Kimball Gallagher - Indie Entrepreneur

A Juilliard-trained classical pianist, Kimball Gallagher is on a quest to revive the lost era of salon concerts. He believes in the intimacy of the performance and the immediate impact of the experience. He also believes in the creation of a lasting relationship between the performer and the listener. Kimball's passion for classical music and the importance of musical education has led him to embark on an unusual 88-concert international tour. Each stop represents one of the 88 piano keys. It's an adventure that has taken him from the US to Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. He is planning to wrap the tour with a celebration concert at Carnegie Hall in 2014. From the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul to the home of Uma Thurman in New York, Kimball is changing the way we view performer-audience connections with his own brand of independent entrepreneurial thinking.

RL: Where did the idea for the 88-Key Concert Tour come from? How did you turn that idea into a reality?

KG: When I was in my undergraduate at Rice University, a professor introduced me to Jacob Deegan, who had decided to have a concert series in his home. He told me, "Home concerts seem to be viewed as something someone does to get ready for the real concert [at the public venue], but I feel home concerts are the real concert. " After that, I started viewing homes very differently. Every time I went to a different home, I found myself evaluating it for its concert readiness and often asking homeowners to become concert hosts. A few years after that, when I graduated from Juilliard and needed a piano, I organized, with lots of support and ideas from friends and patrons, a fundraiser to buy my own piano. The cost of the piano was divided by 88 and donations were given on a key-by-key basis. In the end 54 people gave $25,000. A few years after this, I was looking for a way to create more momentum with the home concerts I was doing and decided to package them as an 88 concert tour to use the momentum of the piano fundraiser. The tour became a reality one step at a time. First, by simply making proposals and inquiries with people whose homes and personalities seemed to suit the idea. Most of the homes I performed at, at the beginning of the tour, were homes where concerts had not previously taken place. By the 17th concert of the tour, I had been invited to Afghanistan to be in residence at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and played a concert there. This was a salon style concert, so I decided to count it. Then there was a decision to take the tour international. Since then, I've been to over 16 countries. Each concert also includes a personalized composition written specifically for the concert. Often the pieces of music start with the host's or hosts' names spelled out in musical notes, and those notes are used to create a piece of music. The end of the tour will include major venues on each continent with the final concert at Carnegie Hall in the Spring of 2014.

RL: In today's musical climate, what do you feel are the benefits to reviving the salon culture?

KG: The intimacy and immediacy of the space provide the audience with a special, visceral experience of the music and a more personal connection to the performer. Any space can be a concert venue, opening up the possibility for any homeowner to be a concert presenter for their friends. In general, I hear from audiences that the quality of their experience is richer at a private concert than a large public one. I think one of the benefits is that it represents a concrete way to build new audiences one person at a time.

RL: From a performance perspective, how is your experience different in a concert setting compared to a rock show setting?

KG: The main thing is that the audience is seated and, generally speaking, quiet. I don't want my audiences to feel suffocated or forcibly subdued into being quiet but many of the special communicative moments of a concert are quiet and a group silence, when achieved with everyone as a willing participant, is a space where some special moments can be happen.

RL: What is your most memorable show to date?

KG: Perhaps playing Schubert's final piano sonata for an audience at the German Embassy in Kabul Afghanistan. The contrast of a metaphysical, soulful piece of music in the midst of a war-zone was striking. The atmosphere at the Embassy was warm and inviting and, in every way, seemed to contrast media portrayals of the war.

RL: Do you think that being a musician and being an entrepreneur are interchangeable these days? What do you feel are the benefits and drawbacks of that?

KG: I can't give, of course, a first-hand account of being a musician in any other era except for right now. But it does seem, more and more, that musicians have to create their own following and generate many of their own opportunities. Personally, I book my own international tours, set up my own partnerships, find my own students, and do mostly my own publicity. The benefits are that you can shape and mold your own career completely according to your own vision. The drawbacks are that it is an enormous amount of effort and it is an endless challenge to balance creative musical work with promotion, planning, administrative work, etc.

RL: You're active in New York, yet you've experienced a lot of different parts of the world. Can you give us your perspective on NYC as a musical city? What do you feel are its best bits? What do you feel it needs to work on?

KG: New York always strikes me as incredible in its musical diversity and consistent high quality. New Yorkers themselves easily become jaded but the fact is, there are countless venues for so many genres of music that showcase a revolving door of remarkable talent. I wouldn't want to presume to criticize it really. . . it's a competitive place with a huge number of very gifted people. I find it difficult, actually, to get creative work done in such a kinetic and energetically charged environment.

RL: What do you think are the main things musicians need to focus on today if they want to achieve a certain level of success living through their art? What has been the greatest tool (apart from playing live) that you've been able to use to build your audience?

KG: To me, the most important thing has been creating creative partnerships and creating your own pool of clients, as well as an audience. In my case, a "client" would be a house concert host who would like to have a concert personalized for a special occasion. To give some examples: In Tunisia, the interim finance minister after the revolution was a composer as well as a banker. He organized a concert for the interim Tunisian government where I performed many of his piano works, along with a featured Tunisian violinist and a featured Tunisian singer. In a private home in New Hampshire, I composed a personalized short piano piece for the hosts based on their names (spelling out their names in musical notes using a special system) and also chose some works that were composed on the date that their historic home was built. In Egypt next year, I'm commissioning a work by a NY-based Egyptian-American composer for a string orchestra in Egypt, with myself, and an Egyptian singer using a special Egyptian text. The funding for this will come from playing in private homes in Washington DC and Cairo for families who will like to entertain their guests at home and support causes that promote cross-cultural interaction. This is definitely a way to diversify an audience and also to bring enhanced value to an audience at home. . . that is, by sharing these experiences with them.

RL: How have the shifts in the industry, (the disintegration of most major labels, the rise of social media, music being exchanged freely, etc. . . ) affected you as a musician?

KG: I think I'm a personality that chooses to be a bit on the outside of things. I decided to focus on salon style concerts in private homes because I enjoy those sorts of concerts and I believe I would be doing them regardless of the state of the music industry. Same with the fundraising. As it is, it has inadvertently led to speaking engagements at music conservatories around the US and the World, speaking about entrepreneurship for musicians. So I think that's the biggest way.

RL: Do you believe that music should be free? If yes, in what context? If no, why not?

KG: I encourage artists to donate music and performances and to do so in a way where the value is retained. If I play for free, I want the people at the concert to know I donated a performance, and if it's for a fundraiser, I want the organizers to know that the performance is normally valued at such and such. The same way any other donated service would be valued. Also, I encourage artists to follow-up on gifts of CDs and mp3s. Ask for reviews. Honestly, I haven't done this nearly as much as I feel I should. . . but then, essentially, you can trade a CD for an online review. This gentlemen's agreement can create online legitimacy and that can be quite valuable. So, in general, I think we should be asking, "If we are going to strategically give a CD away or donate a performance, how are we going to remain engaged with the recipient?"Artists definitely need to remember their own value regardless of a dollar amount placed on a performance or a recording. In many cases, I think it's important for artists to educate people on what it takes to be a musician. I didn't just wake up one day and start playing the piano. It really took 25 years of constant practicing and sacrifices of all kinds to make it happen.

RL: Where do you see the future of music heading?

KG: I can see a lot more entrepreneurship. Also, I can see music showing up in what are now considered to be unlikely contexts, unlikely venues, with unlikely business partnerships. Musicians engaging with their audiences more deeply.

RL: How do you define success?

KG: Being able to do what you would like to do when you would like to do it.

RL: Do you have any advice for musicians out there about to embark on a life in music?

KG: Put as much creativity into creating the relationships that will support your career as you do into creating your music.

At the time of this interview, Kimball was in Tunisia.

Derek Sivers - The Man Who Led The CDBABY Revolution

Derek Sivers would spend most of his formative years and his early adult life as a professional musician (and circus clown) before stumbling on an idea that would launch a revolution in the music industry. In 1998, Derek's search for a solution to getting his self-produced CDs properly distributed without a record label would lead to the creation of CDBaby. This little 'accident' would go on to become the largest seller of independent music on the internet, with over $100 million in sales for over 150,000 musicians.

But his contributions to the world didn't stop there. In 2008, Derek sold CDBaby to Disc Makers for $22 million and set up a charitable trust for music education that accepted all the proceeds of the sale on his behalf. In 2011, his book "Anything You Want" was published by Seth Godin's The Domino Project and rose to #1 on all of Amazon's lists. His unique perspective and highly sought after advice has made him a frequent speaker at the inspirational TED Conference. After knowing Derek for a few years, I was extremely lucky to access the thoughts of the man Esquire magazine described as 'one of the last music-business folk heroes.'

RL: What does the term 'independent' mean to you?

DS: Free to do what you want. Run your business how you want, make the music you want. Having no higher authority than yourself, when it comes to your work.

This was the big eye-opening experience for me, when I was 20 years old and worked at Warner Music in New York City. I realized that all of these famous rock stars get to act cool and rebellious, but really they've signed their rights away to a record label that has the ultimate control over what they're allowed to do. I spoke with many musicians who wanted to record or promote a certain song for their album, but their label wouldn't let them. To me, that horrible lack of freedom is not worth any amount of money.

That's when I changed my goal from "getting signed" to "being independently successful". And I did it! Even in business/entrepreneurship, a lot of entrepreneurs are out there trying to "get signed" by an investment firm. I don't want that, either. I really want to be the sole person in charge of my destiny.

RL: How have you changed over the years - in terms of creativity? How about personally?

DS: Music is not my creative outlet anymore. Now, programming and writing are my tools, and the Internet is my media.

Personally, about 3 years ago I decided to accept the responsibility of being a public figure. Before that, I was really shying away from it. I seriously considered changing my name, and moving somewhere where nobody knew me - to just live a nice anonymous life. But then I realized I could manage what I've been given and keep it at a level I liked, instead of avoiding it completely. That's when I started blogging, speaking at TED, and being more public. I'm glad I did. It's got a lot of upsides and very few downsides.

RL: What slivers of the world have impacted you the most? Musical or otherwise?

DS: Not any one sliver, but realizing that there are so many out there! Reign, I know you've had a very multi-cultural life, but I really just grew up in America. I was born in California, and spent almost all of my first 40 years of life in America. I was interested in other places and cultures, but just as a quick visit, never really immersive. I always felt that my California culture was the best - all others inferior.

But now I'm fully the opposite. I've banished myself from living in the U.S. again. (I can visit, yes, but not live there.) It's a big world, and I really want to really understand it from many different points of view.

That kind of thinking has permeated everything for me, now. I can't help but look at everything from different points of view, knowing that no one way is right or wrong.

RL: Were you or have you been surprised by the lasting impact CD Baby has had on the music industry?

DS: Yeah. You never see it while in it. While I was there, it was just dealing with daily problems, just focusing on the week at hand. But you do that for 10 years, and I guess it adds up to something special.

RL: What made you walk away from CD Baby? You created the ultimate company with a personalized touch. Did you have any concerns about handing it over to as big an organization as Disc Makers?

DS: I challenge myself to stay out of my comfort zone. It was tempting to stay with CD Baby forever, but I realized the bigger challenge for myself was not to stick with it, but to give it up - freeing myself to go on to something completely new.

I knew Disc Makers would be a good company to run it, because I'd been working with them for 5 years and saw how they had made thousands of my musician clients happy. They were really focused on customer service, and that personal touch.

True, they're not as quirky as me, but oh well...

RL: How did you come to the decision to transfer the ownership of CD Baby to a charitable trust for music education?

DS: I didn't want the $22 million. That feels like too much money for any one person to have. $1 million? Sure! But not much more. When I mentioned this to my lawyer, he told me about the charitable trust, and how it could pay me out a bit each year for life. It seemed perfect for what I wanted.

Plus, it felt really good to know that this money came from musicians and will go back to musicians.

RL: Where do you see the future of music heading?

DS: I never think like that. I don't try to predict.

Nobody knows the future.

That's a hard but crucial lesson to learn.

If even ultimate government insiders don't know the future, then neither does your stockbroker, music industry expert, nor you.

We have a human need for certainty that desperately yearns to believe that someone can turn our future from unknown to known.

Even if we logically understand that it's impossible, we're emotionally sucked back in and fooled again when someone important tells us with such conviction what the future will hold.

But nobody knows the future.

Some people predict so many things, so when the random future lands on their number they can say, "See! I told you!" But how many times did they say so, and it didn't come true? (Like the joke, "He correctly predicted 12 of the last 3 recessions.")

Our pleasure-seeking brains remember the times in our past when we were right, and forget when we were wrong. So it's easy to think we're smarter than we are.

Every time I speak on a panel, the moderator has to ask, "What's the future of the music business?"

My first thought is always, "Nobody knows. Anyone who pretends to know is not to be trusted." (Even the ultimate insiders, the heads of every major record label, got it wrong.)

But then my thoughts turn to whoever is asking the question.

Why should it matter what anyone says?

Realistically, what would you change about what you're doing, day-to-day?

And so it comes back to fundamentals.

Just like we know there will be gravity, and water will still be wet, there are laws that don't depend on predicting the future.

You know that people love a memorable melody. You can't know what instrumentation or production-values will be in vogue.

You know that people prefer people who make an emotional connection with them. You can't know what technology will carry that communication.

You know that writing lots of songs increases your chances of writing a hit. You can't know which song will be a hit.

So the best thing to do instead of predicting the future is to focus on the fundamentals that never fluctuate.

If you're a songwriter, write at least a song a week, always aiming for a memorable melody and words that make an emotional connection.

If you're a performer, make weekly improvements on your ability to captivate an audience, and make a goal of really connecting with 10 new people every week.

The details are unique to you, and will change constantly. But the real point will never change.

RL: Do you think that being a musician and being an entrepreneur are interchangeable these days? What do you feel are the benefits and drawbacks of that?

DS: I held an online poll where I asked everyone, "What's the opposite of music?"

All kinds of wonderful answers: noise, silence, Celine Dion.

But the best answer by far was this: business.

It's a totally different mindset, focusing on music - the craft, practicing, performing, affecting people's emotions.

That said, of course the business of promoting your music is like being an entrepreneur, absolutely. But let's not confuse that with what it really means to be a musician.

RL: Is music about business or passion?

DS: Music is about nothing but music. Music itself is just music. Whatever meaning you're projecting onto it is your choice, but it's not inherent.

If music, to you, means business, you're very likely going to be disappointed. Your rewards will have to come from outside.

If music, to you, is pure passion, you're very likely going to be happy. Your rewards are internal, in the music itself, no matter what the world thinks.

RL: I know you were looking for a place to settle down for a long time. What made you decide on Singapore?

DS: Great central location. Truly multi-cultural. A little Chinese, a little Malay, a little Indian, a little British - all mixed together.

There are other multi-cultural cities like New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, but they're always filtered through a country - they are inside America, England, France, etc.

Singapore is not a city in a country - it's a city in the world.

Plus, it's incredibly well-run, constantly improving not declining, and a place I felt I could confidently invest my time and money long-term.

RL: What is your impression (if any) of music outside of the US and it's ability to garner attention on a world stage?

DS: Sorry, I'm completely biased on this, so I have no idea. I only know what I like. I have no idea what the marketplace likes. Two of my all-time favorite artists are Fela Kuti (Nigeria) and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (Pakistan). Attention on a world stage? Who knows?

I do know it's a lot more interesting when people flaunt their unique offerings, instead of trying to copy someone else's. So it's really disappointing to hear a band from Cambodia or Kenya sounding exactly like regular American Top40 pop.

RL: There are a lot of opportunities for unsigned artists in today's new version of the music business. But what are some of the mistakes you see a lot of indie artists making?

DS: Well... I wrote a free PDF ebook about exactly that, so instead of trying to rehash it all here, please go to http://sivers.org/pdf and download it free.

RL: How do you define success?

DS: Ha! Probably the same as your "independent" question! Doing what you want. Setting out to achieve something and doing it. Freedom.

RL: What is next for you as an avid student of life?

DS: Building and launching a few new business ideas. Learning new programming languages. Exploring, then living, in different parts of the world.

Derek Sivers continues to be an avid student of life. Check his blog regularly for interesting insights on life, love, business and everything in between - they are usually entertaining and always thought-provoking. His book, "Anything You Want" is a must-read for anyone seeking an alternate viewpoint to entrepreneurship in the modern world.

Deli Radio - The New Face of Radio

A new movement in radio is happening and this indie innovation is at the forefront of it. Their idea is based on this simple premise - wherever in the world you happen to live, within 250 km of you, there are 5 bands you would love... IF only you knew about them. Deli Radio aims to solve this problem with their brand of contextualized internet radio. In a nutshell, listeners create their own streaming radio station based on genre, geography and time. Are you looking for alt-country bands playing around NYC over the next 3 weeks? How about electronica duos digitizing their way around Singapore in 5 weeks? You get the idea... Once you set your parameters, Deli Radio taps into songs from bands and artists that have been tagged. Now the listener not only has access to your songs, they've seen your pics, they've checked out your videos and most importantly, they know when you're coming to town.

RL: What led to the creation of 'Deli Radio'?

DR: DeliRadio was conceived in 2010 at Berkeley-based music label Ninth Street Opus. The two companies still share some key employees and an increasingly cramped office space. As a music label, the problem we were facing every day (and still face) is trying to put the label's artists in front of more eyes and ears. This is very, very challenging in today's environment where music sales don't really underwrite much of anything like they used to, and people's attention span is diluted by so many media options. In the online realm, we studied the landscape of both what was needed by, and available to, emerging artists. And we set out to fill a gap in the marketplace.

RL: What backgrounds are the creators coming from? Who is involved?

DR: Most of the company's early employees met at a Berkeley pub (not joking) called Beckett's, where we would party and watch The Sisters in Soul perform each week. This went on from 2002 to 2007 or so. Our business backgrounds were all over the map - law, software, hedge funds/finance, web/graphic design, booking & artist management. In hindsight, the perfect brew for DeliRadio! Anyway, in mid-2008 we formed Opus, and began signing bands, and learning the business from the ground up. We had almost no idea about best practices for a label. We made it up as we went. That no-boundaries attitude probably has a lot to do with why we're now in the streaming radio business alongside the music label.

RL: How can musicians get the most out of the site?

DR: Make great music. That's where you start. Then put it on DeliRadio. Then play shows... If it's truly great, your fans will find it, and share it. DeliRadio makes it super easy for friends to share music and share info with one another. Now, that's DeliRadio's advice for aspiring professional musicians. But any "scene" can benefit from DeliRadio. A high school or college can have a student station (or many), so can gospel choirs, so can rap artists who work for the US Postal Service... any scene can make a DeliRadio station and share their music with friends/family/anyone.

RL: What kind of impact do you expect Deli Radio to have on indie musicians? What kind of impact do you want it to have?

DR: Most folks go to see a small number of shows each year, and they tend to be in big auditoriums, even stadiums. This is because they are simply not informed about other choices, they have no efficient way of knowing who's playing the smaller venues and clubs down the street from them. They don't want to take a risk on an unknown band (and I don't blame them). DeliRadio takes care of that risk: you hear and see what you're going to get at a show (well, a pretty good idea anyway). So DeliRadio should result in more people going to more shows -- up to and including the stadiums -- people still need to find out that Paul McCartney is coming to town, even if they don't need to be sold on the music!

RL: The partnership with SongKick is a great feature. How did that come about?

DR: It's hard to remember... the pieces tumbled together pretty quickly 20 months ago when DeliRadio was being designed. Originally Opus set out to offer a suite of online promo tools for free to any artist (we were building them for our artists in-house, so we figured, why not?). Included in that suite of tools was auto-importation of dates. Songkick was the most well populated with dates worldwide. From there, came the Eureka moment: "Hmmmmm. Venue calendars and artists and songs... That's a station we're describing." When that idea came up, we dropped all the other pieces we were building. This idea was "the big one", the one artists and fans really needed. We scrapped a lot of work and code that day, but it was definitely the right thing to do.

RL: When and how will artists be able to sell their music on the site?

DR: They can right now. Then can enter links to iTunes/Amazon, AND they can also set up direct sales on DeliRadio, using PayPal as the cashier. DeliRadio does not take a piece.

RL: What is the vision for the company? Is this the future of radio?

DR: DeliRadio is definitely PART of the future of radio. How big a part is the question. It's going to take a while to see what the public's reaction to it is, and how quickly it permeates and changes the underlying culture of music-going. It definitely has the potential to increase the volume of shows/tickets sold each year, and that has to be good for music. I also think that various reputations will evolve (even more than they have already), such that fans will know to tune into Detroit MI for X music, Austin TX for Y, and Tokyo for Z... on and on. Where will the best punk be? Could be HK. Could be Vladivostok. Who knows. Or perhaps it will be VENUES that become known internationally for their booking prowess. Yoshi's Oakland could be listened to, as a DeliStation, by jazz fans the world over. Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles for singer/songwriter... It's going to be very interesting to see what happens.

Tony Ward - The Music Marketer

Tony Ward is the founder of Man On The Ground - a Hong Kong-based music and entertainment consultancy firm. Before launching Man On The Ground, Tony spent over 15 years in New York in executive marketing positions at Sony Music, BMG, Arista Records, EMI Records and Sanctuary Management. Tony managed marketing campaigns for many successful artists, including, Santana, Sarah McLachlan, Patti Smith, Eurythmics, Beth Orton and Spiritualized. For the past three years, he's served as the Program Director for Music Matters, Asia Pacific's annual premiere music industry event. Tony shared with us his valuable insight on the future of music and the breaking of acts.

RL: How did you get started in the music business?

TW: I've been a music fanatic my whole life and didn't think of much else growing up. Then, in the 80s, I worked at my college radio station in the US. I always loved the music from the UK - especially from the then indie label, Virgin Records. So when I graduated, I decided to move to London and was determined to get a job in the music business. I actually managed to land a job at Virgin Records in London and worked there for a few years.

RL: What led to the creation of Man On The Ground?

TW: When moving to Asia, I immediately recognized that many western artists or entertainment companies now view Asia as an opportunity market for expansion and growth, and are in need of someone to help them navigate the nuances of the industry here. Many from the west see Asia as a big question mark and need assistance making connections, launching a product or service, or help with career guidance.

RL: Tell us about your role in Music Matters? What led you to take the position as Program Director?

TW: Several weeks after moving to Hong Kong, I was introduced to Jasper Donat, who is President of Music Matters. He was looking for someone with industry experience to design the conference program and secure guest speakers. We hit it off. The conference has grown to be the premiere industry event for Asia. My role at Music Matters is to create the panel topics, locate appropriate panel and keynote speakers and write the program. I also work on the festival side of the conference - Music Matters Live.

RL: What was your most successful marketing campaign for an artist?

TW: In the mid-90s, I was in New York at EMI Records and worked with a band called the Fun Lovin' Criminals. They were an amazing live band with incredible personalities and charisma. We felt they were perfect for the UK and European markets, so we focused on breaking the band in that region and committed to this by taking the band there again and again. Over the course of a year, they went from playing small clubs to huge festivals across Europe and still have a large following in the UK today. So the philosophy of having a band return repeatedly to a market worked and I still believe in it to this day. I also worked on Santana's Supernatural album, which sold 25 million albums around the world - so that was pretty cool as well.

RL: Who has been your favourite artist to work with? Why?

TW: Without a doubt it was Patti Smith and we worked on several albums together. It sounds like a cliche, but she is a true artist - musician, painter, poet, writer, and photographer. In 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2010, she won the National Book Award for her book Just Kids. Not many artists can say that.

RL: How do you think social media has affected the breaking of acts?

TW: It has obviously become important in breaking an artist from many angles - for example, many artists are now discovered on YouTube and labels troll the internet looking for talent - so there is an additional avenue for discovery. When used effectively, artists can open a very useful line of communication and commerce with their fans through social media. But in the end, it's still about the music and playing live. If you don't have that expertise, it doesn't matter how many Facebook fans you have in the long run.

RL: Where do you see the future of music heading?

TW: I think it's looking up from where it's been going over the past 10 years, particularly for the independent, self-sufficient artist - but in different ways from how we've gauged success in the past. As an artist, it will be more about creating your own network of fans and marketing and selling directly to them. And it will continue to be about the live side of the business and having a global perspective.

RL: What is your advice for indie artists everywhere who are hoping to take their careers to the next level?

TW: Work very hard on being an incredible live act and always work to hone your live craft. Take your time and don't try to skip any steps. Also, try to travel to the various music industry conventions and events around the world. It's not cheap, but you will learn a great deal, perhaps make new and important connections, and understand how the industry works from a global perspective. Look for every opportunity out there for international festival performance slots- there are opportunities for indie artists. You can even try to utilize the crowd-funding options that exist today to help fund the trip. There are also so many on-line tools that indie artists can utilize to grow their fanbase - from selling and streaming music, studying analytics, creating and selling merch, raising funds, and getting your music distributed digitally around the world. Study the tools that are at your disposal.

How To Be a Musician - The Press

Now if you know someone who blogs about bands or music, good for you! Perhaps you can get them to write up a review about you and your music. If you are friends with someone who works at your local newspaper, great, try to get them to write something up about you. If you don't have any friends in high places things are going to be harder for you, but not impossible. You'll just have to work extra hard and not let rejection get you down. Remember I was talking about rejection on the very first page? This is where you'll get the bulk of it.

You need people to write/say stuff about you. You need help from the press because you can only do so much and every band's bio says "we're super awesome and the next big thing". You need someone to verify your hype. Additionally, you can make all your accounts online and join a ton of forums, but you still won't have the reach that blogs, review sites, radio, newspaper, or TV has. However, getting those places to write/say something for or about you will be a pain. You will be ignored. You will be told "no". You might even be told "yes" and then get a stinging review. It will hurt. It will suck. You will get over it. If anything, it should make you angry and then you use that anger to keep you going. To prove to the naysayers that you were right and they were wrong.

Online

There are a ton of sites and blogs out there that review Independent and unsigned bands and artists for free. Some reviewers will only review you if they like your sound. Some will write a review for you no matter what. Those reviews won't be very good, accurate, or helpful. It will just look like something you wrote up about yourself. There are even sites that will write a sparkling review for anyone, provided you hand over some cash. Don't do that. If you can't get reviews based on the quality of your music, you won't fool anyone by purchasing a good review and you'll waste your money. Many sites have ways for you to submit your music to them for the chance of being reviewed.

Other sites will ask you to email them with your info and a couple MP3s or link to download them. If you are sending out emails or conversing with a blog or site in any way, you'll be tempted to make a generic email that you can send out to a bunch of people all at once. DON'T. That's a great way to NOT get reviewed. Be unique with each email you send out asking for a review. Do some looking around on the site to show you're interested. Knowing the name of who you're emailing is a huge bonus. Be personable. Be funny. Think about it: These sites are probably getting 100s of emails a month from musicians begging for a review. You've got to stand out from the pack. You're creative - figure something out.

Local Newspapers

If you have a local newspaper, maybe find out if they have some writer who checks out local bands and artists. Many do, believe it or not. If they have such a writer, ask if they'll come check out your next show. If they don't have such a writer, ask if you can buy an ad-space. They should be pretty cheap. In your ad-space put your next couple shows (assuming they are local venues), your band name (clearly and boldly), and a very short description of your music or a very short excerpt from a particularly good review. Don't forget, Indieonthemove.com gives you a list of newspapers that you can contact while you're touring. Use them. Get some press away from home.

Independent Radio Stations

I am pretty fortunate. St. Louis is a great place for musicians. There are all kinds of music related websites, papers, zines, etc. around here. People love music in St. Louis. And one of the best things about Independent music in St. Louis is that we have a friend in KDHX. KDHX is a radio station that caters to the Independent musicians and artists off all kinds. They've been talking the talk and walking the walk for over 25 years now. If you're lucky enough to have a radio station who serves the Independent musician, go to them. They will help you in some way. I promise.

Local Television

Go to your local news station(s) and see what they can do for you. Maybe they are hosting a party or fundraiser somewhere and could use a little live entertainment. Maybe they'll use your music as background music in a broadcast. Maybe they'll even let you perform on live TV, like Barley Station, Beth Bombara, and Miss Jubilee were able to. You'll be surprised how much you can accomplish with a well-phrased email or polite phone conversation.

When you get a review from a blog or review site, a local newspaper, or if you get airtime on local radio or TV, you need to share that on your site. Have a Press page and put all your reviews and good things said about you there. You can even put Press reviews on your ReverbNation page. Showing the world that other people like you creates validity to you saying how good your band or music is. Without that proof, it's just hype. Flaunt those positive reviews!

You Have To Share To Grow - Tools for Growing Your Indie Fan Base

Finding a hidden gem of a song, isn't it so satisfying!? Being able to be the 1st of your friends to pass along something you know they will love, and probably would have never found on their own, is glorious. Now being an indie musician, this is your dream every morning you wake up. You are praying for people to share your music. You want little viral bugs out there working for you.

People find new music in a variety of ways. Some wait for the music to hit popular radio, some search the internet and music blogs, and Pandora is one way many people find their music, but for songwriters and musicians just starting out or with limited fan bases, it can be tough to get added to their rotation. Now don't get me wrong, Pandora is an absolute fantastic way to discover new music, and put your own little playlist together. But what if there were cool services like this for newbie Indie musicians. Insert Noisetrade, Tweetforatrack, and Tweetmysong. There are also apps for Facebook like Bandpage, and you can also allow people to download your playlists or songs through Soundcloud.

Where these sites, and apps excel, is in taking the process a step further than say a Pandora, and puts Social/viral sharing on hyper drive. The sites essentially encourage, and allow potential fans to download your music for free, for sharing it with their social network. Because who else is better to tell people about music, than their friends. Noisetrade, does a little more, in that it has a whole site dedicated to new artists, and is like your best friend that has the best music. It also allows for tipping, if someone really likes your music.

For independent artists sharing is like liquid gold, and for fans, it's a safe easy way to discover new artists, and share that with their friends.

Don't like the idea of giving away your music for free? Just look up what Derek Webb did with this model. Bet you rethink your entire strategy.

Give your fans something, and they will take over the work for you! Simply remember that the goal is to be heard. Concentrate on letting people hear your music, and build a relationship with them. People want you to succeed, but if your brand new, they want to know what you are all about. Offering them a free track, or EP, will entice them to help you along your journey. And allows you to have a new fan to approach with each new masterpiece you produce.

Arts and Entertainment: Music Industry

Arts and Entertainment: Music Industry