Track your music on online radio stations with MI on Air

Has my band and the songs we released been aired on online radio stations? Since there are many streams out there playing music it is not impossible at all that this happens - maybe more often than you might think. It's a exciting question for all the band's out there.

It began with the tape. These days most people prefer to stream their music.

But how to find out about it? No one can listen to all the stations all the time. Happily there's a service out there that opened up some time ago. It's focussed on metal bands, free and let's you find out how many times your track(s) have been in rotation, which station aired it and how many people listened. It's called mionair (am I on air?) and can be accessed through https://mionair.com/

All you need to do is to register (goes very fast and it's free). Once that is done you can add your band to the band list. That's also done quickly. Just enter your band's name at the "Add Band" form and you're done!

You can add further details like website URL and social media links but that's not necessary. Once everything's set up the tracking starts - login after some days to see if you've been aired.

Having tried this myselves I was impressed how fast and easy this works. You can also see statistics for other bands and radio stations on the website. I hope this tool will find many users - it deserves support for sure. Just try it out.

Why support music? New picture series starts today

It's time to make a statement. This blog should show why I believe in music. To take things a bit further I'll post pictures in the upcoming time with short thoughts why music matters to me.

What do you think about it? Do you agree or disagree? Do you maybe have own thoughts you would like to see shared here?

Please let me know your thoughts right here in the comments section or post on Facebook where I also shared the picture. 

The first picture with statement in the "Why support music?" series. 

Book Review: Don't forget the business in the music business - Antonio Ponce (2016)

A book that keeps it short and instead of too much anecdotes it's filled to the brim with useful instructions and hints for bands who have passed the first basic steps.

The cover of Antonio Ponce's hintbook - Don't forget the business in the music business, (c) by Antonio Ponce, used with kind permission

Summary

Having a first look at this publications reveals that it won't be a long read. All in all it comes along with 78 pages of information. Don't let this keep you away from having a eye at it. The author knew that time is always short so he kept the words sharp and precise. He only focusses on what's really worth having a closer look at.

This said it should be mentioned that this hintbook is intended to bands that have already passed the first steps. You should have your instruments ready, learned how to play it properly and have assembled a bunch of people together that really can stick with each other. Songwriting is only touched slightly when it comes to things like sound and style. That's exactly where this business guide starts out.

You'll get direct tipps that can save you a lot of money and the boring surfing around and wasting time to figure out all the basic steps on how to lay down your basics for a proper band. Some chapters contain more information while others are held shorter. One thing was great for me: the book is also a good read for your own real life. It's of use not only to musicians but also to other people following their dreams...

It should also be said that these pages won't make you a superstar or anything like that. I think there is nothing like that around. A book also can never perform the steps for you that are necessary. If you keep that in mind you'll be satistied with your investement.

The only thing I would add in a second edition is something like a calculation sheet in a electronic format or at least a short example directly in the book. This would round out the chapter of keeping a close eye on the tight budget perfectly. It could help as a start you have directly at your hand because reading something is fine but how to turn it into real action? Anwer: here is a sheet to give you a proper start.

Purchase-Link 

Since the book comes along for only 5 Dollar as a pdf file via the website of AP Jones Publishing I think it's a good starting point to bands that always have to trouble with money. But who doesn't have trouble with this in this world we live in? So don't be afraid, you are not the only one. As a alternative you can also pick it up as a Kindle file through Amazon.

If you want a copy as a real book you'll need to put in more money, it's available for around 20 Dollars on the website of the publisher AP Jones Publishing.

Contact Data

You can get in touch with the author directly using Facebook.

Drooble - a network dedicated to the needs of musicians

Social sites are important to a lot of people these days. As you can see on my blog I include links to plattforms where you can connect with bands and musicians nearly with every post. 

But all of the functions offered on those sites doesn't fit very much for the needs of musicians. I mean: you can read/listen to the stuff, you can write with people, give your comments etc. but it isn't very interactive when it comes to making music itself and earn money with your skills. The existing tools also only fit slightly to create a community, a one-stop place to bring all the people together that are living and loving music from their heart.

Here comes the good news - a team of enthusiasts lead by Melina (a guitarist and a brave entrepreneur) are building a project that is already making a Revolution for all people who love music.

Melina, Founder of Drooble

Imagine a place where you could connect with people who are passionate about music. Where you can learn from others and share your own knowledge and inspiration. Imagine a place where you can grow as a musician and earn a living doing what you love.

This place is Drooble – a web-based platform that connects all people who love music - fans, learning musicians, music teachers, performing artists and bands, record labels, booking agents, sound engineers. Everybody.

Right now in Drooble people can:
- Jam online for free
- Give lessons and get paid
- Take lessons and get better.
- Create Artist/Band Pages
- Find Bandmates and like-minded people

It sounds pretty cool, so if you don’t want to waste another minute, join Drooble today at Drooble.com. It’s free.

If you'd like to know how much the people creating the Drooble network are musicians themenselves just check the video below. It shows Traiko and Melina doing a Joe Satriani cover while taking a small break from working.