The prevalence of online videos brings up new questions when it comes to engaging with band mates and fellow artists. What’s appropriate to post and when? Plus, you never know what clips will show up where – say, an unflattering, low-res, audience-shot video of that embarrassing moment when you had a coughing fit and fell off the stage. Here are some tips from seasoned independent musicians to help you figure out how best to manage your own online video presence. Read more.
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Whether you’re driving north from the east coast to play a coffee shop in Montreal, bringing your electro-pop act to a string of clubs in Tokyo and Thailand, or presenting a midnight set at a jazz festival in Germany, performing music gigs abroad can be an incredibly rewarding and cool experience — but one that brings its own set of challenges. Here are tips from seasoned musical world travelers to help you make your international music gigs run as smooth as possible. 
You’ve spent countless hours writing, revising, and rehearsing, and now it’s time to take your material to the stage. While a tour bus, road crew, and booking manager are helpful when it comes to worldwide musical domination, gigging locally and building a live following, honing your chops, and refining your performances comes first. Here are music promotion strategies to help you get attention on a local level. 
Whatever your instrument or genre, as an independent musician, I bet you’ve probably spent time gazing at the arts section of your local newspaper or favorite music magazine and wondered, “How can I get there?” While talent, hard work, business chops, persistence, and luck have a great deal to do with it, there’s another tool that can help — a good publicist. 
When my co-producer came in for day one of the session, I was surprised to see him carrying a gallon container of hot coffee in one hand and a bag full of bagels and donuts in the other. His explanation was simple but memorable: “When you’re producing a session, the $50 you spend on food for the musicians and engineer will be the best $50 you spend on the entire project.” 
Dealing with live sound at a music gig can often range anywhere from a minor annoyance to a major catastrophe. Broken PA components, weird-sounding rooms, difficult on-site staff, or the lack of someone present who can actually mix live music can be just the tip of the iceberg. On the bright side, there are any number of tried and true ways to minimize your on-the-gig headaches when it comes to dialing in your live band sound. Here are just a few live sound tips to keep you sane — and sounding great. 
Last month, we shared some tips on using the Akai MPC series of samplers, drum machines, and sequencers to make masterful, sample-based music. But that came with a warning: “Don’t infringe on copyrights!” If your forte is creating beat-driven masterpieces that use other people’s work as source material, how do you ply your craft and share your art without getting in trouble? Let’s dive into the murky waters of legality and copyright ownership. 
When it comes to hip hop, few pieces of gear are more iconic than the Akai MPC series drum machine, sampler, and sequencer. Easily recognizable by its matrix of trigger pads, the MPC (Music Production Center or MIDI Production Center) has been used by some of hip hop’s greatest producers and by innovative music makers in countless other genres. 
Before he goes on to play, Tony Bennett walks out and greets audience members in the foyer and thanks people profusely for coming to see his show. Outreach like that is really admirable. It shows appreciation and really creates a bond with audience members. I’m in favor of that approach with more of a human touch, not having the star being tucked away and untouchable. 
