The Ultimate Self-Marketing Checklist for Musicians

The Top 13 Steps to Take Now to Book More Gigs

Being a working artist is pretty similar to owning your own business – except as an artist, you’re the CEO, the salesman, and the assistant…not to mention the actual product being sold.

But one of your most important roles is that of marketer. You could have the most earth-shatteringly beautiful voice or play the harp like an actual angel, but if no one knows about you, you won’t go far in profiting from your amazing talents.

If you’re like most creative people, you’d much rather just focus on your work than trying to brand yourself or hustle your demo. But if you want to eventually be playing venues that are slightly larger than your cousin’s bar mitzvah, you need to devote some time and effort to smart self-marketing tactics.

Use these suggestions as a checklist to make sure that you’re doing everything you need to be doing to get exposure. CONTINUE READING

Shockingly, The NFL has asked musicians to pay for the Superbowl.

The NFL reportedly asked Katy Perry, Rihanna and Coldplay, their top choices to play the 2015 Super Bowl Halftime Show, if they would be willing to pay the league in order to secure one of the biggest gigs in the world, according to The Wall Street Journal.

When reaching out to artists, league representatives asked some acts if they would exchange a headlining slot for a portion of their post-Super Bowl tour earnings, or make another type of financial contribution to the NFL. Sources told the Journal that Music reps gave a negative response.

While the NFL doesn’t typically pay artists who perform during the Super Bowl Halftime Show, they do tend to cover travel and production expenses, which can be upwards of a million dollars. Considering the Halftime Show has only grown more popular in recent years — this year’s performance with Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers drew 115.3 million viewers, compared to the 112.2 million who watched the game — it makes sense they’d want a piece of the pie.