Selling merch is essential to artists and bands today, maybe more so than ever. The problem is that not only does it take a lot of thought and effort to come up with the appropriate products, but the same amount of thought and effort is needed when it comes to selling them as well. Here […]
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Lyle Workman has a long history as a guitar player and songwriter, first as a member of Bourgeois Tagg, and then with Todd Rundgren, Beck and Sting as well as tons of sessions. These days he’s thriving as a film and television composer with movies like Superbad, The 40 Year Old Virgin and Bad Santa 2, and television shows […]
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I’m pleased to announce the release of my latest book, The Music Business Advice Book: 150 Immediately Useful Tips From The Pros. The book is a compilation of 150 helpful quotes from 130 top music pros from various segments of the music industry who previously shared these tips on my Inner Circle Podcast over the course of almost […]
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In honor of the 60th anniversary of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, the company issued its all-time top 100 songs cultivated from #1 hits over the last 6 decades. The chart was created by 3 Billboard staffers with the help of producer Mark Ronson and hit songwriter Diane Warren. It’s easy to be surprised with some […]
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Everyone knows that the key to streaming success today is getting placement on a key playlist, especially on Spotify. While this might have been easier to accomplish a few years ago, it’s now become increasingly more difficult, thanks to the fact that playlist curators are overloaded with submissions. This has even to a new type […]
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Regardless of how much talent you may have, unless someone hears about what you’re doing you’ll end up creating in your bedroom your whole life. One of the keys to getting ahead for many of us is by networking. While this comes easy and natural for some, others find it unbelievably difficult, but you might […]
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Since the 70s it’s been a dream of musicians to release an album. A deal with a major label and subsequent best-selling album release was the epitome of what we all worked for. Today the album is fast becoming a relic of the past and you need look no further than Drake’s Scorpion album as […]
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Niko Kotoulas had a high-paying dream job as an financial analyst at Morgan Stanley, but he’s leaving it for an even better dream as a musical artist. Totally through social media, Niko’s piano playing has racked up more than 1.2 million streams a month from more than 300k users on Spotify alone, and he’s been […]
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Ever since the first Billboard music chart was created back in 1940, the music industry has relied on the publication as a measure of success. Much of this was for bragging rights between labels, but also as a way to provide retail with sales data (and a large dose of hype) to determine what records […]
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The cashless society that was predicted many years ago is pretty much here, as fewer people resort to using cash in daily transactions. Using a credit or debit card sure beats carrying around a pocket full of bills and coins and having to worry about exact change in inopportune situations. Even festivals are now turning […]
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Instagram is becoming the go-to social platform for music these days and the service keeps on getting hotter. One of its main features is Stories, and its sometimes both misunderstood and underutilized when it comes to promoting your brand and music. Stories can be powerful in this regard, however, when used with a little thought. […]
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Who says that streaming doesn’t pay? Yes, it only pays a fraction of a cent per stream, but those fractions really add up, especially when streams are in the billions for an artist like Drake. You may recall that Drake smashed all the streaming records on both Spotify and Apple Music recently during the release […]
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The Distressor is one of the few modern pieces of outboard gear that has become a classic and now stands in the same “must have” league as compressors like the 1176 and LA-2A. Simply put, it’s a standard piece found in studios everywhere today. Dave Derr is the creator of the Distressor, Fatso, and other […]
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When you think of highest paid artists you think of the most popular at the moment, but that’s not necessarily who made the big money last year. Artists like Drake and Taylor Swift took a back seat to some of the biggest legacy artists when it comes to the highest paid, and it all comes […]
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I think most listeners will agree that broadcast radio for music has been dismal for a long time, thanks to corporate radio groups and central programming. Local radio is on the decline and the ability for a DJ to select a song outside the provided playlist is long-gone. While radio still has its boomer listers […]
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