In episode #368 of the DIY Musician Podcast, we sit down with Jack Conte, co-founder and CEO of Patreon, as well as one-half of the musical duo Pomplamoose and co-leader of Scary Pockets. Jack shares his unique insights on what he calls “the end of the follower era” in 2024. We dive into what it means to be a musician today, how the changing digital landscape affects creators, and why metrics still play a crucial role in shaping careers. Whether you’re an artist or simply curious about the future of content creation, this conversation is packed with valuable takeaways. Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion on the evolving role of social platforms, fan engagement, and much more.
#365: Artist Spotlight: Going “All In” with Sarah Christine
In this episode of the DIY Musician Podcast, Jack talks with artist, Sarah Christine, about a life-changing accident that set her on the path of going all in on her music. Since then she quit her job, cashed out her 401K, doubled down on music, and is now moving to L.A. Jack and Sarah also chat about the making of her new album Hotel Earth which made it to the top on multiple Amazon Music charts.
#361: So You Want to Win a GRAMMY? with Kaytee Long Becker
In this episode of the DIY Musician Podcast, Cristina delves into the intricacies of pursuing a GRAMMY with Kaytee Long Becker from DIY PR Group. Together they celebrate Carla Patullo, a CD Baby independent artist and composer who won her first Grammy this year! They explore essential topics such as understanding FYC campaigns, distinguishing between album release and FYC strategies, determining the optimal career stage for submission, eligibility criteria, crucial deadlines, category selection significance, indispensable FYC campaign elements, a golden rule for success, and common pitfalls to avoid during the FYC journey.
Connect with Kaytee Long Becker and learn more about her Express PR Campaign offer:
https://www.instagram.com/kayteelongbecker
kaytee@diyprgroup.com
#357: The Truth About Being a “Female Musician”
In this episode of the DIY Musician Podcast, Cristina and Rachel welcome Via to the show. Together, they delve into the intricacies of being categorized as a “female” musician within the industry, exploring their personal perspectives on this label. While some express frustration at the persistent emphasis on gender in their work, others view it as a meaningful community to belong to. They navigate the concept of multiple truths coexisting within identity and its impact on their journeys in the music industry.
#141: Gretchen Peters – From Songwriter to Performer
Gretchen Peters is a Grammy nominated, Nashville singer-songwriter who has always been fiercely independent and true to her own vision. In fact, she’s managed to retain ownership of all her music.
Gretchen began her career as a songwriter in Nashville, but struggled at first to gain success as a performer (who also performed original music). Gretchen talks about the Nashville songwriting industry: how it was, how it has changed, and how she found success writing songs for big name artists.
Join us as Gretchen describers a journey of music, songwriting, performing, and staying independent.
#139: Jack Conte – Turning fans into patrons
Jack Conte became well known for being half of the musical duo that makes up the band Pomlamoose. A few years back Pomplamoose burst onto the scene through the usage of YouTube and “video songs.†You can hear more about that video song concept in episode 96 of our podcast.
In this episode, Jack is back with a new concept and a new company called Patreon. With the desire to find a simple way for Pomplamoose to collect a small amount of money from fans every time a new video is released, Jack decided to build his own solution. The result was www.Patreon.com . Patreon helps artists turn fans into patrons, who support them monetarily whenever new art is released.
If you’ve been considering the different fan funding models out there, this is definitely one to check out.
Link to previous episode Jack was on:
https://podcast.cdbaby.com/2010/07/096-jack-conte-pomplamoose-and-the-video-song/
Patreon: http://www.patreon.com
#137: Shanta Thake – Getting the Attention of a Club Booker
Shanta Thake books artists and bands at Joe’s Pub at the Public, one of New York City’s most celebrated venues for emerging and established performance artists. (They book an astonishing 800 shows a year). Named for Public Theater founder Joe Papp, Joe’s Pub debuted in 1998 and plays a vital role in supporting young artists while providing established artists with an intimate space to perform and develop new work. If you’re an artist trying to get the attention of club bookers, or book a tour, don’t miss this episode!
#136: Mary Gauthier – Love, Trouble, and Indie Success
I
n this episode of the DIY Musician Podcast, Kevin interviews Americana Troubadour, Singer, and Songwriter Mary Gauthier. Mary is currently on a world tour to promote her new album, Trouble & Love. Mary is a shinning example of an how an independent artist can wrangle the music industry, find success, and stay independent. Mary shares her thoughts on the changing music industry, on building a team, connecting with fans, and creating and selling a record. Don’t miss this episode!
Check out Mary’s new album and tour dates on her website!
#132: Mike King – Music Marketing
In this episode of the DIY Musician Podcast, Kevin interviews Mike King, instructor and CMO of the Berklee Online school of music.  Mike has written and teaches four courses for Berklee Online: Online Music Marketing with Topspin; Music Marketing 101; Online Music Marketing: Campaign Strategies, Social Media, and Digital Distribution; and Music Business Trends and Strategies. He’s also author of Music Marketing: Press, Promotion, Distribution, and Retail (published by Berklee Press in 2009).
Mike King has worn many hats over the course of career, from intern at Ryko Disc to running the largest online music school in the US. Mike discusses how the music business has changed over the years, what challenges musicians face today, and what marketing techniques work and which don’t.
If you’re interested in growing your fan base, and marketing your music, don’t miss this podcast.
#129: Ariel Hyatt – Fans, Fears, and Funding
Kevin interviews Ariel Hyatt, digital strategist, international speaker, author, and owner of Cyber PR. Ariel shares social media tips, music career advice, and her experiences and insights with crowd funding.
Ariel stresses that artists need to move past vanity metrics (likes, shares, and followers) and work on making real connections with real people. “Share, don’t sell” she says, referring to how artists should interact with fans. She also stresses that it’s important to build an email list, so that artists can connect with their fans beyond the confines of social networks like Facebook.
Ariel also discusses her upcoming book on crowd funding, and insights from her own experience raising funds via crowd funding.
Don’t miss this episode!
#124: Brian Thompson – Get Your Music Heard
This week on the DIY Musician podcast, Brian Thompson (also known online as Thorny Bleeder) joins us to talk about online music promotion and how the music business has changed over the course of his career. Brian started his own record label (Thorny Bleeder Records) in 2006 along with Jonathan Hetherington, and Greg Bradley (founders of Art Of Dying). As the company evolved it went from a label to an artist consultancy and Brian became a sought after social media guru, blogger, podcaster, and artist advocate. Listen, learn, and find out why Brian goes by “Thorny Bleeder” in the first place.
#122: Steve Rennie – An Artist Manager’s Story
Steve Rennie is a long time industry veteran who helped the band Incubus reach multi-platinum status. Now that Incubus is on hiatus, Steve is working to help independent artists learn about the biz with his website and video series at http://www.renmanmb.com. Learn about the artist management from the inside-out and take advantage of the insights from an artist manager that loves offering advice to independent artists.
#115: Kristin Thomson – How Do You Make Money From Music?
The Future of Music Coalition is conducting an online survey from Sept 6 – Oct 28, 2011 to gather crucial information about the ways that US-based musicians and composers are currently generating income from songs, recordings or performances, and how this has changed over the past five years.  Kristin Thomson joins us from the FMC to discuss why it’s so important we have good data to properly represent how artists and musicians are making money.
To take the survey at the FMC website, Click HERE.
#111: Tom Jackson – The Live Band Makeover
While up at the ECMA music conference in Canada, Kevin (our host) witnessed Tom Jackson’s live-performance-makeover session. Tom works with a band and helps them make improvements to their live show and the audience watches the transformation take place before their very eyes. After the session ended, Tom and Kevin sat down to talk. This podcast is the recording of that discussion.
Those of you who have been listening to the podcast for a long time may recall our interview with Tom Jackson way back on episode 43 (January 2009). It was an extremely popular episode that created a lot of discussion, so if you may want to go back and give it a listen.
This episode will undoubtedly generate discussion as well. Be sure to leave a comment or call our listener line. The details on how to do that will be at the end of the show.
Tom is offering a special discount on his video series exclusively for CD Baby artists. Â Find out more HERE.
#109: Seth Godin – Building a Musical Tribe
Seth Godin is an author and thought leader who has written 13 books that cover topics such as leadership, digital marketing and the spreading of ideas. His book, Tribes, garnered a lot of attention among the music community. Tribes explores how innovators can focus on groups of similarly minded individuals (a tribe) and get that tribe excited by releasing a new product, music, or message via the internet. The idea of building a tribe online is something that many DIY artists have been doing to find success in this new music economy. Join us on the DIY Musician Podcast as Seth shares his thoughts and strategies on music in the digital age.
You can find out more about Seth’s books and his blog at his website HERE.
#070: Works Progress Administration – Life after the machine
The guys from Works Progress Administration definitely have plenty of label experience under their belt from all their past projects (Toad the Wet Sprocket, Nickel Creek, Lyle Lovette). With WPA’s debut album, they find themselves doing much of the work on their own after choosing an independent path. The guys recently stopped by the CD Baby offices to record this interview for the Music Discovery Podcast, but since they touched on some of the issues concerning their new career path, we’re posting it here as well for our DIY Musician Podcast listeners.
You can hear their debut album here -Â http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/worksprogressadministration
#065: Matthew Ebel – Stream your concerts to the world!
Getting out on the road to build an audience is a constant struggle for the average indie artist. Limitations on time, money, and resources are all huge hurdles to overcome. But what if you could take your show around the world without moving a single guitar amp or eating another drive-thru meal? Now you can! Indie artists like Matthew Ebel have harnessed the power of online services like UStream to accomplish just that. Each week, Matthew performs live via UStream without leaving the comfort of his very own basement. Internet audience members congregate (in the virtual sense) from all points around the globe to watch his homespun concert broadcasts. The interview with Matthew goes into great detail concerning some of the technical aspects of how he produces a UStream show, so be prepared to take notes.
You can see Matthew Ebel’s UStream show every Tuesday at 6pm EST here – http://matthewebel.com/ustream
#063: Bruce Houghton – Blogging the future of music
Bruce Houghton (Founder of Skyline Music) is a long time industry veteran who has been booking music talent of all shapes and sizes for over 20 years. Â As the shift in the music industry became apparent, Bruce started a blog as a way to keep the artists on his roster informed on new developments in the business. Â His blog, called Hypebot, has grown in popularity and become one of the leading music business blogs that pays special attention to the growing indie music community, or as Bruce likes to call it, the musician middle class. Â His experience and insights make his blog a must read for the indie artist who is serious about moving their music forward.
Check out Bruce’s blog Hypebot here – http://hypebot.com
#061: David Gray – Anatomy of a Music Career
David Gray has done it all. He’s been a musician, songwriter, publisher, producer, A&R rep and worked for some of the most renowned record companies in the world. Currently he’s head A&R for Simon Cowell’s Syco Records label. You’ve probably seen some of the music reality shows they produce like, “America’s Got Talent, X Factor, and American Idol.” After the show is over, it’s David’s job to continue the artist’s development and help them create their albums. In this interview, conducted by the president of CD Baby, Brian Felsen, David shares his experience as a musician as well as an insider in the mainstream music business.
#059: Nancy Baym – Online Fandom
Artists and musicians spend a lot of time communicating with their fan community, whether it be social networks, email, or just the music itself. With so much thought and energy going into fan communication, it funny how little time is actually spend considering the fan’s perspective. In this episodes, we hear from Nancy Baym, an Associate Professor in Communication Studies at the University of Kansas. She is an award-winning teacher on topics including the use of new communication technologies in creating identities, relationships and communities, interpersonal communication, and qualitative research methods. She has spent years studying online fandom to understand what communities like music fans a re really looking for. It might not be exactly what you think!
You can find more of Nancy Baym’s writing’s on here blog http://www.onlinefandom.com
#057: Matt Malley – Life as a Counting Crow
Whether you’re slugging it out in small clubs, or selling millions of albums, there are consistent themes that run through every artist’s experience. Matt Malley, former bass player for the band the Counting Crows, has done both and he shares his experiences as an indie artist and as a member of a major label touring act. Matt joined up with the Counting Crows in 1990, when they were just a California indie band struggling to find a name for themselves in the Bay Area. Little did Matt know that the Counting Crows would soon become a household name. After years of success, platinum albums, and hit songs, Matt left the band in late 2004. Once again he found himself back in the world of indie music, though a bit older and wiser. In 2008, he released his first solo album on CD Baby. Matt’s journey as a musician has become a familiar story as major label artists decide that DIY is sometimes a happy alternative to the rigors of a major label relationship.
In this episode:
Some keys to the Counting Crows success and even a couple mistakes!
An inside look at the Counting Crows as a business
Matt’s tips for up and coming artists
Matt’s solo album is available at CD Baby here http://cdbaby.com/cd/mattmalley
#055: David Nevue – Building a Music Career Online
The internet is an irreplaceable tool for music promotion, but is it possible to build a music career in cyberspace alone?  In this episode, we hear from solo pianist David Nevue, who built his music into a full time career just by creating an effective online presence.  For the modern day DIY artist, David’s business model is the perfect example of what can be accomplished with great music, a little merchandising know-how, and a long term vision.  A lot of ground is covered in this interview, so get ready to take notes!
David Nevue’s artist website can be found here – http://davidnevue.com/
To check out David’s book, “How to Promote Your Music Successfully on the Internet†click here.
#053: Bill Thompson – Mobile Marketing
The cell phone has rapidly evolved. It’s hard to even think of another technology that has changed as quickly as mobile phone technology. The way we use our phones has changed drastically as well. What started as just a portable phone, has turned into what is now basically 
pocket computer. In many cases, the actual phone is the least used feature of the device.
In this episode, we talk to Bill Thompson, from Full Sail University, who teaches a course on Mobile Marketing & Commerce. For the indie artist, the mobile phone offers a world of possibility. It takes the technology formerly only available on our home computers, and puts it into real world situations where interactivity can be maximized.
The Mobile Marketing Association website can be found here – http://www.mmaglobal.com/
#051: Greg Poree – Dancing With The Stars!
Most indie artists have a day job in order to make ends meet. For some, their “day job†is actually playing music. In this episode, Kevin talks to Greg Poree, the guitar player on the hit TV show, Dancing With the Stars. We’ll hear how Greg worked his way up to such a prestigious position, and get a behind the scenes look into his “day job.â€Â This work is not for the faint of heart. When the red light is on, there is no room for error. Greg shares his tips and insights for all who are interested in pursuing a career as a working musician. If music is your job, we want to hear from you! Please share your tips, tricks, or horror stories!
Hear Greg Poree’s inventions album here -> http://cdbaby.com/cd/gregpore3
#049: Dave Kusek – Getting an Education Online
Dave Kusek is a musician who has been inventing the future of music for the past twenty-five years. He was one of the first to capitalize on the commercial potential of computers and music. As an early synthesizer and electronic music pioneer, Dave cut his teeth on innovation.  Today, Dave Kusek is innovating at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass., the premier school for aspiring professional musicians for over half a century. Dave runs Berklee Press, as well as leads Berklee’s major initiative to expand music education worldwide, through an online music school at Berkleemusic.com. An associate professor of music business at Berklee, Kusek also finds time to run Digital Cowboys, his consulting firm.
Have you attended one of Berklee’s online courses? Â Please share your experience by leaving a comment below.