An Interview with James Moore of Independent Music Promotions
Independent Music Promotions (IMP) was one of the first PR firms I found as I was getting into the music marketing space. And to this day, I think they have my favorite slogan / mission statement: “Worldwide promotion and PR for music with depth.” That “music with depth” part jumped off the page for me; […]
How Much Money Do Musicians Make?
Near the end of 2021, I ran a survey asking indie musicians two basic things: How much money they expected to make this year, and… How they expected to make it. (For the rationale behind why this information matters – and why it’s surprisingly hard to find – check out this article introducing the concept […]
Why Should You Submit to Music Blogs?
Let’s start with the bad news: You should not submit to music blogs if your primary goal is to get new fans. (And you should definitely not submit to organizations that try to scam you with paid placements.) I run the site you’re reading right now. It’s a mid-level-ish music blog that’s decently respected in […]
Springtide’s “Fall Asleep Under Millions of Stars” Is a Heady Rush of Textures
I haven’t gone camping in a while. But when I was a little kid, my family had a pop-up camper, and we’d often spend weekends out at some state park, roasting s’mores around a campfire, telling ghost stories, and, of course, looking up at the stars. It’s been a while, but I’ve always found being […]
Song Promotion in 2022: How I’d Spend $300 to Get Real Results
Congratulations! You’ve made a song. At least, I’m guessing that’s the case, seeing as you’ve landed on this article about song promotion. I guess there’s also a chance you’re close to finishing a song and you’re starting to think about “next steps” – in which case congratulations are also due, because you’re impressively on the ball. […]
Katelyn Tarver’s “Shit Happens” Is Soberingly True, Tremendous Songwriting
For a long time, I had this subconscious belief that my life would probably work out like a coming-of-age movie. There’d be a few bumps to build drama (I’d crash my car, maybe get cut from the basketball team, maybe get dumped after prom), but things would fall into place my senior year of high […]
Top 9 Music Marketers to Follow in 2022
Want help marketing your music in 2022? These marketers are worth following. Look, there are a ton of voices out there claiming to have expertise – to the point that it’s kind of obnoxious, right? As the founder at Two Story Media (a music PR agency), I’ve engaged with a ton of them (I feel […]
Switchfoot Is Leaning Into Tension on interrobang
I think when you dig to the heart of anything beautiful, you end up hitting the hard reality of paradox: two seemingly opposed ends that somehow make up a whole truth. You can’t love until you let go, and you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and you grow from pain – that […]
Ari Herstand’s Like Home Is a Return to Roots and a Step Forward
Ari Herstand is a lot of things to a lot of people. He’s the leader of 70s funk project Brassroots District. He’s an actor with credits in shows like Mad Men. He’s the author of the best-selling book, How to Make It in the New Music Business (which I’ve read and can personally confirm as being […]
The 10 Best Songwriting Books to Read in 2023
Songwriting is freaking hard. At least, it is for me. Maybe you’re in the same boat. Or maybe you write a hit a day, like Ed Sheeran, in which case you should probably stop reading this article and go work with Justin Bieber or something. For the rest of us, though, there’s good news: songwriting […]
