How to Get From “Local Artist” to “Touring Musician”

27
March

    STEP 1: Perfect your performance Play as many open stages as your can to network with others and solidify your stage presence. Become a familiar face and make sure you get to really know the people. Give this a 6-month time period. STEP 2: Book shows in your community Build your following little by little in [...]

What Does Success Look Like for an Independent Artist?

25
March

We recently got this question from one of our readers, and in light of last week’s post, You’re Talented. How Come You’re Still Broke?, we thought it was the perfect time to respond. Q: As an independent artist starting out, I just released a CD and have no significant budget. What should one consider being successful? [...]

Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs: How To Make Your Career Last

13
February

  Today’s post was written by a good friend and fellow singer/songwriter, Kurt Scobie.  Kurt has written for Grassrootsy before: “What Exactly Does a Full-Time Artist Do All Day?“. In today’s article, Scobie gives you very practical tips on how to make your career last. Read and apply! _______________________________________________________________________________ I want to share what I think is [...]

Plan, Execute, Track: The 3-Step Process For Everything You Promote

01
November

  Promotion is a process. You can’t just put an album out the day after you get the master back.  And you can’t expect to get a full-house at your show if you book it one day in advance. It takes time to build hype.  Here is the 3-step plan to promoting something…anything! PLAN Don’t [...]

New Year, New Ideas

01
January

  The new year is upon us! In the Spirit of change/resolutions/starting over, I propose that all the musicians reading this come up with a visible change in the way they spread their music. Here are a few ideas… (trying to keep posts shorter so its not too much to read in one sitting) Book Yourself. Then Book [...]

5 Things I Learned from "The Social Network"

04
October

Have you seen it yet? If not, you should definitely go check it out. Being a social network enthusiast, this movies wasn’t just entertainment for me. It was sort of like a lecture. I could probably write-off the ticket stub on my taxes. *chuckle* (that’s not a joke…but maybe it is) 1. There’s no point [...]

If It Feels Right, It Probably Is

22
March

It’s that time again. Time to reference the blog, How To Make a Living Playing Music, by musician Danny Barnes. It’s an excellent article that every aspiring musician should read if they want a realistic view of what it takes to make it in a music career. Here are today’s thoughts on his blog. “Keep working on finding [...]

Dream BIG, Start small

16
November

As independent artists, our job is to do what the labels do without the money or network that labels have. See “Thinking Outside the Box – Thinking like a Record Label“).  It’s an overwhelming task and chances are that you’ll never be able to do it like the “big guys”. But there are ways to make this job [...]

Creating a Killer Marketing Plan for Your Music

27
April

While visiting Artist House Music  (and incredible music business site) today, I came across a really rock-solid marketing plan by Boston-based Band Convey.  It prompted me to put up this post.  Make sure to check out Convey’s Marketing Plan when you have a chance. The key to having a killer marketing plan is being practical.  Yea…you’re [...]

What's the Worst That Can Happen? Really.

21
January

    Someone will say “No” to you.  That’s pretty much the worse that can happen is. But somehow that  holds so many artists back from reaching their full potential. “No” should never deter you from trying to do something you think is impossible. Here are some thoughts/ideas of seemingly outlandish things that you may think are out [...]