Vol 6 No. 3 March 2008
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| ECMA
was a bit of a whirlwind; at the same time it was one of the
better events. Kudos, to the crew from Fredericton they did a
fantastic job and, the community support for the artists of all stripes
was overwhelming. It was good to connect with some of you again and to meet the new faces. MMS is continuing to come up with better programs and more value for you, while offering the greenest of possibilities when you manufacture your CD. For Canadian pressings, we now offer biodegradable shrink wrap for an additional $0.05 cents per unit. See below for great tips and new money saving opportunities from MMS ATLANTIC.
That's all
for now! |
| MMS Cure For The Mid-Winter Blues!! |
 SAVE 5 CENTS ON EVERY CD YOU MAKE Until May 1st, all online customers* get an extra nickel off every single disc up to 10,000 units. Give me a call to find out how it all works! 1-800-579-6001 Remember, you can always cost out your project first, by entering your quantities and packaging styles in the MMS Express Instant Online Quote.  NO SET-UP CHARGE FOR POSTERS We already have a sweet deal on posters... 69.00 for 100 posters with any  CD or DVD order.But from now until May 1st, MMS will also waive the set-up cost of printing your posters on any order size, as long as you provide your CD or DVD artwork. That's a saving of a further 69.00! Just send us your artwork, and we'll do the rest.  NO ANNUAL FEE FOR YOUR DIGITAL DOWNLOAD CARD From now till May 1st, purchase a new MMS iSong digital download card (from as little as 0.29 a card) and MMS will include your first annual fee at no charge! That's a value of 99.00. Here's how it works: *Choose which songs (up to 25) you want to make available for digital download *Purchase digital download cards from MMS *Sell or give away the cards at performances and publicity events *MMS waives the 99.00 annual fee for your first year An MMS iSong card makes sense! *Control all your own download revenue *An iSong card is more cost-effective than a CD, and much more portable *You can change the songs "on" your card at anytime with no extra fee *Track who is downloading your songs *Disable the card at any time if it is lost or stolen CALL ME FOR YOUR FREE SAMPLE!! 1-800-579-6001 |
The Leblanc Newsletter by Larry Leblanc |
| Journalist/broadcaster/researcher Larry LeBlanc has been a leading figure in Canadian music for four decades. He has been a regular music commentator on CTV’s “Canada A.M” for 35 years, and has been featured on numerous CBC-TV, CTV, YTV, Bravo! MuchMusic, MusiMax, and Newsworld programs in Canada; VH-1, and EEntertainment in the U.S.; and BBC in the U.K. Larry was a co-founder of the late Canadian music trade, The Record; and, most recently, the Canadian bureau chief of Billboard for 16 years. |
| READ THIS MONTH"S EDITION Click here |
MP3 - What's that Buzz intro by Robert Buck |
 Last
weekend I was in the office, I had an hour to kill with the kids and
they wanted to go to my office as it was close by (I hope they feel
the same when they are old enough to pitch in and help!). They were on the computer playing when one of them said, "Dad can we download some songs?" "Sure", I said, "But only 10 bucks worth." I logged them onto my iTunes account and let them go at the latest from Hanna Montana, and ten other artists who only had letters for names and, whose every song "featured" someone other than themselves! I got the ten or so tunes and put them on a CD so we (they) could listen in the car. After about 5 minutes in the car listening to their MP3's, I couldn't help but notice the sonic quality of the music was awful. Now, this is not about my taste in music because, I loved Hilary Duff's last ablum and Miles Davis has a special place in my heart too, but rather, it was the fullness of the sound, or lack thereof, that bothered me. It seemed shallow, deviod of dynamic range. I couldn't shake it. In frustration, I hit eject and replaced it with one of my older Jethro Tull CDs. The diference in the quality was astounding! Today's youth are missing the boat, 500 songs on an iPod are great as far as quantity goes but, is there any attention to quality? After scouring the internet, I came across this Rolling Stone article by Robert Levine entitled, The Death of High Fidelity that examines this conundrum. The article also presents good feedback from some noteworthy industry veterans. Check it out and, let me know what you think. I'm curious to hear the comments, I'll run some of your comments in the next edition of the newsletter. |
Signed, Sealed ... See Ya! |
Ever since Nelly broke onto the national scene, my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, has been a hotbed of hip-hop activity. No artist has come close to Nelly's numbers (but who does these days?), although acts such as Murphy Lee and Chingy have made a dent.
But that hasn't stopped a new army of St. Louis rap and hip-hop talent from taking a stab at it. And in recent years, a number of major labels have tried to get in on the action by signing several St. Louis artists who have great potential.
But, according to an article in The Riverfront Times, the big alternative weekly here in town, getting signed does not equate to getting anywhere in the music business.
The article's subhead reads, "Local rappers ink major-label contracts, only to be left wondering: Deal or no deal?" It chronicles several hip-hop acts that are bound to contracts with production companies and labels -- who have waited months and years with no album release and no career development.
Here's a quote from artist Ruka Puff, who learned a valuable lesson from record label stagnation:
"This
is really the era for the independent hustler. Back in the day, the
record labels used to do a lot of this stuff for you, but in this day
and age the mindset is more entrepreneur. That's the mindset of most of
the artists that are winning: They're super entrepreneurs.
"A lot of the artists coming out don't have backbone," he continues. "They don't have no kind of fan base, they don't have the streets. So you might find your little ditty pop that the record label built from top to bottom, but most of the people that are winning is the entrepreneur cats that were able to get it on their own -- without the record companies."
"A lot of the artists coming out don't have backbone," he continues. "They don't have no kind of fan base, they don't have the streets. So you might find your little ditty pop that the record label built from top to bottom, but most of the people that are winning is the entrepreneur cats that were able to get it on their own -- without the record companies."
But you knew that already. I just wanted to remind you :-)
-Bob
*********************************************
Bob Baker is the author of "Guerrilla Music Marketing Handbook," "Unleash the Artist Within" and "Branding Yourself Online." He also publishes TheBuzzFactor.com, a web site and e-zine that deliver marketing tips, self-promotion ideas and other empowering messages to music people of all kinds. Get your FREE subscription to Bob's e-zine by visiting http://TheBuzzFactor.com today.
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