There’s been a bunch of hoopla about whether or not iTunes is going away and if Apple will be exclusively a streaming service. I’m not sure it’s true, (I did spend a good 55 seconds on Google trying to find out) but in a way, it makes sense. iPods are a thing of the past. Streaming is the thing of the… future? Who knows. Definitely the present. So what could actually replace iTunes as an mp3 service? Continue reading
My SXSW Attack Plan
Here’s what I do and don’t do now that I’m ten years into attending SXSW, the crazy-ass film and music conference in Austin, TX. My SXSW attack plan keeps me productive, sane, calm, and somewhat healthy. Continue reading
Acting On Anxiety: My 10 lines of defense
Anxiety sucks*. For me, it started back in 2009 right before I turned 30 and I was dating a mountain guide and had lost my job and I was just… wandering. Alas, I didn’t know I was suffering from anxiety. I thought I had such major digestive issues that I even went to a doctor who put a camera down my throat to look at my stomach.
But it was this doctor who sat me down and asked me “what’s going on in your life right now?” Continue reading
The Hot Dog Underdog: fighting for a $15,000 ad song placement
I have a story for you about how I fought for $15,000 for an advertisement placement of a song of mine.
I’m a hustler. When I make a song, I let people know. When I release a CD, I give it to my friends. One of my friends is a video editor, and works a lot on commercials.
One night, I was watching the series finale of The Office. No big deal. But it was 2009, 8pm and network TV.
The commercial break came on.
OMG THAT IS MY SONG! Continue reading
My Grammy Speech To The Unsupportive
I’ve got a thing for the Grammy’s and the Grammy speech. If you’ve heard me speak or taken any of my courses, you know this. For now, take my word for it. (Also, I went this year for the first time as a voting member. Here’s my take on how it all works.)
I’ve written dozens of Grammy acceptance speeches in my head for the past 15 years. This is the first one I’m writing out. (It’ll change in a few weeks, don’t worry). Warning- it is more anger than fluff, more cliche than original, and more about making a point than thanking anyone. But that will change. Give it a few weeks. Continue reading
Rock Your Email List for A Year
WARNING: There’s some really valuable stuff about email in this article! I reserve the SUPER valuable stuff for the awesome members of my In The Key Of Success email list (what? you’re not in yet? Sign up here and get that free pitching checklist you know you want), but this was too good not to share!
Email can be a drag. I write a bit on how to start to make the most of it here. But in this article, I want to dig in with you. Deep dive style.
Let’s start with a simple question: How do you use your email list in between projects?
I mean, it’s easy to send an invite to your next show or to tell people about your newest CD release.
But what about in-between the stuff? And how can you write and send emails without having it take up a ton of brain power and time? (Every time I knew I wanted to send a newsletter out, I would take an entire afternoon thinking, outlining, writing, editing, testing links, re-reading, sending.) Continue reading
The Balance Act: A Different Angle On Making Money with Music
There are a bajillion articles, courses, and books on making money in the music industry. Heck, even my mastermind course MX4 covers this broad topic simply because we have to talk about it.
All of the different ways to make money- from house concerts to monetization to Spotify playlists to merch – can be overwhelming. I sometimes feel like I’m not doing enough, not tackling enough areas, not following the current trends. It’s information-overload in the scariest form- fear of missing out on an opportunity that can change the course of your music career.
The truth is, there may be a different perspective to take around making money in music. The most successful independent musicians I know are ones that are wearing multiple hats with different sources of income. Each hat is something that inspires and motivates them, gets them excited to get out of bed in the morning, and something that fulfills them. When what you are doing is fulfilling, the money becomes a secondary conversation. Continue reading
Becoming A Master Procrastinator
(First published on The DIY Musician blog.)
Musicians are master procrastinators; here’s how to stall like a boss.
If you’ve ever done gymnastics, one of the things you learn early on is how to fall. Not because the coaches and teachers want you to fall, but because you’re going to fall. You may as well learn how to do it without hurting yourself. I take this same view with procrastinating. It’s inevitable. So why not develop some skills to procrastinate like a boss?
We procrastinate from doing The Thing we know we need to do for a variety of reasons that can usually be rolled into two categories: The Fear or The Overwhelm. Continue reading
6 Ways to Make The Most Of Your Email List
Oh email lists. They’re like websites. They’re this tool we know we should be using, yet to update it and keep it current takes so. Much. Work. This year, I’ve been studying email strategies and have found a few that are sure-fire ways to keep time spent down and impact up. Below I outline my favorite 6 ways to making the most of email. Continue reading
Home Studio Workspace: an Update
Last year, around this time, I was just moving into my new house. The second house I’ve lived in, the third abode with a home studio space. I wrote about this process of making design decisions here. And then I realized I was out of my league, energetically speaking, and hired my good friend Emma to help me optimize this new space.
You can read what I wrote about Clearing The Energy, and Why You Need An Emma here.
I lived with my home studio, set up by Emma, for almost a year. (And still included the original sound treatments I made myself, which I wrote about in 2010 – read here!)
And recently, my husband has been home a lot more. I mean, we share that workspace like it’s a real live workspace, minus the espresso machine. Continue reading
