Music Marketing Manifesto Podcast – Music Marketing Manifesto

This sound familiar? You hit the stage… The crowd loves it… You make sure that everyone knows how to find you on Spotify and your socials… You get home and wait to see those stats skyrocket… But then… NOTHING HAPPENS. All that work; all that exposure, and the needle doesn’t move at all. This is […]

Most musicians are on significantly limited budgets and typically there is very little money set aside for marketing. In this episode I field a question from listener, Jason Eli, who asked how I would spend my money if I had just $500 (approximately) to spend on music marketing.  If you’ve got a question that you […]

n the latest episode of the Music Marketing Manifesto Podcast we are going to speak with Kevin Goetz from the metal band, Mute Prophet. Kevin is a Music Marketing Manifesto member who I have watched over the last few years as he (along with other members of his band) took Mute Prophet from obscurity and turned them into an incredible indie success story. When the band's first album was released they initially sold less then ten copies. Things didn't look great for this symphonic metal band. However, Kevin is one of those guys that doesn't give up, and he worked diligently over the last few years to master the art of direct to fan marketing. He has asked smart questions and has stuck with it for the last few years, and that hard work is really paying off! These days Mute Prophet sees an average of 26 album sales per day, all on their own terms, and without touring! In this episode Kevin pulls back the curtain on his band's success and shares EVERYTHING. He walks you through his entire marketing process and shares the precise numbers. This is one you won't want to miss.

Many in the digital marketing space are suggesting that Apple’s coming iOS 14 update will mean the end of Facebook Advertising as we know it. Spoiler alert… It’s not. But there are things you NEED to know. In a nutshell, apple will soon be asking all app users if they are willing to allow their […]

In episode #43 of the Music Marketing Manifesto Podcast we chat with Brian Vander Ark - lead singer of the band The Verve Pipe - about how he has consistently made six figures per year from house concerts, and how you can too! House concerts have long been one of the best ways for independent artists to generate a significant amount of revenue each year. That said, with all that is going on in the world, this is probably not the best time for any kind of touring, house concert or otherwise... However, with so many live venues closing down, and no real end of the pandemic in sight, musicians may need to start thinking ahead to a time when we can start touring again. Because for many, house concerts may be the best, if not only, option.  I could think of no one better to tackle this topic than Brian Vander Ark. Brian is the lead singer of the platinum selling rock band, The Verve Pipe. Years ago he embraced the 1000 true fan model and began doing house concerts across America for his existing fan base. The result was as much as six figures a year in revenue by performing backyards and living rooms for just a few months each year. In this interview he will explain exactly how he did it and how YOU can too!

In episode #42 of the Music Marketing Manifesto Podcast we chat with Michael Sloane, the CEO of StreamingPromotions.com about the art and science of getting your music on more Spotify playlists. As many of you know, the streaming promotion landscape is littered with charlatans and low quality promotion services that can hurt your music career […]

In episode #41 of the Music Marketing Manifesto Podcast we will speak with Karen Allen the author if “Twitch for Musicians” about how musicians can use the world’s largest streaming platform for gamers to grow their fan base and potentially generate a full-time income from their music. I also want to remind everyone that I […]

The current global pandemic has had a tremendous impact on musicians. The loss of the ability to perform live, the fact that our fans have less money to spend on non-essential items, and the fact that many of us have lost our day jobs during this time has really hit musicians hard. In the wake […]

Niels Schroeter from NCS Entertainment and Blue Élan Records once introduced me to a very important concept: Not every marketing tactic is right for every artist, and the next step an artist should take is really determined by where their career is at, and where they want to take it. This is important because so often I see artists spending thousands of dollars on promotions that stand very little chance of working because they are simply not ready for it, or because it's the wrong prescription for their genre. This was one of those nuggets that I have repeated more times than I can count, and so I thought... Why don't we get Niels on the podcast to explain this himself. Niels is a very smart guy who has been there and done that in just about every aspect of the music business. He's worked in A & R, product development, artist management, music marketing, and as a general manager of several labels. In episode #39 of the Music Marketing Manifesto Podcast I ask Niels to explain his concept of "Stepping Stones" and to walk us through just what it takes to go from the very beginning of one's career, to becoming an international act. This is one of the more substantial conversations we've had on the podcast in a long time. I really think you're going to dig it.

In episode #38 of the Music Marketing Manifesto Podcast we are going to be doing something a bit different... This episode consists of the audio taken from a LIVE Music Marketing Q & A that I held earlier today. It is MUCH longer than the average MMM podcast episode and clocks in at 2.5 hours. That was me being obsessive about trying to answer everyone's questions :-) But there were some incredible questions and I think you'll find that there is a LOT of little light bulb moments throughout this Q & A. If you are interested in grabbing the 60% off Cyber Monday discount mentioned in the podcast, you can click here to get the discount: https://www.musicmarketingmanifesto.com/cyber-monday/ Just make sure you act before Thursday, December 5th, at Midnight Pacific (which is when the discount expires.

When a musician comes to me with a troubled marketing campaign, 9 times out of 10 the issue is in the branding... However, branding is one of those ambiguous words that most people think they understand but seldom truly do.  Musicians tend to associate it more with the simpler concept of "image", "genre", or "niche". But branding goes much deeper than that. Ultimately your brand is your core identity; it's what makes you unique and stand out from the hundreds of thousands of other musicians out there making similar music. Your brand is the succinct expression of your unique qualities, and when well crafted, it creates a shortcut to the mind of your potential fans and makes all of your career decisions much much clearer; from the font you use on your website, to the targeting options you choose, to the content that you share with your fans. If you're not completely clear on what your brand is, then you're winging it. And if you're winging it, the odds are stacked against you... In episode #37 of the Music Marketing Manifesto Podcast I go into depth on my concept of "brand".  I explain what it is, why it's so important, and outline a few actionable steps that you can take right now to better develop your brand.

One of the questions I receive most often from independent musicians is “how do I get my music licensed in television and films?”  It’s easy to understand why licensing would be on the minds of so many musicians. A placement in the right television show or film can be incredibly lucrative, it can lead to […]

One of the benefits of following a marketing strategy like the one outlined in Music Marketing Manifesto is that, if done right, you stand a very good chance of charting on key sales charts such as those in Billboard Magazine. A chart position can be valuable to an up-and-coming artist because it helps to build […]

If you’ve ever gone through any of my training programs then you know that I’m a huge fan of paid advertising. I think that it’s an invaluable tool for musicians who want to get their music in front of a large number of people very quickly. Having said that, it’s not for everyone. Some musicians […]

There is no question about it, streaming is here to stay. However, despite the industry shift towards streaming, we still see a landscape in which 99% of all Spotify streaming comes from just 10% of songs. This should cause independent artists to take pause and ask themselves if they are moving towards streaming because they […]