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Music Marketing Blog

A Resource for Independent Artists
Mar 18
Love8

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
Love7

What’s the Best Music Distribution Service To Release Your Music in 2023 – CD Baby, TuneCore or DistroKid?

By Music Business, Music Distribution, Music Streaming 3 Comments

Last Updated 3/5/23: It was announced in 2022 that TuneCore was shifting their pricing structure to a subscription model, similar to DistroKid’s flat annual fee to released unlimited music. I’m currently in the process of updating and adding new information to be accurate as of 2023. Be aware that parts may be outdated like the comparison graphic.
 

Looking to get your songs in places like Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play and Amazon Music? You should, because as of 2020, music streaming now makes up 83 percent of the U.S. music industry’s revenue.

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

Jan 21
Love4
Smartest Music Investments

12 Smartest Investments Musicians Can Make Towards a Full-Time Music Career

By Music Business No Comments

Many musicians want to make music a full-time gig, but many of them aren’t taking music seriously enough. More specifically, they’re not willing to invest their money back into their business to grow their music career properly. With so much market saturation in music, only focusing on free promotion tactics and looking for shortcuts or hacks is not enough to turn a hobby into a career for most artists.

To be fair, it’s not easy. It can even be overwhelming at times. The decline in record sales and the rise in streaming has made it more difficult for emerging musicians to earn a stable income off physical music. This is why it’s important for all musicians to know the various income sources that are available to you.

Even with consistent income, it takes smart investments in yourself to increase your chances of making it in this industry. In general, there are two things you can use to invest – time and money. Time will always be your most valuable asset, and what you have the most control over, so use it wisely. Read More

Dec 25
Love1
Ordering Merch

Bulk Ordering or Print On-Demand? What’s the Best Way for Musicians to Order Merch

By Merch, Music Business No Comments

This is part 2 of 4 in my Merch for Musicians series.

It’s no surprise that one of the key components to making a living off music is selling merch. Not only is merch an income stream, it’s also a marketing / advertising tool to raise brand awareness.

At this point, you should have some designs on hand in the proper graphic file format. If you don’t have your designs yet, before sure to read this first.

You have merch designs ready to go. Now you need to find out what’s the best way to get it made, and into the hands of your fans. There are some factors to consider when getting merch made. Read More

Nov 18
Love3
Promoting Your Music

How To Promote Your Music: The Best and Worst Strategies and Tactics

By Music Business, Music Distribution 2 Comments

You made your songs available on every digital platform. You have a presence on every popular social media channel. Yet, no one’s listening to your songs.

One of the biggest questions I get, a very common problem for new musicians, is how do I promote my music?

It can be a frustrating experience, but there’s a lot more that goes into releasing music than just making it widely accessible and making a couple of social media posts.

Sometimes, musicians who have this problem are looking for free exposure or shortcuts to build up vanity metrics like views or followers. This type of mindset leads to bad habits and tactics that just don’t work.

In this blog, I will go over the best and worst ways you can promote your music. If you haven’t seen much engagement or traction with your songs, maybe you’re guilty of one of these bad promotion tactics. Read More

Oct 24
Love26
Identify Your Niche

4 Steps to Find Your Target Audience or Niche as a Musician to Grow a Fanbase

By Branding, Marketing Basics, Music Business 3 Comments

Have you struggled with getting new fans? Does it seem like no one is listening whenever you promote your music on social media? Although there can be a number of reasons for this, have you thought about who exactly your target audience is?

Just like a business needs customers, musicians need fans. To build a fanbase, one of the most fundamental steps is to identify who your target audience is. If you want to make music for a living, you have to know who to “market” or promote your music to.

How do you do all that? In this blog, I will share my perspective and approach in detail on growing a fan base by identifying your target audience first. Read More

Sep 27
Love7
Instagram for Musicians

Instagram for Musicians: Tips, Tricks, Tools and Tactics You Might Not Know

By Instagram, Social Media 3 Comments

Last Updated on 3/29/2023: There have been a lot of changes to Instagram since this blog was first published. Some things mentioned here are outdated but I will continue to add and update over time.

Now with over 1 billion active monthly users, Instagram has become one of the most important social media platforms for musicians, especially younger generations. It’s such a versatile platform with plenty of functions and settings that the average user might miss.

In this blog, I will cover Instagram tips, tricks, tools and tactics from the most basic to more well-known ones to maximize your presence and fan engagement on Instagram. Read More

Aug 11
Love8

How to Submit Your Song for Spotify Playlist Consideration

By Music Streaming, Spotify, Strategy 5 Comments

This page was last updated on 9/14/2024.

Looking for free exposure for your music? Getting on a Spotify editorial playlist could be a good way to get one of your songs out to a new audience. Editorial playlists are curated by Spotify’s team.

In late 2018, Spotify has allowed artists the ability to submit a song to be considered in their editorial playlists. It’s completely free! Although there are no guarantees you’ll get added, there’s no harm in trying. Read More

Jul 30
Love3

Going Viral: Did Lil Nas X Hack the Secret Code to Virality? The 6 Keys to His Success

By Going Viral, Strategy No Comments

It seems like every year, there’s a story of some young artist who blows up because of a song going viral. This year, it is the college dropout, turned rapper Lil Nas X (Montero Lamar Hill), who took over the world with a country trap song called “Old Town Road” at the age of 19.

As of this writing, the remix of the song has been streamed 400+ million times on Spotify alone and has stayed on Billboard’s Top 100 for 17 weeks straight. This officially beats the Billboard record for the longest a song has been at number 1.

The Atlanta artist ended up signing a record deal with Columbia Records and has released an EP so far through the label. He has become a music star, posting photos on his Instagram hanging out with the biggest names in music and culture.

He also claimed to have intentionally created “Old Town Road” so that it would go viral. Did this rapper, who only started rapping since May 2018, in fact, figure out the secret to going viral? Read More

Jun 18
Love6
Music royalty basics

Music Royalties Simplified: An Income Source All Musicians Need to Know

By Music Business, Music Distribution 7 Comments

Understanding music royalties can be confusing, but very necessary for musicians who are new to the music business. I know I’m not the only one who struggled with this topic, so my goal was to put this together to help break it all down. I wanted to make it simple so that anyone who has no idea about the music business can easily understand… hopefully.

I’m by no means an expert, but this is more of an overview behind royalties through music publishing and master recordings as well as how to collect them. Read More