Market Justification - E Portfolio

Why is an e portfolio important and useful to a freelance musician?

An E portfolio is becoming increasingly popular for many reasons such as its availability. By putting your portfolio on the internet for everyone to see you are widening your potential marketing audience.  This means that people from all over the world will be able to see your webpage and find out more about your music. This could lead to potential job opportunities outside of the country which could not only help you gain popularity but also give you an experience.

In researching different artists and musician’s blogs I have found that they all carry a house theme throughout the website and on each page. I have also noticed that there are links to social media such as twitter and Facebook. This helps promote their other pages and expand their audience. The TwentyOnePilot page is a good example of this as it shows the Facebook link and twitter follow buttons underneath their contact page. They have also got video links on their page. This promotes their music as it is the first thing you see when you enter their website. This also will inform you if there is a new music video out.  

 Some of these pages have given me inspiration for my own website. I have also added YouTube, Facebook and google+ links at the side so people can easily visit my other websites. I have added a banner at the top of the page with my picture on it as well as the title ‘Chloe Purser Music’ so people can see what the page is straight away. You would also add a logo on the banner so people will know your page just by the logo. The TwentyOnePilots logo is found on all of their merchandise so it has become a trademark. I have also stuck to using a similar colour throughout my blog however I was unable to use the same colour as blogger would not let me.

 I have also looked at other musician’s websites such as the session musician Nathan East. His front page keeps you informed of his up-coming performances with musicians, an example of this being Daft Punks ‘Get Lucky’ tour. I do not have the option to do this on my blog however I have set my newest articles to appear first. On his page is also a link to his documentary, although only certain countries are allowed to see it which means he is limiting his audience. However this also means that whenever people visit his page the first thing they see will be his documentary which is instantly promoting his video.

Currently some of the content features of my blog include a professional approach to freelance employment, health and safety for musicians and financial management. These help promote and market my website as many new freelance musicians will be looking for help and tips which my website will provide. Health and safety is essential for freelance musicians as it can possibly stop them from getting sued if something goes wrong. As my post involves pictures as well as being short and to the point I am more likely to have people read it. My financial management posts will also inform people on how to manage their own money and how important goal setting and networking really is.

The CV I have included is particularly suited to the role of a session musician/performer. My CV is relevant to this job role as it shows I do a performance course which suggests that I enjoy performing. By adding where I have performed also shows my enjoyment of performing as they are spaces that can carry a large audience. I have also included in my work history a two week job as a music technician. I have elaborated and explained that this means restringing and fixing guitars which shows that I have a large understanding of some instruments. In my personal statement section of my CV I have written that I can play all different types of genre from country to funk. A successful session musician should be able to play a variety of different genres so they can apply to more artists. An example would be Nathan East who has performed with artists such as Eric Clapton, Daft Punk and Stevie Wonder. By having my email and phone number at the top of the CV makes people looking to contact me a lot easier as opposed to not being able to find it and giving up.

Also included in my blogs are two videos. The first is an instrumental cover – this is often a useful marketing tool for session musicians because it shows my abilities and what my sound is. For example if you were looking for a singer a cover would help show you what they sound like and if they’re right for the song you’re planning on recording. Also by posting covers onto the internet you could increase your audience. If your long term goal is to become a world famous solo artist this could lead to being signed up. An example of someone who got signed up by posting covers would be Justin Bieber. Cobus Potgieter is a YouTube drummer who also offers session recordings. His videos have gained him a large fan base and he also does drum lessons. My other video is a tutorial of the song ‘Here Without You’ by 3 Doors Down.  This isn’t the easiest song to learn on guitar so many people prefer to see a video tutorial

rather than the tabs. Tutorial videos are also a great way to market your profile because it’s similar to a one to one lesson. An example of a musician who uploads tutorial videos and has a large fan base would be ‘martyzsongs’ (also known as guitarjamz.com) who has 100,000s of views and even some millions. I could improve my videos by zooming into my left hand when playing so it is much clearer for people to see what I’m playing much like he has. I could also add a tab at the bottom of the screen for those who prefer reading tab or want to play along. This means I will be expanding my audience to not only visual learners but also tab readers.

A Professional Approach to Freelance Employment

Being reliable in the freelance world is a key point. It is important to be consistently good in performance for people to be able to trust you. If you don’t show up to gigs or events that you have promised to attend you could lose an audience and give off the impression that you do not care. Justin Bieber turned up to his own concert 2 hours late which caused havoc amongst the crowd of teenage girls, since then he has been known as ‘unreliable’ which has chased off many of his fans unlike most artists who attend every concert on their tour and are on time. As a professional touring musician it is important to be reliable so others can see that you care about your job and fans instead of taking them for granted.

It is also important to be committed to your job. By devoting more time to your musical career you will be able to feel more confident and prepared before performing. Another example would be getting a part time job so you will have more time to play music. This means you will be able to practice and attend more gigs as you will not be working. Such bands as All Time Low and Tonight Alive have worked part time in cafés and shops so they were able to gig and practice with the others in their band. Beyoncé also commits a lot to her performing as she not only has to sing but also dance. She meets with her dance choreographer who goes over dances with her as well as her vocal coach. As a professional touring musician you will need to dedicate a lot of time to your performing so you can be committed to your job and reach the best of your abilities.  

Preparation is key in succeeding in the freelance world. It is important to have everything planned out before a show especially if you are unfamiliar with the process as it will make you feel more confident. Many musicians will have spare equipment such as jack leads and guitars/guitar strings in case something breaks on stage. Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys had broken a string at one of their shows and had a different guitar for the next song. This showed that they were prepared and didn’t want to have to cancel the show due to a broken string. However as freelance musicians it will be difficult to have 2 guitars ready, so make sure you have had enough practice when it comes to stringing so you will be able to continue the show without a huge delay. Every well-known artist is successful due to their preparation as it shows professionalism and indicates that they are able to plan for the worst.

Being a member of PRS will help protect your songs from being stolen or played without your permission which is important for a freelance musician. PRS is the UK’s leading collecting society to help protect musicians against plagiarism. They have had the opportunity to work with many musicians such as Bjorn Ulvaeus from the world-known group ‘ABBA’. It is only £50 a year to join and you can also sign up to the sister company MCPS. MCSP is focused solely on performers and song writers. They collect royalties whenever music is reproduced for products such as CDs, DVDs and digital downloads. This also another £50 which adds up to an annual expense of £100 which could be difficult to maintain if you don’t have a lot of money. However both of these companies are important for performing musicians as it will cover them from any plagiarism which may occur so you will feel safe performing your own music. 

Goal Setting

Goal setting can be seen an important and useful when it comes to the life of a freelance musician. By setting goals you will be able to plan ahead with milestones until you reach your ultimate goal, whether that’s wanting to own your own recording studio or being a world renowned musician. At the end of the day it is an overall plan to how you want your career to develop.

Some of you may be familiar with a Career Development Plan already, but it is basically a form where you can plan your self-development and skills & Knowledge for the next 10 years of your career. I like to set it out as if you’re climbing a mountain; which route is going to take you to the summit the fastest?

  

This is just a rough sketch on what you could do and where to put your goals. For a famous musician your first goal could be to play at a venue to more than 100 people, and your second could be to release an EP. You could see it as a musical bucket list but with working towards a main goal.

However this could become quite stressful for you, especially if your targets are related to a certain time period. If one of your targets for the end of the year is to write an album and you’re getting writers block, this could either motivate you to try harder or make you lose motivation all together and give up on the whole concept of a Career Development Plan.

Also throughout your career you might suddenly want to change your main goal, or maybe all the goals before that one as well. Nothing is stopping you from branching away from your original plan. For example, you might start off with wanting to be a session musician but then realise that you’d rather go into teaching music instead.

It is important to have at least one way to set your goals out on paper. As I said earlier, it will definitely motivate you to keep going and you can also see how much closer to the summit of the mountain you’re getting. And before you know it you’ll be standing on the top looking back at all the hard work you put into getting there -  and you’ll be thankful. 

Music CV

Acoustic Cover - N Sync - It's Gonna Be Me

Networking

Networking is key for us musicians. I think we can all agree that we would only have family and friends turning up to our pub gigs if we didn’t try networking.

 In case you weren’t sure, Networking is basically making friends with other musicians or music producers. This means you could end up getting more performances and a bigger crowd. The more links you have with the music industry the more likely you are going to get popular.

Social media such as Facebook or twitter and any other social media is a great way to meet other freelance musicians much like ourselves. Let us not forget the good old fashion way of talking to the acts you’re supporting. A friend of mine ended up talking to the headlining band at his gig and ended up getting 4 more performances!

Business cards are incredible for helping people remember your name. It also opens opportunities for them to get in contact with you or find you on your social media sites. You should link your mobile number and either a website or YouTube page (so they can listen to your other songs!) This is a quick example of a business card I would make

 As you can see it’s straight to the point and has my name, what I can do and a way of contacting me. (of course its not my real number!) I’ve also added an electric guitar so they know that I play guitar. Also, who doesn’t like pictures?!

I'm sure most of you have heard of Cilla Black. She was a good friend of Ringo Star and from that became friends with the whole band! Early on in their career she would perform on stage with them which made her become a lot more popular than she was before!

This might change as you become better known. Not only will your contacts have grown but so would your popularity! You’ll probably find people who were in the same position as you asking for help or trying to buy you a drink. And there’s a high chance someone you’ve kept in contact with could be in the top charts and doing a world tour! So maybe you should give them a call and see who else you can meet

10 Safety Tips For Musicians

So you want to stay safe when it comes to music? Follow these 10 tips and you should be a lot safer than you were before!

1) Setting up microphone stands

it is important to set microphone stands up correctly in the performance space. By wrapping the XLR cable around the microphone stand will reduce the risk of someone tripping over it. If there is still a lot of cable left after plugging it in make sure to neatly coil and place at the base of the microphone stand. If there are other microphone stands near the PA then run the cable 

underneath the legs of the other microphone stands. This means they aren't in the way of people moving around the area, so nobody should fall over and hurt themselves. It might be worth spending a little bit more money rather than buying microphone stands from Argos.

2) Checking sound levels on the PA and amps

it's very important that you're not exposed to sound levels that are louder than necessary. Exposure to high sound levels can lead to permanent hearing damage, an example of this would be tinnitus. Before plugging in your mic or guitar into the pa or amp make sure the volume is all the way down to 0! then when you turn on the pa or amp you won't hear that horrible, loud noise and you'll be able to get the right volume without having to panic or have a headache. An example of a musician who had his equipment on too loud for too many years would be Paul Gilbert. He now has to wear ear defenders whenever he performs on stage! And they're not as stylish as you'd think!

3) Coiling leads

I think we all know how annoying it is when you go to pick up a jack lead and all you can see are knots and tangles! This can easily be avoided by correctly coiling the leads. DO NOT coil by wrapping it around your elbow and feeding it to your hand as this will break the connections in the lead! Hold one end in your hand and do a neat loop, and then repeat until the whole lead has been coiled. To secure the lead into place, wrapping electrical tape around it is great however you can also buy velcro strips which do just as well

4) Taping down wires

there's no time to be tripping when you're suppose to be rocking out! If you're in a performance space and you're having to step over a lot of wires, taping them down is essential to stay safe. Imagine you're half way through a song and you fall over because your foot got caught around a cable! Gaffer tape is amazing to use when taping down wires as it's thick and strong, meaning it wont come off unintentionally any time soon. Or if you're just running a single wire around the side of the room like in the picture, electrical tape will do fine.

5) Putting instruments away correctly

leaning your guitar against the amp is not putting it away correctly. It is very likely that the guitar will fall over which could either hurt you or really damage your guitar. It could also detune your guitar which would cause a serious problem if you were just about to go on stage. To avoid this from happening, if you have a guitar or bass then equipment such as a guitar rack will ensure your instrument that your instrument is safe from falling. The picture shows the guitars being correctly put into a guitar rack where as the other picture is a bad example of where to rest a guitar when its not in use.

6) Food and drinks

if possible, try to avoid eating and drinking around musical equipment as it can be quite dangerous. If you were to spill a liquid all over some electrical equipment not only does it cause the equipment to 'blow' but it could also hurt you in the process (electrocution isn't that fun). If you have a bottle of water with the lid secure then keep it away from the area so nobody can get hurt and you are still able to have a drink. Do NOT do what is in the picture as this not only could damage the XLR cable but also make you look stupid

7) Don't overpower plug sockets

just look at that picture. You don't want to be that person who has to sort that all out, do you? So try to avoid doing it in the first place. If you're not using certain equipment e.g amps yet they are plugged in it is important to switch them off and unplug them. Overpowering plug sockets makes the area look messy and could even cause a fire if left like it for too long. It can also blow a fuse and that's the last thing you want mid practice. Only plug in what you need so you are not endangering anyone around you or the equipment itself.

8) Moving equipment

some equipment you'll have to move around can be heavy and dangerous if dropped. If you are moving any large, heavy equipment its essential that you ask yourself if you're capable of lifting it without help. If you can't then ask a friend or co-worker for assistance. If given the opportunity, use a trolley to carry equipment to and from your destination. Never try to lift it as you could strain your back which could leave you with permanent damage and health issues in the future. Also try not to drop the equipment. Dropping it could lead to it being damaged or even broken and this might not be cheap to repair or replace.

9) Testing equipment

at least once a year you should be testing your equipment with a PAT (portable appliance test) to ensure that your equipment is safe to use. Even if you think your equipment is fine and that there's nothing wrong with it, it definitely doesn't hurt to have it checked. Some venues will not let you use your own equipment if it has not been tested to prove it is safe as it could end up hurting you and they'll be the one in trouble. So make sure you get it done once a year so you and everyone around you can stay safe.

10) Don't go too crazy on stage

as someone who gets too carried away when it comes to performing, I can say that I have ended up hurting myself on stage. At the time I thought it would be a good idea to prance around the stage, left to right until of course I got caught in a wire and well, I think you can tell what happened next. You can still look like you're enjoying yourself on stage without getting too crazy, but of course you have to put the safety of yourself, your other performers and the crowd first. You also don't want to do a Billie Joe Armstrong and smash your guitar on stage, especially as freelance musicians like ourselves because a good guitar isn't cheap!