Music Promotion for Independent Musicians

8 Ways to Make the Most of Your Next Digital Release

By Chris Robley

April 30, 2013{ 4 Comments }

How to promote your digital music

When you’re getting ready for your next album, EP, or single release party, it’ll be easy to forget about promoting the digital side of things. You’ll have all those beautiful CDs and vinyl records sitting there in boxes just waiting to be purchased by fans, mailed to bloggers and critics, and given away to a few lucky friends. Compared to those tangible musical artifacts, things like on-demand streams and MP3 downloads can seem very… virtual.

But the steps you take to promote your music digitally are just as important as the things you do to sell CDs. Your digital music promotion should be anything but virtual.

Here are a few tips to help you sell more downloads, encourage more streaming, and capitalize on every digital release:

1. Run an iTunes pre-sale for up to 30 days before the official release of your music. This gives you a month to build buzz AND capture sales from your early promotional efforts. As a bonus, all your pre-sales will be counted as sales on the official release date, increasing your chances of ranking on the iTunes charts.

2. Use Spotify playlists to encourage fan interaction. Include your music in mixes for certain moods or occasions. Ask your fans to make their own playlists using your music (creating a “greatest hits” or a set list for your next show).

Read more »

6 Steps to Songwriting Success

By Guest

April 30, 2013{ No Comments }

[This post was written by guest contributor Anthony Ceseri.]

I know it can seem difficult sometimes, but achieving songwriting success is very possible. Most of what you need to do involves your mindset and habits; you need to allow yourself to get what you want with your music career. So here we’ll look at some of the most crucial things to be aware of in order for you to reach your goals as a songwriter.

1. Know your purpose as a songwriter

It’s really important to know what you want to achieve as a songwriter or performer in order to get there. That may sound obvious, but it’s often neglected. A lot of times amateur songwriters walk around with the mindset of simply hoping “something’s” going to happen for them, without knowing what that something is.

What is a Performing Rights Organization?

By Chris Robley

April 29, 2013{ 9 Comments }

A Performing Rights Organization (or P.R.O.) helps songwriters and publishers get paid for the usage of their music by collecting one of the most important forms of publishing revenue: performance royalties.

As a songwriter, composer, or lyricist, you’re owed what is called a “performance royalty” any time your music is played on radio stations (terrestrial, satellite, and internet), used on TV shows or commercials, or performed in live venues.

Those performance royalties are paid by radio stations, venues, and TV networks to Performing Rights Organizations like ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and SOCAN (in Canada) who then distribute the money to their affiliated songwriters and publishers.

How to Make the Most of a Festival Appearance, Part II

By Guest

April 24, 2013{ No Comments }

Part I of “How to Make the Most of a Festival Appearance” discussed how to help the festival publicize you and your appearance.

In Part II, let’s take a look at advancing the show, and the actual event.

When advancing the show:

* Make sure your stage plot and input list is up-to-date. Too many times a band will arrive on site and ask why, say, the stage is set for a left-handed drummer – well, because that’s what was indicated on the stage plot. “That drummer left six months ago” is a truly exasperating thing to hear at that moment. Be able to provide a current stage plot and input list (with a revision date, ideally). Include contact information for whoever handles tech.

* Be communicative and professional. Return phone calls and e-mails promptly. If you have questions for the festival coordinator, make a list and ask everything at once, rather than in six separate calls.

* Observe the radius clause. Festivals don’t want to prevent up-and-coming bands from playing elsewhere, but they do want to encourage your fans to see you at the festival. Read more »

This Is Why Artists Are Missing Out On Music Royalties

By Chris Robley

April 24, 2013{ 5 Comments }

Independent artists have been missing out on songwriting royalties for far too long. As music is used in more and more diverse ways, there are more and more revenue opportunities opening up for songwriters.

Many artists don’t even know they can claim these royalties.

To rub salt in the wound, when an independent artist does not claim their royalties, the leftover money often gets divided up amongst the major label artists and big publishing houses.

Signing up with ASCAP or BMI is not enough

Many artists think that affiliating with a Performing Rights Organization like ASCAP or BMI is all they need to do to collect royalties for their songs. But the fact is, signing up with ASCAP or BMI is just the beginning.

Every single song needs to be registered

Artists often wade through the paperwork needed to affiliate with a Performing Rights Organization and then neglect to register each and every song they release. We get it; the song registration process is a pain and takes time. But if you don’t register your songs, you don’t get paid.

(Luckily, CD Baby Pro makes that same process simple and quick — but more about that below.)

Free Music Marketing Video & Worksheet from Bob Baker

By Chris Robley

April 23, 2013{ 1 Comment }

In this video clip, Guerrilla Music Marketing author and expert Bob Baker reveals the biggest music marketing mistake that artists make, as well as the most effective things that savvy DIY artists (like Karmin) do to attract fans. He also reveals six ways to identify your ideal fans.

In case you want to use a worksheet to follow along with Bob’s advice (and fill in the blanks as you go), he has made this free, one-page PDF available for you to download before you watch the short video: http://www.bob-baker.com/dl/Music_Marketing_101_worksheet.pdf

5 Ways to Make Money in Music Publishing

By Chris Robley

April 22, 2013{ 2 Comments }

How do you make money in music publishing?

Have you ever wondered why the main songwriter in one of those megastar bands can afford to buy a mansion when the other members in the band can only afford a small house?

The answer is music publishing.

If you write or co-write a song, you are owed royalties every time that song is played in a public setting. This includes radio, TV, movies, restaurants, venues, and more. You are also owed a publishing royalty every time someone purchases your music (in any format — CD, vinyl, MP3, etc.)

Music publishing has the potential to generate big money for songwriters, composers, and lyricists. If you’ve written a song and haven’t signed away the rights to someone else, then YOU are the publisher—which means that all royalties collected for that song should be paid to you.

Here are the five most common kinds of publishing royalties you can collect:

1. Mechanical royalties —

As a songwriter / publisher, you are owed a royalty every time your composition is sold, Read more »

10 Tips to Help You Make Your Music Career More Sustainable

By Guest

April 22, 2013{ 2 Comments }

Sustainability & your music

[This article was written by guest contributor Jakob Barry.]

From practicing to performing there are many ways we as musicians can incorporate a more sustainable approach to the musical process.

For instance, while the digital age has posed various challenges for the music industry, from an environmental point of view it’s safe to say there is an amazing opportunity for musicians to make greener choices with greater ease.

The best example of this would be the simple fact that instead of releasing an album in a jewel case, music can be sold with all the album artwork through downloads which creates little, if any waste.

We purchase and share music like this all the time but the fact it’s environmentally sound isn’t something that usually draws our attention.

That said, when we as musicians make green choices they may not always be recognized, but it sends a special message to fans that while putting music into the world is our dream, we’re trying to impact the environment less.

So whether an artist’s talent is his livelihood, hobby, or both — consider some of the following ways where sustainability and musicianship meet, and how artists like you and I can go green every step of the way.

10 ways to make your music career more “green”

1. Power strips: Tired of leaving a piece of equipment Read more »

Why Signing Up with ASCAP or BMI is Not Enough

By Chris Robley

April 19, 2013{ 12 Comments }

If you’re an independent songwriter, composer, or lyricist, there are more opportunities than ever to earn significant income from music publishing.

Sadly though, many artists think they’ve covered all the bases in terms of royalty collection when they affiliate themselves with an organization like ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC.

ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SOCAN, and other associations that collect performance royalties on behalf of songwriters and publishers are called “Performing Rights Organizations” — or P.R.O.s.

Performing Rights Organizations are not collecting all the publishing royalties you’re owed

While these services do perform a valuable and vital role in making sure artists get paid, they don’t do it all. In fact, they don’t even do half of it — and that means songwriters are leaving a lot of money on the table in the form of uncollected publishing royalties.

1. You’re not getting mechanical royalties.

What is a mechanical royalty? Read more »

5 Music Biz Myths Debunked

By Guest

April 19, 2013{ No Comments }

Busting the big myths of the music business

[This post was written by guest contributors Ari Herstand and Cheryl B. Engelhardt.]

Ever since Myspace hit, musicians have been attempting to showcase themselves online in the most attractive light possible. Most musicians went about Myspace completely wrong by making their profiles look like it was pumped out by a major label. A sterile “Thanks for the follow!” banner was posted in the comment section of anyone who friended them and any comment or message was replied to by “management” to make it seem we were busier and more important than we were.

Only during Myspace’s cliff-jumping decline (and Facebook’s rise) did we (yes we’re at fault too) realize that we went about it all wrong. People weren’t connecting to the (failed) mystique like the stars of yore, but were connecting to those who opened up and showed their true identities. The artists who wrote back to their fans personally and didn’t pimp out their profiles to appear to be anything they weren’t — those were the ones who quickly rose.
+It Doesn’t Take a Web Genius

The new music model is all about transparency and not trying to be anyone you aren’t. Read more »