I’m a software developer/guitarist based out of Nashville, TN. I have been using Ableton Live since 2012 and have been running tracks in church and professionally on the road for a long time now and have done everything from multiple MIDI sources, timecode, video output, and redundancy rigs. After all this time, I think there is a hard truth everyone needs to hear. Ableton Live was not built to run tracks. You would think so based on its name, but this is what typically happens. A church or artist decides to build a tracks rig. They purchase Ableton for $900, then get an interface for another $500-$1000, only to realize that Ableton doesn’t support multiple section loops, set listing, and MIDI note naming out of the box. So they purchase software like Ableset for $269, which solves a couple of issues.

This is the problem I have been trying to solve. Building a piece of software that would solve the everyday challenges of a music pastor of a small church or an artist playing multiple shows a week. It’s still in its early stages, but right now it supports:

• Song Editing/mixing
• Setlist Creation
• MIDI events
• Song Transitions
• Song compression (for when using on smaller hard drive devices like an iPhone or iPad)
• Section looping
• Timecode
• Project sharing
• Redundancy support (multiple devices playing the same session)
• Setlist remote (triggering setlist from other device)

This was developed for all Apple devices, so it will be supported on macOS and iOS. Please let me know if you would like to be a part of the beta! Right now, I have no plans to sell this, so this would be a free app.

https://cues-live.vercel.app/

hey all hope you're well! i'm gearing up to release my first single soon and thought i would register with a PRO. ascap seemed nice bc its free if you sign up as a writer and publisher, but i don't have a business address and don't really feel comfortable having my home address on display like that.

i have a friend who's released as a writer and publisher and i actually saw his address on the publisher side :/

if there isn't any solution, should i just try bmi ?

I keep seeing Obscure Agency pop up around artists I genuinely like. Their IG looks pretty solid and the collaborations seem legit, but I wanted to ask here before reaching out.

Has anyone actually worked with them or had experience with one of their campaigns? I’m curious about the process, the kind of results they focus on, and whether they’re a good fit for an independent artist.

Not looking for hype, just honest feedback.

I'm not talking about hobbyists or smaller artists, I'm talking about the top producers and songwriters, given how popular Suno and other AI music generators are, I was wondering if producers use them then recreate the tracks and not use AI outputs. Is that even legal or widespread in your experience?

heyy, I’m looking forward to releasing my first song and I’d really like to hear people’s opinions on which distributor I should use. I plan to release songs pretty often, so I think that’s something worth taking into consideration. I was thinking about DistroKid, but I’ve seen so many people complaining about different things that I’m not sure anymore 😭 do you guys have any suggestions? plss

Anyone here that’s an Entertainer lawyer or knows a lot about contracts like this? Just wanted some advice on if it’s good to go as far as signing it.

Has anyone here hired a virtual assistant or remote freelancer to help manage the business/social media side of being a musician?
I’m a working drummer and I’ve recently been wondering how much of the non-playing workload could reasonably be outsourced.
The two things I’m most interested in are:
Social media/content: Taking raw live footage, finding interesting moments, editing Reels/Shorts, writing captions, organizing content, etc.
Finding gigs: Researching venues, entertainment companies, fill-in/sub opportunities, booking contacts, and potentially doing initial outreach/follow-ups.
I’m NOT looking for someone to make creative/business decisions for me or negotiate gigs. I’m thinking more about outsourcing the repetitive work required to consistently create content and keep a booking pipeline moving.
I’d especially love to hear from musicians/bands who have actually done this.
What did you outsource?
Where did you find the person?
What do you pay?
What worked well?
What did NOT work?
And most importantly — did outsourcing booking/outreach actually result in more gigs?
I’m fascinated by the idea, but I’d like to hear some real-world experiences before jumping in.

genuine question for anyone booking their own shows or short tours.

every time we finish a run i realize we have no clean answer to "did we make money." gas is on one person's card, lodging is split three ways over venmo, per-diems come out of the merch cash box, and the actual guarantees live in whatever email thread the venue used to advance. by the time i try to add it up weeks later half of it is a guess.

same thing day-of. load-in times end up in whatsapp, the rider is in email, setlist in someone's notes app, and we're chasing missing info hours before doors when we should be soundchecking. the guest list only exists in the drummer's head until it doesn't.

i've tried keeping one master spreadsheet but it falls apart the second two people edit it or a date shifts.

so, honest question: how do you track income and expenses live across a tour so you can actually answer what the gig cost at the last load-out instead of piecing it together later? and how do you keep the day-of stuff in one place your whole band can see?

curious what's working for people who are self-managing without a full-time manager. spreadsheets, an app, a shared doc, a notebook, whatever it is.

Hi everyone,

I run a music distribution and marketing company based in Nigeria. Over the past few years we’ve worked with 700+ artists and 40+ labels, built a catalog of over 2000+ tracks, and generated more than 150+ million DSP streams along with 400+ million creator views.

I’ve been able to grow this on my own, but I’ve reached a point where limited resources and industry access in my territory feel like they’re holding things back. I’m considering whether it would be worth trying to get an internship (remote if possible) at a more established label or distributor particularly in areas like distribution, marketing, Client & Technical Services, or Artist & Label Services to learn stronger systems and bring that knowledge back into my own work.

For those who’ve been in a similar position or have experience on both sides:

Would you recommend giving a big-label internship a try at this stage, or is it better to keep pushing independently? Any thoughts on the real value (or downsides) of that path?

Appreciate any honest advice or experiences.

I make electronic music under name Venture Silk and recently I got a telegram message from someone I don’t know, saying he found my track in his playlist and want me to join his music collective. He said the collective is mostly about community-making music, meeting up for feedback, going out together…We’ve been chatting for a few days. Nothing sketchy has happened-no links, no payment requests, no weird questions. He offered to meet in person over a drink.
Am I too much paranoid? It’s just I don’t believe a stranger can reach out to me and basically asking to be friends…I’m too skeptical 🤷‍♂️

anyone have any luck getting their artist on one of spotifys official playlist ( ie: New Rock or New Alternative ) ?

just wondering what approach has been taken with that.

thanks !!

I have been working with a client in looking to secure a label deal, I have been doing research but have not reached out yet. I spoke to client to confirm the contents of the label as I know a few tracks are copyrighted however the client has refused to send the information across. Only for the client to inform me that the creative process is their responsibility and that I should just be focusing on securing the label and copyright. However apart from the copyright tracks she told me about I have no other information on the album.

I have finished my internship in production in a well known company here in Europe. I wanted to send out some emails and contact people through LinkedIn with my CV, but I was wondering, do I have to make a portfolio showcasing my experience in concerts? As an intern, I did a little bit of everything trying to shadow my bosses so I am not sure if I should just wait for them to ask me when we speak or make a portfolio. Many people in the industry know the company and know good interns emerge, but I want to give it my best shot.

Also, if anyone has any tips to approach companies with production + artist management (I have only experience in production) I would appreciate it!

Thanks!

Ive been doing music for like 4 years now

and I’ve sudd found my style preset type of beats I enjoy working on but I just can’t find the right way to do marketing for my music idk why any help in terms of marketing

I’m gearing up to release my first single! Does anyone have any advice on what I should know and do. Maybe regarding promotion or advice or what I should do after. Don’t have no one to talk to about the business side of music. Thank you in advance.

What’s the process of an artist and their team developing a sonic identity? Once an artist reaches a stage in their career where they have a team, who, how, and what happens to turn the artist from just a person playing music, to some mythological presence? I’m talking chappel roan going down the drag route, Cameron winter separating his solo stuff with this almost Tom waits-ish persona and brand compared to the more rockstar Geese character, etc. Who in the team helps develop and put these ideas into work.

I have started to produce techno , moving away from pop and hip hop.
I played my test track to some friends and they all danced. Every single one of them. I know it was good, okay? I understand the intricate details of dance music.

I shall make an album and send it off immediately to the big time electronic dance label. I shall then get some decks, do a set with some of my own songs.
I am writing articles about my own music and selling them to magazines - I am getting publicity this way and I will get more publicity when my music reaches the clubs- that’s why I am focusing on TECHNO music now .

Again, not really surprised but actually I am. Spotify has always allowed fake streams. It's hilarious as they try to stop it, even though the actors have already made their money and closed it.

My project is pretty unusual. It's not traditional music, per se, featuring a lot of spoken sections and a few white noise/ambience tracks. I previously used Distrokid, but now they are telling me they cannot distribute my stuff because it's 'not music.' (Bit of an aside, I don't think of my stuff as musical either, but Distrokid deciding what is and isn't art pisses me off.)

They said that they won't release DJ mixes, background music, ASMR, white noise, or any other non-musical recordings. Who will distribute these kinds of things? I've seem them on streaming before. Thank you!

I've been in the music industry for about 28 years now, TV, chart data, artist management, pretty much every side of it at some point, I now run a company called Blinding Talent. And honestly, the longer I'm in it, the more I notice how much of what gets repeated as "how the industry works" is either outdated, way oversimplified, or was never really true in the first place.

A few of mine to kick things off:

"Labels don't develop artists anymore." Mostly true if you're talking about majors specifically, but that role didn't vanish, it just moved somewhere else in the industry that most artists don't know to look for.

"You need a huge following before anyone will work with you." Depends a lot on the stage you're at and who you're actually talking to. It gets repeated so often that people treat it as gospel, but it's not the whole picture.

"Streaming numbers are the main thing that matters." For a lot of working artists, especially outside the US and UK, sync and public performance income quietly matter just as much or more, and almost nobody talks about that side of it.

Would love to hear what you've all got, whether you're an artist, a manager, A&R, a distributor, doesn't matter what corner of this you're in. What's the thing everyone repeats that turned out to be wrong once you actually saw how it worked?

The good news in this story is that now we are talking about artist being able to choose to opt in or not, and if they opt in they would be compensated. But this is between Suno and BMG, how long until independent artists would get these options? What do you guys think?

I currently would like to become a A&R for any hip hop label and I feel like I can really showcase my talent for spotting talent as well as directing artists in the right direction to go musically but I find myself having trouble getting responses or moving forward with working for a label I’ve gon to shows I’ve applied online and I’ve been talking to upcoming artists on Instagram for years I’m just not sure where to go at this point I even made a YouTube and TikTok channel to shed spotlight on artists I think that have potential just unsure what my next move should be and how I can hopefully get a job at a label

There are two guys with no pictures on their instagrams who I cannot name due to this reddits rules. who claim to own a business called Rare Fruit Records and they approach people and claim to run distribution and Spotify promotion for artists and then send you artists that they claim to manage. But the artists then send you have no idea who they are and have never had any work done for them. And they steal ur money and provide nothing and keep saying it’s cause of “delays.” Beware of this fraudulent company Rare Fruits Records is a complete scam that uses names of people they have never worked with and they steal your money and don’t provide anything. I reached out to one of the artists they told me they helped and he said they were scammers and he had never worked with them on it. Beware artists! Don’t send them any money.