One of the main reasons rock stars are so short on gratitude is their failure to understand what their agents have to do to book them. If you have the latest hit on the radio or a million dollar ad campaign year not gonna be too hard to book. But most of us are just short of a couple a side jobs to pay the rent. Inflating your monetary value over the phone is always harder…

Dear Fellow Music Pros:

May I take this opportunity to tell you about my new release, FAB FAN MEMORIES - THE BEATLES BOND. This CD is a Beatles themed spoken word recording hosted by Louise Harrison (sister of Beatle George Harrison) and features interviews with fans telling their personal Beatles stories and experiences.…

Maintaining a dedicated fan base is one of the most daunting tasks faced by musicians. We all know the importance of social networking, working the press, and promoting shows. If only there was a way to incorporate all of your promotional efforts into one source that could be easily distributed to your target audience. Well guess what? There is! It’s called a newsletter. Newsletters are a simple and effective way to build a “community” around your music, while keeping in touch with your fans…

"WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A SUCCESS?" by Ed Englerth

Whether someone is putting a band together, or doing the solo thing, there are various reasons why. Sometimes it’s just because you like to be with the people in the band or the folks you meet. Eventually you want to do a good job so you can keep doing what you like doing. Or you want to “make it” or be a “success.” Unfortunately most artistic types are much better at their art than at being organized as a…

Check out Tom Jackson's latest blog...

Thinking” when you are onstage can cause a lot of problems. In fact, it’s one of the quickest ways to lose your audience!

Casey Hooper, currently the guitarist on tour for Katy Perry. (Photo courtesy of BlondeINK)

You need to forget about yourself when you’re on the stage. So if you’re thinking…

Read the latest from Tom Jackson & Onstagesuccess.com:

'I had a conversation with a young girl who has done multiple showcases for record labels. (She is still trying to “win the lottery,” so to speak.)

I met her last weekend when I taught at Berklee College of Music. Everyone was really nice at Berklee, the professors are very sharp – it was a good experience!

But there was a sense of desperation all around this young artist. She was a…

I got a call recently to do a quick session with a group I’d worked with a few times previously.  It was only to be a short’ listen and comment’ – type deal so we booked it as a Video Critique Review.

The group didn’t have a lot of time or the money to hire me for a day or even a half-day, but they wanted to get a little help going into a pretty big upcoming show.  So I went to their rehearsal and watched a half-hour set and took notes, then we sat down and I gave them my perspective…

I just want to say a public THANK YOU to Bret for putting on this additional feature on the site.  I think it's a brilliant new benefit of being a member on this site.  I have an iDisk with a public folder, and often tell people to go there to pick up music I've left for them.  I've had folks send me stuff using other programs, but I've never seen one this easy to use!  Since I'm nearly always logged in to NMP, it's so…

As in all businesses, the most important and essential contributors to our success in show-biz come from the personal relationships we develop and maintain over the course of our careers.

Someone put it very succinctly when he or she said: "It's not about who

you know; it's about who knows you." To take that very truthful statement

a little bit further: It's not just about who knows you, it's about who…

I just get fascinated everytime I try to evaluate the business of art - what fascinates me is that there is so much creativity and self expression out there - it is awesome - yet, that very supply of self expression and originality makes it challenging to try to create a business model that promotes the artist and art while serving the needs of the consumer, without diminishing free expression and originality or commoditizing the artist.

If major labels are to be entrusted…

The Decade The Music Died” by Jason McKinney

“A long long time ago.” The words of the Don McLean song begins about the day the music died. Well the same can be said of the music business over the last 10 years. Ten years ago there were 10 “diamond” records while in contrast so far in this year, 2010, there are none! Not one. Things have changed. So what does this mean? Is the music business truly going to die….???….wait for it? Wait for it? NO. The music business is not going to die,…

Becoming The Best Singer You Can Be

From Vocal Coach Chris Beatty vocalcoach.com

Hi Singers! As a vocal coach for many years I wanted to share some thoughts and principles to help you be your best.

• Don’t be satisfied with where you are. There’s always more to learn!
• Make a fresh and ambitious list of your vocal goals.
• Start with the foundations and build from there.

Don’t Be Satisfied With Where You…

I have been in Nashville for over 8 years now and it's time to start pitching my music and getting results. If you are a publisher looking for new music I will be glad to share some of story songs with you. I have had a few songs that have had airplay on regular radio and internet and one song that we did a video for called "Shopping Cart Sally" about homelessness. My current project is a soundtrack for my story I wrote "Swampland" The music is a mix of southern rock, Mongomery Gentry style…