With the explosion of music streaming, physical media appeared to be out for the count. However, the majors are now reporting physical music revenue growth compared to 2018. Heck, even cassettes are making a comeback. Read the post.
Why pass up the chance to make additional revenue, build your artist brand, and cement a special connection with your fans?
Read the post.
We are always on the lookout for new album release strategies. Here’s the latest from Billboard.biz and the Kaiser Chiefs:
U.K. guitar group Kaiser Chiefs is taking an innovative approach to the release of its new studio album, “The Future is Medieval” (Fiction/B-Unique Records), by allowing fans to choose their own track listing and album artwork.
In 2009 Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn tried out a little experiment. They spent $128.74 on a bunch of yard sale junk and hired professional writers to draw up interesting stories about each item. Then they put everything up on eBay with the stories that they created to see what happened. Read more…
CD Baby and IndieGuide.com have put together a very interesting and helpful album release schedule – updated for 2011.
Back in the late-90s at Sony Music Entertainment, we had these incredibly detailed setup schedules for albums. That included everything from getting artwork approvals, passing elements to distribution, setting up artist interviews, the works.
The first quarter of the year (Jan to March) is often the best time of the year for a new artist to release an album, as it’s the least competitive. Plus, the Valentine’s Day period is one of the biggest sales periods of the year. Read more.
Check out the latest and greatest indie music from CD Baby! Here are the 10 best-selling albums in October: See all 10…
Hot off our presses this week is Spools of Thread, a new CD by Fierce Bad Rabbit. We also noticed them in this interesting article on Scene Savvant where they talk about their new record, funding it through donations, and cooking meals for their fans as a reward for said funding. Read more…
Every artist needs a fully customized DIGITAL BRAND to succeed. Proper branding requires the following:
Check out the latest and greatest indie music from CD Baby! Here are the 10 best-selling albums in September: See all 10…
About 8 years ago I used to smoke two packs of Marlboro Red cigarettes a day. It was hard for me to imagine what it would really take to quit. I tried to kick the habit cold turkey a few times and it just made me want to crawl out of my skin. Then I heard about the patch and decided to give it a try.
I put it on one morning and made it until about 10PM before I ripped it off and started smoking. The fact that I don’t smoke today has a lot to do with how I chose to look at what happened that day. Read more…
Sell your music better and you’ll have resources to make more music, better-sounding music, and get more people to hear it. Here are five tips to help you generate more sales:
1. Believe In Your Product
It’s difficult to look someone in the eye and ask them to buy something that you don’t believe is a good deal for them. If you’re trying to sell a CD to someone for $10 that you believe is worth $5 then you’re going to have a hard time selling it. The idea is to focus on ‘giving’ them something that’s valuable to them at a fair price. You can always tell when someone is just trying to ‘get’ something from you. Don’t underestimate the intelligence and intuition of your fans. Read more…
Cameron Mizell, freelance guitarist, producer, and consultant in Brooklyn, has written yet another excellent article for independent musicians. This article comprehensively details the time and costs involved in creating a new album. Mizell put together “a realistic cost scenario for every stage of creating a new album,” which could serve as an indispensable guide for those about to embark on the process. Read more…
Gabe Roth is the bass player, producer, main writer and founding member of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings and the head of their label Daptone records. Gabe also recently won a Grammy award for engineering the Amy Winehouse record “Back to Black”. I was lucky enough to be in a band with Gabe in college back when he was a drummer. He is one of those enviable musicians who can pick up any instrument and make it look effortless. Read more…
Most musicians I know hold a dream to someday ‘make it’ in the music business. To play in front of huge crowds and live a lifestyle that they can only imagine. Many of us believe that we’ll someday get there. Unfortunately most of us find ourselves growing older with an ever increasing fear that we’re missing the boat.
We’re conditioned to believe that if we’re going to make it then we have to do it at a young age. I had already started to have this feeling when I was in my early 20’s. I felt like I was slacking because I hadn’t ‘made it’ yet. Read more…