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Recent News

IMPORTANT NEWS about Advice for Musicians and their Teams
August 19, 2011
SAME GREAT INFO – NEW LOCATION In order to simplify my life and do a better job of publishing content, I am moving my blog post and tutorials for musicians to my music page. In order to understand why, please read my blog post, Helping musicians grow their music business. Join me and let me know what you need to know… I’ll do my best to help you. (read more)
Creating Posters using MS Publisher and QR Codes
August 9, 2011
I use MS Publisher to create posters for my shows and for client print jobs. In this tutorial I show how I create and then save this poster as an image file. The poster created in the tutorial can be found below. FYI: I don’t claim to be a designer   (read more)
Music Business Seminar – March 19, 2011 at 2pm, Woodland Hills, GC Studios
March 17, 2011
Guitar Center’s GC Studios is hosting an open house. The Songwriter Online’s Matthew Moran will be presenting a FREE seminar titled: Music 2 Money: Business Strategies & Technologies for the Professionally-minded Musician. Here is the event page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160350834019036 Additional details: Where: GC Studios, 6400 Owensmouth Ave, Woodland Hills, CA  91367… (read more)
How to create a more professional video from your live performances
February 23, 2011
Here is a very simple way to create a more professional looking video of your band. I typically want my band’s videos to have a more professional appearance. Rather than have the video just start, I wanted to add an image with the band and logo at the start of the video. I, however, am not really a graphic designer. Rather than use a complicated graphics program, I found that using Powerpoint provides… (read more)
It’s All About You! My Music Business Survey
February 2, 2011
Let me know how The Songwriter Online can help you. Take the My Music Business Survey. This survey created for free using Google Docs. Want to know more, just ask. We have some exciting programs and services we can offer but also want to ensure our educational material is focused on YOU and what YOU need. We will be emailing all participants the results of the survey with some expert insight into… (read more)
The LA Rock and Roll Music Conference @ The House of Blues, February 3, 2011
January 30, 2011
I will representing TheSongwriterOnline.com and taking part in a panel discussing Music, Marketing, and Artist Development this Thursday at: The House of Blues, Los Angeles (West Hollywood) 8430 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069 (Google map) (323) 848–5100 The panel is schedule to run from 7:00pm – 9:00pm with plenty of time for Q & A. The Panel and discussion is being sponsored by Cosmo Coalition… (read more)
Your Music and Your Plan of Action
January 29, 2011
Over the next few week’s I’ll be discussing the merits, the necessity, and the functional steps necessary to create a business plan for your music career. One of the major challenges many musicians face is this perceived contradiction between being professional (taking an analytic, project, and execution based approach to building their music career) and the art (the creative act of writing, performing,… (read more)
Using FREE Google Forms to gather business data, surveys, and fan request
October 26, 2010
Once again, we turn to Google for an amazing tool. I’ve done several surveys for both general business and music business interested folks. I’ve used Google forms to create the surveys and when doing so, have asked if people want to learn how to create and use a form similar to what they are filling out. And surprise, it remains one of the most popular topics. Here is a video showing how to setup… (read more)
FREE Workshop – Business Strategy, Technology, Tools, and Online Presence
October 26, 2010
This FREE Workshop is taking place at GC Studios (http://www.gcstudios.com) November 2nd, 7:00PM-9:00PM Some of what you will learn: Business & Marketing Plan Basics The true purpose of social media: The 7 point roadmap to online success Google Tools for collaborating with your team, productivity, and website analytics Why you MUST have a mailing list and how go grow and manage it Using WordPress… (read more)
Tasks & Time Management – How Google Tasks integrates with Google Calendar
October 6, 2010
Two Google tools I use extensively are Calendar and Tasks. Now they are integrated so that date specific tasks show up in your calendar and can be moved from day to day on the calendar.   This video shows how the Google Tasks and Google Calendar work together. (read more)
Reverbnation What are Tunepaks and how to use them
October 6, 2010
Reverbnation.com is one of the most useful tools at a musicians disposal. Sharing music, videos, images, and tools to add players, calendars, and mailing list to websites and to Facebook, make it an essential website. One of the features you should become familiar with are TunePaks. Tunepaks are customized list of songs you can send via email, instant message, or on Facebook. You can create multiple… (read more)
Organizing your iGoogle Dashboard with gadgets
October 6, 2010
File this under personal productivity. If you are a musician, you need to treat your business like a… business. Google provides a great set of tools – word processor, spreadsheet, tasks list, calendars, etc. Most of these items can be shared with others on your team or with whom you collaborate with. The iGoogle or Google Apps start page (newly available) give you a way to organize your various… (read more)
Bands & Songwriters – Why I don’t pay to play
September 28, 2010
And why you should not either… I was talking with a friend of mine the other day; actually, the conversations has sort of grown as we’ve spent some time together. He is a songwriter and performer – looking to build a base of fans/passionate listeners. Recently, he performed at some local clubs that require a minimum draw. He met the minimum once but two times did not, requiring that he pay the… (read more)
Productivity Tip: Open Multiple Tabs in Firefox
August 31, 2010
This is just a general productivity tip. I use Firefox as my primary browser. Wherever possible, I like doing so without many add-ons. It is more secure, faster, etc. Google Chrome lets you set startup tabs, which is very helpful, but I knew of no way to accomplish this with Firefox. Saving the tabs when you close is not really a solution since you have to make sure you close Firefox with the tabs… (read more)
The Songwriter & Social Media Tour Promo
August 2, 2010
Recently, we worked with Bombshelter Studioes – Britt and James – to create a new promotional video about The Songwriter & Social Media Tour. Britt provided voice-over and James the mix and sound. Take a look below and let others know as well. Promo Video: Watch on YouTube here (read more)
Creating MP3 Files – Tagging your MP3 files with MP3Tag
July 20, 2010
Tagging your music files allows you to add information about the song, the artist, and album art to the mp3 files. This way, when someone opens your mp3 file to listen to it, they will be able to know more about you as an artist and to find more of your music. Music Supervisors also require that your songs are tagged with meta data (descriptive data about the song). MP3Tag is a free utility you can… (read more)
Creating MP3 Files – Converting your WAV files to mp3
July 20, 2010
I use a free utility, FormatFactory, for converting many different file types, including converting .WAV audio files to .MP3. When you record your songs, many pieces of recording software do not save natively as mp3 files. But even when they do, it is often not the most desirable format. Typically, .WAV files are uncompressed and of higher quality than mp3 files. So when you want to burn a CD of your… (read more)
Tip-Stream Live Video
July 6, 2010
Each week, TheSongwriterOnline.com founder, Matt Moran is going to provide Tip-Stream: live-streaming, interactive video chat to cover a specific area of technology or strategy for songwriters, bands, and street teams. The topics will include: social media, websites and services, applications, and virtually any topic that you (the viewer) finds valuable. Visit the TheSongwriterOnline streaming video… (read more)
Announcement: The Songwriter & Social Media Tour – dates and sponsors
June 25, 2010
Dates are being booked for The Songwriter & Social Media Tour. Starting July 24th in Orange County, CA at Sam Ash Music, followed by dates in Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Colorado Springs, St. Lous, and Chicago.   Songwriter and Author, Matt Moran, combines his background as a business and technology consultant and as a performing songwriter to provide several music performances and workshops on strategies,… (read more)
Tutorial – What is WordPress and Why You Should Care
June 19, 2010
This Tutorial covers the basic features and benefits of using WordPress to manage and run your website. What is WordPress and why you should care? (read more)
Episode 3 – Kyle Weber from IndieOntheMove.com
June 17, 2010
In this podcast I talk with Kyle Weber, the president of the website, IndieOnTheMove.com and a member of the band, ZELAZOWA. They took their extensive touring experience and contacts and have provided an extremely valuable resource for other musicians. I’ve split the episode into 4 parts. You can listen to each part individually – between 4:30 and 7:00 minutes or download the entire episode. Kyle… (read more)
An Introduction to Google’s iGoogle Dashboard
June 15, 2010
This video will introduce you to the iGoogle Dashboard. It is a free feature of your Gmail account that allows you to organize many useful applications and tools provided by Google and other companies. Please let me know how you like this tutorial and any questions you might have. Also, let others know as well. (read more)
Don’t Waste Your Time – The Ugly Truth About Social Media
June 14, 2010
If you are a songwriter, performer, musician, and want to utilize social media effectively, you need to read this!! I’m going to provide you with a reality check. It relates to something I’ve been teaching my clients and associates over the past couple years. It is an anecdotal evidence for my position that “Social Media Marketing” is as typically more hype than delivery. This is going to… (read more)
Inexpensive Merchandise for Bands and Songwriters
April 19, 2010
This video is an introduction to a topic I’ll cover in more detail in the next few days. Merchandise is critical for both generating income and more importantly, providing fans – passionate listeners – with something to take home with them. They want a piece of you and you need to give it. In the video I show a way I am using 1 hour photo at Costco or Walmart to quickly have a nice giveaway.… (read more)
Introduction to The Songwriter Online
April 19, 2010
I’m Matt Moran and I started The Songwriter Online as a place to publish tutorials and information to help bands, songwriters, and their teams run and promote their music business. I’m doing this from an “in the trenches” perspective. Soft of like, “hair club” – I’m not just the owner, I am a customer too. Please watch the introduction video and I hope you can take part – both learning… (read more)
Episode 2 – Interview with Brenden Mulligan at Artistdata.com
April 5, 2010
This is episode 2 of The Songwriter Online Podcast. Brenden Mulligan took some time to discuss Artistdata’s origins, the challenges with adding features, and where they are going. Artistdata may be one of the most useful sites to help the hurried musician in a long time. They provide a way to enter data once (your schedule most notably) and update multiple sites with the information. The episode… (read more)
Free Webinars: The Songwriter & Social Media plus
March 29, 2010
As part of our effort to get our information in front of as many independent and DIY artist as possible, we are offering Several free or low-cost webinars and workshops. Two Webinars will be help on March 30, 2010. One at 9:00AM. The other at 6:00PM (PST for both). The Songwriter & Social Media will provide an overview of the tools available to songwriters, bands, performers, and their teams. Not… (read more)