How to Earn More Cash to Support Your Growing Band

When your band is growing and seemingly on the cusp of a major breakout, it’s easy to forget about financial necessities. After all, record deals and sold out venues seem to be just around the corner. It’s important to remember, however, that you will still have to spend more money before the major profits come through. Touring, buying better equipment, and recording music all involve some serious expenses. With that in mind, you should be thinking about how to raise some funds while your band is in the process of taking off. Here are four ways to make some money for your growing band.

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How To Grow Your Music Career (Even During A Pandemic)

Wait, isn’t the world on halt? Hasn’t 2020 been a year of failure and pullbacks? 

While this year has been disappointing, there are two types of people responding to the coronavirus. Some are pouting and being affected heavily, while others are adapting and doing better than they ever have. Here’s how you can continue to scale your music career – even if your gigs, shows, and sources of income are non-existent at the moment.

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Why You Need A Backup Plan As A Musician

They say go all-in.

They say quit your job and don’t give yourself a safety net, or else you won’t succeed in music.

But is that actually true? Should musicians have a backup plan? 

Let’s talk about this idea of backup plans, diversifying your music career, and creating long-term goals. 

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4 Ways To Handle Distribution Costs For Your First Album

Creating a great body of work is the first step towards a successful career in the music business, but getting the songs heard by countless people across the world should be the next move. It can be challenging to get your first album distributed and into the homes, cars, and playlist of music listeners, but it is not impossible. Below are some of the ways that you can handle the distribution cost for your first album, putting you even closer to a great music career.

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Streaming Service Pays Per Stream

The ways in which music streaming royalties are paid can be confusing even to industry insiders, and formulas vary from company to company. I thought that this graph could help anyone looking into understanding just how many streams it would take for a song to become profitable in the streaming industry.

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How To Save Money On Tour This Summer: 5 Tips

Guest post by Gideon Waxman. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper

Being an independent touring musician might seem like a dream job for many. But the truth is that it’s not quite as glamorous as it’s made out to be, and the early stages of touring for an artist or band can be tough and grueling.

The fees aren’t great, and if you’re lucky to sell out of merchandise while on the road, that might just be your biggest source of income for the tour. In order to maximize your earnings you will need to minimize your spending. As the old English proverb says: “look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves.” Instilling good spending habits will allow a band to continue to grow while being financially sustainable.

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Touring Tips For Bands On A Budget

Hitting the road and taking your band on tour is exciting. Whether this is your first tour and you’re still getting your feet wet or you’re veterans of the road, it’s important to make sure you stick to a budget so you can get to your designated performance locations with ease (and have a little fun along the way).

Playing music professionally is actually more of an investment than people tend to think. Until you reach “rockstar status” or you have a record label paying for your travel expenses, most of the money spent on a tour will come out of your own pocket.

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Tips For Saving Money While Still Eating Healthy On Tour

Guest post by Leah D. Nelson. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper

Going on tour is, for many, a road trip, but it’s also incredibly hard work. It’s work from a performance, planning, and marketing standpoint, but it’s also deeply important that you take care of your body while on the road. With all the planning and organization that goes into booking and executing a successful tour (and sure, having a bit of fun along the way), the idea of eating healthy, balanced meals may not even come to mind.

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How Professional Musicians Can Manage And Limit Expenses When On Tour

Touring as a musician can be incredibly costly. Lodging, transportation and dining expenses all can add up extraordinarily quickly. If you’re a professional musician who wants to keep your touring costs reasonable and low, however, there are various things you can try. Going on a tour comfortably as a musician doesn’t have to break the bank.

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8 Music Crowdfunding Campaigns We’ve Got Our Eyes On And Why

Guest post by Jeremy Young. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper

It’s all about the story. Fundraising experts will say this time and time again: “People fund people, not ideas.” In other words, when asking for money, what tends to get through to your audience the most is having a compelling and personal story, and a drive to succeed, not necessarily a great business idea.

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Financial Lifehacks For Musicians

To dedicate a good amount of your time, energy, and resources on music is to accept that the financial reward rarely even doubles the sacrifice you put in. If you want to take your music seriously — even as a serious hobby — this makes some of your personal expenses a little bit harder to come by.

Whether it’s food, travel, or healthcare and insurance, the musician life is not always an easy one. However, hard is not the same thing as impossible. Here are some basic life hacks for saving money as a musician.

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Live Performances Are About More Than The Music

I had started writing some posts and giving advice on my social media pages, as my way of giving some advice regarding some of the things that I see and hear, both at shows, and on artists’ social media pages. It always seemed to be the same things, coming from “artists,” who excel in playing the blame game: making excuses for why they aren’t succeeding. So, I thought that I would try to be helpful, by calling artists out on their behaviors! It may not be popular, or politically correct, but if an artist can’t handle the truth and some constructive criticism, then they are in the completely WRONG business.

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10 Types Of Songwriter Jobs

This guest post by Evan Zwisler originally appeared on the Bandzoogle Blog

Songwriters have a special place in our culture. If you’re a songwriter, you’re not simply playing music, you’re imbuing our lives with a soundtrack that is evocative, thought provoking, and deeply meaningful.  

Most bands have a songwriter, or several, and most songwriters have been in a band before. But being a songwriter can be a more feasible career choice in the long run.

Here’s a look at some of the different types of job opportunities that are available to songwriters.

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Crowdfunding Your Album: 11 Dos & Don'ts

This post was written by Justin Ralph and originally appeared on the Bandzoogle Blog.

Over the past few posts, I’ve covered how to decide if you’re ready to record an album, tips for writing songs, and how to handle the pre-production of your recording. Today I want to talk about one of the most popular ways to fund production for your album - crowdfunding.

When I decided to record an album this year, I knew I was going to use crowdfunding to raise money. I was fairly certain I would be successful with it based on the pool of people I could reach, and I liked the idea of my fans being engaged in the entire process of recording.

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