Colin Thomson: Do More

If you enjoy the show, please leave me a Rating and Review in iTunes! Click Here to leave the review!   Mateo Messina is a Grammy winning composer who writes music for film, television, and the symphony. His signature sound can be found on many of today's Oscar winning movies & independent film hits. Since the age of 23, Mateo has written, produced, and premiered 18 symphonies. Each premiere has been a benefit concert for families at Seattle Children's Hospital. To date, he and his team have raised over $1,000,000 for these children and their families. Mateo is an accomplished musician, a unique storyteller, a seasoned producer, a dependable man of his business, and one of today's most innovative composers.   "As you climb the ladder, you don't get less 'no's. Hopefully, the 'no's that you get just come from 'more important' people." -Mateo Messina (click to tweet)   Key Take Aways:   When you commit to more than you know you can handle, you might discover that you're capable of more than you thought As

Aaron Mojica is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Mic Check (www.miccheck.co), an online recording equipment rental service that ships gear straight to your door. Prior to co-founding Mic Check Aaron also co-founded Prosource (www.prosourcehub.com), an audio, lighting, staging, and video rental and event production business based out of Chicago, and Creators League (www.creatorsleague.com), an online community for individuals with a profession in the creative industries. Prior to his career as an entrepreneur, Aaron attended Indiana University and studied Arts Management, Marketing, and Music, studying at the renowned Jacobs School of Music.   Do you ask why? Do you ask why things are the way they are, and how they could be better? Do you look for ways to improve what you see around you, and then take actions to make those improvements? Do you observe the world around you enough to find your niche, and understand how you fit into it?   Aaron Mojica does, and out of that habit of asking why things are th

If you enjoy the show, please leave me a Rating and Review in iTunes! Click Here to leave the review!     Key Take Aways: The Modern Musician Show is all about “hacks” for leading a better career as a musician A good morning is one of the best productivity and creativity hack out there When you win the morning, you win the day. So when you win every morning, consistently, you win every day Most importantly: Get up at least an hour before you have to do anything. Be the master of your morning. Don’t let the schedule master you, by telling you when to wake up. You can choose to be the master by simply waking up on your own time instead of someone else’s When you first wake up, try to avoid email and social media. This is another way that you can win immediately, because as soon as you start checking these platforms, you are reacting to what you see, instead of making decisions for yourself Try to establish, in the first hour, what the main 3 - 5 things are that, if you could get them done that day, would make

If you enjoy the show, please leave me a Rating and Review in iTunes! Click Here to leave the review     Charles “Chaz” Langley was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Virginia Beach, VA. Chaz began honing his talent for singing at the Governor’s Magnet School for the Arts in Virginia! Since then he has begun his journey into the world of Live Stage, Background vocals, demos, jingles and eventually performing all over the world. He’s had the opportunity to entertain in various styles of music from Musical theatre, R&B, Pop, Gospel and Classical as well. It was the natural progression of R&B music that held his attention and still becomes prevalent in most of his music. Since moving to New York over 10 years ago, Chaz has had many opportunities to work with various publishing and record companies singing in different styles to strengthen him vocally. You may have heard his voice supporting various products and companies such as Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Ford, Behr Paint, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Pepsi, Budw

Born in the Phillipines, Bryan Callen spent the first fourteen years of his life overseas in countries like India, Pakistan, Lebanon, Greece and Saudi Arabia, before moving to the U.S. He went to highschool in Massachusettes and earned his B.A. in History at the American University in Washington D.C. He's played numerous roles on the small and big screen including, “Old School” “Bad Santa”, “Sex and the City”, “Entourage,” “Californication,” “7th Heaven,” “King of Queens,” “Stacked,” “Las Vegas,” “West Wing,” “News Radio,” “Significant Others,” “CSI,” “NYPD Blue,”“Suddenly Susan,” and “Frasier.” He recently finished a two season character arc on USA’s “In Plain Sight." Bryan is currently playing a recurring role on ABC's "The Goldbergs," just finished recording his stand-up comedy special, and is the co-host of one of the top 50 podcasts in iTunes, "The Fighter and the Kid."       Do You Like Rejection? If you've been in entertainment for any length of time, you know how hard it is to make a buck. You know t

Christian Howes grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where he studied violin through the Suzuki method from the age of five, performed as a soloist with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra at age 16, and later earned his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the Ohio State University. During his teen years he began playing guitar and bass in rock, blues, and fusion bands. At age 20, he began playing violin in gospel church settings. These experiences ultimately led him to pursue a singular goal to become a versatile jazz musician and composer. Since then, he has gained respect from critics and players alike, establishing himself as a world class jazz violinist and educator. From 2001-2009 Howes became an in-demand violinist on the New York scene, collaborating with a bevy of top shelf jazz artists, including Greg Osby, D.D. Jackson, Frank Vignola, Joel Harrison, Dafnis Prieto, Dave Samuels, Spyro Gyra, and a 4-year chair in Bill Evans’ “Soulgrass” band. Christian was a favorite of the late Les Paul, with whom he worked clos

Key Take Aways: Emails are your most treasured possession With algorithm changes in FaceBook, and the constant possibility of the same happening with other social networks, your email list is the only thing that you can confidently call your own If you don’t have an opt-in offer currently running on your site, your wasting traffic Opt-in: Something of real value that you give away in exchange for an email Creativity is super important when choosing an opt-in DO NOT: Just give away a track. Streaming services have devalued digital music to the point where this makes no sense Consider: behind the scenes videos, interviews with you and the band, unreleased demo tracks, extended tracks, bonus track unavailable elsewhere - just be creative! Think about having a few different opt-ins sprinkled throughout your website - targeted at different interests that your audience may have You need an email provider like Aweber or MailChimp Then you can just setup an auto-responder, where the first email that is sent immediat

Dr. Noa Kageyama began his musical journey at the age of 2 when he was given his first violin - a Cracker-Jack box with a ruler taped to it. Midway through kindergarten, he gave his first performance with orchestra as a student of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki (founder of the Suzuki Method) in Matsumoto, Japan, and shortly thereafter, made his TV debut on WBNS-TV’s Front Page Saturday Night. His second year at Juilliard, he signed up for a course titled “Performance Enhancement for Musicians” taught by Dr. Don Greene. It sounded interesting, although he was pretty skeptical that an Olympic sport psychologist and former green beret could tell him anything about being a concert artist. To Noa's surprise, what he learned that semester changed not only how he performed, but how he felt about performing. His whole approach shifted. Even his practice habits changed dramatically. Dr. Noa Kageyama is now on the faculty of The Juilliard School in NYC and the New World Symphony in Miami, FL where he helps talented musicians prep

Sam Matla is the founder of EDMProd, a blog and resource website that teaches electronic music producers how to make better music and overcome creative problems. He published The Producer's Guide to Workflow & Creativity after running EDMProd for two years, which has received an immense amount of positive feedback and helped musicians and producers across the world. Key Take Aways: With any project, you have to be able to come to the point where you say it's "good enough" The multitude of choices available to the producer can be paralyzing When a style of music becomes generic or over-done, it's often the perfect opportunity for someone with new ideas to build on it, and do something really exciting As a producer, or anyone in music, you cannot overestimate the power of networking Your work ethic has to be on point if you want to make it in the music industry As an EDM producer, start with your local scene. Don't try to skip this step Set clear objectives for every work session to stay productive Don't t

Conceiving music that can range from acoustically intimate or ethnically eccentric to a grand, adventurous orchestral excursion able to traverse the globe, Tulsa-born composer Greg Edmonson is a unique musical voice in Hollywood, one that has experienced widespread acclaim in the diverse worlds of film, television and video games. Greg's talent on the guitar first brought him to Los Angeles, where his work as a session player led to composing as the next step in his musical journey. Studying the craft with the renowned Dr. Albert Harris, Greg landed his first scoring gigs for the hallowed TV animation company Hanna Barbera. His work for the medium caught the attention of one its most in-demand composers, and soon Greg was working alongside multiple Emmy-winner Mike Post on hit series such as "L.A. Law," "Quantum Leap," "Wiseguy" and "Cop Rock". An Emmy nomination for one of Greg's songs served as proof that he had found his niche and was on the scene to stay. Greg's next taste of success came on Mike Judge's

Key Take Aways: Twitter is one of the older social networks Twitter is often used by more “academic” types - writers and such Twitter requires a different strategy than Instagram. The noise level is far higher The higher noise-level has to do with the relative ease of putting together a post on Twitter, versus other platforms To cut through the noise, you gotta be tweeting all the time! Twitter is one of the best places to connect with high-profile people. Try it! Tweet at some people for fun to see if you can get a response Videos, limited to 30 seconds, are a great way to natively tease your music Use appropriate hashtags Use emojis Tweet your random, deep or shallow thoughts and ideas Tweet quotes Tweet links tweet @ people, and reply. Use a period before the at sign (like .@colinthomson) if you want other people to be able to see it Repetition is OK on Twitter, MUCH more so than other platforms Interact, interact, interact!!!     Mic Check is a recording equipment rental company that ships gear straight

Key Take Aways: Artistic development should be an integral part of management There is still a lot of value in a label, provided the label is aligned correctly with you, believes in your vision, and will work hard for you. Distribution is not part of that Your project has to be 100% of the way there before pitching it to a label. Demos don't count Spend plenty of time in research to make sure you are reaching out to the right person When a label is looking at you, they are going to make sure your social networks are up to date, your bio is good, you have a continuous visual style, and are already well on your way The overall online presentation is a good indicator of grit Get a pro SoundCloud account. It's important Don't put playlists in your SoundCloud Spotlight Make sure all your content is on every platform, and funnel it all wherever you want (iTunes, website, email opt-in, etc) It's important that you continually put out content, so that people are continually reminded about you       Get more info ab

Key Take Aways: Active listening is something you can instill in your children early on, and how knows, maybe they'll become a producer someday! Understanding what makes a song tick is the most essential ability in a producer There's a lot of chance involved with meeting the right people. There's only so much you can do As a producer, a lot of times friends and your networks are the best way to discover artists Never become too jaded to listen to new music you're given It's important to have a good, friendly relationships with the people you work with, especially in music Artists need to know who they are as an artist, before they start working with a producer If your producer/label/anyone makes you - that means that they can take it away from you, too Artist need to learn how to define success for themselves, outside of expectations from other people around them     "A producer is a professional enabler" - Andy Freeman     Mic Check is a recording equipment rental company that ships gear straight to your d

Nathan Kelly is an American composer in Los Angeles, best known for working as an arranger for recording artists such as Joss Stone, Andrea Bocelli, Dionne Warwick, The Tony Awards, and film scores. Kelly studied music composition at the University of Texas, film scoring at the University of Southern California, and took further education at the Juilliard School of Music, Tanglewood, Massachusetts, Aspen Music School, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Bowdoin, Maine, and the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program, Seattle. His composition teachers were Tobias Picker and film composer Bruce Broughton.     Key Take Aways: When you're really connected with you purpose, and what you want to do, a lot of times you things just start coming through for you, over time Ask as many specific questions as you can. When you're working on a project, this is the best way to upfront know what is expected from you, and save yourself a lot of pain later Success in music often comes down to communication It's important to make non

Key Take Aways: Is artistry and productivity an oxymoron? No great work of art or creativity was ever achieved by accident Some of the most successful people you know, that you may envy because you don’t think they’re as talented as you or others, simply worked harder than anyone else to get what they wanted What are you spending your time on? Examine everything you do, and ask if it is part of the 80% that get’s you 20% results, or if it is part of the 20% that gets you 80% Seize the morning. If you win the morning, you win the day. Try to organize the tasks that have to be accomplished in the morning - and to set clear goals for that day Exercise is one of the best ways to wake up and be productive for the rest of the day Then work harder than everyone else The more I talk to people who work closely with hugely successful people, the more I see the commonality that those successful musicians simply worked harder than the rest Finish your projects Keep a to-do list - and cross things off This is actually re

Sahpreem King is a multi-platinum music producer, music business educator, academic lecturer, music consultant, and music business book author and music industry writer. He has written several music industry books, as well as worked with some of the biggest names in hip-hop. He has an extensive background in music production, music marketing, business, and education design and technology.   Key Take Aways: A lot of times listeners can't hear the difference between well-produced music, and second-rate work, a lot of times they can feel the difference Part of what makes music so great is that there are no boundaries. Especially right now, you can do anything you want to do At the end of the day, music is all about connecting with people "If you don't change with the change, the change is gonna change without you" - Sahpreem King Producers have to be strategic in their listening - and fully understand what an artistic can bring, and how the artist/producer chemistry is going to work Handle all legalities before

Key Take Aways: Don't hesitate to reach out to people who can help you, and be respectfully consistent in your outreach strategy If you want to work with someone who has a lot of opportunities, you need to make it easy for them Quality is important On YouTube, song selection will have a huge effect on how well you can grow If you have artistic integrity in everything you do, you will be able to transition into different types of work, and your audience will appreciate what you are doing If you want to use other networks, especially FaceBook, upload something (like teasers) natively, and link to YouTube, so that you can have a better chance if getting into the FaceBook feed Make music you love!  Bonus Round: Deeper Dive Into YouTube Specifics at ModernMusician.co/Bonus Learn more about Landon Austin: YouTube.com/LandonAustin FaceBook.com/LandonAustinMusic Twitter @LandonAustin iTunes Mic Check is a recording equipment rental company that ships gear straight to your door all over the U.S. They make getting

First and foremost, Jerald is a husband to his beautiful wife, Zanny, and a father to his wonderful children. Jerald Simon is the founder and president of Music Motivation® (musicmotivation.com). He is a composer, author, poet, and Music Mentor™/piano teacher (primarily focusing his piano teaching on music theory, improvisation, composition, and arranging). Jerald loves music, teaching, speaking, performing, playing sports, exercising, reading, writing poetry and self help books, and spending time with his wife, Zanny, and their children.   Jerald created musicmotivation.com as a resource for piano teachers, piano students, and parents of piano students. He is the author/poet of "The As If Principle" (222 motivational poems), and the book "Perceptions, Parables, and Pointers.” He is also the author of 20 music books from the Music Motivation® Series™ (over 200 original piano solos between the books) including the popular series: Cool Songs for Cool Kids™ (pre-primer, primer level, and volumes 1, 2, and 3) and

Key Take Aways: There is no o secret sauce or formula In everything that you do - infuse your personal “brand” or whatever makes you really unique, into it If you can find an area of focus that already has interest and a lot of attention, you can piggy-back off that momentum But the key is to find a way to do it in a way that is still very much your brand, and very much you This is the difference between selling out, and making good careers decisions with your music. The sellout will follow any trend to make a buck, whereas the smart artist will find a way to use that trend to gain traction for what is already special about them Don’t be an “anti” artist. Don’t assume that because something is popular, or maybe in with the younger crowd right now, that it as no merit Instead, try to understand on a deep level what's making music or trends popular, and then learn how you can assimilate those good aspects into your own work! Artist always have decisions to make as very as direction, and there is nothing wrong

Mark Jean served as the VP of Creative Licensing for TV and Film at the Mobius Music Group, where his duties include expanding and organizing the music library for placement in TV, Film, Advertising, Video Games, and all other media, as well as business Development by expanding relationships with music supervisors, music editors, productions companies, video game companies, advertising agencies, web content, and sport networks. He currently owns and runs Runway Sound Studio in Sherman Oaks, CA.   Key Take Aways: Single-song agreements, often non-exclusive, have become much more common these days. This allows the artist great flexibility to have a publishing company help pitch your work, while you continue to pitch your music to other people While there are advantages to have an exclusive agreement with the right publishing company who is super excited about your work, be extremely careful before signing one of these, because it also closes you off to a lot of other possibilities Your songs have to be broadca