The Weekly Batch

Musicians are expected to be everywhere these days. We’re interacting on social networks, following up on blog comments, keeping our profiles on countless music sites up to date, and checking our stats and analytics with a variety of online tools. It’s enough to make a lifelong indie yearn for a label - one with a marketing department!

Most of these items don’t need to be addressed daily, but they do need to be performed on a regular basis. Tasks that have to be done on a given day, I schedule. Everything else is relegated to The Weekly Batch™ (note: not actually trademarked). I tackle the entire list as a single to-do item on Friday afternoons, when I find it hard to do much of anything else. Here’s my latest iteration:

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The Rise of the Musicpreneur (Part 1/3)

We’re still in the early stage of the rise of polymath and entrepreneurial musicians, but the Musicpreneur is not far from being the norm.

Nobody, however, has come up with a satisfactory description of what being an independent musicians in the digital age entails. It’s a cool name, but how does it work? In this essay, I will attempt to adumbrate those attributes, because I strongly believe we’ll see them get amplified in the future.

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Solving the Symphony Crisis

The major symphony orchestras in the United States are facing an increasingly dire financial situations – not just because of a decrease in consumer demand and a decade of economic recessions – but because of systemic, short-sighted and self-inflicted deficiencies in their current business models. But it doesn’t have to be like this.

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A Musicianʼs Mini-Guide to Crowdfunding - What Platform Is Right For You?

This article previously appeared on the Presskit.to Blog.

Written by Jem Bahaijoub

2012 was the year crowdfunding went mainstream. The success of Amanda Palmerʼs Kickstarter campaign threw the alternative fanfunding model into the limelight, and now most musicians are turning to their fans and friends for financial support pre-release. But what is the best crowdfunding platform for you? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each platform? Hereʼs a helpful chart outlining the key features of four of the top crowdfunding platforms out there.

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The #1 Reason Why Your Facebook Page Isn’t Growing (And 5 others too)

This article was co-written by Jon Ostrow and Ariel Hyatt

If you are anything like the majority of people, artists, authors, entrepreneurs and beyond who have built a Facebook fan page, then I’m sure you’ve noticed something…

Facebook makes it ALMOST impossible to make any sort of real growth happen.

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: How to be a Rockstar at Social Media & More

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud 

• Simon Tam: How to be a Rockstar at Social Media: What Every Band Should Be Doing

• Mark Doyon: Finding Your Natural Audience

  Jon Ostrow: Nagivating #SXSW: Advice from the Streets of Austin - RECAP + More

• • Musician Wages: How to Make Money Selling Recorded Music

How to Make Money Selling Recorded Music

I’ll tell you the secret to selling music:

Being a musician who sells music is like being a restaurant that only serves sauce. Music is most valuable when paired with something else.

— Dave Hahn (@davidjhahn) March 17, 2013

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Nagivating #SXSW: Advice from the Streets of Austin - RECAP + More

This SXSW series was put together by Jon Ostrow (@jon_ostrow), Campaigns Director of Cyber PR.

Though our time in Austin has come to an end, we still have a bit more to share… 

Our final day at SXSW was once again packed with top notch events, showcases and of course people, all the while grabbing nuggets of advice along the way. 

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Finding Your Natural Audience

Songwriters, do you know who your natural audience is?

Your songs exist at a point within or outside the commercial mainstream. If they fall in the mainstream, they are similar to other songs, and are most likely to be embraced by a pop audience. If they hang out on the fringes, they are discernible from other songs, and are most likely to be noticed by a niche audience. The pop audience is larger and more accepting, the niche audience smaller and more discriminating. Each has its pros and cons.

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How to be a Rockstar at Social Media: What Every Band Should Be Doing

Are you listening?

Are you really listening?

I’ve mentioned it a few times before: treat social media more like a telephone and less like a megaphone. I’ve written about it when talking about the best social media sites for bands too. However, after talking to a few artists, I realize that some might not know how or where  to listen. This is important because like any business or organization, you want to know what’s being said about you and where are they saying it. You’ll also want to know how to respond.

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: The Next Era of the Music Business & More

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud 

• Marcus Taylor: 4 Emerging Trends in Social Media & How They’ll Impact The Music Industry
• Bobby Owsinski: The Next Era Of The Music Business

The Next Era Of The Music Business

The music industry is about to change in a profound way as it turns to streaming as its primary distribution model.For labels, artists, songwriters and musicians alike, their financial lives may hang in the balance.

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4 Emerging Trends in Social Media & How They’ll Impact The Music Industry

With a rise in social TV, multi-channel engagement, and recent reports suggesting that there are more mobile phones than people in 4/6 of the World’s regions, this year will no doubt be an interesting one for social media, but how will these trends impact the music industry?

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MusicThinkTank.com Weekly Recap: The Most Overrated Things in a Musician's Career & More

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud 

• Ariel Hyatt: 6 Critical Ways For YOU To Manage Your Expectations of Digital PR & Social Media Marketing
• Simon Tam: The Most Overrated Things in a Musician’s Career
• James Moore: “Has Your Music Been Featured In The New York Times?” An Exposé on Beatwire.com