August 23, 2019 You’ve got your sticks, picks, and kicks, and it’s time to get on the road to show the world your tricks. Your drummer is jazzed, your guitarist is electrified, and the passion is through the roof. But before you step out your door with your gear in hand, make sure you’ve thought about some key ingredients for tour success.
July 30, 2019 Getting a record deal used to be the number one priority for unsigned bands. Having the backing of a label, with the budget to distribute and market their music, was perhaps the only way to grow and start playing bigger and better shows. But with a shift in how listeners consume music, there’s been a change in what’s actually important when you want to “make it”.
DIY, Labels tagged DIY, Indie, lable, licensing, rights management, signed, social media July 29, 2019 Before you can even begin to consider rests and rhythm and the squiggly lines at the beginning of the music that give you migraines, you must first find an instrument to play on.
Naturally, you’ll have a lot of questions about acquiring a piano- should you actually buy one? Is it better to get a piano or a keyboard? Is it worth getting one second hand?
To help you, Jellynote has prepared a comprehensive guide to finding your dream instrument.
Music Gear tagged DIY, Equipment, Piano, buying, instrument, purchase July 23, 2019 Guest post by Randi Zimmerman. This article originally appeared on the Symphonic Blog.
If you’ve ever sat down to get some work done and been suddenly hit with a mental roadblock, this one’s for you. We all have moments where we feel uninspired no matter how hard we concentrate, and it can be frustrating when we can’t seem to find our way past it.
Luckily, there are many ways to boost creativity in a situation like this.
Advice, Creativity, DIY tagged Advice, Creativity, DIY, songwriting July 11, 2019 When it comes to live shows, the lighting is big part of the crowd’s enjoyment. It can really make a difference in how they are able to get the full experience of your show. So don’t make the mistake of having sub-par lighting that doesn’t represent your performance in the best way. Use these four tips to create the best atmospheric lighting possible
Advice, DIY, Live Music tagged Concert, DIY, lighting, live music, performance June 13, 2019 With income related to live performances accounting for 60-80% of most musicians incomes, it has never been more important to build and sustain a touring career. Grassroots Touring, a new course authored by music industry veteran Bruce Houghton, is designed to teach just that.
Houghton is the editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and the president of the Skyline Artists Agency and a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown.
During the 12 week college level course, which debuts with the July summer semester, the students will explore how to launch a touring career from scratch. They’ll learn how to create a memorable live performance; book, negotiate, and market only the right shows; capture a loyal fan base; tour regionally and nationally and build a success story that helps expand their entire career.
There’s more info online here.
http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/berklee-online-adds-grassroots-touring-course.html
June 3, 2019 Guest post by Gideon Waxman. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper
Being an independent touring musician might seem like a dream job for many. But the truth is that it’s not quite as glamorous as it’s made out to be, and the early stages of touring for an artist or band can be tough and grueling.
The fees aren’t great, and if you’re lucky to sell out of merchandise while on the road, that might just be your biggest source of income for the tour. In order to maximize your earnings you will need to minimize your spending. As the old English proverb says: “look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves.” Instilling good spending habits will allow a band to continue to grow while being financially sustainable.
May 15, 2019 Most of a musician’s time is spent honing their craft, preparing for shows, and playing performances. However, once the shows are over, it can be hard for musicians to handle the inevitable crash felt after riding that live music high. Musicians looking to overcome this musician’s malady should try the following ideas.
Advice, Live Music tagged Advice, DIY, live gigs, performance, relaxing May 14, 2019 Do you enjoy making music? If yes, we definitely understand you because it’s one of the most rewarding things you can do in life. It gives you the pleasure of creation and lets you express your deepest thoughts, ideas, and feelings. However, finding your place in the music sun is everything but easy.
An industry report conducted by the Next Big Sound shows that over 90% of all artists worldwide can be considered undiscovered. What does it mean? Well, most musicians simply cannot win over the new audiences and increase the number of listeners.
The competition in this field is extremely harsh, so you should try to use state of the art marketing channels in order to reach the target audience. It’s a long and challenging process, but we will help you get through it by presenting the eight best ways to promote your music in 2019.
May 13, 2019 Guest post by Patrick McGuire of Soundfly’s Flypaper
When musicians set out to dominate the world with their music, they usually envision playing to sold-out stadiums and amphitheaters of screaming fans, not living rooms in front of only a handful of attentive listeners. But believe it or not, for lots of artists, house shows end up being more beneficial and sustainable than ones played at traditional venues, and organizations like Sofa Concerts are trying to connect more artists with even more opportunities to everyone’s benefit.
If you’re an indie touring musician who’s used to a certain type of environment, and you still need some convincing, here are six great reasons why you should play more house shows.
May 2, 2019 If you’re a musician with some experience in audio recording, owning and operating a home studio can be a good way to make some extra money on the side or even build a full-time business. While the earnings may not be huge at first, it’s entirely possible to make $20 an hour or more for recording, mixing and mastering songs. Here are four tips that will help you put together your home studio so you can start making money from it.
DIY, Recording, Studio Technology tagged DIY, gear, home, music equipment, music software, musician, recording April 29, 2019 Guest post by Sammy Hakim. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper.
You’re sitting down in your home studio with a cup of coffee in your hand, and your guitar on your lap, and it hits you: writer’s block. Rather than power through it, it makes more sense to take a day off and find a way to get re-inspired, right?
Wrong.
Ask any writer in Nashville and you’ll quickly find out that waiting for inspiration can be a quick death to your career as a songwriter. In fact, even in the Los Angeles and New York markets, writers can often have between one and four co-writing sessions a day — meaning that if they can’t write, they might not be paid.
So how do you train yourself to be able to write a song a day?
Advice, Songwriting tagged DIY, Lyrics Writing, composition, creative, songwriting April 26, 2019 I’m part of a band that has had its fair share of false-starts over the years. Preparing for these false starts, I’ve repeatedly put together lists of potential blogs to pitch our music to when we’re building up to a release. To do this, I head over to The Hype Machine, head to the indexed sites, filter what’s relevant to my music, and then take down the details from the list I’m presented with. I’ll generally head to each blog, look up their submission guidelines, and make a couple of notes to personalise my emails to them, where possible. A couple of years ago, the vast majority of the blogs suggested the same – a variation on sending an email with a link to stream, be it via your own email or a web form. Since then, there has been an increasing trend towards using a service called Submit Hub.
April 24, 2019 Hitting the road and taking your band on tour is exciting. Whether this is your first tour and you’re still getting your feet wet or you’re veterans of the road, it’s important to make sure you stick to a budget so you can get to your designated performance locations with ease (and have a little fun along the way).
Playing music professionally is actually more of an investment than people tend to think. Until you reach “rockstar status” or you have a record label paying for your travel expenses, most of the money spent on a tour will come out of your own pocket.