The David Andrew Wiebe Show

Music distribution services have made it easy for all artists to get their music on popular online stores and streaming sites.

If you have yet to distribute your music digitally, now is the time to get into it.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explain the simple process of music distribution.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Music distribution

00:29 – The two types of music distribution

00:43 – Physical distribution

01:01 – Online distribution

01:15 – Is physical distribution worth it?

01:52 – The benefit of getting your music into online stores and streaming sites

02:22 – Music distribution services

02:54 – Choosing a distributor

Transcription:

Thanks for joining me. Today, I want to talk briefly about music distribution. It’s something some artists have been asking about. It’s fairly simple and straightforward, but it’s easy to get caught up in a lot of research and analysis paralysis so here’s a simple guide to distributing your music.

There are basically two types of music distribution. There is physical and digital. Physical distribution has become increasingly irrelevant as CD stores continue to close. Online distribution is where most labels and artist are now paying attention to.

What is physical distribution? It’s simply the process of getting your CDs into stores. There was a lot more that went along with that, and it wasn’t necessarily cheap to do, but it doesn’t really matter that much anymore. I will talk about how physical distribution is relevant in a moment, but it’s not on the scale it used to be.

Then, online distribution is the process of getting your music on online stores and streaming platforms like iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Deezer, and so forth. It’s quite convenient. You can usually do it with just one service.

Is physical distribution even worth it anymore? Well, in some cases it can be if you’re in certain niches. For example, if you have particularly relaxing music, then you may be able to sell it at spas. If you have children’s music, then you may be able to sell it in toy stores. Independent artists of course can make connections with independent record stores or cafés and gift shops.

Other places may be willing to carry your CD on consignment. That simply means they’ll take a cut of your CD sales and give you the rest. But you need to develop that relationship and probably show up on a weekly basis to see where things are at.

Okay. With that out of the way, let’s move on to the more exciting topic of online distribution, which is where most of the party is happening.

The benefits of getting your music into prominent online stores and streaming sites should be obvious. It can boost your credibility as an artist and make it easy for people to discover and listen to your music on familiar platforms.

Oftentimes it is necessary to utilize a music distributor to get your music into the hands of Amazon, Shazam, TIDAL, and many others. Music distribution services include CD Baby, Ditto Music, DistroKid, TuneCore, JTV Digital just to name a few.

Just for easy reference there are only two distributors I’ve used in the past. The first is CD Baby. I’ve used that for many years. I recently started experimenting with DistroKid. The interesting part about DistroKid is you pay a one-time fee to distribute as much music as you want in a full year. That means if you’re prolific in publishing a lot of music, there are certain cost advantages to being with Distrokid.

Music distribution is relatively inexpensive and low risk. Now, some distributors don’t have the best reputation. I’ve heard some are even late on payments or don’t pay you at all, so it’s worth doing some research before you decide on a distributor.

But don’t let your analysis paralyze you. Just get your music out there. You can always use a different distributor next time if you’re not happy with the one that you used last time. Start selling your music online right away.

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Do you create video content? Are you using YouTube to promote your music?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explain how to create great quality videos that engage your fan base.

If you’ve ever asked yourself what it takes to create unique video content, this podcast episode is for you.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Creating video content

00:30 – Why video content is essential for musicians

00:42 – Decide what kind of video you’re going to create

00:58 – Prepare your gear

01:39 – Plan your video

02:21 – Capture the footage

02:43 – Edit the video

03:32 – Refine your process

Transcription:

Some people have been asking me about video content, and it really is no surprise. Video is massive right now. People spend more time on YouTube than all other social networks combined. And in this episode, we're going to look at how to create engaging videos.

Video content has become essential for musicians. It's an incredible marketing tool and it also has the potential to make you money. So here are six tips to help you create video content that engages your audience.

Video content has become essential for musicians.Share on X

One: Decide what type of video you're going to create. Is it going to be a music video lyric video, video song, or a vlog? It seems like an obvious step but it is an important one. Decide what you're going to do before you go out and do it.

The next thing you need to do is prepare your gear, and you don't need the fanciest gear in the world to create great looking videos. I use a Logitech webcam and my smartphone for most videos and it tends to be all I need. And if I'm recording my screen, I'm usually using QuickTime to do that these days.

In some cases, you may need a digital SLR camera or even a camcorder to get the quality of footage you're looking for. You may also require a lighting kit, microphones, various lenses, and other pieces of gear to achieve the kind of video you're looking for.

But if you have a limited budget, that's not necessarily a problem because you can still create great video content without having the best tools in the world. The next step is to plan your video.

Now that you've decided what type of content you're going to create, it's time to create a plan for how it's all going to come together. So, think about what you're trying to capture. What's the essence of the story you're looking to share? And why should people care about it? Why does this video need to exist? How is it going to be unique? Why will people watch? How many cameras will you need? Are you looking to capture multiple angles? Who needs to be involved? Who's going to be in the video? And who's going to be part of the production crew?

Storyboard your entire video if necessary. It might seem painstaking at first, but you will end up with a better-quality video if you take the time to plan it.

The next step is to go and capture the footage you need for the video. I would suggest taking your time and not rushing the entire process and capture plenty of B-roll or extra footage you can use in your video, because sometimes the most engaging thing isn't what you think it is.

Your surroundings also tell a story, so think carefully about location. This is a good thing to think about at the planning stage as well.

The next step you need to take is to edit the video and you may have heard some people say the money is in the editing. This is especially true for photography where any number of photographers can capture the exact same photo but depending on the editing process, they’re going to have completely different results, and this is true for video as well.

It's as much what you say as what you don't say. And these days brevity is really key. If you have great footage and great video and a story to tell, it’s okay to go longer. But you don't want to draw out the points either.

Video really is as much about the editing process as it is the footage you capture, so I always like to think about what's the bare minimum you need to get your message across. Everything else is just bonus. It's nice to have, but you don't necessarily need it to make the point you want to make.

Video is as much about the editing process as it is the footage you capture.Share on X

Finally, take some time to refine your process. I would suggest publishing your videos even when you don't think they're perfect. Share them with your friends. Gather feedback and then improve upon your process based on the feedback you get. Then go back to step one and repeat as many times as you need to until you are satisfied with the quality of video you're creating.

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Releasing music is a fact of being a musician.

Marketing is the part that sometimes doesn’t come as naturally.

You can have a lot of fun with your marketing once you get the hang of it.

But just like learning to ride a bicycle, it can be a bit of a challenge to figure out how to do it at first.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explore the five questions you need to ask yourself when putting together a promotion campaign for your forthcoming single.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – A question from a mastermind gathering

00:30 – There are thousands of different ways to market anything

00:44 – Five questions you need to ask yourself

00:55 – Who is your target audience?

02:13 – What marketing channels will you be using?

03:20 – How will you carry out your marketing plan?

03:44 – How will you be measuring the effectiveness of your promotion campaign?

04:18 – When will you call your campaign a success?

Transcription:

Thanks for joining me. I was recently at a casual mastermind gathering. It seems like all masterminds I go to are a casual nature at this point anyway. But there was a question from a fellow musician asking, “I'm releasing my single in 30 days. How do I build as much hype for it as possible?” The interesting part is that there are hundreds if not thousands of different ways to market anything.

The right way to market what you're selling is unique to your situation, your branding, your image, your genre or style of music, and so on. But I decided to take a little bit of a different approach with this. I broke it all down into five questions. You need to ask yourself these questions if you're trying to figure out how to promote your forthcoming single effectively.

First question is: Who is your target audience? Knowing who you're marketing to makes it much easier to market to them. Don't make any excuses. There are easy ways to figure out who your audience is. The first one is Facebook Insights. They collect a lot of data on the people that like your page. You need to look at the demographics. What's the age range of the people? What's the gender?

Another great tool is alexa.com. So, let's say that you have a KISS tribute band and you're trying to figure out who your fans are. You can go to alexa.com. Scroll to the bottom. Find the header that says, “browse top sites”. Then you would enter kissonline.com. You can learn a lot about their audience just by looking at that page.

There's also a great tool called the SimilarWeb. It's similar to Alexa, and you can do a lot of similar research on their site, although it will provide you with more detail. Combining those searches will give you a clearer picture of who your fan base is.

Don't pretend like you don't sound like another artist or band out there because virtually every musician does. So, think of who you sound like. Who have people told you that you sound like? Search for those websites on sites like Alexa or SimilarWeb. You'll gain some insights into people who like that type of music already.

The next question is: What marketing channels will you be using? Your answer to this question should never be “every channel available.” Because like I said at the outset, there are probably thousands of them out there, so you want to narrow your focus.

Personally, I like to 80/20 my marketing. I'll spend 80% of my time doing the things that I know will help me get the best results possible. Then 20% of my time on experimental marketing – trying different things that I don't know whether or not they will work.

But I would suggest limiting your focus based on who you know your audience to be. Although completely unusual, and this probably wouldn't happen, if your audience is not on Facebook, then it's a waste of time to spend your time marketing there, so, why would you? That's just an example. You might pick out Twitter or Google+ or Pinterest as other locations where your audience is really not hanging out at all.

So, you need to look at and consider what social media sites do they hang out on? What magazines do they read? What podcasts do they listen to? How can you show up in those places they're already looking? Some of your initial research should have already given you a bit of an idea of what those places might be, but if you're not sure, then try surveying your email list.

The third question I want you to ask is: How will you carry out your plan? Have you made a to-do list? Do you have checklists? Have you created a plan for what you're going to do and how you're going to do it day by day? How much will it cost? Do you have a budget to advertise? Put it all down in writing and commit to doing these things. First, you need to create the plan but then you need to act on it.

The next question is, how will you be measuring the effectiveness of your promotion? Let's face it. Marketing not measured is just wishful thinking. What tools will you be using to measure your progress? Google Analytics? Social media analytics or insights? Number of sales or downloads?

Decide on the key stats you want to track and track them for the duration of the campaign. That means while you're running the campaign. This can help you develop better promotion campaigns in the future. The data you collect will be valuable to you one way or another.

Marketing not measured is just wishful thinking.Share on X

The next question is: When will you consider your campaign a success? Many artists do not have a defined end goal in mind for their career, so they don't necessarily have a clear objective for their marketing campaigns either.

If you're running a crowdfunding campaign, your obvious goal would be your funding target. If you're promoting your new album, your goal might be connected to sales and plays on streaming sites. If you're looking to build new industry connections, you might be happy to develop five new industry relationships as a result of running that campaign.

Whatever it is, decide when you will consider your campaign a success. Don't worry about not reaching your goals, as many times people don't get to where they want to go the first time they try something like this. Simply be honest with yourself about what your goals are, and whether you reach them.

Decide when you will consider your marketing campaign a success.Share on X

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In the last episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I compared music entrepreneurship to creative alchemy.

But I wanted to go deeper into creative alchemy as a practice, and that’s what I focus on in this episode.

Find out why so many artists and creative entrepreneurs are resonating deeply with this term.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Creative alchemy

00:33 – The resonance of the term “creative alchemy”

01:21 – Creative alchemy describes you as a whole

01:47 – Strengths I’ve developed through the years

02:12 – Jobs I’ve had

02:28 – Leveraging many of your skills at the same time

02:41 – Video shoot example

04:01 – Embracing the skills you’ve developed

04:52 – It’s okay to be multitalented

05:10 – What creative alchemy is

05:23 – Creative alchemy as a vehicle

05:33 – My new course

Transcription:

Welcome back. You could probably tell I’m a little stuffed up right now but I am all right.

In the last episode, I talked about the rise of creative alchemy. I compared and contrasted it with music entrepreneurship. Some of the similarities as well as differences that do exist.

In this episode, I just want to explore what it is and why it’s important. It is a term that I’ve started dropping into more conversations. The interesting part is everywhere I go, people are resonating with the term “creative alchemy”.

I find creative people love it because sometimes they have a hard time putting what they do into a box. I think artists naturally shy away from categorization though this can be to our detriment when we’re trying to sell the things that we create.

People latch onto what they can relate to. Think about the way people describe things when they are trying to make a comparison. They might say something like, “It’s like riding a rollercoaster, only in space.” Maybe you haven’t experienced it before but you can kind of imagine what that would be like. That’s a little formula that can work in a variety of situations. "It’s like blank except in blank".

Sales is another topic for another time but creative alchemy describes you as a whole as opposed to the parts that make up the whole. Every experience you’ve had. Every skill you’ve mastered. Every talent you’ve developed. Although it can be hard to know how these things can come together.

My former roommate was a believer that the job that was meant for you was one where you got to leverage everything you'd ever experienced. I rather like that philosophy myself.

The job that's meant for you is one where you get to leverage everything you've ever experienced.Share on X

So, here are some of the strengths I've developed through the years just to give you an example: Drawing, painting, graphic design, web design, video and multimedia design, blogging, writing, songwriting, producing music, mixing and mastering music, playing guitar and bass, teaching, reviewing movies, video games, TV shows, music, and various other products, marketing, social media, and many others.

I've worked in a variety of jobs such as retail, sales, music instruction, audiovisual, ghostwriting, freelance writing among other areas.

Some of you out there have way more talent, skills, and experiences than I have. Especially in the job world because I've been self-employed for most of my adult life. No, I don't necessarily get to use these skills all at once, and yet I frequently find myself in situations where I get to leverage many of them at the same time. I think that is the practice of creative alchemy.

Recently, I was helping organize a video shoot for a client. This isn't something I've done before but everything about it was strangely familiar.

I wasn't the primary videographer but I manned the second camera and I was completely comfortable doing that. I came prepared with scripts in hand so we could maximize the time we had and get the footage we needed efficiently. Part of that process was guiding everyone along and asking them questions or giving them prompts so they knew what to share and to talk about in the videos we were filming. I brought extra gear with me in case we needed it.

Interestingly enough, I did end up using the headphones I brought with me. I played a directorial role in the video editing process as well. Most of that shouldn’t seem familiar to me and yet it was because I’ve made plenty of videos. I’ve done plenty of editing. I’ve had to write scripts or bullet points for shows just like I sometimes do for this podcast.

I’ve spent about four and a half years as a theater technician. Although it was a casual role, I did gain quite a bit of experience. There are a lot of similarities between that job description and everything I did at the video shoot. Conducting yourself as a professional, staying out of the way, moving chairs, all that kind of stuff tends to fall under the description of a theater tech.

What's the point? Well, the point is let's embrace the skills we've developed. We shouldn't be down on ourselves for having many different skills and talents and experiences. We should be looking at ways of combining them because that's part of our story. It's part of who we are. It's part of our why. It's the reason people are going to be attracted to us and what we do.

Now you might have heard some big artists say things like “Only those who can't see themselves doing anything else, actually make it in music.” And I've certainly heard some major artists say things like that.

Now, I don't mean to discourage anyone from going for their dream in music but that is a point worth considering. If you have other talents and skills you can leverage, maybe music will be a part of what you are meant to do but it might be a smaller puzzle piece of the bigger picture.

Being a multi-talented person myself, and I say that in the humblest way possible, I know many multi-talented people just like me. I think it's okay for us to embrace the fact that we have potential in many areas.

Again, I've said this multiple times but it bears repeating – Creative Alchemy is the process and practice of combining your skills in interesting ways to create something unique and different. I think that's what people are going to be drawn to in many cases.

Creative alchemy is the practice of combining your skills in noteworthy ways.Share on X

If you don't feel like you're capturing the attention of a loyal and adoring audience right now, perhaps creative alchemy is the vehicle you've been waiting for to get there.

Did you enjoy this episode? Great. I want to encourage you to go to davidandrewwiebe.com/formula to learn about the new course I've been developing.

What's going to be in this course? Everything that you've told me is a struggle or a difficulty or a challenge in your music career. I've collected a lot of responses over time. I'm excited about getting this out there. So, have a look and let me know your thoughts. And if you're ready, go ahead and pre-order.

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Have you ever taken inventory of all the skills and talents you possess?

Are you leveraging them to the degree you could be?

We as musicians aren’t just creatives anymore. We aren’t just business people either. We’re creative alchemists.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, you’ll learn what it means to be a creative alchemist.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – The rise of creative alchemy

00:26 – The excessive focus on self

01:15 – How the artistic cycle is flawed

01:41 – Why we shouldn’t be anti-establishment

02:39 – What is creative alchemy?

03:04 – Thinking like a content creator

03:24 – The need for knowledge and information

03:42 – People already like you, so demonstrate your passion

04:10 – The daily deployment

04:44 – The importance of relationships

05:08 – Collaboration

05:55 – Creating a unique experience for your fans

06:16 – Knowledge alone isn’t power

06:44 – Thanks and leave a comment

Transcription:

Thanks for joining me. Today, I wanted to talk about the rise of creative alchemy. I’ve been an advocate and a supporter for the concept of music entrepreneurship for a long time now. But I’m beginning to see some flaws in what that means for people.

The main issue is how much time and effort we focus on self. We think about how much we know, how much work we’ve put in, the knowledge that we’re gaining, how many books we’ve read, how many podcasts we’ve listened to, what skills we have, what people we know.

It’s all about self, self, self. We forget that there are so many other pieces that make this whole thing work. It’s not just about us, it’s about the fans. And it’s also about the team that you build around you. Without that, you can’t call it entrepreneurship, it’s just solopreneurship.

I’ve talked to many entrepreneurs and some of them even say solopreneurship is not a real thing. That doesn’t even exist.

I think a better place to put our attention would be on building teams and collaboration and working with others in coming up with ideas together because that’s really where some of the best ideas come from –  brainstorming with others and masterminding with others.

The Artistic Cycle

Recently, I’ve been talking more and more about why the artistic cycle is flawed. As it really doesn’t serve the fan, essentially what it is: First, we start writing our album. Then we record and publish our album. Then we promote and go on tour. Then we stop possibly even for several years before we start all over again.

But today, your fans really can’t wait that long, especially your most loyal fans. They want to see more from you. They want to be able to purchase more. I’ve even talked about the fact that they are willing to spend more money with you if you just give them the opportunity.

Anti-Establishment

There are some really interesting ideas out there about music entrepreneurship. Some people seem to be promoting this idea of anti-establishment. In other words, forget the labels, forget the marketing companies, forget whoever else might be willing or able to help you. Let’s just go out and do this on our own.

Don’t get me wrong, I also believe the best way to build your career is often to manage it and oversee it yourself rather than relying on somebody else to make it happen.

But I also haven’t been too quick to say let’s tear down the establishment. Why? Because that establishment could be leveraged.

Essentially what you’re doing, if you’re becoming a music entrepreneur is creating your own establishment. So, it doesn’t make any sense to be anti-establishment. Those two concepts are completely in conflict with each other.

What I believe we should do is connect with establishments just like our own and partner up with them and leverage those connections to further our careers.

We shouldn’t be working with anybody who’s going to be dishonest or disloyal, but at the same time, we should be thinking about the resources we can tap into and what resources other establishments already have.

Creative Alchemy & Content Creation

What is creative alchemy? I would simply define it as the art of combining your skills and talents to create something unique.

Creative alchemy is the art of combining your skills and talents to create something unique.Share on X

In that regard, it’s not that different from music entrepreneurship but it might be a term that you can latch on to more easily because it simply denotes this idea that we are creators and we can create different things and we have different skills and abilities. Combining those skills and capabilities can help us create something very interesting and unique in the world.

I’ve already talked about the fact that the artistic cycle doesn’t really serve the fan. I think it’s important to be thinking like a content creator instead of just as a musician. There are people just like me publishing something new to their blogs on a weekly or even daily basis just to let people know what’s up and what’s new. That’s the approach creative alchemist should be taking.

I think it’s very easy to create a need for knowledge or need for information. Certainly, with music entrepreneurship you should be learning more about business and how business works and applying that to your music.

But I think there are a lot of practices out there that even though they work, they may not be the most honest and most sustainable ways of doing business.

If you’re a musician and you’ve been creating music for a while, then the reality is there are already many people that like you. So, to me it’s not about creating some kind of funnel. It’s about demonstrating your passion. Why you do what you do.

Demonstrate your passion - why you do what you do.Share on X

With millions and possibly even billions of people now creating music in this world, it isn’t just about business knowledge. It’s about sharing your why. Why do you do what you do. If people connect with your story, then they will buy from you.

I’ve talked about Austin Kleon before. He has a book called Show Your Work! He talked about this concept of the daily deployment. What a fantastic idea.

Why not share something new with your fans every single day? Why not write a blog post talking about what it is you’ve been up to?

If you can’t do it daily then do it weekly or at the very least monthly. That will keep people updated as to what you are doing. It’s really just a different way of thinking about this whole concept of blogging or podcasting or creative videos, but it’s a great way to be in touch with people and to build more fans and more traffic over time.

Relationships & The Myth of Influencer Marketing

Additionally, to me relationships are crucial. They are very important but it’s not about bugging people which is what we’re doing right now. We’re reaching out to influencers and say “Hey, share my stuff, okay? Otherwise, I’m going to be broke.” That’s not what you want to do. What we want to do is create connections, because we tend to overestimate how well influencer marketing is going to work.  In many cases, it may not do that much for you.

Developing Your Skills vs. Building Connections

It’s not just about learning and developing your own skills even though I invest a considerable amount of my time into that because I prioritize it. Again, that creates that very narrow track where it’s all about self. It’s all about the personality. It’s all about the brand and the person representing that brand. So, it’s not just about your own skills. It’s about working with people that has skills that you don’t have.

I was just at WordCamp this past weekend. What a fantastic experience. There are plenty of people there that know more about SEO or marketing or web development or coding a website or even selling books than I do, but those are relationships and contacts I can tap into.

I can ask questions and find out what they did, what worked for them, and then leverage that knowledge and apply to my career.

We can have funnels in the perfect website and all these things set up, but if it contributes nothing to creating a unique experience for your fans, then it’s worthless.

It’s about offering more value and giving them a reason to follow, or subscribe, or become a member of your website. It’s about that sense of belonging and community that so many people are starved for these days.

So again, we can learn a lot on our own but I just want you to recognize knowledge isn’t power because the decent plan acted on is always better than the perfect plan not executed at all.

The decent plan acted on is better than the perfect plan not executed.Share on X

I would suggest getting out of your head and sharing your heart instead and get behind this concept of creative alchemy, which isn’t just about business knowledge and head knowledge and what you know. It’s about heart connection and creating experiences for the people that are following you.

Thanks for listening. What are your thoughts? What did you get from this episode? Please leave a comment in the show notes and let me know.

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Don’t get me wrong – one hit song can make a big difference in your career. And we should all be grateful should such an opportunity present itself.

It is all you need to “make it” in the music industry though? Is that how you’ll make the greatest impact possible?

I believe this is an important question to explore, especially if you’re thinking one big hit is all you need.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Thanks for joining me

00:21 – The significance of one hit song

00:31 – An important question to ask

00:56 – Do you need viral content?

01:16 – The ripple effect of impact

01:33 – Why consistency is important & the compound effect

02:12 – Go after what you believe in

02:41 – Leave a comment

Transcription:

Hey there. Thanks for joining me. This is something I've been thinking about more and more as of late. We're often told that all we need is one hit song. Superstardom, and fame, and wealth, and everything is just one hit song away. That's it.

But I have a question to ask. Is it more important to have a hit song or is it more important to stay consistent at the work that you need to do to get to where you want to go?

I think you can tell from my tone of voice and everything else that I think consistency and showing up to bat is more important really than trying to create a hit song.

Here's why: I don't need a huge viral blog post or podcast episode or YouTube video virtually ever. Those things may be in my future and that's great, and I look forward to the day where I'm reaching more people and my impact is maximized, but I'm more interested presently in making a difference where I am because the ripple out effect is always much greater than where it originated.

I could be a catalyst for a lot of positive change. I may not even see or hear about it, but if I can start that change and be that catalyst, that's what's important to me.

So, if I only reach 100 people with every content piece that I create, that's enough for me. That's awesome.

Here's why: Because I'm going to keep showing up. I'm going to keep going up to bat hundreds of times, thousands of times, tens of thousands of times, or my entire lifetime as I continue to write new songs, put out new videos, write new blog posts, and put together podcast episodes.

The compound effect of everything that I continue to do over time, the impact of that will be much greater than just trying to get to one hit song.

So, I don't want to discourage anybody for going for that hit song because it's awesome. And if I happen to write one in my lifetime – and when I say hit song, it's really just a metaphor for anything you do creatively – but if I happened to write one in this lifetime, awesome. It's not like I'm going to turn it down.

If that’s what you’re going for, cool! But for many of us, the greatest impact we can make is actually showing up consistently, so I encourage you to think about that and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

For many of us, the greatest impact we can make is showing up consistently.Share on X

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Have you ever heard of mastermind groups?

What are they? Who are they for? Should you be a part of one?

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explain the importance of joining and actively participating in mastermind groups.

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Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Mastermind group for musicians

00:18 – What is a mastermind?

00:39 – Why join a mastermind?

01:35 – Does a mastermind cost money?

02:13 – Who are masterminds for?

03:40 – Finding masterminds in your locality

04:10 – Closing questions

Transcription:

Thanks for joining me. Today, I wanted to look at Mastermind Groups for musicians.

What is a mastermind? It’s basically a gathering of people who are committed to achieving more and helping others do the same. It’s often a weekly, biweekly, or monthly gathering.

Sometimes there’s money involved, sometimes not, but everybody is there to talk about their business or what they’re up to and what problems they’re encountering.

Why would you want to join a mastermind? First of all, you can get accountability. So, others will be holding you accountable [to your goals] if you join a mastermind, which means you’ve got to take action on the steps that you decide on.

The other people in the group are going to give you ideas on what you could be doing to advance your career, so you must commit to action after you’ve decided on what it is you’re going to do next.

Masterminds can provide motivation, especially after hearing other people’s stories and what they are up to and the successes they’ve had. It’s inevitable that you’re going to feel more inspired and motivated to take action and take yourself to the next level.

Masterminds can provide motivation.Share on X

Masterminds can help you generate new ideas that will help you take your career further. You may also come across cross-promotion opportunities. Everybody in a mastermind group is generally serious about their career or business and they may look for opportunities to incorporate you into their endeavors.

Does a mastermind cost money? In some cases, it does, but I’m not necessarily suggesting that you should go and join one that’s going to cost you $10,000 per month. To get started, you should either find a low cost one or one that you can join for free.

Another great alternative is to start your own. It doesn’t have to be formal, it could be a loose gathering of six other musicians that you each discuss what challenges you’re encountering and what you’re trying to overcome.

I think you’ll get the most benefit from masterminds when it is done consistently and when there is some money involved because you’re going to take it more seriously but if you just want to start and see what it looks like and try it out for a while then this is not a bad option.

Who are masterminds for? Well, they are not for everybody. It’s for people that are forward thinking and want to grow their careers. It’s for people who are serious about advancing and taking action steps every single day.

If you’re not serious about taking action based on the information available to you, you could even get kicked out of a mastermind so it’s not worth joining unless you are committed to what you’re doing.

You may not know it yet but if you join a mastermind, you’re going to grow as an individual and as a musician. Through that process, you’re going to become more knowledgeable, more resourceful and more able to help others with their businesses and careers. So, you’re going to learn an incredible amount and become a more resilient person.

You could then turn around and use that knowledge and experience to help others and grow their businesses and careers. Joining a mastermind group and staying with it over the long haul will give you opportunities to give back to others and this isn’t this what it’s all about?

Now you may not resonate with that and that’s perfectly okay and that might be one sign that mastermind groups aren’t for you. Maybe you only need your band members to hold you accountable, and maybe you only need them to help you grow as an individual and as a musician and that’s totally legit.

But as it has been said before, we become the average of the five people that we hang around with and the books we read so if the five people you’re hanging around with don’t have the results that you want to achieve, you might want to start hanging around with people that do.

If you’re looking for masterminds or collectives in your locality, you could try searching Meetup.com. Now, most mastermind groups aren’t just going to be posted anywhere and everywhere and they may be harder to find.

In some cases, you might find it beneficial to go and join business masterminds. At least ones that aren’t going to cost you an arm and a leg, but one way to get started is just to go to Meetup.com see what kind of gatherings are in your community and just begin conversing with the musicians that attend these Meetup groups and network and connect with them.

Are you thinking about joining a mastermind group? Do you think you would find value in it? Why or why not? I look forward to seeing your comments in the show notes.

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Have you ever heard of affiliate marketing?

It’s pretty cool – you get to promote products other people have created and earn commissions on them. That’s right, you can make money from things you didn’t even have to create!

In this episode, I talk about how to get started in affiliate marketing and strategies you can use to get people to click on your affiliate links.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Overlooked opportunities for musicians and affiliate marketing

00:43 – What is affiliate marketing?

01:06 – What businesses, services, or products can you promote?

01:30 – How to promote affiliate products

01:44 – Strategy #1 – Including links in your blog post or website pages

01:58 – Strategy #2 – Creating a resources or recommended products page on your website

02:24 – Strategy #3 – Create product reviews

02:58 – The importance of affiliate disclaimers

03:35 – Getting started in affiliate marketing

04:00 – Affiliate marketing is hard work

04:15 – Thanks and leave a comment

Transcription:

Thanks for joining me. Recently, I've been talking about some of the overlooked opportunities for musicians, and affiliate marketing I believe is one of those things that is largely overlooked by musicians.

I think there's just a lot of misunderstanding about it and people don't understand it properly in order to be able to utilize it and make money with it. So, it is an opportunity to help you generate more income potentially.

It's not going to work overnight and it may take time for it to work, but that's okay because everything you do is really going to take some hard work.

What is affiliate marketing? It's very simple. It's the opportunity to earn commissions on products you promote.

Affiliate marketing is the opportunity to earn commissions on products you promote.Share on X

Now you can’t earn commissions automatically – you have to sign up as an affiliate with the business's products or services that you are interested in promoting, but there is a ton of affiliate programs already out there so I don't think you're going to have any trouble finding some.

So, what businesses, products, or services can you promote? Obviously, you want to be thinking about your audience and what would appeal to them and what they would be likely to buy. It's no use promoting things that they're not likely to buy.

But other than that, there aren’t really many restrictions. You can just go to any website, any business and find out whether or not they have an affiliate program. Usually there's a link in the footer. You can also just Google it.

How do you promote affiliate products? I've broken it down into three simple ways. I think strategy one and two are relatively easy to do and anybody could set this up. Strategy number three is going to be a little more intense and not for the faint of heart.

Number one, include links in your blog posts or pages. Anybody could do that. All you need to do is copy and paste an affiliate link that they give you to promote your products through and then they'll track it for you and then they'll send you commissions when you've made some money.

Number two is create a resources or recommended products page on your website. To see some great examples, you can go to ChrisDucker.com D-U-C-K-E-R or even smartpassiveincome.com. Just click on “resources” in the navigation bar and you'll see what they've done.

The one on The Music Entrepreneur HQ is not set up very differently as well so if you just click on products and scroll down to recommended products you'll see how I've set it up.

Number three, and again this is the most effort intensive method you could be using is to create product reviews. It could be a blog post. It could be a podcast episode, and it could even be a video. Product reviews that are honest and talk about the upsides as well as the downsides of the product, what you liked about it, what you didn't like about it.

Offering an honest and balanced perspective is the best way to go. People will resonate with that. They want to know everything that's right, as well as everything that's wrong, or anything that might be missing from the product and that helps them make a better buying decision. So that's your job.

You can also learn more about reviewing products in this episode of Using Your Power:

In most cases, you will need to include a simple affiliate disclaimer on your website any time you're promoting an affiliate link, okay? Make sure to check the terms and conditions of the affiliate offer.

I know nobody reads that stuff, but you do need to read that stuff when you are promoting affiliate products just so you don't get shut down or banned.

Usually something along the lines of “I will earn a commission on this product at no additional charge for you if you choose to purchase through this link”. Language like that is more than enough. But double check, triple check just to make sure that's all you need to put on your website in terms of a disclaimer.

A very simple way for you to get started in affiliate marketing right away is to sign up as an Amazon Associate. As you know, Amazon started as a bookstore but guess what? Nowadays you can buy anything on Amazon, which simply means that whatever you can find on Amazon there's probably a good chance you can also earn an affiliate commission on it by promoting it to your audience on your blog or website.

As I said at the beginning, affiliate marketing is hard work just like anything else and it will take time to work but it's just one more way for you to generate more revenue for your music career. Without putting a ton of additional effort into some outside activity.

So, what do you think? Are you going to get started in affiliate marketing? Are you going to start supplementing your income by promoting products that you like and believe in? Let me know in the show notes.

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It can be extremely challenging to establish a predictable income in the music industry.

But it seems like many musicians are trying the same things hoping for different results, which is the definition of insanity.

Ready to try something different? In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explain how to set up your own online fan club.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Setting up a membership site as a musician

00:42 – Why set up a membership site?

01:27 – Who should set up a membership site?

01:52 – What you can offer your members

02:30 – The necessity of promoting your membership site

02:47 – Who will join your membership site or fan club?

03:08 – Building a membership site will take work

03:31 – Setting up a membership site

04:26 – Setting the price for your membership site

04:36 – Leave your questions and comments below

Transcription:

Thanks for joining me.

I found another thing not many people are talking about, but it’s something I’ll be looking at more so here on the podcast and on the blog, and that’s this idea of setting up a membership site as a musician.

You might remember fan clubs. Fan clubs are still a thing. Some people join them, and like to be a part of them. This is a very similar idea, except we’re going to be utilizing some of the best technology that’s out there to make it happen and automate the process and make it simple for you.

So, why would you want to bother setting up a membership site as a musician? This is something I’m working on for The Music Entrepreneur HQ as well, and there will be a membership option for those who want to be a part of it.

The main reason to set up a site like this is to generate recurring revenue. The problem with music sales in general is that you get one here and three there, and it’s hard to get consistent sales and predictable income from that.

Live performance is no different. It’s reliant on your ability to book good shows with good venues and keep them to their word and your agreement.

With membership sites, as long as you maintain or grow your member base, you’ll have consistent income coming in month after month which is much more predictable than most other things you could be doing as a musician.

So, who is this for? It’s obviously not for everybody. I’d say it’s for people with the time and resources to dedicate to it. So, if you can’t see yourself producing new content on a regular basis, if you don’t have a good backlog already, it’s going to be very hard to keep up with your members and to provide them with enough value to want to stay with you.

So, you want to make sure you have the time and ability to consistently produce new content they enjoy.

What should you offer your members? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

You can give them discounted or free concert tickets, exclusive content like songs, audio blogs, or videos, behind-the-scenes footage, giveaways or contests, opportunities to collaborate with the band, vocal or instrumental lessons, or even remixes.

The possibilities are endless. The point is to keep delivering the type of content your audience wants. You’ll figure that out over time. People will begin responding to the things they want, and they won’t talk about the things they don’t want. Or, they’ll give you negative feedback on the things they don’t want. Just adjust your strategy – it’s very simple.

Keep in mind that you will have to promote your membership site to all your fans. If this is not something you’re comfortable doing, I’m not going to tell you not to push yourself, because I think it’s a good idea to keep growing yourself. But if you’re not willing to do it in the first place then there’s no point. You must promote what you’re doing.

Keep in mind that your casual fans may not join, and that’s totally okay. That’s not the goal. You’re not trying to get your whole fan list on your membership site. You’re just trying to get the people who are loyal, and love you, and your diehard fans will join. So, it’s just giving them that opportunity. If they don’t know what’s available, they can’t join, so you must make them aware of what’s available.

Now, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Building a membership site will take work, and you must remind your audience why they should stay subscribed regularly.

Some people are going to buy and immediately go, “why did I buy into this membership site?”

And if you have a video there waiting for them explaining what you’re going to do, what you’re going to offer, and why they joined in the first place, then there is a better chance they will stay with you over the long haul.

There are many ways to set up a membership site. I like to keep things simple, and this is the solution I would be using right now. But my ideas on that might change on that later. It’s okay, we all need to tweak from time to time, right?

There are many WordPress plugins out there you can use to set up a membership site, and that stuff’s all great. But here’s a simple way to get set up right now.

I’ve talked about Gumroad before. I would suggest creating an account with them. Use Gumroad to sell subscriptions to your membership site.

And then you can simply create a Facebook group for the people who purchased a membership and invite them to be a part of a community.

Another great way to do is to invite them to your own Slack channel. It will serve the same function as your Facebook group. You can even upload all your downloads there.

So, there’s a simple way to get started with membership sites. You can check out more sophisticated solutions, and you may end up needing them down the line. But I see no reason to complicate matters if you don’t have to.

Just remember to set the price at a reasonable level, something your fans would be willing to play. You could just talk to your fans at your shows or wherever you go, and see what they’d be willing to do.

Do you have any questions or comments? Leave them in the show notes. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on setting up a membership site.

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I can’t believe more musicians aren’t doing this.

The truth is that you could be earning a lot more than you are. But first, you must give people the opportunity to spend more with you. Seriously.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I explain how you can create bundles and packages your fans will eat up.

Download the PDF Transcription

Podcast Highlights:

00:14 – Bundling and packaging your music products

00:53 – There are people willing to spend more money with you (believe it!)

01:28 – Repurposing your back catalog

01:43 – How to get started with packaging your music products

02:07 – How to create value-added bundles

03:55 – Planning for future bundles and packages

04:25 – Tools you can use to sell your bundles

04:50 – Marketing your products

05:12 – Closing questions

Transcription:

Thanks for joining me.

You know, it’s interesting. I was doing a bit of looking around online, and I found that there wasn’t much on this topic of bundling and packaging your music products together. It’s a good way to leverage what you’ve already created and make more money from it without reinventing the wheel and creating something from scratch.

I’m sure there’s some stuff out there about this, but not much that I could find, so it’s a topic that I felt needed to be covered in more detail. So, I’m going to offer some tips here for you, and I think you’ll find you can do a lot with the music that you’ve already created without making a lot more, unless you don’t have much of a back catalog.

What you may not know is that there are people willing to spend upwards of $100 or even $200 with you [in one sitting]. You just need to give them the opportunity, because they have that money, and they want to be able to support you if they like your work. You’re just not giving them the opportunity.

People are willing to spend more with you - give them the opportunity.Share on X

Let’s say, for example, that you released five albums. Well, that’s great, people might be able to spend $50 to $60 with you to buy those albums, but you’re not giving them the opportunity to spend more. Why is that?

I think that’s often an issue of self-confidence. So, you need to improve your self-image and know that you’re worth more, and know that you can get more.

So, as I’ve already said, you can repurpose your back catalog if you have one, starting at about three or four albums. Any less than that, and you may not have enough content to create a worthwhile bundle. But after that point, you’ve got plenty to work with.

Here’s a very simple way to get started with packaging up your music product. One is to offer a bundle of all your albums, and it should be for a fair price. So, let’s say you’re offering four albums in a single bundle, and normally it would cost people about $50, then you might want to discount it and set it at about $40, but that’s one opportunity most artists are not leveraging at all.

And for those of you who want to take it to the next level, you can offer things like physical merch, your T-shirts, your buttons, your stickers, and things like that and put them in the bundle.

The one problem with offering merch items like that and including them in your bundle is just fulfillment. You’re going to have to package it all up and ship it all out, and go to the post office, unless you already have a company or individual handling that for you.

So, there’s a lot you can do without including physical merchandise. Now, I’m not saying that it’s a bad ideal to include a combination of physical and digital merchandise, because that’s also a great opportunity, but here are some other ideas you can try.

One is to include handwritten lyrics, you can simply scan them and include them in your bundle. You could include transcriptions of your music, and even guitar tabs. You can get this done for cheap these days, and this is a missed opportunity, and artists like David Nevue have been doing this for a while, and have been successful at selling sheet music. So, I don’t see why you couldn’t do that too.

You could include a story behind each album and the creation of it. You could include behind-the-scenes footage in video, or acoustic versions of the songs. You could create a short book or eBook that ties together your entire catalog.

There might be some benefits to creating a physical copy of your book and selling it on places like Amazon simply because that could be a new revenue stream for you. And you even don’t have to create something that’s 40,000 to 60,000 words long. It can literally be 10,000 words, and people don’t have a lot of time to read anyway, and if it’s compelling, 10,000 words is more than enough to capture people’s attention.

Now, if you’re not much of a writer, that’s fine, but you can also hire writers. There a lot of places you can go, like Upwork, to get somebody to do that for you, and you won’t spend an arm and a leg to do it, so that’s just an excuse.

Now if you think this whole business of packaging and bundling your music is a good idea and it’s something that you want to pursue and do, then you should plan for future bundles and packages.

Create as much content as you can. Save all your notes. Save all your blueprints and your marketing plan, and everything else you create around your music and then throw it in your package. Whatever is appropriate, whatever your audience might see as a bonus they would love. Just throw it all in there, and you’ve got a bunch of content you can sell.

So, how do you do this, and how do you make it all possible? Well, my main recommendation is Gumroad, because they let you sell digital products, physical products, memberships, subscription products, pretty much anything that you’d want to sell online you can sell through Gumroad.

Another great place that you can use is Sellfy. This is an online marketplace, so it can help you gain more visibility for your products.

But the thing is, you’re still going to have to market your music no matter where you publish it. I don’t care if it’s Gumroad, Sellfy, or iTunes. You’re going to have to take some time to market and promote it and direct your fans to it to get sales.

You must market your music no matter where you publish it.Share on X

So, don’t just rely on a site like Sellfy to do your all your work for you, even though it will help you get more exposure for your products.

So, what are your thoughts on bundling and packaging your music products to maximize your earnings? Do you think it’s a good idea? Do you think it’s a bad idea? Is it something you’re going to try?

And if it is something you’re going to try, I want to hear about it. So, leave a comment in the show notes and let me know what you’ve been up to and what the results have been.

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