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April 24, 2013
Dear Musicians,
I’m still puzzled as to why career management courses are still missing in some of today’s most prestigious Universities. It would be a shame and huge waste of time, effort and money, to not be able to apply the skills acquired during a music education.
Many musicians make poor decisions when it comes to managing their career. In fact, many of them may not realize that they are in charge of managing themselves. Musicians that may have been guided along by parents, teachers, student advisors or friends, may not realize that they’re in charge of their own career once school’s over. Coming to this realization is thus imperative to kick-start a successful career.
Perhaps it would help musicians to view their music career as a business. A business that needs representation, a business that needs to be marketed properly, a business that needs to stay up-to-date, a business that needs to maintain professional working relationships with other professionals in the music industry.
This translates into being pro-active with job hunts and interacting in a professional manner with other persons. Being on time for rehearsals and gigs, possessing proper phone manners, handling scheduling in a professional manner, being helpful and fun to be around etc.
This is not supposed to be a how-to article on career management, this article is supposed to merely awaken those that believe that gigs will magically appear out of nowhere regardless of how they interact with their surroundings. To give you an example; we organize a lot of auditions for those interested in cruise ship work. For some reason, a large number of individuals don’t have the decency to cancel auditions if they can’t make but decide to “no show” instead. Whether you want to believe it or not, this will hurt your career.
So take a moment to reflect on how you manage your career currently and if there is room for improvement.
Good luck.
April 12, 2013
Dear Musicians,
On a recent cruise I noticed that some of the entertainers don’t seem to apply themselves much to their performances and this may be understandable to some degree. Playing some popular requests over and over again could drive anyone nuts.
A piano/vocalist rattled down some of the songs as if the goal was to get to the end as quickly as possible. A caribbean duo barely added much interest to their keyboard sequences, and a guitar/vocalist didn’t even bother to add a proper ending to his midi sequences and just stopped the latter after he felt he the song should end there.
I absolutely understand the challenge you’re faced with when you have to perform three to four sets of 45 minutes each per night, 7 nights per week, but I believe that it could be of benefit to the musician if he or she put a bit more energy into the performances. more info
February 11, 2013
Dear Musicians,
We are currently looking for a pianist/keyboard player to join a band of ours. Ideally, the candidate would be from Australia and have good knowledge of ballroom dance music as well as top 40 and jazz standards.
Contact us at info@oceanbound.com
Photo credit: + Rainbow + / Foter.com / CC BY-SA
February 7, 2013
Dear Musicians,
On our “jobs & auditions” page we list the type of entertainers we need year-round. At the very moment though we have a more urgent need for the following:
- Piano Vocalists
- Guitar Vocalists (acoustic only, no sequences)
- Male Vocalists to front cover bands
Call or email us with questions.
Email: info@oceanbound.com
Phone: 450-714-0964
November 29, 2012
Dear Musicians,
We are currently looking for the following entertainers:
- Lounge duos with and/or without sequences.
- 4 and 5-piece cover bands (top 40)
- 4-piece dance band (ballroom dance music, jazz standards, light top 40)
- Experienced Piano/Vocalists
- Experienced Guitar/Vocalists
- Orchestra musicians with strong sight-reading skills (Piano, bass, guitar, drums, lead trumpet, trombone and saxophone players doubling on flute and clarinet).
March 22, 2012
Dear musicians,
The article below was first posted on my forum back in 2006. It’s still relevant and thus I wanted to re-post it.
I have been a musician since the age of 7 and in my career I’ve passed a larger number of auditions all of which have taught me something. These days, however, as the owner of a talent agency, I seem to be learning a disproportionate amount more about these same auditions. There is something to be said about looking at an issue from different perspectives.
In this article, I want to shed some light on what an audition process looks like from the point of view of the “auditioner” rather than the “auditionee.” I’ll give you seven tips that will hopefully help you prepare better for upcoming auditions.
I should mention that my company hires musicians, bands, and variety acts for placement on cruise ships and thus the auditions I’ll talk about will mostly relate to cruise line entertainment auditions, however, auditions for jobs outside of the cruise line industry are very similar so this applies to just about any musician.
Let me quickly outline the various types of auditions you can encounter when applying for a job on a cruise ship.
The most obvious type would be the live audition, where you go to the audition location in person and play what’s asked of you.
You may also be asked to record your audition on videotape and mail it to the company. This is very similar to the first category since you’d play almost exactly the same music.
And finally, you may be asked to submit a recording of your band or your solo act to the company. This audition differs from the previous two in that you don’t have to perform music that the company provides, but rather your own repertoire.
There are several problems that keep arising in regards to these different types of auditions that have led me to compile the following tips. more info
February 7, 2012
Dear musicians,
When you submit a demo of your band or your solo act, it’s important to submit a well put together package that’s going to increase your chances to be considered. Here are a couple of mistakes to avoid when submitting your material.
1. Don’t submit a type of artist or band that we’re not looking for
The type of entertainers that we describe on the Jobs & Auditions page on our site are the ones that we’ll be able to find jobs for. It is thus a waste of your time and resources to submit entertainers that don’t fit any of the descriptions on our site. You can always email us with questions about this before you send out your stuff.
2. Don’t forget to include contact information
3. Don’t submit inadequate video
A lot of the video demos we receive are either not current, put together in a hurry, or of low quality. Make sure that you submit video of the exact personnel that you’re planning to bring on a ship, taylor your video exactly to the needs we’ve listed, and send us good, high-quality video. Some send us only a song or two even though we ask for 10-12 short samples. Someone that submits an out-dated package, sends the message that they’re not willing to make an extra effort to put together an up-to-date package which doesn’t speak for his/her determination to land a job.
We have an easy way for you to upload your movies to our server. Contact us for details when you’re ready to submit yours.
4. Don’t forget supporting material
A great video demo must be accompanied by an extensive repertoire list (categorized by style of music), bios, and headshots (for soloists) or band photos (for bands).
January 26, 2012
By now, most musicians know that it has gotten much more difficult to get a job on a cruise ship simply because the demand is smaller than the supply. Knowing how to keep your job is thus more important than ever before. Some of the bands that don’t get re-hired may be puzzled as to why they’re not offered a job, after they have “successfully” finished several contracts. The answer may not even be related to the quality of the band. Some of the best-sounding bands may not be the most successful bands on ships.
The answer may lie in the fact that “successful” may mean something different to the band than it does to the cruise line. more info
August 5, 2010
Dear Musicians,
Tim Redman, bandleader of his band “Retrospect” has put together a library of backing tracks for songs that him and his band have been performing on cruise ships for a number of years. Tim is offering to sell these backing tracks to those that are interested in adding relevant songs to their repertoire.
As you may know, most cruise lines prefer to hire smaller cover bands rather than larger ones. If you’re hired as a 4-piece band, it’s difficult to make the songs sound full and complete. These backing tracks will help you achieve that.
The tracks were produced on a Macbook Pro using Logic 9, a Motu 828 FireWire audio interface, with various synth plug-ins. The tracks have keyboard parts on them. Some have percussion, and some have extra guitar parts. Tim can send more samples if required, as well as samples of specific songs if needed.
They’re $9 each. Tim may also be able to create new tracks for you for $15 each.
Click here for a list of the tracks for sale.
Here are some samples for you to check out.
April 20, 2010
Dear Musicians,
In this 21st episode of our podcast “Music on cruise ships” I’ll discuss the details of a cover bands’ job with bandleader Tim Redman. You’ll get insider tips on repertoire, equipment, life on a ship and much more. Feel free to contact us with questions via email at info@oceanbound.ca or via phone at 450-714-0964.
Thanks Tim for your help.
