Sasha Brown of Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds had set an appointment to get music instrument insurance. Two days before the call, $11K worth of instruments were stolen out of the band’s van. Read more.
Backstage is a new program from Disc Makers that offers exclusive deals on music gear and provides member-only access to discounts on services such as gig booking and post-production mastering, plus plenty of other special offers created for the independent musician. Read more.
Focused on providing a curated listening experience and an easy rental process, VNYL strives to be as intimate as possible. Each record is shipped with a paper sleeve insert and borrowers are encouraged to write comments and thoughts about the music directly on the sleeve, so that the vinyl albums’ travels can be documented. Read more.
Here are the 10 best-selling albums in November: See all 10…
The process of transforming your musical ideas into a finished product you can share and sell begins with your audio recording sessions and continues through to the delivery of your packaged CDs or vinyl records. The choices you make at each step affect the quality of your final product, so familiarizing yourself with this process at the earliest stages will help you produce the best possible results. Read more.
Disc Makers announces the return of our bi-annual sweepstakes — with a twist. This time around we’ve got three separate giveaways: one for guitarists, one for drummers, and one targeted to home recording enthusiasts. Co-sponsored by CD Baby, Sweetwater, Cakewalk, TASCAM, Auralex, Audio-Technica, Godin Guitars, Roland, Taylor Guitars, Bold Face, and Ernie Ball, these giveaways each feature over $4,000 in prizes. Deadline for entries is November 30, 2014. One winner will be chosen at random for each giveaway on or before December 10, 2014. Read more.
The market for vinyl has grown 35 percent per year for the last five years, Still, vinyl records represent a niche market in the music manufacturing world, and because of its dramatic strong growth, production capacity has lagged behind. Enter (or should we say re-enter) Disc Makers, the pioneers of vinyl record production for indie artists. Disc Makers again offers high-quality 12- and 7-inch vinyl records. Read More.
According to information posted on Statista.com, Americans are most likely to discover new music via terrestrial radio. That’s right, AM/FM radio accounts for 35 percent of music discovery with another 21 percent polled saying recommendations from friends and family are their source for new music. Internet and streaming services pale in comparison. Read more.
From managing your YouTube music channel to maximizing your music marketing, our YouTube for musicians posts are full of practical advice and innovative ideas. If you’re an independent musician planning on posting videos to YouTube, work to increase YouTube views and make money. Read more.
The holiday season, especially the golden month between Thanksgiving and Christmas, is the most lucrative time of the year for retail sales. As an independent musician, it can be a time for you to move a ton of product – professionally manufactured CDs, merch, and more. There are many ways to take advantage of this time of the year, and our new guide answers questions about how to prepare your order and make your new release something special for the holidays.
Read more and download your FREE PDF.
Here are the 10 best-selling albums in October: See all 10…
Disc Makers, CD Baby, and Sweetwater have partnered with Yamaha, PreSonus, Ibanez, Fender, Line 6, Shure, and Ultimate Support to create the Independent Musician Sweepstakes – our biggest home recording sweepstakes ever. The Grand Prize, worth over $20,000, features everything an independent musician needs to record, mix, manufacture, and sell your next CD. Read more.
Performance rights organization BMI reports new records for royalty distributions and revenue for the fiscal year. ASCAP is taking a firm stand against Pandora Internet Radio, claiming that “the rights of songwriters are under attack” and asking songwriters to sign an online petition. It’s the 20th anniversary of Nirvana’s In Utero, and among the items included in the new box-set is a four-page letter from producer Steve Albini. “I would like to be paid like a plumber,” he writes. Read more.
Our latest recording studio guide, The Art of Running A Successful Recording Studio: Advice and Insights From Studio Pros, focuses on how professional studios can better navigate the waters in the new music industry. Eight of our esteemed Disc Makers Studio Partners offered excellent content for the guide, including what they see as the qualities to success in the recording studio business. Read more.
The Home Studio Handbook includes material from our popular home recording studio guides – plus we’ve added a wealth of additional recording tips. Our new guide starts with vital information on how to make your own home recording studio – whether it’s a professional A-room or a budget-conscious home recording studio setup – and ends with creating a great mix. The 40-page Home Studio Handbook is free and available for download now! Read more.