Category: Tips

  • 3 Ways to Help Create a Winning Mindset

    3 Ways to Help Create a Winning Mindset

    If you work in the arts, you work in one of the toughest professions in the world. I once heard someone describe it as “getting kicked in the nuts every day and having to say ‘thank you’.” Ouch. Artists are constantly putting themselves out there, baring their souls, and getting doors slammed in their faces…

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  • 6 New Year’s Resolutions Every Indie Musician Should Make

    6 New Year’s Resolutions Every Indie Musician Should Make

    2016 is, finally, coming to an end. After an exhausting year like this one, I love looking ahead to New Year’s Eve. Not just because I love champagne and countdowns, but because it’s that special time of year to break out the new planner and set some goals in stone. This time of year is perfect for…

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  • The Art of the Pitch: Get Press for Your Band with a Concise, Compelling Story

    The Art of the Pitch: Get Press for Your Band with a Concise, Compelling Story

    From laying the foundation with strong relationships, to doing the tedious research, there are a number of moving parts that go into securing a feature on your music, all of which fall second to what really does the trick: the pitch. This article is for those of you who are looking to get into music…

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  • Intro to Electronic Drumming: Adding a Drum Pad into Your Performance Setup

    Intro to Electronic Drumming: Adding a Drum Pad into Your Performance Setup

    Becoming comfortable with playing electronic percussion is a vital skill for the modern drummer, especially when playing contemporary, digital-heavy genres such as trap, neo-soul, and pop-rock. Contemporary music production has a tendency to involve a combination of very specific drum sounds and completely electronic sounds that cannot be easily emulated by acoustic drums, and as a…

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  • A Label, a Music Magazine, and a Band Weigh in on the Importance of Email Marketing

    A Label, a Music Magazine, and a Band Weigh in on the Importance of Email Marketing

    This summer, Dan Oshinsky, Director of Newsletters at Buzzfeed, penned a piece in which he argued that email marketing is now as important as ever. I found this interesting, and my own feelings somewhat conflicted, for two reasons: Personally, I hate corporate update emails. I ignore them most of the time. I do pay attention to emails from…

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  • A Guide to Best Practices for Seamless Audio Collaboration in Your DAW

    A Guide to Best Practices for Seamless Audio Collaboration in Your DAW

    As DAW and recording technology gets ever better, musicians can collaborate in ways they’ve never imagined… which leads to a whole new host of problems.

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  • Which Crowdfunding Platform Is Right for Your Next Music Project?

    Which Crowdfunding Platform Is Right for Your Next Music Project?

    For artists, depending on your patrons’ support is a practice as old as time. But these days it goes by another name: crowdfunding. You’ve probably already considered a crowdfunding campaign at some point in your career, and you’ve definitely already seen other musicians in your circle fund (or attempt to fund) their projects this way. It’s one…

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  • How to Find Your Vocal Range and Write It on a Résumé

    How to Find Your Vocal Range and Write It on a Résumé

    Your vocal range: It’s present at the top of all your résumés, and is so basic that it’s right there next to your name, height, and contact information. But unlike the URL to your website, your vocal range can be subjective, and tough to describe accurately. And if you’re interested in working in musical theater,…

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  • 5 Alternative Ways to Make Money from Your Music

    5 Alternative Ways to Make Money from Your Music

    By Nicholas Rubright In today’s environment where music is consumed mostly from streaming and free sources, making money from music sales seems like a thing of the past. CD sales were replaced by downloads fees, which are now being replaced by royalties from music streaming, often worth less than the checks they’re written on. While free…

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  • Social Media Made Easier: Content Planning for Musicians

    Social Media Made Easier: Content Planning for Musicians

    You’ve decided how you want to brand yourself online. You’ve created your band’s social media pages. You’re posting regularly, and still, you’re not seeing results. The solution: content planning. By putting all of your energy into posting new content without thinking about the big picture, you’re only getting half the job done. Instead, set marketing goals,…

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RJD2: From Samples to Songs