You’ve put a lot of thought intocreating the right designsfor merch based on your brand and music. With those designs, you decided on thebest way to get those items made. Now, it’s time to sell!
对于许多独立的艺术家,现场表演不come as frequently so you want to make sure you’re maximizing these opportunities to sell when you’re performing live.
In this blog, we’ll go over all of the basics that you should keep in mind for selling merch in person and some tips to maximize your efforts.Read More
Please Note:I am not a financial advisor or tax consultant. The contents of this blog is for educational purposes only. Nothing contained here is financial, legal, tax or accounting advice. Be sure to talk with a professional tax consultant or accountant if you’re unsure about filing taxes as a musician. The information contained is specifically for those who live and work in the United States.
Have you started bringing in income from music and you’re unsure of how to prepare for taxes?
Being able to earn money as a musician is the first key step from something just being a hobby to becoming a full-time professional. Unfortunately, this is also where income taxes kick in and things can get complicated quickly.
In this blog, which is part 2 of my beginners guide for filing taxes, I’ll cover 5 fundamental tips on how independent artists should get started with accounting for their music business. Also, I share a list of expenses you may be able to write-off as a musician.Read More
Please Note:I am not a financial advisor or tax consultant. The contents of this blog is for educational purposes only. Nothing contained here is financial, legal, tax or accounting advice. Be sure to talk with a professional tax consultant or accountant if you’re unsure about filing taxes as a musician. The information contained is specifically for those who live and work in the United States.
As gratifying as it may be to make a living off your art, the tough reality of being an independent artist is that you’re required to handle not only the creative side, but all aspects of the business. This includes filing tax returns with the good folks at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
不管你是刚刚开始还是在道路上pursue a full-time career as a professional musician, you want to make sure you educate yourself with the basics around filing taxes and creating an accounting system for your finances related to the business. Even though tax returns are due in April, it’s never too early to learn, especially if you want to take this music thing more seriously.
In this blog, I’ll cover common questions newer artists pursuing music professionally may have about filing taxes as a self-employed musician.Read More
Have you ever tried pitching yourself or your music to someone in the music industry but rarely ever hear back?
Many of us are busy and yes, we get a lot of emails. At least for me, I actually read most of the emails I get from my website, but I only respond to maybe 5% of them. Why is that? Many artists are making the same common mistakes when it comes to email.
One of the most fundamental skills any emerging independent artist needs is to know how to communicate to music industry people professionally.So if you want to improve the chances of getting something you want, whether it’s pitching for a playlist, receiving coverage on a blog, performing at a venue, getting help with your career, you need to know the proper way to email someone.
Some of you may be thinking this sounds so basic, why dedicate a whole blog on this topic? Unfortunately, I still see a lot of these mistakes in my own inbox way too often so clearly this isn’t common sense.Read More
Lyrics are powerful.You write and perform your songs. Fans memorize them and sing along. Sometimes, they’ll even tattoo their favorite lines on their body.As independent artists, you want to make sure you leverage the power of lyrics in every possible way in your business and marketing.
In earlier days of the Internet (in the late 1990s and early 2000s), searching for song lyrics was one of the top things people did online. I remember I would print out the lyrics to my favorite songs from sites, likeAZ Lyrics, and sing/rap along so I could memorize them faster. The good news is making your lyrics accessible is so much easier now, compared to how it was a few decades ago.
In this blog, I will cover all things lyrics that independent artists should do for every release as well as things to consider for marketing your music.Read More
5/8/22 Update:I noticed that Meta(Facebook) is rolling out a revamped tool calledMeta Business Suitethat looks to replace Facebook Business Manager, which I reference in this blog. As a result, some locations of things I reference and directions I included below may not work anymore. I will try to update everything as soon as possible.
For musicians, a big part of marketing is accessibility. Whether it’s at a live show or on social media, you want to meet fans where they are at and make it as easy as possible to support you.
With Instagram being one of the top social media platforms for musicians, setting up the Instagram Shopping feature is a great way to do this. After launching in 2019, Instagram Shopping has become more widely available now for most business account users.
Unfortunately, the process to get set up can be a bit confusing. In this blog, I will go over all the steps in detail so you can get Instagram Shopping up and running on your Instagram account.Read More
The most influential artist that got me interested in the independent music scene 20 years ago as a college student and ultimately led to the creation of this blog, passed away in August of 2021. Zumbi (Stephen Gaines) was also a former client of mine.
As a big fan and supporter since 2001, it was an honor to get to work with him and to know him more personally during that period. I’ve been to so many shows and financially supported them anyway I could. He was truly an artist of the people and will be missed as one of the cornerstones of independent hip hop in the Bay Area.
Because of the importance he had for my passion in music and my career in this industry, I wanted to write a blog to honor him as well as share what other independent artists can learn from his legacy, even if you’re not familiar with his music.Read More
Music fans love merch. Despite how much music has become digital with streaming, we still seek and crave having something physical from artists to:
Fans will still buy physical music to collect even if they don’t have a way to play CDs, cassette tapes or vinyl. In a 2023 report from Luminate, they found that50% of consumers who have bought vinylin the past 12 months don’t own a record player!
Selling merch is such an important aspect of your music business, not just financially as an income stream, but also a means for fans to build a stronger rapport with your brand.
This month’s blog is going to be a little different than what I usually do. I want to talk more freely about a topic that I find really interesting as someone who collects a lot of different things.Based on my own personal experiences with collecting as a hobby, I want to discuss how merch collectability can be used by musicians to engage fans, build brand loyalty and sell more merch.Read More
The typical income streams available to your average independent artist (royalties, live performance, merch) are not the most reliable and consistent.
So when you come across a business model that pays creators monthly directly from the support of fans, it’s easy to see the allure of a platform like Patreon. It is free to start a page, but does it mean you should invest your time to do it?
Read More
As a musician, the last thing you want to do is leave money on the table. So what can you do to make sure you’re getting all the money you’re owed from your music?
Many musicians may not realize this, but there’s a lot of music royalties floating out there waiting to be claimed by their rightful owners.Over 424 million dollars in mechanical royaltiesgenerated from digital service providers (DSPs) were left unclaimed due to the lack of data or having the incorrect information to match and pay out the rightful copyright owners.
Thankfully for artists, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) officially launched in January of 2021 to help address this issue. How does the MLC help exactly?Read More
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D4 Music Marketing is an online resource that focuses on music marketing, artist development and business education to empower aspiring and emerging artists who want to make a living off music as an independent.
The aim of this blog is to help guide DIY musicians in a highly competitive industry with strategies and tactics to effectively promote music and attract life-long fans. By emphasizing the importance a strong foundation, you will be better equipped to navigate and adapt to the ever-changing music landscape with a clearer direction towards independent success.
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