I recently received a $15 iTunes gift card, and decided I wanted to do something a bit altruistic with it. Being a part of the team that surrounds indie artists, I know first hand how much work is involved on so many levels to get an artist off the ground. I know how hard it is to get the whole operation to a point where everyone involved can make a living from it.

So I decided that I wanted to use my $15 to support artists and teams just like those I’ve had experience working with-people who are just like me. Because I know what it’s like on the day-to-day level. I know first hand the sacrifices people make for a career in music. And I know exactly how tough the music business is.

So why am I telling you this? Because I want you to help me decide who to support. We’ve all got friends who we want to see make it. That we support by going out to every show they put on, buy every recording they put out, and tell everyone we know to come to their shows and buy their music too. The type of artist I’m describing might even be you, yourself!

Here’s the stipulations for this little contribution:

• I’m only going to purchase one song per artist, so I’m buying 15 songs by 15 different artists.
• The artists have to be indie artists. Either they are signed to a very indie label, have a small team of entrepreneurs helping them in some way, or they are funding their career on their own (or have an entrepreneur helping them with the funding part). The point here is that they are local indie artists that you know, bootstrapping their way. Not Coldplay, making $3 million a nite.
• The people you suggest have to want it. They have to have made real sacrifices, poured their heart and soul into their craft, and shed blood, sweat, and tears along the way. I want to know I’m supporting people who are dedicated. That there is real emotion involved. Not someone who is just a half-way hobbyist, not fully committed, not willing to do what it takes to succeed, squanders their opportunities and/or resources, or otherwise has a since of entitlement, selfishness, or general bad attitude about them.

$1 is a small contribution. But I know from experience that every contribution makes a difference. So let’s do our part to support these artists. Put your suggestions in the comments below, and sometime around May 1st I’ll use my iTunes card to purchase songs by the first 15 artists (as long as they meet the stipulations above) suggested. And if you want to suggest yourself, go right ahead :)

*Update: If you don’t want to make your suggestions in public, send an email to: stinson[AT]producernotes[DOT]com

I think that by doing away with a regular posting schedule, and writing posts relatively on the spot (rather than taking days to prepare a post), I’ll ironically have more freedom to post more often. From best I can tell after running this blog for two and a half years, all the work and thought I was putting into preparing weekly posts was too much of a challenge to balance into my daily work.

In addition to this new posting routine, I’ve diversified the range of topics I’ll be creating a dialogue within (see category descriptions below). I think exploring these new topics will help me learn and become better at my craft (which is one of the main reasons I run this blog), as well as make it easier to come up with content to post, and giving the blog an even more human feel-as I hope my personality tastefully shows through a little more.

New categories:

• Contemplations-Me learning out loud; working to understand new (to me) perspectives and epiphanies, relevant to record making
• Inspiration-Things I’m generally inspired by (different from the Music Business Inspiration category)
• Recollections-Career and autobiographical stories

I hope these changes do indeed serve as an improvement to Producer Notes. I hope it makes you enjoy the blog even more. I hope it brings more value to the blog. I hope it brings more discussion to the blog. And I hope it leads to more learning experiences for both you and me.

I Hope this new year has been good to you so far, and I look forward to the conversation we have on Producer Notes in 2010.

Thanks again for being loyal readers.

Cheers!

Since it’s Thanksgiving Day today here in the United States, I wanted to express thanks to all my faithful subscribers. Once again, I do appreciate everyone remaining subscribed even though my posting has been pretty much non-existent. Keep hangin in there, because things will pick back up again soon!

Also in recognition of Thanksgiving, I want to express thanks to all my twitter followers, Myspace friends and facebook friends. I’m also thankful for the fans of Wes Sp8, the fans of Mother/Father and the fans of Radical Notion. And of course I’m thankful for my friends and family offline as well…

One last thing: for those who are into getting deals on Black Friday, you might be interested to know that at Radical Notion Digital we do Black Friday deals every day. If you would you rather shop somewhere you’re more familiar with, then our Wes Sp8 CD Baby page and our Wes Sp8 iTunes page have some pretty good deals too. Mother/Father music is not available to purchase yet, but will be soon.

Hope today feels like a holiday no matter where you live…

Turkey photo by xybermatthew and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

On CD Baby:

On iTunes:

[http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/04/lefsetz-apple-b.html]

But at least it’s a reality in my world because The Radical Notion Digital Store is all set to go live tomorrow. And that is not a joke. March was a very long month, and April started hard, but we’re very excited to be releasing Street Corner Champs debut Self Titled EP, and doing it as a download only. It is the second release ever for Radical Notion (independent media).

Due to certain circumstances we didn’t have a chance to promote Street Corner Champs’ EP Download Party very much at all, but here are some details:

• The party is tomorrow nite at The 5 Spot in East Nashville
• We are launching Street Corner Champs’ website, as well as The Radical Notion Digital Store
• The lineup includes Wes Sp8
• Vovo may not be able to make it
• Cost is $5

Hope to see you tomorrow nite…

I’m not going to be here on Monday. We’re crunching to get everything ready for two big shows. The Wes Sp8 EP release show on 3.28.08; and Street Corner Champs EP Download Party/Website Launch on 4.3.08. Stay tuned for the details…

Please EP is the first recording to ever have the credits read “Produced, Recorded and Mixed by stinson.” And the first release ever by Radical Notion (independent media).

Only a couple more weeks until the release party. We will be celebrating this release in our home town of Nashville, TN at the 12 South Tap Room. If you live in town and are able to make it I hope to see you there.

I want to use this moment to connect with you. I would love for you to share your stories of your first product release, book, recording, etc. Even if you have never released a physical product, I would still like to hear from you. Any story of releasing a product applies, even the first time you posted a song on myspace, or released your first ebook-anything. So please, leave your comments. Tell your story.

www.davidco.com/blogs/kelly/archives/2008/01/david_allen_giv.html
www.davidco.com/what_is_gtd.php
www.davidco.com/tips_tools.php
www.davidco.com/store/catalog/Free-Articles-p-1-c-254.php
www.davidco.com/podcast.php

I encourage you to spend a decent amount of time researching this method of organization. If you are like most people you feel that there are areas of your life that could have better organization. You feel like you are always struggling to keep up with the pace of life and business. Multiply this times ten if you are in the music business. It’s the perfect time to incorporate a new strategy into your life; to practice a new method of organization. So please check out Getting Things Done, maybe even try it out, and tell me about your experience.

I will be back on 1.21.08

In addition to the changes made to the setup of my blog, I have made a whole lot of exciting new progress in my music/production career.

Studio Construction
The studio is still on the radar screen, but the date for breaking ground has been pushed back to the spring. There have been so many projects happening all at once this fall, and I needed more time to draw the plans. I was advised by a friend to wait until the ground warmed back up to break ground. The studio is very much a part of my plans to progress in my career, and I am still very excited about the project. I will report on the progress of the construction regularly.

Radical Notion
At the end of September, I officially teamed up with a business partner, Jonathan Harms, to form a company called Radical Notion (independent media). This is a venture that I have been dreaming about getting involved in for a long time, and the solution I was looking for to help Wes Sp8 gain some recognition. We are ramping up for 2008, and it looks to be a bright year for us. Jonathan and I plan to work very hard to devise new opportunities for both creators of music, and fans of music. We can’t wait to move ahead with all the ideas we have already put into action.

The Street Corner Champs
In October, I recorded an EP at my studio for a band called The Street Corner Champs. As Jonathan and I began to form ideas for RN, I got a phone call to produce for the band. During the pre-production phase of the project, the songs came together so well that Jonathan and I decided to take them on as a Second act on the RN roster, meaning that we now represent two performing artists/bands.

Wes Sp8
The Wes Sp8 project has also made some significant progress. Wes has built a band to play at his live shows, and the ensemble could not be more perfect. The band spent about six weeks practicing, and now performs a live show that has a magnitude I can’t do justice in description. Once you see the show, you won’t be able to live without it. In November, Wes and I did an on air interview/performance on Vanderbuilt’s radio station, 91.1 WRVU. We enjoyed some very positive feedback from the Nashville community that was inspiring to us all. I look forward to posting a recording of the interview in the near future.

We all have high hopes for 2008. I know that Wes Sp8, The Street Corner Champs, and Radical Notion are going to have some wonderful successes. In the very short time that we have been around so far, we have experienced some incredible victories. It is perfect timing to set out to do something new. However, we cannot continue to grow and have success if you are not there with us. It is important for me to stress that Wes Sp8, The Street Corner Champs and Radical Notion need your support and inspiration so that we can build on what we have started. Please join us this next year, help us develop this new venture into something remarkable.

Become involved right now by getting plugged in at these places:
www.radicalnotion.net
www.myspace.com/radicalnotion
www.wessp8.com
www.myspace.com/wessp8
www.streetcornerchamps.com
www.myspace.com/thestreetcornerchamps

Bookmark those sites and visit them often. They are being updated with new content regularly.

It’s good to be back, and I look forward to seeing you in 2008!

there are so many other developments with jon stinson productions (jsp) on the horizon that i want to tell you about. but you know how i feel towards talking about things before they happen. its foolish to talk about things you are going to do, less foolish to talk about things you are doing. besides, now i have you hooked. you have to keep checking for updates to see what happens. regardless of the amount of success or failure jsp experiences, there is going to be plenty of dramatic events for you to keep track of. stay tuned as the staff of jsp gets taken on a wild ride…