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...
View Full ArticlePosted: 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."
View Full ArticlePosted: 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..."
View Full ArticlePosted: 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."
View Full ArticlePosted: 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.
View Full ArticlePosted: 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."
View Full ArticlePosted: Dec 20, 2011
Category: The Musician Business
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.
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