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Limited Run Brings You to Your Fans

Posted on April 6, 2012 By

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With traditional methods of merchandise distribution going the way of the dinosaur, it can be challenging for an indie band to get their products out to the people who want them most. Unless you know someone at one of the big distro sites, you’re stuck selling shirts and CDs out of the back of your van. Thankfully for those of us without connections, Limited Run offers a more direct way to get your music and merchandise to fans who otherwise wouldn’t have access.

Limited Run allows musicians to set up their own online shops. These shops carry anything from digital or physical copies of albums to shirts to stickers. Setting up a site on their platform takes little time and lets you get your products out sooner rather than later. On top of that, they offer Sound Cloud integration, which lets you stream your full album, a few tracks, or just the single. The best part of their system is that they don’t charge you fees unless you sell something, so you have the freedom to put your product out there without having to worry about paying for something no one is using.

Isn’t that better than trying to sell your merch out of the back of your van?

Twitter for Musicians, A New Guide

Posted on March 16, 2012 By

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Twitter published a how-to page for musicians (https://dev.twitter.com/media/music) that is full of tips and advice on how to manage a solo musician or band Twitter account. You might already be doing a lot of the things mentioned in the guide but its still a handy guide for Twitter newbies or inspiration for old hands.

Twitter is an incredibly powerful tool to promote a fan funding campaign so be sure to give this guide a read if you are planning on launching a TuneFund campaign in the future.

hearitlocal.com Adopts Crowdfunding Model

Posted on March 15, 2012 By

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Having been in a band for the better part of college, finding a gig was one of the hardest parts of making it. The tunes were there, but getting a place to showcase them was nearly a full time job. Using a crowdfunding model, Hear It Local (http://www.hearitlocal.com) is taking an new approach to connecting musicians to venues, promoters, and, ultimately, the audience. According to this TechCrunch article (http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/14/hear-it-local/), Hear It Local recently relaunched their site. After launching as a hub for musicians to consolidate their social media profiles and stream music, Hear It Local has moved towards hooking promoters and venues with talent. This service is perfect for putting together private events at music blowouts like SXSW and CMJ. Essentially,  musicians create profiles with music streams and info about the band, which promoters can browse and book bands for events. Then, they can use the Hear It Local’s platform to go through the booking process and even set up the event on a donation basis. The donation acts as a ticket, allowing anyone who donates to a campaign to get into the show. While the Hear It Local won’t guarantee your band that big gig at Emo’s, it can definitely help you get in front of the right people to get you on stage.

40 Revenue Streams for Musicians

Posted on February 18, 2012 By

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The Future of Music Coalition is an amazing resource for musicians. They provide research studies on a variety of music related topics. They published a simple yet informative article; 40 Revenue Streams, that list all of the ways a musician could earn money. The article also includes a brief intro that defines the two types of copyrights a song could have.

In today’s highly fragmented music landscape with multiple revenue opportunities you need to know where to concentrate your efforts and where to channel your music for greatest financial return.

Put a Dollar Value to Your Music

Posted on August 1, 2011 By

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At last week’s Inside the Industry Artist Management Panel and Showcase event put on by RevebNation in NYC one of best quotes coming from the stage was, “If you can’t put a dollar value to your music you’re fucked.” The statement came up during a discussion about the need for musicians to be just as on top of the business aspects of their career as the music and creative aspects.

Like any other entrepreneur, independent musicians need to understand the money coming in and going out of their enterprise. You need to understand and quantify you’re monthly career expenses and figure out the revenue generated from your music. How much do you need to make each month to cover expenses and break even? How much do you need to bring in to make a profit? Are you hoping to cover all of your personal expenses and live off your music or do you still have a day job? When can you quit your day job? The questions you have to ask yourself are no different than the questions any other entrepreneur needs to ask as they go through their business planning exercises.

And the cool thing is, the better you understand your financial situation the freer you’ll be to create great music.

Spotify Launching In the US – Get Your Music On Spotify

Posted on July 13, 2011 By

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Spotify is finally going to launch in the US tomorrow. I’ve been waiting to use this service for at least a year. Here’s a blurb from the NYTimes.com article today:

Spotify will be offered in the same three-tier plan that it has in Europe: a free, ad-supported version; a basic ad-free version for $5 a month; and a premium service for $10 a month that adds access on a mobile phone, higher audio quality and other perks.

At first, Spotify’s free version will be available by invitation only, given out through current users or by the company to the thousands who have requested the service on Twitter and through its Web site. (Paid subscriptions will be available right away.)

With its lightning-fast interface, easy integration with Facebook and “freemium” business model, Spotify has quickly become the most popular such service in the world. Begun in Sweden in 2008 and until now available in only seven European countries, it has signed up 1.6 million paid subscribers and more than 10 million registered users in total. It also has been one of the fastest-growing investments in the new digital boom, having recently raised $100 million in a round of investment that valued the company at $1 billion.

In December of 2009 I received an email from Spotify about getting my music onto their service. They suggested using one of the following services:

http://cdbaby.com/
http://www.recordunion.com/
http://www.dittomusic.com/
http://www.zimbalam.com/

I’m sure they have agreements with most artist-aggregators so check with yours. I use IODA and received notification of my IODA distribution agreement being modified to include Spotify in July of 2009.

I’m definitely looking forward to trying Spotify out, I hope if lives up to the hype.

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