A range of emotions upon realizing I have been in a basement for 5 years now!

Sometime next week I am going to post a long threatened list of things not to do in running a business. Consider it a gift for anyone else that wants to run a business one day. For the moment I need to give thanks though.

And there are probably too many people to thank – so if I forget you – please accept my apologie now. In 5 years I made a ton of mistakes, but I also had just as much if not more help from too many people to count – here’s hoping I did not miss you you:

First off – the bands. If no bands used the space there would be no space. Simple as that. You have tolerated a lot over the years and I can not share how much it means to see people that used the space the first year I opened continue to make use of the space [frequently or not, doesn't matter].  It is always great to see new faces that have no idea I have been here for this long either wonder how they never knew [well I didn't advertise so...we could start there - that's the one mistake to be shared today]. I have made many friends with musicians from said bands and it is great to be able to walk through Halifax and see familiar faces everywhere I go. Get Wrecked, Bloodbath, Rockstorm, Journalist Wolf, No Flyers Please will get specific mention simply for playing a fundraiser for the space one year. Thank’s to Get Wrecked for organizing – still blows my mind.

Thanks also to all the artists who have used the space for art shows over the years. Each show shocked me at both the talent in this city and the interest/crowds we were able to get out every time.  Tip of the hat to Stoo Metz and the whole UAG Collective for their role in handling the majority of shows here in the past year or so.

To all bands and musicians that have passed through the space: You have made me happier than I have ever been, being able to work for myself, surrounded by music. I owe all of you the deepest graitiude and thanks for making everything else I have done or been part of since opening the Rock Garden even possible. Thank you all so so much.

And a hat’s off to the owners of all the other spaces in town: Mike  & Matt at Canvasland, Mingus at C.O.D. and Rob & Terry at Soundmarket. We must be all “special”.

Shawn Cunningham, Nicole Smith and the rest of the staff at CEED made this all possible early on. If you have ever considered opening a business you owe it to yourself to go speak with someone at CEED. They are passionate about helping people achieve the dream of opening a business and they make that passion contagious. I would have nothing if not for CEED and their assistance to date.

Before there was an actual jam space I had to get the space. It has been an interesting experience having a church as your landlord but I owe many thanks to the Lawens with whom I initially dealt with in negotiating the lease for the opportunity as well as the reminder of the St. Antonios Church council for their support. Particularly I must thank Ramzi El-Tawil for dealing with me over the past two years in a manner that fair and supportive doesn’t even begin to describe.

Then came month’s of renovations. Fun times. My future father-in-law was a life saver. Showed me how to frame a wall. Don’t know what the plan would have been if you hadn’t been around James [mind you that was also terrifying as I had never spent time alone with him and well, it worked out all fine in the end but whoa nerves....]. I should also thank James and the rest of Johanna’s family for understanding my all too frequent abseneces from – well pretty much every occassion with a few exceptions. Their undertsnading and support has meant a great deal.

Building the space was a great weird experience. Strangers started showing up eventually to help. People put in long hours and never used the space. Randoms showed up helped for an hour and were never seen again. I drank a LOT of Schooner. Jeremy Stewart another life saver. Put more time in than anyone, asked for nothing, took even less. Chris McNutt I still owe a debt to. Liam, Andrew and anyone else  that ever came by to help thank you for making it happen – because it wouldn’t have otherwise.

Getting gear was the next hurdle and over the years the staff at Musicstop/Long & McQuade have helped clear a few more from time to time. I have to say all the guys who have passed through rentals over the years have been a huge help on adaily basis to the operation of the space and probably have earned fav status for it [maybe tied with Dave and Tim for their patiance in understanding my issues with drummers!!]. Kevin and Amanda and the rest of the finance department – too good to me.
As manager, Mr. Parker has also been too kind – addressing problems for me in any way that would benefit me and dealing with it on his end however was required. I owe you all a good party here some night.

My bankers are amazing people. Inova Credit Union [referred there by CEED!]. Business owners would do themselves a benefit to speak with staff there and explor etheir business needs and see if they can be of assistance. CIBC wouldn’t give me $500 in overdraft 6months to a year into business. Went to Inova, they took care of me in fine style. Gerry Latta probably saved the space on more than one occasion. Then probably got tired of doing so and passed me off! Wayne Thorpe has been amazing since then. The rest of the staff I deal with Eva, Angie and Nick – all great people, super patient with me and always pleasant. I can’t see me ever banking elsewhere.

There are so many music people that have given me their time over the years I am definitely scared of missing someone here – so I will cheat a bit: anyone who has ever worked at Music Nova Scotia – thank you. I hope you always see the value in what you do in helping musicians make music. Waye Mason, Heather Frantsi – two people that have been very kind to me. Young upstarts like Josh Hogan – hate ‘em. [How does he do it!?]. Matt Charlton, Andrew Watt, Andrew Gillis, SWC! vs. SWAC, Chr!s Sm!th, Crowley, Adam+Chelle – so many great people I have come to know because of this space. I KNOW I am missing people here so I am sorry but I must continue [thankfully I can edit this later! ].

A slight detour but tied to the Rock Garden too: The Rock Garden has given me many other fortunate opportunities. I have served on the Halifax Pop Explosion board.  Started a record label with my wife. Thanks to all the bands who have been part of that: Myles Deck and the Fuzz, Glory Glory Man United, Dreamsploitation and Bloodsport. I was able to be part of the opening an an amazing space called the Hub. Tracy, Jo and Sera gave me more credit than I deserved but I thank them all the same for the opportunity to meet and work with them – it was experience I am proud to have shared with you.

From that I have met a whole new assortment of people that excite me in their own efforts to do their own thing. This includes Chris Weisenburger, now my lawyer, who quit a firm position to start his own practice out of the Hub.  A wonderful person. Another wonderful person tied to the Hub via Jo is her partner Ezra. Like the new stairs at the space? Thank him. But he did plenty more to help beyond that – and does it in a manner where he makes it seem like it is no big deal at all. It so is. Thank you all.

Last year saw the space take on two partners: Joy Suttle and Ryan Cooper. The changes I want to make to the space would be impossible without them. Ryan = lifesaver. I thank them both for seeing the value in my vision for the space.

While no one will [hopefully] ever have to match the hours I have been underground in this basement – I have been fortunate to have a group of guys I can call on at times – like my wedding – when I cannot afford to shut down but obviously cannot be here. Gavin MacLean, Fabian Bennett, Issac Hansen and Adrian Bruhm  are likely the reason I have maintained some semblance of sanity.  It would have been impossible to do this without you.

I think that pretty much leaves my family. There are two people on my side that I owe the most thanks to: my sister Velma and brother-in-law George.  Really don’t like to think what my entire life would have turned out like had the two of you not been there – let alone the Rock Garden. Your support, encouragement and financial help when needed has gone above and beyond. I cannot express how lucky I was to end up with both of you in my life.

I’d thank my lil’bro but he’s in Ontario and well didn’t really do much. Guess he’ll just have to move here and help out somehow in the next 5 years….   Thankfully I know he is there for me anytime I do need him and cherish him for it.

So that’s pretty much it I’d say. Oh wait……………

Johanna Gerrits. My wife. My Joi. She’s suffered dearly for loving me. That’s no joke. I subscribe to Inc. magazine and they started a column from the perspective of an entrepreneur’s wife. I initially considered removing it – Joi reads the mag too -as I didn’t need her to realize what she had become part of – like she didn’t already know. Instead I found myself seeing even more so how hard it must be on her to have to deal with the stress, uncertainty, long hours of work – and ths equally long hours alone without your so called partner. She could leave me today and tomorrow if I became a millionaire [or three years later] she’d never have to worry again about money. Someday Joi I promise you’ll see it was all worth it – no matter what – xo
You are the very definition of a best friend and that will never change.

I’m living a life my high school self dreamed of. I hope you can appreciate what that means to someone – and especially a music lover to be surrounded by music every day – and know how truly grateful I am for the role YOU ALL played in making it possible.

Love & thanks,
Rob

Two afternoons of panels, workshops and speakers, just $35.00 for Music Nova Scotia members.

The Halifax Pop Explosion is proud to announce the details of this year’s Music Matters Conference. Taking place from Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24 at The Citadel Hotel; the conference will feature workshops, panels and speakers discussing all aspects of music industry.

“The Music Matters Conference focuses on ‘facing the digital music,’” says Halifax Pop Explosion executive director, Waye Mason. “In two short days experts discuss the future of music, creating digital communities, the threats and opportunities created by proposed copyright reform and finding the balance between the needs of industry and protecting our societies freedom.”

This year’s keynote speaker is Walter F. McDonough. One of the founders of the Future of Music Coalition, McDonough has taught copyright law at Suffolk University Law School, and serves as a board member on the American performing rights society Sound Exchange and the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies. He will be discussing the migration of distribution from the physical to how the digital has had a profound and disruptive impact on the entertainment industry.

The 2009 Music Matters featured speaker is Ian Heath. Heath is a marketing manager at Sony Music Canada and runs the musician-focused website Intrsctn.com [music+interactivity]. His speech will focus on giving attendees concrete advice on effective promotion tactics, how to take an interactive approach to nurturing their band-fan relationships, how to communicate effectively with their audience, tips on collecting fan info, building customer databases and how to create many options for monetization.

The conference will also offer several panels and workshops. Panels taking place will focus on topics such as merchandising, publicity, social networks, copyrights and more. Each will feature industry experts discussing the various aspects of their field.

The workshops taking place include a song demo evaluation with industry experts such as Steve Himmelfarb (Billions) and Paul Gagnon (VideoFACT), a youth involvement workshop with Eric Warner (We Are Busy Bodies) and Jon Asher (Asher Media Relations), and finally a workshop on focusing on the ins and outs of international touring with Steven Himmelfarb.

For a The 2009 Music Matters Conference schedule and further information on all events taking place, visit: http://halifaxpopexplosion.com/conference/music-matters/ or pick up a copy of our program guide.

Passes are on-sale now at all Ticketpro outlets, at 888 311 9090 and online at: http://ww3.ticketpro.ca/event.php?event_id=914

Registration is limited.

To register for a panel, please purchase a conference pass and then RSVP to MMC Coordinator Julia Sheldon – julia@halifaxpopexplosion.com

So I have been busy working on a new project, my first attempt at doing something online.

I am also working on a series related to outsourcing everything you can. Over the past few months I have tried outsourcing programming and design work.
Still not ready to try outsourcing personal business such as email etc. yet but considering it. Some of the experiences have been great, some well experiences.

So for this project, IOUmusic, I tried CrowdSpring.com to come up with a logo. This is one experience I think that will fall in to the great category.With no real set idea on what I wanted, I have received a number of sharp looking submissions.

I was going to wait until submissions were closed but maybe you will see something in one of these logos that with a small tweak would make it perfect.

So if you have a few minutes, visit the gallery and let me know what you think. Anything I rated 4-stars is one I am shortlisting, but I am open to thoughts on all of them. There may be some now that I have not yet seen or rated, so zero stars means that.

If you are interested in updates I am going to start posting on Twitter once the logo has been selected @ioumusic

Hey folks,

It is that time of year again. Yesterday was the first day that NSCC accepted applications for 09/10.

The NSCC is an access college, which means that the the college accepts applicants in the order that they apply and qualify, first come first served. So for Music Business, if you have a high school diploma or equivalent, the first 30 people to apply, pay the 25 bucks, get the seats. Recording Arts requires a portfolio, Music Arts (which includes the Music Business component) requires an audition.

I teach in all three programs (as well as second year photo ) and they all filled very quickly. Music Business had 89 applicants for 30 seats by mid December.

These are all intensive programs, with high degree of writing and math skills required, especially for the business component in MB and MA. The business component involves research, writing, book keeping, as well as field work at the North End Community Festival, Atlantic Film Festival, Halifax Pop Explosion, Nova Scotia Music Week and ECMA (if it’s not in Newfoundland). You need to be able to write well and research to succeed in the program, as well as feel comfortable wearing work gloves and steel toed shoes and hauling heavy gear. To get the most out of the applied learning, it is ideal for the student to be 19 or older before they come to these programs.

Here is a quick breakdown of the three programs, PM me if you want further information about these programs, especially MB.

Recording Arts:
When you listen to a CD or MP3 player, play a video game, go to a live concert or a nightclub, your experience is enhanced by the quality, timing, volume and suitability of the music and sound effects. This program prepares you for a career as a technically skilled and creative professional, who either as part of a team, or independently, ensures that the music event and sound content are of the highest standard and quality. One year certificate.

Music Arts:
Do you enjoy performing music, possess a fundamental level of musical ability, have developed the skill of reading music, and have an interest in how the music industry works? This program will prepare you to pursue career as a professional freelance musician and entrepreneur in the music business. Two year diploma.

Music Business:
If you have ever watched what is going on behind or beside a stage, you know that there are many more people working to produce a live event than the artists on stage. For a practicing musician, or somebody who thrives behind the scenes, this program will provide an understanding of the inner workings of the music industry. One year certificate.

http://nscc.ca/Admissions/index.asp

Uncooperative Death are a Halifax based metal band that I met via their jamming at my jam spaces. Last week though out walking around I saw the poster below on some telephone polls and made a mental note to fire that up here.

You can check out the band on their Facebook page or their home page at http://www.uncooperativedeath.com/

Besides being very nice guys, I am giving them props for the entrepreneurial spirit in flat out fundraising for the recording of their new album. You are welcome to hate on them, shit all over them for this but it works. It is a fun means of raising some money and in a scene where you are lucky to make anything assuming you even get paid for a show. They are being proactive and kudos to them.

The Facebook EVENT page

The event is at a bar. The bar will serve you booze. here are some of the prices for that:
Coors Light & Molson Cdn draught (12oz) – $2.50 or jugs for $12.50
Keiths (12oz) draught – $3.00 or jugs for $15
Rickards Red or White (16oz) draught – $4.25 or jugs for $16.25
Domestic bottles – $3.50
Premium Bottles – $4.25
Hard Liquor – $3.50
Wine – $3.25 glass

For those of you needing shirts printed and are concerned with the use of chemicals in standard shirt inks and solvents, I´ve quit working with Plasticol inks a while ago due to the harsh chemicals used in both the inks themselves and the cleanup.

These inks are incredibly toxic to both make and print with.

I´m now printing with an ink called Permaset which is an Australian company using 100% water based inks with equal quality as its harsh alternative. I´m now set up for printing up to 4 colours on fabric with perfect registration.

I´ve also stopped printing on any clothing that is not produced in North America. Although these shirts end up costing a bit more they´re made with fair wage standards and more locally produced than alternative cheaper companies.

if you´re interested in having clothing printed by a conscious printer contact me. if you´d like to read more about the inks themselves go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbxgvrxysyA

for cd cases I´m now printing exclusively with stumptown printers cases which are 100% recycled materials and technolithe papers which are also 100% recycled(post consumer and pre-consumer recycled)

email daygristle at hotmail dot com for quotes and inquiries

View some of his poster design work at GigPosters.com

I think this is important. It may not take off, but the opportunities inherit for USB drives and music is significant in my opinion and certainly worth exploring.

Together they offer a means of tying the digital world to the real world. Tying retail purchases to social networks and fan clubs. They could be used to take fan clubs in new directions – a WillieLive USB bracelet to fan club members could entitle you to free downloads of all future concerts. Or what about VIP access for fans that show up wearing said bracelets?

I should note that all I REALLY care about is the music. I don’t care about the cover art [I have never bought a CD because it had a "cool" cover], I don’t even care so much about the liner notes, although I do miss them at times. But one could easily produce a Digipak like package with an included or even glued in booklet, but instead of a plastic tray to hold a CD in place, there is a tray to hold in a USB drive. And of course the booklet and art would also be included on the drive as high quality PDFs [?] from which the art and liner notes could be synced up with your music player/collection. The ideas/opportunities = endless.

A Few Ideas
While the idea of MP3s and lossless files [and whatever else they wanted to include: videos, websites, pictures etc.] on one format appealed to me initially [USB drives = better MP3/FLAC delivery device vs. CDs IMHO], I was more interested in the potential of USB drives tied to kick start some innovation WITH music.

Many venues/bands/labels have offered USB recordings of live concerts on your way out of the show. That’s a start. But what about coming in? What if having bought a previous live show USB drive, you plug it into a reader on your way in and get a discount on admission [or at the time of ticket purchase] for future shows.

What if when you get home you plug in the drive and it launches a website only accessible to fans with a connected drive in place [almost every idea like this will be hackable – but we are exploring these ideas in a happy-carefree bubble of fake reality]? That site can offer anything the label or artist wants to share.

My biggest plan for USB drives extends that even further and ties it into a fan club, and at the next level an entire social network. What if venues or at least bands with laptops performing at them – have a USB input for members of a shared social network that one ups Facebook’s events – beyond simply stating you intend to be there, show up, plug in briefly and ….well you can get creative here, do they just get (fan) points, some benefits, free music, all the above?

All my potential concerns or fears regarding USB drives and connecting to social networks and fanclubs was erased when I read about a VISA experiment. In Korea, where “digital became dominant years ago” you can now use a USB Credit card. While I certainly do not know the particulars about the set up I am confident that if what they have is good enough for credit card transactions, then a similar set up will handle any security concerns related to any ideas in this post.

I have also seen business proposals for USB based shopping lists: users compile a list using software for such purposes onto a drive, take it to the store and plug it into the shopping cart display unit. Customers then get directions to items in the store they need, are offered coupons, and even recipe suggestions [up selling other products] for items they have on their shopping list. Combine such a service with the VISA USB drive and they can pay with the drive as well at the checkout. What types of related ideas could be used to encourage retail purchases in the music industry?

Delegate Passes/All the Info You Need – for festivals/events – that provide USB drives at registration which you then plug into systems that can update you over the course of the event [and that would of course include music from artists part of the event]. All print materials – focusing on greening aspects important to many festivals/events today, could be regularly updated when plugged into internet connected system w/show/venue changes etc.Take it a step further and develop a weekend command center for festivals into the drive. Twitter control, profile updates, http://sched.org/, maps, all the line-ups and everything else you need. Events could offer deals for fans that use the drives while also saving on costs for some print materials.

NIN used USB drives as a tool in the ARG promotion of Year Zero and I see countless ways to further embrace USB drives in future ARGs and marketing campaigns.

Positives, beyond ongoing use/experiments from bands and labels noted below, for USB drives and music include:

• Manufacturers and software developers increasingly see portable computing in our future. – which means more USB drive devices may be prevalent. There are many ways already to replace the need to carry even a laptop if you know there will be avalable computers where you are going. I have email, Thinking Rock [getting things done software] and a few other programs running off a USB drive now.
• Another key benefit to USB drives is that their ports are on every current computer – and ah, universal.
• Still a ways off but a faster and otherwise improved USB 3.0 is on the horizon
• Drive sales are now counted on the charts: USB music sales hit UK chart

Current Usage
While the format is still mainly in the realm of major level artists, you can find artists, and labels, at all levels exploring their use. Locally the only act I am aware of thus far is Shelter With Thieves.

Some Music USB Drive examples:

• Barenaked Ladies
• Willie Nelson
• Radiohead EMI
• Mars’ Volta
• White Stripes
• And Magnatune was doing it way back in 2005
• There are plenty of USB manufacturers and resellers out there, companies specific to the USB/music industry opportunities include All Access Today and Aderra
• This is one of the more hilarious examples I have seen: Band Sells Music on USB Drives with Character [from Korea].

The biggest downside of USB drives currently is their cost. Other issues not addressed include do fans want countless drives kicking around? Can’t be any worse than the useless CDs I have now can they? At least I could give the drives to friends and they could use them for other purposes, or you keep them in their nice Digibooks until you need them to get a discount to go to a show or need access to a members only section of a site – for which such perks could help such drives retain some value.

Getting back to costs – there is no guarantee such drives will replace CDs, in the coming months and years we should definitely see more labels and artists experimenting though as costs for drives continue to fall. In the end, consumer response will eventually dictate what role USB drives have in the future of music but if those in the music industry can not offer anything worthwhile or interesting….

In meetings this weekend with bands it all came down to this:

What are your goals?

Depending on your situation it may refer to simply goals with your music, but odds are if you want a career in music you will also have to consider all aspects of your life – at least in the short term [and by short term there I mean anywhere from the next 2-5 years].

It is hard to know if you are making progress if you don’t know where that progress should be taking you. The idea of releasing one album and selling out the pressing is a great goal and one almost any band that releases an album has. But it is such a small part of your band’s bigger, long term picture that if you don’t know what comes next or how the first release will help you build to the next step it is almost pointless [I am assuming you plan on doing this with some seriousness for as long as possible].

I recall reading a survey that polled a good majority of America’s richest people – the most common shared trait amongst them was that a large majority, I believe it was over 80% had written down their goals and/or plans to achieve them.

In my post M|E: An equation showing how FREE can = $$$ I noted the equation David from Digital Audio Insider posted:

(A x B x C) – E = D
A = the total # of people who acquire the work
B = the percent who actually pay for it
C = the average amount each person pays
D = the total revenue received
E = promotional and marketing expenses (not to mention recording, mixing, and mastering costs)

If I gave that equation to a number of bands I would bet my right pinky finger that the majority of them would start with A and likely base that number on the physical copies being pressed, maybe with some downloads added in, and proceed from there.

But where you should really start is with D. That’s your goal. In a four piece where everyone has agreed making $25k a year from music is enough to make them happy? Then your D is at minimum [have to account for expenses as well] $100K.

But in knowing you have a target of $100K you can tweak the other numbers as you go, monitering how close you are coming to your goal.

Quick example using live performances only as your revenue:
If your band reaches the point where you know you can receive a guarantee of $1000/night, you know based on selling no recordings or downloads or merch, you would have to play a 100 shows in a given year.

From there you could breakdown all revenue into a 100 units of a thousand for benchmarking your progress, so every 100 CDs sold for $10 is one less show you need to play.

Summary

1. Brainstorm with your band on goals/consider personal goals as well
2. Come to agreement with all band members on goals going forward – then write them down
3. Determine measures for measuring your progress
4. Get to it
5. Adjust accordingly
6. Repeat

Go figure. – Ars Technica

The amount of online “chatter” about an upcoming album release directly correlates to higher physical album sales, according to two researchers with New York University’s Stern Business School.