IOTM Blog
Posted: Mar 7, 2022
Category: Tips & Tricks
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**Guest post written by James Peters of Musical Instrument Insurance in Ireland, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.
"Commercial air travel can be a stressful affair on a normal trip — and that counts double when you’re bringing along your musical instrument. Between airline rules and regulations, necessary equipment, and accessories, it can seem like an overwhelming ordeal. The good news is there is a way to travel with your beloved instrument without undue anxiety. So, in order to get from point A to point B with your instrument in one piece, follow these simple tips for a smooth and painless travel experience."
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 1, 2022
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by David Andrew Wiebe, previously featured on MusicGoat.com.
"Looking for a Patreon alternative to create a better fan experience by offering exclusive content? Had thoughts of selling content and paid subscriptions? Wish you had direct access to all your stats and fan data so you could market better? Interested in creating a profitable online fan club? And what if you could do all this on your own, brandable white-labeled website?"
Posted: Feb 22, 2022
Category: Career Goals
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**Guest post written by Eyvindur Karlsson, a singer-songwriter and songwriting coach who helps artists stop wasting time staring at a blank page and waiting for inspiration so they can write more songs of higher quality. He is passionate about coaching songwriters to help them get more great music out in the world and is the owner of the website Strongwriting.net.
"If you want to improve in any area, whether professionally or personally, goal setting is vital...when done right, goals help us to assess our progress and reassess if we get off track...In this article I'm going to cover the basics of goal setting, from a songwriter's perspective, and introduce you to the SMARTER framework of goal setting."
View Full ArticlePosted: Feb 14, 2022
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post written by Anthony Pacheo, founder of ground-breaking marketing analytics platform PromoteKit.
"As a marketing consultant, I get asked the golden question on the daily: what is the best way to market your music? The answer? There is no best way! The best way is the way that works for you. And that is exactly what we will be discovering together in this blog post. Here are 3 music marketing hacks you need to know before you release your next track."
View Full ArticlePosted: Feb 7, 2022
Category: Career Goals
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**Guest post written by Yona Marie, originally featured in her blog.
"Back in the day, you didn’t need much but talent and potential in order to grab the attention of an A&R or label scout. A huge amount of time and money from a label was invested into the artist development process for fresh acts that needed to be groomed for the music world. Now, with so much competition around, musical acts that bring a lot to the table usually outshine those who are talented but less prepared. Here are some tips that will help you reach the top of the ladder among other musicians and artists who are on the front lines for opportunities."
View Full ArticlePosted: Feb 2, 2022
Category: Royalties
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**Guest post written by Blake Morgan, artist, musician, record producer, CEO of ECR Music Group, and founder of #IRespectMusic. Originally featured on Hypebot.com.
"Artist and advocate Blake Morgan has penned a letter on behalf of more than 14,000 petition signers calling for artists to finally get paid when their music is played on AM/FM radio...The letter was sent to the Board of Directors at the two largest radio broadcasters in the US, iHeartRadio and Cumulus Media. Both earn billions of dollars in ad revenue yearly while refusing to share it with the performing artists whose music makes it all possible. This Wednesday February 2nd at 10 AM ET. the House Judiciary will hold a public hearing on changing that by passing the American Music Fairness Act."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jan 31, 2022
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post by Eric Todd of YFM, The Big Break Solution.
"Once upon a time, back in the 80’s the world was chock full of record labels, both major and indie, limited to a single one-way street to success. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it just was what it was...No one could imagine that we’d be living in the Bizarro World in 2022 (on so many levels), where the exact opposite is true. Today, only a few big labels exist, but there is now a multi-lane superhighway to find success, by whatever success means to the artist. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is what it is."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jan 24, 2022
Category: Tips & Tricks
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**Guest post written by Logan Crowell, Founder & President of HOME, Helping Our Music Evolve.
"The combination of new technologies, outdated systems, and the global pandemic have ushered in a rate of change that far exceeds any other period in recorded human history. AND IT SEEMS TO KEEP SPEEDING UP. So what do we do about it? We become more flexible… more adaptable… more malleable in our way of thinking..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jan 18, 2022
Category: Publishing
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**Guest post written by Vampr Publishing, originally featured in their blog.
"In the digital age of being a DIY artist, many songwriters are asking how to publish a song. This is a valid question. The purpose of a music publisher is continually evolving. It needs to in an ever-changing technological landscape! To some extent, artists and songwriters can publish their own music. But – they may find it gets harder as their catalogue and network grows...Whether you’re looking to cover it alone, with your team, or looking to work with (or get signed by) a bigger publisher, this post will help you understand the ins and outs of music publishing."
Posted: Jan 10, 2022
Category: Technology
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**Guest post written by Bear of MusicRiser.com.
"A cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency that is designed to work as a medium of exchange. The crypto coins use blockchain technology for transactions, an open-source, decentralized, public ledger that records transactions on the network...I bet you all heard about Bitcoin or crypto until now, and lately, a new concept has been raised, and it's called NFT."
Posted: Jan 3, 2022
Category: Sponsorship
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**Guest post written by Yona Marie, originally featured in her blog.
"All types of companies sponsor musicians and creators. The trick is, not many of the companies will showcase that fact and will either reach out to you directly, or you will have to reach out to them directly. The best types of companies to sponsor your music are the companies that you genuinely enjoy and feel a connection to, and companies that are large enough to have a big budget for risks like sponsorships."
View Full ArticlePosted: Dec 20, 2021
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Jessica Fender, a copywriter and blogger at Edubirdie with a background in marketing and sales. She enjoys sharing her experience with like-minded professionals who aim to provide customers with high-quality services. Previously featured on MusicGoat.com.
"If you want to get more people to attend your music event, keep reading. I'll show you how to generate more pre-show hype using an outstanding social media marketing strategy. Here are a few tips you can use to boost your event marketing efforts."
Posted: Dec 13, 2021
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Andrei Kryssov, founder of Modern Guitar Hub, a site that publishes concise guitar-related articles and lessons for guitar players who have busy schedules. A guitarist for over 20 years, Andrei has recorded and performed with various Rock and Jazz bands.
"For an indie artist, Spotify Playlists are a very effective way to increase awareness of your music and grow your fanbase. As a musician with limited recognition, I've found getting added to Playlists on Spotify to be one of the best ways to promote my band's music. Remember, placement on the right Playlist could change your music career! But how do you start? How do you find these Playlists? In this post I’ll discuss four tactics that you can use to find Playlists on Spotify that are accepting music submissions." View Full Article
Posted: Dec 6, 2021
Category: Websites
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**Guest post written by Dave Cool of Bandzoogle.
"There are countless blogs that offer advice to musicians, with topics ranging from industry news, to songwriting and recording, music marketing and promotion, and more. But with so much information available to musicians and bands online, it can be a serious undertaking to find the most legitimate, valuable sources to help with your music career. Fortunately, we spend a lot of time in the world of music blogging, so we’ve put together this list to help point you in the right direction. Here are ten of the best blogs for musicians and bands."
View Full ArticlePosted: Nov 29, 2021
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Yona Marie, originally featured in her blog.
"Releasing songs as an independent artist is pretty easy thanks to technology. 50 years back, you'd be out of luck for the most part, but now is the best time to thrive as a musician or artist without having to rely on a label! The main thing about being independent is that you want to make sure you're always growing and learning when it comes to music industry knowledge. You are in charge of your career and will not have any big-money company backing you or guiding you."
View Full ArticlePosted: Nov 22, 2021
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post written by Leonard Patterson of Artist Collective AKA @ac_leonardp.
"Regardless of the true meaning of the holidays, one thing is universal. People will flock to the stores, click on shiny objects, and buy. the. stuff. Whether or not you have “stuff” to sell already, here are a few easy-to-implement marketing, content, and planning ideas to help prepare you for the season."
View Full ArticlePosted: Nov 15, 2021
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post by Kate Polishchuk, expert on the Russian and CIS music market, founder and CEO of Wool Music & steezy.
"Every artist at some point of their career meets a need to expand the geography of their listeners. For some it will be a natural development of an already successful career, and for some it will be a necessity caused by small market opportunities in the terms of a particular genre in the country of their residence. Regardless of what your current situation is, I would like to share my overview on international expansion for musical artists, so as its advantages for your career and some things that you will have to keep in mind while “conquering the world” =)."
View Full ArticlePosted: Nov 8, 2021
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Ariel Hyatt, previously featured on MusicGoat.com.
"Music pr is designed to raise awareness of you in the press. To help build and share a story, as well as build up critical acclaim. Of course, a great article or review may lead to sales, but overall, if selling music is your goal, music PR services are not the only thing you will need. WHY?"
Posted: Nov 1, 2021
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"We have already outlined building a solid foundation for your music marketing plan in Part 1 – The Nuts & Bolts, and outlined strategies for a successful music release launch in Part 2. Now it is time to kick back and relax for a little while before starting to write material for the next single, album, or EP that you’ll release down the road right? Wrong… couldn’t be further from the truth." View Full Article
Posted: Oct 25, 2021
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"Do you have a plan for your next music release? This can be a single, a music video, an EP, or an album. In our most popular series The Musician’s Guide to Marketing Plans, which we call Total Tuneups, we address the overlooked importance of having a marketing plan in place...Here in Part 2, we break down the next five elements for your music release so you don’t miss a single opportunity." View Full Article
Posted: Oct 18, 2021
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"In this ever-changing landscape, we see the same issue consistently: A vast majority of musicians don’t create long-term marketing plans. Artists skip this vital part of their music careers. Plans used to be the responsibility of the record label when artist development used to be a thing or a great management team but very few artists are lucky enough to have either (or in many cases, they don’t want a label). This leaves a void in today’s new music business...You work so hard on new music, dedicating hours practicing, writing songs, not to mention spending large sums of money recording, mixing, mastering, creating visuals, and album artwork only to rush the release with no marketing plan in place." View Full Article
Posted: Oct 11, 2021
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Bruce Wawrzyniak, who runs Now Hear This, Inc. and www.InterviewTipsCourse.com.
"...this list of 20-plus ways that you can promote (your music, your podcast, your book) can overwhelmingly be done alone and with little to no cost! So, rather than sit back and say, “Okay, my new release is on Spotify or my podcast is now on iTunes or my book is on Amazon,” promote the little minnow rather than sitting back and waiting for people to find it swimming in the ocean-sized inventory of content on those platforms. Remember that as easy as it is to hire me to be your publicist and do the promotion for you, up until then, when you’re on your own, if you don’t promote, who else will?"
View Full ArticlePosted: Oct 4, 2021
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Bruce Wawrzyniak, who runs Now Hear This, Inc. and www.InterviewTipsCourse.com.
"...this list of 20-plus ways that you can promote (your music, your podcast, your book) can overwhelmingly be done alone and with little to no cost! So, rather than sit back and say, “Okay, my new release is on Spotify or my podcast is now on iTunes or my book is on Amazon,” promote the little minnow rather than sitting back and waiting for people to find it swimming in the ocean-sized inventory of content on those platforms. Remember that as easy as it is to hire me to be your publicist and do the promotion for you, up until then, when you’re on your own, if you don’t promote, who else will?"
View Full ArticlePosted: Sep 27, 2021
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post by Electronic Musician.
"Can you describe your music in 6 words or less? It's the first question that anyone asks you about your music: What kind of music do you make? Your answer to that question is the most important thing. It’s even more important than your story. So don’t wing it. You should prepare it ahead of time and have it at the tip of your tongue when interviewers, the media, and people you meet ask. Don't try to make a perfect and complete description: the goal is to get them curious enough to ask to want to hear your music. That's how you'll know if you've created the right description. Here are some simple ideas to help you describe your music effectively..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Sep 20, 2021
Category: Live Performance
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**Guest post by Fang from Lords of the Trident, the most METAL band on earth!
"Playing live with other musicians [online] USED to be impossible, but thanks to a bunch of incredibly smart Stanford scientists, it's now 100% possible to perform LIVE with other musicians - even if they're hundreds of miles away! Check out Jacktrip."
View Full Article