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Hi everyone, just popping in today with a quick video that’ll start your mind racing with all sorts of approaches you can use to snag your first radio job this week. No kidding, watch the vid and get movin’!

Here are the links mentioned in this video:

Clear Channel’s station search tool. Good if you know the call letters, otherwise, not so good!

Wikipedia list of seemingly every Clear Channel Station by state

Knock ‘em dead, and I’ll see you at the meet and greet!

Cheers,
Doc

Since the Internet is rather timeless, I’m not entirely big on making my link roundup one that only features news from last week. After all, there is a lot of stuff that is “old” and still “new” to you and me, so it’s still worth covering in my book.

So, think of my round up, if you will, as a “news worth reading” section as opposed to just what’s happening in the blogosphere this week. After all, I don’t even really watch the news, and I’m not in possession of enough time or desire to surf all day long either.

Here are some chunks worth digesting from my side of the desk:

Money magazine has a nice little story about how to go about landing yourself an internship in today’s wacky economy. Seems they think it’s” Hard to find a job, but not an internship

Here is a cool little story from a few year’s back that’ll whet your appetite if you’re a musician, but not in a band, and don’t want to be in a band, or American Idol, or America’s Got Talent, or whatever other stupid-ass reality show is on TV this week. eMusician’s “Jingles All the Way”, will show you one way you can turn your talent into a career as an advertising jingle-maker. Please turn off your TV.

Those of you who know have picked up a copy of my book, know all about campus reps and how getting a job as a campus rep can open the door to the music industry for you, like no other. For those who haven’t yet read it and are looking for a primer on the best job to have while a college student, check out: “Life as a campus rep” from the Daily Stanford.

If you’re considering a career in entertainment and are not yet aware of the fact that many people brandish some really sharp daggers behind their backstage pass laminates, you should start to read up on reality. The music and film industry is populated with extremely vocal people who care deeply about their positions on issues relevant to them, and one such hot topic of the past ten years has been the rise of Clear Channel. Bill Wyman, former Arts editor at Salon, tosses his dagger into the mix this week on his Hitsville site, and it ain’t pretty. Wyman’s post addresses what he sees as a few of the firm’s shortfalls in his essay related to two new books about the mega entertainment business that is Clear Channel in his article: “More evidence that Clear Channel is the worst company in America.” Read it, do your research and form your own opinion. Clear Channel seems to boil the blood of a lot of people both in and outside the industry, and while they have their proponents, they’re certainly more criticized than revered. However, whether we like it or not, Clear Channel is a big force in the industry, and recognizing this fact will aid you greatly as you move forward in your career.

For even more fun, check out the insanely vulgar “Three pandering sluts and their music press stooge” response from producer Steve Albini to a Wyman article that appeared in the Chicago Reader back in 1994. Definitely NSFW, but a hilarous diatribe none-the-less.

The One of my favorite writers on the music industry is Bob Lefsetz. And while I don’t always agree with him, I learn something from him every week. His commentary is crisp and witty, quite controversial, and seriously laced with profanities. A music business dream. I didn’t know he was writing posts for the Yahoo! Music Blog site, and stumbled upon this one today that I thought was a great read. It’s profanity-free so it doesn’t get a NSFW label, so please do read “Saving the Music Business,” and thank Bob for the advice!

For more of Bob Lefsetz’ stuff check out The Lefsetz Letter

Have a brilliant weekend, enjoy it if you’re already in it, and hope
you had a great time if you’re already out of it! Cheers, Doc

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John Mellencamp — “My Sweet Love”

Swing those hips baby, its John Mellencamp, swaying the house with this great track from his new album “Life, Death, Love and Freedom” Backing vocals are courtesy of Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild. I would swear that’s Kurt Neumann from BoDeans on guitar. Great song. Nuff Said. I love Mellencamp.

Pick it up wherever you buy your records, cds, itunes, etc. these days.

Three things you need to know about this record and John as an entertainment career wannabe:

1. He’s a legend.
2. He’s a legend. (that’s not a typo)
3. He’s working with Steven King on a Southern Gothic musical, that’s right. . .musical to debut in April of next year in Atlanta. The name? “The Ghost Brothers of Darkland County”

Album facts you should know:

Most likely to be heard on the following radio formats:

AAA
Americana
Rock
Adult Hot A/C

Album drops July 15, 2008

Visit John Mellencamp online at his official site
Request the song at: Radio Locator

Like the John Mellencamp “My Sweet Love” video? Download the single today from iTunes!

You bet your Casey-Kasem, Rick-Dees lovin’ asses it is.

Without a doubt, radio is still is among one of the more powerful mediums for introducing the majority of people throughout the world (don’t forget media exists outside the US, folks), to new music, news about musicians and bands on tours, and general entertainment industry revelry. Its almost always free, and accessible just about everywhere humans tend to populate.

(Heck, even my phone, a Sony Ericsson, is a phone/walkman. So, I can get radio on my cell phone, and I didn’t have to pay a friggin’ dime more for the privilege, unlike other carriers who offer a fancy download plan that, in my opinion, just serves to add yet another monthly bill to your cash outlay.)

Despite all those that claim radio is as dead as they claim the entire music industry to be, radio is very much alive and well. It’s different, of course, than it was ten years ago, but it’s still there, and I can’t forsee it disappearing any time soon.

Too often, people mistake change for obsolescence. The type of radio that existed at its inception is a completely different beast than radio as we know it today, and I suspect, the fascinating developments in music, radio, the concert business and everything else affected by the maturation of technology and culture that gets everyone so excited, will no doubt be bandied about as “dead” in another few decades as well. Actually, given its current momentum, it’ll probably happen a lot sooner than that.

So why is radio still relevant? Here are 5 reasons why I believe it to be so, feel free to argue away if you disagree, or call out points you might find valid. I look forward to the discussion. I’m interested in learning as much possible about the realities of this situation myself, so feel free to “call me out” if your own experience suggests it’s necessary.

By the way, I’m interested in interviewing radio veterans from the fifties and sixties about their time on air. If you know of someone interested in chatting for a story I’m working on concerning “race music” during this era, please drop me a line at doc @ music businesspage.com Cheers. Doc

Okay, so here we go:

1. The operation of radio is typically overseen by the federal government. As far as I know, governments tend to have a vested interest in maintaining their own structure. Plus, radio serves a purpose in times of emergencies that overshadow the need to play your favorite music.
2. Radio sells records. Yup, indeed it does. And lots of ‘em too. Now I don’t care if we’re talking about singles, digital downloads, full-length albums (sic) or “free” records from artists like Radiohead or Trent Reznor, when songs get played on radio, people pay attention. And frequent “impressions” of those songs on our silly little brains that enjoy repetition and reminders about the things we like, drive us online — or into some record store — to buy that little nugget. And that little nugget puts money into the pockets of your favorite artist and the gazillion people behind them including record labels, publishing houses, songwriters, entertainment lawyers. . .everyone. One song adds up, and it often starts at radio.
3. Radio is still a business - and they generally adhere to a format. Even JackFM, famous for playing “what they want” is following a very strict programming format. So every time you hear that slammin’ AC/DC song followed by Annie Lennox (a hit is a hit is a hit!), you can bet your radio-format-hatin’ rear-end that several people sat in a room for a very long time analyzing the computer data that tells them about beat counts, song transition, what the consultants say, what the listeners say. . .all to come to the conclusion that Annie Lennox should follow Bon Scott, and that the combination would make you feel happy. Maybe happy enough to keep listening to the music long enough to hear the advertisement that follows those songs. Then, of course, maybe, just maybe you’ll buy the product that is advertised, or visit that service establishment spending their hard-earned money to have you listen to what it is they offer the marketplace. Radio is an economic juggernaut with tons of people and businesses interested in its survival. Think about that. Especially if some day you want to own your own business, or be a performer and hope you sell YOUR wares on radio. Gulp! So don’t “wish it away” too soon.
4. Radio is all about reach. Who hears it, how many hear it and where do they hear it. Many critics of radio, look at its quality, or perceived lack thereof, through their own myopic lens (or ear buds. . ). And most of those who dislike radio are so inclined because they can’t relate to the music that’s on the air any longer. They’re either too old (like me in some instances), or their preferred style of music just isn’t played on any regular format station. Styles like death metal, ska, rockabilly and Celtic music come to mind as easy examples. However, projecting their own tastes on an entire entertainment medium, prevents them from looking at radio and the music industry objectively — setting up the inevitable “doomsday” scenarios. Those of us who love Led Zepplin will always love Led Zeppelin, yet Zep will not always be on the radio!I have always found it intriguing to watch how when people of similar positions gather to “discuss” a topic, their shared conclusions never change, and, in fact, often become heightened as a result of their mutual animosities and presuppositions. Its quite a fascinating phenomenon, and one that plays itself out every day in the media, across numerous and varying topic areas. Just turn on the television, and listen to the news about the impending economic doom to get a feel for what I’m referring to. . .listen to it often enough, and talk to enough people who think their in for a rough haul, and low-and-behold, that rough haul becomes a reality. However, if you were to speak to someone benefiting from today’s economy, you’ll have a much different view of what’s “really” happening. 90% of what becomes real is perception, and the supposed “death” of radio is no different. I view these changes more like the “death” of the critics favorite type of radio, the type they grew up with, then the absolute death of a medium.
5. Radio is designed to play hits. Sure there are songs tested out that are uncertain winners from a radio programming perspective, but the idea is to play songs that work. . .songs that will sell. YouTube, MySpace and the previously heralded MP3.com (where is it now?), are at the moment at least, marketing tools for unsigned bands to generate a fan base to better their chances of getting signed by, you guessed it, a record label. Like it or not, that’s still the model, and still the one a great number of the talented artists we can find online are pursuing. Making records costs a lot of money folks, touring costs a lot of money, and playing hits costs a lot of money. When you’re the one with a vested interest in profiting from your talent, how much do you want to leave to chance? Can a new band afford to give away their records for free? Come on. Sure, Radiohead and Trent can do it, but they’re already huge money-making artists. The free record is at once a publicity stunt and a way to generate income via different means. If either one of these recording artists were still “starving artists” you can better your bottom-dollar, they’d be gigging till they couldn’t stand anymore, and trying to squeeze every dollar out of every fan they had. That’s the truth. So, artists need radio, just like they need the internet. But in order for radio to need them, they’ve gotta’ be good, they’ve got to be able to write more than two good songs (in other words, generate scale), and the fickle consumer who we hear only buys singles any longer wants them to be good too. So, I don’t think you’ll be hearing any live feeds from YouTube getting piped through your FM dial any time soon, any more than you’ll hear even a small percentage of these most “clickable” of artists getting signed to a record deal, or putting out their own records on their own label. How many true hits are there on MySpace and YouTube, and do you really want to hear the rest on radio?
6. Baker’s half dozen bonus: Lastly, for readers of the page who want to work in the music industry, you already know that I believe radio is still one of the simplest entertainment industry workplaces to penetrate as either a career changer, or a newbie with zero experience. There are often so many things to do in radio, and enough turnover at stations, that if you’re persistent enough you could almost guarantee yourself a spot at the station of your choice within a year. Try it, you might be pleasantly surprised.

(By the way, music biz wannabes, stay tuned to Jeff Leeds’ reporting at the New York Times, his stuff rocks, and he’ll keep you very informed for your job interviews.)

Long live radio. . .even those stations we don’t like!

This week’s music business link round-up features a few new blogs and one you’re probably quite familiar with, I’m sure. So without further adieu, here are some of what I thought were great reads from around the blogosphere this week:

Fellow music-crazed writer, Heather McDonald over at musicians.about.com wrote a bevy of posts this week about a number of topics that might be of interest to you, including: the first part in a series about Long Lost Record labels, this year’s In The City music expo/conference/jam in the UK that offers a good excuse to hop on a plane and visit Europe this fall, and an interesting story covering feedback from users of Sonicbids.

A bit of interesting news about a company named Music Video Games, or MvG, that will address the growing notion of delivering some forms of music for sale on and in video games. I’m not sure what in the heck this is really going to be as of yet, but it caught my eye enough for me to bookmark it.

Rap & Hip Hop blogger/author/speaker Terrance Dean’s blog has not only one, but two informative posts on breaking into the music business on the hip-hop side of things that can be applied to any portion of the business you wish, really. Terrance, a former MTC staffer, has also written a memoir entitled “Hiding in Hip Hop”, that discusses among other things, what Newsweek magazine calls the “rap industry’s persistent “down-low” culture. He doesn’t name names, but it’s a fascinating peek inside hip-hop’s last taboo.”

And finally this week, The Infinite Dial, brought to us by Edison Media Research, brings us a quick look at one woman who has fought her way up the music industry ladder alongside all the men that most think occupy the halls of record labels across the world. My recollection was that there were many, many women of power walking those halls along side us, and Tayla Johnson, Music Director / Internship Coordinator, at Washington D.C.s WPGC 95.5 FM, illustrates this nicely in a little “ditty” about her recent recognition as one of the Infinite Dial’s 30 under 30 honorees.

Have a brilliant weekend, enjoy it if you’re already in it, and hope you had a great time if you’re already out of it! Cheers, Doc

If you like the blog, you’ll love our email newsletter even more. Subscribe to the Music Business Page Blog by Email today, and get your complimentary “Music Business Boot Camp” series, the introductory chapters of my Music Business Guidebook, and our 50+ page BOOK: “Tips, Tactics and other for-sure methods for getting your music career off the ground” each delivered free to your email box instantly as a courtesy just for signing up today. Don’t forget to approve the confirmation email, and please note: ONY email subscribers will receive these extra gifts. RSS subscribers will still receive updates about the blog, email recipients will receive the extra benefits mentioned above. If it was us, we’d subscribe to both!

I was listening to JackFM the other day and Annie Lennox’ song “Walking on Broken Glass” came on. My radio trigger-finger aimed itself at the dial, and since I was fortunate enough to be alone in my car at the time, I blasted the beejeezus out of it. There is this amazing mix of piano and strings in the song that pairs so well with Annie’s driving vocals that it’ll easy send a chill up your spine if you’re listening with an attentive ear. That baby has a HOOK that’ll kill!

Then it dawned on me that this song, while probably a good ten years old, would most certainly NOT be considered a good track by a good number of people a decade or so younger than myself. And that’s a shame, because a hit song is a hit song, no matter what genre or how old it is. . .if the thing gets your foot tappin’ and your heart beating, it’s probably a hit, and it doesn’t matter one iota what style it is or whether it can be played on an eight track player or an iPod. After all, why do you think so many hip hop songs sample from old record singles? It’s because they’re looking for guaranteed hits that most folks listening to radio today won’t recognize. The only constant aside from a cool rhythm or a great verse to sample, is that a song with a great hook that was recorded in 1965 is still a hit today if done right.

So my advice to aspiring folks interested in an entertainment career focused on music is to feed your passion for music by listening to music of all sorts. . classical, folk, rock, soul, r&b, hip hop, punk, ska. . .everything. Listen to all the music you can handle and breathe the power a diverse musical palate will give you. After all, the people at the top of the musical food chain are music encyclopedias. They’re guys and gals who probably refused to listen to everyone in their life who told them to become a doctor or an electrician in favor of an choosing a career in entertainment, and they want to work with someone who shares that passion for music. . .someone who can hear a hit a mile away in any style. Is that you?

If you haven’t yet thought about it, start exploring. Check out sites like Yahoo’s Launch Radio for example and click on similiar artists as you’re listening to music, or visit the All Music Guide to explore the musical influences chart. It’ll open your ears to so much great music you never even knew existed! So keep those ears open and find the hits. . .you’ll be promoting them someday, and if you work for a record label you’ll most likely be promoting all different styles of music as well.

By the way, wanna’ guess what song immediately followed that Annie Lennox track? With only a five second radio station ID break, the next single to fill the air space in my car was AC/DC’s “For those about to Rock”! Now that would make the beginnings of a great mix tape! I guess Garry Wall and Patrick Bohnat at JackFM still know a hit when they hear one. . .do you?

Hey don’t forget to check out the song links above to see live videos of both Annie and AC/DC on YouTube. . .you’ll be amazed at how the transition works!

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It’s always interesting to me how so many things can happen in the world without one ever knowing about them. Case it point: Stop Big Media. Stop Big Media apparently seems to be a force to be reckoned with, or at least a force du jour, and an a subsequent pain in the butt for the FCC and a host of media enterprises like Clear Channel with regard to media ownership.

You see, since the consolidation of the radio industry began, people have running for the hills commenting about the loss of local jobs and how the whole thing was so unfair. Well, life is unfair. Hey, and I was even one of the unfortunate music business folks to see their job disappear in part due to consolidation! It happens. Countries win and lose wars all the time, you’ve got to get over it sometime. . .the same goes for business in my opinion. The trick is finding a way to make it work for you. Anyway, all that commotion didn’t really rattle the cages of anyone in the industry who could do anything about it until individual groups started the rally call of “no localization”.

You see, the mandate of the FCC is that it protects the listening rights of the population. In other words, the FCC is working for the people, and its their job to essentially make sure what happens on radio is of benefit to its potential listeners. That’s why swearing is such a no-no. People don’t really want to hear that stuff in their living room with grandma and the kids.

So, the popular thinking goes that when a radio group owns stations in several markets and programs them from a singular location, they’re doing a disservice to the population listening to such stations and as such, violating the rules that govern the issuance of their broadcasting license. Hmm. . .not good.

Now you can see why groups like Stop Big Media are the ire of big radio and now. . the FCC. Hearings are currently being held in Harrisburg to look into the matter, so its worth checking out to stay on top of the story. As a radio and record industry expert you should be following the story! Learn more about the hearings by visiting StopBigMedia’s website or for the other side of the story check out what’s happening at the FCC.

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Mergers are almost always good for business, if you look at them objectively and stockholders often profit as a result of early buzz as well. Such seems to be the case this morning in New York as shares of both XM and Sirius are up to nearly double digits. MarketWatch has a more detailed story about the rise in stock price.

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Looks like the word on the streets is official, as news from XM came in later today announcing XM and Sirius have agreed to a merger. Of course, there are regulators already crying foul, but for now it’s a marraige made in heaven. Well for them at least.

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Rumors surrounding the apparent merger of XM and Sirius Radio are beginning to resurface again this week, with Peter Lauria reporting about it in today’s New York Post. It might not be long before Mel Karmazin and crew fill in the rest of us in on the proceedings apparently still taking place after a heavy weekend of table-pounding and hand-shaking. Stay tuned! What would Howard say?

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