As in any business, your reputation and the impression that you make is a big part of a successful career in songwriting. Being well-respected and taken seriously as a songwriter will, in time, open doors and lead to work that will get your songs to a wider audience and generate income. However, as with almost everything in music, building this reputation takes time and conscious effort. Below are a few […]

By Elliott Wheeler (@elliott_wheeler), a screen composer, producer and cinematic indie-pop musician based in Sydney, Australia. He was the Arranger and Additional Music Producer on Baz Lurhmann’s The Great Gatsby. I’m often asked how one goes about getting into scoring for film and soundtrack work, particularly on a project the scale of Gatsby. The answer (and annoyingly it’s one that’s heard often) is there’s no particular path that works for everyone. In […]

So now you know that it’s possible to make money from your music career, and you also know you should take things one step at a time. But before you go out and start trying to earn money from your career, it’s important you take time to set goals for what you want to achieve. While it’s easy to say, “I want to get a lot more fans” you have […]

My name is Mikey Wax, and I’m a singer/songwriter from Long Island, NY. I’ve released two full length albums, and have been successfully touring for the past few years. After releasing my first album at the end of ’08, I built a small but promising fan base through word-of-mouth on social media sites. From that, I was able to sign with a small booking agency at the time who got me […]

When it comes to choosing a digital music distributor to get your music on sites like iTunes, Amazon MP3 and Spotify, you want to feel confident in your choice.  If music is important to you, you want to know who’s handling your music assets, the quality of the service and the value you’re getting for the distribution fees you’re paying. Here are 10 questions you should ask any digital music […]

Here are a handful of thoughts not necessarily meant to be taken as doctrine, but more to give you some inspiration with respect to how you might change some habits. 1. Apply the Lean Startup Method Applying Lean Startup thinking to the music business is more crucial than ever. I wrote an article on this, but to summarize: I don’t know what music will succeed, you don’t either, nor do any of the […]

That’s right, on average, 75% or more of your fan base won’t make it out to a show on your next tour. Proximity. Sold out. Cost.  All factors which can keep your most loyal fans from attending your next killer show. I guess they’re SOL, right?  Wrong. With the proliferation of social media sharing, we’re seeing bits and pieces of the live show experience being shared by fans, in real […]

A panel of industry veterans including LEP Bogus Boys and Torae weigh in on how to launch an independent Hip Hop career. With all due respect to Eminem and 50 Cent, sometimes people watch movies like 8 Mile and Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ and assume launching a Hip Hop career works the same way they see in movies. I meet a lot of unsigned, aspiring rappers. Between assisting in HipHopDX’s social media and […]

One thing that fascinates me about how bands develop is the ‘leaps’ where a band grows exponentially over a short period of time. Very few bands grow at an incremental rate their whole career – but what causes these leaps? In practical terms, how can you double or triple the size of your fan base in a short period of time? I urge you to not just read this post […]

A career in songwriting is a long road where the actual big “payoff” moments – if you’re fortunate enough to have some – are few and far between for even the most successful writers. This is all the more reason to take the time and challenge yourself to find what’s unique about your own songwriting. The more original your songs are the greater the likelihood that you’ll get the right […]