American Royal Arts is a company that sells entertainment art and has been around since the 80’s. It was started by Jerry Gladstone who realized the marketability of music icons around the world. After all, music is part of everyone’s life and just about every famous musician has a legion of fans in every country around the world.

Here is a video that talks more about American Royal Arts…

Anytime a musician passes away, there is always a spike in sales for that person’s memorabilia. The following Jerry Gladstone video showcases some of Michael Jackson’s memorabilia. It also talks about how ARA determines whether or not a signed art piece, album cover, or photograph is authentic…

And if, by chance, you are an Eric Clapton fan, here is another Jerry Gladstone video that highlights Lee Dickson, the guitar tech for Eric Clapton, showing memorabilia for sale through American Royal Arts…

And now that we have Twitter, the possibilities are endless.

I read this post, The Best Ways to Discover Music Through Twitter and I’m still blown away by the power that this social networking/media website has in making connections.

My cousin just started using Twitter just so she could follow the New Kids on the Block and connect with other NKOTB fans. I’m not sure why I find that so fascinating…I just do. I remember back in the day writing letters to my favorite musicians and crossing my fingers hoping I would get an autographed photo back. Nowadays we can actually connect one-on-one with an artist.

Not only is Twitter a great tool for musicians to market themselves and interact with their fans, it’s an awesome social media site for people to keep up with other music fans and find out what other people are listening to.

If you’re a music fan and love Twitter, you may want to check out a popular website that combines Twitter and music, Blip.fm. I just signed up for an account – check out the music I’ve been listening to: http://blip.fm/Studio747.

Last year I briefly mentioned Twitter in a post titled, The Internet: A Musician’s Good Friend, in which I offered a couple marketing tips for musicians.

I was one of those people who resisted joining Twitter because everyone was saying “all the cool people are doing it”. But seriously, all the cool people are tweeting nowadays. Check out The Pitchfork Guide to Musicians on Twitter.

I could go on and on about how wonderful Twitter is, but it’s up to you to check it out and see for yourself.

Ty Cohen of The Music Biz Center put together a series of videos that tells us what Twitter is all about and how you can use Twitter to market your music. For those of you who are just starting out on Twitter, check out this video…

Bob Baker put together an awesome Twitter Music Promotion & Marketing Guide full of links to resources. Must read!

Resource of Interest: Twitter Traffic Exposed!

However, as I look at the various options available in terms of getting music, I think there are many other services that are more economical.

For instance, there’s Rhapsody.com. Personally, I like the idea of paying a monthly membership fee and having access to unlimited songs. Even if you don’t want to sign up for a membership, Rhapsody does offer high quality mp3’s to download.

Rhapsody has two types of memberships:

What I like about Rhapsody is that I can burn music to CD’s to play in my car. I also like that they have a 14-day free trial so you can test out the service and see if you like it. They even have a Facebook application, so you can create a playlist for your Facebook profile and share your favorite music with friends.

What I would love to see Rhapsody create is a Blackberry application for phones or even some kind of feature to download songs to phones.

Have any thoughts about Rhapsody to share?

Click here to get a 14-Day free trial to Rhapsody Unlimited then pay only $12.99 per month.

What I love about the internet is that I get to meet people from everywhere around the world – people I would probably would have never met otherwise.  I can usually find at least one thing in common with someone – and usually it’s music.  Because I listen to and appreciate all types of music, I can get into long discussions about a certain era of music. 

One musical person who I’ve “met” recently is David Lindberg, who blogs over at Davy’s Locker.  Dave is a musician who creates easy-listening music – the kind of music you can just relax to…The kind of music that just makes you feel good!  I used to consider it “elevator” music that I could fall asleep to, but as I get older I tend to seek out music that is soothing and calming.  You can listen to David’s music over at his MySpace page. 

I discovered David over at Twitter, which is actually a great place to meet musicians or like-minded people.  If you’re a musician and have never heard of Twitter, you should check out 10 Reasons Why Every Musician Should Join Twitter NOW.

Yes, the internet is a musician’s good friend.  You just never know who you may meet online.  It could be that person who helps you get your music out to the whole wide world! 

Photo Credit: Nataly

I am constantly amazed by all the technology that we have at our fingertips – literally.  The amount of people that are logging onto the internet on a daily basis is in the millions, if not billions, and there are so many resources out there that can help musicians get the word out about their music. 

As you may or may not know, I have a talk show over at BlogTalk Radio which is part of the Studio 747 network.  My first guest was Rob Cooke who is a musician and online entrepreneur.  Read more about the show in this past post.

Well, the other day I spent most of the day listening to different shows over at BlogTalk Radio and noticed that there were quite a few music-related shows being hosted there.  Click here to see the list of music shows at BlogTalk Radio.

A light bulb came on in my head…What if No Song Unsung had a music show that played music from independent bands and musicians?  Perhaps this could be something that could be done in the future (I have so much on my plate at the moment!) But it’s definitely something for you to think about if you want to get more exposure as an artist.  What better way than BlogTalk Radio?  It’s absolutely free to start your own show!  Seriously, it can’t get any better than that! 

I love the internet!

Finale is a company that offers several products that will suit your music notation needs:

The Finale website has many resources and a support forum to help you with the software if you need it.

Did you know that Finale was used in Academy Award®-winning films such as:
* Ratatouille
* Michael Clayton
* Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
* Elizabeth: The Golden Age
* The Golden Compass

For all you Neil Young fans out there, he will be in the UK all next month and will be performing at the Playhouse Theatre in Edinburgh, the Apollo Hammersmith in London and the Manchester Apollo in Manchester. You’ll hear songs from his latest album, Chrome Dreams II, and of course, you’ll get your fill of classics that made Neil Young the genius that he is. Buy Neil Young Tickets.

You can find other concert tickets UK over at Viagogo. Viagogo is a ticket hub that not only sells concert tickets, you can also buy or sell sports tickets and arts and theater tickets.

I know a lady who puts together corporate events and it dawned on me that this would be a great venue for bands or musicians to tap into. From what I hear corporate parties are huge money-makers and if you can get just one gig, most likely it will lead to other private events like birthday parties or weddings.

Who says you have to attend a school of arts and education to make big money in the world of entertainment?

What other ways have you made money as a musician? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment!

Photo Credit: Michael Kollwitz

Watching this video has truly inspired me and makes me want to take up piano lessons again! I recently purchased a CD to reacquaint myself with classical music and the sound of the piano. I even went on a hunt for free piano lessons…Don’t have a piano yet, but will start practicing on my boyfriend’s keyboard

Here’s a great piano blog: The Collaborative Piano Blog