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Finding Peace of Mind with My Music Career

You work a day job, you practice weekly with your band,  you have a family member who just got ill, your friend has a bachelor party in 2 days and you just realized yesterday you’re $200 short on rent and you have yet to send out your e-mail blast to invite your friends to your next show!

Is this is a stressful situation? ABSOLUTELY!

As a Musician you have a lot of hats to wear. Any one who views music as not a serious business is CRAZY! Think about it, we work 2 Jobs. Our day job and our real job. I mean…really…who does that?!

Then there’s the dream.  We are all working towards a specific future in our minds, but I encourage you to not let this future mess with your present-tense. Try to continue to have a personal and fulfilling life: Hang out with your friends, go have drinks, experience stuff – don’t always be working on your dream. At the same time, don’t fall into a practical routine. Be crazy. Be not the Norm. Move outside the circle of practicality and run circles around it.

While you’re running, here’s a few tips to help you get some peace of mind:

Find your support group:
This could be your brother, friend, Fan, band-mate – but find a support group.
People who love what you do and support what you do.

Excercise:
If you can’t join a gym, find a hobby where you are moving around. Tennis, Soft-ball, Football.
Two things are good about this:

1)You are getting outside of your perspective and meeting other people who are not “Musicians.”  This will build a more powerful social network for yourself.

2)You are going to need a place blow off some steam. This business is full of rejections. Lifting weights and running on a tread-mill is a lot better than sitting at home on Facebook seeing all the success your friends are having and getting depressed. Get off Facebook, join a gym and get motivated!

Build your network:
Look, we have Google+, Facebook and all of these other social networks. Find people that do what you do and meet them. Go to their shows, value their talent and get to know who they are – in return you will start creating an awesome network of music friends you can lean on in hard times, learn from and in the end, be a mentor to.

I’ve always been a big fan of Joseph Campbell’s “The Power of Myth.” In this story he talks about the Hero (Inside info: George Lucas created Star Wars from Joseph Campbell’s principles) and the Journey.  Life is a journey not a destination and we learn from our teachers. Value your friends and surround yourself with people that are motivated thinkers and encourage you to challenge yourself and take risks.

By finding a mentor, you will learn things about yourself you never knew existed, by exercising you will be in great physical and mental shape and by building a powerful support group you will always have a friend to celebrate your successes and get you through a rough patch in life.

These 3 things will keep you  connected to your music and help you build a very fruitful music career for yourself.

Contributing article written by DWmarketingmusic

Did this article help you? Let our writer know. You can e-mail him at: dwmarketingmusic@gmail.com

His music website is: http://www.deronwade.com

Finding Your Objective:

Making a commitment to music is not an easy task. You, as an artist, are required to be:
1) An Entertainer
2) A Musician/Songwriter great at your craft
3) Booker extraordinaire
4) Manager (Any one who has ever been in a band knows what I mean by this)
5) Salesman extraordinaire
6) Writer (If you want to get reviewed, you need to know how to write some great e-mails)
7) Partier (Yes. Connecting with the Industry is extremely important. Most of the time this happens in social situations like parties, bars and informal gatherings. On occassion the Music Conference (ASCAP, BMI) do present an opportunity, but really those instructors talk to so many people at those gatherings, they won’t remember who you are.

So what do you do? How do you create the awesome opportunities to get your foot in the door? This comes back to Time Management and a word we all know too well: Goals.

I hate that word. I have never followed my Goals, I just picture a big soccer ball and I”m kicking it into a net.

So what? I got a goal. Big deal. It doesn’t mean I’m going to win.

And we all want to win, right? We’re not here to play half the game and go home. So the word I like to use instead is called: Objective. What is my objective?

Every day when I wake up, I ask myself, what can I do today to further my career?

Make this fun for yourself. For instance, I had 1,000 CD”s that were just sitting in my closet for over a year’n half. A comedian friend of mine came over one day and was like, “Man, you’re always complaining about your job, why don’t you just go out and sell those CD’s!”

I just looked at him.
“Are you kidding me? Who do I sell them to?”

He told me a story.
“Deron, I’m a comedian. I do it because it’s the only thing I know how to do. I was just like you man, I had a job and I just looked over the cliff one day and I realized, this is all I want to do. Just this. I need to make it happen. And now I”m doing shows at The Improv. Stop asking questions man, just do it!”

At first this was hard. Really hard. I didn’t know where to begin or how to start? But you know what, he was right.  I love music and I just decided to go out on the street and figure out how to sell the product I had. The first day I sold one CD in 5 hours. I was amazed. I couldn’t believe it. It was possible!

So I started a routine – I started creating my objective and with a few Time Management ideas, I went out there and executed them. Within a month’s time, I was averaging 1 CD/hour ($10/Hr) and the funny thing was, what started out as a “test” turned into an actual job. I realized, I could connect/network/sell my music and not have to work a day-job. I was doing in essence exactly what my friend had inspired me to do, “Just do your thing.”

The most important part of creating an objective is knowing where you want to spend your time and executing properly. Keep it simple. One of my favorite quotes is, “Keep it simple, stupid.” KISS.  So many times we end up over-thinking things and because of this we never try them. In other words, we never failed because we never gave it a shot in the first place.

Your mind is brilliant at convincing you: Not to do things that are risky. “Risk” can lead to unsafe activities and the potential of harm. Your brain’s job is to reason and find practical solutions that will protect you.

The only problem is, following your dreams is not viewed as practical. Your brain hasn’t been programmed to deal with “risk” and “stepping out of your comfort zone” behavior. It wants to keep you right where you are, so you can be safe. But your heart knows differently. It’s not practical and understands “risk” and getting away from your “Comfort Zone” will open you to a world you never knew existed. When you start over-thinking things, go with your gut.

So to find your objective, think about what it is you really want to do right now.
Do you want to record an album?
Do you want to book shows?
Do you want to find a Manager?
Do you want to license your music for TV/Film?

Notice I did not say:
Do you want to be famous?
Do you want to play on a giant stage in front of a thousand fans?
Do you want to be 50 Cent?

These are intangible goals. By this I mean, they are not concrete objectives. They are fantasies. Put these away. You can use these to motivate you, but more often than not, thinking of these things will only depress you because you are not in front of a thousand fans with 50 Cent’s bling. You wll be, if you follow your objectives, but you won’t go anywhere if you only focus on the future. Think about right now. What can you do right now to further your music career? Then do it.

Reaching outside your comfort zone will create wild-mayhem for your brain. Remember, its goal is to control, think and give you specific guidelines on how to live your life. Your brain only knows what it knows. Obviously, what we know is a lot safer and easier to go by then the stuff we don’t know….so start learning things you don’t know.
Take Risks.

I dare you to go outside tomorrow and say hello to 5 people on the street. Just do it. See what happens.
You aren’t selling anything, just saying hello.
It’s random, weird and very strange and I guarantee you – you will learn something about this experience. You may even meet someone who will be that step to a bigger and better future.

Put yourself out there. Be creative, you’re a musician, use your mind to create new opportunities for yourself, than execute.
No one is in control of your future, but YOU. Everyone in the world will be against you, why? Not because they don’t want you to succeed, but because they are following their own objectives. It’s a two way street. Understand this perspective and you won’t be disappointed when people say no to you.  Move on. It’s a numbers game. You will meet the right contacts and find your network, but you need to keep your head up and continue to work at it daily.

Make an objective. Take on the objective. Execute.
Do not be afraid to Fail. You will, that’s the only way to succeed.
Learn from it, do it again. You will notice you will start succeeding more – your life will have more positive results – even people around you will want to hang out with you because you have this crazy, “I live life by the moment” vibe.

Life is a journey, not a destination. Take every day one step at at time. Make objectives, execute, start again.
Imagine how drastically your social network would improve if you met one new person every day for one month?
That’s 30 people you did not know before you started! That’s 30 people who “might” be able to connect you with 30 other friends of theirs. Think in numbers. Think in strategy. Think in objective and you will succeed.

Contributing article written by DWMusicMarketing

Did this article help you? Let our writer know. You can e-mail him at: dwmarketingmusic@gmail.com

Your band has been playing in front of your friends and they love your music….

You are a solo singer/songwriter now comfortable enough to sing in front of a crowd, play your guitar and put on a show without knocking the mic-stand over……

You’ve been taking your beats to the streets and now you’re ready to take your rap game to a whole new level……

In every situation, you are ready to start booking shows,  but where do you begin?

Know your niche market

Your niche market = who you are selling your music to.

“Wait a minute, what does selling my music have to do with booking a gig?”

Everything.

You need to have a venue that supports the atmosphere of your music (What’s the stage set up like?) and has a demographic of listeners that like what you do. For instance: If you are an acoustic artist,  is it a smart decision to play a venue that has a huge  heavy metal following? Probably not. In everything you do, you should be asking yourself, “How is my time being spent here? Is this going to be a valuable experience for me?”

I can’t count how many times music artists have come up to me and complained that the venue took advantage of them. When I ask, “Well, what did you want from the venue?” Their response is,  “We wanted to play.”

“Didn’t you play?”

“Well yeah, but there wasn’t any one there and then they had us get off after three songs.”

Your time is expensive. Make every moment count!

You have to want and get something out of every show you play. This is the necessary mind-frame you have to be in to run your  successful music business. If you spend time practicing and promoting your show, shouldn’t this time be worth something? For instance, either you receive x number of e-mails on your list, you get booked for another show with a better time-slot, you get the booker to refer you to another venue, etc. Get something out of every show you play! You should never walk off any stage without a plan. Every venue you play should be advancing your music career. Why?

When you do this you will start taking your music business to the next level.

In business, time is money. Same with your music business. Time is money. Why are you going to waste time rehearsing a show, promoting a show and then playing a show and not get anything out of it? Give yourself a game-plan. Don’t just go into a venue and say, “I’m going to entertain and everyone is going to love me and buy my music.” It’s not going to happen. You need to be prepared and do the work ahead of time to get the results you want. You have 3 specific jobs.

1. Entertain and sell your live performance.

2. Sell your CD/Merchandise and make some money to invest in your next gig opportunity.

3. Connect with fans (e-mail list, promote your website and social networks) and find new music opportunities.

Do one of each of these things before you leave that venue. Teach yourself to think with an objective and goal in mind. You might not reach it, but get used to doing these three things every time.

I want to interject here: CD’s are not out of date. A CD is still very relevant when it comes to selling music in a venue. The reason for this is: “Box in hand mentality.” People are a lot more excited about what they can see, feel and touch. And to get an autograph?! That’s exciting. That’s RockStar. Remember, you’re not only an entertainer, you also need to sell them the experience of playing live.

This does not mean, selling your digital music online is out the window.  It’s a 2 step process. If they can’t buy the CD, get their e-mail and offer them a free download in return. Then add an extra incentive, and make it about what is happening right then.

“If you download our album tonight, you get into our next show free of charge.”

Do you see what you are doing here? You are attacking the live music experience moment and being selective. Only those who have attended your show get these special privileges. But you’re also giving them a time-frame. One of the key elements of any sale is to let them know, there is something to lose here. Do it now and you get all of these extra benefits.

If you have ever shopped at Costco you know exactly what I’m talking about. Use these tools and increase your music sales!

You can sell a digital file the same as you would a CD. I recommend just having a table with your lap-top or use your phone. You should, if you can, have someone else gathering e-mails for you. You can usually find one of your fans to do this for you and their energy and enthusiasm for your music will have everyone signing up. Your job as a band/artist is to meet and greet everyone in the venue. It doesn’t matter if you don’t remember their name, do your best. The goal here is to show you appreciate their time. It’s just human courtesy. You have no idea how much this little meet-and-greet means to them.  This is someone who truly loves what you do.and they deserve to have a piece of your time.

Don’t mistake kindness with Free. This does not mean give them a Free CD. Value your Art. Your music is not Free. Make them see that and you win their respect. If you’d like to read more about why music should not be Free, here’s that article:  Free is for the Bees!

Which brings me to my next main point:

Know your venue

In other words, you need to know your product and what you are offering to your venue. Do not just go into a venue and ask for a gig.  Why? Because you haven’t done your homework. Are you going to go apply for a job you know nothing about? Do your research.

Knowledge is Power and it’s impressive. You are a lot more likely to get a job if you know a little bit about the company you would like to work for. The same goes for booking a venue. Know what type of music this venue books, familiarize yourself with some of the acts, go scout a show and get the “vibe” of the place before you make a commitment. Know your venue.

After you have researched your venue, you’re ready to book it.

Now what?

Know your booker

You need to find your main point of contact. More often than not, you will be searching for either the booker, music-manager or host of the night. On a rare occasion, you may have to deal with the owner directly. Always have at least 15 venues that you have researched and want to play.

How do you find your main point of contact? Do you just drive out to the venue you researched and hope in good faith your main contact will magically appear before you and give you a gig?

No. Remember Time is expensive. Both for you and for the venue you’re looking at booking.  If you are just starting out or have been doing this for years, save yourself some time and money. Call the Venue.  Do not Tweet. Do not Facebook. Call. Use the phone and make a call. When someone picks up the phone, relax and breathe, this is your opportunity to state what you want and get some information. Very simply ask, “Hi my name is _______ and I’m interested in booking. Who would I talk to about playing a show at your venue?”

Be quick here. You don’t need to tell your life-story. More then likely you have a waitress on the phone that has customers to attend to, be diligent and get what you want.

Don’t say, “Who is your booker?” Because they might not have a booker, it might just be the bartender. Your goal here is to get a name, then get the person’s name you are talking to. Why? Because when you call back up you sound like you actually have a friend in the joint. Remember that whole “trust” thing?  People want to work with people they trust.

After you get their name ask, “What time is convenient to give ________ a ring or do you think it would more convenient to e-mail him/her?”

Do you see what you just did? You received a name and now are mining for more information.  By asking these questions, without even meeting the booker, you are already putting together how he/she manages their events. Does he/she prefer e-mail over phone-calls? What’s his/her work routine? Just as you learned how to “know your venue”  it’s just as important to “know your booker.”

More often than not, you will get someone that says, “Oh, well the guy who books isn’t here right now.” or “I don’t know who it is who books the music acts.” Follow up. Get this person’s name you talked to and repeat the steps. You need to look at yourself as an information miner. Your time on the phone is getting all the information you need to find your main point of contact.

If you get a “No, no one is here to help you do that. We only work with people we know.” That’s fantastic. You’re running a business, you can’t yield successful results without getting a lot of “no’s” in the process. It’s just a given. Don’t take it personally, be consistent. More importantly: Follow up with these venues. I would say 90% of the time “No” means “not right now.” With this in mind, be persistent, but humble.  This could be a great gig opportunity for you down the road. Follow through with getting to know thy venue. Go to their shows, get to know the people there, build trust and you will get yourself in the door.

Many times these venues will have a website with  the best information to get a hold of them. Getting the main contact on the phone will be some work.  That’s the brilliance of the Internet, it can be an opportunity and a mean gate-keeper. My advice is to call. It’s harder to ignore a voice than an e-mail. Talk to someone on the phone. Get a name. Get a time to call. Get an e-mail.

If you do find a venue with a booking contact e-mail, contact them. But use your phone as your main source of communication until you are told otherwise. When you write the e-mail,  your goal is to be succinct. Do not give your life bio. Everyone is busy, it’s part of running a business. It’s so obvious it’s in the word itself.

Example:

Hello John,
My name is ______ and I talked to ________ earlier today. ____________ mentioned I should get in touch with you about booking my acoustic act. Please let me know when a good time would be to follow up with you.

Like writing an essay, get in and get out. Remember, you are busy. In fact, you have another 15 venues to contact.  By staying busy, having a plan and executing you are learning the language of business. Know your booker and understand how the venues you’d like to perform in operate.  While having great material is nice, most venues care about the bottom line: Results. Bring them customers and they will be your best friend, bring them nothing, you’ve lost a venue to play and your reputation could be on the line. Businesses like to talk. Referrals is the way of the world. If you are continuing to play venues and not having any one show up, you’re making your business look bad. On the flip side, if you are bringing in new fans every time you play and making this venue a profit, you just found yourself the talk of the town and everyone will want you to play their venue. Value your time and make every opportunity you have an extreme success.

“Show me the money!”

The booker is depending on you. If you don’t bring your people, he looks bad. There’s a lot riding on your shoulders and theirs. Work together. A good way to contribute is to ask about flyers. “Hey, I was going to print out this many flyers, you think you’d be willing to post this on your venue’s website?”

Or, “Hey I’m doing a cool Facebook promotion on my page, I was thinking every one that “Likes” my band page gets a $1 off the cover charge. 1 Like, $1 off.

This shows initiative. This shows you actually are thinking about the venue making money.  Start thinking this way. You should always be asking yourself, “How can my act make this venue a lot of money?”

“But wait a minute, I’m entertaining the crowd. I write songs. I’m working practically for Free and the venue should be bringing these people in, not me. I should be getting paid to play my songs!”

No.

You get paid, when the venue gets paid. More importantly, you get paid when you bring in results. Do you know how many times venues lose money by supporting artists because they can’t bring a few people in the door?

Following along these lines: I met this guy who was a fantastic guitarist and whose fingers moved around the guitar like bolts of lightning. He put on a great show, entertained the crowd and even had the rock-star long hair with the mysterious black shades to give him a great look. But despite all of this,  the Rock God had only one fan show up to support his show.  Do you think the venue cared that this guy might be the next Jimi Hendrix? No. Why? He didn’t bring them results. His no-fans weren’t around to buy anything and this is how these venues stay open. Do you think this Jimi Hendrix protege got another gig at this venue? Absolutely not. You can be talented and great, but just being great does not yield great  results. You need to be great as both a performer and businessman.

When you book a venue you should always be thinking: How can I help out? How can I make money for this venue?  Start thinking of yourself as a band/artist with a great product to sell. Why is this venue going to “take a chance” or “buy” what you are selling?

1. You have a lot of fans
2. You have an established social network presence on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
3. You have ideas. In fact, you want to offer incentives to your fans based around the venue’s business model.  What are they selling? How can you help them make a profit. If you are helping the venue turn a profit, they will return the favor.

“Wait a minute. Why am I helping them? Shouldn’t I be the one getting paid here, instead of working for free?”

You are not working for Free. You are building a relationship with a potential client who will, if he sees value in you, pay you. This is a business. Learn the rules and you will succeed. So many Artists, think they can fly by with talent, good looks and skill. The real ones that make it, have either a huge marketing team working for them every second of every day, or they are committed to making every one of their shows a win-win situation for both the venue and themselves.  If you are bringing in people to the venue’s  establishment and helping the owner pay their bills and get the vacation on the calendar they have been staring at for months, they will keep you around. Will you get paid? Yes, but I encourage you to think outside the box. Money is important, so is building a relationship with a venue that supports your music and gives you a place to build your fan-base. What else can you ask for besides money? Perhaps a better time-slot? Perhaps free drinks at the bar and a meal? Again, you will get to the point where you will be negotiating a pay-check, but there are steps to this process. Patience is a virtue, be patient and you will get paid. Build your relationship, the rest will follow. When it comes to booking a gig, most bookers will say something along the lines of, “Bring in 20 people and you get the full cover after 20.” I usually don’t play for places like this. I prefer the number 10. “Bring in 10 people and then we’ll split the cover.” After you prove yourself and are bringing in consistent numbers, you can talk about getting a % of the bar, instead of just the cover, or you may just want to settle on a number that you’d like to get paid. A percentage of the bar is not an easy feat, but if you do pull this off, your hard work will pay off in dividends.

Don’t sell yourself short.

Do not get taken advantage of!

If you can’t bring enough fans to a specific venue:

Say No.

If you aren’t happy with the venue and you feel like you’re being pressured:

Say No

If you just feel intuitively, for whatever reason, that this isn’t the best opportunity for you:

Say No

No is a great word. It means you are selective. It means you value your business and not every opportunity that comes your way is an opportunity. I’ve turned down hundreds of showcases.

I’ve been told, “Look, you just have to bring 35+ people, there are going to be A&R Reps and Music Licensing Supervisors there.”

Do you think there were? No. Why? Because they are doing the same thing you are trying to do: Selling their story. Every one of us has the dream of being  seen by someone who will launch our career. Many venues will prey on this weakness. Don’t fall for it.  I encourage you to say No.

There’s that saying, “Say yes to every opportunity that comes your way.”

Well, decide first, if it’s even an opportunity. Then ask yourself, if it’s worth your time, money and emotional investment. Spin it on the ones offering the opportunity to you. Ask yourself, why are they offering me this opportunity? What am I getting out of it? Don’t ever say “yes” right away or sign any contracts without stepping away from the situation. Take your time. Weigh your options. You have a long life to live full of music and making these decisions, pace yourself and don’t just jump at every opportunity because some guy is promising the world to you. He has an agenda. Everyone has an agenda. It’s business.

The good news here is, if you are good at what you do, know how to run your business correctly and have a great product to sell, you will be found, don’t worry about it.  Concentrate on being Great at running your business/booking your venues and take some pressure off yourself by saying no. You did not lose that specific opportunity, just gained another one.

To Succeed, is to Fail……

When you start booking gigs for yourself, take everything you do as a learning experience. People are not very nice in this industry. Like you, they are extremely busy, have dead-lines to meet and they are always pushing to be more successful. Understand this. When you meet someone that is not very nice to you, that’s alright. They don’t “owe” you anything. Appreciate any one that offers you a hand and give them the respect they deserve. You do not make it in this industry Alone. You make it by being respectful and understanding how the game is played, who is playing it and offering to jump in and play a round.

My point is, things are not going to always run smoothly, that’s fine. Some of the most successful people are the ones that failed thousands of times. One of my favorite quotes is by Benjamin Franklin, “It’s not that I failed. It’s just that I found 10,000 things that do not work.” The key here is to stay persistent and keep going. Do not give up and enjoy the learning experience.  When you go into the ring as a boxer, you may know your opponent is a lot stronger in certain areas, but weaker in others. Preparation is what will take you over the top. Know your opponent, get into the ring and show them you can fight just as long and hard as them.

What’s your story?

Think about it. Everywhere we go, we are being sold stories. Stories about computers (Ipad), stories about e-books, (the nook) – The world revolves around creating, building and selling products with stories. Know your story, know their story, sell the product.  Be smart, effective and masterful in your craft.

You don’t need to be great at sales. Selling is talking to people. That’s it. Talk and get your foot in the door and then move to the next step. It’s not a race, if you truly love what you do, you will be doing this forever. Relax. Enjoy the adventure and the journey. When you mess up, congratulate yourself. You just learned a very valuable lesson, now don’t mess up the same thing again. The only way to succeed is to fail. You have to know the face of failure to be able to succeed on any level. Every time you hear “No!” you are that much closer to hearing the word, “Yes!” Be patience, be consistent, be diligent, know your story and theirs inside and out and you will be successful at booking shows and making a live-performance career for yourself.

Ask yourself these 5 questions, before you start booking venues:

1. What are you selling?

2. Why are you selling it?

3. Who is buying what I’m selling?

4. How are those that are buying what I’m selling benefiting from it?

5. How can I help them benefit even more?

One of the great actors of our time Al Pacino said it perfectly when he was asked, “What is it about you that makes you a great actor?” With a laugh, he responded, “When I’m acting, I’m not thinking about myself at all.  It’s about being honest to the story and making the other person I’m with look good.”

Make whoever you are working with look great and more often than not, they will make you look great in return.

Contributing Writer: DWMarketingMusic

Did this article help you with booking venues? Let our writer know. You can e-mail him at: dwmarketingmusic@gmail.com

Deron Wade is a contributing writer to TuneCube. As a singer/songwriter Deron Wade  has sold over 2,000 CD’s on the streets and has had his music featured in VH1, MTV and 2 Independent Feature Films.   He is the founder of both MyTuneForYou.com : A website focused on writing personal/customized songs for any occasion and the The Independent Scene: A Live Indie Music Artist Community that maintains an open mic, showcase for bands and a live acoustic venue for unplugged artists in and around the Los Angeles area.

Music Website: http://www.deronwade.com

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Club Beats, Dance Beats, Dirty South Beats, Drum & Bass, East Coast Beats, Funk Beats, Fusion Beats, Hardcore Beats, House Beats, Neo Soul Beats R&B Beats, Reggae Beats, Sample Beats, Techno Beats, Underground Beats, West Coast Beats, Pop Beats & more!

Here is a TuneCube producer’s music  store widget: 

I’m in complete agreement with these protests: It’s hard right now and Corporate Greed has a lot to do with it, but to quote the Foo Fighters, “It’s times like these, we learn to live again.” When I have 8 dollars in my pocket and every craigslist job ad I answer is a scam, I’m forced to think outside the box and get into a sink or swim mentality. This is when I excel and you can too. As a matter of fact, I think any Musician or Producer out there who is trying to find a job right now is in a better position than anyone else out there seeking employment. Why? Because if you have one track recorded, you have a product to sell. That’s all that matters!

Why not, take this time of Economic Crisis and Hard-Living to learn a little more about your craft and how to market your music to the masses? You have a product, now sell it and go into business for yourself. The best part is, you can make your own schedule and no one is breathing over your shoulder and keeping tabs on how many times you’re going to the restroom. Of course this can be a double-edged sword, you do need to work, but the key here is to have fun and be your own portable store-front out on the streets where you live. Think about how cool it would be if you could meet 10 people tomorrow who listen to your music, like it and buy it? I’m telling you, I do this every day right now and you wouldn’t believe the difference it’s made with my online sales.

Yep. I know it’s confusing. I just said I’m out on the street selling my music, but I’m actually making sales online. How does that work? If you want to increase your music sales online, social networking on twitter, facebook, your own website or blog is a good way to start out. That’s why I like TuneCube. It’s easy, you get your store embed code and paste it on specific sites with your niche demographic of listeners. With a click of the button you’re in the business of selling your music online.  Now to build your fan-base, if you’re like me, you start with your fans and friends, get a few referrals from friends of friends and then begin working on building your Facebook Fan Page and Twitter account. But what happens when the well runs dry? When all you have to depend on is your Twitter, Facebook and the amount of visits you get on your website per day?  Where do you find new Frands? (Frands=Fan and Friend, what a fan should be.) It begins and ends on the street.

There is no better way to make a sale, then a firm handshake, eye-contact and smile. This can’t be done online, but I can guarantee what you do out on the street will help you sell your music online. Your first step is to get the necessary materials you’ll need for street-music-marketing promotion. Go to Staples or Office Max and get yourself 100 blank CD’s and some CD Sleeves. It’s cheap and easy. Now, you need a pair of headphones and something to play your music on. Your goal here is light. K-Mart is fine for headphones and you can get a cheap mp3 player for about $25 there too. Be resourceful: Do you have a recording engineer friend who might lend you a pair of head-phones? You don’t need an mp3 player, if you have an iPhone, more power to you. If you’re old school, go with a disc-man, but I personally don’t like how bulky these are, and it’s hard to keep them in your pockets.  Just think user-friendly: You  don’t want to overwhelm your customer with too much crap in your pockets. Keep things light and organized. Now go to the dollar store near you and pick up a permanent marker, Pen and a small notebook, preferably one you can keep in your pocket.

Most importantly is your product. Before you go anywhere, count out 20 CD’s. Burn the tracks you have onto your Blank CD’s – put them in their respected sleeves and find a back pack, or something that will work for carrying all the required material you’ll need to make your sales. Before you go anywhere, give yourself a goal. Make it attainable. This is your first day, so shoot for 1. Put it on your wall. Keep telling yourself, “I will sell 1 CD today. I won’t stop until I sell 1 CD!”  It doesn’t matter what you sell it for, just sell it. Don’t give it away for Free. Remember, this is your time. You are out there, working hard. If you can afford to just burn CD’s and give them away for Free, then do it. I’m gearing this article more towards those that do not have financial stability and are looking to make some cash pretty quick. Finally: Get a price in your head on how much your CD is going to sell for.  I sell my CD’s for $10. They are professionally packaged, so my rate is quite fair. It’s not bad to price each of your songs at $1, that way with 5 tracks, you’re looking at $5. Now that you have your figures straight, where are you going to go on your first day of selling your music on the streets?

Make a list of a few public places. Malls, Movie Theaters, Grocery Stores, Farmer’s Markets, that’s just a few to get your mind going. Don’t be too picky. There is never a right or wrong place. Some of my best days are in places with little-to-no traffic, it’s more intimate that way. The next step is to choose 1 location you would like to go to tomorrow. Stay positive. Don’t think, “I have no idea what I’m doing, no one is going to buy. This is stupid. It’s not going to work.” Get those negative ideas out of your head. You’re goal is 1 in 100. That’s it. Talk to 100 people. 1 person will buy. I don’t care what you say, how you say it, keep track of how many people you talk to and 1 person will buy. The best part is, who cares if they don’t buy, if they listen and like your music: Get their e-mail, thank them for their support and let them know just for being on your e-mail list you’re going to send them a Free Mp3. Do you see what I’m doing here? Create incentive, make your Fans feel important and they will return the favor. Your time is valuable, so make it worth it! Get something from every single person that STOPS and talks to you. You’ll be surprised at how fast your e-mail list is going to fill up. Also, a good idea is to make a quick note about this person: Did they say something funny? How are you going to remember this person later on? You want to CONNECT. My suggestion is to not sell them, just talk to them, at some point they will ask you, “What are you doing out here?” Make the Sale.

I’m not going to say this is easy. Talking to 100 people is the hard part. You’re going to feel humility because a lot of people are going to tell you No. That’s fine. They aren’t your customers, keep talking, keep smiling, keep pitching and keep learning. The more you do this, the better you’ll get. I know you don’t want to go out there and make a fool of yourself, but look at it this way. Life is about risk. It’s about failing. It’s about falling down and seeing what happens. You can’t learn how to be successful until you fail. I’ve fallen a lot. I’m still falling, but I’ve also succeeded through those failures. You’re learning your business, so just go out there with a “Let’s just see what happens” mentality. You will get a YES and it’s a wonderful moment. Just stick with it. Remember, no one is going to work as hard as you are at making your Music Happen. You can play shows and sell your album to your existing fans, but what happens when you’ve run that course? What are you supposed to do when you start seeing the same faces at every show? You have to find new ones and unless you have a lot of money, know Mark Zuckerberg as a personal friend or are extremely extroverted and your the Town Mayor’s son/daughter, finding new fans is work and that takes going out on the street.

My goal here is to show you how with a little hustle and some street-smarts you can take offline and make it work for online and vice-versa. You don’t need to do this full time, you can do this on your days off – but DO IT! You’ll yield fantastic results and no one is more inclined to buy your album then a frand who you met on the street, loves your music and sees how hard you’re working to make your dreams happen.

 Contributed Article by DW Music Marketing

Want to learn more about street-marketing? Send me an e-mail: dwmarketingmusic@gmail.com

Deron Wade is a proud member of TuneCube and contributing writer for the TuneCube Blog.  http://www.tunecube.com/profile/deronwade

He has to this day sold over 2000 CD’s on the streets of LA. His song, “LA” was written and inspired by his time on the streets – We’ve included his “LA” Music Video below.

Selling your own music is all part of the evolution of the music industry and the control has been steadily transferring hands from the studios and big businesses to the musicians and producers. Finally, technology is making it possible to control music from beginning to end.

As mentioned in the TuneCube blog with Bomb Squad’s Hank Shocklee, back in the day you needed the studios to record, produce, mass produce and promote to be successful and reach the masses. Now all you need is a computer and the Internet.

Think about it: Do we as Musicians and Producers say to ourselves these days, “Gee i need a music label so I can record an album?” No. These days we can buy our own computer and recording equipment and record it ourselves or we go to a privately owned studio and produce it ourselves and own it. So why are we still listening to the ghosts of record label’s past chanting a dead mantra in our ears?  “You need a demo in ordered to be “discovered” and get “SIGNED to sell your music online or off.”

This has to stop. Musicians may not be leaning on labels and studios anymore but there is still that falsehood of “I need someone else to be successful!” This is why all the digital distribution platforms are now assuming the role of gate keeping and charging Musicians and Producers a toll to sell their music.  With a tool like TuneCube and all the free social networking sites and email capabilities is there any reason you absolutely need an iTunes or Amazon? As a DJ, I make 100% commission with TuneCube and know who is purchasing my tracks. Do I really need anything else?

I understand joining one of these other middle-man services, might be a little less legwork on your part, but by being lazy you are parting ways with a portion of your profits.  Are you really saving in the long run?  Sure it may lead to more sales since the stores have a large presence and customer base and my response to that is to go ahead and keep using them… but why not open your own store?

TuneCube gives you the power to open your own store and:

1. Leverage your social popularity.
2. Play some shows,
3. Start an email list,
4. Make a Facebook Fan page w/ REAL FANS who BUY YOUR MUSIC.
5. Be the master of your own destiny.

Best of all you’re selling music on Your Terms, not Theirs.

Contributing article written by Johnny Feliciano – DJ/Producer/Engineer/Member of TuneCube http://www.tunecube.com/profile/jonja_productions

While the internet has created a vast new world of opportunities for Musicians and Producers to sell their music online, it’s also created a world of serious ADD. Every day you have new websites popping up offering the next best thing to help you sell your music online and get ahead. How do you weed through all the nonsense and find the good stuff? You have to be educated. You have to have an idea of how to “sell” yourself and what you want  from your music career. For instance, do you want to get signed? Do you want to get published? Do you even know what these things mean?

For some period of time (roughly from the 1950s to the mid-to-late 1990s) the label system (and its related satellite elements: PROs, managers, agents, etc…) was divided between those who have knowledge and those who don’t.”Getting Signed” still seems to be the Big Thing these days. You have to hand it to the Record Labels for marketing the hell out of that phrase. It seems to be the only way an Independent “Unsigned” Artist can make it these days. And you have to love the whole labeling, “Unsigned vs. Signed.” What the heck does that mean any way? Is an Artist that’s “Signed” more competent than an “Unsigned Artist?”

There’s this idea that just because we’re creative minded individuals who make music, we’re not good at being business savvy. This is a ridiculous theory. The idea that you can’t create a sustainable career on your own terms, without the backing of a label (major or otherwise) is empirically ludicrous.  No, not everyone will be able to do it, but the point is it is possible without a traditional label.  Anyone that says otherwise is wrong.

But that’s the point here, you have to understand how to market yourself and be business savvy to work as an Independent Artist and survive in the world today.  The key here is to inform yourself of the main components of your Music Career and build on these things. Don’t overwhelm yourself with too much at one time, but definitely know the basics. Copyright. Publishing. PRO’s also knowns as Performance Rights Organization. You need to know these things, so you can make your business work.

Then it’s probably a good idea to ask yourself where you want to focus all of your energy? Do you want to License your Music for TV and FILM? Do you want to play live shows, build a fan-base on line and off and focus on getting signed? Do you want to get your music played on the radio and go from there?  How do you, as an Independent Artist want to run your marketing campaign?

And while you’re asking yourself these questions, it’s a good idea to be well-informed on what’s going on out there in the world of music right now. “Knowledge is Power” and guess what? The Record Labels didn’t heed this knowledge. Only when Napster started coming along and decided to shake things up by offering Free Music to the masses, did they finally open their eyes and say, “Oh, well, this might just be an issue afterall.” While they fell asleep at the driver’s seat, they put you in control. You don’t DEPEND on just them to get your music out there. You have many options to help sell your music online and off and because of this you are now in control. How do you stay in the driver’s seat? Educate yourself. Take a half hour every day and learn something new about the Music Industry. How can you take your music business seriously if you don’t know about the Music Business you’re trying to break into?

Here’s a few things that you should learn more about:

Learn what a Performance Rights Organization (PRO) is.

WHY:

Every single time your song, be it your recording or a cover version, sells, streams, is played on TV in a bar or anywhere else publicly, you are supposed to get paid. In 2009, the PROs collected over $10 Billion dollars owed to artists that wrote songs.  Did you get your share?  If not, they gave it to Warner Bros., EMI, Universal and Sony.

 Learn what the bundle exclusive rights is that an artist automatically receives when he or she creates an original work, and fixes it in a tangible medium.

WHY:

Because knowing that whenever you create an original work and fix it in a tangible medium (write it down/record it), you get six exclusive rights that you, and only you, can utilize.  With this knowledge, you will be well on your way to understanding how to monetize your passion for music.

Those six rights are:

1.  right to reproduce

2. right to distribute

3. right to publicly perform

4. right to display

5. right to create derivative works

6. right to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

Each one of these copyrights has the potential to make you a LOT OF MONEY.

 Learn what music publishing is.

WHY:

Because as the creator of a song you get six legal copyrights.  Then you need to license these rights and/or collect the money owed to you.  You will need to hire someone to do this for you.  How the heck will you know if they are doing their job if you don’t know what they are supposed to do!

Learn what a mechanical license is.

WHY:

Because this license is what you will employ in order to make sure you get paid whenever someone wants to reproduce and distribute your song on a record or a download; this is true whether you perform the song, or if it’s being covered by another artist.

Learn what a controlled composition clause is.

WHY:

Because this clause — inserted into recording contracts, where the artist who is signed to the label also writes the songs that are on the record — can drastically cut into your income from…mechanical license fees (see above).

Learn what an “assignment” clause in a contract is.

WHY:

Because this clause allows for labels, managers, publishers, et al., to transfer ownership of the most important thing you created – a copyright – without your consent! Learn what they heck it is you are giving up before you give it up.

 Learn what a royalty “point” is.

WHY:

Because that’s the language used in the industry to describe how you would get paid in return for transferring your rights.  Understand how it is actually being calculated. If it cannot be explained to you in a way you understand, walk the hell away from the deal.

Learn that there are two copyrights involved when a song is released on a CD or download.

WHY:

Because if you don’t know this, you don’t know the very basic underlying principle that drives money around every single piece of recorded music.  There are TWO copyrights for a recording: one for the person who wrote the song, and one for the entity that owns the recording of the song.

 Learn how to clear a sample.

WHY:

Because if you don’t, and you use an uncleared sample, you could have your ass sued.  And if you find someone else using your music or song without getting the right from you, you can sue their ass.

Learn what a “synch” is.

WHY:

Because “synch” licenses can make you a LOT of money.  Understand what the heck you are licensing and WHY this license is needed.

 Learn the difference between an interactive and non-interactive stream.

WHY:

Because the entire music industry is moving to streaming. This means people can listen to music without owning or downloading it.   The old industry paid you when the CD sold, the new industry pays you when the song is listened to.  You need to understand what the two different types of streams are in order to understand how much money is owed to you, where to get it and/or what rights must be granted to allow someone else to stream your song and recording of that song.

 Learn the difference between copyright and a trademark.

WHY:

Because if you don’t you might be forced to change your band name after making 12 dozen t-shirts.

Learn what an intra-band agreement is (if you’re in a band).

WHY:

So you don’t kill each other or break up when you become successful

Learn what an LLC is.

WHY:

Because not doing so can set you (and your family) up for tremendous liability should something go wrong/you get sued, etc…

Look, we’re at an inflection point.  The “old” business doesn’t work.  Really.  It doesn’t.  Remember what we said about going from downloads to streams?  This means that labels who were accustomed to making $11 each time a CD sold for $17.98 had to become accustomed to netting out at something like $7/album or $0.70/single.  And now they have to adjust again as they will soon be looking at $.000003 per stream. THEIR SYSTEM WILL NOT WORK.  So, we have an opportunity here to begin again, and put our heads together, and start a new system up (RIP R.E.M.).

This time we can do it in a manner where all parties involved are clear on the relationships (risks and benefits).  TRANSPARENCY in information and in money is the answer. This transparency and clarity will eliminate the ethical problems that have plagued this business we love since it began.  No more bitching about getting screwed, now you know what to expect.  In so doing, we level the playing field.  At that point, we don’t have the moral hazard of artists taking undue risks because they think the label will bail them out, and its reciprocal action of labels taking advantage of artists because they don’t trust the artists.

As Edith Wharton said of Baltimore, “there’s no there there” when it comes to the record business any more.  However, as with nature, business abhors a vacuum.  It’s up to us as to how we elect to fill the hole.  We vote for filling it with knowledgeable, empowered artists who are able to sustain their artistic careers on their own terms. All of you are a hell of a lot bigger than “them.”

Information source provided by George Howard – former president of Rykodisc. He currently advises numerous entertainment and non-entertainment firms and individuals. Additionally, he is the Executive Editor of Artists House Music and is an Associate Professor of Music Business/Management at Berklee.

Intro written by DW Music Marketing