December Focus: Releasing Independent Records and Creating Record Labels
Welcome to the December edition of Guitar Nine's on-line magazine. Our focus this month is on information to help you start your own record label, tips for promoting and selling your records, and how to protect and profit from your original compositions. A large number of visitors to this web site have plans to release their own records, seeking to have maximum creative freedom as well as reaping the potential financial rewards that go with ownership of a record label.
In this issue
Copyrights and Publishing
An introduction to the world of copyrights and publishing. It's not hard at all to protect the songs you've written, and you may be surprised at the various ways your original compositions can earn money for you.
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
An arrangement of the Tchaikovsky piece for solo guitar, in tabulature and standard notation.
Delay Time Calculator
Javascript-powered calculator automatically gives you the proper delay times to match the tempo of your music.
Indie Promotion and Sales
Chock full o' ideas for promoting and selling your new record, and building a fan base.
Interview: Michael Knight
I've sold thousands of copies of the "Dreamscapes" CD. You have to realize that 95% of all my sales come from traditional print advertising. Reviews don't sell your product. Marketing and advertising do! I'm amazed at the amounts of money bands and artists put into the recording and manufacturing of their product and then have no idea on how to sell it. Marketing and promotion go hand in hand; you need to do both.
Interview: Rob Johnson
My long-term goals are simple, continue improving and have fun! I don't care really if I don't become a 'rock star' or a 'guitar hero', as long as I'm happy with my music and maybe someone else likes it too.
Interview: Todd Grubbs
I was offered a couple of small record deals, but the contracts were ridiculous so I invested my own money, and it's starting to pay off. At least this way you own your product.
Record Label Profits Worksheet
A Javascript-powered worksheet designed to help a record label estimate costs, price CDs and cassettes, and compute potential profit for a recording project.
The Role of Inspiration
How to trigger inspiration by understanding what causes it, and more importantly, what causes it for you.
Starting a Record Label
How to start and organize your own record label. It's a lot easier than you may think.
Thinking Out of the Barre
Learn some substitutions for those tried and true barre chords. How the knowledge of triads can help you come up with original sounding guitar parts.
Tone To Tape: Tips For Recording Electric Guitar
Ideas for improving your recorded guitar sound.
The Undiscovered: Scott Hughes
Blurring The Lines Between Jazz And Contemporary Rock
The Undiscovered: Truthcircle
Three Musicians Become One, United!