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A service from 'The Serious Writers Guild' at MAKEHITS.COM Written by Dec Cluskey with a little bit opf help from his friends.
This Email first mailed to all Members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' and
subscribers to 'One Minute With Dec' on 30.12.02
2002 has been a defining year for me for two reasons – your
advice, and telling me to buy the book ‘Think and Grow Rich, plus getting and
reading a stunning book on sales and marketing by a chap named Paul Gorman
[Paul Hurst, Serious
Writers Guild member
- UK]
"My Emails are written in good humour, and should be read with a smile"
It's all over for another year.
If you celebrate Christmas or any of the other religious festivals around this period...I do hope you had a peaceful and content time. I certainly had a 'different' Christmas holiday.
You will see from the 'Member's' stories above that we have our first member in Trinidad and Tobago....I have only ever seen that name in my stamp collection before now - so it is exciting for us to welcome the first member there. That, incidentally, opens our 27th Country...WOW! Who would have believed that such a simple idea to show music guys how to make the 'real' money from music would be so successful.
I noticed, on a music newsgroup, a question asking had any music guys had success from 'Taxi' and other such organisations as they do not see success stories. I wanted to reply saying how much success our members have....but! Do you think they would believe me? There are some cynical people out there. All of our success stories are real and genuine...I always give the names and the contact details are always on file.
Demo Consultation Service
The new Demo Consultation Service has taken off with a vengeance. I had no idea that the service would be so welcome. I do feel strongly that there are a lot of 'evaluation' and 'critiquing services that leave a lot to be desired. In fact I feel they are downright 'scams'. The exciting part of our service is the fact that the guys who send in material get a full CD with all my 'real-time' comments on, as their material is being played or their lyrics are being read. the first ones have been so exciting. Check it out at www.makehits.co.uk/demo.htm
Slight Problem with our Secure Payment Page
During the holiday period we had a slight problem with one of our pages which could not be fixed our end. Happily, Mistral have sorted it today so we are running at 100% again...so, apologies for that.
Why am I so discerning about recommendations?
You will notice that I rarely recommend a service or company, or product, for that matter, in my 'One Minute With Dec'. I do recommend www.mistral.net who look after our sites and our secure pages. I recommend them because they give excellent professional service. They are available 24/7/365, with an engineer on call to help any clients. That is essential if you run a major, professional business. You just cannot afford to be off-line. With Mistral, there is always a person on the end of the phone....just like with The Serious Writers Guild. We do not use automated phones or Email autoresponders. We have real people and real staff. And I, personally, answer all the Emails.
Marshall
The only other company I know where the Boss actually opens all the mail is Marshall Amplification. Yes - the mammoth business who ship 4,500 units into the music marketplace each week is headed up by Jim Marshall himself. I stayed with him last Friday night, I woke at 10am on Saturday morning....Jim made Sandy and I breakfast and then went into the office on Saturday afternoon....is that service?
He told me that they have so few complaints that if they do receive one, then Jim will, personally, invite the guy to the factory, give him a tour and then take him/her out to lunch with Pauline [his 'better half']. Marshall's success is well deserved.
BMW
Another company who I recommend 100% is BMW. I encourage everyone in the music game to own one. Lots of reasons, which I cover in depth in 'How To Make A $Million From Your Music' at www.makehits.co.uk/swgintro.htm . Each time I have my car serviced [you can imagine the mileage I cover] they pick it up from my home and deliver it back, totally valeted and in immaculate condition. Last time they insisted on changing the entire engine - free! This time, they insisted on changing the two front wishbones...all these changes are at their cost....free to me! I change my cars each three years, so it means that I never break down, I have state of the art, drooled over, cars and I arrive everywhere in luxury. So - do I recommend BMW? You bet your sweet bippy I do.
By the way, I do not get any kick-backs from anyone I recommend.
I do not recommend Korg!
Maybe I should add that I have Emailed and rung Korg so many times now, trying to get a missing part of an instruction book, that it has got quite silly! So - there is a company that I will not recommend! Great equipment, crap service!
The two missing words in Music Success!
I often say to my members that success in our business is hard....meaning it's all to do with hard work. Both hard work on your music and then, many other parts of the puzzle. It fascinated me to get the next little snippet from a friend in the MLM or Multi Level Marketing business. That is a business, just like the music business, that looks so easy on the surface. It's a business that attracts lots of guys with no basic education or even knowledge about selling. Just like the music business.
If you saw the number of Emails I answer each day from guys who feel that there is some magic, quick answer that will give them unlimited success and unlimited money in music....the similarities in the attitude of 'novices' to those in the MLM business is uncanny!
My pal was talking about the past year [2002]....he said:
We saw MLMs come and go, but what else is new. This happens all
the time and last year was no exception. With "visions
of sugar plums" the uninitiated plunked down their hard earned
bucks, and signed up in droves, only to find that if they wanted
to succeed, they had to work. When they didn't earn their
million the first month, while sitting in front of the TV
eating "bon-bons", they lost heart.
So you see that those two little missing words are so relevant in MLM....and so, so missing in the music industry...what are they?
The two dirtiest words in music?
WORK and HARD.....put them together in any sequence you like...hard work...work hard....it all means the same thing. The successful guys work 16 hour days.....the dreamers and wannabe's spend five minutes writing a song and then moan that the business is crooked, full of 'gays' [sorry for that...not meant in any denigrating way!] and controlled by the Mafia. And by the way, also controlled by the 'Pop Idols' creators.
All of this is untrue.....it is merely a business full of guys who work their socks off in a controlled, knowledgeable way...who have a plan.....have goals, and have the sense to seek out those [like me] who can help them take the short cuts.
Interesting Email re. the gathering storm in the UK re. the new music licensing laws.
http://www.musiclovers.ukart.com
Hi again Dec...
The above URL is a petition opportunity relating to the new perfuming laws
being proposed...UK SWG Members and UK Makehits subscribers may be
interested in signing up
I also attach a summary of the scope of the proposed legislation (from a
reliable source) and implications for musicians...
Thanks for the 'One Minute with Dec' bulletins...
Best regards
Cameron Japp [Member Serious Writers Guild]
"As you may be aware, the Government is intending to introduce new
licensing laws governing the performance and rehearsal of music in public
buildings, a move that will drastically affect the whole culture of
music-making in England and Wales. Essentially, what they are also trying
to do is legally redefine the notion of "performance" to include
"performance and/or rehearsal". They want all venues (and this includes any
church holding rehearsals or performances not directly related to the
religious function of the building) to be subject to a Public
Entertainments License. Currently they haven't published a fee but leaks to
date have suggested that this fee will be between £500 and £1000 per annum.
Clearly this will do a lot of harm to both amateur and professional music,
drama, and dance - informal rehearsal venues will be a lot thinner on the
ground as smaller organisations that play host to choirs, amateur theatre,
musical groups, and concerts will simply not be able to afford the license.
It will be illegal even to burst into song spontaneously in the pub, as the
current two-in-a-bar rule will be abolished, and any "entertainment" at
all, however informal, will require a license. Failure to comply? Currently
suggested penalties include a £20,000 fine or a 6 month prison sentence.
It's worth noting that not only the administrator of an unlicensed venue
but also any musician performing in such a venue would be criminalized. If
you want to read the whole Bill it can be found at
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld200203/ldbills/001/03001.107-111.html#j1s1"
So what does a demo have to have to succeed?
One of the members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' is so successful in Germany. He has production work coming out of his ears....but he wasn't always that successful He has kept in touch closely with me and sent me his current stuff.....just listen to this Email I sent him after getting some cracking material from him. It should give you encouragement and maybe a little bit of 'direction' in your current work:
Apologies for not getting back quicker...I have been out of the country 'concerting'.
What a track that is! I'm in shock!!!!!!!!
Excellent production...I just love the 'over-use' of compression at the start on the vocals...which makes it a great 'trick'. So the first ten seconds are electric.
Everything about it is stunning. I love the sample at the start.....I wouldn't use 'applause' on a track at the end....I've done it myself, thought it was great, and was unpleasantly surprised to find that Record Execs don't like it [don't know why!].
That 'live' applause feel, as in the UK number One [DJ Otzi...'Hey Baby'], is extremely hard to get right in the studio. There are great reverb programs around, which are used for radio and TV dramas. They replicate 'ambience' very accurately [stadium, car park, field, even wooden coffin] but I have only seen these on PC programs - like 'Cool Pro Edit' which is used for radio editing.
The only reservation I have about the 'Hit Potential' of that track is the 'magic' factor. I do feel that once you have all the elements correct [which you have] and the technical bits up to speed [which you have] then it is just a lottery as to when you create a track with 'magic'. Yes, the track makes you sit up and listen...but is that just from a technical, production point of view? Bearing in mind that 12 year olds know Zip about production. Now is the time for you to test [and I don't mean just playing it to friends...you are well past that stage].
You also have to aware that you are now at the 'selling time' - so the commercial, 'visual' side has got to be right...the band has got to be 'amazing' and ready for an expensive video shoot.....are they? Today, video is as powerful as audio [Kylie?] and record companies know that. So the band, who are the visual side of the product, have got to be as exciting, visually, as the track is audio wise. Just listen to what Shel Talmy has to say about this on the CD's in the 'One Minute With Dec - The First annual' at www.makehits.co.uk/annual.htm
I worry that there isn't a line that jumps out at you and begs repeating and repeating and repeating. I know you have done that 'technically' in the chorus. But there isn't that 'Heeeeey, Heeeeyyyy Baby' factor about it. And that is part of the 'magic' that guys like me go on about. The title doesn't spring to mind quickly. Which usually means that the title is not very evident in the production.
The Kylie line that she could repeat and repeat? 'Can't get chu outa ma head'.....
But - you have a great track that has hit potential....have a punt with it...you just have to get action with it. Have you done test plays in dance clubs? It would be interesting to see the reaction. I don't know what your plans are with it. If it was me, I would be pressing a hundred white labels and distributing them, personally, to DJ's, small radio stations [don't even bother with the biggies...they just bin them, unless you have a personal DJ friend in there or there is a 'showcase' type program...but a non bar-coded record will NOT be played...it's too much hassle for them to log the PRS and PPL manually, these days. They use a zapper, just like in the supermarket, to log plays..that requires: 'a barcode'].
I would have a stunning, 'today', 'band' photo done that will 'sell' the project and then I would write ten exciting letters a week to 'named' A & R people in record companies who deal in 'pop' commercial music. Aim to get a meet. Even if they won't meet, they will certainly ask you for a 'listen', plus a photo...they NEED hits. A fact always forgotten by novices.
I'm not too sure about the 'Barbie' accent at the top [for the UK market] although who can knock that success?
Fantastic production....
Regards...let me know how you get on....now is the time for 'selling'. You've done the 'enjoyable' bit. Be prepared for plenty of rejection...but it only needs one to say 'yes'.
DEC dec@makehits.co.uk
So where do you get the 'magic' from?
That is the unknown factor in our game. It's that factor that makes the hair stand on the back of your neck....it makes a crowd jump up and dance, the first time they hear the track.....it makes DJ's say: "Wow, I am going to play that again, straight away"....it is all of those things. But - none of us, including me, know where it comes from. It can be designed up to 90% of the way - but the huge hits have got it 100% of the way!
Regards
Dec
"It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important."
Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle
============================================
Book of the Week: "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" a new edition of the book read by the most powerful people in the world. Has sold 10 Million copies. Quite stunning and career changing.
Published by Simon and Shuster ISBN 0-684-85839-8
============================================
You couldn't make it up!
The UK's lunatic Government strikes at the music industry again:
"Imagine taking
the Salvation Army band to court for playing Christmas carols in the local
shopping centre, or prosecuting a family group for singing 'Happy Birthday' at a
private party. Crazy as it seems, both these situations would require a licence,
under the proposals. That's how idiotic and petty this thing really
is!" Tim Aves
[Please lobby your local MP re. the forthcoming draconian Licensing Bill planned which will affect YOU]
============================================
Gag of the Week [don't know where they get them but they keep rolling in!]:
"A
young boy says to his mother: "Mummy, when I grow up, I want to be in the music
business"
His mother replies:"Son, you can't do
both!"
============================================
Heard enough, want to apply to join 'The Serious Writers Guild' and receive the award winning ten month program: "How To Make A $Million From Your Music" now?
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When you sign up I'll tell you EXACTLY how to go about recommending this program to others and receiving your commissions - in fact, it's all a completely automatic process and I'll give you everything you need to get started!
Heard enough, want to apply now?
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