Hammond Music

Posts Tagged ‘bands’

A van is a lot more important than people first think when they are starting out. It can show them a really cheap way of travelling around to the various places that bands need to travel to but also allows them to take all of the equipment with them too. One of the big questions to ask is what is the best van to have for a band?

The Panel Van

This van has to be the cheapest option for bands that are literally just starting out. This is a good first choice for bands as it has 3 seats and room in the back. One of the best things about these vans is that they have no windows inside of them which means no one can see what you are keeping.

People Carrier

Although this one is not technically a van it provided enough space for 9 people and can be good for the smaller groups. The main problem with this is that there isnt much space within it to keep all of the equipment so you may have to hire another van.

Minibus

This one is really good for the people in the larger bands as they can carry up to seventeen people within them. However once again they are limited when it comes to luggage space.

Splitter Van

These are often the best solution for many bands as they can seat up to 11 people and keep all of the equipment onboard. There are some drawbacks to this van and that is that it tends to be a bit more expensive, however the travel costs will be a lot lower.

Tour Bus

This is the eventual goal for most bands as these vans provide everything from room to keep equipment right the way up to bunks for sleeping in.

Of course many bands will struggle to start with due to fact that vans can be very expensive to buy. This is where van lease can come into it to help you out. Many people are now into this as it allows them to get cheap vehicle contracts. This doesn’t have to be used for vans but also can be implemented into pick up truck leasing.

If you are at a gig of a small, unknown band then take a look around the back as nine times out of ten you will see a small van that they use to hold all of their equipment. How important is the van to the group?

Dogs were thrown out in the early days of touring as the van became the best friend to many groups simply because they are cheap and easy to run. Many famous bands have a lot of money to spend on gigantic tour buses or they have the sponsorship by a company to actually have the bus during the tour. A lot of the smaller groups are not able to gain access to the big tour buses because sponsors are only interested in making a return from their investment.

What happens is the group get together and chip in money towards buying a van so they can use it for transportation use. Once again is can be very difficult to buy a van outright even if there are three or more people paying for it so more often than not bands will look into van lease because it works out cheaper.

The band then have any damages or accidents covered too so they do not have to take out any extra things they do not need like the band that took out pick up truck leasing just to cover them if the worst case scenario happened.

Although cheap van leasing is likely to be the best option for your band, it is also possible to get a van to run on vegetable oil which of course will save the band on fuel costs. You will need to take at least a trailer full of the oil with you as there are no refuel stations as yet where you can load up on the stuff.

Many people today find it easy to compose or create a music track of their own because of so many available music-making software that are now being promoted on the Net. For guitar aficionados, they can find some guitar tracks where they can playback on their player and at the same time, play their guitar with it and feel as if they are playing with a band. For hip hop and rap aficionados, they can either buy hip hop beats or rap beats on some download sites or they can buy their own hip hop or rap music-making software. If they wanted 100% original hip hop tracks, this kind of software is what they need.

Before, when people would like to make their own type of music, the only way they can do is to put a microphone in front of them and put their record on tape. They can also invite some of their friends who are musically-inclined and encourage them to form a band and make their own original music. But when Internet was born in during the last part of the 20^th century, some can even record their own music on their own by going online on some download sites and download some pre-recorded tracks specifically hip hop or rap beats.

But now, things can even be simpler and more convenient and 100% original. All they need is still to go online and instead of downloading or buying hip hop or rap tracks, they just need to buy some sort of beats-making software that will help them make their own 100% original hip hop instrumental beats or rap beats. Yes, a lot of software like these are now being promoted all over the Net and you can now make your own original tracks with no one else but you and with the help of hip hop or rap beats-making software.

Many bands feel that being signed to a label is the best thing that can happen. This is often true but more often than not this starts a whole new set of problem no band ever wants.

Today, recording contracts are nothing more than a bank loan. If it doesn’t sell to expectation you still have to pay the money back somehow. Music companies are a business and they are there to make money not lose it. It is no different than going to a bank and getting a loan to market your music your self, except the recording companies have the methods to make the product sell, get airplay and distribute the product throughout the country or even the world. Recording companies loan you the money to make the music and get their money back by distributing it.  Typically artists make a small fraction on CDs- most of the money comes through merchandise and tours.

If you can get a recording company to get behind your music, that’s good. But beware of recording companies who try to influence and change your sound, often to the point of rewriting your songs and even changing members of your band or, worse still forcing you to record songs made by other peoples.

Here are some horror stories that can happen to musicians who get signed and think they are on their way to fill stadiums around the world.

Getting shelved!
A band gets signed; get some money advanced for recording. The songs are recorded and completed but the record company ‘shelves’ your act and you never sees the light of day but you can’t take your product anywhere else because you are already signed. Often you can’t even play live gigs without giving some of your performance fee to the record company. This happened to Billy Joel who waited his five year contract out playing in piano bars.

The song gets changed.
Often you will be all ready to record your songs and the record company will bring in a co-writer or producer who alters your compositions beyond all recognition to “fit in with label’s style.” You started to make a hard rock album and you end up with a rap album with all your instruments removed and samples replacing them.  You thought you were Metallica only to end up like Jack Johnson. Then you have to go and promote something you really hate and your product is no longer recognizable.

Where did all the money go?
Beware the big advance of money, to make and promote your music. If it doesn’t sell you will have to pay the money back, with interest, just like the banks. How do you pay the record company back? Live gigs, touring, radio shows, shopping centres etc for the next ten years.  How do all those artists who make millions of dollars end up bankrupt? All the bills they didn’t know they had to pay. They had so much fun, they never saw where their money went.

Where did my band go?
Record companies fire and replace a lot of musicians and band members who don't agree with their policies. They are always trying to get work for their own players and artists who have already been signed. Quite often you will find all your guitar player’s work re-recorded by the studio guy or producer to fit in with the label’s sound or smooth over tensions within the band.

I thought I was a musician not a pop star.
Increasingly recording companies are trying to “cross media” any act in anyway they can. They will market you anyway they can, and they will get you to do things to increase your and their exposure any way they can. You may end up on dog food commercial, on big brother or, god forbid, on Australian Idol. Most recording companies are part of large corporations. Since most bands are only around for a short time, companies try to get as much as they can now before people stop listening. (We’ve all heard of the sophomore slump!)

Remember that the music business is mostly about the business. Try to go independent if you can, market yourself on the web at sites like Axebay and build your own presence in the world by networking in its guitar forums. If you are very successful in the beginning of you career, you can get more favorable terms from the recording company. If you do get an offer, get a good lawyer. You don't want to have to wait out your contract.