It’s time to plan some amazing goals for 2011. It’s inevitable that this time of year we get bombarded by people talking about their New Year’s resolutions—losing weight, flossing more, eating better, finding a new job, spending more time with family, and so on. These are all great things to work toward, of course. And it’s always a smart idea to do a little goal planning at the beginning of each year. It seems to be the season when we’re… [Read More]

Wouldn’t it be great if you got a huge, international hit with the first song you ever wrote? Wouldn’t it feel good if the first album you recorded sold a million copies? Most of us musicians picture scenarios like this. We write and record a great piece of music and think, “this deserves to be heard by millions and touch countless lives.” We’re not wrong. It’s perfectly acceptable to shoot for the stars. Actually, if you don’t set your sights… [Read More]

It’s that time of year once again: people are bundled up in their winter coats and mittens as they plow through lines at the mall, seasonal music is taking over the radio airwaves, and snow is pummeling the streets in an effort to close school early and give snowplow drivers a little something to do.  To be fair, though, we here at Studio Pros are nestled all snug in our Southern California recording studio, so there isn’t much snowfall or… [Read More]

Everyone loves being trendy. The clothes we wear, the slang phrases we say, even the social networks we’re a part of.  Not too long ago, it was very trendy to be on MySpace. Since then, that has completely shifted to Facebook, so much so that many people started thinking it was even a little uncool to still be on MySpace. I remember as a teenager in the ’90s when baggy pants were the “in” style. And I’m not talking loose,… [Read More]

Do you check your email first thing in the morning? Do you get up to date with the news online over an early cup of coffee? Do you use the web to check your bank account balance? These days we use the Internet for just about everything: communication with old friends via Facebook; updating our financial portfolios and checking stocks; even buying movie tickets for the 8:30 show. If you’re anything like me, the net is your go-to resource for… [Read More]

If you’re anything like me, you probably put a lot of hard work into your music. Writing a great song takes time, effort, and emotional energy. Making a great recording can be quite the undertaking as well (although we like to think we make that part a lot easier than it used to be by providing you with great musicians and top-notch engineers). And once you have the slick, radio-ready product in the palm of your eager hand, there’s one… [Read More]

Technology can be a great tool. It can help you come up with your next masterpiece, and it can give you the means of recording your latest creation.  And I don’t know about you, but it sure does make me feel warm and fuzzy inside when I buy a shiny new piece of gear for my home studio. That is, until I plug it in.  You see, technology is something of a double-edged sword.  Even though buying new gear is… [Read More]

We used to think that the best thing about Studio Pros was our roster of world-class session musicians. In fact, I recently wrote a post about how to get the most out of our players and explained why they are such an amazing resource to musicians and songwriters all over the world. But they’re not actually the thing that musicians like best about our service. When we asked some of our artists why they love Studio Pros, most of them… [Read More]

If you’re hoping for success in this industry, you might want to take part in a little musical espionage: If you want to pitch one of your songs to a TV commercial, study the music in every commercial on TV right now and learn it all by heart. If you want to pitch a song to films, buy the soundtracks for ten films in the genre you’re interested in. If you want to be at the top of the charts,… [Read More]

Have you ever wondered what makes a song instantly recognizable? Take a listen to the first five seconds of this song: How is it that it’s possible to know what song it is just from listening to the first five seconds? One instrument (acoustic guitar). Two chords. It can’t be any simpler than that, yet it’s unique and easy to remember. How many times have you been to a live concert where the artist starts playing their hit song, and… [Read More]