Posted: Mar 4, 2025

Category: Tips & Tricks

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**Guest post by Melissa Mulligan, Recording Industry Vocal Coach & Music Career Mentor for independent artists.

"When I sat down to make the two videos I'm sharing with you here, I did not intend to publish them. So, you're literally seeing me, in my home studio, helping a friend get ready for his tour. But the 10-minute routine I captured that day has been working so well for so many singers, I keep sharing this with more of the touring artists I coach. Even if we are working together weekly on more long term vocal goals, this routine is consistently upping the level of my vocalists' performances!"

Posted: Sep 4, 2024

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest post originally featured in the Symphonic Distribution Blog.

"Spotify is a powerful tool for any artist interested in reaching a larger audience. One of the most effective ways to utilize the platform is to create a custom Spotify for Artists profile which will help you get verified, easily manage your profile, learn about your fanbase and more. In this post, we’ll break down some tips to help you make sure your profile is optimized and ready to go."

Posted: Jul 3, 2024

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Adam Percy for Bandzoogle.com.

"While they had a bit of a shaky start when they came out, QR codes have now become a popular tool for sharing content and for promoting pages or products online. The advantages of QR codes are that they’re very portable, they’re unique, and they can be used just about anywhere—they can be scanned with a smartphone camera to quickly get anyone to a specific page on the web...Here are five ways you can use QR codes to elevate your live shows..."

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 1, 2023

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post by One Submit, the ultimate music submission platform.

"Being a full-time artist, musician, or vocalist is no different from being a mechanic, a carpenter, or an attorney. You'll eventually get there if you wake up to work every day. One of the most effective ways to do this is to diversify your sources of income. Try to locate multiple sources of income that will eventually add up to a respectable monthly salary, rather than putting all your eggs in one basket. Here are the top 12 ways to make an income as a musician..."

Posted: Oct 10, 2023

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Matt Santry, founder of www.WellPaidMusician.com.

"What I want to discuss is the importance of gig contracts, specifically for private event performances...With a private event, it’s very different. Most times you’re working with individuals or businesses that don’t have much, if any, experience working with live entertainment. So, you will need to create the terms and present them in a formal written contract."

Posted: Sep 20, 2023

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Adam Percy of Bandzoogle.

"No matter your genre or style, if you’re a musician, chances are you’ll be looking at playing shows on a tour. For a lot of musicians, crossing the country and playing in other parts of the world is the dream - and it can be a huge component for your success as you reach outside of your core local fans...One of the best ways to set up a tour and hit the road effectively is to network and plan gig swaps. It’s a helpful way to find suitable venues as well as broaden your audience reach. Here we’ll look at figuring out if gig swapping is a good fit for your band, and how to get started with it."

Posted: Sep 6, 2023

Category: Fans

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**Guest post written by Sarah Beth Perry of With the Band, originally featured in Soundfly's Flypaper blog.

Posted: Aug 8, 2023

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Frankie Barclay of Sugar Studios, originally featured in Soundfly's Flypaper blog.

Posted: May 23, 2023

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post originally featured in the Symphonic Distribution Blog.

"Instagram Reels is the perfect place to post creative video content and engage with your audience on Instagram at the same time. If you don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to Reels, there are a lot of ways you can still create them with existing content you already have or things you already love. From behind-the-scenes clips to easy memes, here are 7 ideas you have to try..."

Posted: Apr 4, 2023

Category: Technology

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**Guest post written by Jeff Robbins, a long-time songwriter, producer, and musician who fronted the band Orbit and toured with Lollapalooza back in the 90’s. He started Lullabot, a web development company whose client list includes NBC, The Grammys, MTV, Sony Music, and Tesla Motors. He is also the founder of Spaceage, the company behind Visibox.

"Since the days of Pink Floyd’s animated concert visuals from “The Wall”, we’ve come to expect shows at our local arena or amphitheater to rattle our eyeballs as well as our ears...But most of us are still playing smaller theaters, clubs, and cafes. We don’t have a lighting person, much less someone to set up and run visuals while we perform. Maybe you’re a bedroom beat maker who performs with backing tracks. Maybe you’re an aspiring Taylor Swift. Or maybe you’ve got a Kiss cover band looking to add some fire-marshal-safe pyrotechnics to your show. It would take a lot of expensive production and equipment to elevate our performances, right? Wrong!"

Posted: Mar 21, 2023

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post by Kristen Ford, Nashville based indie rock act with a passion for music business and a book on DIY touring in the works.

1. Live Performances 2. Online Sales/Consignment/Out the trunk sales 3. Sync/Licensing placements 4. Private Events/Colleges 5. Streaming income...

Posted: Dec 14, 2022

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Bobby Owsinski, originally featured in the Music 3.0 Blog.

"When I was a young musician, I lived in a time where there were so many clubs that you could play 7 nights a week in a different club every night if you wanted to, plus get paid for it. If you can believe it, you could actually make a pretty decent living as a musician just playing the venues in your local area. That helped bands get tighter, develop stage presence, gain experience working crowds, and grow to the next level. Those days are pretty much over though, and it appears to be getting worse as local clubs are closing at an alarming rate."

Posted: Oct 18, 2022

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Dennis Kurtz of What's Next Nashville.

"
Last week I made the point that you are worth what you can draw! This is true if you are doing a hard ticket show...Most original music artists build themselves as a hard ticket, but also play soft tickets shows along with their hard ticket shows. Usually as a seller I try to find out what the budget is in these situations before I quote a price...Typically, here is how these gigs are priced..."

Posted: Oct 4, 2022

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Matt Santry, founder of www.WellPaidMusician.com.

"The app is called Thumbtack. I think it's overlooked by musicians because it's an app for every imaginable freelancer from dog walkers, plumbers, website designers, and yes, performing musicians. So what sets this app apart from Fiverr and other freelancing marketplaces?...how does it work?...what's their business model?"

Posted: Aug 23, 2022

Category: Managers

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**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."

Posted: Aug 3, 2022

Category: Health

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**Guest post initially featured on functionalcentral.co.uk.

"There’s a lot that we can all do in order to support our mental health. Let’s explore some of these actions now."

Posted: Jul 25, 2022

Category: Live Performance

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

"Every musician should get into a habit of practicing and rehearsing. Some people think these are two words for the same thing. Practice and rehearsal are not the same things. You need to know the difference so you can do both properly."

Posted: Jun 15, 2022

Category: The Musician Business

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**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."

Posted: Apr 26, 2022

Category: Live Performance

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

"I have played many live shows where I have seen bands do some unprofessional things. A lot of these things are simple things that can be fixed. Most of them will improve your overall image as a professional musician. Some of them will improve your relationships with other bands as well. Here are 10 things you need to stop doing on stage immediately."

Posted: Oct 25, 2021

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Cyber PR, originally featured on the Cyber PR Blog.

Posted: Jul 12, 2021

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Melanie Kealey for Bandzoogle.

"As restrictions are starting to ease in some parts of the world, we thought it would be beneficial to have a conversation with Kyle Weber (founder of live show & tour booking platform Indie on the Move) and Kristen Ford (singer-songwriter and touring artist) to gain some perspective on how artists are going about booking or re-booking tours..."

Posted: Apr 12, 2021

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post from Justin Paul, music/career coach, A&R, DJ, and producer.

"First and foremost, talent buyers look at how many tickets they believe (based on data) an artist can sell. The more tickets an artist can sell, the higher the performance fee they can command. Sometimes talent buyers are tastemakers, and they take a chance on an up and coming artist/band that may not have much data available. Typically, those are opening acts or the middle of the lineup. Up and coming artists may even play for free or a smaller amount and are often more suited for club events."

Posted: Mar 15, 2021

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post by Fang from Lords of the Trident, the most METAL band on earth!

"?HUH? WHAT!? YOU'LL HAVE TO SPEAK UP JIMMY, I'M QUITE OLD."

Posted: Mar 8, 2021

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post from Justin Paul, music/career coach, A&R, DJ, and producer.

"The pandemic has hurt all artists, even larger acts had to cancel tours. Ultimately what we're talking about is that there has been loads of money lost for the artist, for the promoters, also for the sound engineers, light engineers, stage crew, food vendors, security, stage techs, drivers, venues, and merchandise sales in live music. Furthermore, the pandemic has created a lot of self-doubt and uncertainty for artists. Some artists are now thinking about shifting to a different career or creating side hustles. Multiple income streams are the way to go even during normal times."