4 WaysTo Be A Tighter Live Band

There’s nothing worse than a band that sounds great on record but sounds like garbage live. No performance is 100% perfect, but from my experience, there are things I’ve learned to overcome those mistakes and bumps in the road and still leave showgoers with the feeling that my band is halfway decent and knows what we’re doing. Here are a few of my suggestions.

Click to read more ...

4 Ways to Spark Inspiration And Break Through Writer’s Block

When you write for a living, every now and then you will fall into that infuriating slump known as writer’s block. Writer’s block isn’t only for authors or bloggers; musicians can also find themselves lacking words and inspiration.

Inspiration doesn’t always easily fall into your lap, and sometimes you have to seek it or recognize it in different ways. Next time you find yourself lacking the words you’re looking for, try one of these solutions to spark that next song.

Click to read more ...

9 Ways To Build Your Mailing List (And Sell More Music Online)

This post was written by Jon Ostrow and originally appeared on the Bandzoogle Blog.

Question: which is more important: Facebook or email?

Believe it or not, your email is not only more important than Facebook, but also any other social network. Email marketing has been shown to be as much as 40 times more effectivethan Facebook and Twitter combined.

So it is the most important marketing tool you have to keep in touch with your fans, and to make more money for your music career.

Click to read more ...

6 Social Media Tools For Musicians

You’re an emerging artist on the go and you want your fans to keep up with what you’re doing, but you just don’t have the time. Social media management tools give musicians that chance to be successful. Scheduling Tweets about upcoming concert dates or meet-and-greets can make all the difference in your career. We have put together six of the best social media tools for musicians.

Click to read more ...

How Big Is The Music Business, Really?

Despite music being more accessible than ever before, feelings of unfair treatment and unfair compensation are rampant among musicians at all levels. Although Spotify takes the brunt of the blame, there are a lot of factors at play (the jury is split on the effects of piracy) and this isn’t the first time musicians have felt unfairly compensated for their music.

Click to read more ...

MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: Traveling Band

• Rachelle Wilber | Traveling Band - Touring Details to Go Over With Your Manager
• Jeff Sass | Brand Your Music With An Innovative Domain Name
• Jon Ostrow |How To Make Money From Your Music On YouTube
• Larry Butler | Why Nothing Compares To Prince
• Julie Wischan | Yeah, Only 13 Year Old Girls Like That Band

Traveling Band - Touring Details to Go Over With Your Manager

Summer touring season is fast approaching and many bands are finalizing those last minute details before the tour starts. Every year, bands report issues and problems that could have easily been avoided by simply talking to their manager before they ever set foot on the tour bus. Whether you’re a part of a top selling band or just starting out with an unknown group, there are some simple details that can make this tour the best one ever.

Click to read more ...

Brand Your Music With An Innovative Domain Name

Ever since the days of Myspace, artists and musicians have known that leveraging their presence in the digital space can lead to greater success. Using social media and the internet to strategically build your brand helps fans find you. Beyond that, it boosts your credibility with venues and, these days, even the labels. Many artists know social media is a powerful way to connect with fans, but training them to go to another website like Facebook to find you isn’t necessarily the best long-term strategy. It makes more sense to steer your fans to an online address that you control.

Click to read more ...

How To Make Money From Your Music On YouTube

YouTube is undoubtedly one of the most important tools for musicians to market and engage with fans online. But how does YouTube make you money?

Rather than simply allowing YouTube to run ads on your music videos and hoping for the best, you should focus on creating a sales funnel strategy.

Click to read more ...

Why Nothing Compares To Prince

There’s always been a notion that if we could emulate the lives of those we admire, then our lives would have the same outcomes as theirs – talented, successful, rich, famous, happy, whatever. That, of course, explains all the “Seven Secrets of…..” books and the popularity of biographies as treasure maps to our desired fortunes. Although the lives of successful music artists fall into that same category and there are certainly crafts and skills to be mastered, there are two areas that cannot be duplicated, which are, unfortunately, the two most important things required for success – artistry and luck. Which is why nothing compares to Prince. His was the perfect storm of skills, artistry and luck.

Click to read more ...

Yeah, Only 13 Year Old Girls Like That Band

I am a muscian who recently read this article on The Guardian about musicians who scoff at their young female fans.  Even before reading it, though, I’ve heard many people elude to it: musicians having young female fans takes away some sort of credibility.  I even accepted this to be true as a teen girl myself, while listening to a song on repeat for hours, obsessing over every word and its possible meaning, and becoming entwined with the music and personal life of the artist.  It seemed that any musician on a poster in my room instantly and undoubtedly became laughable.  

Click to read more ...

MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: Ensure Your Music Career Success

• Tom Hess | The One Thing That Will Ensure Your Music Career Success
• Janette Berrios | How To Advance Your Music Career In A Digital Age
• Jon Ostrow | 5 Steps To Creating An Effective Music Marketing Plan
• Ta’rikah Jones | 5 SEO Tips For Musicians
• Larry Butler | The Ten Rules Of The Road (And Of Your Life)

The One Thing You Already Have That Will Ensure Your Music Career Success (If You Allow It)

What one thing is the key factor for your success in the music industry?

Answer: Your type of mindset. Regardless of what you do, every choice you make and action you have performed up until now has been determined by the type of mindset you’ve built for yourself.

The most popular and successful professional musicians were not born with amazing skills or more potential than everyone else. They have a separate kind of mindset that causes them to take different actions and get better results.

Click to read more ...

How To Advance Your Music Career In A Digital Age

Being a musician these days is tough! Back in the good ‘ol days, artists just had to worry about learning their craft and booking shows, hoping to get radio support along the way that could eventually get you signed to a label. But today things have gotten a bit more complicated. But with every challenge there always lies opportunity. This opportunity is that we now have more access to information than ever before–information is knowledge. Now all the barriers of entry only large record labels knew about are out there in the open. With a bit of research and time, we know the industry works and we know how musicians can make money in it.

Click to read more ...