Sell More Music & Segment

This article originally appeared on the Internal Affairs blog.

I’ve noticed that a lot of marketing blogs completely forget to teach their readers the basics and jump straight in to the deep end with marketing. The readers look on bewildered, yet gagging for their marketing “quick fixes” - I know, I was (kind of) one of them when I was younger. 

To understand the very basics of marketing will allow even the most inexperienced “musicpreneur” to take the most basic concepts and create a unique, creative and effective marketing campaign from them. Therefore, that’s why my goal at Internal Affairs is to introduce the very basics before anything else.  

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5 Crucial Factors You Have To Consider Before Moving To NY Or LA For Your Music Career

This article originally appeared on the Sonicbids blog.

Every musician wants to base him or herself in buzzing surroundings that promote plentiful opportunities for creative collaboration. Therefore, it’s no surprise that many artists who aren’t from major cities around the country have lofty aspirations of hitting it big and moving to Los Angeles or New York City. Yet all of the motivation or talent in the world cannot hide the reality that not every artist is ready to make this next step. There are multiple factors in play that are necessary for every artist to put into perspective before making such a momentous decision. So before you pack your bags with visions of accomplishing all of your wildest dreams, be sure that you refer to this list and are honest with yourself by evaluating each factor when determining whether or not you’re primed to make the big move.

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The 5 Most Annoying, Ineffective Ways That Bands Seem to Always Promote Their Music

This article originally appeared on the Sonicbids blog.

We wholly recommend promoting your band on social media (duh). It’s easily the best way to maintain and grow your following, and it’s arguably eclipsed flyering as the most reliable way to announce a show and reel in a crowd. What we can’t advocate, however, is being obnoxious about it. We’ve all had our nerves grated by someone’s promo. No matter how alluring or special the artwork, there are certain marketing moves you just shouldn’t make online.

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Human Music Interaction

In my now part-time day job as a professor at Birmingham City University, I wrote an article on the research centre’s blog, in which I referred to a new field of research that I’m helping develop. It bridges computer science, cultural studies, media theory, musicology, medicine, psychology, sociology and more. That probably takes a little explaining. Interdisciplinarity is not, in itself, a field of research.

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A Tribute To Another Unsung Hero Of The Music Business - The Artist Bio Writer - Fact Or Fiction?

Is there no greater work of fiction in the English language than the artist bio? You know, the three-page laudatory pronouncement of some new musical genius suddenly discovered and spotlighted. Or how about the one that signals the mid-career change of musical direction? Or the end-of-career, where-have-they-been, and what-now variety?

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MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: The Email That Will Get You Access To Anyone

• Brandon Waardenburg | The Email That Will Get You Access To Anyone
• Mylene Besancon | Taylor Swift Made The Choice To Not Fight YouTube
• Chas Castell | Feeling Overwhelmed? How To Take Charge Of Your To Do List
• Stephanie Carlin | 30-Day Songwriting Challenge Free For MTT Community

The Email That Will Get You Access To Anyone

Somebody always has something that you want.

• Better distribution methods
• A particular person’s contact info
• Knowledge you want to have in your brain
• Etc
• Etc
• Etc

It’s just a matter of getting access to it. For me and lots of other independent artists, emails are the most efficient way to go about this, and this one email in particular has opened a lot of doors. 

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Taylor Swift Made The Choice To Not Fight YouTube

You may know very well the story of Taylor Swift going against Apple and Spotify because these two decided to stream artists’ music without paying them any, or very little, royalties. After Taylor Swift pulled her entire repertoire from Spotify and called Apple out for originally not intending to pay publishers, labels or artists during the free three-month trial, she finally made up with Apple. Following a quite restless time, Swift tweeted she is putting her album on Apple Music ‘and happily so’.

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Feeling Overwhelmed? How To Take Charge Of Your To Do List

Who’s heard the advice “you need to be a CEO, as well as an artist, to have a successful music career”? If you haven’t yet, you will. It’s good advice, a reminder that to succeed in music, it’s not enough just to have talent, you need to have what CEOs have - a vision for success, and the ability to set up and run an effective business. But the reality is, even this is not enough. On a day to day basis, what’s most important is acting not just as a CEO of your own brand or company, but as a COO – a Chief Operating Officer.

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30-Day Songwriting Challenge Free For MTT Community

The 30 Day Songwriting Challenge is designed to professional songwriters accomplish a daily songwriting routine without getting derailed by distractions, bad habits, or the enemy inside their brain - resistance.

The challenge offers songwriters the opportunity to show up every day, write for a specific amount of time, and share the work to a closed community of supportive musicians.

Created by Stephanie Carlin, director of Brooklyn-based songwriting school Free Spirits Music, this course is being offered at no cost to aspiring songwriters and professional songwriters. 

Every day, participants receive:

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MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: Increase The Probability Of Getting Featured

• Jorge Brea | Increase The Probability Of Getting Featured
• Partrick Gerald | The Art Of DJing
• Dartsya Tarkovska | “Break A Leg”. Dave Grohl Creates A Limited Edition Of Merch
• Ken Dardis | Me, Me, Me, vs. Free, Free, Free
• Jay Cartere | How To Film Your Own Music Video On A Budget

Increase The Probability Of Getting Featured

As technology is growing and becoming much more accessible all over the world, more Record Labels and Artists are getting their Music Production hats on and releasing music to the world. The thrill of seeing the material out on stores such as Beatport, iTunes, Google Play, and others is a great feeling but then the artist and record label begin to realize there is not enough attention that is needed and begin to ask, how can I get featured and get a banner on Beatport or iTunes and others?

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The Art of DJing | Getting Into The Hobby

For many musicians music is a way of life, but for aspiring DJs music can be more than just that: Music is an obsession. 

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"Break A Leg". Dave Grohl Creates A Limited Edition Of Merch

It seems like everybody heard about Dave Grohl’s accident in Sweden and how it created a massive buzz. First going on stage after the injury, than - an epic Iron Throne that saved the following gigs.

But the story has no ending and Foo Fighters’ team created a limited edition of merch dedicated to this accident.

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