Music Business, Resources

Planning Your Operations and Infrastructure: What Support Do I Need to Build My Business?

November 1, 2014

by John Stiernberg, member Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) There’s a difference between your strategic plan and your operating plan. The strategic plan describes the foundation of your business over the next three to five years. Your operating plan answers the question, “How am I going to hit the numbers this year and next?” What […]

Scholarship for Working Musicians to Attend The Policy Summit

October 7, 2014

Scholarship for Working Musicians The Future of Music Policy Summit is just around the corner and it is important that as many musicians attend as possible. This is why a limited number of musicians will be granted a scholarship so they will be able to attend. Not only that, but one of the scholarship attendees will be given […]

Future of Music Policy Summit

October 6, 2014

Future of Music Policy Summit “Music never stops evolving, and the music industry is no different. Understanding the driving forces behind that change is more important now than ever. For more than thirteen years, the Future of Music Policy Summit has brought together the creators and the curators, the developers and the debaters, the managers […]

The Ins and Outs of Digital Performance Royalties: How SoundExchange Can Help

September 2, 2014

SoundExchange is quickly becoming one of the most important names within the music industry. The nonprofit performance rights organization collects royalty payments from more than 2,500 digital radio services—like Pandora, iHeartRadio, SiriusXM, and Music Choice—and distributes money to recording artists and record labels. To date, the organization has paid more than $2 billion in royalties […]

Local 257 Stars at Nashville NAMM

September 2, 2014

The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) held its summer show for the sixth year at Nashville’s Music City Center in July. NAMM is comprised of 9,200 member companies in 99 countries. It’s no small venue, and there were almost 450 exhibitors. There were more than 1,500 brands of instruments and accessories, and talent beyond belief. […]

Are Your E-mails Brief and to the Point?

August 1, 2014

I know how it goes. You get a lead on a club gig, a corporate event, or a wedding, and one of the first things you do is get an e-mail address and send a note to see if the person is really interested and if you should pursue it further. But hold on for […]

Music Business: Sorting Out the Decision Process

July 13, 2014

by John Stiernberg, member Local 47 (Los Angeles, CA) Planning is important to success in the music business. There are strategic plans, marketing plans, sales plans, and financial plans—the list goes on. They are all important. The primary value of any plan is decision support. A good plan provides a platform for making critically important […]

Does Your Demo Video Make an Impact

June 9, 2014

I try to help union musicians get more work in any way I can. Years ago, an AFM member would send me a demo CD to listen to and ask if I could possibly pass it along. Then that CD changed to a demo DVD, where agents, promoters, or anyone looking to book a group […]

How Did Your Last Gig Go?

April 8, 2014

The now defunct Eastern Airlines used to have a slogan: “We’re only as good as your last flight.” Maybe the airline is gone, but that slogan had a lot of truth in it. You’re only as good as your last gig in the mind of the people who heard you the last time you played. […]

Working Musician

March 6, 2014

There’s no end to the ways you can make money playing a musical instrument. Getting paid really well, however, is a little more tricky. You’re a professional musician. You belong to the AFM. You spent a long time learning your trade. Your paycheck for playing should reflect your qualifications. It’s one thing just to wait […]