Hi Sam, I feel like this is the first post in here that I am qualified to comment on lol.
If you read my other posts you’ll see that I used to be in the music industry as a signed performing artist (a guitarist in a rock band actually).
We did the whole deal, music videos in Hollywood, toured the world etc. This was around about 2007-2008, just before the arse fell out of the world financially and just as the internet was REALLY putting the final bullets into the industry’s head.
I don’t have great advice for you sadly. I still get quarterly PRS statements. This quarter (ten years on from when I was actually doing it) my songs were streamed 5,166 times across all the various networks. For that I earned £1.88.
In 2018 music is essentially valueless. If you want to make £3000 per month from selling your music then I just don’t know what to tell you. I still know and am friendly with people in successful bands and they don’t make £3000 a month.
Sorry I didn’t have anything more enlightening for you.
INTRO Most liked posts in thread: Hello! Sam Russell - heavy metal guitarist
Page 1 of 2
-
The music was released under my own name, "Sam Russell". You can check out a couple of songs on YouTube here:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQPUwRvcTCY
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf5t91KDuMA
That would be cool, but doing it right and making the numbers fall out would be pretty hard. The music needs 5 people, including myself, to perform, and those players need to be at a pretty high level - people that can play at that level don't want to work for free.
I've contact booking agents and management companies and they want bands that have exposure - either social media followings, shows, or bands doing a lot of live shows.
And as a lifestyle, I'm not sure I want to play a different city every night.
The ideal for me, would be to
- Make a lot of sales online.
- Live in a different city every 2-3 months.
- Play at metal festivals in the summer
TinyOldLady, RazorCut, Hadrian and 2 others like this. -
Offline
Arun Siva aspiring 大君 of the bourgeoisie Read Millionaire Fastlane I've Read UNSCRIPTED Speedway Pass Summit Attendee
- Messages:
- 1,165
- Likes Received:
- 1,870
- Joined:
- Aug 31, 2016
- Location:
- NORD-TRONDELAG
- Rep Bank:
- $12,727
please come play in norway. the music scene is getting bigger and bigger now. I have a friend that coordinates Rock in Rio too both in Lisbon and in Rio.
amp0193, ShieldMaiden, SamRussell and 1 other person like this. -
Offline
MJ DeMarco Raving Lunatic Staff Member Read Millionaire Fastlane I've Read UNSCRIPTED FASTLANE INSIDER Speedway Pass LEGENDARY CONTRIBUTOR Summit Attendee
- Messages:
- 27,382
- Likes Received:
- 88,044
- Joined:
- Jul 23, 2007
- Gender:
- Male
- Location:
- Phoenix, AZ
- Rep Bank:
- $373,628
Admin Post Welcome Sam, appreciate the intro!
amp0193, SamRussell, Arun Siva and 1 other person like this. -
Can you tell us what your band is called?
If you want to travel the world why dont you fomulate a band and just go touring?
I have no experince but i know if done right it should pay for it self, you get tons of new fans and exposure what will lead to extra sales.
PS im a metal fan i would love to hear your workShieldMaiden, Hadrian and Arun Siva like this. -
Offline
Andy Black Any colour, as long as it's red. Staff Member Read Millionaire Fastlane FASTLANE INSIDER Speedway Pass LEGENDARY CONTRIBUTOR
- Messages:
- 7,440
- Likes Received:
- 31,318
- Joined:
- May 20, 2014
- Gender:
- Male
- Location:
- Ireland
- Rep Bank:
- $174,875
There’s a podcast on superfastbusiness.com where James Shramko speaks to a bass guitarist who’s got a big subscription site for lessons. Not sure if that helps.
Hadrian, SamRussell and Sheens like this. -
Offline
Raoul Duke Stop F*cking Around Read Millionaire Fastlane I've Read UNSCRIPTED FASTLANE INSIDER Speedway Pass Summit Attendee
LouisCK.net | News | A Statement From Louis C.K.SamRussell, Arun Siva and Andy Black like this. -
Offline
LivingToLearn32 Contributor Read Millionaire Fastlane I've Read UNSCRIPTED
- Messages:
- 42
- Likes Received:
- 42
- Joined:
- Oct 29, 2018
- Gender:
- Male
- Location:
- Tennessee
- Rep Bank:
- $278
RazorCut and SamRussell like this. -
Offline
Jeff Noel Bronze Contributor Read Millionaire Fastlane I've Read UNSCRIPTED FASTLANE INSIDER Speedway Pass
- Messages:
- 304
- Likes Received:
- 493
- Joined:
- Oct 26, 2018
- Gender:
- Male
- Location:
- Quebec, Canada
- Rep Bank:
- $2,223
Welcome to the forum, Sam !
Excellent song structure, I love the riffs vibe overall and the emotions in your solos.
I know it's all original compositions, but have you ever thought upping your YouTube presence with covers of existing songs "made your way" ? I know some guys like Cole Rolland (contact@colerolland.com) and Erock331 (shredguitareric@gmail.com) are kicking a$$ doing just that.
You could try contacting Frog Leap Studios (Leo Moracchioli - frogleapstudios@gmail.com - Frog Leap Studios) who's also big on YouTube (2.9m subs). He could perhaps provide you tips on growing your online presence as an independant artist. He started doing live shows last year I think, and grew his audience exponentially after steady uploads for a few years.
They all have different styles, but the marketing, branding and growing parts can all be applied to your own business! They're also really friendly, all of them.
Feel free to ask all around the forum here if you need help with anything. You're a great artist, keep going !
Edit: Just thought about a local artist here that literally blew up after becoming viral for his guitar improvs and one-man-band videos - David MeShow. He's now pushing his original content.Last edited: Dec 3, 2018GPM and Andy Black like this. -
Offline
Arun Siva aspiring 大君 of the bourgeoisie Read Millionaire Fastlane I've Read UNSCRIPTED Speedway Pass Summit Attendee
- Messages:
- 1,165
- Likes Received:
- 1,870
- Joined:
- Aug 31, 2016
- Location:
- NORD-TRONDELAG
- Rep Bank:
- $12,727
The control is what plagues the music industry (in all entertainment industries this is an issue but especially for musicians due to the logistics and high costs of entry). If you can control the show, then at least you know where you stand financial wise. Also, you will be more in tune with our fans and followers etc.amp0193 and SamRussell like this. -
Offline
Andy Black Any colour, as long as it's red. Staff Member Read Millionaire Fastlane FASTLANE INSIDER Speedway Pass LEGENDARY CONTRIBUTOR
- Messages:
- 7,440
- Likes Received:
- 31,318
- Joined:
- May 20, 2014
- Gender:
- Male
- Location:
- Ireland
- Rep Bank:
- $174,875
-
No business advice, but listening to your links above, I can imagine you at those big European festivals.
Watching with this thread with interest.SamRussell likes this. -
I have the first 5 chapters of Unscripted form the free download and I'm going to start re-reading Fastlane tonight.
thanks for the replyLivingToLearn32 likes this. -
Offline
Andy Black Any colour, as long as it's red. Staff Member Read Millionaire Fastlane FASTLANE INSIDER Speedway Pass LEGENDARY CONTRIBUTOR
- Messages:
- 7,440
- Likes Received:
- 31,318
- Joined:
- May 20, 2014
- Gender:
- Male
- Location:
- Ireland
- Rep Bank:
- $174,875
-
-
Offline
Davejemmolly Bronze Contributor Read Millionaire Fastlane I've Read UNSCRIPTED FASTLANE INSIDER Speedway Pass
- Messages:
- 91
- Likes Received:
- 211
- Joined:
- Oct 1, 2018
- Gender:
- Male
- Location:
- Australia
- Rep Bank:
- $1,091
Not sure whether this is viable, but given more and more advertising is short video based (Facebook / Instagram) is there a way to create free / affordable 30 second instrumental soundtracks for this use?
With an open license style arrangement, this should pull large amounts of traffic to your site, and hopefully expose more people to your music.
More exposure = more sales (hopefully)SamRussell likes this. -
Offline
ShieldMaiden New Contributor
- Messages:
- 11
- Likes Received:
- 11
- Joined:
- Apr 4, 2018
- Gender:
- Female
- Location:
- Simi Valley, California
- Rep Bank:
- $59
Hail Sam, I feel your pain. I've been in punk, metal, and some weird bands over the years. It took me a long time to get back control of my life which I'm still working on. I'm still reading FASTLANE, but the part that sticks in my head most is creating value for others. Pursuing music has minimized me to living in my rusted out van so I don't have answers for you. I love Metal and your recorded tracks sound Pro! Metalheads are loyal so if you can make people feel a part of what you're doing they will probably buy shirts or band merch.
SamRussell likes this. -
Totally agree with value and loyalty!
I'm currently working on creating value through light entertainment with words - doing a daily email that has a light hearted a fun story, with a short sentence at the end promoting one of my products.
Sucks to hear you are living out of your van. Feel free to send me a message if you want to talk music stuff - I've got a pretty good list of what doesn't work and things to avoid now!ShieldMaiden likes this. -
Offline
amp0193 Legendary Contributor Read Millionaire Fastlane I've Read UNSCRIPTED FASTLANE INSIDER Speedway Pass LEGENDARY CONTRIBUTOR Summit Attendee
- Messages:
- 2,412
- Likes Received:
- 10,359
- Joined:
- May 27, 2013
- Location:
- United States
- Rep Bank:
- $47,979
You've produced a high quality album (the tracks you shared are great).
What about helping people do the same? You obviously know some talent that you could rely on as contractors.
Become a producer for other people?SamRussell likes this. -
I am going to be following your journey! While I don't listen to nearly as much metal as I used to, that is still my favorite thing to play on the guitar.
I wish you all the success in your journey and can't wait to hear great things.
Just watched a few videos of you on youtube. Great work on jamming with Steve Vai! He was a serious obsession of mine like 15 years ago when I was more into playing and was a crazy teenager. I would love to hear the story behind this!SamRussell likes this. -
So it's not a skill that I haveamp0193 likes this. -
That story is here: Playing with Steve Vai - Sam Russell Blog
Short answer: he ran an event in America that I flew to!GPM likes this. -
I partially agree and disagree with this. I know a lot of people in a lot of bands are having a pretty rough time and not making very much, but I'm not prepared to give up just yet. I have a few funnel ideas to test out.
I'm running FB ads to a squeeze page and getting confirmed opt ins to my mailing list for £0.30 - £1, so if I can get 10% - 20% to spend a few quid, I can break even on the ad spend and scale up... -
Problem is... I hate teaching. I took a lot of bad advice, which led to putting bad systems in place and dealing with people the wrong way, which created tonnes of problems, which killed my love for it.
I have thought of the subscription site for lessons, I've seen a few people doing that.
An idea I've toyed with is to take lessons with a great guitar player, put the lessons online and let people subscribe for a few dollars a month (of course, with permission and cutting in the other teachers involved). -
you're not the first person to say that....
it's in the plan.
Page 1 of 2
Join 1000s of entrepreneurs who are rewriting life's script and winning financial freedom.
---- ----