Music is such an incredibly powerful source and I find myself craving it daily. My most productive and creative work is inspired by music. There are those occasional mornings when I get so caught up in my busy “to do” list that I forget to listen to music. At the end of those days, I feel so unproductive and unsatisfied. When I find the perfect music for the day, it is amazing how much I can accomplish. I often wonder if I am extremely odd or are their others like me? I am so thankful that God gave us the gift of music! What is your soundtrack today?

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This is absolutely Awesome Entertainment from American Idol and Larry Platt!

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Jack Bauer

As The Music Gardener watched the season premier of “24″ last night, I couldn’t help but wonder if Jack Bauer could save the music industry? If the music industry marketed music the way “24″ is marketed, would we create more die hard fans? Every season, Fox launches the season with a special 2 hour episode of “24″ and then they keep the weekly watchers salivating for more by giving us just enough to keep us coming back on a regular basis. I find myself thinking about the next episode throughout the week and for months.  Maybe the music industry releases too much music up front? Of course there is also the Jack Bauer factor where he successfully foils the evil plans of the criminals who attempt to blow up the world. Maybe we could enlist Jack Bauer to foil the plans of those stealing music?

What do you think the music industry could learn from Jack Bauer?

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In Triumph Needs This Van

Have you heard about the new non-profit organization, In Triumph? Pete Orta, formerly of the Grammy award winning rock group Petra, launched In Triumph in late 2009. In Triumph gives a home to kids who age out of the foster care system at age 18. In Triumph not only gives the kids a home, but the organization also disciples and mentors these kids through helping them find their purpose and dreams in life. Pete and his wife Kelli have given up their life of comfort to pour into others. With four kids of their own, you can imagine how financially challenging it is to add a few 18 year old kids to the mix. They no longer have an income and are totally dependent on donations to In Triumph to keep things going. In Triumph has an immediate need for a vehicle. Ideally they are hoping for a 15 passenger van which is needed to haul their family plus the new addition of these kids around town. If you have one of these vans sitting around or would like to contribute please visit their website http://intriumph.org All donations are tax deductible.

Keith Stancil - The Music Gardener

For those readers who haven’t connected the dots, The Music Gardener is artist manager and music marketer Keith Stancil. Now that the mystery has been solved, I thought I would let you know a bit more about myself. I have been working in the music business 22 years. Started off as a session musician and studio engineer but quickly gravitated to the business side. After serving in various sales/marketing positions with Capitol/EMI, Warner/Elektra/Atlantic and Word Entertainment, I launched Artist Garden Entertainment in September 2008. We are an artist management and marketing consulting firm. My passion is finding ways to overcome the numerous roadblocks in the music industry in order to help bring great music to the forefront. Finding myself heavily entrenched in web 2.0 marketing, the new frontier for music excites me in a tremendous way! Please connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Four Square and any other social network contender that pops up. How can I help you?

http://www.artistgardenentertainment.com

http://twitter.com/keithstancil

http://www.facebook.com/Keithstancil

The Music Gardener was recently involved in what is now being referred to as the “4 week New Release Plan.” The plan was birthed out of a November strategy meeting with Brandon Bee, an artist we manage, and Save The City Records. We were looking for a way to bring some attention to Brandon during the holiday season and build his overall awareness. Knowing the heaviest traffic of the year on iTunes occurs the two weeks during and after Christmas week, we set that time as our target. All who receive iPods or iTunes gift cards for Christmas generally fuel up with music during those two weeks. Brandon had released a full album earlier in 2009 so we needed something new in order to have a shot at positioning in the iTunes stores. Our brainstorming resulted in the idea of recording a 6 song acoustic ep targeting a December 22 street date.

Brandon immediately began writing and recording. Even with the tight deadlines, we were able to get the ep recorded, mixed, mastered and up on iTunes via Tunecore by Dec 22. Fortunately, iTunes was willing to give us positioning in the New & Noteworthy section and at the only time of the year when the majority of the iTunes positioning remains in place for two weeks. Utilizing Twitter, Facebook and Brandon’s email list we began the web 2.0 marketing frenzy. Amazingly, we were able to drive Brandon’s ep as high as #17 on the Christian albums chart during Christmas week which is incredible for a new artist with absolutely no radio play. Traffic on Brandon’s website reached an all-time high which confirmed we had accomplished our goal. Coming from the major label system, I know first hand that this would have been absolutely impossible for a major label to pull off in 4 weeks. As a matter of fact, most major labels shut down for the most of December. It was so refreshing to be working with an artist who acted quickly, a label who turned all elements with speed and accuracy and no cost marketing vehicals that can be unleashed in seconds.

How would you release a record in 4 weeks? We know it’s possible!

http://www.artistgardenentertainment.com