NHT Blog

Yesterday concluded four days for me in Orlando, where I was a speaker at Podfest Multimedia Expo and, of course, absorbed all kinds of new knowledge and lessons that will be of help in continuing the weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” show.

Music has been a part of me for as long as I can remember. From singing to my dolls at age two, to teaching myself how to play “Flashlight” by Parliament at ten, to arranging my first instrumental piece at twelve, I can honestly say that music is equal parts who I am and what I do.

Two weeks ago in this blog I wrote about merchandise and touring being two of the big areas where indie musicians look to make money; or, more so, that streaming isn’t one of them.  However, is sending money electronically, and not necessarily audio, a way that performers can be making more?

It’s ironic that the six-year anniversary of the “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast should fall on the same day that the weekly blog is published.  After all, that’s a big part of how this milestone was reached – by being on-time.

More and more lately on “Now Hear This Entertainment” guests tell me that where you best stand a chance of making any money in the music business these days is merchandise and touring.

As an independent artist, you’re obsessed with creating ways to stay engaged with your growing fan base. Social media moves fast and in real-time. Live shows provide face-to-face human connection. Merchandise lets people walk away with a piece of your brand.

One week ago today a guest blog was published here from acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Alan Gogoll from Australia due to the timeliness of what he was writing about (going from a million followers across social media to deactivating his Facebook and Twitter accounts).  In truth, it was also helpful because I was traveli

G’Day everyone! Let me give you a quick introduction about myself. I’m an Australian acoustic fingerstyle guitarist and have been playing guitar for over 25 years. It has been my full-time job for the last ten. During that time, I have gained about a million followers across social media, which is large by some accounts and small by others, though in the fingerstyle guitar niche I guess it’s pretty good going.

Last week the top ten most read blogs on this site from 2019 were listed.  Those were drawn from the pool of entries written by yours truly.  This week instead provides a look at the blogs written by guests last year.

Is it just me or does it already feel a tad bit “late” to be doing a top ten list?  Even though we’re only six days into 2020, I feel like a post such as this one should’ve been done last week.  Maybe it’s because I never stop working, and thus the days all run together.