As musicians, most of us just want to write our brooding love ballads or electric tuba concept albums and have people line up around the block to buy it. While we’re waiting for that to happen, though, there are plenty of marketing agencies making ads, promos, and campaigns that absolutely need original music.

On that note, Creative Directors and agencies are facing budget cutbacks that would make a public librarian shudder. In fact, most of the people I worked with back in 2007 had to jump ship to other companies as their budgets sank with the stock market. Musicians like me that run small, professional-grade studios are a Godsend for these folks. In the past, small budget meant weak sound, but there is enough power in an iMac with Garageband to create truly compelling albums. Imagine what a guy like me can do with his own independent studio.

My Name is Matthew Ebel, and I Produce Audio

That’s right, I make more music than you can find here or at Matthew Ebel dot net. I’ve done behind-the-scenes work for Coca-Cola, Porter Novelli, Bigelow Tea, and more. If you think I only write about robots and ninjas, believe me there’s a lot more going on here. Check out some of the stuff I’ve done for business clients in the past:

The Down & Up Theme for the Depression is Real Coalition

Life is Ikea for an internal pitch by Porter Novelli (This was my first attempt at something like this. Ah, those were the days.)

There is plenty more where that came from at matthewebel.com/worksforhire – If you’re intrigued at all, I’ve got a Demo Reel here:
Producer Highlights

Why This Works For Me… AND Creative Directors

Why pay a big studio tens of thousands of dollars for a 30-second clip that could be done just as well by an independent artist at half the cost? It’s a match made in heaven, the only real difficulty is making that match in the first place.

I’ve been able to establish myself with these companies as a guy who can get the work done in record time, but I’d love to hear how other musicians and producers pair up with agencies. Whether you’re the Creative Director or the musician, what’s worked for you?

Photo by Psyberartist

Check out this awesome article on the future of the music business from Techdirt. Here’s an excerpt:

Matthew Ebel is a singer in Boston who started building a fanbase by playing live and actively participating in social networks and other sites…Ebel has discovered that he’s making enough so that music is his full-time job…Connecting with fans and giving them a real reason to buy has made it so that he can have career as a musician.

I especially like the focus on connecting with you guys. Sure, I jumped onto Podcasting with both feet, started a new service over at Matthew Ebel dot net, and I play shows via UStream, but the technology is totally just a means to stay in contact with you. That’s what’s important.

All I’ve seen thus far is the preview (many thanks to Hypebot for the heads-up), but this is something I’m telling EyeTV to record when it airs on PBS. This looks like it will be a great feature on sampling, remixing, and all the other developments that have blurred the line between “fair use” and “stealing”.

An actual email exchange, in chronological order. Emphasis in bold added for punctuation/comic effect.

On Dec 24, 2009, at 7:22 PM, scott wrote:

hello matt
this is scott from [some metal band]
could we do a metal version of this and put it on out new cd? we arent signed and all that jazz and would give ytou full credit for the song and all and even link it to you inside the cd jacket or anything else we could do? hit me back man please!!!

So far we’ve got three things:

1. They want to use one of my songs (that they didn’t name) on an album, presumably something to sell at shows and online.
2. They are not signed to a label.
3. Scott can not spell, punctuate, or capitalize.

It’s all good, though. Read on for my reply: (more…)

I just listened to a retrospective post from the talented Slau, the guy that produced Podsafe For Peace and I’m suddenly remembering what it felt like to be excited about podcasting again. If you were around for the birth of New Media (or if you’d just like to know what it was like working with all the other big names in New Media Music), you’ve got to take a listen to this. Slau released this as the latest edition of his own podcast, Sessions with Slau.

And yes, the Podsafe For Peace song is at the end of the episode!
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