A collection of informative articles on Independent Music Business for the Indie musician. Booking, Radio promotion, online promotion, economics, and Music business related news
We recently reported on the closing of Streamlicensing.com Now ASCAP Responds to allegations made by the former owners of Streamlicensing! Recently, ASCAP learned that the StreamLicensing.com service has shut down. We are writing to inform all StreamLicensing Broadcast affiliates that the owners and operators of the StreamLicensing service have not been transparent with its customers, […]
Top 10 Wireless Guitar Systems Under $200 Guitar cables…let’s face it, they can be annoying. I like to think of them more like a leash that consistently gets tangled up. The good news is, these easily tangled inconvenient leashes (guitar cables) are relatively cheap. Especially if you’re in the earlier days of a startup band, […]
20 Tips on Creating High Quality Music Videos On A Budget! In the abnormally over-saturated social media and music age, the chance for an unsigned artist or band getting recognition by releasing a song without a video is little to none. Unfortunately, most high-quality music videos released from famous artists start at $20,000 and goes […]
Streamlicensing.com, one of the largest licensing companies for small web broadcasters and internet radio, has suddenly ceased all operations yesterday. The sudden loss of this resource will hit the small webcaster fairly hard. Streamlicensing collected royalties from small webcasters for the music they stream which is paid to record companies and artists. This is essential […]
Making a Scene Presents the 2019 Independent Blues Awards! Congratulations to all the nominees! The 2019 Independent Blues Awards nominations are now in and ready for you to vote on. We do things a bit different than other awards in that we give you the opportunity to explore and experience artists and music you may […]
Let’s face it, the music industry has changed as has the music consumer. For almost 20 years we have been in the digital revolution, where music consumerism has transitioned from physical products to digital streaming. You can bitch and moan about it, but the reality is, we are NOT going back to the good ole […]
Creating a Music Video on a Budget One of the most effective marketing tools a band can have, especially in the digital age, is a good production Music Video. Now, I’m not talking about taping some live gig somewhere in bad light with lousy (or questionable Sound). What I am talking about that MTV style […]
Merchandising Your Band Merchandising your band can make all the difference between just getting by and generating a good income on the road. Even if you are a local band, a good merch table, can sometimes bring a gig from the red into the black. I once knew a band in NY whose Merch table […]
INTRODUCTION If you are serious about creating a career as a musician or a band, the one thing you will have to come to terms with is the fact that the job IS on the road and performing. It’s not about radio airplay or CD sales (Both of which are used to support a Tour) and there is no […]
Making a Scene Presents An Exclusive Premiere of Misty Blues Band “Hear My Call” Gina is a graduate of Williams College. She began singing in 1990 on a dare by her co-workers and hasn’t turned back since. She began performing in a duet, The Siblings. Gina shortly started her own duet, Cole-Connection, which blossomed to […]
Making a Scene Presents Marketing to the New Music Consumer! On September 9 1957 Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan show and a marketing phenomena was born. What followed was a blitz of TV shows, Movies, Fan Magazines and merchandise that propelled this memphis truck driver to become the King of Rock. The image machine […]
Using Instagram for Self-Promotion Instagram is a fantastic platform for reaching out to people and promoting your music. Through Instagram, you can get more work and support as a solo or session musician. So we’re laying out some tips that we hope could help you in this department when you’re using this app. Link to […]
IS Your Single Release “Making A Scene”? The buzzword in the indie industry seems to be the Single Release. Many artists believe that the “Single” is the pathway to that elusive hit in the streaming playlist world. I will be honest with you, there is nothing further from the truth. Let’s take a look at […]
Making a Scene Presents “How Spotify’s Gatekeepers Are Turning Listeners Into Fans (Or Not)” Editors Note: No matter where you stand on the streaming of music, the fact remains this is the new reality in the music industry. The main income stream of the musician is at live performances and the task for the Indie […]
Establishing your brand has always been part of creating a successful music career. Today it may be more important than ever. Now I can hear some of you already! “We(I) Let our(my) Music do the Talking, I don’t have to create a Brand!” Nothing can be further from the truth in today’s music industry. Before […]
Making a Scene Presents Understanding The New Music Consumer Introduction My frame of reference as a music consumer has always been that tactile experience of holding the physical product in my hands. I would read the liner notes, look at the pictures and would have a sense of ownership of the music. With each change […]
Making a Scene Brings you a Simple way to use Instagram on your Laptop/Desktop! One of the fastest growing social media platforms right now is Instagram. Unfortunately in order to post or use this new social media resource you are restricted to using your phone to administer and post to your account. Which is fine […]
Making a Scene Presents 11 Tips For Musicians To Save Money on Tour A penny saved is a penny earned, and the hardest thing to do when your instrument is used to profit that penny. Traveling in general is already costly enough as it is. On a conservative estimate from my experience, a one day […]
Making a Scene has a simple mission! To be the #1 Resource for the Independent Artist and the Fans that Love them! For the Independent artists we pride ourselves on bringing great content that is designed to help them stay informed on the latests developments in the music industry and as well as articles that […]
Making a Scene Premieres “Make You Shout” Video from the John Pagano Band The John Pagano Band has been known to use innovative techniques to create their music videos. They have perfected the “Video on a Budget” mentality down to a science and are continuing to explore ways to create great video content for their […]
Building speed is an important part of improving your overall guitar technique. Even if you don’t want to shred, being able to play faster can help your accuracy and timing for more complicated parts you might need to play. Many of us who primarily play electric guitar (myself included) think of speed as an important […]
The Indie Bible Bundle Since 1999 the Indie Bible has been publishing the most recognized and encompassing guide for the independent musician available. In the past I have purchased the Indie Bible in printed form, but now with the 18th edition available as a digital only version, I decided to take the plunge and purchased […]
Mixtapes have long been the lifeblood of hip hop. But most artists fell outside mainstream distribution channels, because of the licensing and copyright issues involved. This left a major income steam for both the original creators as well as the rap artists and DJs untapped. Listen as we talk with Dubset CEO Steven White about […]
The Effect Pedal Bass Players Need For Their Solos Dear fellow bass players, I’m going to speak a bit on the topic that increases our blood pressure. But we must face it, and we must find a way overcome it. It’s the topic of when we take the bass solo, the audience of non musicians don’t […]
Which Wireless Microphone’s Have The Longest Range? We know what you want, you want to jump in the audience as you crowd surf through out the entire Festival as you sing in to your wireless mic. Or maybe, that has absolutely nothing to do with the reason you want a long range wireless microphone. For […]
10 Best Music Blogs You can Submit To Now! Major media outlets aren’t exclusive to major-label sounds anymore, but they still don’t spend time on brand-new or largely unheard-of artists and bands – no matter how compelling their music may be. Even though streaming services, playlists and social media have become the new path to […]
Why Stage Presence Is Vital To Gaining New Fans. Go Wireless by Tony Hossri performwireless.com If you play guitar or bass in any form of a high energy band, it is not important to get a wireless guitar system……If you don’t care about your performance, or if you don’t even want to advance your bands career at all. Here’s […]
By Tony Hossri Performwireless.com John Pagano Band What Makes a Good Wireless Guitar System? Here it is, the million dollar question………..more like $500 or so. What makes a good wireless guitar system? When you google this question, what typically pops up are a bunch of payed ads of wireless guitar systems. Yet, never give you […]
In the current world of Digital Recording, analog is still the holy grail. Everyone wants that warm sound that analog gear gives you, so why would I pull my analog mixer from my studio? Now, before you start screaming about how you will dump your mixer when they pry your cold dead fingers from it, […]
Making a Scene Presents the Music Consumer Survey! There are as many opinions on where the music industry is going today as there are musicians that are looking to understand how to reach the new music consumer. Here at Making a Scene we constantly strive to demystify the music industry for the Indie Musician. The […]
IMPORTANT!! PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU ENTER ANY NOMINATIONS The independent Blues Awards celebrate the diversity and power of the music that is created by those artists that acknowledge their inspiration and roots are in the blues. These awards will represent not only those “touring” artists who work within the established blues community, but embrace working artists […]
Photography by Tom Dausner www.photographictom.com Making a Scene Presents an Review of the Georgia Blues and Roots Festival by Rhetta Akamatsu It was a gorgeous Autumn day at Mable House Amphitheatre Saturday for the Georgia Blues and Roots Festival. Music crackled through the air. David T and Friends did a great set for the ones […]
Let’s face it, the age of buying music in a physical form is on it’s way out, Radio is losing its influence in breaking new artists and new cars don’t even come with CD players! We are in new territory in the music industry. Record companies and their PR arms are now pitching their artists […]
Music creators need copyright reform to ensure fair compensation for their work. Congress and the Senate listened. The Music Modernization Act, the biggest update to music legislation in the past 40 years. Impacting hundreds of thousands of music creators nationwide, and future generations, the Act unites provisions from across the music community under one legislative […]
Is restricting your music to a single music genre killing your chances of reaching a new market of music consumers? When I was becoming musically aware, there were very little in the way of Genres in popular music. Basically you had “Country and Western”, “Jazz” and “Rock and Roll”. “Rock and Roll” was then separated […]
Making a Scene Presents – Sync up: Your Band as a Business – Samantha Fish Interview It is not often I post a single video as an article on Making a Scene. Usually I would put something like this in the Video of the week on the main page (which this video is on). or […]
Making a Scene Presents “On the Road with an Indie Blues Band – Part 3” – The John Pagano Band When we left off in Part 2 The band made it back to Long Island NY and had the day off for rest and Recuperation. We had a few Gigs in the NY Area before […]
Photo By Cathrine Gosselin MAKING A SCENE Presents On the Road with an Indie Blues Band – John Pagano Band Part 2 We pick up the band as they head to Boston via the Cross Sound Ferry from Orient Point. This is the second week of a three week tour on the road. This is […]
When you go to a show in your local venue that is presenting a touring artist, you often have no idea what happens behind the scenes. You enjoy the show and give little thought about what had to happen to get the band to your venue, or what happens after the show is over and […]
4 Handy Guitar Pedal Hacks that You Probably Don’t Know While owning and using a guitar pedal can be a great way to bring new life into your performances, these awesome little devices don’t come without their fair share of problems. From connectivity issues and power problems to residue and faulty dials, there are plenty […]
2018 Independent Blues Awards Making a Scene congratulates the winners of the 2018 Independent Blues Awards. It is clear that the winners as well as the Nominees represent the wide diversity that always has and still exists in blues today. These artists are defining the future of the Blues as those that did before them, […]
The idea that streaming services, and in particular Spotify, are integral to a successful music marketing campaign no longer comes as a surprise to anyone who has been following the industry for the past few years. For a lot of artists, the idea of getting their new single included on a massive Spotify official playlist […]
The Indie Artists Guide to Writing a Business Plan When it comes to the independent musician, the music business can be a strange, frustrating and scary concept. A good first step for any indie artist who is serious about creating a career in music, is to create a business plan. The Business plan will act […]
Briggs Farm Blues Festival has been a fixture in Nescopeck PA for over Twenty years. It’s not about the farm, it’s about the music. Richard Briggs knows great music and hand culls some of the nation’s best artists selling out shows around the country. Artists who are well known and respected by the people paying […]
Making a Scene presents a review of The Themify Builder and Themes. Your website is your first impression, these are the tools to create a good one Now I have been building my own websites for a long time. I started when the only way to get a website built was to get a text […]
John Pagano Band Creates a Music Video with just an IPHONE! The John Pagano Band – Trouble on Heels As the music business changes for the independent artist and the competition to rise above the noise of every other artist out there increases, it is clear that you need to step up the game to […]
The Atlanta Blues Society will once again bring you the “Georgia Blues and Roots” Festival at the Mable House Barnes Amphitheater in Mapleton Georgia on September 29, 2018 from 12pm to 10:30pm! This year the Lineup contains both traditional and Indie Blues artists! Which reflects the diversity of music that comes from the Roots of […]
Nowhere Else Festival. A boutique gathering of some of the finest craftsmen and women in the artistic community. If over the river and through the woods takes you home, rivers and oceans take you to Nowhere Else Festival. A family musical reunion on a historic pre-Civil War farm located, well, in the middle of nowhere […]
On Thursday May 24, The Space at Westbury held an open forum for musicians, artist managers, the press, and music enthusiasts to discuss the state of the Long Island music scene. Appropriately titled “Are Tribute Bands Taking all the Gigs?,” two separate panels of Long Island music scene veterans sat down and had a necessary discussion on where […]
It has become a tradition for me to attend the Blues Music Awards in Memphis Every May. It always falls around my birthday, so it’s a great way to talk the wife into letting me make the trip with my blues buddies. This year I attended with Rick Lusher (Radio Promoter), Ben Elliot (American Showplace […]
