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April 25, 2013
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Musician, Understanding Copyright Law tagged copyright, independent, indie, piracy April 23, 2013 Some artists wanted to hear more about the subject, so here’s part #2.
In the first part of the Rise of the Musicpreneur, I highlighted the business and online assets a modern music artist should take care of.
Today, I will touch upon the practical side of the topic. It has to do with the agenda every artist should maintain in regards to Marketing, Live Performance, Creation and Fans.
April 15, 2013 It was towards the end of a long, cold, 2 month tour around Europe promoting my new album, just about to head to Portugal to finish off and enjoy a bit of sun. I got an email from a fan in Switzerland saying something like “Hey, check out this video, it’s pretty cool but the best part is the music ;-)”
I clicked the link and it lead me to a video on Eurosport/Yahoo Europe. The video was by Red Bull and was of a guy called Daniel Bodin doing an amazing 220ft jump on a snowmobile, from an Olympic ski ramp. The music behind it was my song “What Am I?” from my second album “The Rooftop Recordings.”
April 2, 2013 I’ve recently become intrigued with DIY, Youtube sensation Alex Day. Coverage of his ongoing artistic success has been popping up here and there for the last year and I finally sat down to review and digest the different possible factors that have led to his success in hopes of revealing a path I may be able to co opt for my own musical efforts.
Creating a Strong Community, youtube tagged YouTube, independent, indie, success March 28, 2013 We’re still in the early stage of the rise of polymath and entrepreneurial musicians, but the Musicpreneur is not far from being the norm.
Nobody, however, has come up with a satisfactory description of what being an independent musicians in the digital age entails. It’s a cool name, but how does it work? In this essay, I will attempt to adumbrate those attributes, because I strongly believe we’ll see them get amplified in the future.March 6, 2013 “Has Your Music Been Featured In The New York Times?” That’s quite a question! When I saw the advertisement headline recently I was tempted to click on it myself it looked so enticing.
This is a bit of a dangerous article, but after seeing that the advertisements for these types of companies are still all over the place targeting hopeful musicians, and knowing the disappointment left in their wake, I had to say something. It is in no way intended to insult anyone. It is only meant to tell the truth, so you can take that for what it’s worth.
February 15, 2013 I’m doing my taxes this week.
If it helps you maintain my “image”, imagine I’m A.) really sad about it, philosophically pondering how Western Civilization and Capitalism got to the point that I, one whose job it is to write poems and sing them so that we can momentarily forget about these things, am sitting at a computer figuring up royalties to the .000000000000001th decimal point. (this part is actually true.) and B.) Not wearing glasses and my hair looks super cool. (this part is not true.)
Selling Your Music, itunes, music sales tagged independent, music sales February 14, 2013 In the increasingly difficult world of getting your music heard, indie artists are being supplied with unparalleled tools in the form of social media, web sites specializing in “helping” musicians with marketing, and audio platforms which promise unlimited access to the public.
December 6, 2012 “Can we get in Pitchfork?” I’ve been asked this question by many artists who are just starting out, and of course, there is always that chance. However, there seems to be a looming expectation attached to the question that has some troubling residue. One artist advised me that he would accept interview requests from publications like Pitchfork or Rolling Stone, but I would have to get his permission for “smaller publications”. Do you see the issue here?
September 27, 2012 Ever wondered what kind of income levels are achievable as a musician? Well read on, as that’s exactly what we’re going to be looking at today.
Below is one of the chapters taken from my new book ‘The Independent Musician’s Survival Guide’. I know there’s a lot of misconceptions about how much money can actually be made from your music career, so I thought it’d be valuable to share this chapter and help you gain a more realistic view of what is achievable. There’s no hype or half truths here, this is as realistic a evaluation as you’ll likely get.
If you find this information useful, please share it on your favorite social networking sites and link to it from your site. Thank you.
September 19, 2012 Do you ever feel like modern society is like a million screaming kids with A.D.D. unleashed at a Chuckie Cheese?
We’re just bouncing off the walls, interrupting each other, there’s no order, we just go and fling ourselves into the next unconsciously interesting experience…
A successful artist was just an artist who did the right things, the right way, and didn’t quit.
I’ve never met a dumb musician. Seriously.
So is it the structure, the discipline, or the determination?
The Road to Success tagged Music, focus, independent, indie, success August 16, 2012 I feel compelled to write this after hearing about Jeff stepping down as Tunecore’s CEO. I’m not clear on who his replacement is, but I’m going to say something that Jeff was once kind enough to say about me: he’s everything that is right with the modern music industry. He makes time for his artists. He breathes music. I’ve always seen Tunecore as a supportive family and there can be no greater home for my work, and Jeff is responsible for creating such a welcoming and encouraging environment for emerging talent.
Music as a Business tagged Tunecore, independent, music industry June 13, 2012 Got your attention? Good. Now obviously there is no ONE path to launching a career as a musical artist, whether you are going the Indie Route or aim to get picked up by a Major Label…
But I fear that the overwhelming DIY concepts saturating the already overloaded artist/musician is causing analysis paralysis and/or an unneeded amount of complication surrounding what one really needs to do to build your foundation as an Independent Artist or Band.
Throughout this two part article series I am going to do my best to break the component parts down to understandable and slightly over-simplified concepts to leave you with what I believe you’ll find very valuable insight and a message that you can apply to your life/career in some helpful way.
Or, screw it… If you read this article, 4 million dollars will fall out of the sky and land on your doorstep, and the girl/guy of your dreams will instantly show up in your life… Ok. NOW you’ll read!
But today, in retrospect of what I know now, and from working with artists and bands to progress and develop their career, launch albums, and get more clear on what they need to do and as a DIY Indie Artist, there are a few things I would do differently to build the foundation of my musical career…
This is what I would like to share, and exactly what I would have liked to have had someone tell me eight years ago, so hopefully you will be able to benefit from this.
June 12, 2012 Hi guys. Today, I want to share with you my views on some of the traits that makes an independent musician successful. While this isn’t a complete list of the things that they generally have in common, all of these things do tend to be defining characteristics outside of the fact that they have talent.
So read on, and see if you can incorporate any of the below points into your music career.
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