Make It As An Independent

Helping musicians maximize their potential by using online marketing tools, insights and strategies to increase music exposure and attract life-long fans.

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Music Marketing Blog

MUSIC MARKETING FOR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS

With so much competition for attention out there, it’s harder for musicians to stand out of the clutter. The aim of this site is to guide you through the music marketing and business space to improve your chances of making a living off music and continue making a positive impact in people’s lives.

May 27
Love0
Canva Cover Art Banner

How to Make FREE Cover Art for Your Upcoming Album or Single Release

By Music Business, Music Distribution No Comments

Are you an independent artist on a budget looking to create album or single cover art for your upcoming release?

In this blog, I will go over everything you’ll need to know about cover art, including requirements to upload to your music distributor, cover ideas and other free tools you might need. It’s very easy for anyone to do, even without graphic design experience.

Most importantly, I’m going to show you how you can do it yourself with free apps online, so it doesn’t cost you anything. Read More

Apr 30
Love1
Patreon

Patreon for Musicians: My eBook Preview + Guest Blogs

By Music Business, Patreon No Comments

Instead of publishing a blog on my website for the month of April, I decided to write 2 guest contributions on other blogs. Because a lot of musicians are looking for alternative income sources right now with the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to write the first edition of my Patreon guide for musicians.

What people may not know is that I currently manage one of the top-ranked music creator pages on Patreon. I’ve helped launch and manage Patreon campaigns for 3 separate artists so I’m quite familiar with the platform. In this eBook, I wanted to reveal everything I know on how to set up, launch and grow a membership business.

As much as I advocate and support a membership model through a platform like Patreon, I want to emphasize that Patreon is not for everyone. The concept sounds great for artists, but in reality, it’s not easy to execute. This is especially true if you’ve not an established artist with a larger following.

If you’ve thought about Patreon or just want to learn more, check out the articles I’ve written below and consider downloading the eBook. Keep in mind that I’m making the first edition free. I plan to charge for future editions when I add more content to it. Read More

Mar 18
Love2

Income Streams for Musicians Guide: How To Survive as an Independent Artist

By Music Business No Comments

“How do I make enough money as a musician so I can transition into a full-time music career?”

I imagine that’s the big question many aspiring and emerging independent artists wonder about.

After all, it’s believed by some that there’s no real money in music. After seeing the total music revenue in the U.S. dip in 2006, things have started to show growth again since 2015.

According to a 2018 report cited in Rolling Stones:

  • U.S. listeners are spending more money on music than ever before: over $20 billion a year.
  • Total music revenues have risen to about $43 billion a year, which includes on-demand streams, CD sales, radio play, live events, advertising.

There’s definitely money to be made from music, but unfortunately, most of that money isn’t going to the artists themselves. Artists only take home $5 billion, or about 12 percent of total music revenues. So what can you do about it? Read More

Feb 11
Love3

What’s the Best Music Distribution Service To Release Your Music – CD Baby, TuneCore or DistroKid?

By Music Business, Music Distribution, Music Streaming 2 Comments

Looking to get your songs in places like Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play and Amazon Music? You should, because as of 2019, music streaming now makes up 80 percent of the U.S. music industry’s revenue. Globally, it’s as high as 47%.

The good news is, getting your music into digital music stores and streaming services as an independent artist couldn’t be any easier. Finding the right company that makes sense for you can be a challenge. There are a bunch of music distribution companies you can go with to make your music accessible all around the world, but there are pros and cons with each of them. Read More