House concerts are not a new thing. There is a long tradition in the folk world that dates back to the ’60s. However, they seem to have had a massive resurgence over the past decade of singer-songwriters trading in club touring for house shows. Personally, I’ve played about 30 house concerts and these shows have been some of my favorite (and most profitable) shows of my career. Nothing beats the connection of a room full of supporters sitting merely feet from you, soaking up every note, every word, and every beat. A living room concert is one of the most memorable concert experiences a fan (and artist) will ever have. 

And house concerts aren’t just for tiny singer-songwriters. Artists like Vance Joy, David Bazan (of Pedro the Lion), Jeremy Messersmith, Julia Nunes, Califone, Mirah, Laura Gibson, Tim Kasher of Cursive, S. Carey, Richard Buckner, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and John Vanderslice have set up house concert tours over the past few years. 

With house shows you don’t have to deal with bad sound guys, drunk a**holes, empty clubs, or the headache of promotion. Shannon Curtis has a great book on how to book a house concert tour, called No Booker, No Bouncer, No Bartender: How I Made $25K on a 2-Month House Concert Tour (And How You Can Too), which I highly recommend if you’re thinking of getting into the house concert game. You can also check out ConcertsInYourHome, which is a community of house concert hosts around the world. If you are accepted as an artist into the network, you can set up full tours to cities you’ve never visited in great homes of acoustic fans. Or, Side Door, a newer startup that similarly connects hosts and touring artists. More on Side Door in a moment. 

And when Covid shut down the entire live music industry, many DIYers got creative, putting on drive-in, driveway and backyard concerts. We at Ari’s Take put on a drive-in concert in the summer of 2020. This was one of the first concerts to take place since lockdown in Los Angeles County. The artist Annabel Lee headlined the event and celebrated the release of her song “Los Angeles.” We promoted it on Instagram and required fans to text her (SMS service) for more info (which auto- returned a link to buy tickets). We sold tickets (price per car—people packed their household into their cars) through Splash and hosted the concert at a friend of a friend of a friend’s big open lot (because the owner of the parking lot we had originally booked got Covid five days before the show!). Fortunately, we didn’t release the location, via text, until the day before the show. 

We handed out an instruction sheet to every car (via a grabber stick), which had instructions on how to tune in (via the car radio), how to buy merch, social, stream and download links (via QR code, of course). We had a dedicated merch person managing the Venmo account, running around to cars with their merch items.

The show went off without a hitch. Live music had been officially shut down for four months at this point, and this concert was desperately needed by Annabel, her band, her fans and everyone else involved.

After having his summer 2020 tour canceled, Toronto-based singer-songwriter John Muirhead reached out to his local community offering driveway concerts and booked 10 driveway concerts in the Toronto area. And then in early 2021, once he had started to build up his TikTok presence, he compiled some footage from the previous summer into a little advertisement-style video. It spread on TikTok extremely quickly (racking up nearly 30,000 views) and returned more requests for driveway concerts in Ontario than he could handle (hashtags worked wonders). John filled up his entire calendar with these throughout 2021. He charged hosts a guaranteed minimum around $200–300 CAD, and averaged around $7 CAD per head in merch sales. Win!

The Nova Scotia–based company Side Door, co-founded by singer-songwriter Dan Mangan and music industry professional Laura Simpson, connects artists with hosts and helps them facilitate private concerts—both in person and online. All payments are taken digitally, and the money is kept in escrow until the show happens. The host and artist negotiate a payment split on the platform. They have name-your-price ticketing, global transactions, and geotargeting. Artists can even facilitate tours by automatically selecting the locations they are looking to tour to, and the registered hosts in those areas get notifications and can decide whether to host the artist.

Side Door currently has 3,000 venues and hosts registered in North America (mostly in Canada), and more popping up in Europe and around the world. They’ve facilitated shows with Vance Joy, Broken Social Scene, Feist, Barenaked Ladies, Tom Odell, Said the Whale and thousands of others.

The quirk-rock band More Fatter set out on a 43-date backyard concert tour in the summer of 2021. Half the shows were ticketed ($30 through Eventbrite), and the other half were $30 suggested donation. Some shows had 50+ people packed into the backyard. And other shows where they didn’t have much of a base and the host didn’t promote it super well had 5–10. They sold T- shirts for $40 and burned CDs of new demos for $20. They completely sold out of all their merch after multiple reorders. They toured in a 2005 Toyota Sienna and crashed on couches to keep expenses down. In two months, they made $25,000. That’s the thing with house concerts. It’s such a magical experience that you can get away with selling your merch much higher than you would at a club. It’s much more personal. People aren’t simply buying your merch for the item, they’re buying it as a souvenir from the night. And to have a special connection with you when they make the transaction.

THE BOOKING

The beauty of house concerts is that you only need one superpassionate fan per city to set up a house concert. Put out feelers to your email list and on social sites. Set a guarantee plus a percentage of tickets, or you can play for tips. 

You’ll have to designate Fridays and Saturdays (or Sunday afternoons) for house concerts, since most hosts have 9-to-5 jobs and won’t want to organize it for a weekday. But some may. 

Plan your house concerts about two to three months in advance. Give your hosts plenty of time to invite guests and get excited. 

You’ll want to tour with an amp or PA (and all mics/stands/cords) to plug in your guitar, keyboard and vocal mic. The host will most likely know nothing about sound and have zero sound equipment. You should be able to set up anywhere and play. Don’t forget your extension cords and power strips. 

The email I send out to potential hosts usually looks something like this:
(Feel free to copy whatever you want)

Ari Herstand
Living Room Concert! 

What the . . .? 

I’d like to set up shows in people’s living rooms/backyards/dorm lounges/etc. and have a very intimate experience—something that isn’t necessarily possible in many clubs I play. I’m going to play many new, unreleased songs for these performances—many songs that translate very well to the living room, but maybe not so well to the club. 

Interested? 

If you’d like to host a living room concert, all you need to do is reply and fill in the information below and I’ll get back to you with possible dates for your area. I need you to bring at least 20 people to the concert—hey you have home turf advantage! 

What I charge. 

The concert costs $450 + 80% of admission after $450 is met. This means, if you charge $25 a head (what I recommend) and 30 people show up, that equals a total of $750. I end up with $690 (you end up with $60) at the end of the night. If 12 people show up, that equals a total of $300. I end up with $450 at the end of the night (you have to cover the remaining $150). If you’re confident you can bring 18 people at $25 a head, everyone who lives in the house basically gets a free concert because I don’t charge the hosts and hostesses. Just so you know, this is much lower than my normal “private concert” rate, but because I want people who really dig my music—dare I call them fans—to be able to afford this and not have to pay an exorbitant amount out of pocket, I’ve reduced my rate for these house concerts. I used to take 100% after $450, but I’ve added the 20% to the host idea to give you an incentive to provide simple snacks/drinks for your guests and so you don’t lose money. 

What to provide. 

All you need to provide is a big enough space to hold everyone. Also, make sure my performance space (corner) is well lit with upright bright lamps or something and then the rest of the room can be dim with candles or other lamps. People are most comfortable sitting on chairs, couches, benches, husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc., so it would be great if you had enough seating for everyone. Maybe encourage people to bring a pillow, blanket, or lawn chair to sit on if you don’t have enough chairs. Make sure you have a key person who will collect money from everyone at some point. 

Timing

The concert will last about 2 hours. The first 45 minutes I’ll play an acoustic, mostly unplugged (chill) set. Then take a 15-minute intermission and the next hour will be a full looping show—plugged in. Make sure your neighbors are OK with this. Won’t get too loud, though. I’m looking to start at 7:30 for most places.

Notes for this experience: 

Please let your guests know that this is an intimate, private concert by a touring musician. 

This is not a party. Promote my music to all guests and get them excited about the music if they don’t already know my stuff. This is not a drinking party with your best bud providing the entertainment. While alcohol is absolutely okay (and encouraged if somehow a Guinness ends up in my hand), this is not a time to get wasted. 

Also, please inform your guests, maybe at the start (because I don’t want to look like the bad guy), that talking is very uncool during the performance. 

Anything else? 

I’ll most likely need a place to crash that night, so if you have a couch, that would be fantastic. If you provide dinner for me, as well, I’ll love you forever. 

Please fill in this info and I’ll get back to you with open dates: 

City, State: 

Are you in high school or college (please list where): 

If in high school list parent’s name:

and email: 

How many live with you (are they okay with this): 

Do you live in a house, dorm, apartment, etc. (elaborate): 

Expected number of attendees: 

Where will this be held (living room, backyard, dorm lounge, etc. please elaborate): 

Exact Address: 

Contact Phone Number: 

Hopefully I’ll see you soon!  ~Ari 

And once you confirm a date, make sure you send them a confirmation email.
Here’s what I use:

Details: 

Saturday, March 17 

Contact: Mickey Mouse 

Phone Number: 612-555-5555 

Exact Address: 

1234 Beautiful Lane 

St. Paul, MN 55104 

7:30–9:30 (you can change this if need be) 

$25 a person (hosts excluded) 

$450 guarantee + 80% of cover after $450 

Make public (upon request) or keep private? 

Load in: 6:00 

Sound check: 6:30 

Provided equipment: lamps to light my performance area (corner), mood lighting for the rest of the room 

Sleeping accommodations? yes 

**CANCELLATION POLICY 

Because I am routing a tour around this show, once this is confirmed, we cannot cancel it. Please do not confirm this unless you are certain you can afford the concert and/or can get enough people to attend. If you have to cancel the show less than 3 weeks before the date, I will still need to receive 70% of payment. 

Please confirm these details and we’re set! 

Thanks!  ~Ari

Customize this for you

People have organized pot lucks, birthday, graduation and anniversary parties around these. You will have a lot of fun with house concerts, and even if you’re a full band, as long as you tour with a full PA system, you can set up backyard and basement concerts. 

You will build lifelong fans this way. Attendees get a very personal experience, get to hang out with you before and after the show, and typically buy tons of merch. 

Make sure you pass around the mailing list clipboard or iPad and get every single person’s email who comes. If 30 people show up, the next time through you can book a club and you can estimate that each of them will bring at least 1 more person and now you have a solid 60 for your club show. 

Shannon Curtis typically works solely on tips and merch sales for her living room concerts, and it has worked out very well for her. If you’re just starting out, you can go this route, as well. But make sure the host discusses the importance of the tip jar (she advises not to include a suggested donation because if you say the show is worth $10, no one will drop a twenty in). The tip jar (and merch) should be placed right near the front door so it absolutely cannot be missed. 

Companies like Sofar Sounds, Side Door and ConcertsInYourHome organize (or help artists and fans organize) house concerts. Sofar Sounds has set up intimate, living shows with oftentimes famous artists like Hozier and Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs. 

House concerts are a beautiful, unforgettable experience for everyone involved. •

Ari Herstand is the CEO and founder of the music business education company Ari’s Take and its online school Ari’s Take Academy as well as the host of the Webby Award winning New Music Business podcast. He is the author of the book How To Make It in the New Music Business which is a No. 1 best seller in 3 categories on Amazon and is being taught in over 300 universities in the U.S. and has been translated into multiple languages. As a musician he has played over 1,000 shows all over the world and has released 4 albums. As a speaker he has spoken at SXSW, Music Biz, BBC One Introducing, NAMM, SF MusicTech, Berklee College of Music and UCLA. He fronts the 1970s original funk/soul immersive concert theatrical experience, Brassroots District.

DID YOU KNOW that Pink Floyd’s 1973 masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moon’s run time is only 43:00? Know why? It’s because a vinyl record can only hold about 22 minutes of music per side before the quality gets drastically reduced. Had records been able to hold 35 minutes of music per side, The Dark Side of the Moon could have been a completely different album. 

It’s funny that artists are still putting about 10 songs together and releasing them as an album. There are a few reasons for this:

But there are no time constraints with the digital model. You could have a 1,000-minute album if you wanted. Hell, many people open an artist’s profile on their favorite streaming service and just hit Shuffle anyway, in effect giving them an infinite playlist of their favorite artist. An infinite album. 

Artists create for the medium of the times. Drake’s 2021 album Certified Lover Boy has 21 songs and clocks in at 1 hour, 26 minutes. That does not fit on a vinyl record or a CD, but works perfectly on streaming services (with songs sprinkled throughout thousands of playlists). On Spotify, the duration of the top five streamed albums rose almost 10 minutes from 2012 to 2018, to an average of 60 minutes. 

But creating longer albums isn’t just for art’s sake. Superstars make extra-long albums to attempt to game the system. Both Billboard and the RIAA calculate an “album” at 1,500 on-demand streams. So, if you have diehard fans, and you release a ton of songs on one album, they’ll spend more time listening all the way down. Chris Brown’s 2017 album Heartbreak on a Full Moon had 45 songs (clocking in at 2 hours and 38 minutes!) and was certified Gold in 10 days (without any hits). 

But that doesn’t mean more is always better. Olivia Rodrigo’s breakout album Sour clocks in at only 34 minutes and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2022 Grammys.

SHOULD YOU RELEASE A SINGLE, AN EP OR AN ALBUM?

Unless you have a Dark Side of the Moon statement to make, you don’t need to create an album. Spend your resources on creating a great song and great videos and get it out. Fans expect music so much more regularly now than they did 10 years ago. If you don’t continue the engagement and continue to feed them musically, they will move on. 

Yes, artists still tour on albums. For one, it gives reviewers something fresh to talk about and the old guard still understands “album campaigns.” But there’s no need to create a full-length album unless you truly have a statement to make. So don’t stress yourself out about building the funds for a full-length album. 

How often should you be releasing music? That depends on a lot of factors.

Spotify has publicly come out and said they reward consistency. So, if you want to play the Spotify game and have the best shot at editorial playlist inclusion, you’re going to want to follow their suggestions.

 Most artists these days are releasing songs every four to six weeks. It may sound daunting, but you can go in waves. If you want to track 12 songs at a time every year, great; then you can release one a month for a year. Or four singles in advance of an album, if you want to release an album.

THE ALBUM RELEASE TIMELINE

If you’re planning to release a full-length album or EP, you can loosely follow this release timeline as a guide.

6-9 Months Before 

Order the Vinyl

You need to start planning out your release plan at least six months in advance. 6 months before the release, your album should be mastered. If you’re ordering vinyl, start no later than eight months out contacting the plant to make sure they will be able to turn your order around by your release date. Turnaround times are frustratingly long. And because of the nature of vinyl, a lot can go wrong, so leave time for all of this. It’s not uncommon for plants to have a nine-month turnaround time from submission to delivery. So be prepared. 

Qrates is a great option, however, if you want to run a vinyl-only crowdfunding campaign. You can set the minimum number of records needed for the campaign at 100, and if you sell 100 records, everyone gets a record; if you don’t reach the milestone, no one gets a record (but you also aren’t out any money).

Artwork

All vinyl plants will send you art templates to design the artwork from. Make sure your graphic designer creates the art to their specs. 

5 Months Before 

Liner Notes & Credits

Obviously, if you’re creating vinyl, you need all of the packaging completed before sending it in. More and more DSPs (streaming services) are starting to show credit info and some distributors are now requiring it. Give your drummer some love!

Promo Photos

You’ll also want to get new promo photos done to potentially include on the album cover and within the booklet. If you’re not including any promo photos within your vinyl packaging, then don’t worry about this until three months out. But, it’s nice to include at least one shot of the artist within the packaging.

Record Release Show Holds

If you do it right, this show will sell out. This will be a hometown celebration of all your hard work. You’ll want to do this on a Friday or Saturday, and venues book these prime slots out well in advance. Make sure you get a least a few holds five months out. 

Pick the Lead Singles

Do the market research to figure out which are your strongest songs. The answers may surprise you. 

Pick Your Distribution Company

Reference my up-to-date Digital Distribution Comparison list on Ari’s Take to figure out which digital distributor is best for you. Many companies can get your music to stores within hours or days, but some require weeks. Best to get on this quickly.

Cue Up the First Single

Yes, you should be releasing a minimum of 3 singles in advance of a full-length album. But most artists these days are releasing 5+ singles before the album, utilizing the “waterfall” technique, where you continue to add songs to the forthcoming album with each release (more on how to do this in a moment). Every single release gives you an opportunity to pitch playlist editors, run new marketing campaigns, and engage your fanbase with new creative. 

Singles should be released every four to six weeks. Spotify editors like to receive playlist submissions four weeks in advance, and it takes a few days (sometimes longer) from when you hit Submit in your distribution portal to appear in your Spotify for Artists, giving you the ability to submit the song. And, as of now, you can’t submit song #2 until song #1 is released. Which is why you need to spread out your releases. If you’re going to also release your music on Bandcamp (you should), you can actually cue up all of the releases and album now and submit it to the blog editors. 

Create the FanLink

The FanLink is the album landing page with all of the DSPs. Services like ArtistHub, Feature.fm, Show.co, Linkfire and ToneDen have cornered this market. Ask your distributor which links they can provide to you in advance of the release. Most distributors will be able to give you at least Spotify and Apple Music. But others can give you more. And you can always grab your Spotify link in your Spotify for Artists. Include Bandcamp. Point everyone to the FanLink page. 

Create the Videos

Of course, you’re going to be making many, many videos of varying production quality and dimensions, and for various platforms for months to come. Some of these will be spontaneous in the moment (remember the viral TikTok video of Mothica crying to her masters in her car that got millions of views and got her song trending?), and some will be high-production music videos. Start to get the batch going. For the songs you want to turn into full-on music videos, you’re going to want to start this process now. And, of course, any single you release should be accompanied by a Canvas video (for Spotify) and a music video or visualizer of some kind. Apple Music, Tidal (and of course YouTube and VEVO) will now display your music videos right in app on your profile. 

Cue Up the Ads

When your first single is released, you’re going to want to run social media ads promoting it. This is a good time to start to learn how to do this if you don’t already know. Instagram and TikTok ads have proven to be the most effective for bumping streaming numbers (at a low cost). However, it’s worth looking into all other advertising platforms, like YouTube, Google and Facebook, if your target demographic spends more time there. 

Start an Influencer Marketing Campaign

There are plenty of companies out there that will work within your budget to engage social media influencers in their network. You can also work this on your own without hiring an agency.

4 Months Before 

First Single Gets Released 

Start the Social Media Ads 

Hit Up User-Generated Playlist Editors

Now that the single is officially out on DSPs, it’s time to promote it to user-generated playlists. You can do this manually (finding the best playlists and pitching the editors) or via SubmitHub. But be very careful with other playlist plugging services. Too many shady ones out there to list. Stay away from all of them. 

Release the Music Video

One to three weeks after the single gets released, release the music video for the song. Even if it’s just a simple lyric video or visualizer, putting out a full-length video like this gives you another opportunity to promote the song. 

Cue Up the Next Single

Using the waterfall effect, you’re actually creating a two-song album (rereleasing single #1 and single #2—using the same ISRC code). Use the album cover for this. Once the release appears in Spotify for Artists, submit the single to playlist editors. 

Create the new FanLink

Create More Video Content 

Launch the New Website

This is when you begin to let the world know about the upcoming album and release show. Sites like Bandzoogle and Squarespace make it easy to create a website and reskin it (change the design) at will, without having to beg your web developer to just update the header image one more time. I keep an updated comparison on ArisTake.com of some of the best website builders. More on this in Chapter 11.

3 Months Before

Second Single Gets Released

If you used the waterfall effect, confirm that the two-song album looks correct on DSPs (and stream counts and playlist inclusions have maintained). Now you can issue a takedown for single #1. 

Update and Tweak the Social Media Ads 

Hit Up User-Generated Playlist Editors 

Release the Music Video

One to three weeks after this single gets released, release the next music video for the song. 

Cue Up the Next Single

Using the waterfall effect, you’re actually creating a three-song album (rereleasing singles 1, 2 and now 3—using the same ISRC codes). Use the album cover for this. Once the release appears in Spotify for Artists, submit the single to playlist editors. 

Create More Video Content 

2 Months Before 

Start the Record Release Show Promo

Now that you have triple confirmation from the vinyl plant that the shipment will arrive at least a month before the release show, lock in the date and start the promo campaign. You will sell a lot of merch at this release show. Prepare yourself. 

Hit Up Press for Your Release

Press outlets, especially those in print, plan far in advance. Start on this early especially for the local outlets that may cover your release show. 

Third Single Gets Released

If you used the waterfall effect, confirm that the three-song album looks correct on DSPs (and stream counts and playlist inclusions have maintained). Now you can issue a takedown for the two-song album. 

Update and Tweak the Social Media Ads 

Hit Up User-Generated Playlist Editors 

Release the Music Video

One-to-three weeks after the single gets released, release the music video for the song.

Cue Up the Next Single

Using the waterfall effect, you’re actually creating a four-song album (re-releasing singles 1, 2, 3 and now 4—using the same ISRC codes from before). Use the album cover for this. 

Create More Video Content

The Month Before 

Fourth Single Gets Released

If you used the waterfall effect, confirm that the four-song album looks correct on DSPs (and stream counts and playlist inclusions have maintained). Now you can issue a takedown for the three-song album. 

Update and Tweak the Social Media Ads 

Hit Up User-Generated Playlist Editors 

Release the Music Video

Create More Video Content 

Listening Party

Use a livestreaming platform of your choice to hold a virtual listening party for your new album. You’ll get the first reactions from fans in real time. Or, even better, host a local listening party in your living room and livestream it out to people around the world. 

Send Out Email and SMS Blasts 

Lead off with the story of the album creation process. Be vulnerable. Be open. Be authentic. Don’t just say, “This is the best album we’ve ever made.” That’s boring. Everyone says that. Why did you make an album? Use the hook from the press release and welcome your fans back to you. Or introduce them to the new you. Include a link to the preorder or album landing page site and focus on that. If you’re running a preorder, include this link. Also include the contests you’re running and invite fans to find you on the various social sites to participate. Gather more people for your street team. Link the music video in the blast. Invite them to your listening party. 

Two Weeks Before 

Send Out Email and SMS Blasts 

If you’re running a Bandcamp preorder, this is the time to mention and push it. You can also work the algorithm by getting people to presave the song. 

The Week Before 

Send Out Email and SMS Blasts

Yes, another one. Push that preorder and presave. 

The Day Before 

Create the Email and SMS Blasts

Now this is the big one. Launch day! Make sure it includes links to everything you’re releasing. Prioritize Bandcamp and let your fans know they can “name their price” or subscribe to you. Explain that 85% of the money from Bandcamp goes directly to you. Believe it or not, the fans who didn’t back your crowdfunding or preorder your album may be happy to drop $50 on just a digital download of your album to support you. 

Triple-Check All Your Links

Make sure all the links are updated and correct everywhere. 

Update Merch

Make sure your new merch, photos and bio are all up to date and will be synced everywhere to all platforms. Also make sure to link your merch to your Spotify profile (found in Spotify for Artists) which can now be linked via Shopify. 

Release Day

It’s here! All of your hard work and planning will pay off when you play to the sold-out club at your release show, start trending on TikTok, get added to popular Spotify playlists and take the whole project on the road. There are still a few things left to do to continue the momentum and have your album explode into the world. 

Release Behind-the-Scenes and Other Videos 

Publish the Bandcamp Album 

Send the Email and SMS Blasts 

Yes, another one! This is a big deal! Celebrate it!

The Week Of 

Hit Up User-Generated Playlist Editors 

Update and Tweak the Social Media Ads

Every Day After the Release 

New Videos

You should be releasing new videos probably daily at this point. But these can be shorter, more candid videos on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook. Wherever your fans are, hit them with new videos reminding them of the release in creative ways. Acoustic performances. Remixes. Dances. Soundtrack to your grocery visit. Whatever. Regular videos, regularly. 

Update and Tweak the Social Media Ads 

Hit Up User-Generated Playlist Editors 

This Campaign Is Carved in Play-Doh

Even though you just finished reading my very specific formula of how you can release your album, you should only use this as a guideline. Every project is different, and the beauty of managing an indie music career is, you have the freedom and flexibility to call your own shots and experiment. The indie albums that do the best are the ones that are not only undeniably great, but have creative release campaigns around them. • 

ARI HERSTAND is the author of the best-selling How To Make It in the New Music Business (now in its Third Edition), the host of the Webby Award winning New Music Business podcast, founder and CEO of the music business education company Ari’s Take and an independent musician. 

A music career is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. So many young musicians think that they will “make it” within the first few years of dropping their first single. I know I did. You need to be realistic about your goals and pursuits. Sure, there is a bit of luck that determines the speed of your success, but there’s no luck in determining whether you will succeed. The harder you work, the quicker you will reach your goals. 

But what are your goals? Do you even know? “Becoming a rock star” is too ambiguous. What does that mean? Selling out arenas? Hits on the radio? Making a million dollars? These can be some of the metrics you use to define milestones in your career, but you need obtainable, concrete goals that you spend every day working toward. Goals can shift. Mine sure have. But goals help keep you focused at every stage of your career. 

But you need SMART goals:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Timebound

“I want to make a living with music” is not a SMART goal. Sure, we all do. But that kind of “goal” gives you no guidance. An example of a SMART goal is more pinpointed: “I want to play a sold-out show at the Echo in 6 months.” Here’s a breakdown:

Specific: Concretely defines what you’re aiming for: sell out a venue.

Measurable: That’s 350 tickets.

Achievable: Very possible.

Realistic: If you’ve never played a show in L.A. before, have no online following or traction, selling 350 tickets in 6 months is not realistic. If you’ve played L.A. a bunch and your previous show sold 100 tickets and you’re starting to gain some traction online, then sure, 350 tickets is not that far-fetched.

Timebound: 6 months.

Once you know what you are aiming for, then you can reverse engineer it. Here’s how you’d do so using our Echo example: Find out who books the Echo. See what kinds of shows are on their calendar. Do you know any of those bands? If so, can you hop on any of those bills? Do you want to do a headline show or a co- bill? Do you have any connections to the talent buyer? If not, track down their email. Once the date is locked, plan out your promotional calendar so every day you are working on selling 350 tickets. Reverse engineer. March confidently in that direction.

Create a Word document and title it “My Music Marathon.” Then make four sections:

6 Months

1 Year

3 Years

26 Years

Under each section, write down where you see yourself in 6 months, 1 year, 3 years and 26 years. You can have lofty goals, but be realistic. These need to be SMART goals. There are many different paths to sustained success, so I can’t define your goals for you. 

Have fun with this list. If it turns into a mini novel, great! Really put some thought into it and allow it to be a constant work in progress.

Print out this goal sheet and stick it to the wall of your rehearsal space. It’s good to glance at it every once in a while to keep you on track. Get a highlighter and color the goals you reach. Hopefully, in six months, section one will be fully colored. Whenever you have updates or slight shifts to your trajectory, make a new goal sheet. Print it out and put it up. Don’t just make it a doc on your computer. Hanging this tangible sheet of paper in the physical world gives it life and demands respect. 

“If you’re just starting off, make a goals sheet. If you’re five decades into your music career, make a goals sheet.”

Have everyone in your band make a goal sheet like this. Then discuss it in a band meeting. Make sure everyone’s visions align and make one master Music Marathon sheet for the band. Because if all of you want to be spending the majority of your year on the road except your bassist, who just wants to record, play occasional local shows and raise his family, then you want to address this sooner than later. It may be time to find another bassist. You don’t want this to come up a week before you’re leaving for your first big tour. Sound absurd? I’ve seen it happen. “Yo, guys, I don’t know about this tour. I mean, we’re not going to make any money and I need to be looking out for my family. I really don’t think it’s a good idea. And I don’t want to be away for this long.” “Really dude? You couldn’t have told us this, like, a year ago when we were planning this thing?” Commence epic band fight in which you admit you slept with the mother of his children when they first started dating. Don’t let it come to that. For the sake of his children. So have the goals discussion early on. 

Remember, these have to be SMART goals. Make sure this list is extremely specific so you can reverse engineer it. Your goals and plans can always shift over time. But this will at least give you some focus and direction. Oftentimes, musicians aren’t sure where they should be devoting their efforts, but with a goal sheet, you can always make sure you’re still on track.

Every six months, reevaluate your list. Right now, open your calendar and set a recurring block of time for every six months to sit down and rewrite your 26-year marathon.

Making a SMART goals sheet is the single most important thing you can do in your music career no matter what stage you’re at. If you’re just starting off, make a goals sheet. If you’re five decades into your music career, make a goals sheet. No one’s above setting goals. And it’s never too late to get your career on track. 

ARI HERSTAND is the author of How to Make It in the New Music Business, the CEO and founder of the music business education company Ari’s Take and the host of the New Music Business podcast. 

We’re all artists. We create art. But to become an Artist with a capital A requires a helluva lot more than just “great music.”

So how do you go from an artist to an Artist? Of course, creating exceptional music is step one. But every great artist can do this. You need to showcase that you are so much more than just someone who can make great music.

Bob goes to work embodying the role of Company Man. He wears slacks, fancy shoes and a neatly pressed button-down shirt. He is cleanshaven, wears expensive cologne and his hair style is straight out of a Brooks Brothers catalog. When he walks into a conference room, he signals to everyone that Bob means business—of the office variety. He speaks with perfect diction. Looks people dead in the eye when he shakes their hand firmly. He performs in the conference room masterfully. As he presents his slide deck, he can answer everyone’s questions with prowess and depth. He has worked out every angle and has thought through his concepts to their core. Not a hole to be poked. His coworkers leave the conference room inspired and impressed. Bob plays the role of Company Man flawlessly. He is cherished and rewarded. A promotion is in Bob’s future.

Now, what does Bob the Company Man have to do with you the Artist? If you want to be an Artist with a capital A you need to embody the role of Artist to the core. Just like Bob had to learn how to dress, speak, present and interact with colleagues, you have to learn how to embrace your inner Artist.

Society encourages conformity. Falling in line. Keeping your head down. But Artists are leaders. Artists help people connect with their souls.

Artists not only tap into a higher consciousness, but guide their followers to explore states of existence outside the daily mundane. Artists inspire those who are willing to open up and challenge their states of being.

The greatest Artists can inspire a generation into action. Or a couple in to love.

Songwriters vs. Musicians vs. Artists
I know what you’re thinking: “I just want to make music and I want people to dig my music. What are you even talking about?” Well, if you want to be a behind-the-scenes songwriter, you can move to a songwriting hub, write a million songs, get a publishing deal and be on your merry way. If you want to be a hired gun, you can follow your employers on stage and play your part in the background, conforming to these Artists’ desires of how you should look, act and play.

But if you want to be the Artist, you can’t just play the part. You need to be the part.

My friend texted me the New York Times’ six-minute Watch How a Pop Hit Is Made doc about Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s “The Middle.” If you’ve seen this video, then you may have asked yourself the same thing my friend asked: “Why didn’t Sarah sing it?!” To briefly sum it up, a songwriting team consisting of Sarah Aarons and a couple of producers made a great-sounding demo for a song they wrote called “The Middle,” in an attempt to get it cut by a famous Artist. The video details the process and struggle in trying to find the right singer for the song. Fifteen different famous singers sent in their own demos (auditions) to “win” the song. Every time the producers received another singer’s demo, they felt more discouraged. Zedd recalled: “I’m looking for someone to sing it with the same intention as Sarah sang it. There were months we almost gave up because no one could sing it properly.”

So my friend understandably wondered why not just have the best singer sing the damn song? She wrote it!

The simple answer is, she was not the best vessel to deliver this message. Sure, Sarah has a voice perfect for the song and is an undeniable hit songwriter, but she is not an Artist with a capital A. She is an artist, of course. But she may not be ready or prepared (or have the desire) to lead a generation.

What does this all mean? Why is this important? If someone digs “that one song” and they start exploring who the artist is, they start down a rabbit hole of information. If all of the socials are disjointed and confusing, the bio is bland and reveals nothing of interest or substance, and the photos and videos are forgettable, that potential fan will lose interest and move on. However, if this person unveils a beautiful, enticing, enriching and inviting world the Artist has created, that potential fan may turn into a hardcore, card-carrying member of the Artist’s fan club for life.

Fans connect with Artists who help them reveal truths about themselves.

Tons of people have great voices. Tons of people write great songs. Very few, however, are Artists who can bring their followers to spiritual heights. If it sounds cult-like, well, it kind of is. That’s why people pay so much to attend huge concerts. It’s not because they like “that one song,” it’s because they love the Artist and everything she stands for. And they want to join their fellow congregants in the church of that Artist for a night—levitating and connecting.

Creating the Artist World
So, you have to create your Artist world. Everything should be filtered through the lens of the Artist. You the Artist. Everything needs to be cohesive. If it’s not, you will confuse your audience and they will move on. But how do you do this? There are a few concrete steps you can take to help you grow.

Step 1: The Artist Vision
Just like politicians don’t begin their campaigns without first working out their message and platform, you should not begin the release strategy without working out yours as well. What do you stand for? What do you stand against? What do you believe in?

I encourage you to create a My Vision document. List about 20 key words and phrases that you think the project is all about. Thoughtful, Playful, Fun, Aggressive, Heart-warming, Angsty, Sensitive, Hip, Brash, Sexual, Political, Activist, Coming of Age, Reflective, Colorful—you get the idea.

Once you have these keywords, make another list of what the project is not about. And then start free-writing. Tell the story of the project. Have fun with it. You can always update this, and it will always evolve as you evolve as an Artist. This exercise is just for you. These lists and writing samples aren’t meant to be public.

Your Vision should feel like your music.

Step 2: The Artist Aesthetic
Defining your Artist aesthetic is crucial. It’s the first glimpse into your world. The first touch. People remember visuals a lot more than they remember sounds. Your aesthetic is so much more than your image. Your image is a part of your aesthetic. The project aesthetic ties everything together.

The aesthetic should feel like your Vision. And should feel like your music. Are you seeing a pattern here?

The easiest way I’ve found to help solidify an Artist aesthetic is by utilizing Pinterest. First, create a “Vibe Board.” The Vibe Board is the main hub other boards will stem from. Pin images to the Vibe Board that feel like your project. Everything and anything. Photographs, landscapes, colors, fashion spreads, logos, album covers, t-shirt designs. Go outside the world of music for this. It’s more about capturing a vibe, feeling and energy than trying to find similar images in the world of music. You could save a photo of a ballroom dancer, an orchestra at Carnegie Hall and a painting from the Sistine Chapel. A photo of a model in a magazine and print of a candle. Don’t rush this process. It should take you a few weeks at least, if not a few months.

Once you feel good about the Vibe Board, create more boards: Photo, Live, Fashion/Clothing, Music Video(s), Single Release, etc.

Your Photo Board may pull a few photos from the Vibe Board, but this board should only contain photos of people. Only pin the photographs you like the look and feel of. How they were shot. The energy you get from them. This is the board that you send to your photographer before a photo shoot. The biggest mistake bands make is that they lock in a great photographer and leave it up to her to guide the vision of the band. No one understands your project better than you. If you leave the visual direction up to someone else, they may come up with something completely off base. But it’s not their fault. They have not been given proper direction. So send them your Photo Board.

Once you have your aesthetic on point, everything visual will fall into place. You’ll never be at a loss for what to wear on stage or at a photoshoot, or what to post to Instagram or your website. You will have no problems tossing away album cover or music video ideas if they don’t fit within the aesthetic of the project.

The aesthetic is just a visual way of communicating your vision. It’s an easy way for fans to enter your Artist world.

Step 3: The Artist Story
Yes, we are complex human beings with a million different stories, but, as we’ve established, people are not following you because they know or understand you as a complex human being––it’s because they love you as an Artist. You need to come up with the most captivating story that feels like your music, your vision and your aesthetic. It should all make sense. Your story will evolve over the course of your career. Each huge release is a good time to rethink and rewrite your Artist Story. You need a main story of who you are as an Artist. The one thing people will remember about you. And you’ll also need a story, per release, about the material—whether it’s a song, album, music video or event.

The Live Show
When you put on a live show, you’ll have your aesthetic (and outfits) worked out from the Live Board. It should feel like your vision, aesthetic, story and recordings.

Staying Authentic
You may be feeling that this is all a bit too calculated and manufactured for your liking, but on the contrary, these are just tools to help you solidify your own vision. And your Artist World. Nothing will be fake or disingenuous. Everything will be honed and pointed. When someone dips their toes into your world because one of your songs came up on their Discover Weekly, they will be so enamored and connect instantaneously on such a deep level that they will dive in headfirst and forget to come up for air until they are gasping for the mundane once again.

Separating the Artist from the Person
We are all complex humans with varying states of being. Some days we fully embody the art—especially while writing, recording or performing. Some days we play the role of Bob the Company Man while at the day job. Some days we play the role of mother, daughter, sister, brother, father, son, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, student, teacher, friend.

As the Artist, you should not showcase every aspect of your being. It would be pretty odd if your band website and socials were all about your best friend—her beautiful family and home, with stories and accompanying photos of how you’re always there for each other, through thick and thin. Photos and videos of the trips you’ve been on—overseas and around the neighborhood. With a section devoted to her and her boyfriend that includes a full blog entry of their most recent vacation.

This, of course sounds absurd, and I know you would never do this with your digital music profile, but you embody this when playing the role of Friend in your daily life. When you have your Friend hat on, you are all in. You are there for your friend. Her family and her significant other.

But as Artist, you don’t need to showcase your world as Friend.

Now, this is not merely about what you can or cannot show on social media. It’s about how best to showcase you as the Artist. So that when potential fans enter your world, it’s understood and cohesive. Can you have photos of you and your friends, family, what have you? Maybe. If it’s in line with your Artist Vision, Aesthetic and Story.

Singer-songwriters struggle more than most with what to share with the world via social media. Because their birth name is the name of the project, it can feel disingenuous not to show all of you. But no fan is following you the Artist because you are an amazing Friend (son, daughter, teacher, mother, uncle, etc.). That’s why your friends stick around. Not your fans.

If you’re a solo artist, it’s a lot easier to create a different Artist name. What Josh Tillman did with Father John Misty. Justin Vernon did with Bon Iver. Stefani Germanotta with Lady Gaga. Lizzy Grant with Lana Del Rey. Austin Post with Post Malone. Abel Tesfaye with The Weeknd. Donald Glover/Childish Gambino. Andrew Cohen/Mayer Hawthorne. David Jones/David Bowie. Garrett Borns/Borns. Claire Boucher/Grimes. Kelsey Byrne/Vérité. Brandon Paak Anderson/Anderson Paak. Sarah Winters/Vox. The list is endless.

Creating an artist project with a new name enables you to separate you, the person, from you the Artist. This doesn’t mean you have to change your name. It’s just easier.

Whether you change your name or not, whether you’re a solo artist or a band, you need to filter everything through your Artist persona. Everything you put out from music, videos, photos, social posts, interviews, performances, email blasts, everything, is as the Artist.

Matt Nathanson does a great job of this. His birth name is Matt(hew) Nathanson. He grew up as Matt Nathanson. Went to school and had jobs as Matt Nathanson. He’s a singer-songwriter whose stage persona is equal parts comedy and music. He is fun, outgoing, hilarious, positive, uplifting, sensitive and down to earth. His Artist persona is just this. It’s not some crazy alter ego. People love Matt Nathanson the Artist because he showcases this self to the world consistently. As a person, is he ever sad, angry, disgusted? Does he go to the gym? To the grocery store? Of course! He’s human. But if he only showed his sad, angry, sweaty self to the world, his fans would drop off like flies. You understand Matt Nathanson the Artist. He’s not being inauthentic by not sharing the parts of his (human) self that don’t fit in his Artist persona.

Just like you, the Dutiful Employee, at your day job don’t get sloshed and put on a strip tease in front of your boss (even though you may do so in other situations with other crowds), you, the Artist, need to play the part of Artist for your music career. 

ARI HERSTAND is the author of How To Make it in the New Music Business (second edition), a Los Angeles based musician and the founder of the music business education company and blog Ari’s Take. Follow him on Instagram @ariherstand.

As much time as you spend in your rehearsal space perfecting your sound, it won’t mean anything if it’s botched coming out of the P.A. All the money you spent on new pedals, amps, guitars and strings doesn’t matter if the mix is off in the club.

The sound guy (or gal) is the most important component of your show that most bands don’t really think about. He can break your set (few sound guys can actually make your set if you suck). First off, they like being referred to as front of house (FOH) engineers. So, this is a good place to start.

You have to know how to approach sound guys right and get them on your team for the short amount of time that you have with them.

1. Get His Name The first thing you should do is introduce yourself to the sound guy when you arrive. Shake his hand, look him in the eye and exchange names. Remember his name—you’re most likely going to need to use it many times that night and possibly a couple times through the mic during your set. If you begin treating him with respect from the get-go, he will most likely return this sentiment.

2. Respect Her Ears All sound guys and gals take pride in their mixing. Regardless of the style of music they like listening to in their car, they believe they can mix any genre on the spot. However, most front of house engineers will appreciate hearing what you, the musician, like for a general house mix of your band’s sound. Don’t be afraid to tell her a vibe or general notes (“we like the vocals and acoustic very high in the mix” or “we like keeping all vocal mics at about the same level for blended harmonies” or “add lots of reverb on the lead vocals, but keep the fiddle dry”). She’ll appreciate knowing what you like and will cater to that. She is most likely a musician herself, so treat her as one—with respect. She knows musical terms—don’t be afraid to use them.

3. Don’t Start Playing Until He’s Ready
Set up all of your gear, but don’t start wailing on the guitar or the drums until all the mics are in place and the sound person is back by the board. Pounding away on the kit while he’s trying to set his mics will surely piss him off and ruin his ears. Get there early enough for soundcheck so you have plenty of time to feel the room out (and tune your drums).

4. Have an Input List Print out an accurate, up-to-date list of all inputs (channels). A stage plot can also be very helpful, especially for bigger shows. Email both the stage plot and the input list in advance. The good sound gals will have everything set up before you arrive (this typically happens only at BIG venues). If you’re at a line-check-only club, then just print out the input list/stage plot and hand it to the sound gal right before your set.

There are some great stage plot software options, like StagePlotPro, that allows you to simply create a graphic stage plot without needing image-editing software. At the very least, though, print out an input list like this:

Channel 1—Kick Drum mic

Channel 2—Snare Drum mic

Channel 3—Hi-Hat mic

Channel 4—Tom 1 mic

Channel 5—Tom 2 mic

Channel 6—Drums Overhead mic

Channel 7—Bass Amp DI (upstage right)

Channel 8—Guitar Amp mic (upstage left)

Channel 9—Fiddle DI (stage right)

Channel 10—Acoustic DI (center)

Channel 11—Keyboard DI (stereo-L) DI (stage left)

Channel 12—Keyboard DI (stereo-R) DI (stage left)

Channel 13—(lead) Vocal mic (center)

Channel 14—Vocal mic (stage left)

Channel 15—Vocal mic (stage right)

Channel 16—Tracks DI

5. How to Insult Your Sound Guy Address him as “Yo, sound man” if you want to piss him off. You got his name—use it. Or ask him politely again if you forgot. Don’t tell him that the house mix is “off” or “bad.” Everything is subjective. It may not be what you like, but it’s obviously what he likes. He most likely has much more experience mixing than you do. So get specific about what you like and don’t like for your band’s house mix from the beginning or keep quiet.

6. Know Your Gear Know how you like your vocals EQed generally so you can say that. You can say, “Can we drop some of the highs on the vocals in the house?” You shouldn’t say, “The vocals sound piercing—they hurt my ears.” You should know how your gear works inside and out, so if anything goes wrong, you point to the sound gal last. Pointing to her first is a sure way to piss her off.

7. He’s Part of the Club The sound guy, door guy, bartender, booker, managers and servers are coworkers. They hang out, have work parties, hit the bars together and they talk. If you’re a d**k to the bartender, he’ll tell the sound guy and the sound guy may then decide to ruin your set out of spite. Or just not put any effort into mixing you.

8. Everyone Wants a Great Show Believe it or not, your sound gal wants to perform at her best just like you do. Make her job easy by showing up prepared and not sucking. She most likely has her sh*t together so make sure you have your sh*t together as well. Remember, the stage is not the time for you to “see how it goes” and try stuff out. That’s what rehearsal is for. Show up prepared.

9. The Chip There are sound guys out there (we’ve all worked with them) who seem to have a massive chip on their shoulder from the moment they step into the club. These guys are typically older, failed musicians who have been at this club for decades. They are hardened from years of working with holier-than-thou musicians who not only suck, but believe they are rock stars and that the sound guy is a peon—and treat him as such. You may not be able to change his outlook on life, but treat him with respect and dignity from the get-go and he may lighten up just enough to put some effort into mixing your set.

Even though it should go without saying, apply the golden rule. If you treat your sound guy as you’d like to be treated and work with (not against) him on putting together a great show, you most likely will have one.

Ari Herstand is the author of How To Make it in the New Music Business (second edition), a Los Angeles based musician and the founder of the music business education company and blog Ari’s Take. Follow him on Instagram @ariherstand.

Entire industries have popped up utilizing the Spotify ecosystem focused squarely on playlists (much to Spotify’s chagrin). As the industry realized how powerful Spotify playlists were, the playlist editors (those at Spotify who are in charge of making the playlists) became the new radio programmers. The labels found ways to woo Spotify playlist editors to the point that even Spotify felt a bit squeamish with how it was all working. They officially came out against the policy of paying to influence playlist inclusion, but that didn’t stop individual playlist editors from taking bribes under the table and keeping it hidden from Spotify. And, Payola is only illegal when it comes to traditional radio, not Spotify. 

Right now in 2019, the industry is obsessed with Spotify. And rightfully so. Spotify single- handedly brought back the recorded music industry from its death spiral of the early aughts. And it’s the reason the major labels are, once again, insanely profitable. 

The one thing, however, that Spotify does not have is a real social component to it. There is no commenting, social sharing, public liking, social listening parties or anything that really inspires people to exist on Spotify like they do on other social platforms. So, even though fans LOVE Spotify and artists and labels are OBSESSED with getting their fans to listen to them on Spotify, you can’t develop a fan-artist relationship on the platform. At least not yet.

Which brings us to Instagram. The kids are all on Instagram. Not Facebook. Facebook is so last decade. Sure, Facebook may be YOUR favorite platform to use, but it ain’t the under 35 crowd’s. Millennials and Gen Zers, en masse, prefer Instagram over Facebook to follow and interact with their favorite “influencers” aka musicians. 

Yes, email is important still. But if your audience skews young, it’s very challenging to get their email addresses (and they aren’t checking their emails like they check Instagram). Grabbing phone numbers is becoming the new email, but this doesn’t help foster a relationship––only a sale. 

Instagram is where you build the relationship with your audience. It’s where they can feel you and what you’re about. 

Instagram has evolved from a simple photo sharing app to one of the most important apps for creating an artist world and engaging an audience. 

Sub communities have now popped up within Instagram that have single-handedly launched careers. @pickup____, @pickupjazz, @brilliant musicians, @musiciansshowcase, @talented_musicians, @chorus and @omgvoices were some of the first (and most powerful) accounts to feature the musicians of Instagram. PickUp has actually grown into a musicians’ community, regularly hosting events around the world. 

San Diego native Raelee Nikole (@raeleenikole) had been gigging around her hometown since she was 17. She had an Instagram account since the beginning of the platform (circa 2012) and posted to the platform like every other teenager. But it wasn’t until late 2016, when she posted a video of herself playing guitar/singing Musiq Soulchild’s “Just Friends,” that everything changed. The @pickupjazz account featured her video, and followers came pouring in for Nikole. The next video she posted, playing the guitar part for John Mayer’s “Paper Doll,” John Mayer himself commented on the video. She attracted more and more attention as she posted more and more videos. Shawn Mendes followed her and even tweeted one of her songs (which subsequently hit Spotify’s Viral 50 chart). Mendes introduced Nikole to his writing partner, Scott Harris, and soon she was writing with some of the biggest songwriters in the world. She now has over 135,000 followers.

Also in 2016, New Zealand-based Emily C. Browning (@emily.c.browning) attended an Instagram clinic given by Sam Blakelock of @pickupjazz (also a New Zealand native). Browning, an incredibly talented guitarist-singer-songwriter, posted a cover song, tagged @pickupjazz and soon she was featured as well. She began regularly posting songs on her account and got featured on not only the @pickupjazz account, but a few other popular music-focused accounts.
    About a year into the process, she looked at her Instagram analytics and realized she had a lot of followers in LA, so she booked a trip out to LA, teamed up with a couple of other LA musicians she’d met on Instagram and sold out her very first show in the US. She now has over 120,000 followers.

Sam Blakelock gave another Instagram
masterclass in July 2018, which he live-streamed and added to the @pickup___ IGTV channel. He explained that the key to being a successful musician on Instagram relies on five key components:

• Quality Content
You can’t fake your way to success on Instagram. The algorithm has gotten incredibly smart and highlights great content––regardless of the subject matter. 

• Positive Community
Make sure you reply to some of your comments and interact with people in your DMs. But keep it positive. If people are trash talking in your comments, don’t stoop to their level or engage combatively. This ain’t Facebook.

• Consistency
“You’re not going to over post if the content is high quality and is varied,” he says.

• Trial and Error
You don’t want to merely be a follower on Instagram. You want to be a leader and experiment with ways to engage and grow your audience. Learn from other successful accounts, but come up with ways that showcase your personality and skills best.

• Collaboration
Find people who are doing what you want to do and collaborate with them.

Like YouTube, some of the most successful Instagrammers collaborate. That means tagging the company who made a dress, tagging everyone in the photo, including friends in your stories and showcasing their handles, mashing up other videos with your own, giving a shout-out to someone in the comments or making friends in the DMs. And you don’t actually have to be in the same time zone as your collaborators. Just tag them and they may Regram and tag you back, as has been the case with the popular musician-feature accounts. 

After Raelee Nikole posted a 20-second clip of herself playing/singing her neosoul rendition of SZA’s “The Weekend,” New Zealand-based (something’s in the water) @thejuneyboy took her video, sliced himself into it (cutting back and forth between her and him) and remixed her original audio––adding a beat and some lead guitar. This may not sound that impressive, as remixes happen regularly now; but, remember that at the time, it took figuring out how to download her video (through hacks––as Instagram doesn’t enable this), then dumping the audio into a DAW, mixing in his own creation then syncing it back up to video (cutting in his own video). The remix video got over 150,000 views on her profile. Similarly, @p_larddd remixed Nikole’s rendition of “Redbone.” She Regrammed it with “Shoutout to 2017 for giving kids with bedrooms on opposite sides of the country a way to shed together!”

Multi-instrumentalist Elise Trouw (@elise trouw) was incredibly active within the community when she first started on the platform. She regularly posted videos of herself playing drums, bass, guitar, singing and similarly got featured on popular musician-feature accounts (long before her looping videos on Facebook and YouTube went viral).

Again, it’s not about one viral video, it’s about staying active within the community, regularly releasing high-quality content, staying genuine (not forcing anything), trying (and failing) incessantly and keeping up with the trends of the times.

John Mayer took Instagram Live to a whole new level by hosting his own talk show from his living room. He goes live on his Instagram (@johnmayer) every Sunday, streamed out from his phone with no fancy lights or production. One angle, live. He calls it Current Mood and celebrities regularly pop on to talk, sing, shoot the shit, drink and do random dumb things.

Past guests include Maggie Rogers, David Spade, Dave Chappelle, Bob Saget, Halsey, Charlie Puth, Thundercat, Cautious Clay, Andy Cohen and Alec Benjamin.

When Story Highlights were released, many musicians got creative and used the story bubbles at the top almost as the way a website toolbar functions: Music, Videos, Tour, Vlog, Merch, etc. Highlights with full Swipe Up capabilities per highlight. In the Tour Highlight, they could post a photo per date with the Swipe Up linking directly to purchase tickets. The Videos Highlight could feature various video clips with the Swipe Up function linking to the full video. Merch Highlight could feature merch items with the Swipe Up feature linking directly to each item on your website. Some just posted one image per Highlight (Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Tour, etc.) and linked directly to that. You get the idea.

When IGTV was released, people created content specifically for the medium. Brassroots District (@brassrootsdistrict) created a live performance video from the studio with boxes popping in and out of the frame. The video was of course edited in a vertical manner to fit the platform’s specifications.
    Similarly, Lauren Ruth Ward (@laurenruth ward) created a live performance video from one of her recent shows at the Echoplex in LA that was vertical, with multiple camera angles stacked on one another, popping in and out, off and on. This style of video editing wasn’t prevalent anywhere else at the time (because it wouldn’t work as well on any other platform for any other medium). But it was perfect for IGTV.
    The 1975 made a custom (vertical) lyric video for their song “Give Yourself a Try,” which played on the same aesthetic theme of their main music video, but was specific for the platform. (They also made similar videos exclusive to Spotify for their new album).

And the beautiful thing about Instagram is that you can find and grow your audience on the platform even without being featured by other popular accounts. 

Use Direct Marketing To Grow Your Audience on Spotify and Instagram
Three years ago, the northern Virginia conscious hip-hop artist Lucidious was struggling to get listeners to his music. He had about 150 monthly listeners on Spotify (no, I didn’t forget a zero) with merely 45 followers, about 1,500 followers on Instagram and Facebook. And was making less than $100 a month from his music. 

Fast forward to today, three years later, he now has 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify (no, my finger didn’t get stuck on the zero key), over 50,000 followers on Spotify, 250,000 likes on Facebook, 100,000 followers on Instagram, he’s getting around 5 million streams a month, has over 100 million total streams across all platforms and is making around $20,000 a month just from his recorded music. Oh, and he’s got no label, no manager, no publicist, no agent and is on zero official Spotify playlists. 

I’ll pause as you pick your jaw up from the floor. 
He utilized direct marketing strategies on Facebook and Instagram to find his audience and get them into his world. These are real fans. Not bots. Human beings. He showed me his Instagram inbox which is flooded with fans telling him how his music saved their lives. His music focuses on mental health awareness.

Specifically, he mastered the Facebook Business and Ads Manager and ran all different kinds of video ads targeting fans of similar artists. They came pouring into his world and eventually he was getting fans to click on his ads at around $.02 per click—putting every marketing expert to shame. Spending about $10 a day, he was pulling in around 500 new fans per day. And because his music is great and his Instagram is engaging (i.e. he is very active on there, responding to comments and messages), these people who started off as passive observers turned into diehard fans. 

I tested out his strategies with my project and a bunch of friends’ projects in various genres and it works across the board. This is not a fluke and this is not because of the kind of music he makes. 

He did this all on his own, without the help from the industry. And he’s been largely ignored by the industry. And he’s A-OK with that because he’s making a solid living and has 0% commission to pay out to anyone. His fans know he exists. And that’s all that mattersBut But But, Playlists!

Okay, deep breath. Despite what you might think, you do not want to bet the horse on getting on Spotify playlists. For one, you’re fighting against every label, every distributor, every manager and every artist for coveted playlist slots. There are only so many slots and only so many playlists. We are too obsessed with the playlist game. Playlists are fickle and do not get real FANS into your world. Yes, getting on a few hot playlists can skyrocket your monthly listeners and streaming numbers overnight. But these are not your fans. These are fans of the playlist. 

We are in an era where consumption comes first and fandom comes last.
This used to be flipped. Historically, people would hear a song on the radio or from a friend, become a fan of the artist, then buy and consume the album. Now, people hear songs on playlists and, sometimes, rarely, will they actually dig deep into the research to discover the name of the artist whose song they dug on the playlist.
    Sometimes, rarely, they will tap through to the Artist’s profile and listen to their most popular songs. Sometimes, rarely, they will listen to a recent album. And even less frequently, will they dig even deeper into that artist across social platforms and the internet at large. And then, maybe, will they decide to take action and become a true fan, supporting that artist financially by coming to their show, buying some merch, or backing their crowdfunding campaigns.

We are living in an era where there are artists with millions of streams on Spotify who cannot draw 50 people to their local shows.
These artists are making a solid living off of their Spotify streams, but don’t have any real fans. I’ve heard of artists who were able to quit their day jobs because they got included on a few hot playlists which earned them millions of streams a month (thousands of dollars a month), only to get dropped from those playlists and have to beg for their job back when their streams dropped to virtually zero.

It’s time to break away from the obsessive playlist mentality!
The best way to find and grow your audience is now through direct marketing. Not PR. Not playlists. Not touring. Not blogs. Marketing. And you don’t need to spend that much money to do it. You just have to master the ad platform. Anyone can do it. I didn’t know how to do this two months ago and now I teach fellow musicians how to do it! I’m no genius. You can do it. You just have to hunker down and make it work. Yes it’s complicated. Yes the backend Business Manager can be insanely confusing. But that’s the work you gotta put in if you want to compete. Once you learn it and get it down, the hard part is over. You can then go back to making music.
    The beautiful thing about direct marketing is that once you set the ads, they go. Sure, you want to monitor them, but once you get an ad that’s effective, you don’t really need to touch or tweak it for a while.

So, instead of posting incessantly on Instagram and Facebook begging people to share your stuff, go directly to the people who would dig what you’re doing. 

It’s a very exciting time to be a musician. •

ARI HERSTAND is the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business, the founder of the music business advice blog Ari’s Take, a Los Angeles-based musician and the creator of Ari’s Take Academy, an online school teaching musicians, managers, indie labels and agents how to master social media through direct marketing to grow their fan bases and tour the world

Here are 9 things that you need to know before attempting to break into the college market.

1. There Is Very Little Overlap Between the Music Industry and the College Industry
The college industry is not the music industry. You cannot approach college shows like you approach club shows. You cannot approach college booking like you approach club booking. You cannot approach advancing college shows like you approach advancing club shows. You cannot approach sleeping arrangements for college shows the same way you approach sleeping arrangements for club shows (unless you want to get arrested or sued by daddy). These are completely different industries. Building a fan base for your career is quite different than building a career within the college circuit. Some acts who make $100,000 a year in college bookings, can’t bring 20 people out to a club show in their home town. It’s a different scene. A different approach.

2. You Don’t Need A Fanbase To Get High Paying Bookings
Colleges book talent to entertain their students. Whether you are a comedian, singer/songwriter, band, hypnotist, magician or juggler, you serve the same purpose: entertainment. The entertainment committees at these schools don’t care if you bring 1,000 people to your clubs shows or 10. They care that you will entertain their students. Of course if you are a famous act to the school’s students you can demand more money, but in general, colleges will book high-quality talent regardless of their draw, sales numbers, radio plays or Facebook Likes.
Whether 5 or 500 come to the show, you get paid the same. Unlike splitting the door with a club, colleges hand you a check after your show for the job you performed. It’s the school’s sole responsibility to get people to their “event.” You just need to show up and play.

3. College Shows Pay An Average Of $1,400 + Expenses For a 70 Minute Set
I’ve been paid upwards of $3,200 for a 70 minute set of mostly original music (where exactly no one on campus had ever heard of me), but on average, most unknown bands and singer/songwriters make about $1,400 plus all expenses, including plane tickets, rental car, sound, lights, hotel and food.

4. The People Who Book You For The Big Money Shows Are On The Campus Activities Board
Of course you could get “booked” by the chess club to play their spring dance for $100 or the college radio station for their fundraising event for $250 and lots of spins, but the big money comes from the university’s entertainment budget. Nearly all 4,000 schools in the US have an annual entertainment budget, ranging from about $10,000 – $300,000 (depending on the size and wealth of the school). And most mid-size – large schools have a Campus Activities Board (CAB) (it’s called something different at every school) with various sub committees that organize events throughout the year. The smaller schools, however, may just have one employee in charge of scheduling all events and booking all talent.

5. There Are Set Dates Colleges Need To Fill With Entertainment
Unlike booking a club tour, colleges typically set dates before the academic year begins with events that they need to fill with entertainers. These range from freshman orientation, welcome week, homecoming, coffee house night, Spring Jam, big concerts, and so on. You don’t approach CABs with a date that works best for you, they come to you with a few dates that work best for them. You either accept a date or don’t. There is very little wiggle room when it comes to these dates. Often times the dates they have set coincide with other events happening on campus and cannot be moved to fit your touring schedule. They’ll just find another act.

6. There Are College Booking Agents Who Don’t Book Anything BUT Colleges
Most of the top college booking agents represent comedians, hypnotists, speakers, a cappella groups, bands, singer-songwriters and have ways to provide inflatable moon bounces, cotton candy machines or silent discos for whatever event the college needs. The agencies like to be one-stop-shops for all campus entertainment needs. These agents won’t book you a club or festival tour, but they will help you route a college tour.

7. Don’t Attend NACA or APCA Without a Showcase (and an Agent)
If you’ve done any research on the college market, you’ve probably heard NACA (and APCA) pop up. These are annual conferences where hundreds of schools (send thousands of campus representatives) to scout out talent for the coming year. I’ve showcased at four NACA conferences and three APCA conferences (and Nationals for both)––all with a college agent. You’re at an extreme disadvantage if you attempt to represent yourself at these conferences without a showcase or an agent. There is an extreme learning curve with navigating how these conferences work. If you don’t showcase and attend without an agent you will walk way extremely disappointed (and about $3,000 poorer).

8. Cold Calls To Colleges Are Extremely Difficult And Rarely Work
Not only do most committees completely turn over every couple years, many schools like to go to NACA and/or APCA first to find the hot new talent, and then fill the holes with talent from the agencies they already have relationships with (that they made from booking their acts from NACA). The reason colleges like booking through agents and NACA is because these organizations vet the talent. If you mess up, the agency messed up.

9. Most Of The Shows Aren’t That Glamorous
Yeah, I’ve opened for superstars in giant arenas on campus, but the very next day I played a cafeteria at 11 in the morning to the backs of hungover college kids on a sound system built into the ceiling with only two inputs on a stage that fell apart halfway through my set. And I got paid the exact same for each. The shows are all over the place. You’ll never really know what kind of show it’s going to be until you arrive on campus.

ARI HERSTAND is the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business, a Los Angeles-based musician and the creator of the music biz advice blog Ari’s Take.

“Most of the time if you do a video, unless it’s a Kanye West video or something, it doesn’t have a real shoot. You scrape together a little bit of money and go out and do something.” – BEN FOLDS

It’s hard to look good on camera. And it has nothing to do with your looks. The act of lip syncing (and acting on cue) is incredibly unnatural. But then again, so is performing onstage in front of a bunch of people. It takes practice to get good at it. Whether you’re creating a $200,000 music video with a cast and crew of 150 union members or a $100 music video shot by your roommate with a cast and crew of your girlfriend, brother and mom, there are some key components that every video needs in order to meet today’s professional standards. You don’t need a ton of money these days to make a great-looking video. All you need is a great concept, people who know what they’re doing, a little bit of gear and lots of time.

The Concept
An inexpensive creative concept will perform better than a high-priced paint-by-numbers music video every time. So get creative. Obviously, if you’re making a video for an intimate piano ballad, you aren’t going to go skydiving for it. The concept, as creative as it may be, should match the song’s vibe, energy and feel. The purpose of a music video is to enhance the song. Not detract from it. A super creative video (that perfectly complements the song) is how you go viral. And it doesn’t need to be expensive. OK Go were the first to prove this with their “Here It Goes Again” music video back in 2006. The video, which got over 50 million views, helped propel the single to the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The video cost very little. It was shot with a single, stationary camera and had no cuts. No edits. The band did a choreographed dance on six treadmills. It matched the tone of the song (and band) perfectly.

Gotye exploded because of his creative, body-paint, stop-motion video for “Somebody That I Used To Know.” Sia’s near one-take video for “Chandelier” featured an uber-creepy, wildly talented and super captivating dancing 11-year-old girl. Kina Grannis spent over a year making her jelly-bean–themed stop motion video for “In Your Arms.” Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy” video is a single-take shot of a boisterous dancing businessman. Oren Lavie’s “Her Morning Elegance” video is a single-angle shot of a bed while the sleeping protagonist gracefully explores pillow adventures through fantastical wonderlands, all by the magic of stop motion photography.

These videos were all created on a relatively low budget. But this takes convincing very talented people to work hours upon hours for free or very little. So, getting the right crew is crucial. To help generate inspiration and focus your creative direction, make a list of music videos you love that don’t look too expensive.

The Crew
Hollywood has special titles for every single person who works on a film set, from Best Boy and Grip to 2nd AD and PA. Two minutes of network television could take six hours and 100 people to create. Your music video doesn’t need fancy titles or craft services to be great. You need a dedicated crew of passionate people who all believe in the success of the video. For most of your early videos, you will wear most of the hats, but you will need at least a few people to help out. Learn as much as you can, though, so you can be as independent as possible.

Producer
Whether you’re working on a multimillion-dollar film or a $100 music video, the producer is one of the most important people for the success of the project. The producer is the project manager. She finds and hires the entire crew, finds all locations and tracks down all necessary equipment. A producer who has tons of connections can get all sorts of deals. If she really believes in your project, she can call in all of her favors.

Director
The director is the brain. The leader. The idea person. She has the vision. The director will work with you on putting together the concept. She will, uh, direct everyone on set and has a solid understanding of everyone’s role and the equipment necessary to achieve the goal of the video. She is a part of the project from concept to final editing. If she doesn’t do the shooting, editing and coloring herself, she works alongside these individuals to attain her vision.

DP
DP means director of photography. This is the person who runs the camera. For low-budget shoots, it will most likely be the director or a fellow bandmate. For higher-budget shoots, a DP is hired specifically for her expertise and ability to realize the director’s vision. Professional DP’s know how to operate the most complicated (and expensive) cameras in the world and know what it takes to realize nearly any concept.

PA
PA means production assistant. These are your friends who have volunteered to help you throughout the shoot. They do everything and anything you need, from positioning lights (when there are no lighting crew members), to running the playback, to making coffee, to running to Home Depot for an extension cable, to washing the windows you’re shooting through.

Work with Students
Bring a film student on board to help with something. Call it an internship. Film students have access to state-of-the-art equipment for free. Regardless of their confidence level, most film students on their own are not experienced enough to create a video up to the professional standards you require. But if you have one very experienced filmmaker to lead the operation, the film student can help with equipment and location needs (and more PA’s), while getting great experience and building his résumé. Most film students would jump at the opportunity to work on a band’s music video—no matter how low-budget it is.

1. Market Research
How do you know if you suck or not? You’re biased. So is your mom and your friends. Your friends aren’t going to tell you if they hate your music. They will come to your shows to support you. To make sure your music is ready for prime time, you need some unbiased opinions. You can submit to industry experts, influencers and curators on Fluence. Fluence allows you to pay people who are difficult to reach to listen to your song or watch your video. Most “curators” (as they’re called on the platform) charge a few dollars a minute. If you’re asking for feedback, prepare for it to be brutally honest. I’m a curator on Fluence and I typically write five-to-ten-paragraph critiques of songs submitted to me. Eighty percent of the stuff I receive is not very good; 15% is decent, but not great; and 5% is so great that I have to share it (if it’s released) and help the artist make connections.

But Fluence can get quite pricey. To hit the general public, you can use Audiokite. You basically pay about $20 to get 100 people to listen and rate your song. This is a great way to help decide which demos should make the album or which master should be your single. Use my affiliate code AK-ARISTAKE for 30% off your report. You can filter by genre (so folk lovers aren’t rating your heavy metal song).

ReverbNation has a similar program called Crowd Review, and TuneCore has Fan Reviews. SoundOut also has a very similar standalone product worth checking out. Then there’s Music Xray which specializes in submitting your music to gatekeepers (for a fee), but also offers Diagnostics. For $10, five “Music Industry Professionals” will rate your song on five criteria: Composition, Production, Arrangement,
Performance and Hit Potential.

Use one of those platforms to test out your song before it’s released.

2. Register Your Publishing
There are a ton of royalties out there. Kobalt estimates there are 900,000 distinct royalty payments for a single recording. So, to make sure you grab as many of those as possible, you have to register your music in all the appropriate places and sign up with an admin publishing company like SongTrust, TuneCore Publishing, Audiam or CD Baby Pro.

3. Register Every Song with a PRO
In America, the three PRO’s (Performing Rights Organizations) are ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. In Canada the sole PRO is SOCAN. Most admin publishing companies will register your songs with the PRO of your choosing so you don’t have to worry about taking this step once you sign up for an admin pub company.

4. Register with SoundExchange
SoundExchange is how you get paid for Pandora and SiriusXM (and all other digital radio) plays. Make sure to register an account and submit your catalog.

5. Get on AllMusic.com and Discogs
AllMusic is the most inclusive credits database in existence. Discogs is a close second. Why Spotify or Apple hasn’t integrated this info into their system is beyond me. Your music should be registered on AllMusic.com and Discogs so people can find out who played the violin on track 3 and who cowrote track 7, because most people won’t ever see your physical liner notes. To get registered on AllMusic, go to allmusic.com/product-submissions and follow the instructions. For Discogs, you can submit the info directly through the site (Discogs.com).

6. Register the Copyrights
You can currently register all of your songs at once for $55 with the U.S. Copyright Office. You can do everything at Copyright.gov. Just be extra careful with this, because if you file the applications incorrectly and you later have to file a lawsuit against someone, the court may say that your registration is invalid. The safest bet is to hire an entertainment or copyright attorney to do this for you so you don’t screw it up!

7. Register for YouTube and SoundCloud Revenue
You are going to be putting all of your music up on YouTube, so you want to collect all of those royalties. Pick a YouTube and SoundCloud collections company such as Repost Network, Audiam, InDMusic or AdRev. Or, better yet, your distribution company will be able to collect these royalties for you. CD Baby, DistroKid and TuneCore (among others) have this as an opt-in add-on. I recommend just keeping everything under one roof and having your distribution company collect these royalties for you. (Many of them actually outsource to the aforementioned third-party YouTube/SoundCloud collections companies anyway.)

1. “We’re Having Technical Difficulties”
Even if your guitar just caught fire. Well actually, that would be hilarious if you said it then. But when bands sheepishly admit it into the mic, it’s uncomfortable and kills the vibe. Technical difficulties are your fault. Even when they’re not. Your amp will crap out, your guitar cable will short, your batteries will die, your tuner will get dust in it and short out, the DI will die, the mic stand will fall apart and all of this you’re going to need to know how to deal with on the spot, in front of your audience.
It’s your stage. It’s your show.

I once had a venue’s DI die on me during my first song in front of a sold-out show in San Francisco. I had just built up a 12-track loop with beat boxing, trumpets, bass, keys, guitar, the works. So when it crapped out, it felt like Satan had just burst through the floor, grabbed my sound and bust out the back door leaving only awkward silence.

However, because I knew my setup so well, I quickly went through the checklist of everything it could be and realized within four seconds it was the DI. Without missing a beat, I got the crowd 1 2, 1 clapping while I told the sound guy I needed a new DI. He ran up, switched out the DI, the sound came back and joined the crowd’s 1 2, 1 claps almost right on beat where I left off.

I could have smiled awkwardly at the crowd, pissed myself, then curled up in a ball on the center of the stage crying, “There’s no place like home” while clicking my heels, but that wouldn’t have accomplished anything. That’s basically the same as saying, “Uh, we’re having technical difficulties” while looking awkwardly at your band members hoping someone will fix it for you.

 2. “I Forgot the Lyrics”
If you can’t memorize your lyrics, then bring a lyrics sheet on stage as reference. Or get good at making them up on the spot.
The only thing worse than bad lyrics is forgotten lyrics.

Don’t ever step on stage unprepared. Not at an open mic, not at a talent show, not at a songwriters showcase and especially not at a show where your name is on the bill. The stage is not a time for you to “see how it goes” or to practice. Rehearse on your own time.

3. “I Want to Thank My Significant Other”
It’s like having a one-on-one conversation with someone in the audience off the mic. Uncomfortable for everyone else in the house.

Leave your lover out of it. If he or she did something truly awesome, then you can say something like “We’d like to thank our friend Sarah for getting this song into the hands of the music supervisor at The Fosters.”

If your significant other needs to be publicly thanked as your significant other, then you have bigger issues you have to work out.

4. “I’m Sorry”
Don’t ever apologize onstage. It makes you look weak. I don’t care if you just dropped a baby. Don’t apologize.
Making excuses for your lack of preparation makes everyone in the house uncomfortable and feel bad for you. I hear it all the time: “I forgot the rest of the song. Sorry.” “I’m sorry if this song sucks, we just wrote it.” “I’m sorry there aren’t more people here.” “We haven’t rehearsed this much, it might suck.”

Own the stage. Own the room. Own your set. Or don’t show up.

5. “Your City Sucks”
Should be a no-brainer, but I can’t tell you how many touring bands I’ve seen make fun of the city they are in—onstage. It may be fun to joke about in the van, but your audience takes pride in their city. No matter if you think their city is cool or not. Never say anything negative about the town you are in while onstage unless you want a beer bottle thrown at you.

6. “This Song Is About My Grandma Who Died of Cancer. Love You, Nana.”
Don’t depress your audience. You can play a song about your dead grandma, but you don’t need to tell the audience that’s what it’s about.

People don’t pay money to come to shows to be sad. They come to be happy. To have fun. To be enlightened. To be inspired.
If you can’t communicate the power of your song by just playing it, then maybe the song isn’t really that good. That being said, telling stories about songs––especially at folk shows––is extremely important and impactful. Work out your stories so you don’t ramble.

7. “I’m Broke”
Don’t make your audience feel bad for you. It removes the mystique and coolness factor. You can say, “Pick up a t-shirt and help us get to the next city.” That offers an emotional appeal in a positive light.

Guilting your fans into buying your merch never works.

8. “You Guys Suck”
Even if 95 out of the 100 people are screaming above your acoustic set while smashing glasses and vomiting in the corner, five people are engulfed in your set. Never insult your audience. They always have one ear to you––even if you are just background music.

9. “Any Requests?”
You’re never going to get the songs that you actually have prepared, and there will always be that one a**hole who yells “Free Bird” as if he just came up with the joke.

10. “How Does It Sound?”
This is a slap in the face to the sound guy. Never ask the crowd that. It should sound amazing. If it doesn’t, then it’s either your fault or the sound guy’s fault. Either way, you just pissed off the one person not in your band who can actually make you sound worse.

ARI HERSTAND is the author of How To Make It in the New Music Business, a Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and the creator of the music business advice blog Ari’s Take. Find him at ariherstand.com.