I’m a bit of an online news junkie thanks largely to the deadly combination of Digg and Netvibes.  Every now and again I stumble on an article about the music business that goes beyond the stock “Is the music industry dead?” question and looks at what’s really going on.  Here are a few great ones that stood out to me:

David Byrne’s Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists

Talking Heads frontman David Byrne dissects the current state of the music business to identify a range of strategies bands can use to make a living making music.  This is the best introduction to the business side of music I’ve seen online.

China: The Future of Free?

Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail posted some observations on the music industry in China.  What’s really interesting about the music business in China is that due to rampant piracy virtually no money is made on selling CDs so musicians are forced to make money from their music in other ways.  The blog post also links to a more in depth article about music in China.

RIAA Sues Radio Stations For Giving Away Free Music

Sometimes a bit of satire is the best way to get a point across.  Here’s a great article from The Onion which satirizes the filesharing lawsuits.  Ironically, when radio was first invented this actually happened.  The record industry at the time was worried that if people owned a radio they’d never buy another record.  ASCAP which was already chancing down venues and restaurants to pay licenses for playing music, took up the task of getting radio stations to pay for a blanket license to broadcast.

If you know of some other cool articles/blog posts that discuss the music biz share them by posting a comment.

Getting ahead in the music business today means setting your sail in the right direction. Peter Spellman (mbsolutions.com) presents four guidelines to help musicians ride the winds of change towards success, and to thrive (not just survive) in their music careers.

This is an episode of “Music Career Juice”. n. Music Career Juice:1. Tools & tactics to help ‘juice’ your indie music career; 2. Mind & soul supplements designed to move your music career forward; 3. Illuminating insights on the music business, music marketing and music career development.

Peter Spellman is Director of Career Development at Berklee College of Music, and author of numerous music career guides. Find him at mbsolutions.com.

This article was written by Clinton Ford Billups Jr., who has 40-years of experience as an entertainment agent, manager and producer. He serves as the live entertainment industry consultant for G2E.

Whether you’re booking headliners or lounge acts or selling lighting, tickets or other event production services, here are five sure bets to increase your odds for success when marketing to casinos!

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Want to know what a promoter is thinking when reviewing EPKs? Interested in industry and submission advice from the horses mouth? Check out our quick chats. (more…)

This article was written by John Stringer, a successful music industry entrepreneur and singer/songwriter who likes to describe himself as a ‘pragmatic spiritualist.’ As Co-Founder/Co-CEO of PolyPlat Records and lead singer/songwriter for the Billboard chart topping, independent Rock band, State of Man, he is committed to fully living his passions and helping others do the same. Visit www.johnstringerinc.com to find out more.

After successfully booking a show in your target city, one of the next tasks at hand is to line up show Promotion/Marketing. One of the most effective “cost based” means of marketing your shows is printed promotional (”print promo”) items due to the low cost and high amount of impressions per item. Posters may be seen by multiple people each, which can pay big dividends for you, especially if your poster is designed well. Design your poster for maximum impact using the following elements. (more…)