Saturday/Sunday evenings for three weeks, 6pm to 10pm

July 23 & 24, July 30 & 31, August 6 & 7

Course Fee: $750 (Early Bird/ANMT Member Fee: $600)
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The course that tells you;
- What you need
- Why you need it
- How to set it all up (Step by Step by Easy Step) and….
- How to creatively integrate your website, Facebook page, Twitter feed, YouTube account, audio, video, and more, to successfully market and sell your musical, play, tickets, products and services!

Does the word ‘Twitter’ make you recoil in fear? Do you ignore people when they ask you to ‘Facebook’ them? Do you wish you knew how to make a video and upload it to YouTube? Does your website look like a forgotten ghost town? Hell, do you even have a website!?

If an embarrassed ‘yes’ is the answer to any of these questions, then this is the course for you!

In six fun evenings you will learn what the heck you need to get yourself up on the internet. If you’re already up there, we’ll show you how to make it better. We’re going to let you know what you need and why you need it. This step-by-step, hands-on course will also guide you through buying a domain, building a Wordpress site, setting up a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, and a YouTube account. We’re also going to shoot a video, make an MP3 and upload and integrate all of this into your website and social network pages. And, if as that weren’t enough, we are going to show you how to build an online store and use the powerful promotional tools in all of the social networks to let the world know just how amazing you are!

It’s fun and it’s easy – promise.

But wait… there’s more!

We’re also going to show you how you bring the online world into the ‘real’ world and creatively integrate your audio, video, social media and website into your musical, play, product, or service to create a seamless, 24/7 connection with your fans!

With the price of the Full Course you will also get:
- A free internet domain name
- A 4 Gig USB Memory Stick

The memory stick alone is worth the price of admission. This drive is packed with information, video, music, links and more that will save you countless hours of painful ‘Googling’, reading through website FAQs, complicated help menus and frustrating IM chatting with technical support in foreign countries.

Every piece you need to successfully build your website will be included on this drive. Think of it as a website cooking class. All the ingredients will be prepped and ready for you. We will mix them all together, and have you up and running in no time. All you’ll need to do is go back and replace these ingredients with your own unique content!

TO TAKE ONLY THE INTRODUCTORY EVENING – SEE ‘CONQUER THE INTERNET/SOCIAL MEDIA IN ONE NIGHT’

Great people, amazing musicians and a very fun day!

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Darren Ferriola wrote and directed this heart-felt gem which stars David Boreanaz (Bones), Alana De La Garza (Law and Order), and Paul Sorvino (like… everything) who sings a killer version of “The Way You Look Tonight” (watch it below) in one of the sweetest dream sequences ever filmed.

Storyline:
Lance Valenteen (David Boreanaz) makes a living as “Mr. Fix It,” a man who gets hired by men that have just recently been dumped by their girlfriend. Lance dates the guys’
ex-girlfriend and becomes the worst date possible, sending the girl back into her ex-boyfriend’s arms. But when Lance gets hired by Bill Smith (Pat Healy) to get Sophia Fiori (Alana De La Garza) back, Lance, for the first time, starts falling for one of his marks.

What I’m talking about here is Metallica.

I just watched the 2004  documentary film featuring the band, and I really enjoyed it. The film shares its name with a song from Metallica’s 2003 album St. Anger and was directed and produced by two very talented guys, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky.

Geez, what a shit storm these filmmakers walked into. What began as a simple documentary about the making of new album, turned into a gut-wrenching exploration of the band’s personal relationships with each other, and their struggles with the creative process.

It’s like Spinal Tap, but without all the funny bits.

I admire the Metallica guys.  They took a lot of shit for standing up for what they believed with Napster.  It also took a lot of courage to allow the camera’s to roll while all this deep personal angst and emotional turmoil was playing itself out. Sure they have millions (and millions) of dollars, but… the creative process is the same. Hard, messy and complex.

The filmmakers also deserve high praise.  Two years…. I’d like to see the documentary about the making of the documentary.  I’m sure the story of their creative journey is just as interesting as the bands.

And Lordy did I remember why I long ago chose to have a “loose-confederation” with all my musical friends rather than have “a band”.

The film shows a lot studio rehearsals, fights, soul-bearing and fragments of concert footage. It also won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Add it in your Netflix cue.

Check out the trailer (and the choral piece at the end, sung by Victoria Levy, Laura Drew, Leslie Soultanian, Richard Middleton and your truly).

85 days until the release!

So, in my continuing meditation on “what will be” in the music business, I offer this recent missive from Mr. L (re-printed here completely without permission, but as my way of knowing were I’ve put it when I want to read it again.)

Here’s the link to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,

http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

The Long Haul

1. Focus on the music.  Get it to the point where the audience only needs to hear it once to get it.

2. Let people listen for free.  Then sell the physical product as a souvenir, and put out unique product online.

3. One great track is better than ten mediocre ones.

4. Don’t worry about confusing the marketplace with more product.  It just allows new fans to discover a plethora when they finally tune in.  Meanwhile, the Internet allows the fulfillment of the true fan’s dream, a steady flow of product.  In the old days, you were a fan of a band in high school, their next record came out when you were married.  Today, you can put out new songs while students are still in the same semester!  And you should!

5. You must work live.  It’s the best way to connect with people.  You’ve got to be so good, you close the audience.  Performing is a different skill than playing in a studio.  Start honing your chops now.  Play anywhere and everywhere you can.  Not focused on the money, but the development of stage skills.

6. Radio is gravy.  People no longer believe radio builds career acts.  Don’t be beholden to the airwaves.  See them as just another outlet.

7. Make videos.  Creativity is key.  We’re returning to the age of MTV.  Either play live, demonstrating your skills, which is how Andy McKee built a career on YouTube, or come up with an OK Go-type video.  Wow us visually.  The means of production are now in the hands of the proletariat.  Hell, you can get a Flip HD camera for $150 and you can edit on your computer…

8. Experience counts.  Everybody gets better the longer they do something.

9. Haters abound.  If you’re not being criticized, you’re not doing it right, you’re only playing in front of family and friends.  Hate intensifies the bigger you get, especially in the Net world, where everybody gets a voice.  There is no protection.  Wander into the world and experience the slings and arrows, toughen your skin.

10. Respect your audience.  Don’t send unsolicited MP3s, don’t send unsolicited fliers.  Everything should be opt-in.

11. Let your audience participate, let people help you.  They’re dying to!  Stay in the houses of fans on the road.  Let fans design fliers and t-shirts.  Give them tools to promote you.  All they want in return is attention, and a bit of access.  These sneezers are your key to success.  Treat your core fans incredibly nicely.

In the old days it was about being nice to the PD.  Now you go directly to the fan.

12. Put up live videos.

13. Tweet.

14. Be available on every social networking platform.  Of course, Facebook, but a new act could make headway using Foursquare.  Hell, have your fans come meet you at Starbucks!

15. Press is a bonus.  Press is ignored by most people.  It’s seen as hype.  Just keep thinking about being one on one with your fans.

16. Don’t think any one opportunity or gig is the key to success.  You never know what will break you through.  And most times, it’s later than sooner.  And, if it happens too soon…momentum tends to peter out.

17. Release dates are irrelevant.  You’re in constant marketing mode.  But the best marketing is a great track, that will be spread far and wide.

That drop after the first week?

It just got worse.

Was 33.9% in 2000, it was 62.8% in 2009.

SoundScan is spinning some phony baloney about pre-orders, old school “Billboard” is lamenting the lack of price and positioning and radio support, and you’re sitting there saying…um, seems right to me!

The nineties are over.  Where the goal was to ship as much product as possible, create a public hoopla and not only see albums fly out of the store the first week, but for weeks to come.

First of all, people don’t even want the album, they just want the track.

And most people don’t care about the act anyway.  And they can ignore it.

In other words, you’ve got to be in it for the long haul.  The really long haul.

You’re better off not blowing your marketing budget in anticipation of the first week.  If you don’t have a two year campaign in place, you don’t believe in the project.  Or, you’re working for a major label, inured to short term results, desperately trying to make sure you don’t get fired.

In order to have sustained fans, you’ve got to reach an audience with music.  Not with photo shoots, not with talking head TV appearances, you’ve got to make sure people hear your music again and again.  But you should start with a small group.

That’s what old wave media doesn’t understand, how to harness the public, how to use social media to create a conflagration.

Old wave media believes you use social media to spread the word.  No, you infect fans, and then THEY spread the word on social media.  And it can take a very long time to happen.  And if you go for profits too soon, if you don’t continue to improve the underlying product, you end up with something like MySpace.  A hit for a minute, then toast.

This is scary to the old timers.  They want insurance.

But that insurance can only be bought in a recording studio.

Yes, creators are more important than ever before.  Which is why labels keep going to the usual suspects, they don’t want to take a risk.  But so many people are tired of this sound and have tuned out, and the oldsters are fighting over crumbs.

If you want longevity, you’d better create a new sound.  Or at least an individual sound, a personality.

A good example of the future of music is Zac Brown.  He’s been recording for years.  His album’s been out for eons and he’s still on the road.  Not on vacation.  Furthermore, word spreads about his passion for cooking, and his desire to feed fans.  This hook builds his audience.  Anybody can have a hit on the radio, but can you bring people to the show, can you get them to keep coming?

My friend Jim Urie is lobbying to get ISPs to crack down on file-traders.  This is completely wrongheaded.  We don’t want to cut down any access people have to becoming fans.  As for acquiring music…  A better mousetrap is far superior to playing Whac-A-Mole.  Don’t take away the cheese, make it more enticing!

We’re never going back to the sales figures of yore.  Not because of theft, but because no one can get that kind of mindshare.

But you can get some traction.  If you’re willing to work really hard, continuously, always leading with your music.