Dirtybird Records' Luke Williams Spills The Beans On The Point Blank Music Business Course

Following on from our much touted Claude VonStroke interview, we caught up with Dirtybird's Label Manager, Luke Williams, to find out about what he thought of our Online Music Business course.

PB>> What were your overall impressions of the course?

LW>> I took the Music Business Course and found it very well put together. The class is comprised of lessons that are well thought out and easy to digest. Topics that can be incredibly complicated and confusing were explained in a way that made sense.

PB>> What course materials were offered to you as an online student?

LW>> There were links to videos, images, and instructional videos as well that made visual sense of the text as well as providing additional information.

PB>> How did you communicate with your tutor and fellow students? Who was your tutor, and how would you rate him?

LW>> I enjoyed meeting with fellow classmates and the instructor in the chat room to discuss the topics in the lessons and homework. I had Steve Hillier as and instructor, who has been in the music industry for 20+ years. If I had to give him a grade, it'd be an A+, because he responded to my homework with a video review and covered all aspects of what I had done with great feedback.

PB>> Which subject areas were of particular interest or most useful to you?

LW> For me the most important subject area was royalties because I'm doing them as we speak, and the world of royalties can be very frustrating and cryptic.

PB>> Did you meet anyone interesting whilst on the course?


LW>> All the other students in my class were interesting and engaged, as well as Mr.Hillier, who really set a great tone for the class.

PB>> Do you think you will you be able to apply this knowledge to practial use, in managing Dirtybird Records?

LW>> All of the information that was taught will help me, because it all applies to the every day work I do in some fashion.

PB>> Are there any other comments you have about the course?

LW>> I was skeptical if this course would be beneficial to me or not, I wondered if the layout of the class online would be easy to get through or if it would just be frustrating. I was pleased to see that not only was it beneficial, but it was also very well laid out, and I looked forward to doing it. I can't wait for more classes of this nature in the future!

Dirtybird Records latest release, 'Munnibrotherz' EP, comes from South African duo The Munnibrotherz and is out now. The EP also features a blistering remix from Zombie Disco Squad.

The Online Music Business course covers subjects ranging from Intellectual Property and Digital Distribution, to the Financial aspects of the industry. It is taught over 4 weeks with 12 months full access to the course materials,
Click here to find out more.

Make Your Career in Music a Reality

If you regularly read this blog, we can safely assume that you love music, it is your passion and it would be a dream to make a living out of it somehow. But the reality is that it is not easy to make ends meet as an up and coming musician simply by selling music and playing gigs. Being a talented musician is rarely enough these days, you need entrepreneurial skills and a business minded outlook if you are going to maximise your earning power.

At Point Blank we recognise the importance of this for those who are aiming for a career in the music industry, which is why we have developed the Music Business Course as a core module of the 2 year Diploma. To supplement the concepts and theories taught on this module, we want to lend a further helping hand by inviting you to join our affiliate program, one of the many alternative revenue streams out there to be exploited.

Affiliate programs are common throughout the Internet and offer website owners an additional way to profit from their websites. Affiliates generate traffic and sales for commercial websites and in return receive a commission payment.

So if you run a website or blog you could be earning up to £70+ for every person that clicks through from your site and ends up booking a Point Blank course! The program is open to anyone, whether you have studied at Point Blank or not and the commission is applicable up to 90 days after the person’s first visit via your link.

How Does It Work?
When you join our affiliate program, you will be supplied with a range of banners and textual links that you place within your site. When a user clicks on one of your links, they will be brought to our website and their activity will be tracked by our affiliate software. You will earn a commission based on your commission type.

You will then be able to login 24 hours a day to check your sales, traffic, account balance and see how your banners are performing.

So if you do own a website or blog there is really nothing to lose!

Head over to www.pointblankonline.net/affiliate to sign up and start earning now!

How To Succeed In the 21st Century Music Industry

It is clear to see that the dynamic of the music industry is evolving rapidly. It is now a real possibility for labels and even artists themselves to handle all their own business affairs, promotional strategies and connect with their fan base on a relatively small budget. In fact, unless you get picked up by a major label or have other significant financial backing, being able to do this yourself is an absolute necessity in order to succeed.

If this challenge is tackled effectively and efficiently, the dreams of fame and fortune that lurk within all budding musicians, are now realistically achievable. This is in large part due to the vastly inter-connected, high-speed, and cheap nature of modern communications; just look at how quickly new acts such as The Arctic Monkeys and more recently La Roux used social networking media such as Myspace and the blogosphere to rise from the bubbling pit of underground UK talent to become phenomena that even your Gran has heard of!

La Roux has shot to stardom

However, learning how to stay up to date with the latest technologies, choosing the most effective methods of promotion, and getting to grips with all the legal issues that accompany releasing records and protecting your music is by no means an easy task... and this is where we come in.

Our new Music Business Course gets underway on October 1st 2009 and has been specifically developed to reflect the changing face of the music industry. As well as in depth analysis of new business models and technologies, it will incorporate other key areas such as marketing and entrepreneurship, recording and publishing deals, management, copyright and licensing.

The course has been developed by Ruth K. Fung and Jos Jorgensen who is also the lead tutor. Jos is a professional songwriter and producer who composed and produced the theme music to hugely successful TV shows including "X Factor", "America’s Got Talent" and "Britain's Got Talent". He is also a director of artist management company JOWU Entertainment in China and with an MBA in Music Industries, brings to the programme a thorough understanding of the international music business.

Jos during his time serving the Danish Army

He said:

"The Music Industry is a rapidly changing landscape. Many people will have you believe it's all doom and gloom and that nobody will make any money now that sales are declining" says Jorgensen. "I totally disagree - the product is simply changing. Whoever is first to anticipate what happens from here will be the next music industry millionaire. The course will look back at the conventional workings of the business, look sideways at what is happening now and predict what this future landscape will look like."

At 18 Jos moved to Toronto and started working as assistant sound engineer with artists including Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello and the Bare Naked Ladies. Impressed with his talents, Lou Reed recommended Jos to LIPA (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts), who offered him a scholarship. Whilst there, Jos enjoyed one on one songwriting sessions with Sir Paul McCartney and went on to win the Sennheiser Acheivement Award twice and also the Times Songwriting /Composer award in 2001. A year later he was signed by Global Talent Publishing. Since then he has worked with Lemar, Blue, Westlife, Blazin' Squad and Terri Walker and has had numerous hits in south east Asia, Germany, Brazil, France as well as songs on four number one albums. This year he was honoured with a BMI award for "Best Musical Theme On American TV".

Ruth started her career as a writer and producer as part of Artful Dodger and subsequently enjoyed substantial chart success both at home and abroad. Ruth has written with Craig David, Lemar, Brandy, Louise, Liberty X and JLo. In recent years she has been a partner in well-respected music industry think tank, Finger On The Pulse, who continue to research and advise various companies and individuals on the ever changing landscape of the music business. The course will offer invaluable insights for anyone looking to earn a living from music in the digital era, whether you are an aspiring artist, songwriter, manager, entrepreneur, or seeking employment with record companies, publishers and agents.

No previous experience is required and students who complete the course will be awarded an NCFE Level 3 Introductory Award in Business for the Creative Industries.

Check out the full course outline and booking information here:

Music Business Course

Music Industry Careers: Island Records' A&R Tells All

5 Years ago Ben Scarr was just like thousands of other people his age, determined to carve out a career for himself in the music industry but not sure of his exact calling.

In 2004 he enrolled on the Music Production Merit Course here at Point Blank in the knowledge that the techniques he would learn and the contacts that he would make could help him realise his dreams. 5 years on and he has worked his way up to the enviable position of A&R Man at Island records where it is now his job to find the music stars of the future.

Kind enough to re-visit Point Blank to as a guest lecturer this is an overview of his story and the advice he gave to the on-looking students packed into studio 8:

How did he work his way up the industry ladder?

• Whilst studying at Point Blank, Ben approached his favourite club nights to offer to help with the flyer distribution and earned a 6 month part time internship at a professional studio in Brixton. Standing in the rain outside clubs at 2 am and going on endless coffee runs was by no means glamorous, lucrative or much fun but it is so important to be proactive in gaining additional experience and contacts at that early stage, as well as demonstrating your desire to succeed.

• Once he finished the Merit Course he earned some extra cash as a DJ and Production tutor for the Point Blank community projects, and at the same time he had progressed to head up the street team that handled flyer distribution.

• He decided it was time to try and get a job at a label so sent off lots of applications, but with little success.

• However his networking paid off as one of his contacts, who he worked with for Hip Hop night 'Jump-Off', gave him a phone number for a record executive at Mercury Records. Having nervously enquired, Ben was delighted to be offered 1 month's work experience in the marketing department.

• Realising he needed to seize this opportunity, he showed real dedication, dropping all his other commitments, arriving early and leaving late every day. It worked and they extended his work experience to 3 months.

• Unfortunately when this came to an end there were no jobs at Mercury but they were so impressed that they helped him land a role in marketing at Island Records.

• Once there he made an impression on the A&R department by arranging for his music producer contacts to do some remixes on spec. (ie if the label don't use them then there is no fee).

• In passing, he also mentioned to his boss the idea of Girls Aloud and Sugababes covering the Aerosmith vs. Run DMC classic 'Walk This Way' for Comic Relief. Having assumed they hadn't liked the idea he was surprised but delighted to open a box full of new 'Walk This Way' promo singles a month later.

• He was offered the role as assistant in A&R where he patiently watched and learned for 6 months.

• His next major break came when he introduced his colleagues to a young unknown synth-pop artist named Frankmusik (now signed to Island and with over a million hits on his Myspace). This put his name on the map within Island records and he began to get more acknowledgement for his ideas.

• His tip-off that Wiley’s tune ‘Rolex Sweep’ was set to be a smash hit was snubbed by his boss.

• With egg on his face after it reached number 2 in the charts on another label, the boss realised Ben's talent for urban music and sent him out to unearth some other unsigned gems. He quickly hooked up with Tinchy Stryder and has been the driving force behind his success – his second single 'Take Me Back' charted at number 3 in the UK after Ben shrewdly drafted in Taio Cruz for the vocals.

• Most recently he signed the hit tune 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' which became a viral sensation via Youtube.

Questions from the floor:

• What does your typical day consist of?

"It is very varied. I spend a lot of time listening to new music that I am sent. We might meet about a potential new artist and talk about which sonic direction they should go. Much time is spent sourcing producers and writers who will suit our artist's style... Often I will visit the studio to give my thoughts on the artist's work in progress, The producer and artist can be in the eye of the storm when they have been listening to the same thing all day so it helps for someone to come and give their thoughts from a fresh perspective at the end of a session."

• What is your advice for aspiring producers and musicians from an A&R man's perspective?

"Don't hold back on sending your music to labels, get as much feedback as possible; you don’t want to spend years on an album only to be told that the sound doesn't work"

"Target the labels that suit your sound and try to develop some kind of relationship with them. It's a good idea to find a contact name to address your mail to otherwise it is likely not to get opened. You will always find an A&R contact in an artist's album sleeve so look at an artist with a similar style to your own."

"On your demos send in no more than 2 tracks... include a short note about your act and make sure you write your contact details on the actual CD."

"Talk to people and tell them what you are aiming for. You may get laughed off by some but one time you will meet someone who can help you"

"Work on your look. Style is a crucial factor when labels are considering an artist"

• What are some of the hotspots for getting spotted by A&R people?

"In London: Hoxton Bar & Grill, Yo Yos, Troubadour, Camden Barfly, Water Rats. Depending on the style of music there are different ways of getting spotted... bands tend to be discovered at gigs whereas urban acts tend to make their name on the underground scene and virally through sites like Youtube"

• Do you deal with publishing deals?

"No, publishing deals are separate to record deals but every artist will have one. They are important as alternate forms of income to pure record sales... Your publisher will try to get your music on television programmes and commercials or in computer games... and if your tune is ever sampled on a hit record you will be in for a big pay day if you own the publishing rights of that sample."

Thanks to Ben for sparing his time and providing inspiration and insight for the Point Blank students who attended. Look out for more masterclasses, free for all students, coming in the near future.