Fair Trade Music is an organization founded in Portland, OR, with chapters opening in major music markets across North America. Their mission is to connect “musicians, venues, and fans to promote a healthy music business—one that pays musicians fair wages.” The main way they do this is to certify “Fair Trade Music” venues for paying […]

GigMasters is a popular destination for event and entertainment bookings. If you’re a musician in a wedding or cover band, or you perform as an “entertainer”, GigMasters is worth a look. Their pricing is the biggest obstacle, starting at $79 for 3 months or $199 annually and reaching $299 annually for full functionality. The fee […]

For Steve Rennie (aka Renman), being Incubus’ long-time manager was not enough. Right around the time his chart-topping band completed their multi-album major label deal to go independent, Renman busted through the gates of the web, blazing a trail for independent musicians worldwide with his trademark phrase, “fuck the gatekeepers”. Renman interviews music industry professionals […]

Music XRay bills itself as a “song to opportunity matching” service. Its digital A+R staff evaluates your tracks and submits the good stuff to industry reps for consideration in licensing and other deals. There’s no annual membership fee, but submission fees vary and can add up quickly unless offset by landing a gig. For those […]

At Taxi, a team of A+R pros help assess your music, giving feedback on how to better match your music with industry reps’ requests. It’s pricey at three hundred bucks a year and 5-15 dollars per submission, but for the right kind of artist with radio- or ad-friendly music it can quickly pay for itself. […]

BandCentral is a management app for professional musicians. The free version supports basic social network marketing and team collaboration. The six-euro paid upgrade unlocks all of the features, including budgeting, bookkeeping, inventory, tasks, and more.

Berklee College of Music has long been a destination for aspiring professional musicians. Some of their alumni have done incredible things in the music industry. Of course, for every success story there are many more musicians paying off their college debt with revenue not generated from music, so the ethics of such an institution are […]

Music Nomad offers a directory of resources for musicians. They also offer the “My TourManager” tool, which is a hand web app that makes tour planning a much more precise and efficient process.

SliceThePie’s premiere service for musicians is Soundout, where bands pay for a certain number of detailed reviews, and receive relatively instant gratification as SliceThePie reviewers begin to listen immediately. Reviewers get paid to review the music, which ups the quality of the feedback.