I invited Birgitta Sunding Thorsen a.k.a. Queen Bee, CEO and Manager of the Artista Group, to give our fans insights into the music business. For those who aren’t familiar with the Artista Group, I asked Birgitta to tell us about her company: “We are a management company, which means we manage artists from around the world, mainly Europe and the United States. What is artist management? Birgitta explained the business aspects first: “We look after the business side of the industry and product, to make sure everything is working for the artist from A to Z. We get a hold of record labels, companies to work with, artists to collaborate with and we do the booking to make sure they go on tour.” In addition, artist management includes perfecting the artist’s image: “We look to see if the artist needs to change anything about their personality or anything about themselves as an artist, such as the genre they work in. We work on artist development, from where they start to where they want to end.” Birgitta Sunding Thorsen has an interesting history. She’s from Denmark, and she started her artist management business while working as a trained chef: “After I finished working in the restaurant business, I got into catering. Every time I did catering for people, they would ask me to get the entertainment too.  As part of my service (I wouldn’t get paid for it), I would get whatever band or standup comedian or speaker they wanted. I did that for a very long time; and then it dawned on me, all these bookies and managers are earning money with the artists that I’m getting them jobs for. I had all these contacts. So, I decided the next time a client asked...

Is your music ready to be heard on the radio? Nearly 100% of artists think they are just because they have a recording or have had people praise them at a show. It’s not always true. Being “radio-ready” requires more than just a recording, but I’ll get to that in a bit. There are a lot of things in the music industry that have changed in the last decade including distribution options, the rise of social networks for marketing and branding, and the incredible opportunities that indie and unsigned bands have to make money doing what they love. I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of many great young (and older) artists’ stories in their early days going from completely unknown in their music communities to having radio airplay and doing world tours. My perspective is a little different than many in this field, but it’s from specific place: radio broadcasting. Indie music hasn’t always had the prominence in mainstream culture that it has today. In 2003, after working in radio for 5 years, I was really sick of being inundated with the same 20 songs played endlessly on every radio station across the country. Fortunately, there was public radio (NPR and community stations), where diversity thrived and non-pop artists could get exposure. I worked for an NPR affiliate station in Texas and was inspired to create a program that showcased a variety of artists, both known and unknown. That program is The Appetizer Radio show. In the past 10+ years through hosting the show, I’ve been able to discover some great emerging talent. The focus of the two-hour weekly program is to showcase songs and artists that aren’t getting commercial airplay. Most of these artists have music on digital distribution outlets, like...

I can’t believe we are celebrating the first birthday of The Amused Now Blog and YouTube channel. I have met many talented artists and shared many interesting stories and helpful advice. Indie artists are the bravest and truest artists in the world. This past year has been more rewarding than anything I could have imagined.  Yes, Amused Now is becoming known as one of the premiere sites to promote indie artists; but what really excites me is the community and partnerships that we are building as we grow. I love how we support each other and share each other’s successes and introduce each other to those who can help advance our careers. How many sites can say that? I want to celebrate the successes of our five most popular posts this year. I am often asked how artists can increase their reach and attract new fans. Well, I’ll let these real life examples answer that question: #1 Smiz the Moneykid ~ Office Boys NY These guys are promotion machines! Smiz the Moneykid and Villa Dom have multiple Twitter accounts, one for each of their projects. I just looked up their post and, since their post was published in February, they have over 1700 tweets. They heavily promote on Facebook and Google+ too. Lesson learned: The lifetime value of your post depends on you. As a promoter, when I publish your post, I give it my undivided attention for 1-3 days. As long as the information in your post is relevant, you can link to it from your website and social media accounts for long after the publish date. Take advantage of all your internet real estate and pump up the volume! #2 Chris Browne ~ Busker Rhyme I love Chris Browne’s positivity. I asked...

When Agnieszka Sorycz interviewed me for her Film Marketing Blog, she asked me “What are the most common mistakes made by artists when it comes to promotion?” That really got me thinking about why some artists have wildly successful interviews and posts and why some artists don’t. The answer is simple: The most successful Amused Now posts are those where the artist shares responsibility for promotion with me.  This led me to identify the top 3 promotion mistakes an artist can make and how to avoid them: Mistake #1: Assume Promotion is the Promoter’s Job Through this Amused Now Blog and YouTube channel, I provide a vehicle for artists to share their work, backgrounds and insights. I can promote to my fans, but I am not you and I do not know your fans like you do. Every artist has to take ownership of their promotional activities. The most successful artists today are social media savvy. They have researched the available social media sites, studied the communication nuances of each one, found out where their fans hang out and hang out there too, making connections and building relationships. As an artist, you don’t have to be on every social media site, just the sites where your fans hang out most. Establish a web presence. If you don’t have your own website and don’t want to take on that responsibility, then setup a profile on an established site that fits your image. Fans want a place to go where they can find out more about you, what’s new and about upcoming gigs and public appearances. Keep your site updated and fresh, so fans return on a regular basis. Link your website through social media posts every time you update it. Mistake #2: Assume You Have a Private...

Tommy Darker is one of the leading music industry thinkers. He’s coined the term “musicpreneur” to describe “a musician who is also a startup, an entrepreneur.” In early February, Tommy Darker spoke at Marché International du Disque et de l’Edition Musicale (MIDEM) 2014 in Cannes, France. Tommy spoke about how the musicpreneur can start evolving the future of the music industry. He received really great feedback from his session. “I realized that the music industry is more vibrant than we think.” Tommy took away the following impressions of the music industry after the attending the conference: “The music industry is not that big. The people taking part in the industry are not so far away from musicians. They are quite easily reachable; you can talk with them any time. They are not gods. “ “There is money in the music industry. It’s just not in the pockets of musicians. Right now, money is in licensing, getting your music in video games or movies or series. There is money in hardware; I see beats, the service and the headphones becoming really big. I see money in collaboration between artists and brands. I see a lot of money in the services that cater to the needs of musicians. For example, Spotify or other aggregators help a lot of musicians and make money in the long tail, which means a little money from a lot of musicians adds up to a really big sum.” The music industry has become a lot more than just selling songs. Per Tommy Darker, “Now that everything is digitalized, I think it’s common sense that you cannot make a living, in general, as an artist selling individual pieces of art, unless you are a sculptor or photographer or painter. So, that’s the...

Many of us participate in arts and entertainment projects. We long to be discovered. Funny thing is, if you’re like me, most of your friends don’t even know about your creative side. We should be our biggest promoter, yet we don’t take advantage of many opportunities to promote ourselves, our projects and our art. Here are 6 tips that helped me increase my visibility. Spread the word and get noticed! 1. Believe It I had to start believing that I was a successful artist and entrepreneur before I could become a successful artist and entrepreneur. Instinctively, we know that we create our own reality. If you don’t believe you’re successful, how can you be a success? I set aside time each day to think about what my life will be like when I reach my goals. What does that feel like? Pretty good! 2. Talk About It I bet most of your friends and colleagues have no idea that you are an up-and-coming artist. How can people support you if you don’t talk about your projects? At least once each day, work your project into the normal flow of a conversation. You’d be amazed with the results. 3. Get Business Cards If it’s in black-and-white, it must be true! Design, purchase and carry business cards that reflect the successful you. I designed beautiful fine artist cards with one of my paintings as the background and business cards with the Amused Now logo. Include images from your work. Maybe even get a logo. If you’re strapped for cash, I’ve seen great logos from fiverr.com. Try 99designs.com to get input from multiple designers. When you talk about your project with people you don’t know you, always leave your card, so they can get in touch with you afterwards....

Is there anything fun about being a starving artist? Not really. If truth be told, maybe you’re not starving, but I bet entertainment is not your full-time gig. You’ve probably tried lots of ways to get noticed in hopes of being discovered.  Hopefully, you’ve made some money along the way, so you can keep investing in your creative future. Here are some suggestions to help turn free into paid: 1. Tell your fans how they can help A website is the best way to communicate with your fans, and you can customize it with information that jumpstarts your career. If you cannot afford your own website, take advantage of what’s free, build a business Facebook page or Word Press blog. Make sure your website tells your fans how they can pay to support you by including: Schedule of your upcoming gigs and personal appearances. Links to your paid content, where you sell your music, books, films and fan gear. If you are a member of multiple projects, include links to those sites too. The best way to contact you for paying gigs and appearances or to buy more content. At minimum, include an email address. 2. Lead fans to your paid content Turn free into paid. Research popular websites that specialize in selling your type of entertainment, be it music, books or films. Choose a site that you can afford. Keep the content fresh. Now link your free content to your paid content. At minimum, free content should link to your website which links to your paid content. 3. Get  their contact information Never miss an opportunity to get your fan’s contact information. Sign up for an email service like Mail Chimp or Constant Contact. Your website you ask your fans to join your email list. Take...

Welcome to the Amused Now Blog, the first step in my online journey to help artists make a living doing what they love. The world is full of talented artists. I want to provide the opportunity for talented artists to sell their art for profit, so the world has the opportunity to experience their creations. I understand. I create fine art and I live with a family of musicians. My husband is a world-class singer and electric bass player. My son plays bass violin in the oldest youth orchestra in the United States. I’m working to change the paradigm that expects artists to give away their art for free in hopes of becoming famous at some unknown future date. The internet provides an excellent method for artists to take the control of their destiny, distribute their artwork and promote themselves. Later this year, I plan to soft-launch the Amused Now marketplace: Storefronts for distributing digital entertainment, starting with music, films and eBooks. Pricing that allows independent artists to recoup their production expenses. Talent scouts that spotlight exceptional talent through hosted videos (imagine YouTube meets MTV). This Amused Now Blog is about artists helping artists with business and promotional advice. I plan to outline tips and techniques that help turn hobbies and dreams into profitable businesses. Our audience and fans will support us if we offer them the opportunity. Join me on this exciting journey: Spread the word to other artists. Participate and leave comments. Share your knowledge by offering to guest blog. As more artists make it on their own, it paves the way for even more artists to make it too. How cool is that? Cynthia Kahn @Amused_Now YouTube Facebook...