EQ Magazine - May 2008 - (Page 4)

Talk Box GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT It’s a saying as old as show biz itself. But that begs the question: What do people really want? Calculated attempts to come up with something “commercial” aren’t always successful. In fact, many times something completely unanticipated strikes a chord. For example, we decided to do an issue of EQ with a theme of circuit bending, based solely on a gut feeling that some people would find it interesting. No one had ever written in asking us to cover that topic, yet the issue went over extraordinarily well. And sometimes, you just get lucky: When Tommy James’ song “Hanky Panky” was released, it went nowhere nationally. A year later, a DJ in Pittsburgh stumbled on a copy, played it, and the phone lines lit up with requests. The song went on to become a monster hit, as well as launch a career. We’ve all heard how the band Boston was rejected by label after label, yet ended up having a huge debut album. Clearly, the labels that rejected the band thought it wasn’t what the people wanted—but millions of albums proved them very wrong. Even the Beatles were rejected by numerous labels before getting signed. So, what’s the secret of giving people what they want? There isn’t one. No one can predict with certainty what will work and what won’t. Movies with huge stars and big budgets have flopped, while cult movies shot on a shoestring have been huge. According to legend, the Ford Edsel was the first car produced as the result of meticulous focus group research—and it was a commercial disaster. There’s a lesson in there somewhere. Ultimately, all you can really do is be true to yourself. Don’t try to be commercial; be authentic. People will often respond more favorably to something sincere than something calculated. Strive for originality, because there’s so much music being released these days, the “noise-to-signal” ratio is incredibly high. You’ll have a better shot of being noticed if there’s something noteworthy about what you do, and doesn’t have a “been there, done that” vibe. Granted, being uncompromising in what you do and not taking commercial considerations into account is no guarantee of success—far from it! Despite your best efforts, your music simply may not resonate with people. But if it does, it will be for the right reasons, and you will indeed be giving people what they really want—which is an emotional connection, courtesy of the magic of music. www.eqmag.com Vol. 19 No. 5, May 2008 Executive Editor Craig Anderton, canderton@musicplayer.com Editor Matt Harper, mharper@musicplayer.com Managing Editor Debbie Greenberg, dgreenberg@musicplayer.com Contributors Jeff Anderson, Merrick Angle, Moses Avalon, Bruce Bartlett, Kris Force, Rocco Fortunato, Paul Grundman, Garrett Haines, Michael Ross, Max Sidman, Angelina Skowronski, Rich Tozzoli Art Director Paul Haggard, phaggard@musicplayer.com Asst. Art Director Damien Castaneda, dcastaneda@musicplayer.com Staff Photographers Paul Haggard, phaggard@musicplayer.com, Craig Anderton, canderton@musicplayer.com Publisher John Pledger Associate Publisher & Advertising Director, Northeast Gary Ciocci gciocci@musicplayer.com, 603.924.9141 Advertising Director, Northwest & New Business Dev. Greg Sutton gsutton@musicplayer.com, 925.425.9967 Advertising Director, Southwest Jon Levy jlevy@musicplayer.com, 818.994.3800 Advertising Director, Midwest Jessica Sullivan jsullivan@musicplayer.com, 661.255.2719 Advertising Director, Southeast & NY Grace Newman gnewman@musicplayer.com, 631.239.1460 Specialty Sales Advertising Director Mike Montgomery mmontgomery@musicplayer.com, 650.238.0307 Specialty Sales Assistant Allison Smith asmith@musicplayer.com, 650.238.0296 Production Manager Amy Santana MUSIC PLAYER NETWORK Group Publisher/VP John Pledger Editorial Director Michael Molenda Senior Financial Analyst Bob Jenkins Production Department Manager Beatrice Kim Group Project Manager Lauren Gerber Web Director Max Sidman Web Editor Lania Cortez Motion Graphics Designer Tim Tsuruda Marketing Director Christen Pocock McFarland Sales and Marketing Coordinator Molly Corman Marketing Designer Joelle Katcher Systems Engineer John Meneses Associate Circulation Director Cheri McElroy Associate Director, Subscription Marketing Christopher Dyson Fulfillment Manager Rosario Perez NEWBAY MEDIA CORPORATE President & CEO Steve Palm Chief Financial Officer Paul Mastronardi Vice President Web Development Joe Ferrick Circulation Director Denise Robbins Marketing Director Nancy Gregson HR Manager Ray Vollmer IT Director Greg Topf Controller Jack Liedke Please direct all advertising and editorial inquiries to: EQ, 1111 Bayhill Dr., Ste. 125, San Bruno, CA 94066 (650) 238-0300; Fax (650) 238-0262; eq@musicplayer.com Please direct all subscription orders, inquiries, and address changes to: 800-289-9919, outside the U.S. 978-667-0364, eqmag@computerfulfillment.com Back Issues: Back Issues are available for $10 each at 800-289-9919, 978-667-0364, eqmag@computerfulfillment.com EQ (ISSN 1050-7868) is published monthly by NewBay Media, LLC 1111 Bayhill Drive, Suite 125, San Bruno, CA 94066. EQ is a trademark of NewBay Media. All material published in EQ is copyrighted (©) 2008 by NewBay Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material appearing in EQ is prohibited without written permission. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EQ., P.O. Box 232, Lowell, MA 01853. Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, photos, or artwork. All product information is subject to change; publisher assumes no responsibility for such changes. All listed model numbers and product names are manufacturers' registered trademarks. Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. Canada Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Bruno, CA, and at additional mailing offices. 4 EQ MAY 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - May 2008

EQ Magazine - May 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Jamie Lidell, What the New Model of Record Deal Means to You, Part II, Andrew W.K. Tool Box Aerosmith Fast Tracks Guitar Trax Bass Management Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet DigiDesign Pro Tools LE 7.4 Cakewalk Sonar 7 Line 6 UX8 Studio Projects CS5 Art Tubefire 8 Jazzmutant Dexter MCDSP Emerald Pack Overloud Breverb KRK Exposé E8B Mackie MR5 Blue Sky Exo Monitor System Big Fish Audio Around the World in 80 Raves East West Fab Four Virtual Instrument Sony Matt Fink- Starvu Session Keys Room With A VU

EQ Magazine - May 2008

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