If you’re anything like me, you most likely spent a lot of time and effort just to get a foot in the door and were lucky enough to be given the opportunity to strut your stuff. But how do young music professionals approach the next step of their industry journey and continue to grow?
Read More[Slice] The Independent Guide to Booking Festivals
With Festival season just around the corner, I thought it would be the perfect time to talk some strategies into how to get your band onto that bill - AND address some realities within the industry.
Read More[NEWS DUMP] Monday, February 12 | 2018
This past week it was all STREAMING PLATFORMS! Who am I kidding, what's new? Either way, read on for what's relevant...
- Apple Music paid subscribers set to surpass Spotify this summer (US only). Globally, Spotify is still killing it, but this is really big news. This means that the paid-only platform is working.
- Apple's Homepod was released. Apple is just churning out the news these days. Homepod was released and that could have a significant positive impact on the Apple Music subscriber base. Per the linked review, Homepod does not acknowledge any other music service, so Apple Music is the only go-to. Apparently the sound out of this little guy is incredible. Not sure how the device will stack up overall in the smart home speaker market (is that what's it's called?), but I'm sure we'll see updates and rollouts within the next year or so.
- Deezer going deeper into Asia. Do not count out Deezer on a global scale. And if you're not thinking about Asia in some capacity, it's time to roll that into your brain. The market is huge and they love music.
- Playlist creation starts on Amazon's Alexa. Users can now start up playlists and add to them with voice prompts. As of right now it only works with Amazon Music.
- AWAL's guide to pitching playlists. Handy guide for people just jumping into the playlist game.
- The Quincy Jones interview. I mean... it's not about independent artists, but it's an entertaining read.
BOTTOM LINE THIS WEEK?? Even more evidence that Spotify should not be the only thing you worry about!
RELEVANT:
Each Monday we post relevant news stories from the previous week that you should be paying attention to as an indie artist. We'll mainly focus on streaming platforms, artist pay rates, and what's going on in the world of social media so you can access your fans better. What you won't find here: top level executive changes at major labels, big money marketing partnerships with giant artists, and things of that nature. As always, send us comments, suggestions, or things we may have missed!
[SLICE] Taxes for Musicians
Not that I want to start a theme here, but today we’re going to talk money again, but this time about giving it away to the government. That’s right, it’s just about TAX TIME! Before we start, I want to clarify that this advice will only be relevant for when you file this year (as in your 2017 taxes). 2018 will see a massive tax overhaul for the self-employed and I’m not about to get into that mess yet.Here are 6 tips to filing taxes as a musician or freelancer.
Read More[NEWS DUMP] Monday, February 5 | 2018
[SLICE] Talking About MONEY
Today’s topic is something that makes us all uncomfortable unless we’re about to get a bunch of it: MONEY.
Read More[NEWS DUMP] Monday, January 29 | 2018
[GUEST SLICE]: Introducing, Randolph!
Randolph here — you might have seen my guest post a few weeks back (check that here) and am excited to be back with more young guns industry advice! I’ll be dropping in monthly to give my two cents on everything happening in the crazy world of the entertainment business through the millennial generation’s eyes.
Read More[NEWS DUMP] Monday, January 22 | 2018
Hey guys - each Monday we're going to start posting relevant news stories from the previous week that you should be paying attention to as an indie artist. We'll mainly focus on streaming platforms, artist pay rates, and what's going on in the world of social media so you can access your fans better. What you won't find here: top level executive changes at major labels, big money marketing partnerships with giant artists, and things of that nature. As always, send us comments, suggestions, or things we may have missed!
Read More[SLICE] Promote Your Shows
You know when I go off on rant? WELL YOU’RE ABOUT TO HEAR ONE. And I’ve never been less sorry about it.WHYYYYYY why why do bands not properly promote their shows? WHY? Why. I can’t stop asking.
Read More[SLICE] The Secret Formula To Success
The quick fix. The magic bullet. The formula for success. Ready for it??
Read More[SLICE] Music Industry Resolutions for 2018!
Not sure if you subscribe to the notion of resolutions, but we sure as hell hope you've been thinking about some goals for the year. We've given ourselves a hard deadline of January 31 to have all of ours together so that we can keep track throughout the year. If you're nerds like us, here are our tips for sticking to them + 10 resolutions we came up with for the industry overall.
45/52: Take A Mental Break
Guys, we made it. It’s finally the end of 2017 and no matter how you feel about the state of the industry, politics, or humanity, we’re here and we probably all need a break.
One thing that is extra hard to do in this industry is “shut off.” When I first started working in music, I couldn’t really believe that a lot of the industry shuts down for the last couple weeks of the year.
Read More44/52: No Shitty Artwork Allowed
Ready for another thing that makes me cringe? I mean, are you really? I feel like you might be over it. OK - here goes.
A CHART-TOPPING CRINGE WORTHY ELEMENT: SHITTY SINGLE, EP, OR ALBUM ARTWORK.
Read More43/52: Stop Comparing
Hey ABTS-ers! Ron and I are getting prepped to give a talk tonight at the Vanderbilt Blair School of Music (no relation). It’s a songwriting class that also incorporates music business talks - super cool. If you’re interested in stuff like this, I highly encourage you to look up a similar class/gathering in your own community. Getting together with other like-minded people once a week will not only be a great learning experience, but it can also give you the motivation you need to get your project rolling.
In light of community, today’s topic is the old comparison problem. As in, the thing that artists and managers almost can’t help but do within the first few years of a project. Some people never get over it - and it’s a hard task to accomplish, but eventually you should realize that comparing yourself and your project to others is not only unproductive, it can actually also harm your forward momentum.
Here’s the thing. No two projects are 100% identical and have the exact same path. Luck and hard work comes in many forms and sometimes someone might get an opportunity before you do. That does NOT mean that you won’t get that opportunity as well. Yeah, sometimes it sucks to feel slighted and left out, but if you start taking everything as a personal attack, your life will get pretty miserable pretty quickly. Once you start to nitpick and compare irrelevant metrics, the harder it is to get out of your own head and out of your own way (“I mean, I have 5,000 more facebook followers, I should totally have gotten that radio in-studio before them” -- sound familiar?).
As for personal experience, we have PLENTY of it. For a while when Ron and I first started working together, it was almost impossible to not compare him to other artists in New York and others that got their start from the internet. It felt pretty specific so it felt personal. I get it -- this is your life’s work, it does feel so personal. However, you have to get over that notion of thinking, and quickly. Eventually we realized that we were spending so much time fretting over what “they” had that we didn’t that we were losing sight of the things we had been able to accomplish. We weren’t taking stock in what we had and that we were walking our own path. #Blessed.
If you seem to be constantly comparing what you do to someone else, it could very well be the product of your environment. Do your other artist friends do the same? If so, try to be the force that changes that thinking. Once you build up a community of supportive musicians (and industry!) you might be surprised at how you all start to get opportunities and can then help each other out. Friends! Remember that post??
Negativity is like a disease in this industry. Don’t be the source of it.
Bottom line: Just because someone is successful doesn’t mean you can’t be. If someone from your community/genre/friend group has some success, that can only be good for you. Support them and in turn, you’ll get their support when something great happens to you.
Bottom bottom line: don’t be a hater.
REASON TO IGNORE THIS ADVICE: You’re a jerk who wants one more hurdle in this already tough world!
42/52: Know When To Ask For Help
One of the things we’re most thankful for are all of the amazing people that help us get through life and help our business run smoothly (... or as smoothly as possible in the ridiculous world of music). We didn’t always have a solid team and there were times that we each borderline had a mental breakdown (luckily, not often at the same time). After multiple nights of tears and asking if we should go get new jobs, we finally decided we needed to start looking for help.
Read More41/52: Free Promo! Getch'ur Free Promoooo!
Once you have an new music or a tour booked and ready to go on sale, it’s time to start promoting the crap out of it. Easy enough, right? A quick jump into the sea of promotion will lead you to one very true realization: THAT SHIT IS EXPENSIVE. Chances are, you don’t have a deep bank account supporting your new release… and if you’re reading this you likely don’t have a label with a massive budget either.
Here are 8 free things that you can be doing to promote your music
Read More40/52: Get Paid.
One of the hardest things you’ll do as an artist is figuring out how to get all of your money. It’s almost like it’s intentionally confusing. I had no idea when I started out in the industry that I’d essentially need a masters in “GO GET THE MONEY”
Read More39/52: Write a Professional Email
There are few formal business rules in the music industry, however, sounding like a pro will inherently get you taken more seriously. Multiple times a week I get emails basically beg me to not respond to them. This is not to say “I’m important & you’re not” - often, it’s emails that are incredibly tedious and hard to follow. Unfortunately, these tend to sit in my inbox until I have a very slow day (which isn’t too often). I do my best to respond to every single email, but most people in the industry do not. I’m here to help you get that email read and responded to!
Read More38/52: Go Pro With That Photo
It has come to my attention that this post is a necessary one! Every day I see artists that don’t follow this one rule -