How Musicians Make It

In all of the potential avenues for monetizing our music, why aren't more of us exploring sync? Adam talks with the founder of Sync Beast, Graham Barton, about how Graham conceptualizes music for sync. Graham reveals his "Setup, Build, Arrival" formula, and breaks down each piece of the formula using examples from his own experiences. Get started on your sync journey. Sitting on some tracks? Relea...

Host Adam Meckler talks with band mates Brian Courage (bass) and Andrew Green (drums), from his new trio Supercell, on the final day of their Midwest tour. They sit in Brian's Chicago home and talk about how to book tours effectively, particularly how to afford touring when you're getting started building an audience in new areas. Brian and Andrew discuss their side-gigs, and Brian gives his "best...

Adam recalls his experiences releasing albums on indie record labels. He lays out what will likely be expected of you, the artist, and what you should expect from the label. Adam gives his pros and cons list for releasing with an indie label, and addresses questions like: "Why would I release on an indie label if all they do is digital distribution?", and "Do I need to cover the cost of recording/...

You know the feeling. You've done the work. You've prepared for the gig. You can't shake that nagging feeling that you don't belong there. That you don't deserve to be there. Or that you're not good enough. Musicians deal with self-doubt and imposter syndrome as much as any profession. Why does it happen? And what can you do to get out of your own way in order to focus on making great music? Host...

Mike Warner is the author of "Work Hard, Playlist Hard", a comprehensive how-to on building your presence and listenership on streaming platforms. Gig Boss host, Adam Meckler talks with Mike about strategy for pitching songs via Spotify for Artists, why emails are better than socials when building fan-artist relationships, how to get your music in retail stores, and a bunch more. Work Hard Playlis...

He wrote the book on it! Ari Herstand is an expert in the new music business, and learned what he knows by grinding it out, learning it the hard way. Join Adam and Ari as they discuss how to get your music heard on Spotify, how to make impactful videos on TikTok, how to find your target audience, and lots more. ____________________________ Download Gig Boss app: https://linktr.ee/gigboss Join the...

In this episode, host Adam Meckler recalls the three instances in which he hired a publicist for his album releases. He reveals the cost, and the expectations on both sides of the partnership. And how the campaigns went (spoiler: it wasn't the greatest). Is it right for your new single? Your new album? Do album reviews even matter anymore? Do you still need to print CDs? Adam touches on each of th...

Host Adam Meckler talks with Ian Allison - Bass player, content creator, and MD for Eric Hutchinson. Ian tells the story of being fired from his first studio session, what he learned, and how he's become an in-demand studio bass player since. Ian is a content creator for Scott's Bass Lessons, a Youtube channel boasting more than 1 Million subscribers. He's grown his Instagram to over 30k followers...

What happens when a child prodigy grows up? Do they continue in the same path, or do they divert? Do they mature, and become artists? In this episode, host Adam Meckler talks with saxophonist, vocalist, songwriter, bandleader Grace Kelly. Grace started her career as a child prodigy, performing professionally starting at age 12. With her dad as her manager, she toured the world playing with ensembl...

In this episode, I talk with Band Leader and Drummer for rising R&B star Stokley (Mint Condition) about how he became a touring artist with little activity on Social Media, what it was like growing up with parents who both played in Grammy award winning bands, and what it was like performing for Prince at Paisley Park. Brandon talks about his use of technology on the stage, and gives important...

The recent volatility of crypto has one side screaming "told you so!" and the other side buying up more assets. Whether we like it or not, crypto has massive implications for buying and selling art, including music, and has the potential to be a massive game-changer for up-and-coming artists who are building their fan-bases online. My guest for today's episode is Drew Morton, who has combined his...

On this episode, St. Paul Peterson tells the story of upsetting Prince by leaving Prince's mentorship behind, and going out on his own. Since then, St. Paul has toured with artists like Kenny Loggins, Peter Frampton, Steve Miller, and Donny Osmond. St. Paul's new album "Break on Free" drops June, 2022 as he continues to push his career forward releasing new music, and touring with the greats. Grab...

Do you struggle with booking gigs? Whether you're just starting out, or a seasoned pro, booking gigs is easily one of the most frustrating and least fun things about being a musician. In this episode, Adam gives you 3 tools that he has used to book gigs all over the world with his own bands. ____________________________ Download Gig Boss app: https://linktr.ee/gigboss Join the Gig Boss Facebook Gr...

Ever wonder why you see the same person in a bunch of high-profile bands? How did they get those gigs? Why does everyone want to hire them? Well, in this episode, Adam talks with Kevin Gastonguay, keyboardist and composer for Cory Wong, Dr. Mambo's Combo, New Sound Underground, and a whole slew of other bands. Kevin reveals his strategy for learning new music, and why he thinks bands continue to h...

Looking to build your Youtube and TikTok numbers? Host Adam Meckler talks with Youtube and TikTok creator Aaron Washington on how he built is Youtube following (The Black Trumpeter) to nearly 50,000 subscribers, and how he built is TikTok (ClarionCast) to over 340K+ Followers and more than 7M likes. Known as "The Louis Armstrong of TikTok", Aaron provides educational content for beginning to advan...

Host Adam Meckler talks with saxophonist, vocalist, producer Sam Greenfield. Sam tours with Cory Wong, and has more than 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. His new album Sam Greenfield Sucks features funky and soulful grooves, slammin horn solis, fun songs, and a healthy dose of comedy. The new album also features artists like Dave Koz, Mark Lettieri (Snarky Puppy), John Lampley (Steven Colbert...

Host Adam Meckler talks with Chicago-based bassist/vocalist/composer/educator Katie Ernst. Katie is one third of the acclaimed trio Twin Talk, which also features Dustin Laurenzi (Bon Iver) on Tenor Saxophone, and Andrew Green on Drums. She has performed with MacArthur Fellow and renown pianist/composer Jason Moran at the Chicago Symphony Center and the Kennedy Center. She's an award-winning bassi...

Host Adam Meckler talks with Trumpeter/Composer/Educator/Touring Artist Kris Johnson about his time touring with the Count Basie Orchestra, why he left his University gig to come back to Detroit, and how he's building passive income through online educational content. Kris offers his "Big 3" of being a musician, and how he landed a gig doing the score for a web series. Kris and Adam also unpack th...

Host Adam Meckler talks with old friend and collaborator Cameron Kinghorn about his recent move to L.A., his success with his band King Pari, working with Dessa, landing record label and distribution deals, and more. Cameron reveals things that have happened since his move to L.A. that never could have happened had he stayed in Minneapolis. King Pari: https://www.instagram.com/kingparimusic/?hl=en...

Host Adam Meckler has a conversation with indie dance DJ Gigamesh about his rise to fame as a remixing hit-maker. They talk about his deals with record labels, how he got to 3.8 Million monthly listeners on Spotify, and why those Spotify numbers aren't worth what you might think. Matt (Gigamesh) describes what lead him to change career lanes, learn to code, and become cofounder of Sound. XYZ, a we...

Host Adam Meckler has an epic conversation with producer, multi-instrumentalist, solo artist Jaron Jay. Adam and Jaron talk about Jaron's job making music for a sync licensing company in Germany, Jaron's workflow as a producer, the scene in Australia, making music through a pandemic, vintage beer commercials, Virtual Reality and lots more. Jaron even calls Adam out for using a 4 over a Major 7 cho...

Host Adam Meckler and guest Tess Nyberg talk about how Tess chooses music when she's working on ads for brands like Cheerios, Skippy, Hormel, Reeses, Larabar, Totinos and more. She is Group Creative Director at Martin Williams Advertising, and sits on the board of MPLS Madwomen, an organization that exists to empower women's voices and increase gender equity in the Twin Cities creative industry. _...

Host Adam Meckler talks with Scott LeGere, who has engineered Grammy nominated albums, done commercial spots for companies like Target and Walmart, owned and operated indie record labels, recording studios, media companies and more. He's Assistant Professor of Music Industry at Minnesota State University Mankato. Plus...he's an optimist! Hear from Scott on why he believes there are reasons to be o...

Host Adam Meckler and guest Lucia Sarmiento talk about Lu's recent tours with Pit Bull, how she built her followings on Youtube, Spotify, and Instagram, and the importance of living a healthy lifestyle. Lucia tells the incredible story of how she got the gig with Pit Bull, and talks about getting comfortable with the non-musical aspects of performing like dancing, in-ear monitors, and "looking lik...

We are joined by beat-maker, accordion player, saxophonist, vocalist, pianist.....okay… multi-instrumentalist, multi-talented chameleon Jason Fabus (JFab Productions). Jason plays everything from trad Jazz to Polka to Dilla-style hip hop beats that often feature collaborators. He's based in LA where he freelances as an instrumentalist, and pays rent with passive income from Youtube, Spotify, and o...