Planning to release a new single? Don’t want to miss any steps?

Putting out a new song is relatively straightforward, but there are a lot of things that go into the process of a successful release.

In this blog, I will discuss everything independent artists need to know about releasing singles. On top of that, I will share my checklist that I use for my clients. I will cover the entire process in depth so you can feel confident you’re doing all you can to reach your goals with the release. Whenever you release music, feel free to use this blog as a reference so you have all your bases covered.

My single release process is broken down into 6 phases:

1. Preparation
2. Distribution
3. Promotion Planning
4. Days before the release
5. Day of release
6. Post-release

Before jumping into the process, I’ll go over why you want to release more singles and how often you should do it. If you want free downloadable checklists, links will be at the end.
 

Why release more singles?

 
Many claim the album is dying in this digital age. Although it’s never going to be dead, the traditional “release an album every year or two” model is incompatible with how emerging independent artists build momentum and grow a fan base in this music climate. Releasing singles makes the most sense for those objectives, especially for newer artists on a tighter budget.

1. Releasing singles consistently is more effective for growing your audience. To grow a fanbase, releasing content on a regular basis is needed to build momentum and stay top of mind. Fan loyalty is fickle when we have more music options than we can keep up with. Going silent for an extended period of time can set your progress back.
2. You get more out of each song to engage fans. Producing professional quality music can be expensive. Releasing singles allows you to focus attention on one song and maximize its potential. When releasing an album, you may have a few lead singles, but other songs will not get the attention it deserves. This is particularly true if you haven’t established yourself as an artist and don’t have a strong following yet. Plus, with so much more music being released now, the attention an album gets, even for the biggest music stars, is often a couple of weeks.
3. A single is easier to consume. At the end of the day, music listeners prefer short, consumable pieces of content like a single song or video from artists they never heard. Before serving people full meals, you gotta break it down into snackable servings until you find enough hungry fans who want a buffet.
4. Professionally recorded, mixed and mastered albums can be expensive. Unless money is not a problem, it doesn’t make sense for new, emerging or developing artists to fund an entire album out of pocket without any traction and an existing audience to market to.

This does not mean you should never release larger projects. A collection of songs from an album or EP can allow fans to fully dive into your essence as an artist. Since anyone can release singles, an album release signifies an important milestone in an artist’s career. You’re more likely to get coverage from media, press and blogs for an album than just a single. Lastly, albums and EPs are more eventful, which opens up bigger monetization opportunities like tours and merch.

In today’s music industry, releasing singles and shorter songs is a new reality, but it doesn’t mean you have to conform or compromise your artistry. Just understand that pouring thousands of dollars into an album, when you’ve never released a single song and don’t have a fanbase, is very risky gamble.

How often should I release a single?

 
A singles-oriented strategy to grow a fanbase will work best if you can release singles on a consistent basis. A song every two weeks or once a month is an ideal pace, but this depends on a number of factors.

• Do you have enough music ready to be released? It would be smart to have a handful of completed songs stocked up rather than releasing it as you complete it. This way you’re not stressing out to meet your deadlines.
• Do you have the ability to record and produce the music professionally? Unless your music aesthetic is intentionally lo-fi or rough, it’s important to have your music mixed and mastered. You want your songs to sound great on any device it is being played on. It doesn’t matter how much music you put out there, if it’s not the best version it can be, it will probably not attract much attention.
• Do you have a marketing/promotion budget for each single? You need a dedicated budget set aside for each release. I would say a few hundred per single at least, with the majority of going into video content creation and possibly social media ads. After all, it is pointless to release music consistently if you’re not effectively promoting it to reach new potential fans.
• Are you able to create video content for each release? The most important promotional asset you need to push your single is video content. Pushing your single by itself with only cover art has very limited potential in social media news feeds.
• Do you have the physical, mental and emotional capacity to handle the necessary tasks for each release? If you have a lot going on in your life, maybe like a full-time job, it may not be the best idea to commit to releasing a song every two weeks. Figure out how much time you can set aside to create and release music.

Hip hop artist Russ released a song a week for two years straight before one of his songs took off in 2015 and charted on the Billboard Hot 100. This was how he became a global success, but that’s what worked for him. It’s not feasible for most musicians to attempt this and risk burning out. Depending on your individual circumstances and resources, you need to decide on a release schedule that works best for you.

Find a pace that you’re comfortable with at first and stick with it, even if it’s 1 single every 3 months. You can always pick up the pace later. Consistency is key to build momentum and the better you can stick to your plan, the quicker you’re likely to find success.
 

Phase 1: Preparation

 
Checklist

• Mix and mastered audio file (.WAV)
• Design cover art (.JPEG or .PNG)
• Plan out promo content (videos and photos)
• Register song with copyright office
• Cover song? Secure mechanical license
• Decide on songwriting splits with collaborators​ (song split sheet)
• Register song with PRO (Performing Rights Organization) and MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) or publishing admin
• Let your music licensing / publishing company know about the release (if you have one)
• Set a release date
• Explore merch opportunities

Mixing and Mastering

After the song is written and recorded, you’ll need to mix and master it so it can sound its best wherever it’s being played. Unfortunately, anything involving music recording, engineering and production are out of my scope of knowledge so I can’t help you there.

But if you’re unfamiliar with the importance of mixing and mastering, you can easily do a search on YouTube or Google to learn more about it. Although it’s best to pay a producer or audio engineer who knows what they’re doing, you should still educate yourself with the basics.

 
Want an affordable service to get your song mastered? Landr offers a mastering service that only takes a few minutes and they let you try it for free. An artist I work with has used them in the past for the projects we released.

Design Cover Art

 
In order to distribute your music to stores, you will need cover art to go with your release. The image format you want is JPEG or PNG.

For distributors like DistroKid, the minimum resolution should be higher than 1400 x 1400. Because your cover will be used in various placements on these digital platforms, you want to make sure it looks good, even on large screens or TVs so aim for 3000 x 3000 resolution.

If you need a tool to increase the resolution of your cover art with minimal quality loss, try this free tool called Let’s Enhance. For example, if you export cover art from Canva at 1400 x 1400, you can scale the resolution up to 2800 x 2800 while keeping the same quality. You get 5 free image enhancements with a free plan. Another option is using CapCut’s Upscale Image tool.

Plan Promo Content (Videos and Photos)

 
Having video content to release with your single is necessary to see the best results. Watching a video creates an active listening experience that makes it more likely for viewers to be engaged and listen to your new track. You don’t need a big budget, high production music video, but you do need visual content to go with your music. A traditional lyric video or live performance footage of the single can be included in the mix as additional content. I mention this early in the preparation stage because you may need extra time to get the video content done in time for the release.

The traditional music video can work fine, but it should not be the only video you have. If your goal is to grow your social media following and reach new potential fans, I highly recommend leaning into creating multiple short-form videos. Chopping up your traditional music video into shorter vertical clips to post on socials is a viable option, but I would recommend doing more.

In the age of TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts, it is essential to have a handful of short-form videos, shot vertically of course, to promote your single. Not just your typical, “hey, I have a new single out” to promote the day of release, but even multiple short teasers leading up to the release. Typically, these are about 15 – 30 seconds in length but generally under 90 seconds.

Additionally, you want to focus on video content that can get the attention from people who don’t know who you are, but can be entertained by or find value in it. Just think, if you were on a crowded street in a major big city, what would you do to get attention as an artist? For video, it doesn’t have to be anything crazy or super creative. It can be simply you performing your new single on video with the lyrics on it. This is the case if you want to post videos for organic growth or use the videos as creative for your ad campaigns.

Depending on what the song is about, there may be an opportunity to get creative with your promo content. Maybe there’s a strong theme or visual component that you may want to commission as an art piece from a local artist you like, specifically for the single. That art/design can be used as the cover art and merch to promote that specific song.

Here’s some other content you may want to have to go with your single release:

• A video that breaks down the story behind the song.
• A video breaking down your favorite lyrics.
• Use video to create a story around the song.
• Performance videos (could be as simple as you lip syncing the chorus/hook in different scenarios or dancing to it).
• Behind the scenes footage of the song being recorded, if it’s interesting.
• Don’t limit it to just video. Make sure to also get behind the scenes photos from the recording of the song and the music video.
• For music videos, take some actual photos (not just stills or screenshots of video). This could be used for video covers on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.
• Have new photos that can be used for the cover art or single announcement.
• Crowdsource footage from fans to make a video.
• Live performance of the single from a previous show.

There are other simple video options out there if you don’t want to invest much money or you want to be more anonymous in the videos. I personally wouldn’t recommend it, but you may have your specific reasons for going this route.

For DistroKid users, you can try their music video generator Vizy for a simple visualizer you can post or to use for running Meta Ads. It costs less than $10 each. With the rise of AI in the past few years, you can easily find other options to create quick visuals with a Google search.

The more video content you have to promote the single, the better. Get creative and have fun with it. For artists, marketing with video content is where I would dedicate the most time, money and energy into for the release campaign.
 

Publishing Tasks

 
Are you a songwriter? Make sure you’re a member of a PRO (Publishing Rights Organization) so you can register the song credits and receive performance royalties you’re owed from publishing. Avoid making these mistakes when registering your songs.

Is the song a collaboration? If you wrote the song with other co-writers, get your ownership percentage splits in writing based on how much each person contributed to the song. This document is called a split sheet. Be sure to collect their publishing information like the IPI (Interested Party Information) for each person being credited so you can register it properly. Remember the IPI number (11 digits) is not the member ID from the PRO.

Is the song an original? If it’s a song you wrote or co-wrote with other writers, make sure it’s copyrighted. If you don’t use a publishing admin, don’t forget to register your song with the MLC to collect mechanical royalties for the musical composition when DSPs, like Spotify and Apple Music, stream your song on their platform.

Is your song a cover? If you’re releasing a cover song for a physical format, downloads or streams, you need to get the proper mechanical licenses. Usually, your music distributor should offer you an option to secure the mechanical licenses for your cover song when you upload your music. For example, here are the instructions for DistroKid. If your music distributor doesn’t offer the service, try Easy Song Licensing or Royal Solutions (TuneLicensing).

Do you work with a music licensing or publishing company? If you work with any companies that pitch your music for sync opportunities in T.V. shows, movies, commercials or video games, be sure to let know ahead of time and send them the proper assets.

Are you using a publishing admin? If you use a publishing administrator (as you should if you’re an independent songwriter) like SongTrust, then you only need to register the song with them and not your PRO. For those who are not familiar, a publishing administrator helps you collect money that you’ve generated around the world for the songs you wrote. Although not related to publishing, this is a reminder to also register your song with SoundExchange since it’s an administrative task typically grouped for collecting royalties from your music.

Set a Release Date

 
You should always give yourself a minimum of 2 weeks between the day you upload the music to your distributor and the release date. I would aim to schedule the release 3 to 4 weeks in advance, especially if you want to give yourself plenty of time to properly promote and pitch to playlists. Even if you upload the track far in advance, it doesn’t mean you have to announce the single right away either.

Although the music industry usually releases new music on Fridays, you can technically release it on any day of the week. I would avoid the weekends though. I personally like Wednesdays or Thursdays.

Lastly, be aware of other big name artist releases, events or holidays that may be going on around your tentative release date. It’s not going to make or break your single release, but it’s always better to minimize any distractions that can takeaway focus from your song.
 

Explore Merch Opportunities

 
Creating new merch with a music release is more common with an EP or album. For singles, it may be a bit more challenging and riskier.

But depending on the song, the story, message or theme behind it, there may be an opportunity to create a design to go with the release of the single.

If it’s something you want to explore, be sure to do it early in the process so you have the proper time to execute.

Phase 2: Distribution

 
Checklist of what you should have:

• Mastered song (Typically 16-bit, 44.1 kHz WAV)
• Cover art file (3000 x 3000 resolution JPEG or PNG)
• Lyrics
• Songwriter credits
• ISRC code
• Release date

Once preparation is done, you should be ready to schedule your release for distribution. To get your songs on services like Spotify and Apple Music, you need to go through a music aggregator (music distributor). Although you can easily get your music in over 150 digital stores this way, you will have to manually upload your music to Bandcamp, SoundCloud and Audiomack. Remember to add the ISRC code (discussed below) to those other platforms once you get it from your distributor to link the master recording.

Make sure your song is going to the top platforms:

• Spotify
• Apple Music
• Amazon Music
• YouTube Music
• YouTube
• Pandora
• SoundCloud
• Bandcamp

Make sure to select every store so your single is everywhere. If you’re using DistroKid, be sure to also select Facebook, Instagram, Instagram Stories and TikTok so they are available there.

Bandcamp

You can upload your single on Bandcamp ahead of time as a draft or private song. Once it’s time to release, you can manually set it to public and your followers will get an email notification that it’s available. Unfortunately, you can’t schedule it to go public automatically. If you’re not selling digital downloads of your music on your website, I would consider doing so with Bandcamp.

SoundCloud

You can get the song ready on SoundCloud by uploading it as a private song. You can schedule a release to go public at a specific date and time, but it’s only available for SoundCloud Pro Unlimited users. If you have free basic plan, you’ll have to do this manually.

Audiomack

If you do hip hop, R&B, electronic/EDM, reggae/dancehall or latin music, Audiomack is another music distribution platform you can upload your music. Similarly to SoundCloud, you can schedule your single to go public automatically. Just keep in mind they only focus on those specific genres. Also, they only pay out master recording royalties and no publishing royalties.

Is the single going to be released again on your upcoming EP or album? When you upload a song to your distributor, they will generate an ISRC code for your song recording. Make sure to use that same ISRC code when you upload the song again for the album. Doing this will allow digital music stores to treat the previously released single and the song on the album as the same song/master recording so your streams numbers are linked.

What is an ISRC code? The International Standard Recording Code is an international standard code for uniquely identifying sound recordings and music video recordings. Every song you upload will have a unique ISRC code like how every product in a supermarket will have a unique barcode to identify the item. You should be able to get this code when you upload your music to your distributor. If you use DistroKid, click on your release in your account dashboard to see your ISRC code. Be sure to include your ISRC when uploading your song to Bandcamp and SoundCloud.

ISRC code location for DistroKid users

Lyrics

Music distributors like DistroKid will allow you to add lyrics so they can submit them to platforms like Apple Music, iTunes and MusixMatch (for Instagram Stories). Here are guidelines on how to format lyrics for Apple Music and MusixMatch.
 

Phase 3: Promotion Planning

 
Checklist:

• Start a task timeline or calendar
• Submit for Spotify editorial playlist consideration
• Submit for Amazon Music Editorial playlist consideration
• Add a Canvas video to Spotify
• Launch pre-save / pre-order campaign link
• Create smart link or pivot/landing page for the release
• Prepare single announcement post
• Day of release post
• Incorporating Patreon
• Upload audio message to Pandora AMP
• Consider windowing your release to maximize revenue
• Consider live streaming to promote the single

After you upload your music to your distributor and a set release date, your primary focus is going to be on promotion and marketing. To make sure everything runs smoothly, create a schedule or timeline of what needs to be done on each day leading up to release day. Set deadlines to make sure you stay on task.

In this section, I will go over tasks for you to consider in your planning process and what you should have ready for promoting your single.
 

Submit for Spotify Editorial Playlist Consideration

Once your single is uploaded, you should submit your song for Spotify editorial playlist consideration. It’ll take a few days for Spotify to get your single into its system. You should receive an email from Spotify saying that it’s been added and scheduled for release.

Submit for Amazon Music Editorial Playlist Consideration

Now you can pitch your new release to Amazon Music’s curation team to be considered for, not just their playlists, but their (radio) stations as well. The process is the same as Spotify, but done through your Amazon Music for Artists profile.

Add a Canvas Video to Spotify

According to Spotify, adding a Canvas video to your song on their platform are likely to see the following benefits:

• 145% more likely to get track shares
• 20% more likely to get added to playlists
• 9% more likely that fans will visit your profile
• 5% increase in streams
• 1.4% more likely fans will save your song

When you share your song to Instagram Stories that has a Canvas video on Spotify, it will show there as well.

If you just need something quick and basic, you can use DistoKid’s free Canva generator as a member.

Launch a Pre-save / Pre-order Campaign

Update: Spotify now has a new feature called Countdown Pages that allows fans to officially pre-save your album release through their platform. Unfortunately, it does not work for singles. My views on a pre-save campaign have changed and I don’t feel it is necessary or worth the trouble.

If you have the time and energy, you can consider launching a pre-order or Spotify pre-save campaign. Pre-orders can help you chart, but the focus should be on pre-save since most people stream music. Pre-add is Apple Music’s version of a pre-save, but it’s only available for albums and not singles.

To improve your chances of getting on algorithmic Spotify playlists, you want to incentivize people to pre-save your song on Spotify. I believe getting pre-saves for your release is the only engagement signal you can build up before it is released. I would like to think that pre-saves can help with getting placed on Spotify’s Editorial playlists, but there’s no real way to test that. At the very least, you’ll be able to make a bigger splash with all your pre-savers getting a notification that the new single is out.

To make a pre-save link, you may have to use a smart link tool to generate one. Not all of them will let you create it for free so refer to this blog to find the tool that works for you.

If you use DistroKid, they will automatically create a free pre-save link / pivot page for you called a HyperFollow page. On this pivot page, Spotify is often on the top of this list so it makes it easier for you to push for pre-saves. Just asking your fans may not be enough incentive for them, so you may want to offer something of value if they do pre-save.

Here’s an example of DistroKid’s HyperFollow page you can use for a Spotify pre-save campaign.

You can check to see how many people saved your release and it will also give you some data about those people. More importantly, it will give you their email address. This is how you can offer something in exchange for the pre-save. It could be access to unreleased content. It could be a free download of the song. It could be a one-time coupon code for your merch store. It could be a giveaway where you will randomly select anyone who has pre-saved the song.

Butterscotch offered to do a beatbox shout out for those who pre-save

Create a Smart Link or Pivot Page

A smart link or pivot page is a web page that contains links to all the different places people can buy or listen to your new release. This a link you would use to promote in your social media posts, Instagram profile, newsletter, IG Stories, etc.

Whether or not you want to want to do a pre-save campaign, you should still have a smart link/pivot page for every release. The easiest option is to use DistroKid’s HyperFollow page because it’s automatically generated for you after you upload your release.

Lastly, you may want to make a shortened bit.ly link for presentation purposes. Insert this link on your social media profiles, posts and video descriptions when the single is officially out. It can also help with tracking clicks and where they are clicking from.

https://bit.ly/sade-life

https://bit.ly/gtap-walk
 

Prepare Single Announcement Post

Example of an announcement post

This is essentially your first post mentioning you are releasing a single. It can be done on social media and through an email newsletter. Some may want to post the cover art for this initial announcement (assuming you have other content like a music video) or save it for the day of the release.

Some artists also like to post a teaser before the official announcement. For example, you can post a photo (not the cover art) and mention in the caption you’ll drop a new song if you get ‘x’ amount of comments or emojis.

You’re not limited to some static photo or cover art either. Nor are you limited to doing it with one post. You may want to make multiple, short form promotional videos to use leading up to the release day. You can maybe perform some of the lyrics acapella in one video. In others, just perform the chorus/hook in a bunch of different ways. A powerful device for promotion is repetition. Usually it’s the chorus that you want to have stuck in people’s heads (earworm effect), so lean into that with these announcement/promotional videos.

In terms of timing the announcement, I would minimize the time between the first announcement about single and the actual release date if you don’t a way to tease or engage your fans until its out. In other words, I would avoid announcing a new single is dropping in 4 weeks and not mention again until release day. Most of the marketing for the single should be happening after the song is out anyway, so it’s okay to have a shorter lead time for the release. You can still upload the single to the distributor 4 weeks in advance and announce the single is coming 1 or 2 weeks before the release date.
 

When and how to release a traditional music video?

If you do decide to have a long-form music video to go with your single release, you ideally want to launch them together. But it’s okay to release the video after the song is already available too. However, avoid releasing a music video before the song is available on digital stores. You need to make sure people have someplace to go to hear and download the song after they’ve seen the video.

If you have enough promotional content, you can release a video with a song the same day. If not, space them out by releasing the song first then the music video shortly after.

With a few platforms (YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo) where you can release long-form music videos, there are generally two strategies when it comes to how to release it.

1. You can make it available on all platforms at the same time. It’s more convenient and fewer steps for people to watch natively on the platform they are on.
2. Upload to only one platform like YouTube and direct everyone there. This helps build traction in one place rather than having the views scattered.

To help with funneling views, you can also launch a video premiere on YouTube or Twitch to turn it into a watch party event. Be sure to schedule and promote the premiere ahead of time so people know exactly when to tune in. Let fans know that they can opt-in to receive a notification reminder if they choose. After the premiere is over, you may decide to upload to Facebook.

However, I find that it’s more difficult to pull this off as an effective funneling strategy, which is why I found it’s better to make the video available on all platforms. Deciding on which route to go with will depend on your business goal.

Update: The premiere video feature on Facebook was deprecated August 22, 2022 so you can only do video premieres now on YouTube.

Remember that YouTube favors creators who upload videos on a regular basis (a couple of times a week). The typical musician only uses YouTube as a vault to upload the occasional music video, which is not optimal to take advantage of YouTube’s algorithm. Funneling all your views to YouTube is not going to be helpful unless you’re already consistently active on their platform or if your video goes viral elsewhere first.
 

Day of Release Post

If you have a traditional music video to release with your single, this would be a good day to post a snippet for Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and X. Choose at least three short clips that are the most engaging. Avoid the intro if it needs to build. Make sure that there’s a smart link to your release in the description of your music video so fans can easily stream, save or add to a playlist.

For Facebook, you’ll likely just use the full music video as the release day post, unless you’re trying to funnel views to YouTube.

If you have short-form performance videos, you can also consider posting this first. Because you can post as much as you want over the course of the campaign, there’s no real right or wrong way to approach this. You can even save the traditional music video a week after the single drops.
 

Incorporating Patreon

If you have a membership business through Patreon, you should decide how you want to incorporate this single release. You may give your patrons early access to see the music video or listen/download the song before it’s officially released. I have a couple of clients that use Patreon, so it comes up naturally for me when I’m planning releases. If you don’t use Patreon, you can ignore this step.

Pandora AMP – Artist Audio Messages

If you have a presence and following on Pandora, you may want to use their artist audio message feature. You can add a 15-second custom voice message to your songs with a specific call to action. Use it to link Pandora listeners to your website to sell merch or target fans geographically to sell tickets.
 

Consider Windowing Your Release to Maximize Revenue

Windowing your release has become an increasingly popular strategy for artists. What this means is making your release available on platform that allows you earn money upfront before it is widely released through streaming. For example, you can make the single live on Bandcamp a week before its official release date so fans can listen to it early and possibly pay for the download.

Consider Live Streaming

If you have the following for it, you may want to go live on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or YouTube to promote your single. You can host a Q&A session to talk to fans about the release and share stories about the song or video.

A platform where I’ve seen this done well is on Twitch. When releasing her video Safehouse, JVNA went live on her Twitch to host a watch party for the premiere on YouTube. In the live stream, she explained what the song was about, broke down the music video, answered questions and shared insights about the process.

JVNA Release Party on Twitch for her new single.

Weeks prior to this, she was on Twitch teasing fans with the green screens as she was getting ready to record the scenes for her music video.

What JVNA did is a bit more “advanced” and she does have a larger following, but it gives you ideas of how you can build excitement and engage fans around a single. It can be as simple as live streaming the day before the release and play a teaser of the song or video.

We did something similar on Twitch as her first live stream on the platform:

If you do go this route, don’t forget to add the live stream event to Bandsintown so your trackers will get a notification. You can also add live stream events to SongKick so it shows on your Spotify profile.
 

Phase 4: Days Before the Release

 
Checklist:

• Have social media posts ready with captions and hashtags
• Design and schedule your email blast
• Get smart link / pivot page ready
• Schedule music video (YouTube and Facebook)
• Create a custom thumbnail for your video
• Prep video clips for social media ads

Plan Your Social Media Posts

You should have your posts all ready to go including captions, links and content you plan to use for your posts. If you have a traditional music video, you may want to use the full music video as the day of release post or just a snippet that leads to a full video.

Primary platforms to post on to promote your single:

• Instagram
• Instagram Stories
• Instagram Broadcast channel
• Facebook
• Twitter (X)
• Post on your Community tab in YouTube (If you have over 500 subscribers…)
• Post message in Bandsintown
• Send message in Bandcamp

Design Your Email Newsletter

Get your email ready to send to your list. Keep the email simple with one focus, which is to either to the music video and/or pivot page where fans can stream the song. Schedule it to send for the day of the release.

Customize Your Smart Link / Pivot Page

Depending on which smart link tool you use, you may need to do some customizations before your single goes live. This includes adding your music video, social media links and Facebook pixel for retargeting.

If you create your own landing page as I do, you will need to add the direct links to each digital platform your single is going to be available on. You should already have Google Analytics and your Facebook Pixel installed on your website. Usually what I do is wait for the song to release at 9:00pm the day before which is when it goes live for me in California (assuming you set it to release based on New York time). I create bit.ly links for each major streaming platform and add those shortened links to the landing page.
 

Schedule Music Video (YouTube and Facebook)

For YouTube, I recommend uploading your music video as close to when you start promoting. Because not all your subscribers will get notified of your new upload, so it’s important to maximize engagement and views within the first 24 hours of uploading it. This feedback is what YouTube’s algorithms use to determine if your upload is worth popping up on the home page or suggest videos of your subscribers. You can also schedule your video to go public from private at a specified date and time.

Fill in the video description with as much relevant data as possible. This includes:

• A link to your landing page or where people can listen/download the song.
• Lyrics
• A short bio
• Link to your website
• Link to your social media accounts
• Relevant tags

Another good option you have is to schedule your video as a premiere. This turns your music video into a livestream event where fans can gather and watch it together for the first time. After the video premieres, it turns into a regular Youtube video on your channel with the exact same link. If you want to be able to upload the music video to YouTube ahead of time and not have to wait for the day of the release to upload, I would recommend doing this.

The other convenient thing about doing this is that you can embed the video to your website/landing page, include the link in your LinkTree, start adding end cards, include the link in a scheduled email blast, add it to your YouTube playlists and set it as a featured video on your YouTube channel all before the video actually goes live.

An example of a video premiere page on YouTube

If it’s a cover song, make sure you optimize your headline, thumbnail and tags to be seen by those maybe looking for the original song.

For Facebook, you can easily schedule your music video to publish in Meta Business Suite.
 

Video Prep for Social Media Ads

Whether its snippets of your music video or a collection of short-form performance videos, get them ready so you can use them as creative to run ads for Meta and/or TikTok. Ideally, you want them to be less than 1 minute long. Be mindful about the video sizes (1080 x 1920, 1080 x 1080, 1920 x 1080) that’s needed for the various placements on Meta.

In terms of campaign objectives, you may want to drive traffic to the full music video or the smart link to get people to stream the new single. You can also be build up video views for clips you’ve already posted on socials as a strategy to build custom audiences from it to run conversion campaigns down the line.
 

Phase 5: Day of Release Checklist

 
Promote on social media channels

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Instagram Stories
• Instagram Broadcast Channel
• TikTok
• X (Twitter)
• YouTube Shorts
• Post on your YouTube Community tab
• Post message to your trackers on Bandsintown
• Send a direct message to followers on Bandcamp

Upload music video (YouTube, Facebook)

• Embed the video into your smart link, landing page or “Link in Bio” page (Linktree, Beacons page)
• Add smart link in the video description.
• If you upload to Facebook, pin the video to the top and make it a featured video.

Update YouTube channel

• Add your video as a featured video for your channel.
• Add to your playlist for music videos.
• Add a link card to take viewers to your website or landing page.
• Add the art track of your single to your channel as a playlist. This is autogenerated if you opted in to have it created from your music distributor.

Update your website

• Create a page for the single, add a smart link and embed the music video to your home page.
• If you have specific merch for the release, make it available for purchase.
• If you created a custom landing page, make sure to embed music video there and add links to the individual streaming platforms.​

Update social media profiles

• Add the smart link for your single to all your social media profiles.​ If you use a link-in-bio tool like Linktree or Beacons, be sure to update that to include the smart link to your single.
• If you created a banner or avatar graphic for the release, update it at this time.

Add lyrics

• Genius
• Musixmatch: Sync up lyrics to your song to display on platforms like Instagram Stories, Spotify, Apple Music, etc. Some distributors, like DistroKid, offer these services too.
• Apple Music / iTunes (via a distributor like DistroKid)

Make the song public
If you uploaded as private and prepared these ahead of time, all you would need to do is make them public.

• SoundCloud
• Bandcamp
• Audiomack

Launch social media ad campaign

• Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram)
• TikTok Ads
• Spotify Marquee Ads
• YouTube Ads

Phase 6: Post-Release Checklist

 
You did all the planning and preparation. The single officially goes live and you made the initial announcement on your channels that the track is out. As many of you should know, it doesn’t end there. In fact, you’re just getting started.

How long you continue to promote the single is going to depend on your goals, how much promo content you have, your budget, other releases planned and how well the single performs. I would give yourself 2-4 weeks to promote the single

Here are some things you want to do to follow up with your single’s promotion.

• Resend to email List – Send another email to people who didn’t open it the first time. For MailChimp users, here’s how you do it.
• Promote multiple times on social media – Don’t just post about it once. Have multiple short-form clips ready to be used as promo. In fact, create a schedule and map out when you want to roll out all of the other content you have. Because algorithms control what shows up in social media news feeds, there’s a good chance not everyone has seen your post the first time. Avoid spamming posts throughout the day and using the exact same covert art multiple times. You should always have a variety of content to use so you’re not posting the same photo or clip.
• Mix up the type of content – Instead of music video snippets and performance clips, incorporate other types of content into your social media posting. Share behind the scenes. Get personal and tell stories related to the single or break down the lyrics.
• Encourage user-generated content – Think about ways your fans can use your song in the creation of their own content. Keep an eye out for trends and opportunities the song can used. For example, in a meme or dance challenge.
• Create your own themed playlist – Build a playlist around your single with other artists that match the mood, theme, genre or topic. Give it a proper title and create cover art to go with it. Here’s an example.
• Look for playlist opportunities for your song – You can read more here.
• Seek press and blog coverage – Getting coverage on bigger publications isn’t usually accessible unless you’re more established and go through a publicist. However, you can try submitting to these 44 independent music blogs.
• Set up automated payment splits for mechanical royalties – If there are other collaborators on the song, you can easily set up payment splits. Currently, DistroKid is one of the few distributors that offer this.
• Schedule your next release – Lastly, get your next single ready and repeat this process! You have to keep releasing music and build momentum. Remember, consistency is key.

Conclusion

 
My goal was to give you a complete overview of the most important things you should consider for a successful release. At this point, you may be a bit overwhelmed by how much work can go into a release.

Although this is a comprehensive break down of my release process, it doesn’t mean you have to do everything for every single you put out. Ideally, you want to but don’t be hard on yourself if you’re not able to. Even I don’t end up covering it all for various reasons from lack of ad budget to no opportunity to create promotional content. My best advice is to give yourself plenty of time to handle tasks so you’re not doing everything last minute. I’ve had to do that a couple of times and it’s not fun. Use the checklists as guides and do as much planning ahead to stay organized. If you’re just starting out, do the essentials and slowly add more aspects to the release as you get more comfortable.

The post The Ultimate Single Release Checklist for Independent Artist in 2026 appeared first on D4 Music Marketing.

When working with agents, promoters, talent buyers and venues, you always want to make sure to make a good impression to build those business relationships. Not only by being professional but by doing everything you can to sell out the show.

In this blog, I’ll cover 12 ways you can announce and promote your upcoming shows and tours.

1. Bandsintown with Spotify & YouTube Integration

 
The first place that I go to when a show is confirmed is to add on Bandsintown.

Bandsintown has been the go-to live music directory for many years now. Fans can track/follow their favorite artists and get email notifications when a show is announced in their city.

From my experience, it has become the standard platform for musicians to list their live shows. You can also add a widget to your website that will automatically have all your shows listed from Bandsintown on to your website.

You can also send geo-targeted messages to fans who track you to follow up with reminders or special offers.

Bandsintown is integrated with Spotify, meaning your shows and events will be listed on your Spotify profile. Fans will get notifications in-app and via emails from Spotify as well.

More recently, Bandsintown also has an integration with YouTube that allows your shows to display on your videos and YouTube Music profile. I explain how to set this up below:

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2. SongKick

 
SongKick is also a concert discovery service, but it is owned by Warner Music Group. They used to be the main live show platform for Spotify, but that 13 year relationship ended with the new Bandsintown integration.

SongKick may not be as important moving forward for newer artists. For established artists, you may still have fans that use the platform so it doesn’t hurt to list your upcoming shows and tours there.
 

3. Email Marketing

 
If you have an email list (and you should), you’ll want to send out a newsletter to get the word out.

If you can geo-target your fans by city, then that would be the most ideal. There’s no point in announcing a show in a particular city if you have fans all over the country.

Otherwise, you’ll want to announce a group of shows together rather than emailing them about individual shows.

Some email marketing tools will use IP addresses to help you determine where your fans are located, but it may not always be reliable. Something you can implement is having a question about what city they’re located in when signing up for your newsletter.
 

4. Social Media

 
Promoting your shows on social media is the standard and bare minimum that is expected of you as the artist. You should do this on all platforms you’re active on. For example on Instagram, you can make the announcement with a standard post, Reels, Stories and a Broadcast channel message.

The problem with social media is that the algorithms generally don’t like these types of posts, especially if it is just a standard flyer with text on it.

The next best thing is to do a selfie-style video or share a short performance clip to promote the show. This is way more personable and engaging than a flyer.

If you can capture good audio in a setting with a nice background, you can try doing a livestream performance as a way to promote your tour. Once it’s done, download the livestream video and chop it up into shorter clips to post. Leave some white space in case you want to add text overlays. This is a great way to repurpose your content.

Lastly, consider creating a skit or a fun advertisement video if it makes sense for your brand or personality. This is a trend I see more artists are doing over the years. It requires more thought, time and energy, but at least providing entertainment value helps to get more views on it.

Some other tips:

If you post on Facebook, be sure to include the ticket link in the post itself or add a comment with the ticket link.

If you post on other platforms where you can’t include the ticket link, add it to your “link in bio” or micro website (i.e. LinkTree or Beacons). You can also use a chat automation service like ManyChat to DM your fans a link to buy tickets if they leave a specific comment like TICKETS.

On Instagram, create a Story and include a link sticker for tickets and tag the venue so they can reshare. You may also include the location tag for the city the show is in.
 

5. Paid Socials

 
Venues and promoters will have a budget to market and promote each show. Typically, this is done through their own channels and social accounts. They may request advertising access to your Meta properties, but it doesn’t hurt if you run ads to your fans directly from your own account.

Since posts that sell something may see lower organic reach on socials, you should put some money behind the announcement post and have it geo-targeted to the city the show is in. For an independent artist, $50 to $200 is a reasonable amount to spend.
 

6. Facebook Events

 
Depending on the demographic of your fanbase, you may consider creating a Facebook Event for your upcoming show. Younger demographics likely don’t use Facebook regularly so it may not be as effective if your music leans more on the “youthful” side.

However, with over 3 billion active monthly users, Facebook is still the number one social media platform globally. Facebook Events is a free service with a wide reach and can recommend shows to users through its algorithm. The event page has an RSVP system that allows fans to see people they know in their network who are interested or going.
 

7. Pandora AMP Audio Messages

 
For those fans who use Pandora, you can leave a short, geo-targeted audio message in between your songs to promote a show. When you set up a campaign for each individual show, you can include a clickable ticket link for fans to purchase tickets directly from the app.

Claim your Pandora Artist Profile or log into your Pandora AMP account to get started.
 

8. SMS Marketing

 
If you’re already paying for a short messaging service (SMS), like Community or SuperPhone, you’ll want to send out geo-targetted texts out to your fans when there’s a show in their city. Depending on the service, you can also target fans within a specific mile radius of a city.

In my experience, SMS is very effective for promoting shows. Since it goes directly to people’s phones, you see higher open and conversion rates.

The drawback is you have to be careful with how many texts you send over a certain period as you don’t want to annoy your fans. More importantly, SMS marketing services can be quite expensive.
 

9. Local Media

 
Local media outlets may offer ways to announce or list shows in your city. Outlets to look out for are city newspapers (with arts and entertainment sections), community and college radio stations, magazine publications, music blogs, and local TV stations.

If you have a publicist, see if they can do this for you, especially if you have a tour in multiple cities.
 

10. Local Online Communities

 
Check if there are local online communities that allow you to promote an upcoming show. This could be on a specific subreddit for a specific city or local music community. You can also check Craigslist.

If you know of fan-created online communities, like on Reddit, Discord or a Facebook Group, that’s something to consider. Dedicated fans of these communities will likely share new show or tour announcements on their own.
 

11. Fan Membership Platforms

 
If you already have fans on a membership platform like Patreon, you should be prioritizing your show announcements there.

For some of the Patreon pages I’ve set up, one of the perks we offered is early access to all things related to the artist. For shows and tours, this means sharing the pre-sale code to Patreon before the general public.
 

12. In-Person Flyering and Postering

 
Lastly, you have the old-school way of promoting your shows. Before the internet, you would have street teams that would hand out flyers in person and put up posters around the city. For independent artists, this was your main method to get the word out about your shows.

In this digital age, flyering and postering are not very common. Assuming you already have a fan base and some traction in a local city, this can still be a viable option. You’ll want to focus on areas, buildings, businesses and even other concerts that your target audience or fan base would most likely be in.
 

Conclusion

 
The goal for every artist should be to perform in front of a sell out crowd. To make that happen, make sure to utilize all your different options and do your part to promote your live shows and tours. You want to leave a good impression so you’re more likely to be booked again in the future.

After all, a show with a low turnout can reflect poorly on your reputation with venues and promoters. But whatever you do, be sure to avoid these live performance mistakes.

The post 12 Ways Musicians Can Promote Live Shows and Tours appeared first on D4 Music Marketing.

What is Windowing in Music?

 
Windowing is a content distribution strategy where you’re making your content(music) exclusively available on a platform, channel or format for a limited time before it is made widely available. The goal is capitalize on the initial demand by generating as much revenue upfront within a short window before it goes to other distribution channels that don’t pay as much. Essentially, it’s a practice where you intentionally stagger the availability to maximize how much you can generate.

For a music release, this means charging fans for early access to the new music and other perks before the release is on all streaming platforms. You want to generate as much money upfront so you’re not depending on any revenue from streaming royalties that won’t even start showing up until at least 2 or 3 months later.

The practice of windowing isn’t new, but the need and appeal for this strategy in music have grown over the years with the increasing popularity of streaming and low royalty rates.
 

How Should You Window Your Next Release

 
Before we get into specific platforms, I wanted to share some ideas and tactics to consider to ensure windowing can be successfully implemented.

The basic execution of this windowing strategy can be as simple as making your new release available to listen to and download on a specific platform (i.e. Bandcamp) before the official release date where it will be available on all streaming platforms.

For most artists, this is probably all you’ll need since it doesn’t require any lead time and is easier to execute. However, you do have the option to customize and test different tactics.
 

Physical Products
 
Windowing is easier done digitally but you can also do this with physical items like vinyl and CDs. Launch physical and digital download formats together a month in advance of the official release date on streaming platforms.

If you really want to try and milk the release upfront, consider windowing with a 3-step process where you separate the physical release first for a few weeks. Maybe another 2 weeks later, you make it available for digital download. Then after another 2 weeks, it’s available everywhere. The only thing is it requires much more planning ahead and having all the physicals pressed beforehand. 
 

Other Perks
 
You can also attach other perks to incentivize fans to purchase the music physically or digitally before the streaming release date.

• Signed vinyl or CDs
• Merch bundles and fan packs
• Raffle for merch, tickets, meet & greets, etc.
• Video shout-outs (i.e. Cameo-style videos)
• Deluxe album version as a download
• Invitation to listening parties (in-person or online)

If you’re someone who cares about charting on Billboard, you can do ‘fan packs’.
 

Time Frame
 
How long should you stagger each window before the official release on streaming platforms?

If you’re only doing a digital release window, I would say 2 – 4 weeks before the official release date.

If you’re incorporating physical releases, you’ll want to widen the window more to account for fulfillment and shipping so 4 – 6 weeks.
 

Best Platforms for Windowing

 
These are the 3 most popular and accessible options for you to window an upcoming release. There are other options out there, but what you’re mainly looking for is the ability to sell, listen to the music and potentially limit access.
 

BandCamp

 
Bandcamp is a great option because it has everything you would need to successfully window a release.

They have a storefront that allows visitors to listen to the new releases and purchase digital downloads or physical merch. Visitors are limited to only 3 full plays (can be disabled or increased) of a song before they are prompted to buy.

You can also host a listening party to celebrate with your fans exclusively on the platform.

The cool thing about Bandcamp is it’s built on a strong community around supporting artists on the platform. Fans also like the ability to select the file types for downloading, including MP3, FLAC, WAV and AIFF.

Although it doesn’t cost money to create an account and host your releases there, there are fees involved.
 

EVEN

 
Started in 2022 and officially launched in April of 2024, EVEN is a direct-to-consumer music platform that allows artists to maximize revenue from their releases in a world now dominated by streaming.

Understanding that low payout rates from streaming platforms aren’t changing anytime soon, they essentially positioned themselves as a windowing platform with an unofficial tagline of:

Empowering artists to sell their music first and stream second.

The growing popularity of EVEN has been largely due to rising independent Hip Hop star LaRussell, who initially put the platform on my radar. More recently, J.Cole has used the platform to monetize the 10 year anniversary release of his 2014 Forest Hills Drive album.

Like Bandcamp, EVEN offers a “pay what you want” model where you can set a minimum amount you accept. When setting up a release, you can include various rewards or perks (EVEN calls them access points) like bonus content, merch, events and fan experiences to incentivize fans to support.

Signing up is easy, but your artist account will need to be verified by their team before you start. As for fees, EVEN does a 80/20 revenue split so you keep 80% of the money you generate through their platform.

Check out their artist playbook for more information.
 

Patreon

 
Patreon is a monetization platform for creators to earn money from memberships/subscriptions. The tools and features available on Patreon give artists a lot of flexibility, especially for something like windowing. However, I would not recommend starting a Patreon solely for windowing a release.

This option is ideal if you already built a membership community and you’re looking for a way to window your release to attract new potential members to your Patreon. For example, you can promote early access to the new release on social media and an email list by encouraging fans to join.

Patreon supports audio files so fans can easily listen to the new release in the Patreon app, Spotify or other podcasting apps (via RSS feed). You can choose to enable or disable downloading as well.

However, the one drawback is you can’t upload multiple audio tracks into one individual post. You would have to create either a post for each individual song or an edit that contains the entire album in one seamless track. This is where Bandcamp or EVEN have an advantage since those are music-centric platforms that accommodate multiple tracks.

As for selling physical merch for windowing, your best option is to create a secret, password-protected shop page and give Patreon members access. You can easily do this with e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Squarespace.

Even if you have fans who don’t want to pay monthly subscription costs, you can sell access to an individual post containing the new release with a one-time charge. You can also include an album download for sale in your digital store.

For more on Patreon for Music Artists, I wrote some blogs and an ebook for you to check out.
 

Conclusion

 
As convenient music streaming is for the fans, the low payout rates on all platforms aren’t changing anytime soon. For artists looking to adapt, windowing new releases has become a viable strategy.

Just be aware that windowing a release strategy is typically reserved for artists who have a sizable fan base and multiple releases under their belt. In other words, this is not effective for newer or developing artists.

If you’ve tried windowing a release, I would love to hear your results. What platform did you use and how did you approach it?

The post How to Window Your Next Music Release to Maximize Revenue appeared first on D4 Music Marketing.

This doesn’t only apply to new artists. It’s not uncommon for professional musicians to bounce back and forth between doing music full-time and taking up another job to supplement income. Or, even returning to a full-time day job and doing music on the side. It shows how volatile music can be for independents and why you can’t always depend on income directly from music itself, unfortunately.

As an emerging independent artist, you might be wondering what are your best job options to earn money to fund your music career. In this blog, I will cover 13 jobs you may want to consider while you develop as an artist.
 

What To Look For In A Day Job or Side Gig

 
In an ideal situation, you would be working a high-paying job in a field you enjoy that requires less of your time and is very flexible with your schedule, especially if you’re a performing musician. But of course, this sounds more like a fantasy than something you’ll likely encounter.

Generally, one of the key things you want from a job as an artist is scheduling flexibility. High pay is great too, but that usually entails a lot of your time and is high stress.

Secondly, the ideal jobs for artists are related to music in some way. Not only is it good for experience in a facet of the music industry, but it also opens up the potential to network and meet other artists or make industry connections. Not to mention, you might get access to services or resources to help advance your career.

Take into account your background, education, skills and strengths to see which jobs discussed below might more sense to you.

Many aspiring full-time musicians will work a day job, completely unrelated to art or music, make music in their free time and perform gigs at night. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
 

Money Does Not Validate Your Artistry

 
Before getting into what these jobs are, I feel it’s important to emphasize this specific message.

Many musicians want the ability to make a living solely off music because they feel it legitimizes or socially validates them as “real” artists. I want to make it very clear that just because you have a day job or work side gigs to fund your music does not make you any less of an artist.

There are plenty of active independent artists who have built a strong following and released amazing albums, but still work day jobs. At the very least, it would be smart to have fallback options with the volatility of the music business.

You should never let this idea that if you’re not a full-time musician making a living solely from music, you’re not good enough as an artist.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve grown a large fan base, there is no shame in having other income sources unrelated to music. It does NOT make you a lesser artist or musician making money in other ways not directly related to music.

If music is something you’re passionate about and you want to pursue it, don’t worry about what others think. Humility is a strength.
 

1. Merch Seller

 
Selling merch for other artists during their shows can be a great way to earn cash and get useful experience for your career. Taking on a gig like this challenges you to be organized, pay attention to details and be on top of your game in terms of customer service and presentation. You also see what works or sells well and what doesn’t.

Start by checking in with your network to see if you have musician friends who perform regularly and need help. If any artists or bands you follow have a show coming up in your area, reach out on socials or email to see if they have someone selling merch for them. Some venues may also have merch sellers on a call in case an artist doesn’t have their own seller so network with venues as well.
 

2. Record Store Worker

 
Working at your local record shop can be a fun way to surround yourself with music and interact with other music fans regularly. This should be a good way for you to know what’s trending in music and give you insight into the consumer side of the industry.

The downside is the amount of record stores has dwindled in the past couple of decades so opportunities might be more scarce. At least, the latest trends have shown that the demand for vinyl and CDs is still going strong in the streaming era so they’ll stick around for the long term.

To see if your local record shop has any job openings, stop in to ask or check their website. They may have signs posted looking for help. There’s a very good chance they have social media accounts so be sure to follow them If there are any openings, they may post about it like this record shop did in my area.
 

3. Music Venue Worker

 
Working at a venue where shows are being held regularly is a good way to have a foot in a key revenue-generating sector of the music business. Depending on your skills and experience, there are a lot of different roles that may be for you, like a bartender, ticketer, front-of-house (FOH) engineer, marketing, talent buyer and security guard.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic led to many closures of smaller independent music venues around the world. However, the demand for live music has bounced back since the days of lockdown and is at an all-time high.

Finding opportunities at a venue can be as simple as walking in to ask or check the venue’s website. Also, find out what websites the venue uses to list job listings by Googling the venue name, city and “job listings” in one query.
 

4. Event Promoter

 
In another sector of live music, you have event promoters. An event promoter is someone who organizes, manages and promotes live shows. They can also act as a talent buyer to book artists for different shows, concert series or festivals they are throwing.

Some venues will have their own in-house event promotion team, but many will work closely with event promotion companies, where you’ll likely want to get started to get experience.

As an emerging artist, there’s a lot of value in working in this sector of live music from networking connections, industry insights, and marketing experience that you can apply to your own career. You may even get opportunities to perform.

The most practical way to get started is to find job openings at event promotion companies in your city or local area. To do this, look up upcoming shows at venues in your area and see who is throwing the event. For example, I can check the website of my local venue Harlow’s here in Sacramento and see who is hosting each show on the events page. The two event promotion companies I see there are Sean Healy Presents and (((FolkYeah!))).
 

5. Screen Printing Shop Worker

 
Merchandise is such an important income stream for musicians who want to make a living off music sustainably. Working at a shop that produces merch can be very useful in learning the printing process, what blanks are the best and new design ideas. Maybe you’ll even get discounts for your own merch, allowing you to have better profit margins.

Doing a quick Google search for “screen printing shops” should be able to yield some local spots in your city. Reach out to see if they have openings or keep on the lookout for job listing sites.
 

6. Record Label Employee

 
What better way to learn the music business than through a record label. There are different types of labels from local indie ones to the big 3 major labels (Universal, Sony and Warner) and their subsidiaries. Although they don’t just focus primarily on physical records like in the pre-internet days, they still encompass many aspects of releasing, distributing, publishing and marketing music releases.

Just be aware that the more established record labels may require college degrees in the relevant field you’re applying for.

To find a job at a record label, check on their website or social media accounts, including platforms like LinkedIn, to see if there are any job openings available. You can also do a Google search of the company name and add “job listings” to see which websites they often use to list jobs.
 

7. Photographer / Videographer

 
Content creation for musicians is more important than ever. Being able to capture photos and videos could be a fun way to earn money from other artists. In my experience, it’s quite common to see musicians who also do photography and/or videography.

After all, these skills in capturing visual art can be useful for your own needs. Or at the very least, it’ll allow you to communicate what you’re looking for from other photographers and videographers you may hire.

You can pick up an entry-level camera, maybe a used one, and start off as a hobby. Not ready for that type of investment? Use your smartphone. Generally, you can still get really good photos and videos with it.

To get started, offer to do free work for artists in your network.
 

8. Online Marketer

 
Online marketing is always a big area that artists need help with. There’s a wealth of information in the form of blogs, videos and courses that teach this stuff. If this is something you’ve been able to master, why not offer your services to handle certain areas for others?

Whether it’s managing social media accounts, growing an email list or running ads, there’s always going to be a demand. The best way to start is by working with those in your network who may need help in this area.
 

9. Graphic Designer / Web Designer

 
Just like with photos and video, there’s a need for creating graphics, whether it’s for social media, branding, logo, album art or a website. This area is a bit tricky since you have services like Canva and AI that are free or inexpensive alternatives artists can use to handle their graphic needs.

But, if you’re highly trained or skilled in this area, there’s going to be an opportunity. Plus, not everyone has the time to do things themselves. Others prefer to work with another person rather than depend on technology to create it.

You can start by offering your services to other artists in your network. There are also freelance marketplaces like Fiverr or UpWork to sign up for.
 

10. Tour Manager

 
A big part of the music business is live music. A tour manager works with artists to handle all the logistics, travel, coordination and budgeting involved with doing shows and tours. This way the artist can focus on their performance and not be boggled down by the business side of the show. Similarly to working at a venue or with an event promoter, it’s great insight and experience in the live music sector.

If you’re completely new to this area, see if you have any artist friends in your network who regularly perform shows and offer to do it for free to get experience.

You can also have an in by helping artists sell merch or taking photos at shows. A musician friend I know got his start because he was regularly taking photos and videos at shows for an established Hip Hop group. They eventually trained and paid him to be their tour manager.
 

11. Music Teacher

 
Teaching on the side is a common path for musicians. This can be done with private lessons in person, teaching an online course or as a part of a local music school. Of course, it will depend on your level of proficiency, education level and how comfortable you are with teaching.

You can find gigs on Craigslist or your local community. There may be someone in your network with kids who want to learn to play an instrument. I have seen some musicians announce that they are offering lessons on social media as well.
 

12. Anything related to other passions or interests

 
If finding a job related to music is tough, think about other areas of interest you have and see what jobs could be available. At the very least, it beats working a soulless fast food or office job you’ll hate.

For example, you may enjoy plants and gardening as a hobby. See if your local plant stores have job openings.

Maybe you love animals and consider yourself an animal rights activist, see if pet shelters have jobs or volunteer work available.

Even doing volunteer work on the side could potentially lead to paid opportunities in the future. I’ve experienced this firsthand.

I know we mostly live in a capitalistic world, but life shouldn’t be all about money. Look for other passions of yours that fulfill you and see that can be your stepping stone for music.
 

13. Lyft / Uber / Doordash

 
One of the most flexible gigs you can do unrelated to music is driving people around or delivering food. It pays close to the minimum wage as an independent contractor, but the ability to start anytime can be very useful.

To be honest, doing gigs through food delivery apps is what I started with and I still do to this day. I’ve been fortunate enough to make a decent living working with artists alone but I still do DoorDash to make a little extra income.

Because I can start and finish whenever I want, it’s the ultimate flexible gig. I used it as an opportunity to listen to podcasts while driving and learn new things in between deliveries.
 

Conclusion

 
Some may be wondering why I am covering ideal jobs for emerging artists. What does this have to do with music marketing?

The fact is marketing and music promotion costs money. You’d be surprised how many artists out there refuse to pay money to market and promote their music, but complain their music isn’t getting heard.

The funding of your art has to start with you. If you haven’t built enough leverage (i.e. large social media following, consistent hit songs, viral success) to get a record label to invest in you, it is solely up to you to fund the marketing and your development to get to that point.

Not making enough money from your music earlier on isn’t an excuse for why you can’t invest in marketing your music. If you can’t fund your business/career directly from your music yet, then you need to do it with a more stable income source. Again, nothing wrong with a day job or a side hustle.

If you’re having fun and believe in your music, keep going. Do not worry about what others think if you’re not making a living off music alone. As long as you’re making music for the right reasons (i.e. not to become rich and famous), you’ll always be an artist regardless of how you fund it.

The post 13 Best Jobs For Emerging Independent Artists To Fund Music Career appeared first on D4 Music Marketing.

In this blog, I want to share some key lessons we can learn from DIY independent music artists from the 1990s, specifically in the underground hip-hop scene in the United States. This was an interesting time in history because new technology (the internet, email, CDs) was being introduced to the masses that would later have a positive impact on independent artists. It helped level the playing field with the music gatekeepers beginning in the 2000s and beyond. Even if you don’t listen to or make hip-hop/rap music, you should be able to learn something and gain perspective that applies to you today.
 

The Back Story / Context for this Topic

 
Feel free to skip down to the next section if you want to get right into the lessons. I share some historical context about this topic and include my personal connection to the independent hip-hop scene beginning in the early 2000s.

Compared to present times, a lot has changed since the 1990s regarding the music industry, technology and even culture.

Before the internet became a household consumer good, many soon-to-be-big-name artists across the U.S. hustled from the ground up starting in their local scene and launching their music careers. Many stayed independent while others signed record deals or started their own labels.

For these hip-hop artists, their origins often involved selling albums/mixtapes out of their trunks or backpacks on the streets to random passersby. Instead of recording demo tapes to submit to the major labels, they dubbed their tapes or burned CDs to sell directly to customers in their local area.

As the internet became more accessible in households, we saw the DIY independent music scene really flourish in the early 2000s and into what we have today.

Yes, the gradual decline of CD sales due to the rise of online music “piracy” also started around this time and would become a major road bump for independent artists. However, you can argue that illegal file-sharing networks (Napster, LimeWire) also helped spread their music further to new fans who would eventually buy their merch and pay to see them live. Successful independent artists like Immortal Technique embraced the technology and encouraged people to “steal all of his music”.

This DIY movement in music was important because it challenged the commonly-held belief that you need a major label to grow a fan base and make a living as an independent musician.

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some of these independent artists from this period and see how they think and operate. These are the same underground hip-hop artists I listened to during my college years and became fans of for over 20 years. My passion and understanding of independent music is based on being a fan of their work.

I was first inspired to write about this topic when I saw independent rapper The Grouch on the SteeBee WeeBee show a few years ago. During a time when the internet was still in its infancy stage, The Grouch shared some cool details in this interview about what it was like to promote and sell your music independently before the internet.

The Grouch is a hip-hop artist originally from Oakland who has been putting out music independently for over 30 years. He is a part of a bigger hip-hop crew Living Legends. My client Eligh is a part of the same crew and makes up the other half of the long-time recording duo The Grouch & Eligh.

Among their music peers, the Living Legends crew in California were considered the most DIY/independent hip-hop artists at the time. They literally handle everything themselves from throwing their own shows, recording their own music from home, making their own tapes and selling on the streets.

It is said that Master P, one of the most successful independent hip-hop artists and entrepreneurs, actually learned and was inspired by Bay Area artists like Too Short and E-40 who in turn inspired the likes of The Grouch and Eligh.

Most of you reading this probably don’t listen to underground hip-hop, which is okay. I’ll be referring to hip-hop artists because that’s the scene I got into in college and shaped my identity. As I have written on my About page, it was my passion for underground hip-hop that ultimately led me to create a music blog for independent artists in the first place.

Although a lot has changed since then, I wanted to share 9 important lessons from the 1990s independent music grind that still apply today. You might not listen to hip-hop, but these lessons can be applied to any genre of music. After all, we’ve seen the DIY ethos practically start with punk rock subcultures as early as the 1960s.

For further visual context, there’s an excellent Netflix series called Hip Hop Evolution that covers the beginning stages of the genre and how many artists in different parts of the U.S. got started independently. I highly recommend it as I think it’s important to understand the history of independent music if you’re trying to make it as an independent.
 

1. Selling physical products / merch is essential.

 
The biggest source of income for independents during the 1990s was selling physical music, like cassette tapes and later CDs. The larger profit margins from selling these items were what really allowed independent artists to sustain themselves financially.

One of the big pioneers of this independent spirit of selling out of the truck was Oakland rapper Too Short who offered to record a personalized shoutout on his music tapes in the 1980s. He charged $20 for this custom tape and it blew up.

In Houston, Texas, DJ Screw would sell $15,000 worth of mixtapes a day in the mid-1990s. He made seven figures a year selling tapes out of his house, his car trunk and at car shows. In 1998, he opened a shop just to sell his mixtapes!

As for The Grouch, he talked about how he would go to local record shops around the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1990s and sell a bulk of his CDs at $10 a piece. He would make his rounds to hit up each record store and make about $7,000 each stop and as high as $11,000. His music was flying off shelves so these record shops had no problem writing these big checks.

Getting paid opportunities to do live shows wasn’t as accessible for independent artists back then. So if you were relatively unknown and not getting airplay on the radio, you had to have physical products to sell.

The need to sell physical products is no different in today’s music climate. Although with streaming platforms, the average fan doesn’t need CDs, vinyl and cassette tapes to listen to music. But the need to have some kind of physical product to sell is still necessary.

This is where understanding branding comes in. You need to know what merch to make for your target audience. After all, merchandise is the physical extension of your brand and you want fans to consume it as a way to support what you do.

One of the big challenges with merch for independent artists is having the money to front for the production. Making products in bulk like vinyl, CDs, shirts and sweatshirts can be costly.

Thanks to advancements in technology, dropshipping services like Printful, make it easier for creatives to sell merchandise without any upfront capital or pay any costs to get items made.

2. Keep pushing out music – make more music, more money opportunities.

 
This should come as no surprise. The more music you put out, the more opportunities you have to make money from it and grow an audience. Specifically, more physical products to sell. Obvious right?

As mentioned earlier, the profit margins from CDs during this time were what allowed independent artists to flourish financially.

Within a major label system, there can be a lot of bureaucracy and politics when putting out music. For independents, there’s no such thing so use it to your advantage.

The Grouch knew he couldn’t sell 100k copies of an album without the financial backing or advance a typical record label could provide. But he would have a better chance of selling 10k copies of 10 different CDs.

Over 25 years later, these underground artists have large catalogs with over 20 albums worth of music. To put into perspective, just with The Grouch and Eligh alone, they have 40 released albums combined, which doesn’t include any albums as a crew and features for other artists.

Was flooding the market with too much music a bad thing? Nope, fans ate it all up. Even today, no fan is going to tell their favorite artists to stop putting out so much music. It’s a necessity for emerging artists in today’s music industry to release music more frequently and consistently.

Nowadays, with relatively less demand for products like CDs and tapes, putting out a lot of music isn’t necessarily going to earn you more money with streaming as the preferred method for music consumption. With streaming royalties so low (roughly 3,000 streams will be equivalent to what you make from selling a $15 CD), the average independent artist can’t sustain from it alone.

However, putting out more quality music has an exponential effect. Pushing out more songs won’t necessarily mean you’ll generate cash in the short term, but each one will give you a chance to build off momentum with proper marketing. It gives you more “content” to promote yourself and get discovered on social media.

Even though not all songs will be a hit, they will be added to your back catalog and accumulate more streams over time as your fan base grows. As the saying goes, old music is always new to someone. And if one of those songs takes off or goes viral, it’ll definitely help lift the rest of your discography.

3. Have the ability to record and make music from home.

 
The ability to make music at home is drastically different than how it was in the 1990s. Equipment was more expensive, and it sounded much more complicated using things like an ASR-10 and SP-1200 sampler.

Recording and producing music at a professional studio is pricey. If you have the resources and space to do it from home, you can save a lot of money and potentially accomplish a lot more.

For The Grouch, he was doing 4 track recordings at home and using music samplers to make beats. In the 1990s, you didn’t have affordable DAWS (Digital Audio Workstations) on portable laptops and free YouTube education on how to use them.

A lot of these hip-hop artists at this time were teenagers so buying $2,000 – $3,000 recording equipment was relatively more expensive to them.

Take advantage of the technology today to record and make music from home. Russ is a great example of a modern DIY artist. In this video, he talks about putting the “gym” at home.

You may still use a professional recording studio to record the final mixes, but the early demos and mixes can start from home to save money.

4. Word-of-mouth is still important. Otherwise, meet your fans where they’re at.

 
Back in the days, you discovered new music from either the radio, magazines, TV or from a friend. Your friend likely gave you a dubbed tape or a burned CD from another friend’s sister’s cousin’s older brother.

Today, word-of-mouth is still a popular way of learning about new artists whether it’s a friend making an in-person recommendation or you seeing a social media post about it.

On the flip side, getting exposure to new potential fans in the 1990s was a different story. Because many of these local artists weren’t getting coverage from traditional media like TV, magazines or radio, they had to depend on doing things in person and hopes that would lead to word of mouth recommendations.

For the Living Legends crew, they took it to the next level. The Grouch talked about how they would save up money and periodically check flight prices at a local travel agency. The tactic was to find popular artists in the same lane and physically follow their tour routes. They gathered up whatever money they could scrap together to fly to different cities (and even countries like the UK, Germany and Japan) to promote their music and sell tapes outside of these shows. Because of their persistence, these artists would often let them be the openers and get direct exposure to their target audience.

It was a totally different time culturally, where now soliciting random strangers on the streets is no longer as effective today.

Fortunately, you can get people’s attention and put your music in front of people without having to do any traveling because of the internet. We now have the option of running hyper-targeted Instagram and TikTok Ads to fans of artists with a similar sound from the comfort of our homes.

5. Use your money wisely. Investing back into your music career.

 
You hear it all the time. Treat your music career as a business because that’s what it is. For businesses to grow, you need to invest money into it and not blow the money you earn on things that won’t further your career.

When The Grouch was a teen, his day job was delivering pizza. The first day he got a credit card, he maxed it out as you would expect a teen would do.

You might think it was for clothes, going out with friends or some form of entertainment. Not at all. He bought an ASR-10 to make music from home. Although he went into debt, it was an important investment for his music career and his close peers.

To tie in with the previous point, The Grouch would grind by selling tapes on the streets so his crew could have money to buy plane tickets to promote their music at shows from signed groups like The Pharcyde. It was well worth the investment as they eventually got noticed and opened for these artists. This is a great example of reinvesting the money you make for the long-term growth of your career.

You can argue that there are a lot more distractions to waste your money today and that the cost of living is higher, but if you really believe in your music, you’ll make the right decisions. For more on this, I wrote a blog on the top things you want to invest back into your music business.

6. Team up with other independents.

 
Being an independent artist doesn’t mean you have to do it all by yourself. Being a part of a crew, artist collective and/or community is a big advantage.

I’ve talked about having a community mindset in a previous blog and it is certainly applicable here. A lot of these independent artists worked together with others in the same area or city. Many developed their own crews or collectives so they could collaborate and even release albums together. It made a lot of sense back then because resources and knowledge were limited and you were more likely to get further by teaming up with others.

The Grouch and Eligh are a part of the California hip-hop crew The Living Legends. Crews like this were very common all over the United States in the underground scene.

Being a part of a music crew may be more of a “hip-hop” thing, but you can still incorporate this concept even if you do any other type of music. Find other like-minded artists you can befriend and collaborate with musically. Maybe even become really good friends. It’s all about building a network with a community-oriented mindset.

7. Fill a need that’s lacking or do it better. Innovate.

 
One of the reasons why these DIY artists were able to win over fans is because they offered something unique or different. These underground movements were often providing alternative sounds the mainstream didn’t want to shine a light on, hence underground. For many, it was a countercultural movement in music.

A lot of these Bay Area hip-hop crews had artists representing different types of styles, voices, identities and personalities that attracted those who didn’t feel they could resonate with what was being offered in commercial music channels.

On the west coast for example, the dominant subgenre played on mainstream media was gangster rap that glorified things like drugs, objectification of women, violence and money.

Music from California underground crews like The Living Legends and Hieroglyphics and SoleSides (Quannum Projects) was quite the opposite. Their songs had a more lighthearted vibe with relatable topics. It had substance that the average person could relate to. More importantly, they were innovative with their art.

Here’s an audio clip with Andre 3000 of Outkast, who currently has the best selling rap album of all time, talking about how influential and innovative the Hieroglyphics Crew was on him personally and the impact it had for hip hop during the 1990s.

Of course, you don’t have to be a gangster to like or listen to gangster rap, but these independent artists from this time provided multiple alternatives to what was readily available on the radio or TV.

To be fair, it’s a bit harder to fill a need in music today because of how the internet has already opened so many doors for artists around the world that typically wouldn’t have been given a chance by a major label. It doesn’t help that the 1990s wasn’t as musically diverse and intertwined as it is today. But it’s not impossible to create your own lane today by doing something different as we’ve seen artists like Post Malone, Lil Nas X and Hobo Johnson do it in more recent times.

8. Be adaptable, diversify and experiment.

 
Society, culture and technology are always changing so don’t ever get complacent with what currently works.

The biggest source of income for independents in the 1990s were tapes and CDs. Touring was optional to bring extra income and engage with fans. The rise of MP3s and music piracy would eventually disrupt this business model dependent on record sales and begin a drastic shift towards digital music.

The Grouch says he was a go-with-the-flow guy so he wasn’t opposed to this change. Although it affected the money he would make in the short term, it also would help get his music out to more people and created a demand for other income sources down the line.

As an independent artist, you’re generally going to be more nimble, giving you the advantage to adapt more easily. You should be looking for the next big thing to give you an edge. This line of thinking also applies to social networks, platforms and apps. MySpace was once the top social media platform for music, but others like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube would overtake its place.

9. Embrace the entrepreneurial spirit. Develop your hustle and start the grind.

 
Despite how accessible it is to build a music career independently today, there’s still a desire to get signed by a record label. Why? Because there’s a lot of work, development and resources that goes into being a full-time artist that many don’t want to deal with.

Regardless if you want to earn a record deal or not, you still need to show you can build momentum with your music on your own. Since artist development isn’t required to start, labels want to see proof of concept and major buzz before even considering it. For artists, this requires an entrepreneurial mentality and dedication to building a business.

All these independent artists I’ve mentioned so far, and many others during these times, embraced the entrepreneurial spirit. Chances are they didn’t think of themselves as businessmen or entrepreneurs but that’s what they were. They got their hands dirty in the different aspects of the music business and made it work with the limited resources they had. Because they believed in their art, failure was not an option for them and they stayed persistent through any obstacles that came their way.

With so much competition today, it’s easy to get discouraged, especially when you’re not seeing much success early on. It’s up to you to develop yourself to become a well-rounded artist and business person. It starts with embracing the entrepreneurial spirit, having self-awareness and welcoming the inevitable challenges.

Conclusion

 
There’s always going to be a debate about which time period was actually harder to be an independent artist in.

Was it before the internet where it was more profitable selling tapes and CDs, but the potential for exposure and scalability was very limited?

Or in present times where income with music streaming is limited, but you have the ability to grow and scale your music worldwide with social media?

To me, the answer is obvious but I would love to hear what you think!

The post 9 Lessons Today’s Musicians Can Learn from the DIY Independent Music Ethos of the 1990s appeared first on D4 Music Marketing.

For many independent artists, live shows don’t come as frequently so you want to make sure you’re maximizing these opportunities to sell when you’re performing live.

In this blog, we’ll go over all of the basics that you should keep in mind for selling merch in person and some tips to maximize your efforts.

Please Note: This blog contains affiliate links to Amazon, meaning that I get a small commission when you purchase any of the items I recommend. This is a great way to support all the work that went into this blog at no extra cost to you. Read my full affiliate link disclosure here.
 

Offer various payment options.

 
By default, you should at least be able to accept credit cards as it is the most popular form of payment. Square is the most commonly used payment service and they offer a free basic card reader when you sign up that attaches to your smartphone. There are other POS options as well such as Shopify and PayPal.

In case you want a backup or you lose it, you can also just order a Square Reader on Amazon for about $10.

If you want to invest in a better Square card reader, the next level up that costs around $50 to $60 dollars.

If you want a portable Square terminal that you don’t need to connect to your SmartPhone, you can get the Square Terminal.

Cash is ideal but you’ll need to have a change available. If so, it would be smart to invest in a cash box and have enough change before each show. You don’t really need anything big or fancy. Even a small cash bag will work fine.

You may also want to price items strategically to minimize the change you need, like selling items in increments of $5, $10 and $20 so you don’t need $1 bills. $200 in change should be enough.

Venmo, PayPal, Zelle and CashApp are also very useful payment options to have. To make transactions quick, I would print out a sheet of QR codes for each payment option you have set up along with your usernames. That way, customers can have their app out and ready to pay.

Here’s how to find the QR codes for each of the digital payment options:

• Venmo
• PayPal
• Zelle
• CashApp

Ask the venue beforehand about where merch is sold.

 
You want to make sure you know where the merch area is and what supplies are available to you. Do you need to bring your own table or racks to hang items up? How is the lighting? Is there actually good foot traffic or can you set up somewhere else?

Chances are the music venue will have a designated merch area that is optimal for selling. In case you’re performing somewhere that is not typically for music, try finding any space closer to the entrance/exit where foot traffic is forced to go.

Most of the time, music venues should have tables available for you to set up on. If not or you’re performing, here’s a great 6ft folding table option and a black table cloth.
 

Stick around after your live performance.

 
This is such a big opportunity for you to build deeper relationships with your fans and potentially sell merch. Whether it’s to chat, take a photo with you or have something signed, you want to stay around your merch table for your fans as long as you can after your set. When talking about building your brand, making yourself available physically for fans is one of the best things you can do. It’s not scalable but it’s important especially for emerging artists. Just be sure to let people know you’re doing it and where after your set.
 

Have someone sell merch for you.

 
Your priority after performing is to spend time interacting and engaging with fans. Having someone handle all of the merch transactions will free up time for you to focus on those who support you. Try to see if you can have a friend offer a couple of hours to sell merch for you at the table.

Otherwise, some venues might have someone available to sell merch for you, but they’ll charge you and take a small cut of your sales. Depending on the venue, they may only take a cut of soft sales (shirts, hats, sweaters) as opposed to hard sales (CD, Vinyl). Some may take a percentage of both. Make sure to ask ahead of time so you’re clear on their policies and maybe try to negotiate better terms.
 

Mention you have merch for sale during your set.

 
Not everyone is going to know that you have a merch table set up so be sure to mention it sometime during your live performance. You can even point it out if it’s in view. To remind yourself, make a note of it in your set list or do it at the end, especially if you’ll head to the table after your performance.
 

Have prices, sizes and color options visible.

 
Have a tag or label next to the item with a price and any other details. You can also have a printed price list that is visible. This is particularly important if you’re by yourself at the merch table. You don’t want to waste any time having to answer any questions about prices when you might have a line of people wanting to get your attention to talk or get a photo.

If you’re printing something out, be sure to laminate it to prolong the use of it.
 

Give away something free at your merch table.

 
Leave some free stickers, mini prints, posters or pins at the merch table to give a reason for people to stop by. Be sure to have a sign or note to let people know it’s free.

Stickers are relatively cheap to make. There are tons of companies that do them but here are two popular options:

• Sticker Giant
• Sticker Mule

Presentation matters.

 
No one likes to shop in a messy, unorganized shop so you need to make sure your table and setup is inviting. Bring some nice hangers to hang up shirts and hoodies on a grid wall panel display so they aren’t wrinkled. Some venues may have display racks for you to use so ask first since they’re a bit pricey.

As for clothing, instead of rummaging through boxes to find sizes, create a system that allows you find the size you’re looking for. For example, if you fold in the flaps of a cardboard box, you can use each of the 4 sides to lay one size of shirts. Typically, you’re dealing with S, M, L, XL and 2XL so maybe one size like 2XL can stay folded at the bottom of the box. If you’re dealing with multiple clothing designs, arrange the sizes to same sides of the box to avoid any confusion. Larges can be on the left side of the box. The top side furthest away from you can be smalls.

Make sure the area is well lit so bring battery powered or rechargeable lamps for the table. If there’s a display rack, using a clampable reading light can help shine a light on the merch and make it more visible.

In addition to your table, you should also keep your products organized and in protective storage bins. It’ll make your life easier and keep your inventory protected.
 

Offer a discount or free item for email sign ups.

 
A live show is a great opportunity to collect emails for your mailing list. You can incentivize fans by offering a discount or a free item like stickers, poster or even a CD for signing up.

This can be done with a sign up sheet you printed out (just make sure they write legibly) or use a tablet like an iPad that has a digital sign up page set up. This can be done in email apps like MailChimp.

You can also create a QR code that goes to your email sign up page.
 

Bring Permanent Markers (Sharpies).

 
One of the perks of attending a show from a fan perspective is having the chance to talk to the artist, get a photo and have things signed. Not everyone will bring things with them to the show so having products to sell and Sharpies already at the table will make it more likely for people to buy something.

The default for autographs is a black fine point Sharpie, but it really depends on what’s being signed and the type of surface. Typically, you’ll most likely be signing the jacket sleeve of a vinyl record, a CD cover or a poster so Sharpies will work fine. If the surface is a bit glossy or metallic, you may need to be more careful. Make sure to let it dry and not to smear your autograph.

Blue fine point Sharpies work well too and are generally considered better for autographs because black is more prone to fading.

If the merch you have contains dark colored surfaces, you may consider having silver or gold fine point metallic Sharpies on hand.
 

Offer bundle packages or 2-for-1 discounts.

 
We all love a good deal. If you have multiple items for sale, like a shirt, hat and CD, offer it together for a little cheaper.

Another type of discount is offering 2-for-1 or “buy one, get one free.” This can be useful for something like CDs. The original idea is that if someone buys 2, they’ll likely give the other one away to a friend. Unfortunately, that tactic isn’t as effective in the streaming era since the majority of people don’t use CDs to listen to music but it’s something to consider if your demographic still uses them.

Make sure you have a sign that advertises your deals.
 

Check your internet connection and power for devices.

 
In order to process card transactions, you’ll need to be connected to the internet. Your typical music venue or small business should have Wi-Fi so be sure to get access. For festivals or outdoor gigs, make sure you have good enough reception or Wi-Fi to take credit card payments.

Whether you’re using your smartphone or a POS terminal to accept credit card payments, make sure to charge up your devices before the gig. Always bring chargers with you or consider buying a portable power bank you can carry with you as a back up.
 

Don’t offer too many design options.

 
Chances are you’re not going to have a ton of different items to sell in early stages of your career so this is nothing to really worry about. But in general, you don’t want to offer too many design options and give fans “choice overload.” You want to keep it relatively simple so fans don’t get overwhelmed and distracted by too many choices.

For example, 3 – 5 different shirt designs is more than enough. Of course, if you have multiple physical music releases, make sure to have them all on display.
 

Have an inventory and sales tracking system.

 
Before the show, do inventory to count how many of each item you’re bringing with you and quantities for each size. It will help a lot of you set up a spreadsheet and keep a log of sales for each show.

By the end of the night, count to make sure the sales totals at the end match up with the amounts you sold and how many of each item did you sell. This is helpful to let you know what sizes do you need more of in the future and what are the big money makers.

From my experience with the artists I work with, we notice that L and XL sell the most and that black is the preferred color for clothing when there are other color options.

If you’re already using something like Square as your Point-Of-Sale (POS) platform, you should be able to in put your products and track all of the sales.

For more advanced merch tracking apps, look into:

• atVenu
• Merch Cat

Conclusion

 
In this next and final blog of the series, I’ll be covering how musicians can maximize merch sales online.

D4’s Merch For Musicians Blog Series

– Part 1: What Merch Should Independent Artists Make That Fans Will Actually Buy
– Part 2: Bulk Ordering Or Print On-Demand? What’s The Best Way For Musicians To Order Merch
– Part 3: How Musicians Can Maximize Merch Sales At In Person Shows
– Part 4: How Musicians Can Maximize Merch Sales Online (Coming Soon)

The post How Musicians Can Maximize Merch Sales At In Person Shows appeared first on D4 Music Marketing.

Have you started bringing in income from music and you’re unsure of how to prepare for taxes?

Being able to earn money as a musician is the first key step from something just being a hobby to becoming a full-time professional. Unfortunately, this is also where income taxes kick in and things can get complicated quickly.

In this blog, which is part 2 of my beginners guide for filing taxes, I’ll cover 5 fundamental tips on how independent artists should get started with accounting for their music business. Also, I share a list of expenses you may be able to write-off as a musician.
 

1. Establish an accounting system

 
First things first. You need an accounting system to stay organized throughout the year. The last thing you want to do is to stress about getting everything together last minute and trying to remember things that already happened several months ago. Once you have a system set up, you’ll need to get into the habit of keeping records as things happen or within the next few days. Most of the time, it should only take a minute.

To create your own accounting system, start a spreadsheet for all your music business transactions using your favorite software. It could be Google’s Sheets (Free), Microsoft’s Excel (Free Web Version) or Apple’s Numbers (Free).

You can create a separate spreadsheet file for each filing year and use the tabs within the spreadsheet to track your income, expenses, driving mileage, estimated tax payments, etc.

Or you can use each tab for each filing year and create a layout that allows you input everything you need to track all in one tab. This is what I like to do personally as it allows me to easily use basic sum functions to easily calculate total income, expenses and net income.

For each itemized transaction, record the date, what it is, how much and where you can find the record of that transaction.

If you already have a tax advisor or accountant who files your taxes for your day job employment, you should consult with them about how they would want you to track everything.

Another option is you can pay for bookkeeping or sign up for accounting software, like FreshBooks, to help track and organize all of this for you.

I personally don’t use any to save money and I find I’m able to do everything I need to track and stay organized with my own spreadsheets. However, when I’m ready, I would use and recommend FreshBooks (Affiliate Link Disclosure). They offer a free 30 day trial without the need of a credit card too!
 

2. Save your business receipts and invoices

 
It’s good practice to keep all your business related receipts and invoices, physically and/or digitally. Basically, any documentation related to your music business, which includes 1099 forms you may receive. According to the IRS, you’ll want to hold to all of these things for 3 to 6 years just in case.

Personally, I store all my physical receipts in an envelope with the year on it. For expenses or purchases online, I’ll screenshot the receipt or download the PDF version and store it in a DropBox folder labeled with the year.

In accounting software like FreshBooks, you can take photos of receipts and have it conveniently stored all on your account.

In case you ever get audited by the IRS, you’ll be able to show all the proper documentation that support your numbers.
 

3. Track All Taxable Income Sources

 
For any music-related income you’ve earned within the year, you’ll want to track in your spreadsheets or accounting software and report in your tax returns. This includes things like:

• Live performance
• Music royalties
• Merch sales
• Music production
• Session musician gigs (Work for hire)
• Brand deals
• Music education / lessons

Check out my blog on music income sources for more details.

When tracking individual income payments in your spreadsheet, you’ll want to have:

• Who paid you
• Date of payment
• How much you were paid
• What method was used (cash, check, Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, etc.)

Keep in mind that the income you report to the IRS for the tax year needs to be received within that year and does not count money still owed or pending.

For Example: If you perform a live gig at a local bar on December 28th, 2022 for $500, but you don’t receive and deposit that check until January 4th, 2023, then that income is reported in the filing year of 2023 and not 2022 when the service was performed.
 

4. Know What Expenses Are Write-Offs

 
In order to retain as much of your hard earned money, you’ll want to take advantage of deducting any business-related expenses to reduce the amount of taxable income. This is why it’s important to track all of these things either in an accounting app or a personal spreadsheet.

For each item you record in your spreadsheet, you’ll want to have:

• Who you paid
• Brief description of how it relates to your business
• Date you paid
• The amount you paid
• What method was used (cash, check, Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, etc.)

It would be best to group and track certain expenses separately rather than one general list of expenses. For example, you can group the different expenses with the categories below.

The following list is not meant to be an exhaustive list of everything you can deduct, but a general idea of what you should be tracking as an expense. Just be aware that not all expense write-offs are treated the same way. Some types of expenses have different rules and requirements that may change over time so it’s important to consult with a tax professional or accountant.

Equipment / Gear

• Musical instruments
• Instrument repairs / upkeep
• Computers / Laptops
• Home studio equipment (Mics, headphones, soundproofing)
• Live performance gear (PAs, mics, lighting, live mixing boards)
• Office equipment (Printers, scanners)
• Cameras

Writing off equipment costs can be a bit more tricky. Unlike some of the other types of business expenses, you have more options of how equipment is deducted from your tax return.

You can write-off the entire cost of the equipment in the first year of use or you have the option of deducting a percentage of the cost over several years, known as depreciation. The IRS understands that expensive business assets, like musical instruments, can lose value over time or depreciate from use.

For new musical instruments, the IRS says they are depreciated over 7 years. If you bought a new laptop to record and produce music, that would be depreciated over 5 years.

There are also different methods of how you depreciate an asset in your tax returns over a period of years. Although you have the option of how to deduct costs, depreciation is typically used for more expensive, longer term assets that cost over $2,500. Otherwise, it may just make more sense to write off the entire cost in the year of purchase.
 

Office / Supplies

• Work computer
• Furniture (Desk, computer chair, lamps, file cabinets)
• Business cards
• Business licenses
• Insurance
• Office supplies
• Printer (Paper, ink)
• Dedicated office space (Rent, utilities)
• P.O. Box

This section is about office or work space related expenses. If you have a dedicated space in your home for an office or studio, there are some things you can write off a percentage of:

• Internet service
• Rent
• Utilities (electricity, water, phone)
• Homeowner expenses
• Cell phone service

Generally what you can write-off is based on the percentage that you use something for business versus what is for personal use.

Also, in order to deduct things like rent and utilities as a home office expense, the space needs to be exclusively and regularly used for work or a separate structure on the property.

In other words, your bedroom can’t be a home office even if you have your recording studio setup in there. It needs to be its own separate room that is used exclusively for that business purpose.

If you do have a dedicated office or studio in your home, you’ll need to come up with what percentage of your home is exclusively used for business purposes.

To calculate this, measure the square footage of the room that you use exclusively for business. Divide the square footage of the room with the square footage of the entire home and that will give you the percentage you need for your tax return.

Office Square Footage: 200
Home Square Footage: 1,000

200 / 1,000 = 20%

This is an area that has a lot of nuances so you’ll definitely want to consult with a tax professional to clarify.
 

Software / Subscriptions / Online Marketing

• Digital Audio Workstations (Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, Pro Tools)
• Music distribution (DistroKid, CD Baby)
• Business / Office software (Microsoft Office)
• Online cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive)
• Graphic design and photography software (Canva, Adobe Photoshop)
• Video editing software (Adobe Premiere)
• Social media tools
• Domain name registration / hosting
• Website hosting
• Website backup services
• Advertising (Facebook Ads, Instagram IDs, YouTube Ads, Spotify Ads)
• Legitimate playlisting services
• Email marketing tools (MailChimp)
• Accounting / Bookkeeping software (Freshbooks, Quickbooks)
• Project management software (Slack, Monday)

Work-Related Travel / Touring

If you travel and tour as a part of your music business, all related expenses can be deducted.

• Music industry events / conferences (CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference)
• Trade Shows (NAMM)
• Tour bus rental and driver
• Transportation expenses (Rental car, flights, trains, rideshare apps, taxi, subway)
• Lodging (Hotels, motels, Holiday Inn, AirBnb)
• Food while on tour
• Business meals (50% deductible)
• Shared entertainment with other industry professionals
• Vehicle expenses*
• Parking*
• Toll*
• Car insurance*
• Gas*

* If you drive your own vehicle for business-related travel, you have 2 options for writing off these expenses.

Actual Expenses: Total up all the vehicle-related costs for the year (like insurance, gas, repairs, registration fees, etc.) and then figure out what percentage of the vehicle was used specifically for business use.

Standard Mileage Rate: Instead of deducting the total vehicle expenses for business use, you can just track the number of business miles traveled and multiply that with a flat rate the IRS determines each year. For example, if you’ve traveled 10,000 business-related miles with your vehicle and the standard mileage rate for the tax year is 60 cents a mile, then you can write off $6,000.

You can track mileage, to and from, for things like going to:

• Office
• Music lessons
• Recording studio
• Business meetings / meals
• Business-related event
• Tour / shows
• Creating content (music video, photoshoot)

Standard mileage rate is usually the easiest and better option for most people. You can choose whichever option offers you a higher deduction each year so be sure to track all vehicle-related expenses and business miles in your spreadsheet or accounting system.

It’s also a good idea to record your odometer reading for your vehicle on January 1st to be able to calculate the total number of miles driven the prior year. If you’re tracking all business miles separately, as you should, then you’ll be able to determine what percentage of the vehicle is used for personal use or business. (Business miles / Total miles driven)
 

Professional Services

• Business manager
• Bookkeeper
• Accountant
• Photographer
• Graphic designer
• Booking agents
• Artist commissions (Album cover, merch design)
• Videographer
• Attorney
• Tour manager
• Publicist
• Assistant
• Mixing & mastering engineer
• Session musician
• Royalty accounting
• Tax professional

Part of growing as an artist is building a team around you to help you focus more on the creative aspects of your business. Throughout this journey, you’ll be hiring professional services in all different areas of business that you can write-off.
 

Merch-Related

• E-commerce website
• Merchandise production costs (shirts, hats, posters, stickers)
• Vinyl, CD pressing costs
• Table and display
• Merch table seller
• Shipping costs (USPS, UPS)
• Shipping envelopes and boxes
• Fulfillment services
• Warehouse storage
• Square Up Card Reader
• Cash box
• Storage containers
• Sharpies (For signing)

Selling merch is usually a top income source for a full-time musician. There are a lot of expenses that can be deducted in this area. Just keep in mind that deducting the cost of merch is done by filling out the ‘Cost of Goods Sold’ section on your Schedule C. This is assuming you are a sole proprietor or a single-owner of a LLC.

Basically, ‘Cost of Goods Sold’ means you can only deduct the costs that went into making the products you actually sold that year.

To keep it simple, let’s say you pressed up $1,000 worth of CDs in 2022. By the end of the year, you sold half so the ‘Cost of Goods Sold’ is $500, which is how much you can deduct.

The remaining $500 in CDs is your ‘Ending Inventory’ and that would also be the ‘Beginning Inventory’ for the next filing year.
 

Music Recording / Production

• Recording studio time
• Recording software
• Producer fees
• Sound engineer
• Mixing engineer
• Mastering engineer
• Studio musicians
• Rental equipment
• Rehearsal space
• Music libraries
• Plug-ins

Live Music Production

• Live sound engineer
• Lighting engineer
• Roadies
• Security
• Rental equipment
• Costumes/stage props
• Live musicians
• Practice / rehearsal space
• Promotional materials (Flyers, posters)

Music Membership / Organizations / Associations

• PRO Fees (ASCAP, BMI)
• Music organization membership fees (Grammy Recording Academy)
• Business organization membership fees
• Publishing Administration
• SoundExchange

Education / Training / Research

• Music lessons and coaching
• Music classes
• Music related books, trade publications and magazines
• Performance training
• Dance lessons
• Online training sites (like Lynda, Masterclass, and Skillshare)

Financial and Platform Fees

• Bank charges
• Credit card fees
• Financial fees
• Payment processing fees (PayPal, Stripe, Square Up)
• Platform fees (Bandcamp, Patreon)

The different fees related to your bank, payment processing and even online platforms can be treated as an expense.
 

Other Miscellaneous Items

• Self-employment health insurance
• Charity donations
• Retirement Plan (Roth IRA or Traditional IRA)

5. Set something aside for estimated taxes.

 
Similar to how an employer would withhold a percentage of your paycheck, you want to get into the habit of setting money aside each month to pay your quarterly estimated taxes on time. You can deposit this money into a separate bank account or you can just pay the IRS directly each month. Even though estimated taxes are due quarterly, it doesn’t mean you can’t pay them earlier. There are penalties involved if you don’t pay on time or if you underpay.

How much you put aside will depend on what you’re expected to pay in taxes for the upcoming tax year. If you filed the previous year, it would be reasonable to expect you’ll pay roughly the same amount, hopefully more, the following year. If that’s the case, divide what you owed the previous year and divide by 12 to give you an idea of what you may want to save each month.
 

Conclusion

Making the decision to become a full-time musician shouldn’t be mentally “taxing” so hopefully this helps you build the proper foundation for tracking everything you need to file taxes as a musician. Create that accounting system early and build the habit of logging in all your business transactions as soon as possible so you don’t end up forgetting the details!

As your career grows, you can eventually pay up for accounting software like Freshbooks (and yes, that cost is a write-off!) or hire a bookkeeper to help. However, it’s still good to continue these habits so you can be less stressed when tax season rolls around. The last thing you want is to lose out on your hard earned money or even worse, get audited by the IRS.

If you haven’t already, check out the first part of the beginners guide for filing taxes as an independent artist. I covered common questions new musicians pursuing music professionally may have regarding taxes.

The post Beginners Guide for Filing Taxes as a Musician – Part 2: 5 Tips To Get Started appeared first on D4 Music Marketing.

As gratifying as it may be to make a living off your art, the tough reality of being an independent artist is that you’re required to handle not only the creative side, but all aspects of the business. This includes filing tax returns with the good folks at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Whether you’re just starting out or on the path to pursue a full-time career as a professional musician, you want to make sure you educate yourself with the basics around filing taxes and creating an accounting system for your finances related to the business. Even though tax returns are due in April, it’s never too early to learn, especially if you want to take this music thing more seriously.

In this blog, I’ll cover common questions newer artists pursuing music professionally may have about filing taxes as a self-employed musician.

For Part 2 of this beginner’s guide, I will cover tax tips including a detailed list of many expenses that you might not be realize are tax write-offs.
 

Is music a hobby or a business?

 
The first question musicians need to figure out is if music has become a business yet or if it’s still a hobby. If you’re not earning any income from your songs, live performance or musical skills/knowledge, then it’s still a hobby and you likely won’t need to file any taxes. This implies that you’re spending money on gear, software or music lessons to do music for fun and not for profit.

However, once you start getting paid, that’s when this music thing becomes a business and the IRS expects you to report that income.

According to the IRS, you have to file an income tax return if your net earnings or profit (total taxable income minus business expenses) for the year is $400 or more. You are required to report it as ‘self-employment’ income which requires a Schedule C form.

If your net earnings from self-employment as a musician is less than $400, you may still have to file a return if you meet any of the other requirements listed here. That income would be reported in your Form 1040 but you won’t have to pay the self-employment tax since it would be exempt in this case.

Does this mean that you only have to file taxes only if you’re profitable? Not exactly.

If you decide to pursue music full-time (which is essentially starting a new business) while working a day job, you can report a net loss in your tax returns for the first couple of years of operating this new business and take a tax deduction for those losses. This means you can deduct the startup expenses that went into your music business from your personal taxable income.

Generally, it’s understood that when you’re starting a new business, there’s going to be a lot of expenses like setting up a new website and paying for equipment to make products (in this case making music) so you’re not expected to be profitable early on.

However, if you don’t show a profit from your business within about 3 years, the IRS may get suspicious and classify your business as a hobby instead. It would also increase the chances of getting audited. You’re not allowed to get a tax deduction for losses from a “business” if it’s only a hobby.

This is why you should consider legitimizing your business by doing some of the things mentioned later in this blog and document everything to prove that it is not a hobby. Also more importantly, you want to be able to show money is coming in from music as soon as possible, even if you aren’t profitable, so you can write off those expenses as startup costs.

• Register a domain name and setting up a website
• Release music to music platforms and digital service providers (DSPs)
• Show a history of shows and tours
• Sign up for business bank account
• Register your business as an LLC (discussed below)
• Generate income from your music, brand, performance, skills or education

For more about how to deduct startup costs, check out this blog.

For more details about how the IRS determines if a hobby is a business, refer to this blog.
 

What is my music business structure?

 
When you’re starting out as a self-employed musician, you’re considered an independent contractor and/or a sole proprietor.

An independent contractor is someone who gets paid by clients to perform a service or handle certain tasks. This can be a one-time job or an ongoing service. For example, if you get paid to perform at a venue or if a corporation pays you to produce a song for their promotional video, then you’re an independent contractor.

A sole proprietor is someone who runs your business by yourself without formally creating a business entity like a corporation or a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). So if you’re bringing in income from selling records and shirts from your website or generate royalties from your music, then you’re a sole proprietor.

Chances are you’re both and will file a Schedule C (Tax Form 1040) as an individual/sole proprietor with the IRS and pay self-employment taxes.

If you’re in a band or a creative partnership where incomes and expenses are shared, things can get tricker. In a partnership case like this, you would file a 1065 Form as a pair or band as well as file a Schedule K-1. Additionally, each individual would need to file Form 1040, Schedule E and Schedule SE.

It’s possible to collaborate with other artists and co-own the creative works without it having the label of a partnership with the IRS. If you’re unsure if your arrangement is considered a partnership, this would be a good time to consult with a tax professional to get clarification as there are also different tax rules that apply for partnerships than a sole proprietor.
 

Do I need to register as an LLC?

 
Once you’re more profitable and your career becomes more established with others working for you, you may consider registering your business as a limited liability company (LLC) or even corporation. It is not necessary, especially earlier on in your career, but it is a good way to legitimize your business in the eyes of the IRS.

For example, you can register your business as a music label.

Although there are tax benefits for forming an LLC, one of the big reasons why you would want to do it is to legally protect your personal assets in case of any lawsuits that come up against your business.

Be aware that there’s a cost to establish and maintain an LLC and corporation, which will vary depending on what state you live in. For example in California where I live, it costs about $100 to register an LLC and there’s a $800 annual tax.
 

Do I need to register for a TIN?

 
TIN stands for Taxpayer Identification Number. It’s a unique, 9-digit number the IRS uses to identify individuals and businesses for tax purposes. When filing tax returns, you’re required to have a TIN. Generally as a sole proprietor, you use your social security number as a TIN.

Another common type of TIN is an Employer Identification Number (EIN) which is a tax ID specifically for businesses. You would only need one if you are operating a partnership, corporation or an LLC.
 

Do I need a DBA (Doing Business As)?

 
You only need to register for a DBA if you want to conduct business under a different name, like your stage name or your music label, instead of your legal or government name. The main reason you would want one is for privacy or branding purposes so it is not required.

For example, if your name is Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar and your stage name is Cardi B, you can get a DBA to open a business bank account so you can receive payments as Cardi B. You can also file taxes as Cardi B, instead of your legal name, on your personal 1040 tax return. There are no tax-related benefits for having a DBA.

Registering a DBA is not the same as formally setting up a legal business structure like an LLC. Both allow you to do business under different names already, so you don’t need a DBA if you’re setting up an LLC. Unless of course, you want to do business under a totally different name than what your LLC is named.
 

Do I need a business bank account?

 
You are not required to have a separate business bank account as a professional musician or pursuing to become one.

However, it is very helpful to have dedicated bank accounts for your music business so you can stay organized and keep your personal transactions separated for easier accounting. It can also help legitimize your music business in the eyes of the IRS.

You may even consider opening a business credit card to keep business charges separate from personal use, but it’s not necessary.

The idea would be to funnel all music-related income sources and expenses into dedicated bank accounts. By the end of the year, you should be able to easily figure out total income and expense numbers from these accounts and make sure they line up with your spreadsheet totals.

Depending on your bank, it may cost money to open a business account or at least you’ll have to meet certain requirements to keep it open. For example, I have a business checking account with Wells Fargo that charges $10 a month. But if I keep $500 in the account at all times, that fee is waived.

If you’re in the early stages of your career and you’re not doing steady shows or selling merch regularly, you can hold off on having a dedicated bank account doing this for the time being. You’ll just need to make sure you have an accounting system in place to track your music business-related income and expenses.
 

Do I need to pay estimated taxes?

 
Yes, one of the hassles of filing as self-employed is paying quarterly estimated taxes.

If you expect to owe over $1,000 in taxes after a tax return is filed, then you have to pay your taxes quarterly.

The quarterly estimated tax payments are usually due on April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15 the following year.

April 15: Covers taxes due on earnings from January 1 – March 31 (3 months)
June 15: Covers taxes due on earnings from April 1 – May 31 (2 months)
September 15: Covers taxes due on earnings from June 1 – August 31 (3 months)
January 15: Covers taxes due on earnings from September 1 – December 31 (4 months)

For example, if you’re expecting to pay $4,000 in taxes for 2022, you would have been making quarterly payments of $1,000 leading up to when tax returns are due in April of 2023.

If you anticipate you’ll earn the same amount ($4,000) in 2023, you’ll be making quarterly payments of $1,000 on the following dates:

April 18, 2023
June 15, 2023
September 15, 2023
January 15, 2024

Estimated taxes can be easily paid online on the IRS website.
 

Conclusion

 
Hopefully this blog brings you more clarify about where you stand when it comes to filing taxes as a musician. Hobby or not, you’ll want to be prepared.

Otherwise, you’ll have to create your own accounting system to keep track of everything. Not sure what you need to track on a regular basis? I cover all that and some taxes tips on how you can get started tracking on your own in part 2!

The post Beginners Guide for Filing Taxes as a Musician – Part 1: Frequently Asked Questions appeared first on D4 Music Marketing.

Have you recently decided that you want to pursue your passion for music, but have no idea where to start? If you’ve been doing music as a hobby for a while now and you want to get more serious, you’re in the right place.

In this blog, I cover all the major pieces and beginning steps you will need to know to start your music career as an independent artist. Although this guide caters more towards performing artists, singer-songwriters, bands and rappers, a lot of this can still apply to producers and instrumentalists as well.

Even if your end goal is to sign with a major music label, you’ll still need to take these steps to build your foundation. Just know that in the current climate of the music industry (thanks to the internet) you are no longer dependent on music labels to make a career in music, especially the majors. You have the freedom to do it yourself and have complete ownership.

The downside of pursuing music as an independent is that it’s not easy, and it takes a lot of work and patience. Not only are you responsible for the creative, but you also need to run the business side while being in charge of your own artist development. It can be overwhelming, but I hope this blog will be a good starting point for you and serve as a road map for laying the foundation of your path toward a career in music.
 

1. Make sure you have a way to make a living (day job)

 
In popular culture, we romanticize leaving everything behind to pursue our passion in a big city like Los Angeles or New York City. Unfortunately, more often than not, it’s more fantasy than reality.

It’s not smart to drop everything and try to make a living off music right off the bat. If you’re financially well off or have built up a strong following through another industry then maybe this doesn’t apply. But for the rest of you, your priority should be to do something that pays the bills to keep you afloat while you do music on the side.

Some might like the idea of going all in without a backup plan because they feel the pressure to survive will help motivate them to make it doing music full-time. Hey, it’s your life, but not what I would personally advocate.

Before the internet, if you wanted to pursue music, your best hope was to move to a big city and try to get the attention of A&Rs (artists and repertoire) in order to get signed by a label. Fortunately, those days are basically over as you no longer need labels to get started. However, this also means that just about anyone can try to pursue music, creating a noisy and competitive environment.

Since we all have bills to pay and other adult responsibilities, don’t feel like having a day job is a negative. I know artists who work a 9-to-5 and then do music on the side. They still release albums and perform at shows in the evenings. While some were fortunate to be able to jump straight into music without having to work a day job, everyone’s situation is going to be different. Success in the music industry has many different paths so embrace your unique journey. This transition into a full-time musician is a long process so make sure you have ways of sustaining yourself.

“Not being able to make a full-time living off of music does not make you less of an artist or does not make your art less viable.” – D4

You can put a day job to work for your future by interning or working in a position related to music (venues, merchandise, marketing, labels, music schools, etc). Even teaching music as a side gig to supplement income could help as well.

Lastly, while you still have a day job, learn the different cash flows and opportunities involved in music. The main ones are live performance / touring, selling merch and music licensing. Understanding and maximizing these options improve your chances of transitioning from your day job to doing music full-time.
 

2. Have goals and a plan

 
Do you have a good idea of where you want to go with your career?

You really need to understand what you want to do and have a good idea of how to get there. If you don’t, you need to research and ask people. Set goals and have a plan so you’re not wasting time.

Some people may want to just make music to get sync licensing deals for commercials or movies. Others want to be a performing artist who tours the world as an independent. Maybe you just want to produce tracks for other artists or score music for films. Maybe you want to be signed to a major label or even create your own label, band or collective? Or maybe you’re not mobile so you want to build a career as a musician on Twitch. There are a lot of different routes and lanes you can go on in music.

Not everyone will have the same goals or aspirations. It may take some time to realize what your long term goal is, and it may even change as you gain more experience. But once you have your end goal, you gotta reverse engineer it.

Keep in mind, the purpose of this blog is to broadly outline the different elements you need to think about to be an independent, performing artist and songwriter, but of course, most of the points still apply for which ever path you choose in music.
 

3. Treat your music career as a business

 
Whether you like it or not, starting a career as musician is like starting a new business. Once you start earning money from your music, it transitions from hobby to business. Part of the artist development process is learning how to operate your own business and hopefully turn your hobby/passion into a sustainable living.

In a traditional sense, your music is your product, like physical copies of your music. But even that is changing. Your brand has now become the commodity you monetize through your merch and tickets to see you perform. Regardless of the form your product takes, you need to operate as a business entity. There are different music business models you can implement, so it’s important to be aware of what they are and find what works best for you.

This means, at some point, you will need to:

• Develop a marketing strategy
• Identify your target audience or niche
• Understand and apply branding
• Allocate a budget for marketing expenses (social media ads)
• Handle accounting so you can file taxes for your music related-income
• Protect your assets (music)
• Build a team around you
• Map out a business plan
• Consult with a lawyer to help with contracts

If you plan to pay others to handle parts of your business and marketing, it is important you still educate yourself in these areas and know what to expect from them. You may hate the business aspects, but you still need to be informed and educated to make the right business decisions for your career.

Even if you know you have skills to excel in the business side, it may not be the best use of your time, as it takes you away from focusing on making music, so you will still need to surround yourself with a strong supporting team.

For bands or music groups: You will need a band agreement to decide on things like splits and percentages for copyrights over original song compositions and gigs, etc. This will need to be done in writing. You should use contracts and written documentation to detail copyright ownership, band operation agreements, payment expectations, rules, decision-making processes and other important procedures.
 

4. Keep making music and improving your craft

 
It sounds obvious, but it can be quite challenging in today’s music climate.

To combat the oversaturation of content and competitive climate for attention, speed has become a huge factor when it comes to making music. By speed, I mean how often you can release music consistently to stay top of mind and keep fans engaged. It may be challenging to balance the business and creative sides to produce quality music, but that has become the cost of entry.

Your success in the music industry ultimately starts with how good your music is. A good song can help jump start your career, but you need a strong brand to keep fans emotionally connected and push out songs consistently to build off the momentum.

Don’t fall into the belief that talent alone can sustain you, as there are other more important factors, like work ethic, branding and promotion. Talent matters to a point, but if it doesn’t translate into “good” songs that gain exposure, then it won’t take you far.

Promoting your music is arguably as important as making the music itself. Your priority is to make quality music, marketing it through various channels is second. The good news is that you can keep pushing your songs to new audiences, even if it’s an older release because it’s always going to be new to someone.

With that being said, don’t get complacent. Keep refining your talents and skills. Whether it’s singing, rapping or producing, keep practicing and learning. Never stop developing as an artist!

Russ is an Atlanta based rapper known for building his fan base from the ground up by basically releasing a free song every week for 2 years on Soundcloud. In addition, Russ produced, mixed, mastered, engineered, written, and perform the songs all by himself. His efforts eventually led him to a brief record deal with Columbia but he is now fully independent and has become a global star.

It is a bit extreme to do all that yourself, so this doesn’t mean you should try and copy what he did as it’s not feasible for most. However, if you want to improve your chances of making it in music as quickly as possible, that’s the route you may have to take. My recommendation is to go at a pace that you’re financially, emotionally and physically comfortable with.

Lastly, make sure the music you do put out has good sound quality (unless the style of music you create is meant to sound raw or unpolished). Although I don’t know much about the technical aspects of making music, I do know mixing and mastering your songs matter to make it sound good in different speaker systems. We have the ability now to record music easily using personal laptops with quality equipment in the right acoustic setting, but make sure to have someone knowledgeable and skilled handle the rest if you don’t know what you’re doing.
 

5. Network and be community oriented

 
Your network is your net worth. More often than not, it’s all about who you know in life, and the music industry is no exception. The longer I work in music as a professional, the more I see opportunities come from knowing the right people.

One of your first goals should be to develop relationships in your local community and music scenes. You can network in your neighborhood, city and school by knowing the different music venues and establishing relationships with other local artists and people involved in music.

You can also think of it as building a local support group to help you stay motivated.

Of course, you should be doing this online as well as in person. The internet isn’t just a place where you find fans. There are networking opportunities, but you just need to know how to approach it. Don’t just put up music and going around spamming people to listen to it. Instead, find relevant online communities to be active in and support artists similar to you. This way you can meet other artists to collaborate with and possible industry connections that may help you in the future.

The goal with networking is to build relationships, meet artists to potentially collaborate with and find possible people who may be a good fit for your team like a manager, photographer or even booking agent. You will need a team, but chances are you’re not going to be able to pay people early on so you need to work with others who at your same level and believe in what you have to offer. I was that person who needed to find artists to help. In fact, the first artist I started working with was an artist I met through college.

Remember, relationships are key to success in this business, so start developing them locally.

6. Establish your online presence

 
There’s a difference between making music as a hobby and making music as a profession. Just like in business, presentation is important. Part of treating your music career like a business involves presenting yourself as an artist to take seriously. If you come off as amateurish, people can subconsciously associate you with lower quality and someone not worthy of attention. This is why having good quality visual components (photos, graphics, videos) is key to a strong online presence.

Photos

When starting out, invest in a professional photographer to get high-quality photos of yourself, or band, that you use for your bio, website and social media. If you’re lucky, you might have a photographer friend that could hook you up. Make sure to communicate with them and plan out how the specific shots are going to be used ahead of time.

It’s important that the photographer captures different compositions (close-ups vs long shots with white space) and orientations (portrait vs landscape) so that you can use photos in the right places. For example, a close-up portrait style shot may be great for a bio. But if you need to use that photo for a Facebook or Twitter cover photo that requires a landscape (widescreen) composition, parts of your face may be cut off when you have to crop the photo to fit.

Graphics

Another area is graphics. Early in your music career, you might not have money to pay a graphic designer so you’ll have to do things for yourself. For graphics you might need like album covers, merch designs, flyers and even logos, I highly recommend this FREE app called Canva. (Affiliate Link)

Canva is a great tool because it’s easy to use and you can basically create anything you’ll need in their free plan. However, if you do want to try their paid plan to access even more template designs, they have a free 30 day trial. I personally use Canva when I don’t want to use Adobe Photoshop for certain things.

Website

In addition to setting up your social media accounts and optimizing them, you should also have a clean and professional website. I personally use WordPress and Squarespace for my clients, but there a lot of different options out there.

If you’re not tech-savvy, then something like Squarespace (Affiliate Link Disclosure) is what I highly recommend over Wix and Weebly. Plus, they offer a 14 day free trial with no credit card needed if you wanted to try for yourself. Use my affiliate link with code D4MUSIC10 to save 10% off your first subscription of a website or domain.

Start by registering for a domain name, ideally something that is the same as your social media usernames for consistency. Here’s a great tool to use to check for available domain names:

https://namechk.com

Can you get away with just using social media? Sure, anything is possible, but I don’t recommend it. Instead of a website, some artists now will use link in bio services like Linktree as a temporary replacement and that can work too. The way I look at it, it’s all a numbers game. There are things you can do that are not required, like having a website, but they will improve your chances of being successful.

There may come a point where you need to get publicity or coverage. Remember, people or organizations with large audiences tend to get a lot of requests, so they need to have a system to filter out who they write about or promote. Creating a good impression with a website and a strong brand can help. Only having a SoundCloud account as your main online presence just doesn’t put out a good impression.

7. Know yourself well to establish your artist/brand identity

 
You need to establish who you are as a brand to make it easier for people to identify and distinguish you from other artists.

This may be hard for some, but a good way to understand who you are is to establish who you are not. You need to know this to market your music to the right audience. Often times, you’ll want to reach people who are like you, that’s why I say you need to know yourself or have self-awareness. Establishing your brand and identity helps potential fans decide if your music resonates with them. Remember that your music is not for everyone.

Is your brand a static entity? No. I believe your brand or artist identity can evolve and change, just as we normally do as individuals. But it’s important, especially early in your career, to start with something that is authentically you to build around and commit to it.

Think about your story, angle, hook or nugget (as Ariel Hyatt of Cyber PR Music says) that helps you stand out and makes you different. It should be an authentic part of yourself that makes it easy for people to associate and connect with you.

The tricky part is to try and sum up what you’re all about in a short line or sentence. Identifying yourself as a ‘female rapper’ or ‘guitarist from New York’ is too vague. What can people expect to hear from you? What kind of scenes, subculture, hobbies, lifestyles or interests are you into aside from music?

All this boils down to communication and clearly stating who you are through your brand, so that you can hook the fans who resonate with your story and music. Identify and communicate that one ‘thing’ that someone can latch on to and reflects a part of your fan’s identity.

For more help on branding, I recommend checking out my Branding Guide for Musicians eBook. I took my ‘Basics of Branding for Musicians’ blog series, rewrote parts of it and combined them into one convenient guide. I also included a branding workshop section to provide further help in establishing your brand that you can only find in this eBook.

8. Build up your own value to leverage what you need

 
Sometimes it can take that one popular tastemaker, blogger, playlister or influencer to get you the publicity and exposure you need to get your career going. These are basically people who have a large audience of followers and can get your name out there to accelerate the growth of your fan base. Assuming, of course, that you have really good music that is worthy of attention.

For most artists, a random request to these individuals asking for promotion will often get ignored. So how do you get their attention? Think about what’s in it for them. How does talking about you or promoting your music benefit them?

Unless you know them or have connections, industry people are less likely to do you any favors just out the goodness of their hearts. No matter how good you think you are, don’t ever feel like you are entitled, especially if you haven’t proven yourself yet.

It’s important to understand what value you possess as an artist and how you can leverage it to get others to talk about you and promote your music. If you’re just starting, you won’t have leverage so you will need to build and provide value first.

In today’s music industry, value usually starts with offering your music for free to build a following.

The value you possess could be that you have really good music that makes influencers look good in front of their audience for discovering you.

Maybe you have a large, engaged social media audience that can get the blogger or popular playlist additional exposure.

The same goes for the local press and bigger media outlets. These entities have an audience as well that they need to engage. So if your story is unique enough with different angles that they can work with, that’s a value to them.

It’s important to think about this perspective and not just about what you want. The music itself and the audience you’re able to build from it is your leverage, and not solely your talent. Your brand and story can also be leveraged.

This concept even extends to potential team members, managers, booking agents, promoters and even labels taking notice and wanting to work with you. It also governs the relationship that you have with your fans.
 

9. Know the basics of music copyright laws

 
One aspect that can get easily overlooked is protecting your music. To avoid this, you want to make sure you properly copyright your work.

I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t offer much more advice, but do your research. Technically, your music is copyrighted when it is created and made into a tangible form (written or recorded). However, registering your music with the copyright office can offer further protection and help provide evidence that you are, in fact, the originator of that work.

With that being said, it’s not entirely necessary or urgent to worry about this early in your career, but know your rights.

Copyrighting your music prevents you from becoming a victim of copyright infringement (intellectual property theft). I was told by someone who used to be an A&R for a major label that they would scout for songs from lesser-known talent and check to see if the songs were copyrighted. If they were not registered, they could replicate and essentially steal it. This was a long time ago so I imagine it would be much more difficult to actually take someone’s song as their own in the digital age. But, the main point is to take precautions and know your basic rights as a creative.

For producers, if you make beats and use samples to create a derivative work, be sure to know what you can or can’t do to avoid potential legal action.

If you’re in a band or group, you will need to figure out how you want to split ownership over the musical compositions you create together.
 

10. Find opportunities to perform live

 
Unless you want to be someone who solely produces music behind the scenes for other artists or for licensing, you need to find opportunities to perform for the experience.

Live performances are more important than ever as an income source with record sales not at the same levels as it was decades ago. For upcoming artists, it’s an opportunity to convert people who may have not heard of you into paying fans/supporters in the future.

The idea is to get practice performing for others live, whether in person or on live video. Be comfortable in these live environments and continue to improve. Just like with any other skill, you need practice and experience to get better.

Feedback is important too, so you know what to improve on. If possible, record your live performances to watch later. Also, watch live performances of your favorite artists and study them.

If you’re not at the level where people pay you to do shows yet, start developing your performance skills at family gatherings or open mics in your community, schools, churches and local businesses. Once you get comfortable, you may consider applying for one of these free live performance discovery platforms for more exposure.

Eventually, you’ll want to hire a booking agent, but it’s safe to say that you’ll need to be able to get shows on your own first to show promoters and talent buyers that you have people who want to see you.

11. Think about building your team

 
I touched on this in a few of the previous points. If you really want to take your music career seriously, you will need a team. You may be one of the few artists who love running the entire business operation and manage to do it well in addition to all the creative, but it would be difficult to grow this way. You will need to find competent people you can trust and hand over control to in order for your music career to flourish in the future.

Chances are, if you’re reading this blog, you’re just starting out so I wouldn’t focus too much on this yet. I feel you still need to be hands-on and know how to do certain things yourself. The idea is to eventually outsource jobs or tasks that you’re not the best at or would take away time from focusing on your strengths.

In the back of your mind, you want to assess new people you meet or even those already in your network that could potentially be a part of your team as you grow. Ultimately, you want people who are willing to grow with you, grind it out with you and not just trying to take advantage of your successes.

Here are some people you need to consider on your team as your career grows:

• Managers
• Booking Agent
• Marketing Strategists
• Photographer and Videographer
• Assistants
• Entertainment Attorney

12. Know how to distribute your music online

 
You can begin gaining traction for your music career by posting your music on Soundcloud and Youtube, but you’ll eventually need better distribution, especially if you want to be taken seriously. To get your music into major outlets like Apple Music, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music and many others, you need a music aggregator (music distributor).

Popular online music distributors to consider are:

• DistroKid – This is what my clients use and what I recommend for others. Use my affiliate link to get a 20% discount when you sign up. Why affiliate links?
• CDBaby
• TuneCore

These are sites that allow you to get your music on the major streaming and digital sales platforms and don’t require going through record companies. They will vary in costs, fees and tools, so do your research before deciding which to use.

Not only do these services help get your music onto selling and streaming platforms, they offer admin publishing services that help with collecting royalties. This is covered below.

You’ll probably want to get physical copies of your music pressed as well. One of the leaders of this industry is Disc Makers, but I found their prices to be a bit more expensive compared to the other competitors. Be sure to do your research and get recommendations from other artists.

13. Understand the various ways you earn royalties from your music

 
This is an area that can be confusing and complicated. I did my best to simplify music royalties in this blog here.

As a recording artist, music producer, songwriter and/or music composer, you may have various income streams you can collect from your music (assuming you own the copyright to the songs) when it’s played or used in different situations. For example, if you put your music on places like Spotify, Pandora and Youtube, you are owed money or royalties from those platforms when someone streams your music.

Different types of royalties include:

• Mechanical
• Performance
• Synchronization

It may not seem important early on when you’re just starting out, but you will need to look into joining a performing rights organization (PRO). A PRO collects publishing royalties generated from your music when performed live, which can be an important income stream to help sustain artists. You only need to sign up with one PRO.

For those in the United States, it’s either ASCAP, BMI or SESAC for traditional performance royalties.

• ASCAP
• BMI
• SESAC
• SoundExchange (for digital performance royalties)

The difference between ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SoundExchange.

Different countries have their own organizations and processes, so you’ll have to Google to find out how it works in your area.

Lastly, you should know that there’s a service you can pay for called publishing administration that helps collect all your publishing royalties on your behalf. Technically, you can do it yourself, but it can be a tedious process that is probably easier if someone else handles it. It’s important to research and find what works best for you.

Here are some places to start:

• SongTrust ($100 one-time setup fee + 15% commission)
• CD Baby Publishing Admin (15% commission)
• TuneCore Publishing Admin ($75 one-time fee + 15% commission)

14. Focus on video content to grow your fan base

 
This is a new section I added for the 2024 update. Even back in 2018, video content was important but now we see it’s much more needed than ever. But more specifically, short form video content.

We should all know by now that people’s attention spans have gotten incredibly short in our current swipe culture. It should be no surprise with the popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels that short form video is the way to potentially grow your audience and engage fans. Even YouTube is embracing this shift with their version called ‘Shorts’ for videos one minute or less.

As a new musician today, it’s very rare that audio only will get you on people’s radar unless you’re able to get a good playlist placement on a streaming platform like Spotify. But even Spotify is leaning on visuals on their platform with short 8 second video clips to accompany your songs (Canvas) and testing a Tik-Tok-like video home feed on their app called ‘Clips‘.

Ultimately if you want to promote your music, whether organically or with paid social ads, you’ll need good video content that is ideally optimized for the platform you’re posting on.

This also means that your traditional music video (horizontally shot, minutes long) has become less relevant for newer artists. Even for many established artists, spending thousands of dollars on a standard music video just doesn’t make any financial sense anymore. With how much streaming pays these days, the return on investment is going to be very long unless it somehow becomes a viral hit. Plus, most people aren’t going to watch the whole thing, especially if it’s over 3 or 4 minutes long.

This is not to discourage anyone for wanting to do a traditional music video for artistic reasons. But if you don’t really have a fan base yet, I would be very careful with spending a lot of money on a highly produced video. Instead, I would explore and get creative with short form, vertical video content. For examples, check out an album release campaign I ran.

The good news is that you don’t need anything polished and with high production value. You can actually just use your smart phone.

15. Be prepared mentally for the long haul

 
Don’t get discouraged. It’s a tough industry that, in my opinion, got even tougher. Just because your first song received 25 streams on Youtube, all of them from your friends and family, doesn’t mean you won’t one day be in the thousands. It really does take time and work to get your name out there and build momentum. Don’t worry about others are doing or have done. Go at your own pace that you’re comfortable with.

You will get turned down, won’t get a response, ignored, rejected… maybe even ridiculed. It’s part of the journey. I’ve been to shows for artists who I work with and it’s sort of embarrassing at times, but it’s a humbling process that makes the wins much sweeter.

It will be challenging. It’s a juggling act between the creative and business side while trying to make a living. For some, it’s also getting a college education and raising a family.

But you don’t have to do it alone. In addition to being active in your local music scene, you most likely know at least one musician friend or family member you can reach out to them for advice.

Remember, the best way to be prepared is having the right mindset. This includes getting out of the “shortcut” mentality that leads to impatient behaviors.

Many musicians out there have big dreams to “make it big” and make music their full-time career. The problem is there are so, so many scammers out there who prey on impatient and naïve musicians. Even some of the smartest and experienced musicians fall victim to their scams too. Just know that most of these people hitting you up on social media and emails are scams. How can you tell? Make sure you read up on my blog about how NOT to get scammed by “music promotion” companies.

16. Be ready to invest in yourself and learn

 
Part of starting a music career is realizing that it starts with investing in yourself first. Whether it’s time or money, you have to be willing to put in the work to learn and get things done.

In order to build your career, you will need money, whether it’s to have someone build your website, pay for studio time, get CDs pressed, hire a designer for your merch or transportation to get to venues to perform. Again, it’s just like a business. You have to be willing to put up the capital and bet on yourself. If you can’t even invest in yourself to make sure you come off as a professional or ensure your music is high quality, how do you expect fans or anyone else to invest in you?

Not only financially, but also be ready to invest time into learning.

As they say, time is money. If you’re not investing money, you’re investing time into the creative aspects of music production or learning the business. You will be doing a lot of learning so prepare yourself. Unless you have a lot of disposable income and you can pay a bunch of people, you will have to do things yourself.

This is one of the big challenges of being independent because the responsibility of artist development is in your hands. No matter how talented you are, most musicians who have been doing music as a hobby will not have the full package needed to make it as a full-time professional. Because a music career encompasses so many areas, it takes education and experience to develop. You won’t need to be an expert in marketing, entertainment law or accounting, but you need to know what to look for in others and what to expect from their services.

One option is to take online courses to help with artist development. A site I recommend is SkillShare (Affiliate Link) which offers all types of courses (including music and business) for as low as $8 a month. They are offering a free 14 day trial to take as many premium courses as you want within that period. If you cancel before that, you don’t pay anything. If you’re interested, sign up now to start your free trial at SkillShare. Read my full disclosure to learn more about affiliate links.

Hopefully, everything outlined in this blog gives you a big picture perspective of what you need to do to get started in your music career. I provided links and additional resources for you to explore in some of the sections, so be sure to check those out.
 

What’s next?

 
This is a very thorough list and I hope it’s not discouraging. With all this in mind, take things one step at a time and start setting the foundation of your career. The best advice I can give is just create as much music as you can, release it and have fun with it.

Additional Blogs to Read (Just Starting Out)

• How To Choose The Best Stage Name For Musicians
• FREE Essential Online Tools For New Independent Artists Getting Started
• Simplifying The Concept Of Marketing For Musicians
• The Basics Of Branding For Musicians
• How To NOT Get Scammed With “Music Promotion” Services
• How To Market Your Music With Little To No Budget (Resource For New Artists)
• Want To Grow Your Fan Base Effectively? Think Funnels. Fan Funnels.
• 4 Steps To Find Your Target Audience Or Niche As A Musician To Grow A Fanbase
• Income Streams for Musicians Guide: How To Survive as an Independent Artist
• How to Create Short-Form Videos to Gain New Fans As A Musician

Additional Blogs to Read (Emerging Artists)

• The Ultimate Single Release Checklist For Independent Artist
• Going Viral On Social Media: Full Campaign Breakdown For Musicians
• Beginners Guide To AI For Musicians: How Artificial Intelligence Can Boost Your Music Career Now
• Spotify Playlist Guide: How To Improve Discoverability For Your Music
• 44 Music Blogs To Submit Your Songs For Exposure… But Is It Worth It?
• Different Ways To Get Exposure For Your Music As An Independent Artist
• 5 FREE Live Performance Discovery Platforms For Musicians To Apply
• Beginners Guide For Filing Taxes As A Musician
• 8 Time Saving Tips For Musicians
• 10 Ways For Independent Artists To NOT Get Booked For Shows
• Music Copyright Basics: Do Musicians Really Need To Copyright Their Songs?
• Music Royalties Simplified: An Income Source All Musicians Need To Know
• How To Promote Your Music: The Best And Worst Strategies And Tactics
• What Merch Should Independent Artists Make That Fans Will Actually Buy
• How To Submit Your Song For Spotify Playlist Consideration
• How NOT To Pitch To Music Industry People: Avoid These 10 Common Email Mistakes!

Recommended Person to Follow:

Who Is Gary Vee And Why Music Artists Should Follow Him
 

The post 16 Essential Things You Need to Know to Start Your Music Career in 2026 appeared first on D4 Music Marketing.

Many of us are busy and yes, we get a lot of emails. At least for me, I actually read most of the emails I get from my website, but I only respond to maybe 5% of them. Why is that? Many artists are making the same common mistakes when it comes to email.

One of the most fundamental skills any emerging independent artist needs is to know how to communicate to music industry people professionally. So if you want to improve the chances of getting something you want, whether it’s pitching for a playlist, receiving coverage on a blog, performing at a venue, getting help with your career, you need to know the proper way to email someone.

Some of you may be thinking this sounds so basic, why dedicate a whole blog on this topic? Unfortunately, I still see a lot of these mistakes in my own inbox way too often so clearly this isn’t common sense.

In this blog, I’m going to cover basic guidelines on how to email people in the music industry by sharing 10 mistakes I’m seeing happening way too often.
 

1. Not doing the research

 
In general, what I notice from the email inquiries I get is that most people aren’t taking the time to do the research. It only takes 5 or so minutes.

Here are the main things you are looking for:

• Does the person have a name?
• Does the person you’re trying to reach have specific directions on contacting them?
• Is the person you’re reaching actually relevant to your needs?
• Have you checked out their work or what they’ve done in the past?

Here the things you want to do based on your research…
 

Always address people by their names

You must do everything you can to make sure you know the name of the person you’re emailing. If not, you need to research and do your best to find out who it is you need to contact. In some cases, the person you want to reach does not have their name listed so just a standard greeting is fine.

My name is listed on my website in the about page. Anyone can take a few seconds to figure out my name. There is no excuse that I should getting emails saying:

• Hi
• Hey
• Hey there
• Hello
• Dear Sir or Madam
• What’s up
• (No greeting at all)

I can’t speak for everyone, but as soon as I don’t see my name, I ignore it. It’s one of the easiest ways for me to filter who I read and respond to.
 

Pay attention to their directions

Some people, including myself, have specific instructions and guidelines on how to contact me. If someone emails me and does not follow it, then I will ignore it.

Look around on someone’s About or Contact page to find directions. Bloggers and playlisters will usually have submission instructions on their website so look for it.

Not paying attention to directions is an easy way to not get a response.
 

Figure out if this person is relevant to you

If you want to significantly reduce the chances of rejection, make sure that whoever you are pitching to is actually relevant to you and your goals. I see a lot of spraying and praying (spamming emails to as many people as possible) and it’s quite annoying.

You can save yourself and others a lot of time by only emailing/pitching to someone that makes sense. A practical example is don’t pitch your death metal song to a hip hop or indie folk playlister. Check out their playlists and actually listen to the music on it to see if it’s a good fit.

Or if a venue you want to perform at attracts a lot of hip hop fans, it may not be a good idea to pitch yourself if you’re a country artist. Check out their social media to see the type of acts they are hosting.

I get so many random emails pitching services that are not relevant to what I do. No, I don’t need a vacuum cleaner for my office (I don’t have one!) or catering services for my company (It’s only me!).

Key Takeaway: Spend the time to do the research and target the right people that make sense. Quality over quantity.
 

2. Sending attachments

 
With all the hacking, viruses, scams and ransomware attacks that can happen online, most people know not to download attachments from strangers. If you want someone to listen to your music, you need to send links to either SoundCloud, BandCamp or YouTube, unless they specify a platform.

The reason why I didn’t mention Spotify, Apple Music or Amazon Music is because not everyone uses those services and you need an account to listen.

Occasionally, I’ll get people sending me attachments and I just won’t touch them. People aren’t going to go out of their way to search for you to listen to your music in these situations so please don’t attach sound files in emails.

Key Takeaway: Really simple. Never send attachments unless it is requested. Upload your music and share the links. Easy.
 

3. Writing an essay and/or your life story in an email

 
People who work in the music business are busy. Writing very long emails will significantly reduce the chances of someone replying, let alone read it. Context is important, but most people don’t have time to read an essay of your life story from a stranger. You need to capture someone’s interest first before you should share anymore information.

In some cases, it may make sense for the email to be a little longer because your story is important in your pitch. But you should still limit it as much as possible and not exceed a few paragraphs.

In your first email, your goal should be more about generating interest or intrigue before revealing more information. Once you get a response, maybe you can then write more back.

There was one person who emailed me a very long essay about how she read up on what I was about and how much it resonated with her. She went on about her vision with her company, what she wanted to do with her music label and explained in detail how I could fit and support her.

The only reason I actually read this email was because this showed that they researched me and took the time to establish some relationship. However, I didn’t respond because the music didn’t resonate with me.

Key Takeaway: Keep it as short as possible and to the point. Use your discretion on what are the most important details you need to include in the first email without making it too long. Try to break up longer paragraphs with multiple sentences into separate lines so it’s easier to read/scan.
 

4. Not being clear with your intentions

 
This is an extension of the previous point. When there’s too much writing, it can get in the way of what it is that you want to the reader. When a person receives an email from someone they don’t know, they’re expecting it to be a pitch or ask of some kind so be clear and honest with what you want.

For the most part, the structure of your email should be simple. Following this template should make it easy to lead into your intentions.

First, start with a brief introduction about who you are.

Give a genuine compliment or comment about their work. Make an effort to show that this isn’t the same copy and pasted email you send everyone else.

Next, state what it is that you want or looking for. This is basically your pitch or your hook.

Lastly, provide the necessary links that’s relevant to the pitch (music links, website, EPK, social media, video links, etc.) and sign off. That’s it.
 

5. Not using the subject line

 
You would be surprised that I get quite a few emails that don’t have a subject line. This is arguably the most important part of the email, especially when pitching to someone you don’t know.

Don’t try to get cute or do anything obnoxious like type your subject line in all caps thinking your email will stand out.

In most cases, it can be a simple and upfront statement of what your email is about. This is done as a common courtesy to the recipient. If you can spark curiosity without making it sound like click bait, you should do it.

Key Takeaway: Very simple, write a straightforward subject line.
 

6. Not being personable

 
Basically, act like you’re talking to a person. If you saw a high profile music executive and you wanted them to listen to your music, would you ever just walk up to them and hand them a CD without saying a word then walking away?

I actually received an email from someone who only sent me a link to their song on Spotify. No subject line. No greeting, no introduction and no body text except the link. It’s rude, lazy and disrespectful.

The more you show that you’re not a spammer or someone who just copy-and-pastes mass messages, the more likely someone will actually read your email.

In the email, write something that shows that you are familiar with the person and what they do. Give a compliment or briefly explain how you found this person. If they’ve done previous work you liked, be specific and mention it. You can even try doing this before you pitch them like on social media or if you see them in person.

Key Takeaway: In any business, it’s all about relationships. Make the effort to show that you’re trying to establish a relationship.
 

7. Writing with poor grammar

 
First impressions still matter, even in an email. Unfortunately, I get these types of emails way too often. Someone will reach out to me, but their emails are very, very casual. By that I mean:

• They write in all lower case
• Don’t use any punctuation with run-on sentences
• Sentences that don’t even make any sense
• Free stream thoughts that are hard to understand
• Poor spelling

Your emails can still somewhat be informal, but make sure it doesn’t look like a 5 year old wrote it.

To be fair, I do get quite a few people in other parts of the world where English is not their first language and I try to be understanding of that.

Key Takeaway: Take your time to construct a proper email with basic grammar and no spelling issues. Proofread it after you finish. Read it out loud if you have to just to make sure there aren’t any obvious mistakes.
 

8. Emailing multiple people in the same email

 
Your emails should only be addressed and sent to one person.

I had a singer who sent out a professional email asking for marketing help. She included a short introduction and included links to her work. Her music was actually pretty good and I was intrigued. But I noticed she included multiple people in the same email so it was not addressed to me individually.

To me, it comes off as being lazy and someone looking for shortcuts. No one wants to work with these types of people. I ignored it and I don’t think anyone else responded either.

Key Takeaway: Don’t send mass emails to multiple people in the same email. You need to send and address each email to one individual person. It’s actually rude and not professional.
 

9. Not following up appropriately

 
As I had mentioned, I don’t respond to most emails. It’s okay to follow up in a few days to see if they’ve had a chance to see your email. Thankfully, I haven’t had anyone follow up aggressively yet.

Key Takeaway: After sending your email, follow up in a few days or even a week. If you still don’t hear back, move on.
 

10. Fake it until you make it

 
It’s very common for artists to want something so bad that they’ll take shortcuts to give the appearance that they are successful. This includes buying fake followers or song streams. Don’t do it!

Chances are the people you are pitching have been in the industry for quite some time so they know all the tricks and can see right through fraud. They’ll look at your social links and look at the engagement on your posts to see if it matches up with the number of followers you have.

Key Takeaway: If you don’t have the patience and aren’t willing to put in the many years it takes to develop your brand, grow an audience and release quality content, this isn’t going to be for you.
 

Conclusion

 
Sending an email doesn’t need to be and shouldn’t be complicated. This doesn’t mean you have to be super formal and professional at all times, but incorporating most of what I said should definitely improve your chances of getting a response.

As a recap, here are the following common themes you want to avoid in your emails:

• Coming off lazy or rude
• Acting unprofessional
• Showing inexperience or being naïve
• Sounding spammy

There’s a lot to the music business, but understanding email basics will help improve your chances of making it.

The post How NOT to Pitch to Music Industry People: Avoid These 10 Common Email Mistakes! appeared first on D4 Music Marketing.