Building a fan base is a daunting task. Just reading that sentence your blood pressure probably rose a couple points. Everyone talks about how it's so important to 'build a fan base,' but no one really gives a simple way how or what that even really means.You should not look at t...

You may have heard the Amanda Palmer story on how she made $19,000 in 10 hours (3 years before her $1.2 million Kickstarter) on Twitter. Or maybe you haven't, but it's quite impressive. But the thing that always bugs me about these stories - especially when they're titled 'Indie...

When I was 14 and wanted to learn guitar my mom took me to a pawn shop to get my first guitar. I knew absolutely nothing about guitars and picked the one in our price range that looked cool. It was an electric so we also got a small practice amp. I couldn't tell you what the guit...

I once organized a show with a manager of a band in a city where I had a sizable draw. The show was pitched to me by the manager as a great opportunity for me to get in front of many new fans and make a good amount of money. He told me his band brought 550 to their CD release. I...

I lived in Minneapolis for 7 years. Other than making great friends, becoming a supportive member of the music community and my overall love for the city itself, it wasn't the right music scene for my style of music. Meaning, there were very few other artists making music within...

**The biggest news story in the music world last week was David Lowery's response letter to the NPR intern Emily White about the moral implications to not purchase music. This has been a massive debate ever since Napster hit over a decade ago. My post below was written before Low...

Being the opener for a more established act can be one of the best ways to make new fans. I can pinpoint specific opening gigs where I gained a large amount of fans who are still incredibly supportive to this day. I love opening slots for more established acts because I get to wi...

I desperately wanted to get my song 'Last Day' on Grey's Anatomy because I thought it was just perfect for the show. So I researched who the music supervision company for the show was and discovered they had a blog. I read up on the blog and found that one of the music supervisor...

Once you have a show confirmed you should send one final email that includes all of the necessary details. This acts like a contract. Most venues with capacities under 600 don't typically work with contracts - especially when booking directly with the artist. Even if they do work...

Musicians are traditionally lazy. That's where all the statistics that you'll never 'make it' come from. It's all the lazy musicians who say they want it but will never put in the work necessary to make it, so they won't. You will absolutely make it...