Posted: Aug 23, 2022

Category: Managers

social media make money managers networking artist development live performances music business hard core fans licensing epk branding sync placements communication collaboration

**Guest post written by Yona Marie, originally featured in her blog.

 

"Have you reached the point where you need someone else to manage many of your business aspects in order to you to be able to focus more on the creative side of things? Are you unsure of the process for getting a manager that fits your style, location, budget, and interests? You are not at all alone...Not everyone that can manage should manage you. Also, more importantly, not everyone that is looking for management is ready for it."

View Full Article

Posted: Jun 15, 2022

Category: The Musician Business

the music entrepreneur live streaming merch make money youtube live performances vinyl t-shirts music streaming services licensing cd's radio airplay affiliate marketing teach coronavirus donate nft

**Guest post written by David Andrew Wiebe, founder & CEO at The Music Entrepreneur HQ.

 

"Have you ever sat down to work out all the ways you could possibly make money with music? I have, and I was surprised at the sheer number of ways I came up with. If you’re new to the music business, then it’s not your fault that you don’t know all the secrets yet. So, in this guide we cover a variety of ways musicians make money."

View Full Article

Posted: Mar 28, 2022

Category: Tips & Tricks

make money publishing youtube music business songwriting licensing instagram brand partnerships snapchat collaboration tiktok innovo management

**Guest post by Sam Saideman, co-founder of artist management and consultant agency Innovo Management.

 

"2020 wreaked havoc on everyone’s lives, however in my opinion, artists (and freelance creatives as a whole) took the brunt of it. Reminiscing now, it’s clear which artists figured it out and which didn’t, but I want to utilize this piece to discuss ways I saw artists adapt in the hopes that it helps readers dig back into YouTube (and other resources) to learn a part of the industry they didn’t know existed! It’s worth noting, these are not the only ways to build supplemental income or adapt, but merely a few to start with."

View Full Article

Posted: Feb 22, 2022

Category: Career Goals

make money songwriting keys to success career goals setting goals music libraries smarter framework strongwriting.net licensing

**Guest post written by Eyvindur Karlsson, a singer-songwriter and songwriting coach who helps artists stop wasting time staring at a blank page and waiting for inspiration so they can write more songs of higher quality. He is passionate about coaching songwriters to help them get more great music out in the world and is the owner of the website Strongwriting.net.

 

"If you want to improve in any area, whether professionally or personally, goal setting is vital...when done right, goals help us to assess our progress and reassess if we get off track...In this article I'm going to cover the basics of goal setting, from a songwriter's perspective, and introduce you to the SMARTER framework of goal setting."

View Full Article

Posted: Jan 18, 2022

Category: Publishing

publishing make money licensing performance rights organizations cover songs publishing administrator sync placements collaboration vampr

**Guest post written by Vampr Publishing, originally featured in their blog.

 

"In the digital age of being a DIY artist, many songwriters are asking how to publish a song. This is a valid question. The purpose of a music publisher is continually evolving. It needs to in an ever-changing technological landscape! To some extent, artists and songwriters can publish their own music. But – they may find it gets harder as their catalogue and network grows...Whether you’re looking to cover it alone, with your team, or looking to work with (or get signed by) a bigger publisher, this post will help you understand the ins and outs of music publishing."

View Full Article

Posted: Aug 2, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

producers songwriting licensing fiverr music business keys to success beats melody nest make money

**Guest post written by Nick Voorhees, founder of Melody Nest.

 

"It’s absurd to think that the “starving musician” stereotype proves to be true more often than not. Producing, composing, and engineering songs to a professional standard is inherently valuable because thought-provoking sound is necessary to the human experience, but many musicians find themselves broke regardless. It’s usually not due to a lack of talent or drive, but because musicians tend to be un-blissfully ignorant of the abundance of digital opportunities available within their electronic reaches. It doesn’t have to be this way."

View Full Article

Posted: Apr 6, 2021

Category: Royalties

make money cd baby licensing performance rights organizations royalties copyright songwriter publisher mechanical licensing collective music modernization act

**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."

View Full Article

Posted: Feb 22, 2021

Category: Licensing

licensing hip hop culture producer exclusive rights exclusive vs. non-exclusive soundsphere

**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."

View Full Article

Posted: Sep 28, 2020

Category: Licensing

songwriting licensing cold pitching songtown time management industry resources

**Guest post written by Marty Dodson, a multi-hit songwriter, co-founder of SongTown, and co-author of The Songwriter’s Guide To Mastering Cowriting and Song Building: Mastering Lyric Writing.

 

"One of the most popular questions we get at SongTown is “how many songs should I send to a producer or publisher?” The prevailing myth for aspiring songwriters is that “more shots equals a better chance of something great happening”. I want to dispel that myth and to explain why pitching your songs with a shotgun is NOT the best way to hit your mark."

View Full Article

Posted: Jan 27, 2020

Category: The Musician Business

make money producers music business licensing sync placements music business after dark jeff lysyczyn

**Guest post by Jeff Lysyczyn, music industry veteran, educator, and creator of Music Business After Dark.

 

"The fifth episode of Music Business After Dark, a series of informative vlogs by music industry veteran and educator Jeff Lysyczyn."

View Full Article

Posted: Dec 23, 2019

Category: The Musician Business

booking agents record labels artist development record deal music business licensing music album release music career physical vs. digital managers artists and repetoire lawyers similar artists

**Guest post written by Scott Ronald, musician, songwriter, and creator of GuitarGearHeadz.com.

 

"Before signing a deal, artists need to be able to weigh up what the label can do for their career versus the rights, control and income they are signing away. These are four important questions you need to ask yourself when evaluating a label offer, in order to ensure that you make the best decision for your career..."

View Full Article

Posted: Oct 28, 2019

Category: The Musician Business

merch publishing website improvement blogs newsletters licensing distribution music album release sound exchange soundcloud bandcamp biography aris take copyright press release photos trademark videos performing rights organization playlists research

**Guest post written by Ari Herstand. This is an excerpt from his book How to Make It in the New Music Business (second edition). This post was originally published on Music Connection.

 

"Before you release your next single or album, make sure you set it up for the best chance of success. Don’t forget to do these 26 things before the release..."

View Full Article

Posted: Feb 19, 2019

Category: The Musician Business

merch make money youtube music streaming services licensing sponsorship royalties crowdfunding cover songs cd's session musicians cruise ship entertainment industry sell music teach contests

**Guest post written by Donna Maurer, a contributor on multiple music blogs and lover of creating helpful articles for her fellow musicians and music lovers.

 

"If you want to be successful as a musician today, you must learn to diversify your income streams. That way, when the live gigs and album sales slow down, you’ll still have money coming in from other areas to keep you going until things pick up...Here are some unique and creative ways to make money when your career hits a lull."

View Full Article

Posted: Sep 24, 2018

Category: Licensing

make money licensing tv film music x-ray music libraries sync placements publisher industry relationships ditto sentric music music gateway

**Guest post originally featured on Ditto.com.

 

"Getting your music featured in a TV show, movie or even a video game can not only help your music reach the ears of new fans, but also generate a substantial amount of cash, so it's well worth looking into sync licensing. Before we get into the HOW, let me very quickly explain WHAT music sync licensing is and WHY you need to strongly consider licensing your music for synchronization."

View Full Article

Posted: May 21, 2018

Category: Licensing

alternatives instrumental versions licensing live recording recording budget synch the legit musician

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

 

"If you are trying to license your music then you really need to think about alternative versions. Especially, instrumental versions of your songs."

View Full Article

Posted: May 22, 2017

Category: Licensing

copyright cover songs derivative work donna kay licensing royalties weird al yankovic

**Guest post written by Donna Kay of Donna Kay & The Carousers.

 

"After the time and expense of recording, mixing, designing the cover artwork, and launching the CD, I had two tasks: Copyright the CD, and obtain the licenses to release (for sale) and perform our version of “Minor Swing”...I had to obtain two permissions to use the song: One from the owner of the publishing rights, and after submitting their permission in writing, the Easy Song standard licensing fee to record and perform our version of the song. This took a full month of digging, e-mailing, getting responses and finally finding two brothers in NYC who run a publishing company and own the rights the song."

View Full Article

Posted: Feb 27, 2017

Category: The Musician Business

copyright distribution dozmia licensing performing rights organization royalties sound exchange soundscan trademark

**Guest post written by Nicholas Rubright of Dozmia.

 

"Releasing music requires a huge amount of work, which makes it easy to miss something important. In addition to promoting your new release – sending it to radio stations, getting bloggers to write about it – there are some important things to take care of on the administrative side. Here’s a checklist of all the boring things you should take care of when releasing new music..."

View Full Article

Posted: Oct 31, 2016

Category: Licensing

licensing musictransparency performance data performing rights organization radio stations soundstr

**Guest post by Brian Penick as featured on the SOUNDSTR Blog.

 

"Editor’s Note: This infographic is intended to visualize the world of General Licensing and how proposed changes could affect songwriters and music licensees."

View Full Article

Posted: Oct 24, 2016

Category: Licensing

aris take digital music news film licensing sync placements tv

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

 

"I’ve been lucky enough to have my songs placed about 30 times over the past 6 years in TV shows, films and commercials. Well, luck really had little to do with it. There’s very little luck involved in the music industry. Lazy people like to say that it’s all luck. That’s just plain ignorant. There’s no such thing as a “lucky break.” There are little victories. There are opportunities. There are people working their asses off behind the scenes..."

View Full Article

Posted: Aug 8, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

film kenny babyface edmonds keys to success licensing movies nomad stageit the career guitarist touring plan tv

**Music Director and guitarist for Kenny Babyface Edmonds, composer, artist and author of: The Career Guitarist.

 

"1) What does the term "Career Guitarist" mean? Typically when speaking of a musician who solely earns their money from music, we refer to them as a professional musician. I just simplified it and coined the phrase Career Musician, then narrowed that down to Career Guitarist which is the embodiment of what I’ve done throughout my career in the music industry, which includes..." 

View Full Article

Posted: Jul 26, 2016

Category: Performance Rights Organizations

ascap bmi consent decree department of justice licensing musictransparency performing rights organization sesac soundstr

**Guest post written by Brian Penick as featured on the SOUNDSTR Blog.

 

"What is the Consent Decree, and why are people talking (and so upset!) about it?...For songwriters, one of the least discussed (yet most important topics) is music licensing. But major changes to the consent decree – the federal agreement that governs how ASCAP and BMI operate – is bringing this topic to the surface. The truth is, these changes could be the biggest in the music industry in 75 years and greatly impact your career."

View Full Article

Posted: Mar 28, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

commercials ep vs album licensing live performances make money movies music libraries mystery loves company publishing singles tv video games

**Guest post written by Carlos A. Machado of Mystery Loves Company.

 

"With almost 200 shows and multiple music conferences in the past two years, Maddy and I have learned a ton about the current music industry. For those wanting a career as singer-songwriters, here are a two things we think are worth keeping in mind..."

View Full Article

Posted: Mar 21, 2016

Category: Licensing

commercials independent music promotions licensing movies music libraries performing rights organization sync placements synch tv video games

**Guest post written by Matt Bacon, originally featured on IndependentMusicPromotions.com.

 

"I’ve spent a lot of time in the last couple of weeks learning about music licensing for a friend I’m helping on a project...It’s been a pretty interesting experience for a variety of reasons – but mostly because before the beginning of the month I didn’t really know what music licensing was. Since then I have learned quite a bit, spent countless hours pouring over articles and have gotten to explore what it means to engage in this potentially highly lucrative segment of the music industry."

View Full Article

Posted: Jan 25, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

career goals gigging keys to success licensing live performances los colognes making it masters music business practice publishing sync placements

**Guest Post written by Jay Rutherford of Los Colognes.

 

"Like millions of other morons out there, I'm attempting to make music both the primary joy and primary financial security in my life. My band Los Colognes has achieved marginal success, just enough to get mom and dad off our backs, so to speak. Without further adieu, here’s me convincing myself I have achieved some wisdom, when in reality I have no psychological control over any of it yet. Pretend this is the Old Ben Kenobi version of me, from somewhere in the future..."

View Full Article

Posted: Dec 14, 2015

Category: Licensing

box.com disc makers jake versluis licensing sync placements video games

**Guest post written by Michael Gallant as featured in the Disc Makers' Echoes Blog.

 

"Think your music is ready for games, TV, and film? Here’s advice on how to pitch your music for video games and how to optimize your chances of getting placed..."

View Full Article