How to Get on Spotify Playlists: 7-Step Plan for Indie Artists
“How do I get on Spotify playlists?” I get asked this question so often I could make a drinking game out of it. The artists I cover ask it. The artists I do promo for ask it. My uncle asks it when we come over for Thanksgiving. Everyone wants to know, because Spotify is huge. […]
Top 8 YouTube Music Promotion Services
Looking to promote your music on YouTube? I get it. I mean, there are more than 2 billion active users on the platform each month and about half of those folks go there specifically to listen to music. Here are the top eight YouTube promotion services worth taking a look at: I’m going to run […]
Jamie Lawson – The Story of Moving Images
I first heard Jamie Lawson five years ago when “Wasn’t Expecting That” blew up on mainstream radio. It’s a brilliant track. It’s got hundreds of million of plays, but if somehow you missed it, you should know that it’s The Notebook in song form, and I mean that in the best way; driven by simple strums […]
How to Write a Song to Raise Awareness for COVID-19 Relief Efforts
This is a cool thing. Songathon (an organization that sponsors songwriting contests) is putting on a Prompt Challenge: an online songwriting contest that prompts songwriters everywhere to write songs about social distancing to raise awareness and funds for COVID-19 relief efforts. (To that end, you can donate to contest partner GlobalGiving’s Coronavirus Relief Fund here.) […]
Stu Larsen – The Story of Marigold
There’s something about being a traversing songwriter that sounds deliciously appealing for souls who want to experience the ultimate creative journey. Not too long ago, Two Story Melody interviewed Jacksonport about his songwriting trials on the road. (Last we heard, he was on the hunt for a pickup truck to use as a touring vehicle.) […]
Brother James – The Story of “I Had to Dig”
You have to dig to make good art. You have to dig to appreciate it, too. I’ll be honest, the first time I listened to Brother James – the monastically inspired (yeah, really) solo project from LA-based songwriter Justin Sinclair – I didn’t do much digging. I’m naturally lazy. So I pressed play and I […]
Joel Ansett – The Story of “Through”
I think it’s Joel Ansett’s vulnerability that makes his music special. True thing: it’s impossible to tell good stories without being vulnerable. Vulnerability is the lifeblood of a storyteller, because stories need weakness and brokenness to give them stakes. If you can’t admit those things in yourself, it’s hard to paint them accurately anywhere else. […]
“Stucco” Proves the Real Version of Parlors is Profoundly Good
I wrote about Parlors’ “Lemon Ice” earlier this summer (if you haven’t given that tune a spin yet, do it and do it now). Today the band’s back with new track “Stucco.” The song was sparked by sounds from Westworld, built on themes from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned, and its overall feel […]
Haelphon Premieres Haelphonics and Proves There’s Beauty in Honest Pop
If you’re honest, you like pop music. There’s a reason it’s popular music, right? At its best, it’s catchy, relatable, and absolutely a ton of fun. It’s designed to be those things, and I love it for that. But the drawback of pop music is that it can also feel staged. Because it’s built to […]
Parlors’ “Lemon Ice” Requires Participation
I had no idea what “gonzo journalism” was before hearing Parlors’ “Lemon Ice.” I’d also never heard of Hunter S. Thompson. But after falling hard for the hard rock energy of the song then finding out it’s based on a gonzo journalism piece by Thompson titled “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved,” I figured […]
