Music Growth Talks: Podcast For Musicpreneurs

Stacey Sherman, who runs RSP Entertainment Marketing, knows what it takes to execute a successful PR campaign. And on this WeSpin Recipes podcast episode, she shares the harsh facts you might not be aware of regarding publicity. Listen to the show to learn what exactly to expect from a publicist, how much a PR agency charges, the typical response rate from press, and how to start a PR campaign on your own if you can’t afford hiring a professional yet. And, by the way, if you thought that getting bad feedback from media was bad – you were wrong. Some of the topics covered in the episode: - Why PR is more difficult even than what it seems - At what stages of a music career to work with a publicist? - Setting clear expectations before hiring a PR agency - When negative feedback from press is good - How many times to follow up with each media contact - A checklist for organizing your own PR outreach - A typical cost of a PR campaign Go to http://wespin.co/wsr36/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.c

This WeSpin Recipes podcast episode features an audio lesson, previously available only to the members of WeSpin.co. From this recording, you will learn the proven and optimal structure of a biography, based on a real-world example. It’s a simple formula that every artist can implement. Check out the PDF with annotations in the show notes at http://wespin.co/wsr35/

Alexia Erlichman is the founder of MusicGorilla, a subscription-based platform allowing independent musicians get their songs licensed by labels, music publishers, as well as TV, film, gaming, and advertising companies. What makes MusicGorilla interesting is that the service doesn’t charge song submission fees, and doesn’t take a percentage of artists’ licensing deals. The opportunities presented on the platform are hand-picked, and of the highest quality. In this WeSpin Recipes podcast interview, Alexia talked on her impressive background in the entertainment industry, the reasons MusicGorilla has an exceptional customer support, and how it’s different from similar services. Probably even more importantly, from this episode you will learn if MusicGorilla is the right fit for you right now. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr34/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to get a free WeSpin postcard by supporting the podcast.

Chris Thompson is a co-founder of SplashFlood, a music mobile app to be released in late Spring. SplashFlood is aimed to serve both musicians, who want to spread their music beyond existing audiences, and listeners, eager to discover songs from new independent musicians. In this WeSpin Recipes podcast episode, Chris talked on what musicians can learn from startups, how SplashFlood is different from anything available on the market, what the “Influence Builder” is – and how it will allow artists to raise to the top inside the app solely thanks to their talent and motivation. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr33/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to get a free WeSpin postcard by supporting the podcast.

Nate Maingard is a modern troubadour, whose art is supported by “The Nateives” – a community of loyal fans, pledging monthly amounts at his Patreon page. This indie-folk musician’s music, deep lyrics, charisma and the values Nate stands for unite people, and inspire them to change their lives for the better. Nate Maingard has been going through a lot of changes himself in the latest years, quitting a well-paid job to follow his calling, and discovering the entrepreneurial side of the music industry. In this WeSpin Recipes podcast, we talked to Nate about how he discovered Patreon and why he switched from per-release to monthly payments; how his patrons fuel his passion and creativity, and the challenges that growth can bring. Listen to the episode to also hear the story of Nate receiving the best birthday gift an artist can expect from a fan! Go to http://wespin.co/wsr32/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to get a free WeSpin postcard by supporting the podcast.

It’s one thing when you know what it takes to succeed in an industry from your experience. But when you combine your experience with insights from numerous professionals and people who have made it themselves – you have a much richer picture. Kelly Castor, who runs the MusicBizCast podcast, and who has been helping companies succeed for over 30 years now, have interviewed a lot of great minds in the music industry – and knows what ideas and principles are consistent across various fields of the music business. And he will tell you. In this WeSpin Recipes episode, Kelly becomes a guest of a podcast himself, and shares inspiring ideas on what it takes to succeed in music, as well as practical tips on time management and importance of educating yourself in more than just music creation. Listen to the interview to also learn what’s next for MusicBizCast, and Kelly’s music career. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr31/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to get a free WeSpin postcard by suppor

Have you heard the term “Growth Hacker” before? If no, this WeSpin Recipes podcast episode is definitely for you. And if you have, now you will also learn if the Growth Hacking concept works in the world of music. Clyde Smith, the founder of Flux Research, Dance Land, Crowdfunding for Musicians and an ex-Senior Contributor at Hypebot, was among the first to ever cover the topic of Growth Hacker Marketing in the context of the music industry. “Growth Hacker Marketing” is the name of Ryan Holiday’s book, by the way, who Clyde also interviewed for Hypebot last year. In this 30th episode of our podcast, you will get the basic understanding of Growth Hacking, its origins, and why it’s a mindset, and not a set of tools. While we mainly covered the basics and theory of the subject, you will see how to start applying this highly effective mindset to your music career today. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr30/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to get a free WeSpin postcard by supporting the p

Aaron Bethune is a music business consultant, manager, author, and the founder of PlayitLoudMusic, Above the Noise and JAM, among a number of other projects. In this WeSpin Podcast episode, Aaron told his amazing story of how he started in the music industry, talked on his (not less amazing) current ventures, “niche” music business case studies and, of course, his book called “Musicpreneur: The Creative Approach to Making Money in Music”. Listen to the interview to learn the mindset of doing business and networking like a true Musicpreneur. Some of the topics covered in the episode: • Aaron’s road to a professional music industry career. • Figuring out ways to distinguish yourself from others. • A case study of a musician/yoga teacher. • “Your band is a brand” and what it means to you. • “Build relationships before asking for anything.” • Networking outside of the music industry. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr29/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to get a free WeSpin postcard by s

James Moore is the founder of the Independent Music Promotions agency, and the author of highly acclaimed book on music promotion called Your Band Is A Virus. In this WeSpin Recipes podcast with Andrew Apanov, James talked a lot about getting press – something that all artists want desperately. How do you craft your email? How to catch a journalist’s interest? What platforms to focus on? Listen to the episode to learn James’ music PR insights, and check out James’ expanded edition of Your Band Is A Virus for more tips on music promotion. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr28/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to get a free WeSpin postcard by supporting the podcast.

Michael Hoy, the co-founder of BoomboxFM, talks on the evolution of the platform – from Indie Bundles, to Music Box, to its current (and final) title, BoomboxFM. BoomboxFM is a discovery platform for music listeners, and a very targeted marketing platform for musicians. Listen to this WeSpin Recipes podcast episode to learn how it can work for you both as a music listener and an artist. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr27/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to get a free WeSpin postcard by supporting the podcast.

Being frustrated with often unfair existing advertising platforms, Lex Davis and his business partner launched Beatdek several years ago – a service designed to offer electronic musicians a better way to advertise their music. Beatdek is where EDM fans can discover new tracks and get paid for listening to them on the platform. And this is where, as an artist, you can pay to get plays on YouTube or Soundcloud. In this WeSpin Recipes podcast episode, Lex shared how their credits system works, what are the different ways to discover new music on Beatdek, and talked about label promotion and his tips on networking. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr26/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to get a free WeSpin postcard by supporting the podcast.

Loren Weisman is a music business consultant, speaker and the author of the popular music industry book, the full title of which reads (and describes the essence of it well): "The Artists Guide to Success in the Music Business: The ‘Who, What, When, Where, Why & How of the Steps That Musicians & Bands Have to Take to Succeed in Music". Loren, who's been in the industry for over twenty years, currently writes the official "Music Business For Dummies" book, which will be out in the Summer. In this WeSpin Recipes podcast, we talked to Loren Weisman about ways to engage your fans, why connections and likes don't equal conversions or sales, various income streams for musicians, reasons you may not be getting any funding and why you should never say things like "Thanks for 1,000 Likes on Facebook" (with tips on what you better do instead). Go to http://wespin.co/wsr25/ for the show notes and http://getacard.wespin.co/ to learn how to get a free WeSpin postcard by supporting the podcast.

Rob Chadwick is a Senior Account manager at Jukebox PR, as well as the owner of Catch Recordings and Editor of EQTV.dj. Jukebox is a UK-based company serving clubs, music festivals and artists, and in this WeSpin Recipes podcast episode we talked on the popularity of EDM (if it shows any signs of a decline and how it relates to underground electronic music), what countries do particularly well with music festivals, and why you may have to reach out to travel magazines as a music publicist. Listen to the episode to also learn if it's the right time to hire a PR agency, and how much money a PR campaign may cost you. Reach out to Rob on Twitter (the link is in the show notes) if you have any questions to ask. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr24/ for the show notes.

Peter Schwinge is the General Manager of the New Music Seminar, an annual music industry conference held in New York City. In this WeSpin Recipes podcast episode, the first in 2015, Peter talked on the exciting history of the event, how it influenced the launch of SXSW, and what's to come at this year's NMS. Peter also covered the Artist on the Verge (AOV) Project, an annual curated list of the Top 100 national and international artists on the rise. It's a part of New Music Nights, the festival portion of the NMS, which has been exposing upcoming artists to music executives since its origins in 1980 (hosting artists like Dave Matthews Band, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Oasis and Run DMC before they were icons). Listen to the episode to find out more about NMS, as well as to learn some useful networking tips. • The history of New Music Seminar. • Bigger than NYC: how NMS attracts industry professionals from all around the world. • Do we need a new music industry conference? And what it means to run one. • How

Jeremie Varengo is a founder of JTV Digital, a Paris-based music distribution company serving clients all around the world. In this WeSpin Recipes podcast, we talked about the latest news in the distribution world, new platforms, monetising YouTube videos, getting featured on digital stores and much more. Listen to the episode to learn more about JTV Digital and releasing your music online. • Jeremie's background in startups and Universal Music. • Recently added stores and aggregators. • Talks about Youtube's Music Key and Spotify. • How much you can earn on YouTube (and the two ways to monetise your videos). • How does YouTube's Content ID work? • Reasons to get your music videos onto VEVO. • How to setup and edit profiles on iTunes, Spotify and Deezer. • Your chances of being featured on a digital store. • Vinyl: more of a merchandise than a record. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr22 for the show notes and musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. NOTE: This podcast was renamed from WeSpin Recipes to

Benji Rogers is the President & Founder of PledgeMusic, an online D2F music platform allowing artists to pre-sell, market, and distribute their projects. In this WeSpin Recipes conversation, Benji talked on differences between PledgeMusic and crowdfunding websites (and why they don’t consider themselves as one), giving “superfans” an opportunity to spend more on you, and why artists should think like tech companies. Listen to this 30 min episode to learn more not only about PledgeMusic, but the new ways to engage and monetise your fans. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr21 for the show notes and musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. NOTE: This podcast was renamed from WeSpin Recipes to Music Growth Talks after episode #85.

Ross Barber is a graphic and web designer and founder of Electric Kiwi, a Glasgow-based web design firm working with musicians and bands. Ross knows how to build a top-notch website for a music brand, and in this WeSpin Recipes podcast shares best practices, tips and trends that any artist will find useful. From the episode, you will learn how many players and widgets to place on the home page of your website, how to annoy a visitor, where to get inspiration for design, and much more. Some of the topics covered in the conversation: • How Twitter networking can lead to launching a business. • Collecting funny stories from artists in the Bridge The Atlantic podcast. • Why do artists need websites in the first place? • Updating your website around important events. • Handy Wordpress plugins. • Current website trends. • Popups and autoplays: good or bad? • Having a general understanding of ALL aspects of your music business. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr20 for the show notes and musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe

Alex Mitchell is a co-founder of a service that solves an important problem in the music industry, which is gathering an objective feedback on one's music. While there are several companies working on this already, Audiokite has a different approach, and in this We Spin Recipes podcast interview Alex explains it all. In the episode, he talked on why looking in the past and asking music professionals to understand if your song has a hit potential are two bad approaches, why being open to criticism is important, and listed new features of the platform. He clarified how Audiokite works in the first place, too. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr19 for the show notes and musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. NOTE: This podcast was renamed from WeSpin Recipes to Music Growth Talks after episode #85.

Jon Skinner is the Founder and CEO of Music Gateway, a platform connecting musicians and industry professionals, where you as an artist can pitch for opportunities and get paid gigs (or find the right person for your project). "Imagine a dating site but matching music industry roles and services," as they describe it themselves. In this We Spin Recipes interview, Jon – who's been in the music industry for over 20 years – talks on what makes Music Gateway different from competitors, shares tips on succeeding on the platform, and reveals some of the brand new features like the bespoke Private Network solution. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr18 for the show notes and musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. NOTE: This podcast was renamed from WeSpin Recipes to Music Growth Talks after episode #85.

Michael Fiebach is the Founder and CEO of Fame House, an entertainment marketing agency with clients ranging from Eminem, DJ Shadow and Tiesto to Beatport and Ultra Music. In this conversation, Mike talked to We Spin's Cory Wolff on specifics of digital marketing in this day and age, importance of using the right tools, recent campaigns and content windowing. Go to http://wespin.co/wsr17 for the show notes and musicgrowthtalks.com to subscribe to the podcast. NOTE: This podcast was renamed from WeSpin Recipes to Music Growth Talks after episode #85.