Derek James

"I can't wait to quit my day job and do music full time!" How many times have you said that to yourself and everyone around you? The necessary evil of a day job that has nothing to do with music can make you feel you're never progressing fast enough to get your career off the ground. It takes up too much of the time you could be spending practicing, writing new songs, networking, engaging with your fans, or anything else in the world that's more important than what you do. Bu

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

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

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.

As a musician or music artist, you're going to be taking a lot of photos with your fans. This is an undeniable fact whether you’re just starting out and your fans are just your friends or if you’re one of the biggest superstars on the planet. It’s something that comes along with creating music and performing live in front of an audience. If you’re extremely camera shy, you’re going to have a problem, but for most people, taking selfies with other music lovers can be fun. If y

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

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

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

Even if you're just a casual user of the photo-sharing platform Snapchat, you've probably heard about Spectacles. This special pair of glasses manufactured by Snap Inc., Snapchat's parent company, allows users to snap hands-free with a quick tap. Until recently, these chic gadget accessories were only available from roving bot kiosks, but as of last week, they're now for sale online. You may already be using Snapchat as a way to share your daily musical activities, but with S

We all know the music industry is tough to break into, and even tougher to make a living out of. Many independent musicians juggle day jobs just to keep the lights on, and no matter how much you love music, there are days where it feels like the battle is too uphill. But even on the toughest days when you feel like giving up, these quotes will remind you why you're following your passion. 1. "Being in a band turns you into a child and keeps you there." - Thom Yorke 2. "My who