Q: I am performing more and more, but I don’t have new material recorded to sell at shows. It is online for purchase on Bandcamp, though. To add to that, I barely play any of the old material, so I wanted to ask if you think it wise to sell the old CD’s just to [...]
THE ARTIST: Acoustic for Autism THE QUESTION: I was curious if you had any tips to help promote a non-profit benefit project that has no budget for marketing? I’ve grown our twitter to almost 4,700 followers and we have 1000 likes on Facebook. But that doesn’t equate to downloads/purchases. We donate 100% of net proceeds to non-profits [...]
THE ARTIST: Michael Gaither (Santa Cruz, CA) THE QUESTION: I’m finishing my third CD. I recently posted my first two records using the Bandcamp widget, so I posted full songs. Im curious: do you have any thoughts, pro or con, about posting full length songs? In a way this just seems more honest. Plus, clips only can [...]
Are you pushing your fans away by your use of social media? Today’s post comes from contributing writer Barbarie Jolie who writes for online classes. Here is Part 1. Check back on Monday for the second half. ______________________________________________________________________________ As a musician in the midst of the current technological and social media craze, you have everything to gain [...]
THE ARTIST: Michael Gaither (Santa Cruz, CA) THE QUESTION: I’m working on my third CD and am considering doing a real pre-sale when I’m about halfway through. Note: Not a Kickstarter funding campaign, but just a presale of the actual product. Have you covered this on your blog? I searched but didn’t see anything. I’m debating whether to [...]
Pittsburgh-based Erika May is one of the most multi -talented artists you will ever come across. She runs sound here and there, has a band, and even tosses fire (yea check out www.erikamay.com/fire). In today’s feature, she talks about how she has been able to sustain herself as a full-time musician who doesn’t tour (like all [...]
THE ARTIST: Caleb Pogyor (Pittsburgh, PA) THE QUESTION: I was just wondering if Bandcamp has been good to you in terms of fairness and profit. Is it worth signing up and selling a $5 record? I’m releasing my new album on October 25th and was trying to find a good site to sell through. THE ANSWER: [...]
Today’s Ask Grassrootsy question… THE BAND: Laura Harrison THE QUESTION: Hi Grassrootsy, I was hoping you may know the answer to this. My only motivation, at the moment, for selling my CD through CdBaby is because of Soundscan. I want the sales reported to Soundscan. Is there any way that Paypal can do that? I went to [...]
Not able to post anything thorough today, but i want to make you all aware of something a friend passed on a few days ago. It’s a new band management tool called Bandize. It’ll be introduced at this years South By Southwest and it’s extremely appropriate for the readers of Grassrootsy. Here’s a great introduction: [...]
I first really got into Bandcamp when Pittsburgh Indie band, Colonizing the Cosmos, launched a digital release of their brand new album The First Frontier. Just when you think there are too many online digital music websites, another pops up. But Bandcamp is unique for several reasons. Here’s why you’ll love it and why it [...]
“If you are selling CDs, downloads, and merch then you’re in the same business as the stores where you do your holiday shopping! Problem is you may not fully realize this. You need to compartmentalize if you’re going to maximize your success as an independent artist. Learn to think like a marketer, a salesperson, and [...]
If you’d like to show your fanbase a little love this year, here are some ideas. After you try them, leave a note in the comments section and let us know how they work. And here’s the first post in this series: Free Things Your Fans Will Love. A Christmas Card Think of Christmas time as a way [...]
