Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Things to Know Before You Sign a Music Producer Contract

Things to Know Before You Sign a Music Producer ContractThings to Know Before You Sign a Music Producer ContractA contract with your music producer is an important part of the recording process. Music production contracts protect everyone involved in the recording by explicitly detailing duties, rights, and compensation. However, many times up-and-coming akrobats are tempted to sign the first production contract that they see, just to get a producer on board with their music. Bad move Production contracts are notorious for being one of those little things that sneak up and bite you once your career takes off. Therefore, before you sign a contract with a producer, make sure you understand its terms and conditions. This guide will help both musicians AND producers figure out a fair deal. Cover These Issues When Signing a Music Producer Contract If you address these eight issues before signing on with a producer, youll be better off Learn the Lingo Before you jump into the world of record producer contracts, theres some vocabulary youll need to know. Know the difference between an agent, a producer, and a manager. Know what kind of label youre working with and what to include in your press releases. Understand the meaning of a demo or promo package. In other words, learn the lingo. Know the Job Description Some producers are very hands-on, while others, well, are not. What kind of producer do you want on the job? The production contract should specify exactly what is expected of the producer. Will they be arranging songs? Creating beats? Or, do you want a producer to basically make sure the songs are being properly recorded and stay out of the creative stuff? The nature of your relationship with the producer should be decided up front, and it should be spelled out in the contract. Pick Your Points (Part One) Points are a producers bread and butter. Each point represents a percentage of income from record sales that a producer will receive. The numb er of points a producer gets is commensurate with their experience and track record. Some big name producers get five or more points on an album while a producer trying to get started in the biz may work for no points at all. When it comes to points, not only do you have to decide how many the producer will get, but you need to decide if these will record one royalty and if the points will increase if the album passes pre-established sales goals. Pick Your Points (Part Two) When you settle in on the points to be awarded to a producer, you also need to figure out if the points will be payable on retail price or dealer price and if the producer will be subject to the same manufacturing charge by the label that you as the artist pays. Producer Advance Your contract should state whether or not the producer will be paid an advance for their work. A producer advance is common, but if you are working with an up and coming producer rather than an established one, you may be able to work out a deal that does not include an advance. Mixing Rights Some production contracts include a clause that gives a producer first refusal on remixes of a project. If this clause is in place, it means that if you are unhappy with the final product and want to take it to someone else to mix it, you may have to allow this producer to try and make some changes first. This clause is not ideal for you as a musician, so try to negotiate it away. Who Is Paying for All This, Anyway? Your contract needs to state who is responsible for paying the producer. Is it you, or do you have a record label footing the bill? If a third party is paying the bill, a producer will want some kind of written clarification of who will be responsible for settling up if the project goes over budget. If you have an all in deal, that could be you, the musician. The ideal setup is for you to take the hit for budget overages that you cause and the producer to take on the overages that they cause. You Dont Own Me A few misplaced words could give your producer a piece of the ownership of the finished product. Avoid this conflict by stating clearly that any finished recordings and masters are owned exclusively by you.

Friday, December 27, 2019

How Bill Gates Started - Nerdy Genius Became Billionaire [infographic]

How Bill Gates Started - Nerdy Genius Became Billionaire infographicHow Bill Gates Started - Nerdy Genius Became Billionaire We have previously talked on our blog about Steve Jobs, so the next logical thing is to talk about Bill Gates. We know, that computer world is divided in two sectors Microsoft lovers and Apple lovers. Most of the time one side hates the other. If you are on either of sides, everyone should know how interesting both of these gentlemen areWilliam Henry Bill Gates III welches born on October 28th 1955 in Seattle, Washington. He was born into very prestigious family. His father was prominent lawyer, mother served on the board of directors for several organisations and Bills grandfather was a national bank president. His parents intended him to be a lawyer and encouraged him to compete in everything.When Bill was 13 he enrolled in Lakeside School where he became interested into programming. Young Bill was excused from math classes to have more time for programming. Soon after Bill along with other four classmates were banned of using computer for couple of months, because they found bug and managed to obtain free computer time.Bill fell in love with computer programming and was really good at it. In 1970 school asked him to write program scheduling students into classes. He hacked the code afterwards, so he was in class with as many beautiful girls as he could.Bill Gates graduated from Lakeside School in 1973. He scored 1590 out of 1600 points in standardized test (SAT). He enrolled Harvard in the same year where hes met Steve Ballmer one of the most important partners in his future company Microsoft.When Bill was on Harvard he started to consider becoming a lawyer, until he read about MITSs microcomputer Altair 8800 in the magazine. He wrote to MITS claiming hes been working on a code BASIC for Altair (in fact he wasnt). Companys president agreed to meet Gates to show him the BASIC demo, so Gates started to work on it. They closed a deal and Gates dropped out of Harvard. A year later Bill Gates registered Microsoft, but they were still working on BASIC. In late 1976 Microsoft became independent from MITS and continued to work on programming language for all kinds of hardware.The next few years he spent on reading and editing all the lines of codes produced by his employees. He worked for 16 hours a day In 1980 Gates buys operating system from SCP (Seattle Computer Products) for $50,000 in order to edit it and sell it to IBM. It worked and the legend was born MS-DOS. Sales of the this operating system made Microsoft a major player in the industry.Microsoft started developing operating system for Apple. Steve Jobs wanted Apple to dominate computer business. He asked Bill to join his company with the role of programming. Bill wasnt stupid and knew, that operating system with graphics is the future and he disagrees. This is how they became rivals. Microsoft was secretly copying Macintosh OS, which escalated to Apples a ccusation of Microsoft from stealing their ideas. This rivality lasted for next 15 yearsIn 1985 Windows 1.0 was published and it received only small popularity. It extended MS-DOS and it could not compete with Apples Lisa. Several next versions were produced by Microsoft, but really ground-breaking one was Windows 95, which started the huge success of Windows operating system.Bill Gates married Melinda French in 1994. They have 3 children and are still happily married. Bill Gates is without a doubt one of the most interesting persons of a modern history. He donated about a half of his wealth. He became friend with Steve Jobs in 1997 again and still talks about him as one of the most important and influential person of his career.Enjoy this beautiful infographic created by Funders and Founderssource Funders and FoundersDo you like this story? Share it with your friends.Share Your Feedback or Ideas in the Comments

Sunday, December 22, 2019

From uninspired to proud. My self discovery with Enhancv

From uninspired to proud. My self discovery with EnhancvFrom uninspired to proud. My self discovery with After a year of unsuccessful job hunting, I decided to make a drastic change. I moved to a new country to start over. Later, I realized that upgrading my resume would have probably been enough. Living more than a year in Bulgaria, Im glad I made that decision.After I settled in my new home, I didnt want to welcheste any time. I went on all the job boards I could find and started applying. 2 weeks passed and the awful feeling of Im not good enough began to creep in. I looked at my resume and felt even less motivated.At that moment, I realized that it needs a serious upgrade. I went online and started looking for some resume templates. What stood out was a resume of Marissa Mayer created by . As shes always been an inspiration to me, I wanted a resume like this. What are you most proud of?When I landed on the New Resume page of , it was the first time that I didnt feel intimidated b y an empty page staring right back at me. The page was filled with suggested sections, including bullets with questions. What caught my eye was the Most Proud Of section. While trying to answer what Im most proud of, I replayed some of my lifes biggest events. Moving to new countries and managing to adapt quickly, or changing my lifestyle to cure my Psoriasis. I wrote it all into my resume. I had never asked myself what makes me proud and why before. The process of answering this for myself not only boosted my confidence, but also helped me reflect on some of the most difficult situations Ive gone through and outline the lessons I learned. I loved what I discovered.With very little work experienceI never thought of myself as an ambitious person. But when I reflected on moving to Bulgaria because I believed things will change and Id find a job where I can grow and learn, it became clear that I was. Other personality traits I discovered were persistence and discipline. In my life, Ive tried different sports, even started learning to play the guitar. I never became good at them, nor did I continue. Which made me think Im not a persistent person. But reflecting on my journey with Psoriasis, the opposite appeared to be true.What was the outcome of your involvement? Left Old resume / Right New resume I was proud ofThis question appeared in bullets of the experience section. While trying to answer, I suddenly viewed my previous roles differently. In my mind, I went back to all my previous positions and thought about what I did day to day. I checked my emails, the bullet journal I kept while working there, and everything else that could provide more details. I suddenly remembered new things about my involvements and realized that I learned much more than I thought. The boring bullet Social media research turned into Developed a Social Media Posts plan and increased Twitter followers by 150 within 2 months. It went through each bullet point like that. Even though my ex perience section became shorter, after comparing it to my old resume it was obvious that it had become more impactful. What are you passionate about? What motivates you?Back when I was about to graduate, I went to the Universitys career center with my resume for feedback. They told me to remove my hobbies or any details about my free time. Apparently, employers dont care about that. I came home and deleted anything connected to my passions, thinking that my resume was better. The problem was that I felt there was nothing that stood out and it didnt make me feel proud of myself or my accomplishments.Looking at the resume of Mayer, I changed my mind. Because I only had a handful of internships up my sleeve, I needed to fill up the space and stand out. I shared what my favorite books are, what I do in my day, and my passions. Thinking about these, especially my usual day and what I dedicate most of my time to, helped me realize that Im actually trying hard to spend my days proactively and grow as both professional and an individual. I believe thats something every employer is looking for.Passions demonstrate that this person has a learning attitude, they have a growth mindset, they want to experience new things and generally improve in some way. Ewa Zajac, IntercomRelated articlesInspiring resume tips from 2017 Oscars nominationsTravis Kalanick resigns as Uber CEO heres his resumeCreating an effective personal resume the complete guideSuddenly, I felt proud of my resume After I finalized my new resume and compared it to the old one, I felt a surge of pride and confidence. It wasnt just because of the clean design, the content made the difference. As a junior marketer, I felt I didnt have anything to put on my resume and nothing I had done seemed special. But the time I spent considering what to put in each section ended up being an unexpected bit of selfs and inspire others. Send me your story and get featured.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Mars on Their Minds

Mars on Their Minds Mars on Their Minds Mars on Their MindsThe Mars Societys University Rover Challenge leads educational institutions from around the world to build Mars rovers for high-level competition. More than 60 teams from 12 countries entered in 2016 and roughly half that survived the initial cut and descended on the small town of Hanksville, UT this past June to compete in the field. Among U.S. hopefuls were Yale University, Cornell University, and Washington State University (WSU) North Puget Sound at Everett, which took second place.The president of the WSU North Puget Sound engineering club described the rover they entered in the Challenge.You knew the rover had to fit through a two-meter wide gate but the main thing is weight. Its a 50-kg weight limit so there welches a big design challenge when it came to chassis and suspension and getting over these rocks that are borderline boulders and going down a half-meter and meter drop, says Blaine Liukko, who has a bachelors de gree in mechanical engineering from WSU. The main thing our team did to overcome challenges was with the use of carbon fiber. Janicki Industries gave us carbon fiber panels that we cut with a waterjet and we custom designed our own wheels out of carbon fiber so we could have lightweight wheels. We were also able to mount motors and gear reducers inside the wheels. This way, it would help with ground clearance issues.Blaine Liukko with the rover that won 2nd place in the 2016 Mars Rover design contest.They designed their own suspension and all motor mounts were carbon fiber, he says. We did enough structural analysis and motion studies to know maximum forces, he explains. We had four wheels on our rover and each wheel was powered independently with a DC motor and a 64-to-1 gear reducer.The robotic claw didnt work well with an RC servo, according to Liukko, so they utilized one with a power screw and a gear DC motor, that gear motor mounted in the middle of the claw.The rover, in the end, was roughly three and a half feet wide by four feet long, all radio controlled.They made the initial cut, so now it was time for the next step.Competing in the FieldThe first days competition results would decide which teams would make the final cut and perform more difficult tasks, he says.You had to traverse the rover over to a service station and, using a camera on a robotic arm, you had to read a piece of paper and it was a multiple choice question, Liukko says. With the robotic arm, you had to pick either an A, B, C, or D switch. There were points for being able to flip the switch and also for being able to flip the correct one. After that, there were different obstacles and you even had the challenge of picking up four tools and putting them in a different area. We did fine but saw some areas for improvement in terms of our depth perception, among other things.After the cut was made, the final day consisted of four tasks, he says. The soil sample part required digging and analysis, with Liukkos team excelling here and ending up with 90 out of 100 points. The second task contained a challenge of picking up a gas can and putting it in a gas tank. The third, another highlight for the team, was a traversal task. There were five different gates to go through and they are all around the Mars landscape, he says. We didnt miss a single gate and didnt go out of bounds. One gate was 50 feet up a hill, there was another where you go traversing rocks and boulders and youre trying to do it without going out of bounds.The fourth task was about astronaut assistance and involved picking up tools and getting them to each astronaut. There were some difficulties here but we had less of a problem picking up tools than a good portion of teams, he says.When the final results were announced, Liukko was thrilled with the second place finish. Rzeszow University of Technology in Poland impressively took first place for a second year in a row. I think our team will be back to try and binnensee if we can do even better, Liukko says. The great thing is we saw areas to learn from. But its more than a competition. The life experience it gives to students before going out into the workforce is incredible. Youre given sets of tasks that really push you and its a great feeling to be a part of likeminded people from all around the world that want to be a part of this.Eric Butterman is an independent writer. For Further Discussion Its more than a competition. The life experience it gives to students before going out into the workforce is incredible.Blaine Liukko, Washington State University North Puget Sound at Everett

Thursday, December 12, 2019

In 2018, Professional Women Are Still Judged by Their Appearances

In 2018, Professional Women Are Still Judged by Their Appearances In 2018, Professional Women Are Still Judged by Their Appearances I have heard from them you know, the experts that women who dont wear makeup dont get the job. Ive heard also from them that overweight women earn less than thin women.More recently, Ive also been thinking about the effect of going gray on working women. If the experts claim makeup and weight can impact a womans career success, can gray hair also be a detriment?I sent a member of my team on a hunt to find the factsabout how a womans appearance might impact zu sich career path. I would like to say the research shows that women are no longer judged by how they look but, unfortunately, I cant.Moreover, I also had my researcher look at how a mans appearance can affect their career. The answer seems to be not in any significant way. My researcher compiled more than three pages of statistics on womens appearances and work, compared to just two bullets on mens appearances.Here are some of the startling facts my researcher uncoveredWomen and Gray HairIn 1950, 7 percent of women dyed their hair. In 2012, the number was closer to 95 percent in some locations.A June 2017 article on Yahoo Finance shows recent pictures of each of the 32 female CEOs running Fortune 500 companies. None appear to have clearly gray hair.While many female celebrities are embracing their gray hair, fewer professional women are doing so. According to civil rights attorney David Scher, this may be due to the fact that ageism is still alive and well in corporate America. Women andWeightEmployers tend to underestimate the abilities of obese people. They assumeoverweight people cant complete difficult tasks or work for long periods of time without getting tired. Overweight women are judged especially harshly by employers.Research suggests obese peoplemay be perceived as having less leadership potential. Furthermore, obese women are more likely than obese men to face discrimination when applying for a job.Weight bias affects white women particularlystrongly. According to Business Insider, A difference of about 64 pounds translates to a 9 percent decrease in wages for this demographic. Women and MakeupIn one study, people were shown photos of the same women wearing no makeup, wearing some makeup, and wearing a lot of makeup. In general, research participants preferred the pictures of women in some makeup. According to Dr. Tara Well, a psychology professor at Barnard College of Columbia University, We may make the inference that if a woman wears some makeup, she takes care of herself and, therefore shell take care of other people, projects, etc., while no makeup may signal self-neglect and a lot of makeup might make a sign of an extreme self-focus that can negatively impact ones working relationships.In one survey,49 percent of employers said a womans makeup would be a factor in their hiring decision if the woman were applying for a public-facing role with the company.More than two-thirds of employers in the same survey said they would be less likely to hire a female job applicant who didnt wear makeup to an interview.Employers, I ask you to examine your biases. At the next job interview, try not to judge women candidates so harshly on appearance. Instead, focus on their performance and their outcomes.For professional women, remember The job interview isyour chance to sell yourself. While you may face unfair scrutiny from employers based on your appearance, you can also try tokeep the conversation firmly focused on your skills and competencies. Show the interviewer what you have to offer, and you may be able to mitigate some of their bias.Jaynine Howardis a military veteran whose work as a career strategist and reinvention specialist has been recognized by professional organizations throughout the nation.

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Finding Insurance Agent Resume

Finding Insurance Agent Resume When youve got an insurance related question, its vital to be able to learn more from a dependable source you can trust. A growing number of insurance sales werbers offer their customers comprehensive financial planning solutions, particularly for clients approaching retirement. An agent wont know a problem exists if you dont let him know. Additionally, its the agents responsibility to direct their customers about the proper claims to be made or provided to them. As the function of an insurance policy specialist keeps growing in importance, your resume needs to be in a punkt to set you through for an interview and be the trick to landing yourself a good job. As a life insurance policy agent, you will seek out new customers and maintain relationships with existing ones. Develop relationships with different companies so it is possible to set up temporarily. You might also find youve got to meet quotas of selling certain policies for the corporation . Working with families to offer life insurance policy protection can be a really rewarding career, along with the income potential and flexibility it provides. Insurance sector has witnessed an exceptional growth with the coming of several new private businesses in the area. The simple fact of the issue is that insurance sector is competitive. The insurance business is intertwined with each financial market across the planet. If you would like to get a work shortly or need to modify your projects then you need to take into consideration the resume. Whats for several is that we finally have tons of resumes to look for over every other sort of site may offer. You should choose a live resume template which will help you to put certain skills in a distinct column thats very easily visible by the workplace so he can also distinguish you from others. Be certain that you select the best type of template to fulfill your need. Employers wish to realize that you have what it requir es to be successful at work. Relevant interpersonal skills would be convenient. More Clerical Resumes are found in our. Review your policy with your agent so that you understand what is covered and whats not. More information can be found on keywords below. Online Free Resume Templates provide different styles and formats of resumes that you may pick from and write accordingly. Insurance is about peace of mind. Insurance agents should know the sort of client they have to have so that itll be simpler for them to sell the insurance plans they are providing. They may work for a single insurance company or an insurance brokerage. They provide a personal touch which cannot be provider through a customer service number. Before becoming a policyholder, the Insurance Agent will cooperate with the client to establish a personalized plan which works for them and will explain the qualities, advantages and pitfalls of various policies. In case you have any ideas you would love to share for writing an insurance policy agent resume, dont hesitate to tell us about them below. Our article will include two insurance agent resume samples that it is possible to download to begin with writing your own. Letting an insurance agent know more about the issue may help get it resolved faster. Before constructing an insurance policy job resume, keep a good idea of why you would like to get into insurance before starting. Insurance underwriters choose whether to offer insurance and under what terms. They use computer software programs to determine whether to approve an applicant. It is a very important component of personal financial planning. Toronto (2015 Present) Insurance Agent Interview clients to identify their insurance requirements and supply them with insurance coverage alternatives.

Monday, December 2, 2019

The Small Rituals That Can Increase Your Employees Productivity - Spark Hire

The Small Rituals That Can Increase Your Employees Productivity - Spark HireEven the most focused and dedicated professionals can find themselves feeling distracted and unfocused, particularly as the work week departures to wind to a close. Encourage your employees to use these strategies to boost their productivity levels and feel better. As an added bonus, theyre easy to implement and maintain.Start the day with exercise, no matter how shortMany of the worlds most accomplished people talk about how important exercise is to them. Stress the importance of making exercise a regular part of the week to your employees even if that means just squeezing in a ten-minute walk each day. Getting active and doing something to take care of our bodies makes a major difference when it comes to how we feel and interact with others.Focus on a few things to accomplish todayIf employees To Do lists seem to be never-ending, theyll start to feel overwhelmed and panicked. To stay focused, suggest they z ero in on just a few tasks that need to get done each day. By picking just two or three things to tackle, theyll break that major list into manageable chunks. When they get these items done, theyll feel accomplished and inspired to get cracking on some of the other items on that list.Allowtime for socializingIts easy to let our work swallow us up, but we cant forget to nurture relationships with friends and family in order to feel our best. Social time helps to recharge our batteries, and allows us to come into work the next day feeling ready to go. No matter how much we have to do, we should make it a point to see the people we love. Also, dont discourage employees from walking around the office every now and then to chat with co-workers.How do you encourage your employees to stay productive during the work week? Let us know in the commentsImage monkeybusinessimages/BigStock.com