To Spotify or not to Spotify?
I personally love Spotify. You need to see Spotify as a way for people to hear you whether you’re getting paid or not. People quibble over pennies they’re not being paid because they’ve missed the memo. In the same way people have always been resistant to technological change, many musicians don’t want to face the fact that recorded music is no longer viable as a revenue stream. But when people become familiar with your music they will show up to hear you and your band play lived and they may even buy a shirt or three.
If you want to sell CDs or Vinyl go for it but my recommendation is to do short runs of these so you aren’t stuck with hundreds of albums lying around . I think it’s more encouraging to press 100 albums and sell out of them than to press thousands of copies that you can’t get rid of. You can always make more. Amazon Create is a great way for people to order your product because if someone orders it they just create it and send it out. I know a jazz composer on Los Angeles who makes extra money from selling his merch online through Cafe press. He designs it all online and they sell it for him whether it’s scarves, t shirts, or mugs. “I don’t have to get my hands dirty” he says. And he figures out regions of the world where people are his fans that way.
How I use Youtube.
I use Youtube in an unconventional manner, kind of as if it’s my own online “Zine.” Youtube for me is a way to throw songs I write and perform online. I can figure out my demographics. Earlier this year I noticed that most of the people following my work were in Europe, particularly England. It’s good to know where potential fans are so you can plan tours to those places. London here I come!! I have even put up band rehearsals on Youtube. My third most popular video is an impromptu jam I recorded on my iPod touch. It starts out as an improvisational jam and than spills into my song “Zakarah and ocean,” a song I wrote literally while driving a cab in Los Angeles. It’s a bit sloppy but some people like it. You can see from my Youtube page that I’m not a perfectionist nor am I technically inclined. I’m trying to become more of both but plan to record my journey every step of the way, having sort of become my own lofi documentarian, not only as I develop music but also in my travels, which have increased of late.
My youtube page is not highly successful but I believe it is anyways, in my own way, an archive I can look to, an online journal if you will. There are hundreds of hours of my sweat and tears. Sometimes even when I’m in the middle of writing a song I will document it. If anything, it’s an archive for myself in case I lose recordings etc. Now with the cloud you can preserve your creative work easier than ever. There have been times where I put music out on http://soundcloud.com just because I didn’t want to lose the recordings.
When you’re in a band and get paid in ca$h
I’m sure everyone has different ways of dealing with cash money when getting paid in a band, but here’s what I’ve come with from my bits of experience:
When you get paid in cash take the money and deposit it straight into the band account. Itemize how much you made off merch and live performances. When you pay for things using your credit card it makes it easier to keep track of what is getting spent. Personally I hate keeping receipts and always end up throwing them out. If you pay cash you can always take a pic of the receipt and email it to yourself. Keeping accurate records is the only way to be transparent In dealing with your band. You can have monthly or biweekly meetings showing exactly where the money comes and goes. Yes it’s even a good idea at a smaller level to do this so you get better and better at accounting for your band.
In most cases the band leader may be the one to take charge of this stuff but it may not ALWAYS be the case. People develop their own systems over time and nobody wants to be known as a tightwad. It’s time to abolish the fear of keeping track of expenditures. The more exact you are the easier it is to avoid arguments. I had a bandmate who liked to do “handshake deals.” Nobody’s memory is that good! Get every agreement in writing and email everything to your band email account! Get OCD about it. I know certain people are laughing at me about this but unless you’ve got a gold mine in your backyard or your grandfather is Mr. Rockefeller, chances are money is pretty tight for all of you . Don’t let ill communication and misunderstandings be the death of your band. Or do and come back and read this again. As many have said before, Might as well try to get it right the first time.
No room for passive aggression
I would like to apologize right now to past band members (and certain friends and family) for some of my passive aggressive behavior. For yearsI had the habit of saying yes even when I didn’t want to. I’d say a song was good even if it wasn’t just to not hurt someone’s feelings. I had a drummer in my last band who would get very blunt when he didn’t like a song of mine. It wasn’t that upsetting because there were songs he really did like. If anything it helped clarify that when he liked something he really liked it.
Everyone in the band needs to feel content. You need to make room for discussion and argument and everyone needs to have a thick skin with each other. If you pussy foot around what you want it is definitely going to come back and bite you in the butt. On the other end if the spectrum if you find yourself never agreeing maybe its time for a band divorce. Keep a healthy balance – don’t be overly kiss assy but don’t exasperate each other either.
Tell your employers
If you’re in a band, tell your employers! Some people keep it under wraps I know I didn’t used to talk about being a musician at work. Till I had a friend that I was in a band with who worked at Starbucks with me. This guy was completely unapologetic and would make the boss give him nights off for performances and even rehearsals! He’d tape flyers to the bathroom mirror and have boxes of CDs at the cash register. People from work would come to the gigs. I started letting people I worked with know about my band. One of my bosses even gave me an extra bonus tip on one of my paychecks because he knew I was saving for a new amp. (Thanks Fred)
By the way , this does not mean you behave in an entitled way. Nobody likes an ego maniac so don’t be overly pushy about getting people to come to your show. It’s better to work up organic interest and casually let them know when you’re playing. Give your coworkers a cd or free shirt once and a while. If one of them goes and has a good time l, they’ll let the other people know. On the flip side of this equation, make sure your product is good first . If you’re just starting out you may want to hold off a bit on promoting. Way till you can really intuit that people will want to see your performance again if they’ve seen it once. If you don’t feel confident about it, trust your gut which usually works divine .