Frank Zappa on Music Industry Change
It's interesting to hear this innovative musician's views on the recording industry in light of what's happening now. Click Here

BETA RECORDS TO SIGN 100 INDIE ARTISTS IN 2008
BETA Records has announced a new generation of record deal which partners the company with the artist in a non-exclusive three song contract and plans to sign 100 artists in 2008. BETA will analyze and utilize listening behavior across its own fast-growing community database of 75,000 unsigned artists to find, sign, and develop the best 100+ acts over multiple genres throughout the year. BETA has already signed 5 acts with another 12 pending in genres ranging from metal to pop. http://www.betarecords.com

Summerfest 2008
Summerfest is the ultimate festival experience featuring 11 stages of live music from local, regional and national performers to nearly 1 million fans. There are 60 slots reserved for Sonicbids members and selected artists will be compensated for their performances. www.sonicbids.com/summerfest

Want to know how to get signed to a major label?
Interested in grabbing the attention of a record label A&R exec? Music Connection magazine spilled the beans in a recent issue. Bob Bakers latest Artist Empowerment Radio podcast reveals their secrets. Click Here

Some practical advice about your marketing materials from Jeri Goldstein. Click Here.

2008 USA Songwriting Competition is now accepting entries!
Winning songs will receive radio airplay in United States and Canada along with great prizes such as a Top Prize of over $50,000. Sponsors of the 2008 Competition are: New Music Weekly, Sony, Audio-Technica, Ibanez Guitars, D'Addario Strings, Sam Ash Music Stores, IK Multimedia, Mi7.com, Intellitouch Tuners, Shari's Berries, Indie Bible, LivewireMusician.com, AirplayAccess.com, Loggins Promotion, Superdups.com, Acoustic Café Radio Program, XM Radio, and Sonicbids.com. FREE Early entry bonus: first 1,000 entries will each receive a copy of the USA Songwriting Competition Winners Compilation CD just by entering! Please obtain the entry form at: http://www.songwriting.net/entryform.html

My Record Label
Free to sign up, free to upload songs and Artists make the most money from their 99 cent downloads because they set the price and we don't take a penny! Fan Base builder and Free HTML email campaigns directly from their profile, no matter how big their list is and as often as they want! Just import your CSV file. Free Music Videos when artists perform at My Record Label events and they can take the embed codes and use the videos on all of their promotional sites etc. There's absolutely no catch, My Record Label is 100% free to accepted artists!
http://www.myrecordlabel.net

Mark your calendar for June 20-22 in St. Louis, Missouri. That's when Bob Baker will present Indie Buzz Bootcamp, a life-changing, one-of-a-kind weekend event. Bob, Derek Sivers (of CD Baby), music publicist Ariel Hyatt, and other visionary speakers who will inspire you. Register to win tickets now at www.IndieBuzzBootcamp.com.

Become a Crucial Artist, and you too could hear your music in TV shows, and films like Eli Stone, Samantha Who?, Kyle XY, Greek, CSI, Weeds, Dexter, Reaper, Dirty Sexy Money, Moonlight, Ghost Whisperer, Cloverfield, Starship Dave, The Ruins and more! Crucial has access to the top music supervisors in town and our credits speak for themselves. Plus, you'll get the fairest non- exclusive deal in town, all revenue split 50/50 and you'll keep your copyrights. Visit http://www.crucialmusic.com for all deal points, and online music submissions.

Entering its fifth season on PBS, Roadtrip Nation is a documentary series featuring the summer journeys of 20-somethings as they roadtrip across America. Music has always played a key role in the films of Roadtrip Nation, and this year will be no exception. RTN is committed to supporting indie artists by exposing their music to wider audiences and showcasing it on the RTN website. They do not use major label music! This submission is for the second half of the season (episodes 7-12). Submission
deadline: February 22.
Roadtrip Nation website: http://www.roadtripnation.com/
Apply at Sonicbids: http://www.sonicbids.com

The Samsung Mobile Unsigned Battle of the Bands gives unsigned musicians everywhere a chance to win a spot on the bill for the upcoming Rockstar Get a Life Tour, hitting college campuses in Spring 2008, featuring The Used and Straylight Run, $7,500 in cash and more. Voting begins January 25 and ends March 2. http://www.samsungunsigned.com/

The John Lennon Songwriting Contest is an international songwriting contest that began in 1997 and is open to amateur and professional songwriters who submit entries in any one of 12 categories. The JLSC is open year-round and features two Sessions. Entries will be judged on originality, melody, composition, and lyrics. Submission categories: Rock, Country, Jazz, Pop, World, Rhythm & Blues, Hip Hop, Gospel/Inspirational, Latin, Electronic, Folk, and Children's. Instrumental compositions are encouraged. Submission deadline: June 15. http://www.jlsc.com/

Cool music industry event: March 12 - 16, South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Fest, Austin, TX, http://www.sxsw.com

THETRACKSHACK.COM - THE NEW MARKETPLACE TO BUY & SELL MUSIC
Make Your 2008 New Year's Resolution 'To Change The Way Your Label Sells Your Artist's Music' http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=106110

CD Baby’s Derek Sivers lets us in on a little secret… CD sales by indie artists are still growing. Click Here to find out more.

How much is music worth? Reflections on our evolving industry. Click Here to check it out.

MUSEXPO 2008 will unveil its best conference to date when it kicks off on April 27th through April 30th at the brand new Hyatt in West Hollywood, in the heart of the legendary Sunset Strip. With some of the world’s top music, media and technology executives already confirmed to participate, MUSEXPO 2008 will be a priceless education and networking event for executives and companies who want to be on the forefront of the new global music entertainment business. MUSEXPO will also showcase the crème de la crème of emerging global talent at Live Nation’s esteemed House of Blues on Sunset Blvd. For more information, log on to www.musexpo.net.

MerleFest 2008 - Chris Austin Songwriting Contest
The Chris Austin Songwriting Contest is an opportunity to have your songs heard by a panel of professional songwriters and industry professionals from the Nashville Music Community.www.sonicbids.com/chrisaustinsongcontest

This year’s Great Lakes Songwriting Contest marks the 5th year of this regional competition. The contest is open to artists in states and provinces that border the Great Lakes; these include Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Ontario, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The Grand Prize winner will receive $2,000 cash. There will be 11 prizes in all in 2008. All genres accepted. Submission deadline: April 25.
http://www.greatlakessongs.com/

This Day in Music

Jimi Hendrix was presented with a key to the city of Seattle in 1968. He also played a free show for students at Garfield High School. Later in the year Hendrix would release his only top 40 U.S. single, a remake of Bob Dylan’s, “All Along the Watchtower.” Jimi left Seattle when he was 14, to become a musician, but wasn’t accepted on American soil until he toured the U.K. in 1966 and 1967.

Dreamboat Annie peaked at number 36 on the U.K. albums chart in 1977. The previous year, Heart’s debut album made it to number 7 in the U.S., on the strength of the excellent singles, “Crazy On You,” “Magic Man” and the title track. The group was originally based in Seattle, but moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, so that manager / sound engineer / boyfriend Mike Fisher wouldn’t be drafted. Heart soon signed with CBS Records, thereby entering into a legal dispute over their follow-up album, Magazine. In the meantime, they issued Little Queen and the hit single, “Barracuda.”

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins recorded “I Put a Spell On You” in 1956. It was also covered by such bands as CCR, Manfred Mann and The Animals. Hawkins originally tried opera, but didn’t have any luck. Later on, his solo stage shows became quite theatrical, with Screamin’ Jay arising from a coffin, thanks to Alan Freed and the $300 that went along with the suggestion during one of Freed’s Rock and Roll Shows. Hawkins would return to the coffin permanently exactly 44 years later when he died from complications following surgery. Shortly after his death, a web site at www.jayskids.com went up in hopes of tracking down his 57 offspring, only one of whom was in regular contact with Hawkins.