Upcoming Grammy Award Predictions...

So, although we don't have a Tate Music Group artist nominated in any of the 2009 Grammy Award categories, we're hoping that 2010 is our year. Until then, I enjoy making bold predictions on who should win and who will win. Here's what the Jim Farber of the NY Daily News thinks...

BEST NEW ARTIST
SHOO-INS
Duffy: She's the best-selling, and best reviewed, of 2008's "new Amys." And everyone keeps comparing her (however undeservedly) to Dusty Springfield.
Katy Perry: Her song "I Kissed a Girl" may be exploitative, and even a tad desperate, but she's cute. And the kids love it.
Leona Lewis: As the British Mariah Carey, Lewis has the pipes Grammy voters love. Better, she isn't actually Mariah (whom they loathe).

LONGER SHOTS
Vampire Weekend: Every year, one rock band sneaks in here. These glowingly-reviewed New Yorkers could be it this time.
Jordin Sparks: She had her thunder stolen by another "American Idol" winner in the last year (David Cook), but she did sell nearly 1 million of her self-titled debut CDs.

MOST LIKELY WINNER: Duffy

SONG OF THE YEAR
(Awarded to the songwriter for the composition of the cut.)
SHOO-INS
"Mercy," Duffy: Its great '60s-style melody clinches it.
"Bleeding Love," Leona Lewis: A big-boned ballad, made for the kinds of large voices Grammy adores.
"Viva La Vida," Coldplay: Not only a catchy ditty, it served as the soundtrack for the best Apple ad of the year.
"I Kissed a Girl," Katy Perry: It's flighty, but irresistible.

LONGER SHOTS
"American Boy," Estelle: An innovative song with a hook you can't miss.
"Lollipop," Lil Wayne: So popular, it's hard to ignore, even if it does rate as more oral gimmick than actual song.
"No One," Alicia Keys: It's not her best, but it's still Alicia.

MOST LIKELY WINNER: "Mercy," Duffy

RECORD OF THE YEAR
(Awarded to the artist and producer, judged by the sound of the record, and by the star's performance.)

SHOO-INS
"Mercy," Duffy: Given its perfect re-creation of a '60s bouffant of sound, how can it lose?
"Bleeding Love," Leona Lewis: Contains the kind of spiraling sound that screams "big production at work."
"Viva La Vida," Coldplay: It could be argued that the appeal of this cut comes as much from its sterling sound as from its melody or performance.
"Lollipop," Lil Wayne: Epitomizes the sonic tricks of a recording studio over the structure of a song.

LONGER SHOTS

"I Kissed a Girl," Katy Perry: It's not exactly a production vehicle, now is it?

MOST LIKELY WINNER: "Mercy," Duffy

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
SHOO-INS
"Raising Sand," Alison Krauss and Robert Plant: First, Grammy ADORES Alison, having flung no fewer than 21 statuettes her way so far. Also, Led Zeppelin never got its Grammy due, so this would be a way to make up at least some of that to their singer, Plant. More, the unlikely perfection of this pairing makes it automatically winning material. The album even sold big (1.2 million), an improbable figure for music this quiet and slow. All that should make "Raising Sand" this year's "O Brother Where Art Thou?," which, remember, stole the Best Album prize in 2001.

"Long Road Out of Eden," the Eagles: The biggest-selling album of the last year (3.5 million and counting), "Eden" reaffirms the values of classic rock. Critics may remain turned off to the Eagles' smugness, and their slickness, but the industry weasels who dominate Grammy's voting body love them for just those reasons.

"Rockferry," Duffy: Affirms the sound of classic '60s pop, along with seconding the Grammy's pick from last year (for the similarly retro Ms. Winehouse). Also, voters always love to anoint a new female star (from Norah Jones to Amy W).

"Viva La Vida," Coldplay: They've taken this prize before. And like doddering oldsters, Grammy voters love to repeat themselves.

"As I Am," Alicia Keys: It's big-selling and it salutes the values of old soul.

LONGER SHOTS

"In Rainbows," Radiohead: Though they did an end-run around the music industry — by giving the album away for free — the sheer nerve of that move had to turn people on.
"Modern Guilt," Beck: He's a Grammy fave, though this particular album had limited buzz and iffy sales.
"Death Magnetic," Metallica: The disk is perceived to be the band's comeback to hardness and speed, even though their last album accomplished this as well. That's okay, few critics picked up on that, either.

MOST LIKELY WINNER: "Raising Sand," Alison Krauss and Robert Plant

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Who do I think should win?

I'm pulling for Coldplay on most categories... Viva La Vida was an incredible album... not sure if its enough for "Song of the Year", but definitely an album of the year nod. That's where I'm torn, as Radiohead's "In Rainbows" is also up for the Album of the Year award... hmm....

In the end, I'm pretty happy with all the nominees... I think they hit it right on the head for the big major categories this year.

David Cook...

Here's an article I found this morning on Billboard's website about American Idol winner "David Cook". Love him or hate him, his success story is pretty cool, even if he was propelled to stardom through America's most popular reality TV show... however, if anything else, he is a pretty talented artist and has what it takes to make a home here in the music industry.

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In just a few short months, David Cook went from no-name aspiring singer/songwriter to household-name "American Idol" winner. He went from zero chart ink to having a whopping 11 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 at once, the highest since the Beatles charted 14 in 1964. It's an astonishing feat that still leaves the season seven champ at a loss for words.

Now Cook and the team at 19 Recordings/RCA are trying to keep the momentum going with the artist's self-titled debut, due this week. On "Idol," he received rave reviews and millions of votes for his hard rock makeovers of pop songs like Lionel Richie's "Hello" and Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby." Some controversy arose as to where the arrangements came from, particularly concerning his rendition of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," which was based on a version done by Chris Cornell, but it didn't deter fans from crowning him the winner.

With the covers game out of the way, Cook says he wants this new record to be a reintroduction of sorts to his fans. "I came from a background of playing original music," he says, "and I really wanted to get back to that."

Cook and producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Kid Rock) started recording in late June, with Cook frequently hitting the studio during downtime from the 53-date summer American Idols Live tour. A host of rock veterans lent a hand with the songwriting, including Goo Goo Dolls' Johnny Rzeznik, Cook's longtime idol Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace and, oddly enough, Cornell, who co-wrote first single "Light On" with Brian Howes.

"We were able to pull together what I think to be a very accurate representation of who I am musically within a three-month period, which is kind of hard to do," Cook says of the quick turnaround time. The sound he was going for was an "eclectic rock" record, with "rhythmic songs, heavier tracks and sparse instrumentation."

State Silences Young Blues Guitarist...

Thought this was interesting... weird situation, but the fact that he's 8 and this good is amazing to me.

Vocals...

While on the subject of singing in the studio, here is a YouTube link that was passed along to me this morning that might be of help to Tate Music Group recording artists, or really any artist planning on going into the studio in the coming months...

Lots of great info and vocal techniques...

Click HERE

Singing in a studio...

Came across this article today... although he is talking about singing for jingles, it is all the same, and explains why it is so different to sing in a recording studio than it is on a stage.

For more information, Google Tom Gauger...
Enjoy and learn...
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As a singer, one of the biggest allies in your singing career will be your ability to perform well and do it with consistency in the studio. As a professional singer myself singing on FOX TV, UPN Station ID’s, O’Charley’s and many others, as well as a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency, I can tell you that one of the biggest downfalls to most singers is their inability to be consistent with a broad range of singing styles while singing in the studio. It’s one thing to sit behind the piano with friends, and an entirely different thing to sing behind the mic in the studio where every nuance and tonal inflection is heard.

So how do studio singers who’ve been doing this professionally for years, get to that point of consistency, and how do they get the paying gigs and get called on in the first place? Those are great questions, and I will take the remaining time in this article to capitalize on concepts that most singers would likely embrace as the truth and realistic in answering them.

To begin with, singing in the studio and singing live in front of a crowd are two totally separate singing techniques and usually unequaled levels of singing expertise. It’s one thing to sing in front of a crowd where audibility of your vocals is not the main concern, but the overall groove and image is. Understanding the words on stage may or may not be a concern, but to the studio and session singer, it’s everything. You see there are marked differences in the ways that each of these singers takes their singing ability to the stage. You will find that many if not most singers don’t do both well. The singer who is great on stage in front of a large audience is usually not that convincing or lyrics that easily understood in the studio. That’s why jingle singers are paid such good money. It’s not easy to sing a commercial full throttle and not sound “ricky ticky” doing it with words that are easily understood. And as a side note, if you are interested in singing commercials, you might consider visiting ReelMusician.com for more information and download a free e-book on jingle singing.

So how do session singers get that consistency in the studio? Well, years of experience are one answer, but the other part of the answer is in how they practice. How serious are you in your dream of becoming a studio singer? In your desires to becoming a studio singer, you must commit to consistency, be easy to work with, and available. You might already have availability and easy to work with in the bag, but you’re still having problems with the consistency part. Let’s look at a few ideas that might help.

Finding a good vocal coach, that truly understands studio and jingle singing, is hard to find. Most, have preconceived notions and teaching ideas and attribute everything to a breathing technique of some kind. I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve met fantastic singers who breathe in a number of different styles, yet they are consistent as the day is long. Now I’m not suggesting that there aren’t better or proper breathing techniques out there, I am suggesting that many if not most vocal teachers, teach from a textbook style and not from a “I’m going to figure out your strengths and abilities and zero in on a workable and credible game plan that outlines a singing technique career pathway for longevity,” style. There’s a big difference. The teacher who teaches out of a textbook and the teacher who is already been out there with success under their belt, no matter what business or job, has my attention and certainly should have yours. Find a credible and reputable singing coach.

You will want to practice your singing in the shower, the car and even in a closet or close up to a wall where you can hear what you’re singing. Ultimately, being able to record your voice, even onto a cheap cassette or into the computer to hear your progress or areas that you immediately recognize needing improvement, is the best way to go. This alone, if you take time out on a regular basis, will improve your singing far beyond what most vocal coaches can or claim they can do. Because of your vested interest and now your ability to hear and figure out what needs to be changed and corrected, will be the igniting factor in your singing career and goals of consistency. Certainly don’t ignore or reject the notion of finding a qualified vocal coach, but understand that America was founded on entreprenualism and not the textbook way of doing things and this includes your singing career as well. A good vocal coach will recognize and ultimately push you in the right direction as well by hearing and giving you exercises to correct singing deficiencies.

What it takes...

Many who know me at this point in time may not know that at one point in time, I played bass guitar for a rock band. Yes, the rock bands that would jump around on stage and would twirl our guitars around our necks at the climax of the set list! The tight jeans and cool t-shirts from Hot Topic. Not like, 80's rock or anything... I'm not that old. We loved bands like Incubus, and any of those modern rock bands that came out in the late 90's/early 00's.

As embarrassing as this picture is (this was the 90's where this was cool? at least that's what I tell myself)... also, I was 16 in this picture, it is one of the first pictures we took as a band.

I remember having many discussions as a band on "what it takes" to "make it", and how we can get signed. Constantly booking show after show, paying or not, no distance too far... eating gas money put into our late 80's model chevy conversion van pulling a trailer to play a show for 20 people that showed up. "Living the life," so we thought.

The misconception we had as musicians on the road to success was that that one record company would find us and all these hit songs we'd been writing would be an instant industry hit and we'd be the ones handing out awards (and possibly even receiving them) at the AMA's. We'd be flying to gigs instead of driving the old van, and we'd be able to buy our 12.3 million dollar house with a swimming pool and take it easy recording our own music in our 2 million dollar studio of the west wing of our house. Fans would be screaming our names and requesting our songs... I could retire at 20 and call it good with some of my best friends playing together in this band. They were a GREAT great group of guys.

The truth behind the artists that we do listen to on the radio is that all of them have worked extremely hard to make it where they are today, or have caught some extremely rare and lucky breaks. It's hard to imagine at times because the entertainment industry makes it seem like its incredibly easy to get a record deal and to become successful and "big time" in the music industry.

You have the ones that come out with one song and it becomes an internet sensation... "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry. Many wouldn't know it, but the "brand new artist" that MTV tells us about has actually been around since the 90's, when she was a Christian Contemporary recording artist with Red Hill Records. She didn't have any hits then, and frankly, nobody knew who she was until now (except for the few who were die hard KP fans back in the day!... no, not me.) Without that song, she would still be known as little Katy Hudson.

Kanye West was an artist, but didn't get well known until he started producing tracks for up and coming artists like Alicia Keys and Jay-Z, propelling him to the top of the Billboard Top 100.

The other misconception is the actual record deal itself... I've had great friends sign record deals to major labels, only to receive fractions of a penny off of CD sales. Their music was in regular rotation nation wide, even nominated for awards and touring with big names, and to this day receive royalty checks for less than 20 bucks because of their contract. It seems like such a great deal at first! Anyone would sign out of excitement alone... and I'm speaking from my seat and not theirs. I absolutely have the utmost respect for those guys and all that they did in the industry and in my life as well.

Signing on to a label is a great step, if you sign the right deal...
Even still, usually signing to a major label you will get the frills and fireworks at first with an advance and they'll put you in the studio, hire the best producers, play on the best gear...

And then in the end? Yep. You pay it all back some way, some how. We're talking 10's of thousands of dollars worth of studio time.

This is where I notice Tate Music Group making the biggest difference in this overtly misled community of musicians ready to take their music to the next level.

The royalties you'll receive as a TMG artist are second to none and not even comparable... where most artists are making single digit percentages in royalties, we offer the highest that I'm personally aware of.

All of this to say, what does it truly take to make it in this industry?
There is no true way of making a guideline and saying follow steps one through 2,450 to "make it", however, I can tell you that a great start is to have a passion for it, have great, marketable songs, and be willing to put aside the common misconceptions that are in place in the music industry. Chances are, you won't be driving that Mercedes for awhile... and honestly, 50% of it is working your tail off and making good music and having a large fan base, and getting the name out by playing as much as you can... and then there's the other 50% that is simply luck!

I'm not saying this because I'm biased to Tate Music Group, but I am just telling you, as an artist and musician myself, signing with Tate Music Group is an extremely wonderful thing, as we'll thrive to make sure you're getting the most out of this industry!

And better yet, you will never have to pay us back in your royalties... we don't own you, your name, your songs... everything is owned by you.

If you ever have any questions, feel free to call us. (405)-376-4900. We will most definitely answer any questions you have!