All posts of Ben O'Hara

Kookaburra on fence post

Down Under vs Kookaburra

There has been a lot of discussion in recent months around the ‘Down Under’ vs ‘Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree’ case. See: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/07/2920250.htm?section=justin for the latest. As the parties are back in court this week, I thought it timely to conduct a closer inspection of what is happening in this case. It really comes […]

Music Fans Verses Pop Culture Fans

I know that everyone has had a say about Rebecca Black in the past week or two (I am not even going to link to the video here) but I thought it timely to remember that Rebecca Black doesn’t really have anything to do with music or the music industry. A lot has been written […]

How to make a great demo recording

How to make a great demo recording Article by: Mark Walmsley  This month invited Australian producer-engineer-songwriter, Mark Walmsley to share his thoughts on what it takes to make a great demo. Mark has arranged, recorded and mixed over 100 major label releases in Australia (six of which have been nominated for ARIA awards). Mark has also […]

Rick Springfield is Marketing Genius

Remember Rick Springfield?   Probably not, right. Think 1982 and Jessie’s Girl, still struggling?  Well, it turns out that his fans remember him.  Rick is working on the Nine Inch Nail’s model of connecting with fans + reason to buy = $$$ (Look up Michael Masnick’s talk here if you don’t know what I am talking […]

Your music is your marketing

Think about this. For the independent musician, the music you make is essentially your advertising. The product that you are trying to sell is yourself as the artist. You are trying to get consumers to buy into you as an artist, come to shows, buy a t-shirt and buy the premium package of your music, […]

Interview with Tony Bonney: Owner, Podium — The Event Producer

Approaches to event management and theming and client management Tony Bonney is the owner of the Sydney-based events company called Podium — The Event Producer. The kinds of events staged by the company cover the full range of event activities, from overseas conferences for sales and marketing teams to launches, national roadshows and celebrations. The […]

Interview with John Watson – Music Entrepreneur

John started life in the music industry as a teenager working in an independent record store in Townsville.  After joining several bands and working as a freelance journalist he eventually was employed in the sought after job as A&R manager at Sony records.  In his role at Sony he discovered one of Australia’s most successful […]

Interview with Peter Hebbes – Music Publisher

A look at the career of a distinguished Australian music publisher, Peter Hebbes of Hebbes Music Group Peter Hebbes has worked as a music publisher for over 30 years in Australia and overseas. He came to Australia in 1977 at the invitation of Festival Records, which was then the biggest independent company, and became the […]

Interview with Emma Driver, Singer-Songwriter

Emma Driver is a Sydney-based singer, songwriter and guitarist who performs mainly solo on the Sydney acoustic circuit. She started performing as a busker before joining a covers band and, later, an original duo. She has been performing solo for about five years and in 2003 released a six-track EP of her original songs called […]
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