Let’s get it out of the way: insurance is not the most exciting topic we cover here at Performer....
Band Management
Learn more about the music business and band management, including music licensing, booking your own DIY tour, music publishing, copyright law, music royalties, music promotion, music distribution and performing rights organizations.
7 Tips For Boosting Social Media Engagement for Musicians
As a musician, you probably already use social media to promote your songs, invite people to your...
Marketing Your Streams with Feature.fm
Music streaming has changed the landscape of the music business greatly for consumers, labels, and...
Starting an Indie Label and Getting Signed
An Conversation with Anchor Eighty Four CEO Cody Jones LA-based Anchor Eighty Four Records was first established in January 2010, after CEO Cody Jones moved from Northern California to seek a more...
Best Practices for Following up with Press
A Quick List of Do’s and Don’ts [Editor’s note – at Performer, we receive countless CDs each month, and even more digital submissions. And as advocates for DIY and indie artists, we believe in...
Legal Pad: Recording Covers & Mechanical Licenses
The compulsory mechanical license is a mechanism that allows anyone to record and distribute your composition (or allow you to make a cover of someone else’s work). There are several requirements...
CASH Music Delivers Free, Open Source Tools For Musicians: an Interview with Maggie Vail
“We're building a totally free platform of tools for artists and labels to sell, share, and promote music directly to their fans. We feel it's vital that all musicians have access to basic web tools...
Touring Advice for First-Timers with Daniel Huffman
Daniel Huffman has played guitar with bands like Comet, The Flaming Lips and The Polyphonic Spree and has several years of touring...
Legal Pad: Digital Resale and the Industry’s Crusade Against the First Sale Doctrine
Are Artists Cheated out of Royalties From Secondhand MP3 Sales? A LEGAL FIGHT IS BREWING IN THE DIGITAL RESALE MARKETPLACE. The question at the heart of the battle is whether it’s legal to resell a...
Tour Van Survival Guide
Prepare for Unexpected Bumps on the Road Going out on tour for the first time can be fun and exciting, but there are some important things to keep in mind before piling into the van and hitting the...
Maximize Facebook Marketing to Build Your Fan Base
Most musicians know that social media is an essential tool for building and maintaining a fan base. What many do not know is how to really take advantage of those tools to create measurable...
Legal Pad: Copyright Basics & Registering Your Music
The U.S. Copyright office made significant improvements to their online registration system a few years back, rendering the old “long form” application process nearly extinct for registration of...
THEFT PREVENTION: Keep Your Gear Safe From Criminal Hands
Don't advertise; get rid of all the bumper stickers on your car that relate to a piece of musical gear you own. It's like saying, “This car contains any of the following: Ampeg, Fender, Mesa/Boogie,...