Posted: Jun 28, 2021

Category: Merch

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**Guest post by Michael L. Moore, a vinyl record enthusiast with a passion for R&B and soul music. He is the owner and editor of Devoted to Vinyl and recently wrote about his newfound appreciation for synthwave music on vinyl.

"Every industry was deeply affected by this crisis [in 2020], and independent artists were no exception. Unable to sell tickets, go on tour, and earn revenue through merchandise sales, 2020 turned every creative into a “struggling artist.” But 2021 is a new year, and as things slowly open back up, there remains a fairly untapped revenue stream that indie artists should strongly consider jumping into: the world of vinyl records."

Posted: Jun 21, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post from Marcus Welch, President & CEO of Quadio.

"There are so many talented creators out there who could benefit from the help a label provides - many, many more than you think...finding one another in the vast sea of musicians can be hard. On top of that, the right choice for an artist might be to go at it independently - which is a totally viable strategy for some, and can be leveraged in all kinds of ways with a creative enough approach."

Posted: Jun 14, 2021

Category: Recording

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**Guest post by Martin Kristiansen, founder of HomeStudioIdeas.com.

"Getting stuck on unfinished tracks is probably one of the most common issues for producers. I think we all can agree that starting a new track is so much easier than putting the finishing touches on an existing project. Today I want to share 7 tips that you can use to achieve some closure on your music-making. Let’s dive right in!"

Posted: Jun 7, 2021

Category: Merch

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**Guest post written by Desi Thorne for Bandzoogle.

"The beauty of digital merch is that you can offer it to fans anywhere in the world. Create some one-of-a-kind items for your online store."

Posted: Jun 1, 2021

Category: Merch

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**Guest post written by Desi Thorne for Bandzoogle.

"To get started, think about the different kinds of band merch you might offer. Items that can be handmade may be difficult to reproduce, but can also be offered for a significantly higher price point. Offering a good balance of custom merch and scalable merch allows you to offer unique merch for all fans at different levels of dedication."

Posted: May 24, 2021

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post by Vince Martellacci of ForgeCollective.

"While there are so many active niches and interests on Clubhouse, the Clubhouse app space for music interests is an especially wonderful place. That’s because of its exclusivity, which I hope never goes away...But why is it exclusive? What is a room? Is it audio all the way? And how do you get on it?...Let’s examine the hot-button app."

Posted: 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."

Posted: 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)..."

Posted: May 3, 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.

"1. Custom Domains 2. Custom Overlays 3. Partner with Venues..."

Posted: Apr 26, 2021

Category: Touring

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**Guest post written by Patrick McGuire for Bandzoogle.

"...responsible budgeting is just as important here as it is in any other facet of life. If you’re just starting out booking shows on the road, or if you’ve had bad experiences that have cost you gobs of money in the past, here are four considerations to make so that you can safely avoid going broke on your next tour."

Posted: Apr 19, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post by Clark Colborn, progressive hard rock guitarist.

"Lately I have been studying the paths that successful bands and solo musicians have followed to get to the pinnacle of their careers, thinking that if I understand what worked for them then maybe I can create a similar path for myself...the goal in researching these musicians is to find out how they were introduced to that larger audience, and I have discovered there are two main factors that every single one of these artists has in common."

Posted: Apr 12, 2021

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post from Justin Paul, music/career coach, A&R, DJ, and producer.

"First and foremost, talent buyers look at how many tickets they believe (based on data) an artist can sell. The more tickets an artist can sell, the higher the performance fee they can command. Sometimes talent buyers are tastemakers, and they take a chance on an up and coming artist/band that may not have much data available. Typically, those are opening acts or the middle of the lineup. Up and coming artists may even play for free or a smaller amount and are often more suited for club events."

Posted: Apr 6, 2021

Category: Royalties

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**Guest post by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan of MakingMoneyWithMusic.com. Originally featured in the Disc Makers Blog. Reprinted with permission.

"The new Mechanical Licensing Collective collects digital audio mechanical royalties from download and streaming services. Learn about the collective and see if you qualify to sign up so you can receive these new music royalties."

Posted: Mar 29, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan of MakingMoneyWithMusic.com.

"In the last part of our DIY music business series, we cover the tasks required to get your videos created, recorded, edited, produced, and made ready for distribution. You may be an independent musician, but being independent should never mean that you're alone. In fact, the list of people credited for being part of each release you do will probably get longer as you grow your career and level up the music, art, and entertainment that you release and perform."

Posted: Mar 22, 2021

Category: Show Booking

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**Guest post written by Dustin Drennen, DIY independent songwriter and musician.

"Shouldn’t music and friendship still be central to building a community and playing your songs? Absolutely. But, you don’t have to bumble along, you don’t have to loose direction or heart. That’s where this advice will come in handy. Here are four bits of advice for securing shows and building a reputation that makes it easier to do so."

Posted: Mar 15, 2021

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post by Fang from Lords of the Trident, the most METAL band on earth!

"👴HUH? WHAT!? YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP JIMMY, I'M QUITE OLD."

Posted: Mar 8, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post from Justin Paul, music/career coach, A&R, DJ, and producer.

"The pandemic has hurt all artists, even larger acts had to cancel tours. Ultimately what we're talking about is that there has been loads of money lost for the artist, for the promoters, also for the sound engineers, light engineers, stage crew, food vendors, security, stage techs, drivers, venues, and merchandise sales in live music. Furthermore, the pandemic has created a lot of self-doubt and uncertainty for artists. Some artists are now thinking about shifting to a different career or creating side hustles. Multiple income streams are the way to go even during normal times."

Posted: Mar 1, 2021

Category: Touring

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**Guest post written by Gideon Waxman, a London based drummer & music educator. Originally posted on Soundfly's Flypaper.

"Although by no means a long run of shows, my band Familiar Spirit’s 2019 UK summer tour in support of American metal heavyweights Mushroomhead was an utterly insane and eye-opening experience — filled with wonderful people, great venues and an abundance of earth-shattering riffs. Having only formed a year ago, this was an opportunity that my band just couldn’t pass up, and I learned a lot from the experience. Here’s some of what I took away from the tour, and what I think young bands can do to prepare for and seize their own career-opening moments."

Posted: Feb 22, 2021

Category: Licensing

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**Guest post by Keller Medlin, a music producer based in Nashville, TN. He is also the founder of Sounds Sphere - a marketplace platform helping artists and songwriters create great songs faster and with less cost.

"There’s a subtle lesser known aspect of music production that has slowly become more popular over the course of the last decade. Probably the culmination of this model’s success was demonstrated with “Old Town Road” which is now the longest running No. 1 song in history...Non-exclusive licensing - and I don’t mean for sync."

Posted: Feb 15, 2021

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post from #1 YouTube Consultant Derral Eves.

"I understand that a lot of musicians love to share their music in live settings, and why wouldn’t they? In the past year, unfortunately, sometimes the only option for exposure has been online. So...what better time to focus on your YouTube audience than now?...How do you build a bigger audience, foster brand loyalty, and grow revenue?"

Posted: Feb 8, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan of MakingMoneyWithMusic.com. Originally featured in the Disc Makers Blog. Reprinted with permission.

"In part four of our DIY music business series, we cover the tasks required to get your music written, recorded, produced, and made ready for distribution...Whether you handle all these roles for your music, or just a few, there are resources that can help with each."

Posted: Feb 1, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan of MakingMoneyWithMusic.com. Originally featured in the Disc Makers Blog. Reprinted with permission.

"While you hear a lot about independent musicians and how you can build a music career with a do-it-yourself mentality, doing it yourself doesn’t mean doing it alone. There isn’t a singular music industry. Instead, there are industries that serve every facet of the foundation upon which you build your career, and you have to master them all to succeed and grow as an artist...Today we’ll tackle another subset of roles to help grow your music career: those associated with merchandise and getting media exposure."

Posted: Jan 25, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post from David Franz, a California-based music business entrepreneur, producer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, educator, and author of Producing in the Home Studio with Pro Tools.

"Fear stops progress. It is crippling. It is a disability. You must push through into uncomfortable places if you want to grow. Getting in front of the camera has brought all of my fears out to the surface and recorded them for me to watch. It has forced me to push through the discomfort and grow."

Posted: Jan 19, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Matt Santry, independent musician and founder of the Well Paid Musicians Club.

"Did you know that the Paycheck Protection Program loan is also for independent contractors and sole proprietorships? Well it is. So if you’re a working musician and you filed your 2019 tax returns as such (i.e. a contractor or sole proprietor), then you’re eligible. Here are my Top 5 reasons why you should apply for the PPP loan right now."

Posted: Jan 11, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Jordan Gates, of Megaphone Agency.

"Even through all the challenges this year has brought, the industry hung on through remarkable resilience. Live streaming, drive-in shows, fundraisers, even lobbying the government – there’s nothing we won’t do to keep the culture alive and the music playing. Music isn’t going anywhere. It’s only a matter of time before we can get back to that unparalleled feeling of experiencing it live and in person again."