Posted: Jul 2, 2018

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest post written by Josh Wardini, Editorial Contributor and Community Manager at websitebuilder.org, originally featured on The Music Entrepreneur HQ.

"Today we’re going to talk about increasing your music website’s conversion rates. And by this, we mean making on-site changes that will give you more results, even if the same number of people visit your site. We’ll also be looking at an example of how conversion rates work, and why increasing them could mean a much more profitable music career for you. So without dragging out the intro, let’s get to the good stuff."

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."

Posted: Apr 2, 2018

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Anita Jay of TheCraftyMusician.com.

"Writing strong email content to engage your fans is not an easy task...The first most important thing about a good email is its subject line. The majority of your fans will use the subject line to decide whether or not to read your content. So if you want to get your fans to open your email newsletter, you have to write appealing headlines."

Posted: 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."

Posted: Mar 12, 2018

Category: Sponsorship

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

"This is the first in a new series of articles examining the various tools music artists should be using to advance and grow their careers...All music artists are looking for ways to make more money but a lot of them aren’t aware of some of the tools that exist to help them increase their income. One of the most common questions I field from artists has to do with how they can get sponsorships. They know businesses are out there sponsoring everybody from artists to athletes but many have extremely limited knowledge in how those sponsorship agreements actually come about. Simply put, they don’t know about sponsorship decks."

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."

Posted: Jan 22, 2018

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Cassie Steele, content editor for GuitarFella.com.

"The internet has opened up a world of opportunity for musicians, enabling you to release music to a wide audience without the gatekeepers of record labels or a distribution company. However, you need to know what you’re doing. Releasing music online without a marketing plan and expecting it to sell is like dropping your CD in Times Square and expecting a record producer to pick it up..."

Posted: Jan 15, 2018

Category: Royalties

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**Guest post written by Blake Morgan, artist, musician, record producer, CEO of ECR Music Group, and founder of #IRespectMusic. Originally featured in The Huffington Post and later featured in The Trichordist and Digital Music News.

Last week, Blake Morgan published a story in the Huffington Post that discussed his heated exchange with Spotify execs in a closed-door "artists-only" meeting. Just as the article was gaining traction, it was suddenly removed...Here's Blake's original article...

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."

Posted: Jan 2, 2018

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Joshua Rich, a pop pianist out of Washington, DC.

"The best thing I have learned as a performer is how to get out of my own way - to look at myself through other people’s eyes...Listening to others and being open to what your strengths are can be the difference between making it and not..."

Posted: Dec 18, 2017

Category: Merch

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**Guest post written by Glen Perry of Audio Mastered. He's been a musician for over 15 years and has done everything the hard way so you don't have to. You can find more advice and buying guides, such as the best Bluetooth transmitters, over at AudioMastered.com.

"A common mistake bands and artists make is not paying attention to the economics of their merch table. Unfortunately, some bands shy away from a data-driven approach and only sell a few cliché merch items - think T-shirts. By taking a closer look at less expensive, but more profitable items, bands can add fresh additions to their revenue streams..."

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..."

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?"

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."

Posted: Mar 20, 2017

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Bobby Borg, originally from Music Marketing for the DIY Musician.

"Great interviews don’t happen by accident. Both parties, the interviewer and the interviewee, need to do a great deal of preliminary research. In fact, preparing your complete interview in writing before the interview can serve as helpful research for the busy interviewer and provide additional content that can be posted on your artist websites..."

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!"

Posted: Apr 12, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest Post written by Danny Barnes as featured on DannyBarnes.com.

"I hear so much complaining about this subject, I just wanted to lay my practical experience on you. free... Assuming... you are financially workable and you have the music where you want it and you are surely called into the art, here goes, in no particular order..."

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?"

Posted: Oct 12, 2015

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest Post by Bret Alexander of The Badlees and Saturation Acres.

"I’ve been a vocational musician for almost 30 years...This is an incredibly difficult business to make any sort of sustainable living at for that long, so inevitably people ask me what advice I would have for anyone who wants to do the same. Opinions are certainly like assholes, but I’ll give you my take on that. Do with it what you will..."

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: 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..."