All posts of Mark Beard

Matt Ellis - Singer Songwriter in California desert

Gigging in America –  Insights from an LA-based Aussie artist

We take a look at the career of Australian singer-songwriter Matt Ellis, who from his base in Venice Beach, California shares some insights on the LA scene and the recording of his fourth solo album, Births, Deaths and Marriages Checkout Matt via www.mattellis.com You have just completed your fourth solo album, Births Deaths and Marriages. With […]

Eleven Music Industry Trends for 2011

In changing markets there are always winners and there are always losers – the adversarial nature of capitalism demands it. While it is tempting to lean towards the negative –- to paint an apocalyptic future — we hope to highlight potential areas of opportunity in tomorrow’s music industry. ________________________ Trend One | The Three Bears […]

The Dawn of the Independent Musician

2005 was the dawn of the new music industry. The old industry was a world where the corporate fat cats finally got so greedy that they actually started to devour themselves, but that left a space for everyone else. I think great music is finally back and the music industry is re-discovering its soul. All […]

Sources of Finance for Bands

We often get asked questions relating to bands and artists finding financial backers for recording or other projects. In this week’s blog, I thought it would be worth-while to review the different types of backing available and give some band related examples. Read on for more information. Debt finance  The reality is that not very […]

USP: Are you only five minutes ahead of your competitor?

The term unique selling proposition (USP) is colloquialism created by advertisers to describe the process of finding (or creating) either a tangible or intangible benefits unique to a particular brand or business. It’s popularity amongst marketers is understandable given the individualistic nature of democratic economies in which the term emerged and flourished. If we are […]

Remaining authentic amid a sea of hype

Recently USA Today journalist Edna Gundersen characterised the career of singer/songwriter Jack Johnson thus: “unbending path of honest self-expression… in today’s spectacle-driven pop world, where artifice trumps art, that’s a non-conformist stance and one that has impressed legions of admirers”. So how, in our marketing-driven culture do artists like Jack Johnson remain true to their craft, […]