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Music Marketing Blog

A Resource for Independent Artists
Sep 29
Love2
Zion I

RIP Zumbi (Zion I): 9 Things Artists Can Learn From His 20+ Year Independent Career

By Motivation, Music Business No Comments

The most influential artist that got me interested in the independent music scene 20 years ago as a college student and ultimately led to the creation of this blog, passed away in August of 2021. Zumbi (Stephen Gaines) was also a former client of mine.

As a big fan and supporter since 2001, it was an honor to get to work with him and to know him more personally during that period. I’ve been to so many shows and financially supported them anyway I could. He was truly an artist of the people and will be missed as one of the cornerstones of independent hip hop in the Bay Area.

Because of the importance he had for my passion in music and my career in this industry, I wanted to write a blog to honor him as well as share what other independent artists can learn from his legacy, even if you’re not familiar with his music. Read More

Jun 30
Love5

How to Sell Collectible Music Merch for Stronger Brand Loyalty

By Merch, Music Business No Comments

Music fans love merch. Despite how much music has become digital with streaming, we still seek and crave having something physical from artists to:

  • Buy as a form of support
  • Take home as a memento to remember shows
  • Wear as a form of self-expression
  • Show off to friends
  • Have on display for others to see

Fans will still buy physical music to collect even if they don’t have a way to play CDs, cassette tapes or vinyl. In a 2023 report from Luminate, they found that 50% of consumers who have bought vinyl in the past 12 months don’t own a record player!

Selling merch is such an important aspect of your music business, not just financially as an income stream, but also a means for fans to build a stronger rapport with your brand.

This month’s blog is going to be a little different than what I usually do. I want to talk more freely about a topic that I find really interesting as someone who collects a lot of different things. Based on my own personal experiences with collecting as a hobby, I want to discuss how merch collectability can be used by musicians to engage fans, build brand loyalty and sell more merch. Read More

May 31
Love2

6 Key Factors to Determine If You’re Ready for Patreon

By Music Business, Patreon No Comments

The typical income streams available to your average independent artist (royalties, live performance, merch) are not the most reliable and consistent.

So when you come across a business model that pays creators monthly directly from the support of fans, it’s easy to see the allure of a platform like Patreon. It is free to start a page, but does it mean you should invest your time to do it?
Read More

Apr 28
Love4

How to Market Your Music With Little to No Budget (Resource for New Artists)

By Music Marketing, Music Promotion No Comments

Last Updated: 7/15/24

As you can imagine, this is a very popular question I get from aspiring and emerging artists. It always revolves around marketing music without a budget.

“How do I start a career with no money?”

“How do I market my music with little to no budget”

“How do I promote my songs if I’m broke?”

For so long, I’ve avoided answering this question directly because I didn’t want to support this idea that you can build a sustainable music career by depending on free or cheap options. But then I realized that I’ve indirectly answered this question throughout multiple blogs so I decided to put it all together in one resource.

In this blog, I will cover budget-friendly ways to tackle the different areas of music marketing. It’s important to understand that marketing encompasses more than just music promotion to reach new potential fans. It also involves other things like how to maintain relationships with your current fans, accessing data to make better business decisions and having products to sell them. Read More

Mar 30
Love3

Does Spotify and Apple Music Owe You Money? What Songwriters Need to Know About the MLC

By Music Business, Music Streaming, Spotify No Comments

As a musician, the last thing you want to do is leave money on the table. So what can you do to make sure you’re getting all the money you’re owed from your music?

Many musicians may not realize this, but there’s a lot of music royalties floating out there waiting to be claimed by their rightful owners. Over 424 million dollars in mechanical royalties generated from digital service providers (DSPs) were left unclaimed due to the lack of data or having the incorrect information to match and pay out the rightful copyright owners.

Thankfully for artists, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) officially launched in January of 2021 to help address this issue. How does the MLC help exactly? Read More

Feb 28
Love7

How to NOT Get Scammed with “Music Promotion” Services

By Music Business, Music Promotion 3 Comments

Navigating the music business can be very tricky, especially for newer musicians. It’s hard to know who to trust when there are many people looking to exploit and take advantage of impressionable artists who will try anything to make it in this business.

The music business, like other entertainment industries, is filled with scammers. It is such a lucrative career path that many have set up operations to take advantage of these artists to make money. The area you’ll most likely encounter scammers in the music industry is in music promotion. After all, one of the biggest struggles artists have is getting their music heard and gaining exposure to build a fanbase.

There are a lot of music promotion companies out there, but not all will serve your best interests. This blog will help you make better decisions when looking for ways to promote your music while avoiding potential scams. It’s already challenging for musicians not making enough money from music so the last thing you want to do is spend on something that doesn’t work. Read More

Jan 31
Love4

Twitch for Music Artists: How to Make Money on Twitch (eBook Preview)

By Livestreaming, Twitch No Comments

This is a preview of my new eBook “Twitch Starter Guide for Music Artists.” I’m sharing the first few introductory chapters that provide more of an overview of Twitch and how to make money on the platform as it pertains to musicians. For detailed guidance and instructions on how to start your Twitch channel, grow your audience and enhance your livestream experiences, you can purchase my full eBook here. I have a special introductory offer for the 1st edition so save time and money by getting a copy today. Read More

Dec 31
Love44
Clubhouse App Musicians

What is Clubhouse and Why Musicians Should Be Excited It + New User Tips

By Social Media No Comments

Update: It looks like Clubhouse has shifted their focus to expanding their user base much sooner than anticipated. There are currently over 10 million users now and it’s growing globally, which is up from 600,000 when I joined in December of 2020. They are now out of beta and available for the public to join. I added some for new users down below. Some information in this blog may become outdated as this app grows, but I’ll do my best to keep this page updated as soon as I hear anything new.

There’s a new social media startup that’s generating a lot of buzz due to the high profile celebrities currently active on it as well as some controversy. The app is called Clubhouse and it can potentially be the next big social media platform.

Clubhouse launched in early March of 2020, but I was late to the party as I heard about the app for the first time on 12/22/20 and got an invite the day after. Impressed and excited by its potential for wider adoption, I wanted to write this blog to give musicians a heads up of what may come and share my observations. Read More

Nov 29
Love11
Submit to Music Blogs

40 Music Blogs to Submit Your Songs for Exposure… But Is It Worth It?

By Music Marketing, Music Promotion 2 Comments

The biggest challenge emerging artists face is building a loyal fan base. Nowadays, it ain’t easy to get people to listen to your music in our content-saturated digital reality.

At the same time, there are different strategies and tactics to promote yourself and get your music in front of new potential fans. One of them is pitching to independent music blogs that have their own dedicated following. These bloggers are music lovers who enjoy sharing good music with their readers.

I created a list of 40 active music blogs that, as of 2023, you can submit and pitch your songs for exposure, at little to no cost… but is it really worth your time? Read More

Oct 26
Love2
Team

Level Up: The Musicians Guide for Building a Team

By Music Business No Comments

Being an independent artist doesn’t mean you have to do everything alone. In fact, you shouldn’t.

The best advice that Tierra Whack received came from Andre 3000 (Outkast). He told her it was very important to build a strong team to help exponentiate her career. Having this support system isn’t just about handling specific tasks for your business, it’s also to help you plan your next steps, keep you grounded and offer emotional support when needed.

If you really want to take your music career to the next level, you will eventually need a team. They don’t necessarily have to be people who you hire to work exclusively with you. At the very least, you need to form relationships and a network with skilled people who are good at what they do.

As someone who works on a number of artist teams myself, I’m going to cover what types of people you may need as an independent, how you may find them and what qualities to look for in each member of your team. Read More