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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Landing Musician-For-Hire Gigs with your Presskit

A musician-for-hire is someone who provides a service to an event coordinator, talent buyer, or group of people that caters to the event’s specific needs and generates a notable yearly income. 

You know, the guy that’s singing “Don’t Stop Believing” in the background of a picture-perfect wedding reception, or the guy kicking off “Hava Nagila” at the most anticipated Bar Mitzvah of the year. Even the cover band at the coolest bar in town is an example of musicians-for-hire work. There’s plenty of work like this out there for us to make a living from - but how do you set yourself apart from the rest of the bands trying to compete for these kind of gigs?

Well, although there’s no short answer, there are several steps you can take to set yourself ahead of the competition and create a “wow-factor” for yourself. Indulge:

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The Power of Personal - When Traditional Marketing Still Counts

Written by Jem Bahaijoub

As a new artist it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the constantly evolving new media world. With new marketing platforms bombarding us every day, it’s difficult to see the forest from the trees. So what should you do to market your debut EP? How can you build up a fan base from scratch? Next time you feel a panic-attack coming on and start screaming “where do I start?!”, take a deep breath and remember that we were sociable before we were social. So cast your smiley text faces and FB invitations to one side, and go back to basics. The foundational elements of direct-to-fan marketing all started in the physical world….

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Getting Into Songwriting w/ Triple Platinum Songwriter Drew Lawrence

Over the last three years the career growth of one musician in particular has been extremely fun to watch. Los Angeles based songwriter, Drew Lawrence has balanced music, life, family, and bills to build a sustainable career in music over that span. A classically trained Pianist and graduate of Berklee College of Music, Drew has a career record that includes gigging around LA, a few west coast and US tours, teaching music lessons to families in Beverly Hills and a more recent focus in songwriting for heavy hitters like Christina Perri, Kelly Clarkson and a ton of up and comers.

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Pictures Speak Louder Than Words - A Musician’s Guide To Pinterest

Remember the good old days when you would gather your favorite pictures, articles and photos and stick them in a scrapbook? Or pin postcards and notes on your kitchen pin board? Well, the art of the keepsake has just gone digital. Pinterest is a digital scrapbook of your life. A way to tell the world who and what you are with visual snapshots. A way to follow and connect with a community of like-minded people without talking. Digital stalking has just gone artsy, and apparently 10.4 million users have jumped on the bandwagon. 140 characters is just too much. Pictures speak louder than words.

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Buzz: There's More to a Free Music Campaign than Free Music...

You’ve done it again. You’ve given away a free track from your latest album. It’s on your website. You’ve talked about it on Facebook. Job done, you think. Well think again. There’s no doubt about it. Free music is a powerful marketing tool. However, the music industry has become so over-saturated with free music that we’ve become desensitized to the process of consuming, promoting, and thinking about the importance of free music. This age-old debate has become, well, old.

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Mobile Marketing for Independent Artists: Tools

So this is it. The final installment in my series on mobile marketing for independent musicians (sob!). We’ve discussed the reality. We’ve established the importance of strategy. Now it’s time to talk tools! So exactly what tools are out there for the average, hard- working DIY musician? Are the all-singing, all-dancing mobile marketing campaigns of established artists totally out of reach?

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One For All, or All For One? Solo Artistry Versus the Band in the Age of Social Media

The music industry today seems, to the casual observer, a veritable “Chicken Little” scenario, with all its members and participants, heads craned piously upward, scurrying about as if the sky were falling—the firmament of their reliable, decades-old business model crashing about them. From the haughtiest record company executive to the lowliest basement-dwelling ensemble, everyone in the music business is struggling to shore up their respective rungs on the industry ladder.

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Mobile Marketing for Independent Artists: Strategy

Take down your Christmas tree! Walk away from that last mouthful of turkey! Stop putting cranberry on everything! It’s 2012 folks. Time to get back to business. 2011 was the year of absorbing, observing and conversing about mobile marketing. 2012 is all about getting amongst it. But hold your horses! Before you jump in at the digital deep end, let’s start with the basics. What exactly is mobile marketing?

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Mobile Marketing for Independent Artists: Reality

There’s no doubt about it. Mobile marketing is the term “du jour.” Music industry conferences, networking events, the twitterverse and blogosphere are on fire with mobile marketing chit-chat. Bands apps, QR codes, SMS marketing….it’s a never-ending mobile maze. This is the first blog post in a three-part series attempting to demystify the issue of mobile marketing. I’ll be exploring the foundations of a solid mobile marketing strategy for musicians and identifying what tools are out there for the DIY music community. But firstly, what does mobile marketing actually mean to your average, trying-to-do it all local musician?

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Biz: New School Concert Ticketing w/ Ticketfly

You don’t need to be an industry insider to know that the ticketing segment of the music business needs a major overhaul. Concerts are more relevant to the industry now than they have been in a very long time, but there’s a lot more to be done if we are to see them reach their full potential — for artistsand their fans. Thankfully, movers and shakers like the innovators behind new school ticketing platform TicketFly still exist.

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Tips on Writing an Effective Artist Biography

Album finished? Check. Tour dates? Check. Press photos? Check. Press release? Check. Biography? Urgh! If you’re not a spectacular storyteller or wondrous wordsmith, then the task of writing or updating your biography can seem like an arduous task. However, a biography is an essential item in any musicians marketing tool kit. It positions your brand identity, communicates your key achievements and provides background info to fans and media alike. Here are a few pointers to help you on your way…..

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Tech: The Importance of a Recording Timeline

We’ve all been there. The drummer overslept, the guitarist is late, and the bass player has to leave early to hang out with his girlfriend. None of us enjoy being in this kind of a situation, and that is why having a planned out recording schedule can help improve session flow and save you time (and money). Assuming your band is well rehearsed and prepared for their recording session, there are several steps you will want to take to prevent the session from coming to a screeching halt. The key factor to preparing for a productive recording session is a Session Schedule.

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Buzz: Creative Merchandising at Warped Tour

More goes into impressive merchandise sales numbers than meets the eye. For one, there’s the marketing research that needs to be done beforehand so that you have product fans actually want to buy. After that comes the effectiveness of the person selling the merchandise; getting your band’s gear into fans’ hands is harder than sitting behind the table and letting them come to you.

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