Kevin Breuner, Author at DIY Musician Blog DIY Musician Blog

Author Archive

5 Lessons YOU Can Learn From My Mistakes: I Spent $20,000 Making an Album I Can’t Even Give Away

October 16, 2012{ 17 Comments }

[This article was written by guest contributor Shane Lamotte of the band Living Illusion.]

“What was I thinking!?”

It was the logical next step for my band Living Illusion. We had played tons of local shows, did some minor touring and gained a little buzz, so we decided it was time to get serious. Our first album was an experiment more than anything and considering it was self-recorded & produced in a friend’s studio it sounded pretty good. For our next album, we wanted more. It was time to throw our best material out there and build a future for the band. Go big or go home.

To be honest we could have went “bigger,” but seeing as I was the sole financial backer on the project, we kept going until I literally ran out of money. I learned a lot from the process but it’s scary to look back at how naive I was. Full of piss and vinegar, I wanted to get the best product out Read more »

Top 5 Instances When Musicians Should Hire a Music Lawyer

October 15, 2012{ No Comments }

(This guest post is written by Jo-Ná A. Williams, Esq., a former vocalist and attorney with her own firm in New York, J.A. Williams Law – The Artist Empowerment Firm. Her Firm empowers musicians, helping them create successful careers by merging their art and their business.)

Need to Know When to Bring Out the Legal Guns?

When it comes to running a successful music career, good legal assistance can be one of the most important tools in your arsenal. I know you’re probably thinking, “Well you’re biased. You’re a lawyer. You’re supposed to say that!”

Well, I wasn’t always a lawyer. I was an artist for the first half of my life and I became a lawyer to help end the exploitation of other artists, the way it happened to me.

Think of a young, naive, 17 year-old girl who performed in ensembles most of her life Read more »

5 YouTube Tips for Musicians: Promote Your Music on YouTube and Make Money!

September 18, 2012{ 1 Comment }

Get CD Baby’s free YouTube guide for musicians and turn your YouTube channel into a music marketing machine!

YouTube is the most popular music discovery site online and one of the most effective music promotion machines ever. It is one of the most important marketing tools you have at your disposal. CD Baby’s YouTube guide will help you become a YouTube music-marketing master — from coming up with a great video concept to collecting royalties when your music gets played in videos.
Read more »

Approaching Music Companies for Endorsement: Why It’s Not All about Free Stuff

September 11, 2012{ 3 Comments }

[This article was written by guest contributor brian botkiller.]

So, as a musician, I have the good fortune to talk to a lot of fans and friends about the instruments they play, and they of course ask me what I like to play. So at some point, I began to narrow down what I enjoyed playing, and from what companies – and then I thought to myself, what if I were to ask these great companies if I could endorse them?

Sponsorship vs. Endorsement – not the same thing!

Now, most of the time, people think that endorsements are sponsorships – but there are two very different distinctions between the two. Namely, a sponsorship states that a company is sponsoring you – and you’re not a NASCAR car, so that’s not the case. Secondly, YOU are endorsing the company that makes your gear, stating that you use their gear, and why. Why is this beneficial to either side? Let’s talk about that. Read more »

Social Media & Email Management for Musicians

September 6, 2012{ 10 Comments }

[This article was written by guest contributor Brian Hazard and originally appeared on Passive Promotion.]

Engaging with fans is fun and rewarding. It can also be an addictive time suck.

If you check your email, Facebook, and Twitter first thing in the morning, you’re doing it wrong!

Better to start your day creating something worth tweeting about. As a self-confessed productivity junkie, I’ve tried dozens of approaches. This one stuck.

What follows is a step-by-step guide to social media and email management, in the form of a daily routine. It assumes you are on Facebook and Twitter, but can easily be expanded to other networks. All tools mentioned are free unless stated otherwise. Read more »

Want Long-Term Success? Create Your Band Agreement TODAY

August 24, 2012{ 6 Comments }

A legally binding band agreement: one of the key components to a band’s success

(This guest post is written by Jo-Ná A. Williams, Esq., a former vocalist and attorney with her own firm in New York, J.A. Williams Law – The Artist Empowerment Firm. Her Firm empowers musicians by helping them create successful careers by merging their art and their business.)

You ever wonder why some bands continue to release music year after year and still have harmony 10 or 20 years later? Why do some bands seem to have great chemistry on stage and off-stage, in interviews, and no one seems jaded or bitter? Can bands really have that kind of harmony? Want to know their secret?

The most successful bands have ironed out the details of their band’s operations in a band agreement. I know what you’re thinking, “Paperwork, contracts, business, ugh! I don’t want to deal with any of that, I just want to make music!” I totally get that, but listen—if you’re serious about becoming a legend you need to nail down all the sticky details that could lead to your band’s future status as the next “Rolling Stones” or the next “Broke Unknowns.” Read more »

Holy Moly: Our Artists’ CD Sales Are Up from Last Year!

August 8, 2012{ 6 Comments }

We triple-checked the numbers and it’s official: our artists have collectively sold MORE CDs so far this year than they had at this same time in 2011—thousands more!

We’ve always believed you should pursue both physical AND digital distribution, and we continue to work hard to ensure that both avenues provide viable revenue streams for your music. We recently expanded our distribution network to include Alliance Entertainment, the largest wholesale CD distributor in the world, and we continue to work with Amazon.com, Super D, and other distributors and resellers, adding new ones every week.

Feeling like you’re not part of this upswing? Here are a few easy steps you can take to nab more CD sales:

Selling more physical albums through CD Baby: the basics Read more »

Touring is like Middle School: You’re Going to Need a Binder

August 1, 2012{ 3 Comments }

[This article was written by guest contributor and touring indie artist Kayte Grace. Trapper Keeper photo by P. Mark Anderson.]

How to stay organized on the road

Two August 15ths ago, I got in an Extended Length Ford Expedition with my backing-band/friends and we didn’t come home until 20 cities, 22 shows, 10,000 miles and 45 days later.

When I started planning the tour, sitting on the couch with coffee ice cream on my tray table and my laptop as my only weapon, I was sending like 8 or 9 booking emails per city, had lists of things I wanted to remember to pack, set lists and lists of sound equipment we’d borrowed. And there was contact information for venue owners and the names of websites and newspapers I wanted to promote my shows on. And then there were the places we’d be staying and Food Network featured BBQ spots I wanted to check out and the music bloggers I wanted to invite to shows.

One word: Spreadsheets.

Even more importantly though, was … “The Binder.” It was massive. And my lifeline on the road.

Here’s how to recreate it: Read more »

Transforming Your Lyrics from Poetry to Personal Truth

July 30, 2012{ 3 Comments }

[This article was written by songwriter Anna Dagmar, a five-time award winner of the Mid-Atlantaic Songwriting Competition.]

One of the biggest discoveries I made during the process of recording my fourth album, Satellite (2012) was that my lyrics had changed in style quite a lot from of my earliest album, One More Time in the Air (2001). When I began writing songs at about age twenty, I had a lot of emotions that wanted to come out somehow, but I was very shy about revealing myself too much. So, I turned to poetry. I turned to the world around me and looked for symbols or metaphors to describe the way I felt. At the time, I was working for the summer playing piano on a cruise ship in Alaska! So some of the water and sailing imagery came into my writing, such as in, “Don’t Turn Away” when I use the words:

Love was a blessing I could not deny Read more »

Top 5 Mistakes Musicians Make with Their Live Show

July 24, 2012{ 26 Comments }

[This article was written by guest contributor Tom Jackson, our favorite live music producer! For more great advice on crafting an engaging live show, check out Tom Jackson Productions.]

It was an important day – after 3 weeks of work with an artist on their live show, we were wrapping up a “moment” we were creating for their 55 date tour. I needed a little energy in a cup!

So I stopped at Starbucks just outside Nashville – one of the busiest in the southeast, I’m told. As I waited in line, I overheard a conversation between two guys in front of me about a new record release and upcoming tour.

I’d actually been approached by this guy’s record company and manager about working on his show, so I introduced myself. His reaction didn’t surprise me. He stepped back, looked at me suspiciously, and said, “Dude what are you talking about? Our show rocks!”

Obviously, he didn’t have the same opinion as his manager and record label.

I’m a Live Music Producer, and I’ve been working on artists’ shows for 20 years. I do what a record producer does for the recording – but I go into rehearsal halls and help artists get ready for their live shows, showcases, and tours. Read more »

Music Promotion for Independent Musicians