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."
View Full ArticlePosted: Feb 8, 2021
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan of MakingMoneyWithMusic.com. Originally featured in the Disc Makers Blog. Reprinted with permission.
"In part four of our DIY music business series, we cover the tasks required to get your music written, recorded, produced, and made ready for distribution...Whether you handle all these roles for your music, or just a few, there are resources that can help with each."
View Full ArticlePosted: Sep 28, 2020
Category: Licensing
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**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: Aug 17, 2020
Category: Music Streaming
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**Guest post by Fang from Lords of the Trident, the most METAL band on earth!
"Daniel Ek, the CEO of Spotify, has been in hot water after stating that musicians "can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough". Is he right? Are we just slaves to never-ending work?"
View Full ArticlePosted: Aug 10, 2020
Category: Songwriting
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**Guest post written by Kristen Ford, Nashville based indie rock act with a passion for music business and a book on DIY touring in the works.
"Hearing how the audience responds can be hugely helpful in deciding to cut that verse or extend that outro, bands often "road test" songs before committing to record them. Now that many venues are closed for Covid-19 and open mics are on hold for the foreseeable future, it can be easy to feel stuck, isolated or missing the community feel. The more collaborators you have on a project, the more possible doors could open."
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 20, 2020
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post written by Jordan Gates, of Megaphone Agency.
"This isn’t the first time [the music industry] has been forced to adapt to tremendous change and adversity. No one is immune to the threats of disruption, volatility, and hyper competition that exist in this industry. Despite the fickle nature, there are things artists can do to set themselves up for success in the long run. Here are some thoughts on how to weather the storms and come out on top..."
Posted: Apr 6, 2020
Category: Tips & Tricks
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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.
Seeing as so many gigs are canceled, with business as usual impossible due to coronavirus social distancing, I am trying to make the most of this unfortunate situation. If you are a musician like me, whether you are self employed, have a small business with a few employees or just do music part time and are still missing some of your income due to Coronavirus cancelations, I hope some of these resources will be helpful...
View Full ArticlePosted: Sep 9, 2019
Category: The Lefsetz Letter
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**Guest post by Bob Lefsetz of The Lefsetz Letter.
"Don't wait for help, do it yourself. Just like you can record and distribute yourself, you can promote too. If you're waiting for a manager to start, don't...Decide who you want to be. A hobbyist, a touring musician or a superstar. This affects your path..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Apr 23, 2019
Category: Songwriting
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**Guest post written by Chris Huff, originally featured in the Disc Makers Blog.
"If you are interested in writing lyrics with depth, you need a deep artistic well to draw from. All output requires input, and as a lyricist, I recommend you begin with words."
View Full ArticlePosted: Mar 11, 2019
Category: Giving Back
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**Guest post written by Jamie Wyman, singer-songwriter and Executive Director of The Great Blue Song Project.
"How many times have you heard people say, “I always wanted to learn to play the guitar” or, “I wish my parents made me practice the piano when I was a kid”? You are one of the few who followed through. And now that you have nurtured your musical superpower, you must use it for good. Here are five ways you can use your musical powers for good..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Jun 12, 2017
Category: Songwriting
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**Guest post written by Matt Lindley.
"Every musician takes inspiration from their heroes – modern pop music owes a debt of gratitude to the Beatles and Elvis Presley, while the lineage of hip-hop runs from 1970s New York acts like Afrika Bambaataa and Kool Herc to modern stars like Drake and Kendrick Lamar. But how much do you know about the careers of the legendary artists that have paved the way? And what can the musicians of today learn from them?" View Full Article
Posted: Jan 23, 2017
Category: Live Performance
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**Guest post by Niki Walker, lead videographer of NPR's Tiny Desk series. Originally posted on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest Tumblr.
"The Tiny Desk is essentially the opposite of a concert venue or a music video. There’s nothing to hide behind except a real, tiny desk, in a real, very-active office. In some ways, our look is easy to replicate, because it’s all about the music...A lot of people film their Tiny Desk Contest entries on their own, so we thought we’d share a few things we’ve learned by filming almost 600 of these things..." View Full Article
Posted: Dec 12, 2016
Category: Show Booking
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**Guest post written by Louise Dodgson, Editor at The Unsigned Guide.
"Working with a booking agent is a topic we’re often asked about by artists and bands who wonder whether they should still undertake all gig bookings themselves or acquire the services of an agent who can bag those lusted-after festival slots and tour supports. Do I need an agent? At what stage should we approach one? Will a booking agency even work with an unsigned or emerging band? If you’ve ever wondered about any of the above, this blog is for you!" View Full Article
Posted: Sep 26, 2016
Category: Recording
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**Guest post written by Clay Mills, hit songwriter, producer, performer, and founder of SongTown.com.
"People often ask me if they have to do full-production demos to present songs to publishers or major artists? I do a fair amount of full demos, but I also have had about half of my major cuts from pitching home demos done on a very basic set-up on my mac laptop..." View Full Article
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..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Aug 17, 2015
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest post by Stephen Wrench, CEO of Musik and Film.
"I recently had the pleasure of pitching a very talented well produced artist to major labels...They never listened to it [the music] because their social media numbers were not good enough?"
View Full ArticlePosted: Feb 9, 2015
Category: Career Goals
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**Guest post from the DIY Musician Blog.
"Jerry Seinfeld is arguably one of the most successful comedians of our time...So how did he do it? The answer is actually much simpler than you may think and it’s a proven method to helping you effectively smash any goal you set for 2015."
View Full ArticlePosted: 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..."
View Full ArticlePosted: Sep 6, 2013
Category: Renman Music & Business
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A great song has the ability to mark a time in society and capture the spirit of a generation. It takes great musicians, writers, producers, and a team to break it in the market, but before all that happens, the pieces need to come together and someone needs to help put them together. Enter the A&R department. In this clip, Neil Jacobson, the Sr. VP of A&R at Interscope Records, talks about what he looks for in a song and why it's important that it can cross over into popular music.
View Full ArticlePosted: Jun 28, 2013
Category: The Musician Business
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**Guest Post by Bret Alexander of The Badlees and Saturation Acres.
Music doesn’t sell in the numbers it once did, but a bigger variety is being consumed. There is so much more to choose from. Everyone is splintering into thousands of little niches. So your best course of action as a creator is to nurture and take care of the core people who are really passionate about what you do...[And]...
You have to do everything yourself. And that means booking, teaching lessons, playing shitty gigs for cash, producing, making your own records, working in a music store, etc. etc. You can’t specialize anymore...
View Full ArticlePosted: May 21, 2013
Category: Songwriting
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**Guest Post by Bret Alexander of The Badlees and Saturation Acres.
"One of the biggest problems bands have is that most musicians think they can write when they can’t. A great song is oftentimes very easy to play. A lot of great players have an almost elitist attitude about simple songs. It’s a weird aura to have in the studio. I hate it. But I can tell you (cover band musicians take heed), it is a helluva lot harder to write John Fogarty’s “Down On The Corner” than it is to play it...
Bands could save themselves so much suffering if they would just admit that they need better songs than they can write. Maybe they need a new member. Or they need to focus on the work of one guy in the group instead of pushing for a lukewarm democratic process..."
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