New Book for Musicians - What Topics Should I Cover?

About ten years ago, I released a book called "How I Make $100,000/year in the Music Business (Without a Record Label, Manager, or Booking Agent)."  The book was co-authored by me and a musician doing just that.  It gave specific advice from both a musician and music industry perspective.

Since then, I've released several books, all of which would help people in the music business, but with the exception of a workbook and a few audio books, none was really targeted for musicians or the music business specifically.

So I've decided it's time to do another one, just for you.

This book is not an updated version of "How I Make $100,000/year in the Music Business (Without a Record Label, Manager, or Booking Agent)."  It's something brand new that I've started from scratch.  Because of this, I've got a wide open field as to where it can go.

And that's why question for you...

What would the ultimate book for indie musicians have in it?

Leave your suggestions, comments, and thoughts below.  Again, think about the ultimate book for indie musicians.  Throw out your wish list.

I've already started on this project, so let me know what you want to see right now.  I've got a time line to get this thing out within a couple of months, so things are going to go fast.  Please get on the feed for updates and information on how you'll be able to get a copy as well as some cool freebies to show you how to sell more music, get more people to your shows, and make more money in the music business.

Comments

[Damien Cripps]

Hi Dave
great work - although i am not sure if an individual view applies across the board. I would love to suggest a theme? something like getting to the truth before you made all the mistakes. However i fear this is the irony of life. If i can be of any assistance or a wall to bounce off please feel free to contact us
damiencrippsband@bigpond.com

[hectory2k.blogspot.com]

I think you can write about the music 2.0 industry and of course the future of the support for the artist...

[Doctor Oakroot]

A few topics off the top of my head:

1. How to get paid for giving away music downloads

2. How to do merchandizing (from where to get T-shirts printed to selling them etc.)

3. How to get other folks to work for you (preferably for free)

4. How to sell a CD when they can download for free. Or why we don't need to.

5. Music licensing.

Good luck with the book. I'm looking forward to it.

[KSE]

1. Work ethic

2. Fans, Fans, Fans

3. Write or Record Great Songs that appeal to your niche market

4. Do you play an instrument?

5. Forming a Great Band

6. Do you need outside help?

7. Merchandising

8. Touring

9. Plan B...Yes or NO?

10. Publicity, Marketing, Distribution

11. Ways to make money.

12. Ways to finance you, your band, and your music.

13. Should you perform solo first or with a band or both?

14. Miscellaneous help for INDIE Artist.

15. How to connect with fans and create moments during your show.

[XOCH]

Resources that would help indie acts gain more exposure
Resources where indie acts can obtain finances
Helping indie acts get major tour support, radio play and other mainstream promotion
Cross marketing for indie acts
Ring tones and other digital opportunities

[Adam Smale]

1. How to get gigs, new gigs, and expand your territory, especially when you’re a jazz musician and you’re always practicing or composing.

2. Working with, or finding, agents to do the booking for you so you can spend time practicing or composing.

3. Establish relationships with fans. How do I get them to find me approachable, and the nice guy who I really am?

4. Other avenues to make money other than gigs, or teaching, that I already do.

I’m fine with doing 120 shows a year that only pay $100-$150 a man (local gigs). I like playing small clubs. But for the other 120 days a year I would like to work, I want these shows to pay me 5 to 10 times that much per show.

[Martin Luxton]

David,

I think there is something very fundamental that makes a lot of musicians unsuccessful commercially.

They don't start out with the end in mind. They have no clear brand to build and no roadmap.

So brandbuilding and a success road map would be good.

Martin

[Lee Fox]

Making money without live performances.

Like many others, I simply cannot do gigs for the foreseeable future. Another book on selling CD's at shows is Not what I need.

[contactamy@obenski.net]

I really want to know when and how you should find an outside publicist and booking agent. And what are your different options when taking them on. And the pros and cons between having someone else do it and doing it for yourself.

And, in general, if you need help with all the tasks what kind of professional is best to get first. It depends on your priorities as an artist of course. But when you're deciding between a manager, publicist, booking agent, radio publicist, assistant, etc, what is the best option?

~*amy*~

[steveferrara@gmail.com]

EUROPE!!!

Marketing, touring, CLUBS!,music sales and publishing in Europe. There are thousands of very useful books for independent musicianns to use for there USA market but I can't find a damn thing to help an independent artist wanting to make the jump to France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, ect....help!

[Benny S]

How old is too old, or how long is too long to "keep on trekking"? I'm in my mid 30's and have spent the better part of 15 years trying to make money (other than doing occasional 'wedding singer' type gigs) as a singer/songwriter. When should one finally just "give up" and decide it's just not in the cards?

[DIYMusicians.com]

We found this free e-book pretty useful... http://ow.ly/646Y
Why not 'borrow' a few of their ideas for your book

We love your blog and often Tweet your posts

Kindest regards,
@DIY_Musicians

[Nils]

KleerStreem Entertainment and XOCH summed it up nicely for me. For personal reasons I would also like Lee Fox's topic.
One of the challenges you face is how detailed you are going to be. There are things that apply to musicians in general but there are very specific things that apply to rock musicians or jazz musicians. Can you satisfy everyone's needs or should your scope by limited? Even in the way of approaching their fans different styles attract different demographics, each with their own characteristics.
Like Damian Cripps said, if you want to bounce ideas off of someone, I'm here.

[Donnie Christianson]

Building a web site that sells - whether the selling is of music, merchandise, etc. For people who want to use social sites only to funnel traffic to their own site. Info on platforms to use, what not to use, what to watch out for. I realize this is a book itself, but touching on these topics would be useful IMO.

Other stuff: outsourcing your admin tasks - song registrations, social site updates, web site, commerce, domain name registrations, etc. All the business tasks that we get bogged down in. Info for those considering hiring a Virtual Assistant because its just too much to do.

Copyright & PRO registrations, publishing company setup - a primer or overview.

Finally to add to what Lee Fox said, promotion tips and how-to's for those who don't play shows and/or don't want to. It's still possible to make a living as a musician who does not gig, although rare, but live gigs are not the only way. Since you're in Nashville - some top session musician interviews maybe? :) Or how about info on webcasting yourself playing? (like Sandy Thom)

Thanks!
--Donnie C.

[Donnie Christianson]

By the way David, if you are covering shopping cart software for music sites, I've used almost every one of them out there with varying degrees of success, so I would be glad to offer some tips and things to watch out for.

[abbie]

drop knowledge on how indie bands can tour AND make money doing it.

[Pop Producer]

Simply, make clear that you have to have FANS that PAY MONEY for what you do (shows, CDs, downloads, merchandising, whatever).

Most guys spend their time going for things that don't make a real difference (like having thousands of friends on MySpace or getting airplay on radio or whatever). GET FANS.

[Devo Spice]

My biggest issue is finding fans when my demographic is not easy to pin down. I have fans who are rap fans and fans who otherwise hate rap. I have fans who are 13 and fans who are in their 60s. Identifying potential fans and then finding them is a real challenge for me. If you could shed any light on this it would be awesome.

[Eduardo Find a Fiend]

Interesting subject, I am currently doing my thesis for my Music Business Management Master on this particular topic.

I have been approaching the subject under the historical comparison regarding patronage, sheet music, recording industry and the music industry in the twenty-first century. All of the past business models seem to have had little or no concern about the author or performer, yet despite the democratic environment that we'd like to believe the Internet offers, most of the really succesful artist emerging from social networks have been nothing more than elaborate marketing ploys. (take the Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and Sandi Thom as examples of this)

This leads us to wonder, is it possible for an independent musician to be completely independent? Hasn't the democratization of the music business environment, fuelled by the information age, made it more competitive and thus, even harder to get noticed?
Has the attention of fans shifted towards artists' online prescence rather than the music itself? And if so, wasn't marketing and promotion two of the fundamental reasons (besides distribution) why record labels where formed in the first place?
How does this affect the musicians' role not only as a creative entity but as a businessman?

I think basically, what all of us independent musicians nowadays wonder, is how are we supposed to quit our day jobs and be able to afford a living. I'm not talking about signing a 360 deal with Live Nation or some other multinational, but rather how to seize the hyped concept of musical democracy.

Although I wasn't aware of the book you mention, I'm really interested in checking it out as a source for debate. And I'm really looking forward to your next book, getting every piece of advice is always worth a look!

Sorry for the length of the post, as you may assume, I've been reading/thinking/writing about this for a while now.

good luck!

[Cate Cloer]

Hi David. I would love to see an entire book - step by step how to license music.