IOTM Blog
Posted: Jan 6, 2020
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post by Fang from Lords of the Trident, the most METAL band on earth!
"Episode 15 of Words of Fang featuring John McLucas, discusses some of the positive aspects of being in a band."
View Full ArticlePosted: Dec 23, 2019
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Scott Ronald, musician, songwriter, and creator of GuitarGearHeadz.com.
"Before signing a deal, artists need to be able to weigh up what the label can do for their career versus the rights, control and income they are signing away. These are four important questions you need to ask yourself when evaluating a label offer, in order to ensure that you make the best decision for your career..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Dec 16, 2019
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Scott Aumann, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.
"Most successful musicians...had a goal and did what they needed to do in order to achieve it. Lots of talented people give up too soon...Nothing comes easy and it usually takes many years to get to a point where you become successful. Remember, persistence wins the game."
View Full ArticlePosted: Oct 14, 2019
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post by Jeff Lysyczyn, music industry veteran, educator, and creator of Music Business After Dark.
"Episode 2 of Music Business After Dark, a series of informative vlogs by music industry veteran and educator Jeff Lysyczyn."
View Full ArticlePosted: Sep 16, 2019
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post by Jeff Lysyczyn, music industry veteran, educator, and creator of Music Business After Dark.
"The first episode of Music Business After Dark, a series of informative vlogs by music industry veteran and educator Jeff Lysyczyn."
View Full ArticlePosted: Aug 19, 2019
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars Artist Services.
"A few weeks ago it occurred to me that I had recently seen multiple posts on Facebook from artists and songwriters asking for information on how to “jailbreak” devices like the Amazon Firestick and the Google Chromecast...Jailbreaking those devices allows users to download applications so they can watch pirated content like movies currently in theaters. I had a big problem with this..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 23, 2019
Category: Songwriting
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**Guest post written by Chris Huff, originally featured in the Disc Makers Blog.
"If you are interested in writing lyrics with depth, you need a deep artistic well to draw from. All output requires input, and as a lyricist, I recommend you begin with words."
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 8, 2019
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Matt Star as featured on The Music Entrepreneur HQ.
"Have you ever thought of yourself as the owner of a corporation? Guess what… you are. If you’re a working musician, a session or touring player, your company is called YOU, Inc...Knowing what you have to offer and what it is worth is the first step to creating a sustainable career..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jan 28, 2019
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.
"...before “Time Management”, “Business Planning”, “Email”, “Social Media”, “Content Planning”, “Making Money”, “Crowdfunding”, or any of that other stuff that you need to understand but can easily get overwhelmed by...You need to do a Vulcan Mind Meld between your mindset as a “Musician” and your mindset as an “Entrepreneur”. That’s how you can arm yourself with a set of key values..." View Full Article
Posted: Dec 3, 2018
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Matt Santry, independent musician and founder of the Well Paid Musicians Club.
"There’s a character named James [in the Netflix series "Westside"] who works construction by day. In the first episode, he asks his boss to cut his hours down to 3 days a week so he can have time to practice for an upcoming show. They show James digging ditches, tearing down walls and doing backbreaking manual labor...This is insanity to me! He's a talented guy. So why couldn't he do 1 cover gig at a private event and make that same amount [of money]?"
Posted: Oct 22, 2018
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Cloe Matheson as featured on The Music Entrepreneur HQ.
"Are you an aspiring musical artist looking to increase your bandwidth with listening audiences?...Thinking like an entrepreneur means realizing that when you combine your talents with those of an artist or musical act who are perhaps more established, you’ll expedite your own songwriting, music production, and promotional success."
View Full ArticlePosted: Oct 15, 2018
Category: Delegate Responsibilities
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**Guest post written by Scott Aumann, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.
"Nobody ever has enough time to do everything they want to do. That’s a fact! Most of us want to do more, but can’t seem to find enough hours in a day to do it. That’s why we all need to focus on the really important stuff and just do those items. Get other people to do the dirty work for you!"
View Full ArticlePosted: Oct 8, 2018
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Dan Miraldi, a Cleveland-born New York City-based rock and roller.
"As an indie musician, I have to balance being an artist and being a businessman. My inner businessman understands why it is not practical to release a full-length album...Regardless, I ignored this knowledge and chose to make an album - a full-length album." View Full Article
Posted: Sep 11, 2018
Category: Fans
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**Guest post written by Ariel Hyatt, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"This post focuses on how to energize and connect with Community 2 – Engaged Fans. These fans are your Active Online Audience...They know who you are but they may not know you very well (yet)...In Community 2 contribution is critical but engagement is even more vital." View Full Article
Posted: May 14, 2018
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Ellie Batchiyska, a writer for SoundStageDirect, the number one online source for the best vinyl records and turntables.
"The final step in your self-promotion efforts, however, should be none other than creating an EP...Having an EP is great for giving people a taste of your musical sound and style. Think of it as your curriculum vitae, a summary of your most impressive and promising work."
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 13, 2017
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest post written by Wes of Bandzoogle.com.
"SEO is one of those mysterious and challenging topics for musicians who want to use search engines to promote their music, and who understand how powerful it can be. If SEO matters to you, but you're not sure where to start or how to do it: we have something great to give you..." View Full Article
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..."
View Full ArticlePosted: May 23, 2016
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest Post by Max Garcia Conover, modern folk singer-songwriter out of Portland, ME.
"i just did the taxes for my first year as a full-time independent songwriter and i wanted to share some details about the business side of the work i’m doing...so here’s me...taking some pride in humble, honest, hard-won earnings:"
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 7, 2016
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest Post by Bret Alexander of The Badlees and Saturation Acres.
"Pretty much for all of the 1990s, I played with one band. One band. That was it...Ours was a pretty typical scenario for a band around that time. The object of worship was the CD. Or even a few cassettes and vinyl. Those little circles of information were your lifeblood….. and your salvation...Cut to 2016. Things have definitely changed. Quite a bit. CDs barely sell on an independent level. Vinyl has some appeal, but I would think on the ground floor it would be a break even proposition at best. There are download sales, but as we all know if you want the music for free it ain’t too hard to find...Musicians no longer worship that little round piece of plastic. Their new object of worship is square. And much bigger. It’s called a calendar."
View Full ArticlePosted: Feb 16, 2016
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Sylvana Joyce, NYC based indie artist, originally featured in her blog Scenipedia.
"Let's face it. I'm not Lady GooGoo and I'm not rolling in the deep, deep cavern of Scrooge McDucklike's money vault. But I am a small indie band who has built an intimate fan base from the ground up - enough of a fanbase that I was able to raise $2000 in less than 24 hours to fund my debut album. So let's say I have something to say on the subject of oh, being a successful indie band...here are the 10 things I think are important to making sure you're on the right track as a band and to make sure you have a long and prosperous career where you continue to grow and shoot for greatness..." View Full Article
Posted: Feb 8, 2016
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Gaetano, a NYC based Singer, Songwriter, Producer, and Guitarist, as featured in his blog and on Digital Music News.
"If you’re one of the millions (yes millions) of independent artists/producers out there trying to make something of yourself, you’re going to love what I’m about to tell you. If you’re one of the shady opportunists still trying to “hustle” your way into a quick buck, you’re going to hate me. I must be totally unapologetic about this. I don’t care either." View Full Article
Posted: Jan 25, 2016
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest Post written by Jay Rutherford of Los Colognes.
"Like millions of other morons out there, I'm attempting to make music both the primary joy and primary financial security in my life. My band Los Colognes has achieved marginal success, just enough to get mom and dad off our backs, so to speak. Without further adieu, here’s me convincing myself I have achieved some wisdom, when in reality I have no psychological control over any of it yet. Pretend this is the Old Ben Kenobi version of me, from somewhere in the future..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jan 11, 2016
Category: Technology
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**Guest post written by Blake Morgan, artist, musician, record producer, and founder and owner of ECR Music Group. Originally featured in The Huffington Post.
"I'm an American songwriter and singer. I first became a blip on the music advocacy radar when an email exchange between myself and the founder of Pandora, Tim Westergren, was made public in The Huffington Post. What lay at the heart of that exchange was that I'd gotten tired of billion-dollar tech companies lecturing musicians like myself about how hard those companies are working to "find ways to incentivize creators." Musicians know exactly how they could incentivize creators: they could pay us fairly." View Full Article
Posted: Dec 21, 2015
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.
"I’ve been blessed with working with independent artists from all over the world for the past couple of years...I’ve also found myself, from time to time, serving as a pseudo-therapist for artists struggling emotionally when somebody close to them suggests their love for music is nothing more than a hobby and that the artist should consider a more traditional type of employment. You know. A “real job.”" View Full Article
Posted: Oct 12, 2015
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest Post by Bret Alexander of The Badlees and Saturation Acres.
"I’ve been a vocational musician for almost 30 years...This is an incredibly difficult business to make any sort of sustainable living at for that long, so inevitably people ask me what advice I would have for anyone who wants to do the same. Opinions are certainly like assholes, but I’ll give you my take on that. Do with it what you will..."
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