Category: Uncategorized

On today’s show, we are tackling the question of how to ask for a sale. This forms part of the series we have undertaken on The Savvy Musician Show, on how to make more money through your music and selling is as important a part as any! Leah and CJ are giving you the inside scoop on the simple ways to convert fans and admirers into paying customers, in ways that don’t feel slimy or coercive. This is a big problem for a lot of musicians, feeling like they are not and do not want to be, salespeople. But with this easy to follow introductory episode you can see how easy it is to start turning a profit and take positive action towards it. The discussion covers direct and passive promotion, approaching a warm audience, email and copywriting and why so many of your audience will be excited to pay you something for the value you offer. For all this and a great conversation on the nature of selling, be sure to tune in!

Key Points From This Episode:

• A special student message from Wendy Nicole Hall 
• Leah’s own journey to learning to be a better seller 
• The central role that selling plays in our lives
• Direct promotion and response marketing
• Pitching to a warm audience and leaning into your advertising
• Why to treat your music career more like e-commerce
• Taking control of your own musical destiny!
• Passive promotion and where to find your fans
• The psychological desire to support someone who offers you value 
• What to look forward to in the next episode! 
• And much more! 

Tweetables:

“It was actually copyrighting that taught me how to sell. I didn’t have to read a book on how to sell.” — @LEAHthemusic [0:06:16]

“Direct promotion has a huge place. I spend at least 50% of my time doing this sort of thing.” — @LEAHthemusic  [0:19:10]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

The Savvy Musician Academy on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/onlinemusician/ 

The Super Fan System Elite Program — www.callsma.com

Leah on Twitter — https://twitter.com/leahthemusic

CD Baby — https://cdbaby.com

Bandcamp — https://bandcamp.com

Nightwish — http://nightwish.com/en

Epica — http://www.epica.nl

Game of Thrones  — https://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones 

Elder Scrolls — https://elderscrolls.bethesda.net

On today’s episode, Leah and CJ break down the next part of the question of why you may not be making more money from your music! They are focusing on the all-important aspect of your shop and how to make sure you are making the most of the platform. They are talking about which platforms are best and why, user experience, the checkout process, retargeting and more! Leah has her favored systems and she explains exactly why she recommends them over other services. We talk about the important things to keep in mind when linking to and setting up your shop and how to make sure you don’t lose customers through abandoned carts and not following up. Leah also stresses the importance of clearly directing customers to your shop, a point a lot of independent musicians seem to gloss over. For all this and a bunch more, be sure to listen in!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Why you cannot neglect talking about money
• A great message from Lauren from our Superfan System Elite program
• Considering the common questions that give rise to today’s topic 
• Putting yourself in the shoes of your customer during the buying process 
• Remembering the mantra that people care about themselves
• What platform are you using and how responsive is it? 
• Facebook pixels, marketing 101 and why Bandcamp is behind the curve
• Retargeting and making sure you do not lose sales
• The checking out experience on your online shop
• Walking through your own payment and checkout 
• Creating a familiar and trustworthy feeling
• Clearly communicating where and how to buy your music
• Your shop page is for one thing!
• And much more!

Tweetables:

“There’s some things that really, at the end of the day, are not really going to affect your bottom line and so forget about that stuff and start focusing.” — @LEAHthemusic [0:03:10]

“You’ve got to put yourself in the shoes of your fan and potential customer and actually walk through the process of buying something.” — @LEAHthemusic [0:06:58]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

The Superfan System Elite Program — www.callsma.com

Shopify —https://www.shopify.com/?ref=savvy-musician-academy 

WooCommerce — https://woocommerce.com

WordPress — https://wordpress.com

Jeff Bezos — https://www.biography.com/business-figure/jeff-bezos

LeadPages — https://leadpages.net/savvymusician 

Stripe — https://stripe.com

Flag nor Fail — https://flagnorfail.com

Quest Nutrition — https://www.questnutrition.com

Drip — https://drip.com/savvymusician 

AWeber — https://www.aweber.com

BigCommerce — https://www.bigcommerce.com

Key Points From This Episode:

On today’s episode, Leah and CJ launch a five-part series to delve deeper into why your music isn’t making any money, starting with the website. They reflect on what they’ve discussed in previous episodes, talking about targeting the “superfan” as well as what success in the new music industry looks like and how crucial a website is in all of this. It is easy to think that because of the multitude of platforms available today that a website is not necessary, but as they show, it is clear that a good website is necessary. They talk about some of the misconceptions people have when they are not making money off of their music and how to overcome these mental blocks. Fixing your website and putting in effort and consideration in at the start, means you can fill gaps perhaps you weren’t aware of. CJ and Leah give some simple, yet vital points to help you kickstart a website that excites people and keeps them coming back for more. For all this and much more, join us today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• The five parts that will help you understand why your music is not making money.
• A success story from the student spotlight series. 
• Why even today, with all social media websites are necessary.
• What happens when you have a bad website.
• Websites are more predictable than other social media 
• The importance of a great URL.
• The myths people believe when they don’t make money from their music online. 
• Simple tips to improve the quality of your track. 
• Being well connected is not the basis of success.
• Which things musicians do wrong on their website. 
• Good reasons for using more sophisticated page building sites.
• The importance of thinking about the end user experience.
• Why having good graphic design makes a greater impression.
• Why being consistent across many platforms will help you succeed.
• The difference between mobile friendly and mobile responsive.
• And much more!

Tweetables:

“You just need a select number of people; you’d be surprised at how little that amount needs to be that could give you even a full-time career playing music.” — CJ Ortiz [0:21:59]

“80% of website traffic is happening on a mobile device.” — @LEAHthemusic [0:45:18]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Leah on Twitter — https://twitter.com/LEAHthemusic 

Fiverr — https://www.fiverr.com/

Book-A-Call —  http://www.callsma.com 

Today we have such a cool guest joining us! His name is Sebastian Wolff, and he has been involved in the video game music industry for over a decade, modernizing practices of rights management, royalty collection and assessing music publishing opportunities for game developers, publishers, and composers. Sebastian also co-founded the US mechanical rights company called Loudr, which was acquired by Spotify in 2018. In addition, he founded Materia Collective which is a leading video game music group that manages soundtrack distribution and publishing and produces CDs, vinyl and sheet music. On this episode we get deeper into the business side of the industry, talking about licensing and rights and how artists should go about making sure that they remain on the legal side of things. Sebastian explains to us what metadata entails and why it should be a top priority for any artists, particularly because of its revenue implications. He has so much more knowledge to share with us, so don’t miss out on today’s episode!

Key Points From This Episode:

• A quick introduction to how Sebastian got started in the exciting world of video game music. 
• Finding Loudr and recognizing a need for licensing and rights assistance in the industry. 
• Sebastian’s view on streaming and how it is placing a higher demand on the quality of music. 
• How song covers contribute to the industry and what their legal implications are.
• The strict regulations around uploading cover songs on social media platforms. 
• How to get rights for publishing and selling and the best companies to consult. 
• What metadata entails and why it is so relevant to all industry role-players. 
• Embedding your metadata and advice and how to approach and manage it. 
• Why artists still need to register copyright, even before releasing their music. 
• What Sebastian is learning at the moment and the book he recommends to everyone. 
• How artists can increase their revenue and why doing the not-so-fun bits is necessary. 
• And much more! 

Tweetables:

“From almost like a free market perspective, it’s like every song needs to be good, you know? As supposed to in the old music industry, it was like, you could have an album with just a couple of hits and the rest would be fillers.” — @LEAHthemusic [0:07:59]

“Anytime you’re making use of something that you don’t fully own, you need a license or a per-mission of some degree and even if it is an email from someone who has the ability to grant those rights.” — @SebastianWolff [0:14:04]

“So metadata is more than an album title. It is also ISI identifiers, it is subtitles, it is translations, it is IPMs, it is ISNI numbers for artists, it is ISWCs for compositions, it is ISRCs for tracks, sort of all of these standards that are part of this music ecosystem.” — @SebastianWolff [0:23:20]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sebastian Wolff — https://sebastianwolff.info/

Sebastian Wolff on Twitter — https://twitter.com/SebastianWolff

Loudr — https://loudr.fm/

Materia Collective — https://www.materiacollective.com/

Easy Song Licensing — https://www.easysonglicensing.com/

Harry Fox — https://www.harryfox.com/#/

Songfile — http://www.songfile.com/

DistroKid — https://distrokid.com/

Soundrop — https://soundrop.com/

SoundExchange — https://www.soundexchange.com/

I Will Teach You To Be Rich — https://amzn.to/2IND4SN

On the show today we are breaking down how you can set out your year and goals to make better progress in your music career! This means having a broad outlook for the year ahead and then sectioning it off into quarterly chunks, ready to be accomplished! The conversation covers a few of the questions we have been receiving from the Facebook Group and the common themes from these and balancing achievable goals with ambitions that stretch your abilities and reach. From there we go on to discuss just how to go about the process of goal setting from the early stages to some of the specific and nifty tricks to give you the upper hand on your tasks. We talk brainstorming, resources, tools, deadlines, categories and a whole lot more. If you are struggling to get around to setting goals or whether you need help with measuring and completing your to do list, this is the episode for you!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Some of the questions we received over at the Facebook Group.
• The importance of putting yourself out despite the discomfort. 
• Small and important lessons to take away from everything. 
• Why should you plan for the year in advance? 
• The starting point for planning. 
• Brainstorming, whiteboards and getting the ball rolling.
• Giving yourself enough time and runway to accomplish your goals. 
• Leah’s list of goal categories.
• The brain dump for each of your goals!
• Implementing gradual habits and how this can help you.   
• Some tools to help you plan out your year and stay on track. 
• Inspiring resources and the benefits you can accrue from reading. 
• Quarterly deadlines and sticking to them!
• And much more!

Tweetables:

“My starting point is I like to brainstorm, I just do a giant brain dump.” — @LEAHthemusic [0:15:11]

“I like to give a six month runway into any kind of a launch if possible. You start planning the album launch six months ahead of time.” — @LEAHthemusic [0:22:41]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Annual Planning Guide Download: https://savvymusicianacademy.com/tribe/resources/

Leah McHenry — https://leahmusic.net/

Leah on Twitter — https://twitter.com/LEAHthemusic 

SMA Spotify Course — https://savvymusicianacademy.com/spotify/

Savvy Musician Academy Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/onlinemusician/

The Super Fan System Elite Program  — http://www.callsma.com/

Bulletproof Coffee — https://blog.bulletproof.com/how-to-make-your-coffee-bulletproof-and-your-morning-too/

Crowd Funding Podcast Episode — https://savvymusicianacademy.com/15

Album Launch Podcast Episode — https://savvymusicianacademy.com/blog/24

Rocket Fuel — https://amzn.to/2I10mVv 

The Synergist – https://amzn.to/2OUc9FD 

The Synergist Quiz — https://getpredictablesuccess.com/styles-quiz/

On today’s spontaneous episode, Leah McHenry is joined by new cohost CJ Ortiz, an experienced branding and marketing expert, who works as a coach in the Elite Program. They delve into various topics related to the new music industry, such as the power of online marketing and how rather than being hopeless, aspiring musicians should see this new space as one full of opportunities. Leah shares some of the reactions she got when she put herself out there and how through perseverance, she is now able to support herself and her family with her music. She shares how, through learning about marketing, rather than music, she has been able to empower herself and create an authentic and sustained connection with her fans. If you’d like to find out how to start to do the same, join us today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Groups on Facebook that you can join. 
• How CJ and Leah’s friendship started. 
• How much Leah’s career has grown.
• How to adapt when changes happen in marketing. 
• Success in the new music industry is defined differently than before. 
• Shifting your mindset in defining success is key. 
• The music industry is shifting in an unprecedented way. 
• Some success stories of people who have used these principles. 
• If you learn the basics of online marketing, it can translate across various spheres. 
• When Leah realized that she could take control of her career. 
• Some pros and cons of record labels. 
• What a Facebook pixel is and why it’s important. 
• How Leah was able to find and target her ‘superfans.’
• And much more

Tweetables:

“How I had any success at all, by the way, was I stopped studying the music industry,” — @LEAHthemusic  [0:09:15]

“The only thing that matters is your little music industry that you just created.” — CJ Ortiz[0:11:00]

“That’s our biggest challenge as musicians- is to help people understand that we exist in the world.” — @LEAHthemusic  [0:32:25]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Savvy Musician Mastermind on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/groups/savvymusician/

Savvy Musician Spotify course — www.savvymusicianacademy.com/Spotify

Leah on Twitter — https://twitter.com/leahthemusic

CJ Ortiz — http://metalmotivation.com/

Today’s show takes on a new format where CJ Ortiz joins Leah McHenry as cohost. CJ has over 20 years of experience in marketing and helping both individuals and organizations to achieve their visions. Currently, CJ works as the mindset and branding coach at the Superfan System Elite Program run at The Savvy Music Academy. In this episode, Leah and CJ talk about what artist development really is, delving deep into the complicated topic. They discuss what some crucial aspects of the artist development process are and how they think most traditional artist development companies are falling short and failing their clients. Leah also gives some insight into the process she has used to develop herself as an artist and how she thinks The Savvy Music Academy is breathing fresh air into artist development. Join us today for this and a whole lot more!

Key Points From This Episode:

• The primary problem in the music industry since Napster. 
• What is artist development? 
• Leah’s five-year plan for Savvy Musician Academy and where she realized this.  
• The problems with traditional artist development agencies.
• Leah’s insight into artist development in the new music industry.
• Two things which are key to artist development.
• Musicians should see themselves as entrepreneurs. 
• How Savvy Musician Academy is doing artist development differently.
• The role of the coach and how they should work. 
• Leah’s own coaching style. 
• How DIY management is different from traditional management
• An understanding of branding that goes beyond logos and fonts. 
• The real meaning of online marketing.
• Making time to write or practice every day. 
• Building a fan base is a perpetual activity.
• And much more!

Tweetables:

“The destiny of the company is artist development, but not in the typical sense.” — @LEAHthemusic  [0:08:04]

“A high percentage of success is in the mindset part and the personal development part of it.” — @LEAHthemusic  [0:13:48]

“It doesn’t help to blow sunshine up somebody’s backside.” —  CJ Ortiz [0:22:40]

“We’re like Robin Hoods.” — CJ Ortiz [0:50:26]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

The Savvy Musician Academy on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/onlinemusician/ 

SMA: Superfan System Elite Program — www.callsma.com

Welcome back to part two of our amazing conversation with Michael Elsner about licensing, how to get your music into TV, films and different mediums, the huge income potential there is around this and why it gets such a bad rap with so much skepticism around it. Michael is a guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, as well as the creator of The 4 Step Plan to Licensing Success. During part one of the show, Michael shared a little bit about his background and some of the success that he has had in this industry. We’ve also talked about potential income streams and the importance of choosing the right libraries. On today’s episode, we hear from Michael all about his 4-step process and how we can make licensing work for us. So, for all this and more, keep listening!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Hear about Michael’s 4-step process in detail.
• Step 1 – Building your catalog: writing music you’re passionate about.
• Step 2 – Creating valuable content: Delivering a lot of alternative mixes.
• The difference between tracks and stems.
• Michaels recommendations for anyone wanting to get into licensing their songs.
• Metadata: the descriptive terms that describe what that audio file is.
• Step 3 – Mastering metadata: using very descriptive keywords to describe your songs.
• Step 4 – Getting your music heard: finding the proper end users for your music.
• Four paths to getting your music heard.
• Having consistency over the long term.
• Some good book recommendations from Michael.
• And so much more!

Tweetables:

“With licensing your music, your end users are different than if you’re releasing your record to the masses.” — @michaelelsner [0:04:58]

“It’s important to deliver what I call valuable content. Always put yourself in the position of your end user.” — @michaelelsner [0:12:28]

“You have to think long term and then you have to think foreign international royalties.” — @michaelelsner [0:31:57]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Michael Elsner — http://www.michaelelsner.com/Home.html

Michael on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelelsner/

Michael on Twitter — https://twitter.com/michaelelsner

Michael on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4Hhg45THp8l6zkih-Wo19g

Master Music Licensing — https://www.mastermusiclicensing.com/

The 4 Step Plan to Licensing Success E-book — https://www.mastermusiclicensing.com/ebook-offer

Everything you Need to know About the Music Business by Donald Passman — https://amzn.to/38OIZR9

The Plain and Simple Guide to Music Publishing — https://amzn.to/38MZKMA

This Business of Music — https://amzn.to/2UaXD11

Today we get a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes functions involved in licensing; TV, film, ads, and anything alike. We’re joined by, Michael Elsner, a guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, as well as the creator of the The 4 Step Plan to Licensing Success. Today Michael shares a little bit about his background and some of the success that he has had in this industry. Many people in the industry are huge skeptics of licensing and never want to even get into licensing. They always avoid it. Often you can feel like you have no control over it and you feel like you don’t even know the way in. There are tons services out there where you pay fees and supposedly some executive is going to hear it. However, as many of us have found, you pay those fees and never hear anything, never get anything back and never hear any good stories about it. Today, Michael is here to completely change our perspective on licensing as a whole. So, if this is sounding all too familiar and you are also one of those skeptics, keep listening. This show has been divided into two parts so be sure to come back next time for part two with Michael Elsner where we hear more about his 4-step process.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Hear more about Michael’s background and how he got into licensing.
• Why licensing should be considered as a valid avenue for people with a music business.
• Being diverse with your styles of music when licensing.
• Money potential in licensing.
• The five kinds of placements.
• What the most favored nations clause means.
• The two contracts: a sync license and a master license.
• What a one-stop shop refers to.
• Giving away rights to administer your songs, not giving ownership of your music.
• Potential income streams that this could provide for musicians thinking about it.
• Michael’s approach to licensing; all about consistent placements.
• Understanding the different types of libraries.
• Quality libraries and how it works.
• Hear more about Michael’s 4 step process he takes each song through.
• And so much more!

Tweetables:

“Licensing was always the outlet for the songs.” — @michaelelsner [0:05:05]

“One of the things that’s nice about licensing is you don’t have to live in a music industry town. You can really do it wherever you want.” — @michaelelsner [0:06:45]

“Licensing gives you that freedom to grow and expand and explore a lot of different avenues artistically.” — @michaelelsner [0:10:19]

“Let’s say you are the artist and you sign your music over to a library, you’re basically giving them the rights to administer your songs. You’re not giving them ownership of your music.” — @michaelelsner [0:22:54]

“My whole approach to licensing is not about the one song. I’m about consistent placements.” — @michaelelsner [0:27:16]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Michael Elsner — http://www.michaelelsner.com/Home.html

Michael on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelelsner/

Michael on Twitter — https://twitter.com/michaelelsner

Michael on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4Hhg45THp8l6zkih-Wo19g

The 4 Step Plan to Licensing Success E-book — https://www.mastermusiclicensing.com/ebook-offer