I have always wondered what it would be like to have investors – folks who believe in me and my music so much that they would front me money for my next project. Basically, a record label. What if I had people demanding that I get in the studio to record, demanding that I make… Continue reading Crowd-Funding
Category: Strategy
Going Pro
Today I spent a couple of hours hanging with Charlie Van Stee in my apartment. Together, we listened to the demo tracks from his forthcoming release, “Tigers will eat you!” (You can listen to most/all of the tracks on Charlie’s Facebook page.) It is his most heartfelt effort to date, imho. Charlie wants to make… Continue reading Going Pro
CDs Being Printed!
I am working with Copycats Media in Minneapolis to print a limited-edition run of 50 cds for our release show on Friday. I have no plans to print more, so if you are like me and prefer the hard-copy of a record, you will want to make your purchase early before these sell out. I… Continue reading CDs Being Printed!
Thoughts on Paying for Website Content
I plan on redesigning this website to coincide with the release of my new album on April 2nd. Along those lines, I have been considering ways to add value to y’all and have been considering a subscription-based service whereby you will pay a certain amount of money (maybe $XXX/year), and you will have access to… Continue reading Thoughts on Paying for Website Content
Take This Survey | Get a FREE MP3!
We are doing some brand-positioning research for our forthcoming album, and we need your help! Give this mp3 a listen, then take this survey.
Help me position my band's brand! You are smart…we are musicians.
We need help. We have no brand. Well, actually, we have a brand, but we don’t know what it is yet. My band, Cryns #3, has been playing shows regularly now for over 3 years, and over that time we have been focusing on what we do best (making music) and neglecting what we do… Continue reading Help me position my band's brand! You are smart…we are musicians.
Focus
Here is what is on my band-related docket right now in order of priority: Finish the new album! Start “song-a-week” workshop thing (and write a song a week) Build “Guitar Lessons/Media/Lyrics” page/interface I have been traveling so damn much recently that it has been hard to get into a groove. Maybe the first thing on… Continue reading Focus
Songwriting Workshop – Interested?
I’ve been listening to CDBaby.com’s “Do It Yourself” Musician Podcast for a couple of months now, and it has given me all sorts of ideas and inspiration for my music career. Today, I listened to their interview with and follow-up discussion about Jonathan Coulton. As I was listening, I had this strong urge to do… Continue reading Songwriting Workshop – Interested?
Elevator Pitch
I signed up to participate in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge, and the first task is to develop an elevator pitch for this blog. Here it goes! UPDATED ON 4/7/2009 at 8 AM: Cryns.com is my band’s website and blog. It features: guitar lessons discussions video journals daily blog entries responses… Continue reading Elevator Pitch
Nerds and Booking
I was fully expecting and hoping to watch Revenge of the Nerds today (a key component of my expansive VHS collection), but instead I found myself sending emails to bars and coffee shops in an attempt to book some shows. While doing so, I realized that if I sent even one booking email per day… Continue reading Nerds and Booking
Planning a Summer Tour
So today I finally got motivated and began planning my 2009 Summer Tour *forms hands into devil horns and headbangs*. I am thinking it will be a month long, the entire month of August. I will start in Seattle and travel south to San Diego, couch surfing, hosteling, and camping along the way. Of course,… Continue reading Planning a Summer Tour
Thoughts on a Dual EP Release
I have been doing some thinking on the new record, and when I listen to the songs all together, I get the feeling that there are two categories that the songs fit into: Damn, that was a long way back from the black infinity of sadness. Let’s dust our clothes off, take a shower, and… Continue reading Thoughts on a Dual EP Release
Vinyl Makes a Resurgence!
I met up with Perfect Porridge‘s Greg Swan yesterday to help him upgrade some website software, but the conversation quickly turned to other matters. One item that peaked my interest was a combination cd/vinyl product that Greg noticed a band using. Basically, it is a cd on one side and a record on the other.… Continue reading Vinyl Makes a Resurgence!
Bringing Online Social Media to My Band
I am reading David Meerman Scott’s “The New Rules of Marketing & PR“, and I am thinking of new ways to market my band, including blogging, podcasting, and press releases. I am already doing all three of these things with little consistency and little measurable results. That is, I am not sure if all my… Continue reading Bringing Online Social Media to My Band