DIY Musicians: Trying To Do Everything Is Hurting Your Chances of Success

This article originally appeared on the Sonicbids Blog

Pretty much every indie musician I’ve talked to has two big problems: there’s just too much to do, and despite putting a lot of time and effort into their career, they feel stagnant, like they’re not making any progress.

In this article, we’re going to solve these two problems with one stone. If you want to go further, I have a time management and productivity ebook as well as a goal-setting ebook that you can download for free to keep the momentum going in your music career.

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MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: The Flute And The Toothed Beast

• Jonathan Sardis | The Tale Of The Flute And The Toothed Beast
• Anne Kings | On-Demand Music Content At The Center Of US Recording Industry
• Mylène Besançon | Keep Your Songwriting Clean And Basic For Your Listeners
• Anica Oaks | Working In The Industry: 4 Behind-The-Scenes Music Jobs
• Robert Lanterman | Frugality On DIY Tour: Some Simple Suggestions

The Tale Of The Flute And The Toothed Beast

The internet can be a cruel place.

Recently, Welsh alt-rock trio The Joy Formidable released their third full length album, ‘Hitch’. Adored for years by critics, it seemed like only a matter of time before TJF before some wanted to knock them off the pedestal their towering rhythms and melodies had allowed them to climb to. Whilst there have been mixed reviews across the board for their latest effort, one review has been thrust to the forefront of discussion, with casualties on either side.

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On-Demand Music Content Now Stands At The Center Of US Recording Industry

While some artists see streaming as a thorn in the marketing side of music business, the recording industry itself can look at it as its future and saving grace.

Indeed, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the country’s recording industry made more money last year at $7.026 billion from just $6.951 billion in 2014. The 0.09 percent increase was brought about mostly by sales coming from music streaming across various platforms such as Spotify, Tidal, Pandora, and iTunes.

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Why It Is Important To Keep Your Songwriting Clean And Basic For Your Listeners

In creating songs, one of the best things you can do is to keep your songwriting as simple as possible. Keeping it simple does not mean lightweight or nonsensical or adding a lot of fluff, it simply means maintaining clarity so that your listeners don’t have to be doing mental gymnastics to keep up.

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Working In The Industry: 4 Behind-The-Scenes Music Jobs

When envisioning the music industry, we are conditioned to picture just a few roles: the artist, their manager, the producer, and a couple other high-profile jobs. In reality, the music that we love passes through several hands—including creative, technical, and business-minded ones—before it hits our ears. If you want to work with music, these four behind-the-scenes jobs will make you a key player in the industry.

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Frugality On DIY Tour: Some Simple Suggestions

A DIY tour is expensive. There are ways to be successful, but for a band just starting out, I would recommend trying to spend as little money as possible. Here are some suggestions on how you can do that.

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MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: Old-School Marketing Tricks That Still Work

• Christopher DeArcangelis | Old-School Marketing Tricks That Still Work
• Daniel Hartnett | Upload Videos And Pictures From Your Computer To Instagram
• Anita Ginsburg | Five Ways To Expand Your Musical Interests
• Sarah Spencer | What ‘No Unsolicited Material’ Means
• Rachelle Wilber | Scratches And Dents: Keeping Your Guitar Safe On The Road

5 Old-School Marketing Tricks For Your Next Show That Still Work

This article originally appeared on the Sonicbids Blog

Think you’re doing everything you need to do for your next show by creating a Facebook event invite? Close your laptop and think again. While the internet is a powerful tool for promoting your band, traditional marketing tricks for promoting your shows still work wonders, especially for creating real fans with a real interest in your music.

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How To Upload Videos And Pictures From Your Computer To Instagram

Instagram, the most popular app for sharing photos and videos, has grown over the past 3 years, more than any of its rivals on social networks, including Twitter and Snapchat. Currently, the number of people sharing photos and videos every month through Instagram rose 300 million, at the beginning of the year and now exceeds the number of people using Twitter every month in almost 100 million. 

The application incorporates this year the possibility of uploading videos and gif, and also add some new filters, new features that have allowed to Instagram add users and some detractors, especially since they decided to add advertising to the timeline 

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Looking For Something New? Five Ways To Expand Your Musical Interests

There are two different kinds of people when it comes to musical taste. There are those that are open minded and those that seem to listen to just one style of music or even just one particular band. Here are five tips to help you expand your musical listening palate. 

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What 'No Unsolicited Material' Means And Why You Should Take It Seriously

This article originally appeared on the Sonicbids Blog

Artists and songwriters have encountered this roadblock of a phrase many times before: “no unsolicited material.” The ominous slogan conjures up images of faceless label execs in black suits and ties with an arm out, palm forward in the universal gesture for, “Stop. We are untouchable. Your career goes no further.”

It can be the most infuriating thing for an eager artist to deal with. That’s especially true when youknow you have great material that aligns with the label’s brand and roster. I get you, buddy. I’ve been there, too. But “no unsolicited material” is actually not as scary and unapproachable of a term as it seems once you understand why labels use it in the first place.

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Scratches And Dents: Keeping Your Guitar Safe On The Road

Traveling is great, but the wear and tear of the road can completely destroy guitars. Although guitars have a reputation as rough-and-ready instruments that you can take anywhere, they are actually quite delicate. Not only can they easily get dented or scratched from a bumpy ride in a trunk or airline luggage apartment, but they are also very sensitive to changes in temperature, pressure and humidity. The tips in this article will help your guitar survive tour relatively unscathed.

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MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: Music Education

 

• Rachelle Wilber | Music Education: Why It Is Important To The Industry
• Russell Sheffield | The Scary “S” Word: Redefining Success As A Musician
• Darius Burgan | How To Get Your Music On Hip-Hop Blogs
• Larry Butler | How To Get All The Benefits From SXSW Without Actually Going
• Hilde Spille | If-Only And The Hedonic Treadmill