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: Feb 19, 2018

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest post written by Allison S. of Bandzoogle.com.

"The best way to keep fans focused on you is through your own custom website. A website puts the focus on you and your music. It’s easy to build a website, but how do you know if you did it right? Let’s take a look at the most common ways bands win and lose with their website."

Posted: Sep 11, 2017

Category: Music Streaming

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**Guest post written by Corey Koehler, an indie singer-songwriter from Minnesota, as featured in his blog MusicGoat.com.

"Do you think a Spotify payment like .004891 cents per play sucks? Then you are gonna love this…"

Posted: Jul 10, 2017

Category: Tips & Tricks

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**Guest post written by Jonathan Sexton, CEO of Bandposters.

"It’s hard to stay on top of all the things you have to do to break your band and make a living...To keep ahead of the game, time management is key. So we’ve put together a weekly calendar for you, with some helpful things you can do early in the week to help sell out your shows on the weekends..."

Posted: May 15, 2017

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest post written by Melanie Kealey of Bandzoogle.

"...when someone gets to your band’s page, you want to be sure to grab their attention right away...You want to make sure they find the most important information. Their eyes will gravitate towards text and a button. With this in mind, make it count by adding a call-to-action."

Posted: Mar 27, 2017

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.

"A lot of music biz teachers will tell you that you should commit time to releasing cover songs on YouTube because you’ll get all kinds of organic growth and attention. This is a proven strategy that has been working for several years. But, especially now that so many musicians are applying it, I’m not sure it’s all that it’s cracked up to be anymore. And it’s not as simple as picking songs you like and recording your own versions..."

Posted: Feb 6, 2017

Category: Social Media

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**Guest post by Doug Beney, lead editor of MIDI Lifestyle.

"You've been improving your skills for months, spending countless hours slaving over your DAW, perfecting every slight detail in your mix. Finally happy with your track, you publish it on Soundcloud, sit back, and.....Crickets...What I hope to provide you with today are some quick, practical improvements you can make in how you promote your music that will actually get you results..."

Posted: Jan 9, 2017

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Nicholas Rubright of Dozmia.

This is a continuation of last week's post "50 Ways to Promote Your Music and Grow Your Fanbase - Part 1".

Posted: Jan 3, 2017

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Nicholas Rubright of Dozmia.

"Succeeding in the music industry is hard work. You're competing with literally millions of people crawling their way to the top. However, most of these people don't know how to effectively market themselves or their music...Instead, set yourself apart from the crowd by learning all you can about different music marketing tactics, and treating your music career as a business. Here's a list of 50 music marketing strategies to get you started..."

Posted: Dec 5, 2016

Category: Marketing

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

"What I am going to talk about in this article is rooted so deeply in common sense yet so few bands actually do it. Your live show will ALWAYS be your most powerful tool when it comes to marketing your music, your merchandise, your music brand, and getting people to sign up for your e-mail or text lists..."

Posted: Sep 19, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.

"We’ve been working on this list for a while and thought it was high time to share it. Keep in mind that this post is primarily for the working musician..."

Posted: Aug 1, 2016

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Corey Koehler, an indie singer-songwriter from Minnesota, as featured in his blog MusicGoat.com.

"It is not a bad place to network with other musicians. They have a few decent tools. And its nice to have some links back to my website and other social media properties. If you are just starting out and testing the waters, you could do a lot worse. But if you want to get serious about marketing online, building your fan base, and growing your music career, you should be thinking beyond ReverbNation. Especially when it comes to your email marketing."

Posted: May 16, 2016

Category: Marketing

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**Guest Post by Paul Loeb, founder and CEO of No Ego Records and DropTrack. Originally featured on The DIY Musician.

"It’s hard to believe it’s been over 12 years since the launch of Facebook. Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay. That’s good news for marketers, musicians, and entrepreneurs. You have this incredible platform to reach every one of those followers you painstakingly cultivated. Or do you?"

Posted: Nov 9, 2015

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.

"For a while there, house concerts were a trendy idea for independent artists that caught on pretty quickly...But now house concerts are actually becoming the primary means for many artists to make their living...Here are 5 ways that I’ve used to generate solid house concert leads."

Posted: Sep 28, 2015

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Brad Barnett, professional musician and founder of Indie 411.

Most musicians have a general idea of how to promote their upcoming shows...With so many musicians actively promoting their gigs, it comes as a surprise to me that most of them stop there. What I mean by that is they work hard to try and get people out to their event, then don’t do anything to promote or sell their brand once it’s show time...If the goal is to get as many people to know about you as possible, then there are a few things you should be doing at gigs to maximize your reach.

Posted: Sep 14, 2015

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Megan Liscomb, originally posted on TakeLessons.com.

"Congrats on getting the big gig! Whether you’re preparing for your band’s first show or your album-release party, these tips will help you learn how to promote your band, make your best impression on stage, and get invited back to the venue to do it all again."

Posted: May 11, 2015

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Hugh Mcintyre via the DIY Musician Blog, originally posted on the SonicBids Blog.

"These days, everybody’s email inboxes are fuller than ever, and people are becoming more and more selective about what newsletters they sign up for. Here are six tips that could help you..."

Posted: Feb 17, 2015

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Joy Ike, creator of Grassrootsy.com and Independent Musician, as featured on Grassrootsy.com.

"QUESTION: My name is Jefrey, writing from NYC...Just wanted to ask a quick question - do you consistently see results with the direct to fan marketing with getting emails-for-mp3’s via a squeeze page?"

Posted: Feb 2, 2015

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Phil Johnson, as featured in his blog, Big Whiz Bang!

This is the continuation of last week's post "33 Gig Promotion Strategies (And Which Ones Actually Work!) - Part 1", but rather than focusing on Offline Promotion, Phil talks about his online promotional efforts and their successes/failures.

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 9, 2014

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest Post from David Dufresne, from Bandzoogle.com.

"The Internet is a big and scary place. When you're a musician and your focus is to practice, write and perform, figuring out where to spend the little time and money you have left for an "online strategy" can be confusing. Many bands we've met tell us that they see it as a real challenge. Here are some reasons why I think [owning your own .COM] is necessary..."

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: Sep 22, 2014

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Randy Young from the Ottawa based rock band Cherry Suede.

"As musicians, we tend to think we can do it all. We’re independent artists. We’ve got our music, our talent, our fans—and nothing else matters. Well, at least that’s how it works in theory. The reality is we need help, and lots of it. I don’t care how good you are—there is simply not enough time to do everything and still be a master at your craft, which is the music itself. You need tools and you need to outsource. You need to learn how to run your band like a business, and being resistant to this fact is the fastest way to kill off whatever income—and independence—you have left."

Posted: May 27, 2013

Category: Promotion

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**Guest Post from Bandzoogle.com.

"Having an email newsletter might sound a little old school, but the reality is that it’s still proving to be the best way to keep in touch with your fans over the long term. So when it comes to fan engagement, having a newsletter should be high on your priority list of tools to use."