How Often Should I Release Music?
I’ve gone on the record in another article that I’m not here to talk about myself, and I promise that remains true, but…I seem to keep coming up. Not because these articles are explicitly about me in any meaningful way – they’re not, I promise. That said, I’ve found it particularly easy to feature myself […]
Is Radio Promotion Worth It in 2024?
Man, the radio! Remember that old fossil? No? Okay, let me paint a picture for you: it’s 2005, and you’re climbing into the cloth-covered driver’s seat of your boxy SUV. You turn the key to the ignition and feel the engine roar to life beneath your nether regions, and the radio clicks on, set to […]
How to Sell Merch on Spotify
Maybe I’m late to the party, but it was recently brought to my attention that Spotify – that often dubious, occasionally delightful platform that has the music industry in its death grip and grossly underpays artists but still somehow can’t seem to chart a viable course towards profitability – has more than one trick up […]
Top 13 Music Marketing Companies That Are Legit (2024)
Finding the right music marketing partner can be tough. I’ve worked with a bunch of them, and I wrote this post to help make your choice easier.
How Musicians Actually Marketed Their Music in 2023 (with Stats)
You guys came through in the clutch. Big thanks to everyone who filled out my survey. Here’s the quick recap: And that brings us to this present day, on which I will be sharing the results from our – drumroll please 🥁 – 130 responses. You guys rock. Two caveats before we get into the […]
Art, music, and identity as a step forward
I heard this story about a songwriting class. I think it was on an old CD Baby podcast, but I’m not 100% sure. Anyway, the story involves a songwriter roundtable at a college of music, one of those contexts where students share songs and receive feedback. As I remember it, some of the students would […]
Are Spotify’s royalty changes a big deal?
I’m wading into the controversy this morning… To make it even more offensive: I think most people (including, maybe, you) are overreacting. Yeah, yeah – I know Tom already wrote about this topic in an email that was kinder and more insightful than anything I’ve written this year. So this morning’s post is fated to be redundant, slightly […]
HOW TO GROW A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST 2024
As an “elder millennial” I’m old enough to remember mixtapes — little plastic cassettes with a jumble of songs recorded straight off the radio. I loved curating the mixtapes and I loved giving them away. I remember every single mix someone else gave to me — I listened to them over and over! Mixtapes were […]
Get Your Music in Video Games 2024
How to Get Your Music in Video Games Video games are a powerful and sometimes forgotten avenue for spreading your music to new audiences and building a sustainable music career. Some songs have long since left my consciousness, but if you play them and they happened to have featured on Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater or […]
Hit the Cement: An Essay On Commitment
When the first mic stand fell, I saw the singer hesitate. He had taken the microphone in hand to sing into the faces of the crowd – a good move. Nobody was dancing, and the band (Films on Song, whom I’ve praised elsewhere) was giving us plenty of reason to. Since we weren’t coming to […]
