10 Resources We Love For Running a Music Business

BOOK: All You need to know about the music BUSINESS

If you’re looking for a digestible, easy-to-comprehend resource that covers literally everything you need to know about the world of music business, then look no further than this definitive guide to the music industry. This book has been dubbed ‘The Industry Bible’ by The Los Angeles Times, and has been spotted at the desks of A&Rs, music lawyers, managers, and entrepreneurs. This book breaks down complex concepts with an air of humor so you feel like you’re learning from a friend rather than reading a dull textbook.

You can purchase the book on Amazon or Audible here.

PODCAST: CREATIVE JUICE

Creative Juice is a podcast brought to you by Indrepreneur, an organization whose mission is to help creatives break out of the local music scene. Every week the hosts of Creative Juice interview successful independent musicians, industry professionals, and music marketers to equip you with the inspiration and information you need to turn your dreams into a reality. There are over 170 episodes out and ready for listening, so sit back and throw those headphones on.

All episodes of Creative Juice podcast can be found here.

live sessionS: MUSIC ENTREPRENEUR CLUB

The Music Entrepreneur Club is a weekly conversation with some of the most forward-thinking artists, managers, marketing experts, executives, and entrepreneurs. These interactive dialogues help aspiring music entrepreneurs gain a real understanding of today’s music industry so that they can best position themselves to build their own successful businesses. In 2020, MEC partnered with BeatStars to bring FREE expert advice and mentorship to the BeatStars community.

Tune in every week, Mondays and Thursdays, to our Twitch channel or catch up on past episodes through the official BeatStars YouTube channel.

book: How To Make It in the New Music Business: Practical Tips on Building a Loyal Following and Making a Living as a Musician

Regarded as an “indispensable guide” by Forbes, this how-to book has been widely adopted by music schools everywhere and has inspired thousands of creatives everywhere to stop waiting around for their “big break”. Learn how you can build a stable career by taking advantage of the many tools at your fingertips: conquering social media, mastering the art of merchandising, embracing authentic fan connection, and simply learning how to persevere. This book has been comprehensively updated to include the latest online trends and developments and offers inspiring success stories across media such as Spotify and Instagram. The result is a must-have for anyone hoping to navigate the increasingly complex yet advantageous landscape that is the modern music industry.

You can purchase the book on Amazon or Audible here.

ORGANIZATION: Music business how to (mbht)

Music Business How To is an educational platform and exclusive community where you, the hard-working artist and creative professional, learn key music business strategies to help you work smarter. Their mission is to empower you to establish successful, sustainable, and fulfilling careers on your own terms by having access to all of the music business information you’ll ever need in one place. MGHT has downloadable checklists, templates, guides, and mini-courses to help you organize and keep track of all your business needs.

Check MBHT out for yourself on their official website.

ONLINE COURSES: UDemy

You don’t need to attend a four-year university to receive a quality music education. Udemy is a massive online course provider that has over 130,000 courses. Simply typing in ‘Music Business’ within Udemy’s search bar leads you to thousands of courses on music marketing, distribution, streaming, copyright, licensing placements, and more. Better yet? Udemy’s courses are almost always heavily discounted. $70-90 courses are often discounted from $10-15. Student loans are a thing of the past. Thanks, internet.

Explore thousands of courses here.

GUIDES: BEATSTARS 30 DAY CHALLENGE

We hope you’ve already dived into the BeatStars 30 Day Challenge, but if not, now is the time! This achievable, day-to-day challenge is a great way to take your beat store from 1 to 10000 within a 30 day period. The challenge covers everything that can help level up your beat store, from setting up a chatbot to automating emails to retain customers. You also don’t have to be fully committed to the 30 days (though we highly recommend it), and can simply go to specific challenges that you feel your beat store could benefit from.

Join the 30 Day Challenge here.

SOCIAL PROMOTION: COPROMOTE

CoPromote is a free co-promotion, co-marketing platform that helps content creators get more reach for their music, brands, YouTube videos, blogs, websites, businesses, etc. Their community is made up of musicians, filmmakers, designers, entrepreneurs, artists, and more. The main idea is for people to work together to get word out about the best new content.

You can use CoPromote to increase your social media's reach. This happens when you get a social post re-shared by other members of the community. People in the community who like your post share it with their followers on social media, exposing it to new audiences.

CoPromote tracks all of the re-shares you get for everything you launch. You can see exactly who is sharing your content and where they're sharing it. Join CoPromote to grow your reach and build your network. It's quick, simple, and highly effective. Oh yeah, and it's also free!

Learn more about CoPromote here.

MUSIC NEWS: Music Business Worldwide

Staying in the loop on all industry news and happenings is a great way to spot upcoming trends, emerging media companies, and how the world of music functions within the day-to-day. Music Business Worldwide also has a podcast you can dive into to find out what the brightest and best brains in the music industry are thinking.

Explore the site here.

ALL-IN-ONE: BeatStars Pro Page

This plug may feel like a cheat, but believe us when we say that the BeatStars Pro Page plan was intentionally engineered to give music creatives a one-stop-shop for showcasing, promoting, and selling their art.

The Pro Page plan is $19.99/month and gives subscribers the ability to create a fully customizable website, keep 100% of earned revenue, participate in playlisting opportunities and challenges, upload unlimited licenses, and WAY MORE.