The Top 25 Resources for Musicians & Labels
Welcome to the Upstream Indie guide of the best resources for musicians, bands, and labels – a compilation of books, tools, services, and more. There are 5 main categories, feel free to click the links to skip to a specific section.
Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases. However, this does not impact our reviews and recommendations.
Best Music Industry Books
01.
All You Need to Know About The Music Industry
By Donald Passman
This tried and tested classic is worth its weight in gold. Now on it’s 10th update, to reflect the changes in the industry, the book is an amazing overview into every major aspect of the music industry. The authors combination of humor and wisdom make this a great read and reference book.
02.
Get More Fans
By Jesse Cannon & Todd Thomas
This is an in-depth read with actionable, relevant, and quality advice on how to grow your audience and market your music. If you’re an independent artist, this is essential reading.
03.
Music Marketing For the DIY Musician
By Bobby Borg
If marketing your music is what you struggle with this book offers amazing strategies and tips. Bobby Borg offers practical advice with an emphasis on marketing on a low budget. The way its structured allows you to skip to sections that are most applicable to you.
04.
The 4 Hour Work Week
By Tim Ferriss
The 4 Hour Work Week illuminates the path to designing your own financial future with the goal of giving you more time and energy to put towards your passions. While this book isn’t tailored specifically for musicians, as an independent artist, you’re also an entrepreneur. This book will help you be more efficient in your work and achieving your career goals.
05.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
By Stephen Covey
A modern-day classic, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is renowned as one of the best self help books ever written. Again, while this book isn’t tailored to the music industry, the principals can be applied to anyone in any field.
09.
Landr
Free Music Mastering & Low Cost Music Distribution
Landr solves to problems with one service, music mastering and music distribution, both at very affordable prices. They use an AI powered algorithm to master your music. While this doesn’t compare to a true mastering professional carefully working on your records, for those on a budget, this is a very reasonable alternative. In addition, once your music is ready and sounding great, it will distribute to all the major streaming platforms and you keep 100% of the royalties.
Use the link below to receive $10 off after your first purchase.
10.
United Masters
Music Distribution & Data/Insight Management
Not only does this service give you the ability to distribute your music to millions, it also offers powerful tools monitor your analytics, connect with super fans, and promote your music. Their tagline is “A Record Company In One App.”
11.
Sonicbids
Booking Platform That Connects You Directly With Events
Along with other benefits, Sonicbids gives you the ability to submit your music and band directly to promoters, music bookers, and festivals. While this shouldn’t be your only booking strategy it’s great as a supplemental strategy.
Best Services for Musicians
06.
Printful
Print On-Demand Merch
What if there was a way to scrap the shipping boxes and worrying about mailing labels and start selling merch with $0 up-front… With Printful you can do that. This print on-demand service allows you to upload your designs to dozens of different merch options such as shirts, hoodies, hats, and more. When someone orders Printful handles the rest, printing, fulfillment, and returns. In addition, Printful can integrate with dozens of other shop platforms and marketing places including Squarespace, Etsy, WordPress, and more. Amazing right?
07.
Redbubble
Print On-Demand + Marketplace
Similar to Printful, Redbubble is a print on-demand service where you can upload designs and they handle the rest. However, Redbubble has a built in marketplace of buyers specifically looking for Tees and other merch.
08.
Big Cartel
Easy to Setup Online Merch Store For Artists
Big Cartel is a powerful and low-cost platform that allows you to host an online store at a low monthly cost. Even by default, the designs are sleek and modern, and make you look professional. This also gives you the ability to sell your own merch, connect a print on-demand service like Printful, or do a mix of both.
Best Tools for Musicians
12.
Zoho
Suite of Sales, Marketing, & Social Media Management Tools
The beauty in Zoho is in it’s integrated approach. They offer a suite of services, almost everything you need in order to market yourself and run most aspects of your business. They offer powerful social media management tools, CRM tools (manage mailing list of fans and industry contacts), and even email marketing. If your goal is streamlining and simplicity, this is a great option.
13.
Hootsuite
Simple Social Media Management
Hootsuite has been one of the leaders in social media management tools for the last 5-10 years. This gives you the ability to prepare and push content to all your social media channels from one platform. It can save you a ton of time and energy.
14.
Freshbooks
Simple Bookkeeping & Accounting Software
As you grow your music career, it becomes increasingly important to keep your business finances separate and organized. Freshbooks is a powerful accounting software that helps you do just that. Designed with entrepreneurs and small-businesses in mind, Freshbooks allows you the ability to send invoices, manage receipts, manage expenses, all while keeping your sanity. Try it for free for 30 days using the link below.
15.
Todoist
Keep Track of Your To-Do's & Projects
Todoist is a mobile and web app that helps you manage of all your to-do’s and organize larger projects that have multiple steps. I use this app every day to keep me on track. Receive 2 months of premium free using the code below.
16.
Lastpass
Organize & Track All of Your Passwords Across Platforms/Accounts
As you grow your career and business, you’ll start accumulating more and more accounts and passwords. To the point where it’s almost impossible to keep track of them all. I personally use Lastpass to securely manage all of my passwords so I don’t have to think about it. They even offer a free tier for accounts with one user. But as you grow your team, you can give people access to specific accounts without having to share your actual password.
17.
Rakuten
Get Cash Back on Most Online Purchases
Rakuten gives you cash back on your online purchases from select stores. You can earn up to 5% back shopping online at stores like Guitar Center and Musician’s Friend. You can also earn cash shopping at stores where you do your personal shopping as well. I’ve installed the Google Chrome/Firefox extensions so it lets me know whenever I visit a site that offers cash back. Receive $10 after signing up using the code below!
18.
Mint
Manage Your Personal Finances
Freshbooks is amazing for keeping track of your business finances, but Mint will help you manage your personal finances, track net worth, and create a monthly budget. It even links to your credit cards and bank accounts so can automatically categorize expenses and get more control of your finances.
19.
How to Create A Tour Budget
Helpful Blog post On Calculating the Costs of a Tour
This blog post from Sonicbids is a great tool to use when planning a tour. Create a tour budget is an under-looked element of touring as their are lots of costs that can add up eat into your profits if you’re not mindful.
22.
Side Hustle Show
By Nick Loper
The focus of the Side Hustle Show is building sustainable side hustles. This is useful as you may need to work on some side hustles to earn enough money to fund your music or even quit your job eventually. This interview-based format showcases great cases studies in utilizing your skills in a creative way and earning money while doing it.
On episode 241, Nick interviews a songwriter who found an interesting and profitable niche of creating songs specifically for synch licensing. It’s worth a listen!
23.
Creative Juice
Indiepreneur
This podcast is a fun and engaging journey through key opportunities or issues that affect every artist. They take a in-depth looks at multiple aspects of the industry from copywriting for artists, to content marketing strategies, touring strategies.
Best Music Industry Podcasts
20.
DIY Musician Podcast
From CD Baby
This is the holy grail of music industry podcasts. CD Baby does a remarkable job of bringing in industry leaders and experimenting and documenting marketing tactics in a music setting. With over 200+ episodes and counting, there’s a wealth of knowledge ready to be tapped into.
21.
Music Industry Blueprint Podcast
From Gallery Media Group
Rick from Music Industry Blueprint does a great job of creating digestible content. These podcasts range from 5-35 minutes for the most part and are easy to finish on your commute.
Best E-Learning Platforms
24.
Lynda aka LinkedIn Learning
Thousands of Easy-To-Follow Online Courses
This is the holy grail of music industry podcasts. CD Baby does a remarkable job of bringing in industry leaders and experimenting and documenting marketing tactics in a music setting. With over 200+ episodes and counting, there’s a wealth of knowledge ready to be tapped into.
25.
Skillshare
Online Course Platform With an Emphasis on Arts & Entrepreneurship
At a lower monthly cost, Skillshare offers great videos to expedite your personal skill development. The quality of videos aren’t quite as good as Lynda but are still great. The biggest difference is that while Lynda hires instructors themselves, Skillshare allows more open source content to their platform. Use the link below to receive two months of unlimited access.
Bonus
Take Advantage of Your Local Library's Resources
Depending on your city, your local library may offer dozens of free online resources if you have a library card. The library in my city even offers a free Lynda subscription ($30/month) among other benefits. It’s worth doing a bit of research to see what they may offer.
Guides For musicians
Check Out These Additional Guides
We’ve created 5 downloadable PDFs packed with actionable tips to help any musician, band, or labels. Download all for only $20.
- Top 50 Music Industry Tips for Musicians and Labels
- 10 Steps to Music PR
- 10 Ways to Promote Your Show
- Artist Branding Checklist
- 10 Tips for Booking Shows
