There are many examples of the benefits of working in harmony with nature. When first venturing out beyond home a child is taught to walk with traffic. A carpenter achieves a cleaner result by going with the grain rather than against it. In sports a team succeeds by taking advantage of what the defense gives them, and there are countless other examples that express why it is better to work […]

As a musician, you have a lot of things to juggle, both when it comes to creating music and dealing with the business side of things. In the midst of it all, it can be easy to forget about the most important aspect of your career — your fans. Like a married couple, sometimes you and your fans are going to piss each other off. Maybe you release a lame […]

When you’re not in the studio, you really ought to be playing out; performing live, whether locally or on tour, in support and celebration of your sound. These two realms– “the office” and “fieldwork”– keep a musician (and their bands) very busy. We might even consider a third one: promotion, the “advertising” department of your business. As a band, you’re proud of your sound, right? So, why not spread the word? […]

There are several topics songwriters should be familiar with: songwriting, stage performance, recording, knowing your instrument, and much more. But one topic that often gets overlooked by songwriters is marketing. Marketing your music may even be the most important piece of the puzzle if you want to get anywhere as a songwriter or a performer. One of the best tools you can use to market yourself as a songwriter is […]

Songwriters, do you know who your natural audience is? Your songs exist at a point within or outside the commercial mainstream. If they fall in the mainstream, they are similar to other songs, and are most likely to be embraced bya pop audience. If they hang out on the fringes, they are discernible from other songs, and are most likely to be noticed by a niche audience. The pop audience is larger and more […]

From the late 90’s to early 2000’s, I immersed myself in the local hardcore music scene in Rochester, NY. I wasn’t in any of the bands, but attended shows regularly and would go support friends of mine who were in bands that ranged from first acts to local headliners. Music scenes like this were usually pretty incestuous with bands often sharing members. It wasn’t uncommon to see people in two […]

I saw a great tweet recently from a satirical Twitter account which said: “Welcome to the age where it’s encouraged to pay for music before it’s recorded and take it for free once it’s made.” This tweet inspired a “Eureka!” moment. The reason why charging for music before it is recorded on crowd-funding services, such as Kickstarter and PledgeMusic, works is because it helps to create exclusivity in an industry […]

As a new artist it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the constantly evolving new media world. With new marketing platforms bombarding us every day, it’s difficult to see the forest from the trees. So what should you do to market your debut EP? How can you build up a fan base from scratch? Next time you feel a panic-attack coming on and start screaming “where do I start?!”, take a […]

Music promotion is not just about amazing content, it’s about how you share it. Let’s assume you have amazing, high quality content, like a music video posted on YouTube that you just spent weeks pouring your heart and soul into, and it hasn’t quite gone viral yet. How can you boost views and downloads and likes without bugging the heck out of your fans or spending a gazillion dollars on […]