Mega Music Talent

Archive for March, 2009

Starting your child on a musical instrument is an exciting prospect. Many parents dream of being the proud parent sitting at their child’s music recital, hearing the final strains of a beautiful selection coming from his fingers. However, starting a child too early on an instrument can lead to failure and frustration. Most instruments require some measure of strength and understanding that a small child does not have. If you are considering guitar for your child, here is what you need to know.

The Best Age

Children need to have strong enough wrists and fingers in order to successfully play chords on the guitar. For this reason, experts recommend waiting until a child is at least seven years old to start this instrument. Children who want to start playing before the age of seven can start on the piano. They will learn basic chords, notes, and rhythms while their bodies grow strong enough to play the guitar.

Choosing the Right Type of Guitar

One of the first decisions you will have to make when you are ready to give your child guitar lessons is the type of guitar you are going to have him play. You have two basic choices: acoustic or electric. An acoustic guitar is typically played by strumming chords as an accompaniment to a song. Electric guitars can also be played by playing chords, but they are also used to play “leads” in modern songs. Children can learn to fingerpick easier with an acoustic guitar, but power and barre chords are easier on an electric. The choice is really a personal one. You will have to think through the situations when your child is likely to play his instrument and then decide which one is a better fit.

Considering Group Lessons

Beginning guitarists often learn in a group setting. There are benefits and downsides to group lessons. Most parents choose this option because it is the most affordable. Also, children may feel more comfortable in a group setting, especially if they are not used to being one on one with a grown up outside of their families. On the other hand, students do not get to benefit from this one on one attention in a group setting. In an individual lesson, the teacher is able to pinpoint areas that the child needs to work on much easier, because she is not assessing the needs of several students at once.

You will have to decide which lesson structure is the best fit for your child’s needs and your family’s budget. Your son or daughter will be able to learn guitar in either setting, so do what works best for you.

Encourage Good Practice Habits

Once you have started lessons, you must work hard to encourage your child to practice. Keep the guitar in a visible location, and allow your child to practice whenever she wishes. However, insist on scheduled practice times as well. Schedule a practice time every day, and make sure your child sticks with it. Keep distractions and interruptions to the minimum when it is practice time. Make sure your child’s music is readily accessible, and record the amount of practice time when it is over so you can show the guitar teacher.

When your child is practicing, be encouraging, not critical. Your child is going to make mistakes, and that is part of learning a musical instrument. It’s the teacher’s job to correct mistakes. Your job as a parent is to encourage and support. Soon you will be enjoying the beautiful sounds of precise chords coming from the practice room as your hard work and persistence begin to pay off!

Author Bio: Music School offering Grand Pianos Toronto, voice, dr40, guitar and music lessons Mississauga, Oakville, Vaughan and the GTA area. Visit our music store to find new and used used pianos.

In actuality the principles of marketing a band and getting to the point of making actual money from shows don’t really differ that much from running a business. Just so happens that this business is music.

You probably heard the old saying that goes something like “build it and they will come”. Maybe can tell it’s an old saying because in today’s world it should read “build it, MARKET IT… and they will come”. Don’t believe me? I’m sure you know very talented people you have come across that made incredible music in their basement that never made it out of their house. It is like they’re waiting for somebody to come to their house and say “I was just passing through the neighborhood with a briefcase full of money and wanted to see if you have a great song available”. It is not going to happen, but there are things you can do to get your music marketed and we will be discussing this in the following article.

Let’s first establish what we are looking to do. What we need to do is promote the band while at the same time making some money or at least not losing too much on the marketing costs, all this while making sure that our efforts will be rewarded if done right.

Traditional Marketing

Here we have buttons, t-shirts, stickers and any other solid tangible goods that represents the band/artist. Obviously CDs enter the picture and so do DVDs. With Zazzle and other similar services you can sell your merchandise without ever seeing it or stocking it. You simply create your design online and when it sells they will print your design onto the shirt and ship it out. The quality is very good, but as with anything that helps make your life a bit easier, it takes from your profits.

These things will earn you back money while promoting your music/band. After all, some dude dressed with your t-shirt is like having a walking billboard. Here are some rules to keep in mind:

1.       Easy to read, clear and relatively big logo. If you ‘re into twisted letters and squiggly lines you would do well to stay away from that. It doesn’t mean that your design has to be bland and boring, but stay away from stuff that you need to spend time and effort to discern.  If you’ve ever seen a shirt for a black metal band you’ll know what I mean. You want the masses to be able to read your name fast and easy. Same goes for logos. McDonalds has the yellow arches. Nike, Adidas and Mercedes are well known for their logos. Note the logos are based on simple forms/graphics.

2.       Make sure to put your contact info on everything. The more contact details the better. A phone nr is really great and so is an e-mail address. I know some things, like t-shirts for example, do not lend themselves easily to this end, but there’s no reason why the webpage cannot be present on absolutely everything.

3.       Entice people to give you their e-mail address in any way shape or form possible so that you can start to build your e-mail list.

Non-Traditional

Here are some ideas for non-traditional marketing that will give you the most bang for your buck.

1.       Clubcards or postcards. Now, before you run out and do these yourself try to find a sponsorship to pay for them. Here’s how it works: Find a business that is somehow tied into the scene you’re trying to reach. If, for example, you’re a band/artist, a tattoo parlor or a fashionable clothing shop might do the trick. You can get five thousand cards made for about 200 bucks. Pitch the idea as five thousand cards distributed as promo at your show for two hundred, with your band on one side and their business on the other. Don’t say stuff like you’re offering the back of the card, because in all reality the card has NO back, it has two faces. They get five thousand cards printed and distributed to people that are in their market and you get your card FREE! Works out for everybody.

2.       If you know other active bands or artists putting out albums then work together and place little footers on each other’s posters.  Your poster will feature a small footer with releases /gigs of five other artists let’s say… Each of those artists will in turn feature a small footer of your release/gig on their poster. You reach 5 times more people on average without any extra expense.

3.       Sometimes sponsorships may be a bit hard to come by until you get a footing in your market. Sponsors look for bands/artists with a following. However, if you’ve started to build a following then you can definitely try to approach companies for a sponsorship. Offer space on all your promotional materials as well as advertising for the sponsor at your gigs.

Good luck and I hope this article has given you some ideas about how to market your band.

With lots of experience from producing to playing alternative rock music and managing artists, Stan Oldman has always been thoroughly involved in the music business. The current nyc band he manages is RED i CLAN. http://www.rediclan.com

Article Source: http://bb-articles.com

Acoustics is believed to be an artform in Western Society; this has been believed for thousands of years. Western musicologists have written many websites and books about musical theory, Pythagoras is mentioned as the first person to be studying consonance in relation to string lengths. The Chinese had however before in about 3000 BC a scale based on the knotted positions of overtones, this scale the Chinese had indicates the consonant pitches that related to the open string (the pitches are present at their Guqin). Pythagoras like the Chinese also wanted to know why different intervals have different levels of beauty; some are far more beautiful than others. However he did discover an answer, the answer was in terms of numerical rations that represented the harmonic overtones that are present in strings.

A man named Aristotle understood that expansions and contractions of the air are what sound consisted of. These contractions and expansions fall upon and strike the air in which it is next to, this is a really good expression expressing the nature of wave motion.

A treatise on acoustical properties of theatres including discussions of reverberation, interference and echoes. This was written in about 20 BC by a Roman engineer and architect “Vitruvius”. This marked the beginning of architectural acoustics as we know it.

Concepts of Acoustics and Their Fundamentals

The propagation, generation and reception of mechanical vibrations and waves is what the study of Acoustics revolves around.

There are various causes both volitional and natural. Energy can be converted from other forms of acoustical energy, there are numerous kinds of transduction process that can convert this producing an acoustic wave. There is one fundamental equation that describes acoustic wave propagation, but the phenomena that emerge from it are varied and often complex. The produced wave carries energy throughout the propagating medium. This energy is eventually transduced again, these can be volitionally contrived or naturally contrived into other forms. The end result (final effect) may reach far into the volitional or biological domains or the final effect could be purely physical. The five basic steps are found equally well whether we are talking about a sonar used by a submarine to locate its enemy, a band (playing a rock concert) or an earthquake.

Wave propagation is the central stage in the acoustical process falling within the domain of physical acoustics. Mechanical waves can be varied in form in a solid, these forms can include Surface Waves, Longitudinal Waves and Transverse Waves. Sound primarily propagates as a pressure wave in fluids.

Acoustics first look at frequencies and pressure levels in the sound wave, also of special importance in Acoustics is Transduction Processes.

Energy can be converted from one form of energy to another using a Transducer, this usually means converting electrical energy into sound energy or vice versa (In an acoustical context). Some examples of Acoustic Transducers are:

• Sonar Projects
• Microphones
• Loudspeakers
• Hydrophones

The above devices convert sound pressure waves to or from an electrical signal.

About Author:
Daniel Owen writes about Acoustics. To know more about Acoustics, visit http://www.businessmagnet.co.uk

Article Source: http://bb-articles.com

50 Cent (aka Curtis James Jackson) has been an explosive figure in the hip hop industry since his major label debut in 2003. Despite a hard childhood and youth, he has managed to pull himself out of the streets with unique rhymes and an ear for finding other rap talents.

50 Cent became rap’s golden boy when he was signed for a reported one million with Eminem’s Shady/Aftermath label. Emininem and rap superstar Dr. Dre built upon 50′s already present talent to create the monster single “In Da Club.” This 50 Cent song was featured on his first major label album “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” which was released in 2003. The 50 Cent video for the song included appearances by both Eminem and Dr. Dre, which catapulted his success.

After the success of the album, Interscope records granted 50 cent with his own record label G-Unit Records. He immediately signed Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, childhood friends, for the label. He joined these artists in a group called G-Unit, which released “Beg for Mercy” in 2003. Later additions the label included Young Buck, Olivia, Mob Deep and Young Hot Rod. 2008 saw a second album from the G-Unit group called “T.O.S: Terminate on Sight”.

At the same time, he began work on his second studio release entitled “The Massacre.” The album sold 1.14 million copies in the first four days. The 50 Cent videos for “Candy Shop,” “Disco Inferno” and “How We Do” helped place those three songs within the top five Billboard singles in the same week.

50 Cent’s success is driven by his desire to overcome his rough childhood and the shooting in May 2000 that put his rap career on hold. He was born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York to a teenage mother. He was raised by his grandparents after his mother’s murder when he was 8. By 12, 50 Cent was selling crack on the streets and taking guns to school. After several arrests during his late teens, he started to become interested in music.

During the late 1990s, he appeared on several records by other artists and was signed to Columbia records in 1999. He recorded thirty-six songs in two weeks and was prepared to release “Power of the Dollar” when he was shot. 50 Cent was attacked outside of his grandparent’s home and was shot nine times. His shooter was never officially charged but was killed in the streets three weeks later. In 50 Cent pictures before and after the shooting, one can see the slight damage to his left cheek from the shooting.

Columbia records dropped the artist immediately, considering him too risky. However, this didn’t stop his desire to become a rap star. While 50 Cent was recovering, he recorded thirty songs for rap mix tapes, which helped him build his reputation. It was on one of these mix tapes where Eminem first heard his music.

In addition to his wide discography, 50 Cent teamed with Reebok in 2003 to distribute G-Unit Sneakers. He also has a G-Unit Clothing company. He made his way into the video game world with the 2005 release of 50 Cent: BulletProof. A follow up to the game, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, was released in early 2009. He has also appeared in the films “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”, “Home of the Brave” and “Righteous Kill”.

50 cent’s third album Curtis was released in September of 2007 and sold 691,000 copies in the first week. His fourth album, Before I Self Destruct is anticipated for a spring 2009 release.

Author Bio: Searching for music videos online? Come check out the largest collection of music videos online featuring all of the most popular artists and bands including 50 Cent, Fall Out Boy, and Nickelback

The violin, more or less as we know it today, has been with us since the beginning of the 16th century.

Those with some knowledge of ancient instruments might remember the Medieval stringed instrument, the rebec, and the Renaissance fiddle ? otherwise known as the viola da braccio. These, along with the lira da braccio, were the likely inspirations for the very first violins.

Although the first actual description of a violin dates from France in 1556, there are some paintings from earlier in the century depicting what was often a three-stringed violin. At that time, the violin neck was slightly shorter and thicker and had rather less of an angle. The fingerboard itself was shorter as well.

It was the famous lute-maker Andrea Amati, employed by the Medici family in Tuscany, who really began to develop the instrument into the violin we recognize today. It is because of Amati’s origins working with lutes that violin craftsmen today are still referred to as luthiers. Amati, who became a master instrument maker in 1525, was commissioned by the Medicis to provide an instrument that would be suitable for street musicians and yet still have a lute-like quality of sound. His design, incorporating four strings and a slightly vaulted body, became immediately popular. Because of its versatility with street musicians, it quickly became of interest to members of the nobility, especially Charles IX of France, who became a great patron.

Amati himself founded a dynasty of luthiers and there are still fourteen of his own violins known to be in existence today. The Rawlins Gallery in the National Music Museum in the University of South Dakota has two violins ? one made in Cremona in 1560 and the other in 1574. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York possesses an Amati that is dated at around 1558.

Probably the most famous of the violin makers in Italy, again based in Cremona, was Antonio Stradivari, who was originally apprenticed to Amati’s grandson, Nicolo. Perhaps Stradivari’s most famous instrument, which reputedly has never been used, is known as either ‘Le Messie’ or ‘The Messiah’ and can be seen in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

The status of the violin as a musical instrument began to develop during the 1800s when Monteverdi, amongst others, began to include the instrument in his operas. During the Baroque era, Vivaldi, Bach and other celebrated composers ensured that the violin’s place in the orchestra was secured, along with its inclusion in smaller instrumental ensembles.

In 1899, the German Johannes Stroh introduced his own version of the violin, incorporating a metal horn, which became quite popular in the very early days of phonograph recording. The classical violin sound was not served very well by the ‘new’ recording techniques and the Stroh violin, although having a harsher, grating sound quality, produced significantly more volume and became very common. Thankfully, during the 1920s, electric microphone technology was developed that made the Stroh violin more or less redundant.

Perhaps surprisingly, electrically amplified violins were first used in the 1920s, with Fender producing electric violins during the 1950s. So-called electric violins are now quite commonplace in the modern music scene ? even amongst some classical musicians.

Author Bio: Are you interested in learning how to play the violin online? See my website and find out how you can master this amazing instrument.

Just visualize this situation- you’re playing in a sold out stadium and the girls are crying out your name and throwing “you know what” at you. You soon feel that you’ve got to turn it up a notch to drive them more wild and then you hear “TWANG”. Wondering what that was and some of the girls in the front row have already started giggling at the situation.

You soon realize that you’ve broken your guitar strings and still try to create a “I don’t care about anything” look but the embarrassment is seen twitching all over your face. That’s right, that could be your worst nightmare but you don’t have to do much to avoid this. All you’ve got to do is change your guitar strings.

It may feel strange when you’re changing your guitar strings for the first time but you shouldn’t forget that it’s nothing but just another maintenance that your guitar needs. Even if you’ve never changed the guitar strings ever in your life, you needn’t worry as it is very easy. There are some important aspects to which you have to notice such as which way to turn the tuning keys so as to loosen or tighten the strings, which is the heaviest string, etc.

You have to remember these directions so that you don’t get frustrated along the way in case you forget the direction of the tuning key or some other aspect with respect to changing your guitar strings. You can either remove all of the strings at once or you can unwind them one by one. The whole process is divided into two broad categories of removing the strings and the restringing process.

The Removing Process: Simply use the string winder to loosen the guitar string until the string are completely loose. Then, gently pull the string through the hole. Once again, with the help of the string winder, using the cutout at its end in order to get hold of the bridge. Then simply pull the pin out through the hole and voila, you’re done with the removing process.

The Restringing Process: In case of the restringing process, you have to bend the spherical end of the string and slowly set it through the hole. If your guitar doesn’t have any pins, all you have to do is pull it through the hole. When you’re winding up the string, apply some pressure to the strings using your right hand. Continue this winding process until the strings are tight enough, but not that tight that it would break when you play it. After you’ve wound up the strings, tune the guitar accordingly.

Now that you’re able to change your guitar strings, you can easily clean your guitar and re-tune it effortlessly. Whereas, for the nightmare mentioned at the beginning, lets just keep it a nightmare impossible to occur. Now go forth, practice till your heart’s content, start a band even and never let the fear of changing your guitar strings haunt you ever again.

Author Bio: Changing your guitar strings is one of the many articles on www.upickreviews.com For more guitar lesson reviews check out the site

It has been scientifically proven that the brain continues to grow and develop for years after birth, giving parents the opportunity to expose their children to the tools that they need in order to have an analytical and creative mind. One of the best ways to ensure this is to expose a child to music during the first few years of life. Some scientists even believe that brain development can be enhanced while still in the womb, but certainly during infancy, preschool and beyond.

Unlike any other activity, listening to music engages both the left and right, creative and logical, hemispheres of the brain, which research indicates can help in the development of neural pathways, potentially giving children who engage in musical activities an intellectual advantage. In addition to enhancing brain development, there are also other cognitive benefits of listening to music. Stimulating the creative areas of a child’s brain increases their ability to think abstractly and critically, which can set them apart from children who are not encouraged creatively. Additionally, singing along helps enhance verbal skills and dancing can increase coordination.

Kids and music

Children seem to have a natural capacity for music that adults often lack. Anyone who has ever been around a child is sure to have noticed that clapping and swaying to music is among the first milestones a child reaches. Banging on pots and pans is a favorite activity for many children and although this may sound like noise to adults, it is a way for children to express their emotions. Further, many children can be heard singing to themselves as they play, often making up lyrics. Also, words set to music are easier for children to memorize, which is why songs such as the alphabet song are such a great tool for teaching. This is true for many kids’ songs.

Because music is based on rhythm, children who are exposed to music often perform better in mathematics as they age. Similarly, the development of a sense of rhythm can help children perform better athletically. Also, an early interest in music can lead to a life-long passion. Teen-agers and young adults who are active in the arts typically have higher test scores, easier admittance into college, lower instances of drug use and are more successful in business.

The best part about exposing children to music is that it is such an easy and fun gift for parents to give. Listening to kid’s music in the car is a fun way to make travel time pass faster. Singing along is a good time for the whole family. Because music soothes children, they can also listen to music to relax before bed, or naptime or while sleeping at night. Similarly, music can be used as a tool to comfort a distressed child. All a parent needs to do to give their child the gift of music is to put a CD of children’s music in the CD player and hit play. Sometimes that’s a gift for parents too.

Author Bio: Shoofly Audio creates audio for children including kids’ music, children’s books on audio & Storytelling. The award winning audio series is available on CD or MP3 for download. To order the Shoofly Audio series for children visit Shoofly Audio or call 1-888-929-9401.

Whether you want to train to sing in a stage show to hundreds of people a night or whether you strive to be a vocalist in a band, developing and maintaining strong and secure singing technique is crucial.

First, in the process of working on your technique you must ensure you do not push your voice – straining your voice can cause long term damage and should be avoided at all costs.

To develop good singing technique, you must begin to think about singing from a different part of your body. Instead of thinking about breathing from the chest and singing from the voice box in the neck, we must develop the concepts of:
1.    Using the diaphragm (which is just below the lungs) for effective breathing and
2.    Supporting the voice with the contraction of the ‘core muscles’ located in the lower abdomen (the muscles just below the tummy button)

The following exercises will help you to apply these fundamental singing techniques:
#1: Breathing:
Put your hands around your waist with your thumbs at the back and fingers at the front – this will help you to become aware of the exact movements of the diaphragm.
- In front of a mirror, breathe in for 8 counts, hold your breath for 8 counts and hiss the air out slowly and consistently.
- Watch yourself carefully to make sure your shoulders stay still. You should feel your tummy go out as you breathe in and go in as you breathe out. You should also feel a similar movement around your side and back.
- You may want to imagine having a rubber ring fitted tightly around your waist and as you breathe in you push out onto the ring.
- As you repeat this breathing exercise, you should remember three things:
1. You should try to take as much air into the lungs as your breath in – using more of your total lung capacity
2. As you hiss out, you should try to maintain as much control of the air flow as possible – keep a consistent flow to the hiss
3. You should try to encourage as much air out of the body  – towards the end of the breath use the tummy muscles to direct the remaining air out of the lungs

- Once you have completed this slow breathing exercise, you need to try speeding up the breathing process.
- Breathing like a steam train, produce short, sharp bursts of air. Remember to ensure you are breathing ‘diaphragmatically’ – tummy going out when you breath in and in when you breath out.
- Gradually speed the breaths up – stop if you feel dizzy at any stage.
- Use the contraction of the ‘core muscles’ (the band of muscles below the tummy button) to pressurise the air and maintain as much control of your breathing as possible.

#2: Support
- Progressing from the breathing exercises, instead of producing short sharp breaths, produce three short sharp bursts of sounds on a note which is easy for you to sing (try singing to ‘HA’)
- Gradually increase the number of sounds you are producing on each note until you are singing scales to ‘ha’
- With each note, you should feel the diaphragm flatten and the tummy expand as you breath in and the core muscles contract to support the voice as you sing the sound
- Repetition of this simple exercise will establish an initial awareness of what ‘support’ is and how the contraction of the core muscles can be used to help create security, stability, power and projection to your singing.

Achieve performing arts success with mystagedoor.co.uk – the global community of aspiring performers. Join the performing arts platform at mystagedoor.co.uk and get free access to training tips, career advice, showbiz news and the opportunity to meet thousands of other like-minded performers.

Article Source: http://bb-articles.com

I wrote this article on how to play a guitar because like so many of us we are unaware of what the internet can offer us as individuals other than looking for cheap holidays, flights, comparisons on company products etc.

Well believe it or not it can also be a sensational tutor in 1000′s of interesting informative subjects where we would normally go to higher education or pay for private tuition?

However now we can learn in our own time in the luxury of our own homes, and without breaking the bank.

How to play a guitar for example.

Online courses vary but start around $27 for the program and can be with up to 56 lessons.

Now Compare That To This ?

Normally we would book private lessons, which can cost anywhere up to $50 for an hour’s lesson.

So if you take $50 a lesson and we multiply that by 56 lessons you are looking at $2,800 plus another $200 for money on fuel, wear and tear on your car and the inconvenience of having to schedule in regular visits.

I am no rocket scientist but if you do the math’s 56 lessons, which is a once off payment of $27 for lifetime access, you are looking at $0.48 a lesson. I think that is even cheaper than those ice cream cones they offer at McDonalds.

How to play a guitar tutorials include lessons written for beginners right through to more advanced stages.

They come with step-by-step illustrated instructions, and in some cases are for right and left handed players.

Absolutely amazing unsurpassed video and audio clips assist as people learn differently, pause then playback if necessary, rewind and recap at your leisure.

There are many features and benefits as we can see here?.

?No more expensive guitar lesson costs per hour
?No travelling to classes and scheduled commitments
?No thick music books you’ll never read
?No prior music theory needed – You don’t even need to read music
?No waiting for anything to arrive in the mail
?No extra postage and handling costs

Some downturns could be depending on whom you use.

?Complicated and difficult to understand.
?Lack of Video tutorials
?No Audio
?Not For Left Handed Players
?Difficult reading content

You decide? I personally believe that online tutorials are simplified, professional in production, Unique and Unsurpassed, whilst a massive cost saving to boot!!!!

Wanted to know how to play a guitar,
Can’t be bothered to go to private lessons,
Too expensive,
Takes too long,
Can’t read music
Don’t have the time
Can’t keep a schedule

Well now the excuses are all gone!

How to play a guitar?Answer
Learn with on line tutorials.

How to play a guitar and Learn quickly, in the comfort of your own home, with easy tutorials and without breaking the bank.

How to play a guitar tutorials include lessons written for beginners right through to more advanced stages.

They come with step-by-step illustrated instructions, and in some cases are for right and left handed players.

Absolutely amazing unsurpassed video and audio clips assist as people learn differently, pause then playback if necessary, rewind and recap at your leisure.

Author Bio: You can see reviews of the best online lessons at: HOW TO PLAY A GUITAR

Kelly Clarkson has not always had it easy, both pre and post Idol. Growing up in Burleson, Texas, she comes from a family of divorce and hardship. Working several jobs, she tried to stay afloat and make ends meet. Ironically, the very gift that changed her life was never her intention. Kelly Clarkson didn’t even know she could sing until she was in junior high school when the choir teacher overheard her singing. She originally wanted to be a marine biologist.

In 2002, Kelly entered a contest after returning home from L.A. not too long before that. She’d gone out to work with a hit songwriter, responsible for Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman.” However, he fell ill and could no longer work with her. The very day she moved into a new apartment, it caught fire while she went to eat. Living in her car for three days, she returned to Texas where her friend Jessica had given her the American Idol contest papers. Having auditioned in Dallas, she was accepted to the next round in Hollywood.

When Kelly Clarkson first appeared on American Idol, she had no real sense of style but her voice was as big as many out there and her personality lit up faces nationally each week on TV. Singing songs by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Dionne Warwick, she never saw herself sitting in the bottom contestants while in the beginning, she was considered the underdog. On September 4th, 2002, Kelly Clarkson had become our American Idol. She released her winning song “A Moment Like This” and watched it soar up the charts, beating a record on the Billboard Hot 100 previously held by The Beatles for highest jump to No. 1.

In April of 2003, Kelly Clarkson released her debut record Thankful. The record saw moderate success as an Idol souvenir as well as an album to kick off an optimistic future in the recording industry. The album has sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. in part to her lead single “Miss Independent,” co-wrote by Christina Aguilera. The album combined pop elements with a more R&B style. What was about to happen no one saw coming nor took seriously until Kelly found herself as one of the top female vocalists in the world.

In November of 2004, Kelly released her sophomore effort Breakaway. The title, also a song that appeared in a movie, is appropriately titled for many reasons. Kelly had split with manager Simon Fuller in order to hire a company who would be there to help the budding superstar reach incredible heights. No hard feelings were left. The direction of the album had been changed dramatically to an edgy pop rock sound that allowed her thunderous voice to shine. She also had fought the label suites to include material penned by her as well. She had a lent her love for writing to the first record, however, more than half of the new record was penned by Clarkson herself, including hit singles “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” “Walk Away,” and “Because of You.” The latter being a song written at the age of 16 and was a song the record label, RCA, told her she couldn’t include on her first record. The album’s lead single “Since U Been Gone” rocked out radio and clubs nationwide and is to date her best selling single. Breakaway has sold 12 million copies worldwide and brought in her parent record label over $100 million in revenue.

With the success of the record come the perks. She embarked on several tours, three in 2005 alone. Two of the tours in the U.S. were sold out and her international world tour was a success as well. 2006 saw Kelly taking home two Grammy Awards and performing for her peers. She beat out some of music’s biggest names including Mariah Carey, Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow and Gwen Stefani. Capitalizing on her success, she ventured out on yet another tour beginning June 30th to preview songs she’d like to include on her follow up to Breakaway. She’d reported that she would be ditching the bubblegum pop and would be writing and recording with her backing band. The idea was embraced largely by the public as she included new songs in each tour she’d written with someone in the band. However, the album that was supposed to be the most anticipated of 2007 turned out to be another one of music’s infamous turmoil challenges: the label vs. the artist.

Kelly Clarkson paired up with legendary David Kahne, responsible for songs such as “Manic Monday” and “Walk Like An Egyptian,” to produce her third studio effort. Co-writing over 50 songs, her team narrowed it down to 26 songs to record and kept 14 for the standard track listing. The album that would be called My December, took on a more mature, raw and emotional approach. During the Breakaway era, she’d worked herself to death, missing family and friends and having a hard time finding good people to surround herself with. Needless to say, the stress took its toll, including a relationship that ended shortly before the release of her second record. Dating producer and ex-guitarist of Evanescence David Hodges, she found herself being cheated on with his former girlfriend. He’d produced “Because of You,” “Addicted,” and a track that didn’t make the cut titled “Bleed For Me.” After he married the former flame two months after Clarkson found out, she penned the song “Never Again” that would become the lead single for her next record 2 ½ years later.

Turning in the material to her RCA label, they were not pleased with the record, especially legendary record producer Clive Davis, responsible for Whitney Houston, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, Hall and Oates and many more. Clarkson and her manager at the time were executive producers of the record and that didn’t sit well with Davis. He quickly dismissed the record as unsellable, he didn’t hear any hits and it wouldn’t sell more than 750,000 copies. Shelving the record for four months, he tried every trick in the book to get her to change her mind. He reportedly offered her $10 million to replace or change 5 songs to make them more radio friendly. However, after receiving rip off “Since U Been Gone” compositions and a song from Lindsay Lohan’s second record, she stuck to her ground and compromised to release My December as is and she would in turn create a more mainstream record the next time around.

A week before it’s June 26th release date, she fired management The Firm and hired Reba McEntire’s husband for Starstruck Entertainment. McEntire, Clarkson’s childhood hero, had already formed a budding relationship with the American Idol Grammy winner.

RCA had claimed that “Never Again” was too bitter and the public wouldn’t accept it as Alanis Morissette already had “You Oughta Know” in the 90’s. However, numbers proved them wrong. The song only peaked at No. 8 on the Hot 100 but has since went on to sell just 10,000 copies shy of being a platinum selling single. While the video reached No. 1 on VH1, the song was being pulled from radio while a second single was planned to arrive in July titled “Sober.” The label not wanting to promote the record at all did not push the single to radio and it failed to chart inside the 100, peaking at 124. The U.S. received no more singles. Fans were outraged that an artist of such calibre would be treated so disrespectfully. Although the record only has been certified platinum one time in the U.S., it proves that real music is not dead and that you don’t need a formula hit song to sell records, especially to your fans. Media was very positive and remained mainly on Clarkson’s side throughout the whole entanglement stating she’d “earned the right to call the shots.”

Connecting deeper with her fans, Clarkson has stated time and time again that she will not release a record just to sell millions. To her, it’s about the music. While many artists need several songs to sell a million copies of a record these days, Clarkson only needed one, proving her to be one of the best in the business today. Her writing ability has been questioned and also put down, stating behind closed doors that she’s “25 and a female vocalist.” Clarkson immediately hung up from the conference call in disgust. To date, she’s won three writer’s awards from ASCAP, two of them being for “Because of You,” in which one was awarded for her remake of her own song as a country duet with Reba McEntire.

Some may say Kelly Clarkson put her career up as collateral when she released My December while many who have actually heard the record defend her stand. Life is bigger than being No. 1 all the time and in order to be No. 1 on today’s music charts, formula songs must be crafted and Kelly has so far stayed true to never releasing the same project twice.

The first American Idol winner will be releasing a fourth record in March 2009, taking elements from her massive sophomore disc, including many of the same songwriters, and injecting it with a more aggressive pop rock. Though Kelly may have been lucky to find Idol when she did, American Idol got lucky to find Kelly’s voice and talent. Unfortunately for her, she will have to tread the murky waters of an industry plagued with corruption, dirty politics and a tendency to manufacture and pre-package their acts to rise above circumstance and release music that will create new fans as well as keep the core group that voted her to No. 1 more than six years ago.

Harry Rackers is W.M of File Sharing Software and of: The Guitar Classroom the site to go to for all your Guitar Lessons

Article Source: http://bb-articles.com