English · This & That · Tips

‘Modernizing the Merch Madness’ by Dave Kusek

“For artists struggling to make a living in the digital age, a strong merch strategy can be the difference between living life as a starving artist and making a comfortable living.

Yet compared to the recording, publishing and ticketing businesses—which have felt the full effect of technology and the Internet— the merch business today is mostly stuck in the analog 70s. If we are looking to make money in the music industry of the future, why focus our energies on debating the intricacies of Spotify payments or whether licensing terms stifle innovation. Instead let’s examine an area ripe for disruption and revenue expansion.”

Click here to read the whole entry on Digitalcowboys.com.

English · This & That

Getting To Know ‘Savage Henry’

“We were on tour in the Midwest USA in summer 2009. The guys decided to go get some breakfast and mess around town that day, do some shopping. The driver of the bus missed his exit on the highway, needed to get turned around, switched lanes and didn’t see this HUGE Fed Ex truck in the other lane and well, bam!” When Hal Jester, Manager of ‘Savage Henry’, talks about this sad day, he still can’t believe what happened. This is when the song “300 Miles” was written, which deals with the guy’s experiences on the road over the years. “The video picks up where this story left off and the aftermath. The first minute of the video features real news footage. The guys were all OK except for some bumps and bruises but the driver of the bus was injured severely and had to stay in the hospital for a couple of weeks. We felt very bad about the incident.”

 Savage Henry was formed in Denver, CO, July 2004. They released their first full length recording of fourteen songs, All In, at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater in August 2005. Named Band to Watch in 2005 by Xposure Magazine, they have performed over a hundred live shows for fans throughout Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming and Minnesota and have been featured on Colorado radio stations including 93.3 KTCL and 99.5 The Mountain. The CD, All In and Step Lively, can be found on several major music services including iTunes, Amazon, and CDBaby. Savage Henry immediately gained regional respect with their 2005 debut effort All In, an audio journal of the complexities of relationships pushing against the tide of temptation and self-realization. All In was recognized as one the year’s most skillfully played and cleanly produced albums by Denver’s alternative weekly publication, Westword.

By the end of 2006, Savage Henry picked up a nomination for a Westword Music Showcase Award in the Best Rock category, and then again in 2007, this time in the Best Pop category alongside recent Atlantic signing, Meese.

The members of Savage Henry understand that success in the music industry is more than just skillful albums and blistering live performances, so Savage Henry is an efficient business machine. Stuart Miller is a career guitar player living music through performing, teaching, and publishing placements, and is highly esteemed for his session work. In addition to maintaining the band’s website and promotion online, bassist John Jeffers has earned praise for his skills in sound engineering and recording. Singer Damon Guerrasio’s background in theater brings a unique, one of a kind performance, keeping the crowds rolling in. As a part of the successful “On Second Thought” (until their demise in 2004), Guerrasio has reached his artistic pinnacle as the intricate lyricist and eccentric frontman of Savage Henry. With regular touring, festival, and showcase performances, along with highly acclaimed Pink Floyd tribute shows (Wish We Were Floyd), Savage Henry continues to prove itself as an independent musical success. As shows regularly sell out in Colorado, Savage Henry has also developed sizeable followings in Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The band will consider any offers for licensing, record label interest and especially radio airplay on any station across the world. Savage Henry has two excellent CD’s with great packaging and presentation and digital distribution in place.

“However we have no hard copy distribution in place at this time, so that’s something the band may need help with. We need help paying for our hard copy CD’s which are complete with a great package. We were hoping to start selling on the radio. People would buy our tunes online then from those sales we could order more hard copies but we still don’t have a way to get them in Target and Walmart and other retailers. A matter of fact the band was offered a “trial run” 3 years ago from Universal Records. They wanted 1,000 CD’s up front from us to distribute to a few Target stores to see how we would sell. We didn’t have the funds to purchase that many CD’s. So you can see that we have the talent and “big” labels have showed their interest in this band…just bad timing or the wrong type of offer.”

– Hal Jester

Savage Henry on Music2Deal: http://bit.ly/QZLjaZ

Savage Henry on Reverbnation: www.reverbnation.com/savagehenry

German · This & That · Tips

Alles (il)legal? Teil 2

Hier gelangst Du zu „Alles (il)legal? Teil 1

Welche Risiken bringen illegale Downloadportale mit sich?

Neben dem Aspekt der Illegalität, gibt es eine Reihe weiterer Risiken beim Download von urheberrechtlich geschützten Inhalten. Viele Filesharing-Dienste können den Computer gefährden und ihn mit Viren infizieren. Darüber hinaus kann Filesharing-Software auf den Computer und Dateien zugreifen, die darauf gespeichert sind und die Inhalte illegal online verbreiten. Nicht selten stecken organisierte Kriminelle hinter solchen Attacken, die versuchen, den Internetnutzer in eine Abzockfalle zu locken und Kreaditkartendaten herauszufinden. Beim Besuch illegaler Downloadportale ist also äußerste Vorsicht geboten! Eine Liste legaler Portale findet sich unter www.pro-music.org.

Darf ich gestreamte Musik aus Internetradios und Webseiten mit einer Aufnahmesoftware aufnehmen und auf meinem Computer speichern?

Hierbei handelt es sich um eine fragwürdige Grauzone, die sowohl unfair, also auch rechtlich bedenklich ist. Durch das Mitschneiden von Streaming-Angeboten wird der Künstler nicht an den Einnahmen beteiligt, weshalb man lieber auf andere Online-Dienste (zum Beispiel Napster) ausweichen sollte. Dort kann man gegen eine geringe monatliche Abo-Gebühr die gestreamte Musik auch offline genießen.

Sind kostenpflichtige Musikangebote wirklich immer legal?

Natürlich gibt es auch in diesem Bereich immer wieder schwarze Schafe. Es kann vorkommen, dass ein Online-Dienst nicht legal ist, bei dem man für digitale Inhalte bezahlen muss. Oftmals handelt es sich um im Ausland ansässige Firmen, die den Rechteinhabern keine Lizenzgebühren zahlen und deshalb Musik und Videos sehr günstig anbieten können. Das Geld wird nicht an die Urheber weitergeleitet, sondern landet direkt in der eigenen Tasche der dubiosen Anbieter. Hier sollte man sich also genau informieren, bevor man den Dienst einer vermeintlich legalen Seite in Anspruch nimmt.

Welche Strafe erwartet Filesharer?

Wer illegal digitale Inhalte hoch- oder herunterlädt, muss mit schweren Strafen rechnen. Hier kann es zu zivil- und strafrechtlichen Verfolgungen kommen, bei denen den Rechteinhabern nachträglich ein Schadensersatz bezahlt werden muss. Die Kosten für die Rechtsverfolgung muss der Rechtsverletzer selbst tragen. Bekanntes Beispiel: Der Betreiber des illegalen Filmportals Kino.to wurde zu einer Haftstrafe von viereinhalb Jahren verurteilt und muss fast 4 Millionen Euro an den Staat überweisen.

Am Montag geht es weiter mit Teil 3 von „Alles (il)legal?“

by Sara Shirazi