Emailing complete strangers for advice, assistance, guidance, help, favors or anything else involving their time and effort can sometimes be productive– but only if you can make a really good case for yourself, why you’re emailing them in particular, why they should pay attention to what you’re doing and what you need, and most importantly, what’s in it for them to help. If you expect to have any success whatsoever, […]

Follow these steps for a less painful, less poverty-stricken professional life. #1. Meet Anyone and Everyone You Can In This Business. Before you’re desperate for a job, before your loans are due, and before you need something from people, it’s critical to start meeting people who are actually working in the industry.  You will be investing heavily in your future network, one that will pay very rich dividends down the line. […]

Today, social media is a valuable tool for any songwriting career and you are likely already active on various platforms. However, there are some key strategies to put into place if you want to maximize your social presence and really see a difference in engagement. To that end, here are some tips from the experts on building a community around your music via two of the leading platforms – Facebook […]

It’s been said that it’s not easy to get to the top—but it’s even harder to stay there. The music business is notoriously fickle. Writers who have a hot streak of hits—then disappear from the charts—are more the norm than those who have careers that span a decade or more. Yet somehow, some songwriters (and recording artists) manage to sustain their success—despite changing tastes and styles. Musical tastes are constantly […]

If you write songs, and your songs are sold, downloaded, streamed or used in many other ways, they’re generating songwriter royalties for you.  Awesome, right? Nowadays, the types of songwriter royalties earned fall into two buckets: Physical/Analog Songwriter Royalties (generated from old school music industry), and Digital Songwriter Royalties (generated from the modern digital music industry).  With all of the different ways your compositions can be used in both industry […]

With so many artists and producers writing or co-writing their own material, there seem to be fewer opportunities than ever for writers and music publishers to pitch and place songs. It’s become increasingly important to think outside the box when writing and promoting material—and that includes looking beyond our own borders. Songs by artists such as Beyoncé, John Legend, Katy Perry, Pharrell, and Jason DeRulo are international hits, topping charts around […]

[The following is an excerpt from Tamiko Hope’s book “The Indie Insider: 10 Key Facts From Music Industry Insiders.“]   What makes a great lead single and video?  Understanding who you are as an artist and knowing your audience is absolutely vital when it comes to selecting a single. The song needs to be solid and the video treatment needs to be appealing. Tuma Basa, VP of Music Programming at […]

Whether you’re an independent artist or signed to an independent label, you’re sure to have a lot on your plate already. Between booking shows, debating merch, planning your next big marketing move, juggling social media-insanity, oh yeah, and writing new material, the last thing you want to add to your plate is a radio campaign. Indies have all but abandoned this once-career-establishing source. Some say it’s because their audience isn’t […]

Being an up and coming musician can be both a delightful and dreadful gig. You’re always writing music, recording, performing in bars and/or clubs, and trying to sell yourself on social media platforms. Selling yourself also means shooting a music video for your best song. You can always just upload the video to YouTube and engage with trolls, or upload to Vimeo and engage with trolls. But you want to, […]

A few simple ways to make a bigger impact at your next CD release party Many musicians look at the mastering and manufacturing of their CD as a kind of finish line. They work hard and drop lots of cash to record and mix their songs, and once the product is in their hands, there’s usually a great sigh of relief and/or a huge sense of accomplishment. Unfortunately, at this point lots of bands […]