Internet radio play for indie artists Let’s be honest; as a DIY musician you’re probably not going to get sudden and sustained airplay on the giant terrestrial radio stations. You simply don’t have the budget for the kind of radio campaign where every DJ in the country starts spinning your single in a short period of time. So put aside your dreams of breaking into the top of the charts overnight […]

Music publishing remains one of the most financially lucrative areas in the music business.” The Music Publishing Industry raked in $4.9 billion in revenue in 2011 according to the IBISworld Market Research Report. For the most part Music publishing is governed by U.S. copyright law. You actually own the copywrite of a song once you write it. But, it’s important that you register the song with the Library of Congress […]

To establish your web presence with authority, whatever aesthetic or commercial form that presence takes, requires a solid network with an official website, an active social network presence and passive markers back to one’s website and social accounts. Whether or not you’re feeling the energy of a New Year, now’s a great time to tune up your web presenceso you can move forward with authority. Bandzoogle CEO David Dufresne writes about the “hub and spokes” model […]

It’s the new year, and the current news surrounding the music business is still bad. At this stage of the game, CD sales are barely part of the conversation and it can feel discouraging and downright depressing if you are trying to earn actual money from making music. I believe the way a vast majority of artists will make money in 2013 will be through crowd funding. However, crowd funding […]

Giving out you music for free is a waste of time. Yes I know, this goes against everything you’ve been taught so far. We all know how hard it is to sell your music to new fans, so the obvious step seems to be giving out loads of freebies until people are ready to buy your music right? Ummm, wrong! The thing is, giving your music out for free can actually […]

Fan, I work as a promoter for a club in the midwest and I’ve found there’s a real disconnect between what some bands and venues expect — what each of them see as each other’s obligation to promote a show. Whether or not you play for money, glory or the love of art, there are people involved whose livelihoods depend on the show doing well. Besides the venue-owners, bartenders can […]

1. Choosing the right platform There are several platforms available for crowd funding. While many of them seem to offer a similar experience to those funding the campaign (fund a campaign and in return become apart of an experience – oh yeah, and receive some pretty great prizes), choosing the right one for the campaign creator (us!) wasn’t easy. For us, it came down to understanding the focus of the […]

As an advocate of well executed social media/blog-focused music marketing, I think it’s crucial to understand not only why you should be marketing your music, but how you should be marketing your music. Taking the step to becoming a proactive, marketing-savvy, social musician can mean the difference between success and failure. Yes, it is that cut and dry, and yes, it is that simple. However, before you dive right in […]

Twenty years ago, as a music fan, you would hear a song you enjoyed on the radio, head to the record store to buy the album and wait until the band came to town to attend a concert. The music industry was based on a straightforward consumption model. In this online day and age you can consume music on innumerable platforms, interact with artists and other fans, and discover or […]

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the twenty most profitable merchandising items – pound for pound – based on average costs and expected retail price tags. The data comes from top merchandising provider Jakprints, which compiled and averaged the data from multiple band and retail sites. Here’s a top-level look based on profit margins, specifically expressed as how much larger the retail price is than the cost. And, here’s the more detailed […]