Gaming Spotify, Touch-Sensitive Laptop, And Bassist Stu Hamm On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Stu Hamm, who’s one of the world’s premier bass players and clinicians. His unique and innovative two-handed tapping technique proves that even the bass can be a solo instrument in the hands of a virtuoso player. Stu has recorded and toured with a who’s who of guitar heros, including Steve […]

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How Word Of Mouth And The Theory Of 22 Works Online

Word of mouth always has been, and still is the most trusted form of promotion available, regardless of whether it’s in-person or online. The only difference is that it’s so much more powerful when done online, as outlined in this excerpt from the latest 3rd edition of my Social Media Promotion For Musicians handbook. Imagine […]

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TikTok’s Augmented Reality Ad Format Could Disrupt Several Industries At Once

Healthcare, education, commercial real estate, and retail are just a few of the industries that appear to be on the verge of major disruption in the wake of COVID-19. There’s another one that appears to be headed that way as well, but it has nothing to do with a virus. That’s advertising and it may […]

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The First Socially-Distanced Concert, Slick Quarantine Band Videos, And Zack O’Malley Greenburg On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is My guest today is Zack O’Malley Greenburg, who’s a senior editor of media & entertainment at Forbes and author of four excellent music oriented business books.  His latest, A-List Angels, is how a band of actors, artists and athletes cashed in on the latest tech boom and changed the face […]

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Facebook Finally Gets Into eCommerce With “Shops”

If you thought that Facebook couldn’t possible get any bigger or more powerful you were wrong. The company has never quite figured out a way to participate in ecommerce until yesterday’s announcement of “Shops,” which will finally bring online shopping to both Facebook and Instagram. According to the company, ““Facebook Shops make it easy for […]

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Physical Product Is Still The Chink In The Armor Of The Recorded Music Business

The recent release of the IFPI’s annual Global Music Report brought the news that the industry was back on the right side of $20 billion. While streaming growth had slowed a bit from previous years, revenue from that part of the business was still up 23% over the previous year. As you’d probably expect, there […]

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Demystifying Streaming Royalties, Inside Gear Reviews, And Agent Jack Forman On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Jack Forman, who’s a senior vice-president at BiCoastal Productions, the New York City-based concerts and theatrical booking agency.  Originally spearheading the agency’s coverage of the Western United States, Jack now oversees the core agency staff and global touring strategy. Jack provides an agent’s perspective of working with an artist, as […]

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2020 Posting Frequency Recommendations For Social Media

While many have the opinion that you can never post too much on a social media network, research shows that there’s definitely a threshold after which additional posts begin to feel like spam. That point varies for each network however. In this excerpt from the latest edition of the Social Media Promotion For Musicians handbook […]

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Your Studio Might Be Safe From Wildfire, But Not From The Insurance company

When composer Richard Gibbs and his wife Linda lost their home in Malibu in the Woolsey Wildfire of November 2018, the one silver lining was that their world-class recording studio was left standing and mostly untouched. Woodshed Recording, built in a detached former barn on the Gibbs property, has long been one of the most […]

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Music Exec Camille Barbone, YouTube Views Increase And So Do Music Gear Sales On My Latest Podcast

My guest on the podcast this week is Camille Barbone, who’s done just about every behind-the-scenes job in the music business you can think of.  From working as a label executive for Columbia and EMI, to managing Madonna, to owning the famous Longview Farm and Gotham Sound studios, to producing major concerts and tours and more, Camille has […]

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You Can’t Brand Your Music Until You Know What One Is

One of the things that an artist or band hears a lot these days is the need to promote “your brand” in order to get ahead in the current era of the music business. That’s all well and good, but you can’t promote your brand unless you know the definition in the first place. Here’s […]

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Our Music Consumption Patterns Are Changing, But Will They Stay That Way?

Most people don’t need a survey to tell them that what they listen to or view is different today than before COVID. Our lives have changed so much in that time that it’s a given that our music consumption patterns have as well. Even if you know that you’re listening more or less than before, […]

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Musician Relief Funds, Fender Stops Using Ash, And Composer Joe Renzetti On My Latest Podcast

My guest on this week’s podcast episode is Joe Renzetti, who started in the studio band of the Cameo Parkway label in Philadelphia playing on hits like “Let’s Twist Again,” “South Street,” Palisades Park,” and “Limbo Rock.” He then moved to New York where he worked as an arranger on huge hits like “Sunny” by […]

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The Best Post Times On Social Media During COVID-19

If you observe viewing habits on social media for a while, you know that the best times to post not only vary from social platform to platform, but from year to year as well. These changes are usually gradual, but COVID-19 isolation has changed how everyone uses social media, which has brought some big changes […]

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Spotify’s Artist Fundraising Pick Is A Great New Feature, And that’s The Dilemma

It’s never been easy to make it as an artist, and with gigging now out of the picture most are put into an even more precarious position than ever. Living on a shoestring is okay if you feel like your career is making progress, but with everything and everyone in lockdown it’s pretty easy to […]

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