Posted: Jul 20, 2015

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written Aly Keller, an avid pianist, musicologist, and marketing analyst, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.

"Turns out, musicians often do make that decision [medical debt or a musical career]. Last year, 43% of them lacked insurance. And this is in the post-ACA (“Obamacare”) environment where health insurance has never been more accessible to employer-less freelancers. But is health insurance something you really want to go without?"

Posted: Jul 6, 2015

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Brandon Waardenburg, founder of Apparatus (an artist accelerator providing music advice and coaching to independent artists and DIY musicians) as well as a musician, songwriter, "musicpreneur" and consultant.

"The luster of performing can die pretty quickly when it becomes old...Truthfully, any activity can turn into a grind no matter how intentional we are about keeping focused..." Here are some signs that you are on the right track.

Posted: May 26, 2015

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Ashley E. Norton, a Colorado based nomad, currently touring across the country with her Indie duo, Whitherward.

"I've been a professional singer-songwriter for about 10 years now...and I've been screwed over many times...I moved to Music City 5 years ago to hire a team of people to do the behind-the-scenes work I was so tired of doing my fucking self. Like many of us, I wanted to solely focus on my craft. This, is the only mistake I've ever made..."

Posted: Apr 20, 2015

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Deuce Ellis, Buffalo-born and Brooklyn-raised rap renegade. Originally posted by Cyber PR.

"Here’s My Guest Blog After Attending the #YourMusic Seminar; maybe this whole thing is easier than you think…First things first, let’s demolish whatever train of thought you may have. Demolish it. Let’s destroy and rebuild..."

Posted: Oct 13, 2014

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Carlos Castillo of Schwilly Family Musicians - music marketing strategist, web designer, live performance recordist, international road-tripper, lap steel player, and Captain of the Schwilly Family.

“The first requirement for being successful in anything is to define what success means to you. That is one of the biggest challenges musicians face today. There is no standard to follow..."

Posted: Aug 18, 2014

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by John Safari, President and Co-Founder of Orange County Music League.
 

"A lot of bands complain about the music scene for one reason or another. In my opinion, most of these bands aren’t thinking of the bigger picture, or outside of their band for that matter. I started Orange County Music League to put an end to pay to play. Bands are not a dollar sign. Here are some things that local bands are going to need to start doing in order to build a thriving scene..."

Posted: Mar 17, 2014

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Samuel Mahler, marketing manager, booking agent, and band member of "The Electro-Lights".

One of the major problems that has plagued today’s music world is the bad stigma placed on bands’ lack of “Professionalism”. This seemingly simple word that should be self-explanatory has been the death of many a band. Why is this, you may ask?...

Posted: Feb 24, 2014

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by David Priebe of Green Room Music Source, a full time agent/artist manager and also part time instructor of music business at the Institute of Production & Recording in Minneapolis.

"It official- it’s now impossible to make money in the music industry." There are scads and scads of articles and commentary that sound a lot like that statement. What you hear much less about are the people who completely disagree with that sentiment. I’m in that camp, and I’m going to tell you why...

Posted: Oct 28, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Brian Penick, author of Musicians' Desk Reference and Touring Musician, as featured on Billboard.com.

1. Reality Check! (Setting Milestones + Goals) 2. Proper Merch Mentality 3. Take Care Of Yourself First - Initial Self-Servicing...

Posted: Sep 9, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post by Stephen Wrench of Musik and Film as featured in their blog.

If you want to get a hit in the US, you will have to play the game. Meaning - you better have some very deep pockets to play in this high stakes game. You will need to hire a team of promoters to maneuver your song into the charts. This team will need to be in a position to grease the airplay wheels to get your song played. Call it payola, call it big business, call it what you want. But the bottom line is -- unless you have a million dollars to drop into your single you are not going to get a hit record in the US.

Posted: Aug 20, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post by Stephen Wrench of Musik and Film as featured in their blog.

The sooner that indie artists realize that they are on their own in this world of 360 deals and pay-to-play radio, the better off they will be. There will be no major label knocking on your door offering riches and fame just because you’re good. If you are good, you better be very smart and be savvy in business and the art of promotion if you want to succeed in the new world of being an independent artist.

Posted: Jun 28, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest Post by Bret Alexander of The Badlees and Saturation Acres.

Music doesn’t sell in the numbers it once did, but a bigger variety is being consumed. There is so much more to choose from. Everyone is splintering into thousands of little niches. So your best course of action as a creator is to nurture and take care of the core people who are really passionate about what you do...[And]...

You have to do everything yourself. And that means booking, teaching lessons, playing shitty gigs for cash, producing, making your own records, working in a music store, etc. etc. You can’t specialize anymore...

Posted: Jun 10, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand, a DIY singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, CA with 500+ shows under his belt, as featured in his blog "Ari's Take". 

"The most popular "myth" to debunk these days by talking heads in the biz is that it's not about who you know. Everyone will say "just be great - you don't need connections!" Bull...Most of the opportunities that musicians get aren't because they are undeniably great. It is because they are nice guys and gals who people like to be around."

Posted: May 13, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Nifty of MusicFullTime.com.

"What many struggling artists fail to realize is that “successful” musicians operate with solid business principles. Successful business models – for the most part – can be applied across different businesses and areas of life. The primary business principle I’m talking about is “putting your customer first”; in this case, your “customers” are your fans. Fall in love with your fans and stop falling in love with your own music..."

Posted: May 9, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest Post by Bret Alexander of The Badlees and Saturation Acres.

"To be a successful musician, you don’t have to go to private school and you don’t have to go to medical school. Hell, you don’t have to go to school at all. If you can connect with an audience, you are in. It doesn’t matter if you went to Berklee College of Music like John Mayer or if you were a high school dropout like Dave Grohl. All that matters is when your boots hit the boards of that stage, people sing along. Or when the needle hits the vinyl people listen...That kind of thing just doesn’t happen in other occupations."

Posted: Apr 1, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Nifty of Music Full Time.com. 

By the end of this post, you might be annoyed with me. And that’s good. It means that you’ll be making money very soon.

Posted: Mar 23, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest Post by Bret Alexander of The Badlees and Saturation Acres.

"When I started producing records, almost every band I worked with talked incessantly about getting a record deal and “making it”. Now I almost never hear that discussion. And that, for me, is a welcome development."

Posted: Dec 20, 2011

Category: The Musician Business

diy

Life is full of unrealistic expectations. Just ask Toronto-based rapper, Prolific. Today he is the archetype of the modern DIY musician: active in the local scene, nurturing collaborations on his own and other artist’s releases, and energetically investing in the power of social media. But, like many, he started with nothing but the youthful fantasy of being discovered, and whisked to notoriety based on the most menial of effort.