Feature

Critical Mistakes That Can Destroy Your Music PR Campaign

PR PuzzleWorking 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. Read more.

Fan Funding: Should You Ask Your Fans for Money?

by Brittany Cooper April 10, 2013

Fan funding with PledgeMusicIn 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. Read more.

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Seven Strategies for Local Music Promotion

by Michael Gallant April 9, 2013

Seven Music Promotion StrategiesYou’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. Read more.

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Who Influences Your Music Most?

by Cheryl B. Engelhardt April 3, 2013

Musical inspirationYou 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? Read more.

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Realistic Music Publicity Goals for Your PR Campaign

by Jon Ostrow April 2, 2013

SetGoalsAs an independent musician, digital publicity can be a fantastic way to set yourself on a path towards success. But like much of digital marketing, the process and results can feel a bit nebulous if proper goals aren’t set in place. Setting goals for your publicity campaign can help you to do two critical things: 1. Hire the right kind of publicist, and 2. understand the value of the work. Read more.

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Desktop Wallpaper April 2013 Edition – Inspired by The Beatle’s “Octopus’s Garden”

by Disc Makers April 1, 2013

April Wallpaper The talented designers in our Design Studio created twelve original works of art (one for each month) that feature some of our favorite songs. Each month we will post a new design, in six common desktop sizes, so you can use them as your desktop wallpaper. April’s wallpaper features “Octopus’s Garden” by The Beatles. Click here to get yours!

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Top 10 CD Baby Albums: March 2013

by Disc Makers April 1, 2013

Two Steps From Hell Two Steps From Hell Two Steps From Hell Check out the latest and greatest indie music from CD Baby!
Here are the 10 best-selling albums in March: See all 10…

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Music Sales and Music Promotion In the Age of Facebook and Spotify

by Disc Makers March 31, 2013

Music Promotion Strategies presentationAs an independent music artist, what can you do to maximize your music promotion and overall revenue? At last year’s New Music Seminar, Disc Makers and CD Baby president Tony van Veen shared nine music promotion lessons he’s learned that every artist can easily implement to maximize gig sales, drive download purchases, and increase overall music sales. Read more.

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A DIY Songwriting Workshop Idea

by Doak Turner March 27, 2013

Songwriting Trio WorkshopAre you a songwriter who needs to co-write, but don’t take the time to do it on a regular basis? Is there a group of songwriters in your community facing the same songwriting dilemma? Songfinishers is a songwriting workshop idea that may be right for you and your community of writers to help build friendships, encourage one another, and co-write songs. Read more.

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Making Money: Merch, Music Gigs, and Your DIY Tour

by Dani Rabin March 26, 2013

Making Money at Music GigsThe most important thing to do when dealing with money is to make sure to write EVERYTHING down. A good way to keep tabs is to put all the info in Excel. We divide it into date, gas, food, lodging, salary (how much we pay our musicians), pay (from the venue), CD sales, t-shirts, tips, extra. At the end of each day we total it up. There are two main ways to make money as a band: 1) Guarantees/door/bar percentage, and 2) Selling merchandise. Read more.

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Home Studio Recording Tips From a Pro Studio

by Andre Calilhanna March 22, 2013

HeadphonesEchoes talks with producer/engineer/studio owner Drew Raison for insights on how to make your home recordings sound better. Drew says, “When you’re working in a home studio, I recommend you keep it simple. Minimal equalization and minimal compression at the time of recording, because you can add that later. You can’t always undo, so try not to make unfortunate decisions at the time of recording. Read more.

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Make Your CD Release Gig A Special Night

by Ari Herstand March 20, 2013

CDRelease The night of your CD release show should be the biggest music performance of your career to date. The show will be packed, if not sold out. The reason more people typically come to album release concerts than your Wednesday night four-band bill show is because it’s an event – and should be hyped up as one. Having a packed club with people there actually to see YOU is something that won’t happen very often early on, so you have to make sure you go about this right.
Read more.

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Preparing For A Big Gig

by Michael Gallant March 18, 2013

Preparing For A Big GigThe CD release party for my new album was a big gig. Not only was it my first music performance at The Bitter End, it was also the first time I was introducing this collection of original music to friends, fans, and industry. I started preparing early, but it became obvious that simply running the tunes from the album wouldn’t be enough. After jamming through each song repeatedly, I wasn’t discovering anything new. Read more.

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Creating Magical Moments In Your Live Music Performance

by Keith Hatschek March 14, 2013

Live music performance coachingIn part two of Echoes’ interview with renowned live performance producer Tom Jackson, we learn a simple rule: sing fewer songs, create more moments. When asked to play a half hour set, most bands immediately think, "How many songs can we fit in?" Instead, if they thought "How many moments can we develop?" they’d be much further along. Read more.

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A Great Live Music Performance Requires More Than Being Rehearsed

by Keith Hatschek March 13, 2013

Live music performance coachingIn part one of our interview with live performance producer Tom Jackson, we learn that most artists never learn to see themselves from the audience perspective. Once a record is done, the focus shifts to hitting the road. When that artist hits the stage, adrenaline is pumping, the band sounds tight, everyone is locked in, so it’s natural to think, “Everything is good.” That’s not always the case. Read more.

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How to Get Gigs and Make a Living Playing Music

by Dani Rabin March 11, 2013

How to get gigs explainedMany people have asked us how we transformed our band into a sustainable business, touring 250 days a year. We’ve created a series of videos to help explain what we’ve learned over the past few years in the hopes that it will help you learn how to get gigs and get more good bands out on the road. We’ll explain how to book music gigs that are well attended and pay guarantees, promote your shows, make extra money, build a following, and describe who wants to take your money (and why you shouldn’t let them). Read more.

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