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phdhorn

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Everything posted by phdhorn

  1. Thx for the replies. I will say this... there's no one-size-fits-all answer or experience, but... ... even the most connected people have a limit on "word of mouth" friends networks. In this day and age of course, there's always the chance that your song could catch on, draw 100,000 hits on YouTube in a week, and you might be off and running. And make no mistake about it... IF that happens, the game will change dramatically. People will be knocking on your door, you'll get lots and lots of love, and solicitations (probably both the legal and illegal kind). And to be honest, it's not that much of a pipe dream today... it can and does happen more than you'd think. The wheels turn themselves with that bit of luck. The music world is a lot different now, but not overly so in some business ways - the big boys still want to distribute and will pay. If you get "that hit" (like 500,000 and up YouTube hits) lookout. People will be calling for you. More than say 2 million and there's a good chance you'll have a decent career stretch (2-3 years). But still that's maybe 1/10,000 acts; for the most part, you have to work at it to get known. But the good news is, it's fairly easy to get yourself a decent audience with some work. My bio is too long to go over here, but I was entertained by a record company in the 80's. More on that another time. But there are enough old coots like me who like "my music" and I'm very confident that with organization, good marketing (that's a little complicated, more later), and some effort (not self-kiling degrees, either... can be done without 24/7 obsession), I will have an audience of six figures, and maybe over 1M visits. I'm never going to be a Taylor Swift or Sam Smith-level household name; I'm way too old and although strikingly good looking (lol!), 21 year olds aren't gonna buy someone's granddad's music habitually. So the thing to do is to decide what YOU want to play and then find the market for it, and tailor it. I'd have more to say on that. But i.e. maybe my market is 45-70. No, it won't be 4 million, but there's a helluva good chance I can get 10K in with some organized work. If not, I'm still doing what I love and wouldn't trade it for nuthin.' We can go more into the biz down the road. For now just keep doing what YOU like and when and if someone tells you "do this or change this and you can sell!" you'll have to decide how much to compromise (and you WILL have to). Unless of course you get that huge Internet hit... next week, right? Oh, and I think it's free to join BMI, and $50 to join ASCAP. I can tell you the differences and what to do to choose... most pop musicians have joined BMI, but ASCAP is trying to make a resurgence from the days when sheet music, not recordings, dominated the publishing industry. there's also GMO, but they're invitation only and are selective, trying to nab the biggest fish, so don't expect much from that yet. Also remember that these organizations are not publishing companies - they're performing rights companies. Actually I can register my publishing company with say BMI and I will eventually, but for companies there's a charge of like $300 or something (have to look it up). All these do is try to get money for you if someone plays your song, or negotiate rights with publishers to pay you if someone does. For most of us, it's like chump change (I know a guy who got a 7 cent check from BMI!), but it's good to have in place, just in case you hit a big (or even half-big) one.
  2. As I just posted above, my sentiments exactly.
  3. Uber/Lyft is slightly the worst of two evils vs. cabs. It was a good idea and for a brief time it was really nice but there's too much garbage getting in the way of what the rideshares could be. People are finding out the Uber and Lyft totally rapes your car, putting miles on way too fast and depreciating it a lot faster than normal. I think the party is over with those and it's going to continue to go in the direction of the cab industry now. Basically for me grit your teeth, put in some lube, and hope for the best. There really isn't a decent solution if you need special transportation somewhere. Fortunately, I almost never do. If there's a subway, I'll take it. Or I'll just rent a car as much as I can.
  4. One quick comment on the tax question, you can always depreciate gear, especially if you play outside the house, but you really have to watch it, because that is a huge red flag for an audit, although your chances of being audited are probably still only 1%. Still, I won't risk it quite yet -not worth relatively little I'd save. Of course you can always deduct travel, meals, and other things as well. I did it for years and I can elaborate, although not sure what changes may have occurred since I lasted in the late 90s.
  5. I'll be relatively brief for now. The answer it has been posted here is "everything and anything." Most of the music sites mentioned so far, plus YouTube, Facebook, whatever. It takes some organization, no question about it I also do liturgical and classical music which is a whole other area. And of course part of this is making sure you're registered with ASCAP or BMI or similar, because they'll try to find royalties that you might not be aware of. I'm doing two main things right now to get ready to market myself again. The first is 2 years ago I formed my own publishing company. This means I will own all my songs and won't have to go through a publisher. If my music amounts to nothing, so be it. But if I get anything out there with some legs, I'm in a much better negotiating position if someone wants to buy something of mine as a publisher. Plus, if I get any notoriety or just work at it I can publish other peoples' music and make some great money doing that. I can elaborate further another time. The second thing I'm doing is getting enough original songs together to put out what would amount to an extended CD or small LP (7-8 good songs). Once I do that, I'm going to ramp up my website. Then all the stuff I would be on like SoundCloud etc. Would eventually point back to my website. That's where I can avoid the scattering of various sites and filter them to one place. I hope to do that the by the fall. I also have an entertainment lawyer, which I highly recommend if things start getting complicated. They're very good at boiling all this down more simple. They're generally not all that expensive, of course it depends on what you need. I probably pay my lawyer a hundred bucks a year or so for various things. Austin has a bunch of 'em.
  6. Is Art Acevedo going into politics? He's sorta getting involved in education.
  7. It's way too early to know exactly but this could be the most interrupted regional in memory. Going by the current forecast, I would say it's going to be an into Monday regional. But, things can change and they probably will. And yes, somehow I have a life on the weekends AND the weekdays. I have uniforms and everything. Plus I'll be in DC from Thursday until next Tuesday. I'll check in but I won't be able to forecast the weather in the incredibly accurate way I usually do, by going outside and looking up.
  8. Visible sat certainly doesn't think it'll clear much. But the sun does have a way of burning through. You can decide for yourself on this visible loop ( updates about every 30 mins): https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/GOES/conus_band.php?sat=G16&band=01&length=24 Here's a still shot from it:
  9. Here's remembering those who in their military capacity lost their lives in battle and/or while in service to the country. (BTW, in case anyone wonders, the proper protocol is to fly the flag at half mast until noon, then raise it full mast).
  10. Rain. Least rainy day in the new forecast is... well, I guess today and Tuesday. Rain chances are pretty high Wednesday (80%) then "dip" to about 60% Thurs (I think they'll go up), and go up to 80-90% Fri thru Sun. The one hope is many days it doesn't pan out that way, but there's a big low that's just sitting west of us just like last week, sending little disturbances up our way and tons and tons of humidity from the Gulf. This cutoff low won't get going again until maybe Fri or Sat. You might get your boating in, but it won't be a hot, sunny day... that much is certain.
  11. I know today is Memorial Day and people have outdoor plans, and for the most part, I hope and definitely expect that there'll be a break today and people can get outdoors... .... I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, (etc. x 10,000,000) complain about rain and sub-90 temps ever ever (again X 10,000,000) after June 1 of any Austin summer. BTW, the "real" rain event pretty likely to happen is a fairly strong line of storms coming in between dinner time and sunset. Watch yer asses out on the lakes/links, keep a radar or weather app or whatnot handy. If it looks like it's gonna rain all of the sudden, you have about 20-30 mins. to get outta there. Use it.
  12. 10-20% chance of rain this morning. Well, that's nice,but it's raining hard in Bee Cave - where it always rains. Probaby 3/4" in the last 10 mins. Looks like a brief but decent line is going to go through most of us next half hour or so. Approaching 2007 feel, when it always rained and the summer was the coolest in 50 years. And the next 7-8 days are forecast to rain a lot. But even if not a lot, it should be cloudy a lot which will keep moisture in the ground and temps down until at least halfway into June, if not longer. But of course this year ain't that year, and July and August are still looming out there like a sadistic Marine drill sergeant.
  13. The legend lives on by the nekkid hippies on down to the big bar they call the Oasis, Lake Travis it's said never gives up here dead when the drunks of late May Party early....
  14. Bon voyage, captain Stubing (90}. Underrated actor, was great in Kelly's Heroes.
  15. Tornado warning canceled in Bastrop county, still for Fayette county. Update: looks like they're going to cancel it in 5 minutes for Fayette.
  16. 30K no power in Austin, some 21-year-old dude apparently washed down Bull Creek near 360 bridge.
  17. Unconfirmed but probably weak tornado going through Bastrop county.
  18. Update: This was kinda not 'posed to happen (yet), but it did. One storm sailing W→E across the area made the typical right turn and barreled through Cedar Park, Steiner, NW Austin, and smack into downtown. That was the stormiest core. The rest was a good bumper but nothing severe. This was supposed to be the "1" of the "1-2 punch". The first batch was coming as it did from the N/NW. This was sorta supposed to fall apart before it got to us. But uh, maybe you noticed, it di'int. Next batch is coming more from the W/NW, 10 or later. This is the "2". But the atmosphere has been so worked over (stabilized) by this first punch I wouldn't expect severe. So far radar is "maybe." But if stuff gets here from the next wave, it'll be, I dunno, about the 10 p.m. - 1 a.m. range. Tomorrow is supposed to be decent, but first might be some showers to clean up. Later Saturday and Sunday look decent, but 30% chances of rain each day (again, it is Memorial Day, end of story). Memorial Day Monday was looking clean, but now increasing rain possible, esp. after noon. Chances are going up. Gee, really? On Memorial Day? Since when? Yeah, right. Best time to get drunk and almost drown in Lake Travis will be from Sat. noon thru Mon. noon. After that, don't come cryin' to me. More in the future if need be. Happy Memorial Day! Er, have a good Memorial Day.
  19. Floury tortillas, hot sauce, some cheesy chicken, and salt around the rim. If you really wanna know.
  20. Which one??? Sammy Davis Jr.?
  21. I'm near that hail area, but no hail just very heavy rain and wind. 2222 and 620.
  22. Which one of you fuckers is Jesus pissed at tonight?
  23. Eating out in four points, where the end of the world is occurring.
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