A Career In Music, Or Just Fame?

Like many of you I occasionally like to watch reality talent shows to potentially discover the next “big thing” that once upon a time we may never have come across. Naturally the world of an unsigned / emerging artist was once a lonely one with a mountain to climb and a lot of hard work and sheer persistence to get yourself heard or in fact in front of the right people. It is a shame though that for the majority of singers / bands that something is definitely missing.

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The Ultimate Gig Booking Guide | Phosphene Productions

Booking regular shows is an essential part of being a musician when expecting to be heard by the public, and a question we here at Phosphene Productions get asked a lot about. Though everyone has their own technique when it comes to finding the perfect show, many artists new to the scene should devise a “template” to work by and to keep yourself organized when contacting so many different people.

Our goal in this article is to give you a sort of template to use when beginning to develop your own booking strategy, and by the end you should have all the necessary information to kick off your gig.

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How to Monetize Your Following PLUS win a free online store

Wondering how to take advantage of you fan base but stuck on where to begin? 

In this article;

- Easy way to sell band merchandise straight from you Facebook page.

- 3 lucky bands will win a fully set up online store.

Imagine the opportunity to offer your online followers the chance to buy band merch right from your Facebook page.  Galloree offers just that.

There are no minimum order quantities or ridiculous price minimums.  Types of merchandise offered ranges from Tee’s to Hoodies to Skateboards.

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5 Ways For The Working Musician to Make Money Online

Musicians like artists, graphic designers, film makers, or ony other type of freelancer as we all well know through YouTube and personal websites, work tirelessly on their online presence. This is now the forum where new artists get noticed, and frelance musicians and composers not only get work but also showcase talents and portfolios. For the archetype of the working musician as a jack of all trades, we all well know that gathering income from many sources is paramount to one’s financial and personal success. With all the work that one puts in to building up an online presence for the hope to get more gigs, more students, more downloads sold or whatever that may be, there is also secondary income sources that one can take advantage of from building traffic and a following, much like the savvy internet maketers strive for in their own commercial pursuits. Here are some approches in and out of the box.

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Need help winning Joe Bonamassa's Blues Masters Competition

Hello my name is Hollaman Lindsay and I am asking all of you to see if you can possibly aid me in my attempt to win Joe Bonamassa’s Blues Masters Competition. The first round for this contest is based off of viral popularity and how many views and shares your audition video gets, now I aint sayin that I cant generate that many views and shares because I dont have the talent, Its just that I live in Hiram Georgia and we got more stock in rakes then we do computers so its hard for me to find many people around me to support it. So I am inquiring you to see if you can help me get my name out there and get my audition video views and shares because if I can get past this first round and make it to guitar duals I think I got it made in the shade.

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Making the most out of touring...

I’ve been touring for almost a decade now and have developed some strategies that have helped…….. When we first started hitting the road, we’d leave town in our ice cream van with a bottle of Jack Daniels, some other accoutrements, and just took off for the first city… our plan was always to see which guy in the band could score a girl to like him that night, then we’d all follow her to her house and crash there. Well, that didn’t always work and when we started getting real girlfriends, you can imagine the drama that THAT caused!
 These days, whether I’ve got label money for tour support or we’re going out on our own I follow a few simple rules that end up saving me a crap load of money.

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5 Things to Prepare Before Every Show

Most musicians have a knack for being prepared enough to get by, but not over prepared by any means. Most of the time nothing goes wrong and so you give your self a pat on the back for being ‘efficient’. I was one of those musicians for many years - until I saw a friends band work their arse off at a show, and reap a lot of benefit. Their secret? Preparation.

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Music Without Labels Seeking Submissions for New Web Series!

Hello Everyone!

I am the spokesperson for Music Without Labels & Beat-Play LLC.  MWL is an umbrella for many music projects, ideas and conversation. The MWL Live just wrapped up a on a 15,000 mile cross-country video tour covering the hottest summer musicians and artists across the country. We featured several great bands such as Portugal. The Man, Datsik, The Lonely Forest, Yann Tiersen, Carina Round, Vintage Trouble, Dry the River, Washed Out, Gardens & Villa, Fun. and many more! Check out the MWL Live Tour 2012 videos here. 

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Finding Venues & Booking Gigs with In2ne

Bands want to perform at good venues, and venues want to bring in business by booking great bands, but the relationship between bands and venues is oftentimes strained at best.  This is in part due to the fact that there isn’t a good, central system in place that facilitates communication between the two sides.  In2ne, a new San Diego-based start up, aims to solve this problem for both musicians and music venues. In2ne is a new site that provides musicians with the tools they need to kick start their performing career, all entirely for free.

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Music Without Labels Live Tour 2012

At Music Without Labels & Beat-Play we know you want, and deserve, exclusive coverage of all of the best summer festivals and concerts; which is why MWL Live is embarking on journey across the United States! MWL spokesperson, Katie McVeay, and leading videographer, Shane Suski, are crossing state lines to showcase musical acts at festivals, small town concerts and everywhere in between, providing up-to-date photos, video interviews, and giving you the opportunity to interact with today’s top artists and musicians.

During Shane’s first year with MWL, he has had the opportunity to photograph over 75 artists including big names like Immortal Technique, GZA, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Young the Giant, and more! Katie McVeay started her MWL work in NYC where she interviewed numerous up-and-coming bands such as Caged Animals, Dustin Wong, The Beets and Canon Logic. In February, Katie relocated to MWL Headquarters in San Diego and has had the chance to interview talented acts such as Puscifer, Lost in the Trees, Rachael Yamagata, Talkdemonic and many more!

MWL Live will be traveling approximately 11,000 miles in 108 days featuring popular musicians at Sasquatch, Free Press, Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, Lollapalooza, Bumbershoot Music Festival and everywhere in between! We also know that not all of your favorite musicians are located near hub cities where their music can be properly showcased, reviewed or featured. Are you one of these artists? Do you know a great band in your location? We are reaching out to artists and fans! We want to visit you during the MWL Live Tour!

A trip like this takes funding! How much? $10,000! Right now we have $5,749 towards the project, but it’s not enough! Our Kickstarter goal of $6,000 helps cover the (high) price of gas, food, accommodations, tolls, festival fees, equipment and other expenses that we need to make the MWL Live Tour 2012 a reality!

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5 Ways to Get More Gigs

I’ve written about how to find gigs numerous times on The Musician’s Guide, but in the past I’ve often focused on how to understand how promoters think and reverse engineering that process to get a higher success rate when contacting promoters. In this post I want to take a step back and share a few ideas on where you can find the opportunities to perform gigs.

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App for Musicians to create Setlists

Gigster - Setlists at your fingertips

With this great iPhone-App you can:

Create, play and share setlists for gigs and shows as a band, individual artist, manager or fan.

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5 Features Of A Great Electronic Press Kit

Much like crafting a sound job resume, there are key features within an electronic press kit that are instituted for the best results. Learn the five requirements that every musician must include to create a powerful and effective EPK that will provide numerous booking, broadcasting, and licensing opportunities.

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Guerrilla Promotion; Building Better MI Relationships

Contacting music industry professionals can be easy if you have the right approach. Unfortunately, many independent artists do not use the right approach and have limited success. The Guerrilla Promotion tips in this post are designed to help musicians that find it difficult to get in touch with or to work with music industry professionals. If you find yourself leaving a lot of message that don’t get returned, or cant get people on the phone, this article may help.

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