The Music Gardener - Artist Manager, Music Marketer

We at Artist Garden Entertainment spend a great deal of time visiting artist websites and MySpace sites. I am continually surprised at how hard it is to find artist managers and booking agent contact information. This seems to be the norm with successful artist. Let’s suppose I know nothing about the music industry but I have a million dollars to hire an artist to play my event. I have a list of three artist and only one of those artist has contact information for management and booking agent listed on their website. Which of  those artist do you think will end up with the million dollars? I know everyone gets tired of crazy calls and tire kickers but it is impossible to hire an artist who doesn’t provide management and booking info contact info on their website.

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Well another season of American Idol comes to an end and Artist Garden Entertainment votes are in.. To some, the winner was a surprise but to others it went exactly as expected. That’s the beauty of music and it reflects exactly they way consumers choose which artist succeed every single day. Both Kris Allen and Adam Lambert are exceptional artist and will have BIG careers in the music industry. This season was probably the best yet. Loads of talent even at the Top 10 level of the show. And WOW! What a finale! With guest appearances from Kiss, Queen, Black Eyed Peas, Queen Latifah, Lionel Richie, and Cyndi Lauper,  American Idol trumped the multiple award shows we see throughout the year. Who would have ever guessed a few years back that a talent show would have such an impact on the music industry? Remember Ed McMahon and Star Search? To fair well on Star Search was the kiss of death on a music career. I remember only one artist, Sawyer Brown, who did end up with a successful career in the music business. There may have been others but I really can’t recall any. American Idol has raised the bar and set the standard for anyone who thinks they have what it takes to be a music superstar. I have even noticed that the Top 5 idols have regularly out sung the guest celebrities each week.(with the exception of the artist on the finale) Thanks American Idol for raising the bar!  Hopefully live performances on the Grammy Awards, Country Music Awards, American Music Awards will all improve as these incredibly talented American Idols continue to take over the industry. American Idol is proving that it is possible to sound great live. So no more excuses for those poor live TV appearances from music celebrities. Every artist is going to be forced to up their game if they want to compete with these idols. Maybe American Idol should start a training camp for some of the already established artist? And I must end this post with Congratulations to Kris Allen!

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A while back I wrote about a YouTube video that some college guys from Texas A&M put together. Unbelievable backyard basketball shots. They call themselves Dude Perfect Well they have outdone the first video as they recently put up the Dude Perfect Ranch Edition which is even better than the first video. The “perfect” thing about these dudes is that they are using songs from our Music Pick of The Month, Manic Bloom . As a result of the video, Manic Bloom’s MySpace plays are growing resulting in 4300 plays in one day this past weekend! This is yet another example of the new ways music is being discovered and how important YouTube is to the mix.

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The Music Gardener blog has been enhanced with a new monthly feature and page which I have titled “Music Pick of The Month”. As we come across great new music, we want to share it with everyone. You will probably be exposed to some artists that you may not be aware of. We want to hear from you regarding your thoughts on the music we feature so please leave comments. This month’s feature artist is Manic Bloom, a band based out of Nashville, Tennessee. Every time I see these guys live I like them even more. Extremely talented musicians. I blogged about them a few months back after attending my first Manic Bloom show. Hope you enjoy the monthly feature and feel free to pass along your suggestions for future monthly features.

www.artistgardenentertainment.com

The new Music Gardener blog has arrived! I recently made the transition from a Wordpress.com blog to a Wordpress.org blog. My good friends Spence Smith and Randy Elrod have given me much encouragement  and help in making the transition. So many new great bells and whistles that I can’t wait to use as we explore the world of artist management and music marketing. Hopefully you enjoy the new design as much as I do.

http://www.artistgardenentertainment.com/