Steps to Music Licensing Success
In 2008, many a teenage heart was broken over indie-rock group The Format's break up. Soon after the split, singer Nate Ruess scored huge with a licensing deal for his new band, Fun. This one deal single-handedly took them from underground darlings to worldwide superstars in a matter of months. The key word? Licensing. Let's explore how to get licensed, and how one little song can change your life. The Format's story is a prime jumping-off point. They were a group whose succe
Ways to Boost Your Music Income Without Leaving Home
Making it as a musician isn’t easy. It takes a lot of grit, determination, and long hours to make your mark and, if you’re lucky, start seeing some financial gain from it. But I’m a firm believer that you can make a living as a musician if you’re willing to get creative and step outside the box of what you think that looks like. At the very least, you can certainly add some extra income to your pocket, and a lot of times, you can do it without even leaving the house. (So, no
Why Your Demo Isn't Enough to Make It in the Music Business
In today’s world, musicians are expected to be a one-stop shop for their own marketing, production, PR, and everything in between. Long gone are the days of A&R managers, discovering your raw talented un-branded and undeveloped. As if it weren't hard enough to complete your demo, you also have to figure out how to promote it and when you should follow up. Today, there are so many tools that offer ways to automate these added responsibilities, but they don’t handle everything.
5 Albums Recorded in Strange Ways That Still Sound Great
Most audio engineers will tell you that there’s a right way and a wrong way to record music, and if you’re going into the studio to make an album, it’s worth taking the time to do things right. Not every great album, however, was recorded using the “right” methods. In fact, some of the greatest albums of all time were recorded in ways that would seem totally wrong to most experienced audiophiles. Here are some of the best examples of albums that used the wrong techniques to g
Ways to Get Fans Buying Tickets to an Upcoming Show
Concerts are one of the primary ways you’re going to make money as a musician, so while it can be exhausting to promote all of your shows over and over, it’s what you have to do to stay in business. In fact, you’ll probably end up spending more time promoting concerts and pushing tickets than actually playing onstage! After initially releasing dates and announcing a tour, how do you make sure you sell as many tickets as possible? Social media will quickly become your best fri
Things Music Journalists Expect After Reviewing Your Album
It finally happened: that hot music blog called your album "inspired" and urged its voracious readers to give it a listen. You do a happy dance and text your mom to tell her you're on your way to bonafide rockstar status. This one 300-word post has made your entire day, week, and month. But before you get too swept away by seeing your band's name in print, don't forget whose fingers typed it. You likely either cold called the writer or blog, worked with a publicist or PR agen
Angles to Generate Media Interest
You made a great album, and you’re sure every blogger in the world is going to jump at the chance to cover you. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Media folks consider at a variety of factors when determining whether to cover a band, and the music itself is just a small piece. In every case of trying to drum up interest, it’s about connecting to something, or someone, bigger than your band's current state. Rolling Stone may not be interested in covering you if you only h
Famous Musicians Who Waited Forever to Quit Their Day Jobs
If you’re working a day job to fund your music career, you may feel like you haven’t “made it” yet as a real musician. But when you consider the paths of many famous musicians, you’ll notice that working a “regular job” while pursuing music on the side is something that many now-iconic artists have done. In fact, many successful musicians kept on working at their day jobs, even after “making it big” in the music business. Here are eight musicians who held onto their day jobs
Email Mistakes You're Probably Making Right Now
Crafting the perfect email takes work. It’s not enough to just shoot off a message full of copy-and-paste material and hope it sticks. It requires some time and concentration, and it's easy to slip up and make a mistake without realizing it. Check out these five no-nos, and be sure your next email to a promoter, venue, writer, or other music impresario doesn't include any of them. 1. Not personalizing your email Personalizing every email is so important, but you’d be surprise
A Guide to Roles in the Music Industry
Building your team as an artist can be incredibly overwhelming – especially when roles in the music industry are so loosely defined and everyone does a bit of everything. Still, there are some hard and fast rules about which team members do what. To get you started, I’ve compiled all that research into one, handy mini-field guide. Happy team building! Artists "I need the artist to know that there will never be a time where a manager, label, [or] agent will do the hustle and h
