I've moved my blog!

head on over to here:

http://www.nicknanton.com/resources

to check out my latest blogs, articles and news.

thanks!

New Product for Making Money in Music!

I've just finished working on a product with Music Marketing GURU, Bob Baker, author of the best-seller Guerilla Music Marketing. It's called "7 Secrets to Making Real Money with Your Music."

Check it out, I think you'll like it!

http://www.bob-baker.com/music/make-money.html

Help Out The OaKs - Lollapalooza

For those of you who haven't heard the OaKs, you're missing out. Check them out at www.myspace.com/wearetheoaks

Anyway, they are great people and great musicians, I got this from Matt Antolick today, the OaKs drummer and I figured I'd share it. You don't even have to give anyone your email address to help them with the first part, it will literally take 10 seconds. Take a minute to help them out, they'd really appreciate it and so would I.

thanks for your support!

--
Hi everyone.

It's Matt from the OaKs. We've had the honor of being featured on this month's BMI Podcast. Not only that, but we're up for a really important prize -- whoever is voted the favorite band on this podcast will win a CD Dupilcation package from Discmakers. We could really use that, we're almost completely out of the first printing of Songs For Waiting! The address is:

www.bmi.com/podcast

And you DO NOT need to enter an email to do this. Just click the button next to The OaKs and you're ready to go!

We're also in the running to be a part of the 2008 Lollapalooza Tour! Round one of voting has just begun, and you can vote here :

http://www.sonicbids.com/lollapalooza08/BandProfile.aspx?candidate_id=4816

Now, you do enter an email for this one, but only to confirm the vote. This keeps things legit and all.

If you can find it in your heart to do this, we'd be so thankful. So thankful, in fact, that we'll give you a code to download The OaKs new and acclaimed album, Songs For Waiting, for FREE. These are 256Kbps Hi-Res MP3s with no restrictions.

And for those of you in the Orlando area, we're playing a FREE ALL AGES in-store performance at the Virgin Megastore in Downtown Disney this Sunday, June 8th @ 7pm. Bring the family and friends. This will be our last Orlando performance for a while as we are preparing to write towards the next album(!)

American Idol 2008 Picks

Back on March 17th, on my Business Blog, I posted the following post:

http://www.dicksnantonagency.com/blog/the-idol-factor.php

When there were 10 left, I made my top 5 picks for American Idol.

Interestingly enough I got the top 2 right and Brooke White did make the top 5. 3 out of 5 isn't bad odds for the music biz!

I think David Archuletta will win, however, when he puts out his first record, if he tries to go too pop I believe he will be eaten alive. I believe he will do best in the A/C market with Josh Groban and Michael Buble. We'll have to wait and see.

I do feel that David Cook will sell way more records, and that he's a more mainstream artist, but I don't think he can overcome the 12 year old girls who are in love with David Archuletta that will hang out for hours and text into the show. Tune in next week and we'll see.

Nick Nanton, Esq. with Conrad Dimanche

Nick Nanton, Esq. with Conrad Dimanche, originally uploaded by ndnproductions.

I met Conrade Dimanche last year for the first time at the 4th Quarter Entertainment Music Industry Seminar. You may recognize him from MTVs hit show Making of the Band. Conrad is Senior Director of A&R at Bad Boy Records. I have a lot of respect for Conrad, he's a hard worker and for all the hype that his boss (Sean Combs, a.k.a. P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, Diddy, Sean Jean, etc.) creates, Conrad understands that hard work and No B.S. is at the core of creating great music and great artists.

It was great reconnecting with him this year and speaking on panels with some other great industry folks. If you missed it, shame on you. Check it out next year.

Tim McGraw PreShow Party

Tim McGraw PreShow Party, originally uploaded by ndnproductions.

Up close and personal with Tim McGraw at the pre-show party to kick off his first show on the 2008 Live Your Voice Tour. It was great to see Tim again and the show was great!

Be on the lookout for Tim's new singles. You won't be disappointed.

Event Update: Songwriters and Sales Letters 2008

Songwriters & Sales Letters 2008, originally uploaded by ndnproductions.

We held a client appreciation party called Songwriters and Sales Letters at this year’s Glazer Kennedy Insider’s Circle™ SuperConference in Nashville, TN (April 3-6, 2008) along with Chris Hurn of Mercantile Commercial Capital (2007 Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies).

Our friends and clients got the extremely rare opportunity to hear four of the greatest songwriters of all time play their hits. These songwriters don't go out into public often but, due to a few of our connections in the music business, we were able to steal them away from the Nashville's yearly summit!

P4043551.JPG, originally uploaded by ndnproductions.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Harley Allen (3 time GRAMMY® Award Winner)
- "Man of Constant Sorrow" - from O' Brother Where Art Thou
- "If Nobody Believed in You" and "I'll Wait for You" - Joe Nichols
- "The Baby" - Blake Shelton (Billboard #1 Song)
- "Tough Little Boys" - Gary Allan (Billboard #1 Song)
- "The Little Girl" - John Michael Montgomery (Billboard #1 Song)
- "Between the Devil & Me" - Alan Jackson (Billboard #1 Song)

Billy Montana
- "More than a Memory" - Garth Brooks (Billboard #1 song)
- "Suds in the Bucket" - Sara Evans (Most Performed Song by a Female Artist in 2004)
- "Bring on the Rain" - Jo Dee Messina & Tim McGraw (GRAMMY Nomination)

Kevin Denney (Lyric Street Records)
- “Cadillac Tears”
- “That’s Just Jesse”

Jamie Teachenor
- “How Do You Get That Lonely” - Blaine Larson
- New duet coming next month with Gretchen Wilson and Montgomery Gentry!


These guys have had songs recorded by Garth Brooks, Sara Evans, Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, George Jones, Alan Jackson, Joe Nichols, Gary Allan, John Michael Montgomery, Darryl Worley, Alison Krauss, Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley...and that's just A FEW!

P4043607.JPG, originally uploaded by ndnproductions.

Nick even got coaxed (or maybe blackmailed!) into performing a few of his original songs. Here's a clip:



The combination of some of the best marketers and songwriters in the world made for a really great combination. We all learned a lot about putting emotion and personality into our writing and, most importantly, using imagery to help the reader feel what the writer intends.

We hope to see you at our next event!

Songwriters with Jack, Nick and Chris, originally uploaded by ndnproductions.

Ok...so I don't want to sound like broken record

but at least it will be a broken multi-platinum record.

I know I've already posted twice on this blog about Colbie Caillat. And I don't know how to explain it other than I just know when I hear something special.

My prediction is her record "Coco" will be one of the top 3 records of the year and maybe the biggest record from a new artist period. If you haven't picked up a copy yet, you need to do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. Its definitely this year's "room for squares." Its so even tempered and intimate you can't help but love it.

I guessed that Daughtry would have the biggest record last year, and I was right, but I didn't post it before it happened so I don't expect you all to believe me ;) (Although on January 27th 2007 I can prove that I was already touting it!)

Let's see what happens. Good luck Colbie...my money's on you!

What lance is doing that you aren’t.

When Lance was the only one in his office who was single, his “friends” got together and decided to help him out. So they put up this billboard.

Oh yeah and they made him his very own website as well:

http://www.datelance.com/

While this is a pretty funny prank that ever so timely in the month of February, what I want to call your attention to is how clear the message is here: Lance is looking for someone to date (or at least his friends are looking for someone for him to date!).

And while some might argue that he must have a strong desire to be miserable (that was a joke), lets assume that he’s looking for someone to enhance his life.

In dating we look for someone who is capable of enhancing our lives and fulfilling a portion of our personal lives that we are not capable of fulfilling on our own.

Now why don’t we do the same thing in our businesses? There are so many opportunities to find a great business “match” or as they are more commonly known: Joint Ventures (JV).

Finding the right JV can allow you to:

- reach an entirely new group of people for little to no up front cost
- leverage the relationship that another business has spent a lot of time and money creating with their customers and monetize it for your own benefit
- offer products and services to your existing customers that you don’t have to take the time to create or service and still make money
- Expand your business into new territories
- And so much more!

And this is just a very small list of things I wanted to outline just to get you thinking about these JV opportunities. There are thousands of other benefits, but you get the point. The opportunities are endless.

So, like Lance, why don’t you go out and try to find a great match for your business? Who knows, if you tell your friends they may even put up a billboard for you.

Is Music Licensing for Television the New "Record Deal"

Check out this article from CMJ that certainly opens your mind to this as a new model and possibly makes it the "highly coveted prize" of today (similar to how major label record deals used to be sought after)

http://prod1.cmj.com/articles/display_article.php?id=54047375

I've had great experience with licensing music for television. It has really brought some great revenue to some of the band I have worked with.

Special thanks to Matthew Antolick from the Oaks for sending it my way.

NashVegas and some great links to make more money in music

I'm in Nashville right now finishing up producing a record for Hanna Peterson at the County Q recording studio. We worked with an amazing band, here's the highlights:

Paul Scholten - Drums/Band Leader
Alison Prestwood - Bass
John Jarvis - Piano/Organ
JT Korenflos - Electric Guitar
Steve Sheenan - Acoustic Guitar
Glen Duncan - Fiddle, Banjo, Mandolin
Monty Allen - Backing Vocals

Many thanks to Jimmy Dulin, engineer/Pro Tools wiz for making the record come to life. I'll post some video and audio clips online shortly.

As for some good food for thought on how to do things differently and make money in music, check out these Web sites:

ttp://www.mixaloo.com/

http://www.sellaband.com/

http://www.discrevolt.com/

Music Lessons - A Must Read from Seth Godin

most of you have heard me preach this same message, but this guy gets more press than I do, so maybe you'll believe him :)

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/music-lessons.htm

when you're ready to discuss "The New Model" for the music business let me know...

The Holy Grail for Indie Musicians?

Those of you who talk to me on a semi-regular basis know that I'm a broken record when it comes to the following concepts:

1. Make people feel like a "member" of your band and you will have a very lucrative fanbase

2. Make sure you have a product to offer at every price point for those who would really like to spend money with you.

That being said, here are two artists that really "get it" and are using these tactics to finance their records. This is exactly what I'm talking about. This is how you make money in today's market and allow your fanbase to get involved and really get a chance to participate with you.

Check out these acts that are allowing their fans to help finance their records:

Scott Andrew
www.saveyoufromyourself.com

Adrina Thorpe
www.myspace.com/adrinaexperimental

And here's the best part, these artists have done the heavy lifting for you and created a new model for you to try out. So here's the next lesson: Don't be stupid and try to think of something totally different, just take what they have done and make it your own.

Let me know how it works out for you, I'll be looking forward to hearing of your success.

How to Sell 15,000 CDs in 18 Months - From the Buzz Factor

Here is a great post from my good friend and music marketing guru, Bob Baker, author of the best-selling book "Guerilla Music Marketing" who was the featured guest on my Music Marketing Mastermind Call a few months ago:


How to Sell 15,000 CDs in 18 Months

Check out this inspiring video interview with
musician Terry Prince, shot a couple of weeks ago
on the Santa Monica Pier. Do the math. He makes
more than $8,000 a month/about $275 an hour
playing part-time.

Watch it here.

Be on the lookout for a new product from Bob and I in the very near future that will help you take your music marketing to a new level of profitability!

I told you I smelled a hit!

per my post back on July 24th, 2007 I mentioned that Colbie Caillat's song "bubbly" sure smelled like a #1 song. (You can see the post here)

Well, congrats Colbie, looks like the song is still making waves and did in fact make it to #1, not to mention its done great on the international charts as well. You can find details here


More song picks coming soon!