3 Tips For Expanding Your Career Beyond Music

Career MusicianLimiting your options to being only a musician is like saying you’re only going to try one instrument. The journey is the destination, and most successful musicians ended up where they are not because of their musical abilities but because of their abilities to venture into other areas of business.
Read more

Anxiety And Depression – You Are Not Alone!

anxiety and depressionWorking in the music business can make you depressed! That’s the conclusion of a recent online study in the UK with more than 2200 participants: musicians and people working in the music business. More than 70% of the participants recorded to have suffered from panic attacks or high levels of anxiety, almost as many people have recorded to have suffered from depression. Not many musicians dare to talk about it. Not many agents or managers either, by the way.
Read more

Cancelling A Club Gig For A Private Event: 5 Things To Consider

It’s tempting right?

You get that call for an awesome 90-min $5k gig (with PA provided) but then look on your calendar and you’re at “The Club” for a 3-hr show @ $900 with all your own gear. Of course, depending on your relationship with them, canceling may not be an issue.

BUT if you think it is an issue or will be in the future (and you actually value playing at the club), consider these 5 things when you get that “offer you can’t refuse”….
Read more

3 Ways To Become a Stronger Lyricist (and Have Fun Doing It)

Lyricist“I hope you don’t mind
I hope you don’t mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world”

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then lyrics are a thousand pictures. This is a little section from the now-classic Elton John hit “Your Song”. What the average radio listener may not know is that those lyrics are penned by Elton’s primary writing partner Bernie Taupin. Before Bernie, “Your Song” was just a wonderful piece of piano music and a vocal melody without a story. Had Elton wrote his own words, would we have ever recognize it from it’s opening chords? A great lyricist can add extraordinary power to an already solid song, taking it to the next level.  This partnership example is one of so many behind some of the biggest hits in history.  So how did Mr. Taupin sharpen his skills enough to score that gig?  Well, we should refresh on some of the basics…
Read more

Running Your Music Career Like A Business

Music BusinessLike Mr. Carter has stated, “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.”  Few words with plenty of subtext.  The current state of the music industry can seem at times like being dropped in a forest at midnight.  With innovation in technology and new services coming out all the time, the independent arena provides all the tools you need to get to the next level.  What separates the hobby-player from the pros is simple, treating your music career like a business.  If your plan is to score a major record deal, you must know that the folks behind those decisions are looking for an artist that’s in it for the long haul.  There is serious money that gets put behind breaking an artist to the mainstream, you must be ready to take the commitment and capitalize on it!  Here’s a rundown on how to get started.
Read more

Your YouTube Channel Checklist

YouTube ChecklistIf you have a YouTube channel (and if you don’t you really should create one right now) you can optimize it by utilizing its features to the fullest. Here’s an excerpt from my Social Media Promotion for Musicians book that outlines the things that you should be sure are taken care of.

Branded Channel Art
The channel art is the banner at the top of the page where you can display a customized graphic. YouTube suggests this graphic be 2560 x1440 pixels so that it works on all types of televisions, tablets, smartphones and computers, but what YouTube will show on most computer browsers is 1546 x 423. This is known as the “safe area” and is where you should place any critical graphics information since anything outside that area might not show up on a device with a smaller screen. The graphic can be up to 2MB and in either a JPG or PNG format. The Channel Art upload section is accessed by clicking on the pen icon on the top right of graphics box. You can access a template for the channel art, as well as a design tutorial, by clicking on “How to create channel art” at the bottom of the upload pop up box.
Read more

WHY MUSICIANS NEED TO CARE ABOUT NET NEUTRALITY

No Internet, No MusicThe internet has brought so much to musicians—both good and bad. It has fundamentally changed how we listen to, sell, discover, and promote music. It blew up the record industry, on one hand, and it has developed crucial tools that help musicians—like CASH Music!—on the other.

Personally, I could not imagine making music today, let alone reaching people who wanted to hear it, without the internet.

Being a musician has fundamentally influenced how I use it and which websites I visit. My band Bucket uses the internet to sell, stream, distribute, and promote our music digitally. People can even place a hold on our CD from their local library online. Even more specifically, my musical pursuits pushed me back onto Facebook last year after I had sworn off social media. (I was having trouble booking my first DIY tour only using email, and it proved quite helpful as a means to that end.)
Read more

Millennials Are Buying Vinyl, But Not From Record Stores

Millennials Are Buying Vinyl, But Not From Record StoresFrom the high street, you’d be forgiven for thinking the growth in vinyl sales was a myth. We’re not seeing the high streets overrun with record stores, and those that do exist are populated, for the most part, by the usual suspects. Younger generations are only treading tentatively in their doorways. So who’s buying? And where?

Read more

The 5 Essential Elements of Artist Branding

Artist brandingLet’s talk for a second about icons.  Elvis.  Michael Jackson.  Nirvana.  Beyonce.  What do all these superstar acts have in common?  Solid branding.  Any major success in the music industry is achieved with the help of specific team members who create and refine a public facing persona to capture the attention of the masses.  If you simply follow your instinct and express your artistry you can do most of this work on your own.  Here’s the checklist you’ll want to tackle to make sure you’re on the right track.
Read more