Independent Music Advice

Welcome to Independent Music Advice, the number one music advice resource for anyone who makes independent music. We provide quality guides and tips for independent musicians wishing to learn the music business inside out. Through this site we hope to empower more musicians to make money from their music career independently, and without the help of a record label.

On our sister site (Music Industry How To), we now also offer a step by step study course for musicians wanting to make more money and gain more fans from their music career.

We’ve got a lot of useful information coming for you over the next few months, so sign up to the mailing list so you don’t miss a thing! You’ll also get a free ebook, & exclusive weekly guides & tips. Enjoy 🙂

Shaun Letang,
Independent Music Advice

Filed Under: Other

Best Headset Microphones For Singing Onstage [Portable]

By Shaun Letang

Singers sometimes need more freedom on stage.

It could be for a variety of reasons, whether it’s because they’re playing an instrument, dancing, running out into the crowd or otherwise.

Headset microphones can give you more mobility during your performance.

This allows you to develop a more robust stage presence, which can help you create a stronger connection with your audience.

In this guide, we will be looking at the best headset microphones for singing onstage.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Best Junior Drum Kit For Kids 5, 7, 8 & 10 Years Of Age

By Shaun Letang

If you’re going to start your kid off on the drums, you might as well start them off young.

Learning to play an instrument takes time, and because kids have so much time and energy to dedicate to the craft, they can improve rapidly – especially if they enjoy playing music.

But part of empowering your child is setting them up for success.

How do you do that?

By buying them an instrument that makes it easy and fun for them to play.

So, let’s look at the best junior drum kits for kids.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

7 Guitar Playing Techniques They Won’t Teach You During Beginner Lessons

By Shaun Letang

A guitar instructor’s job is to support you in your progress as a guitarist; not to hold your hand through every single step!

Think about it. The average lesson time is 30 minutes per week, which means that you have 167 and a half hours until you see your teacher again. A good student knows that what they do with that time can make a tremendous difference to their progress as a player.

A teacher might have a good reason for not showing you a technique in beginner lessons; usually because they’ve determined you just aren’t ready for it yet. They may be right, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try!

Here are seven guitar playing techniques they won’t teach you in beginner lessons.
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Filed Under: Guitar Players Advice

5 Marketing Tips For Beginner Guitarists

By Jonathan Reilly

The best marketing strategies for guitar players In today’s modern age of digital music recording and affordable options available for musicians globally, there is a lot of competition out there for upstart guitarists looking for recognition on the internet.

If you’re a guitarist who’s part of a band or group, you can compose, record, mix, and master an entire album up to professional standards from the comfort of your very home! And you can do it on a pretty affordable budget as well.

You can make your own album covers with digital art, make music videos, and even manage a global record label right from your home office.

But these luxuries are afforded to every upstart guitarist pursuing a career as a musician. There’s countless guitarists flaunting their shred skills all over the internet, so how do you compete with them? How can you attain a bit of internet fame, and attain a bit of the recognition your talent rightfully deserves?

Well first of all you need to be really good at playing guitar. If you need practice, maybe get guitar lessons before you start marketing your music.

Now if you’ve already taken guitar lessons and are a top player, read on for some marketing tips for guitarists!
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Filed Under: Guitar Players Advice

8 Things Bandcamp Adviser Andrew Dubber Can Teach About Music In The Digital Age

By Shaun Letang

7 Things Andrew Dubber Can Teach Musicians About Music In The Digital Age It was a shiny day in London, and I was having a coffee with a fellow musician. I realized that the biggest part of the conversation was his ranting about the ‘bad situation in independent local music scene’.

“There’s so much knowledge out there, I don’t disagree with you, but it’s scattered all around the web. Impossible to find the really credible resources!”

And then it hit me:

“Why don’t we stop whining and do something creative instead?”
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Music Business Theory, Music Promotion And Marketing

Pay Musicians More For Gigging! A Open Letter To Event Organizers

By Shaun Letang

By event organizer Thom Milson.

I grew up heavily involved in my local music scene: I knew the bands, and the promoters well enough that I called them my friends. As soon as I was old enough I started organizing shows so my favorite local bands could be heard and seen more. I had a fair crack at it, but as the years went on other things took over, and I moved into other realms. I remember that time fondly, especially because I helped many bands get going, both fan base wise, as well as financially. Now, for many reasons I’m being drawn back into the world of promotion, and I’m noticing quite a few differences in the way the local promoters now operate: they don’t pay the bands.
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Filed Under: Getting And Performing Gigs, Music Management

How To Write A Song For Beginners – Top Songwriting Tips

By Shaun Letang

Today we’re going to look at how to write a song for beginners in terms of lyrics. If you’ve decided you want to write a song and need help picking the subject and structuring the song properly, this is the guide for you.

Some guides on writing songs are overly complex, and often overload you with information you don’t really need to know. I’ve tried to avoid that in this guide, giving you just the steps you need to get started on writing your song within the next 20 minutes or so.

But anyway, I don’t want to waste time with intros. Let’s get right into this so you can move on to writing your first song. 🙂

P.S. This guide refers to writing lyrics, not writing music. If you find this guide useful, please share it using the social links at the top of this post. Thank you.
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Filed Under: Songwriting Tips