FORMER GUNS N ROSES GUITARIST SLASH TURNS TO WEB 2.O AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO MAKE NEW RECORD

Talking with Andrew Hand about this contest, the new music economy and why education and innovation are keys to success.

One-time GNR axeman Slash has teamed up with FameCast and national retailer Guitar Center to offer a contest for fellow artists to win a chance to make an EP with him and have national distribution of the single through TuneCore plus other prizes. By registering for an account to pick Who Slash will record with you will be able to vote once per day for as many artists as you like. The catch is you only get one vote per artist per day until the competition closes May 15th. With a multitude of musicians out there and the vast sea of social media networks vying for your attention, it will be interesting to see what this contest produces. One particular NYC
artist, Andrew Hand, is seeking your vote to choose him as the artist Slash will work with.

When I asked Indie Rocker Andrew Hand about this contest and why he joined he offered this. “I’m a little bit old school rock. Think David Bowie meets Bono with some Jim Morrison and John Lennon thrown in. I think that would be a pretty intriguing pairing don’t you?” Hand continued, “…there’s so much more music out there than before and we really need to use web 2.0 and social media opportunities to help bring ourselves as artists to the fore-front.” Hand admits that the registration process “…might discourage some fans from bothering”, but he says, “I actually went through it and made a video to show how simple it is…there’s nothing to lose and for the fans that make this happen, what a sense of accomplishment, I’m encouraging everyone to just do it, be part of the movement! This is a pretty cool contest and it seems like a great way to marry the old with the new. I mean Slash is an old major label dog and now we’re seeing these labels struggling, artists are dropping off them or leaving them so as to stay relevant and be totally in control of their careers, but we still need exposure.”

Exposure is the key. There’s no doubting that social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube rule the world of online sharing and that artists have had proven success using these outlets to gain exposure and reap financial rewards. There’s Amanda Palmer’s $19,000 one day Twitter take, or the amazing Beatle like welcome overseas for Boyce Avenue, indie favorite Jill Sobule’s $85,000 fan funded album also the case of Pamplamoose Music turning down major labels to remain indie. These are a few examples that show the power that online fan engagement can have. In the offline world, contests like America’s Got Talent, Rockstar Supernova and American Idol have shown that there’s a large audience in place for unknown talent being discovered and rising to notoriety through mainstream media too. Hand adds, “This is a great time for a new artists to break and say hey, look – there are still creative ways to take our music to a world-wide audience through new media partnerships and opportunities as long as the fans are with us and we’re not giving up too much control and remain mindful of the balances worked out.”

That control is the important part and it’s what separates the old world music mindset from the new music frontier. The days of record labels exploiting artists and taking the pirate’s share of the treasure are behind us. Artists now know what they can do on their own and have more of a sense of what is actually a fair trade-off. New sites and companies seeking to partner and grab a share of an artist’s revenues won’t ever stop because there is always money to make and let’s face it, we live in a capitalist society, so better to embrace rather than fight this mindset. The key is to be educated and be innovative, which is what myself and colleagues (Bob Baker, Derek Sivers, Ariel Hyatt and more) seek to help artists accomplish. And that brings us back to Slash’s contest.

Andrew is using both his innovation and education: writing blog posts, creating videos, spreading the word via email to his fans and distribution to his Twitter, Facebook and YouTube sites. So why would you want to vote for this indie rocker? That’s a question Hand confesses, “…only you can answer that. I am all about making great rock songs and having something positive to say. I think this would be a cool opportunity to take my voice and style and pair that with an icon of Rock n’ Roll history. I want to take a message of inspiration and motivation to the world and would really love to have fans support that.” One thing is certain: with a wide open pool and lots of competition, Hand will most certainly need your vote.

Where will Your Next Record fall in this pantheon of new sites with new opportunities? Hard to say. With the recent fall of Sell-A-Band and sites like MySpace and GarageBand.com not being what they once were, it is certain to expect change. Try new things but never put all your eggs in one basket. Work a lot of different angles and be everywhere. That way when an opportunity does arrive you’re ready to capitalize on it. The contest has begun, it will end and their will be a winner. Just who that winner is and what the reception will be has yet to be seen.

If you’d like to vote for Andrew Hand you can do so by Voting for Andrew and Slash to Make a Record. Andrew also offers free motivational music downloads via his website and invites you to come visit. Voting has opened and Slash is waiting, now it’s up to you to go out there and vote, and vote and vote some more for who you think is worthy.

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Carla Lynne Hall is a musician and music marketing consultant based in New York City. She has released three CDs on her Moxie Entertainment label, and has toured the world as a singer/songwriter, and professional vocalist. Her current CD SUPERNOVA has been described as “Norah Jones meets Sade for tea on their way to meet The Beatles.”

In addition to being an Associate Writer for MusicDish.com, Carla is also the former music business columnist for Vibe Magazine, and her writing has been featured in publications around the world. She is the author of The DIY Guide to the Music Biz and Twitter for Musicians. Carla also blogs about the life of an indie musician at Rock Star Life Lessons.com

P.S. There seems to be some buzz building around a mysterious substance called DruPaxl, What is it?

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Contact Carla via
Web: Rock Star Life Lessons.com
or email moxiemaven64 [at] gmail {dot} com