Smooth Jazz – Nils

So you finished your CD, what now?

nilsmusic — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 01:22:19 +0000

I just returned from mastering my new CD and I am glad that this part of the process is finished. But there are many more steps for releasing a successful album. So for me this just means to switch gears and focus on the next steps.

I made a list of all the things I want to have in place by release date 3 months from now.

Photo shoot
CD cover and booklet design, credits
Live arrangements / backing tracks
Copyright and performing rights registration of new songs
Music Video shoot
Promo videos
Create secondary product(s)
Setup social media campaign
Press releases
Update website

I will address these points one by one in the following weeks in my blog series.

Depending on your situation there might be additional items you need to get together or pay attention to. If you are fully independent you will have to press CDs and find distribution, and design a marketing, advertising and radio campaign. If you don’t have a press kit yet, then you better get on it. If this all sounds overwhelming you might benefit from the expertise of an expert like Kim Giles of Independent Artist Services. http://www.independentartistservices.com

Kim has been working with many independent artist to give them guidance and direction to get their careers going. And she is an expert in helping them plan an independent CD release and marketing campaign. Her fees are reasonable and are well worth the investment, since she also can obtain discounts for her clients for some of the services needed.

For myself, first on my list is a photo shoot. I will need new photos for the album cover, for my website, for press photos and for an internet campaign. I want to go with my friend Jürgen Reisch (www.jurgenreisch.com) to make that happen. Jürgen is an outstanding photographer. He has a photo studio in Hollywood where he does a lot of fashion photography but also has some quite impressive credits for album covers, like Prince, Earth Wind and Fire and Nils ( Pacific Coast Highway and Ready to Play) :o)

Once I have the photos, we will have to get on the design of the album cover and booklet next.

For the cover I want a photo that will stand out through color and design. That photo then will be worked over, manipulated, cropped and played out with album title and artist name. This is the most important part of the process , because the cover is the calling card of the CD. I always try to imagine what my CD will look like in a rack amidst various other CDs. If it draws my eye to it, it’s a great cover. I am also a good idea to create a unified look from web site to album cover to fb page etc. It’s part of a branding strategy and will help to re-enforce the image.

For the booklet I already assembled the album credits and wrote my Thank You-s. I always create a file with production notes, while I am working on a CD. That file includes budget, song titles, Publishing info, a to-do-lists and also the players that played on each track. A album production can easily take a year or even longer and sometimes it is be hard to remember who played on which song, if you use different musicians. Designing the layout for the booklet, the back cover and the CD face can be a very creative and fun process. I enjoy it, but I’m not always the best suited for the job. I am lucky to have help from the record label, when my graphic design skills just don’t cut it.

All this can take a couple weeks or more to get finished, and then there is the time it takes to print the booklet and art work, so don’t underestimate how long this can take.

In my next blog I will address further points on my list, so stay tuned. And if you haven’t joined my mailing list. Please do so and be part of the fan club. It comes with various perks, gifts and discounts. you can join at www.nilsguitar.com

Smooth Jazz Artist as content creator

nilsmusic — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 20:00:22 +0000

As an independent artist, you should see yourself as content creator. And I include myself in this category, although I have a record deal and been with a label for over 10 years. This is true for Smooth Jazz artists as well as artists in other genres. Unless you are in the upper echelons of a national/international touring act and have a full service label, that has a marketing team, a promotion team, sales team and radio team etc., all dedicated to your career, you might have to do some of the leg work yourself.

Big terrestrial radio stations have been on the decline, especially in the Smooth Jazz genre , but in others as well. However, internet radio stations and also internet TV stations ( like PAXstereo TV) are popping up everywhere. These are stations, are usually not reporting to the Billboard charts and are therefore rarely serviced by the record label. They are also always looking for content. I do realize, that there are many of them, which have such a limited following, that they are not worth your effort to create content for. But it’s the sheer number of them, that sometimes makes up for it. Also some of them get more popular as they gather more interesting content. And since you will be delivering your content digitally, how long does it really take to paste another e-mail address into your delivery?

So what kind of content should you create, other than your music? Here are a few ideas:

Behind the scene footage / “The making of “ – collage

Ricky Lawson

Whenever I record an album I try to collect photos, cellphone video and camera footage from the sessions. You could take such items and edit a short 2min short in iMovie or similar program. Distribute it to Internet TV station, YouTube Channel, Facebook etc…

Do your own interview

Write out some questions. Maybe have a friend come over and ask you those questions and record that conversation. Don’t go overboard, this doesn’t have to be an hour long 5 min is plenty

Distribute to Internet radio stations

Interview your peers

A few years back I came up with the idea to interview my peers back stage at the festivals we were playing. I called it “Backstage Pass with NILS” . click on the link to hear an example

Distribute to Internet radio stations

Create generic song ids.

Hi, this is ______ and you are listening to my new single ________ from the album______

Distribute to Internet radio stations with your single and CD

Create your own zero budget Video

Ideally we like to have a slick looking video but as a new and independent artist the budget might not be there. However you can create a Video with virtually no money as long as you have a cell phone. Even if you just sit and play along with your song, this will be more interesting to watch than a static picture with your music playing behind. Check out my friend Johnny Britt’s Video as an excellent example “I Tried” official video

Distribute to Internet TV stations, social networks

For more ideas go to my YouTube Channel and check out the “Behind the scenes”, section

For Alley Cat I did a series called “Anatomy of a Song”

For my City Groove CD I did a series called “The Making of”

For my guitar book I did several instructional videos

The Year End Rush 2011

nilsmusic — Mon, 08 Dec 2014 22:46:39 +0000

Dec 11th 2011
As we are into December now we realize there is only so much time left to accomplish what we want to accomplish for this year. I have three clients who want their projects finished before the year’s end: David, the winemaker wants to have the last 3 songs finished before Christmas. Michole, the actress, who has me working on one song for her, is pretty easy going and wants to have her song by New Year. Dov, the violinist has me working on 3 songs which are each 10 min long.

Reality Check:
Today is Sunday, the 11th, Christmas is in exactly 2 weeks. We recorded drums for David’s project at Ricky Lawson’s studio yesterday. I wanted to schedule the bass session for Monday , but David insisted to be present, and we had to move it to Wednesday. Two of the songs need still guitar (no problem) string and/or horn arrangements and all three need lead and Bg vocals. The thing that I can’t influence is the time it takes to get a good lead vocal. Once I have it, I know Clydene can do all the BG vocals in one afternoon. and I will also need 3 to 4 days to mix. So it’s still possible but it’s gonna be tight.

Dov’s project will need more work. I finished arranging the first two songs and started with the third, but I don’t think I will be able to get all the overdubs done until probably January. Especially, since he is working on a 4th song. I am going to record guitars for him this week and schedule a drum session.

Michole came to me with a Jazz tune, but I am taking into the direction of Erikah Badu, Jill Scott and D’Angelo. However she is still not happy with the drum break, she wants a two bar drum solo. So I will have to go back to Ricky and ask him to do it and send it to me. Once that is finalized, I got Alex Al stand by to do the bass and Leon for the Fender Rhodes parts.

Oh and did I mention, my friend Kathryn (composer and artist) is coming in tomorrow and have me work on the documentary she is scoring. I will be playing guitars and then mix. This has to be finished by the end of the week.
There is plenty of work, but only very little time. My problem is: “When will I have time to go Christmas shopping?”

Happy Thanksgiving

nilsmusic — Thu, 27 Nov 2014 21:18:32 +0000

It’s this time of the year again. We are gathering around family and friends sharing a meal and enjoying each others company.
And it also a time to reflect on what you are thankful for.

And when I sit back and think about that, I must admit I have a lot to be thankful for.
Of course my immediate thought go to my family and our health and our cats. One of them is driving me crazy as I write this, because he likes to chase the cursor on the monitor.
On further reflection a story comes to mind I want to share with you.
I just played a gig in New York and after the show we had drinks with the promoter. I had a very nice conversation with some of his friends who also were at the show. And this lady told me that she needs to thank me. I was somewhat puzzled and asked her “what for?” She said she listens to my music everyday at work. She always has her Smooth Jazz playlist running, and it is that music, that keeps her going and makes her day enjoyable. She couldn’t do without it.
The beauty is, that she was thanking me, and I, at the same time, feel the urge to thank her and all my fans like her. As for an artists it is the biggest reward to hear, that my music is loved and touches someone’s heart. And I’m sure I am speaking for most of my peers here. We artists might have a cool persona on stage, but we are all human beings and have our fears, worries and insecurities, just like everybody else. So hearing you tell me you love my music, or you guys signing up to my mailing list, gives me the strength to keep going when I feel insecure.
So I am very, very thankful for my fans like yourself. Without you I would not be able to continuously put out records and play shows. I feel truly blessed that I am able to get up every morning, get my coffee in the kitchen and walk over to my studio and just write new songs or work on recordings. It’s what I love to do. And when the product of my work is something you all enjoy listening to, then we have a win win situation.
So a HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and THANK YOU for your love and support.
NILS