179 – Top 10 Music Entrepreneur HQ Posts of 2019

1 Shares

Each year, we publish loads of content on Music Entrepreneur HQ and we like to reflect on what resonated with our readers, listeners and viewers most.

In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, we get into the top 10 most viewed posts of 2019.

Table of Contents

Podcast Highlights:

00:34 – Top 10 Music Entrepreneur HQ posts of 2019
01:11 – 5 Ways to Sign More Powerfully
01:40 – 7 Ways Music Benefits to Your Health
02:32 – 4 Challenges Music Entrepreneurs Face & How to Overcome Them
03:12 – The Effects of Listening to Music at Work: Pros and Cons
03:58 – How to Create Your Music Career Strategy for 2019
04:44 – Passive Income Streams for Musicians and Music Instructors
05:28 – What Your Song Titles & Email Subject Lines Have in Common
06:11 – How to Succeed as a Songwriter – with Award-Winning Songwriter & Producer Troy Kokol
06:48 – 7 Essential Tactics for Better Live Stage Performance
07:34 – How to Choose Great Recording, Mixing & Mastering Engineers for Your Album
08:14 – Thanks to contributors
08:40 – Thanks to listeners

Transcription:

It’s time for us to look back on the top 10 Music Entrepreneur HQ posts of 2019.

If you’re primarily a podcast listener, then you might not be familiar with the website, located at MusicEntrepreneurHQ.com but it has fast turned into a massive online resource for musicians just like you. If you don’t believe me, just go to the website and click on the Blog button in the menu and you’ll see all the content we’ve published.

Music Entrepreneur HQ is a massive online resource for musicians. Click To Tweet

And, in 2019, since we were still accepting guest posts, many of the posts I’m about to share with you were written and contributed by others.

So, let’s review the most viewed and listened to pieces of the past year.

1 – 5 Ways to Sing More Powerfully

At the number one position, we have 5 Ways to Sing More Powerfully.

This guest post was contributed by my friend Matt Ramsey, who I got to meet while I was in Austin last August. I’ll have to have him on the podcast as well.

In this detailed guide, Ramsey shares how we can all add some power to our voices for those times when a song needs that extra push.

I think he offers some great tips here, and this is an evergreen piece that’s going to help singers for years to come.

2 – 7 Ways Music Benefits Your Health

At number two, we have 7 Ways Music Benefits Your Health.

At Music Entrepreneur HQ, we don’t often cover topics related to how music can benefit one’s health. With a huge growth in guest posters, however, we saw all kinds of people contribute content on a myriad of topics throughout the year.

And, as writer Alexandra Reay (it might be pronounced Re-ay, I’m not too sure) shares in this post, music can help you improve your communication skills, improve your emotional life, strengthen your heart, help you sleep better, reduce anxiety and depression, decrease pain and boost the immune system.

If you’d like to learn more, you’re going to have to check out the post for yourself. All the posts in this episode are linked up in the show notes at MusicEntrepreneurHQ.com/179 along with a full transcription of the episode.

3 – 4 Challenges Music Entrepreneurs Face & How to Overcome Them

In third place, we have 4 Challenges Music Entrepreneurs Face & How to Overcome Them, a topic I feel is both relevant and worth delving into.

I think guest contributor Rana Tarakji (I’m so sorry if I’m pronouncing that wrong) did a great job of covering the key struggles music entrepreneurs often face – having to wear many hats, lack of energy or motivation and competition. If you have mental blocks in any of these areas, this post is for you.

For better or for worse, I’ve often been hands on with guest posts, and in this instance, I did a little bit of work to tighten up and peak interest with the headings. It looks like it may have paid off.

4 – The Effects of Listening to Music at Work: Pros and Cons

Number four, The Effects of Listening to Music at Work: Pros and Cons.

Again, this is a topic I would not have thought to cover in any capacity. I guess that’s why we had guest posters. They brought some fresh ideas to the table and covered what they felt were relevant topics.

In this post, contributor Natalia Anderson seeks to offer some constructive thoughts on whether one should or shouldn’t be listening to music at work, and the type of music you should be listening to if you choose to listen while working.

If you’ve ever wondered whether I listen to music at work, the answer is “often.” And, if you’d like to know what I’m listening to, you can look up a playlist on Spotify called Addicted by David Andrew Wiebe. You’ll find the link to this playlist in the show notes as well.

5 – 136 – How to Create Your Music Career Strategy for 2019

At number five, episode 136 of the podcast, How to Create Your Music Career Strategy for 2019.

Should I feel funny about the fact that I just barely made it into the top five with one of my own content pieces? I’m just kidding – I think it’s great that so many others had the opportunity to contribute something to the Music Entrepreneur HQ site.

As tactics become increasingly popular and strategy falls by the wayside in the music industry, I think posts like this are only going to increase in importance.

While this post should not be considered comprehensive by any means, I talked about strategy from a high level, how to fit tactics around your strategy and some steps to determine what tactics you can use to reach your goals.

6 – 127 – Passive Income Streams for Musicians and Music Instructors – with Brent Vaartstra of Passive Income Musician

At number six, we have the second part of my two-part interview with Brent Vaartstra of Learn Jazz Standards and Passive Income Musician. That’s episode 127 of the podcast, titled Passive Income Streams for Musicians and Music Instructors.

It makes sense that people would be interested in passive income streams. This is a sexy sounding term, but as Brent suggests, everything takes work. The only way to develop your passive income streams is by putting in a concerted effort upfront. And, ongoing upkeep might be part of the equation too.

But if there’s anyone that understands this topic well, it’s Brent, and if you’re interested in finding out how you can tap into the power of passive income, have a listen to this episode.

7 – What Your Song Titles & Email Subject Lines Have in Common

At seventh place, there’s What Your Song Titles & Email Subject Lines Have in Common.

This idea via guest poster Kayleigh Alexandra had to be workshopped a bit before it made any sense. I think I’m starting to see a bit of a pattern here in the sense that, most of the top guest posts were first written by a contributor and then developed into a cohesive whole by an editor, which in this case was me.

So, what do song titles and email subject lines have in common? I think a better question might be – what lessons can we take from each to improve the other? This question should lead to some powerful insights.

At core, I feel this is a good topic. The writing around the idea, however, has space to be something more than it is. Anyone care to tackle it?

8 – 142 – How to Succeed as a Songwriter – with Award-Winning Singer-Songwriter & Producer Troy Kokol

At number eight, we have episode 142 of the podcast, How to Succeed as a Songwriter – with Award-Winning Singer-Songwriter & Producer Troy Kokol.

I’ve now been podcasting for over 10 years. So, for me, this episode felt like a bit of a blast from the past, because I interviewed a lot of local artists for my original podcast.

I think this conversation with Troy was awesome and his story is incredibly inspiring. It’s a great reminder that when we’re looking for opportunity, we must be ready for it. We should be putting our head down to do the work instead of constantly trying to make something happen and wondering where the next gig is going to come from.

When we're looking for opportunity, we must be ready for it. Click To Tweet

9 – 7 Essential Tactics for Better Live Stage Performance

At ninth place, there’s 7 Essential Tactics for Better Live Stage Performance as written by guest poster Scott Matthews.

This is a topic I’ve personally covered in detail in my own writing, and I’m relatively complete with what I’ve had to share about it. There’s nothing I wish to add right now. So, it’s providence that someone else decided they wanted to cover the topic.

Now, I do feel Scott’s tips are relatively commonsense, but as they say, there’s nothing common about commonsense. As music entrepreneurs, it’s best that we don’t make any assumptions about what strangers do or do not know.

There's nothing common about commonsense. Click To Tweet

Plus, his post has the term “essential” in the title, suggesting that no extras were covered. If you’re just getting started as a performer, then you’re certainly going to get something out of this post.

10 – How to Choose Great Recording, Mixing & Mastering Engineers for Your Album

At 10th place, we have How to Choose Great Recording, Mixing & Mastering Engineers for Your Album by Nick Rubright (it might be pronounced Roob-right, I’m not sure).

For better or for worse, a lot of musicians have had bad experiences with engineers. Some have been over-charged. Others have had trouble achieving their sonic vision.

These days, I mostly work with friends and contacts from my extended network and that has been a trouble-free experience, but in the past, I’ve had some less than ideal experiences as well, which is one of the reasons one of my solo albums still hasn’t been released.

Anyway, if finding an engineer is a bit of a mystery to you, I have no doubt you’ll find this post valuable.

Thank You to All Contributors

In closing, most of this content simply wouldn’t be possible without the help I had from the various guests and contributors we had last year, so from the bottom of my heart I want to say, “thank you.”

Even though we’ve closed guest posting and advertising opportunities and we’re focusing on other projects right now, we know that it takes time and effort to come up with an idea and put it into existence, so, again, thank you all for your hard work.

Thank You for Engaging

Finally, we couldn’t even create lists like this without listeners like you to engage in our content, so thank you so much for reading, listening and watching in 2019. We hope your career or business has benefited greatly from our efforts, and we’re always here to help you when you need it.

We’re looking forward to an amazing 2020, and we have some amazing interviews and content in the works for you this year too, so stay tuned.

I’m David Andrew Wiebe and I look forward to seeing you on the stages of the world.

Author
Recent Posts

David Andrew Wiebe

Founder & CEO at Music Entrepreneur HQ

Award-winning composer, best-selling author, professional musician coach, and podcaster of over 10 years. Wiebe helps musicians like you unlock your full potential. If you'd like to be notified whenever the blog is updated, click here to subscribe.

Latest posts by David Andrew Wiebe (see all)