Ever Want to Get Your Own Music Out?

Hey gang,

Chris French here from Modern Midwest Entertainment. Over the last months, I've been taking classes in Entertainment Business through Full Sail University's Online Campus. I have learned an extraordinary amount of information and skills that I did not have before. Two things that have been dreams of mine is to start a record label and to have my own successful entertainment company. A few years ago, I bought two books that I thought might help me. Recently, I dusted off those books again. I'm going to tell you a little bit about them.

The first book I'm going to talk a bit about is Start and Run Your Own Record Label (1998) by Daylle Deanna Schwartz. This book is a very well put together compendium of what to do to put together a record label from the ground up. The only problem I find with this book, at present, is that it was published in 1998. Unless there has been edition updates since the first printing, some of the information in the book is out of date. In this particular book, there is no mention of social media, as social media did not exist in 1998. Most of the book, however, is a very straight forward compendium of what to do to get started on whatever budget you have. Chapters such as Setting Up Your Business, Financing Your Business, Getting Your Legal Affairs in Order, and Preparing to Market and Promote Your Product, are all very straight forward and to the point. Ms Schwartz also uses industry insiders to give real world examples of what can and does happen in the music industry.

The second book, How to Make and Sell Your Own Recording: 5th Edition (1999), written by Diane Sward Rapaport, deals with the independent music scene, and getting started the way most bands do: on their own. Like Schwartz's book, this book also covers business set up and financing. Unlike Schwartz's book, however, this book covers the technical aspects of recording a song, such as equipment specifications, recording options, and the graphic design used for the album. Another good chapter of this particular book covers the IP of the music, along with using public domain and copyright infringement.

I know I have only scratched the surface of what these two books are, but I would personally recommend these two books to anyone that is looking to get into the music industry. I am going to use these books myself, along with all the other resources I have, in order to make myself successful in this business we call entertainment. Until next time gang,

SEE YA!

References:

Rapaport, D. S. (1999). How to Make and Sell Your Own Recording (5th Ed.).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Schwartz, D. D. (1998). Start and Run Your Own Record Label. New York, NY: Billboard Books.

Writing: Stress Relief or Stress Inducer?

Hi again gang!

Chris French here from Modern Midwest Entertainment! Now, you're probably looking at the title of this post and thinking to yourself, "What does he mean by THAT?" Well, let me tell you. For the last decade or so, I have started various writing projects, only to put them on the shelf. After a few years, I'll dust them off, take a gander at them and start working on them again, only to put them back on the shelf AGAIN! Each time I take those projects off the shelf and start working on them, I feel a bit stressed. It doesn't come from the creation process, because I LOVE creating new and exciting stuff. It comes from the thought of starting, only to once again stop. I would love to have a published novel on the shelf, but at this rate, it won't happen until I'm dead. . .or even later.

Over the course of the past few weeks, I've been taking a class on Media Publishing and Distribution. I have found a rather renewed interest in all the ideas floating around in my head! I never realized (nor did I look into) all the ways I could get my material out to the masses! Even though I'm going to write under a pen name (don't ask, I'm not telling), I will finally be able to realize one of my dreams, that of becoming a published author!

Some of the resources that I plan on putting to use in this quest (albeit, a side quest to everything else I'm currently doing), will include self-publishing with either Trafford Publishing or Tate Publishing. I am going to utilize an English major at one of the local colleges near here to proofread my work. I will also contact a few literary agents to see if they may see potential in my work. I am quite excited about the possibility of getting one of the ideas from inside my head out on paper. I have a lot of work to do to get there, but I'm up to the challenge! Well, gang, see you on the back covers!

SEE YA!