It’s always been hard to succeed as a musician, however it might be as hard as ever in today’s industry. Some say the internet’s helped the industry… some say it hasn’t.. either way all you can do is evolve along with it and try to take advantage of it as best as you can. Through our work in the music business, and a lot of research that we’ve done on the subject, we’ve developed a list of what we think are some good guidelines and tricks of the trade to follow of which would greatly help improve your chances at succeeding in the music business today. Hope it helps you and please let us know your thoughts on the issue!

First off, You MUST have skill and musical talent, this is assumed in this article as an unwritten rule, so if you don’t poses that… don’t waste your time to keep reading!
This article is for legit musicians and intended to give some tips, insider MuzicNotez recommendations and guidelines to succeed in a very difficult industry, with that being said… be sure to comment on the article with anymore tips to permanently add to help other fellow musicians.

1. PROMOTION

1. Have a website/.com Press Kit
1. To send into mags/radio stations/promoters
2. MuzicNotez Profile or MuzicNotez Elite Press Kit
2. Get your name/music out there as much as possible
1. As many profiles as possible, obviously social media’s huge
2. Facebooks huge… but time consuming
1. Use BuyFansHere.com
3. Purchase Internet ads (Google, FB, MuzicNotez)
4. Post links back to your pages as much as possible
5. Contact magazines/promoters to promote you
6. Radio stations/internet stations/playlists (MNotez radio)
3. Promote all your gigs and shows thoroughly
4. Cross promotion with other musicians/promoter’s/websites
5. Avoid coming off as spammy, no fans like that

2. Adapt and Evolve

1. The industry has drastically evolved with the emergence of the internet and other new technologies, you must evolve with it!
2. Understand how the internet can help/hurt you
1. Help:
1. Creates unlimited possibilities
2. Help you become heard immediately across the world free of charge
3. Can immediately contact anybody in the business
4. Can possibly find your big break
5. Inexpensive/free promotion
6. Level playing field between indie/major labels
2. Hurt:
1. Creates a lot more competition
1. HAVE TO BE UNIQUE to stand out
2. Piracy… stealing of music, harder to make sales
3. Hard to see a true identity of an individual or band through the internet, what you see is what you get, make sure what your fans see is accurate
3. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
1. Meta Tags, keyword tags, title tags, keyword rich content related to who you are
2. This will all help with organic search engine results coming back to you and your music, aka… FREE promo!
4. Create content to push links back to your site
5. Blog about music related topics/yourself on various music websites like MuzicNotez Magazine
6. Stay up to date with the times in music/the industry and new ways to be heard/have success with it

3. BE PROFESSIONAL

1. Treat your music like a product and the music business like the business that it is
2. Be well mannered and polite to other promoters
3. Don’t burn any bridges
1. Somebody does a job for you, like a producer, even if they are a friend… pay them for what they did!
4. If your good enough, try to find a manager
1. Such as our online web manager (coming soon!)
2. This way you can better utilize your time to work on your music than the promo side of things
5. NETWORKING
1. Contact as many promoters/talent agents as you can
1. We recommend The ETA (Emerging Talent Agency)
2. Network with other musicians/small recording companies/music industry professionals
6. Join charity shows (relay for life and such, good PR)
7. INVEST in yourself, gotta spend money to make money
8. Brand yourself
1. Have a legit name… maybe even moto/philosophy that sticks in people’s heads
2. Order/Create custom merchandise/apparel with your “Brand” name/moto on it to sell and hand out at shows or online
1. MNotez.com can get you a deal!
3. Try to have the best instruments/equipment you can
4. Invest in ads/online promo
5. Have quality product/good quality music
1. We recommend Online Recording Masters
9. Put the EGO aside
10. Have PATIENCE, success take’s time like with any business venture
11. Be PERSISTANT, like with any business this is key, you are your own boss and your own product

4. Create hype about yourself

1. Anything you can do to grow your fan base, be creative
2. Join music contests
1. MuzicNotez Battles
2. Battle of the Bands
3. Various online song contests to get fans involved
3. Giveaways (your own branded products possibly/music/tickets to shows)
4. Be controversial to create conversation about yourself
1. Through your tracks, videos or things you say
5. Have an internet presence, use social networks to your advantage to try and connect with your fans

5. ORIGINALITY

1. Have your own style, be yourselves
2. Be innovative, everybody’s doing the same thing, try to find your own niche and way to become heard
1. Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate
3. Take yourself seriously, believe in yourself, be confident!
1. Have to have your own originals
2. Have to have continual fan support and hype
3. New releases and more than a few songs
4. CD artwork and website for maximum status
5. Send out emails to your mailing list linking to your website or profile page (MuzicNotez) about updates, releases or viral publications including hype generating news that gets input from fans for a CD giveaway or something
6. If you do your own recording and are good at it, offer to help out another musician’s for growth, growing your skills and making new contacts

Following these tips and suggestions by no way guarantee’s your success, but with the research we’ve done, musicians we’ve interviewed and success we’ve seen in this new age music industry, these are the tips we’ve come up with to try and help you all succeed.
The music business has evolved with the internet’s evolution, creating more opportunities, but also creating more competition. You have to be on top of your game and evolve with it. Love what you do, put that passion into your music, get as big a following as you can and reach with your music to hopefully make a connection between your music and your growing fan base. Eventually hopefully you catch your big break and achieve the dream of making music for a living!
From the MuzicNotez Crew… GOOD LUCK to you all 😀