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: Oct 22, 2025
Category: Songwriting
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**Guest post written by Scott Aumann, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.
"Think about all the great music made in all of history. We only have a relatively small amount of it created with the latest technology and access to almost anything we need to be delivered to our doorstep. I want to give you an exercise in limitations. What can you learn about yourself and your music by putting certain limits on your creative process?"
View Full ArticlePosted: Sep 16, 2025
Category: The Musician Business
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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.
"In the music world...your artist or band name plays a massively important role in shaping audience perception and marketing opportunities from the very start. When selecting your artists or band name, you should give significant thought and consideration."
Posted: Sep 3, 2025
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Barbara Samuelson of Music Makes You Move.
"Indie bands often focus on raw instruments, heartfelt lyrics, and live energy. DJs specialize in reading the crowd, building anticipation, and dropping tracks that shake the floor. When the two worlds collide, something powerful happens. You don’t just have a concert—you have an experience."
View Full ArticlePosted: Aug 19, 2025
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Julia Kater for Bandzoogle.com.
"No matter what tools you use or how smart your promotional strategy is, quality and creativity in your actual music is what wins fans over, and keeps them coming back. That's why one of the best audience-building strategies for indie musicians these days is still the same as it was a decade ago: cover songs. But not just any covers; covers that truly stand out. A creative, personal take on a familiar song gives new fans a musical on-ramp into your world. Think of it like a gateway: the right cover can grab attention through familiarity, then win people over with your originality and style."
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 8, 2025
Category: Promotion
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**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.
"If you read my blog regularly, you know I have been focusing a lot lately on Micro-Networking and my theory that execution is critical if you want to cause a tangible shift in your career as an artist. This leads me to a social site you may not have considered for your music career: LinkedIn. You probably already use it for your day job, freelance work, or other non-music activities. LinkedIn is a gold mine when it comes to networking, especially within industries. But if you’re new to LinkedIn, how can you set yourself up and optimize for networking there?" View Full Article
Posted: Oct 2, 2024
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Scott Aumann, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.
"Show posters are still one of the best ways to promote your band and a live show. I know most of the venues that I played at still used show posters for every show. Some venues even required that you send posters. These are a low-cost option for promotion and still can work great if done correctly. Don’t just write some stuff on a sheet of paper with a sharpie. Put some thought into your show posters and they will pay off with larger crowds and more engaged fans. I’m going to teach you how to make the most kick-ass show poster ever!"
View Full ArticlePosted: Jun 11, 2024
Category: Songwriting
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**Guest post written by Bug Hunter, a "thoughtful, self-reflective pop" singer-songwriter out of Seattle.
"As a full-time song-writer, I have done my best to keep putting out new content often enough to keep my audience interested in my music while making sure everything about each song meets a SUPER high bar I’ve set for myself in terms of content and lyricism. I’ve averaged a new album every 1.5 years. But 40+ songs later, I found myself coming to the ends of my own experiences and imagination. I’ve covered fresh love, heart-break, sibling rivalry, and screen-peaking emails on airplanes. I’ve even ventured into ghostly neighbors, time-traveling toasters, and metaphorical bank robberies that may or may not be a stand-in for taking too many samples at Costco. I’ve covered all the usual bases."
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 3, 2024
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by James Hill, a veteran of the music industry. He has worked at Warner Reprise Records and then Interscope/ Geffen Records and now helps indie artists with branding and manufacturing through his company Unified Manufacturing, a CD/DVD, custom vinyl records and merch company in LA.
"Having a career in music is not all sunshine and rainbows, and I’m sure you already know that, especially during the pandemic. To start a career in the music industry, you need to not only release good music but you have to be willing to learn the trade, to advertise yourself, get to know the right people, and many more. It’s too tedious! But still worth it. Let’s head on and enumerate the 25 reasons why being a musician today is awesome." View Full Article
Posted: Jan 24, 2024
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by David Andrew Wiebe, founder & CEO at The Music Entrepreneur HQ.
"If you’re having trouble prioritizing music in your life, you’re certainly not alone...there is a way to ensure you prioritize music in your weekly schedule, no matter how busy you think you might be. The question is... Are you willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen? If you want to find out whether you’re going to make the cut, read on..."
Posted: Nov 22, 2023
Category: Fans
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**Guest post written by Sammy Hakim for Bandzoogle.com.
"Whether it’s over the internet or on a stage, one of our main jobs as musicians is to engage with our audience...in the modern era, engaging with your audience means a lot more than generating powerful work: fans expect artists to be active online using various platforms, from TikTok to streaming services. Some even deem this online activity to be necessary for building a sustainable career. With that said, if you’re struggling to find ways to engage with your audience online, we’ve got your back! Here are five tips to get you started..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 7, 2023
Category: Technology
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**Guest post written by Ryan Donaldson of Boombox.io.
"The ability to collaborate remotely has given musicians and music producers the freedom to create, share, and develop ideas as never before. By connecting with other creatives from different parts of the world, it is now possible to bring together a unique blend of sounds and styles that can result in something truly special...In this article, we want to explore how remote music collaboration can be the key to growing your audience and achieving success as a musician."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jan 24, 2023
Category: Songwriting
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**Guest post written by Hovey Otis.
"When it comes to songwriting, having a unique and creative perspective can be the difference between a great song and an average one. But how can you look at the same lyrics in a different way and create something that stands out? Here are 3 tips to help you switch up your approach to songwriting and find new inspiration."
View Full ArticlePosted: Dec 20, 2022
Category: Technology
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**Guest post written Ramiro from GearAficionado, an online music magazine.
"If you are a human living on the planet Earth, it is inevitable that you have heard about how Artificial Intelligence is becoming every day more potent. Advancements that took us decades, now are deemed obsolete in a matter of months, if not weeks. One of the main concerns this brings along is that machines are starting to be way better than us for a lot of jobs. And indie musicians, particularly, are surely not out of the scope of automation."
View Full ArticlePosted: Aug 16, 2021
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Carla Malrowe for Bandzoogle.
"A brilliant band photo is one that captures the style and story of the music, expresses the characters of the musicians, and bears elements akin to the genre. It is impressionable, professional, unique and authentic. Brilliant photos sell the total sonic experience that awaits the listener...Here are the do’s and don'ts when it comes to putting together your band photoshoot project."
View Full ArticlePosted: Aug 31, 2020
Category: Merch
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**Guest post written by Conor Farrell of Solid Merch, a comprehensive source for independent artists and record labels to stock their merch tables and web stores, and engage with their fans and communities.
"One of the factors contributing to vinyl’s renewal has been creators’ focus on unique releases that become collectible works of art on their own, distinct from the creativity contained in the grooves. While black vinyl has been the standard option for much of vinyl history, most pressing plants have expanded in recent years to include more color choices, and some even have the ability to combine multiple colors into eye-popping designs."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jun 17, 2019
Category: Social Media
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**Guest post written by Scott Aumann, originally featured on The Legit Musician blog.
"The main graphics banners on social media is one thing that we need to get correct to make a big impact [on social media]. The only problem is that each platform has their own way of displaying these graphics...Let’s start with sizes for each platform."
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 15, 2019
Category: Touring
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**Guest post written by Ellisa Sun, Jazz/Soul musician formerly based in San Francisco currently full-time RVing across the USA.
"100 days ago, me (Ellisa Sun) and my partner Ken Michienzi decided to leave our homes in Oakland, CA, purchase a used 30-foot Winnebago, and hit the road to play shows throughout the USA. Here’s what we’ve learned so far..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 26, 2018
Category: Marketing
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**Guest post written by Lucie Watson of Platoon.
"If you’re working in the music industry as an artist, manager, label, distributor or any other field you’ve probably had or heard a conversation about the power of Spotify playlists. Some questions I frequently get asked are “how can I get on Spotify’s playlists?” or “how can I get on New Music Friday?” or “when can I start to see playlist additions?”. What I’d love to tell artists and managers is that it’s easy...but more often than not the response I give is this: there’s no way I can guarantee placement on a playlist ahead of a release."
View Full ArticlePosted: 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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