AUDIOTUTS has just published an article on a topic that raises emotional reactions from both sides of the camp, DRM. DRM is a broken technology that punishes the consumer while pirates go virtually unaffected. We don’t use DRM on any of the audio we sell here at AudioJungle, and we never will. Go read the article join the conversation in the comments section, over at AUDIOTUTS:
Thank God for DRM. Without it, the internet would be a cesspool of illegally pirated music, movies and software. Oh, wait, the internet totally is that, because DRM is, quite possibly, the most pointless innovation of the digital age. Companies spend millions of dollars each year coming up with new ways to protect their online content just to see some fifteen year old kid figure out how to circumvent it. Repeat as needed.
But DRM isn’t just an exercise in futility. When you absolutely, positively, must anger every customer you have, few weapons are better than DRM. Take these shenanigans, for example…
5 Biggest Music DRM Debacles of All Time
As most of you will know, a couple of weeks ago we ran the Composition Challenge here on AudioJungle. It was a pretty intense, fun competition and it worked out great. The person who won also happened to be the person most commentators thought should win.
There’s a bit more to his secret to success than just writing great music, though, but the important thing is this: it wouldn’t be possible to build a network and fanbase that works for you unless you have the skill and talent to attract them to your music in the first place.
Since some of you wanted to know how Quange used an effective promotion strategy to win, I thought it would be a good idea to post a link to the article where he explains his techniques. Not just because it might give you some ideas for winning competitions in the future, but because these techniques are equally important for building a fanbase and promoting your musical career. It won’t drop in your lap; “getting discovered” doesn’t happen. You have to work for it.
Go on over and read How to Win Prizes in Music Contests.
I’ve been writing a couple of articles over at FreelanceSwitch about the benefits of selling stock and thought I’d mention the second one in particular, here as a good reference for AudioJungle authors:
Like anything, selling stock is something that you get better at over time. In my job working on ThemeForest, FlashDen and AudioJungle I get to see a lot of the things people do to maximize their income, some of them are quite ingenious. Since it benefits us if we have clever authors on our sites and it benefits Freelancers interested in selling stock, I’ve put together my top tips for selling well on stock sites…
Read the rest of the article at FreelanceSwitch
When it comes to the role of the manager in the studio, the first question to ask is: should managers be in the studio at all?
At the end of the day, it depends on whether the artist is comfortable with their presence. Forgetting the manager’s professional role for a moment, an artist’s good performance in the studio depends on many factors and that includes whether they feel comfortable expressing their creativity in front of those certain individuals they’re with at the time. This is a personal matter, not a professional one.
I think it’s important that you do feel comfortable to be yourself around your manager. If it’s an awkward relationship like the one you might have with your accountant or lawyer, they might not be the best fit for your band. Read More …
At the most basic level, the role of the musician in the studio is to deliver a performance of high quality that can be released to the world (or at the very least, be turned into something that can be released).
But the studio can be a daunting place for many musicians, and as a performer there’s a fair bit of pressure on you to, well… perform. Here’s some advice to help you get a grip on your role in the studio and how to make the session productive, effective and comfortable. Read More …
The producer, whose role we discussed last week, usually has a henchman that we call the studio engineer. In some cases, particularly those cases where the budget is limited or the producer likes to be involved in all aspects of the production, the one person fulfills both roles.
If we separate the two roles and look solely at the engineer, their role is much less “big picture”-oriented and rarely involves any of the headology (yeah, I know, I read too much Pratchett) and hand-holding that the producer needs to carry out with the artist. The engineer is about the details: setting up the mics in the right spot, dialing in the EQ and compression settings on that nice Avalon pre-amp in the rack, and pushing the record button. Read More …
The producer has a job that consists of many roles. Some of them happen in the studio, and some of them don’t. I’m going to spend a few articles talking about the various roles in the studio and what to expect from those fulfilling them. These aren’t going to be job descriptions; we’re going to look at the interactions that take place in the studio environment and how to make the most of them.
In this article, we will talk about the responsibilities of the producer and the headology of the role, how to do a good job as a producer in terms of the interactions with the others in this studio environment. Read More …
It used to be impossible to collaborate on audio projects using the net. When the world was on dial-up, most people weren’t using digital recording technology and even if they were, connectivity was just too slow to handle the huge files that are inherent in the process of making music.
Today it’s quite possible to collaborate on audio projects using the Internet, since we can handle the uploading and downloading of large files pretty quickly and without racking up a huge bill. But that doesn’t mean the methods for doing so have been refined, and you’ll be surprised how many producers, engineers and their collaborators aren’t sure what to do when they first sign up for this kind of venture. Read More …
Being a musician seems glamorous to the outsider. The truth is, there is paperwork to be done and legal precautions to take, just like in any other business—whether you’re selling millions of tracks on iTunes every week, or you’re losing money.
Here are five forms and contracts that every musician needs; some you should have ready and printed, on hand around the office (or studio or bedroom…) and others aren’t used so frequently but you should have a document ready to be printed and put into use. Read More …
The whole starving artist thing is no joke. Being a musician often involves being dirt poor while having to shell out for some of the most expensive gear out there. It’s a disappointingly ironic situation, and makes you wonder whether you should throw it all in and go play golf (since those guys on the golf course always seem pretty wealthy).
But you don’t have to resort to playing a sport, nor even going outside. There are budget audio interfaces out there, so using this list you can hold off on breaking the bank at least until your next big audio purchase comes up.
What price point defines a budget interface? $295 for a loaf of bread is outrageously expensive, but pretty darn cheap for an audio interface, so what makes a price “budget” is all pretty relative to the market. I think a relatively accurate definition of budget in the audio interface arena is anything less than $1,000, and we’re going to try and keep them under $500. Read More …
