The music hustle is a cold beast.  The main reason I haven’t posted here in some time is due to redefining what I want out of this music journey.  I was formerly half of Fried Roots, and while I and fellow Fried Roots partner decided it was time to part ways, there was alot of  discovery to be proud of and lessons learned in that 3 year time period.

First lesson: No Regrets! Deciding to run an independent label out of Los Angeles was one of the best decisions I could’ve made.  I definitely came out of that experience with a sense of knowing what I wanted to accomplish, especially when times were rough and money was running low.

Second lesson: If You Haven’t Failed, You Aren’t Trying Hard Enough. This is one of my favorite quotes from Albert Einstein that really has hit home more as a life lesson, than just a business experience.  Not taking the easy road and not just settling for safe choices created the gut check I needed.  Along the way, I discovered a passion for music marketing, helping other independent musicians, and the ultimate one: I  love creating music and promoting it.

Third lesson: Define What Roles You Want To Take Part In. Running a record label takes alot of manpower and defined roles to ease the stress on those creating music.  As blogging came into the picture, our marketing roles were tested.  Marketing takes time and effort and with a smaller operation, it can be demanding.  The roles I assumed came as I encountered them.

We went from musicians just wanting to promote music to having to adapt and learning about: web design, web maintenance, content creation, article promotion, social networking, accounting, planning and budgeting, defining music business plans and revising, and the list goes on.

After all was said and done I got to work on my passion: just creating music I love.  Small tasks and team development would have made life easier and business better.  Small budgets no longer are an excuse, its time to trade talent for talent and make the most of your dreams.

Fourth lesson: Learn and Don’t Repeat Your Mistakes. After all is said and done, there are many lessons learned from ambitious endeavours.  From taking on multiple roles, I now understand what to expect from services I will pay for or when I have people work for me.  For example, with an intern I can demand some of the same tasks to be completed that I laboured over, or if I had a web designer work on a site I can now make explicit demands to what I want accomplished.

The roles we assumed were expected and we were not naive to what we were getting into, the problem was cost cutting when money wasn’t abundant.  Do It Yourself has a greater meaning for me and this blog is here to aid all musicians looking to ease their efforts of marketing online, I laboured just like you.

After viewing online accomplishments, I am proud to say that numbers don’t lie and there is alot to be hopeful over such as

1. digital sales are increasing, with low distribution costs
2. monthly visitors to the site were rising due to good promotion
3. low entry cost to starting all over
4. planning specific tasks will ease the new projects
5. creativity is a habit, work efficiently and effectively
6. I will use this blog to help you and I understand where we can improve from a fresh project
7. I am more willing to learn than ever before
8. New enthusiasm: music is timeless and promotion is relentless

Thanks for listening and please feel free to drop your thoughts on your experiences, obstacles and life lessons you have encountered on your road to music promotion.

I am not looking to create another record label, because I think there is a more creative approach to what I want to accomplish and I believe many multi-tasking musicians out there can relate to that question of trying to figure out what is innovative and suited to what you want out of your music.

After all is said and done: Damn, I LOVE HIP HOP!!!

I wanted to take this time to thank you for your support. This year has been an interesting one and time has definitely flown by. I am very grateful for all the insight you guys have added to discussions and questions you have asked making this site better.

This year I plan to take a more active approach in helping your blog. Less theory and more practice. The one thing I realized is many music bloggers talk about what you can do, but lack specific tasks to achieve them. The reason I want to make this blog different is because I want to make you practice: I learned by trial and error. Now after a couple of years blogging about music, I’ve been able to eliminate some errors and build upon what worked.

End Of Year Evaluation

I want you to take some time to think about your music promotion. Think about what your are happy with and what you want to expand. Find out what your biggest problems are and acknowledge they need to be fixed. Has your blogging changed according to time passing?

Let’s get this year started off with good momentum. Be positive. Understand that each music operation varies. What works for one band might not work for another. Blogging helps point out some of your hidden strengths.

Use your stats, make your own assumptions and remember if this was easy, then everyone would be famous or rich. Work hard for your passion. Let people really know what your music means to you.

Time to visit the studio and let creative juices flow.

Be safe, Stay smart and Keep positive.

Have A Safe and Happy New Year!

As this new year has hit, I have been researching new ways to make the most out of this changing music industry model. What I have grown to love the most out of this whole trip is the networking with fellow musicians and music bloggers. The beauty is there are a lot of talented people out there sharing their expertise for free.

As a fellow music blogger, I want to create more of an informative site for indie musicians and direct them to sites I enjoy reading that can elevate all of our careers. I really want to call out all music lovers and musicans to contribute to open discussions and freely promote their projects.

Music 2.0 has opened the eyes of all artists and turned us into musical detectives, figuring out what works for our band. Email me with new concepts or ideas where we can maximize our exposure and make money from our musical talent as a collective.

We all benefit from each other when networking is involved. I have enjoyed using sites like Twitter and having fellow followers willingly promote my music and music articles I created. This is inspiring to me to become as active as possible and learn from all: whether music students, music peers, or music teachers.

Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you soon.