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April 11, 2013 This is part 1 of an article written from the perspective of a program director/MD focusing on the creation and submission of materials for college radio – as a radio promotion company, and independently – though many of these points can be extrapolated and applied to areas both inside and outside of the music industry.
January 24, 2013 You might want to consider listening to what these people have to say. Many of them are industry professionals that have hands on experience that they’d like to share. Others are people who know about the industry and what it takes to be a part of it. It is important to educate yourself no matter what profession you choose. So before you embark on your next gig or take any other steps towards furthering your career in music take a look at these articles.
Artist FYI | tagged DIY, digital media, marketing October 18, 2012 Authors, composers and publishers have the right, but not the obligation, to register with Performing Rights Organizations (a.k.a Collection Societies, internationally) for the collection of royalties.
The primary function of PROs is the intermediation between copyright holders and entities who wish to use their music publicly (ex. a business establishment that broadcasts background music).
They can take the role of your lobbyist, your “agents”, and most importantly, your royalty collectors.
April 12, 2012 When pro audio gear reached the masses seven or eight years ago, the ‘home studio’ dream was born for tens of thousands of musicians all around the world. A couple of years later many of the leading manufacturers of recording gear such as Mackie and Motu started catering to the nomadic musicians and the touring artist with portable gear.
recording, studio | tagged DIY, recording, recording studio March 13, 2012 Songtrust is a music publishing organization that helps indie artists and working songwriters register their songs with agencies around the world while collecting royalties for radio play, television play, online play and other sources.
For a flat yearly fee of $50 for a solo act and $100 for a band, Songtrust will register 15 songs, create exposure for sync licensing opportunities, collect on U.S. and Canada royalties, while the artists keeps 100% of their copyrights and royalties. I first heard about Songtrust a few weeks ago, as I started to notice that they are doing some pretty heavy online campaigning with banners on just about every music related website on the web. So, curious me decided to reach out to them via email and I was able to have a brief interview with Songtrust’s Marketing Manager James Aviaz.
August 22, 2011 EyeSeeSound, three DIYers with a love of music and culture, have relaunched www.eyeseesound.tv as an online Music and Culture magazine with the format and aesthetic of print magazines.
Focussing on independent and DIY bands and artists the magazine, Heads Up, offers an opportunity for music and culture lovers to discover new bands, short films, animations, artists, photographers and designers through a stylish and innovative approach to website design and functionality.
July 27, 2011 It’s summer time in the city of New York and while most every music artist is concerned with putting out a ‘hot’ single to compete with the season’s heat or ‘making some noise’ via an oh so cliche ‘buzz’, one in particular has decided to thread so far left, he’s ends up right. iAreConscious currently in the midst of an ‘indefinite musical hiatus’ releases a free e-book entitled, “Clear & Lucid & Natural & Simple.”.
Book, Creativity, DIY, Digital, Marketing, Promotion | tagged DIY, e-Book, indie artists June 13, 2011
For many independent artists organizing do-it-yourself tours, a common question is, “How can we make more money on tour?” One of the simplest methods: by spending less. Here are some ways you can cut your expenses while on tour which leaves room for more profit.
Whether you’re planning a national, international, or regional tour the goals are the same: earn income while promoting yourself in a familiar or new territory. Reaching out to fans and connecting personally at your concerts are the keys to gaining a dedicated fan base and generating buzz around your band. Admittedly, while overall comfort plays a key role in combatting tour fatigue and maintaining performance levels, sometimes comfort isn’t an option. If tour expenses are outweighing guarantees, try implementing some of these cost-cutting travel techniques tailored for the DIY, self-booking independent artist.
Budgeting, DIY, Gigs, Live Music, Performance, The Business of Independent Music, Touring, managing money, tour | tagged DIY, band money, budgeting, music & money, saving, tour, touring, travel June 8, 2011 The challenge of being an independent artist, especially when you’re starting off is that you have no one but yourself to answer to. This of course can be both a good and bad thing. For one, if you’re driven - you can do many things very fast because you don’t have to delegate. On the other hand, some days, nothing happens at all because no one but yourself is responsible for your career (and you decided to just stay at home and comment on all your friend’s Facebook pages.) A very real issue is that most of what we do as artists does not pay financially (at least not immediately). Most of it is groundwork, most of it is the business side of our careers. This of course makes us comes to terms…
organizing, practicing music, simple | tagged DIY, Music DIY, music career, simplify April 30, 2011
Here we go folks, another edition of our weekly podcast featuring Brian Thompson from Thorny Bleeder and Michael Brandvold from Michael Brandvold Marketing.
This week’s topic? E-Commerce Solutions for Bands.
We discuss everything from getting your music up on iTunes and the Amazon MP3 Store, in addition to options on how to handle your merchandise sales and email marketing campaigns.
What platforms are you using to sell your band’s music and merch?
Be sure to follow Brian on Twitter here and Michael on Twitter here.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and share your own tips and tricks with us!
Brian Thompson
Podcast | tagged DIY, E-Commerce, Promotion, Thorny Bleeder, advice, brian thompson, indie, marketing, michael brandvold, music, podcast, tips March 2, 2011 Welcome to the first installment of TrueDIY Tech! In this do-it-yourself technology series, we will be providing details on how to create your own tools in the studio and explaining the most commonly practiced studio techniques. We’ll also be reviewing new equipment that is priced for aspiring engineers and how to use it to best suit your project.
In the video below, Chris Thomas of Strewnshank Productions explains how to build your own Subkick™ featuring audio examples showing the difference in a drum sound with and without the speaker microphone mixed in.
DIY | tagged DIY, Technology, recording December 20, 2010 Recently, on ContentSphere.de I argued about how highly required it is for DIY artists to get mobile – to find a way for mobile communication with fans. Actually, it is key to truely connect with fans. Apparently, there’s a solution to that. Finally.
I know, it’s beaten to death… but – there is an app for that. Of course, the main issue in CwF (Connect-with-Fans) is authenticity. You can’t buy that, same with the quality of your music. Yet it is required to have something to grow that on. A medium like an app.
That’s why I was curious to see if there’s anything like that available for the common DIY artist. But first off, why is it necessary at all?
November 5, 2010 Some people think only the talented or the beautiful can make music. This is rubbish. Anyone can enjoy making music. And everyone has something worth making a noise about. Hometaping is a big effort to get as many people as possible to make an album of music in one month - that month being this November. It’s a celebration of what happens when they do.
DIY, hometaping November 1, 2010
Social Media superhero Chris Brogan recently wrote a post on the basics – the 4 P’s of marketing(product, price, place, and promotion) and talked about how many people don’t spend enough time on their Product, and try to make up for it in Promotion. If that doesn’t work they try competing on Price. But rarely is much time spent thinking about Place.
This got me thinking about how music is marketed, and how absolutely right he is. A lot of indie musicians tend to spend the majority of their time on Product and Promotion, with Price usually being the standard $0.99 per track. The common mistake is in thinking that Place, which is your distribution, is taken care of once you’ve gotten your music up on iTunes or Bandcamp.
I think we need to start thinking of distribution as more than just where people download or buy your music from, and maybe shuffle a few P’s around in the process.
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