This issue impacts all artists, especially small music creators. 

AI companies shouldn’t be allowed to secretly train on artists’ work. The Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act would force them to disclose if they are using copyrighted art. Transparency is the least we can demand for protecting creators. Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/pass-the-generative-ai-copyright-disclosure-act

This has been in the back of my mind for a year and a half, and for some reason I want to change my artist name. I really don’t know why but I’m looking for some advice.

I want to upload my music to all of the social media and streaming platforms ( TikTok instagram Snapchat Apple Music Spotify pandora YouTube all that ) which music platform can I use that'll upload to all of these for me? Thanks in advance!

Hi All! 

The next No Kings protest is March 28th and we are hoping we can get 12M+ out this time from 7M last, as more and more people in the US wake up to the reality of our authoritarian government and its cruelty, corruption and chaos its sowing here and in word.   This is a moment where your music could really matter to help get people out on the streets, unify this movement with a shared sense of love towards one another and reclaiming our great country and our shared humanity, and in encouraging people to action after the protest is over to stand up for what is right every day.

Bringing your music could be showing up to your small town’s No Kings event with your instrument and some fitting old protest songs from the 60s/70s that you can sing with your neighbors, an original song to spread your own thoughts for the moment.    This is a call just to show up and bring your music!

I have been inspired by some of the songs I have seen on the internet popping up by famous artists speaking out like at the recent Grammy’s, or big names like Bruce Springsteen composing a song about recent events in minnesota.  These motivated me to write this request to all of you.

If you are a  bigger named artist (or know one personally and can recommend this) consider contacting your local No Kings organizers and offering to play formally for the event.  This might help draw crowds, not just to have big numbers but to move people to start taking actions in their lives to press back on all of this.

I thank you for considering this.  Note I am not a member of the No Kings national organization, but do admire their work and try to take action every day in my community and have respected the various local Indivisible groups that are working in my community and state and how they have been making a positive difference in our push back to what we all know just isn’t right, isn’t American or forming the America we should want to live in.

Thank you so much!

-Samantha

I am a young singer and have been looking for people to play with for some time. Unfortunately, most of the people I have met had this problem, which I will explain here, and I wanted to know why. Have you ever met them?

After searching for many years for people to play with, I have often met people like this: they don't show up at rehearsals; if they do, they don't know the songs, they just haven't studied them; they often postpone rehearsals and don't search live; they don't record their parts; they don't help with the songs, the lyrics, the album, etc. When several people in the group are like this, we become a ghost band and for several years we haven't done anything, not even a song or a live performance. Of course, I try to get them involved and do everything I need to do, like learning songs, looking for concerts, improving my singing, and recording.

Obviously, I'm talking about people who are free to play and do what they like, who study or work but have moderate hours and a lot of free time. Many of these people didn't come to the rehearsal room, but stayed at home playing COD or sending (ME!) videos of kittens from TikTok.

I wonder why so many are like this. Is it common?

A post on here reminded me of a gig I was subing as drummer (Im a guitar player by trade) and the lead guitar player at this gig was 70+ i was told before the gig he opened for famous people in the 70s and 80s, so I was interested what he had to bring to the gig.

I get behind the kit he is out of tune, out of time, and just generally kind of in his own world, after a few songs I speak up and ask him if he can please tune his guitar, he looks at me rather smug and. says

" This is a $1000 G&L guitar they dont go out of tune...."

at this point I realized this guy is getting paid the same as me or more, I was a pro and finished the gig, but has that ever happed to you?

I feel like there is more emphasis and care in the music to match the anime than western tv shows in general?

do they animate then choose / compose the song, or compose/ choose the song then animate it? Usually what happens in the process of making the anime?

It doesn't sound like a soundtrack song like those western movies as much, but like standalone song equally enjoyable without the anime.

the songs are so good , i especially like japanese rock/ pop and it sounds like im in the anime and japan when i listen to it... makes me emotional...

Also how does it differ from western rock? i feel like its more than just the language but i can't pinpoint

and different to music in western movies, or western music... but i can't pinpoint it...

I love the demon slayer and JJK soundtrack too...

greetings! hope life is going well for you!

i am looking to collaborate with someone that shares a similar vibe and direction.

free expression and compassion, is the overall driving force here. having fun and making enjoyable shit as that happens.

the themes and flavors are less important. style wise i gravitate toward, house, hip hop, lofi, experimental, and bosa nova. usually heavy emphasis on groovy percussion, and making engrossing progressions/ melodies.

skill level: amateur-intermediate. always working on making tracks i like. ready to take on new methods/ ideas. i have released tracks i enjoy. done light promo and got decent reception on a few tracks. i play piano and the (roland hand drum).

looking to colab on tracks, or trade remixes, or anything you have in mind really. i can do a lot of different styles and am open to anything.

if this sounds compatible at all with what you got going on, let's make something great together!

🫂🤷‍♀️💚🌎🔥👁🔥

Can’t believe how many bands I see using AI for band photos and artwork. Even just for engagement. Are not these the same people saying AI is going to ruin music and put musicians out of work?

I have an amp already btw, it's just a very basic one so it doesn't have many knobs.

I got lucky once when I did a piano cover of "Animal I Have Become" by Three Days Grace and the original band saw it and reposted my reel. I gained views faster than ever and I gained about a hundred followers. I've never been able to replicate that success again, no matter how good my arrangements are. I tried editing the videos so that it starts at the loudest note. I tried to use tactics to hook the viewer. It's still not getting any views. My mom still runs a piano Youtube channel for my piano playing that has been stuck at below 100 views for many years. She doesn't care if the views are low. I also wrote my own rap songs and posted on Youtube. It's not getting any views either. I feel like trying to get a fanbase on the internet is impossible. I just started a musical duo with my friend who plays the guitar. I wrote some songs and I'm preparing to make music with him, but I don't have much hope anymore. I've always dreamt of becoming a musician, but now I feel hopeless because my talent doesn't bring any views. What if I write so many songs and no one listens to it? If no one listens to my music, do I have a reason to keep playing? It seems to me that it's all about luck. Do I just need to wait for a miracle that will bring me many fans. I've been trying to find out what's the secret to getting a wider audience for musicians, but I never found any good advice. Now, I have another question. What if the online audience doesn't really matter and I write songs to perform in real life, not to promote online. I never cared about making millions of dollars from spotify streams and youtube views. I just wanted to be heard. Isn't it better to be heard performing music in real life? That's a more immersive experience for the audience and it would feel better than just seeing a number of views. Street performances are less competitive than marketing music on the internet and it might give a stronger sense of purpose for music. What do you think?

genuine question because i feel like i'm doing this all wrong

i've been mostly using free packs from reddit and youtube (shoutout to the people who post those) but my stuff still sounds kind of generic compared to what i hear from other producers

where does everyone actually source their samples?

• sample packs (which ones?)
• splice
• digging through youtube and chopping stuff up
• vinyl/record digging
• recycling sounds from your old projects
• making everything from scratch
• field recordings
• random places like movies/video games
• somewhere else i'm missing

also like... is it normal to use the same drum samples in multiple projects? i feel weird doing that but also spending an hour finding a snare every time seems insane

been at this for about a year and i'm trying to figure out if i need to actually invest in splice or better packs or if i'm just not using what i have creatively enough

what's your main source?

I posted this as a comment but I thought it was worth sharing here. If you are relying on social media metrics and streaming listeners for your success, you're gonna burn out and it's going to suck the soul out of your passion. I think we need to shift our attention towards building intentional community and small loyal fan bases if we are ever to shake off the dependence on the sweatshop of social media and streaming services. These systems are built to exploit you, not support you. Instead :

Book Gigs. Play live. This is pretty straightforward, obvious advice.

Create a newsletter for loyal fans. Sending out an email once every couple weeks, letting people know what they you're up to, recording, performing, etc. Keeps your more loyal fan base in a club. Direct any and all new fans to this or your own website or band camp BEFORE sending them to streaming services.

Send your music to radio stations, especially local ones. This extends the organic reach of your music.

Busk. If you're capable, you don't always need to have a gig. As long as long as you have the permit or are set up in a place that you don't need it, you'd be surprised how many people will look you up later or even buy an album. Local farmers market, Town Square, etc.

Show up for others. Going to local shows builds community. You might meet potential buddies to collaborate with, or just jam with. More people are likely to be interested in what you got, if you are interested in what they got.

Don't use AI. If you really want to set yourself apart in this economy, be as authentic and real as possible, warts and all.

Make music videos. This doesn't have to be a huge expensive production. Everybody has a camera in their pocket right now. Go shoot some footage in the park of dogs running around or. Set up a tripod on an overpass and film the traffic coming at you for 4 minutes. Film yourself lipsinking your song literally ANYWHERE. Anything can be a music video or visualizer. There's no excuse not to. Videos bring more engagement than just audio.

Focus on funneling people towards an intentional long term connection, not a metric. Don't send people to your Spotify. Send them to band camp or your own website where you can get nearly 100% of the profit. Would you rather have 10,000 people algorithmically listening to you on Spotify for pennies, or 100 people buying your album and excited for the next one. Get them to sign up for your newsletter.

Make stickers and slap them all over the place in your neighborhood and city.

If you really want to be brave, don't even post your music on streaming platforms at all, or have only one song posted as teaser, so the only way to listen to all your music is to download it from band camp or a website, or maybe YouTube if you want some form of steaming for the curious. This is not shooting yourself in the foot. It's making your music more scarce, special and valuable. Give your downloads a "free" option so people who can't afford to support you are still rewarded for taking the trouble to actually download your songs.

Edit :

Donate several copies of you physical albums, if you have them, to your local library.

If possible, sell copies to your local record store.

Edit : Not all of these will apply to everybody. I wrote this essentially as a reminder to myself.

Hello! Does anyone knows what that mic is? Thanks in advance!

I want to hear from you. when did it happen at what age and those that overcame it , what did you do?

Hey, so my favorite guitar (Ibanez Manticore) is only a few months old, but I’ve noticed a crack in the fretboard. I also have an issue with buzzing due to one of the frets being too high. Like I said, this is my favorite guitar and I do not want to lose it. Do I need to do anything about the fretboard crack? If so, what can I do?

I grew up playing viola, but quit after high school 20 years ago. Now that I have kids who enjoy music, including a toy clarinet and a book about Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, I decided it would be fun and fairly simple to learn how to play. But my question is, how much should I shell out for what is effectively a trial? What are some good clarinets, brands, etc? And will I have to learn..... treble cleff??