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Make It As An Independent

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

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Music Marketing Blog

MUSIC MARKETING FOR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS

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

Feb 27
Love3
Black Violin

Developing Your Brand from Life Experiences: Artist Lessons From Slick Rick and Black Violin

By Branding No Comments

I had a chance to go on my first cruise with Butterscotch back in January of 2019. She joined a lineup that included artists like Babyface, Teddy Riley, Doug E Fresh, Slick Rick, Black Violin, Avery Sunshine, Kenny Lattimore, Jon B, Mike Phillips and Floacist.

The two artists that stuck out to me the most, and inspired me to write this, was Slick Rick and Black Violin. Both of these artists shared their stories at some point during the cruise that gave insights into their brand development.

In previous blogs, I’ve talked about basing your brand on elements from your authentic self, but I wanted to use this opportunity to elaborate on why these artists are great brands you can learn from.

For this month’s blog, I wanted to show how Slick Rick and Black Violin pulled from their life experiences to develop their brands, and why they are good examples for other newer artists to learn from. Read More

Jan 13
Love2

Content Creation: Musicians Can Learn from a Legendary Bassist Eating Ramen in Japan

By Content Creation, Strategy, Video No Comments

Thanks to Butterscotch, I had the privilege of going on the Blue Note Japan tour at the end of December of 2018 for 2 weeks with the legendary jazz musician Marcus Miller. Butterscotch was invited as a special guest for his tour and I tagged along to capture content.

During this trip, I had the chance to consult and create content with Marcus Miller alongside his wife and manager, Brenda Miller. One of the things we created was a video of Marcus eating ramen at Ippudo, a popular ramen chain from Japan known for their Tonkotsu ramen. We were in Fukuoka, where Ippudo was founded in 1985, and ate at the very first location.

Here’s the video I made that got 190k+ views: Read More

Dec 12
Love4
What makes you unique?

The Basics of Branding for Musicians: Figuring Out What Makes You Unique

By Branding No Comments

One of the common challenges I’m noticing artists have about branding is figuring out that one thing that sets them apart from everyone else.

You hear it often in regard to branding. I have even said it in my previous blogs. Because there’s so much competition for attention in the digital era, you have to be able to distinguish yourself to stand out. You need to find what is “unique” about you.

I realize now that this could be misunderstood. Read More

Nov 01
Love5
Zion I Merch

What Merch Should Independent Artists Make That Fans Will Actually Buy

By Merch, Music Business 2 Comments

This is part 1 of 4 in my Merch for Musicians series.

In our music streaming world, it has become much harder for independent artists to sustain a career in the music industry. Selling CDs was a large income stream that has basically vanished. To put into context how important it was, consider how much you make from music streaming.

Based on the latest numbers, to make the profit of selling one $15 CD, you would have to get roughly 3,200 streams on Spotify or 2,000 streams on Apple Music. For emerging artists, it’s a challenge just to get 1,000 streams.

It’s safe to say now that selling merch is basically a necessity now to make it as an artist on top of doing shows and tours.

Often times, the problem with merch is you need money to make money. Since the money to fund merch will most likely come out of your own pocket, you can’t afford to make items that people won’t buy.

Before you go and print a bunch of shirts with your face on it, it’s important to take a step back to evaluate your brand, what you represent and what characteristics define you as an artist. Read More