty Ltd, and Astral Records & Music in Australia. His entry to our competition, is from the band Winged Serpent.
Click here for more information about Mike Puskas.
Music has no boundary and no language. We have known this for a long time and ever since the inception of internet and the rapidly growing trend of downloading music across the globe, international music has started crossing borders like never before. Music2Deal is a global platform as such, which connects various people from different places by uniting them through one common aspect – MUSIC. As the sole partner to Music2Deal in Bangladesh, we want to create strong connections between aspiring musicians and anyone connected with the global music industry. Any professional in Bangladesh can now seek out for any professional deal, partner, company, record label etc. locally or globally through Music2Deal.
Music market in Bangladesh – The music market in Bangladesh is at its growth stage. While it has been functioning from a long time, it never got the opportunity to flourish as it should have. There are lots of talented musicians / artists who are of international standard but only a few got the chance to show their talent outside the country. Often, musicians cannot do quality work due to lack of financial support, lack of technological and logistical support. Therefore musicians need proper platforms where they can bridge their gaps and can portray their talents across new and different horizons.
LiveSquare has been actively working for the music scene in Bangladesh for the last 5 years, and in most cases has been successful. LiveSquare has a 3 year long musical co-operation with Norwegian Embassy and Concerts Norway. Through this project, LiveSquare has been able to send some very talented Bangladeshi bands to Norway, Sri Lanka and India to take part in various music festivals. Artists from Norway, Switzerland, Germany, France and India have also visited Bangladesh because of the musical exchange partnerships with various international cultural bodies. Apart from working with its Norwegian counterpart, LiveSquare has affiliation with Swiss Embassy, Goethe Institute and EMK Center. LiveSquare is also said to be the master of crafting live experiences and has been the organizers of many a successful concert and tour in Bangladesh.
Let us get to know the small, yet very dynamic team behind LiveSquare:
Nafis Ahmed, CEO, LiveSquare– Nafis Ahmed started LiveSquare as a passion project back in 2007. After finishing his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from IBA and working for a few years, he decided to take the music industry of Bangladesh to the next level. He first started LiveSquare only for organizing concerts. Later LiveSquare branched out to artist management, music marketing, creative planning and logistics related aspects of music and communications. Nafis Ahmed’s favorite band is Pink Floyd.
Afrida Mahbub, COO, LiveSquare – Afrida Mahbub, a graduate from IBA worked in a multinational firm before joining LiveSquare. She has always been enthusiastic about music and wanted to combine her strength of business strategy with her passion of music. Her ambition is to take LiveSquare beyond the globe and the partnership between LiveSquare and Music2Deal has been fruitful because of her. Afrida likes debating and watching movies at her spare time.
Atef Ahmed Bin Jafar, AGM, LiveSquare – Atef Ahmed was involved with LiveSquare ever since LiveSquare returned as full-fledged music company. Although he was studying abroad while LiveSquare was at its growth in 2011, he used to work with LiveSquare during semester breaks and attend shows every while and then. After completing his undergraduate degree in from Victoria University in Australia, he joined LiveSquare from late as a full timer. Apart from organizing concerts and being a part of LiveSquare, he likes to listen music and collect rare vinyl and music collectibles. Atef Ahmed’s favorite band is Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd.
Enamul Haque, Operations Executive – Enamul Haque, another member of LiveSquare family is also associated with music. Enamul was a drummer of the band called The Metalians which he founded in 2010 along with his friends. He now plays in a band called The Trip which was formed in 2013. Apart from drumming, he wants to shape up the music industry of Bangladesh along with his colleagues in LiveSquare. Enamul’s favorite band is Iron Maiden.
Abhijit Asad, Creative Lead – A business graduate from IBA too, Abhijit Asad actively works for LiveSquare from behind the scene. Abhijit Asad makes all the designs and graphics of LiveSquare and the logo of LiveSquare itself is made by Abhijit Asad. He was there from the inception of this company. Abhijit Asad is involved in some musical side projects.
Mir Hamid, Fin & Admin Manager – While everyone is working on the planning and operations aspects of LiveSquare, Hamid manages the entire office and all the logistical and administrative works of LiveSquare. His father is a music teacher and he is very fond of classical music.
Playing an instrument makes you a musician. Playing an instrument really well and for a living makes you a pro-musician. You probably remember the time it took from learning the first chord to becoming a well-rounded musician who learns pieces quickly, even sight reads and records parts in the studio with very few takes.
All this playing, studying, all the lessons, all the gigs, all the jams, all the mistakes, all this time… all are necessary to make you the musician you are.
Now here is a surprise that really should not be a surprise. It takes a similar amount of learning about counterpoint, harmony, structure, ostinatos, lyrics, symbolism, listener perceptions, etc… to be an equally adept songwriter. Once you have done all that studying it will take a several years of writing for anything from country to twelve-tone music for your skills to become rock solid.
All the time you have spent playing has helped with an understanding of music, but it is by no means the full education required to become a great songwriter.
Just because you have written songs does not necessarily mean that you are a fully rounded songwriter either. I sometimes edit my show reels or samples from film projects I have scored. This does not make me an editor.
A little checklist:
Do fans or customers regularly pay for your music?
Do other people play your songs?
Do you know how to write four-part counterpoint?
Are you well versed in classical and jazz harmony?
Do you regularly write music on tight deadlines?
Is your work used in a commercial context?
I encounter the same phenomenon every day. There are many good musicians or singers with good ideas and concepts that managed to record a song / album that is passable. For a great album they would need a couple of years more songwriting training and a real producer. Unfortunately these artists spend their money and energy trying to force their sub-par material into the market, rather than either spending the time to improve the writing or hiring someone who can help.
The resistance to working with a professional on their music is almost comical. See my case studies article. Everyone on the Billboard charts has a team of experts, but you can accomplish this all by yourself?
While you were out playing gigs, someone else sat at up home and studied songwriting or got a degree in composition. The songwriter depends on your superior performance skills in the studio and on stage. Why would you not utilize somebody’s superior writing skills? A songwriter feels no shame having a better singer perform his music, so why is there an issue working with someone to make your songs better?
I was a full time lecturer for guitar and I still prefer to hire a professional guitarist who plays professionally and regularly. I write and produce all day. The professional guitarist will be in better shape to play.
Check out successful production teams and you will find that they have experts for each part of the production. If you are not a professional songwriter (meaning you pay your bills with your writing skills), you may want to think about the fact that you are undermining your chances as an artist, as a musician, on stage and on recordings by having an amateur create the core product for you as an artist.
There is so much music that sounds the same, so I think it is important that you fight for your unique sound and for your voice. Working with a songwriter, or an “old-fashioned” producer, does not mean that you will be turned into something you do not want to be.
It means that you will sound your best and become the artist you are meant to be. A good co-songwriter or producer will support you, sounding your best, not changing who you are.
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