This article has been translated from English. View the English version here.

Las canciones versionadas tienen un lugar interesante en el léxico musical. Canción versionada es un término que se originó en los primeros años de la era de la grabación, cuando la distribución de grabaciones con sello discográfico a menudo se limitaba a una región. Cuando una canción crecía en popularidad en una región, los sellos discográficos de otras regiones la grababan y la distribuían para cubrir su región. Una práctica similar ocurre hoy, online, con las tiendas de música digital como iTunes. Algunas bandas populares se niegan a vender su música en iTunes. Cuando sale al mercado un nuevo álbum, invariablemente aparece en iTunes una canción versionada del sencillo, generalmente hecha por una banda de estudio.

Las canciones versionadas revelan mucho acerca de los artistas, desde su habilidad hasta simplemente cantar o tocar sus instrumentos, de acuerdo a propios gustos musicales. Para los músicos independientes, las canciones versionadas suelen ser una manera de ganar dinero y hacer crecer su base de fans, así como un medio para la expresión creativa.

Muchos de los músicos que conozco y con los que trabajo tocan en bodas o con orquestas de baile. Se espera que tengan un amplio repertorio de canciones populares y que las toquen exactamente como se grabaron originalmente. Las actuaciones de estas bandas de canciones versionadas suelen ser bien pagadas y tocan con frecuencia. Un trabajo constante y bien pagado es algo que todo músico necesita y esta es una manera de conseguirlo.

Como Tocar Canciones Versionadas

A los músicos que escriben e interpretan música original, las canciones versionadas les dan la oportunidad de añadir algo de familiaridad a sus interpretaciones. De hecho, una de las mejores maneras de darse a conocer es añadir unas cuantas canciones versionadas a su repertorio. Mientras que tus fans aprenden las letras de todas tus canciones, las personas que aún no conocen tu música agradecerán poder escuchar alguna canción familiar. Además, cuando grabas canciones versionadas, ayudas a la gente a encontrar tu música. Esto es especialmente cierto si vendes música online, ya que las consultas por medio de un motor de búsqueda podrían dar a conocer tu versión de una canción popular. Más adelante veremos más sobre esto.

Llevando la noción de la familiaridad un paso más allá, los músicos pueden volver a trabajar una canción versionada hasta el punto en que apenas sea reconocible, salvo la letra o la melodía. Hay un puñado de artistas conocidos por sus canciones versionadas, por lo general debido a que sus versionadas son un claro contraste con la original. En este caso, la canción se utiliza a menudo como una base para medir la creatividad. Por ejemplo, los artistas de jazz suelen conocer una gran cantidad de estándares, que son simplemente muchas melodías que otros músicos de jazz han grabado o ejecutado. Debido a que el jazz consiste en gran parte en improvisación, estos estándares son la base común sobre la que se lleva a cabo la creatividad.

Al ejecutar canciones versionadas, a los escritores y editores se les paga a través de sociedades de gestión de derechos de autor, tales como ASCAP, BMI, SOCAN, o PRS. Una forma en la que estas organizaciones de gestión de derechos de autor (a veces conocidas como PRO) obtienen los derechos de autor es mediante el cobro de una tarifa a los bares y lugares de música en vivo. La próxima vez que entres a un club, busca en la puerta o ventana del frente el adhesivo de la organización de gestión de derechos de autor. Esto significa que están pagando sus cuotas para poder tener una máquina de discos, DJ o música en vivo que reproduzca canciones versionadas. Hay dos cosas importantes a tener en cuenta sobre las organizaciones de gestión de derechos de autor:

1. Ellos cobran regalías por interpretación en público, no por la venta de música grabada. Se considera de uso privado.
2. Como intérprete, no tienes que pagar regalías por tus actuaciones. Estas las paga el lugar que te contrató para la presentación. Sin embargo, si grabas tu programa y lo vendes como disco en vivo, tendrás que pagar por las licencias obligatorias; lo veremos más adelante en este artículo.

Publicación de Canciones Versionadas en YouTube

Una gran cantidad de músicos hacen videos de ellos mismos ejecutando canciones versionadas en casa y luego los suben a sitios como YouTube. Esta es otra gran manera de aprovechar la familiaridad del público con las canciones versionadas, como una puerta de entrada a tu música original. Desde mi experiencia, los videos de canciones versionadas obtienen muchas más vistas que los videos de música original. Asegúrate de usar inteligentemente la descripción del vídeo y las etiquetas para ayudar a las personas a encontrar el vídeo de la canción versionada y luego enlázalo a la música que tengas online en otro lugar.

A veces se te permite publicar tus canciones versionadas en YouTube.

En un principio, YouTube tuvo problemas con los titulares de los derechos de autor (principalmente los editores) ya que, legalmente hablando, estos videos son una forma de distribución que requiere una licencia de sincronización. Sin embargo, este problema está siendo resuelto paulatinamente. YouTube permite que los editores reclamen su material protegido por derechos de autor y que cobren los videos. En otras palabras, un editor podría hacer dinero gracias a los anuncios de tu video de la canción versionada. Actualmente no hay manera de saber cuáles editores han firmado acuerdos con YouTube y tus videos aún pueden correr el riesgo de ser bajados. Procede con cautela, y para una lectura más profunda sobre este tema, echa un vistazo a “Música, Derechos de Autor y YouTube” por Suzanne Lainson.

Grabar Canciones Versionadas

Interpretar canciones versionadas es una magnífica forma de alcanzar algunos nuevos fans; grabarlas es la manera de llegar a cientos o miles de nuevos fans. De la misma manera en que tocar una canción versionada durante tu actuación puedes atraer la atención de nuevos fans, el poner una canción versionada en tu álbum o EP podría animar a la gente a buscar más de tu música.

Un enfoque inteligente para decidir qué canciones versionadas conviene elegir para poner en tu álbum es escoger una canción un tanto oscura de alguien que haya sido una de tus mayores influencias. Aunque la mayoría de la gente no pueda reconocer de inmediato la canción, quienes son fanáticos hasta la médula del artista original estarán más interesados en conocer tu versión. Después de todo, si son fans de la música que te inspiró a ti, probablemente lleguen a ser fans de tu música original. Para más ideas sobre cómo elegir qué canciones versionadas te conviene grabar, ver “Cash Para Versionadas” por Alex Holz.

¿Cómo Puedo Lanzar Canciones Versionadas en Forma Legal?

Compartir una grabación de audio en cualquier forma, remunerada o no, constituye distribución. La distribución puede ser en forma de descarga, transmisión (streaming) de cualquier sitio web, incluyendo el tuyo, o de cualquier producto físico como un CD o vinilo. Al distribuir una grabación de una canción que alguien más escribió, ya sea para uso comercial (poniéndolo a la venta) o para uso promocional (dándolo de forma gratuita), se requiere que obtengas una licencia obligatoria y que pagues regalías.

Con el fin de compartir tus grabaciones de canciones versionadas, debes obtener una licencia.

Muchos artistas independientes están cansados de poner canciones versionadas en su álbum debido a las molestias derivadas de tener que obtener una licencia obligatoria. Yo estaba entre este grupo de personas hasta que descubrí cómo usar un sistema de servicio de licencias online, tales como RightsFlow de Limelight. Yo obtuve las licencias para cuatro canciones versionadas de uno de mis discos, para distribución física y digital.

A través de Limelight o Harry Fox, las regalías son de prepago. También hay una tarifa fija por canción, independientemente del número de licencias que compres. Es necesario hacer algunos cálculos para estimar el número de licencias que conviene pagar por adelantado, lo que se suma al costo inicial de tu lanzamiento, pero esta es una forma muy conveniente de obtener una licencia obligatoria. Si quieres grabar y lanzar una canción versionada, te recomiendo usar alguno de estos servicios. Si tienes alguna duda, consulta por adelantado a un abogado de música.

Si deseas evitar completamente el pago de regalías, puedes buscar canciones populares en el dominio público. En términos generales, estas son canciones que fueron escritas antes de 1923. La mayoría de los cánticos espirituales e himnos tradicionales entran en esta categoría. Para probar que una canción está en el dominio público, tendrás que presentar la hoja de música que muestra los derechos de autor. Con la gran cantidad de recursos online que hay esto es bastante fácil. Te doy otra advertencia: los arreglos originales de música de dominio público pueden tener derechos reservados. Antes de grabar una canción de dominio público, asegúrate de que no estás utilizando un arreglo con derechos reservados.

Los beneficios de lanzar canciones versionadas sobrepasan las dificultades de tener que dar seguimiento a las ventas y pagar las regalías, especialmente con servicios como los de Limelight, los cuales agilizan el proceso para los músicos independientes. Las canciones versionadas que he publicado han generado más ventas de mi música original, ya sea por medio de descargas individuales o porque llevan a las personas a comprar mi disco completo, como descarga o en CD. Actualmente estoy trabajando en un álbum de versionadas con un amigo (y sin importar cuándo lea usted este artículo, esta afirmación probablemente es cierta). Esta es una manera simple y fácil en la que un músico puede obtener un ingreso.

Cómo Hacer que las Canciones Versionadas Funcionen para Ti

Te dejo un consejo para el lanzamiento de canciones versionadas: ¡Obtén bien tus metadatos! La mayor ventaja de lanzar canciones versionadas online es que la gente te encontrará en los resultados de búsqueda. Asegúrate de que has optimizado tus palabras clave; además es una buena idea experimentar con unas cuantas búsquedas y ver qué sale en varios sitios. Entiende cómo busca la gente las canciones (por lo general por el artista original, el álbum y el título). Asegúrate de que escribes todo correctamente.

¡Buena suerte!

To me, these are all examples of musicians who make money selling or playing music that accompanies some other activity or product:

• The composer who writes music for film
• The band that lands a placement in a TV ad
• The composer who partners with a playwright and writes a musical
• The cocktail pianist who plays while customers eat dinner

It seems clear to me that the best strategy to making money with music is to try to bundle that music with another product and to sell that product – not the music.

The problem is that I’m not somebody who knows much about making anything other than music. I don’t make movies, TV ads or fancy dinners. What can I do?

Build an App

In July I read an article that said that App Store sales had actually eclipsed iTunes sales, even though iTunes had a 4 year head start. Consumers seem reluctant to buy music – especially with so many free or nearly-free services that will provide them with the music. But apps are selling.

So I decided to build an app. I went in to more detail on the idea about a month ago in the article Why You Should Build An App.

I think there were some people who misinterpreted my idea when I wrote that article, though, so I want to clarify.

I’m not suggesting that musicians should create apps about their band, or music, or songs, or whatever. We have to acknowledge the realities of the time we live in, and again, consumers seem to be reluctant to pay for music. So you have to offer them something else. I’m not suggesting we should make music apps – I’m suggesting that we should make apps.

At the end of the article I told you I’d update you on my progress: my first app is now available.

My App

The app I built is called WinterSpark.

The idea is very simple – it’s a modernized, sup’d up, mobile Yule Log. It shows a cool fireplace video and plays my Christmas album in the background. WinterSpark is available for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and AirPlay compatible devices (like AppleTV).

With a tap, snazzy controls fly in and out that include rewind/play/forward, details about the recording and historical information about each song. If the user is interested in more historical info about the song, a provided link takes the user to the Wikipedia entry for the song.

The emphasis, though, is on the fire. The user can turn off the music if they’d like. No problem. When I talk about the app, I pitch it as a fireplace app – not a music app.

I had a designer friend of mine help me with the details of the app function. I don’t know a thing about coding for Apple devices, so I went to Elance.com – a great website where you can find iPhone developers – and posted the project. I received 5 bids and I chose the best combination of lowest price and best quality.

The project took 2 weeks to code, revise and complete. They created two versions, a $0.99 version and a free, banner-ad-supported Lite version. Once submitted to the App Store it took 6 business days for both versions to be accepted and have the app available for sale.

From the time I thought up the app to the time it was ready in the App Store was exactly 4 weeks.

How much did it cost? I’ll say this – less than an order of digipaks from DiscMakers.

What Now?

In the first 6 days, WinterSpark and it’s Lite version have been downloaded 436 times. Not bad, but it’s already clear to me that an app won’t sell itself. Without a concerted marketing strategy behind the app, it’ll never be noticed in the App Store. So that’s the next step that I’m working on now.

It’s early in the process, so it’s hard to know how things will go this holiday season. More info to follow.

What’s this about a MusicianWages app?

Yes, the rumors are true – Cameron and I are in the process of developing an app for MusicianWages.com readers. It’s not a content app – meaning, it’s not a mobile version of our site. It’s a helpful app for working freelancers that we are very, very excited about. It will be ready for testing at the end of this month.

We’re really looking forward to telling you about it!

I recently shared some of my thoughts with David Rose of KnowTheMusicBiz.com. We decided to take our discussion online and each write our opinions of the service. For my part, I’ve been exploring how a service like Spotify can help me as a musician, but can’t ignore the potential detriment this convenient, inexpensive music service can have on my career and the careers of future generations of musicians.

How Spotify Helps Me as a Musician

As a freelance guitarist, huge part of my job is to learn songs and be familiar with as much music as possible. Spotify is a useful tool to this effect. When I need to learn cover songs for a gig, I can usually find it on Spotify. When I’m booked for a recording session and the producer tells me he needs a guitar sound ala David Lindley circa his mid-’70s work with Warren Zevon, I can find those recordings and familiarize myself with that particular guitar tone. In many ways, Spotify makes my homework a little easier.

Spotify also helps me nurture my own artistic development. When I want to explore a particular song, artist, or genre, I try to be as thorough as possible.

For example, I’ve been working on my slide guitar chops. In my opinion, there are few better than Ry Cooder, so I’ve been listening to a lot of his music on Spotify. His version of Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground” especially piqued my interest, so I followed that tangent and explored more music by Blind Willie Jefferson as well as every version of “Dark Was The Night” I could find. There are 15 versions by different artists on Spotify. Needless to say, I now have an intimate understanding of that song.

This type of exploring is incredibly important for anybody that wants to be a professional musician. Whatever instrument or type of music you play, you’ll play better if you understand its roots. That’s how you develop your musicality and personal voice.

How Spotify Doesn’t Help Me as a Musician

While Spotify makes it easier to listen to more music, it’s little more than a convenience. All the musicians I mention above, the musicians worthy of study, achieved their level of artistry and skill without the internet. That point bears repeating:

You don’t need the internet to become a great musician.

I’m not trying to sound like a dusty old timer telling “back in the day” stories; I use the internet as much as anybody. It’s a great way to find tools and resources that can point you in the right direction, but that’s only where the work begins. When I really think about my development as a musician so far, the lessons that took the most effort to learn have paid the greatest dividends.

Music is a communal, social activity. To be a better musician, to really learn about the craft, we must engage with other musicians.

One of my fondest memories of freshman year of college was getting together to listen to music with new friends. After class we’d have one of those “Oh, have you ever really listened to McCoy Tyner’s playing on Coltrane Live at Birdland?” conversations and make plans to bring a few CDs over to somebody’s dorm room. If we were lucky, somebody would score us some beer. We’d sit there listening in silence, and then geek out about what we heard and try to figure it out together.

We all went to great lengths to acquire and share music that was important to us, that we felt should be important to our friends, and because we had to borrow each other’s CDs, that listening time was valuable.

When virtually all the music you want to hear is freely available, how do you really know what’s important to hear? What’s the motivation to use each other as a resource for sharing music and our ideas about music?

Spotify is a helpful tool for working musicians, but it’s not a replacement for music discovery in the truest sense.

How Spotify Affects My Bottom Line

My music, like that of many independent artists, is available on Spotify via my digital distribution agreement with CD Baby. Every time somebody listens to one of my tracks, I make a little less than half a penny. Sometimes much less.

Scrolling through the 1,000+ rows of Spotify payments in my account, I found one instance from July 2010, a year before Spotify launched in the US, where one of my original songs was streamed 305 times. Total earnings for 305 streams? Twelve cents ($0.12), or $0.0004 per stream. In more recent reports, some streams have paid up to an entire penny!

Sarcasm aside, I’m happy to see my tune garner so many listens on one report in a country where I’ve never performed. However, at some point it would be nice to leverage that exposure into some sort of income.

Overall, revenue from Spotify has been less than a drop in the bucket of my recorded music earnings, which are still an important part of my monthly income.

If you’d like to see a comparison of revenue from recorded music, check out this recent “Release Day Economics” post by Uniform Motion. Their numbers very similar to the margins I see for my own releases, and those of countless independent musicians.

Unleveling the Playing Field

Leveling the playing field. That phrase has been used time and time again to describe the shift in the music industry over the past decade, especially since independent musicians were able to distribute their music on iTunes in 2004. No longer did the little guys have to compete for physical shelf space or bulk pricing. If you could get people to buy your music online, retailers would pay you just as much as they’d pay U2 or Jay-Z.

With streaming services like Spotify, payouts with this many zeros to the right of the decimal point only add up when you deal in bulk. This is advantageous to record labels with large catalogs.

Major labels’ catalogs are so important to the success of Spotify that the labels required Spotify to make large up front payments, in excess of $100 million. Therefore if they never saw a dime from streams of their music, they still made money. If Spotify went out of business a week later, they still made money.

Additionally, the four major labels (Sony, UMG, Warner, EMI) and the independent label group Merlin have all been reported to have an 18% stake in the company, meaning they not only make money from the streaming of their music, but also from Spotify’s revenue. If Spotify stays in business and turns profits, that’s just more money for the major labels.

How much of that money actually makes it to the artists? While artist deals vary, the consensus so far is not much. Not that that’s a surprise, though. I can’t imagine Spotify’s ad revenue and $5 or $10 subscription fees generate that much to distribute. However, unlike iTunes where every artist knows that Apple keeps $0.29 per $0.99 download, we really have no idea how much Spotify keeps before paying the content owners.

Finally, major labels have been rumored to use their large catalogs as leverage to earn higher rates per stream. This moves the music industry in the opposite direction of the past decade, possibly to a much worse, unbalanced landscape.

For example, let’s say two songs are each streamed 100 times one day on Spotify. For all intents and purposes, they are of equal popularity. One of them is mine, and I make $1.00 for all those streams. The other song is by an artist on a major record label and they earn $2.00 for their streams. Where does the extra dollar come from? Is $0.50 skimmed off the top of my streams and given to labels with more favorable deals?

I can’t say for sure, but neither will Spotify who has yet to be clear about how they pay artists and labels. This isn’t fair to independent and niche artists, but it’s also unfair to fans who believe they are supporting their favorite artists by listening to their music.

For another artist’s perspective on how this unfair distribution is harmful to successful independent musicians, read cellist Zoe Keating’s post about Spotify on Hypebot.

Debunking the “It’s Better Than Nothing” Argument

It’s estimated that 95% of the music downloaded is done so illegally. In other words, the entire recorded music industry’s digital sales revenue comes from just one out of every twenty songs downloaded. A decade after Napster, to say file sharing and peer to peer networks has not had an impact on the music industry is to ignore the facts. Today, most people do not want to pay for music.

For those who want free music, Spotify is an alternative to illegal options, but you’ll be served ads and there will be limits to how much music you can play. For those willing to pay a $10 monthly subscription, you can listen to as much music as you’d like and even transfer it to your mobile device. It’s not quite like owning the music, but it’s close.

Meanwhile, the content owners are getting paid. Not much, but hey, it’s better than nothing, right?

No.

The term piracy is often misused in the free downloading debate. Music pirates make money off of other people’s content. The majority of people that share copyrighted content illegally typically have nothing to gain for themselves other than free music. Spotify makes money off other people’s content, and there hasn’t been much return for the content owners. I’m not saying Spotify is a form of music piracy, but it’s awfully close. If this is the wave of the future, we’re all in for some problems.

My concern, though, really has nothing to do with money. I’m well aware of the fact that selling music is not a viable way to support myself in the future. Should Spotify prove to be a successful business model, it will pretty much put a dam in that stream of revenue.

My concern is that once we collectively agree that all of our recorded music is worth less than $10/month, regardless of how little the artists are paid, we’ll start to believe that artists don’t deserve to earn a living wage for their work. This sentiment already exists, and it shows disrespect to our fellow human beings. If something is valued enough to consume in limitless amounts, then at some point we have to nurture its creation and support its creators.

Spotify Will Not Save The Music Industry

I admit that Spotify is trying to create a huge change in the music industry, and I believe that their mission to offer an inexpensive alternative to free is well intentioned, at least initially. The offer a service that truly gives fans access to a huge amount of music for free.

Unfortunately, to do that they had to partner too closely with companies inept at creating a sustainable music business in the current climate. They fail to give an acceptable explanation of how artists are supposed to be paid.

If Spotify has a sustainable, long term goal, why don’t they clue us in?

Also be sure to also read David Rose’s article on Spotify over at KnowTheMusicBiz.com. Have your own opinions? Please share them below!

Sometimes I try to remember how I arrived at this point in my career as a musician and struggle to define when it even started. When did I become a professional musician? Was it when I got my first $20 weekly gig when I was 16, or when I told the IRS my occupation was Freelance Musician? Waking up every day and practicing guitar for work and not knowing how I got here… yeah, this is starting to feel a bit too much like a dream.

How does a musician find gigs?

Regardless of whether you aspire to tour as a sideman, play in a symphony, work in a Broadway pit, compose for TV and film, teach private music lessons, or more likely doing some combination of all these jobs, there are two factors that will directly effect the frequency and quality of your work:

1. Your skills as a musician.
2. Your reputation and ability to network.

First, you have to be a superb musician. Period.

That said, the best jobs do not always go to the best musicians. Most gigs do not require insane technical chops or mastery of the melodic minor modes. They do, however, require timeliness, cooperation, preparedness, and professionalism.

Finally, you need to learn about the people that hire musicians make an asserted effort to connect with them. It’s up to you to make the first inroads for your career.

Hone Your Skills

At the risk of offending some of you, one of the reasons you might have trouble finding gigs is that you’re just not good enough. Yet.

Music is a very competitive field with many factors outside our control. Our skill level is not one of them. Every outstanding musician went to great lengths to practice, practice, and practice some more. If you want to be a professional musician, practicing is your 9-5. Learn how to practice.

Growing up, I was fortunate to have a neighbor that played viola in the St. Louis Symphony. He outlined some of the basic skills I should start working on immediately:

1. Ear training: Know what a minor chord sounds like compared to a diminished chord. Recognize the sound of every interval inside an octave. Learn the sound of music theory. Musicians communicate with these sounds, you must learn the language.
2. Learn to read and write music. You don’t have to be the best sight reader, but if you really want to make a living as a musician, you can’t afford to turn down work because it involves written music.
3. Finally, have a performance ready piece of music, that you can play by yourself, ready to go at all times. If you can’t sound great on your own, you’ll never sound great in a group.

That is some of the best advice I was ever given. I would have learned it eventually, but I’m thankful for being schooled early on, allowing me to internalize all of those skills.

In my experience, one of the best way to develop these skills is through transcription. Learn how to play exactly what the masters play. Teach yourself by ear, then write it down. Every great musician starts this way.

Honing these skills will help you learn new music faster.

To make a living as a musician, you’ll probably have to start by spreading yourself across many different gigs. Your private students want to learn new songs every week, the singer/songwriter you accompany just wrote three new songs for the gig this weekend, and you have to learn three hours of cover songs to sub in a wedding band. It’s a lot of work, but with practice, you’ll be able to learn music quickly and efficiently.

Build Your Reputation & Network

When I recently looked over the past two years on my gig calendar, I realized about 95% of the work I’d done can be traced back to my musician friends, either because they were already on the gig, or they recommended me.

In this regard, the best piece of advice I can give you is something you’d expect to hear from your mom:

Work hard, be a good person, and associate with other hard working, good people.

If you do this, you and your network of friends will get in on the ground floor of each others careers have a greater chance at becoming successful working musicians.

Reciprocation

My dad once told me that he would follow up interviews with a hand written note. People remember those kinds of gestures, and even if you haven’t asked for anything in return, there’s a good chance your thoughtfulness will be repaid.

This, he explained, is called reciprocation–the act of responding to a gesture with a similar gesture. People do this all the time without realizing it. We’re all programmed to keep balance in our lives.

I transferred schools my junior year of college. Being the new guy on campus I wasn’t getting very many calls for gigs, but I wanted to play. I set out to book as many gigs for myself as possible. I needed people to play with me, so I called the musicians I’d become friends with, paid them whatever I could, and helped us all get some more working experience.

Many of the musicians I was hiring were playing with other people as well. Gradually, the guys playing on my gigs recommended me to other musicians in town. The work I was creating for some was reciprocated through a job with somebody else.

Paying it Forward

This idea of reciprocation goes beyond the “I give you a gig, you give me a gig” scenario I just described. Musicians that have more established careers know the importance of helping each other out, and often pass work to younger players that they feel have earned a shot at more lucrative jobs.

Of course, these seasoned pros don’t necessarily go looking for their proteges. You have to be proactive and reach out to musicians who are doing the kinds of jobs you want to do. There are a lot of ways to reach out: go to their gigs, ask to sit in, take a lesson from them, or simply offer to buy them coffee and talk shop.

In turn, pay it forward as you become more successful.

College Connections

The core of my network happens to be friends I met in college. It’s been 10 years since I was a student, but I work regularly with musicians I met in college, including Brad Whiteley, the keyboardist in my trio, and Dave Hahn, my MusicianWages cohort.

If you’re undecided about whether or not to study music in college, I interviewed several pro musicians that majored in music for another MusicianWages article called Advice On Using a Music Education. Each of them felt studying music in college gave them an advantage after school.

There’s also a certain camaraderie felt among music alumni. I’ve worked with guys that went to the same school as I, but at a different time. Immediately, we’ve got some common ground.

Additionally, there’s credibility associated with going to one school or another. It assures other musicians that you probably know what you’re doing. It’s a thin veil, though, lifted as soon as you start playing.

How to Really Use the Internet

As I mentioned, about 95% of my work comes from my network of friends. The other 5% comes from my internet presence or being at the right place at the right time.

A good internet presence is important for musicians, but only because it reinforces the networking you do offline.

People you meet should be able to quickly find you online by searching your name and maybe the instrument you play. Once they find your site, make it easy for them to contact you, buy your music, etc. All this is possible with a well optimized website.

Similarly, social networking sites are a great way to stay connected with people you meet on the scene. Drummer Jeremy Yaddaw wrote an article about Facebook networking for musicians that describes exactly what I’m talking about.

Who Hires Musicians?

Let’s take a look at some of the people and places that hire musicians. Click on a list item to skip ahead:

1. Music Venues
2. Other Musicians
3. Music Contractors / Music Directors
4. Music Producers
5. TV/Film Professionals
6. Churches
7. Schools
8. The Military
9. Event Planners
10. Regular People

Music Venues

Public places that regularly book live music typically fall into one of two categories:

1. Those that use live music to attract their clientele.
2. Those that use live music to enhance the atmosphere of their establishment.

The Bitter End in New York, Hotel Cafe in LA, and The Basement in Nashville are all examples of places people go to when they want to hear live music. Since the music is the primary draw for customers, bookers or talent buyers are interested in artists that will fill their room with paying customers.

If you can sell tickets, you can make a lot of money.

Restaurants, wineries, and hotel lounges are the kinds of places that hire musicians as background music. These gigs often go to solo musicians or smaller groups that play niche styles. For example, a solo jazz guitarist could be a good fit for Sunday brunch, a string quartet would sound nice at a winery, or an accordionist playing traditional Tarantella would create the right atmosphere at an upscale Italian restaurant.

If you can play music that will enhance or add authenticity to an establishment’s atmosphere, you should be able to find some work.

In both cases, you’ll probably have to deal with a talent buyer, manager, bartender, or some other employee at the venues. While in college, I worked at both types of venues–a bar that booked bands six nights a week, and a restaurant that hired background musicians on the weekends. I learned what to do, and what not to do, if you want to be booked at these venues, and wrote another article called What I Learned Working at Venues.

Other Musicians

Booking your own gigs is great, but it’s also a lot of work. Another way to land the same type of gig is to be hired by other musicians.

These are typically sideman jobs, that is, you are hired to be a supporting band member for another artist. Some of the best musicians in the world have lucrative careers recording and touring alongside popular artists.

Fellow musicians might also hire you to help with tasks they can’t do themselves, such as transcribing, writing charts, or acting as their music director.

In my experience, the first musicians that are going to hire you will be your friends. As you perform more often and continue meeting and working with other musicians, your network will expand. When artists need to hire somebody for their band, they ask often their friends and band members for recommendations. If you’ve built a solid reputation, people will start recommending you.

MusicianWages has several articles on working as a sideman. To better understand the job, check out A Guide To Being a Successful Sideman.

Music Contractors/Music Directors

Music Contractors and Music Directors are two different jobs with different responsibilities, but because they’re sometimes done by the same person, I’m grouping them together. Both jobs are management positions that oversee performing musicians.

Music Contractors, also called Music Supervisors in musical theatre, oversee the hiring of musicians for a particular gig. Even though the contractor does the hiring, he or she usually isn’t directly involved with the music.

Music Directors are responsible for teaching the music to the performers. In many cases, the MD is also in the band.

Jobs with Music Directors on board typically enjoy bigger budgets, which means more pay to the musicians. The most lucrative jobs are very competitive. Contractors and MDs often act as a filter to find the right musicians for a job, and they usually start with people they know and trust.

Again, this comes down to being a great player and networking. If Contractors and MDs hear your name enough, eventually they will call you with a job. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to reach out and let them know you are available.

Dave wrote a great series explaining how he became a Broadway musician, and discusses exactly how he reached out to music contractors, music directors, and everybody else that works with musicians on Broadway. If you haven’t read that series, I highly recommend you check it out. Even if you don’t want to play on Broadway, you’ll find some vital information in his articles.

Music Producers

In the music industry, the music producer’s job is to oversee the making, or production, of a recording. Originally, making a recording was simply (or not so simply) a matter of capturing a live performance in a studio. As technology progressed, multi-tracking and post-production sound manipulation broadened the role of the producer. Today, for better or worse, the technology needed to produce a modest recording is easily accessible to anybody with a couple thousand dollars.

One of the producer’s roles is to hire musicians for recording sessions. They need musicians that can learn the music very quickly and nail their parts in few takes. Having a great ear, professional sound, excellent time feel, and the ability to sight read are all important skills for a studio musician.

The recording scene has been greatly decentralized with the rise of home studios. Now, wherever somebody is making an album, there is potential for studio work.

One problem is that most people with home studios are trying to make albums as inexpensively as possible, and cannot afford to hire session musicians. Sometimes, though, opportunities to work with young producers can turn into long term collaborations that will be valuable to your career down the road. It’s important to know when to take an unpaid gig, but occasionally they can pay off in the long run.

It’s also possible to work for producers without ever actually being in the same room as them. Virtual session musicians record their parts at home and send them to the producer online. For a thorough read on this topic, check out Scott Horton’s How To Be a Studio Musician Without Leaving Home.

Finally, some of you may have dreams of working in high end studios and playing on pop stars hits. I hate to break it to you, but the days of storied groups of dedicated studio musicians like the Funk Brothers or Wrecking Crew are long gone. Session work at that level isn’t as sustainable as it used to be, and won’t be for the foreseeable future. It still exists but on a smaller scale, allowing fewer musicians to make a good living playing sessions exclusively.

TV/Film Professionals

Composing for TV and Film can generate a great income for musicians, but the industry has been changing over the last decade or so. Instead of in house composers and studio bands, much of the music you hear on TV and in the movies now either comes from a music library or is licensed directly from an artist or record label. Nonetheless, there is still good money for musicians in film and TV placements.

Ethan Stoller, who composes, produces, and edits music for TV and film, wrote about his career for MusicianWages. He offered a few pieces of advice for musicians interested in these jobs: Be prepared for the job you accept, be someone people want to work with, and connect with people in your local film making community.

Once again, hone your skills and network. Read his story and you’ll see how his connections from high school turned into his big break.

Note: If you’d like to do this type of work but are not in proximity of film makers, you have to consider moving.

Churches

Churches, synagogues and other places of worship have always employed musicians. There is a wide variety of music in churches, from traditional and classical to contemporary rock, pop, and gospel.

Most churches employ at least one full time musician, such as an organist, who might also be responsible for all music related activities. In larger churches, there may be more full or part time musicians on staff to share these responsibilities.

In addition to their staff, churches often hire freelance musicians for holiday services, musicals performed by the youth, or sidemen for contemporary worship bands. Churches may also commission music by freelance composers.

Staff positions are typically hired by church leaders. For example, when my parents’ church recently hired a new organist and music director, candidates met with the pastor and a congregational committee. When churches need to hire musicians for their staff, they’ll likely post the positions on musician jobs boards, religious jobs boards, or in classified ads.

Freelance positions, on the other hand, are usually hired by the music director. It’s possible she’ll post the jobs in classified ads, but more likely that she’ll look for musicians in the community, either through members of the congregation or by recommendation of other church music directors.

Schools

Schools, like churches, have several methods of employing musicians.

First, there’s staff. Band, choir, and orchestra directors, and if the school has a large enough program (and budget) they might employ private instructors, accompanists, and other specialists. If you’re interested in being a music teacher at a school, you’ll need a degree in music education (bachelors at least, masters for higher education). Then you’ll be able to apply for teaching positions as they open up.

Next there are contracted positions, for example, somebody hired to help instruct the drum line in a high school marching band. These are part time positions that aren’t needed during the entire school year.

Finally, there are clinicians–professional musicians hired to teach a masterclass or give a lecture. These are basically freelance jobs that typically last a day or a week, less than the contracted positions.

Clinicians and contracted musicians are hired by a school’s music teachers. To start finding this type of work, contact your old high school band director! Start with the people that already know you and try to learn who is hiring outside help for their programs.

In my opinion, musicians that are passionate about teaching make the best teachers. Education takes a lot of patience, planning, and expertise. Just because you’re good at music does not mean you’ll be good at teaching it to others.

The Military

Joining a military band isn’t something most musicians consider when they first pick up an instrument. However, it can be a great gig with a salary, benefits, and plenty of playing opportunities. I’ve known a few musicians that joined a military band because they were struggling to make ends meet, and they ended up loving their military career.

Granted, this gig isn’t for everyone, and I don’t know enough about it to give you proper advice. Lucky for us, Staff Sergeant Joshua DiStefano, a pianist in the U.S. Army for 14 years, has been a regular contributor to MusicianWages. Read about Josh’s experiences in The Life of an Army Band Musician.

Event Planners

Event planners are people or companies that organize and oversee upscale private parties, weddings, corporate events and other special occasions. Most of the time, these events include live music. Musicians call these jobs “club dates.” Club dates are commonly high paying jobs, especially in large cities.

Because club dates and private events can pay so well, there are companies that operate multiple corporate party bands and event planners specifically to book these gigs. They hire musicians through auditions. If you’d like to play in one of these bands, contact corporate bands in your area and ask them for an audition.

Many times, however, the event planner usually deals directly with one musician acting as the music director, who in turn hires the rest of the band. When events only need a small group or soloist, the event planner might deal directly with the musician or group.

If you’d like to be hired directly by even planners, search the internet for “event planners” or “event planning” in your area. In a big enough city, you’ll find anything from large companies to individuals offering event planning services. In all cases, event planners need a network of trusted vendors, including musicians, to do their jobs effectively.

Don’t expect them to call you, though. Make first contact, explain what you can offer (type of ensemble, repertoire, etc), and tell them you’re available immediately. If they don’t have an event for you on their calendar, politely follow up every few months.

Regular People

Finally, there are plenty of jobs to be found from people outside the music and entertainment industries. Regular people hire musicians to teach private lessons, write a song for a special event, perform at their anniversary party, company holiday party, or a house concert.

How do these people find musicians? The internet, neighbors, churches, schools, local music venues, or anywhere musicians work.

I haven’t looked at a Yellow Pages in years, but I’m pretty sure there wasn’t much of a musician section like, say, plumbers or pest control. There aren’t many directories people can use to find local musicians, so it’s up to you to let people know you’re available. By simply mentioning you do private events on a business card, your website, or postcards at your other gigs, you’re making it easier for people to hire you.

Tying it All Together

This article is just the beginning; there are many links embedded throughout it that lead to words of wisdom by other musicians. Learn from every opportunity, strive to be a better musician, a good hang, and contribute to the musician community by helping others. Please feel free to share your tips in the comments below!

Good luck everyone, and happy gigging.

You then cold-call club owners, hotels, event planners and drop off or e-mail your promotional material.  They never call you back.  You cringe as you make that follow up call. You ask them if they reviewed your material, but in the back of your mind you get the feeling they couldn’t care less about you, let alone remember you.

The digital promo kit you sent to their inbox is one click away from the spam button or the kit you delivered to them has been shredded and your CD was frisbeed into the trash can – but they did save the CD jacket for their own collection.

Are you struggling with the business of getting gigs?  Chances are if you’re a passionate musician or performer you may not have the entrepreneurial skills, time and energy to finding your own gigs.

In this article, I’ll be sharing a few ideas that will help with understanding your strengths, how to put a solid promotional package together and finding trustworthy and motivated booking agents.

Getting Your Act Together

As you know, competition is fierce.  In the West, there are hoards of incredibly talented musicians and most of them are playing the same tunes or following the latest trends; fighting for the tiny morsels of glory and money left over from a disintegrating live venue gigging scene.

Before you begin to put together your promotional package or approach a booking agent, you need to ask yourself:

• What makes me unique?
• What makes me or my band stand out above the rest?
• Why would anyone want to put their reputation on the line and find gigs for me?

Don’t despair, perhaps this will make you feel better:  You don’t have to be the best to get gigs – here’s a little secret – you just need a U.S.P.

U.S.P – (Unique Selling Point) This is something which sets your product or service apart from your competitors.

Interestingly, most businesses and musicians out there don’t know what a U.S.P is and how vital it is to have one.  The only leverage they use for securing sales or gigs is price manipulation.  “Well, maybe people will buy my product if it is cheaper” or “…tell you what, my band will play for less, give us the gig.”  They’re missing the point and not realizing their potential. The products that sell well or the musicians who are working consistently have identified and use their U.S.P to their advantage.

So What’s Your U.S.P?

The following are some examples to consider:

• A clear and unique sound and repertoire
• A wardrobe or “look” that carries your message visually
• An ability to interact with the audience

Bands and artists who have a U.S.P

(I’m not associated with any of these acts they only serve to illustrate my point):

• The Maxwell Street Klezmer Band
• Dread Zeppelin
• The Shaggs
• KISS
• DEVO
• Bob Log
• Yma Sumac
• Tom Waits
• Nina Simone

I think you get my drift.  Once you have discovered your U.S.P., it’s time to move to the next step.

Your Physical Promotional Package

Today most acts have a virtual promo kit, but I highly recommend having a physical one as well.  Remember you need to be unique. And most folks appreciate getting mail.

Your promotional package should include enough information about you or your band so that it inspires a booking agent to imagine the money making potential for you and for them. The basic pieces should include:

• Letterhead and business cards.  Use your graphics and print style in your business cards and letterhead. Your business card should communicate to people what you’re all about. Keep it simple. What can you include on your card to help people remember you? Use good quality card stock and be sure the information is easily read and accurate.
• A truthful bio- the music circle is a small one, you don’t want to be known as a bullsh**ter.
• A video - no fancy filters or editing.  One camera, straight on the subject (that’s you)
• An audio recording as you sound in a live situation (no overdubs)
• A song list
• Professional pictures and posters that clearly convey your U.S.P
• Press releases
• Social network and website information

A consistent image helps perpetuate your brand. Your business cards and envelopes should have your name or bands logo on them.

Be very bold with your mailing envelopes too.  Which envelope would you be inclined to open first?  A plain, boring manila envelope? Or a shiny, florescent orange one that screams “you really want to open me right now!”

(Side note: having promo photos and a video where you look scruffy, wearing jeans, looking mean and miserable won’t cut it – if you want the choice gigs, you need to look the part.)

OK, you did your homework.  Now what?

You’ve created a unique and fabulous act and assembled an eye catching and professional promotional package; you’re way ahead of everyone else. You’re now ready to present yourself or your band to booking agents – or anyone for that matter – who has the skills, contacts and motivation to get you in the gigging game.  But let’s deal with the booking agents.

What are booking agents looking for?

Booking agents are looking for:

• Acts that have a U.S.P
• Acts that are really good at what they do
• Acts that have a polished promotional package

Hey, that sounds like you!

There are so many booking agents out there – who can I trust?

Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous people with fancy websites who claim to be booking agents.  But because you have a killer product, and with that, a new found sense of confidence, aim high and don’t be shy.  Search for the bigger and better established booking agencies who book relatively well known acts.  They will identify you as an act that has vision and confidence: They will help you if they see you have potential.

Hotel gigs

If you’re interested in hotel gigs, one way to find the more reputable booking agents is to get in touch with the hotels’ Food and Beverage Manager.  Find out what kind of entertainment they have and what they’re looking for. If they don’t deal with hiring acts, kindly ask them who takes care of their bookings for them.

The international booking agent

There are many musicians who are looking for gigs outside of their own country.  There are quite a few gigs out there, particularly here in Asia. But be very wary.  As I mentioned earlier, there are folks out there who claim to be legitimate booking agents but in reality they’re looking for a quick buck or they may even have a more harmful agenda.

Don’t even consider dealing with an agent who:

• Isn’t clear about where you will be performing
• Isn’t clear about your accommodations
• Asks you for money (Never give an agent money. Period.)
• Asks you for your passport (Never give your passport or passport number to anyone unless they’re travel agents, consular, embassy or immigration officials.)

Use common sense and touch base with your survival instincts

• If an international booking agent is interested in hiring you, ask them for a list of performers they booked and contact them.
• If you’re a female artist, be very careful.  Do your homework. Investigate the agent or organization thoroughly.  There are “Booking Agencies” out there who are drug runners and sex traffickers.
• Have everything in writing/email.
• If you’re Skypeing or on the phone with the agent, record the call and make sure you let them know you’re recording the call.  “I’m just letting you know I’m recording this call.”  If the agent sounds uncomfortable-be alarmed.
• Be skeptical, and learn to say no

I hope this helped you gain some insight and if you would like more information about the gigging game, please feel free to contact me.

There was one guy there who worked for Bloomberg.

Bloomberg is the namesake of our billionaire mayor here in NYC, Michael Bloomberg. He founded the company with a few of his friends in 1981 and it’s now worth an estimated $6.9 billion.

Bloomberg’s main business is selling big, expensive terminals to financial companies and organizations. The terminals show the traders information about the market and if the traders know how to interpret the information correctly they can use it to make a lot of money. It costs about $1,500 a month to have a terminal.

But, actually, I didn’t know about the terminals. I know Bloomberg as a news organization. They provide financial news through their TV station, radio station, website and newspaper.

My dinner party friend told me an interesting anecdote about Bloomberg. When they first built the terminals they found that the traders needed not just financial information about the market – they also needed to know about what was happening in the world that might affect the markets. Bloomberg originally outsourced it’s reporting to the Associated Press, but eventually the news feature of their terminal became so important that the prospect of a strike or other disruption from the AP became too much of a risk to their business. So they decided to do the reporting themselves – and Bloomberg’s media empire began.

Here’s the thing, though – the Bloomberg media outlets actually lose money for the company. The TV station, the newspaper – they’ve never made any money. It’s a kind of symbiotic relationship between the two sectors of the company – the terminals need a reliable news source and the news source needs money.

The Future of Journalism

That’s a remarkable model for monetizing content, isn’t it? Both elements are central to the product – the terminal and the content – but they aren’t valuable unless they are combined together.

I think this is the model for the future of journalism. Companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook increasingly need a steady flow of news, human interest stories, investigative reporting, reviews and other kinds of old-fashioned journalism to feed the huge numbers of people that voraciously eat this content on their sites every day.

Google, Facebook and Twitter, however, don’t pay for this content. Google finds it and reposts it on their news feed, users post it themselves on Twitter and Facebook. Google and Facebook, if not Twitter, are making a lot of money off this kind of content usage, and none of it is finding it’s way back to the newspaper’s where the content originated. It’s not the case that news doesn’t make money today – it’s just that the money is being rapidly redistributed away from the news companies that make it.

So eventually the newspapers will go out of business. But then Twitter, Google and Facebook won’t have the same quality of content. Then they’ll have to start creating it themselves – just like Bloomberg had to do.

Sure, you could argue that this content can all be crowd-sourced from people’s blogs, celebrity tweets and iPhone videos. I think there will be some of that, but you’ll never convince me that all of our news and content will be entirely crowd-sourced in the future. There will always be an educated, professional group of content-creators that run the highest levels of the business.

This same phenomenon is already happening in the music business. Apple’s best revenue-producing product isn’t music in the iTunes store – it’s the products that play that music, like the iPhone, the iPod, the iPad, etc.

But you and I can’t make our own iPod and sell it to fans. So what’s the indie artist to do?

Bundling in the Music Business

Embedding your music in another product – a mobile app, for example – is going to be the way to sell music in the future.

Consider this article, published just 5 months ago in the New York Times. It highlights the major labels’ mad dash to get into the mobile app market. Bjork new album will be a collection of apps rather than a list of songs. UMG is creating an app for Nirvana’s “Nevermind”.

They aren’t the first – this has been happening for several years. Mobbase.com is a company based on (nearly) this business model.

And it makes sense. Just last month news surfaced that Apple has now sold more apps than song downloads – even though iTunes had a nearly 4 year head start on the App Store.

But major labels are as greedy today as they were 20 years ago. I’ll believe they’ll create bloated apps that require too much of their users – apps loaded with Facebook “Likes”, “Tweet this” buttons and “Sign up for our spamletter” prompts. They’ll track users clicks, analyze their preferences and deliver personalized and invasive advertising.

Forget the major labels – we should all be doing this in the indie market for our own music. Remember? We don’t need the major labels anymore – isn’t that what the interet gave us?

Make Your Own App

Think about it – let’s say you record your new album on your own computer at home. Let’s even say that you have the album professionally mastered and that costs you $1,500.

See also: Creating a Budget for Your New Album

According to OSXDaily.com, a simple iPhone app probably costs between $3,000 and $8,000 to develop. Let’s pretend you go on Elance or Odesk and you get someone to do it for $3,500. Add that to the cost of the mastering and you’ve spent $5,000.

$5k isn’t that bad. It’s used to cost more than $5k just to make an album. (And, actually, if you were creative I don’t think you’d have to spend that much.)

Let’s say your music is totally great and the app is really fun and you have average success selling your app in the App Store. According to a 2010 article in TechCrunch, even average selling apps were moving 44 units every day. If you made $1 on every sale – you could break even in 4 months and bring in an extra $1,320 a month thereafter. Not terrible for an indie release – and imagine the potential revenue if you were lucky enough that your app became popular.

My App

I’ve always said that I never give theoretical advice on this site. I never tell people to do things that didn’t work for me personally or that I would never try myself.

I started developing my app yesterday. If it’s a failure and I lose a bunch of money I’ll take down this article. If it works I’ll tell you about it.

So you can wait to hear from me or you can get started. Which will you do?

For our purposes here, let’s define talent as a mix of natural aptitude, exhaustive training and years of practice that, when looked at objectively, distinguishes a musician as an expert. Let’s pretend that talent is a commodity that is easily quantifiable and that some musicians have more and some musicians have less.

(Even though we know that last part is not how this talent thing works. Pretend anyway.)

Do the Best Musicians Get the Best Work?

It’s a very good question. Logic would suggest that the most talented musicians would get the best work. The better you play the more people will want to hire you, right?

The validity of university music programs – especially the ones that focus their curriculum exclusively on performance and completely ignore business, entrepreneurship, or career-building – seems to be predicated on this talent myth. Become the best and you’ll succeed. Why else would you pay $100,000 for a fancy conservatory education?

But we all know the truth. We’ve all seen overwhelming evidence that the most talented musicians do not, necessarily, have the most success as working musicians.

How’s that fair? What’s the deal?

Yes, Talent Does Matter (To a Point)

To a certain point, talent is very important. If a musician doesn’t learn or perform music at a very high level, they will never make it as a professional musician. They will perform poorly at gigs and employers won’t call twice. Eventually it will become clear that this career is not for them and they’ll find another path to follow. It happens all the time.

So who are we left with? The best of the best. A pool of really talented musicians who can play anything you put in front of them.

So yes, to get to this level as a professional musician talent does matter.

An Abundance of Talent

However, it’s at this point that talent becomes such an abundant resource that having a tiny bit more or a tiny bit less of it doesn’t have a pronounced effect on a musician’s career. Put another way – when everyone is talented it becomes nearly impossible to distinguish yourself among the crowd based solely on this marker alone.

Employers may say that they are hiring you because you are the best, but you shouldn’t believe them. At the highest levels of the business, talent is simply not the reason that one musicians gets hired over another.

Distinguishable Traits

Here are some characteristics that employers look for when hiring musicians:

1. Punctuality – Musicians who miss gigs or consistently show up late don’t get called again. Why would you hire someone you can’t trust when there are plenty of musicians that you can?
2. Sight-reading – Musicians that sight-read well require less rehearsal time, and less rehearsal time means the employers save money. What is more attractive to an employer than the ability to save time and money while still maintaining the level of quality they require? That sounds awesome. Wouldn’t you want a great sight-reader if you were an employer?
3. Sociability – Meaning, the ability and willingness to engage in activities and conversation with other people. Would you rather work with someone who’s nice or someone who’s a jerk? Easy question.
4. Consistency – Professional musicians bring the same energy and accuracy to every performance. Employers value that quality.
5. Flexibility – Which would you prefer – a musician that complains or resists every time something changes, or someone that rolls with the punches? Another easy question.

There are probably a hundred others. Also check out Cam’s article, 5 Traits of a Professional Musician.

These are the qualities that define a successful musician. These are the qualities that give one professional musician an advantage over another professional musician in the uber-talented, saturated freelance market.

When I meet new musicians looking for work, these are the qualities that I look for, well before I even care to hear them play.

There are two reasons for this: first, I assume that if they are working consistently at a professional level they must be talented, right?

And second, I know that even if they can play circles around other musicians, I won’t want to work with them unless they exhibit these crucial characteristics.

A Real-World Example

Here’s a real world story – I recently started subbing on a Broadway show. For me, this is my 2nd Broadway show.

The people that hired me to play keyboards on this show had never, not once, heard me play a single note before I played an actual, live performance of this Broadway show.

I had worked with them in a non-performance capacity several months ago. We got along great. I liked them, they liked me – and we established trust on the characteristics described above. And now, because I’m already playing on another Broadway show, they assumed I must be talented enough for the job, so they asked me to play.

There is virtually no way to argue that I landed this job based solely on my level of talent – and this is a great example of how the real world works.

To be successful as a working musician it’s first important to establish yourself as part of the pool of talented professionals, then distinguish yourself among the competition with secondary characteristics that are important to your potential employers.

What other characteristics are important for working musicians? Leave a comment below.

And Robert – thanks for reading the site and putting your question the forum! If anyone else would like to give Robert an answer, visit the original post.

A virtual session musician provides their interpretation and instrumental or vocal performance to anyone, anywhere in the world in need of their particular expertise. It is not rare to find songwriters, producers, or solo artists in need of extra instrumentation to complete their production.

How hiring a virtual session player is advantageous to the employer:

• The quality of the musician is not limited by proximity to studio.
• No hourly studio rates to pay or union rules to workaround.
• Receive high quality tracks from specialists.

How offering your services as session musician is a great gig:

• Ability to work from your home studio for clients all over the world. Leave your equipment setup and tweak for specific purposes.
• Work on your own schedule. Take the time to experiment with parts and send only the best performances.
• Set your own rates and accept payment online.

Of course it would not be fair to only mention the positive aspects of online session work. The most obvious disadvantage of creating a full production in this manner is that the magic could disappear. When you gather great musicians in a room together, they interact, play off each other, and create a vibe that translates into emotion in a recording. That being said, great performances are still being created online.

The process in a nutshell:

• Songwriter records guitar and vocals to a song she wants to be considered for film.
• She finds a drummer in NYC, a bassist in Berlin, and an electric guitarist in LA, who she thinks would be a good fit for her song and contacts them in this order. Each player has great experience and can produce great recordings of their instrument.
• She provides each one with a simple MP3 of what she has so far, a tempo map, and basic references of what she wants where (charts or midi generated tracks are nice).
• Each player takes the time to review the song, record their performances, and send the tracks back for review.
• The songwriter requests any changes and the changes are revised tracks are promptly sent back.
• With her completed tracks, she now forwards the song onto a virtual mix engineer and finally to an online mastering engineer.

How to begin offering your services?

Ensure that you can record your instrument WELL.
You don’t to have a studio with 96 inputs, or a cabinet of vintage mics, but you do need to have enough quality mic preamps, microphones, and knowledge to record your instrument well. You may need to do some research and experimentation to find the best approaches to recording your instrument, but once you’ve got it – you’ve got it. You don’t necessarily have to worry about processing it as this will be done by the mix engineer, your goal is to get a solid, clean recording of a great performance which compliments the production.

Offer the service on your website.
The basic steps you need to complete are to create a rate sheet, gear list, provide audio examples of your playing, and setup a Paypal account to receive payment from clients. Add anything else to show off your skills and convince potential clients to hire you. Try to answer their questions before they have to contact you such as your revision policy, if you provide processing, what your turnaround time is etc. The more you can differentiate yourself, the better.

Offer your services on other sites.
eSession.com is setup specifically to allow individual musicians and engineers to offer their services online. They provide easy search capabilities and a very cool plug-in called “Virtual Glass” which allows realtime video and audio streaming from within your digital audio workstation. Also check out IndabaMusic, a newer collaboration site with a built-in, online audio workstation.

In addition to specialty sites, make sure that your social networks know that you offer this service. Participating in online forums and simple including a link to your site in your signature can be a great way to drum up business. Connecting with producers and songwriters directly should be your main goal.

Whether you plan on making this your full time gig, or just offer the service to get occasional gigs, offer you services as a virtual session musician can be a great way to build up your contact list and play on numerous, international projects.

It can be difficult, as a freelancer, to keep track of the income coming in from gigs. On an average week I might work for 5-8 different employers and clients – I’m sure you are the same. Very early in my career I started to feel overwhelmed by tracking pay stubs and cash gigs. I came up with a solution I call Gig Tracker.

Gig Tracker

Gig Tracker is an excel spreadsheet I put together about 6 years ago. I input all of my gigs into the spreadsheet and it tracks and analyzes several important things:

• Date and time
• Location
• Agreement (what am I getting paid?)
• Payment expected
• Payment received
• Name of contact
• Email/phone number of contact

Tracks and Analyzes Freelance Income

From the number I input to Gig Tracker I’m able to graphically interpret my cash flow. After several years of keeping Gig Tracker I can see which months are traditionally slow for me, when my busy season begins, and other anomalies.

Gig Tracker also gives you a project yearly income based on how much you’ve made to date. For instance, if today’s date is April 18th (107 days into 2011) and you’ve received, say, $14,000 – you are on track to make $47,450 this year (assuming work keeps coming in at your current rate). This number become more and more accurate as the year goes on.

Also, it’s free. It’s just a spreadsheet, afterall.

Version 2.0

This spreadsheet has been available on the site for several years now, and I know a lot of my friends have started using it. It’s very helpful come tax time (did you all get your taxes in on time this week?).

Jeremy Yaddow, an excellent NYC drummer who’s written for MW before, wrote me today with his own version of Gig Tracker. Here’s his email, with a link to his spreadsheet below. Feel free to download!

Hey Dave,

I’ve been using your “Gig Tracker” spreadsheet with great success for the past couple years (never have I been more organized – my accountant loves it!).

I’ve added an “expenses” sheet that allows me to easily track what I spend on gigs (instead of pulling out a giant box of loose receipts on April 14th).

Using a list of deductible expense categories, I created a drop down menu and can organize my expenses by date, gig, category etc. Come tax time, I’m in and out and don’t miss a thing. I also put a 1099/w2/other drop down on the gig’s sheet for similar record-keeping purposes.

Check it out and if you think it’s a useful addition, feel free to pass it on!

Jeremy

Download Jeremy’s Gig Tracker spreadsheet here: Gig Tracker Revised

_______________

Note: Neither Jeremy, nor I, nor this spreadsheet, nor this website, are financial planning or tax professionals. If you have questions about your finances we probably don’t know the answers. Use this tool at your own discretion.

Photo credit: Lauren Farmer

Your new album has just been released, or maybe you’ve just booked a huge show. Time to email everybody you know! Before you add your entire address book to the “To:” field of a new email, consider a few points of email list etiquette. By respecting the recipients of your mass emails, you’ll have far better results from your efforts, build stronger relationships with your fans, and build a healthy email list.

I’ve been maintaining my own email list for about seven years, and along the way have found many ways to gain, and lose, subscribers. I’ve also been added to many email lists, sometimes willingly, often not,but always tried to learn from other artists’ email newsletters.

There are numerous services available to help you maintain your email list. Some are free, others cost money depending on the size of your list and the features you want to install. Look at the bottom of the emails you get from different bands and you’ll find links to some of these services. I highly recommend you find one that suits you to make this whole process easier.

Build a List of Volunteer Subscribers

When I repeatedly receive email I don’t want, I apply a setting that sends any messages from that email address straight to the trash. They can keep sending me emails and pretend it’s doing them some good, but the message never even hits my inbox. When enough people on their list take a similar action, the unwanted email eventually causes more harm than good.

On the other hand, when I sign up for a band’s email list I’m far more likely to not only read the emails, but take whatever action they are suggesting, be it listen to some new music, mark their next show on my calendar, or pre-order their new album. There’s also a better chance I’ll forward the email to friends and help spread the word.

If you want your list to be effective, make sure everyone on it wants to be there. A smaller list of dedicated fans is more valuable than a large list of people who think you are annoying.

Here are some ideas to help you build your email list:

1. Pass around a sign up sheet at your shows.
2. Add sign up forms to your website(s).
3. Offer a free download or other incentive in exchange for joining your email list.
4. Add a check box on your website’s contact form giving people who email you the option to subscribe to your list.
5. At the end of your emails, ask your subscribers to forward the email to any of their friends that would like your music. Give them an incentive to help you spread the word.

I sell my music through several services that give me the customer’s email address. I never assume this person wants to be on my mailing list. Instead, I email them at the end of the year, thank them for their support, and ask them if they’d like to subscribe to my email list. They usually do, and these subscribers have become the core of my fan base. I see more activity (responses, purchases, etc.) from these fans than I do from those that I’ve never spoken to or emailed individually. A little personal interaction can go a long way.

Easy Unsubscribe Option

Unfortunately, some people will decide to opt out of your email list. Give fans an easy way out. The less confrontational, the better.

Every email list service will automatically have this option. If you choose to send mass emails without one of these services, include a line at the bottom of each email that says:

Reply with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line to stop receiving these emails.

People don’t always unsubscribe because they never want to hear from you again. Between Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, and everything else connecting people online, there’s more than one way to keep fans updated. If you’re using several of this tools to update your fans, it’s understandable that some people choose to only get Facebook invites while others may prefer to hear about your upcoming shows via email.

Losing a subscriber doesn’t always mean you’re losing a fan. However, if the only way for people to stop receiving your emails is to block you or designate your email as spam, then you’re probably running the risk of losing fans.

Send Emails Regularly, but Sparingly

It’s important that you stay in touch with your fans, but only when you have something new to report. If you send too many emails that don’t say much, people are less likely to notice when you have big news. At most, I recommending sending one email per month.

Make sure your emails have some value to your fans. Don’t just tell them about your upcoming shows, because many people might not live in your town. Include links to new blog posts, videos, demo recordings, etc. The key word here is new content, not the same video you told them about last month. In fact, use your email list as motivation to create new content!

Use Bcc: to Protect Email Addresses

One of the most common rookie mistakes I’ve seen is people adding all the recipients to the “To:” field of the email, which allows everyone on the list to see everyone else’s email address. The best solution is to simply use an email list service, but if you don’t have one yet, be sure to add the email addresses to the “Bcc:” field.

Bcc: stands for Blind Carbon Copy. Email addresses in this field are kept hidden from all recipients of the message.

Inadvertently sharing everybody’s email address with everyone else is usually harmless, but most musicians send their emails to other musicians, and some of them might add every email they get their hands on to their own email list. Protect your friends’ email addresses by using the Bcc: field on emails going to a bunch of people that don’t know each other.

Never Send Attachments

This should be a no-brainer, but it’s another common rookie mistake. Sending emails with big attachements like MP3s can clog people’s inboxes. Only send MP3s to people that are expecting them.

A far better approach is to send a download link, especially a link that allows you to track clicks, downloads, plays, etc. Whenever you can track metrics, you have a chance to learn about your fans and yourself. If nobody is downloading your music, wouldn’t it be nice to know so you could figure out a better approach?

Respond to Your Fans

The most important thing independent musicians can do to build a fan base is to communicate with them. When somebody responds to your newsletter, write them back! Even if just to say thanks, your acknowledgement can go a long way. We should all be so lucky to someday have more fan emails than we could possibly respond to, but meanwhile, take advantage of every opportunity to interact with your fans. Even the biggest stars respond to fan mail!