The Spirit of Christmas performed by Kevin Pauls

Thisis my first single released to mainstream radio - TOP 40 in Canada!!

buy the entire CD @ www.kevinpauls.com/kpstore

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!javascript:void(0)

GMA Canada 2010 - The LOWDOWN!!

Hello! What a great week I had in Calgary!! I was there for the
GMA Canada - Conference and Covenant Awards. Got to hang out with a lot of my music buddies I don't get to see much. I taught 3 classes during the conference. I spoke on The Streams of Revenue (Making a career out of music) and than 2 classes on Making Your Live Performance GREAT!

I had a lot of people to all my sessions and the feedback was great. It continues to boggle my mind...very few people talk about the issues that I bring up at my seminars. The live performance, for the most part, is still a "winging" it experience!!!

I spoke to worship artists, mainstream focused artists and CCM or performance based artists (that simply means that they are not a "worship" focused artist) - I found that all were receptive to the idea that we need to communicate from the stage and stop pretending that our talent alone will connect! It is interesting to see the worship focused artist start with a little skepticism. The "worship" artist tends to fall into the category of..."leave me alone, I am inspired!" - (being a little over the top here!!) BUT - the argument is - this is worship...I don't need to be a show!! Point taken...BUT - Would you want your pastor to assume that if he had good content he does not need to communicate it effectively? I hope your answer is NO!!

If you are leading a congregation in praise and worship...your job is to??? What?? Lead them!!! You cannot do that if you are not watching, and if you do not have a plan...or a destination!! You MUST take time to figure out the following: Who is in my audience? What is the state of mind when they enter the church? How can we connect? Where do I want to take them? Then plan your music and your journey with those thoughts in mind!!

Live Music Producing is simply - teaching an artist to be aware that there #1 focus is connection with the audience. It does not matter if your are leading in worship, if you are playing a mainstream gig or performing on a street corner - if you do not connect with the people you are playing in front of...YOU WILL NOT BE PLAYING FOR LONG!!!

I work with a lot of Christian Artists, Country Artists, Rock, Celtic, Fusion, Jazz - you name it - I have worked with it! The #1 focus still remains...

CONNECT, CONNECT, CONNECT!!! To purchase the best material on this topic you need to goto Tom Jackson's site and purchase his DVD set!! I only teach "The Tom Jackson Method" of stage performance - after all he is the guru!! CLICK HERE to see the product...if you are serious...INVEST IN YOUR CAREER!!

Talk soon,

Kevin

Investing in your career

I want to talk about the money that musicians spend on their careers...from a sampling of what I have heard, seen and experienced in the industry. Your spending speaks volumes about what you think is important. And I'm hoping to challenge the "status quo" thinking when it comes to your money and your music!

Let's breakdown a fairly typical example: A singer/songwriter, has been playing in clubs for a while and fans are looking for some music to buy. The Artist decides to do a recording and make a presence online (iTunes, a website, YouTube, social media etc). Now, the artist needs to create actual "in your hand" product to sell at their shows. The artist duplicates 5oo units, pays for artwork and design as well as any royalties (if recording covers)

Investment (the "status quo" approach)
Recording/Duplication - $22,000
Social Media, Website (ie.Bandzoogle)Artwork/Design - $500
Live Show - $0
Cost: $22,500

Now, let's look at a DIFFERENT approach:
Recording/Duplication - $17,000
Social Media, Website, artwork/design - $500
Live Show - $5,000
Cost: $22,500

The cost/output is the same...so what's the difference?
Revenue from the live show typically accounts for over 90% of a band or artist's revenue!! When you talk to managers, artists and record companies - they consistently indicate that every band they work with will generate well over 90% of their revenue from their live show. (Now, this does not include the "lottery winners" - The bands and artists that hit the jackpot and get a #1 record or a #1 single etc.)A great Live Show will not only create higher paying gigs but when you connect with an audience and create moments...you create FANS and FANS BUY MERCH! Your overall revenue from the show will increase exponentially! This will translate into more sales at the gig, more promoters re-booking you, higher fees for playing - ITS ALL GOOD!

My experience with 25 years in the industry would back up these numbers. Artists/bands typically spend 100% of their resources trying to make great recordings. They then do not have the resources to market their product effectively. If you do not win the "lottery" you are stuck playing crappy gigs to hopefully earn a living. This model of a "career" does not allow artists to thrive - it allows you to MAYBE survive at best!! In other words, your investment is not earning ANY interest!

SO, now we are left with a decision. Here are the facts:
We make more revenue from playing music than we do selling it.
What do we do with that information? How do we plan a career based on this kind of data?

Here is my suggestion:
Invest in the recording for sure - you need to have that music available. BUT - if you have a limited budget be creative - don't blow 100% of your budget on the music side and ignore the LIVE SHOW!!!

Look at your money...where have you invested it? Do you have more guitar pedals than Van Halen? Do you have boxes of hundreds of CD's? Do you have more sound gear than your local studio??

Invest in your LIVE SHOW!!! Than, you will generate more revenue and create fans that will follow your entire career!!!

Kevin Pauls
LIVE MUSIC PRODUCER

Play better gigs...

I was recently featured as a Guest Blogger on Bandzoogle.com on the topic of "The Live Performance" and the significant role it plays both in creating more fans and making more money:

Hereʼs a stat that may surprise you: typically 95% of your revenue as a band/musician comes from your live show. If youʼve been looking at your gigs as a promotional tool for your music - youʼve got it backwards. Most artists understand the correlation between a great producer and a great recording, but they fail to recognize the need for the same type of investment (time, energy, money) into their live show. MORE...

American Idol: Singing or Performance?

I understand that American Idol is a “singing” competition. But what amazes me is that in order to be heard properly, you have to “bring it.” In other words, you must perform!

Stage presence, your ability to connect, your ability to draw the audience in – capture and engage, and create moments – in one song, makes all the difference.

Last night on American Idol, I heard the terms “performance,” “stage presence,” “the way I felt,” and others like that, all get bantered about by the judges.

I know they are looking for great singers. But the best singer doesn’t always win, right? The winner is that one person who can capture the voting public.

Many of these contestants are working on the mechanics and the “arrangement,” but they forget the most important thing: onstage performance. Communications is 15% content (in this case technique or mechanics), 30% tone or emotions, and 55% what people see with their eyes.

One contestant struggled with the mic stand last night. (He could have used the information on Tom’s DVD Don’t Fall Off the Stage.) One of the contestants was slammed online today because he “forsook his guitar this week” – he hasn’t learned yet how to be dimensional in his onstage performance.

Even the one contestant that Simon said had the best voice was told to stop slouching, stand and deliver the song. Great voice will not capture an audience by itself!

So if, in a vocal competition, the judges are talking about performance…don’t you think it is important to know how to perform? You need to learn the rules for the stage, learn how to capture and engage an audience, listen to Tom teach about how to create moments.

Then if you have a great voice, the audience will be able to hear it!

Artist or Karaoke Star?

I recently worked with an artist who was going to be playing a few big gigs over the next couple months. I flew out and we started to push through the material.

Song after song, note after note…I realized we were looking at a cover act show. Why? They had great material on their new indie CD release. The songs and stories were relevant. But they were doing mostly covers for their live shows!

I asked them, “do you want to be an artist? Or do you want to play cover songs in a bar the rest of your life?” The answer was, “of course we want to be an artist!”

So why were they doing the covers? I asked questions and found out some issues that permeate the music industry, especially the indie side of things…

Promoters, radio people, and other industry personalities were asking for this “unknown” artist to play cover tunes. The advice they were giving was to forget about your music, and play familiar tunes so the crowd will stay with you.

Now, I understand what they are saying and I agree with them on this: If you try to play music (and just play music) and the crowd does not know who you are, they will tune out. If you play some great tune by an artist they like, they’ll join in, sing with you, and have a great time.

So-o-o-o, if you choose not to work on your show, and are happy playing in front of a large audience and letting them go home not remembering who you are, then keep on playing covers and creating a big sing-a-long! But, if you choose to be an artist, and not a cover act…live dangerously. WORK ON YOUR SHOW!

Here are three things you need to do when you work on your show:

1. Know the music. Working on the tunes and getting tight as a band comes prior to getting together to rehearse the show.

2. Playing the music well is only the starting point. Work on the dynamics of each song once the notes are there!

3. Make sure every song physically represents the tone and emotion of the song.

These are three to start with…nail these three things and you will be head and shoulders above your competition.

You can be an artist and entertain the crowd, creating moments and leaving them wanting more.

Here’s what I worked on with this new artist: we took one old cover and made it their own (wasn’t even a song within their genre – so no comparisons), and than worked like crazy on the bands original music. We created moments. We told stories that were about the artist and made a memorable show.

The industry people, the radio personalities and the promoters were thrilled! They didn’t want a cover act either; but typically, they don’t see bands create moments from their music, so they ask them to play familiar music.

Promoters want great acts that can create moments and capture the attention of the audience…but so few do, they would rather have a live juke box than a dead band!

So you need to ask yourself, do I want to be an artist or a karaoke star? If the answer is artist, take your music and your show seriously. Work at it, and invest in it…after all, your show is your calling card!