Beat-Play Press Machine

For any independent business owner, even if you're an independent artist, being your own boss is tough. How do you stay on top of everything when you're being pulled in a million different directions? Especially when there's so many different responsibilities to keep track of? Here's a couple tricks I've used to stop my own anxiety.

First, when I felt that the list of things I was in charge of was too big to even remember off hand, I made a spreadsheet. At the top left I wrote "Action Items:" Then below I listed all of the actions I go through(or should) almost daily, such as Blogging, Research, Drafting, Email, ect. Then every day I check off the categories I did and list the specific projects I worked on.

It helps me in a couple of different ways. It lets me know which areas I'm hitting the hardest and which ones need work. It also lets me track how much is actually getting done daily, and it gives me something to be proud of. Also it pushes me to be more productive so I can have the simple joy of checking off those boxes.

There's just one other crucial step in this process: Get a clipboard. For some reason, there's something official about having a clipboard with information regarding the productivity of your business. It is reassuring, and especially when your office is your living room or your basement, and your environment might not be so "official" looking, having something that represents that order to your business is important, and having things organized like that goes a long way for your peace of mind.

One more AWESOME and similar organizational tool for any business owner, that can sky rocket your productivity, is called the Mini Day Method. Check out that blog post for more info, it is REALLY worth looking into.

Today's Advice: Don't stress, buy a clipboard!

Written by: Dante Cullari, Founder & President Beat-Play, LLC

Sounds like not much would get done..but it could be more fun. In today's smart phone social culture, information is more readily available than ever before. As of now, no one really knows the full repercussions of this on our society, but some signs have already begun to pop up.

Probably the most obvious is Mark Zuckerberg who is now 25 going on 26, and was only 20 when he started Facebook in 2004. 6 years later his website has over 350 million members and even old lame people are forced to jump on. Why is this? Because Mark came up with a better way to use the web as a tool to communicate than was previously in place. In my opinion, this could have only come from a younger person.

Being born in 1984, the exact year 29 year old Steve Jobs and Apple Computers launched their most famous product ever, the Macintosh, Mark Zuckerberg had grown up with computers. He was even programming in middle school; something which a decade before would have been reserved for only the most experienced hardware and tech nerds, and something which may not have happened if it wasn't for people like Jobs and Woz.

For my father(58), to have seen the transformation from black & white photos and TV to all of the ridiculous gadgets made available today, like 3d printing and color multi-touch phones, just to have had email would have been sufficient. Email works soo much better than what he was used to growing up, that imagining better is made much harder, and seemingly useless in his eyes.

The bar with the younger generation is being set way higher, and we can expect this trend to continue exponentially. Another point to make is the rate at which change and innovation in business online can occur. Computers and the internet make everything amazingly easier to edit, update, change, delete, recover, and so on. This new medium has the potential to implement changes on a society scale much faster than was ever possible in the past, and increase our societal advancements exponentially as well, to follow along with the trend of doubling microchip capacity every 1-2 years.

Another reason for the breakthrough successes of many younger entrepreneurs may very well be their "naive" outlooks on the world. They seem misaligned with reality's crushing sting and unfazed by thoughts of the many hopeless boundaries awaiting. However they're amazingly successful..how could this be? Check out this excerpt from an AOL Small Business Blog titled A Teen Millionaire's Three Principles to Success

"I’ve been fortunate enough to make my first million before graduating from high school and buy my own house at 20. At 21, I’ve now put away enough in savings and other investments that I could practically retire today . . . if I wanted to. But of course, that’s the last thing on earth I’d want to do. I just enjoy it all too much. Not to say the money isn’t important, but frankly, it’s not why I do what I do. I do it because I love it." - Cameron Johnson

I can hear the passion in his voice just reading his words. Is this naive, or relevant? Actually, the answer to this question is a bit peculiar.

We are in the middle of a strange paradigm shift where the technology created by the older generation has effected society so much, that most of the problems that they faced in the past can be solved by this new technology. This doesn't mean however, that the problems have been solved, because the older generation has somewhat failed, or has been slower to realize, that this is possible. Now though, It does mean that many members of the younger generation are beginning to realize these solutions that the internet and computers provide, and we're beginning to implement them at tremendous paces.

Here's a great analogy:
It's like if the inventor of the light bulb was blind, and couldn't really see the potential for his invention, so it sat idle; until one day another thinker with sight comes along, sees the potential, and installs telephone poles to carry the light around the globe. Now with this first invention of the light bulb, any innovator after will be able to see and work much longer, increasing the productivity for these potentially younger generations, solving potentially many problems at once, that would not have been solved if the potential of the lightbulb had not been realized. It wasn't enough just for the invention to be created, but the potential had to be reached. Younger generations will always find new applications for great inventions. Thomas Edison would have never imagined 3D Imax Movie Projectors, or LEDs.

The internet's progress has almost been put on hold compared to how fast it could be moving, because of the failure of the older generations to realize the true potential of computers, and especially the net. The main problem right now is that all of the best innovators are mostly too young to afford to maintain a start up, and only the most savvy, or lucky ones, actually make it.

This reminds me of a story. I've actually had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Doug Herzog, the President of Viacom. This is the same Doug Herzog who was president of Fox a while back and decided to cancel Family Guy..a mistake which the younger generation would haunt him with until he eventually left a year later. He was also featured in an episode of South Park that wanted to show a picture of the Prophet Muhammad, but Doug decided to censor it, which earned him a place in the show.

We met to discuss my business plan for Beat-Play. (BeatPlay Beta Overview) I won't get into that right now, but one of the first things he told me was that he really had no idea what was going on at MTV on the "ground level." He said he was just "so far separated from it." After explaining my model to him, he couldn't understand how Beat-Play was any different than iTunes. He couldn't see how a completely free website that could solve piracy, promotion, and revenue problems for independent artists all over the world, was different than paying 99 cents for mostly artists heard on the radio. Me being 19 at the time, and him being unwilling to be schooled by a "kid", I thanked Doug for his time, and strolled out.

This was one of the first signs of this "Senior blindness" that I had encountered. The truth is, iTunes doesn't even begin to solve the problems the music business is still plagued with, but I guess being able to download music onto a mobile device you fit in your pocket is far enough away from old 45's and 8-tracks that it's easier to settle for the current circumstances. It may be better than before, but that doesn't make it good! Also, a problem that still occurs to this day is that the problems with the music industry have been around so long that it's not even feasible for many people that they could actually be solved..probably because before the internet, they couldn't be..

This is a great quote from Inc Magazine blog titled A Portfolio of Young Business Owners

"Only five years ago, two enterprising teens might have mowed lawns to earn spending money. Today they can start a company on the Web. That's how it worked for the co-founders of Switchpod, Weina Scott and Jake Fisher. And, oh yeah, they live 1,440 miles apart--she's in Miami, and he's in Rochester, Minnesota."

Now wait until the younger generation reaches the full potential of the internet. Imagine how many other problems will be solved by more efficient organizational structure embedded into our societies.

Dare I say this is the first time in history that the younger generation may actually know better than the ones before it. Well..isn't that what you would hope for? Things have changed..now it's just up to people to realize it.

Written by: Dante Cullari, Founder & President Beat-Play, LLC

Google’s approach at creating a better online social strategy is creative with the notion that they will nowuse all the data gathered from individuals such as, the things you like, the people you talk to the most, and most other online habits, to constantly connect an online community in a much larger scale with a greater impact on finding information. With this technology people will soon have the ability to remove the idea of having to search for information. Everything you could ever be interested in will now come to you based on your past. (Sounding more like ‘real-life’ online)

When someone writes a blog or article, they are asked to add tags to the page that best describes that specific article when people are searching. This idea of tagging is not yet obsolete, but more one sided in the case that only the article is tagged itself. Why not the individual as well? When signing up for a specific social network the user could then be asked to provide a certain number of tags they would use to describe their interests.

With this strategy, the individual can now be connected to the things he/she is looking for without the searching aspect involved. Constant media, news, and peoples will be connected to you with similar tags, enabling you to see new information all the time while meeting new people with similar interests to your own. This idea takes the large but very small social Internet and gives it the power to develop into the main global source for learning and sharing information.

Google is on the right track with harnessing the data gathered by their users to make a more personalized online experience, minus the underlying problem with telling people that you are keeping record of what they are doing. Once this becomes more apparent to the public, you will see a rise in concern. Personalized tagging is safer for the user to connect with people of similar interests while keeping the privacy of what they are viewing online.

Written By: Mark G. Valente | Director of Operations | Music Without Labels & Beat-Play LLC

What came first, the toolbox or the tool? This is not a trick question, it's obviously the tool, and we have proof. However, with the emergence of more tools, and more applications for these tools, it became apparent that another tool, a tool's tool, was needed: the Toolbox.

It is no different for the current state of the music industry and all of it's awesome web tools. I see the future of music going in one distinct direction in order for it to flourish the way it naturally should. It may sound cliche, but the only way true, good music(like the old days) will live on, is if the surviving community of great music decides to unite as one. This may sound like an empty gesture, but with today's standards, uniting is as easy as selecting and supporting ONE universal music social network online. It's almost as simple as a mouse click these days to organize collectively toward a common goal.

Once a single platform is established, the possibilities for collaboration and integration of all of the awesome sites and tools that are out there are opened up increasingly, and can benefit the users way more than the current set up. Third party apps can be integrated with the social network to expand the capabilities of the site and its users.

Also, a huge part of this platform should include an effective ad model, that is unobtrusive and that sponsors the content. Artists can track ALL of their plays, vid views, profile views, merchandise page views, shares, ect, and if they give their music away for free, they could then gain ad revenues based on popularity. The downloads on this network would also be very safe, putting an end to crashing computers and lawsuits.

Bands could be able to perform live streaming concerts and sell tickets on this platform, as well as their merchandise, and they can have their updates sent directly to their fan’s profiles. Band members could even eventually practice with each other from across the world if this system is created, leaving even the opportunity for new bands to form, where it would have been impossible before.

Having one music platform would open up the doors to a more efficient way of artist promotion as well. There could be a system where users follow people they share a taste in music with, and then the user's radio pulls songs from their friend's playlists when they press play. There could be many ways for users to control this. What this really means is the best free promotion an artist could get (and currently can't). For example, if my friend likes a song enough to playlist it, then it will get sent to me, and if I like it enough to playlist it, it gets sent to everyone who's following me, creating an automated word of mouth system that makes the music itself completely viral, as long as it's good.

There's currently no term for this, but it can be described almost as a 2-way status update, where a user not only receives the content, but passes on the content that they like. This amazingly simple, but innovative system. will have incredible implications, not just for the promotion of music, but eventually for any product.

Basically, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have ONE platform online for music, and a million and one reasons why we should. It doesn't mean the end of all of the current music sites, it would just mean the integration of them all together, performing the role of a toolbox for all of the cool web tools out there. Imagine, before tool boxes, people only had access to a limited amount of tools at a given time; but with the toolbox, the options became almost limitless, given the tools. I see the future of this spreading generously throughout many facets of our lives.

Also in the future, along these same lines, could eventually be mobile hardware, as well as mobile apps that are universally accepted for music distribution. Then, of course, I hope we would do the same thing for TV and Movies, which would be to essentially free the industries, in almost every sense of the term. This system is inevitable and I am certain it will happen in this decade, just as sure as the invention of the toolbox was after the introduction of numerous tools. Organization is key!

Written by: Dante Cullari, Founder & President, Beat-Play, LLC

We will soon be releasing the Beat-Play beta version to independent artists and fans everywhere. They will be among the first to EVER use this revolutionary new technology designed to completely break independent artists free from the plagues of the current music industry. The beta will include the following:

The Audio Component Auction -

This tool is designed to provide a fair and efficient way for artists to sell licenses of their work without paying for anything upfront. The auction creates an environment that will reveal the true value of the music, and will also be competitive. This makes the best situation for both artists and consumers.

The Music Social Network -

Beat-Play allows users to have their own profile and control panel to keep track of all of their favorite music and share it with friends. Beat-Play will soon become the ultimate music social network with the addition of the viral radio, where users will follow other users with similar tastes in music and anything in a user's playlist will automatically get sent to their follower's radios, at random, or by a user's control. This creates a situation where if the music is good, it will spread extremely fast through a network of playlists all connected by users with common interests.

The 3D Music Store -

This section intends to recreate the experience of browsing through a real music store. Users will be able to choose from a selection of avatars to navigate around within this 3D virtual store, full of racks of music able to be previewed and purchased effortlessly.

Credit System -

Beat-Play will use a currency system of credits, which can be added to a user's account using a credit or debit card. Users cannot purchase anything without adding credits to their account. This is to save users on transaction fees that Beat-Play would have to charge every time a user makes a purchase with their card. Once the credits are transferred into an account, the user can make purchases without entering any additional information or getting extra charges per each of their purchases. Just another way Beat-Play saves the users money.

Beat-Play Beta Promotions to Get Involved In:

Vibe-rater Widget -

The Vibe-rater is a widget consisting of a selection of "vibes" which are actually playlists related to a particular mood or vibe. A user will select their vibe and each song in that playlist will then be displayed and can be rated, with links back to the artist's information. The Widget is viral and embeddable on many different social networks and blogs. The Vibe-rater will not exclude any genres and can therefore be very effective at introducing people to types of music that they don't normally listen to. It will also be linked to a user's Beat-Play profile. The music selected for the Vibe-rater playlists will be among the best on Beat-Play, and it will be rotated monthly.

To start, the music will be selected by a group within the Beat-Play team, but in the future, amendments will be made to let the users decide what music goes best with each vibe, and we will also accept suggestions for new vibes. The Vibe-rater will undergo many additions and enhancements, as Beat-Play does the same, such as getting users engaged and involved in sharing the widget between friends and giving them incentive to do so using things like personalized "vibes."

What is Beat-Play?:

It's like iTunes without paying

It's like iTunes for independent artists

It's like Pandora but with your friend's playlists

It's like Pandora without obtrusive ads

It's like Ebay for music

It's like FYE but online

It's like Virgin without the long lines

It's like TheSixtyOne.com - the games, + way more functionality

It's like SoundClick.com plus innovative free promotion

It's like SoundClick.com without the fees

It's like Facebook for All of Music

It's like your dream, but it's reality...your reality.

It's the Revolution!

Today I ran across an article called “File sharing: Piracy or activism?” by Open Attitude blogger Andrew Currie. This is a legitimate question that we as a community have the responsibility and duty to decide on. The answer however may not be as unreachable as we think. The solution comes with a slight shift in the perspective of conventional thinking. The method is to seek out any problems that arise given the circumstances, in order to determine what a successful design should include. The problem here is simple and I think can be best explained by one of the comments that was in response to that blog article, by Reddit user PhastPhoodPhool:

"When you start likening manufactured objects and digitally reproduced data as objects of value, then you have already presented an ethical dilemma. How can you charge full price for something that is free to reproduce? That is why it is so easy to download. It only represents a loss if you otherwise would have realistically paid for whatever you're downloading. The whole side of the copyright holders is totally impartial to the facts."

So though this is a serious problem, it can be resolved relatively easily given the circumstances. This is where the shift of perspective comes in. Because it is obvious that no one will pay for something when they don't have to, and it costs nothing for the provider when we download, we can use these principles to construct a new system that takes advantage of these trends/facts, and provides a model that will allow the content providers to get paid directly, while their beneficiaries (file sharers) enjoy guilt free and unlimited free access to their favorite content, on demand.

The solution is (drum roll) Ad Revenue, but not just any ad revenue. There are still serious problems with the current standard ad models online today, and these problems too have been well established. It is time for a change. The new model must address these problems head on, namely obtrusive, distracting, and misleading ads horribly placed next to the content. The solution...small icons/logos placed strategically within the most popular features of a website. For example imagine the Pandora player without the huge half-page ads, and instead, only with one small coke bottle icon in the top left corner. The ad could even have a feature where if the cursor rolls over it, it expands to a small box to reveal a special offer, and then it collapses again once the cursor rolls away.

The benefits of this may not at first be obvious, but they arise with closer observation. The icons being placed within popular functions, like audio or video players, give the ads more visibility, because the areas housing them will not be avoided. Secondly, the icons actually serve a purpose to the consumer as well, in allowing them to get their favorite content for free. The goal would be for companies to link up directly with the most popular content creators, at a scalable price range dependent on hits, so that eventually those companies develop substantial credibility with an artist's fans, for sponsoring their potential customer's favorite content. This could be a smart long-term move for many brands out there in the future. It would also be optimal if the platform which supported this model would take the minimum fixed rate for the services of implementing and placing the ads, and pass on the bulk of the revenue to the true value creators.

This system legitimately fixes the problem of file sharing being detrimental to the artist's careers and the content's quality and safety. Instead of an artist releasing their music for sale, it getting sold once before it appears on a torrent site, and the artist losing track of how many times, how and when their fans listen to their music (not to mention money), they can choose to give their music away for free as a full quality secure download, and then can not only track when their song is played or shared, but they can track things like visits to their merchandise store, profile views, video views, live streaming performance views, ect, all closely linked to the music download, and they can record these numbers to negotiate for advertising revenue once a fair peak in popularity is reached. These revenues, in addition to merchandise sales, ticket sales for both on and offline shows, and the possible sale of sample components from an artist's songs, gives independent artists a whole new batch of revenue streams, waiting to be tapped and exploited.

So you may think that's it...all problems solved...Well, not yet. The other problem artists will have in order for this system to truly work is promoting their music. How do they distinguish themselves amongst the barrage of artists which consumers will have access to? The answer comes from a bit of creative thinking and information fusion. It's a mix between a social network and a discovery engine. For those that don't know, a discovery engine is a tool that finds relative content for a user, based on certain criteria that the user enters, such as tags or blog categories. Good examples in this case would be Pandora and Twitter. Both are discovery engines, and both make their user's lives easier by (supposedly) bringing the users to the content they want. However, especially with Pandora, these systems can be flawed. Depending on the type of input the user gives, and the way the site processes it, results can vary heavily. For independent artists, the solution must go beyond entering just a favorite artist or a genre. These criteria are far too limiting. Even with Twitter, the results you get are dependent on the people that you follow. You must make sure you follow only people that you feel you can trust for credible content. For music, there must be a system, similar to Twitter, where I can follow people that I share a taste in music with (friends, favorite artists, ect.) and any music that is in their playlists will automatically get sent to my radio player, at random, or to my specifications. I should be able to create different radios and assign different friend's playlists to each one, assign genre limits on individual playlists, and decide which playlists I want to give priority, and by how much. This takes the concept of song recommendation and uses social influences to filter the content, rather than using the physical properties of the content itself. After all, the content is better defined by its meaning to society, rather than by its physical attributes.

The real beauty in this system is that it saves me from a lot of unnecessary filtering and searching myself. If my best friend liked a song enough to put it in his playlist, then I am certain that I will like it too. Also, if I like a song enough to put it into my playlist, anybody who is following me will automatically get introduced to the song as well. For good music, this makes its spread amazingly automatic and viral. Also I would not be bound to one genre per radio, or one particular sound all together. It allows the variable nature of our lives to be reflected in the radios we listen to. Speaking of which, this system resembles very much the principles of Mother Nature, ie "only the strong survive." This social spread of the music also mimics the role of bees when pollinating flowers, spreading the lifeblood of the industry to all that will enjoy its fruits. It's because of these side effects that lead me to make the conclusion that this is simply the best system we could possibly hope for.

One of the most incredible things about the Internet is how easily adaptable it is, and it's ability to integrate innovations extremely quickly. It will take nothing more to complete the transition than for a website with these features to simply go live and market itself correctly, in order for these changes and benefits to be realized. I am very happy and proud to say now that a website with these systems is going to be in beta very soon. It is called Beat-Play and I am the Founder and President. I'm also 21 years old and a college dropout/independent artist myself; so I have all the proper credentials necessary to really make this thing work, besides an extremely dedicated and inspired staff of trained professionals and some amazingly cool sponsors. Release is scheduled for March/April 2010. It will basically be an empty store when we launch, but we already have the support of over 200 independent artists from all over the world, thanks to our promotional site http://MusicWithoutLabels.com. Anyone can sign up to beta test there, and we will contact you as soon as the beta is live.

These are exciting times for Internet users, and independent artists, like myself. It's far due time we make our lives easier by building comprehensive tools that solve our biggest problems. Remember, for every problem you see, you're also staring the solution right in the face, whether you know it or not. With the Internet, we can implement the changes we need with incredible speed. Get ready for an amazing journey towards a better and brighter future; it's literally just around the corner.

Written by: Dante Cullari - Founder & President Beat-Play, LLC

So as I'm sure you have heard, BMI has filed a lawsuit against a small Idaho sports bar for neglecting to pay licenses for playing songs specifically by major label contractee Taylor Swift. It never fails to amaze me how licensing companies like BMI, ASCAP and SEASAC don't hesitate at a chance to sue considerably smaller establishments for lack of "proper licenses." What is more shocking though, is the fact that though Taylor Swift is named as a plaintiff in the suit, she technically will have no say in the proceedings and probably won't even be present for any hearings. BMI will control all aspects of this case, seeing as they pay substantially for full-time teams of impenetrable lawyers, just for such an occasion. It is also worth noting that WHEN BMI either wins the suit in court or as a result of a settlement, Taylor Swift will directly receive no monies whatsoever.

The reason these cases are NEVER lost by these titans of trickery is because they stand behind one of the oldest and most well established laws of our time: Copyright Law. For a judge to throw out this case would be the equivalent of throwing out the whole almost 100 year old law all together, in terms of setting precedent, and this simply won't happen. Unfortunately these companies are also well aware of this fact, and they tend to use this weight to throw at anyone they please.

So why do they stoop to suing small bars and retail stores in small inconsequential markets who are simply trying to supply their customers with an enjoyable atmosphere? Because they can, so they do. Remember this behavior when considering signing up with one of these companies, and let it serve as a warning to stay away. They use the payments they receive from their contractees to pay these lawyers, then sue on the behalf of a particular contractee, using even their name in the case, and then claim any monies received as a result for themselves. Does it sound like their best interests are protecting their client's copyrights, or do they seem motivated by other, more lucrative proceedings. Unfortunately the 3 major companies occupying this market all are set up almost identically despite small insignificant differences in some policies. It turns out these companies are almost completely useless for any artist that is not at least nationally known, despite their high rate of independent artist contract renewals. Even many major artists have complained about not getting paid royalties for all of their on air appearances or performances, claiming their music was aired far more times than what they were compensated for. It seems they exist merely for the privilege of acting as an initial filter of any money that would be directed toward an artist for use of their work, while hiding behind the facade of nobly protecting the artist's rights.

The key word of 2010 for independent artists need be "Patience!" These are problems that have been around for years and years, and despite the drastic changes the industry has seen, these problems and their initiators still seem to be up to the same old tricks. However with the realization of the potential of the internet on the industry, possibilities for new organizations and independent bonds are greatly increased and alternatives will begin to appear as soon as the middle of 2010. Keep your ear to the ground for those alternatives, I can assure you, they are coming. But until then, just focus on making good music! It should come as no surprise that this is what will matter most in the end after all.

Written By: Dante Cullari - Founder & President Beat-Play, LLC

Give us some background. Where are you from originally, where are you now, how did you get there?

I am originally from Long Island, NY.  I am now living in Georgetown, MA.  After high school, I received a Vocal Scholarship to Rollins College in Winter Park, FL.  After graduating from Rollins, I then continued my life in Mansfield, Texas. Texas and I didn't mix, so I moved to Los Angeles to pursue my dream of getting discovered as an artist.  I lived in L.A. for 8 years performing, writing / co-writing and teaching.  I made countless connections and played a great amount of shows.  I had my own funk band that made everyone dance all night when we played!  The changing of times and goals moved me out of L.A. into Massachusetts this past October.  I thought that being a big fish in a smaller pond would help things, and it has. 

What Genre would you classify yourself as?

I would classify my music as Funky Pop.

What is it that drove you to pursue a career in music, along with what drives you individually as a musician?

I have always been in front of crowds singing and performing, and I am extremely comfortable in that setting, and love it.  When I started writing music, I realized that it was what I was "supposed to be doing"!

What struggles have you faced with having your music heard and getting your name recognized by outside markets? 

I think that I have gotten more positive feedback rather than bad but it seems that the higher ups, that could make my music heard WORLD WIDE, don't want to take a chance on something new and different even though it's good.  

What kinds of things do you do to promote yourself? 

Performing live shows as much as possible while promoting online via Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, Imeam and email Blast lists.  I’ve also recently joined the New England Songwriters guild.  

Is there a predominant message you hope to get across in your songs?  

I preach the law of attraction, visualizing what you want and bringing it to your self through this law.  I also write about LOVE a lot because I am very fortunate to have found it.  Six out of the eleven tracks on my album VISUALIZE ('09) are about the love of my life.

What are your thoughts on the future of the music industry and where it’s going?

I know it will be harder for us musicians to get noticed, but I think that if you want it bad enough, and are good enough, YOU WILL SHINE THROUGH.  Music is needed in this crazy world and I can't think of anything I would rather do than write music to make people feel better, or DANCE!

Are you currently unsigned, and do you plan on staying independent?

I had been signed by GoDigital Media Group, based out of Santa Monica, CA.  They put my album online ONLY, on about 8 online music stores. (iTUNES, Napster, Amazon mp3, Aimey Street, Rhapsody... etc.)  This group has done very little else besides putting my songs online.  Virtually NO promotion.  The songs are online but won't sell because I don't know how to promote!  I am not really with them anymore since I moved, but my songs are still online represented by them.

What are your reasons for being an independent artist?

Mainly because there was no label interest.  

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Billy Joel, Michael Jackson.

Do you ever feel that people will be missing out on your music because you are not signed to a major record label?

ABSOLUTELY.  All I want to do is be heard, and do it for a living.  I don't need "Bling"!

Your art can be very experimental. Do you ever wish there was an easier way to access the music you sample from, or wish that you had access to a huge library of undiscovered music, which is updated everyday by itself?

I don't sample music but a huge library of music would be nice.

What would you say if I told you that there’s a new force in Independent Music that will give you all of the power of the Major Labels and more, while at the same time giving you complete control over all aspects of your musical career, and you will never have to sign a thing? 

Sounds too good to be true!

And you would have access to the worlds first ever audio component auction, where pieces of songs are sold off at auction prices to be repurposed in other songs.  What kind of impact do you think that would have on your music?

It could be very interesting.

The only catch is you have to choose to use it to your benefit, or not.

It’s called Beat-Play.

There has recently been talk of iTunes’ potential purchase of the music streaming website, lala.com. Currently iTunes is using the old model of paying for songs individually rather than buying entire albums. From this initial model, which iTunes had perfected, LaLa came along with a similar idea, with lower prices for the individual songs. Along with the purchasing of music, LaLa offers a streaming system in which you can listen to a song at anytime for the cost of 10 cents a song.

Currently this is all iTunes has to go for right now, being as their model has become outdated. They need something to keep them at the top of the music industry, so it’s understandable to see this being a potential investment.

The main issue lies within the model itself. There is not enough change being brought the table here. Beat-Play will dominate this model, offering more to the artists and fans through free promotion, social network media player, free online auction, and virtual estore. This will be the change that everyone had been searching for, where you will then be able to purchase your music for an extremely low price because the artists will also be receiving a piece of the ad-revenue based on the traffic to their page on Beat-Play. Upon the release of the site we will gladly welcome all of you to THE FUTURE OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY.

Founder and President of Music Without Labels, Dante Cullari, has been blessed with the pleasure to speak at this year’s Independent Music Conference in Northampton this Saturday at the Clarion Hotel in Northampton, MA, in which, he will be one of a select expert group of panelists, mentors, and workshop presenters, gathered to discuss empowering ideas for indie musicians to achieve success. The four day long IMC, offers many influential opportunities for independent artists, thanks to the educational and internetworking platform provided by the event’s coordinator, InterMixx.

            Featured panelist, Dante Cullari, has been invited to discuss the underlying issues within the current music industry, while providing clear and insightful solutions to its impending transformation. Along with the ideas, Mr. Cullari has founded Music Without Labels to provide an effective, yet free, promotional outlet to the musicians experiencing the repercussion exerted by the current industry. Mr. Cullari states, “Artists should take advantage of the real promotional opportunities the Internet provides, in an effective way,” and suggests several tools to do so – INDEPENDENTLY.

            The Independent Music Conference is known for offering a resourcefully valuable learning experience for producers, musicians, industry professionals, students, and a dedicated online fan base of over 7000 supporters. Music Without Labels serves as an educational platform to discuss the issues, share, the solutions, and promote the organic evolution of the music industry.

COME OUT AND SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!

            For additional information and/or tickets to the IMC, please contact them at 203.606.4649, or visit www.imc09.com. For further information on MWL, catch them at www.musicwithoutlabels.com, or call 717.412.0341.

Every independent artist in today’s music business has the same question. When will the right person hear my music? The problem with this way of thinking is the fact that you have now set your focus on pleasing someone that could ‘potentially’ help you out, rather than focusing on the creation and production of new music. Musicians are supposed to create new music to stimulate the fans interest, but in today’s market every band and record label has the focus set towards publicizing the already created music.

If fans want to hear the old music you had made then they will obviously go back and do that based on a song they had enjoyed of yours. Too much time and money is put into the promotion of music these days that you only see new music from a band maybe twice a year if you’re lucky. What the artists need to realize is that they will make more money, create a larger backing, and promotion becomes free through the fan base.

Here at Music Without Labels, we offer that same FREE promotion idea discussed to help the artist get their name out there so fans buy the music. With Beat-Play comes the first social network radio, in which users will login, activating the radio. Each user will have their own playlist where the friends that they make on Beat-Play will pull new music from to play on their radios. With this, the user has the ability to hear a new song every time you hit next. Once you hear something you like, you then save it to your playlist, to help spread the music. The radio system truly is a great innovation to the business of music promotion, all free.

With a model like this, it is proven that all the artists will need to do is create new music to spread on the site. This will give the artists more traffic on their site for ad revenue along with the ability to sell their music. Once it is on the site, the rest is up to Beat-Play, allowing the musicians to be musicians. Then, finally pull in the amount of money that is being made off their music, rather than having it taken from them because of promotional costs made by the labels.

Keep Makin’ Music

By: Mark G. Valente

www.musicwithoutlabels.com