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.
From the category archives:
Your headshot is the first impression many new fans and the press will get of you. If the headshot just totally sucks or doesn’t successfully convey your brand, you lose out on so many opportunities right from the beginning. And when you’re trying to make your way in this industry, you simply can’t afford to miss even one opportunity. Having your photo taken can be stressful – I know how that goes – but if you follow some of these simple tips (as well as be flat-out determined that you won’t rest until it’s right), you’re bound to end up happy with the end result. 
The technical elements of a live performance have changed dramatically over the last two decades. Artists – including Foster the People, Passion Pit, and Capital Cities – have integrated samplers, triggered sound sources, and MIDI control surfaces into their live shows. As a result, MIDI controllers have been steadily rising in popularity and are a prized piece of gear for beat makers from the hip-hop and electronic world, as well as across a host of other genres. 
As the home studio has evolved, so too has the MIDI controller to fit the needs of the musician and the software that has become a part of the studio arsenal. Controllers now have moved well beyond acting as a keyboard for module synths and enhance any musician’s DAW and SoftSynth, enabling one to retain a tactile experience in an environment that seems to require more and longer use of the computer keyboard and mouse. 
CD Baby has launched CD Baby Pro, a new service for independent music artists that helps collect the songwriting and music royalties you’ve earned worldwide. Even if you’ve registered your works with a PRO, it’s virtually impossible to collect all the publishing royalties owed to you every time one of your songs is purchased, streamed, or played in a public setting. CD Baby Pro solves this problem and makes it easy for you to get paid what you’ve earned. 
As one of the top vocal coaches in the country, I’m frequently asked, “What are your top singing tips for vocalists?” Well, I could rattle off a long list, and yammer on for hours. I’m a nerd’s nerd when it comes to vocals, and I have a long list of favorite tricks up my sleeve from more than 20 years of coaching singers… But I love a challenge – so I pretended I had only five minutes to tell you my best singing tips, and I wracked my brain to come up with the Top 5. 
Working with an established, professional publicity firm might be the ideal, but unless you have a few thousand dollars available, you may need to design your own music PR campaign. A self-propelled campaign can be effective if executed properly, which means effectively managing the Pre-, During-, and Post-PR phases. There are several pitfalls that can derail the success of a campaign. 
Is there a next step that you really need to take with your music career, but you keep procrastinating and putting your dream on hold because things are not perfect yet? From one music artist to another, I totally relate to wanting your work to be perfect before you get it out there. But really, procrastination is an excuse for not taking control of your music career. Don’t let this happen to you. 
Your fans are living vicariously through you. All of your successes are their successes. If you keep talking about all your music career failures, they’re not going to be so excited to be your fans as they already have enough failures going on in their own lives and don’t need any of yours. I lost a few early connections because I revealed too much struggle and not enough inspiring drive.
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. 
Songwriters – or more correctly, copyright holders – have always been compensated for the use of their songs, whether it was via traditional radio or new streaming services. With the rise of more and more new outlets for music consumption, master rights are an essential asset to leverage for artists and labels to earn money. This brings up the question, “Should an artist try to hold on to his master rights, or sign them over to a label to secure a deal?” 
Considering that Jason Mraz has won a Grammy and holds the record for the longest standing single on the top 100 charts, you’d think he’d have profound advice about reaching stardom. But, delightfully and surprisingly enough, Jason told me something so simple, yet so memorable. “I don’t know a thing about how to make it in the music business. All I know is that I do what I love with all my heart.” 
In our experience working with artists from Ben Folds to the Beach Boys, we’ve found that fans want to be a part of a journey — the entire journey. If I love your music, I don’t just want to pre-order your new record. I also want to get a signed copy of the record and possibly a painting you made just for me. I may also want to meet you for dinner or see my name in the album credits. 
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. 
You know that question people ask musicians “who influences you most”? Well, I’ve never been able to answer it. For a while I thought I’d just list what music I grew up listening to, as that must have made an impact on my writing style. Later, I started listing musicians whose music I currently am into because I must be trying to be more like them if I am a fan, right? 
