There is a big difference between being in the music industry and being in the Music Biz. Knowing the difference will help you make better decisions as you step into the music Biz.

The Music Industry is mainly made up of musicians and DJ’s – people who love to sing, play and perform.

Some Musicians, in the music industry, will play for little or no money. You’ll find people in the Music Industry singing in your Church Choir, on a street corner for tips, or playing the local College Bar. For a Musician, a paid gig is usually icing on the cake.

There is nothing wrong with playing music for the love of playing. There is nothing wrong with wanting to play your favorite records in front of crowds for little or no payment. But don’t get it confused with being in the Music Biz. The Music Biz is all about business.

Being in the Music Biz means developing marketable assets and preventing them from becoming liabilities.

An asset is anything that can generate money for your business (CD’s, videos, mechandise, concerts etc.) and marketing those assets to prevent them from becoming liabilities.

A liability is anything that loses money. To effectively market your assets and limit liabilities, you’ll need to have some sort of business structure or music company established.

A record label is a business created by companies that specialize in recording, producing, manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings on various formats including CD’s, LP’s, DVD’s. The Record Label name derives from the paper label at the center of a “phonograph record”.

If you plan on being in the music biz, you are planning on making money. If you plan on making money, I suggest that you have your administrative game on point. There will be lots of paperwork (Incorporation, Taxes etc.) and details that you’ll need to have in order to succeed in the Music Biz.

Jerome Ford is a 20 year radio, record, promotion and new media expert and Vice President of Succeed In the Music Biz @ http://www.simbiz.info. Jerome has worked directly with national, local, indie and major label artists successfully. For free advice for succeeding in the music business log onto http://www.simbiz.info.

For more education on careers in the music industry, check out: http://www.music-career-guide.com

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No matter what type of music you record or how simple or complex your studio is, there are a few tips to keep in mind when you’re starting your recording project. Remember, these aren’t just beginner’s tips; I know many recording engineers who’ve been doing this for years who live by these same rules!

Tip #1 — The Better the Source, the Better the Recording.
Think of your microphone as your ear. If something sounds bad to your ear, chances are it won’t sound great in front of a mic. Making sure your source is the best it can be is the first thing to remember whenever starting a new project. That could mean a new set of strings, fresh drum heads, or having your vocalist do warm-ups before tracking. Remember that there’s a lot you can edit out later on down the line, but there’s a lot that you can’t add if it’s not naturally there. Always remember to tune all of the instruments in your studio session before they track, as well.

* Get The Best Sound – Check Out Microphones 101

Tip #2 — Save Your Work Often.
Nothing is worse than losing something you worked for hours on, especially when you’re running your studio as a business and you have a paying client. Always save your work between takes. It also doesn’t hurt to have an external hard drive that you backup your sessions to nightly; if something happens to your hard drive, you’ll at least have a copy to start over from, and you won’t have to waste blank media backing up every night.

* Back Up – Check out the Maxtor OneTouch III Review!

Tip #3 — Always Keep Spares.
Keeping basic items at your studio will always help keep things going smoothly when the inevitable happens. Stock a set of guitar strings (both electric and acoustic), some drum sticks, and always keep spare instrument and microphone cables on hand. You never know when your session will be saved because you came to the rescue! It also helps to be able to kindly suggest a new set of strings to the stubborn guitarist who showed up with old, dead strings on his axe.

* Stock Up – Must-Haves For Home Studios

Tip #4 —
This tip applies only to the Home Studios that record for profit, not your simple project studio, but it deserves a mention of its own. Don’t ever, ever let any mixes leave your studio until you’re paid in full. This includes mp3 copies you send out via email, and CD-Rs you let leave your studio with rough mixes. At any point during the recording process, a financial dispute of some sort may arise, and if so, you might not get paid and your client still has a usable product. This is rare, but it happens; in fact, every recording engineer has had something similar happen at least once. Making it clear to your client that they won’t get anything from your studio until after they’ve paid you for your time in full makes it easier to avoid complications later.

* More Information: Running A Studio Business

Tip #5 — Keep It Simple.
I can’t stress this last tip enough: keep it simple. One of the biggest and most common mistakes a new recording engineer can make is being too fancy. You’ll waste a lot of time — and your client’s money, if working for profit — by overdoing it in the studio. Examples of this include recording an instrument in stereo when a mono (single) track will do, doing too many vocal overdubs, or laying down too many guitar layers. Let the band’s music speak for itself; your engineering should be as transparent as possible while still helping the magic along. A mark of an exceptional engineer is the ability to work with the music and allow it to retain the original tone and sparkle without compromising clarity on tape.

Written by Joe Shambro

For more education on careers in the music industry, check out: http://www.music-career-guide.com

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