Take Charge Of Your Music Career

Learning to Think Like a Music Entrepreneur by Jeff McQ MIMO 1 Take Charge Of Your Music Career

Foreword

More than 30 years ago, we began offering our concept of mentor/ apprentice media education. In the time since, we have expanded our course offerings, updated our curriculum, and have been honored to have worked with thousands of amazing students and enlightened professionals.

We are intrigued by the apparent disconnect between the industry Work With Industry Professionals professionals’ and the students’ perception of our mentor/apprentice method. Invariably, the industry professional takes about three minutes to understand the concept, ask a few pointed questions before saying, “I wish you guys were around when I was getting started.”

All too frequently, the student responds with “You guys are too good to be true.” In other words, those who work in the industry, and know first-hand what it takes to be successful and find meaningful work in the industry, endorse what we do. Sadly, too many prospective students who are trying to get a foothold in the industry, the very thing our Mentor/Apprentice method does so well, allow their skepticism to overrule their common sense and end up buried in student debt while watching the death of their dreams. Avoid Massive Student Loan Debt 2 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Foreword

We’ve come to believe that this disconnect comes from a state of mind, an understanding of what it takes to survive in media these days. Now, more than ever, this state of mind must embrace entrepreneurialism. This does not mean that you can’t have a job, or be an employee, but you need to see these as a means to an end, as steps towards a career and NOT as a career in and of themselves.

A case in point is the music industry. Ten years ago, the record labels were still huge, Tower Records was still selling CDS and albums cost in the $100K ballpark to produce. Today, the record labels are a fraction of the size, Tower Records is history, downloads or streaming Tower Records media are the preferred format and albums are being put out for $10K. And despite all these “signs of the demise of the music business”, the industry is pulling in more money than ever before but it’s coming from different places, and being spent on different things than ten years ago.

Here’s what’s important: An entrepreneur would have no problem moving his/her talents to wherever the money was. An employee wouldn’t know what to do. And guess what? Our mentor/apprentice method of education places the student in a private apprenticeship with a working industry professional, who by definition is an entrepreneur. No other media school does this. It’s one of the reasons our students

Apple’s iTunes’ Digital Market do so well out in the real world. 3 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Foreword

So, with that as background, we are pleased to offer this entrepreneurial guide to the music business. Now go out and Take Charge of Your Musical Career. And when you take charge, do it with style, your style, your passion, your unique spirit.

We can’t wait for you to show us how to be the next change the world needs. Here’s to your success ! We look forward to being blown away by your genius music, your great great film or your next insightful broadcast.

Be that he or she who makes a difference. This world is yours for the taking. Go! To Your Success ! photograph by Bill Masson, distributed under a CC-BY-SA 2.0 license

Jimi Petulla RRF CEO/Founder

Brian Kraft RRF Chief Academic Officer/COO

Jimi Petulla Brian Kraft www.recordingconnection.com www.filmconnection.com www.radioconnection.com 4 Table of Contents

Introduction pg. 5

1. The Blessing (And Curse) of the DIY Market pg. 10

2. Branding Yourself as an Artist pg. 15

3. Making the Connection pg. 22

4. Why You Need to Learn Audio Engineering pg. 34

5. Hearing from the Professionals pg. 41

6. Odds & Ends and Closing Thoughts pg. 50

Appendix pg. 57

Copyright © 2014 RRF. All Rights Reserved. Take Charge Of Your Music Career

Introduction

As a music blogger, I get them all the time.

Each week, my email inbox is flooded with requests from do-it-yourself (DIY) musicians asking me to review their music—sometimes as many as a hundred a week. As a musician myself, I started blogging as a hobby because I was passionate about encouraging and helping up-and-coming musical artists. I had no idea when I started that I was to become part of the “new media”, part of a collective upon which indie musicians rely to get their music noticed. Little did I realize that I now was doing the job once relegated solely to the A&R reps at the record labels: listening to new music, hunting for talent that was worth paying attention to and promoting. (Only I wasn’t being paid for it.)

As I’ve been in this role over the past several years, I’ve also come to understand the unique position the label executives have been in, and the number of sub-par bands they’ve had to weed through in order to find the diamond in the rough. I now know why, even before the digital revolution or the rise of the DIY artist, the execs were rejecting far more music than they were accepting.

It’s not just a matter of sheer volume of submissions, although that plays a part; it’s also a matter of quality and professionalism.

Books could be written (and have been written) about the dynamic shift in the music industry over the past few years. While in days past musicians were almost completely reliant on being “discovered” by the music industry establishment in order to “make it,” these days cheap digital technology and the rise of the Internet have opened the door wide for DIY musicians to find and connect with a global audience without the help of major industry players. With more artists having the ability to create higher-quality recordings, coupled with the ability to make their music available to the world in a matter of minutes via the Internet, DIY musicians now have more control than ever over their own destinies. What started as a hobby... 6 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Introduction

Now for the bad news: having a wide-open door to reach your audience doesn’t make it easier to reach them. If anything, it’s made it more difficult, simply from the sheer number of indie musicians now clamoring for the public’s attention. Getting noticed is still a challenge; it’s just that the rules have changed.

Here’s the part I don’t want to tell you about being a music blogger: for all the music submissions I receive, approximately 95 percent of them get deleted or thrown in the trash, usually within the first thirty seconds of listening to the music. In that amount of time, I can usually tell whether it’s worth continuing to listen. And in most cases, it isn’t.

Thirty seconds. That’s how much time you have to get my attention and keep it. Getting noticed isn’t always this easy. It’s not just the music, either. In the time I spend sampling the music, I’m Googling the band, looking at their press kit, their website, their Facebook page. Between the music and the presentation, in that short amount of time, I can tell whether this is a band who has their act together, how well they play together, and whether their songs are going to appeal to a larger audience—and most importantly (since my blog is about my opinion), whether I feel I can recommend them to my readers.

Why do I hit the delete button on so many of these bands? It’s not just the number of submissions, because if your band stands out, I will listen, no matter how many other submissions I have received. Rather, it’s whether your band stands out, and why.

When your music is sloppy, badly written and/or and badly recorded, I delete it. Delete ! 7 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Introduction

When your online presence consists of a Facebook page where the What You Can Expect From This Book “About” section says, “We’re a band. We play music and stuff. Hope you like it,” I can’t take you seriously, and neither will anyone else. I Just so there’s no misunderstanding about what to expect—this delete the submission. e-book is not intended to be a comprehensive starter guide for people wanting to become indie musicians. It would take a lot bigger book If you don’t care about your professional presence, why should I? and a lot more study time to get you to that point. Rather, we are Why should my readers? And why should anyone else? starting from the assumption that if you are reading this, you are already a musician or aspiring indie artist, which means you probably As a DIY musician in a growing indie market, the caveat with having a have at least a little bit of understanding about the music scene. So wide-open field where you have more control of your future is that you we’re not going to go into too many details here about how to book a have to take control of it. In the days of being “discovered”, once you venue, or how to shop record labels, or how to hire a recording studio. got to that point, there was always someone else in the music business I’m assuming you already know how to do those things, and if you who could handle the business and promotional details. Those days don’t, there are plenty of other resources available to help you—not are over for most of us. To make the most of these opportunities in the least of which is simply talking to other musicians who are doing front of you, you have to think differently. those things and learning what they do.

I can’t promise to teach you everything you need to know to make it as a DIY musician in the next few pages. That would be unrealistic. But • You have to think like an entrepreneur. what I do hope to do is to help you think differently about your music career. In my experiences as a music blogger and encourager of up- • You have to learn how to see opportunities, and then seize them when you see them.

• You have to take charge of branding yourself as an artist, and presenting yourself to the public in a way that draws their attention.

• You have to be as creative in your approach to the business aspects of your career as you are with the musical aspects. Think outside the box. 8 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Introduction and-coming musicians, I have learned a lot about what works, and does not work, in this market. I’ve come to understand what bands are doing wrong, and what they are doing right. For the many acts who will never get past playing the local pub, I’ve seen a few others who have set up a smart strategy that has brought them success. I’ve watched unknown independent local bands use their resources wisely, build upon their successes, and consequently get signed to major labels and go on to tour with superstars.

So what can you expect? If you will take the next few pages to heart, you will hopefully begin to experience a change in your thinking. You’ll start seeing yourself as more than just a musical artist; you’ll start thinking like a business person in the indie market. You’ll start thinking about the product you are selling, and you’ll start planning and strategizing about how to get your product into the marketplace, Think like an entrepreneur. whether by attracting label attention, by reaching your audience directly, or by a combination of the two. In short, you’ll start thinking like an entrepreneur.

As an independent musician, you are effectively in business for yourself. To compete in this market requires that you make the most of your creative talents, and nowadays more than ever, it requires that you be smart about the music business and your place in it. If you will begin to see yourself in this manner, you’ll be in a much better position to take charge of your music career, and to seize the opportunities as they present themselves.

It’s not just luck. It never has been. It’s also about how you approach your business as an independent musician. It’s about how you think.

You can do it. The opportunities await. Are you ready? Success is not about luck. 9 Take Charge Of Your Music Career

Chapter One The Blessing (And Curse) of the DIY Market

A few years ago, no one could have predicted that the music industry would be completely turned on its ear.

A few years ago, no one could have known that cheap digital technology would enable independent musicians to create recordings in the comfort of their homes—recordings that can rival the quality once only attainable in recording studios. No one could have anticipated that these same independent musicians would post their work on the Internet and gain sometimes millions of fans, all without the assistance of record labels or the music industry “establishment.”

It’s an exciting time for the music community, one that is filled with possibilities. It’s also a scary and unpredictable time, because the pathway to success has become much more vague. If the road to becoming a successful professional musician were an actual road, it used to be a clear, paved road with plenty of road signs, and now it’s basically become a labyrinth of unmarked trails. There are more ways to get where you want to go, but finding the right path can still be a challenge. This is a general way of saying that the new DIY market can be both a blessing and a curse.

How It Used To Be

A decade or two ago, if you wanted to become a serious musical artist, the goal was fairly simple: get noticed. The music industry establishment—that is, the record companies and their network of promoters and distributors—were pretty much the gatekeepers to fame and fortune. These people were the tastemakers—the ones who decided who would get heard by the public. So if you wanted Finding Your Path 10 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter One to gain a national or international following, the primary focus was to get the attention of someone within the establishment who would rally to your cause—in other words, to get “discovered.” Sometimes this happened by performing in clubs where talent scouts were known to visit. Many other times, it involved recording a demo and sending it into the A&R departments of record companies.

The good thing about this system was that it was a fairly simple strategy to understand. The bad thing was that a great many people were pounding at the door, and only a few managed to get through. The collective fate of millions of aspiring musical artists was basically at the mercy of a few gatekeepers who decided which of them had the potential to become financially lucrative for the record labels. The odds were incredibly stacked against you, no matter how talented you were. Many try, few get through.

To make matters worse, as more and more people started pounding on the doors of the industry establishment trying to get noticed, the record executives got more and more selective. At the same time, as the music industry got bigger and more corporate driven, the record labels strayed from their original missions to be risk-takers on new talent, and began playing it more safe and going by formula, only signing new artists that they were reasonably certain would turn a profit for them. Eventually, it got to the point that record labels wouldn’t even look at new artists unless they were already drawing huge crowds to their shows or selling thousands of their own self-produced records (which, of course, required a huge amount of investment money up front from the artist). This made the process even more selective— and it also meant that more and more of the music coming from the industry establishment was starting to sound the same, because the labels weren’t taking risks anymore. The Process of Selection 11 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter One

The Shift

Right about this time, two huge developments began opening up more opportunities for small-time musicians. The first was the advent of digital recording, which could yield a high-quality sound at a far lower cost than traditional analog recording. The second was the rapid expansion of the Internet. Since both of these technologies could be accessed through home computers, the combination of the two meant that musicians could now access high quality recording technology, record their own music, and then share it with the world, all from the convenience of their laptops.

In theory, at least, this meant that musicians no longer needed the approval of major music industry executives to reach their audience, because they were now able to create records on their own and make Digital Recording (Pro Tools 11) the music available to an audience through outlets like MySpace and YouTube. In short, musicians were now able to bypass the establishment without having to get “discovered.” At around the same time, music fans were getting increasingly bored with the music that was being allowed through the established channels, and the Internet now enabled them to find and connect with these new do-it-yourself musicians. Over the span of a few years, this trend mushroomed, and the modern indie music scene was born.

The Good News...

This shift has had positive results for musicians everywhere. For some, it has simply provided a new avenue for them to attract music industry attention (an increasing number of indie musicians have still Home Studio of a DIY Musician photograph by Ben K Adams, distributed under a CC-BY-ND 2.0 license 12 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter One

managed to get “discovered” over the past few years through their success on MySpace and YouTube). But many other indie musicians have realized they do not need the approval of the music industry anymore, and they have forged successful careers as completely independent musicians. (So prevalent is this trend, in fact, that a growing number of label artists have ditched their labels and “gone indie” in the past few years.) The impact this is having on the musical landscape is so profound that today we have notable indie acts like Bon Iver and The Lumineers drawing crowds of thousands, selling millions of records, and receiving Grammy nominations and awards, all without the support of major labels—something that was unheard of only a few years ago.

Bon Iver photograph by Daniel Jordahl, distributed under a CC-BY 2.0 license The Bad News...

While these new realities have opened many doors for musical artists, not all the news is good. The other side of being a do-it-yourself musician is that—well—you’re doing it all yourself. While label artists usually have the luxury of a team that handles their promotion, booking, management, marketing, and the recording/production of their music (leaving them to focus more on their performance), indie artists are left to figure out how to manage these other aspects of their careers. If you are an indie artist, you either have to handle all these things yourself, or you have to hire someone to handle them for you—and if you’re like most indie artists, you’re not that rich. So you end up shouldering the burden yourself.

Another pitfall associated with the wide-open indie market is that in many cases, there is no one to teach these new free-agent artists Shouldering the Burden 13 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter One about the ins and outs of the music business. They can do their own work on your part if you are serious about breaking in. That’s not marketing, but they don’t really know the first thing about marketing. really news—this has never been an industry for the faint of heart. They have the ability to record their own music, but they don’t know the first thing about audio engineering or producing a record. They But while the cost of success (in commitment level and “sweat equity”, are responsible for booking their own gigs, but they don’t know how to if not dollars) has not really changed, the rules for success have make a press kit or reach out to venues. In short, artist development changed dramatically. If you’re willing to put in the effort, the odds of is largely left up to the artist—and the artist is often clueless. Some success are actually more in your favor than they were a few years have given themselves a crash course in the new music business, ago. But to navigate this new path, you can’t simply think like an artist figuring stuff out as they go, and some of these have done all right for waiting to get discovered. You have to think like an entrepreneur. You themselves. But many others, unfortunately, end up floundering and need to take personal responsibility for your success, and think in frustrated, not understanding why the tactics that worked for others terms of forging your own career instead of waiting for someone else don’t seem to work for them. to help you.

Yet another obstacle to consider is that because it is easier and And this is perhaps the greatest blessing of the new DIY market: you cheaper than ever before for indie musicians to get their music into really do have more control over your destiny. Indie musicians are the marketplace, there is simply more music available than ever now empowered to take charge of their careers, instead of waiting before—more music, in fact, than the average person could ever for some industry gatekeeper to deem them worthy. You still have to listen to. This means, in effect, that as an indie musician, you have put in the work, but if you can think like a business person, you will a lot of competition. If you try to convince yourself that you aren’t in be able to see opportunities in this new market that others may have competition with anyone when it comes to your music, you are being missed, and use those to your advantage. naïve. Music fans only have so many dollars to spend on music, and only so much time to listen—and thanks to cheap technology, more bands and artists are clamoring for those dollars and that time. You You can make it in this business. You just have to think a little differently. will have to find creative ways to stand out among the throng.

What Does It All Mean?

The reality of today’s new musical landscape is that while it has opened up more opportunities for musicians, it hasn’t necessarily made life any easier. The music business is still an extremely difficult field to break into, and it will still require a great deal of stamina and Think Differently 14 Take Charge Of Your Music Career

Chapter Two Branding Yourself as an Artist

If you’re going to approach your music career as an entrepreneur building a business, it naturally follows that you’re going to need a product to sell. So what is your product?

• Is it your music?

• Is it your merchandise?

• Is it tickets to your concert?

• Is it all of the above?

• Is it NONE of the above?

Here’s the first area where you will need to change your thinking. Many artists make the mistake of thinking of their music as their product. This unfortunately leads to the mistaken assumption that if the artist makes great music, the product will sell itself. The end result is usually a garage full of CDs that no one is buying.

You are not a record store. Therefore, music is not your product. You are not a concert promoter— therefore, concert tickets are not your product, either. You might sell music, merchandise and tickets as part of your business, but your music in its various forms (recorded or performed live) is NOT the Steve Aoki base product of your business. Your music is a service that you are offering to the public. photograph by Dylan O’Dowd, distributed under a CC-BY-ND 2.0 license 15 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Two

So what is your product?

YOU.

You are the product.

This is a key shift in thinking that has to take place if you want to be successful in this business. You have to make the transition from trying to sell your music to selling yourself as the artist or band who creates the music.

To understand the difference, consider one of the many “one- hit wonders” out there. How many songs do you recognize as hits without being able to recall who performed them? That’s essentially the difference between selling songs and selling the artist.

Let’s just look at one example. Most people who were alive in 1980 recognize the tune “Funkytown.” Do you know who recorded the song?

Chances are, you don’t. (If you knew it was Lipps, Inc., you are probably a whiz at Trivial Pursuit.) “Funkytown” was a number-one hit that went platinum, but after that, Lipps, Inc. went pretty much into obscurity. They sold one great song, but for whatever reason, they had trouble selling themselves as a band. This underscores how important it is that you be the product you’re selling, not your songs in particular. That mentality can make all the difference between a long Lipps, Inc. - Funkytown career and a short one. 16 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Two

Lipps, Inc. sold “Funkytown.” Madonna sells Madonna, and she has sold millions of records over the past three decades as a result. See the difference?

This leads us to one of the most important concepts involved with approaching your music career as a business: the concept of branding yourself as an artist. Making great music is one thing, but branding is a key ingredient to being remembered by the public.

Understanding Branding

What is branding, actually? Essentially, it is the process of turning your act into a brand—a name, an image, and an associated vibe that imprints in the minds of people.

When I say the word “McDonald’s”, you immediately associate that word with an image (typically the Golden Arches), a jingle, and a memory of what their food tastes like. If I say the word “Starbucks,” chances are you will immediately visualize that greenish logo and remember the taste of your favorite designer coffee drink, or the signature aroma you breathe in when you walk through the door of your local Starbucks.

Words like “McDonald’s” and “Starbucks” have a whole set of remembered images and experiences associated with them. So does the word “Aerosmith.” Or “Cher.” Each of those names easily brings to mind a whole slew of images, sounds and other associations. That’s the power of branding. Madonna photograph by Ian Gampon, distributed under a CC-BY 2.0 license 17 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Two

If you can turn your artist name or band name into a brand in the like “McDonald’s” with certain images, sounds and experiences. When mind of the public, it will become far easier for them to remember you, the public sees or hears your name, you want them to see your face, and consequently become your fans. As you build that brand over hear a certain sound or song in their head, notice a certain style, etc. time through consistent repetition and consistently good music, it will Eventually, through strategic repetition over time, you begin to imprint become easier and easier to get folks out to your shows or to buy these things on people’s minds, and they begin associating you with your latest CD. Branding yourself helps people know what to expect those things. Before long, anytime your name is mentioned, those when you attach your name to something. associations become commonplace. Congratulations—you are now a brand.

How Do You Brand Yourself? Again, branding looks a little different for everyone, but some tools you can use to help build your brand include: Like most aspects of the music business, branding is a fluid process that will look a little different for everyone. It would be unfair to lay 1. A catchy band name (if you are a band), or stage name (if you don’t out a specific step-one, step-two formula for how you should brand want to use your given name); yourself as an artist or a band, because chances are very good that 2. A logo (you might enlist the help of a graphic designer for this one); you’ll break from that formula in some way, or that the formula I lay 3. A consistent font used on your records, merchandise and press out will become dated in a matter of years or even months. However, materials; the underlying principles of branding really do not change, and if you 4. A look or a fashion statement—a mode of dress; remember them, they will guide your specific decisions. 5. A signature sound in your music (this can take time as you evolve as an artist, but it’s something you should be developing as you go). To put it simply, the process of branding involves two general principles:

1. Determining who you are as a band or artist, and how you want the public to perceive you; and 2. Performing actions over time that consistently reinforce those ideas to the public.

Essentially, branding is a psychological exercise. You want to help people to associate your name with certain images, sounds, and experiences, not entirely unlike the way you already associate words Popular Brands 18 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Two

Again, the goal is to help the public associate your name with certain you are as an artist and as a person. Some people try to create a images, sounds and experiences; these tools can help imprint those public image that is completely different from who they really are. associations in the minds of the public. It takes time and patience. That can work for awhile, but it can be exhausting to maintain, and You don’t create a brand out of thin air; you build a brand over time. eventually the public will see that it is fake. It is much easier to be consistent with branding when your public persona resembles who you really are, because it comes naturally to you. In a time in our Consistency & Authenticity culture when people are tired of hype and are craving authenticity, it just makes more sense to present an image to your fans that is When building your brand, remember that consistency is key. This genuine and authentic. cannot be overstated. Over the course of years, a brand may undergo various makeovers, but initially establishing a brand in the minds of people can only be done through consistent repetition. Don’t create a Common Branding Mistakes to Avoid logo and then change it in a couple of weeks. Decide on the logo and stick with it. Make sure your website, social media, printed materials, While we aren’t setting up a clear formula for how to brand yourself, etc. all have a consistent look, to the point that people begin recognizing there are definitely some “don’ts” that are worth mentioning—mistakes it’s you even before they read your name. Whatever look you decide musicians make when trying to brand themselves. Here are a few on as an artist or band, stick with it for awhile. When you perform live, common errors you should avoid: try to have the same type of look as you do on your photo shoots. The more consistent you are with these small details, the more quickly the public will begin making those associations. Error #1: Billing Yourself as the “Next Big Thing”

Another bit of helpful advice is this: be authentic. Your public persona In a day when the public is increasingly skeptical of over-hype, you should carry the element of truth to it; it should be a reflection of who will alienate them by building yourself up as something much bigger than you are. As soon as you identify yourself as “the next Michael Jackson,” people will automatically assume you are lying, no matter how talented you might be. This will cast the rest of your brand into doubt. Don’t do it. If a music critic or someone outside your circle wants to associate you with a music icon, let them, but don’t let it come from your own press releases. There are ways to put a positive spin on your music, sound and image without resorting to language that paints you as god-like. You’ll be much more believable if you present yourself as a legitimate up-and-comer and a contender than as someone who has already arrived. If you have some accomplishments to brag about, Slipknot photograph by José Goulão, distributed under a CC-BY-SA 2.0 license 19 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Two brag away. But icon status can only be bestowed by others over time. Don’t try to bestow it on yourself.

Error #2: Refusing to Identify with a Genre

I’m a real stickler about this one. Admittedly, one of your goals in branding is to create a niche for yourself—to separate yourself from the pack, to highlight the ways in which you are unique as an artist. But some musicians take this too far by refusing to categorize their music at all, claiming that their sound somehow defies labels or descriptions, and shouldn’t be pigeonholed within a genre. This is a mistake on a multitude of levels. Not only does it create the perception that you are above everyone else (see Error #1), but it also puts you in a musical no-man’s land where it is very difficult for your audience to find you.

Genres are not your enemy. They can work to your advantage. By allowing yourself to identify with a certain style of music, you will put yourself on the radar of a whole group of people who are already fans of that musical style, and that gives you the chance to turn those people into fans. Who wouldn’t want that? It just makes sense to categorize your music so that the people who are most likely to enjoy your sound will be alerted to your presence.

Let’s face it: your music is not going to appeal to everyone. Only a handful of people over the years have had the charisma and talent to become music icons outside of genre categories, and the odds are you are not one of those people. Don’t be narcissistic; be smart, and use genres to put your music in front of the people most likely to become your fans. That’s just good business. It’s okay to highlight your uniqueness as an artist, but don’t be afraid to be categorized within a genre. Once you’ve done that, you can work on differentiating yourself within that genre. Genres are not your enemy. 20 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Two

Error #3: Creating a Public Image Based on Popular Trends

One thing you need to know about trends: by the time a trend has been identified, it has usually already peaked. This means that anyone j umping on the bandwagon from that point on will likely not reap the same benefits as those who helped establish the trend, and will likely be viewed as trend followers rather than trend setters. It is a natural thing to want your public image and your brand to be “current”, and I’m not saying you shouldn’t be paying attention; but when you incorporate a certain style into your branding because it resembles what lots of other artists are doing (whether it be a visual look or even a musical style), it is far too easy to get lost in the sea of copy-catters all trying to ride the same wave—and it usually doesn’t work out. It’s actually better to look for elements of your image that are unique, or timeless, and accentuate those things. Building a brand is not about being cool; it’s about longevity. Trends come and go, by definition; a brand may adapt to certain trends, but the brand itself should be as timeless as possible, carrying within it the ability to ride wave after wave of trends.

Remember: as a musical entrepreneur, your music is not your product. You are the product, and your music is an extension of you. To connect with and reach your audience for the long term, you will do much better if you see yourself as the product, and build your brand around who you are as an artist. You don’t want people just to be fans of your music; you want them to be fans of you. That way, whatever music you make now and in the future will be met by an eager audience waiting to hear it, just because you’re the one who created it. Be Timeless. 21 Take Charge Of Your Music Career

Chapter Three Making The Connection

“It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.”

How many times have we heard this overused saying, and in how many different places? We hear it over and over because it is true. Even while we are becoming addicted to our computers and our mobile devices (to the point where some of us can barely hold a conversation without checking our phone), somehow, paradoxically, our culture is becoming more social. We crave connection. In the job market, networking has become a key component of any job search because it is widely known that most of the hiring is done through inside connections rather than cold calling. It is this dynamic that has made networking sites like LinkedIn such an important part of the business world.

As important as connections are in the corporate world, believe me when I tell you that connections are even more important in the music industry. This is a highly relational community where almost everything from record deals to distribution deals to publishing deals to live gigs are accomplished through connections—that is, through people you know, and people who know you. One of the biggest reasons why it no longer makes sense to send an unsolicited demo in to a record company is that those people are already flooded with demos from people with whom they already have established relationships. They just don’t have time to listen to unsolicited music, which is why in most cases they tell you not to send them anything.

On a different front, connection with the fans is also becoming more and more critical. As music lovers, we no longer feel satisfied with just hearing a great song from a great artist; we want to feel like we know that person. We want to feel like we are part of that person’s world. Young stars like Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber have made the most of this trend, having built up a crazy amount of fan loyalty just by communicating via Twitter. Billboard now has a “social chart” to show who is being talked about Making Connections the most on the social networks. 22 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three

I shouldn’t have to tell you how important connections are to the indie artist, especially when it comes to the fans. As an indie artist, chances are you’ve either given up on trying to gain the attention of the record labels, or you have simply chosen to bypass them. That means that the task of building a fan base is entirely on your shoulders! It also means that from a business standpoint, you are the person who is going to have to contact the venues for gigs, hire the recording studio, order the CDs, etc., etc. You’ll find out very quickly that in all of these cases, connections are key to getting just about anything done.

Not Necessarily Second Nature - But Definitely Necessary

Many artists are introverted by nature. Indeed, when we are in creativity Don’t be a Hermit! mode, most of us seek out seclusion so we can be alone with our thoughts and feelings, and with the creative process. You do need that space, no doubt about it. But when you are a DIY musician, you don’t have the luxury of being a perpetual hermit. As an entrepreneur (which you are), you have to learn how to connect with people, and you have to learn how to leverage those connections to your best advantage. Otherwise, the only person who is going to enjoy your music is you.

Just To Prove The Point...

In case you need more convincing, let me offer just one example that illustrates how you rely upon connections as an indie musician. Let’s say you’ve decided to make a record, and even though you have some Don’t be your only audience! photograph by lvf8, distributed under a CC-BY-ND 2.0 license 23 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three home recording gear, you want to take your project into a recording studio for at least part of the process. Which recording studio will you choose? They aren’t all the same. If you Google recording studios in your area, or look them up in the phone book (remember those?), you have very little idea whether you’re going to get a quality studio with a good audio engineer, or you might pay more than the studio is worth. So what do you do? You ask someone. You talk to other musicians to find out where they did their recordings, and how they liked the studio. Perhaps in your conversations, you’ll find a local musician with a bit of audio production experience or who has the inside track at a good studio where you can get a discounted rate. Or someone Which studio will you choose? might have a lead on where you can get your CDs duplicated on the cheap. There are so many ways those connections can benefit you, but if you haven’t taken the time to form those relationships, you are basically stuck taking your chances with the Yellow Pages.

And once you decide on a studio, how are you going to pay for your recording? Unless you have a rich uncle or someone supporting you, it will probably take you 3-4 years of delivering pizzas to come up with that money on your own. These days, lots of indie musicians are raising the money directly from their fans through crowdfunding campaigns with Kickstarter or PledgeMusic. It’s a great concept, for Kickstarter.com is a great fund-raising site. 24 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three

sure. But what if you have no fan base? You’re not going to get a boatload of pledges if you have 50 Facebook friends and you haven’t taken the time to talk to fans when you play shows.

For that matter, if you manage to raise the money to make the record, how are you going to sell your music, and to whom? Don’t be delusional about this—even if you are a freak-of-nature musical genius, your records are not going to sell themselves. How do indie artists get the word out about their music?

I’ll give you one guess.

How will you promote your music? photograph by Richard Masoner, distributed under a CC-BY-SA 2.0 license

And what if you do decide you want to try and land a record deal? We just talked about the fact that cold calling doesn’t work. Who is going to come alongside you and be your advocate to pitch your record to the music industry bigwigs? These days, chances are it’s not going to be some talent scout who happened to hear you play at Starbucks. It’s going to be someone you know, or a friend of a friend of someone you know. The days of being “discovered” are pretty much over, even if you’re actively gunning for a record deal. Those deals come through connections, and if you haven’t done any networking, those connections will be non-existent.

Will you pursue a record deal? Have I made my point? 25 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three

Three Important Networks For Musicians

To be well-connected as a DIY musician, you need to focus your efforts on building three important networks—three groups of people with whom you need to form relationships. There can be overlapping between these three groups, but you will approach each one a bit differently, so it helps to break them down into these three categories:

1. Your peers—other musicians with similar goals 2. Music industry professionals—people in the “biz” who can help you accomplish your goals 3. Your fans—the people you’re trying to reach with your music

Your Peers Let’s take a few minutes to talk about each of these networks individually.

Your Peer Community

Yes, as we said before, other artists are your competition, at least when you are thinking about market share. But if you’re a good person, they should also be your friends. Your surrounding community of musical artists are your comrades—the people who understand what you are going through more than anyone else, because they are in the same boat as you. It simply makes sense to develop a circle of friends and allies in this community, and to be willing to help one another out in the mutual quest of “making it.” Your musical peers are the ones most likely to have a good lead on what recording studio to use, which venues treat artists right and offer the best pay, who does the Your Fans! 26 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three best cover art, where to submit your demo, what producer to use— basically all the things you want to know. Within this community you are also likely to find potential songwriting partners, bandmates and other collaborators for various projects. Not to mention that there are few things more fulfilling in life than when musicians get together to play the music they love. (That’s why you’re in this business in the first place—right??)

When building a network among musical peers, your best bet is personal contact. If you’re new to the community, go to places where musicians hang out—open stages, popular venues, or even workshops or conferences—and start introducing yourself. Go to other people’s Pink Floyd, 1973 shows to show support, and offer to help out where you can. Invite other musicians out for coffee or a beer, ask questions, and show a genuine interest in what they are doing. Then when you’ve built a rapport, share a little about what you’re doing, as well. In other words, take the time and build real relationships; don’t just gather phone numbers and email addresses. These are the people with whom you need to invest yourself, because this group can become a major part of your support system. It takes time and energy, but the best way to become part of the community is to be “around”. In the case of networking with this group of people, social networks can be part of the process, but personal contact is key whenever possible. Be actual friends first, and Facebook friends second. Networking 27 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three

Music Industry Professionals

Hopefully, if all goes well within your peer community, many of your musician friends will also classify as music industry professionals (including you!). But for our purposes, we categorize this group differently. This is the group of people that leans more toward the business side of music, rather than personal support—your collective of business contacts. Depending on your own goals, your network of industry contacts can include producers, engineers, label executives and A&R representatives, music supervisors, agents, managers, music journalists and/or bloggers, promoters, venue owners—the list goes on. Basically, any business relationship that can help facilitate your goals as an artist falls into this group.

When networking with music industry professionals, the personal New Music Seminar photograph by Ryan Van Etten, distributed under a CC-BY-ND 2.0 license touch is helpful, especially at the beginning (meeting someone in person at an event is a great starting point), but it is not quite as necessary to carry the relationship along. In fact, too much “personal touch” can be off-putting for some of them. (These are people most likely to respond better to a well-designed press kit than having you show up uninvited at their office twice a week.) These professional relationships can be built by a tasteful combination of emails, phone calls, and occasional personal contact—and in each point of contact, you should have a legitimate reason for the conversation (for example, if you are promoting a demo or setting up a tour). For face-to-face, you can also find opportunities to meet and talk with industry pros at various industry events like MUSEXPO, NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers), ASCAP Expo, New Music Seminar or the Durango Songwriters Expo. (Just know there are sometimes significant costs involved with these kinds of events.) ASCAP Expo 28 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three

One other thing worth mentioning about this group before we move will be). But thanks to social networking, you can create a perceived on. This is the network where mutual acquaintances can make all intimacy with your fans that couldn’t be achieved through other the difference in the world. It is far better to approach a busy industry outlets. Conversational posts, sharing interesting items, letting fans executive on the recommendation of (or better yet, a prior introduction know about show dates—all in your own voice—it’s a great way to from) a trusted friend within that person’s circle than it is to approach help build fan loyalty. that person cold. This is the place where “name-dropping” works best—as long as you actually know the person, of course! It is also one of the best arguments for why connections matter in this business. Common Sense Tips For Social Networking

Because social networking has become such a critical element in Your Fan Base the career if the DIY musician, it is important that we discuss it a little more here. There are entire books written about marketing for social From a purely music business standpoint, all your other connections media, so obviously we can’t cover everything you need to know. are for naught unless you are developing a fan base—a group of people But again, I’m assuming that as an indie musician you are at least who like/love you and your music. These are the people who will buy familiar with Facebook, Twitter and the like, and you are probably your records, come out to your shows, pick up your merchandise, and already engaging your fans to some level in these spaces (and if not, hopefully become your cheerleaders to help you win even more fans. you definitely should be). So for now, let’s just go over some basic As an indie musician, it is assumed that you won’t have a promotion common-sense tips to help you navigate social media and use it to and marketing team to help you win fans through mass media outlets your best advantage. like radio and television (although some indie musicians have gotten that far). So for you, building a fan base is going to be much more of a grassroots affair. In the “old days”, this basically consisted of word- of-mouth advertising and hob-nobbing at live performances. But with the advent of Internet 2.0 (i.e., the social networks), your “grassroots” fan-building can extend even to a global reach, if you want it to.

Obviously, it’s impossible for anyone to form a personal connection with thousands and thousands of people (as you hope your fan base Use social media to your advantage. 29 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three

Don’t overdo it.

It might make mathematical sense that the more social networking sites you are on, the more people you can reach. But it could become a full-time job in itself to manage your presence on twenty-five different networks, and your fans aren’t necessarily going to be a part of all of them, anyhow. At the time of this writing, it still makes sense to be part of the “biggies” like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but beyond that, you should be a bit more choosy as to where to invest your time and energy, so you don’t get bogged down. It’s a good idea to have a profile on some music-related sites like ReverbNation or Last.fm, and these days, Tumblr is experiencing a lot of growth among younger audiences as a microblogging platform where you can gain followers and follow others. I’ve included a helpful list of possible networks at the end of this e-book. But just know that you don’t have to join every Don’t overdo it... site out there, nor do you have time to do so. A good rule of thumb is to try to have your finger on the pulse of your fan base; see if you can figure out where they are hanging out online by talking to them when you can, and aim for those sites.

Socialize, don’t power-sell.

The operative word in the social networks is “social.” Many people make the mistake of turning social media into their own personal billboard, where everything they do and say is a sales pitch. That’s a very bad idea, and it will cost you followers in almost any social network you join. People are tired of commercials, and they don’t get on social media to shop. They come to socialize, to share, to have fun! If all you do online is pitch your CDs and merch, you’ll turn people off. Period. Socialize, don’t power-sell. photograph by Mark Hillary, distributed under a CC-BY 2.0 license 30 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three

Admittedly, this is a bit of a fine line to walk, because we’re told that social media is the new marketplace, yet being overly obvious about selling a product will be counter-productive. You can’t approach social networking like mass media; instead, you have to present yourself as a person. Develop relationships with your fan base online. Share funny pictures, interesting news stories, post about your everyday life—just like everyone else. Become part of the online community, and be personable enough that people take interest and start following along. Once you’ve formed a relationship with your fans online, then you can occasionally mention that you have a CD for sale, or ask fans to spread the word about your upcoming show.

Last year, a post appeared on Hypebot that perhaps said it best: “Social media is a place for conversation, not commerce.” The author went on to use Coca-Cola as an example; Coke has a presence Social media is for conversation, not commerce. on Facebook, but the company doesn’t try to sell product there. They advertise in other places, and use Facebook for brand recall. Remember what we said about building your brand in Chapter 3? As an indie musician, social media is one of the best resources you have to build your brand. But building your brand is not quite the same as selling yourself, although the two are related. Building your brand is as much about developing fan loyalty as it is about selling yourself. Think of social media as a platform to build a loyal base of fans, and the sales will come eventually.

Make it personal.

This ties in a little bit with the last point, but it’s worth restating on its own. Social media is a chance for you to give fans a window into who you are as a person. People don’t follow you on Twitter so your agent Give fans a window into who you are as a person. 31 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three can tell them when your next show is. They follow you because they want to know what you are saying and thinking! The great thing about social media is that there has never been a better resource to make a personal connection with so many fans all at once—and in this day and age, personal connection is key to building a loyal fan base. You obviously don’t have to share everything about your private life, but make your posts as human and personal as you can.

In keeping with this, let’s discuss a common pitfall that you need to avoid. There are a growing number of social media dashboard applications (Tweetdeck is just one example) that allow people to manage all their social networks in one place. Likewise, a lot of social sites have a feature that lets you link your Facebook, Twitter and Reaching Many Followers other accounts so you can post something in one place and have it pushed to your other networks automatically. These tools can definitely be time savers, but if you simply use these tools to send identical posts across your networks, it can actually work against you. Why? Because most of your fans will belong to more than one social network! When they get identical messages from you on their different networks, it lets them know you aren’t really engaging them personally; a few too many of these duplicate posts, and they start tuning you out. So these cross-platform tools can be useful if you need to save time and make a generic announcement to all your fans (like announcing an upcoming show, for example), but don’t fall into the snare of overusing these features. Make sure you’re taking a little extra time on your networks to write unique personal messages and share interesting tidbits, to keep it personal. Identical messages on different networks = Impersonal. 32 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Three

Cultivating Your Connections

Before we leave this part of the discussion, it’s important to remember that whether you’re connecting with peers, industry professionals or your fans, a connection has to be cultivated in order to remain healthy. It’s not enough to exchange business cards or put someone’s number into your phone, and never do anything with it. The objective here is not to grow your address book, but to build relationships. That takes an investment of time, no matter who the person is. It takes time to form friendships with other musicians. It takes time to follow up with a music publisher or music supervisor after meeting him/her at the conference. It takes time to develop a solid, loyal fan base. Just as any seed must be watered in order for a plant to grow, consider each contact to be a seed that needs to be watered, to be cultivated into a Cultivate your connections! working relationship.

Finally (and perhaps most importantly), remember that while you will use your connections to get things done, you must not simply view your connections as a group of people to be used. These are human beings with whom you are in some form of relationship, and even at the acquaintance level people do not like being used. Relationships are built as friendships over time, and every relationship involves some sort of mutual give-and-take. Don’t just be a taker. Be a giver. And it actually pays to be a giver first, whenever possible. Get in the habit of saying “thank you” when someone does you a favor, and be quick to return favors whenever you can. These are relationships, not your personal tools. Treat them well, treat them with respect and honor, and it will come back to you in manifold ways.

Article Cited: More, Mike. “Social Media Success For Musicians - A 2012 Don’t just take, be a giver! Roadmap - hypebot.” hypebot. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 July 2013 33 Take Charge Of Your Music Career

Chapter Four Why You Need To Learn Audio Engineering

You’ve got the laptop. You’ve gotten a version of Pro Tools or Logic installed—or maybe you’ve gone the simple route and just gotten Garage Band. You’ve got some cool sounds and drum loops, and picked up a couple of microphones. You’ve gotten pretty much all the technology you need to make a quality digital recording. Now, it’s just a matter of recording it and putting it up on the Internet so people will buy it. Right?

Wrong.

Yes, we DIY musicians now have more technology available to create quality home recordings of the kind that we could once only get inside an expensive recording studio. Yes, it’s much cheaper now than it was a few years ago, and yes, the technology is more user-friendly than ever before. And yet, thousands of well-meaning DIY musicians are still releasing crap recordings that can’t compete in an already flooded market.

Why?

Simple: the technology doesn’t run itself.

Having access to the technology does not mean you know how to use it properly. What is more, there are other factors to consider that the technology won’t fix. If the bedroom or basement you’re recording in is acoustically bad, or if you don’t know what type of microphones to use on those drums (or where to place those microphones), these can create problems that no amount of technology will salvage. If your bass line and your kick drum are interfering with one another and causing too much Learn audio engineering! 34 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Four

“beef” in the mix, and you don’t know what virtual knobs to turn to help make room for both, all the technology in the world will be pretty much useless to you. You’re doomed to the irony of making a low quality recording on high quality gear.

The Competition is Fierce

As we discussed back in Chapter 1, the other side of indie musicians having the benefit of cheap technology is that more and more indie musicians are flooding the market with their music. This means there is more music competing for audience attention than ever before. This is where it’s important to remember that no matter how friendly you are with others in the music community, when it comes to selling music and/or concert tickets, your music is competing for market share. If you choose not to compete, you are choosing obscurity by default.

When competition is on the rise (as it currently is in the indie music scene), it naturally raises the bar for excellence, and puts pressure on the artists to make their records better. Of course, your primary asset on this front is a well-written, well-performed song, but do not underestimate the importance of a quality recording. The average listener might not necessarily know why they like or dislike a particular recording, but the subtle differences between a fair mix and an excellent mix can make all the difference in whether a listener chooses to download the song or buy the CD. Fierce Competition 35 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Four

Why You Can’t Rely on User-Friendliness

Typically, when you are using a keyboard workstation with an on- board sequencer, or perhaps working with virtual instruments in a digital audio workstation (DAW) like GarageBand, there seems to be an element of user-friendliness involved. It seems simple enough to choose a pre-done drum loop, play a keyboard bass line, throw in some cool-sounding horns or strings, and so on. It might all sound really good in your headphones, and if your ear is untrained, it could pass as professional. (Of course, you’re a little biased, because you created it.)

But here’s why you can’t rely on the user-friendly qualities of digital technology: no matter how professional that mix sounds to your ear, GarageBand those user-friendly features are basically a collection of presets for the amateur home user. Simply laying down a few tracks using your computer’s on-board virtual instruments and setting some volume levels is usually not enough to make it a high-quality recording, and depending on the quality of the sampled sounds, it only takes a few of these tracks to make the mix muddy. You still have to know certain techniques about when and how to add EQ, compression, and reverb to make the tracks stand out from one another without bleeding into each other. If you’re planning to record a guitar or vocal part, you still have to know some things about how to mic yourself, how to blend that vocal or guitar into the mix, where to place it in the sound field, and so on. There are hundreds and even thousands of variables that may have to be tweaked to make all the parts fit together, and there’s no way to do it in a “user-friendly” manner, because every situation is a little different. Microphone Placement photograph by Audio-Technica, distributed under a CC-BY-ND 2.0 license 36 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Four

Do you see how something that seems simple can become so complicated? This is why, even with all the great technology now available, the majority of indie musicians are still looking for ways to get into the professional recording studios at some point, even if they do some of the recording on their own equipment. They realize that a high-quality recording is still the best way to compete, and they have enough self-awareness to realize that they aren’t going to get that level of quality in their basement. At least, not without help.

Your Options

So, if you realize that audio quality still matters, and that you may not Studio Recording have the know-how to get that sound quality on your home equipment, you are left with a choice. You can:

1. Try to raise enough money to go into the studio to record; or 2. Learn the principles of audio engineering yourself.

Now, if you’re like most indie musicians, you are on a budget, and you don’t have tens of thousands of dollars to hire a producer or rent a recording studio for your project. Setting up a crowdfunding campaign on a website like Kickstarter or PledgeMusic can help if you already have a fan base, but it’s just good business sense to want to get the most from your money, and not spend any more than you have to in order to get a record made. The fact is, the more you know about audio engineering, the more you will be able to accomplish on Learning Audio Engineering your own, the more mileage you are going to get out of your home 37 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Four

equipment before and after going to the studio, and the less you will could certainly do that if you wish, but there are actually a number of have to pay someone else to do it for you. You might still need some more cost-efficient ways to learn your way around a recording studio. investment capital for a recording studio to do tracking or fine-tuning Here are a few tips to help you get started. that can’t be done properly at home, but the best way to get the most out of all the cheap technology available to you is to know how to use it! 1. Play with your gear. This seems almost too simple to mention, but lots of audio engineers learn the basics through simple trial and What is my point in saying all this? If you’re really going to be a DIY error. Record practice tracks, work with your DAW and any plugins musician—if you really want to do this yourself—then you need to you have, experiment with different sounds, knobs, and so on. know how to run your gear, how to operate the software, how to set It’s a time-consuming and often frustrating process—and it is not up your room, how to place the microphones, and how to mix your foolproof, because there’s no one to tell you when you’re doing it tracks once you’ve recorded them. And that requires at least a basic wrong—but the more time you spend getting familiar with your own education in the art of audio engineering. gear and software, you’ll be surprised at how much you can pick up in the process.

2. Spend time in a recording studio. Again, this might sound ridiculously Ways to Learn simple, but it works. If you have the boldness to do so, go to a recording studio you respect and offer to volunteer there. Be willing Am I saying you should get a college education in audio production, or to clean toilets or tidy up the lounge, anything to get your foot in spend tens of thousands of dollars to go to a trade school? Well, you the door. You can also look for other creative ways to establish friendships there; for example, you could offer your services as a session player and actually record there. If you do get the chance to record in the studio, pay close attention to the audio engineer and ask as many questions as you can without being annoying. Professional sound engineers are passionate about their work, and they are often more willing to share their secrets than you might think. You will probably not learn everything you need to know, but you’ll pick up useful information that can help. Play with your gear. 38 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Four

3. Consider an apprenticeship. This is an option I highly recommend, because it’s one I’ve actually done myself. One of the best ways to get a general education in audio engineering while making sure all your bases are covered is to become a student of a working audio engineer. It is actually a more effective way to learn than going to college or a classroom-based trade school, because you can literally learn on-the-job, and you can learn one-on-one from someone who actually does audio engineering for a living. While you may have to pay some money for the privilege, you will still pay a lot less than you would to enroll in a classroom-based training program. You might know an audio engineer who is willing to take you on as a student, but if not, one great option to consider is a mentor-apprentice program called The Recording Connection. The Apprenticeship Option This unique school offers a structured, accredited course in basic audio engineering at an affordable cost, which you can take in a real recording studio near where you live, under the personal mentoring of a working audio engineer.

This third option, the apprenticeship option, can benefit you on a number of levels. For one thing, it will give you a vocabulary so you can understand better how to work your gear at home. It will also teach you some basic acoustic principles so you know how to optimize your home recording space and reduce problem spots. Additionally, if you build a solid relationship with your mentor and prove yourself to be an asset in the studio, it can open up all sorts of opportunities for you in those times when you really need to be recording in the studio (for example, the engineer might give you a discounted rate or allow you to run your own recording sessions once you know what Learn From A Mentor 39 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Four you are doing there). And best of all, it can equip you with a skill set you might want to fall back on one day. (Some people who go through apprenticeships like these often discover they really like it, and decide to become full-time engineers.)

The Bottom Line

While some musical artists are naturally interested in the tech side of recording and producing, there are many others who would rather not fool with it—they’d rather just create, and leave the technical aspects to others. In a perfect world, that’s how it would be. But the trade-off for having full creative freedom in today’s indie market is that most of us DIY musicians don’t have “people” to do this stuff for us. Just like the marketing, networking and administrative aspects of our careers, we have to be responsible for the technical part of things, as well.

If you are serious about being a competitive indie musician, then the technical side of your recording career is something you don’t want to cut corners on. The bottom line is that the more knowledge you possess about audio engineering principles, the more bang for the buck you’re going to get out of all this cheap digital technology now available to you, and the less you will have to pay to have someone handle it for you. You don’t have to earn a degree in audio engineering to take advantage of the digital recording revolution, but anything you learn about audio production can only benefit you in the long run. Learn the technical skills! 40 Take Charge Of Your Music Career

Chapter Five From the Trenches: Perspectives from Two People Who Are Actually In the Business

When you get right down to it, beyond anything we could talk about in these pages, the people most qualified to discuss the current landscape of the music business are people who are “in the trenches,” people who are actually involved in the music industry. Our own discussion would not be complete without hearing from some of these hard-working people.

In this chapter, we’re going to hear from two people, a working DIY musician and a music producer, who were good enough to talk with me about the state of the music industry from their own unique perspectives, as well as offering advice for up-and-coming indie musicians. Each of these talented individuals provided keen insights that I think will benefit anyone who is serious about a career in music. I’ve formatted these conversations as straight interviews so you can read their responses in their own words.

Katey Laurel - DIY Musician

Denver-based singer-songwriter Katey Laurel has been a DIY musician since before it became a “thing,” recording her first record in her bedroom and learning the ropes as she went. She’s had several song placements in television and film, built a solid fan base through social media, and funded her upcoming record Periscope through fan-funding campaigns. She understands the entrepreneurial side of the indie music business probably more than any other independent musician I know, so she seemed a perfect person to shed some light on what it’s really like to be in business as a DIY artist. Katey Laurel 41 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Five

Katey, you’re an independent artist, so I’m assuming your connections then by that point in time -- I guess I’ve just really been self-funded to the music industry are pretty much self-forged. How do you go about for the most part until recently. I’ve saved up or I’ve been able to networking and making connections with industry professionals? work with people who wanted to develop an artist pro-bono for a back end split kind of situation. So my first studio record was that kind of That is a very good way to describe it, self-forged. I like that. So a situation, and we split the expenses and then split sales after that. obviously, the best way is to meet people in person, and I’ve been You figure out ways to get things done, even if you can’t afford to pay able to do that by developing relationships with both the Durango for it all up front. The last record I put out was partially fan funded. I Songwriters Expo and the AAA Radio Conference. These events would say probably about a fifth was fan funding via pre-order, and are sometimes expensive, but if you can’t afford to pay to go, what I the rest of it was my sweat equity. recommend to artists is to figure out a way to get there and volunteer. Offer them your services, help out, do something so you can be You just have to have a product, and you’re investing in your own present. And that’s really how I’ve gotten involved and been able to business and your own self, so don’t scrimp on it. Make sure that you meet the industry people that I have, by working at these conferences. do the best you can for the most reasonable rate that you can afford. Durango Songwriters Expo, AAA Radio Conference, I’m getting ready I highly recommend working with a producer because it’s going to cut to go to CMJ this fall, and hopefully, I’m shooting for SXSW next year. away the wheat from the chaff, and help you narrow down to your We’ll see if that happens or not. But go and meet people in person, best song and help you to define your sound as an artist. Those things that’s my biggest word of advice on that, and here’s why: because if shave time off the whole process of developing an independent artist. they meet you in person, you stand a lot greater chance of being able to follow up with people, because they tend to deal with people they Find ways to do it. There are so many ways now with crowd-funding, know, like and trust. So there’s nothing like an in-person. with whether it’s Kickstarter, Pledge Music [or others]. I actually did three separate crowd-funding campaigns for the record I’m working

You’ve released several albums independently, and you’re getting ready to release another one. How did you come up with funding for these records as an independent artist, or was it different each time?

Well, the first few records I really produced for free, because I did them myself in my apartment with Pro Tools in a Mac PowerBook. So that was kind of how I got my start, and then by the time I had a little bit of music out and it was starting to generate a little bit of interest,

42 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Five

on now. Over the span of a year, I just ran them in different circles with last couple of years…[Your fans] are out there, you just have to go different audiences; one was with SellaBand, which is in Europe, and and find them. They’re not going to find you, unless you have a lot one was [a campaign] with Kickstarter, which failed—but then I ended of exposure and a lot of marketing power behind you. But with social up following up with everybody and we did just a pre-order via PayPal networking, it’s really leveled the playing field. Independent artists at that point. You just keep going, you don’t give up. If you don’t get can go out and find their fan bases now. what you need the first time, you try again and start off small. Start off with just a few songs, just do an EP and do what you can afford to do. For label artists, they generally have “people”—there are people who hire the studio and the producer, people who help make the product, What role would you say that social networking plays in your career? distributors, marketers—basically, there is a team that comes pre- Do you find it an effective way to build a fan base? made with that kind of arrangement. But independent artists essentially have to do these things themselves. How do you divide your time I think social networking is absolutely not optional. I mean, it is between the creative processes of writing, performing, and recording, required, because in this day and age, I think that’s the way you can and the administrative processes like booking and networking and actually find your tribe -- which is how you can become sustainable managing yourself? as an independent artist, you have to have a tribe of supporters. What better way to find them than by following followers of similar artists? That’s a good question, and my first response to how I divide my time Social networking has expanded my fan base by probably 70% in the is, “Not very well, right now.” I’m kind of at the top of what I can do myself, before I’m going to start needing to add team members, and so basically it’s hard. You have to wear all the hats until you get to a point that you have to get help, which seems backwards. It seems like, you should have help and then the business grows, because you have help.

I would say that my creative time right now is definitely kind of squeezed in the cracks, between all the administration, and that’s Katey Laurel Live Performance 43 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Five just out of necessity, because if I want to be performing, be licensing and kind of seeing the songs come together the way that they’re my music, be taking care of all the administration, making sure it’s all going to be produced. Probably what I like the least is just all the registered appropriately with my PRO, make sure of all the publishing bookkeeping, accounting and emailing and contracts, and just all the and accounting--everything has to be working in order for me to feel kind of stuff that has to happen on a day-to-day basis. like I’m driving my ship and my ship’s not sinking.

So I probably spend 90% of my time right now doing business and Do you have any other advice for independent artists that we haven’t admin, and then the other percentage of the time, I’m actually writing already covered? music, recording music or performing. So those are kind of the ways that I break up my time right now, which isn’t ideal, but hopefully that I think you hit a lot of it with the networking piece, but if I could will change in the future. I do have an intern for the first time. That’s go back and learn something earlier than I did, it would be to get been helpful for sure. plugged in to where you can meet people. I would have started going to conferences and events a lot sooner than I did, and I think I’ve been working with a coach a little bit, taking some artist development that’s a really important piece. It’s about connections, but also about courses, and she says of course, the goal is to get to where you’re feedback, because you can start getting honest industry feedback spending most of your time doing what she calls “genius work.” So from people, which can help you grow your craft where it needs to she says to get to the point where you can delegate, so that you’re be, to get to the next level. The sooner you get in there and start focusing most of your time on your genius work of creating what it is getting that real feedback and constructive criticism, the faster you that you create, and then you have other people on your team kind can grow. of taking care of all the odds and ends that have to come together to make it work.

Which parts of your career would you say that you like the best, and which do you like the least?

I really love the recording process. I love the writing process, too; I think I love writing and recording equally. I like being in the studio 44 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Five

Warren Huart - Music Producer

To call producer/engineer Warren Huart a music industry veteran would be an understatement. In his years in the business, he’s worked on multiple platinum-selling projects, with album credits that include The Fray, Aerosmith, Daniel Powter, Howie Day, Better Than Ezra, Korn, James Blunt and numerous others. At the same time, Warren doesn’t limit himself to major label projects, but also frequently takes on recording projects by independent musicians. He is also a teacher and mentor to up-and-coming producer/engineers, some of whom have gone on to very successful careers.

Warren’s ability to straddle the line between the indie scene and the Warren Huart major label “establishment” gives him a unique perspective on the state of the industry and what it takes to make it as a DIY musician. is probably a little bit of a team, just having people around you that He’s understandably extremely busy, but we were fortunate to catch can do the hustling. Having said that, any artist, independent artist him for a few minutes. As you’ll see, it was time well spent. that is good at that or wants to apply themselves, to just getting out there and getting their music heard, sending it to the right people, you know, marketing their music on social media, etc., any artist willing Warren, you work with both major label artists and with independent to do that pretty much is pretty much in the same place. It’s a really artists. What is your take on the indie music scene, and what do you good time to be an independent artist, and the only thing stopping think are the greatest challenges that indie artists are facing? an independent artist is really just getting out there and getting their music heard. Whew, that’s a big question. I think that the independent artist and the major label artist are in exactly the same position, and in a good The only advantage in a major label is the money to spend on radio. way. I think the playing field has been leveled. The one thing that is Outside of that, social media is a wonderful way to get music heard. provided by a major label that isn’t available to an independent artist And for independent artists, they can produce their music, they can

45 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Five get it into blogs, write to people, they can do all the same things that When their options are up, they’re just putting records out on their major labels do, and probably in some ways they’re not hindered as own. And they’re maybe selling, you know, a fraction of what they much. If you write a piece of music and you own it, and then you have sold before; however, they own all the rights, so they’re making more a licensing company, or more importantly, a TV show, who wants to money as opposed to a percentage. use your music, you can turn on a dime. Somebody can call you up or email you and say “Hey, I’ve got $5,000 to put your music in this But if you’re starting off, you know, you haven’t had somebody spend commercial,” and as an independent artist you can say, “Yes” within a million dollars on promotion. But what I will say is whenever I meet 10 seconds. an independent artist, I try to remind them that everybody’s trying to do the same thing. Everybody is trying to get songs in film and TV [With] a major label, it’s like, “Well, we’ve invested half a million dollars and in commercials, and that really is a huge deal right now. If you in this artist, you know, and we need to get our money back, so we want can get, a commercial in California or another big state, or even a $50,000 as opposed to $5,000.” And you know, that can really sort of national commercial [which] would be better still, you know, you’re slow the process. You’re in a better position as an independent artist getting a massive, guaranteed audience, and it’s great to promote to be able to make those decisions than major labels. It’s probably your music. And I’m sure you’ve noticed that most of the music you the best time as it’s ever been to be an independent. I think the only hear in commercials is independent artists. Every now and then thing holding back an independent artist is probably just that mindset there’s an AC/DC song, but for every AC/DC song there’s a thousand of realizing that you have to be your own promoter. You need to know independent things. It really is the future, and it’s easier for commercial how to promote yourself. companies [because] they get to deal with the artist directly. It’s a whole new world. It’s so much better for independent artists than it was ten years ago. Do you think this is why there seems to be such a trend of label artists either dropping their labels or being dropped from their labels and going independent themselves?

Yeah, I think so. You know, if you’re a major label artist and you’ve had a reasonable amount of success over a period of time, you’re in an incredible position because you’ve had a major label spend millions of dollars promoting you. You had that advantage, so if you’re at the end of your contract, it’s great. I mean, so many artists are doing it. Independent Artist photograph by Michiel Jelijs, distributed under a CC-BY 2.0 license 46 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Five

So as a producer, how do you choose which projects that you’re advances, the things that really push the music industry are all done going to take? For example, in dealing specifically with independent independently. The funniest example of that is The Beatles. The artists, what makes you decide to work with one independent artist Beatles were on a comedy label called Parlophone in England. They over another? couldn’t get signed by a major label. It was only because George Martin, who was a staff producer and A&R guy, signed them and produced For all the reasons that we sort of talked about, I’m not working with their albums and thought that they had something when every label artists that I’m trying to force into molds. I don’t like to take an artist in England turned them down. It just kind of illustrates, you know, and make them the way that I want them to be. I want to just bring out the business guy thinking he knows best, when really, the audience what’s great about them…Honesty really does sell. always tells you what’s best. My whole big point is independent artists is where it’s at because all of this, all of the game changing music in I’ve talked about this a lot recently; I love the fact that Adele, Mumford the world, it’s all done by independent artists. and Sons and The Lumineers basically rule the world. I mean, isn’t that amazing, that they all come left of center? As much as labels try to lay claim to it, none of them is going to major labels. Adele made Not even just in this time period but in previous time periods. that record [21], and rejected almost everything; most of the record is the original songwriter demos that she did with Paul Epworth and Forever. Yeah. It’s been always that way, and I think that’s really Fraiser T, and, of course, Dan Wilson. Those are the demos, and important to remember, and some of them had big financial backing they’re the honest, and they’re the way when she wrote the songs, at some point, but most of them didn’t. and I think that is refreshing. And who would have pegged Mumford and Sons five years ago to be so successful? That’s all musically done outside of a traditional label business, a label model. It’s made labels lots of money, but creatively it was done independently.

I think it’s a great time to be an independent artist and look up to those people and say, “Wow, they did what they wanted to do, they made great music, it sounds honest.” I think with all the great musical Mumford & Sons photograph by HarshLight, distributed under a CC-BY 2.0 license 47 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Five

When you’re working with an independent band or an artist do you then target them. Simple as that. If you’re an acoustic guitar singer- find it easier to work with them if they have a working knowledge of songwriter [for example], and that’s what you do, then try to get to that the recording studio? audience. Post your music, send links to your music on forums and blogs in that world. It really depends on individuals, but sometimes, a little bit of knowledge can be a bad thing. You know, it can hold you back if you rely on the It’s really about just knowing who you are as an artist and then finding technical. The thing about doing this for a long time is that you, when your audience and getting yourself to your audience, because there’s things are second nature, when understanding how to get a good a big enough audience out there for any genre. If you do some really sound, knowing where to put the mic and how to record it, what EQ obscure kind of rock, heavy rock, dance music, whatever, if you do and compression to put on it--when all that stuff is second nature to some really weird, obscure thing, there’s thousands of people around you, you can just concentrate on performances and capturing the the world who would love your music. And the great thing about the right energy and emotions. That is more important than any of the Internet is you can get to them now, where before it was impossible technical stuff. to get to them. There may have been 100,000 people in the world that wanted to buy your record, but they didn’t even know you existed ten So sometimes knowing the technical stuff is useful to an artist, definitely years ago, but now, you can find them. So really, the key is know who for them to do their own demos, etc., but when they walk in through you are as an artist and then know your audience. the door, [as a producer] I want the only concern and the only thing that they have to feel and think about and put any of their emotions and energies into is just making great music. But as far as upcoming engineers and stuff, that’s where they should be going. They should know the tools of their trade so that they’re not spending time trying to figure out how to do something.

If I were an independent artist just trying to make a go of it, is there any other advice that you would give me as a music producer? What are the things I can do to make myself a success?

Outside of making music, I think you need to figure out who your audience is. You need to figure out, you need to understand in the real world who you are as a real musician, as an artist, as a singer; and once you know who you are, figure out who your audience is and Know your audience. 48 Take Charge Of Your Music Career

Chapter Six Odds & Ends And Closing Thoughts (last, but not least)

We’ve covered a surprising amount of ground in the preceding chapters, and we could certainly cover a lot more. But there are a few odds and ends that need to be mentioned which either don’t require a whole chapter to discuss or there isn’t time/space to cover in detail, but which need to be on your radar nonetheless. We’re going to go over a few of these in the following sections, followed by a few closing thoughts.

Before we dive in, however, a word of caution: just because I am calling these “odds and ends” does NOT mean they are unimportant. In fact, some of the things covered in the following paragraphs are the most important things you will read in this book. So I urge you to keep reading carefully to the end so you don’t miss anything.

Thinking Outside The Box: Critical To Your Success!

A few years ago, musician David Nevue wrote a very interesting article on the Music Biz Academy website describing how he makes a living doing music. He is not a famous musical artist, and chances are you’ve never heard of him before now. But in the article, he claims to be clearing about $50,000 per year from nothing but online downloads of his instrumental piano music—and that isn’t his only income stream.

There’s another musician in my home town, a guy named Tyler Ward. Maybe you’ve heard of him, maybe you haven’t. But for an independent artist, he’s got one heck of a fan base. A few years ago, he figured out how to leverage the Internet to gain fans and make money by putting well-crafted covers of Top-40 songs up on YouTube, sprinkled with some original tunes. He now has one of the top viewed channels on YouTube (over 1.2 million subscribers to date), has quit his day job, set up his own studio, and is helping other musical artists along a similar path. Think Outside The Box 49 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Six

These two artists have very little in common musically, but they have one very important thing working for them: they found success by thinking outside the box.

If you’ve gotten to this part of the book, then hopefully by now you’ve gotten some fresh ideas about how to think as an indie artist. Even more than that, hopefully, you are beginning to change your thinking about yourself and your career—thinking of yourself less as a struggling artist and more as a musical entrepreneur. But beyond any specific ideas or tips I’ve given you here, and beyond anything you might have learned from the professionals we interviewed in Chapter 5 - if there’s one thing above all else that you should take away from this book, it’s that you need to learn to think outside the box.

“Think outside the box.” It’s a phrase that in recent years has made it onto a multitude of overused-words-and-phrases lists. The marketplace is tired of hearing about it. I was actually hesitant to use this phrase myself (at least I’m self-aware, and realize I’m using a cliché!). But I decided to use this phrase for two reasons:

1. Almost everyone understands what it means; and 2. There is simply no better way to express this idea.

Thinking outside the box is critical in times of transition like we have now in the music industry. When the standard ways of doing things are no longer working, the people who are most likely to thrive while everyone else goes down with the proverbial ship are those people who able to get their minds to function outside of the traditional conventions and look for alternatives that others haven’t considered.

Think outside the box. Think outside the box. Think outside the box. Think outside the ⬛. 50 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Six

The reason I am drilling this phrase into your psyche is that in the continually changing landscape of the DIY music business, the most important things you could do to better your career are probably going to be things not mentioned in this book, or in any other book, for that matter. The reason they aren’t mentioned is that you have yet to think of them! They are going to be things that occur to you that no one else around you is doing, because you have changed your thinking enough to see an opportunity that others have missed. (Can you understand why we’ve focused so much on changing the way you think?)

Be Prepared To Fail, And Don’t Be Afraid Of It.

Thinking outside the box isn’t without its risks. There are things you “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” - Thomas Edison will try that will probably fail. Don’t get discouraged by this. Risk is par for the course when you are in uncharted territory. Thomas Edison had to persevere through a multitude of failed efforts before finding one way to make a light bulb that actually worked.

Why is unconventional thinking risky? High risk does not mean it won’t work; it simply means it hasn’t been tried quite that way before. Every innovation that we now consider commonplace was once considered a high-risk venture, because someone had to try it for the first time.

This is why you can’t be afraid to fail as a musical entrepreneur. Your future success may depend on trying something new. This means you probably will fail, at least a few times. You can’t find success without taking some risks. We are slowly finding our way around this new musical landscape, Be prepared to fail. 51 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Six

but there are a lot of aspects of it that are still uncharted. While many former tried-and-true methods of finding success no longer work, a vast field of other possibilities now exist, and many of them have not yet been discovered. As Warren Huart said in the last chapter, there has never been a better time to be an independent musician, simply because of all the possibilities. But finding those possibilities and discovering which things will work—that requires people like you to try and fail. Remember, the only thing that is doomed to fail is the thing that isn’t tried.

Get Over Rejection

Let’s be brutally candid here: rejection hurts. It stings. In fact, it Rejection completely sucks. And because artists tend to be naturally sensitive people, it hurts even worse for us. When someone doesn’t like our music, when an industry professional doesn’t want our songs, when people don’t come out for our shows—all of it hurts. Deeply.

But these things have been a reality of life for musicians from the beginning, even before the new indie market emerged. Whenever you put your stuff out there, by whatever means, it becomes subject to scrutiny. It doesn’t mean you don’t put it out there; it means you have to find a constructive way to deal with rejection. It’s a part of the game that no one likes, but getting over rejection is crucial to your success.

When you are thinking as a musical entrepreneur, this principle becomes all the more important, because the fact is you are entering a marketing business, and marketing is largely a numbers game. Don’t let it get you down. 52 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Six

That means that you will naturally have to weed through a lot of “no”s in order to get a “yes.” You needn’t concern yourself with the people who aren’t going to buy your record; you are looking for the ones who will—and believe me, they are out there. You don’t need to fret over the music supervisors who aren’t interested in licensing your songs; you are looking for the one supervisor who is. You have to get a thick skin over this, and realize that every “no” brings you one step closer to the “yes” you are looking for.

I’m not saying it’s easy. But I am saying it’s necessary. Learn how to let rejection roll of your back without allowing it to define you as a person, or as an artist.

Every “No” brings you closer to a “Yes”! You’re going to get rejected. Find a way to get over it, and move on.

Embrace Constructive Criticism

In tandem with the last point—when you put your music out there, you’ll also find a lot of people who want to give you their two cents’ worth over it. A lot of this criticism is simply not worth listening to, because it is rooted in jealously and a lot of other emotional baggage that has nothing to do with you. However, when a trusted friend or another music professional with your best interests at heart has something constructive to offer about how you can improve—those comments can smart at first, but they can ultimately be life-changing. They can even make the difference between success and failure for you as an Embrace [constructive] Criticism artist. 53 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Five

Because some criticism is valuable, and some is simply worthless, I While you should begin seeing yourself as a music professional, at try to make a clear distinction between constructive criticism and the the same time you should see yourself as a lifelong student of your other kind. The key, of course, is learning the difference. Comments craft, and of the business principles surrounding your craft. on the Internet by trolls, for example, are not worth your time and attention, but when your producer, manager or best friend says you No matter how good a musician you are, you can always get better. need to work on pitch or polish your songwriting, that’s something Not that you have to be an unhappy, tortured artist who is “driven” worth listening to, because that person has a vested interest in your to perfection, but the truth is, improving oneself leads to greater and success. greater measures of personal fulfillment, and you should want that for yourself. One of the best exercises you can do as an artist (and sometimes one of the most painful) is to submit your work for professional critique On the business side of things, you should be a lifelong student at a conference or industry retreat. The panel of professionals who because just when you think you’ve got the music industry figured listen to you at these types of events are there because they are out—as recent history has proven, with the new indie market—it is genuinely interested in helping artists improve, but they have the likely to change. Everything you think you know about this business added advantage of not being emotionally attached to you or your may have to be re-learned several times in the course of your career, music. There’s no better way to find out why your song isn’t getting and you will have to develop new techniques and ideas to replace picked up by a publisher or music supervisor than to go through this the ones that are no longer working. Change is the nature of things. exercise. The critique can certainly sting (although it doesn’t have to), Lifelong students will always be able to adapt. but if you will listen and think about it seriously, it could change your destiny for the better. So don’t be afraid of constructive critique; learn to embrace it, because it can only make you better as an artist.

Be A Lifelong Student

This willingness to accept constructive criticism segues into another critical point: you should never view yourself as having “arrived.” Be a Lifelong student. 54 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Chapter Six

Final Thoughts entrepreneur thinks is the way to do that, because then you can take the advice of others, assimilate it into your strategy—and then come There are obviously a lot of other aspects to being a DIY musician that up with brilliant ideas that writers like me never even thought to tell we didn’t have the time or space to cover in this e-book. We didn’t talk you. much about how to develop your press kit, or how to approach music supervisors to have your music placed in television shows or films (as You are more than an artist. You are an entrepreneur. Your successful Warren Huart mentioned in his interview, this is a huge market these music career awaits. Take charge of it. days for indie musicians). We didn’t talk about how to book a gig, or go into near enough detail about how you should leverage Facebook, Godspeed. Twitter and other social networks. We didn’t talk whole lot about the power of crowdfunding, or how to set up a successful Kickstarter campaign. Yet all these things are equally important to your success Articles / Websites Cited: Nevue, David. “Playing Music for a Living - Is it Possible?” The Music Biz Academy: Music Business 101. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 July 2013 as a DIY musician. This is where being a lifelong student comes into http://www.musicbizacademy.com/internet/justmusic.htm play, and I’ve included some suggested reading and resources at the http://www.tylerwardmusic.com end of this book to help provide a starting point for the next stages of your journey of discovery.

But if there’s anything I hope has come from our time together, it’s that you have now begun to think a different way as a DIY musician. You will always be able to find information about what formulas or angles to work, or the “proper way” to do this or that in order to further your career. But changing how you see yourself, and the way you think about your career—that changes how you approach all the other things you could learn. Thinking like an entrepreneur will open you up to discovering a whole world of possibilities you would never see by just simply studying what other people tell you to do.

Anyone can offer advice (and that’s what I’ve done here, offer you advice). But the simple act of following other people’s instructions is not really taking charge of your career. Learning to think the way an Take charge of your music career! 55 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Appendix

Additional Resources Online Resources

No doubt you are going to want to research the concepts in this e-book Here are some websites and podcasts that many DIY musicians have a bit further. Below are some helpful resources for you to get started. found useful. Also note that I’ve included a couple of specific web pages which I either cited in the e-book or believe will be particularly useful.

Books Music Biz Academy - www.musicbizacademy.com

Godin, Seth. Tribes: we need you to lead us. New York: Portfolio, Hypebot - www.hypebot.com 2008. Print. (This book is not specifically about the music industry, Specific article: “Social Media Success For Musicians – A 2012 but Seth Godin is a thought leader who has influenced the thinking Roadmap” by Mike More. [ link ] of many indie musicians. Godin is also featured in the podcast cited below.) CD Baby DIY Musician Podcast - www.cdbabypodcast.com Krasilovsky, M. William, and Sidney Shemel. This business of Specific podcast: “Seth Godin: Building a Musical Tribe” [ link ] music: the definitive guide to the music industry. 10th. ed, New York: Billboard Books, 2007. Print. IndieBible - www.indiebible.com - A comprehensive directory of resources for indie musicians, regularly updated. Available as an Passman, Donald S. All You Need to Know about the Music e-book or searchable online. (Fee-based.) Business. Eighth Edition, New York: Free Press, 2012. Print. Music Is My Oxygen – DIY Music - This is my ongoing column for Poston, Leslie. Social media metrics for dummies, Hoboken, NJ: DIY musicians on Music Is My Oxygen. [ link ] John Wiley & Sons, 2012. Print. Recording Connection - www.recordingconnection.com - This is Silverman, Rob. Music Marketing in the New Music Business the online portal for the audio engineering apprenticeship program (e-book). New York: BookBaby, 2013. Print. mentioned in Chapter 4.

56 Take Charge Of Your Music Career | Appendix

Social Networking Sites To Check Out (Again, these are just a few…)

Facebook - www.facebook.com Instagram - www.instagram.com - Photo sharing site, good for taking photos of your day-to-day activities or pics from shows and sharing instantly. Can be linked to your other Twitter - www.twitter.com social media.

MySpace - www.myspace.com - Once the go-to site for indie YouTube - www.youtube.com musicians, this one has kind of lost its way in the past few years. Attempts are being made to revamp it, but the jury is still out on this one. Some musicians still have a presence Tumblr - www.tumblr.com here.

ReverbNation - www.reverbnation.com - Networking site LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com - A networking site geared more geared for indie musicians and other industry professionals. toward business connections, can be used as a resource to Upload music, videos and press materials. Embed content connect with music industry professionals. on your other sites.

Google+ - plus.google.com - Google’s attempt at integrating Last.fm - www.last.fm - Intuitive music discovery site that social networking with all its other apps. Still up-and-coming, tracks what fans are listening to and suggests new music but a lot of people have their eye on it. Worth checking out. based on those trends. Setting up a presence here is a great way for your music to find its way to new fans.

57 If you would like to develop your entrepreneurial and musical skills to the next level, we invite you to check out the Recording Connection mentor/apprentice based curriculums in audio engineering, music production, electronic music, beat making and hip hop, live sound and live dj.

In our programs, you learn in private lessons from a top notch, music professional (i.e. entrepreneur) who is making their living doing what you want to do. There’s no better way to learn the short cuts you need to succeed in the music business.

www.recordingconnection.com

Design & formatting by Michael R. Dinerstein 58