Posted: Dec 2, 2025

Category: Merch

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**Guest post written by Julia Kater for Bandzoogle.com.

"Bundles are a smart way to sell your music and clear out merchandise while reinforcing the artist-to-fan connection. They also increase average order value (AOV) and can streamline fulfillment — especially if you pre-kit bundles or ship items from a single location. Setting up and promoting your bundles on your music website can revitalize your site and help you move digital music, physical merch, and print-on-demand items."

Posted: Nov 26, 2025

Category: Indie on the Move

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While non-community members can still access certain bits of information and some functionality on the site, a free user account is going to expand on those features quite a bit even for music venues and promoters. Some big differences include the ability to post and respond to show availabilities, member to member messaging, and photo/video tagging.

Posted: Nov 18, 2025

Category: Promotion

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

Posted: Nov 11, 2025

Category: The Musician Business

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

"As we all know only too well, fame is elusive. Everyone may get their 15 minutes sooner or later, but some are lucky enough to keep it going way longer than that. That said, even those that reach a superstar level don’t stay there forever, and a good example of this is Ed Sheeran."

Posted: Nov 4, 2025

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Tyler James Cook, an independent musician from South Carolina.

"while there are more outlets for musicians than ever before, the much-vaunted democratization of music has made our jobs even more difficult. Instead of being a songwriter and musician, we must fill multiple additional roles, all of which might help us get towards the indie musician's dream: financial security through music. It is a noble and achievable goal, but it takes time. During all that practicing, recording, performing, promoting, and touring, musicians need to feed themselves. The solution is elegant in its simplicity, and immensely profitable: teach private music lessons...Here are a few reasons why indie musicians should make time for private lessons..."

Posted: Oct 29, 2025

Category: Indie on the Move

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For those of you that have used the QuickPitch functionality on the site, you may notice venues getting marked as "recently emailed" from time to time. This video explains how and why...

Posted: Oct 22, 2025

Category: Songwriting

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

"Think about all the great music made in all of history. We only have a relatively small amount of it created with the latest technology and access to almost anything we need to be delivered to our doorstep. I want to give you an exercise in limitations. What can you learn about yourself and your music by putting certain limits on your creative process?"

Posted: Oct 14, 2025

Category: Promotion

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

Posted: Oct 8, 2025

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Jason Lekberg, a musician with 20+ years of experience in the industry and creator of Hard Target.

"As indie artists, marketing can feel overwhelming. There is no shortage of companies promoting “shortcuts”, including the social networks themselves. Whether or not you’ve ever executed a campaign before, you are likely skeptical of them all. And rightly so. Between AI, bots and trolls, the internet is more toxic and crowded than ever. There are few better examples of a necessary evil. How do you focus? How do you know which path is right, and which is essentially setting your money on fire."

Posted: Oct 1, 2025

Category: Licensing

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**Guest post written by Sync Songwriter. Their mission is to not only help independent artists and songwriters learn and understand the sync licensing world but to also help them build relationships with music supervisors.

"Recently, I had the chance to sit down on a Zoom call with two heavy-hitters in the music industry: a music supervisor who works on Oscar-winning films and an entertainment lawyer who represents some of the biggest stars and labels in the world — while also advocating for indie songwriters. We had a candid, in-depth conversation about the growing role of AI in music creation, especially as it relates to licensing for film and TV. What followed was a revealing look into both the opportunities and the landmines that artists need to understand as this technology evolves. As AI in music licensing becomes a more urgent topic, artists need clarity on what’s legally safe — and what’s not."

Posted: Sep 23, 2025

Category: Indie on the Move

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If you are familiar with the site, then you may be aware that you can follow not only venues, festivals, and colleges, but also other community members. This information is readily available in the follows section of your account, but it is easier to browse and interact with that information via the corresponding directories. Here's how you can do so...

Posted: Sep 16, 2025

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post by Musician Indie Coalition, Business-Based Artist Development Experts who help DIY Musicians develop, launch and scale their music careers.

"In the music world...your artist or band name plays a massively important role in shaping audience perception and marketing opportunities from the very start. When selecting your artists or band name, you should give significant thought and consideration."

Posted: Sep 10, 2025

Category: Music Streaming

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

"The reality is… not every fan is created equal. Some people will stumble across your track on a playlist and move on, while others will keep coming back, saving your songs, and actually buying tickets when you’re in town. In your Spotify for Artists dashboard, these are called your super listeners, aka the ones who go beyond casual listening and become the backbone of your fanbase. In this post, we’ll break down how to understand them and use them to your advantage. Here’s the rundown..."

Posted: Sep 3, 2025

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Barbara Samuelson of Music Makes You Move.

"Indie bands often focus on raw instruments, heartfelt lyrics, and live energy. DJs specialize in reading the crowd, building anticipation, and dropping tracks that shake the floor. When the two worlds collide, something powerful happens. You don’t just have a concert—you have an experience."

Posted: Aug 26, 2025

Category: Indie on the Move

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The answer is because those emails (individual and QuickPitch) go directly into the inbox that those talent buyers use for their booking and outside of the Indie on the Move system. The messages sections of IOTM accounts are reserved for user to user communications and stay within the platform.

Posted: Aug 19, 2025

Category: Promotion

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**Guest post written by Julia Kater for Bandzoogle.com.

"No matter what tools you use or how smart your promotional strategy is, quality and creativity in your actual music is what wins fans over, and keeps them coming back. That's why one of the best audience-building strategies for indie musicians these days is still the same as it was a decade ago: cover songs. But not just any covers; covers that truly stand out. A creative, personal take on a familiar song gives new fans a musical on-ramp into your world. Think of it like a gateway: the right cover can grab attention through familiarity, then win people over with your originality and style."

Posted: Aug 12, 2025

Category: Marketing

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**Guest post written by Scott Helmer, a touring singer-songwriter whose music blends rock and pop with heartfelt storytelling and powerful vocals. He has opened for Heart, Eddie Money, 3 Doors Down, Jeff Bridges, and Eric Burdon & The Animals. A Guinness World Records title holder, he has performed over 1,000 shows and helped raise millions for good causes.

"I’ve removed all of my music from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and every other major streaming platform. I’ve also deleted my YouTube channel and all social media accounts. No more chasing algorithms. No more playing a rigged game where real artists are buried by bots and manufactured content. No more relying on tech giants to reach people who already want to hear from me. From now on, everything I create—music, videos, tour dates, photos, and merch—lives only at my website. I’ve gone 100 percent direct-to-fan."

Posted: Aug 5, 2025

Category: Technology

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

"If you’re a band manager, publicist, or just a die-hard fan trying to keep tabs on your favorite act, staying informed about every mention online can feel overwhelming. Luckily, Google Alerts is a free and powerful tool that can do most of the legwork for you. In this post, I’ll walk you through how to use Google Alerts to monitor a band’s online presence—whether you’re trying to track press coverage, spot fan activity, or get ahead of potential PR issues."

Posted: Jul 30, 2025

Category: Indie on the Move

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From your account dropdown menu in the top right hand corner of the site, there is an option for settings...but the "Manage Follow" button on that page can take you to the more advanced alert customizations...All of these preferences will help you to be as informed as possible about the opportunities on the site while limiting the unwanted/irrelevant alerts.

Posted: Jul 23, 2025

Category: Technology

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

"If there’s one thing that just about everyone can agree on, it’s that AI-generated content known as “AI slop” is seriously boring and beginning to clog up the internet. Not only that, it’s pushing out content created by humans as sometimes recommendation engines can’t tell the difference. If this continues, you may see users begin to flee existing streaming and social platforms in search of true authentic content. In fact, content with flaws may soon become a sort of badge of honor for creators. To that end, YouTube has announced steps to combat AI slop in its upcoming update to its terms of service agreement."

Posted: Jul 16, 2025

Category: Marketing

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

"Artificial intelligence (AI) is having a massive impact on the music industry, and many musicians and listeners are concerned about the transformations the technology is bringing about...Artists are rightfully concerned about how this will affect music composition and their ability to earn. While these are legitimate concerns, AI is a game-changer in how artists market their music."

Posted: Jul 9, 2025

Category: Music Streaming

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**Guest post written by Chris of Pitchplaylists.com.

"Getting your music on Spotify playlists isn’t just a bonus it can be a game-changer. With more than 40 million artists featured on Spotify playlists every month, playlisting has become one of the top ways to grow your audience, increase streams, and build real momentum. But how do you actually get your music on those playlists and more importantly how do you stay there? Let’s break it down in simple steps, plus show you how Pitchplaylists makes the whole process easier and more effective."

Posted: Jul 1, 2025

Category: The Musician Business

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**Guest post written by Octavius Crouch, Founder & CEO of Red Octave.

"If you're an independent artist or label looking to hire a team for label services, the options can be overwhelming. From companies with polished pitch decks to flashy Instagram pages showing off work with major-label artists, it can be hard to tell who actually knows how to build success from the ground up and who only knows how to ride on someone else's momentum...When you’re hiring a label-services team, you need partners who understand what it means to grow something from zero."

Posted: Jun 24, 2025

Category: Music Festivals

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Unfortunately you cannot. This is for a couple of reasons: 1. Most music festivals and conferences just don't use email to book. 2. We want people to be knowledgeable about a festival or conference before doing their outreach. 3. There are plenty of times that a submission fee will be required along with your submission.

Posted: Jun 17, 2025

Category: Merch

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**Guest post written by Tony van Veen, originally featured in the Disc Makers Blog.

"One of the questions our Disc Makers product specialists get asked the most is this: If I spend $1000 to press vinyl, will I make my money back? In this article, I’ll discuss the cost of vinyl records and what your profit margins will be when you sell your records directly to fans. This will allow us to calculate how many records you’ll need to sell to cover your vinyl manufacturing cost. I’ll also explain the profit margins for distributors and stores, and I’ll provide some surefire tips for making money on vinyl. Let’s get started..."