What’s the use of building your band’s name only to find out that some other band’s using the same name? If the band has been around longer than yours, or they’ve taken the steps to protect their name, you’re out of luck. This is why it’s smart to do a little checking before you really [...]

The folks at Fox are at it again.  This time, instead of the individual talent search that is American Idol, they are doing a version for bands.  It’s from the same people that produce American Idol and they’re calling it The Next Great American Band. While I’m usually not inclined to recommending something like this, [...]

This weekend I looked at over 1000 MySpace Music Profiles. In short – we have a lot of work to do, people. What you need to understand about MySpace music is that your profile is, in fact, a website. If you were to hire a web designer to build a site for your band, you’d [...]

When an industry group that represents several major corporations shakes down ten year old girls, it’s time to rethink about how relevant those corporations really are. This is exactly what happened a few years back when the industry began its war on internet piracy. Even to this day an army of lawyers is working tirelessly [...]

In recent years the word has gotten out and many bands go into record deals with a bit more caution. To do this you have to understand the game and play it the right way. Back in the day, you were offered the Holy Grail and you took it because you figured that you were [...]

While it is the dream of most bands to get signed to a major label, and it is a great help in getting noticed by the general public, there are several factors that suggest getting signed isn’t as big a deal as it used to be. Actually, when you consider the history getting signed has [...]

As you may have noticed if you’ve visited RockStar Machine before, we’ve changed our layout a bit.  We’re still working on things, but this is pretty much gist of it.  As you can see, we’ve added a bunch of pages on a menu at the top, including a page with contact info.  If you are [...]

It was several years ago, Zack, Kelly, Slater, Lisa and Screech were playing their song, Friends Forever, in the garage when Fate stepped in – Brian Fate. Fate was a record executive that happened to be jogging by and heard them playing. So impressed by what he heard, he felt compelled to go to the [...]

PR is a huge part of the music business. Major acts have an army of publicists that handle all aspects of their public image. Any band or indie label that’s serious about getting exposure, booking gigs or getting signed needs a full and professional looking promo kit. Fortunately you don’t need to hire a PR [...]

Here’s an article on signing contracts with music promoters that you should probably read. This might be a bit advanced for a band that’s just starting out, but once you start to build a following this aspect of the business is crucial. This doesn’t mean that new bands shouldn’t read it. There are shady promoters [...]