5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Music Business

Them)
 Leah McHenry  April 12, 2019  2

So you’ve decided to launch or grow your online music

business? GREAT!

The following comes from Savvy Musician Academy, a proud

partner of DMN committed to educating a brand-new class of
successful musicians [9-minute read].

You’ve likely witnessed the complete shift in the music industry over
the recent years…the Internet has flipped the model, and still so
many musicians are waiting to be saved by a label or going viral.

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/12/beginner-mistakes-online-music-business/[4/17/2019 10:40:07 AM]

5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Music Business

The Good News? That is no longer necessary.

You have the power to find your fans directly without the need for a
label or middle man.

Can you make a living with your music doing this? Without a doubt.

Your chances of making a living independently, these days, are

actually BETTER than if you owed half the pie (or more) to someone
else!

The truth is…signing a record deal can actually put you into debt for
years to come (that’s the scary part they hide from you).

Labels are only concerned about making a good investment, and that
means you’d be paying them back first!

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/12/beginner-mistakes-online-music-business/[4/17/2019 10:40:07 AM]

5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Music Business

It’s like borrowing a bunch of money from a bank on the hope that
you’ll be super successful. This is not smart…

In fact, many bands that become successful within a label end up

going broke, leaving the label, and then restarting as an indie artist.

This is the truth of the new music industry.

It can be scary to take on the huge world of music, especially by

ourselves. Trust me, I understand this as a mom of five
homeschooled kids.

My music wasn’t really created until after I started a family, so I often

thought, “how will I get my music out there?”

After many late nights and mistakes, I discovered how the marketing
game works, and my music was getting attention. I had no idea what
was to come…

I’m now a recognized artist in my little niche, and my crowdfunding

campaigns have totalled over $115,000 – all without a label!

My goal is to create a shortcut for you so you don’t need to make the
same mistakes I did (that is not necessary)!

First, you need to understand the opportunities in music today are

completely based on the internet. In fact, in the United States, digital
advertising is now bigger than TV and print combined!

So if you are weighing your options on how to start, or if you’ve

already started and are feeling stuck, don’t worry. I am dedicating a
lot of my time to helping other musicians like you.

We’re going to begin by addressing the most critical mistakes I see

beginners making in their online music business.

Beginner mistake #1: Failing to identify your micro-niche

As artists, we create unique pieces of work, and it is often times hard

to put a label on it or put us in a bucket.. But music without a
consistent style or niche is a marketing nightmare, can can cause
major issues building your fanbase.

Think about it like this… if your music is all over the place, there is no
consistency to your brand…

Even groups that do cover songs more so than originals still have a
consistent sound and style… They often stick to the same genre and
add their own trademark twist to the songs.

How do we pick a genre?

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/12/beginner-mistakes-online-music-business/[4/17/2019 10:40:07 AM]

5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Music Business

Maybe you enjoy several genres and you’re skilled in each of them?
Let’s do an exercise.

Grab a pen and ask yourself these questions:

What makes you stand out?

Choose a large “umbrella” genre that you can narrow-down later. In

the end, you’ll have a more defined niche which will define you and
make you stand out.

Here are some ways to define a more specific niche:

Which genres or artist or bands have your interest and trust?

Consider all songs you have currently written – it’s totally cool if you
have many tastes and influences!

Which genre do your songs already relate to?

Think wide range right now.

Now you should ask some friends and fans to tell you what your
songs sound like. If you change something in the song such as a
particular instrument, would your genre be wildly different? What
does the combination of some of your favorite bands sound like?
Consider how that would be described.

It’s hard to find anything truly “new,” but you can absolutely combine
the sounds of your favorite bands to forge the path for your own
“microniche.” Remember, the more specific your niche, the more
that your potential fans will relate!

Beginner mistake #2: Not considering your artist brand/micro-niche

when publishing music

If we’re being honest, the majority of bands/artist aren’t sure about

their branding or identity.

A brand is way more than a logo, color scheme, or font (even though
all of these should work well with the brand)…

Your brand is the feeling your fans get when they experience your
music.

This feeling is not something that can be held in your hand or written

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/12/beginner-mistakes-online-music-business/[4/17/2019 10:40:07 AM]

5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Music Business

on an ad. Have you thought about how to make your audience FEEL
something?

The first step is by selecting songs that create the feeling you’re
going after…

Here’s an example.

Let’s talk about my artist brand, LEAH. My Celtic Fantasy Metal

brand is all about mystical castles, landscape, and things like Lord of
The Rings — it’s what really allows my fans to escape.

When my fans interact with my brand through my website, social

media, etc., they are interacting with media and song choices that
align with this brand of celtic fantasy.

Strategic song selection is a process that many artists neglect, and

that is a costly mistake.

If all the songs I wrote were published under my LEAH / Celtic

Fantasy brand, there’s no doubt my fans would be confused (some
of my songs aren’t a good fit for this brand).

For the songs that aren’t a good fit for your primary brand, save
those songs for another project, or you can potentially use them for
licensing.

Your Homework:

Select ONE (1) project to work on at this time, where you will spend
100% of your music focus. It is not recommended to try more than
one project initially as you will spread your resources thin and risk
not going anywhere with either project.

So determine that main brand.

What is the music about?

What is the genre?  What are the related topics? What movies
would it make a great soundtrack?

Create a list of themes for your lyrics that you can revisit in your
writing process.  You can also use this list to help determine
your microniche / microgenre down the road.

If you don’t have someone requiring you to write a certain way, I

don’t suggest that you create for a certain group of people – this is
not about making certain people happy. You will sound too
“produced” that way. A lot of the major hits have the strangest lyrics
and don’t make sense. You’re going for AUTHENTICITY here.

If you write songs, identify which have the most potential.

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/12/beginner-mistakes-online-music-business/[4/17/2019 10:40:07 AM]

5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Music Business

First, let’s BUST A MYTH: email is NOT dead!

Think about it…most people check their emails every single day –
email is still, by far, the number one way to promote anything!

It’s good enough for the big players! I will almost guarantee you that
anyone with a big email list will produce more revenue than
someone that is not focused on email (all things else the same).

Think of the process of creating any type of social media

account….an email address is required to create an account! In fact,
if your fans give you their email address, you can actually use their
email to advertise to them on Facebook! This is a ninja marketing
technique that my students use to promote their music and grow
their brand.

If I was not using email marketing, I would not be selling $20,000 of

music and merch each month. I promise you that.

Right, so what’s the secret to building an email list from nothing?

Well, you need to have an enticing offer for your fans. One of my
favorite strategies to build your list if to offer a free song download in
exchange for their email address.

Ok, does this work today?

Ha, YES, it absolutely does.

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/12/beginner-mistakes-online-music-business/[4/17/2019 10:40:07 AM]

5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Music Business

Check out this screenshot from my ads account…this is added email

addresses from my FB ad campaigns. By the way, $0.40 per email
address is pretty good.

Even though this is an older screenshot, I still have the same ad

running. After I dialed-in the performance, it continues to work every
day.

I added over 5,000 NEW FANS to my email database in the recent

months using the same free giveaway — just ONE song!

What if your music is available on Spotify or YouTube, will they still

download your songs for an email address?

YES!!

If I’m asked by my fans if they can hear my songs on Spotify I tell

them, “Absolutely! But I also would like to let you download it so you
can add it to your library and have an mp3!” They really like this!

Guess what, if it ever stops working, no problem! The main point is to

offer something they want, and as long as you’re putting out good
music, there will always be SOMETHING to offer. Right now, it’s the
song downloads, and I suggest you take advantage of this.

OK – here’s how to start building your own list:

First, you need to create an account with a reputable Email Service

Provider. You can’t market from your Yahoo or Google account…it’s
actually illegal!

I recommend using something like MailChimp or Drip. We use Drip –

a bit better than MailChimp for our use as musicians.

Next you’ll want an easy way to create landing pages, which will be
your webpage that offers your free song.

I use Leadpages. It’s second to none. You’ll soon discover that the
better your pages convert, the lower your marketing costs.
Leadpages is hyperfocused on high-converting pages, resulting in
better results for you.

DO NOT PROMOTE YOUR HOMEPAGE to build your email list…

There are so many reasons why you shouldn’t send people to your
homepage when promoting a specific offer, but to sum it up, it

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/12/beginner-mistakes-online-music-business/[4/17/2019 10:40:07 AM]

5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Music Business

creates way too many options (distractions)!

You want to send your fans and potential fans to a page that has only
two options: YES or NO (not 20 different things they can explore,
like on your homepage – then, they’ll never put their email address
in the form)!

Above all else, even social media, EMAIL should be your NUMBER
ONE focus when it comes to marketing. Build your email list, build
your fanbase, build your revenue.

If all social media goes away tomorrow, you would still have your
email list.

Remember what happened to Myspace!

Beginner mistake #5: Failing to nurture and monetize your existing

organic social traffic!

Listen, these days, paid advertising is a critical component of a

serious digital campaign, BUT you can’t ignore the basics that
produce good results from your existing organic traffic.

Social media dead ends – NO NO NO!

Make sure your social media doesn’t lead your fans to a DEAD END
such as in your “about” sections, etc. You need to send them
somewhere to take an action

Take some examples:

Instagram: You can use Linktree or Link in Profile to make the most
of the ONLY link you can put in your bio. Then tell your audience to
click the link in your bio – nobody can click links in your
captions/comments! Think they’ll copy and paste the link? Forget
about that. You want to make it easy for your audience..

Facebook: DON’T USE YOUR PERSONAL PROFILE! Use a

professional artist page.  One reason is that Facebook requires in
their terms and service that we not use personal profiles for our
business. Plus, you don’t get the benefit of SEO (Search Engine
Optimization) from personal profiles!  Put links (URLs) in your main
banner! Guess what you should link to? Your music! Don’t make
them search for ages to find your stuff. How can they BUY your
music? Facebook has some really cool tabs that you can add to your
artist page that provide navigation to pretty much anything you want

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/12/beginner-mistakes-online-music-business/[4/17/2019 10:40:07 AM]

5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Music Business

to provide your fans (think Shop, Email opt-in/song download, etc.).

Don’t forget about a Facebook Messenger bot! This is a great way to

automatically respond to your fans and give them ways to interact
with you and your brand. Send them to a page to download or buy
your music!

YouTube: Okay, YouTube is probably the most underused,

undervalued social platform. BIG potential here for musicians!

You need to be making the most of the description section in EVERY

video. Think about adding things like:

1. A link to download a free song (email opt-in)

2. A link to BUY your music
3. How to follow you on other social platforms

You can do ALL OF THE ABOVE!

Taking the time to tag, describe, and link your videos correctly will
pay dividends in the future as more and more people view your
videos.

There are tools to help you with the work involved to properly set up
each video. My favorite is called Tubebuddy. There’s a feature in the
upgraded version that will paste a pre-written, pre-formatted
description for you! This feature is super valuable when I have
certain promotions going on, and I can change the descriptions of
many videos at once, then change them back once the promo is
over.

I hope these tips have been eye-opening, even if only one of the points
resonated. If you take action on these now, you’ll definitely see much
better results in all your efforts!  

Helping you and other musicians is my goal as a fellow artist.

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/12/beginner-mistakes-online-music-business/[4/17/2019 10:40:07 AM]

5 Beginner Mistakes to Avoid in Your Online Music Business

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Leah McHenry  Contributing Author 

Ryan Walker
April 13, 2019

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2019/04/12/beginner-mistakes-online-music-business/[4/17/2019 10:40:07 AM]