Tag: Song Selection

How To Choose Songs For Your Live Band To Play

Billboard Hottest 100 Hits
Billboard Hottest 100 Hits

One of the biggest challenges of playing in a cover band is the simple act of song selection. This simple task can make or break any band. A well chosen song list can give your band the edge in a very competitive cover band market. So how do you choose a winning setlist for your live band to play?

I’ve learned the hard way over the years not to pick songs from the heart. That’s the biggest mistake that most bands make when choosing songs. They will pick songs that they love and assume that if they love the song, everyone else will too. That’s not necessarily the case because I can tell you that a lot of the songs I love and would like to play in a band have never been huge sellers. I like complicated, progressive rock music that most people that aren’t musicians just can’t grasp.   Continue reading “How To Choose Songs For Your Live Band To Play”

Playing Christmas Songs In Your Live Band

Playing holiday songs is a great way to keep your holiday gigs fun and fresh for the band and the audience.

Elvis Rockin' Christmas
Elvis Rockin' Christmas

The season is upon us and it’s time to play those holiday gigs that come to all working live bands. I don’t know if your band is like mine, but it seems like every year we talk about learning a Christmas song or two and we just never seem to get around to it. So the holidays come and we just play the same old stuff at our shows. That’s why I’m going to give you some tips on preparing some holiday songs for your live band so you can be ready for the season.

Obviously the most important thing is timing when to learn the song. It’s better to learn the song well before your holiday shows. So if you’re planning on playing some Christmas songs in December, it’s a good idea to start learning them in October. By learning the songs that far in advance, you’ll be able to iron out the rough spots and really do a good performance of the song when your holiday shows come. Believe me, your audience will be able to tell if you learned the song 3 days before the show.     Continue reading “Playing Christmas Songs In Your Live Band”

Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 4-11-09

Stay on top of the current music scene and download the top weekly new album releases.

   Live Musician Central presents this weeks most heavily marketed new album releases. Every week we pick new releases based solely on the amount of music industry marketing hype they generate. Because these may not necessarily be the best albums out there, we do throw in a couple of certified classics for you to download and add to your personal music collection. We pick these albums so you can build your band’s setlist and break music selection. Like it or not, people in the clubs are going to know these songs because they’re going to be pushed hard on the Internet, Radio and in the clubs.

 It’s a great way to start out your weekend, by downloading some brand new MP3’s from Amazon.com or if you prefer to pay more, from iTunes. Which brings us to the fact that iTunes is raising prices for their MP3 downloads. We’re fighting the iTunes price increase by offering high quality MP3 downloads from Amazon.com MP3 service. The Amazon.com MP3’s are encoded at 256kbps and they sound top notch! Plus, you can save a lot of money by downloading from Amazon.com. So start downloading some music just for you!

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Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 4-4-09

Every week we pick the most heavily marketed new releases so you can stay on top of the current music scene.

   Yes it’s time for Live Musician Central’s weekly selection of album downloads for your perusal. Every week I pick the most heavily marketed new album releases as well as throwing in some serious selling classic albums. The reason I pick these albums is so that we as musicians can stay on top of what the music industry is pushing on the music listening public. It’s a great way to stay current with your bands set list or even just with your break music. The songs I post up are going to be marketed to a lot of listeners and if you play them at your gigs, people will recognize them and you’ll look more professional because you’ll appear relevant to the current music scene. My band plays a lot of classic rock and metal but during breaks we’ll throw on the current top club hits and the crowd will really dig it. It keeps the party going and it saves us from having to learn the new Bow Wow hit. There are enough new rock band releases that you can build your band’s set list with these songs as well.

   I post up links to iTunes which is the current largest music retailer in the United States as well as links to Amazon.com MP3 downloads. Amazon.com MP3’s are encoded at 256kbps MP3 format which sounds incredible and they’re usually cheaper than iTunes. Another thing I like about Amazon.com MP3’s is the fact that they are DRM free and they can be played on multiple MP3 players. They work perfectly in iPods and iPhones as well as Zune’s and generic MP3 players. So here you have the new releases, enjoy!
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Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 2-14-09

Every week I pick the most heavily marketed albums and new releases for you to check out. This week it’s the 2009 Grammy Winners.

   Every week at Live Musician Central I pick some of the top new releases available for you to download from both iTunes and Amazon.com music service.  These new release choices reflect the heaviest music industry marketing. There are a couple of reasons I post up the most heavily music industry marketed albums. First, by checking out these releases you’ll be able to keep a finger on the pulse of the mainstream music industry. It’s music industry is a very powerful business that heavily influences peoples buying choices. The second reason is that a large number of people are going to know these albums. So if your band is looking for new music to put in your bands setlist these would be good choices simply because your chance of people knowing the songs at your shows will be very high. You’ll also look very on top of things and current with your knowledge of music. So these albums are a great resource for your song selection. I will also post up links to top selling albums of all time for the reason of song selection as well.

   I use links to both iTunes and Amazon.com. iTunes is now the top music retailer in the U.S. so it goes without saying that people are going to be downloading their recommended new releases. I put links up from Amazon.com because their music service is an incredible bargain and their MP3’s are DRM free. You can save a bundle downloading entire albums from Amazon.com instead of  iTunes. Amazon.com MP3’s are also ripped at an excellent sounding 256kbps and since they’re DRM free you can play them on multiple MP3 players including iPods and iPhones. This week I’m putting up some albums by the 2009 Grammy Award winners!
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Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 2-7-09

Every week I pick the most heavily marketed top new releases for you to check out. This week it’s the 2009 Grammy Nominees.

   Every week at Live Musician Central I pick some of the top new releases available for you to download from both iTunes and Amazon.com music service.  These new release choices reflect the heaviest music industry marketing. There are a couple of reasons I post up the most heavily music industry marketed albums. First, by checking out these releases you’ll be able to keep a finger on the pulse of the mainstream music industry. It’s music industry is a very powerful business that heavily influences peoples buying choices. The second reason is that a large number of people are going to know these albums. So if your band is looking for new music to put in your bands setlist these would be good choices simply because your chance of people knowing the songs at your shows will be very high. You’ll also look very on top of things and current with your knowledge of music. So these albums are a great resource for your song selection. I will also post up links to top selling albums of all time for the reason of song selection as well.

   I use links to both iTunes and Amazon.com. iTunes is now the top music retailer in the U.S. so it goes without saying that people are going to be downloading their recommended new releases. I put links up from Amazon.com because their music service is an incredible bargain and their MP3’s are DRM free. You can save a bundle downloading entire albums from Amazon.com instead of  iTunes. Amazon.com MP3’s are also ripped at an excellent sounding 256kbps and since they’re DRM free you can play them on multiple MP3 players including iPods and iPhones. This Sunday is the 2009 Grammy awards which is where the music industry parades around their top music choices of the year. So today I’m posting up some of the years top Grammy Nominees.
Apple iTunes Continue reading “Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 2-7-09”

Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 1-31-09

Every week I pick the most heavily marketed top new releases for you to check out. I also pick a few classic albums.

   Every week at Live Musician Central I pick some of the top new releases available for you to download from both iTunes and Amazon.com music service.  These new release choices reflect the heaviest music industry marketing. There are two reasons I post up the most heavily music industry marketed albums. First, by checking out these releases you’ll be able to keep a finger on the pulse of the mainstream music industry. It’s still a very powerful business that heavily influences peoples buying choices. The second reason is that a large number of people are going to know these albums. So if your band is looking for new music to put in your bands setlist these would be good choices simply because your chance of people knowing the songs at your shows will be very high. You’ll also look very on top of things and current with your knowledge of music. So these albums are a great resource for your song selection. I will also post up links to top selling albums of all time for the reason of song selection as well.

   I use links to both iTunes and Amazon.com. iTunes is now the top music retailer in the U.S. so it goes without saying that people are going to be downloading their recommended new releases. I put links up from Amazon.com because their music service is an incredible bargain and their MP3’s are DRM free. You can save a bundle downloading entire albums from Amazon.com over iTunes. Amazon.com MP3’s are also ripped at an excellent sounding 256kbps and since they’re DRM free you can play them on multiple MP3 players including iPods and iPhones. This week Bruce Springsteen releases his new album. It’s music industry marketing at its finest as he releases the album the same week he plays the Superbowl XLIII Halftime Show. Go Bruce, you’re the Boss!!!
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Build Your Set List With Live Musician Central’s Custom iMix

Build your set list with proven hits using Live Musician Centrals custom iMix set lists.

  

Live Musician Central Downloadable Set Lists
Live Musician Central Downloadable Set Lists

   Earlier on Live Musician Central I wrote a post detailing the benefits of using iTunes custom iMix feature to create set lists for your live band to learn. You can check out that article here: Creating A Setlist Using iTunes iMix. There are a lot of advantages to using the iMix feature to create your band set lists. The top reason to do it is so that all members of your band can get the same version of the song from the same place. That way you don’t have your bass player learning the live version of a song, your drummer learning a studio outtake and your guitarist learning the radio edit.

   Today I want to point you to the Live Musician Central Downloadable Setlist page that has links to all the custom iMixes that I have created. These setlists were created using the Top 200 dance songs of all time. I created the setlists to have a flow to them that will work very well in a club. If you’re looking for a starting place to build up your band set list then these iMixes are a great place to start.


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Playing Old Songs Versus New Songs With Your Live Band

Discusses whe the old songs fill the dance floor while the new songs sometimes clear the dance floor.

In Stereo Playing To A Packed Dance Floor
In Stereo Playing To A Packed Dance Floor

   In my many years of playing in a live band I’ve made a lot of observations about what types of songs fill the dance floor and what types leave people sitting in their seats. One aspect that has always fascinated me is how an old, well known song will pack the floor while a new song will sometimes clear the floor. It’s been something that I’ve struggled to define over the years. Having a new song clear the floor isn’t something that happens every time but it happens enough that I’ve thought about it quite a bit. So why does an old song such as Sweet Home Alabama fill the dance floor every time you play it while a hot newer song like U2 – Vertigo is hit and miss? They’re both excellent songs and have a great danceable beat to them.

Continue reading “Playing Old Songs Versus New Songs With Your Live Band”

Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 1-24-09

Getting most heavily marketed new album releases will help you stay relevant on the new music scene.

   Every week at Live Musician Central I pick some of the top new releases available for you to download from both iTunes and Amazon.com music service.  These new release choices reflect the heaviest music industry marketing. There are two reasons I post up the most heavily music industry marketed albums. First, by checking out these releases you’ll be able to keep a finger on the pulse of the mainstream music industry. It’s still a very powerful business that heavily influences peoples buying choices. The second reason is that a large number of people are going to know these albums. So if your band is looking for new music to put in your bands setlist these would be good choices simply because your chance of people knowing the songs at your shows will be very high. You’ll also look very on top of things and current with your knowledge of music. So these albums are a great resource for your song selection. I will also post up links to top selling albums of all time for the reason of song selection as well.

   I use links to both iTunes and Amazon.com. iTunes is now the top music retailer in the U.S. so it goes without saying that people are going to be downloading their recommended new releases. I put links up from Amazon.com because their music service is an incredible bargain and their MP3’s are DRM free. You can save a bundle downloading entire albums from Amazon.com over iTunes. Amazon.com MP3’s are also ripped at an excellent sounding 256kbps and since they’re DRM free you can play them on multiple MP3 players including iPods and iPhones. The new Mariah Carey album is out! Well, it’s not really new music but it’s filled with her #1 hits so if you’re looking to learn some Mariah Carey tunes, this would be an excellent album to own.
Apple iTunes Continue reading “Live Musician Central – Weekend Album Picks 1-24-09”

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