10 things musicians can do with an internet connection

For many musicians who depend on income from live performances the unprecedented crisis is freeing up a lot of time due to the cancelled events. However, ​​​​​​now living off a diminished income, musicians should not fall back on their duties during the enforced performance hiatus. With access to the Internet, musicians can explore a wide range of activities including live streaming their performances, collaborating with other artists on a project or starting a podcast to salvage their livelihoods during this time.

Music In Africa has compiled a guide with a list of ten things musicians can do with an internet connection while spending time at home.

Record a song

With the additional time you have, no shows and the quarantines this could be an ideal period to write, compose or record that song you’ve been procrastinating on. We’ve included a number of great apps and software tools in this guide that can make recording a song a simpler process for the DIY musicians.

Home studio versus Professional recording studio

A home studio is a great alternative for those who cannot access a pro studio. Using a few tools and some inexpensive equipment, online platform Music Industry How To offers a step-by-step guide on how to setup a basic home studio for beginners.

It all depends on the quality of the sound you’re looking. If you’re also not sure about that, here’s a comparative experiment on two audio recordings from a home studio and pro studio. It’s a walkthrough the important things that you should be looking for including the time and costs involved, the post-production process and the final product. You can skip reading the text and watch the video experiment below.

For producers, the best music-making software companies are now offering free full versions of their tools. Apple has Pro Logic X and Final Cut Pro X available for 90-days. And Ableton Live10 for 90 days, among many others. Steinberg is doing the same in what is calls its #StayHome Elements Collection. For 60 days four of its products including Cubase Elements, Dorico Elements, WaveLab Elements and the Absolute Collection are available to customers worldwide at no cost. To get access to the StayHome bundle, you just need to create a Steinberg ID account. Find out more here. You can also have a look at a guide to The best freeware Digital Audio Workstations available here as well as six of the best freeware for live performance here to make your live performance music sound better.

Before recording that song, gaining a good understanding of the music recording process would be a great idea for the amateurs so we’ve also included a 4-step guide to the recording process.

Emerging artists looking to get signed to a label can also submit their final product online. Here’s a list of record labels taking demos online through droptrack.It would probably be a good idea to register your music all the relevant collection management organisations (CMOs) in your region before putting your music out to be on the safe side.

Enhance your brand

Growing your online presence and engaging fans could be one of the best ways to utilise this time as an artist. Also, with lockdowns and quarantines in place, people are seeking different ways of getting entertained on the Internet.

• Engage your fans

Through your social media platforms. Spend some time on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms to share your thoughts, feelings and perspective on the global pandemic, or other important social commentary. The pandemic has also caused fear, paranoia and uncertainty of the future for many people. You can use the time to relate to other people. Share the personal experiences you’ve encountered due to the pandemic. How has it affected you and what how are you coping during this tough time. Online engagement with other people can also help you deal with the pandemic’s impact on your mental health. Get creative with it.

Create a professional profile for self-promotion and networking purposes on various music and entertainment platforms. Music In Africa offers music industry professionals a platform that can effectively promote their music, events, services or any other exciting musical projects to a much wider audience in Africa and beyond. The service can boost your online presence and increase your audience through the tools such as electronic press kit and editorial support as well as tracking your progress.

• Sell your merchandise

Merchandise is an extension of an artist’s brand and an integral part of a musicians marketing campaigns. You can go the DIY route and set up a dedicated page for your merchandise on a website or any social media platform. There are also customised services specifically designed to promote merchandise. For example, YouTube partnered with online store Merchbar last year on a service that displays artists’ merchandise alongside their official music videos during playback on YouTube. You would need an official YouTube channel and a Merchbar account to use the feature.

• Record a promo video

Recording a short video is a simple task that can be done using anything from a smartphone to a home video quality camera. There’s also a number of accompanying apps on the market that let you edit, export and upload your final product. A promo video can be used to promote a new song, market your brand or any upcoming project in the pipeline. You can make it an interactive and fun activity by getting ideas and involving your fans in the recording process to build more interest. You can also make your video more engaging with SwitchCam Director, a web app that automatically synchronizes footage of an event from multiple cameras and turns it into one interactive video.

• Start an interactive podcast

Podcasts have fast become popular around the world with its the flexibility of listening to preferred content at your own convenience. The evidence can seen by the large investment and massive attention podcasts are attracting from major streaming companies such as Spotify and Apple Music that have both introduced the highly consumed medium on their platforms.

Podcasts present an intimate setting and more personable content to engage with audiences than a Tweet or Facebook post. And you can upload your content on big platforms like Spotify and/or Apple Music to reach wider audiences. With the proliferation of podcasts taking place you would have standout with an interesting and unique angle, engaging and creatively produced content. Here is an easy-to-follow guide to starting a podcast for beginners and another one from podcastinsights for more ideas.

Educate yourself

The old adage, knowledge is power, is often overlooked by some musicians who would rather focus on the creative side of their careers. But your talent can only take you so far.

• Hone your craft

Use this time to polish a skill that you’ve neglected, or learn a new one. Singers can brush up on their vocals with voice training exercises without an expensive coach. There are some great free to use apps available that singers can use to warm-up or record your voice or train your ears. Here is a list of eight free singing apps on iOS and Android that could make you a better singer.

Checkout this List of Free Music Production Courses that feautures a number of comprehensive tutorials on production software such as FL Studio 12, Ableton Live and Logic Pro X. Berklee College of Music also offers a number of free online courses on songwriting and developing your musicianship, among others. You can also browse through Skillshare, an online learning community with thousands of creative classes featuring topics such as music, music production, design, photography, video and freelancing, among more.

• Become an online music coach

This could be another great way to weather the storm. If there’s a certain skill you have or knowledge you possess you could find out how to become an online music coach. Or you can do this informally, scores of aspiring musicians are eager to learn but don’t have sufficient resources to study the discipline. Coaching could be done through social media, video calling and screen sharing applications such as Teamviewer – which is free to download – or even as a podcast series for your fan.

• Learn copyrights and music royalties and read a book

This can be very complex issue to grasp yet it’s a crucial part of a musicians’ career. Search for some guides and familiarise yourself with essential basics. You probably wouldn’t become an expert overnight but it would be a step towards understanding the income streams that you’re entitled to through your various work as a musician.

Below are some reading resources to copyright and music royalties, written by industry players, to get you started:

Copyright Your Music and Compositions: The Definitive Guide
How to Make a Living from Music (WIPO)
Tunecore music publishing 101
Music Royalties Explained: The Ultimate Guide for 2020

Also make sure you understand what each CMO is responsible for in terms of royalties. For example, Composers, Authors and Publishers Association (CAPASSO) is a pan-African mechanical rights agency that licenses the reproduction or reformatting of musical works. So each time a piece of work is copied or transferred a mechanical right is raised and a royalty is due to the owner of the works. These agenicies essentially ease the royalty collection process for their members around the world.

For some more in depth understanding on a particular area of interest it would be worthwhile to pass some time by reading a book and gaining some valuable insight about the music industry The Independent Musicians Survival Guide

Start live streaming

There’s been a surge in live streaming performances by musicians around the world such as Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin, John Legend, Bono and Pink, since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Although live earnings generated from live streams won’t match the income from live performances it offers the best alternative to share your music with fans at the moment. Live broadcasts allow you to invite the audience to live in the moment with you. Streaming platforms also expose you to global audiences that you would not reach doing local gigs or touring and it provides actionable data that can assist you with marketing your music and planning future gigs.

There’s a host of platforms that offer the live streaming service, but it’s important to live stream on the right platform and based on where your core audience would be. Try some trial options and use the data metrics to decide on the best platform to use. You’ll have pay-per-view options that can draw in some income or you can even perform on Facebook or Instagram and ask for tips/donations from viewers. [Also you can send your scheduled performances out on your platforms and post it Music In Africa’s dedicated live streaming gig guide.]

We’ve listed a few great platforms with their key stand-out features below.

Instagram Live and Facebook Live

These are popular choices to share content on according to preferences of friends and your followers.

Key featues
Both are available for free and another advantage is that the platforms is that you may already have a profile with a loyal following.
You can also interact with viewers in real time. The real time communication gives important feedback from audiences that users can use to improve their broadcasts.
Followers will be able to receive instant notifications whenever you are live.

Resources:
Instagram Live for musicians
The complete Facebook Live toolkit for musicians

Bandsintown

Not a live streaming platform but the platform works great together with one. Bandsintown is a global concert discovery platform that connects artists with fans.
The service allows users to receive notifications about tours and bands playing in the user’s area. It also has tools for artists to manage their tour dates among other services. Bandsintown for Artists lets you reach fans and promote and sync your shows across the web. You can also use video on the platform to showcase your star power and encourage more fans to see you live.

Twitch

Is a probably the most popular interactive live streaming platform and on-demand video platform that lets users watch anything they like directly from their console and PC. The platform was mostly used by gamers wanting to see competitions live but many artists streaming their live performances have joined the platform recently.

Key features
Twitch provides access to all powerful platforms for fastest live streaming with the highest earnings potential.
The basic account is available for free and it can be created directly from Facebook. For an ad-free turbo account, you need to pay $4.99 every month.
Twitch recently partnered with Bandsintown to offer added great benefits for users. The concert notification service can now push out a “watch live” notification when musicians are live-streaming shows. These notifications will appear on Bandsintown, along with Facebook pages, Instagram Stories, and other places that surface Bandsintown listings.

Twitch has a guide for how to monetise your sets using the platform.

YouTube live

YouTube Live assists users to broadcast their content on real time basis via YouTube channel.

Key features
This platform has impressive analytics and it offers incredible services like chats, tools as well as interactive platform for communication.
You need to not make additional efforts for post-production.
Audience over YouTube Live loves to share their thoughts as it offers live chat feature.
Here you will be able to get videos on demand as well as catch and watch them live.

Creating a live stream on YouTube Live

Periscope

Here is your personal live streaming application that is perfectly integrated to Twitter. Periscope is loved by users for its intuitive interface and collection of all impressive stuff for viewing.

Key features
Once you go live then you will start receiving notifications about followers, comments and new joining.
You can set video replay settings for all your broadcasted videos so that viewers can enjoy them later.
Users are able to broadcast videos to targeted audiences as well as on Twitter.
It's available for free

Tips and donations. For artists looking gather some additional income through tips and donations, these services can assist Venmo and PayPal.me.

Distribute your music online

If you haven’t already, now is the time to get your music distributed online. It’s a very significant part of promoting your content especially now in our current crisis. Discussing it further would be a futile exercise because we found this really informative guide that gives a walkthrough all the essentials and, as the name of the article suggests, everything musicians need to know about music distribution.

Collaborate with a network of artists

Creativity does not have to be limited to proximity considering the range of technology and apps that are available artists can remotely connect to other creatives and work on projects.

Soundstorming
Soundstorming was founded by former Apple creative director Arnau Bosch. The app works like a musical social network designed to connect artists around the world. Soundstorming lets you record ideas, store them in the cloud and make them public or private. You can discover others’ ideas and record on top of them, likewise others can add to your recordings. Soundstorming is now available for free on iOS at the moment.

Splice
Splice Studio lets you create DAW projects and put them in the cloud, where you can share them with others and collaborate. The platform also offers a hefty catalogue of royalty-free sounds like exclusive artist packs. Signing up is free, and there are a number of subscription plans for different types of content. Splice Studio is compatible with Ableton Live, FL Studio, Garageband, Logic Pro and Studio One. Users can download the tool here.

Kompoz
Kompoz is an open collaboration platform that allows members to upload audio files of their ideas and invite others to contribute their own. Users can search for collaboration opportunities based on musical styles and instruments. You can also set up private collaborations with your friends or bandmates. When your project is complete you can share it with the community and publish it on SoundBlend. The basic plan is free, and there are various premium options for more advanced features.

See the full list of 10 apps for collaboration reviewed here.

Also, get TeamViewer, which lets you connect to another remote desktop and control it from where ever you are. The tool could be handy for solving technical issues or coaching a fellow collaborator on the job.

Get financial support/crowdfunding

With the coronavirus pandemic putting the live music industry out of business many musicians who are out of work will struggle to make ends meet. As a result there have been a number of relief funds setup by governments and organisations that musicians can access depending on your region.

Here is a list of [financial relief organisations] offering grants that you can submit your application to if you meet the criteria.

In the mean time you can also take the initiative to start crowdfunding which has become a common way to support a particular creative project, and it could just as easily be used to support a favorite artist through uncertain times. You can have a look at commission-free crowdfunding solution, or project-based platforms like Kickstarter to get the ball rolling.