Stage-it is innovation at its best – a simple, clever spin on live streaming, and an incredible way to engage your fans. WHAT IS STAGE-IT? It’s essentially a platform that allows you to perform concerts for your fans over the Internet. They watch from the comfort of their couch and you perform from the comfort [...]
1. No Official Bio Please DO NOT write an autobiography. Have your bio written in 3rd person. Have something that looks professional and reads professionally. For one thing, it’s easier for media to quote your bio when you’re not telling the story of your life; and web readers will take you much more seriously. If [...]
Get Professional Photos!!! If you are an artist… If you are seriously pursuing your craft… If you want people to take you seriously… If you want coverage in more mainstream magazines, blogs, and papers… If you want to put a face to your music… If you want to put your best foot forward… If [...]
THE ARTIST: Universal Beat Union (Pittsburgh, PA) THE QUESTION: I just discovered your blog a few days ago and have been absorbing your advice like a dry sponge! Great stuff! I’ve especially been focused on your booking articles. My band played 5 shows last year and we want to at least double that for this year. We’ve [...]
THE ARTIST: Anonymous THE QUESTION: I have a situation on my hands that I really could use some advice on. A co-owner of a new local company came to a gig of ours last night. He said he still had to talk with his partner but said he was interested in us. First question is [...]
This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for quite a long time. Having talked to many of our readers online, I realize you all are coming from different places in your careers. Some folks have been playing for years, some have been touring for years, and some of you are closet musicians. Well, [...]
Grassrootsy is really big on reader involvement. We’ve found that, if musicians are reading a blog about living as a musician, then you probably have some knowledge worth sharing with our readers. My friend Amos calls this, “Each One Teach One”. So this week we’re asking musicians how they prefer to perform -solo or with [...]
Today’s question comes from Central, PA reader Jenna Gross. THE QUESTION: Do you think the money earned at a gig should be split up equally? What if one member does more – books the shows, gets press so bookings are possible — should all members get paid the same amount? THE ANSWER: Here’s the short answer [...]
THE ARTIST: Silence Kid (Baltimore, MD) THE QUESTION: Here’s my dilemma: My band is playing it’s first out-of-town gig this weekend, and we were just informed that our set would only be 20 minutes long. Obviously, my drummer and I are both pretty disappointed about this. We’re a dedicated and hard-working band, this won’t be a short drive [...]
Today’s posts is a video interview with Philadelphia-based artist Talain Rayne. He and his band have some pretty creative merch ideas and it was worth getting their comments on camera. A few things we especially liked about Talain’s setup… 1. Creative Old Records: Melt old records and spraypaint them!? Awesome! Old records are inexpensive and easy [...]
THE ARTIST: Danami (Minneapolis, MN) THE QUESTION: When booking gigs in a city you’ve never played before what is the best approach you’ve found? The whole nine yards – from payment deals to getting artists from that area (who performs when). THE ANSWER: Danami, your music sounds awesome! First and foremost, expect to go into [...]
This post was prompted by comedian Dartanion London (cool name!) who asked us a question via one of our comments on a recent Fanbridge article: How can you turn Facebook “Likes” into actively engaged fans? This was a great article and you should read it! In any case, here are my thoughts on why I don’t [...]
Today’s Post is a continuation of a post we wrote earlier this week. Every artist has their own opinion on what works best for them – solo or not. Today’s perspective comes from independent artist, Doug Alan Wilcox. After spending the large part of my early musical years in various bands, I can’t think of [...]
Here’s a follow-up to last week’s post: Making the Most of Your Club Gig. So, coffeeshops are great, but you probably won’t make a whole lotta mula. Well, it all really depends. Even if you don’t, playing coffeeshops has huge perks that you won’t get from a club. Here are some thoughts on the matter. Learn the [...]
THE BAND: The Beggar Folk. Lancaster, PA. THE QUESTION: So we have a gig in a few weeks and we promised them we’d bring out our whole band, but it turns out our string player can’t make it. Should we just show up with a smaller version of the band, or should we contact the [...]
