Sales Crowd

By Kevin Tuck

 One very important thing that every teacher is taught is that you always need to be prepared for every lesson you teach. Of course, that is if you want to end the day in a stress free fashion!

A lesson plan can be very simple, and teachers who have been in the game a while can do it almost without thinking, however they always have to be prepared with something ready to do in their lessons.

In our area of music there are a few tips that make elementary classes much more fun, both for the students and the teacher.

1. Mix up the activities

There is a saying that goes “Too much of a good thing….”, and in teaching is is very apt! Even if the children love a particular game or song they will eventually lose interest in it, so make sure you stop while they are still liking it and move onto a new one.

2. Keep the activities short and sweet

Depending on the nature of the lesson it it always best to structure your lesson into short 5-10 minute segments. In a general music/singing lesson at elementary level you would normally start with a song or two, break it up with some percussion or rhythm work and them move onto another song and maybe a game at the end.

3. Break up the routine with something unexpected!

Its definitely a good thing to keep the students guessing about what they might expect next! You should always keep some stability of course, but you may wish to break it up by heading out to the playground for a lesson with some games, or visiting another class to sing them a song. Do something unexpected and you’ll suddenly find that some students really love coming to your class!

4. Have a surprise around every corner

Young children especially love getting a surprise! Get your students inspired by having a reward for the best singer one class, then the most well behaved the next! Incentive schemes always work, but mix it with surprises and you’ll find they’ll respond even better.

Don’t call it “work” - its a “game”!

Any activity will be more fun if you approach it like you would approach playing a game! So for example if you’re going to do some theory, just say: “Lets go and do some games on the board over here.” One small change to your expressions and what you say will make a huge difference!

Always have plenty of “spares” up your sleeve!

Whenever you’re lesson planning make sure that you keep plenty of material in reserve, and always have far more than you need for each lesson. You can always have a bunch of simple music theory worksheets copied and ready if you need them, and learn a couple of songs that you know will work every time.

Your music lesson plans will be much more fun and enjoyable for your students with a couple of these simple ideas.

Kevin Tuck is an experienced music teacher, having taught music both in schools and in his own music school business. Kevin is now editor of music teaching materials for the Fun Music Company.

What’s The Future Of The Music Industry?

By Gen Wright

 The music industry has undergone significant changes in the last twenty years. Even today it feels like a digital Wild West, where the plains are open to anyone with a horse and a six-shooter. This is not far from truth. In the years ahead, there are likely to be more changes that significantly impact the way we listen to, purchase, make, and distribute. All of these things are positives to the consumer and to the artist if viewed in the right light:

Open playing field for lesser known artists: Lesser known artists have in the Internet a cheap, easy-to-use viral marketing forum for their music and their performances. Never before has it been so easy to reach so many millions of people at such a low cost. Of course, you can’t just assume that if you put your work online, people will find it. You have to focus on pointing them in the right direction. Fortunately, that takes more man-hours than dollars.

Chance for quality to outshine marketing: Record companies used to tell consumers what they would like based on the marketing machine. And while marketing is still an important part of any business endeavor, it’s no longer in the position to outshine quality. Again, the best music in the world won’t have a chance of finding an audience if it doesn’t get into the hands of the right people, so marketing is essential, but people today are smarter when it comes to what is being pushed upon them, and they will usually pick quality over clever gimmicks. After all, clever today isn’t what it used to be. It intertwines with worthwhile product.

Cheaper production costs equals consumer appreciation: No more colorful packaging, plastic keepcases, and shiny discs for the music industry of the future. Digital downloads have already overtaken the CD industry. They will continue to do so as faster Internet speeds make it even easier to download music at cheaper costs.

Embracing digital over brick-and-mortar: Music stores of the future will find ways to embrace digital business over brick-and-mortar if they hope to survive. In many ways, it can mean a larger profit margin. No longer will stores have to pay music associates when everything you need to know, and everything you want to buy, is online. Brick-and-mortar may still have a market for collectors and nostalgia buffs, but it is not the wave of the future.

Speaking to digital music versus CD purchasing, there are too many conveniences for consumers and companies alike for the brick-and-mortar stores to continue in prominence. While some may find it impersonal and unappealing, those who embrace the change–whether artists, or consumers, or retail outlets–will find a new world ready for new ideas and infinite possibilities.

Billy Rock is the leading provider of music distribution services. Get your music heard with single song distribution on iTunes, AmazonMP3 and many more.

Your Online Source To Beating The Crowds While Shopping

The Basics Of Marketing Your Music

By Gen Wright

 A career in music provides a lot of exciting twists and turns. Aside from the travel opportunities that a music career offers, it also offers the chance of being famous. Although making it in the music industry is quite difficult, most especially in marketing music, there are some helpful steps that can be followed in order to become successful.

Music marketing is one of the hardest challenges that musicians have to face in their music careers. Aside from the fact that music marketing requires a lot of determination, hard work, and focus, it also needs a dash of luck.

Music marketing can actually be likened to a business venture that requires appropriate planning and strategy implementation. The hard truth about this endeavor is that budget is needed in order to achieve all these. Unfortunately, budget is what most musicians lack or do not have; making music marketing really difficult for them.

On a lighter side though, there are some strategies for music marketing that do not actually require a lot of budget. Therefore for musicians who are tight on their budget, they can follow these simple music marketing steps:

Circulation of Demo CD’s or EP’s. If you are a musician on a tight budget, you can compile all your best songs in one demo CD and circulate these among your fans, radio stations and other forums for free. These sample demo CD’s can actually give the masses a taste of what you got, and if by good fortune, this turns out well, you can start negotiating for the formal production of your music.

Give away business cards. Like any marketing strategy, giving business cards away is one of the cheapest and the most convenient way of making yourself known. It is advisable for you to carry your business cards so that you can easily give these away when the need or the chance arises. In addition, business cards are easy to carry around and most people prefer receiving these for them to refer to in the future.

Use social media for marketing. With the advent of technology, almost everything is based in the internet; as such artists use the internet as a tool in marketing their music. The best places to market music are social media sites. In fact, most artists today use Myspace in marketing their music. Aside from the fact that a lot of traffic is directed toward social media websites, these are for free. Social media websites such as Myspace is expected to have more than a hundred million members. If you would be able to reach and impress this large audience through these websites, it would be no time at all before you start creating a community of fans.

Billy Rock is the leading provider of music distribution services. Get your music heard with single song distribution on iTunes, AmazonMP3 and many more.

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