There is an upside to this!
Rising costs of things like fuel are affecting many of us negatively. If you are a local artist, however, there is a little bit of upside to everything that is happening. Traveling bands are cutting tours due to increasing costs which leaves many small to medium size venues with more open dates for locals. If you happen to be one of these artists it’s time to call venues again even if you’ve been turned down before. Chances of a smaller artist getting a bigger night is on the rise and will probably continue until prices stabilize. Don’t miss your chance, go get ’em!
The importance of a website
An artist website is as essential today as it has ever been. Musicians tend to rely on social media more and more but it’s important to understand that their purpose is to make them money, not you, the artist. A well built website will keep the focus on you and not lead visitors to other artists or advertisers. It will lead them to where you want them to go: your online store, a show, your music, etc. Facebook and Instagram are still a great way to interact with fans , venues and other artists but they should not replace a well crafted site.
Know the law!
I often like to refer to football when speaking about this topic. Imagine trying to win a game without knowing what the rules are; no matter how good of an athlete you may be, the odds of winning are next to none. Many musicians attempt a similar scenario by preparing themselves musically but not understanding “the rules of the game”. If not every day at least every week read a legal article, a sample contract, federal, state or local laws that pertain to your business. It may not pay off immediately but there will most likely come a day when this knowledge will make the difference between failure and success.
Building a YouTube Channel
One of the primary mistakes musicians make when beginning to build their online presence is that they tackle all platforms at the same time. If you are looking to reach the 4000 hours of annual play time required to monitize your YouTube account it might be much easier to accomplish that goal if your fans aren’t going to other platforms to hear you. Make sure you make it clear to everyone where your channel is and make it easily accessible. Put a link on your website, Facebook page, Instagram, etc. Once you’ve reached the required number of hours and subscribers then consider adding other platforms like iTunes and Spotify one at a time while weighing the effect each has on your YouTube views.
Hiring a live sound engineer vs a studio engineer
Often engineers in the studio have near perfectly controlled environments in which to precisely hear frequencies, volume, stereo placement and other qualities of the mix they are creating. Their equipment is state of the art and often they have seemingly unlimited time to create the perfect mix. The perfect mix, within the paramaters that are required for a commercial release. A narrow dynamic range, lows that need to also have mids so they can be heard on smaller speakers, etc.
A live mix, on the other hand, is tailored for a specific room, speaker system and event. It does not have to be compressed to make sure it’s still heard at low volumes. It can have a bass sound in the lowest of lows, and still come through clearly. The band can be twice as loud in the chorus as in the verse creating an energy that is simply impossible in a commercial mix.