How to Actually Make Money with Your Music (Beyond Spotify Streams)

Discover 5 powerful ways to make money with your music online

Here is the brutal math the music industry is hiding from you: to buy a simple $4 espresso-based drink, your music needs to be streamed roughly 1,000 times on Spotify!

Here is the hard truth the industry won't tell you: you do not need billions of streams to make a living from your music anymore. You just need to stop relying on a single, broken paycheck.

Let that sink in. If you are waiting for a major label A&R to discover you or refreshing your streaming dashboard hoping the algorithm will save your career, you are participating in a losing game. The traditional streaming model is broken, and relying on a single, microscopic paycheck is financial suicide for an independent artist!

But here is the good news: you do not need millions of monthly listeners to build a sustainable, five-figure career anymore. You just need to stop thinking like a hobbyist and start treating your art like a high-margin business. This is the ultimate, no-BS blueprint on how to step out of the streaming trap, master music monetization, and actually stack cash online today.

If you want to turn your passion into a real, sustainable career, you have to treat your art like a business, step out of the streaming trap, and master the art of music monetization. This is the ultimate, no-BS blueprint on how to sell music online and stack cash as an independent artist today.

Here's how to overturn the system...

1. Music Licensing & Sync: The High-Ticket Royalty Engine

Want to know where the real, career-changing money is hiding? Sync licensing. This is the process of letting TV shows, movies, video games, or commercials use your tracks.

When a Netflix show, a Nike commercial, or an indie video game picks up your song, the financial game changes instantly. You get paid in two ways:

The Upfront Sync Fee: A direct payment for the right to use the track (ranging from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars).

Performance Music Royalties: Residual income paid out by PROs (Performance Rights Organizations) every single time that show or ad airs around the world.

💡 The Best Part: You don’t need a massive fanbase or a blue checkmark. Music supervisors don’t care about your monthly listeners; they care about the vibe.

🛠️ Where to start: Submit your music to curated sync libraries like Musicbed, Artlist, or Audiio, or use pitching platforms like Taxi.com to find open briefs.

2. Digital Merch & D2C Sales: Maximum Margins, Zero Shipping

Physical vinyl, hoodies, and t-shirts are fantastic for branding, but the hidden trap is overhead. Production upfront costs, inventory management, and global shipping fees can quickly eat up 70% of your profit margins.

Instead, leverage your super-fans with Direct-to-Fan (D2C) digital products. By learning how to sell music online through digital assets that cost zero dollars to replicate, you keep 90–100% of the revenue.

High-value digital assets to sell today:

For Fans: Digital lyric art books, exclusive behind-the-scenes studio documentaries, or high-fidelity limited-edition digital albums via Bandcamp or Shopify.

For Creators: Stem packs for remixers, sample packs, and synth preset chains sold directly through platforms like Gumroad or Payhip if you have a distinct production sound.

3. Fan Subscriptions: Building Your Predictable Monthly Salary

Why 100 True Fans are Worth More Than 1 Million Spotify Streams. The biggest enemy of the independent musician is financial unpredictability. One month you hit a viral loop, the next month the algorithm changes and your income drops. Fan subscriptions turn your unpredictable hustle into a predictable monthly paycheck.

Piatforms that bypass traditional music distribution networks allow your core community to support your journey directly.

Let's look at the math:

100 dedicated fans paying $10 a month = $1,000/month stable revenue.

500 dedicated fans paying $10 a month = $5,000/month ($60,000 a year).

🛠️ Where to build it: Set up exclusive tiers on Patreon, build a private community on Skool, or launch a VIP subscriber-only space using Discord and LaunchPass. Offer them early access to concert tickets, unreleased unmastered demos, or monthly private live-streamed hangouts.

4. Virtual Venues: Live Streaming & Micro-Gigs

You don't need a tour bus, a booking agent, or a five-figure travel budget to play live and sell out a room. The digital landscape has turned the bedroom studio into a global stage.

The psychological factor is key: virtual gigs break down the wall between artist and audience. A fan tipping $5 during a live request stream feels a deeper connection than someone buying a ticket at a traditional venue.

🛠️ Where to stream: Use Twitch (leveraging their Soundtrack feature), TikTok Live, or YouTube Live. To supercharge your monetization, use tools like Bandsintown to promote your virtual events or Streamlabs to set up interactive on-screen donation alerts.

5. Monetize Your Skillset: Teach Your Craft

If you know how to engineer a killer vocal chain, program drums that punch through the mix, or play the guitar like a boss, you possess a monetizable asset. Someone out there is exactly where you were two years ago, and they are willing to pay to skip the learning curve.

Essential music industry tips for monetizing your expertise:

Pre-recorded Digital Courses: Build it once, sell it forever on platforms like Udemy or Teachable.

1-on-1 Mentorship: High-ticket coaching for aspiring producers or songwriters booked via Calendly and hosted on Zoom.

Niche Micro-Services: Offering freelance mixing, mastering, or session instrumentation on specialized marketplaces like Fiverr Pro or SoundBetter.

Sharing your knowledge is not "selling out"—it is one of the fastest, most reliable ways to fund your own artistic music projects.

The Bottom Line

Stop waiting for a major label A&R executive to discover you. Stop refreshing your Spotify dashboard hoping the algorithm will save you.

Take control of your business. Treat your music like the valuable intellectual property it is. Pick just one of these five strategies today, set it up, execute it flawlessly, and start building your true financial independence.


James Lazzeroni
Founder & Editor-in-Chief | The Music Biz Academy Blog

📧 jameslazzeroni@gmail.com
🌐 Official Website
🚀 Empowering the next generation of music industry professionals.

The Ultimate Blueprint to Promoting Your Music Online and Offline (Without Losing Your Soul)

Let’s be real for a second: making great music is only half the battle. You can record a masterpiece in your bedroom, but if nobody knows it exists, it’s just a file sitting on your hard drive.

In today's music industry, you don't need a massive record label backing you. You just need a strategy. Whether you're trying to blow up on Instagram or pack out your local venue, here is your no-nonsense guide to promoting your music online and live.

Part 1: Dominating the Digital World 🌐

The internet is crowded, but it's also your biggest asset. The goal isn't to be everywhere at once; it's to be where your potential fans are hanging out.

Short-Form Video is King: Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are the fastest ways to get discovered today. Don't just post a link to your Spotify. Show the behind-the-scenes process, tell the story behind your lyrics, or hop on a trending format. Keep it authentic—people connect with you, not just your promotional graphics.

Streaming: Getting your music on Spotify and Apple Music is step one. Step two is getting the algorithm to notice you. Make sure you pitch your unreleased tracks to Spotify Editorial Playlists via Spotify for Artists at least 3 to 4 weeks before release day. Also, encourage your fans to "Pre-Save" your tracks to drive up first-day streams.

Own Your Audience (Build a Mailing List): Algorithms change, and social media platforms rise and fall. Your email list is the only thing you truly own. Use platforms like Mailchimp or ConvertKit to build a newsletter. Offer a free unreleased track or exclusive merch discount in exchange for their email.

Part 2: Crushing It Live 🎸 🎹

Online hype is great, but there is absolutely nothing like the energy of a live show to turn casual listeners into die-hard fans.

Network with Local Acts: Don't try to book a headline slot right away if you're just starting out. Reach out to local bands or artists who play a similar genre and ask to be their opening act. You’ll get to perform in front of an established crowd that already loves your style of music.

Make Your Merch Table an Experience: Your merch table shouldn't just be a place to buy a t-shirt. It's your headquarters. Put up a clear QR code linking to your Spotify or email signup. Stand by the table after your set, chat with people, take photos, and sign autographs. Human connection sells music.

Create "Shareable" Moments: During your set, give the audience a reason to pull out their phones. It could be an acoustic breakdown, a crazy guitar solo, or a specific call-and-response moment. If they film it and post it to their Instagram Stories, they are doing the marketing for you.

The Golden Rule: Consistency > Intensity

You don't need to go viral overnight. The most successful independent artists are the ones who show up every single week—posting content, interacting with fans in the DM's, and playing gig after gig.

Treat your music like a business, but keep the passion alive. You've got the talent; now go let the world hear it!

James Lazzeroni

E-mail: jameslazzeroni@gmail.com

Official Website & Blog

9 Reasons to Seek Out Live Performance Opportunities

While I wrote this essay/article for musicians, the advice is applicable to any situation in which you are performing or speaking to a group of people. Whether your issue is a fear of public speaking or musical recital/concert performance anxiety, most of the below bullet points can be adapted to your particular situation.

Speaking from my own experience, playing concerts LIVE for an audience…

1) … makes you a better musician

2) … keeps you “performance ready”

3) … stacks confidence

4) … teaches you what works

5) … proves mistakes don’t matter

6) … is 4-Dimensional

7) … leads to MORE concerts

8) … builds a following

9) … creates lasting connections



1) Playing concerts LIVE makes you a better musician.

Your practice time will be more focused and purposeful if you have the pressure of a live show to prepare for. The more live performances you do, the more frequent your "focused" practices become. Pretty soon, by default, all or most of your practice sessions have more meaning.

And… each new concert/recital/performance you do becomes a “live practice” for the next one.

Which means each subsequent audience will see you closer to the “peak” of your ability.


2) Playing concerts LIVE keeps you “performance ready.”

Ever find yourself surprised by a random moment in which you’re asked to play—and you feel sheepish, unconfident and unprepared?

Play live regularly and you’re ALWAYS ready to play—and entertain—in any situation.


3) Playing concerts LIVE stacks confidence.

The more you perform, the BETTER you play and...
The more applause/positive feedback you receive.
The more you BELIEVE your audience will appreciate you, and...
The more confidence you'll have.

You'll know "you've got this," even if you feel a little nervous when you first walk out on stage.


4) Playing concerts LIVE teaches you what works.

It doesn’t take many shows to learn which of your songs connect most with your audience.

You may discover your most “popular” songs—based on stream or sales numbers—differ from the songs that a live audience responds to.

A TIP for PERFORMING Musicians:
Set up your event ticketing so that early-bird ticket buyers have an option to request 2–3 songs.

You’ll learn ahead of time what your audience wants to hear.
This will keep you polished up on both your “hits” and your “B-side” songs.


5) Playing concerts LIVE proves mistakes don’t matter.

I used to be terrified of making mistakes, especially as a “solo” artist who felt “naked” on stage.

I discovered, to my delight, that audiences don’t care—and usually don’t notice—what I considered “mistakes.”

Proving…
Your audience only cares about your mistakes if you do.

If you ignore your flub and play through it with confidence, your audience will believe it was your intention... or simply won't notice.

So practice NOT caring about mistakes, playing through and recovering from them. And then BELIEVE it.

EXAMPLE: A Performance Disaster Gone Right:
Early in my career, I played my “worst show ever” at a university.
I felt defeated in the moment but played on as if I was not. I did not let my face betray my dismay!

After the show, a professor came up and said to me:
“In my 20 years here on staff, you are the most fluid, graceful player I have ever seen. 👀”

I learned that day that mistakes only matter to the audience if they matter to me.


6) Playing concerts LIVE is 4-Dimensional.

Music in…
2D = HEARING only
3D = SEEING a LIVE performance
4D = EXPERIENCING an artist who ENGAGES the audience with storytelling

4D concerts are the ones that make a lasting impact.
4D concerts are the ones audiences rave about.

Be 4D


7) Playing concerts LIVE leads to MORE concerts!

When you ENGAGE your audience, you create a unique, memorable EXPERIENCE that fans will want to relive and share.

Some in your audience will wonder, “How can I bring this to my house/party/fund-raiser/church/venue/place?”

Doors open.


8) Playing concerts LIVE builds a following.

At every performance, ask the audience...

to follow/watch/stream and SHARE your music

to sign up for your email list so you can keep them informed (and offer incentives like first-in-line VIP ticket purchase opportunities and exclusive subscriber discounts on merch.)

to check out your merch table (because it's less expensive to purchase NOW than online.)

to take-home printed materials with the above information and how and where they can signup/contact/book you.


9) Playing concerts LIVE creates lasting connections.

ENGAGE your audience, and within it, you’ll encounter many kindred spirits.

Devoted “fans” become lasting friends who encourage you, support you, and actively share your music.

They’ll connect you to multitudes of resources and opportunities.


James Lazzeroni - composer of solo piano music & pianist

Official Website

E-mail: jameslazzeroni@gmail.com

How To Improve Your Press Kit

Whenever you have an opportunity to present something to a professional in the music business, you should remember two things:

1) What type of information does the person receiving your information need from you to do their job?

2) Does the folder or envelope that contains your kit reflect the professional image you want?

The first impression your music makes is a visual impression. In other words, if the package your music arrives in looks unprofessional, you music may never be listened to.

The professional gatekeepers in the Four Fronts see hundreds of promotional packages a month, and after years of dealing with these packages, it’s very easy to tell what artist or band has their act together professionally, and who doesn’t.

However, different styles of music demand different images. You should become familiar with what kind of image is appropriate for your music. For example, what might be an appropriate image for an alternative rock band, or a rap group, might be completely inappropriate for a country act, or a pop artist. Basically, the more mainstream your music is, the more professional the packaging of promotional materials should be.

Don’t go overboard in your eagerness to please. A folder can be a 35cent folder, with the band or artist’s logo used as a sticker placed on the front cover of the folder or envelope. The promo materials included inside should be neatly written and laid out. A package that looks “too slick” can work against you as much as can a poorly designed package.

If there is any doubt what kind of promotional materials should be put into your kits, think of the possible ingredients that could go into the kit. Those promotional materials are like the tools you have in your home repair toolkit. You have different tools, but you rarely use them all at once. Same with what you put into your folders and envelopes.You have created a bio, a fact sheet, a photo, press clippings or quote sheets, and cover letters. In addition to all those items, you may also created a list of song lyrics, a stage plot for your live show presentations, or an equipment list. So, do you use them all?

My tip on what to put into a promotional kit is this: Ask the recipient of your kit what they want you to send them. It’s as simple as all that.

Clippings or Press Clips

As your career develops, and the reviews of your records and concerts increase, be sure to save as many of them as you can. When you have a dozen or so collected, put together a small collection of these ‘clippings’ or ‘press clips”.

There are a couple of ways to arrange clippings:

If the reviews are small (capsule reviews) of live shows, or record reviews, then cut out and arrange several of them on a sheet of paper in an attractive way. Larger reviews can be reduced, copied, and pasted up with several small reviews all on one page.

If longer reviews have been written, or feature stories and cover stories start to appear, then the whole article should be copied. 2 or 3 of these can then be put into your kits. Do not go overboard on these clips. There is nothing more annoying than getting a demo/promo, or press kit filled with a dozen or more clippings.

James Lazzeroni - solo piano artist

Official Website

Music Video Contest 2026

If you like making videos for YouTube, and if you like my piano music, you can combine the two and possibly win a collection of albums and free sheet music! It can be as simple as recording and uploading a video of you (or a family member) playing my songs on the piano!

Music Video Contest!

I know many of you LOVE making music videos. So... to encourage fans like yourself to make and uploads videos that feature my feel good piano music, I'm running a contest!

If you win, I'll send you your choice of any FIVE of my Albums, PLUS your choice of any FIVE downloads of my sheet music, PLUS I may feature your video in my newsletter and/or Instagram posts (even if your not a winner!).

CONTEST DETAILS...

There will be up to FOUR Winners!

1) Best Use of Photos/Still Images. Use your favorite photos, arrange them into a theme that matches the song you're using. 

2) The Most Artistic/Creative Video. Pretty much open to anything. Lots of liberty here, including use of images/video/dialog... anything that has an artistic bent to it and is more than just still images. Be creative!

Watch this video for inspiration: https://youtu.be/ZQlDfwTHDmU?si=PwW579VzK31te7aJ

3) The Best Musical Performance. This mean YOU performing my song (or with my song if you play an instrument other than piano) and putting it up on YouTube for the world (and me) to see! I may select multiple winners here, depending on the number of submissions I get.

4) The Most Views! Purely based on views... promote your video any way you want, share it with friends... the video with the most views at the end of the contest wins!

Here's What to Do...

1) Create a video that features any of my recorded solo piano music. It can be any song you like... from any of my albums... so long as my music is part of the video. Don't know how to create videos or add music to a video? Lots of info out there on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/3zFePU1uvtc?si=dt_mblHs5fNpqQAl

2) Upload the video to your YouTube account and make it public. Make sure you include both my name and the song title in the video itself, as well as in the video title and in the video description! That's important!

3) Send an email to me at jameslazzeroni@gmail.com with a link to the video so I can log that as an official contest entry. You MUST send an email with a link to the video and note that it's an entry for me to include the video in the contest. I'll reply to your entry to acknowledge receipt of it.

4) You may get a notice from YouTube letting you know your music is using copyrighted material... If you do, it's OK... that's supposed to happen. Simply click on the "acknowledge" button in YouTube when you get this notice. It's fine, and you have my permission to use the music.  

Official Rules:

1) The video must be posted to YouTube on or after February 1st, 2026. I won't be including already existing videos in the contest. So only videos posted on or after February 1st will be considered.

2) You can use my music however you like, but please keep the subject matter of the video family-friendly. I'm not going to give an award to videos that I wouldn't want kids to watch.

3) The deadline is April 1st, 2026!

4) If I don't get many contest entries in one particular category, I may fold that category into another category. So the categories and the number of winners may change. The same person cannot win in two categories... so you can only "win" once, though you can submit multiple times!

James Lazzeroni

Official Website

Planning Your Music Career

How to you begin planning for a serious career in the music business? What are the steps you need to take to 'make it?'

Getting Signed

Before answering the question, let me share with you some of my own thoughts on the business. First, a lot of musicians are looking to be signed by a major record label (duh!). You, the reader of this article, may yourself have aspirations of ‘making it big.’ However, if there is one thing that I’ve learned over the years, it’s that these days record labels aren’t looking for fly-by-night musicians they can turn into stars.

What 'Labels' Are Looking For

What they are looking for are musicians that are already doing the work. They are looking for artists that have proven they can create a huge fan base, sell thousands of CDs and sell out shows all on their own. They are searching for musicians who are already ‘stars’ in their own region. What I’m saying, in a round-about way, is this; if you want to ‘make it big’ and get signed to a major label, the best way to do that is to forget about being signed to a major label and do the work yourself. Get out there, play your music, build your fan base, and sell CDs. Your goal should not be to ‘get signed’, but to bring yourself to a point to where you don’t really need the backing of a record label anymore. Once you’ve reached this point, and you have a marketable name and product, then you might find some A&R people knocking on your door. Maybe.

My intent with these comments isn’t to discourage you, but to empower you. You really don’t need a major label deal to have a successful music career. If you are seeking only fame, then yes, you need the backing of big money. But, if you’re just wanting to do music full time and be the quintessential artist (as I now do), that’s something you can do all on your own. But it takes a lot of hard work.

Planning Your Music Career

In regards to planning your career, you need to treat it (your career) just like a business. That means, you need to think about where you are now, and plot out where you want to be a year from now, two years from now, and then five years from now. You might even break this down, plotting your 'life' out in six month increments, giving yourself small goals to aim for. That way as you progress you can see how well you are doing on achieving your goals.

Article by James Lazzeroni

Official Website

5 Steps to a Successful Audition

In this article, I want to shed some light on what an audition process looks like from the point of view of the "auditioner" rather than the "auditionee.” I'll give you five tips that will hopefully help you prepare better for upcoming auditions.

1. Audition only when you feel that you have a good chance of passing

Often musicians apply for a job they are not qualified for. Now, you could argue that that's what auditions are for, and people couldn't possibly know in every case whether they are qualified or not. I agree, all I'm saying is that if the job description mentions that strong sight-reading skills are required for example, musicians should ask themselves how good their sight-reading skills really are and be honest about it. Being dishonest about what your skills really are can hurt you in more ways than one. Let's assume for a minute that you slip through the cracks and you end up in an orchestra but you can't cut the gig. First and foremost, you'll be humiliated in front of other musicians, you'll feel uncomfortable, you may actually feel guilty for not being able to do the job, and you will get fired on top of it, which will most likely kill your career before it has begun. (This happens all too often...) So if you are unsure about whether you are qualified or not, ask questions. Call the agency you are about to audition for and ask specific questions that will help you get a good picture of the job you're about to apply for. With that knowledge you can always postpone the audition and work on the skills that you may feel you're lacking.

2. Be flexible enough to present what's actually needed

Let's assume that you got all the details on the job description and you realize that you don't exactly fit that description. It is probably wiser for you to take some time to try to fit the description, rather than trying anyway, hoping it'll pass somehow. Try to make changes to your line-up, add some repertoire or start a completely new project that’s geared toward the job in question. You want to avoid getting turned down, otherwise it may be hard or impossible to establish credibility with the company you’ve auditioned for, which in turn can ruin your chances for a future career.  

3. Get the details on the job description

This is one of the most important steps. If you know exactly what it is that the employer is looking for, you won't waste time, money, and energy presenting the wrong package. There is no point in submitting a CD/DVD of your local blues band if the employer is looking for a cover band that plays all kinds of musical styles. Similarly, there is no point in applying as a clarinet player if the job description clearly indicates that woodwind players have to play saxophone, flute and clarinet.  Also, if sight-reading is the main focus of the job you're applying for, there is no point in hoping you'll slip by simply because you can improvise like Art Tatum.

4. Put some time and effort into preparing your best possible package

This applies to bands, small ensembles, and solo entertainers. Often artists get turned down, not because they are bad entertainers, but because they didn't supply a package that's appealing, that can be viewed quickly and that presents exactly what was asked for in the beginning. Often this happens because the artist already has some demo laying around that could kind of qualify but not really, and instead of modifying it or recording a new one that fits the specifications, they send it in anyway. Usually, demo packages include the recording itself, which should present the exact repertoire you're planning to play on the gig, a short resume of each member, and a list of your repertoire. You won't impress people with fancy DVD animations or 12-page resumes, but rather with short examples of the repertoire that's asked of you, played with energy and skill.

5. Try to impress with your playing, not with your resume  

I would say 7 people out of 10 probably fall under this category. Simply put, a masters degree from the best school in the country won't get you a gig if you can't play, yet all too often do people try to sway the decision in their favor by mailing in overly long resumes stating all the famous people they've played with. You're doing yourself a disservice if you hype yourself up with your resume and you can't back it up later during the audition.  

James Lazzeroni is recognized internationally as a remarkable force in contemporary solo piano music. James' original solo piano music, which have featured prominently in TV and film, resonates with listeners in over 60 countries around the world. Over his career, he has garnered numerous accolades and an astonishing millions of streams on Pandora, Apple Music and Spotify. His musical portfolio consists of over 15 solo piano works. James Lazzeroni is proud to be a member of SoloPiano.com.

Digital Music

Just about every artist and label is releasing music in some digital form these days. That's a no-brainer, and I see no reason not to release any new project digitally -- as bits. There's lots of upside and no discernable downside.

But many clients are asking themselves if they also need to release in one of the traditional physical formats such as CD or LP -- in other words, as atoms.

Such a decision has to be based on the many disparate aspects of a business and will be different in each instance. It all depends on an artist's or label's circumstances.

Why wouldn't one want to release a CD? Well first there are all the costs -- designing the packaging, plus the printing of tray cards, booklets or folders or other special packaging such as Digipaks, the pressing of CDs, the assembling of all the materials, and finally the expense of shrink-wrapping. It also means the necessity of keeping track of inventories and accounts receivable.

Next there's the matter of attracting the attention of a distributor willing and able to get a reasonable quantity of CDs into the marketplace. Most established distributors -- even those that specialize in indie labels -- won't take on a new account unless they can be guaranteed about a million dollars worth of business. That's a lot of money and an unlikely circumstance, particularly to a new and unestablished artist or label.

So if you're an unknown or a start-up, you may have to consider going it alone. And that's not an easy task. It means that that you'll have to make deals directly with retailers willing to stock your music, plus you'll also be on the hook for the costs of manufacturing and shipping, not to mention returns.

Yet I've known of artists and labels who've started out on their own in a small way, but with lots of drive, stamina, and stick-to-itiveness, found themselves eventually succeeding. A substantial part of such a winning formula is that you be extremely proactive.

This means that if you're a musician serious about your music and your career, or if you're committed to the eventual success of your label, you must see that your artists are constantly performing in front of audiences, thereby building fans and a constituency. Such artists are also not ashamed to sell CDs, T-shirts, and other related paraphernalia at all their performances, and it can become a substantial part of their income.

You've also got to make lots of sales calls to accounts. In addition -- and this applies also to those who only release digitally -- you'll have to work all possible avenues of publicity -- be it local newspapers, fanzines, or national magazines and syndicated news programs. You must also try to get your music played on as many appropriate radio stations as possible. Then there's the matter of trying to get your music used on televisions shows, feature films, and even commercials. This may be the hardest task of all, but it can mean the quickest way of getting your music known, and paid for!

And don't neglect your website which is a great way to sell digital downloads, CDs, and other merchandise.

Article by James Lazzeroni

Composer of solo piano music

Official Website

How To Make a Living with Music

I would like to share my personal experience and advice on how to make a living with music, with the hope that it can be helpful to independent musicians and bands.

I composed solo piano music simply because I loved doing it. I started composing music for piano, and the only reason I recorded my first piano album was because it seemed like the obvious thing to do. I had written some songs, and so what else is there to do with them, but record? So saved up some money and I recorded my first album.

I didn't record the album because I hoped to sell a million copies... I did it just to have a permanent record of my solo piano work, and I figured I could share it with folks I knew and maybe sell a few copies.

At that point, I kept playing the very occasional show, I played in public maybe only 5-6 times a year.
But I kept selling music and I saved the contact info for everyone I sold an album to. When I released my others solo piano albums, I informed all the folks that bought the first one, and most of them bought my second. So that's how I started.

At the same time, I started promoting my solo piano music on the Internet, and that opened me up to a whole new audience. I kept composing and recording, and kept promoting my solo piano music on the web.
In 2018 I released my complete collection The Best of Solo Piano album.
In 2024 I released my new album EP Top Piano Hits by James Lazzeroni (if you'd like, you can take a listen on Spotify).
It took years and years to get there.
No one helped me.
I built my own fan base. 

So yes, you can make a living doing music.... providing that your music is music people want. That's one of the key things you must have that you can't get around. Your music must be music that people fall in love with - music they want to own - music they want to invest in.

Now you might be saying.... "James, tell me all your secrets to making money with music!" Well, there aren't secrets. 
Living the dream. Doing music full time.
Promoting music online is an ongoing life process.
In my life and business as a solo piano artist, I have come to realize that whether or not you make it artistically depends on your ability to outlast and out persist almost everyone else.

Begin at the beginning.
Just make a professional artist website to present your music. Next, get your music on all digital stores for purchase and streaming such as Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, Pandora Music, YouTube. Then use the social network for promoting your compositions.

The internet has changed the face of the music business. That what you do on the internet today may very well determine how successful you are in the future.
It's a long process, but worth it.
Don't stop. Don't give up.
You can do it.

SoundExchange

SoundExchange is an organization that administers royalties from the music played internationally on satellite radio, streaming digital music services, internet radio such as Pandora and satellite television services.

As an independent musician, you are more likely to earn royalties via SoundExchange than you would via Performing Rights Organization.

If you're doing you job promoting your music via internet radio, there is great potential for you to earn some very nice royalti checks from SoundExchange.
Find more information at https://www.soundexchange.com

Bandname.com

Established since 1997, Bandname.com (https://www.bandname.com) is the music industry standard for registration of band names.

This worldwide band name registry is basically a place to register your band name to ensure no one else is using it. In addition, you'll find a great selection of music articles, and a well organized link page to other valuable resources.

Jonathan Coulton: Thing a Week

Growing up in rural Connecticut, the son of a lawyer and a schoolteacher, Jonathan Coulton, called "Joco" by fans, in September 2005, he quit his job as a writer software and became a full-time singer and composer.

He set a goal for himself: he would write and record a song every friday for a year in a project called Thing a Week, posting each one to his website https://www.jonathancoulton.com.
His project had attracted a sizable audience. More than 3,000 people were visiting his website every day, and his most popular songs were being downloaded as many as 500,000 times.

This might get you excited about the possibilities of marketing your music online using a blog or a website.
This articles shows how tenacity can really pay off. To develop a regular readership, you have to deliver something on a regular basis, something that your targeted audience will keep coming back for. The key to marketing anything online is consistency and tenacity.

Videos Distribution

YouTube isn't the only place you can post your musical videos.

There are some of other video-based websites where you can place, distribute and promote your videos.

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com

Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com

The John Lennon Songwriting Contest

In honor of John Lennon,The John Lennon Songwriting Contest is an international songwriting contest that began in 1997 to give songwriters an opportunity to express themselves, gain recognition, and get their music heard. The JLSC is made possible by Yoko Ono Lennon.

12 Categories - Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, Country, Jazz, R&B, Children's, Folk, World, Latin, Electronic and Gospel/Inspirational.

For more information about the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Visit https://www.jlsc.com/ or send an email at info@jlsc.com

Google Alert: A Great Way with Your Fans

Google Alert is a free service, a great way to build relationships with your fans. Google offers a tool for monitoring who is talking about you.

On https://www.google.com/alerts, enter the search term you want to monitor along with your email address, and Google Alert will send you an email with a listing of websites making reference to your selected search terms.

I monitor my own name James Lazzeroni; whenever someone mentions my name, I get notified. When my fans post blogs about my piano music, or a video of them playing my solo piano compositions on YouTube, I get an alert about it. It's common for pianists to post videos of themselves playing my music on YouTube. When they do, I get a notice from Google Alert, I can watch the video and write them a comment to pat them on the back for their work.

Google Alert is a great way to monitor when people mention you, your blog or website, keyword and keyword phrase you want to track. Once you receive the alert, you have an opportunity to jump into the conversation and post your own comments on the topic.

How to Promote Your Music

How to promote your music, here are some promotion ideas for you....

• Tell your friends about your music.

• On X, Facebook or Instagram? Recommend your music to your friends!

• Write a blog about your music and talk it up. Post your thoughts on your music in any groups, forums or chat rooms (like Facebook, X, Instagram) you regularly participate in. Be sure to include a link back to your website.

• Watch and recommend some your videos on YouTube, and then email your favorites to friends.

• Help encourage others on iTunes and Amazon who find your music to take the plunge and purchase it!

James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist
Official Website

5 Tips About Making Your Music Videos on YouTube

If you want to dig deeper into making videos on YouTube, here there are 5 tips about making your music videos on YouTube.

How to Make Your Music Videos....

• Talking to an audience on YouTube is like talking to a live person, and when you're talking to people, eye contact is key.

• Make videos that range anywhere from 15 seconds - a short video - to a maximum of two to three minutes.

• Be funny, be interesting to watch.

• Watch the lighting. Without artificial lighting, videos shot inside tend to appear dark.

• Know what you're going to say before you say it. Some improvisation might be fine if you're gifted at it, but even so, write a script.

If you'd like, you can take a look at my official artist channel on YouTube

James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist
Pianist and piano composer
Official Website

7 Golden Rules for Sending Successful Newsletters to Your Fans and Promoting Your Music

Whenever someone subscribers to your newsletter, you should be sending them some kind of email to confirm their subscription and to thank them for subscribing.

How to sending successful newsletters to your fans and promoting your music....

1. People are busy, so get to your biggest news first, so that if the reader only reads the top third of your newsletter, they'll see it.
2. Don't annoy your subscribers. Send your newsletter to once a month.
3. On both your newsletter sign up page and your subscription confirmation email, inform your fan what your newsletter from email address will be. That way your newsletter will always get through.
4. The subject line of your email has incredible influence over whether your recipient actually opens and reads your newsletter. For example, if you're sending out an email to announce a new album release, put the basic event information in your newsletter subject line: "James Lazzeroni's New Solo Piano Album JUST Released!".
5. Make each newsletter interesting and new. Don't send out a newsletter unless you have something newsworthy to share.
6. State that you never add anyone to your mailing list unless they specifically signed up for it, and then give your reader a link to opt out of future emails, and unsubscribe if they so desire.
7. Keep it short. Don't overwhelm your reader with too much information.

James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist
Pianist and piano composer
Official Website

How to add Apple Music to a Website

For add an Apple Music player to your website, click any playlist, album, song or artist and select "Share".

Then click on "Copy Embed Code" and paste that code in HTML into a web page to your website where you want the Apple Music player to appear.

If you want that the Apple Music player to appear on the center to the page to your website, before pasting the code, in HTML write the following piece of code:
<center>

Below there is an example of embed code from my album The Best of Solo Piano on how to add Apple Music player to your website:

<center><iframe allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *; fullscreen *; clipboard-write" frameborder="0" height="450" style="width:100%;max-width:660px;overflow:hidden;border-radius:10px;" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" src="https://embed.music.apple.com/us/album/the-best-of-solo-piano/1406719564"></iframe>

Below you can see how the Apple Music player to appear after pasting the embed code into HTML.

James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist
Official Website

Getting Royalties with BMI and ASCAP

If you reside in U.S. you probably already know BMI and ASCAP, two performing rights organizations that monitor royalties due artists of their compositions in the United States.

If you're an up-and-coming artist, band or songwriter, you will likely need to between BMI or ASCAP. You'll find artists arguing for and against both BMI and ASCAP for a variety of reasons. When it comes to you choosing for yourself, just read up on both services and go with your gut.

About BMI and ASCAP

BMI at https://www.bmi.com is a corporation and is owned by broadcasters.
ASCAP at https://www.ascap.com is the largest of the performing rights organizations (PRO) and is owned by songwriters and composers.

BMI and ASCAP use different methods but it basically comes down to a combination of sample surveys from play logs and cue shets provided by broadcasts and stations.
For example if your music is used by a company, and that use is reported to the BMI or ASCAP, then you'll get your royalty.


James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist
Official Website

Last.fm Internet Radio

Last.fm is an internet radio.

At https://www.last.fm you can upload your music. You can even set up your own artist page on Last.fm so that listeners can find out more about you.

If you like, take a look of my artist page on Last.fm.

Your musical tastes actually impact what songs are recommended to other Last.fm listeners who share your musical tastes.

Last.fm provides independent musicians the option of advertising on their network.
On Last.fm fans can share music and playlists with each other like a social network, so your music can actually go viral on Last.fm.

Last.fm can be accessed from over 200 countries, so it's well worth signing up.


James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist
Official Website

The Best Music Affiliate Programs

The music affiliate programs are when you sell a third party product direct from your website.

How to Music Affiliate Programs Work

Music affiliate programs work on a commission basis.
You get paid a percentage of any product sales generated from your website. There are many product possibilities for music related websites; for example sheet music, t-shirts, piano lessons, book about how to play piano.

Between the best music affiliate programs there is Amazon.
At https://affiliate-program.amazon.com you can find all info.
Amazon sells virtually everything and will pay you up to 15% on any item sold via a link from your website.

You need to consider your target market.
So, in order to have success marketing an affiliate product, you've got to offer something your website visitors are likely to want.


James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist
Official Website

How to Write a Good Description to Your Website

Write a good description of your website is very important for search engines.

The description of your website must contain some keywords that can favor the indexing of your website on search engines.

For example, in my case, being a solo piano artist, in the description of my official website I wrote:
Official website of solo piano artist James Lazzeroni. Pianist and piano composer

As you can see, the description of my website contains a summary of what I am, but above all it contains some powerful keywords such solo piano artist, pianist, piano composer.

Free Web Counters

If you're doing a lot of traffic on your website, a free web counter might help you solicit advertising from your visitors.

Any quality web host will be able to provide you with a stats management program you can use to view detailed traffic statistics for your website.

You can browse through a number of free options at https://www.free-counters.org

If your web host service does not offer a stats service you like, GoStats offers a free web counter for your website. At http://gostats.com you can copy and paste the code they provide into your web pages you want to track.
This free service will give you access to some great information, for example you'll be able to see what pages on your site are most popular, what keywords your visitors are using to find you, where your visitors are coming from.


James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist
Official Website

How to Add Spotify to a Website

For integrate a Spotify player to your website, from desktop right-click any playlist, album, song or artist and select Share.

Then click on Copy Embed Code and paste that code in HTML into a web page to your website where you want the Spotify player to appear.

If you want that the Spotify player to appear on the center to the page to your website, before pasting the code, in HTML write the following piece of code:
<center>

Below there is an example of embed code from my album The Best of Solo Piano on how to add Spotify to your website:

<center><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="580" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/6uCKEFL3TfrQUTJSt3HGlP" width="350"></iframe>

Below you can see how the Spotify player to appear after pasting the embed code into HTML.

James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist
Official Website

Every time you write a blog, it's like writing a new article on your topic of choice and putting it out there for the world to discover.

You can write commentaries about the release of the new albums, comment about artists, find a way to tie those commentaries into your music. You can use the blog to direct people to your music page, Spotify artist profile, website.

The Best 5 Ways to a Blog Well Done

1. Write About Your Personal Experiences about your last concert. Who inspires you? Write it. Have a next music project? Write it.
2. People love lists, so create lists. 10 ways the music industry can do for the musicians. 20 perfect songs for your playlist on Spotify.
3. New Music Technologies. The most popular blogs dwell on the topic.
4. Write Reviews about music, artists, YouTube videos, Albums.
5. Interview Artists via email. Find someone artist who has a good audience and interview. Your interviewee will likely promote the interview to his fans, bringing your blog new readers.

James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist
Pianist and piano composer
Official Website

Meta Tag Tips

Here are a few more tips for creating keyword meta tags.

• Some search engines consider capitalized and lower case words to be two different words. If you think a keyword is likely to be typed both ways during a search, you might include both variants in your meta tags. For example, "Piano" and "piano".

• If one of your keywords has a common misspelling as a variant, use it. Do people commonly misspell your name? "James Lazzeroni" or "James Lazzaroni"? Do you see the variant? Chances are, both are searched for.

• Add the letter "s" to the end of every word where appropriate. For example, if you use the phrase "piano article", change that to "piano articles". 

For meta tag tips, be inspired on my official artist website.

Optimizing a Website for Search Engines

I want to summarize some general things you can do to help search engine spiders crawl your website for optimizing.

• Use text links throughout your website and link often between important pages

• Keep your descriptive text high in the page

• Create a page that links to all of the major pages within your website. And link to this page from your Home Page.

For optimizing your website, If you'd like, you can take a look on my artist website.

Website Relevancy - Keywords

An important factor a search engine uses to determine how to position your website in its listings is the relevancy.

After the page title has been established, search engines tend to sort pages based on the density of keywords or key phrases within a website and a page. The resulting calculation is translated into a relevancy rating, which determines how relevant your website is to a particular phrase searched for.
Search engines tend to give more importance to text that appears high in that page, in the first paragraph.

How to Improve your Website Relevancy

To improve your revelancy for a set of keywords, include as many of keywords in the opening paragraph description your website.
If you'd like, you can take a look of page title on my artist website.

Another way to improve your relevancy is to keep your web pages relatively short. The longer your page goes on and on with endless words, the less each of your keywords will stand out because the more text you have, the less relevancy each key phrase becomes for that page.

Selling Digital Music Downloads

You are wondering how you can sell digital downloads of your music, rather than just having people listen to them in your music prayer.

You'll be happy to know there are some nifty ways to combine a Flash music player with a shopping cart system for just this purpose.
Your visitors can preview your music in a flash player, and then purchase your music directly from the player if they desire to.

How to Selling Digital Music Downloads

Once you are doing $100 a month total in product sales such as CDs, DVDs, concert tickets, take a look a CCNow.com.
Once you sign up with them and add your products to their database, CCNow gives you HTML code to link your website directly into their shopping cart system.

Once great thing about CCNow is that when the transaction is complete, your customer is returned to your website. Also, in terms of dependability and reliability, CCNow is a well-established business which has been on the internet for years.

James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist

Official Website

Wimpy MP3 Player

I would like to discuss what should be one of your highest priorities as an online music promoter creating a means by which your website visitor can sample music from your website thanks to Wimpy MP3 Player (https://www.wimpyplayer.com).

There are several reasons I prefer the Wimpy MP3 Player over the others. First, the music loads quickly. Secondly, you can customize the design to your liking.

The only downside of the Wimpy Player option is that it does take a little technical know-how to get up and running. You do need to read and follow instructions to make it work properly, and if you're not familiar at all with HTML, you might find the process of setting it up a bit intimidating.

If you're not familiar with HTML, you could add the Spotify Player to your website like I added on my website in the Listen page.

Targeting by Website

I want to introduce you to a marketing technique called Targeting by Website. For the purpose of targeting new customers, targeting by website can be really, really effective.

The idea behind targeting by site is that you figure out what topic your potential listeners or fans is looking for on the internet, and build a website around that subject. A general topic website specifically designed to appeal to the people who are most likely to be interested in your style of music.

The more topic related content you have on your that new website, the more pages you can populate the search engines with. And on each page of that website, you can promote your music adding to a link to your albums, a link with more details, and a... BUY link like this on my official blog and website.

How to Targeting New Customers

When you're ready to begin targeting new customers, you can do your own self-promotion. Find forums, chat rooms and discussion groups where your target audience is likely to hang out.

When people post comments on a topic that is in your target, respond and get involved in the discussion. Every time you post a message to someone, use a specific signature like this:

James Lazzeroni
Solo Piano Artist & Composer
Official website & blog: https://jamespianomusic.blogspot.com

Reviews from listeners to James' piano music:
https://jamespianomusic.blogspot.com/p/testimonials-from-listeners.html?m=1

Founder of The Music Biz Piano Academy: https://themusicbizacademy.blogspot.com

Free Gifts for You!
Subscribe to James' Newsletter:
https://jamespianomusic.blogspot.com/p/join-james-e-list.html?m=1

You don't even have to blatantly promote your music when posting a post. You shouldn't do that as people will dismiss you as an... opportunist.
Join in discussions, answer questions.
If you post messages frequently, people reading your messages will be curious about you and your music, and will check out your artist pages and your website.
People might ask you questions about your music, and you'll make new fans.

How to Targeting Your Customers

If you are a performing artist, you have one advantage over artists that don't regularly perform.

You have captive audience to promote your music and website to every time you play. Here are a few suggestions for promoting your website at your shows.

The Best 5 Tips for Targeting Your Customers to the Max

1. Pass out business cards that contain your contact information and website address. On your business cards include a one-line catch-phrase about your act that sums it all up.
2. Rubber stamp the hands of all concert attendees with your website address as they enter the venue.
3. Are you ever at a loss for words when doing a sound check? Make good use of that moment and integrate your website address into your sound check.
4. Got an iPhone? Remind the crowd that they can purchase your music on iTunes RIGHT NOW using their iPhone.
5. Announce the availability of sheet music available for purchase and FREE download from your website.

How to Tag Images on Your Website

If you make use of images on your website, you can use those to create more text thanks to tag for the search engine spider to feed on, by taking advantage of the ALT command for your images.

Here's an example of a standard HTML tag images from my website in The Best of Solo Piano page:

<IMG SRC="the-best-of-solo-piano.jpeg"
HEIGHT=142 WIDTH=171>

Now, here's an example that employs the ALT command:

<IMG SRC="the-best-of-solo-piano.jpeg"
ALT= "The Best of Solo Piano by James Lazzeroni"
HEIGHT=142 WIDTH=171>

The addition of the ALT command creates a text description for your images. To see this effect on any web page, move your mouse pointer over the images and if you see a text area float over the images, you know the ALT command is in use.
A few search engines will read that ALT information as it gathers information about your website.

How to Increase Traffic to Your Artist Website

The most powerful tool you have to increase traffic to your artist website via the search engines for find your music is your web page title.

The page title which appears in the top bar of your web browser, is also the text that displays in the search engine results. It's the text the searcher will see and click on to go directly from the search results page to your artist website home page.

Web Page Title Artist Website

Your web page title artist website has more influence over your search engine listing than any other single aspect of your artist website. Therefore, placing your page title very carefully. Word the title of your main your home page in such a way that you make use of your most powerful keywords and phrases so that search engines find your exact match. At the same time, keep in mind people are reading your page title and using that to determine whether or not your link is worth the effort of clicking on.

If you'd like, you can take a look of page title on my artist website.

I need to emphasize that your page title will be of absolutely no benefit to you if it doesn't reflect your actual web page content. The spider is looking at more that just your page title, it's examining the whole of your page content. So whatever keywords you use in your page title on your artist website, those same topics, should be addressed within that page.

Planning Your Artist Website

As you begin formulating a plan for the overall layout of your personal artist website, try thinking of your site as an online press kit.

Your personal web pages should contain the following:

• Your name and contact information

• A band or artist photo or photo gallery

• A band or artist biography

• Product information (CDs, T-Shirts, posters, whatever)

• CD details (album background, free sound files)

• Your upcoming concert schedule

• Reviews, customer testimonials

• The latest news about your career

If you'd like, you can take a look at my official artist website.

These are the things your artist website should have at a very minimum, and these items ought to be easy for your website visitors to find. If you hand your business card to a club manager who might want to book you and they look to your website for information, they ought to be able to find that information quickly and easily. They will also need to be able to contact you directly from your website.

Keep all this in mind as you plan your website layout. However, as you will soon see, there is more to maximizing your website for music promotion than just creating a personal web page from which to sell your music. Your online press kit will be just one very small part of your growing Internet presence.

How to Prepare a Website for Music Business

In this article I'll talk about how to prepare a website for your Music Business.

First of all, there is a golden rule to marketing any product on the internet: limit your visitors' options.

When someone visit your website for the first time, they have no idea what to expect.
So, when designing the layout of your website, set it up in such a way as to draw your visitor gradually to your Order Page. So, keep the links to your power pages such as "order", "albums", "listen", "sheet music", "purchase" front and center all times.
They are the pages that make up the absolute core of your website and the pages represent a "call to action".
If you'd like, you can take a look at my official artist website.

As you prepare your website for music business, include links to your power pages at the top of every page you build and make them stand out. In your Home Page make the links to your power pages central to that.
Finally, no matter where you go on my website, you'll see the same link options at the top of every page that either return you to the home page, or move you on to one of my power pages.

How to Increase Sales from Your Website

The best way to increase sales from your website is to turn your one-time visitors into long-term customers.

Repeat customers, repeat business is an important, very important necessity. If the fans are coming to your website often, you know they are into you.
The moment your visitor comes to your website they will start making judgments about you.

If you are like me, a simple independent musician who needs his fan base, getting downright friendly with your fans can make a real impact on your sales from your website.
Get friendly with your fans and they will carry your music to other people and friends. That's helpful because when Holiday season comes around, you'll use your newsletter to encourage them to purchase your music.
Tell your visitor that if they order your album on your website right now, they'll receive something else, a bonus item for FREE.

There are certain marketing buzz words that draw attention to themselves. One of those is the word FREE. Free Downloads, Free Articles, Free Sheet Music. People like free stuff.
So, if you want to sell your music, incorporate this word into your website.

Promote Your Music - Best Of Album

When you promote your music, if there is one thing I've noticed in my marketing experiments over the years, it is the effectiveness of the term Best Of.

It encouraged me to create an actual The Best of album called The Best of Solo Piano by James Lazzeroni.
Well, to this day, this is my best selling album, not only in streaming on Spotify and Pandora Music, but also on Amazon and iTunes.

Why is having a Best Of album important?
While folks might like the music they hear on your website enough to keep on listening, they may not be convinced to purchase your music. But if you offer a Best Of album of your best songs, that might just be enough to encourage them to go ahead and buy it.
Best Of albums give your visitors one more reason to try your music and pay for it.
Purchasing an album containing your best music will definitely motivate some folks to take the plunge and buy your music.

One of the great things about creating a best of album is that it costs very little to do so. The music has already been recorded so there's no new studio time to pay for.

How to Write a Music Press Release

If you want write a music press release about your brand new album, ask yourself Who cares?.

The answer to the question is a good test to determine whether your news item is worthy of widespread distribution.

When I released my album The Best of Solo Piano, who cares? My fans do, so the news release would be sent to them, as well as those who have subscribed to my personal newsletter.

So the music press release would be sent to any internet newsgroup or discussion group where piano music is a topic interest. So, are you working on a project worthy of widespread recognition?

The Best 3 Places to sending your Music Press Release

Mi2n is the first place to go to find out what's going on right now in the music industry, and you can submit your news release for free.

Press Release Wire is a music press release service designed specifically for musicians that I've consistently heard good things about.

Rapid Press Release sends your music new release to producers, music groups, labels and journalists.

When you write your artist bio, you are writing a music business document. Your bio then is written for the music business contacts you want to impress, deal with, and create lasting relationships with.

Before you begin to write your bio, be sure you have taken an inventory of your background, accomplishments, goals, and objectives as a musician. When you are ready to write your Bio using this outline can keep you focused and organized.

How to Write an Artist Bio

So, let's get going. Follow these directions and you will have the tools to write your own bio, and essential part of any Press Kit, analog or digital.

1st Paragraph:

Start with an introductory sentence that clearly defines the essential artist name, your specific genre of music, where you are from, and perhaps a positive quote about your music from a contact you have made in the music business.

2nd Paragraph:

This section should address the immediate purpose of the Bio. If a new CD or digital release is coming out, that should be the main topic of the first sentence of the second paragraph. In other word, a reason why the Bio has been written should be clearly stated early on.

3rd Paragraph:

If you have developed a plan for your career path, additional paragraphs elaborating on this type of can be written, that demonstrate how your current project is part of a larger career development plan. Quotes from a couple of your songs can be useful to highlight your new release.

The Best Places to Promote, Sell and Distribute your Piano Music on the Internet

In this article we'll give you our recommendations for what we consider to be the best places to promote, sell and distribute your piano music online. These are the web stores you'll want to attach yourself to and create a presence for promote, sell and distribute your piano music online. Your task, as you promote your piano music online world at large, is to use the next places of exposure to attract visitors to your piano music online.

The Best 5 Places to Promote, Sell and Distribute your piano music online

1) iTunes. In terms of digital music distribution, iTunes is the first place to sell and promote your piano music.

2) Spotify. In terms of streaming, Spotify is the first place to sell and promote your piano music.

3) YouTube. YouTube is by far the most popular destination on the internet for watching video. As far as your piano music goes, YouTube can be a gold mine for creating new fans.

4) Amazon. Amazon is by far the internet's biggest and most popular all-around store. They provide a music distribution outlet for independent musicians.

5) Pandora Music. As an independent artist, you can submit your own piano music to Pandora. Pandora will begin recommending your piano music to listeners who enjoy your particular style of music.

James Lazzeroni, solo piano artist

Pianist and piano composer

Official Website