IOTM Blog
Posted: Dec 2, 2025
Category: Merch
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**Guest post written by Julia Kater for Bandzoogle.com.
"Bundles are a smart way to sell your music and clear out merchandise while reinforcing the artist-to-fan connection. They also increase average order value (AOV) and can streamline fulfillment — especially if you pre-kit bundles or ship items from a single location. Setting up and promoting your bundles on your music website can revitalize your site and help you move digital music, physical merch, and print-on-demand items."
View Full ArticlePosted: Aug 12, 2025
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post written by Scott Helmer, a touring singer-songwriter whose music blends rock and pop with heartfelt storytelling and powerful vocals. He has opened for Heart, Eddie Money, 3 Doors Down, Jeff Bridges, and Eric Burdon & The Animals. A Guinness World Records title holder, he has performed over 1,000 shows and helped raise millions for good causes.
"I’ve removed all of my music from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and every other major streaming platform. I’ve also deleted my YouTube channel and all social media accounts. No more chasing algorithms. No more playing a rigged game where real artists are buried by bots and manufactured content. No more relying on tech giants to reach people who already want to hear from me. From now on, everything I create—music, videos, tour dates, photos, and merch—lives only at my website. I’ve gone 100 percent direct-to-fan."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jun 10, 2025
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Yona Marie, originally featured in her blog.
"In the fast-evolving music industry, some promotional tactics that were once effective have become outdated or less impactful. Here are some music promotion strategies that may no longer work as well as they used to..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jan 8, 2025
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest post written by Joseph Longo for Bandzoogle.com.
"Your website is one of the most powerful tools in your artist toolbox. It’s your home base online, where fans can connect with you directly and discover everything they need to know about your music. To make your site work harder for you, here are five essential tips to help you maximize its potential..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Aug 20, 2024
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post by Musician Indie Coalition, Business-Based Artist Development Experts who help DIY Musicians develop, launch and scale their music careers.
"As an independent artist in the modern music industry, having a direct line of communication with your fans is absolutely paramount when promoting your music...Two of the most powerful channels at your disposal for marketing music are email marketing and social media marketing. Both are fantastic tools that allow you to connect directly with your audience, share updates, tour dates, promote new releases and sell products and tickets to live shows. So let’s discuss each..."
Posted: Dec 13, 2023
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"Here are some killer Holiday Tips to help you increase your engagement with your fans! As an artist, there is no better time than the HOLIDAZE to work on building engagement and connections with your fans." View Full Article
Posted: Aug 23, 2023
Category: Fans
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**Guest post written by Jubran Haddad, originally posted on Chartmetric's blog.
"Discover the key stages, real-life examples, and essential tips for artists to navigate the fan journey from discovery to advocacy." View Full Article
Posted: Jun 20, 2023
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"Capturing your fans’ email is only the first step of a successful email marketing campaign. Now that you’ve got them, and they’re eager to hear from you, how do you make sure you land in their inbox (and not the dreaded “promo” folder ?) and get them to actually open it? We explore the 9 hacks we have found to be the most useful in getting your subscribers to open your emails." View Full Article
Posted: Apr 11, 2023
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post by One Submit, the smart way to promote music.
"Now is truly the best time to be an independent artist. Thanks to the internet, everything is feasible and accessible. Regardless of whether you are just starting out in music or are already an established professional, spreading music around the world has become easier than before. As an artist you can promote your music independently and efficiently without needing to break the bank."
Posted: Nov 29, 2022
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"The music publicity process for any band or artist – no matter how big or small – is very much the same. Of course, the size of the music blogs and other outlets in which you receive placements will vary dramatically. This is based on what style of music is hot at the moment, combined with many other factors including label, tour schedule, size of your online fan base, and the number of streams." View Full Article
Posted: Nov 23, 2022
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"Here, in How To Be Your Own Music Publicist Part 2, we will go through the 5 things that need to be addressed before you can start pitching to music blogs and publications. 1. Research Music Blogs 2. Prepare Your Target Lists 3. Get Your Email and Newsletters in Order 4. Determine Your Ideal Release Schedule 5. Prep Your Visual Assets and Social Media Posts" View Full Article
Posted: Jul 19, 2022
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post written by Haley McCarthy of Bandzoogle.
"A landing page is the perfect combination of creativity and action, allowing you to gain more fans and build a lasting relationship...As a musician, you can cater to this part of the fan experience with well-crafted newsletters...To build your mailing list, you can create a custom landing page on your music website to capture fan emails. But what is a landing page and how do you encourage fans to sign up for your mailing list? Let’s explore how to use the email opt-in landing page to build your email list!"
View Full ArticlePosted: Jul 12, 2022
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by David Andrew Wiebe, founder & CEO at The Music Entrepreneur HQ.
"So, normally I talk about frameworks for success, just like in the last episode of The New Music Industry Podcast. This episode is going to be a little different. What follows is a framework for failure. Now, this might seem a little strange, but by the end of it, I think you will begin to see how powerful an exercise it can be...Let’s get into this."
Posted: Mar 21, 2022
Category: Selling Music
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**Guest post written by Melanie Kealey of Bandzoogle.
"Whether you’re an up and coming indie artist, or have a new album almost ready, releasing a single is a great way to create some momentum around your music. A single can not only get your fans excited, but can be pitched to press, radio, or playlists to build some buzz. Along with this, you should sell a single from your official website...Anyone who gets to your website is interested in finding out more about you - so make it a priority to pitch your single and the story behind it. Here’s how to prepare, release and sell a single from your music website."
View Full ArticlePosted: 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: 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 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: May 17, 2021
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post by Christopher Carvalho from Unlock Your Sound.
"Think of a shop. The top of the funnel is the people walking past the shop. The first layer down is the people window browsing. The next layer down is the people who enter. And then the next and final layer is the people who purchase something."
View Full ArticlePosted: May 10, 2021
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Leonard Patterson of Artist Collective AKA @ac_leonardp. This is an excerpt from his new book, 365 Livestream Ideas For Musicians.
"13. Schedule a Facebook Premiere 14. Create an Event 15. Join the Club(house)..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Dec 14, 2020
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"It is that time of year again...As an artist, there is no better time than the HOLIDAZE to work on building engagement and connections with your fans...you will find 7 tactics to first activate your fan base around holiday music promotion and ultimately build engagement, generate sales, or both." View Full Article
Posted: Nov 9, 2020
Category: Touring
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**Guest post written by Hudson Moore, originally posted on DigitalTourBus.com.
"I’ve been a touring independent artist for 10 years. I’ve booked, advanced, produced, and promoted almost every headline show I’ve ever played. I still have a long way to go, but I’ve been fortunate to play some amazing shows to fans across the US and over the years I’ve picked up a few tried and true tips and strategies that have helped me that will hopefully add value to you as well. So without further ado..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Oct 5, 2020
Category: Online Presence
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**Guest post written by Dre Dimura of Bandzoogle.
"With so many methods of promoting your music online these days, the importance of having a dedicated website can often be overlooked. Websites are still one of the best tools to drive fan engagement, curate your web presence, and manage the rest of your socials from a branded homebase. Here are five reasons to have a website for your band or solo musical effort..."
View Full ArticlePosted: May 4, 2020
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post written by Vinnie Hines, Co-Owner of Artist Collective AKA @ac_vinnie.
"At Artist Collective, we’ve found that the most effective way to engage with your fans is through meaningful relationship building exchanges. These types of connections are invaluable and the foundation on which any type of notoriety is built...We urge you to use text message marketing for these 5 AMAZING REASONS..."