Indie Band Survival Guide Ebook
The reason for this Survival Guide is simple: We want to share what we'd tell ourselves if we were just starting out as an independent band.
We found, when we started out years ago, that there weren’t enough bands that shared what they'd learned. The information that we found useful was scattered in different magazines, books, and all over the Internet. After doing all of that research, and going through the inevitable issues that a band faces, we decided to write about what goes on behind the scenes, and collect it in one place.
Read more about the evolution and ethics of "the Guide"
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Login and Download the Original Indie Band Survival Guide (2006 Edition). Now contains a new forward as of August 2008.
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The Realities for Independent Bands: Busting Myths and Traditions
- Major Labels: Major Ripoff
- Commercial Radio in Three Words: Pay for Play
- Ticketmaster: In for Their Cut of Everything
Your Website: Your Band's 24/7 Ambassador
- Starting a New Website
- Making a Great Band Website
- Website Laundry List
- Web Marketing Techniques
- Delivering Music from Your Website
- Idea #1: Team Up With a Theater or Comedy Group
- Idea #2: Write Music for a Business & Have Them Promote Your Music
- Idea #3: Make a Holiday Album
- Idea #4: Play a Charity Show
- Idea #5: Play an Art Opening
- Idea #6: Music for Podcasts and Websites
- Promotional Tricks
- Distributing Your Music
- Selling Your Music
- Selling at Shows
- Consignment
- Online CD Stores
- Using Online Stores Effectively
- Digital Music Stores
- Getting Your Music Played
- Playing Music from Your Website
- College Radio
- Indie Music Shows on Commercial Radio
- Music Websites
- Popular Non-Music Websites
- Internet Radio
- Podcasts
- DIY Podcasts
- Theater and Performance Venues
- Jukeboxes
- File Sharing
- Satellite Radio
- DJs
File Sharing: An Independent Band's Perspective
- Reframing the Debate
- File Sharing for Smarties: Why File Sharing Works
- File Sharing Cannot Be Stopped
- Digital Rights Management (DRM)
- Why File Sharing is Good for Indie Bands: 6 Degrees of Distribution
- Why Indies Should File Share Their Own Music
- “Pirating” Yourself: A Short Guide to Sharing Your Own Music
- The CD is Dead
- How Multitrack Recording Works
- Multitrack Recording Techniques
- Recording Plan Example
- Saving Studio Time
- Mixdown
- Mastering
- Recording Mistakes to Avoid
- Album Planning
Copyright for Independent Bands
- Copyright 101 – US Copyright Law in a Nutshell
- Myths About Copyright
- How to Register Your Songs with the US Copyright Office
- The Different Types of Copyrights
- Some Rights Reserved vs. "All Rights Reserved" - The Creative Commons License Alternative
- Performance Rights Societies
- Copyright, Cover Songs, and Loops
- Copyright and Copyleft