The Nashville MUSE

I often meet songwriters and players who tell me they took music lessons as a kid and hated it. That little old lady down the street who gave piano lessons, or the guy with all that hair from the local band who taught guitar at the neighborhood music store, may have done more harm than good. I’ve heard stories of people who were told they “had no musical aptitude” or “just didn’t have the talent” as if to play music you needed to be touched from above. Or the teacher had an ironclad method that they insisted upon, whether it involved mastering “Fur Elise” or “Smoke On The Water” before you could move on to something more in line with what you wanted to learn.

First of all, let me be clear: methods are useful tools, and I’m not suggesting that some people aren’t given great gifts or that learning an instrument doesn’t require a set of concrete skills. But in my twenty years of teaching music, I’ve come to believe that the gift is in how quickly you understand, absorb, and learn to master those skills, and the method needs to reflect and be based upon the learning style and goals of the student. In other words, my job as a teacher is not just to show you how to do things but to figure out how you learn and deliver the information accordingly. And if that little old lady or the shaggy guy from the music store didn’t see it that way, you would be unlikely to learn much from them, and you probably don’t have the most positive memory of "music lessons".

But music is probably pretty important to you if you’re reading this right now. And because lessons are not the only way we learn to make music, you may have been writing, singing, or playing (or all three) for years now and are good enough at it to be seriously pursuing a career as a performing artist and/or songwriter. But because there’s always something new to learn, you may have come to feel that some sort of lessons might be a good idea, IF you could find a teacher that wasn’t going to make you repeat that childhood experience.

All my best teachers were the ones who could show me not just where to put my fingers but also how to think about and hear what I was doing. Their teaching transcended the nuts and bolts of playing the instrument..... and realistically if you practice regularly, as I was, that part takes care of itself. If you go to the gym every day and work out, you will get stronger, it can’t NOT work. They were not just teachers but coaches, in the sense that they helped me identify and bring out my strengths while recognizing and addressing my weaknesses. So I’m suggesting that if you’re looking to grow as an instrumentalist, writer, or artist, what you need is not “music lessons” but performance coaching.

We all have a process for developing and refining new material. If you're formally trained or just very organized it might be a very clear conscious series of steps, or it might just be a matter of exploring and changing things until they feel right. Then once we feel like we’ve got it where we want it, we start looking for feedback.....from other writers and performers, from friends and family, from teachers, and of course from pros in the industry we're all trying to break into. Some of it carries a whole lot of weight and some of it doesn't, depending on the source; then most of us file that information away in our heads and decide later on whether it rings true. I think that's the right approach, because a lot of the feedback we get is almost purely subjective....what we're being told is whether someone likes what we do or not. There might be concrete information we're being given, and it's up to us to decide how much value it has, but ultimately the feedback is the answer to a yes or no question: do you (the listener) like this song/performance/artist or not?

All of that's important.....if NO one likes what you're doing, you should probably go back to the drawing board, so to speak....and if the feedback is almost entirely positive that's obviously proof that you're on to something. But most of us live in the middle ground between those two extremes: we get positives AND negatives, which makes it a little more difficult to decide what’s valuable and what isn’t. And if we’re in agreement that much of what we do get is primarily subjective opinion, it's hard to know whether we can really use it to hone and refine what we do.

I’m suggesting that a great teacher is able to help you sort that out by accomplishing three things.

1. Identifying realistically and clearly who you are and want to be as a person and artist.

2. Defining as specifically as possible where your strengths and weaknesses are.

3. Devising ways to brings out your strengths and develop your weaknesses in a way that works for you and the way you learn.

I believe that all three of these points can be discussed in a way that focuses more on concrete things and less on subjective likes and dislikes. Speaking for myself, when a student brings in a song I don’t offer any commentary on whether I like it or not, because I don’t feel that’s important to our interaction. What IS important is whether the song is communicating what its writer intended, and whether the performance is helping to put that message across.

So f you are looking to study with someone, think about this article and the three points I just outlined when you evaluate whether that teacher is right for you. And if you’ve found the right person you’ll walk away from the experience a better writer, player, and performer, and hopefully with a better feeling about music lessons than you had as a child.

Dave Isaacs is a busy professional musician, teacher, and performing songwriter. He offers regular performance workshops in Nashville and on the road under the auspices of NSAI and other organizations, and performs constantly as a solo artist, with his improvisational jazz trio Chupacabra, and co-fronting rising Americana band Good Souls.

A lot of songwriters learning to play the guitar have it backwards, and in all fairness it’s hard not to get wrapped up in the paradox. You want to play the guitar to accompany your songs, but your songs end up getting limited by your ability of the guitar. So you might call a teacher and ask if you can learn some new strums to spice up your vocabulary. But a strum pattern is exactly that, just a series of motions....what you really want are new ideas and new sounds. So the idea is to get PAST the strumming to the sound....in other words, to be guided by your ears and not your hands. Your ideas can lead your fingers, rather than your fingers limiting your ideas.

Yes, this requires practice, but it doesn’t require as much skill as you might think. What we want is to allow the lyric or even the idea of the song to suggest the rhythmic feel, and then figure out how to produce that sound on the guitar. For example, you can find the natural rhythm of a lyric by just speaking it, and see where you feel the stresses. Then try to tap out the beats where you feel them. Don’t be afraid to be simple! And if you can tap or sing a rhythm, you can play it by asking the hands to follow the beat you’ve just established. The following exercise will help start you along the way.

Remember that your strumming hand is your rhythm generator. Hold a chord, hit the strings and feel a single beat. Hit the strings four times in succession and feel a measure. Then hit the strings repeatedly, counting to four each time and accenting the first count of each group. Now you felt a meter, four-four time (or just 4). Do it faster, and the song is uptempo. Do it slower, and now it’s a ballad.

Subdivide the beat by swinging the right arm back and forth. We’re still counting, one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and as we alternate down and up strums. Notice that strumming down accentuates the bass strings, while strumming up brings out the trebles.....so don’t try to hit all the strings on every stroke. Let your arm swing like a pendulum from the elbow, steadily back and forth, two parts of the same cycle. The down strums are downbeats, the up strums upbeats.

So now we have eight different beats, some of which could be accented (or played more strongly) and some might be skipped (counted, but not played....the hand just misses the strings on that pass). Experimenting with different combinations of accented, less strongly accented, and skipped beats will reveal MANY different rhythmic feels, and as long as the back-and-forth of the right hand is consistent your hand will always be moving in the right direction at the right time.

This might all seem very mechanical right now, and really it is....but through mechanics we develop control and possibility, which together add up to freedom. Great musicians know how to make music FEEL good because they have mastered the mechanics and therefore are free to conceive and execute ideas. And if you let your exploration of mechanics be guided by the pursuit of sounds you hear in your head, then your practicing is never abstract but just another aspect of your songwriting process. Above all, remember to be patient with yourself....mastery of large tasks takes a long time, but mastery of a single, small idea doesn’t seem so daunting.

If I told you that you could do 300+ things between now and this day next year – you would think that I am crazy! However you can do 300+ things – just “One Thing A Day” over the year is how many? That’s right – 300+ things on your journey in the next year!

As a songwriter who lived outside of Nashville until 2002, I would follow a plan that really helped me stay focused and stay on my songwriting journey. I called it simply, "Do one thing a day for my songwriting." Those "things" have enabled me to develop a great network in Nashville of friends and industry professionals, to be prepared when I moved to Nashville with the craft and business of songwriting, to write better songs on my songwriting journey, and to really keep my songwriting goals focused over the years prior to moving to Nashville. Whether you are planning on moving to Nashville or another music community – these tips can help you stay on your journey and learn something every day!

One thing a day includes making a phone call or e-mail to a songwriter to set up a co-write session, or an industry professional to ask a songwriting business question, or someone in the workshop to discuss an upcoming event. Or, I might make plans for my next trip to Nashville , plans for an upcoming workshop meeting and guest speakers for the local events, or contact the media for those local songwriting events. Sometimes I would talk to a couple of out-of-town or out-of-state friends who are on the songwriting journey to share ideas, goals, challenges and successes. Sometimes a call would be needed to say hello to someone whom I haven't spoken to for a while, who always encouraged me in life, and to share what was going on in my life, even thought that friend was not a songwriter. They are (and still continue to be) great, positive friends who believe in me.

Other kinds of one thing a day include opening my hook-book to write a hook that I had just found reading a book, a conversation overheard during the day. Or, I might find a hook from watching a movie or TV, from the preacher's sermon, a newspaper, or magazine. Sometimes, the hook "came to me from the sky," or wherever those hooks come from, and seem to find our songwriter's antenna, move into our head, and then down our arm onto the paper. I also open the hook book to review ideas I've written in it, to see if I could write another verse or chorus to something I had started previously, and maybe even complete a song in my hook book.

I might play the guitar or keyboard - even for a couple minutes a day - which is another excellent thing to do that may inspire an idea. I learn another melody that can lead to a song, learn a new chord or strumming pattern, or work to improve a song that I've written. If I have more than a couple minutes, then I play the instrument and visualize myself playing my songs to an audience, a concert hall, one of our local venues, or playing live in the venue of that is my ultimate goal.

One thing a day also includes reading just a chapter - or even one or two pages - of a songwriting book a day to increase my songwriting skills. Hey, folks - we all know what our favorite room to read is - so go ahead and have a songwriting book in there at all times! If I read a little before going to bed, I often make it a songwriting or industry publication for my bedtime stories. I read the "how to" songwriting books, biographies about people in the songwriting or music industry, or any book or industry magazine that enables me to learn one thing per day. It's is a great investment for my songwriting journey. One of my favorite books to read for my songwriting journey is “The Craft and Business of Songwriting Third Edition” by John Braheny and available at any book store or www.johnbraheny.com .

Plan on attending songwriting seminars to learn and network in the business. There are several seminars in Nashville each year. Subscribe to the Nashville Muse at www.nashvillemuse.com to find out about hit songwriting seminars.

There are several websites – check out one a day – maybe google songwriting and see what comes up and read the articles –just one a day! www.musicdish.com is an excellent resource, www.americansongwriter.com . www.performingsongwriter.com and go to the hit songwriters that you love their songs – several have songwriting tips and read how the hit songwriters persisted on their journey. www.patpattison.com contains songwriting tips, many guitar players have sites with songwriting tips – www.garytalley.com has tips of the week. www.acousticguitar.com and www.about.com and click guitar has a weekly on-line newsletter that is beneficial to songwriters. Another great site is http://songwritersconnection.com/ as they have songwriting tips and you can sign up for a weekly newsletter The Songwriters Connection that is full of songwriting tips and ideas!

Some other things that I did while still in Charlotte , and you can to, is to attend and get involved in the local songwriting community. I was the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) coordinator in Charlotte , North Carolina , from 1996 - 2002. I was fortunate to have two great co-coordinators for the last year in Charlotte , as I had my condo on the market and was making plans to move to Nashville . I know from personal experience that it's great when songwriters ask what they can do to get involved with the local songwriter workshop.

I highly recommend networking in your local community by attending the music events and singer/songwriter nights. This is an excellent place to meet new co-writers and friends that have the same interests as you and inspire new songs. Help build your songwriting community – get involved or start a group of songwriters and musicians organization to bring music people together. Start a newsletter in your community that lets everyone know who is playing where and other music happenings! An example is the Nashville Muse that is sent to 10,000 readers every Monday. You can go to www.nashvillemuse.com and see “This Week’s Edition” and do the same type of e-mail newsletter for your community and be a resource to that community!

One thing a day should include time to review your goals. I wrote my goals down and placed them where I could see them every day. I still do this. That way, I can pause for a minute, look and make sure I have done one thing that day for my songwriting journey. Visualize your goals happening with your songwriting. But, the most important thing for you to do each day is - Have Fun on Your Songwriting Journey!

Networking and the Songwriting Business

Tax and accounting seminar with Cathy McCormack, CPA and co - author of the book, Financial Management for Musicians.

Cathy McCormack is a Certified Public Accountants in Nashville, TN that works with several songwriters, artists and entertainment industry professionals with their financial and tax business. Cathy can be reached at cathy@cpacg.com or phone 615-322-1225.

Songwriters Guild of America hosted a seminar in the Nashville, TN office. Below are the highlights of the tax and financial management seminar.

A publisher came to Cathy and her partner at that time and asked if they would write a book for her clients, many of which are musicians and songwriters. Financial Management For Musicians is the title of the book, but she says it is really more about organizing your financial life for what she calls, this business of music. Going around the room, the attendees mentioned a couple of the topics they would like for Cathy to discuss. Here are excerpts taken during the Q&A.

Cathy: Let’s talk about the myths. The definition of a hobby has several factors and includes, but is not limited to, a test to determine whether there has been a loss in three of the proceeding five years. But loss determination is just one of the criteria in determining whether or not you have a hobby. There is a lot more criteria to consider, and one important and very significant issue is whether you have profit motive. Most people who launch into something that takes eighty percent of their time obviously has a profit motive. Your job is to prove that you have one by keeping good records and substantiating how much time that you spend on the business. Keep your calendar in outlook or a manual calendar or in a journal, whatever is convenient for you, to document your schedule and time spent doing research, etc.

Cathy: This is something that you should have for every year you are in business. Often times, when writers first get started, they may have a different career or "day job" and tend not to keep good records . Then, hear the myth about taking losses for do not even bother with keeping good records. I encourage you to keep track of your expenses from inception. Keep a good calendar and track of everything that would help your accountant to support what you are doing for your song writing career. You can show losses your entire life. Many people fear of getting audited and will not deduct their expenses . Don't lose opportunities for fear of the audit myth.

I have had a few clients get audited because they have taken losses over a period of years . Fortunately, they had kept good records and the audit was closed without any modifications to the return. In addition, we referred to a court case of the IRS against a painter. The painter won, as the judge ruled it was a proven fact that many artists did not become famous until after they died.

Cathy : You need a calendar to prove the amount of time that you spent on your craft.

Cathy: No. It’s more important to reflect your activities, such as memberships of organizations that support your efforts, keeping brochures and pamphlets of seminars that you have attended, keeping records of your co_writing appointments or interviewing people to get ideas. Your calendar is support for the other things that you do with your song writing career.

Cathy : No, the profit motive is to prove your song writing is not just a hobby. It shows you are very serious about it and you want to make money at it.

Question : What happens if you have many years of no income in the songwriting business?

Cathy : That happens and that is OK. You deduct it on schedule C of tax return and show your losses against other income that you make during the year.

Question : Is there any rule about how much money that you can make and still have a loss on your taxes?

Question : What about forming your own publishing company for business and tax issues?

Cathy : The type of entity is very important and heavily debated. When you incorporate or form another entity, you are complicating your financial life but adding a layer of protection for your personal assets. If you are in a risky business or have accumulated substantial wealth, you will be a good candidate to consider a corporation or LLC. Also, joint relationships may require a separate entity. Whenever possible, it is best to keep the business simple by not incorporating or forming other types of entities. There is this myth that it will save you taxes if you incorporate and it is absolutely false in most cases. In fact, it will cost you more money! In addition, you would have to prepare more tax returns to prepare. It’s nice for the accountants, but it is not always in the best interest of the clients.

Question : Years ago I started getting royalties in about 1990, was doing my own taxes, filed my royalties under schedule E. I even called the IRS and the agent said what I was doing was OK. Later when I hired an accountant, they said that was wrong. Could you explain a Schedule E?

Cathy : Schedule C is where you report self-employment income, an activity that you are involved in such as a business like your publishing company. Schedule E is for passive activities such as activities that you are not actively involved in such as rental properties or passive ownership of an oil well. Items reported on Schedule E are not subject to self_employment tax (Social Security and Medicare.) If you are a songwriter, you are actively involved with the production of royalty income, and as a result, is taxable on Schedule C and subject to self-employment tax. You will not win in an audit if you put your royalties on Schedule E. However, if you inherit a song catalog from someone and you were not the one who generated that money , then it is correct to report royalties on Schedule E.

Question: Can I use my credit card record as proof that I purchased this equipment or do I need the original receipt?

Cathy: You have to have a receipt. A charge to Circuit City does not prove the purchase of equipment. It could have been a refrigerator. Therefore, the government needs more proof than a credit card statement.

Question: What about using your computer to keep track of your records for the year?

Cathy : Quicken is a wonderful program for keeping up with your personal or home business. It is a wonderful tool to track your checkbook and credit card activity. Quickbooks is a great program for tracking more complicated business arrangements such as partnerships, LLC’s and Corporations. Many people prefer spreadsheets which is fine as well. However, these programs do not replace the need to keep receipts. The programs are a tool to organize the data but the receipts are still needed to substantiate information on the computer generated reports.

Cathy: If you deduct something on your taxes, you need the receipt. However, there are certain cases where a receipt is not possible. Parking meter and tolls are deduction, but you rarely get receipts for them. Therefore, you need to write it down somewhere in a log to document cash expenses. Your calendar will show proof that you went somewhere that caused the expense. Also, some mileage logs have a space to write parking and tolls if you keep a pocket log in your car.

Cathy: The better your records are, the less the cost because it is less time for us to prepare. However, sometimes we have to find court cases or other information to defend a position we’ve taken on a return. We don’t have much control over that. So, the cost will vary depending on the complexity of the return. But remember, CPA fees are tax deductible! You will also get what you pay for. I don’t recommend ever representing yourself in an audit because you will not have the knowledge you need to negotiate or know what to look for when dealing with the IRS. I had a client recently whose agent required that royalties be moved from Schedule E to Schedule C. The agent proposed an increase in tax of $25,000. However, the agent missed important carryforwards that the taxpayer had not been able to use when the income was reported the other way. Therefore, when I calculated it accurately, the taxpayer owed $1,000 instead. My fee was nominal in comparison to how much I saved him in the audit.

Question: Auto expenses, what should we know about them and the records that we keep for them?

Cathy: That is probably one area that most people are the weakest in keeping records. Everyone

hates to keep mileage logs. Unfortunately, mileage logs are the only perfect way to support automobile deductions in an audit. You do not have to write down your odometer reading every time you are in and out of the car __just the business miles for the trip. You do need to write your odometer reading on January first and December 31st to determine total miles driven for the year. For your business miles, use your trip count to track the daily miles. If you are going to 10 places in one day, just write the list and your total business miles for the day. Write down where you went and the business purpose of the trip. I keep my business purpose written in my calendar and where I went in my mileage log. There are two ways to expense your car. You can use the standard mileage rate in effect for that year or your actual expenses times your business percentage usage. The problem is you still have to keep a log either way, because you have to calculate how much you are using your car for business.

Question: Working out of your home office, what should we look for in writing down expenses?

Cathy: You can deduct a percentage of your home expenses calculated by determining the percentage of square feet for your office/studio to the total square feet of the home. You must have a room that is designated 100% business, cannot be multi_use, and cannot have a bed in the room. You may write off the business percentage of your utilities, insurance, homeowner’s association fees, repairs, security system, and rent. Those items are what we call operating expenses and are limited to the profits shown on Schedule C. A percentage of mortgage interest an property taxes are also deductible as home office and are not limited by profits. Expenses limited by profits are they are carried forward to be deducted in future years. With respect to your telephone expenses, they go right on your schedule C for business deduction. The first phone line in your home is considered personal and is not deductible regardless of whether it is used for business. Any features that you add to the phone for business purposes are tax deductible 100%. Your cell phone may be considered a second phone obtained for business and written off entirely. If you do not have a land line phone, just your cell phone, you will need to allocate it, based on business and personal calls.

Cathy: Yes, the amount representing business percentage usage is deductible. In addition, many people in the music and entertainment business write off a percentage of cable TV as research.

Question: Are CD purchases of other artists deductible and if so, where do you list them as expenses?

Cathy: Yes, as research expense. A musician’s CD collection is ten times that of an average consumer and is most definitely used for research. Write CD purchases off on the second page of Schedule C under other deductions.

Question: Demo costs are astronomical and I list them as professional services. What do you recommend that I list demo cost in what category?

Cathy: If they are not much money, I write them off as demo costs, under other expenses. However, there is a rule that demo costs are supposed to be capitalized and amortized over the revenue stream. In many cases, there is no revenue stream or no determinable revenue stream. Therefore, it makes sense to use a Safe Harbor election to amortize demo costs over a three_year period. You get 50% of the demo costs in the first year, then 25% and 25% the following years.

Question: What is the category “Professional Services” used for in the tax forms?

Cathy: They are used for a lawyer, accountant, song plugger or consultant that you hire for your business. If that number becomes substantial, you should split some of the expenses into other categories.

Cathy: You are actually supposed to 1099 your accountant, lawyer, song plugger and any other professional that you hire for business purposes and pay $600 or more in a given year.

Question: If I go to lunch with a co_writer, can I deduct our lunch off my taxes?

Cathy: Yes, you deduct half of it, but keep the receipt and document the person you had the meal with and the business purpose. The only time you do not have to have the receipt is when you use the per diem rate for meals during overnight travel. Travel days are included; if it takes you overnight to get to your destination. The IRS website has downloadable per diem amounts for you to use. Some city’s have a higher per diem amount than others. Hotels are fully deductible and meals are only 50% deductible.

Question: I have events for songwriters at my house. What do I need to show that this is not ordinary household expense for the extra food, paper supplies and beverages?

Cathy: Keep a record of your guest list, print out of the invitations and take notes on how many you are planning on having for the events. Get a receipt for all the expenses of the event as they are fully deductible as marketing, not as entertainment.

Cathy: Not keeping good records and asking me to pull deductions out of the air. The most effective way to get clients to receipts is to deliver bad news of a large tax due. By then, it’s too late. You need to develop good habits and keep records of you expenses. Seek qualified advice to make your decisions. Peers are good to help conjure up questions, but make decisions from advice of a professional.

gilli moon, recording artist, songwriter, author and entrepreneur, gave a presentation in March 2004 to songwriters and artists at the Songwriters Guild of America in Nashville .

Here is a transcription, kindly offered by celebrated writer Doak Turner, of her talk, which she called MPWR – The Path to Artist Empowerment. As this is an interpretation of her colloquial and informal spoken word, taken by Doak in an effort to capture the message, rather than her direct written prose, please keep this in mind as you read. More information on her MPWR seminars and her book, I AM A Professional Artist- The Key to Survival and Success in the World of the Arts, at www.gillimoon.com and www.warriorgirlmusic.com.

gilli moon:

The discussion will be focused on Artists today. I am an artist/singer/songwriter, performer, author who grew up in the wilderness in Australia . I started performing in bands playing cover songs. I wanted to be surrounded by people who were as passionate about original music as I was. I went to New York and got into theater, moved to Los Angles trying to get a record deal, the representation, to be heard, and told you had to be the right age and all those types of details. I was signed to an independent label and got out of that deal because of bad dealings with the label. I started my own company, Warrior Girl Music and started the path of least resistance and in my own CD’s. I released 3 CD’s and now the fourth one is getting international distribution. I have toured all over the country with a keyboard and tour manager, small bands and just got off a tour with Eric Idle of Monty Python Fame. He does comedy and music. Most notable I have become noted as a Warrior Girl, taking control of my own success and enjoying the journey. This is my 2^nd trip to Nashville as last year I spoke at the 2NMC conference last year and singing on a CD for a friend in town this week, Jeff Young who played guitar for Megadeth. He has a new CD to be released soon called The Unmaking of Me.

I am going to share how I see what success and goals are, the path that is a life journey and going through tips on touring and marketing.

Being independent does not mean you have to sign “The Deal” and trust others will work for you. It is a good thing to know you can work with all companies. If you hold out waiting for the big deal it may not happen for you. The music business is all about the business. Music is the catalyst. I feel many artists look for happiness as commercial success, the big money and things. That does not mean happiness to everyone. The business changes, there are fewer and fewer openings to get your songs heard, to get the shelf space in the record retailers. Even if you do get the shelf space, they are rented out by the majors, the posters and exposure takes a lot of money to compete with the majors. Why not give it a shot as an independent artist? It may not give you the big dollar, but this is a big company with a lot of holes to fill. I look at wealth as not how much money you earn, but how much you spend and are able to save. We spend money on silly stuff that we do not need.

I wrote a book called. “I Am A Professional Artist”. I am going to discuss a couple things that are in the book. I believe that it is important to define your strengths, to work at what you are good at for the business. Spend the time on your strengths making those your competitive advantage. You as an artist needs to find your strength. Uniqueness plus talent equals your competitive advantage. My favorite term is “Commenceaphobia”. Get something done! Self doubt, fears wondering when someone else is going to do it for you – why not take that step on your path? A small step leads to large steps. You have to be passionate or do not do it. Rejection, criticism, negativity from family and friends can take your positive energy. It is a choice to choose to be an artist. People complain about it is not happening for them and they use it is a crutch. You made the choice, if it is not happening, move on, go find your way in the world. It is about you finding your way on this two way street.

I used to have the wrong producers who did not know or understand what I really wanted to say. It is about communication, developing relationships that nourish, not zap you! My three O’s – Optimism, being positive and surrounding yourself with positive people + Organized, learning time management and planning your day and how you want to live as well as the business side sending your e-mails, mediation, playing or whatever you have to do. Optimism plus Organized equals Opportunity! If you have a positive outlook, you just smile and endorphins get released to give you a natural buzz of energy and enthusiasm. Loving what you do, plus what you do in your business and creating. Opportunities come when you least expect it. If you sit on two chairs, you will fall between the cracks. Choose what you are going to do! Do not spread yourself too thin, or you won’t get much done. You can work for a publishing house in Nashville , while you are developing networking, developing websites and get more computer savvy that will help you. Diversifying is a key. You start somewhere and make your journey towards your destination; you can have turns on the way. But eventually find where you are going. Being a businessperson as well as an artist is also important.

Find the people you want to work with on the journey. This is YOUR career. We have heard the stories about things that happen to artist, they get screwed because of bad deals. We can change what happens with our careers. The industry is right in this room! You never know what project can happen with someone in this room. The best way to do it is to “un-network”, that means, don’t think of yourself and your needs first when meeting people. See it as an opportunity to create relationships. The word “networking” has such a bad connotation these days. Some people go to events to meet people that can do something for them, so they can move up the food chain and become famous. It is so me, me, me. Life is about giving to each other, coming together and helping each other. The WOW Factor is working together and seeing things happen – that is what it is about. Not wanting that quick fix.

Let’s educate the youth of today what time and energy goes into a record, - the passion, and the people that make the music to work to touch people and create a reaction. We can do it at the grassroots level and create your own groundswell. Do your thing and take care of your art; the people will come to help you in your life. It will come.

Knowing that everything is in abundance is important! I am very much an “I AM” Girl. “I AM a professional artist”. I AM who I want to become, write it down for yourself. It is OK to have ambitions, but success is not necessarily commercially driven. Your goals are different from others. Finding your own goals can make all the difference to finding what you really want. It can take a lot of work and it is a lifelong journey. It is about waking up every day and enjoying what you do every single day. Telling yourself at night that you love your life and art! If you do this, you have succeeded! It is not all about playing the game to get in bed with Clear Channel to get on the radio and spend millions of dollars! The radio is so manipulated. Janet Jackson goes #1 before anyone has heard her song. Does that tell you anything? Hey maybe one day my label may work with a major label, but the right relationship at the record company is so important.

Learning the business – education is so important. Developing relationships is so crucial! Being the businessperson is the biggest thing right now. We all just want to sing, but you have to be in control of what you do. Artists have had to sue labels, managers, CPAs to get their money. The right people will come to you in time. It is a group effort, no one makes it on their own, and every artist needs the right team. Why not share a little of the profits with the team around you? There’s enough for everyone.

You need contracts. You need to learn contracts. I have my own contract that my attorney drew up for my business. I learned how to write a contract, my attorney checks it. Why not pick up the phone yourself instead of asking people to make phone calls. Find the right people; find the right rewards for them. Define success on your own terms. Enjoy what you are doing. Know not just spin your wheels. Personal achievement is what it is about. People will tell you that you cannot do it, ignore them! There is a place for every single person to shine.

On page 143 in my book, there is a great amount of information on goal setting. I do goals backwards. I envision myself by closing my eyes. Envision where you are in 10 years time. Think about it, it is not too far way, where are you, what city, who are you surrounded by, what are you about to do, what have you just done, who are you married to, or not, … it is about living, family friends, and finding balance. Write it down what you want in 10 years. Once you finish it, completely written everything that you want, the money and stardom, laying on the beach (hah ha!), and then bring it back to 5 years away and do the same thing. Then 2, then 1. All of a sudden, you’ll have worked out a way to reach your dreams. Just by putting it out there. Then put that little piece of paper away.

It is your own voice, your music and your goal,… find your own place. My music is not Brittany Spears, it is totally different. Find that for yourself, what you want in life. Age does not matter for what you want! Age does matter because you would not have known what you know today. We have all had hardships, struggle relationships and it is all part of you.

How to do it the indie way? Number one- get started – get into the studio, record, get something on tape, let people know what you are doing! This is such a refreshing town to see so many people have such passion for their music. Recording – these days everyone it seems to have a studio, the CD burners, recording at home, it is so amazing what is out there and is now affordable. Finding other songwriters or producers to record and write with that has their own studio. Work together to make it happen. Art programs on computers make it easy with programs such as PhotoShop. I did it this way! You have to learn do it. Cheap printing and CD duplication are out there in every city. Study the bar code options. Short run CD’s like $150.00 for 200 CD’s and a 4-page booklet with the CD. www.mixonic.com have short runs. Type in short run CD in www.google.com and they will give you a list of places for these CD’s. CD Baby is an on-line store for CD’s. www.americasprinter.com has posters, fliers, and postcards. You get 2,5000 fliers for about $125.00. Discmaker.com offers free CD booklet and designs. My non-profit organization www.songsalive.org is a great resource for songwriters.

Making the CD does not mean that the world wants to hear it, we all thing everyone wants to hear our songs. So many bands spend 10 years together, and then they get a break and then they tour and have hardships during the first tour or recording the big first record. You have to be in it for life, it is not a quick thing for success. You will be going on so many journeys. It is not about blaming the radio and the labels; it is about looking at choices. The radio promotion is important. Bryan Farrish is located in LA. He has a place called Brian Farrish Radio and they talk about payola, under the table and bad stuff that has happened in the business. Brian is very proactive for indie artists’ rights in radio. Good guy to know!

WE are dealing with finding the crumbs to get airplay. I am not looking at those major stations. I believe in target marketing, certain areas. I micro-market by planning my years and target that market one fan and one step at a time. I will give you example, the Northwest region of the country. Great place for the summer. Sleep on the beach; do not spend all our money in hotels. We would book the gigs, call a friend of a friend, call the colleges, get on the yahoo groups such as www.indiegirl.com and www.gogirls.com to network, create my own groups through www.warriorgirlmusic.com www.musicthoughts.com run by www.cdbaby.com and there are so many groups to help each other in the towns. Call the venues, as I have an assistant to help me that used to work at Clearchannel. She works very hard and takes on A&R, management, whatever is needed to make the phone calls. Call the community radio stations in those towns. Send the stations a CD and let them know you are coming to town to see if they will play your songs and interview you. If I have my songs on the radio, you have to be out there and working it, it is a 100% job. I get the gigs lined up. Some gigs pay for the gigs that did not pay. You have to believe that it is a good opportunity. I have met amazing people on the tour. Promoters have been very good, they refer others to me. When I went to New Orleans , I called the local CBS affiliate. They liked the fact I came all the way from Australia and wanted me on their local TV station. When I play with my band, I paint on stage, which is a unique performance that separates me from other artists. I call it Sensuart, bringing the music and art together. Dynamic energy on stage is what it is about. Community TV can also work in some markets. Sell your CD’s out of your trunk to the audience. Pass out fliers to develop one fan at a time at the venues. Have a great relationship with your PRO such as BMI, ASCAP and SESAC; let them know stations are playing your songs. I would encourage you to join one of these affiliations. 70% of your income is likely to be able to come from your PRO’s. TV royalties will get paid by one of these groups. Always get a cue sheet if you get a song in a movie so you can keep track of where it is played. You can down load it in the sites of ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.

You want to find income from various levels that will help you keep doing what you want to do. Do not be so narrow in one area. I have songs in many areas, to be recorded by others, pop, some for movies. We talked about the Northwest. Sometimes you can be out there too much. Create an image and what you want to represent yourself, That can be your dress, your website, what you say, your business and through publicity, reviews, Find quotes to help you form your own image. My CD’s are a concept of what is going on with me.

A lot of songwriters get together in their community. In LA we play songs for each other, but I still need to get out of my town to play. Get out of your own space with short run tours can help your career. Every time you perform make it in a way that you are showing your best songs and performance. You never know who is going to be there in the audience. Think about managing how much you go out, how many songs you put on your CD. Sometimes you want them to know you as an artist and person, other times the mystery speaks best. My Woman CD has 18 tracks. The new one has 14. You want to show a dynamic range and have people get to know you. The first 3 songs have to hit them right between the eyes, have your best 3 songs, show them what YOU do, not someone else, find you in the CD, not someone else. The listener wants to feel what you are feeling in the production.

Radio play can be done in small steps, whom can you call to get lists of radio stations. The Indie Bible – www.indiebible.com/sa then you can get a discount through songsalive. Get the local press in that market. Send specialized e-mails to the targeted market. Be very direct and give them what they need for their article, sometimes line for line. Put a link to your site in the article so readers can learn more about you. Publicity is excellent. On the website www.artisttoolbox.net you can click on “getting reviews” and it will walk you through of how to get distributed, to get on the web and other aspects that you will need for publicity.

If you can find a publicist it can help your career. You want to know you are going to get the best attention from that person. I had a company that promoted Ani DiFranco and thought it would be good for me, as they know how to talk to the stations every week. They would always promote Ani, and I would get lost in their talk to the stations. They cared mostly about Ani, obviously. Money can be spent in a better way. I have to target each territory. I had success with a song in Phoenix . I went there 12 times and opened for the group “Simple Minds”. It was a 2,000 seat audience and had the performance of my lifetime, had people in line to sign my CD, they signed up for my e-mail list. Develop a community on your site. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com and find out how to start your own yahoo group for your own community. Mine is a newsletter called “Warrior Girl eNews” http://enews.warriorgirlmusic.com and Artistlivingroom an interactive discussion board for all artists http://artistivingroomwarriorgirlmusic.com. I also have Songsalive! Enotes http://www.songsalive.org/enotes that is an interactive group for songwriters.

Publicity – public awareness and press, that is media, on-line e-zines to get your name out. You need to back it up with talent. I use my website that attracts people to the site, I have a diary and the people feel like they know me. Bios, photos and performances and a touring schedule keep everyone in touch. Oh yeah – there is a CD at the site for sale. Of course! The website is a big key to getting your name to the people and is YOUR store front. Use it, promote it, bring people HOME to you.

Some servers limit you to how many e-mails that you send at a time, it is not your outlook or outlook express. You need another program such as Go Sender and you can send a million transactions a year. It passes your ISP to send your e-mails. A million e-mails are about $99.00 a year. Bulk mail by e-mail. There are other programs that you can research to help with your efforts.

Marketing – how to get the attention of your audience.Use street promotion tools such as posters, postcards, flyers for gigs and cd launches, stickers, cool swag and merchandise, little things that draw people to you to buy your cd and get to know who you are as an artist. Learn about branding your name, your cd name, your website name, getting into people’s minds. I love postcards. When I receive a postcard it’s hard to throw it out. I have to put it somewhere, like my fridge, or on my desk. The paper is solid cardboard and I feel people have spent money on it so I hang on to them.

Distribution – use CDbaby.com (etailer), Amazon.com/advantage, TheOrchard.com, 101distribution.com, local distributors for mom and pops. Anything you find to get your music out there. But your website, again, is your home. Always link back to your site. Distribution is changing from being the hard core bricks and mortar to online downloads. Soon, consumers will be able to go into a store and have your cd music and cd booklet (skins) downloaded from your site, whereupon you will get immediately paid electronically by the retail store for your share of the profits… instantaneously. No more shipping and storage issues. In fact, no more duplication costs! Distribution is changing and artists can be ahead of this game. Artists to consumers direct. That’s what I’m talking about!!!

We live in a world of change. Don’t be intimidated by it. Embrace it and get on with it. What else are you going to do?!

- gilli moon

www.gillimoon.com

Doak Turner is a songwriter in Nashville , the editor of the Nashville Muse www.nashvillemuse.com and the correspondent for www.musicdish.com in Nashville .

He can be reached at doak@nashvillemuse.com

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Networking and the Songwriting Business