With the South by Southwest Music Conference happening in Austin this month and the LMNOP Conference slated for its second year in New Orleans in April, March seemed an appropriate time to devote this column to Internet resources for musicians. Through the ‘net, and particularly the World Wide Web, songwriters and bands have a huge amount of information on publishing, copyright law, promotion and more, at their fingertips. Here are a few good starting points to get your musical career on track.
One of the best places for songwriters is Jeff Mallett’s Songwriter Site (www.lyricist.com). The site is an extensive index of resources for songwriters, from legal advice to tips from other songwriters. Perhaps the most useful are links to a number of regional and national organizations, including the National Academy of Songwriters (www.nassong.org) and to sites for performance rights organizations such as ASCAP (www.ascap.com), BMI (www.bmi.com), SESAC (www.sesac.com) plus such mechanical rights organizations as the Harry Fox Agency (www.nmpa.org/hfa.html). For singer/songwriters going out on the road, there are links to regional showcases around the country, and if you’re stuck in your studio looking for a lyric, there are even links to such sites as the Semantic Rhyming Dictionary (www.link.cs.cmu.edu/dougb/rhyme-doc.html), which is even a load of fun if you’re not a songwriter.
For products ranging from actual instruments to music scoring software, head to any of the large Internet indices, particularly Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Music). The extent of the listings is almost intimidating, but almost anything you could want to find out about is on-line. For example, under the “Music Instruments” heading at Yahoo, the 122 links to drums and percussion sites and 329 links to guitars and basses is impressive, but not surprising; the 10 links to sites on the Australian aboriginal didgeridu and the 3 links to sites for the theremin really show the extensive amount and range of information available to musicians on the ‘net. Note that almost all of the larger instrument manufacturers have sites of their own for on-line shopping, browsing, or just dreaming of what to buy once you get signed. Among these are Fender Guitars (www.fender.com), Gibson Guitars (www.gibson.com), Gretsch Drums and Guitars (www.gretsch.com), Korg Keyboards (www.korg.com), Ludwig Drums (www.ludwig-drums.com), Modulus Graphite Basses and Guitars (www.modulusguitars.com), Roland Keyboards (www.rolandUS.com), Selmer Saxophones (www.selmer.com), Steinway Pianos (www.steinway.com), Yamaha (www.yamaha.com) and Zildjian Cymbals (www.zildjian.com).
So, your songs are written and published, your band is equipped — what’s left to do but to hit the road? If you’re not yet in a position to hire a manager to book your tour for you, hop of the Web and check out the Deterrent DIY Tour Manual (deterrent.bc.ca/deterrent/tour_gd.html). Located in Canada, the site includes listings of clubs across most of North America. While the database is still clearly in its developmental stages and not too many clubs are listed yet (for New Orleans, only Checkpoint Charlie’s is included), the best aspect of the site is its inclusion of brief reviews of each club from musicians who have played there. For example, browsing through the list of US clubs would inform a band hoping to stop in Mesa, Arizona, that the Nile Club, “is notorious for screwing local as well as touring bands. If you’re lucky, you might get away with simply not being paid. Things go down-hill from there. A word to the wise. . ..” Each city listed in the database is linked to that city’s entry at MapQuest, providing bands with maps to plan their tour.
Another useful resource in promoting your band is the North American Band Name Registry (www.bandname.com). After registering in the database, bands have a variety of resources at their disposal, including an “Electronic Publicist” that sends e-mail announcements about your band to “pre-selected journalists, newspapers, magazines, TV shows, venues, industry bigshots or just your junior high school guidance councilor (the one who said you’ll never amount to anything).” The NABNR’s “magazine” includes articles on how to get signed, make a CD, get publicity, book gigs, and offers advice from a few big name artists on how to pursue a career in music. All of the information at the site is informative and navigation is clean and easy — expect this to become one of the top resources on the ‘net for new, unsigned bands.
As reported in last December’s “Plugged In,” the New Orleans Police Department has established a series of on-line chats to discuss crime and safety in New Orleans. The most recent chat was held on February 18, and for those of you without ‘net access (or were off at Mardi Gras parades), here are some highlights:
Moderator: Well, let’s get started. Captain Dabdoub is with us to answer any questions you might have.
slg04: I have a question. What should people do to keep safe during Mardi Gras?
Dabdoub: First, be aware of your immediate surroundings. second, watch that no one goes for your wallet or other belongings when you’re catching beads. Men should put their wallets in their front pockets to avoid being pick-pocketed. And don’t get in a fight over some cheap beads…more will be coming sooner than you think!
Dabdoub: We instruct our officers to take a watch, wait and see attitude, to react to the crowds rather than to be aggressive. We are pro-active behind the lines to prevent robberies, car thefts, etc. Through years of experience dealing with Carnival crowds, we’ve found that this is the best way to handle the situation.
slg04: I heard when Arthur Hardy was here last week that the police are trying to crack down on the public nudity, especially outside of the quarter. Do you know anything about that?
Dabdoub: With more police officers on patrol now, Chief Pennington has instructed us to take a stronger approach to nudity.
Dabdoub: One of the biggest problems we have during Carnival is people’s cars being broken into when parked back behind the parade routes. It’s important to put anything of interest or value in your trunks and to take great care not to make your car or the things in it of interest to a thief.
Harpua: Is there much violent crime at parades?
Dabdoub: No…as a matter of fact, last year we did not have one violent act. We’re hoping for the same this year.
Harpua: How much greater is the police presence on the street during Mardi Gras than the rest of the year?
Dabdoub: Nearly 100% of the force is out on the streets during peak activities and there are lots of officers from other jurisdictions (state police, levee board police, etc.).
Harpua: What is the usual number of hours per shift during Mardi Gras?
Dabdoub: twelve hours for calls-for-service cars, eight hours during the week for parade hour personnel and as many as 16-18 hours per shift for weekends and Fat Tuesday, and no one has off-days during carnival.
Harpua: Yikes. I guess that’s what the shots of B-12 are for 🙂
slg04: 🙂
Dabdoub: Exactly!
For those of you with access who want to get involved, check out the announcements page at the Greater New Orleans Free Net (www.gnofn.org)for a schedule of upcoming chats.
