As a freelance copywriter, I’m often asked by would-be writers: What do freelance copywriters really do? How does it differ from creative writing – novels, poetry and so on? What is the upside, and what is the downside? How much realistically could I make? What is the most profitable kind of writing? How do I find projects? So, that’s what I’m going to share with you right now – and I’m going to be brutally honest. 1. What do we…
Continue reading »

When neuroscientist Charles Limb asked freestyle rappers to spontaneously generate rhymes to the accompaniment of a rhythmic beat while they were lying in an uncomfortable, huge functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Scanner, he was looking for measurable brain activities that hopefully could explain something like the neurological basis of creativity. Music and Creativity in the fMRI Scanner: Astonishing Findings The findings he got were astonishing but they were comparable with the results of other similar experiments, where Jazz pianists had…
Continue reading »

YouTube is where the eyeballs are. In fact YouTube is now where over a billion sets of eyeballs are every single month. The vast majority of those eyeballs belong to what Google & Nielsen are now calling the ‘C Generation’. The C Generation is supposedly a state of mind and is representative of those that ‘care deeply about creation, curation, connection and community.’ Generation C is made up of 80% millennials which also happen to be YouTube’s core audience. YouTube…
Continue reading »

I made every textbook mistake when I first started marketing and promoting my tracks, which is why I believe I am much more effective at it now. I have adopted the motto “good judgment comes from experience, but experience comes from bad judgment.“ We need to learn from doing, by trial-and-error. If I can help you avoid some of my first-timer mistakes, it would be a great success. Here are some lessons on how to promote your music. Because it’s…
Continue reading »

Last week I was invited to speak to three classes at South East High School in South Los Angeles, California. A month earlier I’d filmed my Udemy presentation How to Win Friends and Influence People on Social Media in a classroom at the school, and a few teachers who had caught some of the content thought their students would value hearing my somewhat maverick perspective about it in person. I was very excited, not only because I had never spoken…
Continue reading »

What can you learn about creativity and innovation from The Beatles and David Bowie? What can Spinal Tap, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin teach you that an MBA cannot? What can Britney Spears and The Kaiser Chiefs teach you about enterprise? These are just some of the questions I examine in the new book and online learning programme “The Music of Business”, acclaimed by Harvey Goldsmith, the man behind Live Aid. The book offers a carefully crafted cocktail of business…
Continue reading »

As the most popular business software on the planet, Microsoft Office has been used by literally billions of users.  With any software, whenever a new version appears, the inevitable “Should I make the switch” questions appears and with good reason.  Some software updates seem like nothing more than superficial changes while others seem to take a step back.  Office 2013 does just the opposite by making real improvements while moving the Office suite forward.  When taken as a whole, the…
Continue reading »

While creating a startup – either a website or a rich web application – you must observe some basic rules to ensure your users are adequately protected. To prevent a potential attack, you need to focus on the quality of the created code already at the programming stage. Here are only five of the dozens of possible attack scenarios: 1. SQL Injection SQL Injection is the best-known type of attack, originating in the validation of input. It is most commonly…
Continue reading »

If you’re like most people, when the weather is bad and you’re stuck at home on the weekend you’ll probably find yourself lazing about in front of the TV or computer. It’s okay for a while but it soon gets boring, doesn’t it? Fortunately if you have a camera at hand you’ll be able to find plenty of things to occupy yourself with. You may think there’s nothing interesting that can be photographed at home but if you put a…
Continue reading »

Everyone has a unique way of creating his or her tracks. But should you be spending 3 hours tweaking drum sounds and fiddling with minor details? How do you know when to stop tweaking and move on? With a project that contains over 30 tracks, 14 auxs and, in my case, 24 outputs to summing amps and outboard gear, your internal workflow becomes complex to manage. Majority of your studio time can be spent on tasks that don’t produce tangible…
Continue reading »