The below post has earned quite alot of attention over the last seven weeks.  Full-time saxophonist, Dave Goldberg, wrote an honest letter to venue owners addressing their disregard and exploitation of the working musicians.  The post is powerful and I asked David if I could republish this article on Grassrootsy. I’m hoping that you’ll read this and think about what part you play. Venues can take advantage of you, but only if you let them. [original post]

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As Ive been looking for gigs lately, I’ve never seen so many free and low paying gigs. Well the economy is bad, so I can understand that a little bit. However, it is no longer good enough for the musician to be willing to perform for little compensation. Now we are expected to also be the venue promoter? The expectations are that the band will not only provide great music, but also bring lots of people to their venue. It is now the band’sresponsibility to make this happen, not the club owner.

Just the other day I was told by someone who owned a wine bar that they really liked our music and would love for us to play at their place. She then told me the gig paid $75 for a trio. Now $75 used to be bad money per person, let alone $75 for the whole band. It had to be a joke, right? No, she was serious. But it didn’t end there. She then informed us we had to bring 25 people minimum. Didn’t even offer us extra money if we brought 25 people. I would have laughed other than it’s not the first time I’ve gotten this proposal from club owners. But are there musicians really doing this? Yes. They are so desperate to play, they will do anything. But let’s think about this for a second and turn this around a little bit.

What if I told the wine bar owner that I have a great band and we are going to play at my house. I need someone to provide and pour wine while we play. I can’t pay much, just $75, and you must bring at least 25 people who are willing to pay a $10 cover charge at the door. Now wouldn’t they look at you like you are crazy?

So you’re about to do it! You’re about to jump into the life of music and you’re not really sure what you’re doing. Either you’ve  been playing for a long time and just now deciding to jump into it full-time. OR you’ve been hiding in your closet and no one even knows you exist.

Well, we highly you suggest you check out any of the posts in our “What Exactly Does A Full-time Artist Do All Day” series. We interview artists from various cities and genres to see what’s their average day looks like. Very informative stuff!  But here are some tips on how to know if you’ve got what it takes.

1. YOU CANT THINK OF DOING ANYTHING ELSE. When i was working my 9-5, my mind was always fixed on what I would be doing after I left work for the day. Maybe you feel like this. If you can’t image doing anything else with your time and the idea of living as a musician consumes your thoughts, then that’s half the battle.

2. YOU’RE A SELF STARTER. Nobody is going to tell you what to do. Nobody.  When you wake up in the morning, especially if you’re doing this full-time, you will need  a game plan. Will you work on booking today? Will you work on lining up some interviews, writing a press release, plastering your city with flyers, or routing your upcoming tour. You’re the one making the calls. If you’re the type of person who needs someone looking over your shoulder in order for you to get the job done, then this is not the career for you.

3. YOU’RE A CHAMELEON.  I’ve found this to be especially true. As a musician, you play so many types of shows – different spaces, different demographics, different events. Things are always changing and you need to be a changer – someone who can roll with the punches, adapt, and go with the flow. You can’t be a tightly wound and you need to know how to talk to people who are different than you.

4. YOU HAVE A THICK SKIN. People will walk out on your set and say “things” about you and your music.  You will play shows where you expect people to listen, but instead they will turn with their back facing the stage and pretend you don’t exist. You will also leave a few too many shows with $10 when you had hoped to make $200. You need to be prepared for this. Hope for the best, be ready for the worst.

5. YOU KNOW HOW TO MULTI-TASK.  As someone who wears the hat of booking agent, web admin, graphic designer, publicist, customer support person (if you will), and manager, the work week can quickly get pretty exhausting and spastic.  You don’t really have to love multi-tasking, but you do have to know how to do it. You just have to. See “WHO DO YOU NEED THE MOST: PUBLICIST, BOOKING AGENT, MANAGER?”

These are just few ways to decide if you’re cut out for the life of an independent artist. If you have additional suggestions, stick them in the comments section.

First of all, if you don’t have a YouTube account, you should. In fact, if you don’t have a YouTube account that’s a serious problem.  Next to Google.com and Facebook, YouTube is the 3rd most popular site on the internet! You should be on it! Secondly, you should have at least 1 professional-looking video – whether it be a music video or live performance.  Here are our top 5 reasons why!

5. The Media Likes It!  

9 times out of 10, media will lean towards a professional video of you/your band when looking for content for their website. Just like a press photo, you need to send something that doesn’t look like it was shot in your kitchen! Step it up and media will take you more seriously…i promise!

4.Your Fans Will Love It!

Good video is the difference between “being seen” and “not being seen”.   Fans love it when their favorite band decides to go beyond the average i-played-this-song-in-my-bedroom video. They love it when you release official music videos, professional-looking interviews, and professional video shot at a live show. They get to see you differently.

3. It Will Get More Hits

Plain and simple.  Good music + good video = more views. It’s the reason why HDTV is so big these days? People naturally gravitate toward the “best-looking” option.

2. Imagine…

What if you had a video with quality sound, editing, clarity, and stability (no shaky camera syndrome)?  Then viewers could focus completely on how good the song is.  That’s the goal!

1. Video is Often More Important Than Audio

You just can’t trust an audio recording these days.  Thanks to things like auto-tune, its hard to tell if a person actually sounds like they say they sound.  Live videos are especially great for this.  Not ready for a music video? Shoot a live acoustic video – just you, your instrument, and a professional videographer. It’s quick, easy, and takes alot less planning, time, and money.  

Today’s post is another contribution from Lancaster-based artist and house show host, Jason Mundok. If you’re a musician looking for radio play, reviews, interviews, and show preview write-ups, this post is for you!

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The number of independent musicians competing for gigs, fans, and attention grows exponentially each year as high-quality recording equipment becomes more accessible, new generations of musicians emerge on the scene, and Internet tools for promoting and distributing music become easier and easier to use.

As an independent musician, one of the best ways to grow your audience is through the press. In the 21st century that means far more than the entertainment section in the local newspaper or a review in the free entertainment rag. The press now includes independently produced “new media” like blogs and podcasts. How can you set yourself apart for the masses and get the attention of someone in the press who can help get your message out? Do some research and be ready to deliver a story.

For a couple years, the Wood Stove House has been producing a podcast for independent musicians. The show is based in Lancaster, PA and is called Around the Wood Stove. It includes interviews with musicians about their creative process and the story behind their songs. We average 2-3 episodes per month, which means there aren’t very many opportunities in a year to sit down and chat with all of the fabulous musicians on our radar and sometimes we have to be selective. Based on our experience, here are some tips on how to get the attention of “new media” producers.

SELF-IMPOSED PARAMETERS
Many media producers impose their own parameters to help filter out all of the requests for coverage. For example, some media producers will only work within a specific genre, some might require that musicians have played at a particular high profile venue, or in our case, we require artists to have a professionally recorded CD to be on the show. If you’re looking to get covered by someone in the media, do some research and find out what criteria that producer uses to decide. Many producers will post submission guidelines on their website. If not, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask. If you don’t meet the requirements for a particular production, but still feel that it’s a good fit for your music, include the requirements in your planning and goals and try again later.

MAKE IT EASY
Always remember that everyone is busy, including media producers. You can dramatically increase your chances of getting attention if you make it very easy for a media producer to hear your message and access the resources needed to do their job. I find a download link to your latest album directly from an email inquiry is very helpful. It also helps to have quick access to a very simple electronic press kit to get an idea of what the music is all about. That leads to a final point.

TELL YOUR STORY
Make sure you have a compelling story to lead with that sets you apart. Look around at your fellow musicians and notice what you all have in common. Then decide what you have to offer that is different from everyone else. What have you done recently that the other musicians in your area haven’t? Have you been on a cross-country tour? Did you win a national songwriting award? Do you also organize a regional music festival? Are you from somewhere far away, and will be in the media producer’s region for a tour stop?

Any of these things (and a zillion more) are compelling reasons for a media producer to pay attention. We’re always looking to develop an interview or a blog post around something different and interesting. We want to tell stories, and our audience wants to hear them.

“You can dramatically increase your chances of getting attention if you make it very easy for a media producer to hear your message and access the resources
needed to do their job.”

One of the best examples of this from independent musicians was the “4 on Tour” road trip that Joy Ike, Hiram Ring, Brooke Annibale and Garrett Heath took back in 2009. Four singer-songwriters who were similar but unique went on the road together to share expenses and the stage each night in venues across the eastern United States. They promoted it as a special event and posted photos and videos on the web during the tour so anyone could keep up with them. I barely knew Hiram Ring at the time, but since then I’ve had three of the four artists on Around the Wood Stove and the “4 on Tour” was my introduction to each of them. It was a simple concept that only lasted a little more than a week, but helped set each of those artists apart from the crowd.

What have you done lately that sets you apart? What makes your art special? If you really can’t answer that question, then perhaps it’s time to get the creative juices flowing and get outside the box of what everyone else is doing. And when you do, be sure to tell people about it!

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Jason Mundok is a producer of creative projects at the Wood Stove House in Lancaster, PA, including the Wood Stove House concerts and Around the Wood Stove, a music interview podcast series. Find the Wood Stove House on Facebook and Twitter.

I rarely post something that’s already been published elsewhere; but I came across this blog last night by a good friend, Philly-based artist Ryan Tennis, and I thought everyone should read it.  Since reading the sited Ira Glass quote (below) sometime last year, I’ve seen so many derivative articles come from what I believe to be one of the most compelling and truthful statements for aspiring and working musicians.  Read Ryan’s thoughts a tell us what you think!

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I recently read the following gem from Ira Glass – host of NPR’s “This American Life” and one of my personal heroes – and it sparked some thoughts (below).

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” 

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The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who’s an accomplished, passionate, in-demand musician, and he was wondering why it is that the sub-par players are always the ones crassly forcing their music on people and missing clear social cues during jam sessions?  I knew just what he was talking about, not only cause I’ve seen it in all it’s raw awkwardness, but because I’ve been that person in my adult life.

I went on to tell him some about my early development as a musician.  I told him that, while I had a background of singing in school and could play a little guitar, I didn’t really discover my passion for music until after college (and football).  I had almost never hung around musicians or artists, and that whole way of being was foreign to me, but so appealing and exciting at the same time.  I started learning some of my favorite songs (a lot of Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Guster, and Dave Matthews), and I was so unbelievably excited and pleased with myself for doing it. Next I started writing songs, and I could feel the music so deeply that I was certain that something cosmically special was happening.

…why it is that the sub-par players are always the ones crassly forcing their music on people…

While 23-year-old Ryan was a relatively capable adult with at least the basic college-level social skills, artist Ryan was only a couple years old – and he acted like it (somehow it’s not so cute when you don’t look like a toddler)!  I had discoverd this new passion that was burning so hotlly, and I just had to share it.  That desire was so strong that it blinded me to social cues I otherwise would have noticed.  God, I’m cringing now as I remember breaking out the guitar at parties and having friends roll their eyes or people leave the room, or the time I played a new song when I was hanging out one-on-one with my friend who, in retrospect, was clearly uncomfortable.  Oooh, or a little later when I made some rudimentary recordings and pushed them on anyone who would humor me (and plenty who wouldn’t).  I don’t know how you write the sound for an embarrassed shudder, but that’s what I’m doing right now.

Like Ira said, the music just wasn’t that good.  A few kind souls encouraged me, and after practicing and floundering and painfully, awkwardly blundering forward, I began to develop and become more palatable, good even.  At the same time I started to be more comfortable and strategic about my desire to be heard, and I learned how to hold back sometimes.  It was NOT easy.

I think that everyone who’s passionate about music (or any kind of creation) has gone through this phase at some point, but lifelong musicians like my friend were lucky enough to go through it as kids when the other musicians around them were just starting out too (although as he told me, being an artsy creative middle-schooler had more than it’s share of challenges).

To some of you this tale might ring truer than others, but I suppose I write it in the hope that you are gentle on people who, like me, develop their artistic side a little late.  The adult before you may be more childlike than they appear.

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The charming authenticity of Ryan Tennis‘ sound has drawn comparisons to Paul Simon, Ryan Adams and Martin Sexton, surprising likenesses for an All-American college football player turned singer/songwriter. He has appeared on NBC’s “The 10! Show” and 6abc’s “Tuned In.” He has twice opened for Shawn Colvin, debuted with his band at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and shared the stage with folk legend Ellis Paul. Tennis credits Philadelphia’s music scene with inspiring his sense of groove. His Twitter handle is @rytennis.

Getting people out to shows in the winter is tough stuff! You’re competing against cold temperatures and potentially dangerous road conditions.  Unfortunately you can’t control the weather, but here are some ideas on getting people out.

1. HOUSE SHOW!
The thing about winter is that people want to be cozy.  Do more house shows. In fact, do more potluck house shows. People want to be somewhere warm (both in temperature and atmosphere) and  you have the ability to make that happen. We’ve written alot about house shows. See ”HOW DO I GET A HOUSE SHOW?”

2. GIVE IT A THEME
I’ve been to a couple shows where bands have put together really great themed shows to get people out. For example you can do:

• an ugly sweater theme (best during Christmas)
• a knit scarf theme
• “music and movie night” theme
• a soup theme (potluck-type event) where whoever brings a pot of soup gets free entry.

Now arguably, depending on how tight-knit your fanbase is, people may not come out for your themed show unless you kick it up a notch. Snap photos of everyone who comes with a sweater (like a yearbook photo). Have fans decide on the best one, and offer some incentive ($40 reward maybe?). Offer to buy their drinks/dinner for the night (for best scarf). Or give free entry to the first 10 people who show up. Put a little bit of thought into it and you can definitely come up with something.

3. START EARLIER
The days of 8pm and 9pm shows are over once its starts to get dark at 5 o’clock in the evening.  Start your shows at 7pm.  Consider starting earlier if you’re trying to attract the dinner/happy hour crowd. Every venue has its own personality so it really depends on what works for their patrons.

4. PLAY A GAME WITH THE WEATHER
Offer to lower ticket prices if the temperature goes down.  Get one of those huge thermometers and use it as part of your poster artwork for the show.  45 degrees = $7 tickets, 43 degrees = $5, 40 degrees = $3.  Can’t beat that!  But yes, obviously it might hurt a little.

5. PICK THE RIGHT VENUE
Admittedly, certain venues do best as summer venues, and others make for betters winter venues. Gravitate towards the “right” ones.  I would even go a step further and argue that you should play fewer shows in winter and stick with the venues where you can always count on a better turnout. Be “safe” in your venue-picking process until the weather warms and you can count on more fans to show up.

If you have other tips, stick them in the comment section.

Burlap and Bean (outside Philadelphia, PA)

Having played my fair share of coffeehouses in the past 7 years, lets just say I have a laundry list of what makes a coffeehouse venue a good concert space, and an even longer list of what makes a bad one. And though this website is specifically for musicians, we really felt it was necessary to write a post for the average coffeehouse that isn’t quite sure how to “do it right.”

We encourage you to tweet/facebook this post and tag some of your favorite coffeehouses (in a non-descriminatory fashion) so they get get some ideas on how to better their music nights.  Musician are tired of playing coffeeshops that want to host music but don’t know how to do it right. And honestly, the more attention coffeeshops give to their music, the better their business will be. Here goes…

1. TURN OFF YOUR ESPRESSO MACHINE!
The best way to kill a great show is to have that whirring sound playing in the background of every song. Every quality coffeehouse I’ve ever played has opted out of serving “loud” drinks during a musician’s set.  I was reminded of how important this is while playing at Midtown Scholar (Harrisburg) a few weeks back. They stick this sign at the cash register and the audience rushes to the counter before, after, and in-between sets.

2. RESPECT THE MUSIC AND YOUR PATRONS WILL TOO!
There are too many coffeehouses booking musicians without taking the time to care.  Any venue can book live music. But very few venues make it successful. If you want your live music nights to add value to the life of your coffeehouse, actually make it an event:

• dim the lights during show time (this encourages people to stop talking)
• ask your customers to turn off their cell phones
• have someone go up and introduce the artist(s) before their set(s)
• and once again, turn off that espresso machine

Today’s post is another contributed article by UK-based artist, Andy Mort. He goes by the moniker, Atlum Schema and this time writes on how to uniquely use each Social Media platform.  You’ll find tips for the obvious (Twitter/Facebook) and not so obvious (Tumblr/Instagram) music-friendly platforms. Take a breath, read it through, and then give it a try!

By now you are well aware of the benefits of getting yourself, as an artist, a presence on social networks.  You know about the importance of building relationships with fans, other artists, and those involved in various creative industries.  No doubt you also feel a little overwhelmed at times by the number of networks you are told to be involved with.  Everyone swears by their favourite network, and it just seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to keep on top of them all.  This is probably true.

THE  SYNDICATION SYNDROME
Something I have noticed, is a growing use of “Update Syndication” between platforms.  For example you can update Twitter, link your twitter account to Facebook, Google+, Myspace, Reverb Nation, etc, and have that one update appear on all the various social networks.  It’s easy to make all your networks look active when you only have to post one  initial message.  However tempting as it might be to do this, it is not conducive to a genuinely dynamic and ultimately successful web presence.

There are many social networks for a reason.  They each offer different things and require us to behave in different ways, so it would be wrong of us to treat them with a one-size-fits-all approach.  Myspace is dead because it couldn’t accept this, and we can learn a lot from their demise.

It is worth sitting down and having a think about how you want to represent yourself on your various platforms. Once you figure this out, you can divide your time and realise how manageable it is to keep on top of it, as well as develop the necessary tools to keep your presence alive and valuable.

I will talk briefly about some of the networks I frequent and how I use them.  Choose what works for you, don’t just overload yourself, or else you will end up doing nothing. Instead, ask yourself why you think you should use a particular network.

WordPress (or website):
I use WordPress to power my main website.  I cannot emphasise how important it is to have a website that is NOT just a social media landing page (especially not a Myspace page).  Your website should be your hub – the centre of your web, from where your internet world stems and to where your network presence points back to.

I have a blog within my site and I highly recommend incorporating one in yours. You can keep fans updated with your activities, as well as drive potential new fans to your music by creating written content that people are searching for.  You are literally marketing with your creativity.  This is the whole premise of ‘content marketing’: writing, posting videos, uploading audio, etc.  You’re marketing yourself while creating your art.  Read: PICTURES, VIDEOS, & BLOGS: THE 3 MOST IMPORTANT WAYS TO ENGAGE YOUR FANS.

Produce content regularly and engage with other blogs as much as possible.

Twitter (All things and Often)
This is my primary form of audience interaction.  It is the most democratic and organic social network because you cannot/should not force yourself upon others.  You need to acquire permission and the only way to do this is to engage.  I mainly try to converse with others, post thoughts and abstract ideas, and only every so often,  point people in the direction of a project I am working on.  There is hardly any need for self-promotion because it is simply tied up in conversing.  The best way to market yourself is simply having a chat.  People are naturally curious; and if you capture their imagination they will want to find out more about you.  Make sure they can.  I use Twitter all the time.  No limits.

Facebook (Specific and Regular)
Facebook is a big one. Don’t neglect it.  I use my page to post links to interesting things, articles I have written, new releases etc.  People ‘like’ your page because of your music so that is what they are interested in hearing about.  It is much safer to do this on Facebook than on Twitter; although it is a good idea to post interactive status updates (questions, surveys, etc) in order to engage  fans.  I limit my Facebook page updates to one or two per day.  It’s never a good idea to fill up people’s timeline.  I don’t like having my feed filled up by inane nonsense from a single source, so I assume others feel the same.

Tumblr
I use Tumblr as something in-between my blog and my Twitter.  I post various media there – quotes, pictures, videos, ideas, and links to other artists. Tumblr is a good place to get inspired, and I find it’s also a useful outlet for testing the water on particular topics.  You can float an abstract for a blog post, see if there is any immediate feedback, and if it is received with enthusiasm, take that as a mandate to write a more extensive post on the subject.  I generally don’t limit how much I post to Tumblr but try at least twice a day when possible.  Tumbr’s platform is similar to Twitter with regards to the way people follow you. And once again you cannot force yourself upon people – it is your prerogative to provide interesting content and engage with other users.

Instagram
This is great fun.  It’s like Tumblr, except it is specifically for photos.  You can engage with others, follow them, comment on their photos, and more.  Ideally I like to post a photo every day, but often forget.  When you get in the habit of posting and scrolling through your feed (to like and comment on other images) it hardly takes a minute and becomes second nature in your spare time.

Google+
I’m still getting to grips with this.  Google+ is great and I strongly advise you give it a try.  Read this article by Ariel Hyatt for more information about how and why you should use it.  Just feel your way around.  It comes down to that all-important word ‘engage’ again.   I cannot emphasise the significance of that word.

Soundcloud
I post songs on here.  Soundcloud makes it incredibly easy to share tracks with people (blogs, artists, industry contacts, etc). You can engage with others, follow them, join groups, add your music, collaborate, and more.  It is a fantastic network, based purely on the listening and sharing of music.  I try to get on there a few times a week, listen to some new stuff, leave some comments/messages, etc.  The Soundcloud player is also incredibly easy to embed in other social media platforms, so I share songs on my blog, Tumblr, Facebook, etc.  There is no better way to engage in conversation with another artist than to promote their work.  We all love having our egos massaged and there are few better ways to get our attention, I’m sure you’d agree.

YouTube
I treat this very similarly to SoundCloud; except the appeal is obviously much wider.  Everyone uses YouTube and (unlike Soundcloud) it is not as restricted to a niche audience.  Again, I post my videos on WordPress, Tumblr, and Facebook, and engage as much as I can with the videos I watch (leave comments, like, etc).

Everyone uses social media differently.  There are no set patterns of use; but what I do advise is to take each network at its own merit.  Don’t just blanket post to all of them and expect positive results.  You will have a different kind of audience on each one, all needing different things from you.

Make a plan.  I find it helpful to draw a spider diagram, with my blog in the middle and all of the networks coming from it.  Then I note what I will use each network for, how often I plan to send updates, and when I can schedule in time to do it.  I try to craft a plan at the beginning of each week so that when I have time, I can sit down and read some blogs, update Twitter/Facebook, get to grips with Google+, scroll through Instagram/Tumblr, and more.

Once you get going it doesn’t take long – it is just about developing habits so that eventually you don’t even need to think about it.  You’ll be surprised how much time you actually have to do this – our days are often filled with small chunks of down time (5-10 minutes of nothing).

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Andy Mort is a UK-based indie-pop artist who goes by the moniker Atlum Schema. You can read his previous posts by clicking here. You can find him at www.atlumschema.com or through his twitter handle @atlumschema.

I first started this blog because I wanted to write about real issues that musicians deal with. And I wanted to write about it in layman’s terms – simple English that anyone can understand without having to pull out a marketing dictionary.  Forget the technical terms and the music industry jargon. In most cases DIY artist (and everyone else, for that matter), doesn’t fully understand that stuff. That brings me to the subject of this blog: WEBSITES.

WHAT IS A DOMAIN?
Simply put, a domain is a web address. www.grassrootsy.com is a domain, for example. It is a location. Think of it like your house. Lets say you live on 5236 Mayberry Street. That is your domain.  You live there and that’s where people can find you. But they can’t get access to you because you’re in  the house. The house is hosting you – i.e. holding you (or containing you).  In other words, if you were to buy a domain name, its basically like you’re putting a down payment on the house at 5236 Mayberry. But you can’t get in it.

WHAT IS HOSTING? WHY DO I NEED IT?
When you’ve bought hosting, you’ve gained access to the inside of the house – the content. Hosting is essentially storage. You store your site’s photos, pages (calendar, homepage, contact page, bio page…etc), template information, and more. You can have a domain name, but if you don’t have hosting, you basically have an empty site – a house with no furniture, no kitchen, no stuff.  When you have both a domain and hosting, you have a site.

HOW DO I BUY A DOMAIN/HOSTING?
There are plenty of services out there. We’ll just spare you the guessing and let you know straight-up that we have an affiliate program set up with HostMonster.  So we are definitely biased and we don’t care that you know that. (hehe)

After spending 3 years with Godaddy, we don’t like it. Lets just say that.
1] Their Dashboard is a bit confusing
2] My website has gone down too many times for me to count or care anymore
3] They’re not very compatible with WordPress
It was becoming a huge pain! So we left and officially switched over to HostMonster this past weekend. Yes!

We welcome (and really want) you readers to give us
your input in the comments section.
What services do you use/like?  What services don’t you like? Why? 

HOW DO I SETUP MY WEBSITE?
This is a blog that I can’t write unfortunately.  Setting up a site has alot to do with servers, DNS Propogation, and more technical terms that I don’t care for or understand. My best recommendation is, if you’re using WordPress, setup a WP site (because that’s doable for the average person) and have someone who knows what they’re doing, switch everything to your own domain and hosting. This is what has worked for me – for Grassrootsy and my own personal site.

Note: What if you don’t want to buy hosting just yet, but want to hold on to a domain? Do it!  If you’ve got a great idea for a domain name and you want to make sure no one claims it, buy it and hold it until you need it.  For example, lets say you eventually want to have a website at www.mymusicisbetterthanyours.com but you’re afraid someone else is going to try and snag that web address. Make sure you buy that domain asap so that 1 month, 1 year, or 2 years down the line, it’s still yours.  Its also great to do this if you have a common name and your afraid someone will buy the domain before you. Two people can’t have the same domain name.

Note2: After doing your research, if you do decide to use Hostmonster, please use the above link. They gives us credit for referring you and pretty pay for us to keep this site hosted. There,  now everybody is happy!

flavors.me

We’re excited about EVERY SINGLE one of the following resources. We hope you will be too!

INDIE ON THE MOVE
Yes, we truly love these guys. We wrote about them a while back, but quite alot has changed since our original post in 2009! For one thing, IOTM is still the #1 place to get an artists opinion on a venue they’ve played. Was it worth the trip? Was the venue easy to work with? Or did they blow you off and treat you like trash? Its also the premier place to get booking information, discover venues you’ve never heard of, and find gig opportunities in a city you’re passing through.  IOTM is the answer to a touring artist’s empty calendar.

ARTISTDATA
You have no excuse not to be using Artist Data. Its the cleanest looking web calendar there is – giving you html to embed within your website (example), and your own page on their server to host your calendar (example).

NOISETRADE
Honestly, who hasn’t heard of Noisetrade by now. It’s the go-to place for downloading free music from artists you love, and artists you’ve never heard of. Make your music available on NT and get emails in return. It might not seem like a revolutionary idea, but when you collect hundreds or thousands of emails from new fans that you wouldn’t have had otherwise, Noisetrade turns out to be a pretty genius idea. You increase your fanbase exponentially. A few friends and I did with our December Christmas EP and we were able to collect a few thousand emails.

FLAVORS.me
These guys are the answer for every artist who doesn’t yet own a website, doesn’t have the money to invest in one, or hates WordPress.  Flavors.me keeps it simple, clean, and fun. Integrate your social networks, upload a background image, choose a layout and colors, and you have a website.  If you want to customize and personalize your link, its as simple as buying a domain name and forwarding it to your Flavors account.  Check out this example from Grassrootsy reader Michael Natrin.

ROOTMUSIC
It’s the missing piece of your Facebook Band Page. RootMusic is a classy, simple music/video player and show calendar for Facebook (example). Yea, there are tons like it, but these guys do it right. I’ve seen my fair share of audio players and calendars and most are cluttered (bad design) or just straight up ugly. As an extra advantage, RM syncs with ArtistData, so when I plug my shows into AD, they appear on RM. Maaan, I love this stuff!

NEXT BIG SOUND
These guys are like your virtual accountability partner.  They help you make sure you’re doing your job. simply type in your name and see how how your fanbase is growing across all of your social networks. NBS will tell you how many fans you made last month and then tell you whether or not if it was an improvement from the prior month (example).   Why do we like this site? Because its the perfect way to gauge what social networks are most effective for you and which ones you need to improve on.  Give it a try!  If you don’t see your information, create an account, plug in your social networks, and start tracking.

STORENVY
Looking for a web store to sell your band’s merchandise?  There are so many wonderful sites out there. It was hard to pick one. Actually it was pretty easy. We (I personally) love these guys and have been using them for my swag since 2010 (example).  They allow you to sell as many items as you want and don’t require any fee to host your store. They’re layout is super clean and easy to understand for shoppers. We wrote a whole blog on them several months back. You can read it here.

STOCK.XCHNG
As a singer/songwriter, I am continually creating artwork for posters, Facebook Events, flyers…etc.  I love stock photo sites that offer royalty-free images that I can incorporate into my artwork.  Stock.Xchng is just one of them. Create an account, search for photos and use the ones that you like. You also have the option of  paying for certain, “better quality” images. Its a great site that has come in handy many times.

HOOTSUITE
Do you have multiple twitter accounts? Or do you want a place where you can view all of your social networks in the same dashboard? Hootsuite allows you to keep track of everything in one place. Lets say for example that you run your personal twitter account and your bands twitter account.  Why not keep track of both via Hootsuite instead of signing out of one account in order to sign into the other. It minimizes the hassle.  Hootsuite supports Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Linked In, Foursquare, and more.

CRAIGSLIST
Hmmm…does this count? Yes!  Craigslist is the answer for all things unanswered. It’s like duct tape. Need to buy a boom stand? Need a photographer or designer to work on the cover for your next album?  Need to sell your amp?  Don’t underestimate craigslist

In the process of writing this blog, we’ve come across many other resources. If you have something you’d like to submit, put it in the comments or shoot us an email at grassrootsyonline@gmail.com. It must be a FREE-to-use resource.