Every article you read about making your web site or your band successful must always include something about generating traffic.

Put another way, traffic is the most essential key to a successful career in music business on the internet today. This is all assuming you have your act together to begin with.

Your band or your performance is solid and your internal organization is decent. Simply put, you have a professional show and your bookkeeping is in order.

Your site is up and you are thinking that you’re not getting the traffic that you’re supposed to be getting, then its time to reconsider. Since you are contending in this very competitive music industry, you should always be a step ahead of your competition, increasing your traffic flow should have been done starting yesterday.

Now we can get down to the nuts and bolts of generating traffic for your site.

Timing is essential. But with generating traffic, you should always be on your toes and be a day ahead of everyone. Never think of today and tomorrow as a starting point for making your site traffic laden, it should always have been yesterday.

To help you out in generating more traffic for your site, here are some seven surefire ways to increase your traffic starting from yesterday.

1) Invest in good advertising with search engines

Google’s Adwords and Yahoo’s Overture provide great advertising plans that are popular, efficient and can insure great traffic. However, this established media for increasing traffic will cost you some money.

Some musicians tend to shy away from spending money to increase traffic. It is imperative in this case to do so because Adwords and Overture are the top surefire way to increase your traffic. There ad programs are easy to set up and implement. You can always put a limit on the amount you want to spend.

The downside risk is minimal and the upside is profitable traffic.

Go see for yourself the success search engine advertising methods can have for your band and your music business. Companies outside of the music industry have used these ad programs for years now. What are you waiting for? Go reap the rewards before your competition does. Every penny is worth it with using Google and Yahoo’s advertising.

2) Exchange or Trade Links with other sites

With exchanging links with other sites, both of you will benefit from your efforts to enhance your band sites’ traffic. You don’t have to go to your competitors site.

Go to a venue’s site. Go to your agent’s site. Go to your Fan’s site. You see what I’m talking about don’t you?

For instance, you’re gigging at next month at a popular club. Go and have them put your site’s link on their site. Their site traffic increases. Then the opposite is true. They put your link on their and site and voila! Search engines love links.

When one site features another site’s link, you each provide one another with reciprocal traffic. Your efforts are doubly beneficial. The more links traded with more sites – the more traffic you can expect.

3) Use Viral Marketing

Viral marketing allows you to spread the word about your gigs and CDs with little or no cost. This is a marketing method that can be quite sneaky; you can attach your band’s name or information to any internet media. Promote your concert or new CD or new video then attach a link.

This works great with video, audio or Podcasts. Attach your info to an article or an interview in the papers or magazines. Done right, people get infected with the buzz your creativity and the entertainment value of your band and then they’ll pass it on to all their friends.

Where do you put this media online?

4) Join forums and form online communities

YouTube, MySpace, Facebook. Just to name only three!

There are thousands of online forums and communities that are filled with fans who love your style of music.

Go to them and capture the market you want. Show them your expertise and credibility. When you find a good foundation of fans and customers, offer them your insight.

How do you write songs? How do you memorize songs? How do you spend your day? These are things that may seem trivial and useless to us. But to the people who are interested hobbyists or music fans who are looking for some new and exciting music, we quickly become interesting and curious. Capitalize on that appeal.

Give them cool information – inside stories about gigging as a musician and what it’s like in the music industry. People will begin to like you and trust you.

Then let Viral Marketing take over. Traffic will certainly increase because they know that you can provide what they want.

5) Write Articles that can lead traffic to your site

Submit articles to sites that would contain the same subject that your site deals in. As with forums and online social communities, if you play Trash Metal Polkas and have a new gig to promote, then write press releases and articles about Polkas or Metal music. Attach your information at the end of the article. Be sure to include the link to your site and you can watch your traffic as well as your profits increase.

6) Search and use proper keywords or keyword phrases for your style of music genre and your geographic location.

Search Engines are set up for one result – serve their customers and visitors. You will need to think the same way.

Search engines look for certain keywords that would show their customers where you perform. They may only put “Blues Band, Orlando” in their search query. It is important that you include those terms on your site somewhere.

So style of music and location are too good places to research. Traveling across country may not be cost effective at this time for you. So think of all the places, towns or provinces your fans may be located.

Having the right keywords and keyword phrases is an extremely high requirement when it comes to ranking high in search engine results. Doing this research is crucial to building a solid music career.

7) Lastly, Offer newsletters.

If many people know what you are about and your existence is shared with many others, you will find a loyal fan base that will tell others over and over.

As you can see by now, getting traffic provided for you by recommendation is crucial. So it is up to you to arouse the curiosity of your fans customers. Also, make it as easy as possible for them to tell their friends about you.

Newsletters can offer information but also VIP Memberships and discounts to shows. Treat your fans and clients like royalty and they will repay you tenfold.

This article was written for musicians by a musician. Dan Gillogly has been committed to making money making music for over 30 years. He has written music that has appeared on A&E, FOX-TV and Comedy Central. He continues to feed his wife and 4 kids as a full time musician.

His breakthrough new book shows musicians a step by step formula for creating a profitable career in music available at MakinMoneyMakinMusic.com .

-=-=-=-=- 

So you've got the guys or gals together and you're starting the next best music thing since the The Beatles. You're guitarist is slamming riffs down like Fat Albert at an all you can eat breakfast buffet, your bass player is shaking your mom's windows to the core, your drummer is ripping out Neil Peart drumrolls and your vocalist can break glass with her pipes. What's next? How do you go about getting out of your mom's basement or garage and into the real world of fame and fortune that's been waiting for you…

The reality is that for many of you the road to good paying gigs and a handful of fans won't come easy and it won't be quick.

You're going to have to put some work into this music business thing and shed some blood sweat and tears to make it happen. But hey, you're ready for that aren't you? I mean that's why you've spent all these years practicing your scales and drum solos for hours on end, right?

Good. I'm glad to see that you're feet are on the ground and that you're not sending your band out into the world with some pie in the sky idea that this music business gig is going to be a breeze… That you're going to play your tracks out in the streets and be discovered overnight. That's not you right? Because if it is… this is probably not the right article for you.

Where Do You Begin?

You know that to make it in the music business you'll need to be a business savvy marketing machine and take the time to learn the ins and outs of marketing your product (yes your music is a product). Expose it to the masses!

Of course you're so ahead of the game that you also know that the masses we speak of are way too big a target for you and your music. In fact… you're so ahead of the game that you know that you've got to start right in your own home town. Right? Excellent!

Now, before you start breaking down walls in your mom's house to set up the band's office, you've got to sit down with all members of your band and really evaluate what it is you all want to achieve.

Are expectations totally in line with the band as a whole? If they aren't, it's best to find this out before you go out and make yourselves known. There's nothing worse than beginning a marketing and exposure campaign only to find out that your bass player isn't really into it. Come to an understanding of exactly where it is you all expect to be in this music business within the next 2 to 3 years and get off your trombones and start the process of making it happen.

Remember, all successful endeavours start with a plan. Yeah sure Duss! You say we need a plan but how do I go about making one? Good question.

You Need A Music Business Plan My Friend

Your music business plan can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. In general, the best music business plans are ones that are well researched and have been thought through and through before implementation. So doing your homework is a must. Absolutely necessary.

Once you've made it this far and you've determined what your bands' ultimate goals are, it's time to go through the process of researching what's needed to begin to make them happen. Take it one step at a time and complete each goal one by one like walking on stepping stones to cross the stream. Perform each task you've planned to complete in order and you'll slowly find that your building blocks (remember how fun Lego was when you were a kid?) will naturally take you to the completion of your ultimate goal. Music business success!

Now I realize that some of the musicians in the world really have no head for the music business and if this is you, you've got to get your head out of the ground. There's no room for ostrich style musicians here in the world of independent music. They really do get left in the dust. You NEED to do everything to you can to market your music to your fans. Believe me they want to be sold to. They already love your shows and your music so why not learn a little bit about how to properly get it in their hands. You just might make a little money to be able to do it again and again and… well you get the point.

If you're a musician and you're not doing everything you can to learn more about your business believe me your neighbor is and his band is the one getting the gigs that you can't or worse yet, don't even try to get. You don't want to be left behind so hop to it. No time for excuses…

This Is The Real World

I've really got to tell it like it is my music friends. The music industry is a tough business and if you don't have the drive and the determination to learn, learn and learn some more about how to run your band like a business… you can bet your bottom dollar that the ever elusive mountain of success will keep rising and rising as it moves ever so slowly away from you and your lazy self. Yes. Lazy!

You're here in Barrie, Ontario. One of the best places north of the big smoke to be involved in music and believe me this is not a take me by the hand and fill my eyes with lights and glam music business talk I'm offering you my friend.

I'm here to provide you with the real. The music business is hard. Really, really hard and only those with backbones of steel and the determination of a bull will find success. Even with all that there's no real guarantee you'll achieve all of your goals. The good news is that you CAN find SOME amount of success. You just need to start with a plan.

Veteran (20-year) Music Marketing authority teaches what he and members of his Music Marketing Inner Circle have discovered really works in generating a steady, reliable band and indie musicians income. Learn topics such as how to maximize social networking, generating band and artist buzz, building a responsive fan base, launching your mp3 singles and albums, selling more music and merchandise, polishing your band and artist persona, music festival and event networking, setting up joint ventures with fellow bands, and how to simply run a successful band and indie musicians' business.

For more information visit Catsask Music & Entertainment or The Music Biz Buzz with Duss Rodgers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Duss_Rodgers
http://EzineArticles.com/?A-Music-Business-Plan-is-Indeed-in-Need!&id=3654946

2. Build a website or blog with pictures, music, gigs, profiles etc. - Again, this doesn't have to be difficult and you probably already know somebody who can build a website. It doesn't have to be fancy, just get your presence on the internet. Check out your favourite musicians websites for ideas. Fill it with your pictures and give some information on you and your band. Let people know who you are and list all the gigs you've played and UPCOMING shows! Create a blog for free that you can update daily and keep people informed. You can also start an email mailing list of fans so you can let them know of gigs, releases or anything new…instantly!

3. Get on forums, blogs and other websites and spread the word about you and your band! - Visit forums related to your type of music and start getting involved. Make comments on these forums and blogs that let people know who you are. Be sure to make comments that contribute to the conversation and not just to obviously advertise yourself or you may be kicked off. Ask some of your fans, friends and family to do the same. The more people out there talking about you the better.

4. Record and release your best songs online! - Another simple idea, but sometimes you see musicians and have to wonder how well they thought this out. If you are going to upload your music to a social networking site, or your own site…or both, make sure it's your best stuff. I don't think I have to go over how important first impressions are do I?

5. Make a music video! It doesn't matter how cheap. - Be creative with this one. If you don't already own a video camera, then try to borrow one. This doesn't have to be a multi-million dollar video, just something to show people the personality behind the music. It can be shot, edited and uploaded for no cost at all. Get a friend to help out with the camera while you do your thing! Some of the best videos out there have been shot by handheld cameras with no budget. It comes down to your passion and creativity and once you have a video, get it uploaded as soon as you can.

6. Link your online profiles sites and downloads back to your sites and to similar musicians. - As we stated in #3, you need to start spreading the word about your music by visiting other websites and blogs and making comments. Always make sure that when you write a comment on a blog or website, that you put a link at the bottom of your post back to your website, video etc.

Let people see that you have a presence on the web and they will click your links and check you out. You can also trade links with similar musicians to yourself. You can double the size of your fan base by simply making arrangements with other musicians to put links on each others sites that link back to your sites.

This is a great way to have your music start showing up all over the place and get new fans that may not have otherwise heard of you. It's also a great way to make friends with other musicians that can help you turn your music into the next big online hit!

There are so many ways to promote music online it will make your head spin.
This article only covers a few. Check out one of the best ways to
promote music online right now!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rick_Halton
http://EzineArticles.com/?Independent-Online-Music-Promotion—6-Free-Ways-to-Get-Your-Music-Heard!&id=3425278

There are plenty of great jobs for music majors if they know where to look and they have the determination to find a job in the music industry. Here are a few great jobs for music majors that you may want to consider.

Music TeacherIf you majored in music and education in college, then pursuing a job as a music teacher seems only appropriate. Look for music teacher jobs at public elementary schools, public high schools, private arts schools, and basic private and parochial schools.

PerformerIf you majored in music in the performing arts, then you definitely want to pursue your special gift. This may mean trying out for orchestras or submitting demo tapes to record labels for your singing. Other performer music jobs include backup singers, musical singers and actors, and concert performers.

SongwriterIf you have the knack for writing killer songs, then you may want to pursue a job as a songwriter. A songwriter can do freelance work or work for a record label or individual artist. It depends on what kind of work you want to do and what kind of creative freedom you want.

Music EngineerThere are several different jobs for music engineers. There are engineers that deal with the actual recording while there are engineers that mix the songs after they have been recorded. There are also other engineers who work in television or movies, on sets of musicals, or do live music like concerts.

Record Label OwnerIf you really want to be ambitious then you can start your own record label. You can start own label with only one or two artists signed on and work you way up until you have reached your dream of a full-fledged successful recording label.

Music majors have a wide variety of choices when it comes to jobs. Remember that this is only a very small sampling of the jobs that are available for music majors.

Finding music jobs isn't easy. The music industry is a competitive one, and whether you're a full time musician looking for work performing your music or a musician who's just looking for a way to make a living and earn some income, music is a difficult and saturated job marketplace.

There are simply more musicians than there are music jobs, leading many musicians to the “starving artist” lifestyle, without enough income to support themselves comfortably with a music related occupation.

Finding music jobs doesn't need to be so hard. You can earn a living in music, doing what you love, by teaching music lessons. You can use this income to spend more time playing music, getting performance gigs and even recording, if you choose.

If you're looking for music jobs, teaching music lessons is just about the smartest thing you can do.

Consider this: if you charge your music students $40 an hour and teach only 25 students per week, that's $1,000 weekly income. That's an easily achievable number and a great way to support your music playing dreams.

Here are three easy steps to creating your own music jobs for yourself by finding your own music students:

1) Find Music Students Online

Nowadays people use the internet to find information about most goods and services they want, including finding a music teacher. Some great tools for finding music students in your area include signing up for a Google local business profile and getting some reviews from friends on Yelp.com. A website is a terrific way of showing music students in your area what you do. By submitting your site to search engines, anyone looking for music lessons in your area will see what you offer.

2) Create Flyers and Brochures on Your Home Computer

There are plenty of resources online to create professional looking flyers and brochures on your computer for free. Simply add in your own name, contact information and a description of yourself and what you teach. Create an attractive flyer or brochure with your picture and drop it off at local places that parents tend to frequent, such as pediatrician offices and churches.

3) Call Your Local Schools for Music Student Referrals

Often local schools do not have the budget resources to have a music department. In that case, they will often be very happy to refer students who want to learn an instrument to local musicians for lessons. Even if your local schools do have music departments, many students will want to take private music lessons to increase their skill beyond the group lessons in school. Ask if you can leave your flyers at the school and with the music teacher.

Don't go another month struggling to make ends meet as a musician. As few as 10 or 20 music students can change your life completely.

If you're really serious about finding music jobs, go this website for a detailed walk-through guide to the 3 steps above so you can start creating your own music jobs immediately: http://www.musicteacherjobsolutions.com/find-students-now/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julia_Phillips
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Find-Music-Jobs-in-3-Easy-Steps&id=3105907

Education is a major part of life. It is a way to learn the information and the skills needed to perform a particular job. Without it, it is harder to get a job, especially in the music industry. Here are some options for education for sound editing and other areas of technical support within the music industry.

Your music industry education can begin in college. If you are sure that you want to be the person who edits the recorded sound to make it better, then a college with a specialized music program is your best bet. These programs offer intense study of music and hands-on training. Someone who graduates from one of these programs will have the advantage of actual knowledge of music equipment.

Technical schools are also in high demand. At one time, people shunned technical training as being second class. It ran a distant second place to getting a degree at a four-year institution. But, when it came to finding jobs after graduation, technical school graduates had one very important advantage-legitimate experience handling the latest equipment used in the music industry.

Technical schools provide a mix of book learning and lectures and time in the music lab. Students get to create music, edit sound, and produce their own music to see how the process works. Many technical degrees are two-year programs but a lot of fundamentals and advanced teaching goes on in those programs.

Internships are required at most technical schools. They evaluate their students and how they apply the skills learned in the classroom in a work setting. Some programs at four-year institutions require internships before graduation but not all. An internship at this stage with an instructor to back you up is a great initiation into the music industry.

When choosing a music school or a music program at a college or university, review the entire program. Are the instructors credentialed? In the music industry, this could mean that they have twenty years experience as a sound editing engineer or a music producer. A Bachelors degree wouldn't hurt either. With the constant changes in the music industry, be sure that your instructors can provide the type of training for you that is currently pertinent to the industry.

How is the program set up? Many programs offer more book work and less time in the lab. Theory is good to know if you are planning on a career in teaching. For a career that involves working in a music studio or on the sets of music videos, hands-on experience is more practical.

Studios are looking for graduates who can jump right in and be a part of the company. If the studio head asks you to sit at a station and make the sound better, your career could take a dive if you can't work the equipment or provide an interesting answer. They don't have time to waste on unprepared people.

Distance learning is also a way to get the education you need to perform technical jobs in the music industry. For those who have to work a regular job during the day to make ends meet, distance learning programs provide the opportunity they seek. All you need is a willingness to be flexible, a computer with Internet hook-up, a telephone, and commitment. Many distance learning programs are affiliated with local community colleges or university campuses so students have access to musical equipment. A student has the best of both worlds on their own terms.

So, before you decide to move to a major city to go to school, check out the local technical schools and distance learning. Being in New York or California won't make you more likely to be hired, but the content of your school program might. Check with potential studios to see what program accreditations they recognize and shoot for a music program that has them.

Getting a degree in music through technical schools, universities or distance learning programs can lead to a fun and rewarding music industry job. Many programs are available but a little research into which ones are more practical would be an advantage as you'll want to get hands-on experience through lab work and internships. This is especially true when pursuing recording engineer jobs or other jobs such as sound editing, programmers or maintenance technicians. Lisa Jenkins, a freelance writer for JobMonkey, has done research on this subject and provides helpful information for people seeking jobs in the music industry.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Jenkins
http://EzineArticles.com/?Music-Degrees—Sound-Editing-and-Other-Technical-Music-Jobs&id=1130296

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I have been busy, busy, busy. Lots of gigs in lots of different styles. I really haven’t had time to write. I released a new CD that took a long time to get done. I am also doing corporate gigs. And I took on a new booking agent (we’re actually trying each other out) and he got me some sweet gigs in bars and in festivals.

I really wish I could spend more time helping out other musicians like you, but right now I am too busy. It’s a shame really. I may just put this marketing for musicians on hold for awhile because I make more money playing, writing and selling music. I don’t even have enough time in my schedule to connect with all the people who want me to mentor them. I can only have five musicians in our coaching program because that is all I can take.

I wish I could do more. Playing music for a living and giving back at the same time is a dream come true, an honor and a blessing. What we have to offer is SO-O-O-O-O-O unbelievably valuable I can’t even begin to tell you. But I will try to anyway.

One of my gigs took me down to Cedar Rapids, IA. As most of you know they got slaughtered by a HUGE flood a year ago. I mean HUGE like as in 8 or 9 blocks in and 20+ blocks long on both sides of the river.

The downtown stores are still rehabbing. The library got wiped out. And many of the residents lost everything; family homes for over 100 years gone, condemned, uninhabitable. Pictures don’t describe it very well.

What I wanted to say was this—even tho folks there are still kind of shocked, I guess is the best word, the music I brought was truly uplifting. I got to play two shows for about 300 people each time. I played originals, some comedy bits, some covers. It was cool to see the spark in the eyes.

But it wasn’t just me.

The people of Cedar Rapids are bouncing back. They are rebuilding and their Midwestern spirit is showing through. The entertainers at the Famers Market Saturday AM had superb musicians and entertainers. They brought their great uplifting spirit to the folks in attendance. For example go check out http://www.bigwow.org/funkstop/

As I was walking through the neighborhoods checking out all the devastation and abandoned building, I noticed art work. Yes artwork, like paintings and sculptors and inspirational quotes written on buildings in fancy calligraphy.

Click here to see some

It uplifted my soul. I can only imagine how it felt to the residents.

So please keep marketing yourselves. What we do is very valuable. It gives so much hope and positive energy to people who need it. People are suffering all over the country right now. Cedar Rapids isn’t the only Main Street that is struggling to re-open.

We need to do what we do because it is what we need to do. Society doesn’t always give us the credit we deserve, and frequently we don’t get paid what we are worth. But we offer so much. We need to tell ‘em we’re here.

And when you follow what I talk about in these blog posts; marketing your music like a business, it pays dividends. Major dividends.

To Your Success in Music,
Dan Gillogly

MakinMoneyMakinMusic.com

P.S. Follow me on Twitter

www.twitter.com/makinmusic

He talks about subjects we try to touch on here on a regular basis in this Music Business Blog every week. Keeping it real while making a living in the music industry is the challenge we all have. For example, how do we play covers yet still stay true to our art? How can we make a living playing music without selling out? It’s a challenge for all of us.

The way to get through this hurdle is to study where our idols came from. Study the history of the music you are really into. Who first influenced you?

If you don’t take this step, you are dooming yourself to mediocrity; a pabulum of oversaturated tripe. In other words, you may become what you hate; Soulless, shallow musical substance with no redeeming value except for the fact that you make a lot of people a lot of money.

You don’t have to imitate your idols perfectly. Capture the essence of what they created. Then morph that feeling, that essence into something bigger. Be original. That’s okay. But base it on the roots of musical history. The record labels are looking for those “square pegs ultimately who are going to change the world.”

We live in a great time in history. Internet access and technology have allowed us to create more, distribute faster, research faster than ever before. Use that access. Use that technology to create ‘music’, not just a bunch sound. Use modern sounds to create a whole new history. We have the power to do that.

We have the power to create music.

And most importantly we have the opportunity to change the music industry, one band, one song, one gig at a time.

To Your Success in Music,
Dan Gillogly

MakinMoneyMakinMusic.com

-=-=-=-=Below here is the article in its entirety: -=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-You can also find it online here:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/20/van.zandt.save.rock/index.html

What will save rock ‘n’ roll?

By Todd Leopold
CNN

(CNN) — Steven Van Zandt did not mince words.

Steven Van Zandt (right) wants musicians to have a sense of history and care for their craft.

“I want to spend just a minute on a topic that never ever gets discussed in the music business — the music,” the Bruce Springsteen guitarist and “Sopranos” star said in a speech to the SXSW music and arts festival in March. “The reason nobody wants to talk about it is because it mostly sucks!

“Who are we kidding here?” he said. “Nobody’s buying records? Because they suck!”

He called the speech “A Crisis of Craft,” and implored listeners to get back to rock ‘n’ roll’s roots. Learn how to play cover songs, he said. Get people to dance. Harness your working-class energy. Take pride in craft.

It’s been two months since that speech, and Van Zandt is still passionate about the subject.

“[Rock 'n' roll] is a craft that has to be learned,” he tells CNN. “There are things you learn by listening to great records, copying heroes.” He believes that he said some things that people were thinking, but haven’t said out loud.

But the rumbles are out there. The music business is in a state of flux, with the sales of more profitable CDs continuing to fall even as single downloads climb. “American Idol’s” season is coming to an end, with rock purists once again assailing the show’s slick pop sensibility. Commercial radio, country, rap and hip-hop — they all have their critics, many of them wishing a return to the way things used to be. Blog: What do you think of the state of rock ‘n’ roll?

Van Zandt has sympathy for all sides, coming at the issue from what he calls “a unique perspective” — he’s a musician, a DJ (with his radio show and Sirius XM channel, “Little Steven’s Underground Garage”) and record label honcho (Wicked Cool Records). He’s quick to observe that he’s not slamming all pop music. There’s vibrancy in some hip-hop, he says, and he admires “Idol,” particularly when it promotes music history.

“But it’s quite an alien world to my traditional rock ‘n’ roll world,” he adds. “It has nothing to do with it.”

Within that rock ‘n’ roll world, he worries. Today’s bands, he says, look down on performing covers, and as a result many have gotten lost in a musical wilderness. “The result is an extraordinary amount of mediocrity,” he says. “There are no standards to live up to.”

Which is part of the problem with rejuvenating rock ‘n’ roll, says Steve Greenberg, founder of S-Curve Records, which includes alt-rockers Tinted Windows and We The Kings among its acts.

Technology is one problem, he observes. “I think in the old days, in order to even be decent, it took a lot of work,” he says. “And today, relatively untalented and uncreative people can actually make rock ‘n’ roll music that sounds kind of decent. And I think that kind of fools people and causes people to be lazy.”

But for Greenberg there’s also a sense that the “square pegs” — the naturally rebellious types — are getting shoved in round holes. “A lot of opportunities inevitably these days go to people who fit the format, whether the format is Top 40 radio or ‘American Idol’ or [Radio] Disney or whatever it is,” he says. “There’s so much pressure to fit those slots. And it’s the square pegs ultimately who are going to change the world.”

The spirited Greenberg wants to channel that rebellious energy. He’s high on a band he signed named Care Bears on Fire, a trio of 13-year-old Brooklyn girls who sound like the Ramones with a touch of Shonen Knife.

“Their attitude is maybe one size doesn’t fit all,” he says. “I feel like the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll lives in those guys. … They’re having fun playing rock ‘n’ roll.”

Scott Booker, the manager of the avant-pop band the Flaming Lips (”She Don’t Use Jelly,” “Do You Realize??”), is also hoping to foster creativity. He’s serving as the CEO of the Academy of Contemporary Music, a music school based at Central Oklahoma University. Drawing from a British concept, the school plans to offer courses in music, music production and the music business, many starting this fall.

Booker observes record labels aren’t spending as much money on developing talent. He hopes the ACM not only makes bands more signable, but also teaches them business strategies, such as setting up their own label and distribution apparatus.

“This could become a think tank for how the industry could go,” he says, musing aloud. “People think of music as a throwaway cultural item [nowadays]. I want to change that. … Make things more exciting.”

Technology, adds BMI executive Phil Graham, can also be rock ‘n’ roll’s friend. “The opportunities the digital world give the population as a whole to throw their talents to a very wide audience is a very good thing,” he says. More people have gotten the chance to put their music out there and connect with fellow music lovers, he says.

Of course, there are also old-fashioned connections. BMI sponsors dozens of showcases for new acts; young bands play clubs and hawk their CDs (or Web page). Van Zandt welcomes the efforts, but hopes there’s also a connection to rock ‘n’ roll history. He’s founded a Rock and Roll Forever Foundation to foster music education in schools. (To its credit, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has similar programs.)

“The spark comes from whatever people are into these days — and that very well may be ‘American Idol,’ ” he says. “You start with whatever singer you’re rooting for, and you start to trace back where they come from. It’s up to the artists themselves to make sure that their fans know where they’re coming from, to make it clear that music doesn’t fall off trees.”