Outwitting Some More Hackers

Some damn hackers put some weird folders inside my images folder.
This is a Joomla! 2.5 installation.  In Joomla there are many functions that require thea system to pull up all the images in the images folder, and sub-folders, so you can pick one and put it into an article, or whatever.
The hacked folders contained hundreds of text files, so the image loader bogged down and basically did not function.  On top of that, some images were not showing up on the site, like the main header logo image! and some social networking icons, the main images in rotation, etc.
So the site looked crappy and for days, the only thing I could think to do was keep trying to delete those darn files.  I tried renaming the folders, which worked, but accomplished nothing.  I tried to remove all access to those folders via .htaccess.  That only seemed to make things worse.
 I contacted my hosting provider, in the middle of the night and got a response from them indicating their late night support guy had no clue.  He actually told me they were system files being generated by joomla.  Really?!  System files in txt format piled a mile deep in my images folder?... What a moron!  They had names like ten variations on : "daemon-wp-blogs.txt" and "daftpixie-host.txt."  Please explain to me how a normal Joomla installation uses those files!!
So, I finally hit upon a clever and simple idea.  I downloaded, via FTP, everything good in my images folder.  So, that's everything except the hacked folders.  I put them in a folder called "images2"  Then I re-uploaded the new "images2" folder, renamed my old images folder to something else (anything will work) and then renamed my new folder to "images"  Presto!  Everything worked great again.
Tomorrow I will contact the owner of my hosting company to make sure his people get some better training and maybe we can get rid of those hack folders once and for all.

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Gigging - Everything you need to know about Playing Gigs, from Booking to getting Paid (except how to play your axe)

An essential guide for beginner musicians, those who are new to playing out, and seasoned pros who keep having problems.  The book covers topics such as how to get along with the sound guy, what to do if you think you're being ripped off by a venue, and what you should wear on stage.  There are also many True Gig Stories that describe what happened to bands that did things wrong.  Learn from the mistakes of others and be one step ahead of the rest of the bands in your region.
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Selling Your CDs Online

By David Barber
Commotion Music Promotion, Inc.

For musical artists there are 3 basic ways to sell your CDs online.

(Note: this article does not directly address selling downloads)

1. Get your own credit card merchant account and sell directly. This is expensive and requires an online shopping cart, usually custom. You'll have to fulfill the orders yourself, too (shipping, packing, etc.). Credit card companies and banks charge a monthly fee and various per transaction fees, as well as substantial set up fees, all of which are negotiable and vary all over the place. If you aren't selling hundreds of CDs each month, it's probably not worth the cost and effort.
Some hidden advantages to this, are that you can also get the equipment to handle credit card transactions at your gigs and you can use that to sell your other merchandise as well.

2. Go through a distributor who will distribute to online sales outlets like CDNow.com and many others. They will also offer your CDs for sale on their own website. You can link directly to the distributor's online store to sell CDs from your website.
This is cheap to get going, and low hassle, as they handle the fulfillment and the tricky website stuff. A real distributor is also going to make sure your CDs are available in record stores in the regions where you are playing and probably promote your music as well.
However, most distributors will take a big cut, generally around 50%, so the CDs have to be marked way up or you will just get less.
Companies like CDBaby.com and CD Street.com fall into this category except that they don't do retail distribution. For that reason they may be cheaper than a retail distributor (But then you need that kind of distribution, too. Don't you?) Some of them will only allow you to sell your CDs. They don't want to deal with your other Merch. (You do have other merch don't you?)

3. You can sell directly through your website using a 3rd party company like PayPal.com to process the credit cards. This one gives you the biggest cut per sale. It's basically free to set up and they charge a very low per-transaction fee (2.9% plus 30 cents pre transaction as of the time this was written). You have to handle the fulfillment. But you can sell whatever you want online, to anyone with a credit card.

No matter which option(s) you choose, make sure you shop around and compare prices. Go with the approach/company that you feel the most comfortable with. There are always new companies and websites out there that may be offering some combination or hybrid of the above options. (Beware: Sometimes low prices also mean low service levels and constant problems, and online companies are notorious for suddenly going out of business - taking your stock with them into oblivion) As your band grows you may need to reevaluate your approach and make changes.

You're Nobody Until Somebody Hates You!

By David Barber
Commotion Music Promotion, Inc.

We've seen it over and over again. A band works hard and climbs up to the top of their regional ladder. They're getting the corporate gigs and all the best club gigs and lots of people are showing up everywhere they play. They've been pretty nice to most of the people around them, helping compatible bands by bringing them on as openers, offering up advice, even phone numbers, when it comes to booking and then BAM! The tide turns and everyone starts bad-mouthing them on a message board or behind their backs at gigs.

"Why do they get all the good weekend gigs and we only get these crappy Wednesday nights?" or "They aren't that good, our guitar player can play rings around that guy." or the dreaded "I heard she's sleeping with that booking guy and that's the only reason she got this gig."

All that kind of shit sucks! Right?

But what an excellent barometer to judge how well the act is doing. The act is so successful that others in the scene think it's newsworthy to discuss who they're sleeping with. They are analyzing the guitar playing and trying to figure out why it's so popular. They may even figure out why the successful act gets the better gigs. (Usually, it's because the band is simply better than the bands those haters are in.)

It's human nature at it's worst, but it's nothing to get worried about, it's nothing to argue about and can actually be a sign of success. Most people who perceive an inequity will leap at any opportunity to lay the blame anywhere except on themselves. Nobody really likes to admit the truth, that their own act just isn't as good as those guys that seem to get all the breaks, or simply hasn't been working as hard for as long to get where they are today. The truth is that most of them started out right at the bottom, too and built their way to the top with a lot of hard work. Dissing them ain't gonna make your act any better. Playing better, writing better songs and promoting the hell out of yourself will all help much more.

In business it's generally a bad thing when people bad-mouth you, but like the saying goes, any publicity is good publicity. At least they are talking about you. The opposite would be much worse. Nobody will hire a band or business they haven't heard of. If a talent buyer or prospective client asks about the controversy, there's your chance to set the record straight to one of the few people who even need to know.

You can't please everyone, so some people will always dislike you for some reason. Usually, something completely outside of your control. so don't worry about them. Put your time and energy into the people/projects who know you better than that and who won't hesitate to put in a good word for you. Stay off those hate filled message boards and away from the people who trash talk you behind your back. They'll soon find someone else to pick on (probably, one of their own). There's a reason why the most successful people in the region don't show up on those boards. They're busy working. They don't have time to waste on gossip, bad-mouthing and that kind of bullshit.

Bottom Line: If you're getting dissed, calm down, don't lower yourself to their level by replying back in a hateful fashion and congratulate yourself for achieving a level of success that makes others jealous.

Be Professional

By David Barber

Commotion Music Promotion, Inc.

Being Professional is as important in the music business as in any other. And, yes, just to remind you, it is a business. If you're just in if for the fun of making music, don't bother reading these articles. It's not gonna help. Actually, being professional in the music business is easier than in most. The music biz is littered with flakes, drop-outs, and as long time tour manager/booking agent/radio goofball, Matt Need, likes to put it "D students." ("I'm no good at math or science and my grades suck, but I like music, so I'll get into the music business!") Therefore, all it really takes is showing up on time, playing as well as you can and being polite to the people around you.

Yeah, we know that sometimes you'll have to deal with people higher up the food chain than you who aren't nice, polite or sensible and it's easy to treat them as badly as they treat you. Sometimes that may even be the best approach, but not very often. Usually, when a booking manger screws you over, it's much better to just walk away and silently vow never to play his venue again, if possible, than it is to yell and scream and bad-mouth the guy all over town. Now, if someone is really ripping you off, it might be a good idea to discreetly let your friends in other bands know what happened, but try not to get a reputation as a trash talker. Why? This guy is scum, why should you care what he thinks? Because even if he is scum and you never play for him again, he likely has ties to other booking managers, club owners and industry professionals, and those people do talk. Nothing travels quicker though a tight knit music community than stories of how that guy from that band made an idiot out of himself because he thought he should be paid more than he's worth. Yes, that's the way they are likely to look at it. And from that perspective, why would any other club in town want to hire you?

The same goes for when you're talking to them up front about booking the gig. If you say you can bring in 250 people on a Tuesday night (and he actually believes you) you can be certain that you won't be asked back when only 25 people show up. Clubs hate to lose money and, from their perspective, your job is to bring people in to drink. (More on that in another article)

Along the same lines, if you work in an office or a factory or store, it's not acceptable to get drunk or high at work. The same goes for the music business. Show up for your gig on time, perform your set like a pro and then, after the gig, if you must, you can relax and enjoy the time honored tradions that go along with your rock & roll lifestyle. Nobody wants to pay see a bunch of drunks playing sloppy. Also, bear in mind that most venues would rather piss you off than risk losing their liquor license, so don't put them in that position. It doesn't matter what level of success you are at. It's just common sense. Work first, then party on your own time.

Flyering / Postering Etiquette

By David Barber
Commotion Music Promotion, Inc.

Your band has a gig coming up, you've printed up stacks of flyers and posters and now you need to get them out there where people will see them. Seems fairly easy, right? You just staple or tape up posters hand out a bunch of flyers and sit back and wait for the crowds to roll in. Right? Sure. Just be careful and avoid a few simple mistakes.

First off, never put up posters for your show at venue A inside venue B. Postering space is limited inside any venue, even the ones that let you tape it up anywhere you want. They aren't going to be excited to see posters advertising a show at another venue. Same goes for flyering. Don't put out free tickets for your upcoming Herman's show on all the tables at your Dove show. Likewise, don't plaster the restroom at the Cricket with posters for your show at the Toad. This kind of behavior is simply discourteous to the venue you do it in and likely will result in them being less inclined to book you there again.

Is there a way around that? Yes. It's usually acceptable to mention your upcoming gigs while you are on stage. It's also acceptable to walk around the room and personally hand your flyers to people you know or have just met, as long as they don't immediately drop them on the floor and walk away. "Put this in your pocket." is a good way to handle it. Also a poster that has been printed up with a month's worth of shows can be safely hung in most venues without fear of pissing anyone off. It's not gonna stay on the wall past your gig in that venue, but if you post it a couple weeks beforehand, it might be helpful.

Along the same lines, it's not cool to flyer outside of most local music venues. Don't put them on all the cars in the parking lot, unless it's for a gig at that venue. Don't hand them out to patrons leaving a venue unless it's for an upcoming gig at that venue. A major exception to this rule is to hand them out as people are leaving a large concert venue. Hang on the sidewalk out in front of the Fillmore or the Pepsi center when a compatible national act is playing and hand out your flyers. It's an excellent way to build your fan base.

Don't run afoul of the law. In many cities it is against the law to put up posters on telephone poles, etc. A few cities even enforce these laws. You can be certain that they will know exactly what band is responsible, by simply reading the poster or coming to the show.

Always bear in mind that your promotional activities can also reflect upon the venue. If you plaster all the cars in front of Herbs with flyers for your show at the Skylark, the management of one place may well call the other to complain. Remember, venue owners and booking people do talk to each other, even while competing. Word can spread quickly, so try not to piss these people off.

What Makes A Good Poster?

By David Barber
Commotion Music Promotion, Inc.

Every band that promotes itself (and if yours doesn't, you're already wasting your time by reading this), has dealt with the problem of posters. Some bands get lucky and discover an artist who is also a band member, friend or relative who will design cool posters for free or cheap. Many bands, though, struggle with this. Even the one's who have a professional graphic artist in their midst sometimes lose perspective and put out posters that, while they are cool or like works of art, are completely worthless when it comes to promoting the gig.

That's the bottom line: The poster's sole purpose is to promote the gig(s). Don't forget that. It doesn't matter how cool the artwork is, if people can't see it or can't read the important details, it's not doing the job.

We have a friend who collects old psychedelic era concert posters. They are expensive, the art is terrific and some are very rare. You know, the ones from The Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Did you ever try to read one of them? Even at full size and up close in good lighting, it's sometimes nearly impossible to read the names of the bands, the venue, and the date. While it's cool to have those as collectors items now, they were nearly worthless at getting the word out about the gig.

Here's our rule of thumb: All the information should be easy to read from at least six feet away in a dark smoky bar. If you can't see the name of the band (or an easily recognized logo), the date and location, what's point?

Now, sometimes you have to decide where the posters will hang before you can make the call. If they are on telephone poles and you're hoping drivers will see them, then there's no point in using any fine print. If they will hang in coffee shops, which are usually well lighted, then maybe you can expect curious patrons to step in closer and read a little more. A short description of the music is a great idea. That way, someone who isn't already familiar with the band could become interested. Potential new fans want to know what kind of music you play, so even if you have to make something up, put it down. Even something as simple as "Rock" will work most of the time and it's way better than nothing. If you can't describe your music, you've got bigger problems. (We'll write an article on that one later) A website address is helpful, too.

When designing a poster, you also need to think about printing. Making full color 11" x 17" copies at Kinkos gets expensive pretty fast. So think about what that same poster would look like at 8.5" x 11" in black & white or black ink on colored paper. Make sure the design will not be ruined by B&W printing. If you're gonna send your posters out in electronic format to venues or street teams out of town, you better expect them to be printed in B&W.

Make A Generic Poster: This will save you lots of time and cash in the long run. Make one cool poster design with a big blank white space at the bottom (about 1/4 to 1/3 of the poster) and have 1,000 of them printed up in full color at a professional print shop You can use them for any gig for years. Just don't put a photo of the band on there unless you're certain nobody will leave the band before you can use them all up. CD cover artwork is perfect for this.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Have fun with your poster design and play around with things. Just remember what it's for and it'll be that much more effective.