The widest read, 'delivered to your Email box', weekly music Ezine on the Music Net.
The Archive - '2'
A FREE service from 'The
Serious Writers Guild' at MAKEHITS.COM
Written by Dec Cluskey with a little bit of help from his friends.
This Email first mailed to all Members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' and subscribers to 'One Minute With Dec' on
02 DECEMBER 04
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?
"as secure as when you buy in your local shop"
Run by real, successful, active, performing and music making human beings - not 'faceless' businessmen.
=================================
'One Minute With Dec'
"My Emails Are Written With Good Humour And Should Be Read With A Smile"
[-The views of any contributor to 'One Minute with Dec' are not necessarily the views of Dec Cluskey-]
"A job is really a short time solution to a long-term problem"
'Rich Dad, Poor Dad'
MENU:
P.P.P.P.P.P.
So what has this P.P.P.P.P. got to do with all this? And more to the point what has it got to do with music?
Simon Says:
So my advice to any who will listen?
Still got trouble on the Net?
The biggest Show Biz Ball of the year?
A good thought from a good Guru
Support Fellow 'One Minute' guys?
Success Stories
Charts
Chart Comment
Celebrity Section
Subscriber's Section
The Gags
P.P.P.P.P.P.
No this isn't an advert for Private Patients Plan [one of the better Health Care Companies]. It was an acronym given to me by a pal.
Ian has been heavily involved in the military for years in the UK and all over the world. He operated in some of the deadliest hot spots. We were discussing the incredible performance of The Black Watch in the Iraqi continuing problems. Approve of the conflict or not, those guys really showed how it should be done. When they were there initially they showed how to defeat an enemy. And when that enemy was defeated they showed how to be kind and helpful to those caught up in that dreadful conflict. They showed an astonishing benevolence toward anyone they dealt with. That is the way those guys are trained. They can be hard, but they can be so soft and kind.
When they were called to help the USA guys recently they showed skill and daring which left the Americans in awe of their talent. The USA top brass went on record saying that they were 'awesome'. Some praise?
So what has this P.P.P.P.P. got to do with all this? And more to the point , what has it got to do with music?
My pal told me that all the guys in the UK military live by the code: Perfect Preparation Prevents P*ss Poor Performance.
What a way to put it. Yep, the S.A.S. say that 98% of their time is spent in waiting and preparing. Could music guys learn from that? Certainly.
I have noticed that the quality of demos being sent to me for our 'Demo Consultation Service' has gone through the roof [ www.makehits.co.uk/demo.htm ]. But sadly the level of preparation has not. I get Emails and letters from the guys sending the demos telling me that they are "thinking of doing a live set"...."thinking of getting a band together". Sadly they do not realise that the second question they will be asked by any A&R man who is impressed with their product is: "where can we see you working live?"
And by that they mean next week! And they mean killing audiences with sensational 'X Factor' as Simon Cowell puts it.
Simon Says:
I heard Simon say: "You have to do gigs, learn your trade, 1,000 miles a weekend in the transit van up and down the motorways ....the X factor is only the start of a career"
So my advice to any who will listen?
P.P.P.P.P. and that means getting out there and doing it. Or at very least getting someone else to do it with your toons. Tthen you can maybe Prevent P*ss Poor Performance. A band who I am advising at the moment have 5 separate deals on the table. But I just know that when the question is asked: "where can we see you working live?", they will Um and AAh and make every excuse under the sun....I know.....because I have seen them live...Hmmmmmmm!
Still got trouble on the Net?
I had loads of Emails thanking me for the advice last week. If you suffer from Virus related problems just go to the 'One Minute With Dec' archive and check out last week's. By the way, we have installed a mighty new 'search' facility .... so just type in any phrase or question to get the appropriate knowledge or advice..... www.makehits.com/archive2.htm
"I did a find file and found I had NsLite on my lap top. So a big thank you to you for alerting me
Regards
Colin"
The biggest Show Biz Ball of the year?
Last Sunday saw the biggest Show Biz bash of the year in the UK. The Water Rats Ball. And did I make a Booh-Booh ?. At least my agent did. And thereby hangs a tale.
Agents are only interested in earning as much money as they can. So when I had my weekly up-date from the office I was more than annoyed to see that I was performing a concert in Southampton on last Sunday. My fault for not checking earlier....and my agent's fault for not keeping that date free as requested! Lesson to be learned?
One of the Members rang me on Monday. She was still staying at The Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane....there since Friday...now that is style!
A good thought from a good Guru [applies directly to marketing your music]:
I like it when I find a Guru who thinks like I do and talks like I do. Just listen to what Marcia has to say about doing those mundane manual jobs yourself in your Music Business:
"Hire help for mechanical tasks or a virtual assistant to
help manage communications. Feeling overwhelmed? If you
can make, let's say, $100 an hour doing what you do best [making music?],
you should not be spending too much energy on routine things
like stuffing envelopes, doing errands like going to the
bank and the copy shop or putting together copies of your demos. Instead, pay someone $25 an hour to get
those to-do's accomplished and free you up to get more high-
paid work accomplished. An exception to this principle is
when you do the repetitive tasks as a break or rest from
money-making activities that tire you out.Marcia Yudkin <marcia@yudkin.com>"
Your job is to write, create and make the phenomenal music ... not to labour all day.
Support Fellow 'One Minute' guys?
Hi All,
Just to let you know that the new album "Chemical Process" is now complete and will be digitally released on the 15th Nov 2004. We are sending out advanced promo copies of the album to all that request one, excerpts from the album can be heard at www.zejo.com. The album will be distributed through SoulSeduction (in association with Soundlab Entertainment) to all high street stores. Merchandising is also now available through the SunshineMusic website (www.sunshinemusic.co.uk) just click on the shop button and follow the link. Anyone wishing to publish a review please let me know and I will send out a press pack.
Thank you all for your continued support and I look forward to hearing from you.
best wishes,
Jason Clark
Producer / Director
SunshineMusic
( (44) 7787 545386
* jason@sunshinemusic.co.uk
ü www.sunshinemusic.co.uk
USA [my thanks to Charles in the USA for supplying this]
(1) My Boo, Usher And Alicia Keys
(2) Drop It Like It's Hot, Snoop Dogg Featuring Pharrell
(3) Over And Over, Nelly Featuring Tim McGraw
UK
1)
GIRLS ALOUD - 'I'LL STAND BY YOU'
2) DESTINY'S CHILD - 'LOSE MY
BREATH'
3) LEMAR - 'IF THERE'S ANY
JUSTICE'
(1) 'Vertigo' - U2 Island
(2) 'What
You Waiting For' - Gwen Stefani
(3)
'I Believe In You' - Kylie Minogue
Chart Comment:
Destiny's Child say Goodbye to the Top Three in the Download and the USA chart....amazing their stay was so short ...it's a great track.
U2 continue their reign at the top of the Download chart...maybe that means they have the meanest fans? They won't spend on the CD?
It is the first week of Band Aid. The first day sold 100,000. And who said singles were dead? In the UK, the trio of Girls Aloud, Destiny's Child and Lemar all hold on nicely to their chart positions. For Girls Aloud it is their second week at the top, 'I'll Stand By You' becoming the first single since 'Call On Me' to last more than a week at the summit. Perhaps even more impressive though is the performance of 'Lose My Breath' which clocks up a fourth straight week at Number 2. Unusual though this is, the track is actually the second this year to manage the feat, Kelis' 'Milkshake' having had a similar chart run back in January.
The
biggest new hit of the week thus slides in at Number 4 and let's be honest here.
Did anyone really expect to still be seeing solo hits from former members of the
Spice Girls as we reach the dawn of 2005? Although undoubtedly one of the
stronger characters in the group, Geri
Halliwell was never exactly the best singer but she was always able
to turn her personality to her advantage.
"True learning takes energy , passion and burning desire -
anger is a big part of that formula"
.
Subscriber's Section:
Quite a different Subscriber's section this week. I am always being asked about the best way to go about buying bulk CD's, printing labels, inserts etc. Here is some sage advice and info. from a pal who really knows about this stuff:
"I
just came back from a press trip to Milan - must
have cost Epson three grand a head for more journalists than I could count.
Milan is now full of those Smart cars only about six feet long, and
absolutely no lovely old Italian sports cars which you used to see all the
time - whole place covered with graffiti, even 18th c statues and historic
buildings - very sad. I don't think you could leave any really nice 'open'
car parked there and have it survive. A Bentley would probably still be safe
in Sauchiehall Street, biggest risk would be finding someone asleep in it in
the morning :-)
But the relevant thing is: you will be able to buy a £400 home printer which
has a CD
platter tray and pigmented inks, and it will be able to do really
professional full colour printing on white CD-R blanks at almost no cost
(the blanks are under 40p now).
When we have our sample of this new printer, I will be very happy to let you
have a written review with some attached JPEGs, showing how it can be used
to make really professional demos or CD-Rs for gig sales (I do not recommend
selling CD-Rs at gigs since 5 per cent of CD player owners will find they
don't work, but if you make it clear they are CD-Rs it's OK).
Also, further news: mp3.com has added a new premium CD pressing service.
Artists will be able to send much bigger, higher quality sound files encoded
at 196 kilobits instead of 128 kilobits per second - a 50 per cent
improvement in data quality. And they will be able to customize all the
printing, including the back and the inside face of the insert, and get the
CDs shrink-wrapped. But all this will cost more and they will still just be
CD-R disks looking very professional, at around $5 plus shipping each. Great
for one-offs, but not a patch on getting a genuine glass mastered short run
pressing if you can afford it.
D****"
DEC
[Cluskey]
dec@makehits.co.uk
"Paul
Getty's advice: Get up early, work
late, strike oil."
Regards
Dec
You may use any part of this 'One Minute' in your own publications...we simply require you to add:
Start ============
'One Minute With Dec' is written each week by Dec Cluskey. Dec's advice?
Get in touch personally to discuss what you want to achieve in music
dec@makehits.comweb:
www.makehits.com or call +44 (0)1323.728005Finish===========
============================================
The gags: [from my pal Willie Foux]
Of Men and Women
1- A girl says to her boyfriend: One kiss and I'll be yours forever. The guy
replies: Thanks for the warning.
2- A husband was asked: Do you talk to your wife after sex? He replied: Depends, if I can find a phone …yes, why not?.
3- Man to wife on wedding night: Are you sure I'm the first man you are sleeping with? She replies: Of course honey, I stayed awake with all the others!
4- A wife asked her husband: What do you like most in me, my pretty face or my sexy body? He looked at her from head to toe and replied after a pause: I like your sense of humor.
5- Doctor to his lady patient: You look terribly weak and exhausted! Are you having your meals three times a day as I advised? Lady: Doctor, I thought you said three males a day.
============================================
The Professional service the Professionals use. Even available for voice and guitar!
Simply get in touch by Email - click this link: demo@makehits.co.uk and tell me that you want to send your material for a full critique and appraisal. We will then send you a unique PIN number to put on your letter or Jiffy Bag. This will ensure you get immediate attention. This is also for security reasons. We do not open unsolicited Jiffy Bags.
For full details click on this link: www.makehits.co.uk/demo.htm
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?
"as secure as when you buy in your local shop"
[As members of The Data Protection Society your details will never be given to ANYONE]
To pay by any other method please check out the payment methods on the secure page. Any queries re payment just contact me directly. I'll get back in touch with you within hours: dec@makehits.com
For your further protection, we are recognised by British Actors Equity.
Dec Cluskey
The Serious Writers Guild,
Stanton Prior,
Darley Road,
Meads,
Eastbourne BN20 7UH in the UK
Email: dec@makehits.com
Fax.: +44 (0)1323.729318
FREE INFO PACK? QUICK CREDIT CARD
HOTLINE?
or just prove we are real?
+44 (0)1323.728005
[UK office hours]
Also at:
Denton Road
Meads
Eastbourne
and
Il Cortes Del Golf, El Paraiso, Benavista, Costa Del Sol, Spain
Sign up now or risk losing the place to someone else.
The number of places is strictly limited per year, so act now, today. Click the blue link under:
Order 'How To Make A $Million From Your Music' Now?
For
your complete privacy and protection 'The Serious Writers Guild' is proud to be
registered with the Data Protection Society Reg. number Z5952061. We never share
your details with anyone.
Copyright ©2004 MakeHits.com, Dec
Cluskey. All rights reserved.
http://www.makehits.com/oneminarchive021204.htm -- Revised: 02 DECEMBER 2004 Copyright © 2004 MAKEHITS. All
rights reserved. |
