I hate this question. It’s one we’ve been trying to avoid on Grassrootsy for a while because it’s a hard one to answer and I’m kinda biased. WHAT IS SPOTIFY First we’re not going to blindly assume that everyone reading this post knows what Spotify is. It’s a music streaming service that sells access to [...]
If you’re like us, you’ve been confused about these two Performance Rights Organizations (PRO) for a long time. They both do the same thing (in theory), and they can both seem unnecessary given the hundreds of articles about disgruntled independent artists who never see their royalties. We feel your pain. In any case, we thought [...]
While on the road yesterday, I heard this piece on NPR about Brooklyn-based artist Homeboy Sandman. I knew it would be our next Grassrootsy post. Take out 15 minutes and listen to this segment. It’s mindblowing! And if it doesn’t jumpstart you, I don’t know what will.
Today’s post is the second installment in a 3-part series by Shaun Letang of Music Industry How To. Hey guys, this is part two in the three part series on ‘How To Increase Your Music Website’s Conversion Rates’. Part 1 was all about getting more people on your mailing list, while today we’ll be looking at using your [...]
Remember that post from last month: “5 REASONS WHY I GOT A SMART PHONE“? Well today’s reason (this would be #6) trumps them all. We came across Tourch a few months back and we think its one of the most important resources a touring musician will ever lay hold of. what is Tourch? Tourch is [...]
One of our favorite things about writing this blog is getting emails from new companies and start-ups with information on products and resources that are perfect for our readers. Today we get to share Moozar with you. Moozar provides ‘reward’ links that allow artists to be directly rewarded wherever and whenever their songs are played on youtube, [...]
1. TURNING FACEBOOK LIKES INTO LOVES Just because someone happens to like your page one day, doesn’t mean they’re reading your status updates, visiting regularly, or sharing you with their friends. In fact, they may never visit again. Here’s some practical advice on how to make Facebook fans and keep them. This post wasn’t written in 2012 [...]
For someone who writes about Social Media and new resources, I’m extremely old fashioned. I don’t get excited about the latest devices and I don’t really care about how much faster 4G is in comparison to 3G. And nearly 2 years after my siblings told me to get a smart phone, i finally gone one [...]
Giving away things for free is both easy and hard. It’s easy because there are alot of people out there who like FREE things and won’t give you the time of day if you ask them for money. It’s hard because it can often devalue your work in the eyes of its recipients. We thought [...]
So Black Friday is stereotypically that one day of the year when the deals are too good to be true. And there’s always that one person every year who gets killed by a stampeding crowd of Christmas shoppers in at least Wal-mart in the United States. Unfortunate. Lets just say we’re not a fan of [...]
A little over 2 years ago, after running my first Kickstarter campaign, I ran an article called “5 THINGS I LEARNED FROM MY KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN“. I learned some really valuable lessons from my first attempt. This summer I launched a second campaign - a 6-week, $10,000-goal project with 27 different reward levels. 40 days later, Kickstarter [...]
Today’s post features independent Spoken Word artist, Chris Bernstorf (Williamsport, PA). While at a music festival this summer we had the chance to hear him live and then came across his merchandise table. His is one of our favorite merch setups. Why? Because it’s 100% DIY and low-budget. And most of all, we love that [...]
So what’s the deal!? You either have a very expensive hobby or a lousy paying job. At least that’s what it feels like, right? Well, lets not make it so black and white. Just because you’re not making $50k a year doesn’t mean its not a job. Lets break it down and find out what [...]
If you’re just starting out, chances are that you aren’t getting very many paid gigs. Even if you’ve been playing for a while, its often hard to get an establishment to want to pay you. For tips on asking for payment, read “HOW TO NEGOTIATE WITH A VENUE THAT SAYS THEY CAN’T PAY YOU“ Other [...]
1. You’re not treating your music like a business. Plain and simple. If you can’t treat your music like it’s a business, you shouldn’t expect people to make business deals with you. You cant have a hobby mentality if you’re hoping to get paid for your time. 2. You sound like everyone else. Why should [...]
