These days, with technology at our fingertips, the world has become a much smaller place. For the music world, downloading is becoming the new norm and CD's are becoming a thing of the past. At least to purchase them in stores anyway. They have now become part of the artist's 'merchandise'. Sold at shows along with t-shirts, hats and keychains. So how do we learn to sell our music online? What do you mean CD's are part of our merchandise?
For the past two years, I have attended the Vancouver Island Music Business Conference located in Courtenay, British Columbia. Tomorrow, I will be attending yet again. Why, you may ask? It is a conference that has panelists from the music industry (producers, artists, label representatives, managers, radio, etc) that are there to give of their time and ideas to help independent artists. My first year, I thought that these people would be unapproachable after the sessions. To my surprise, they were all very friendly and approachable and I have developed some great relationships and networking opportunities. Some of the sessions include topics such as: The Creative Side of Songwriting, Music Marketing in the Digital Age, The Business of Songs, Touring, etc. There is so much information available from these sessions and the panelists are all experienced in the industry. There is music every night where artists apply and are chosen to showcase their talent. I applied this year and I'm happy to say that I have a showcase. Please visit their website http://www.vimbc.com to check out all the information. This is a one of its kind in Canada and I strongly urge any independent artist to attend.
If you are like most independent artists, you probably aren't making a whole lot of money. Especially if you are just starting out in your career like me. I have put thousands of dollars into my career and its a darn good thing I have such a supportive spouse. So, my point is, if you can't afford to attend a music business conference there are lots of helpful sites here on the good 'ol internet. One of my favorite sites is called Music Biz Academy. http://www.musicbizacademy.com. How did I find this particular one? Honestly, I really can't remember because I searched so many. But what caught my eye is Our Top 25 Articles. Everything I was looking for. No searching around the site looking for different articles, it was right there - on the first page. Music Biz Academy is originated by David Nevue - an independent musician who learned a lot of information on his own to promote his music and is now sharing it with others. He has written a great book "How to Promote Your Music on the Internet" which I am still reading and I call it my music 'guide'.
So there you have it. From one musician to another, sharing information so we can try and make a living at what we love to do - playing music.
