Currently viewing the tag: "bands"

Start Your Own Wedding Band

On December 19, 2011 By

Finding a safe, viable career performing music is no easy task. While it might not be the first choice for every aspiring musician, one way to make a decent bit of money from gigging is to start your own wedding band.
It takes a bit…

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The Skinny on Promotional Packages and Booking Agents

On September 7, 2011 By

OK, you’re ready to get out there and perform.  You have the skills, you have a promotional kit and you can visualize yourself working five nights a week and making pretty good bread.  Your plan is to network with other musicians at jam night and…

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Musician Email List Etiquette

On April 4, 2011 By

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…

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Why Every Musician Should Use iTunes Ping

On October 11, 2010 By

Apple’s recent rollout of iTunes 10 included a new feature called Ping…, dubbed a “social network for music” by the creators. Ping’s release was followed by a good deal of criticism from the tech and music blogs, and for the most part, I agreed

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Creating a Budget for Your New Album

On July 20, 2010 By

Creating a budget for a new album means figuring out not only how much money you’ll need, but also how much time it will take from your first rehearsal to release day. After releasing a number of my own albums and answering questions from many…

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Different Types of Cruise Ship Musician Jobs

On June 14, 2010 By

If you’re interested in working as a musician on a cruise ship, the first thing to know is the different types of entertainment offered.  Each cruise line has their own entertainment on board; however, generally, these positions are very similar industry-wide.
Show Band Musicians
Most…

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Booking Your First Tour

On March 22, 2010 By

Getting your band off the ground is full of “chicken or the egg?” situations. One of the things I commonly hear bands say that if they just had a booking agent, they could really get things moving. But booking agents only want to work with…

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Oregon, Montana Relax Labor Laws For Musicians

On April 22, 2009 By

Two state laws passed this month, impacting musicians in Oregon and Montana.
Both bills concerned the employment status of musicians working at nightclubs and bars. Previously, musicians in both Oregon and Montana had been considered employees of the music venues that they played at –…

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A Musician’s Guide to Middle Management, or Leading a Band

On January 22, 2009 By

Performing with your own band is an exhilarating experience. But before you can have your moment on stage, you need to get a group of musicians into the same room to learn some music. And musicians have a knack at being slightly unorganized, slightly tardy,…

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Search Engine Optimization for Musicians and Bands

On November 1, 2008 By

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is process of organizing the content of a website in a way that will be most easily understood and indexed by search engines. If you do it right, you will be closer to the top of the list when strangers…

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Submit Your Concerts to Social Networks All At Once

On October 29, 2008 By

The actual number of social networking websites for musicians is a state secret, but scientists estimate it to be around eleventy-billion. There’s the big guys – MySpace, JamBase, purevolume – but also tons of smaller ones like Buzznet, BandsinTown, GrooveShark…,

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Who’s My Boss?

On August 5, 2008 By

Starkey asks:
I am the band leader of a new band going onto Princess in August. How does the MD affect or not affect my show? Who do I answer to directly with regards to my act?
Thanks for the question Starkey, and congrats on…

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