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As someone dies, someone else is born. I'm sure by now you've heard the big news. Aerosmith is now looking for a new lead singer. 50 years later, Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith has decided to pursue a solo career. The announcement follows an interview that the band's frontman, Steven Tyler, gave to a British music magazine in which he said he was interested in "working on the brand of myself - Brand Tyler." If you've always wanted to be a part of the legendary rock group now might be your chance. I have no clue on how the band is preparing to fill the lead singer gap, but in todays media centric world, i'm betting either world wide auditions or a reality show. All i'm saying is be prepared, thats all.

Tick Tock, The Copyright Act of 1976 is About to Expire. It's always entertaining to me to watch the money traps that the labels set for artists, back before information was freely available, EXPLODE! Welp, that's exactly what's about to go down. The Copyright Act states that an artist or author who sold a copyright before 1978 can take it back 56 years later and If it was sold during or after 1978 they can take it back 35 years later. Assuming a correct and prompt filing of paper work, the record labels could lose sound recording copyrights they bought in 1978 starting in 2013. How does this affect you? If the labels don't wanna lose the contents of their entire library you can make a for sure bet that the new copyright law will be negotiated in your favor. Higher royalties anyone?

Increase Your High End with Low End Dollars. As the number of home studio's drastically increase, the hunt for the best amps , turntables, speakers and cables are on. Everyone musician would with out a doubt welcome the highest end equipment into their studio with open loving arms, but the price is usually the main deterrent. The audio/video guide is currently showcasing what they believe to be the 18 best bargains for high end home studio equipment selling at bargain prices. So if you need that new speaker cable or power amplifier, i suggest you take a peep at this, before you wind up buying the low end no name module for the same price. Ouchy.

If you're singing your own demos...STOP! I'm sure you have all heard of Murphys Law, right? Well have you heard of Murphys Laws of songwriting? Probably not, so let me acquaint you. Ralph Murphy is currently ASCAP's Vice-President of International and Domestic Membership, as well as a legendary songwriter and publisher with more than twenty number One hits under his Levi's. I stumbled across his website the other day and came across this article outlining why it is best not to sing your own demos, and the reasons are not "obvious". Head over to Ralph Murphy's website to check out the advantages of not singing your own demos as well as many more valuable pieces of advice on crafting your hit song, like [this one] for example.

You Are Not Alone What keeps you from achieving your gaols? Here is a compiled list of responses from indie artists from around the web, of what they find keeps them from achieving their goals. Do any of these things look familiar to you? If so realize that many other people are experiencing the same road blocks as you are, it is how many of these things that you can knock off of your list that is going to make you stand out from your peers and make the transition from good to great!

American Idolizes The Money, Not Your Music Eleetmusic's Kevin English had a chance to hear out some of the past american idol finalists at one of the panels held at the recently passed CMJ 2009. The topic, an interesting one mind you, was a look at entertainers who have been to the top of the mountain only to look down at how far they had to fall. Artists such as Kimberley Locke (remember her?) talk about their idol experiences as well as life after the season has wrapped and the cameras have powered down. The gist? Sometimes being an independent artist carries with it the invigorating feeling of carving out ones own musical destiny. At the end of the day you have a pretty good realization of who you are, who your fans are, and you can proudly boast that you aren't just a number in a label of numbers.

Eric Beall recently made a trip to Amsterdam to partake in the Writers Camp sponsored by Holland's equivalent of our ASCAP/BMI/SESAC and Harry Fox Agency, BUMA STEMRA. While on his visit he actually made time to experience the Vincent van Gogh Art Museum, which he calls "a career retrospective". While browsing the Art and reading the personal letters between Van Gogh and his brother Theo, Eric was able to see numerous parallels between Van Gogh the painter and all of us who write songs and make records. Here are 3 of those parallels outlined here for you. 1. Where you are now is not where you are going. 2. Where you're going will be depend upon your willingness to challenge yourself with new opportunities, and by the people with whom you choose to surround yourself. 3. Ultimately, it's not about where you are, or where you're going. It's all about the journey. To get a more elaborate explanation of these 3 parallels head over to Erics blog to read the full article.

Applying the Record Label Model to the Indie Artist You may already be familiar with the online world of myspace music and facebook pages, and the offiline world of shows and radio play, but as George Howard puts it "Err too far online, you fail. Too far offline, you fail". In order to be successful today you need to achieve the perfect balance between online and offline marketing. Eleetmusic's Kevin English outlines how to use the four R's (Radio, Road, Reviews and Retail) of the "Not so new record label model" to capture the audience statistically proven to be more receptive to trying to new things. College students.

Do you use a Gibson guitar to craft your hit songs? If you do then FREEZE your under arrest for aiding in the smuggling of illegally imported wood. The manufacturing facility of Gibson guitars in Nashville was recently raided by the police, who took computers, files and other things to build evidence that Gibson shipped illegal rosewood from Madagascar via Germany.

Rolce-Royce and Mecedes-Benz extend commitment to HD Radio Get your autotune ready to cover up any imperfections in your voice. Rolce-Royce and Meredes-Benz USA are extending availability of its premium HD Radio feature packages to more of its newest automobiles, with the goal to bring superior sound quality and clarity to all of their 210 models. That includes the E & the E-Class coupe, the CL, CLS, S and the SLK. If your particular about sound quality this may be a blessing and a curse.

Take Your Social Media to the Streets The web seems to be the defacto when it comes to networking with like minded individuals and initiating relationships, but social media is supposed to strengthen our offline ties not replace them. We've all been guilty of networking with management, A&Rs or other industry execs online but failing to truly merge the online networking with the offline equivalent. John Jantsch gives the run down on 5 ways to use social media activity online to make it pay offline.

Songwriting goes International? Youtube is taking major steps towards making their database of millions of videos accessible to the deaf, hearing-impaired and those individuals that don't speak english. There technology can insert captions in 51 languages, meaning that listeners world wide will soon be able to enjoy the cleverness of your songwriting.

How Effective is your Word of Mouth. So you have this great Album that your going to showcase tonight at your newest gig. Once the crowd heres your inspiring melodies and awesome rifts the word should spread about your magical compact disc right? Well Openforum blogger Yvonne DiVita begs to differ, she believes word-of-mouth is manufactured, not born. Here are 5 effective ways that you can manufacture your word-of-mouth through positive actions.

4 Killer Articles that you can Start Using to Make Things Start Happening Online.