Michael Epstein suggests that microfunding better suits a label model, where funders on a Kickstarter-type campaign can invest in a slate of projects rather than in a particular artist. Scott Andrew notes that sites like RocketHub encourage some acts to…
Category
Grow Your Audience
Finding the Twinsumers in your perfect audience.
I love reading the monthly briefings from the Trendwatching team. This year, they called out “Twinsumers” and “Social-lites” as part of their 11 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2011. Grow Your Band’s Audience charts a course for finding “your perfect audience.”…
What’s Culturally Significant? (Part 2)
A few weeks ago, I joined a gathering of about a hundred professionals from the arts, entertainment, and creative communities in Philadelphia to discuss the concept of “creative vitality” in our city. The fact that all of these talented individuals…
How to tell people you make music for a living.
It’s so easy to focus on social media marketing and street team strategies, that we often overlook some of the most basic ways that you can grow your audience. Every day, someone probably asks you what you do for a…
How learning to hear “no” can save your career.
Yesterday, I wrote about how our culture cast Simon Cowell as the villain of American Idol, just because he has the audacity to tell people “no.” We’re so concerned with being liked, with validating everyone’s experiences, and with wanting happy…
Why you should learn to say “No” like Simon Cowell.
If you believe the news reports from the Television Critics Association, there’s “no villain” on American Idol now that Simon Cowell has left for the American version of X-Factor. That’s a shame. American culture has evolved in the past few…
Why you should ignore thousands of music consultants…
…also known as your fans. While this will sound a little contradictory coming from the guy that wrote two books about audience engagement (with a third on the way), think about the qualities that drew your fans to you in…
Luck Means Nothing in the Music Business
I meet too many aspiring musicians who tell me they’re just waiting for that lucky break for the world to discover their talent. In the meantime, they’re usually the same folks watching every episode of American Idol instead of booking…
Giving yourself the space to shine.
Pamela Slim writes that it’s easy for creative people to fool themselves into thinking that their strengths can overcompensate for environmental variables. Have you ever watched yourself spiral downward with something that’s usually a cinch? It happens to musicians and…
Why You Should Own Your Band’s Website
Delicious is dying. And if you’re not a hardcore web citizen, you might not know the reason why so many folks have become so upset about it. In short: a beloved, free service that thousands of people used to automate…
Four Rules for Artistic Success
James Danziger offers four essential rules for young photographers to “survive” in what’s becoming a challenging line of work. It strikes me that all four rules apply to emerging musicians and artist managers, too: 1. Have talent. Danziger says, “Talent…
Make Space to Leave MySpace
The alarm clock woke me up with the news that a senior News Corporation executive hinted about the possible closure of MySpace within “quarters, not years.” Even if MySpace manages to avoid a total shutdown, independent musicians should worry whenever…