The below guides are all about the theory behind the music business. Have a read and get your music mentality right!
Playing music is without a doubt the best job in the world. If you can make it work financially, you’ll be free to do pretty much whatever you want, whenever you want, and play music every day. Those of us who can do this are among the luckiest people in the world. On the music…
Marketing isn’t necessarily easy. But anyone who says it isn’t fun is lying to you. You get to experiment, apply your creativity, and gain more exposure for your art. Seriously, what could be more fun? Though there are many ways to promote your music, sticking to the following proven methods will help you cut through…
So, you’ve decided to be an “at home” musician. While no musician should ever be locked in a room for eternity (unless they absolutely have no choice), there are many reasons why you might want to pursue a career from home. Your mobility might be limited (because of your body or the lack of a…
You’ve probably heard that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is certainly some truth to that statement, and if you have yet to find this out for yourself, trust me when I say you will crush on someone unexpected down the line. But what about the music business? Musicians can’t just be…
One of the reasons many artists find it difficult to spend more time on their creative work is because they must spend time earning a living. That tension causes some musicians to become increasingly frustrated over time. They repeatedly ask themselves, “when will I ever get to focus on what I love?” As a creative…
Occasionally, you hear about an artist getting taken to court over a copyright violation. Some famous cases that stick out in my mind are Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” and Robin Thicke’s “Got To Give It Up”. These cases always make me cringe a little, because I can imagine being on either side. Sometimes, it’s…
Lately, I’ve been having lots of conversations with some of my close friends and band mates about how much time they spend working on their music and how it affects their perspective. These conversations stemmed from a talk with a band mate of mine who truly lives and breathes music. He practices and writes more…
Short answer: no. Long answer: definitely not. What we’re going to do today is look at what I consider to be the greatest social media myth of all time – and debunk it. Then, we’re going to look at a few artists with very effective social media personas and see what we can learn from…
It’s hard not to see the big-picture possibilities as a musician. We are living in the information age, and that means you have access to a virtually endless supply of resources, not to mention people. Interested in building a worldwide audience? The opportunity is definitely there. But before you get too carried away with your…
If you’re in the music industry, then odds are good that – at one point or another – you’ve expressed the need for more time. Although there’s no way to increase the number of hours in a day, it is possible to automate more of what you do and free up more of your time…
Let’s face it – the music industry is changing fast! What might be a great or even incredible idea today could become outdated and irrelevant in a very short amount of time. I have personal experience in the form of a failed startup investment. If you want to innovate in the music industry, you can’t…
Do you have goals for your music career? If you do, have you written them down? Have you placed them somewhere you’ll see them every single day? Do you have a daily plan that you can follow to achieve your goals? Even if you do have goals, you probably haven’t written them down. Most people…
Building an email list has long been touted to be one of the most important things musicians could be doing online. Email offers you the opportunity to market directly to your fans and stay top-of-mind with them in a cost-effective manner. You do not own your social media followers, but an email list is something…
This is an excerpt from David Andrew Wiebe’s new eBook, The New Music Industry: Adapting, Growing, and Thriving in The Information Age, a guide that covers a wide range of topics – blogging, podcasting, social media, video marketing, and more. It’s aim is to help you start scaling your individual mountain to music career success….
Whether you went to music school or learned about the music business on your own, there are some things about the industry that you won’t find written in any manual. The business of music is so much more than just singing, playing an instrument, and having fun. There are a variety of other aspects that…