The Importance Of Analytics For The Fifth Beatle

While hardly the most inspiring topic for musicians, web monitoring and analytics are becoming increasingly important for bands hoping to succeed online in the new music industry. If you’re not able to optimise your own campaigns, it’s well worth finding someone who can…

Independent Artist Spotlight: Chris Bryant

I have decided to start a (hopefully) regular feature in which I get to find out from artists themselves how they are working with the new found musical and creative freedom they are currently enjoying, at the same time sharing with you some of the great music out there to be discovered.

The first artist I have the pleasure of featuring is North Carolina singer-songwriter, Chris Bryant.

Meet the Industry twins: 'Record' & 'Music'

Okay, so you can’t turn anywhere online at the moment when looking at the music industry without tripping over coverage and opinion on yesterday’s IFPI Digital Music Report 2010 (I notice the irony in mentioning this as I introduce you to an article of me giving coverage and opinion to the very same topic). While [...]

Fan Inclusion: A Unique Fan Experience

For me, one of the most exciting elements of a transitional music industry in which independent artists are becoming empowered is that bands are free to make their own rules and guide their own stories and careers, without being stuck in a ‘traditional’ release campaign structure.
More and more frequently I’m reading articles covering independent artists [...]

"Deluxe Packages & The Independent Artist": Multi-tier Releases for the Indie Musician

With the success of multi-level priced releases by artists such as Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails showing that true fans are willing to not only spend money on what is also being offered for free, but that in many cases they are willing to spend far greater amounts of money on extra materials than has [...]

Live Music Is Killing Live Music

We keep hearing that the live music sector is currently the shining light in a turbulent industry, bucking the falling sales trends currently being experienced by recorded music. Despite the potential threat of licensing regulation changes, the availability of gig slots for up-and-coming or unsigned, independent artists is generally better than ever. But things still [...]

Fan Interaction Through Integration

After reading another fantastic article by Andrew Dubber, it got me thinking about how strongly this should be a part of all independent artists online presence. With all the potential for online interaction, involving fans where possible provides bands with invaluable promotional and fan loyalty opportunities.

The Other Side of the Long Tail

With the proliferation and relative ease of access for digital music for independent artists, the ‘long tail’ theory looks very promising. A new study by Will Page of the MCPS-PRS alliance gives us a view of what is faced regarding digital sales online.

Music Software: Nurturing Creative Ability

After reading Andrew Dubber’s post inspired by Microsoft’s Songsmith software, it made me think about his points regarding the increasing amount of software aimed at ‘non-musical’ consumers, and the impact this may have on professional music.