Posted: Jun 18, 2018

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Andrew Jones of Checkered Owl Media.

 

"Most people have noticed that video is often the most effective way to both spread your message AND create engagement with an audience. People watch more and more video all the time...So, with that in mind, we all need to be considering video content. The big question becomes what kind of video to make? What will actually help you stand out from the millions of other videos being created every week? We can help with that. I divide most business video content into four levels..."

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Posted: May 14, 2018

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Ellie Batchiyska, a writer for SoundStageDirect, the number one online source for the best vinyl records and turntables.

 

"The final step in your self-promotion efforts, however, should be none other than creating an EP...Having an EP is great for giving people a taste of your musical sound and style. Think of it as your curriculum vitae, a summary of your most impressive and promising work."

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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."

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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..."

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Posted: Aug 21, 2017

Category: Touring

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

 

"I’ve made a ton of mistakes and got screwed over by talent buyers, promoters and club owners more times than I’d like to admit. I learned everything the hard way and it took me years to figure out how to actually book a successful, money making tour. The biggest thing you want to remember when thinking about setting up a tour is: do not book a tour just to go on tour..."

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Posted: Aug 14, 2017

Category: Online Presence

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**Guest post written by Rachel M., originally featured on Push Power Promo's Blog.

 

"Everyone has a Soundcloud profile, but not everyone is using theirs to its fullest potential to make their music brand look good! Having a solid music profile page includes providing your page visitors with the right information, a great online personality and a music catalog they will be excited about! Here are the top mistakes to avoid with your Soundcloud profile."

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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..."

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Posted: Mar 6, 2017

Category: Facebook

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**Guest post written by Josh Klemons, digital storyteller and strategist of Reverbal Communications.

 

"If you spend time on social media, you’re probably familiar with Facebook Live, a relatively new Facebook tool that allows you to broadcast live—in real time—directly to your audience...Facebook, at least for the time being, is extremely committed to this tool and is offering all implementers a powerful free gift for using it: guaranteed exposure and engagement! Here are 5 ways to use Facebook Live to greatly expand your band’s reach..." 

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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..."

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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".

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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..."

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Posted: Nov 14, 2016

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Joshua Powell, singer-songwriter, DIY musician, and frontman for Joshua Powell and the Great Train Robbery, as featured in his blog Fearsome Folk.

 

"When Tom (Myspace) and the gang fell behind in the social race, Facebook successfully jockeyed for the top social spot, but was slow to adapt to the segment of music marketing that their predecessor had cornered so adroitly. It never felt as personal. Third party plugin apps confused us. And even though Myspace was on its last legs back in ’09, it feels like Facebook still hasn’t caught up. Certain bands are more active on Twitter or Instagram, or else funnel the bulk of their resources into apps, email campaigns, or good old-fashioned websites. Bands’ pages can be tough to find, navigate, or engage. But for all its problems, we’re stuck with the ‘book' for the foreseeable future—for better or worse."

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Posted: Oct 10, 2016

Category: Online Distribution

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

 

"Here’s the good news: These days if you want to sell music online it is pretty damn easy. You find a nice music distribution service, upload your songs and BAM… you are worldwide. Your music is blasted out all over the world in less than an hour. Here's the bummer..."

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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."

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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!"

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Posted: Jul 5, 2016

Category: The Musician Business

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

 

"I have always said that the best way to break up a band is to make a record. I’ve seen it a hundred times. A bunch of guys have a rock and roll dream. The band gets all excited and starts diligently writing songs. They save up some money...Then, they do the recording. Then, they put together the artwork. Then, they plan the release party. Then……. About two weeks or so after the release party the phone calls start coming in. The band is depressed. At this point they ask the question that whole empires have risen and fallen on: Now what?"

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Posted: Feb 22, 2016

Category: Selling Music

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

 

"For the past 30-40 years musicians have been releasing albums. Many times the time between those albums was a year or more. Many bands and musicians these days still model their own release schedules after this same one. This is a mistake. These days you should be learning how to release a single and doing it often. Here's why..."

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Posted: Dec 7, 2015

Category: Marketing

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**Guest Post written by Alan VanToai, Co-Founder of www.CrewFire.com (turn your existing fans into your Facebook and Twitter ambassadors).

 

When you think visionary brands, who comes to mind? Probably Apple, Red Bull, or Nike… right? Well, how about we add one more to the mix: The Grateful Dead...Long before social media or digital marketing ever came into play, they employed viral marketing, social networking, and word-of-mouth marketing...50 years later, the game has changed – but the principles are the same. And word-of-mouth remains one of the most powerful marketing strategies out there.

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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?"

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Posted: Nov 16, 2015

Category: Promotion

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

 

Selling out shows in your hometown isn’t easy...Having lead time and a local tribe gives you an opportunity to do something special. But what do you do when you go out of town?..Here are a few ideas to get you started building your fanbase in a new place.

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Posted: Oct 5, 2015

Category: Music Festivals

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**Guest post written by Amir Mozafari, Director of BD for Everfest and formerly of C3 Presents.

 

1. Develop a relationship with local promoters. 2. Practice, practice, practice! 3. Keep your EPK (Electronic Press Kit) up to date...

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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.

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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."

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Posted: Aug 10, 2015

Category: Touring

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**Guest post written by James Wilson, lead singer and songwriter for Brooklyn based alt-country band The Paisley Fields.

 

"Do... 1. Eat Healthy and Exercise. 2. Drink lots of water. 3. Treat everyone with respect. 4. Get your $$$$.... Don't 1. Have a bad attitude. 2. Leave before the other bands have finished their set...."

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Posted: Jul 13, 2015

Category: Live Performance

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**Guest post written by Cristof Ensslin, cellist/manager of The Wilhelm Brothers, folk rock with cello infusion from Asheville, NC.

 

"Are you booking for an indie band? Have you ever come across a venue mentioning you ought not to play another show within a certain radius and timespan? Chances are, you have." But what if you could play multiple shows in the same town in the same week and the venue could also benefit...

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