Coldwave Blog - Music Tips For Independent Artists

Blog post originally from the   SymphonicBlog . By Darren Cooper . Artists are driven by the desire to create from what comes deep within . We take dreams and ideas and construct something tangible for others to consume. A lyric. A painting. Each time striving to be better than before. But in doing so we can isolate ourselves, and that’s the last thing need to do. That’s why community is so important. A few weeks ago I had an idea and I wanted to see if it would resonate with anyone else. So after pondering it for a while (and realizing that if I didn’t act fear would win), I decided to take action. I sent a message to a few of my artist friends and asked them one question. I asked if they would you be interested in coming to a monthly artist meeting. The goal would be to come together and talk about wins we have had, ideas we are working on, and how we can help each other grow in our careers. I wasn’t really ready for the response I received . Everyone I aske...

Blog post originally from the MusicClout . With today’s technological advances, musicians have an unlimited amount of choices for furthering their music career. The rise of social media in the last ten years has made it easier than ever to attract and reach out to your fans. With each one of today’s social media platforms having its advantages and disadvantages, it is important to have an understanding of what works and what doesn’t on each particular platform. In this article, we will focus on Twitter. Twitter is an online social media networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called, tweets. Users can access Twitter through the website interface, SMS, or the mobile device app. In 2013 Twitter was one of the ten most visited websites. It has been described as, “the SMS of the internet.” Twitter, more than any other platform,  makes it easy to find new fans of your music. Below I’ve outlined a list of nine things every musician m...

Blog post originally from MusicClout . A Guest Post by Rowen Bridler . The good thing to note about realising you’ve made a few mis-steps in your career is that this is a perfectly valid entrepreneurial business tactic – it’s called ‘testing’. If something didn’t work, you know not to do it again and that way, you learn what does work. However, far too many musicians spend too long doing things that aren’t working without realising it, and that adds up to tedium, frustration and a major lack of progress. So, stop for a moment and check if you’ve been doing any of these things: 1) Being inconsistent Do you only work on your songs when you feel like it? Do you only play gigs when a friend mentions there’s a free slot one evening? If you can’t say when you practise and when you’re next gigging, you are probably projecting a kind of ‘hit and miss’ approach to your career. You can fix your inconsistent behaviour by setting aside certain non-negotiable times when you’ll defi...

This article originally appeared on   PowerPublicity . Publicity is a powerful tool to increase awareness of your music, build your image, and grow your brand. While many emerging artists know they need publicity, they have misconceptions about how publicity works and how it fits into their overall marketing plan. Some even think that publicity is the magic component to catapult their career into mainstream success. We hate to tell you, but it does not work that way…at all. These misconceptions can prevent you from running a campaign on your own or with your publicist. Here are seven music publicity myths that musicians believe. Myth: Publicity will boost my albums sales There is no direct correlation between publicity and album sales. The main purpose of publicity is to generate awareness for your music and brand. While publicity does not directly lead to sales, no one will listen or purchase your music if they do not know it exists, right? Myth: Publicity is going to make me fa...

Blog post originally from the SymphonicBlog . “THIS DAY AND AGE, JUST MAKING MUSIC IS NOT ALWAYS ENOUGH.” -ASAF BORGORE Here’s the reality: everybody makes music. In my niche, electronic music , this is especially the case. It easier now to be a musician than it has ever been before. To stand out from the sea of artists, it has never been more important to develop skill sets that complement your music. You might think, “Gee, Sky, shouldn’t I triple down on my music in order to stand out?” You could. It’s simpler to be different than to be better because there will always be people better than you. Unless you’re Beethoven and have been playing music since you could walk, you probably can’t skate by on music alone. So instead of directly competing with the thousands of musicians who make and play similar music to you, go the road less travelled by and build out your other skill sets. Whether you want to stand out to a promoter or cut through a label’s inbox, here are tips for...

A guest post by Schwilly Family Musicians. Originally found at MusicClout As the band was packing up, I brushed by and could hear the owner spouting his contorted excuses about why he couldn’t pay the guarantee. I’ve heard it all before and I’ve felt that crushing feeling of not knowing how I would make it to the next town because an owner or promoter let me down. I was glad it wasn’t me in that position that night. That’s why it surprised me to see that Tony just nodded and smiled as he listened the news! It all made sense twenty minutes later when I saw him packing up the merch booth. As he stuffed an impressive wad of cash into his guitar case, he gave me the most valuable piece of advice I ever heard on tour: “Don’t rely on the promoters. As long as you put on a killer show and have killer merch, you’ll always have enough gas to make it to the next stop.” The bottom line is that if you want to be a professional musician, you should have a solid merch setup...

A Guest Post by The Musicians Guide Originally from MusicClout One thing that fascinates me about how bands develop is the ‘leaps’ where a band grows exponentially over a short period of time. Very few bands grow at an incremental rate their whole career – but what causes these leaps? In practical terms, how can you double, triple or quadruple the size of your fan base in a short period of time? I urge you to not just read this post and go back to browsing Twitter. No one builds their fan base by clicking on links all day. You build your fan base by taking action – testing and learning what works, and eliminating what doesn’t. 1. Every single fan must (on average) generate at least one new fan To double or triple the size of your fanbase you need every one of your current fans to (on average) introduce your music to one or two of their friends who will also take the same action. This is the most fundamental point to this blog post. The larger the number...

Blog post originally from the SymphonicBlog . Hey there, Symphonic Blog reader. I’m Sky–I’m a former DJ/producer, record label manager, and all-around live production dude. I run the lifestyle brand Pariah Reign , and will be doing guest articles here on Symphonic. These articles will chat about the music industry through the lens of electronic music. Enjoy. Intro This article is written for those who want to become a crucial element of their local music scene. If you want people to know who you are, and talk about you, this is how you go from 0 to 100. It may not be real quick, but it’ll happen. This article is written from the perspective of an electronic music producer/DJ, but the principles apply outside of electronic music, and even out of music in general, because these are interpersonal skills to make you more well-connected, knowledgeable, and influential. 1. Have talent (make yourself talented) None of the following suggestions work if you are not talente...

Blog post originally from MusicClout . Here's the good news: These days if you want to sell your music online it is pretty damn easy. You find a nice music distribution service, upload your songs and BAM… you are worldwide. Your music is blasted out all over the world in less than an hour. Here's the real bummer. This is the point where most every Indie musicians stop. They think “Hey, I just released my music to the world. Break out the Pabst Blue Ribbon and lets party [high faves all around].” That is the lazy way to sell your music online. It is also the way that results in the same Indie musicians leaving whiny comments on in forums and music blogs. Comments crying about how hard it is to make money with music these days. Sound like anyone you know? [If not, you do now because I used to be one of them]. The musician who wants to make some money, so that he/she can make more music, knows that distribution is only the start. Because, hell, any Tom, Dick ...

Post originally from the Symphonic Blog . The next part of our rights management series will focus on  Neighboring Rights. Neighboring Rights refer to the right to publicly perform, or broadcast, a sound recording. Sound recording owners (record labels and performing artists) collect Neighboring Rights royalties whenever their sound recordings are publicly performed on satellite radio (such as Sirius XM), internet radio (such as Pandora, BBC), cable TV music channels, TV outside of the USA, terrestrial radio outside of the USA, and much more. Neighboring Rights royalties are collected by Neighboring Rights collection societies. In order to collect the neighboring rights royalties you are owed, registering your individual master recordings directly with each collection society in the territories you are getting radio play in is absolutely essential. Something worth noting, the Neighboring Rights law differs internationally. Basically, in almost all territories outside of t...

A guest post by Schwilly Family Musicians. Originally from MusicClout . One of the most common topics I get asked questions about is booking. There are a lot of musicians out there that have spent countless hours honing their skills and writing their songs, but have no idea where to start when it comes to finding gigs. So I would like to take this opportunity to lay out a systematic approach that you can use to get your gigging circuit started. There are a bazillion different types of gigs and venues. One could write an entire book about the intricacies and possibilities of booking. But what I want to do here is give you a template to follow so that you can get your feet wet and start getting your music heard. So let’s get started… Finding a Venue The obvious first step is to find an appropriate venue for your music. Finding venues is pretty easy. But finding the right venue to showcase you music takes a little more effort. So here are few ways to find your venue...