HM Artist Network

“What does it cost to get a record on the charts?” The question was directed to Mike McVay, programming consultant to about 400 radio stations owned by media giant Clear Channel.

A hush fell over the audience, as this was a piece of information that could determine the fate of independent artists everywhere.

McVay pulled no punches. Depending on your genre, the amount is “a hundred thousand dollars up to a quarter of a million.”

And suddenly, the economic reality of the airplay portion of the record business was in full view.

In a different part of the day’s event, someone asked another of those all-important, career-shaping questions: “How many slots are typically available to independent artists?”

This time, the question was directed to Shane Bourbonnais of Clear Channel Entertainment. “Not many” was his reply, albeit in the nicest tone imaginable.

Did these terrifying facts of life appear to dampen the enthusiasm of most of the artists? Nope. After all, hope springs eternal.

Judging from the questions to other panel members during the day, it was clear that many artists in attendance thought that somehow they would be the one who got past the gatekeepers, the one whose awesome talent would cause cold-eyed business people to waive the entry fees, the one whose marketability would get them the major label contract and backing to enter the game with a large checkbook behind them.

And why not? Why shouldn’t they be hopeful? Are they not talented? Judging from the CDs handed to me, there were some amazingly gifted artists at the conference known as the Boot Camp workshop, which was organized by Blak Dog Promotions in association with The Beat 94.5 FM and the Western Canadian Music Awards.

Consider some of the artists: Smokekiller makes music that vibrates with consistent excitement. Ultimate Power Duo blends equal parts modern punk and retro Liverpool sounds for an album that is fun from beginning to end. Lyricist Jacqui Leddy has written lines that make you feel the inside of the human soul.

There also was silky, subtle and seductive jazz from Sandy Foster; strong rock from Scott Douglas; evocative country from John Wort Hannam; excellent rap from Don Castro; and power plus glory in the heavy grooves of Aly Young. Not to be outdone, event organizers Shawn Smith and Chin Injeti are themselves supremely electrifying recording artists.

The quality of the acts was of the highest level of any event at which I’ve been a panelist. Group after group, artist after artist were very impressive. Karen Howlin’ Fowlie seems to put megawatts of electric power into even her softest vocal passages. Sonicjoy delights in fusing electronics with rock ‘n’ roll. This is not to overlook Rallycar, Green Door Club, Chesterfield Rock, Morgan Mayer, Maurice, and James Pender, all of whom are excellent.

Here’s hoping this music gets to your ears. And if would be terrific if someone was recording the panels, because a lot of valuable information was presented by a lot of very smart people, including:

Chris Myers, Program Director, The Beat

Michael McCarty, President of EMI Music Publishing

Michael Persh, Music Manager, E! Networks

Jonathon Simkin, Co-owner, 604 Records

Christopher Ward, Songwriter (Alannah Myles, Ming Tea)

Bob Power, Producer (MeShell N’degeocello, The Roots, David Byrne)

Jim Vallance, Songwriter (Bryan Adams, Steven Tyler, Gene Simmons)

Terry O’Brien, SOCAN

Tom Wilson, Songwriter (Billy Rae Cyrus, Jimmy Rankin)

The event was well-run by Smith, Injeti, Natalie Rhodes, and a large contingent of volunteers. Attendees seemed uniformly pleased: “Extremely informative,” said singer and voiceover artist Marina Seretis. “The whole day was very encouraging,” stated Mitch Helten of SPI International. “It was enlightening,” said singer Jafelin. “This was great,” said Jacqui Leddy. You can’t stop people with this kind of enthusiasm.

By: Scott G

About the Author:

top artists

Li Songsong, a young artist in the 70s, has been in recent years investigating the relation between public images and their transposition onto canvas. In the shift to painting these pictures, which are mainly old photos related to historical characters and facts, he hasn’t protracted the cognitive style as for some previous artists’ practice of criticizing, exposing, questioning, or satirizing and propagandizing about a certain historical period, but has used a kind of imagery enacting an objective approach.

In other words, in the use of the historical image-material that interested him, Li Songsong hasn’t made any seemingly solved judgment of the historical value, on the contrary it is just from a visual point of view that has to be sensed the objective, simple and direct power of history as shifted or transplanted onto canvas.Li Songsong deliberately plays down the potential implication of the images he chooses for his pictures eliminating his personal feelings from these images by adopting an arms length procedure for his work.The painting of the soldiers digging the trench, for example, was a picture he saw by chance. He felt attracted to the process of looking at photographs. When he look at pictures in a book, he usually turn them over when we understand the meaning in them. He painted this picture probably because he looked at it so closely. It was a very plain photograph, some people in uniform were digging into the earth.

Li Songsong painting was based on a magazine image of a scene from the war against Japan War in the 1940s, depicting some Chinese soldiers carrying a Japanese airplane they had shot down, carrying it to Chongqing, a Chinese city in southwestern China. The captured airplane was a sign of triumph and a great source of pride to the Chinese. The artist has divided the image into two halves and purposely painted them with a few variations. For instance, the right half of the painting was blown up a bit more than its left side, intentionally revealing the artist’s manipulation of the image and his suspicion of the ideological connotation of such images and their authenticity.

The relation between photography and painting brings forth quite clear shades of a new historicism, not making history look like a truly existing objective whole, but a topographic map made up of different pieces of historical texts, that is to say that history is that of a certain culture being edificated in its articulation. This change in the concept of history indicates that the artist’s representation of historical memories is not purely objective and neutral, but conceiving contemporary cognitions and experiences within its articulated structure; what it points out is not past but precisely contemporary. In other words, the artist by means of historical images is here re-narrating the recount of history and with the aid of narration we can get from the hazy mist of history a clearer image of ourselves, surveying the state of our own existence.

By: Amit Bittu

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Caffeinated Content

When you are out in the market, trying to prove that you are better than your competitors, you need to promote yourself. And not just promote yourself; you need to know the right promotional measures that would catapult you to the clients’ mind directly. This is true for all kinds of professions as well as business. And similarly this is also true for a commercial photographer.

There are various ways a commercial photographer can promote himself or herself. There are magazines and journals where you can publish your work; you can also use channels and networks, although some prefer them through agents. However, one of the best ways to promote your work and also show your expertise in commercial photography is with the help of exhibitions.

Exhibitions are a great way of promoting the work of any kind of photographer, be it commercial or non-commercial. You can put up some of your best shots and works on campaigns that you have worked on so far, if there are any. You can put up both works that have been appreciated by your fraternity or peers and also put up your own favourite ones.

Exhibitions and promotions are quite necessary to come in the view of the public and clients. It is one of the fastest means to pave your way through to gain the prospective clients’ attention. With exhibitions, you can expect to quickly impress your potential clients with your work and capabilities. They are also a great place where you can get to know the who’s who of the industry personally, and if you are lucky you can also have a t