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David Codr of www.musicpage.com

If you are like me, you're tired of hearing how bad the economy is. But there's a silver lining to the bad economy for musicians and songwriters. A way to get paid while getting a ton of free exposure for your band.

For years, motion pictures and television shows have paid big bucks to major label artists to license their music. These studios pay major label acts tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to license their songs to use in films and TV shows.

But when the economy hit the proverbial crapper, many of the studios started to look for ways to cut their costs. They quickly realized that they could save thousands of dollars by using independent music instead of the songs from major label acts.

Since independent artists don't have the CD sales, radio plays or name recognition of the majors, the studios found they could license great music that hadn't gone mainstream for $2,000 - $10,000 a track

Its a win-win for everyone. The studios save hundreds of thousands of dollars. The independent artists are happy to get a few grand to use their song, plus they get the exposure of having their song in a major motion picture or television show.

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There is an ever-increasing presence of technology in our daily activities, particularly through use of smart phones. According to Neilson, at least half of U.S. consumers are now using smartphones, and the proof is in the 'profile': 3 billion 'Likes' are doled out on Facebook every day, Twitter posts one billion tweets every 3 days and several hundred million photos are shared throughout the vast social media spectrum.

A live event can really capitalize on this interactive growth by combining the actual event with an ongoing online presence. A new study by Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project for the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts found that digital and social media greatly impact the way cultural events are experienced. The more interactive the event can be with its attendees, the better. It makes sense as people desire to be 'in the know' with up-to-date info, and event planners are taking notice.

Read more and find an app offer from gyde.ly and FNOhere!

1. You need at least two weeks to advertise. Use different color flyers with different ads for the same event. Use original artwork and be creative. Be brief: Too much information is bad information in modern advertising.

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Kevin Kelly

The fan base 'long tail' is famously good news for two classes of people; a few lucky aggregators, such as Amazon and Netflix, and 6 billion consumers. Of those two, I think consumers earn the greater reward from the wealth hidden in infinite niches.

But the long tail is a decidedly mixed blessing for creators. Individual artists, producers, inventors and makers are overlooked in the equation. The long tail does not raise the sales of creators much, but it does add massive competition and endless downward pressure on prices. Unless artists become a large aggregator of other artist's works, the long tail offers no path out of the quiet doldrums of minuscule sales.

Other than aim for a blockbuster hit, what can an artist do to escape the long tail?

One solution is to find 1,000 True Fans. While some artists have discovered this path without calling it that, I think it is worth trying to formalize. The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:

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Sheena Metal

It's the dream of many a musician to open up for either: their favorite band or the favorite band of their childhood. For many, the ultimate in true rock star status is to share a stage with the musicians who made you want to play music in the first place.. to see you name in lights (or printed on a flyer, as the case may be) with the guys (or gals) whose music you listen to almost as much as (if not more than) your own.

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Let's take it from the top.

The decision of what the right show is becomes a battle in itself. Committees, fair & festival boards, corporate meeting planners, and marketing departments generally end up with this task. Of course, everyone is an expert in telling others what they think is best and what they like, as it should be. After all, they do know what they like and they should know what is best if given the responsibility of finding talent. The idea of knowing exactly what the right show is, staying in budget, securing the right production, filling the contract and rider requirements, promotion, ticketing, building rental, insurance, etc., is a breeze. After all, 80 to 90% of these folks do this once a year or even less. To think that an event would have to pay someone, or there is money on top of what the artist gets, is a tough thing to take in today's performance fees.

Before we get any further down the road let me use the term "middle agent." Who in the world is this guy or girl and why do I need this person? First of all, I don't know that you do. The choice is certainly up to the decision maker. Those of us who have had to make a living out here seek to serve and I hope honestly represent the best interest of the decision maker, as we affectionately refer to as buyer. After all it's your money we are striving to get the best value for. Here are some caught thoughts for your consideration, and some things I have learned in my tenure as buying talent and servicing shows on behalf several different events. If you are comfortable with what show to buy and where to get it and confident of the cost... go for it. If not, consult a talent buyer, yes, middle agent; after all, it's what we do. We are plugged into the necessary sources and can get there very quick with the pertinent information.

When cost and web information became assessable on the internet, the consensus was, "Well, nobody is going to need any help with buying shows now." As it turns out, there is no replacement for relevant experience and expertise. As you are probably reading this now on the internet, just take a little trip when you are done and go to http://www.radioandrecords.com/RRWebSite. Go to the charts and just take a look at how diversified the genres have become. In the old days, we had two kinds of music: rock and roll - just kidding. If you are seeking someone to help you get a show, and they have no idea of what you are looking for, they are not the right source.

If you think all you have to do is gather a few exhibits, buy some entertainment, advertise what is going to happen... and the folks will bang down your door!

WRONG! It's not that easy!

First off, today's leisure-time market has more options with entertainment than "Carter has liver pills." There are virtually dozens of events every weekend in Anytown, USA, tugging at your customer's jacket. You have to fight sports on TV, Sunday shopping hours, the kids' soccer games, and discount movies.

You need to razzle-dazzle them and promise 'em the silver cup or else you're just another ho-hum event. The only foreseeable problem is: If you don't deliver the glitz and the silver cup, you might as well pack up and become "another thing of the past."

Have you been reading the trades lately? I'm sure you'll agree, events are changing. More commercialism. Festivals are now after the 30+ demographics, and motion picture producers are going for the 14- to 26-year-old.

1. Hire the Right People. Successfully staffing your concession business starts with finding and hiring the right people for the job. Honesty and reliability are the first qualities we look for in a concession worker. A worker who also learns quickly and can multi-task is much better. If they are also friendly, outgoing, and energetic they are ideal. Perhaps, equally important; because the success of a food concession business depends on maximizing sales during peak sales times a worker must be able to work quickly and competently, while confidently managing hordes of impatient, hungry customers.

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All crafters hate reading these words in the top of an email from a craft fair they've been dying to get into. It really sucks, especially when you are trying to plan a craft fair schedule or you know it's a cool event and just really want to be part of it! What usually follows that regrettable sentence is a polite decline of your application, and some encouraging words that make you want to barf. Since it's that time of year where acceptance/decline emails are going out for some of the spring shows (in fact, I've already received a few non- acceptances for spring myself!), I thought I would share some of my thoughts on what to do when you get declined from a craft show.

What to do:

1. Remember that those who are running a craft fair might be looking at hundreds or even thousands of really great businesses, and at some point they will have to turn down applicants that are really great, just because of space. They simply have to accept some and have to decline some. They also have to offer a variety of different crafts for their event, so some really talented purse designers, for example, might be declined just because there happen to be lots of equally great purse designers entering that year.

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