Freelance Services Tools to Market Your Music Business

January 1, 2025

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Finding success as an independent musician often requires more than a high level of musical proficiency and a professional working demeanor. As most freelance musicians already know, you’re a small business and quite a bit of work is required outside of your performance. Here are a few things to think about, as well as some tools the AFM has in place that may help you along the way.

Get Online—Build Your Website

Even with social media prominence, having a professional website with your contact information, a brief biography, and photos of you and your group is still essential. Owning your own URL, along with a custom email address, adds to your credibility and professionalism. There are web hosting services that offer easy-to-use drag-and-drop site builders and a variety of templates. It’s important to take the time to explore your options, as some of these services can be costly and their site builders may be proprietary. This means that even if you manage to migrate your site to another host, future edits might require raw coding skills.

The AFM’s GoProHosting.com can take migration from most popular site-building platforms, especially if you don’t anticipate needing to make many changes to your site. GoPro Hosting’s two greatest strengths are simple site building with WordPress and offering our members an affordable price. After all, GoPro Hosting isn’t a for-profit entity. For most users, the savings fully offset annual membership dues. And because the platform is simple to learn, you can easily manage your own site and take it anywhere you want!

Get Your Band Booked

Listing yourself or your act with a booking agent can be an effective way to connect with potential buyers. Many acts in the US and Canada are still booked via booking agencies and musicians find work via various booking websites. The AFM continues to offer a booking agent program with a small roster of signatories, and we are always open to adding new agents. AFM registered booking agents can be found when you log into the “For Members” section of the AFM.org website. Many of them have a national presence and operate across regions.

The Federation offers the AFMEntertainment.org site for listing members and their acts available for booking. The AFM handles all communication with the buyer and will act on your behalf to guarantee a contract and rates at or above the minimum. There is no additional fee to be listed, but if you book a gig, an agency fee will be deducted from the final amount. If you’re mystified by listings of scale rates and filling out one of our single engagement contracts, this may be a great introduction as AFM Entertainment will take care of that for you! Your local can help with this as well. There are many educational resources on our website to help you better understand our contracts and their appropriate application.

Selling Your Music on GoPro Tunes

The Federation has a site for selling your music directly to consumers as well. With high-quality .wav files of your album (or individual songs), and documentation that you filed the correct paperwork, you can list your music on GoPro Tunes at no cost. Artists keep 100% of the purchase price, minus a small fee for payment processing. If you’re interested in listing your album on GoPro Tunes, visit https://goprotunes.afmadlib.com.

Network Within Your AFM Local

While you meet people at the gigs you play, there are other opportunities to engage with fellow union members. One of the best ways for freelance musicians to connect with their musical community is to participate in your local. Locals hold regular membership meetings and social gatherings, providing opportunities to network with others facing similar challenges. Many locals have sub-groups centered around specific genres or areas of work—symphonic music or jazz, freelance and independent musicians—or even opportunities to participate in transformative social change with diversity and equity committees.

If your local currently doesn’t have such groups, it’s likely that other members will be interested in forming one. You can organize your own group of like-minded colleagues by reaching out to your local officers for assistance or by contacting the AFM Freelance Services and Membership Development Department to learn how to get started. Smaller locals, in particular, will appreciate your enthusiasm and engagement. Engage, network, and take an active role in strengthening your music community.

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