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The Cassette Revival: Should You Sell Tapes?

By NationWide Source - Dec 31, 2016 Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Is your music a little bit quirky? Does your fan base enjoy crazy merch ideas or alternative listening methods? Are they missing the glory days of the mixtape? Are you an 80s cover band?

If any of the criteria above fit your music, you may want to try releasing some music on cassette tapes!

But Why Cassettes?

The cassette revival is the younger brother of the renewed interest music fans have in vinyl. For most people, these analog collections are not a replacement to downloaded or streamed music, but a supplement. They purchase tapes or vinyl in addition to the music they already consume.

This is great news for indie artists. Often the music fan who seeks out new and independent music is going to be the fan who is willing to spend $20-$30 on a vinyl record.

Vinyl shouldn’t replace your physical CDs and downloads, but records can be a great source of income if your fans are excited and willing to purchase. However, pressing vinyl records is cost prohibitive for many independent artists. Not only is it expensive, but it can take months to get the product into your hands.

This is where tapes come in. They appeal to the same demographic, but are much cheaper and easier to manufacture than records.

Is My Release Right For Tape?

Chances are, if you are reading this article, you probably already have a gut feeling about whether or not tape is right for you.

To decide if your release is a good fit for cassette tape, you need to look at your fans. They should be the determining factor in preparing for any release, but you really need to make sure they’re on board if you are contemplating releasing in an alternative format.

If you think tape is awesome but you are 90% sure your fans won’t be into it, then don’t release on tape! Your audience should be the determining factor when you make any decisions about merch, not your personal preference.

You also need to make sure that cassette tapes will be in keeping with the brand you’ve created. If you think releasing music on tape will be way out in left field, it will probably feel odd to your fans as well.

How Do I Get Cassettes?

Surprisingly, it is quite easy to get cassettes professionally duplicated. Googling “cassette tape duplication” will provide you with several companies that can professionally duplicated cassettes and even help you design your packaging! Tapes are relatively cheap to duplicate, so if you are looking at making more than just a few tapes, I would recommend you go with a professional service.

If you would rather DIY, you can get blank tapes and cases online, or you could buy tapes from a thrift store and copy your music over them at home. You will probably have to invest in some equipment, but you can find a basic cassette recorder at Walmart for about $50. This article also has some helpful tips on basic techniques to recording tapes at home.

Creative Tape Ideas:

If you thinks tapes would work for your music, but aren’t sure how you would sell them, here are a few ideas:

Full Release-Why not put your next album or EP on tape? The tapes could be a limited edition item!
Exclusive Music-A great way to push an alternative format is by offering exclusive music. Got some lo-fi demos you think your fans would enjoy? Put them on tape!
Bundles, Bundles, Bundles!-People love exclusives, and they love to save money. So put your new tape into a bundle with a CD, T-shirt, and sticker! Or offer a tape for free when they spend $20 in merch.
The Cart and the Horse-If you can transport them safely, you might sell portable tape players (aka Walkmans!) with your tapes! Chances are your local thrift store will have quite a few that you can clean up and sell with your tapes. Then your awesome music is ready and immediately available to listen to!

Cassette Store Day

If you think you are ready to take the plunge and release some music on tape, you may want to take a look at Cassette Store Day. In 2015, Cassette Store Day (CSD) is on October 17th. If you are able to release on CSD, you could talk to local record stores (many of them sell cassettes as well!) about featuring your tape release, and even doing a show in their store to cross promote and celebrate Cassette Store Day!

Have you had success selling cassette tapes to your fans? What other unique merch items do you offer? Do you think analog formats are here to stay? Let us know in the comments below!

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Six Solutions to Your Practice Space Problem

By NationWide Source - Dec 31, 2016 Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

I, like many other people, live in an apartment.

Unlike most other people in my apartment complex, I’m a musician.

This is unique challenge, because I am loud.

And not only am I loud, my band is loud.

Through more error than trial, I have learned that it is not a good idea for my band to rehearse in my apartment, even though this is the space most readily available to me. And I know I’m not alone. A major challenge for many bands is a lack of rehearsal space.

But the lack of rehearsal room doesn’t have to mean the end of an apartment dwelling band! With a little ingenuity, you will be making sweet tunes in no time!

Solution One: Professional Practice Space

Chances are, if you live in a big city, there are a few practice spaces that are available for rent. Typically rehearsal rooms are available to rent hourly, and some rehearsal spaces offer a monthly rental. These rooms often already have PA systems that you can use, and many offer 24 hour access.

If you are practicing a lot (which you should be) a professional rehearsal space might be a good investment for your band. The major downside is that these rooms can be expensive, and sometimes they are not the most well-kept facilities. However, if you can afford it, and there are professional rehearsal spaces in your city, I recommend renting one.

Solution Two: Demo Away!

If you’ve already got some home recording equipment, creating rehearsal demos might be the way to go for your band. Record simple versions of your songs, then give them to your band members to rehearse with.

These demos should be as close as possible to the live performance arrangement. You can even mute certain instruments so that the tracks are easier to rehearse to. For example, the vocalist might rehearse better with just an instrumental track, or the drummer might not want the distraction of pre-recorded drums in his mix.

Rehearsal demos have a few downsides. If this is your primary way of rehearsing, you have to have a lot of faith in your fellow band members to rehearse on their own time. It takes a lot of individual dedication.

You also have to find time for some full-band rehearsal as well. Though individual rehearsal with demos can drastically cut down on the time you need to spend in full rehearsal, getting the band totally locked in together is something that’s only going to happen when all the members of your band are actually together, fleshing out the music. This means that at some point, you will have to let your neighbors know you’re gonna be loud for a few hours, or you’ll need to rent a rehearsal space. Either way, using rehearsal demos can cut down on headaches, and on costs. Plus, you’ll already have good demos of all your songs!

Solution Three: Ask Your Place of Worship

Do you know what pretty much every place of worship has? A building that is mostly empty for a large part of the week, and a PA system. If you are a member of a church(or a mosque, or a temple, or a synagogue), and your music doesn’t offend any major doctrines or church staff, you might be able to practice in your church building for free, or for a small fee. This is especially true in smaller towns that might not have rehearsal spaces for rent. Even if it’s just an unused room with no PA system, a room to practice in is much better than no room to practice in.

Solution Four: Ask Your Drummer

I know it seems a little silly. And I will do my absolute best to avoid drummer stereotypes in this short paragraph. But…

In all the bands that I’ve been a part of, and out of all the bands I’ve worked with, the drummer is not usually the person who organizes and schedules band practice. However, if your drummer keeps his kit set up in his place of residence, he probably already has A) a room big enough for a drum kit, and B) a place where loud noises are at least semi-tolerated.

If those two criteria are met, you might want to ask your drummer if you could practice at his place. It might be a little cramped, you might not be able to practice during prime-time hours, but a free rehearsal space is a free rehearsal space, no matter how you look at it.

Just make sure you ask your drummer to pick up his dirty socks before the whole band comes over.

Solution Five: Be A Good Neighbor

This solution might not apply if your apartment complex has a very strict noise policy. But it never hurts to simply reach out to your neighbors and let them know the situation you’re in. Try asking them if there is a specific evening when they won’t be home when you could schedule a rehearsal, or inquire about their work schedule, and try to fit in a daytime rehearsal with your band.

Ultimately, you need to respect your neighbors, so if there isn’t a time that works well for you to rehearse, you might need to bite the bullet and pay for a rehearsal space. After all, you don’t want to get kicked out of your home for too many noise complaints.

Solution Six: Acoustic Practice

An easy fix to a noisy practice? Practice more quietly. Ask your drummer to play with brushes or hot rods (or on a cajon/djembe) and rehearse with your other instruments unplugged, or turned down waaaaay low.

Electric guitarists, I know you need to turn your amp up to get a good tone. I know quieter practices might hurt your tone sensibilities. I get it. But rehearsal is for the good of the whole band, not just your ears. So keep that volume low!

Acoustic rehearsals can also help you hear your music in new ways, and might expose a problem area or two that you need to fix. I recommend having an acoustic rehearsal at least once a month to self-evaluate.

Acoustic rehearsals can also add to your versatility as a band. If you are ready to go—plugged or unplugged—you might have the opportunity to gig more often simply because you are adaptable.

For many bands, there is no perfect rehearsal solution. Space is limited, or expensive, and neighbors complain too much. But we hope that some of these solutions will help your band be able to rehearse more effectively, more often.

What rehearsal space problems have you solved? Are there any solutions we missed? Let us know in the comments below!

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4 Tips for Getting Your Music in Commercials

By NationWide Source - Dec 31, 2016 Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

To an independent musician, the words “commercial placement” usually mean one of two things: you just sold out to “The Man” and ruined your artistic conscience, or you just earned a nice check and are excited about all the exposure your music is getting.

As an artist myself, I understand the first reaction. But it’s the second reaction I want to focus on today.

Getting your music placed in a commercial can mean great exposure for your band, an inroad to future licensing placements, and most importantly, an actual (often significant) payday.

But getting your foot in the licensing door can be difficult, especially when you are trying to get a placement in a commercial. Since companies allocate larger amounts of money for advertising, musicians can usually expect a higher payday from commercial placements. You’re still not going to become a millionaire by getting a song placed in a commercial, but getting your music licensed regularly helps generate a good income stream for many artists.

So how do you go about getting your song placed in a commercial? We’ve compiled 4 tips to help you get started.

1 – Create Great Music

This point can never be driven in enough. You need to have fantastic music. Spend some quality time getting a great recording and making sure that your music is everything it can be. Sub-par music won’t get placed, so keep an eye on the musical intangibles (the song itself, the instrumentation, the production, the vocals, etc.) and on the quality of the recording. This is especially important if you are recording at home. Make sure your songs are recorded well, mixed well, and have been mastered. If you need some help with the last step, check out The Mastering Source.

2 – Create Specifically

Keep in mind that most brands (and in conjunction, their commercials) will have a specific identity in mind. If you are creating a new piece of music to submit for a commercial, you need to know that brand identity and create music that works within that identity. Similarly, if you are submitting music that you have previously created–like the single from your last album–make sure it’s a good fit for the commercial you are submitting it to.

Remember that most commercials want songs that will make the viewer feel positively about the brand. For most commercials, an upbeat song in a major key is more likely to get picked than your breakup ballad in A-minor.

If you song has a specific “feel” to it, that can also aid in commercial placements. For example, if you’ve written a bright, summery song, you might want to pitch it to an allergy or sunscreen commercial.

3 – Research the Supervisor

Before your song can reach people’s living rooms, it has to reach a music supervisor. If you are looking for a specific ad placement, make sure you look for the contact information of the music supervisor who is in charge of that project. Knowing who you need to talk to is the first hurdle if you are looking to get placed in a commercial for a specific brand.

If you are more generally looking for placements, there are tons of online services you can use to submit your music for consideration. However, it’s still a great idea to dig into the submission machine and find the actual human who will be listening to your songs. A personal connection can go a long way in differentiating your submission from the other 500 submissions.

4 – Submit Correctly

In the same way that you need to know who you’re submitting to, you need to make sure you are submitting the right way. Some sites only accept direct submissions. Some supervisors work through third party websites.

Regardless of how you go about looking for submissions, I encourage you to revisit Step 2 with a submission lens. If you are creating specifically, you need to submit specifically. If the submission says “Hip-Hop Only” and you throw in your grunge rock track, you are not helping yourself by being a stand out submission. You are only frustrating the person that listened to your track even though it was clearly not what they were looking for (some submission sites, like musicxray.com have a computer pre-screen the music before it ever reaches a person.). So don’t waste your time, and don’t waste the supervisor’s time. Do a little research, and submit to licensing opportunities you have a chance of landing (this is called targeting and we wrote a whole blog about it!).

You should always respect the submission guidelines that the music supervisor has laid out. However, I do recommend looking for a good contact email if you submit through a third party website. Following up (without being annoying!) is vital when you are trying to get your music placed.

Have any additional tips in getting music placed in commercials? What steps have you taken to get your music licensed? Let us know in the comments below!

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Making an Afforable Music Video-Camera Tutorial

By NationWide Source - Dec 31, 2016 Estimated reading time: 0 minutes Less than a minute

We’re starting a new series of video tutorials focused on making a great looking, professional music video. Here is the first installment of this series, all about cameras!

Was this video helpful? Are there other video tutorials you would like us to film? Let us know in the comments below!

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A Musician’s Guide to Performing Live: 6 Things You Can’t Forget on Show Day

By NationWide Source - Dec 31, 2016 Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It’s the day of your show. Huzzah! You sent the venue a confirmation email (last week hopefully!), you know when you’re supposed to start soundcheck, and your onstage banter is so hilarious you could make a cat cry tears of joy.

But as you sit eating your morning bowl of Wheaties, you begin to get the feeling that you’ve forgotten something. Or that you will forget something.

Show days can be stressful, whether you are on tour or playing a big event in your hometown. We’ve created a checklist for you to make sure that your show goes off as smoothly as possible.

1 – Grab Your Gear!

This may seem like a no-brainer. You know that you need your guitar for the show. So you grab it, toss it in your trunk, and head out to the show. Everything seems fine until you get to the venue and realize you didn’t put the cable or the guitar strap in your case like you usually do. Murphy’s Law says that if something can go wrong, it will. This is especially true for your gear.

Try creating a master packing list for all your shows, and go over it right before you pack up your gear to make sure you don’t need anything extra for this particular show.

Don’t forget the little stuff that can get easily overlooked! Petty cash for your merch table, extra guitar picks, a spare cable or two, and a sharpie are all important things you need to have when you load up the van!

2 – Get There Early!

Sound check is at 4? Awesome. Shoot for being there at 3 or 3:30. Musicians are not known for their punctuality, and you have the opportunity to break a mold here and impress the venue where you’re playing! No one is going to be upset that you were early. Plus you never know when traffic is going to get crazy or when you’ll have a flat tire. Always planning to be early can alleviate some of these stressors.

3 – Know Where to Park

I recommend asking the venue in advance about parking, either in that confirmation email you sent out (last week!) or with a simple phone call the day of the show. Since many venues are downtown, parking can be tricky, especially if you’re trying to park a large vehicle like a van. Plan for enough time to find a suitable parking space and to walk back to the venue. Don’t forget that you might have to pay for parking, so plan ahead!

4 – Set Up Your Merch

Don’t leave merch setup for the last minute. This is how you are going to make the majority of money for the majority of your gigs, so it should never be an afterthought. Ask the venue if there is a designated area for merch setup, and make sure everything is set up and looking good before the doors open.

5 – You Need to Eat

I used to get so confused when people would tell me that they just “forgot to eat!” I never forgot to eat…until I started playing shows regularly. Then I realized that between loading the van, unloading the van, sound checking, setting up merch, talking to fans before the show started, and actually playing the show, I did, in fact, forget to eat.

Setting aside a few minutes for dinner before a show is really important. No one wants the band to pass out on stage because they forgot to eat. Plan ahead by looking up restaurants near the venue, or prepping an easy on-the-go meal before you leave for the show. If the venue has a restaurant, food and drinks might be included with your performance, so make sure to ask your venue contact person if food is included.

**Even more important than food is water! Be proactive in your hydration, especially if the show is outdoors!

6 – Play Your Heart Out

It’s time to actually play the show you’ve been preparing for all day. So no matter what happened earlier-the forgotten cable, the parking mishap, the traffic jam-it’s time to get onstage and play the best show of your life!
Is there anything else that’s an absolute must for show day preparation? Got any stories about a show day that went totally wrong? Let us know in the comments below!

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Musicians on Instagram: 5 Things You Shouldn’t Do

By NationWide Source - Dec 31, 2016 Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Artsy photos, shameless selfies, and filters galore! Instagram has become a top social network with over 300 million users, and over 70 million photos posted per day. The scope of Instagram’s reach, especially within the younger crowd, means it’s important for your music to be represented on the social network.

But what happens when Instagram goes wrong? We’ve found five profiles that are prime examples of what never to do on Instagram.

Private Page Pete

Pete’s a really great guy. He’s a singer-songwriter who almost always performs solo. He decided that he would just combine his personal Instagram account and his music account to save time! But Pete posts a lot of pictures of his family, and he decided he didn’t want just anyone seeing those pictures, so he set his profile to private.

Having a private Instagram account is perfectly fine, but only if you have another–separate–music account that can be viewed by anyone. When you decide to get up on stage and make music your career, you give up a little privacy. It comes with the territory. So if you are using your Instagram account to promote your music, make sure everyone can see it.

Super Spammy Sam

Oh, Sam. Such a sweet, excitable girl. It’s hard for her to find something she doesn’t think should be posted. So, every day, she posts over 10 pictures! And sometimes, if something really exciting is happening, she will rapid-fire post tons of pictures only seconds apart.

Sam does a great job of consistently posting, but her constant flood of pictures will probably annoy most Instagram users, especially when she goes on a posting spree. A good rule of thumb for Instagram is 1-5 pictures a day, but the most important thing is to post consistently. If you always post 2 photos a day, try to keep up that schedule.

Hashtag Hoarder Henry

Henry knows that hashtags on Instagram are a great way to get a random person to click on your post. Instagram is full of awesome, searchable things! But Henry gets a little crazy sometimes, especially if he is posting about a show. Sometimes, he’ll add 20 hashtags to the caption of his picture!

You can definitely use more hashtags on Instagram than you do on Twitter, but filling up the entire caption of your photo with tons of hashtags could make you appear desperate for likes and followers. Try keeping your hashtag count under 10, and make sure that the hashtags that you use are relevant to your music and what you are posting about. Or funny. Hashtags can be funny.

Always Absent Annie

Annie created an Instagram for her music and posted her first photo more than a year ago. Since then, she’s only posted four photos. She still mentions at all her shows that fans should follow her on Instagram, but when they get to her page, there’s nothing there to make them want to follow her.

If you’re going to have a social media account for your music, you need to use it. Don’t have empty (or not recently updated) accounts floating around the internet. If fans are searching for you, they need to be able to find good information and social media profiles that make it clear your band didn’t actually break up six months ago.

Mucho Mysterious Michael

Michael loves to take really awesome artsy photos. He has a knack for photography, so naturally, Instagram is his favorite social network. He posts consistently, doesn’t spam, and uses the perfect amount of hashtags.

But he’s never in any of his photos.

Michael isn’t the worst offender. You might even choose this approach as a marketing strategy if you are in an avant-garde jazz fusion collective.

But for most musicians, never being in any of your photos is a bad idea. People want to connect with you, and that’s harder to do if all you do is post artistic pictures of leaves. So occasionally, have someone take a picture with you in it! Post a selfie or two. Post pictures of you performing, or with a landmark in the city you’re playing that night. You don’t have to be in every photo, but you should be in most of them.

So What Should You Do on Instagram?

There are three things you must do on Instagram:

Be Yourself
Be Consistent
Be Engaged

If you need some in-depth tips on how to utilize Instagram for your music, you can check out this article that we wrote a few months ago.

Do you have any horror stories about Instagram users, or using Instagram yourself? Do you have any tips to help musicians engage with fans on Instagram? Let us know in the comments below!

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Creating a Website for Your Music: Bandzoogle vs. Wix

By NationWide Source - Dec 31, 2016 Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

I like to shop. There’s no denying it. I could spend hours in my favorite store, or hours browsing online looking for the perfect item. And I’m not alone. Thousands of people share this hobby with me.

Yesterday, a friend of mine was wearing an awesome shirt. The kind of shirt that was so awesome, it probably gave super powers to the wearer. I really liked that shirt. She told me where she got it, and the next chance I got, I looked up the store on my phone. Sadly, the store was a small boutique over 200 miles from my home!

Even sadder was the store’s lack of a website. I was unable to to go to their physical store, and they lost a potential customer–who was excited and very willing to make a purchase–because they had no website.

We say it often here at Source: If you want to be taken seriously as a musician, one of the first things you need to do is create a website. It doesn’t matter if you’re a band, solo artist, or DJ; you still need a website.

There are lots of website creation services that can help you make a website you can be proud of. Two of these services are Bandzoogle and Wix. They both provide websites that are very easy to create and to update. They both have lots of different options to make your website beautiful and functional.

But which one is better for independent musicians?

The Basics

Bandzoogle is a web design and hosting platform that was created by musicians specifically with other musicians in mind. It’s easy to use and has all the tools you need to create a professional website. We like Bandzoogle because they specialize in everything music related. All their features cater directly to independent musicians.

Wix is designed around design. Their editor is all flash based, so you never see any coding(which is great for non-tech savvy people like me!). They cater to small businesses, musicians, and photographers.

Simple Sign Up and Time to Design

Something these two platforms have in common is enough time to actually experiment with your website design.

Wix has a free tier that stays free forever. All of their templates are available on the free tier, as are many of their apps. The one thing the free tier won’t get you is a domain name. Their premium option includes a domain name. If you already own your domain name, you can use it with Wix, although there is a fee of $4 per month.

: Wix’s premium options

Signing up with Bandzoogle is a simple process, and they give you 30 full days to test drive their platform, without asking for a card number up front— this was a big bonus for me because I want to make sure a service is completely worth it before I buy it(and I always forget to cancel subscriptions!). After your trial is up, you will need to either purchase a subscription and hosting plan, or choose a different hosting platform.

Bandzoogle will also register a domain name for you. This is free when you sign up, and Bandzoogle automatically renews it for you for free. The best part is that you own the domain forever–Bandzoogle transfers ownership of your domain over to you if you decide to switch web hosting services. You can also use a domain you already own with a new BandZoogle website.

: Bandzoogle’s premium options

Great Visuals

This is where Wix pulls a little ahead of Bandzoogle. While Bandzoogle does have some good designs to choose from, many of their designs are beginning to look dated and cheesy.

: Out Dated Bandzoogle Templates

However, they add new templates regularly, and their newer ones are sophisticated and modern.

Wix however, has hundreds of really great templates to choose from. They even have nine pages of music-specific templates in addition to many other templates you could customize to fit your music needs.

: Wix music themes

Editing Your Site

On Wix and Bandzoole it is easy to customize your site. You can upload pictures, add or delete pages, and update text. Both services utilize a visual editor, but this is where Bandzoogle starts to pull ahead of Wix. Wix has a very powerful flash based editor, but it gets slow and buggy very quickly. Their sites also lose visual impact very quickly when you start to customize. Wix chooses their stock template images very carefully, and when you begin to add your own photos, the design you loved can quickly become a hodge-podge nightmare.

: An example of how a great template can easily go wrong

Bandzoogle’s templates tend to feature one main image, so that makes design a little less stressful. They also group fonts together, so if you are a little design-challenged, you know your site will be cohesive. Bandzoogle also provides a powerful non-visual editor as well.

: Customizing a Bandzoogle Site

If you’re like me and can’t stick with one design for long, Bandzoogle might be a good choice for you. They make it really easy to change your mind. All your content is easily moved from one template to the next without any losses. You will probably still have to tweak your design if you move to a new template, but all your pages and content will stay exactly the same.

**A Note on Website Design:

One thing that often gets overlooked when bands begin designing their website is band photos. Many web templates call for a large image to be the focal point, and you need to take that into consideration as you choose a template. If you decide to go with a design that heavily features a photo, you can use a stock image or you can use a photo of your band. Just make sure that the image you choose as a focal point represents your music well. For tips on how to get great band photos, click here.

Functionality

When you create a site, a few standard pages for bands come pre-loaded on both services. After the initial setup, you can add or subtract pages all you want.

This is where I really think Bandzoogle starts to jump ahead of Wix, specifically for independent musicians.

Wix plays nicely with third party apps. The problem with all those apps is that you have to pay extra for many of them(Wix includes two premium apps when you purchase a premium plan).

Many of the things, analytics for example, that Wix uses third party apps for, Bandzoogle integrates directly into their platform.

Both services also offer a commission free store.

Wix has a visually appealing storefront for your merch, but they don’t offer ticketing, or an option for pre-orders. They also don’t sell physical product unless you sign up for their e-commerce tier, which is $16 a month.

Bandzoogle offers the sale of physical merch on their $12/month plan, and advanced options like ticketing and pre-order are available for $16/month.

Extra Features

A great feature that Bandzoogle offers is password protected pages. If you only want press to view a certain page, give them the password! Have a page of traveling details you only want other band members to see? Give them the password!

The feature can also be used to give your fans exclusive benefits. What better way to keep your fans coming back to your site than to have an area made just for them? You could have a page that’s only visible to the people who subscribe to your email list, or a page that only members of your fan club have access to.

Bandzoogle also offers email newsletters(which can be geo-targeted), detailed analytics, SEO optimization, and integration with several third parties like Twitter, Instagram, and Bandsintown.

Wix also has many of these features, but many of them are third party apps you add onto your site, and aren’t fully integrated with the original design of the website.

Which Should You Choose?

Both platforms have lots to offer, and both with help you create a beautiful website. However, after digging into the functionality and ease of use, we think Bandzoogle is a better choice.

We recommend Bandzoogle to artists because it puts the control in the hands of the musician, and offers a great service at a fair price. Their editor was less glitchy, and it took us less time to get a fantastic, functional website.

If you think Bandzoogle might be a good option for you, you can check them out here.

What web design service do you use? Has Bandzoogle or Wix been helpful for you in the past? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Sustainable Streaming- How Indpedendent Artists Can Actually Get Paid

By NationWide Source - Dec 31, 2016 Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Sustainable streaming.

Sounds like a dream world, right? A magical place where artists would get fairly compensated for their creations.

Almost everyone in the music industry will admit that the current way that streaming music is set up is unsustainable for artists, labels (both major and independent), and even for the streaming services themselves (Spotify has yet to make a profit).

Despite these flaws, streaming music has become the normal way we consume music.

There is no perfect fix for streaming but Sharkey Laguana, a musician and entrepreneur, is trying to start a royalty revolution. We recently read a blog he posted about a protest called Silent September, and we think he’s on to something great.

But before we look at how to change streaming royalties, we have to understand how they are currently paid.

The Big Pool vs. Subscriber Share

Currently, streaming royalties are given to rights holders based on their percentage of all the plays on a service. This means that even if you never listen to Justin Bieber, he is still getting a hefty percentage of the total royalties a streaming service makes because he pulls in more listeners than your average independent musician.

This is the Big Pool system. It works great if you are an artist on a major record label who is getting millions of plays.

It doesn’t work so well for indie artists. You might have a good-sized fan base who listens to your music on streaming services, but if you’re not getting a half million plays, you aren’t significantly affecting the Big Pool percentages.This is why streaming income for independent artists is so low.

This is where subscriber share comes in. Subscriber share simply means that royalty payments are based on how much each individual user listens to a particular artist. Though not currently used by most streaming services, it has the potential to more fairly distribute income across the music industry.

Spotify takes 70% of its profits and pays them out as royalties for artists. This means that if you are a premium subscriber at $10 per month, $7 out of the $10 you give to Spotify are going to musicians.This is not a bad or unfair percentage. The problem with streaming royalties comes from the ways these payments are given out in the current Big Pool system.

For example, in the Big Pool system,if I am a premium subscriber and never once listen to Nicki Minaj, she is still getting a hefty percentage of the money I pay to Spotify because she makes up a large percentage of plays on Spotify.

However, if streaming services moved to subscriber share, and I listened to Odeza 15% of the time and Nicki 0% of the time, Odeza gets $1.05 out of my $7, and Nicki Minaj gets none.

Of course,this doesn’t mean that major artists won’t get paid. They will still get the money from the millions of plays they are currently getting. If Nicki makes up 35% of what another premium user listens to, she will get $2.45 out of the total $7.

What subscriber share means is that all artists get compensated fairly for their music. In the subscriber share system, when a music fan consistently listens to an indie artist they love, that artist will get paid fairly for the amount of time users are spending listening to their music.

Spotify loses no money in this system, major labels don’t lose, and indies don’t lose.

Time for Streaming to Make The Switch

The main problem is implementation. Spotify is not going to completely overhaul their entire system if they don’t have a reason to. This is where Silent September comes in.

Spotify needs a push from major players in order to switch their infrastructure. (We’re looking at you, Taylor!) This means that the 3 major labels need to be on board. This means that independent musicians need to shake up the majors and get them to pay attention.

We need to shift the percentages.

The best way to shift the Big Pool percentages is to listen to truly independent artists on whatever platform you normally listen on. But it’s going to take a lot of plays.

So when you aren’t actively listening to music, simply turn down the volume, but keep the music playing (this is where the “silent” in Silent September comes from).

If enough people are playing independent artists in the background, we can shift the percentages and make the majors take notice.

Silent September

This September is a great time for this protest, because the 3 major labels’ contracts with Spotify expire in October of 2015. If we can make them take notice before they re-sign contracts, we can help be the catalyst for change.

Silent September is a simple way to help make a difference in the lives–and the wallets–of independent musicians.

The originator of Silent September, Sharkey Laguana, wrote a more in-depth article on Silent September, and exactly how streaming royalties work, which you can read here. If you have a few more questions, check out the FAQ here.

If you would like to participate in Silent September with us, we have created a playlist of completely independent musicians in our local area who deserve your support. We will be adding playlists regularly of great independent music, so be sure to subscribe to our Spotify account and follow us on Twitter to stay updated!

If you are an independent musician and would like to be featured on our playlist, you can tweet at us, or comment below!

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Secrets to a Great Single Part Three: Promotional Strategies

By NationWide Source - Dec 31, 2016 Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

You’ve chosen your most single-worthy song. You’ve invested time, energy—and probably money—into getting the perfect recording.

You are super pleased with yourself, and for good reason! You worked hard! Now it’s time to sit back, relax, and congratulate yourself on being such a fantastic musician, right?

Not quite yet.

You can celebrate as much as you want at this stage, as long as you know you still have a lot of work in front of you. You have to make sure that your single gets into the hands (and ears) of your fans.

For most artists, promotion is where the grunt work starts. Promotion is extremely important. But it doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are four steps to effectively promote your single:

1 – Start the Hype

As soon as you know that you are going to be recording, you should start mentioning it on your social media channels, your website, and your newsletter. Singles have a shorter turn time than albums— after all, you’re only recording one song instead of 12! Starting the marketing push early could mean the difference between a successful release and one that falls flat.

Some easy ways to do this are:

Hype the announcement with a countdown or video.
Post a short video of your band previewing the single on Instagram and share it on Twitter and Facebook.
Create lyric graphics that show off small portions of your new song.
Live tweet or Periscope the recording process.

2 – Choose a Release Date

I know it’s tempting to set a release date as soon as you finish recording (or even before!). I’ve been there, I’ve walked that road, and trust me, you don’t want to. That road leads to panic. You can save yourself a lot of heartache if you wait just a little longer to set a release date.

Choose your release date after you have a finished product in your hands.

If you are only releasing digitally, then set a date after you’ve downloaded the finished masters onto your computer, and you’ve got your artwork ready to go.

If you are ordering a physical product, wait to set a release date until you sign the delivery notice, and your shiny new CDs are sitting on your kitchen table. This rule is especially true if you are ordering vinyl, since turn times can be around six months from the day you order!

When setting a release date, take these factors into consideration:

How long will it take to get the music to your preferred release channel? Sometimes getting a song live on iTunes takes a day; sometimes it takes 6 weeks. You need to make sure that your music has enough time to get delivered to the right channels.
Are you looking for an exclusive feature? If you want to debut your single on a specific blog, you need to make sure that your date works with the blog that’s premiering it. If they always do new music features on a Friday, you want to make sure your release date follows their pattern. On top of that, you will have to wait for that blog to agree to feature you. Even if you don’t have a specific blog in mind, it’s a good idea to take into consideration how long it might take for a blog to get back to you with a “yes.”
When can you engage the most fans? The answer to this question could be as simple as “What days are my fans most active on social media?” Or it could be as nuanced as a specific cross promotional opportunity. If your song is about dumping your girlfriend because she hates baseball, why not time your release to coincide with opening day for your favorite team? There are lots of opportunities to look for cross promotion if your single fits into a niche.

3 – The Two V’s

Promotion for a single looks different than promotion for an album, although they overlap in many ways. As you gear up for the week before your release, you should start preparing your promotional material. As you do this, remember the two V’s.

Video

One thing that is especially important for a single is video. Since you are only releasing one song, videos will help keep your audience engaged for a longer amount of time if you stagger their release. There are five different videos you should create to accompany your release:

A behind the scenes video of the recording process
A lyric video
A music video(if funding permits)
A behind the scenes of your music video( if funding permits)
A live performance video

If you have five really good videos to accompany your single, you can stretch out the excitement for your single over a few weeks (or even months).

Visuals

Visuals to go along with your release are also important. Countdown graphics, lyric graphics, and a few well placed band selfies can go a long way in promoting your release!

Posts that include a photo or graphic are more likely to get genuine engagement from fans, so make sure that you are spending some time getting great visuals!

4 – Serious Promotion Time

Now that you have a release date, it’s time to really hit the ground running with specific, targeted promotion. It’s a good idea to have a social media plan for all your releases and major events, and releasing a single is no different. You can read our tips to create a simple social media plan here.

You should also reach out to local media outlets. Often the local news will feature an artist on their morning show, or you may be able to arrange an interview and performance with local radio stations.

Another great place to seek out some press coverage are colleges and universities. College radio stations are usually receptive to new, independent music, so you could get some local airplay if the DJs like your music.

It’s also worth noting that colleges, and the organizations inside them, often need live entertainment. Getting radio play on a college station could lead to a good gigging opportunity.

5 – The Follow Up

The week before your release and the two weeks after will be the most promotion heavy weeks as you get the word out about your single, but that doesn’t mean the work should stop there! Create a “call to action” button on Facebook with the link to buy your single, and include the link in your Twitter/Instagram bios. Keep sharing about your single, especially if it’s gaining traction with fans and media.

Although you may not mention your single everyday like you did during the hard-hitting promotional weeks, you should still keep interest alive by mentioning it once or twice a week.

Coming up with creative ways to post are essential in this phase. You don’t want to bore your fans by giving them the exact same updates you gave them during release week!

Re-tweeting when someone mentions you or your new song are great ways to keep the hype alive without being too pushy.

You can also ask your fans to post videos of them lip-syncing or covering the song, and remind them of all the different ways they can listen to your song (unless you released it on an exclusive platform. If that’s the case, then remind your fans that it’s an exclusive and may only be up for a limited time!)

Now is also the time to focus in on your next big project. That might be the music video for the single you just released, a brand new single or EP, or your upcoming tour. Keeping the hype up is vital at this phase! Consistently releasing new content is a proven strategy to get new fans and keep them.

What is your favorite promotional strategy for singles? Are more frequent single releases the way of the future for musicians? Let us know in the comments below!

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Secrets to a Great Single Part Two: The Stand Alone Single

By NationWide Source - Dec 31, 2016 Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

If you ask almost anyone if modern technology has decreased our attention span, they will probably give you a brief “yes” before returning their eyes to their smart phone and constantly-updated Twitter feed.

This shortened attention span- along with iTunes single-handedly changing the way we purchase music- means that, now more than ever, fans love singles. And while die-hard album lovers and musicians mourn the loss of the 12 song LP, most fans clamor for new music to be delivered to them more often than once every year or two.

This new trend leaves artists in a bit of a bind. Full length albums are often more creatively fulfilling than a single or 3-song EP, but in order for up-and-coming musicians to stay in front of their fans and keep costs down, these shorter album forms may be necessary.

In Part One of this series we talked about choosing the right song for your single.

Today we are going to highlight what you need to do if you are recording a standalone single. This single is not a song you pulled off your album, but a song that gets recorded and released separate from an album.

You should approach recording your single the same way you would approach recording an album–with a few small differences.

Determine a Purpose

What is releasing a single going to do for you? Figuring out why you’re recording a single will help you determine the production aspects you may need.

Are you sending it to booking agents and promoters? If you are recording a single to help you get live shows, you probably want to record something that is comparable to how you actually sound live.
Are you putting it directly into the hands of your fans? A totally stripped down recording may make your fans feel close to you, which can lead to better fan engagement. On the other hand, your fans might be ready for a fully produced, full band sound. It’s all about knowing your audience.
Do you want to debut it on a music blog? If you want optimize your single for press, you need to make sure the quality is at the same standard that major artists achieve. Modern technology has made this quality standard very accessible, so you shouldn’t skip things like professional mixing and mastering.

Decide Where/How You Want to Record

Are you going to be creating this single in your home, in a studio, or a hybrid of both? Do you want to bring on a producer/sound engineer?

You also need to decide how much you are willing to pay to get the single recorded.

Recording cost can vary greatly, and only you know how much you are comfortable spending to get your music recorded.

There are great home studio options to record your music yourself, or you could go to a professional studio. If you are not sure which option will work best for you (or if you should try a hybrid of the two) you can read this article for more information on choosing the best recording process for you.

If you are using the single for press and promotional purposes, hiring a producer who is experienced in your genre can be a great investment. Singles can also be a good place to “audition” a producer or sound engineer. You can determine how well you work together on one song before you commit to recording an entire album with them.

This is also a good time to start looking at mixing and mastering engineers. Do some research on engineers in your area, or look at who mixed and mastered your favorite artists, and see if they fit into your recording budget!

Are You Recording More Than One Single?

I know, this might seem a little counter-intuitive. A single is just one song.

But if you feel like you have another song that deserves to be recorded, you might want to consider going ahead and recording 2 or 3 singles at once. This will give you some extra material to release over the next few months.

Recording 2 or 3 songs at once will also allow you to plan ahead in your release strategy, and you can bundle them into an EP after you’ve promoted the songs individually!

Decide on a Release Format

Will you release the single only online? There are lots of affordable distribution services that can get your music into most major online retailers (Check out Mondotunes, ONErpm, and TuneCore). Will the single only be available on one platform? NoiseTrade is a great “pay what you want” site that many fans use to discover new music, and NoiseTrade likes exclusives!

You could also have the single available exclusively on your website, or only available after fans sign up for your email list.

You also need to decide if you’ll have a physical product to go with your single. If you are planning on recording three singles, it might be a good idea to go ahead and order a physical CD with all three songs on it to sell at your shows. Three songs will also fit nicely on a 7” vinyl if you want to go that route.

Making the right decisions for your music in the recording stage will help make the rest of the process of releasing a single go more smoothly. Be sure when you record that you are getting a song that you are really excited about showing off to the world.

Have you recorded a single lately? What was your recording process like? Is recording a few singles better than investing in an album? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

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