Introducing SoundCloud’s new revenue sharing platform: On SoundCloud SoundCloud has always been a distinct outlier in the online streaming music industry. What has set them apart is how they allow anyone to upload and stream music without any annoying ads or monthly fees. For the past...
[This article was written by Ari Herstand and originally appeared on Ari's Take.] I get a lot of questions about press. Of course everyone wants a 5 star album review in Rolling Stone or an 8.7 in Pitchfork, but you have to be realistic about your...
If you write original songs then you stand to earn music publishing revenue, most of it in the form of mechanical royalties, performance royalties, and sync licensing fees. That’s right, someone owes you money every time your music is played on the radio, streamed online, performed in a...
Like many aspects of the music industry, effective publicity is about teamwork and good communication. There are many great music publicists out there (and many more not-so-great ones) who’ll work independent releases, but that doesn’t mean just any publicist will do. You’ve got to find the...
Indie musicians are earning more and more money from the usage of their music on YouTube. Every quarter, the amount of YouTube ad revenue that CD Baby pays to artists grows impressively. The giant video streaming platform has already become the go-to destination for younger music fans, and...
Rich Juzwiak wants to buy a song by Elle Varner — but can’t. Right now the single is only available on SoundCloud until some future date when, presumably, the full album will be released on iTunes, Amazon, etc. Rich is pissed. He thinks Elle is behaving according to an...
When it comes to building your music career, Social Media is a zero-sum game. Your fans should only like one band: your band. There’s simply not enough social media to go around. As an artist, you must either conquer social media outright or leave nothing behind but scorched earth. Here’s how. Some important...
[This post was written by guest contributor Dave Kusek of New Artist Model.] In the past, there was only one way to release an album. You spend months – or even years – writing and recording an album, you build up to the release date with a...
I’ve been hearing from a lot of bands who’ve had it with Facebook. These groups have spent years (and lots of money) using the platform to build a community of 1,000 or 10,000 or 50,000 Facebook followers. Now Facebook wants them to pay more money in order to...
“I’ve been teaching and researching marketing for a couple of decades,” says music marketing expert Bob Baker, “and there’s one thing I know with certainty: Most creative people are uncomfortable, confused or downright disdainful about marketing.“ In the video clip above, Bob shows you how...
As Spinal Tap reminds us, it’s a fine line between stupid and clever. This is particularly true in the world of popular music, where one bad move can kill an otherwise great tune. Here’s a list of ways to sabotage your next song during the writing or recording process...
[This article was written by guest contributor Brandon Seymour.] I’ve played in bands on and off for nearly 15 years. In addition to being a musician, I’m also passionate about marketing. Over the past couple of years, I’ve written several articles aimed at helping local,...
Time to look towards what’s next – away from Facebook. [This article was written by Greta Gothard of The Gothard Sisters. It originally appeared on the band's website and is addressed to their fans. I thought it'd be valuable to repost here as Greta does a great job...