Gold Coast Music Group and Dave Melillo

Besides the Renee Yohe project Gold Coast Music Group also has been able to secure a publicity campaign for former “Cute is What We Aim For” bassist Dave Melillo.  Apart from playing bass in CIWWAF Melillo is also known for fronting and writing for his acoustic project “Nocturnal Me.” NM released a new EP earlier this year, and Dave has just recently released a five song acoustic EP to help get his name back into the spot light for his upcoming Mix Tape release entitled “Thinking of You.”

Melillo came to Gold Coast Music Group with an interest in gaining press for the mix tape after seeing their work with the Iowa natives “The Anytime” and their March release “CRAVE”  GCMG was able to secure multiple high profile interviews as well as features for the band in addition to gaining them a main page feature on PureVolume which translated into over 14,000 plays within the 3 day feature.  Melillo will be releasing the entire 20-song mix tape for free and is looking for as much free publicity as possible. 

The guys over at GCMG plan on targeting college music blogs and news sites as well as blogs that focus on mix tape based submission and news.  In addition to searching for new publications and listeners, with the release of the new EP the also plan to send the mix tape to all the people talking about it as well as the places that supported Melillo’s original work in hopes of getting old listeners excited again!  Because this will be a completely free release it is important to focus energy of sites that do not charge for feature placement, as well as push hard to get any fee based publication to cut the price as a sign for good faith.  GCMG feels that the record is strong enough to stand on its own, and it is only a matter of time until it takes off!

Entertainment Law Podcast's

Initially I was going to interview an individual practicing law in the state of Illinois, however after realizing that I really didn't know enough about Entertainment Law in general to validate asking a professional to focus time and energy on myself, I felt it best to get some more information and education while figuring out what may be important to ask as a "student" before I have to pay to talk to an attorney.  To do this I have researched and subscribed to a couple different podcasts that focus not only on law but mainly on "entertainment" law and will be discussing them here.

First we have a website known as Entertainment Law Update Podcast, which is more or less, exactly what the name states.  Over all one will not be taught law, but rather updated on the goings on within the legal side of the entertainment industry.  The blog spans all aspects of the entertainment industry from film and TV to music and sports etc. The show is hosted by two individuals Gordon Firemark and Tamera Bennett both whom practice entertainment law.  I found this podcast to be very easy to listen too, as someone who doesn't have legal jargon down very well.  The podcast flows very well and with pages of archives provides potential listeners with lots of topics.  In addition to the podcasts, this website also provides a huge resource list for people visiting acting almost as a one stop shop for entertainment law information!

The next podcast comes from Law School Podcaster, and although this website generally focuses on preparing individuals for starting to coping with law school, they did have a very insightful podcast about the entertainment industry.  The first thing that caught my attention with this podcast was a statement that often times I hear people at Full Sail state, it's not all glamor and not all about celebrities. Often times I feel people get into the entertainment industry just for the glitz and glam rather than a passion for the arts.  This statement is brought back up mid way through the podcast as they begin to reveal the hard work needed to break out into the entertainment law field and just how much competition people will face on a daily basis. I really liked this podcast because I felt the contributors weren't trying to sell anyone on the idea of going to a certain law school, but rather cautioning them about the hardships they may face and the amount of time and effort needed to make something of themselves. I would recommend this website to anyone preparing for law school on any level not just entertainment.

The final website I would like to highlight is that of the Legal Talk Network, focusing on their podcast series Lawyer 2 Lawyer. L2L consists of practicing attorneys J. Craig Williams and Robert Ambrogi discussing various issues in the legal world.  Often of the podcasts involve issues on the goings on in the entertainment industry.  The podcasts are once again easy to listen to span various topics providing content for just about anyone interested in law.  The particular podcast that I listened too was one involving the new battle over song royalties. This is something that I have been following since I started school at Full Sail over two years ago. I felt that not only the hosts, but also the guests brought on were very insightful regarding many issues such as was the music created as a work for hire, and does the artist still owe recoup funds to the label.  Defiantly something I am glad I took the time to listen too and will keep an eye out for more music based topics in the future.

Over all the internet provides a vast knowledge base at anyone's fingertips.  Whether they choose to indulge in pleasure or knowledge based activities is up to them, however I hope these three choices will help you out when you feel like being productive and learning a thing or two!

The Importance of Following Up:

The Importance of Following Up:

Whether you are after a new promotion, looking to secure a new job, or simply trying to get someone to listen to your client’s newest project or album many times your requests will be sent over email or the phone.  For some people this is where the contact stops, they wait silently hoping that their one email, voicemail or phone call was enough to get what they wanted.  The truth is 99% of the time, it isn’t.  It may not be because you aren’t interesting or lack the “right stuff” to be remembered, but rather that you aren’t the only on trying to get the other person’s attention.  Because of this it is important to give the person you are trying to get a hold of sufficient time to receive your message, and then if you haven’t heard back from them follow up.

Below I am going to list a few tips I have picked up that may help you on the road to getting that job or big break for an artist that you are working with.  These aren’t secrets by any means, and you may very well know everything I am going to suggest, however just because you know what you should do doesn’t always mean you act on that knowledge, and I hope this can be a small mental check list to help you out next time you feel you may have been forgotten.

Getting Noticed:

1] Always make sure you have the most up to date contact information for the person or company you are trying to get a hold of. 

- This may seem like a no brainer, but often times companies change internet providers or any other various thing and contact info can change day to day.

2] Dig a little bit to find out if there is an actual PERSON you can contact and not just an info@company.com

-Many times I have gotten phone calls or emails weeks after I sent out a press release or email saying, “Yes we are interested in running a feature, sorry for the delay an intern is supposed to check that email daily, next time just email me directly at jim@company.com

3] Never send something with an attachment unless the other party is expecting it.

- People in the Music Industry get a lot of mail constantly and running out of inbox space is something that is very real and very obnoxious, often if they don’t know the email address and there is an attachment they will just delete it. 

4] Finally FOLLOW UP!

            -Following up is not something that is considered annoying by any means, sometimes you just     have to send a second email to get someone to remember your name or client.  I suggest 4-5 days after the first draft sending your first follow up email and if you still get no answer wait a week and send another.  Never follow up more than twice, at that time you can consider that the other person simply isn’t interested and you don’t want to run the risk of upsetting them.

5]Rejection is very real!

            -Get used to it, learn from it, and use it to motivate yourself!

Publicity and PR with Miranda of PMA.PR

I recently had the opportunity of sitting down and chatting with Miranda Lange over at PMA PR in Chicago, IL.  Miranda has been working in the music industry for nearly two decades and was more than willing to share her knowledge and expertise with me.

Publicity is something that I never intended on getting into, the opportunity just fell into my lap and after the first couple campaigns I realized it was something that I was not only passionate about, but actually rather good at.  With out any formal training in the area of publicity and PR I found myself getting a lot of exposure for clients that were virtually unknown even in their local areas.  Miranda got started almost the same way, she was working at an independent label when the publicity job opened up and was offered to her.  Without any training or knowledge of the industry she started doing what made the most sense and really creating her own style of PR which ended up being exactly what the label and her clients were looking for.

Publicity is a service, and that service is promoting someone else's product, you can't promise it is going to get much attention but you still have to push as much as possible to get the right people hearing and talking about it.  Miranda went through her normal day-to-day, and how she starts campaigns as well as how she ends them.  A lot of the information was helpful and even more was very positive reenforcement to the process I had already been taking with my own campaigns.  I learned more in the 50+ minute conversation with her than any book or class could hope to teach me.  Overall I feel very positive about my future in the music industry and my abilities to provide a very solid service to bands in the near future.

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Talking Business with Sean Sheahan

Sean Sheahan is head of management for Gold Coast Music Group, a independent management/publicity firm based out of Orlando Fl, and took a few moments to sit down with me and talk about what goes into negotiating artist contracts.  Sean represents Every You, Madeira, and The Anytime, as well as producer/engineer Jason Aaron Adams.  He is a Full Sail graduate with a passion for new music and helping small bands get heard.

Over the last 6 months Sean has worked to develop his business into a model where bands get support and priority based on the quality of their work and the drive they show, not how much money they are willing to spend.  Because of that the roster has seen a lot of press in recent months and have had many high profile features including sites such as PureVolume.com and Kings of A&R.  Sean describes his job as a glorified babysitter to musicians, but clearly takes things more seriously than that!

After talking a bit about what goes on day to day for Sean, we got into the contract negotiation information and he talked about various problems and solutions that have come up along the way.  "The most important thing to remember is that you are doing them a favor but you need to close the deal to get paid so both parties have leverage."  Often times Sean would find himself in the middle of negotiations and a member of the band or family member of the band would say "15%? that sounds like an awful lot when you can't promise anything." which is true however the thing they are forgetting is that if no deal is made then no money is exchanged and therefore the determined rate is meaningless.  The only time Sean's percentage means anything is when the band is getting paid.  After making that point they usually follow with "Well still then you are taking 15% of our money."  This is a very real concern for many artist as they feel like they are getting ripped off and Sean is making off with money from their music.  But they are paying Sean to get them the opportunity to get paid, and often times this argument can be settled by simply saying, "The 15% is my payment for finding you work, if you feel like you can do it on your own, then management is not something you need. However since we are here I assume that you have tried and failed or just felt like it was too much to handle."  As long as you keep a calm level head and always treat clients respectfully, they usually will come around and agree with you terms.

"A lot of the back and forth isn't because they think something is unfair, but because they think they can get away with a little less.  Once they realize they can't, they more or less just give in."

New Release from BOY BLUE

The Milwaukee based band "Boy Blue" have recently put the finishing touches on their debut EP "I Liked You Better When," set to drop mid July 2011.  The guys have been working non stop for the past year and a half writing, recording, and developing what some believe to be the next big thing to come out of the northern midwest.  

Boy Blue is an Alternative/ElectroPop band comprised of five musicians from various conners of Wisconsin.  The current sound stems from "newest" member Nicholas Schubert's keys/synth driven influences which have allowed the band to become slightly more mainstream and appeal to the current "dance" oriented fan base.  "I Liked You Better When" will release mid July with five explosively catchy tracks ranging from folk driven guitar licks to dance floor bound sequenced beats and insanely catchy vocal and synth melodies.  With the release of the EP the guys will begin to branch out into the world and hit the road for multiple dates mid-late summer spanning both east and west coasts.  Although no dates are confirmed as of now, they have been on the horn setting up what the can while they finalize both artwork and packaging.  

Fans for bands such as Passion Pit, Phoenix, and Rooney may find Boy Blue's style very inviting while giving them more than just another sound a-like act to dive into.  With more than a few shows under their belts all over Wisconsin, as well as numerous radio appearances the growing anticipation for the release of the EP has just about reached a fevered pitch within the current fan base and seems to be infectiously growing through out the greater Milwaukee area.  If you would like to have a listen to what the band as to offer, they currently have one song available for stream on their Facebook page. 

The Electric Shoes

The Electric Shoes have just recently release their debut EP "Off To Save The World" and I would like to take a few moments to give my personal feelings about said EP.

Off To Save The World is a six song release that covers, in my opinion, a multitude of genres and styles which really show off the talent and potential of the band.  When I say the guys have a multitude of genres I mean some songs have 8-bit electro rifts while others have very country inspired string parts.  There is a strong PopRock/Punk tone to all the vocals which allow them to flow even when the music may vary track to track.

As you listen to the EP the simple approach to each of the songs is more or less to set up the vocals on their much deserved pedestal. The singer has an amazing amount of control, emotion and presence that can not be faked through autotune and melodyne. This gives the listener a better chance to really connect with each and every song, which to be honest is the driving factor in whether or not a song becomes a hit.  The band is relatively knew and with the right people behind them have more than enough staying power.  It will be interesting to see where the next 6-12 months take these guys and whether they will work hard to get heard or simply get lost in the sea of competition that seems to plagues every "up and comer" these days.

If you are interested in picking up the EP you can do so RIGHT HERE!

Take my advice and jump on this band before the bandwagon fills up!