IOTM Blog
Posted: May 20, 2025
Category: Selling Music
make money spotify vinyl music streaming services distribution royalties cd's disc makers data isrc code
**Guest post written by Scott McCormick, originally featured in the Disc Makers Blog.
"Whether you’re releasing tracks digitally or on physical formats like CDs and vinyl, ISRC codes are indispensable tools for tracking sales and revenue. These unique identifiers will ensure your music gets the credit it deserves and will enable proper revenue tracking and compensation. If you’re new to ISRC codes, don’t worry — this guide will demystify the process and show you how to obtain ISRC codes for your music."
View Full ArticlePosted: May 14, 2025
Category: The Musician Business
networking music business budget setting goals be honest delegate responsibilities teamwork expectations productivity hacks musician indie coalition
**Guest post by Musician Indie Coalition, Business-Based Artist Development Experts who help DIY Musicians develop, launch and scale their music careers.
"Building a career in music requires a ton of hard work and involves a wide array of both music and business activities. Whether you're an aspiring solo artist, a band looking to break into the industry or an established musician looking to grow your music career, having the ability to form a strong team behind you can make all the difference in achieving success. That said, knowing the right time to find a great manager, an entertainment lawyer, or fill other important roles is equally as important to your career progression. So if you want to know how to build a music team, here are our recommendations..."
Posted: May 6, 2025
Category: The Musician Business
make money metadata professionalism sync placements school of sync disco music supervisors
**Guest post written by Xander Rushie of School of Sync.
"If you're an indie artist writing, recording, or producing your own music and you’re even thinking about getting into sync licensing, there’s one tool you need to know about: DISCO...[It] is the professional standard for sharing music with music supervisors, ad agencies, and sync reps. If you’re still using Dropbox or SoundCloud to send your tracks, it might be time to level up...Unlike Google Drive or WeTransfer, DISCO was built by music supervisors for music supervisors to solve common challenges in the music industry and simplify the process of sharing and managing files. It loads quickly, preserves your metadata, and presents your music in a polished, professional way."
Posted: Apr 29, 2025
Category: Show Booking
indie on the move music venues show booking keys to success cold pitching persistence follow up iotm tutorials
Following up with music venues that do not respond to booking inquiries is an important part of the booking process. After all, persistence is key to landing the most gigs. Things do get a bit more complicated though when you are talking about sending a second cold pitch to a group of venues included in an Indie on the Move QuickPitch email. The first step is to remove the venues that did respond initially so those conversations can continue individually. Then once the venues list is updated, you can very easily add a relevant follow up message and new pitch name. You'll see we already took care of the proper formatting. This video will show you the rest of the process.
Posted: Apr 23, 2025
Category: Technology
make money royalties gigging paypal patreon truefans connect stripe ko-fi teespring splitwise
**Guest post written by TrueFans Connect, a mobile and venue-based donation tool.
"Let’s be real—when you’re busy creating, hustling gigs, and connecting with fans, the last thing you want to worry about is whether your money will show up. But here’s the thing: if your payment system isn’t smooth, you’re leaving cash on the table and adding unnecessary stress to your already-packed schedule." View Full Article
Posted: Apr 15, 2025
Category: Promotion
submithub spotify blogs press other bands playlisting get feedback quotes collaboration landing pages
**Guest post written by Tilly Simon of SubmitHub, a great tool for gaining more coverage for your music.
"The core of SubmitHub is submitting your music directly to curators. Here are some additional tips to help you get the most out of your submissions and increase your chances of success..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 8, 2025
Category: Promotion
networking promotion stay connected ariel hyatt cyber pr get personal get creative linkedin facebook
**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"If you read my blog regularly, you know I have been focusing a lot lately on Micro-Networking and my theory that execution is critical if you want to cause a tangible shift in your career as an artist. This leads me to a social site you may not have considered for your music career: LinkedIn. You probably already use it for your day job, freelance work, or other non-music activities. LinkedIn is a gold mine when it comes to networking, especially within industries. But if you’re new to LinkedIn, how can you set yourself up and optimize for networking there?" View Full Article
Posted: Apr 2, 2025
Category: The Musician Business
networking music business community support the legit musician comfort zone be prepared
**Guest post written by Scott Aumann, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.
"One of the biggest things you can do for your music career is to make new connections. Do you ever wonder how those other bands are getting all the best shows? Well, they probably know somebody to get those awesome gigs. You might think it is impossible to meet amazing people in the music business, but it isn’t that hard actually. Let’s dive into how you can start making great new music industry contacts."
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 25, 2025
Category: Show Booking
indie on the move music venues youtube support slots fan engagement gig swap talent buyer iotm tutorials show availability
1. Ask the talent buyers for recommendations. 2. Ask local people that you know. 3. Check out the venues' websites. 4. Post a show availability on IOTM. 5. Use YouTube. 6. Search for acts via the IOTM members directory.
Posted: Mar 18, 2025
Category: Online Presence
call-to-action online presence bandzoogle design navigation photos font template
**Guest post written by Melanie Kealey for Bandzoogle.com.
"As a musician you need a beautiful online presence to set yourself apart from the crowd...Updating your band website’s design, much like releasing new music, can revitalize your story and not only make your content feel fresh. It will give you something to work on and promote to your fans, keeping your music top of mind. So if you haven't thought about your website design in some time, these tips will help kickstart your creativity. Time to get updating — let’s take a look!"
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 11, 2025
Category: The Musician Business
record labels make money spotify indie artists music streaming services career goals wordplay t jay living wage for musicians act
**Guest post by WordPlay T. Jay, hip-hop artist and producer based in Tacoma, WA.
"Since the advent of music streaming, our careers have not been the same...Streaming services partnered with the major labels to carve out exclusive rates in exchange for vast catalogs of music and market share...It’s discouraging and that diversity is under threat. Fans want to see artists thrive and musicians are struggling to earn a living. Fortunately, you can do something to help musicians earn a living wage."
Posted: Mar 4, 2025
Category: Tips & Tricks
live performances music business keys to success practice vocal tuning indie artists green day melissa mulligan music career mastermind touring sleep time management
**Guest post by Melissa Mulligan, Recording Industry Vocal Coach & Music Career Mentor for independent artists.
"When I sat down to make the two videos I'm sharing with you here, I did not intend to publish them. So, you're literally seeing me, in my home studio, helping a friend get ready for his tour. But the 10-minute routine I captured that day has been working so well for so many singers, I keep sharing this with more of the touring artists I coach. Even if we are working together weekly on more long term vocal goals, this routine is consistently upping the level of my vocalists' performances!"
Posted: Feb 26, 2025
Category: Show Booking
indie on the move music venues show booking music festivals cold pitching college gigs be efficient iotm tutorials
Indie on the Move offers a couple of different account/subscription levels: free, premium, and deluxe. While you can find a point by point breakdown of those features on the site's pricing page, this video shows you how those features can be put to use as it relates to your show/tour booking through the platform.
Posted: Feb 19, 2025
Category: Merch
merch vinyl indie artists budget professionalism mastering plan ahead tangible formats make money
**Guest post by Wes Wolfe of Tangible Formats - Custom Vinyl Records For All.
"For many independent artists, releasing vinyl isn’t a viable option. It’s impractical—the process is expensive and complex. The final product is heavy, inconvenient to transport, and takes up valuable space...Fortunately, we’re in a time when pressing plant capacity finally exceeds demand. Independent artists now have more options and leverage than they did just a few years ago...Releasing your music on vinyl is now more accessible for artists at any stage of their career."
Posted: Feb 11, 2025
Category: The Musician Business
make money artist development marketing fan engagement music streaming services discovery branding direct to fan monetization keys to success plan ahead iprodigy
**Guest post by Eric Todd, Founder/CEO of iProdigy, a Grammy-winning artist development and funding platform for artists at every career stage.
"With the dominance of streaming platforms like Spotify offering unprecedented competition and dismally low payouts, independent artists are finding it nearly impossible to earn a sustainable living solely from streaming revenue...The reality is that success in the music business no longer revolves around simply getting placed on playlists or racking up streams. Instead, artists must cultivate dedicated fan bases and build direct-to-fan (D2F) communities that they can monetize outside the constraints of digital service providers (DSPs)..."
Posted: Feb 4, 2025
Category: Music Streaming
promotion spotify indie artists discovery royalties playlists chartmetric
**Guest post from Chartmetric as featured in their reports.
"Spotify has become the go-to music streaming platform for listeners across the globe. The artists that Chartmetric track had a combined total of 61.4 billion listeners and 23.4 billion followers...Of the 11 million Spotify profiles tracked on Chartmetric, only 1.58 million (14%) have more than 10 listeners from month to month - emphasizing just how much the platform is utilized by undiscovered artists."
Posted: Jan 29, 2025
Category: Show Booking
indie on the move music venues show booking music festivals keys to success cold pitching college gigs be efficient iotm tutorials
While we do have community driven sections of the site, specifically the availabilities, the most effective method of using the platform to get shows and tours booked is via direct outreach to the venues, colleges, and festivals in our venues database.
Posted: Jan 22, 2025
Category: The Musician Business
spotify data playlisting one submit fan engagement know your audience analytics demographic
**Summarized from a guest post by One Submit, music promotion for independent artists.
"Are you curious about your music's performance on Spotify? Whether you're a new artist just starting out or an experienced artist looking to monitor streaming stats and grow your online presence, Spotify provides features to help you explore your music's performance and presence across different platforms."
Posted: Jan 14, 2025
Category: Licensing
youtube licensing cover songs sync placements isrc code digital aggregators permissions sync songwriter
**Guest post written by Sync Songwriter. Their mission is to not only help independent artists and songwriters learn and understand the sync licensing world but to also help them build relationships with music supervisors.
"Although there are plenty of benefits to recording and releasing a cover song (especially for sync licensing), many artists never do. This is usually due to the concern regarding the legalities of releasing a cover of another person’s composition. However, covering a song legally is not as daunting as one might think. If done properly and ethically, the rewards of such a release can really benefit an artist’s career."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jan 8, 2025
Category: Online Presence
merch newsletters online presence bandzoogle design data email smart links
**Guest post written by Joseph Longo for Bandzoogle.com.
"Your website is one of the most powerful tools in your artist toolbox. It’s your home base online, where fans can connect with you directly and discover everything they need to know about your music. To make your site work harder for you, here are five essential tips to help you maximize its potential..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jan 2, 2025
Category: Social Media
social media promotion marketing cyber pr algorithms negative emotions
**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"I’ve been thinking a lot about social media music promotion...when I start to reflect and take stock of the year we’ve had. This one has been complicated, to say the least. I’ve lost a lot of sleep thinking about the massive shifts in music marketing...Creatives have felt these impacts profoundly. We watched in awe as Taylor Swift changed the GNP in every city she stormed through while many of us scratched our heads, wondering how to build our own audiences in this evolving environment. Social media has transformed, and its implications for music promotion must be unpacked." View Full Article
Posted: Dec 18, 2024
Category: Tips & Tricks
networking music business online presence symphonic distribution plan ahead learned skills take a break deadlines
**Guest post originally featured in the Symphonic Distribution Blog.
"Every year from about mid-December onward, the music industry becomes a ghost town. People start going on vacation and taking time off, major label artist releases slow down big time, and for indie artists, it’s no man’s land. And while that coupled with the frigid temperatures might be enough to have you hunkering down and never leaving the safety of your home for the next few months, this time of year is actually incredibly powerful for setting yourself up for success. Here’s everything you need to know..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Dec 10, 2024
Category: Recording
mixing keys to success recording mastering engineer collaboration boombox
**Guest post written by Ryan Donaldson of Boombox.io.
"Audio quality is the cornerstone of music production, shaping the way listeners experience music across diverse platforms. Behind every flawless track lies the expertise of mastering engineers and mixing engineers, whose roles are critical in ensuring that music resonates perfectly, whether played on studio monitors or smartphone speakers. This article explores the meticulous steps taken to refine audio and achieve professional-grade sound, highlighting the tools and techniques used to perfect every track."
View Full ArticlePosted: Dec 3, 2024
Category: The Musician Business
make money songwriting know your audience brand partnerships sync placements chorus explicit song titles school of sync
**Guest post written by Xander Rushie of School of Sync.
"1. The Best Song Wins 2. Don’t write in the first person 3. Don’t Bore Us - Get To The Chorus! 4. Treat Each Section As a New Scene 5. Don’t Be Explicit..."
Posted: Nov 27, 2024
Category: The Musician Business
make money marketing keys to success know your audience sync placements kristen ford black friday subscriptions
**Guest post by Kristen Ford, LA based indie rock act with a passion for music business.
"Happy Thanksgiving! A time for awkward chats around the dinner table, carbs with a side of carbs, sweater weather, and Black Friday Sales! This is that unique time of the year when all the retailers, life coaches, and memberships flex their marketing muscles and slash prices. For annual memberships, this can be the BEST time to purchase."
View Full Article