Music Business Hacks

"The best defense is a good offense." When unexpected things happen in your music career (and they will), what kind of plan do you have? How can you prepare for those situations? Episodes Covered: Episode #297 - Travel Rewards for Touring Musicians Episode #298 - Getting a Logo or Artwork for Your Band Episode #299 - How to Promote Out of Town Shows Episode #300 - How to Get People to Respond to Your Email Episode #301 - When Airlines Break Your Stuff Episode #302 - The Buy One Get One Strategy Episode #303 - The Nashville Round: How You Can Make Your Shows Remarkable

A Nashville Round is an interesting way to showcase songs but most artists end up getting lost in the mix. In today's episode, I focus on how the ideas of standing out in a round can really help you stand out in any kind of showcase: open mic, music festival, or just a regular show with a lot of different artists.

Today's episode is about the Buy One, Get One strategy that many companies are using to drive their strategic philanthropy efforts. How have you ever thought of using this to inspire a new model for growth and reaching fans with your music business? Related Episodes: Episode #40 - Strategic Philanthropy and Your Music Episode #118 - Art and Activism Resources: Podcast - How I Built This episode on TOMS (a great story!) Websites to find nonprofits: CharityNavigator.com and VolunteerMatch.org And if you're looking for a cool nonprofit, check out The Slants Foundation!

After a couple of recent incidents of having my things broken, I decided to do an episode on what you can do when you find your instrument, luggage, or anything else busted up from air travel. Resources: USA Today article: Here's how to get reimbursed for your damaged luggage on every U.S. airline

How do you get people to answer to your email messages? When should you follow up? How many words should be in that first message? In today's episode, I discuss email best practices. Resources: Boomerang for Gmail

Today, we answer a question from Charlie Cook of the Kronk Men - check them out here! In it, I talk about how you can really promote your out of town shows more effectively. You'll learn about the difference between push and pull strategies as well as specific tactics that you can use today. Remember, the key is that everything should be unique, generous, and resonate with your target audience.

Today's episode was inspired by a question submitted to MBH on dealing with designers. When it comes to getting a logo or images for your merchandise, what are some important considerations? In this episode, I'll try and help you navigate the issue so you won't have any problems. Resources: 99designs.com

Are you taking advantage of the many travel rewards available for musicians? You could be leaving a lot of benefits like free flights and hotel rooms as well as discounts off gas on the table. Today, I talk about one of the least discusses best business practices that more artists should be taking advantage of: travel rewards. Here's the system I use:  Hotels.com for booking accomodations. I always them because they have the largest selection available, competitive pricing, and give you a free hotel room for every ten nights you book - that's like getting 10% off each time. Plus, you can save the nights up and have a future tour taken care of. If you sign up here, you'll get $50 off your first stay. I pay for all of my purchases through my Chase Sapphire Preferred card. That's because you get 2x points for all travel and dining (which is almost my entire tour) and you get some of the best and flexible travel rewards out there. If you use my referral link, you'll get 60,000 points after 90 days - which is eno

When it comes to hitting long term goals, what's more effective: a laser or a shotgun? Find opportunities where you can focus your energy instead of spreading yourself thin. One of the best ways is by focusing on that niche market. Episodes: Episode #291 - How to Dominate a Niche Market part 1: Find a need Episode #292 - How to Dominate a Niche Market pt 2: Smallest Viable Audience Episode #293 - How to Dominate a Niche Market pt 3: What if Your Audience is Too Small? Episode #294 - How to Dominate a Niche Market pt 4: How to Find Your Niche Episode #295 - How to Dominate a Niche Market part 5: Always Give Value And if you want to check out the book Music Business Hacks, see it here!

Today, we talk about the power of giving value to your audience and why consistency matters. How did a company like Slack explode in popularity? How can you use channels ignored by musicians (like Yelp) to excel your career? How can you use these ideas to get TED talks? By giving value, of course. Resources: Other episodes mentioned: Episode 16: Hacking Yelp for Your Music Episode 21: It's All About Value

Today, I talk about how you can find your center, the things that you care about the most, so that you can build your own niche audience from it. What are the things that you love but others dislike (or at minimum, feel very neutral about)? And how can you leverage that to create authentic connections with others? By the way, if you haven't yet, check out the DIY Musician Conference where I'll dive even more depely into this subject!

In today's episode, we'll focus on what happens if your audience is too niche. Is your problem your problem?

It's good to be back! I've been on the road relentlessly promoting my new memoir, Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took on the Supreme Court, but I'm resuming this daily show on music business. Today, we're jumping right back into our series on niche markets. This time, it's about building the smallest viable audience. What does that mean as a strategy and how do you implement some immediate next steps to conquer a market? Resources: In Search of the Minimum Viable Audience (Seth Godin blog) Slanted: How an Asian American Troublemaker Took on the Supreme Court

Today, I'm kick off a new series specifically on niche marketing and business development. This episode is focused on the foundation for any business: identifying needs to fill. In addition to sharing some of my own experiences, I'll also show companies like EZ Laundry and Netflix used similar principles as other artists in order to launch their businesses! References: Episode #190: How to Find Your Niche People I've Interviewed with a Unique Niche: Episode #6: DaRealWordSound Episode 48: Dez Cadena Episode #162: Manafest Episode #258: Shannon Curtis

Today's episode was inspired by Terry Crews' approach to self-discipline. We're focusing on his 4 big tips for discipline with a specific focus on music business and entrepreneurs. Watch the videos (part 1 & 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpNbUN2_ebo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziE27pFTptk

If you're slightly obsessed with productivity (like I am), then you probably think a lot about how to make the most of your time. In fact, the idea of "free time" seems like kind of a misnomer because you think of it as more time to work on your music business. However, today's episode is about taking a healthy look at developing a sustainable music business career - and that includes using your free time wisely. References: Episode #40 - Strategic Philanthropy and Your Music

Severe weather is terrible for music instruments, vocalists, and our vehicles but sometimes it can't be avoided. In today's episode, we're going to cover best practices and tips in dealing with severe weather. Resources: The best emergency roadside kit for bands (Kolo Sports Premium). It's only $45 and comes with plenty of things to deal with quick emergencies. Accuweather Road Trip Planner. Check it before leaving for tour! AAA Auto Club - If you do get this, just spend the extra bucks for their premium service. The extended tow range is a must if you're going through any kind of remote areas. Verizon Roadside Assistance. This is my go-to. How to Drive in Severe Weather guide from State Farm.

Michael Beinhorn has lived his life in the pursuit of artistic expression, first as a visual artist, then as a performer, and finally as a record producer. Forgoing a promising career in medical illustration, Beinhorn began his musical endeavors in 1979 as co-founder of the seminal New York musical collective Material. The group’s singular style and strong artistic personalities led to their producing their own recordings out of necessity. As the band rose to prominence, in 1980 they were approached by Brian Eno, collaborating on the track “Lizard Point” from Eno’s acclaimed recording “Ambient 4: On Land.” In 1983, Beinhorn co-produced Herbie Hancock’s landmark recording, Future Shock, which included the groundbreaking cut “Rockit.” The song, co-written and co-produced by Beinhorn, would become Columbia Records’ most successful 12-inch single ever, selling over three million copies and winning a Grammy in 1984 for Best R&B Instrumental Recording. After departing Material in 1984, Beinhorn’s product

Templates for websites and tools by PayPal are making it easier than ever to create your own online shop for merchandise. However, a new option is becoming more popular: print on demand and dropship services. So which one is the right one for you? Resources: Artist Shops by Threadless Merch by Amazon RedBubble Society 6 Example online store with Threadless

In today's recap, we revisit some of the big ideas you should be considering as you tackle a new year of music business. Resources: Episode #276 - The 7 Things You Should Do Everyday Episode #277 - Are you marrying your fans or dating them? Episode #278 - Can you Copyright a Dance move? Episode #279 - How to Keep Content Going When You're in between Releases Episode #280 - If you're going to SXSW Episode #281 - Why Resolutions Don't Work Episode #282 - Starting Your Own Label Episode #283 - Replay: books, articles, podcasts Episode #284 - How to Juggle More Than One Band