As artists, we are always trying to get our fans to do stuff; buy merch, share our content, tell friends about the music, pre-order our album, and so on. The problem is, people are bombarded with these requests. Everybody is trying to make money off of the content they create. Even my favorite nerdy meme…
Facebook likes, Instagram followers, Spotify plays – what do these things have in common? Artists want them. Artists feel like they need them to be recognized in the industry. Fair enough. There is a lot of pressure to play a numbers game. So long as artists want these things, there will be shady services out…
Teaching guitar can be a rewarding way to make money and can turn into a long-term career for some musicians. One of the interesting things about teaching guitar is that you don’t necessarily need to be an expert guitarist to teach – you simply need to be able to teach effectively. It’s about communicating and…
As you practice your vocal technique, you will become a better vocalist. You’ll learn to sing with better intonation, learn to emote well and save your voice from harm. If you’re a singer (or a rapper for that matter) you should be working on your technique! Once you get on stage, however, there is more…
I’ve long felt that the term “professional musician” has a lot of pressure and expectation tied up in it. Many young musicians put a lot of pressure on themselves to be professional musicians who make all of their money playing music. This is one interpretation of being a professional musician (and it’s a nice place…
Everybody knows how important visual content is when creating a brand for your music. Pictures, videos, graphics, posters – they all affect the way people perceive you. Creating a visual aesthetic that you feel inspired by is a challenge. You want to puts your best foot forward, and create a brand that you can stick…
Many guitar teachers started out teaching as a way to earn extra money while they gig or go to school. This is a totally legitimate reason to get into teaching guitar, and if you’re just looking to earn a little money on the side as a teacher, that’s fine! However, for many people, teaching guitar…
Businesses that play music as an integral part of their business model must pay licensing fees back to artists. As they should! Blanket licenses are a more efficient way of issuing licenses to businesses that use a lot of music, because it covers all music. Blanket licenses are an important part of the overall licensing…
On January 23rd of 2018, YouTube introduced its brand-new YouTube Official Artist Channel. These channels are designed specifically for musical artists. These channels set out to merge multiple accounts into one main “Official Artist Channel”. In the past, artists had separate Vevo accounts, an artist account, and often their videos would get posted on their…
Getting into music education is a wonderful way for musicians with a passion for learning, teaching, and technique to earn a good salary and have a comfortable life. The positions available to music educators is wide-ranging. From entry level instrument instruction, to salaried instruction at a university, to teaching music theory, music history, and more….
For many musically inclined people, promoting events and shows is a natural introduction to the music industry. There are lots of great reasons to promote shows. You’ll make great connections with artists and the teams they work with (agents, managers, labels, publicists, etc.). You’ll become an “industry person”, and will start to get approached by…
Guitar is an extremely fun instrument. I taught myself to play when I was around 12 or 13, and have kept it as a second instrument ever since. While I definitely put more work into keyboards, I have a special love for guitar. There is nothing like the feeling of an acoustic guitar resonating against…
Booking gigs is one of most time-consuming non-musical activities artists engage in. It takes a long time to craft set lists that are ready to play, it takes a long time to develop promotional materials, and then the process of booking gigs can require a lot of time too. Between researching and seeking out opportunities,…
Playing gigs at restaurants is yet another way musicians and artists can make extra money with their musical abilities. I started playing lounge piano type gigs when I was 17, and still do it today. It supplemented my income while I was in university, and it supplemented my diet as well – I always work…
Becoming a private music teacher is a very common way for musicians in all walks of life to make a living, or to simply make a little bit of extra money on the side. There are many benefits associated with teaching privately. You can make your own hours – often teachers will work as little…