Posted: Jan 23, 2017

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post by Niki Walker, lead videographer of NPR's Tiny Desk series. Originally posted on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest Tumblr.

 

"The Tiny Desk is essentially the opposite of a concert venue or a music video. There’s nothing to hide behind except a real, tiny desk, in a real, very-active office. In some ways, our look is easy to replicate, because it’s all about the music...A lot of people film their Tiny Desk Contest entries on their own, so we thought we’d share a few things we’ve learned by filming almost 600 of these things..."

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Posted: Jan 17, 2017

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Nicholas Rubright of Dozmia.

 

This is the last part of "50 Ways to Promote Your Music and Grow Your Fanbase".

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Posted: Jan 9, 2017

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Nicholas Rubright of Dozmia.

 

This is a continuation of last week's post "50 Ways to Promote Your Music and Grow Your Fanbase - Part 1".

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Posted: Jan 3, 2017

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Nicholas Rubright of Dozmia.

 

"Succeeding in the music industry is hard work. You're competing with literally millions of people crawling their way to the top. However, most of these people don't know how to effectively market themselves or their music...Instead, set yourself apart from the crowd by learning all you can about different music marketing tactics, and treating your music career as a business. Here's a list of 50 music marketing strategies to get you started..."

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Posted: Dec 19, 2016

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand, the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business. It originally appeared on Ari's Take.

 

"I get it. It’s so annoying every time a new social site pops up or updates their platform and then you have to completely relearn it (or start to lean in). The DIY world was a hell of a lot simpler when there was just one social network that mattered: Myspace. But those years are behind us. Let me help you make some sense of this all before we dig into it..."

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Posted: Dec 12, 2016

Category: Show Booking

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**Guest post written by Louise Dodgson, Editor at The Unsigned Guide.

 

"Working with a booking agent is a topic we’re often asked about by artists and bands who wonder whether they should still undertake all gig bookings themselves or acquire the services of an agent who can bag those lusted-after festival slots and tour supports. Do I need an agent? At what stage should we approach one? Will a booking agency even work with an unsigned or emerging band? If you’ve ever wondered about any of the above, this blog is for you!"

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Posted: Dec 5, 2016

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.

 

"What I am going to talk about in this article is rooted so deeply in common sense yet so few bands actually do it. Your live show will ALWAYS be your most powerful tool when it comes to marketing your music, your merchandise, your music brand, and getting people to sign up for your e-mail or text lists..."

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Posted: Nov 28, 2016

Category: Music Festivals

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**Guest post written by Amanda Kenyon of Blue Crane Music, a New England based artist management, booking, and consulting service dedicated to helping musicians grow their careers.

 

"I recently attended my first music industry conference. It was such a valuable experience that I decided to share five reasons every musician needs to attend a music conference. It pulled together emerging to big name artists, talent buyers, agents, songwriters, radio show hosts, and more. I went home with not only good memories, but a stack of business cards and excitement for newfound opportunities...Here are the top 5 benefits musicians can gain from attending a music business conference..."

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Posted: Nov 21, 2016

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Jonathan Sexton, CEO of Bandposters.

 

"Touring and building a fanbase is hard, and its a ton of work. It takes a lot of organization, dedication, and hard work to be the band that rises above the rest. The fact is, there are so many things that can go wrong, and it starts from the time the show is booked until the time that the gig is over and you are trying to re-book the club..."

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Posted: Nov 14, 2016

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Joshua Powell, singer-songwriter, DIY musician, and frontman for Joshua Powell and the Great Train Robbery, as featured in his blog Fearsome Folk.

 

"When Tom (Myspace) and the gang fell behind in the social race, Facebook successfully jockeyed for the top social spot, but was slow to adapt to the segment of music marketing that their predecessor had cornered so adroitly. It never felt as personal. Third party plugin apps confused us. And even though Myspace was on its last legs back in ’09, it feels like Facebook still hasn’t caught up. Certain bands are more active on Twitter or Instagram, or else funnel the bulk of their resources into apps, email campaigns, or good old-fashioned websites. Bands’ pages can be tough to find, navigate, or engage. But for all its problems, we’re stuck with the ‘book' for the foreseeable future—for better or worse."

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Posted: Nov 7, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Jonny Carroll, a touring singer-songwriter from Grand Rapids, MI, as featured in his blog.

 

"In my short time burning the pavement that is independent vocational musicianship I’ve come to observe the artists who, regardless of genre, possess some traits for being wildly successful at making it into a flourishing career. The common denominator between them is simple..."

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Posted: Oct 31, 2016

Category: Licensing

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**Guest post by Brian Penick as featured on the SOUNDSTR Blog.

 

"Editor’s Note: This infographic is intended to visualize the world of General Licensing and how proposed changes could affect songwriters and music licensees."

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Posted: Oct 24, 2016

Category: Licensing

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand, the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business. It originally appeared on Digital Music News.

 

"I’ve been lucky enough to have my songs placed about 30 times over the past 6 years in TV shows, films and commercials. Well, luck really had little to do with it. There’s very little luck involved in the music industry. Lazy people like to say that it’s all luck. That’s just plain ignorant. There’s no such thing as a “lucky break.” There are little victories. There are opportunities. There are people working their asses off behind the scenes..."

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Posted: Oct 17, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

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

 

"This week I finally got around to watching the Steve Jobs movie. He was a complicated man for sure. It wasn’t the most feel good film I have ever watched. But I must say there were several scenes that apply to many of the things I try and discuss in this music blog. I was surprised how much Steve Jobs referenced musicians when talking about his quest to democratize the computer. It was pretty cool..."

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Posted: Oct 10, 2016

Category: Online Distribution

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**Guest post written by Corey Koehler, an indie singer-songwriter from Minnesota, as featured in his blog MusicGoat.com.

 

"Here’s the good news: These days if you want to sell music online it is pretty damn easy. You find a nice music distribution service, upload your songs and BAM… you are worldwide. Your music is blasted out all over the world in less than an hour. Here's the bummer..."

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Posted: Oct 3, 2016

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest post written by Melanie Kealey of Bandzoogle.com.

 

"What is key to a great music website? An engaging, easy to scan, music page, with lots of songs to listen to. It should reflect who you are as a musician, and offer lots of options for your listeners in an organized way."

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Posted: Sep 26, 2016

Category: Recording

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**Guest post written by Clay Mills, hit songwriter, producer, performer, and founder of SongTown.com.

 

"People often ask me if they have to do full-production demos to present songs to publishers or major artists? I do a fair amount of full demos, but I also have had about half of my major cuts from pitching home demos done on a very basic set-up on my mac laptop..."

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Posted: Sep 19, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.

 

"We’ve been working on this list for a while and thought it was high time to share it. Keep in mind that this post is primarily for the working musician..."

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Posted: Sep 12, 2016

Category: Performance Rights Organizations

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**Guest post written by Brian Penick as featured on the SOUNDSTR Blog.

 

"There are a LOT of misconceptions about this part [performing rights] of the music industry. “What are performing rights fees? Aren’t performing rights just for cover bands? You have to be popular to make money from them, right? Where does this check in my mailbox come from and why am I receiving it?” These are all common questions from songwriters...We’re here to set the record straight, once and for all. What you might not know could be holding back your career and keeping you from collecting royalties you have earned."

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Posted: Sep 6, 2016

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest post written by Nicholas Rubright of Dozmia.

 

"Even if your website is well optimized for search engines, it’s unlikely that people who have never heard of you are going to specifically search for you or your website. Because of this, the best way to generate new, well targeted website traffic is to start blogging...Here are some topics you can blog about that can help drive more organic, relevant traffic to your website."

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Posted: Aug 29, 2016

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Michael Corcoran of musicSUBMIT.

 

"It’s best to start promoting before you hit the road, but if you’ve already departed for the first town, you can still find ways to promote the very next show and increase your chances of a successful tour...Here’s one secret: Invite the local music industry folks to come out to your shows...Here’s what you do:"

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Posted: Aug 23, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Bandzoogle.com.

 

"One of the biggest challenges facing musicians is generating income. Although sales of recorded music have dropped significantly, there are many new sources of income available to musicians. Bandzoogle have put together a free eBook called “23 Ways Musicians Can Make Money” to help musicians and bands find ways to generate more money for their careers."

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Posted: Aug 16, 2016

Category: Royalties

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**Guest post written by Katie Lott, Songwriting & Voice Coach, as featured in her blog Modern Songstress.

 

"So what the heck are royalties, and how do you get them? Royalties are fees that are paid to the composer (that’s you!) every time a song is played anywhere: radio, live venues, TV, satellite radio, internet radio, streaming services, etc."

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Posted: Aug 8, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

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**Music Director and guitarist for Kenny Babyface Edmonds, composer, artist and author of: The Career Guitarist.

 

"1) What does the term "Career Guitarist" mean? Typically when speaking of a musician who solely earns their money from music, we refer to them as a professional musician. I just simplified it and coined the phrase Career Musician, then narrowed that down to Career Guitarist which is the embodiment of what I’ve done throughout my career in the music industry, which includes..." 

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Posted: Aug 1, 2016

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Corey Koehler, an indie singer-songwriter from Minnesota, as featured in his blog MusicGoat.com.

 

"It is not a bad place to network with other musicians. They have a few decent tools. And its nice to have some links back to my website and other social media properties. If you are just starting out and testing the waters, you could do a lot worse. But if you want to get serious about marketing online, building your fan base, and growing your music career, you should be thinking beyond ReverbNation. Especially when it comes to your email marketing."

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