GEARED talks to MICHELLE MCCARTHY and discovers that, despite the name, ROCKSTAR INTERNET SECRETS EXPOSED (RISE) is a worthwhile workshop for independent musicians looking to become financially viable.

GEARED: Why have you develop RISE?

MICHELLE MCCARTHY: Working with people like Jeff Buckley years ago, he introduced me to the concept of what record labels were about, and so strongly emphasising that musicians should be doing everything in their power to stay independent. I didn’t understand it because I was new to the industry then, and I didn’t understand where he was coming from until years later, when I started to get more and more involved and started to see musicians hit the skids, basically. They just came unstuck.

I know a lot of musicians who have been signed and have left record companies with massive debt and a very disgruntled feeling and have given up their passion and their art because of the after effects. Most musicians don’t really want to do the marketing themselves – they’re wanting to be discovered, for a record company or a manager to take on that whole world so they can just play the music.

But the Internet just makes it so simple now and I have a system that is very simple, step-by-step that we’ve tried and tested and it works. It got an unknown musician up to number seven on Billboard and he’d never played a gig. And that’s just using part of the system that we’ve developed. It’s really simple, easy steps, yet musicians are caught-up in that mindset of waiting to be discovered. So we’re trying to gently introduce the concept that it can be done, that it’s not as hard as they think.

MM: So with Johnnie Mac, I’ve implemented the system with him, and we’re making maybe $300-$350 a week, and we’re not even working hard. It’s just from people wanting to buy the album online or wanting to buy other stuff he’s put online. We got him up to number one on Triple J’s Unearthed, and we did a lot of other things very easily, and it’s just that many, many musicians don’t even know they can do it.

MM: Well it’s all hand-in-hand. Most artists will have their own website or a MySpace, some may even have a Facebook as well. There are probably another 15 websites that you use hand-in-hand. But the first thing that you must have is a box to collect names. For instance, when you went to our site, you had to put your name and your email in. So now I can keep you up-to-date with what’s going on, and if you don’t want to know that it’s fine – you can just hit delete and they’re gone. But there are many people out there who want to know.

The first thing I say to every musician is "Have you got a mailing list?" and I’m still astounded that 9/10 say no … and it’s just the most important thing. If people have come and taken the time to put their name and address down, then they actually want to know where you’re playing next or they want to know when you’re album’s out and they’re the people who’re going to buy the CD. Yet so many musicians overlook that.

ROCKSTAR INTERNET SECRETS EXPOSED runs July 3 - 5 at Quality Hotel, Gold Coast. www.rockstarsecretsexposed.com

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