NEWS BLAST #19 [7/7/12]

All eyes will be on Centre Court tomorrow, so to celebrate 74 years since Bunny Austin became the last British man to lose in a Wimbledon singles final (Come on, Tim!) we’re taking a break to serve you some of the best music news around. And NEWS BLAST #19 makes quite a racket, what with its gig opportunities, advice for musicians, and some other stuff some of you might also find interesting or useful (or even both, with a stroke of luck). Advantage us. New balls, please.

• WHO’S DA BOSS? – Did anyone else spot our very own Lizzie Nunnery being mentioned in an article about Bruce Springsteen? Quite an accolade! You can read it here.

• RUNNING RINGS – We’ve been contacted by DawBell PR telling us about an opportunity for musicians and bands to perform on a stage in the Olympic Park during the Olympics and Paralympics. To be considered you need to register at unsignedbandreview.com – we don’t know if there’s any payment involved or expenses covered, but you can always contact them beforehand to find out. If anyone does end up playing this event do let us know and we’ll give you a big shout out!

• TIME TO SAVE – There are never enough hours in the day, right? And for those musicians out there who are also holding down full-time jobs your non-work time is even more valuable. Thanks to those nice people at Prescription PR, however, we’ve got some valuable time-saving tips for musicians which you can read here.

• TACTICAL MANOEUVRES – How many times have you been to an album launch only to discover that the album being launched… er… hasn’t arrived in time. So you rush home to buy it on iTunes instead, but it’s not ready online either. What that band needs is a marketing plan, and our pals over at the Music Think Tank are ready to help you ‘get your sh*t together’ (their phrase, not ours!). In fact, there’s so much to it that it’s been broken down into three separate posts, with part one of three being ‘New Album Preparations‘. We’ll bring you links to the other two in future BLASTs.

• PLEASE RELEASE ME – We know how it is. You wait ages for a blog post about the best way to release a new album, then two come along at once. After you’re read the ‘New Album Preparations’ post we’ve just told you about, you’ll probably want to read ‘The key things you MUST do when releasing an album independently‘. The basics are here, such as joining PRS for Music so you can get paid for performing, along with some not-so-obvious tips like putting ISRC codes on your CDs so radio stations can log airplay and you can get paid for it.

• MAYBE WE’RE AMAZED – Like many fans of new and unsigned music we were disappointed to hear that Amazing Radio is no longer available on DAB (that’s digital radio, by the way) following a dispute with the Digital One network. This makes us sad 🙁
  You can read all about it, and find a link to the SaveAmazingDAB petition here.

• BEATLE DOWN TO THE DOCK – The organisers of the 5th annual Beatles Day on 10th July are providing a full programme of musicians playing Beatles covers and original songs at the Albert Dock’s Anchor Courtyard. Unfortunately their lineup is already full, but they’re still looking for anyone who’d like to organise their own event at various locations around the Albert Dock. Find out more at beatlesday.tv

• REMOTE POSSIBILITY – Here’s something a little different – a Canadian looking for a female voice to complete a folk project. The collaboration would take place over the Internet with audio files and lyrics being swapped online. If you’re interested then check out the gumtree ad here.
  

• FREE FOR ALL – To give away free music, or not to give away free music. The debate rumbles on… Most articles seem to suggest that it’s a good thing, so we were interested when we came across an article by Mark Knight from Right Chord Music putting forward an alternative point of view, which you can read here.

• BEGINNERISH – Acoustic guitarist (not been playing long, but really getting into it) looking for others to jam with. No pressure, just for fun. Check it out here.

• IT TAKES TUO TO DUO – Matthew is 24, lives on the Wirral, plays both lead guitar and fingerstyle, and is looking for a friendly, talented singer to start an acoustic duo. The aim is to have fun and maybe write some amazing original songs too. Interested? See the ad here.

• THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT – THE FUTURE’S COPYRIGHTED –  How many of you musicians out there have been totally flummoxed by the issue of copyright and how to protect your own music? Contrary to popular belief, sealing it in an envelope and mailing it to yourself won’t hold up in court. Of course, you could pay your friendly neighbourhood lawyer lots of money, but why bother when there’s a sparkling new free alternative available in the form of Future Copyright. Read all about it here and make a start to protect your music now!