Earn It Yourself - an online band community.

I recently came across this site, which is a community site for bands to network with each other, trade shows, read articles to get some tips on touring, radio, etc. plus bands can sell their music through the site as well.   They’re also affiliated with BYOFL (Book Your Own Fuckin’ Life) and you can search that entire database via this site.  Another thing that’s interesting is the fact they host a weekly online radio show that deals with the realities of being in an indie band in this day and age.  The episode I tuned into was talking about licensing songs for use in film, commercials, etc, and music publishing.  Listeners can also call in to ask questions and get answers live.  The site also has an arrangement with Warped Tour, that will allow EarnItYourself bands to win the chance to play on the Kevin Says stage this upcoming year.

The most impressive thing about this site, though, is their philosophy.  “Earn It Yourself” is their take on the classic Do It Yourself mentality, but adds to those ethics, the fact that it’s okay to earn money from your band or your music, providing you do it while preserving your integrity and sticking to your personal values.  And you know what?  They’re right.

Are you in this for the right reasons?

No matter what style of music you make,  please do yourself and everyone who will ever hear you a favour…Think about this for a minute: Determine what your goal is, why you are making music, and how making music will help you achieve said goal.  And be brutally honest with yourself.

If your answer to the above request goes something like this “I wanna be a ROCKSTAR” or “I have to be famous” then put your instruments down right now and never pick them back up, ever.  Why?  Because if all you want to do is get famous, there are much easier ways to achieve that goal that are far more efficient and don’t waste anyone elses time either.  If, however, your answer is more like “because music is the only thing that drives me” or “music is how I express myself, and I have a statement to make to the world with it,” then carry on.  You’re the musicians who will have realistic careers, and you’re the ones the world wants to hear from.

This is the only way to truly connect with your audience.  Anything but true, honest music is going to smack of insincerity and while you might fool some people for a little while, it’s not going to work forever.  Music fans are pretty smart, and they’ll get wise to you pretty quickly.

“Rich and famous” shouldn’t be your target goal, it’s merely a by-product of relentless hard work and practice, unwavering belief, thousands of hours and days spent struggling to spread your message the only way you know how, and natural-born-talent.

A Couch-surfing social network for bands on tour.

As stated on their website:

“Better Than The Van is a couchsurfing-social network created to help touring bands and musicians. It’s a great way for bands and music fans to connect with each other for a practical reason. You can find a place to crash, look for bands to swap shows with or discover new music. Bands, fans, music lovers; all are welcome. You’ll meet cool people and help make touring a little easier.”

Having not tried out their services first-hand, I make no claim as to the quality or validity of what the site proports to offer, however I do think it’s an interesting concept that bands should be aware of.  A couch-surfing network connecting bands with friendly floors and sofas around the world is a noble concept, and those of you feeling adventurous enough to try it as an alternative to sleeping in the van, camping, or spending all your money on hotels, let me know how it works out for you.

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Eventbrite - Online ticketing for everyone

Chances are, if you’re in a band, you’ve put on your own shows before. Eventbrite is a great tool for offering online ticketing to your events, and the best part is that it’s free unless you want to charge money for the tickets. They’ve partnered with Paypal for the accounting part, so your fans can pay by credit card or directly from their Paypal accounts. Their fees for paid-tickets are reasonable too. (2.5% per ticket, plus credit-card purchase fees for applicable tickets of an additional 2-3%).

Just another barrier that is being torn down, allowing bands to function as effectively, if not MORE effectively than “the old ways” of doing business in this industry.

All in all, a great service, for reasonable rates. And I love that they only make money when you do.

You're steering the ship... are you paying attention?

If you are in a band who is serious about getting your music out into the world, and becoming professionals (making your livelihood from your music) as you get more successful, you will slowly develop “your team”… your manager, a booking agent, a publishing company, perhaps a label, a publicist, a radio promoter, your favorite concert promoters in each market, sound-engineers, producers, etc. There will be a great number of people who are not actually in your band, who you will assign certain responsibilities to, and they will be charged with overseeing and helping you build parts of your business.

The importance of surrounding yourself with people who you trust, and who share the same vision of success as you almost goes without saying, but there’s something else you must never forget about all these other people you work with as you navigate the music industry: For each and every one of them, there can (and will) always be “another band.” A manager will work with several acts at a time, labels and agents have rosters of artists, promoters deal with tons of different bands, as do publishers, producers etc. But for you, this band is probably the only one you’ll be in. Or at most, one of only a small number, and hopefully it is one of the most important things in your life. So no matter how many people work with you, or for you, it is ALWAYS up to you. If you don’t care, you can’t expect anyone else to. If you don’t ask the questions, or get involved with every aspect of your career, you have no one to blame but yourselves if the path is not going in the right direction. If your label isn’t marketing you the way you want to be marketed, it’s your responsibility to stand up and say so. If you’re not playing shows with the right type of bands, don’t settle, and don’t be afraid – say something. Ask a question.

Be the active driving force behind everything that happens in your band’s name, and if you don’t understand why something is happening (or isn’t happening), you owe it to yourself to ask the questions….after all, it’s your band.