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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BRASH! Magazine 2016

BRASH! - A Music Marketing Blog started in 2012. This blog was designed to provide music marketing tips for Independent Artists as well as provide a platform for exposure by giving exclusive interviews and social media promotions. In 2016, BRASH! is ready to expand to the magazine scene but we need your help. In order to bring this to life we are accepting donations to design, create, and develop a Music Marketing Magazine to increase exposure and awareness for quality Indie Artists. Funds raised will be used for staff memebers (writers, graphics artists, events etc.) as well as the development for the magazine’s platform, both online and print.

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What question do YOU have about creating success in today's music industry?

What questions do you have as you pave your path in the music industry?

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Top 10 Musician Mistakes: You Don't Leverage Your Fans as Marketers

As an indie artist today, you’re most likely in charge of your own marketing. You probably don’t have a record label planning your releases or scheduling your social media for the week, and you certainly don’t have any spare cash for a big marketing campaign. Marketing can seem like a completely daunting task if its just you and maybe a manager trying to get the word out, but you actually have a whole team of marketers just waiting to share your music – your fans!

With the constant presence of social media and the internet, most music fans today are bombarded with more information than they can possibly process. On top of that, new technology has enabled just about anyone to get online and call themselves a musician. As a result, most music fans look to recommendations from trusted sources for new music. These trusted sources could be a good music blog but more times than not it comes from a friend. Think about how you found some of your favorite artists. How many of them did you discover from a friend’s recommendation? Or someone you trust?

The key here is authenticity. Making it real and transparent and interesting. More people will check out your new album after a friend recommends it than would after a flashy TV commercial. This means you don’t need to dish out thousands for a big marketing campaign. The most effective form of marketing is completely within your reach financially!

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The Day The Music Dies: What’s Really At Stake When Licensing Music

The Day The Music Dies: What’s Really At Stake When Licensing Music

By Christopher Rucks—Music Dealers

It’s more than just a car to drive. It’s more than just a belt to hold up your pants. It’s more than just a song to go in a web video. It’s a promise of service.

We recently lost a music licensing opportunity. We proposed a fee of 1K for the requested use; web content, worldwide, perpetual use, mid-tier, but phenomenally licensable up-and-coming artist that we have a great relationship with.

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The Big Survey. What Are The Challenges Facing Musicians In 2013

Right Chord Music have launched ‘The Big Survey’ think of it as our music census. Please follow this link to contribute, and help us better understand the challenges you face and the realities of being a musician in 2013. The survey is open to everyone, anywhere in the world, so please feel free to share this link. We look forward to sharing the results with you.

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Launching Ribbon – Empowering Musicians to Sell Directly to Fans Via Social Media, Cheaper than Itunes

We’ve recently launched Ribbon (www.Ribbon.co) - see our recent coverage at http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/20/ribbon-a-bit-ly-with-payments-brings-simplified-checkout-to-any-platform/.

Ribbon lets any musician sell mp3s and merchandise directly to their fans and followers on multiple platforms – their blog, twitter, facebook, youtube. Our technology enables the transaction to take place within the platform – leading to more completed transactions.

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Amplage 0.6: Spotify - Life in a shadow, a non sustainable practice

You might think this is quite a rash and bold statement but I can guarantee you within the next 5 minutes of reading I’ll have it well justified. We all know that independent musicians from day one should be working themselves like a business through production, promotion, sales and shows. All of which incur some set up fee or ongoing costs. These costs vary depending on the size of the project or how smartly the independent has measured their market and are willing to invest. Even though spotify keep hush hush the amount of royalties that are paid through spotify, some speculation and leaks show what they are really paying artists.

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Where most artists mess up when submitting to music blogs

This post actually started as a comment in response to a Music Think Tank post that questioned the value of seeking reviews from music blogs. Their rationale was mainly based on their low results after contacting relevant blogs on Hype Machine. As an independent music promoter and blogger, I’d like to make a few points, and hopefully you find them useful.

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Cover songs... The calling card of the indie artist (Our example: Only Girl Rihanna )

It’s an ever changing landscape for the independent musician or label (or for the majors for that matter)
Cover songs have become crucial in the marketing plan of any savvy indie musician and here’s why…

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Swiss Cheese And Toilet Paper

At least once a week I get a CD of an aspiring artist handed to me. I’m convinced Starbucks is the music and business hub of Nashville. I really try to make an effort to listen to everything that I receive. After all, I know first hand from the last fifteen years how hard being an independent musician can be.  You never know, that blank disc with the band name scribbled in mint green marker just might be the next Coldplay.

Ninety-nine percent of the time the CD is sonically not up to par (this is my nice way of saying absolutely freaking terrible!) and there are always basic song writing mistakes spread through out. Now if you had stopped reading here you would walk away thinking there is no hope and that Blake guy is a total jerk. But wait, there is hope! This is the point where we all sit back, take a deep breath, take a sip of our favorite coffee, and address the issue of why working with a producer is so important.

A friend of mine once told me about when he fell into an opportunity to work at a small

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5 Tips For Managing Your Work Load As An Independent Artist

So, you’re living the ultimate indepenedent artist lifestyle. You write and record constantly releasing something cool every few weeks. You rehearse with the band and throw gigs regularly. You draw great album art and design your own t-shirts. You make wicked YouTube videos, and write great blog posts. You Tweet and Facebook and keep up with some great blogs and inspirational artists. You take care of business, track merchandise levels and order new stock in time. Oh yeah, and you take care of your physical health, have a happy relationship and a day job.

How exactly are you supposed to do that?

1. Keep it manageable and consistent

Divide your work. Keep it regular and consistent. Read and respond to blogs, tweets and facebook posts when you’re having your morning coffee. Walk or jog to work. Have an allocated evening for songwriting, rehearsing and business. Edit and post videos on Sundays. Don’t do anything on Saturdays unless you have a gig. Doing a little bit every day accumulates over time. Keep it steady and manageable instead of burning out.

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The Difference Between an Artist and a Wanna Be!!!

I’m getting kinda sick of hearing the word ‘Artist’ being thrown around Hollywood and other social media circles as though anyone who has a talent automatically qualifies as an ‘artist’. That is so not the case and in my opinion needs to be clarified.

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"When Will We See You On MTV?"...Thoughts of an Independent Musician

“So when will we see you on MTV?” “When will we be hearing your stuff on the (mainstream) radio?”  “You should be famous by now.”  “When you’re famous we can say we knew you when.”

These are all questions and statments that I’m certain many relatively well-known touring independent musicians and bands (including myself) hear on at least a fairly regular basis.  I don’t know about you, but I usually feel slightly taken aback when I hear statements such as this even though I know the person or persons making the statement/s probably mean well.  I’ve sat down to think about why these feelings arise when I hear such statements.  When I think about it though, certain key words from such statements that are frequnently uttered when they are made: MTV, radio, and (most prominently) FAMOUS.  That then raises the question; What exactly is fame nowadays? 

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