Posted: Jun 8, 2015

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.

"In the second of a three-part video series, Rocket to the Stars' Wade Sutton continues examining how artists can improve their speaking skills when on stage performing at live shows!"

Posted: Jun 1, 2015

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.

"Finding a comfort zone while speaking to audiences between songs is something that has been problematic for MANY singers...So I spent a large portion of time over the past year ­and ­a ­half exploring this very issue and looking for ways artists can improve at this extremely important, yet often neglected, skill..."

Posted: May 18, 2015

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Melinda Lewis of ScatterRadio.

"The evolution from simply surfing the internet on a computer to consuming content on mobile phones has put a growing emphasis on social media. And, the pressure to be “good” at social media has never been stronger...Your audience may be inundated with the same messages from different people and the quest to stand out oftentimes seems like an uphill battle. Instead of focusing on the quantity, cultivate quality..."

Posted: Apr 20, 2015

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Deuce Ellis, Buffalo-born and Brooklyn-raised rap renegade. Originally posted by Cyber PR.

"Here’s My Guest Blog After Attending the #YourMusic Seminar; maybe this whole thing is easier than you think…First things first, let’s demolish whatever train of thought you may have. Demolish it. Let’s destroy and rebuild..."

Posted: Apr 7, 2015

Category: Social Media

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

"FB events [are great. They] get you all the details and can be a perfect way to get show info; HOWEVER, there is one kind of invite that becomes REALLY tiresome: Invites to shows that are nowhere near me..."

Posted: Mar 9, 2015

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.

"The problem is a vast majority of biographies on websites are written by either the artist or the individual hired to construct the website. And when you take into consideration that the best web bios are the ones that combine elements of both journalism and marketing, well, you can see why problems arise...So what can you do to make YOUR biography better should you choose to attempt to write it on your own?"

Posted: Feb 23, 2015

Category: Sponsorship

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**Guest post written by Anelka Argiro, VP of Brand Partnerships for Wind Up Records.

A good song just isn't enough [to break through the clutter] these days...Enter your new best friend -- brand partnerships.

Posted: Jan 20, 2015

Category: Touring

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**Guest post written by Shannon Curtis, an independent songwriter, singer, performer, recording artist, and author, as featured on Pyragraph.

"Then we discovered this awesome phenomenon of house concerts: they’re viral..."

Posted: Dec 22, 2014

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.

"It is no secret that creating and adding to a list of e-mail subscribers is one of the most important marketing tools for singers and bands. It is also one of the most difficult and frustrating tasks to undertake..."

Posted: Dec 1, 2014

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Yannick Illunga of The Jazz Spotlight, as featured on The Jazz Spotlight.

"...it is time to promote your gigs...You have to ask yourself this first: How am I going to promote my gigs? The answer is simple: be memorable!..."

Posted: Aug 11, 2014

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.

"When you take into consideration how many singers and musicians complain about the current state of artist-venue relationships, you would think most performers would jump at the opportunity to explore alternative methods of putting on shows and generating income...I'm here to tell you that there IS an alternative live show model, house shows, that many artists ARE having a great deal of success with...So I reached out to somebody for answers..." 

Posted: Jul 7, 2014

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.

"Saxophonist Dave Goldberg has been getting a lot of attention lately for an open letter he wrote to operators of venues that host live music. The letter was Goldberg's way of sounding off against venues not paying artists as much money as they feel they deserve. The text, while not hostile in nature, was extremely misguided and managed to ignite another round of firestorms by similarly misguided artists. It was missing a lot of important information concerning why the music scene is the way it is right now and really offered little in the way of how to improve it other than to say venues should simply pay bands more money..."

Posted: Jun 30, 2014

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Alan VanToai of SimpleCrew - the mobile app for street teams. This article originally appeared on the SimpleCrew Blog.

"Street teams are a powerful force for independent artists - they’re a win-win all around. You get to engage your fans, give them a chance to get closer to you and “in on the fun”, and you get to spread the word about your shows." Read on for ways that you can use online and offline technics to power your team...

Posted: Jun 23, 2014

Category: Songwriting

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**Guest post written by Maryann Harman, founder of Music with Mar., Inc, as featured in the DIY Musician Blog.

"As with anything, you should know who you are working with. In the performance field, this is called knowing your audience...you wouldn’t sing a song that lasted more than 2 minutes to a young child. Now, I’m not saying that can’t be done. It would, however, involve a lot of props and movement. When it was over, their attention may have all been spent on that one song...Here are the basics about how children respond to music..."

Posted: Jun 16, 2014

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Wade Sutton of Rocket to the Stars.

"So many artists forget about and fail to take advantage of what makes an acoustic show in a small venue so important to building a fan base. The audience is close to you. The setting is intimate. The audience can see you expressing emotions with your eyes and face. Yet so few actually capitalize on the opportunity." Read on to find out how you can...

Posted: Apr 28, 2014

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Carlos Castillo of Schwilly Family Musicians - music marketing strategist, web designer, live performance recordist, international road-tripper, lap steel player, and Captain of the Schwilly Family.

"The truth of the matter is that if you want to take a proactive approach to getting attention for your music, you have to think about that kind of stuff [your story]. Whether you are looking for some press or simply to connect on a deeper level with your fans, your story matters. That’s right. Not only do you have to write and record the songs, but you also have to tell an engaging story..."

Posted: Apr 21, 2014

Category: Live Performance

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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.

"I met with my old friend Sal at Panera one morning. He’s a young and aspiring musician and was willing to look past my greasy hair and elbow-holed flannel to ask for advice on getting his foot into the door of the independent music community....As I fumbled to explain to Sal what I believed makes our show (or any show) one of superior quality, I realized that I could distill most of the factors into four easily digestible elements...and I believe them to be..."

Posted: Apr 14, 2014

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Danny Schmitz, an indy musician, writer, and connoisseur of all things Mexican food.

Posted: Mar 24, 2014

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest post written by Brandon Seymour, musician, SEO analyst, web designer, and social media marketer.

Independent bands and musicians in particular stand to gain a great deal of exposure if they put the time and effort into creating quality, engaging videos and marketing themselves on popular video platforms like YouTube, Vimeo and others of the like...Plain and simple, videos work. It's just a matter of figuring out how they can work for you...

Posted: Dec 30, 2013

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest post written by Brandon Seymour, musician, SEO analyst, web designer, and social media marketer.

What I find really interesting though is that some niches act as if they are immune to the constant pressures of the modern day marketer. In my experience, one of the biggest offenders is the music industry - specifically independent artists. I've been working in SEO and inbound marketing for about four years now and since I've always had a passion for music, I wanted to take some time to discuss some simple, highly actionable steps that musicians can take to start marketing their band like a boss.

Posted: Dec 16, 2013

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Sarah Lynch, digital music marketing and social media content manager.

"Just how powerful does a statement have to be in order to capture an audience’s imagination?? For musicians, having a killer live show is essential because it is one of the only opportunities that fans have to see, interact with and get to know you as a person behind the music. So how do you make an audience fall in love with you?"

Posted: Dec 10, 2013

Category: Fans

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**Guest post written by Dae Bogan, Music Industry Insider For The Indie Artist, of Dae Bogan Music.

"There’s something I want to share with you. You may not know this–or you might have forgotten–but your friends are not your fans. Shocking? Let me explain.."

Posted: Oct 28, 2013

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Brian Penick, author of Musicians' Desk Reference and Touring Musician, as featured on Billboard.com.

1. Reality Check! (Setting Milestones + Goals) 2. Proper Merch Mentality 3. Take Care Of Yourself First - Initial Self-Servicing...

Posted: Oct 14, 2013

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post written by Brandon Seymour, musician, SEO analyst, web designer, and social media marketer.

"If your band doesn’t take the time to build and maintain a strong social following, then chances are you’ll get left behind. I hate to break it you, but there’s a lot of independent bands and musicians out there. Even if you’re from a small town in the middle of nowhere, your online presence helps you compete on a global scale." Here's how...

Posted: Sep 13, 2013

Category: Renman Music & Business

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Deciding the next step to help break your music and band can be a confusing one. You'll have people tell you what they think you should do and if you don't know any better or have an experienced person to talk to about it, packing up the van and moving to LA might seem like the very best option. But before you do that, take a listen to what industry veteran and manager Bruce Flohr thinks of that approach and his opinion on the best way to get some worthwhile attention in the music industry.