Posted: Jun 11, 2018

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Gavin Whitner, an F1-loving guitarist of an alt-rock band. He’s also a songwriter and composer. In his free time, Gavin blogs about musical instruments and music in general at Music Oomph.

 

"As a musician, whether you’re a solo artist or in a band, building your fanbase is one of the toughest jobs there is...In today’s world, if you’re looking to build your fanbase to huge numbers, you're going to have to be proactive in your marketing. While performing and selling merch at your gigs is one way of getting your name out there, there is an all-powerful tool that is renowned for being the best way to introduce yourself to new fans − social media."

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Posted: Jan 29, 2018

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Scott Aumann, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.

 

"Find out what your fans want by asking them. I learned this little tip by following online guru Michael Hyatt. He does a reader survey every year, and he learns how to run his business from the results. Don’t be afraid to ask your fans what they want. Most of the time, they will be excited to share this info with you. It will make them feel more connected to you as well."

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Posted: Jan 8, 2018

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Ged Richardson of Zing Instruments as featured in the Ultimate Guide To Social Media Marketing For Musicians.

 

"You’re an aspiring musician and you don’t have much time to dedicate to social media...The good news is there are certain social media smarts that work regardless of which channel you're on. These tips are channel agnostic - i.e. they're perennial tips that can be used on whichever your platform of choice happens to be."

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Posted: Dec 4, 2017

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Ged Richardson of Zing Instruments as featured in the Ultimate Guide To Social Media Marketing For Musicians.

 

"The commonest mistake that musicians make is not to consider who they are trying to reach with each platform. That’s right. You need to think who are you trying to reach. And the complexity doesn't stop there. People you’re trying to reach don’t all use the same social media channels either..."

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Posted: Oct 16, 2017

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post by Vinnie Hines of Artist Collective, as featured in their Instagram Growth Program newsletter.

 

"Geotags are one of the most underused aspects of Instagram posts and stories. This is much more useful than just showing off where you've been. As a musician, you'll be able to leave a trail of influence behind your daily life, bringing more fans to you with ease."

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Posted: Jul 24, 2017

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Allison Stafford, lead singer and acoustic rhythm guitarist for the Southern Country band No Deceit.

 

"We all know as musicians that the Merch Sales and Tips can be the saving grace of a show! You may not make a lot of money from the venue that you’re playing, or anything for that matter, but sometimes, you can make more in a tip jar or in merch sales than you would from the venue anyway! How do you get people directed toward your mech and tip bucket?"

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Posted: Jul 10, 2017

Category: Tips & Tricks

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**Guest post written by Jonathan Sexton, CEO of Bandposters.

 

"It’s hard to stay on top of all the things you have to do to break your band and make a living...To keep ahead of the game, time management is key. So we’ve put together a weekly calendar for you, with some helpful things you can do early in the week to help sell out your shows on the weekends..."

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Posted: Jul 3, 2017

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Paula Tolly, one half of the Boca Raton based Americana duo 33 Years.

 

"Did your bass player just move out of town? Are you broke and can’t afford the next photo shoot? Looking for a way to make a bigger online splash?? Don’t fret! Here are a few DIY Band Fixes that you can try RIGHT NOW before your next gig."

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Posted: May 8, 2017

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post by Paul Doffing, (Indie musician, and marketer at BlitzMetrics).

 

"Making a living as a performer, band, or songwriter relies on one major factor: finding your audience. Today a great bulk of “audience finding” happens online, amidst the rapidly evolving mechanics of social media. Whether you regard the pervasiveness of social media as a positive or a negative thing, social media is a tool that you can utilize to get heard. In this post I’ll explain how to get the most out of Facebook, but first, a little history."

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Posted: Apr 17, 2017

Category: Sponsorship

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**Guest post written by Corey Koehler, an indie singer-songwriter from Minnesota, as featured in his blog MusicGoat.com.

 

"You heard right: Music sponsorships and endorsements are real and there are a ton of companies that sponsor musicians. But there’s one small problem. Small indie musicians, like you and I, do not have audiences big enough for them to sponsor us..."

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Posted: Feb 6, 2017

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post by Doug Beney, lead editor of MIDI Lifestyle.

 

"You've been improving your skills for months, spending countless hours slaving over your DAW, perfecting every slight detail in your mix. Finally happy with your track, you publish it on Soundcloud, sit back, and.....Crickets...What I hope to provide you with today are some quick, practical improvements you can make in how you promote your music that will actually get you results..."

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Posted: Jan 3, 2017

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Nicholas Rubright of Dozmia.

 

"Succeeding in the music industry is hard work. You're competing with literally millions of people crawling their way to the top. However, most of these people don't know how to effectively market themselves or their music...Instead, set yourself apart from the crowd by learning all you can about different music marketing tactics, and treating your music career as a business. Here's a list of 50 music marketing strategies to get you started..."

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Posted: Dec 19, 2016

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Ari Herstand, the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business. It originally appeared on Ari's Take.

 

"I get it. It’s so annoying every time a new social site pops up or updates their platform and then you have to completely relearn it (or start to lean in). The DIY world was a hell of a lot simpler when there was just one social network that mattered: Myspace. But those years are behind us. Let me help you make some sense of this all before we dig into it..."

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Posted: Nov 21, 2016

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Jonathan Sexton, CEO of Bandposters.

 

"Touring and building a fanbase is hard, and its a ton of work. It takes a lot of organization, dedication, and hard work to be the band that rises above the rest. The fact is, there are so many things that can go wrong, and it starts from the time the show is booked until the time that the gig is over and you are trying to re-book the club..."

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Posted: Nov 14, 2016

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Joshua Powell, singer-songwriter, DIY musician, and frontman for Joshua Powell and the Great Train Robbery, as featured in his blog Fearsome Folk.

 

"When Tom (Myspace) and the gang fell behind in the social race, Facebook successfully jockeyed for the top social spot, but was slow to adapt to the segment of music marketing that their predecessor had cornered so adroitly. It never felt as personal. Third party plugin apps confused us. And even though Myspace was on its last legs back in ’09, it feels like Facebook still hasn’t caught up. Certain bands are more active on Twitter or Instagram, or else funnel the bulk of their resources into apps, email campaigns, or good old-fashioned websites. Bands’ pages can be tough to find, navigate, or engage. But for all its problems, we’re stuck with the ‘book' for the foreseeable future—for better or worse."

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Posted: Nov 7, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Jonny Carroll, a touring singer-songwriter from Grand Rapids, MI, as featured in his blog.

 

"In my short time burning the pavement that is independent vocational musicianship I’ve come to observe the artists who, regardless of genre, possess some traits for being wildly successful at making it into a flourishing career. The common denominator between them is simple..."

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Posted: Jul 18, 2016

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.

 

"What’s the deal with hashtags? Some of us have never hated the pound (#) sign more than we do right this minute. Some of us love it! Still others of us have no clue what it means or how it’s used in the world of social media. Well today we are going to explore the hashtag. Think of this as Hashtag 101!"

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Posted: Jul 12, 2016

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Andrew Jones of Checkered Owl Media.

 

"I’ve been meaning to write a blog for a while about how CRITICAL video is becoming to Facebook, but this week I read 3 important pieces of news confirming that Facebook is going full focus on video, so it’s time to actually get this out. I’ll keep it fairly tight, but, if it’s going to get TLDR (Too Long; Didn't Read) for you let’s make this super clear, if you want to be successful at social media moving forward Facebook video better be a part of your plans..."

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Posted: May 16, 2016

Category: Marketing

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**Guest Post by Paul Loeb, founder and CEO of No Ego Records and DropTrack. Originally featured on The DIY Musician.

 

"It’s hard to believe it’s been over 12 years since the launch of Facebook. Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay. That’s good news for marketers, musicians, and entrepreneurs. You have this incredible platform to reach every one of those followers you painstakingly cultivated. Or do you?"

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Posted: May 2, 2016

Category: Touring

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**Guest Post by Ezekiel Morphis, San Diego based Americana/Folk Singer-Songwriter.

 

"If you just started playing music last week, this article will aid you further down the road as long as you stay committed and work on your music first. If you are like me — two EPs completed, well practiced, working on an album, playing for a handful of years, don’t mind smelling like beer and shame for days on end and still want to know how to tour DIY — then this is the article for you."

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Posted: Jan 18, 2016

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest Post written by Melanie Kealey of Bandzoogle.com.

 

"So you're looking to continue to improve the SEO for your band's website...One of the most important things you can do to help with your website’s SEO is link building...the more high-quality websites that link to yours, the higher your website will place in search engine results."

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Posted: Dec 7, 2015

Category: Marketing

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**Guest Post written by Alan VanToai, Co-Founder of www.CrewFire.com (turn your existing fans into your Facebook and Twitter ambassadors).

 

When you think visionary brands, who comes to mind? Probably Apple, Red Bull, or Nike… right? Well, how about we add one more to the mix: The Grateful Dead...Long before social media or digital marketing ever came into play, they employed viral marketing, social networking, and word-of-mouth marketing...50 years later, the game has changed – but the principles are the same. And word-of-mouth remains one of the most powerful marketing strategies out there.

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Posted: Nov 23, 2015

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Chris Robley, originally featured in the DIY Musician Blog.

 

"If you’ve been on the planet for more than a quarter century, you could be forgiven for not really knowing much about Snapchat...with 77% of college students using the app daily, and over 400 millions “snaps” a day (and a valuation of $16 billion) Snapchat can’t really be ignored anymore. So let’s ask the question: do you need to be on Snapchat as a musician?"

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Posted: Nov 9, 2015

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.

 

"For a while there, house concerts were a trendy idea for independent artists that caught on pretty quickly...But now house concerts are actually becoming the primary means for many artists to make their living...Here are 5 ways that I’ve used to generate solid house concert leads."

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Posted: Oct 19, 2015

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest Post written by Dave Cool of Bandzoogle.com.

 

"There are many different kinds of people that will be visiting your website, but likely for different reasons. These include your current fans, potential new fans, as well as media, bloggers, bookers, and other industry folks...To make it easy for media and industry to find the information they need (and quickly), the best thing to do is create a Digital Press Kit section on your website..."

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