By Milliea Taylor McKinney

In the ever changing world of merry-go-round ups and downs in the music industry, you will often find many artists living in the world of yesteryear. These are known in the industry as the wannabes that “never are,” because they fail to accept the fact music and the industry has changed.

Hello, I am Milliea Taylor McKinney, professional award-winning songwriter and music professional entrepreneur. Having been in the industry for many years, I have seen and worked directly with successful Grammy, Multi-Platinum labeled artists. I have also worked with professional award-winning promoters, tour managers, and CEOs of record labels who have struggled with the most important aspect of the music industry – staying fresh, current, in demand, and in the news.

Serving in every facet of the industry, I am here to personally tell you the facts about music and what to expect while you journey on the ride of your life, IF you have what it takes to be among the true professionals in the music industry.

Filtering your every move and keeping your fans well informed is a vital part of solidifying your foundation as you build a career and a stage on which to perform.

Musik and Film recognizes the needs of artists and are here to lend their experience, knowledge, and guidance as many of us have traveled and learned from the best in the industry.  So you the artist can stay ahead of the music industry and be more than prepared when and should you get that 15 minutes of fame.

When the curtains rise and you stand on the stage, you have less than two minutes to grab your audience and win them over. In reality you have even less time to impress someone in the industry that may have the ability to open a door for your career.

You get very few chances, if any, in this industry, so make them count!

No longer will you find record labels that give you the red carpet treatment, pick up your tab, and fulfill your every desire in order to acquire your signature on a record contract. Those days are long gone. If you are a serious artist that believes in your talent then you must invest in yourself and in your career – not much different than going to college for a degree to secure your future.

Today you must secure your future in the music business by investing in the necessities for success in the industry that will build your reputation and increase exposure. You will undoubtedly need to show off your talent to reap the rewards of fame, fortune, and accomplishment.

The music industry is very competitive and takes no favorites – only the very best. Success is evident in a popular artist with a large fanbase and high ticket sales. If you can accomplish this, you will reap the rewards of music opportunity.

So you want to be a rock star, but do you have what it takes? And are you willing to pay the price?

If your answer is “yes” then get pumped. And get ready to make music that not only sounds good but sells even better. In doing so you will find that you are more likely to be received by those in the industry, and you will be taken more seriously by those that truly matter and can make a difference in determining your success. If you have the essential resources in promoting your name and your artistry, you can achieve your goals.

So put on your seat belt and get ready for the ride of a lifetime where bright lights, music, and fast-paced adventure opens the door to opportunity and experience as you live, learn, and experience music in the fast lane.

Not everyone has what it takes. But know this: There are many extremely gifted and talented artists out there, but talent is only half the climb. The other half results from your investment in yourself and your goals.

The Indie artist today can  know that  the staff at Musik and Film are more than prepared and willing to help you achieve the recognition you deserve in being the next rising star.

 
Musik and Film and its associated labels Cinderella, Out of the Box, and Musik and Film Records have been proactive in changing with the times in the world of music. We have the best distribution obtainable on the planet through Sony and Universal. We have developed our own radio software for digital delivery to thousands of radio stations all over the world. We have our own in house publicist with a proven 30-year track record. We can get your music heard. But it is now up to the Indie artist to bear those costs associated with publicity and promotion. Industry experts agree:

MediaShift’s Jason Feinberg writes, “The bank is broken, and until investing in an artist’s career is proven to be a profitable endeavor, it will be difficult for any artist to find a benefactor to fund the labor necessary to push an artist beyond their sphere of friends and into a larger network.”

Steve Guttenberg of CNET says, “The big labels are signing fewer and fewer new bands, and I’m predicting that by 2012 they’ll exist just to license their back catalogs. There will just be a smattering of small to midsize Indie labels; established artists will roll their own and self-promote their music.”

All About Jazz’s B.J. Jansen poetically states, “We all realize that the traditional record label model is as obsolete as a typewriter.”

Whether we like it or not, the days of a record label offering to pay for an Indie artist’s development and promotion are over, but please don’t take our word for it, we have done our research – we encourage you – the artist- to do yours as well.

 
A dose of saracasm, realism, cynicism and a lotta’ Rock n’ Roll. Stephen Wrench featuring guests from Lynyrd Skynyrd.

 
Have you ever skinny dipped in a cow trough? One can’t stop grinning through David Cooler’s “Country To The Bone”! Enjoy!

David Cooler writes, “My music spans several genres and my ‘stories’ churn out a soulful southern rock music mix which has a country, R&B and bluesy style. My music is a form of self-expression and communication, not style. It flows from within.”

“I would have to say that my family has been my biggest influence or inspiration, particularly my mother. For anyone that really knows me, it would not surprise them much. This is because I am not unlike many other country boys who are themselves because of where they came from — I am a self proclaimed ‘mama’s boy’. Yep that’s right, I admitted it and with no reservation!”

To find out more about David Cooler’s music please visit http://www.davidcoolermusic.com/

“With her debut album ‘Winter Trees’ gaining industry attention for its strong melodies and contemplative lyrics, some are wondering what’s next for this up-and-coming Indie songstress. We caught up with Debby Clinkenbeard at New Wine Sound Studios in Southern California while working on her second release, Valley, Wind and Sea.”

Read the full up close and personal interview at All Access Magazine.

Mathew Sydney of Blog Talk Radio introduces listeners to the hottest independent music. Recently he interviewed Musik and Film’s “magical, mystical strains of” Psychedelic Mist! You can listen to this great interview at the link below:

Link

“The un-forgiven please stand up, with the hate in your eyes.
Tell the whole world who you are with no compromise.” – NAH From Heroes To Angels

Cinderella Records signs enigmatic power band “Never A Hero” to a worldwide distribution deal and prepares for mass invasion!

Like a Vietnam Vet suffering Post-Traumatic Stress disorder in the middle of a too close helicopter fly over induced flashback, ‘Never a Hero’ blasts through the foggy haze of your self-induced digital world coma and rocks your brain sideways against your skull. You jolt from your softly cushy office standard issue chair and grab the frame of your laptop. Five masked figures scream through your screen, unloading rapid fire rhythms into your chest and jolting your slumbering arse from its hollow. This Suffolk, England band intrigues the first-time viewer with the odd almost gruesome masks and straight jacket wardrobe, but enthralls the listener with the exceptional musicianship and licentious response it evokes. Welding Rap to Rock and soldering that amalgam onto an Alternative platform, “Never A Hero” creates a unique sound and cuts a distinct style.

“Never A Hero” is composed of five sharply talented members whose names are as unique as the band they comprise. The band line up is Phrixus/Lead Vocals, Mickey Thin Vocals/Guitar, Kaji Lead Guitar, KB Vocals/Bass and Daisy Lai on Drums/Samples. The band formed in 2009 when members from two local bands merged together with the vision of writing something entirely different than their usual styles. In 2010 the band recorded their debut EP Socially Awkward at Outhouse Studios in Reading – UK. 2011 kicked off with the production of their second video for the single Trippin’On Speed , and a contract for their first headlining tour in the UK with legendary band Wolfsbane. The bands video has passed 1 Million plays on MySpace and has over 10,000 fans on Facebook and Twitter.

With the ink barely dry on the contract with Cinderella Records, “Never A Hero” totters on the edge of what is undoubtedly the defining moment that history will adduce “the beginning of it all”. The hunger, drive, talent, ambition, passion, voice and spirit of this band leaves no doubt about their dreams of mega stardom and following their own words, “What you get is what you earn” (From Heroes To Angels) we can assume they will all come true.  -Andrea Adams

I have seen a lot over the last 40 years being involved in the music business. I remember the days of one genre of rock in which you could hear Jimi Hendrix played on the same radio station as James Taylor. If it was good music they played it. These were the days of vinyl records. Then came 8-track tapes, then cassette tapes, and then CDs. Along with all of these changes came the creation of so many genres and subgenres that today’s artists are often confused about where they fit. Then came the radio monster conglomerates which will only play major artists and want to be paid for that.

I remember the day when artists created music they felt compelled to create and didn’t care if it fit a genre or not. Then the day came when artists began to change their music to make it more palatable to major labels. I also remember the day of the first digital release, ridiculed by labels as a fad. Well the joke is on the labels. It is not a fad and has taken over the music industry. It was a world where the Indie artist was on an even playing field with the major labels. The majors realized this and came up with free streaming to level the playing field.  But will anyone know it’s there or buy it? Or will they just listen for free.

The major label machine did accomplish one thing for artists — if an artist was lucky enough to sign with a major label they could make him a household name. Those days are all but over . Major labels are taking huge financial losses and some like EMI are even falling to bankruptcy.

So where does this leave the aspiring indie artist? With a dream and a desire.

Recently my promotions company,Musik Radio Promotions, pitched an artist for a major label deal. What came back from the label was “we will put in 400K if the artist puts in 400K. Oh, we also need them to have 500,000 YouTube hits, 500,000 fanbase on their social media for us to consider a deal with them.”

The sooner that indie artists realize that they are on their own in this world of 360 deals and pay-to-play radio, the better off they will be. There will be no major label knocking on your door offering riches and fame just because you’re good. If you are good you better be very smart and be savvy in business and the art of promotion if you want to succeed in the new world of being an independent artist. The music business is changing so fast not even the majors have a clue how to rein in success without financial failure.

 The days of making superstars are over. Before the 20th century if you were a musician you had to be an entertainer. At best you accepted that this was your lot and trade in life. You traveled the world seeking your next performance. If you were good you made a decent living and were happy because you did what was in your heart and soul for a living.

Today the indie artist better wake up and realize that there will be no talent scout riding into one of their gigs on a white horse to discover and rescue them from the maze of talent out there. The only one who will discover them is themselves. Once the indie artist realizes they are on their own, they can formulate a plan of success. Besides making high quality music, that plan has to include hard work on a good website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube videos, and as much networking as possible. When I say work I mean daily hard work to obtain a larger fan base. Then the artist needs to find a really good promotion and distribution company. The artist hopefully can find a strong indie label with all the above and hopefully the indie label will have world radio contacts and be able help with an effective campaign.

Yes there are a lot of radio promotion companies out there that will charge a minimum of $2500 for a 350-station college radio campaign. But that will add up fast when you have to pay for college genre station promotions. What the indie needs is a record label that has their own radio promotion arm that is willing to split the costs of promotion with them. Yes, during these times the artist will at the very LEAST have to split promotion costs or die a slow death of their dream. There are labels springing up out there that do fit this bill. The artist needs to be savvy enough to realize what an opportunity this is for the artist rather than complain that they must pay for their own promotion. If you find a label that is willing to split the cost of promotion you better jump on that deal because Mr. Major Label’s white horse died of thirst in the desert and won’t be riding into your gig anytime soon.

Stephen Wrench, CEO, Musik and Film and Cinderella Records signs hard hitting Metal/Funk Band Bazerk to an exclusive world wide distribution deal.
“Hello America, yeah you know it’s me. Check one, one, one-two-three”… Bazerk, the South Central LA based caustic camp has jumped in with Cinderella Records and Musik and Film. This virulent group brilliantly blends rap, metal, and funk with lyrical melodies and tenacious rhythms. Their new album BIGGER THAN GODZILLA smacks the listener square in the face with infective tracks like Check This Out Ya’ll and Hello America. The underground Alt-Rock-Hip-Hop sound brings you back to the days of Public Enemy, In Living Color, Rage Against the Machine and Cypress Hill. Funk master George Clinton and Angelo of Fishbone chop up their own special flavor and toss it in to the tasty mix up of BIGGER THAN GODZILLA.

Frontman and creator Zookeynee’s skillful lyrical rap over Sablan and X’s funk heavy guitar, jammed up against Tes’ mad bottom bass and Shawn’s hard hitting drums make up this coarse urban mix. The band has performed all over the West Coast and has appeared on live radio shows at KPFK, KDAY, KTLH, KCRW, UCLA Radio and Extreme TV. Bazerk has shared the stage with the Black Eyed Peas, Fishbone, George Clinton, Ludacris, Robin Thicke, Bad Brains, One Side Zero, De La Soul, 1AD7, Bloodsugar, Year of the Dragon, Herbal Influence and Sleepy Brown.

Bazerk’s albums “I Heard Y’all Like Violence”, “Twisted Sick Mutha”, “Bazerk In Yo Mouth”, “America’s Illest” and “Hello America” are available at iTunes, Amazon and ReverbNation.

BIGGER THAN GODZILLA will also be promoted by Musik and Film’s radio division, Full Radio Promotions, to over 15,0000 radio stations for consideration for airplay.

To follow Bazerk go to http://www.reverbnation.com/bazerk7.