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The Wire Between the Stacks
The Wire Between the Stacks For roughly forty years, from 1960 into the early 2000s the San Francisco Bay Area ran one of the most complete independent music ecosystems in the country. I recently wrote an article on Arhoolie, Downhome Records, Chris Strachwitz’s legacy and what that meant and was worth to the Bay Area…
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The Independent Artists Guide
The Independent Artists Guide To Releasing Music —your step-by-step roadmap for navigating the modern music landscape on your own terms. Releasing music as an independent artist means wearing every hat, from sound engineer and visual director to distribution manager and marketing strategist. This hub keeps growing — check back occasionally for new parts. I recordI…
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The Waterfall Music Release Strategy
The Waterfall Release Strategy How to Release an Album Without Watching It Evaporate. Part 2 of 9 — The Independent Artists Guide Here’s an inconvenient truth, delivered with love: putting your record on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon isn’t a business plan. It’s a business card. A shiny one — but nobody’s ever retired on…
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Playlisting: What It Actually Takes
Playlisting: What It Actually Takes Hint, it’s not digital. Part 6 of 9 — The Independent Artists Guide Playlist placement gets treated as the definitive gateway to independent success. It isn’t. It’s a transactional utility, riddled with predatory practices and passive listeners, that too many artists mistake for a career strategy. Operational Hazards Pay-for-placement curators…
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The Search for the Right Distributor
The Search for the Right Distributor So You Made a Record. Now What? A Field Guide to Not Getting Fleeced by Your Distributor. Part 5 of 9 — The Independent Artists Guide Here’s what nobody tells you when you’re dreaming up your record: mixing and mastering is the fun problem. The one that keeps you…
