Music Business Blog by Jason Feinberg

Let me preface this by saying I have friends and clients in bands with names that this article applies to. This is sort of a joke, sort of serious, but don’t take it too seriously. It’s the music industry after all.

Okay – As of January 1st, 2006, I propose a new rule in the music industry:

No more Verb the Noun band names.

That’s right. After 2005, you are no longer allowed to name your band anything that follows the pattern of (verb) the (noun). We have plenty already. You know who you are. It was cool for a while, but that crescendo has passed.

Maybe we can start a new pattern, something like (adverb) (noun) (past-tense verb) such as:

Slowly She Imploded

Greasily They Inserted

Eventually Stanley Died

etc…

Here’s a good one – Know the Dialect ( a.k.a. Talk the Talk )

To be successful in this industry – any, really – you have to know how to talk the talk. Quite often, knowing how to talk can allow you to circumvent a lack of knowledge. For example, if you don’t know much about what is being discussed, just knowing the terminology can buy you enough time to go learn about it for next time. Small things can make all the difference in a business relationship.

How do you learn the dialect? Read every site on your topic, find Podcasts, buy books, or just talk to others and LISTEN. Amazing what happens when you just observe others in your industry.

I am such an information junkie. You should see how many magazines I subscribe to. I must get no less than 15 different magazines every month. Everything from music to health to computers to wine to politics to adult (huuuuuuuge Playboy collection).

The funny thing is that I rarely read them.

I realized the other night why I subscribe to so many mags yet only leaf through most. It’s the same reason every time I stop into a Starbucks attached to a bookstore, I have to buy a few books from the bargain rack – I am an Information Junkie.

As are many of you. The Internet has enabled the IJ generation to flourish and have an unending supply of data. Given my profession, I get plenty of information via the ‘net during the day, but I guess I like to surround myself with even more info when I go home.

You should see the stacks of magazines I have around. That’s the other thing – I have a hard time throwing information away! My fiancee is not terribly thrilled about that.

Any of you IJs too?

Just a reminder… My company is promoting a HUGE giveaway – a guitar, strings, effect pedals, software, CDs, and more. It’s free to enter, and the prizes are certainly worth it!

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