Author Archives: Cheryl
The Starving Artist’s Silver Lining
(as first published in Discmakers’ blog, The DIY Musician)
(I was also going to title this article “Why Our Job is Better Than Theirs” or “Why Being a Musician is the Sh%t” but decided against it.)
There have been many times when I’ve caught myself in what I call P.P.P. (the Predictable Paycheck Predicament): being jealous of my roommate as she left the apartment at her regular time to go to her regular job to get her regular paycheck. (Definition of “regular,” by the way: arranged in or constituting a constant or definite pattern.)
But then I went back to sleep. And when I woke up, I probably went for a run, got some groceries, replied to emails, worked on a song, set up a pitch meeting or two on the subject of composing for a new film or licensing my last record, then I might have grabbed coffee with a friend in town, came home, called some venues for my summer tour, had a glass of wine while watching the latest episode of NCIS online, then researched publishing companies for my new indie artist E-course. Or something like that.
P.P.P. is really just another grass-is-greener complex, and once I get myself present to [read more]
CollegeHumor.com and Cheryl teamed up to create this Downton Abbey meets Fresh Prince video that got a fun mention in the Huffington Post!! Check it out!
The 9-Step DIY Fan Funding Checklist
The following is an excerpt from the e-course “In The Key Of Success: The Five Week Jump-Start Strategy”. You can get the rest of the course here to jump start your career today!
The next opportunity I want to suggest to you is asking your fans to pay for your new album. From June 2010 to March 2011, I raised over $25,000 in fan donations to fund the production of my record ONE UP. It’s possible, people. But no one will give you a dime if your campaign is “I really really want to make a record- please give me money!”. You need to create an opportunity for your fans that will inspire them to participate.
I offered different levels of donation from $50 to $5,000, which meant bigger prizes for those who donated more. Play big! Never think no one will ever give little old you that much. You will be surprised. The prize for a $1,000 donation was singing with me on a song. This is an experience exchange. Someone did donate $1,000 to my record, and she told me the studio experience was worth it ten times over. A couple also donated $5,000 and I wrote a song for [read more]
Cheryl’s E-course on jump starting your music career is officially released!! It’s called In The Key Of Success: The Five Week Jump-Start Strategy. Get your copy!
5 Ways to Make the Most of the Holidays
While the corporate world and almost everyone else are out of the office for the holidays, I often struggle with this forced “downtime”; as a full-time musician, I’m never not working. I’m either plugging my next show, looking for the next film placement, writing a song, scheduling a band rehearsal, calling booking companies, or, at the very least, thinking about one of these things. This time around, I’m lucky to be releasing an e-course which is keeping me busy (shameless and important plug: if you are reading this article, you need to check out the Jump Start Strategy). But normally, most of the things we do as musicians are hard to do when the entire music industry is hibernating for a week, and an inbox full of “out of office” auto replies is simply useless to me.
I’ve come up with a solution for RMS (restless musician syndrome) that allows me to be a part of the holiday season and spirit without abandoning my work-a-holic diligence. I want to share it with you. (This is my present to you, so don’t expect a fruitcake this year, mmm kay?)
1) Write or remix a song to have a holiday [read more]
Writing, for me, is like running. They are both good for me (and for those around me), yet they both take a marching band-sized cheering squad to get me started. The amount of debating, procrastinating, dodging, and fidgeting I do when I know it’s time to open a blank Pages document or put on my running shoes, is ridiculous. I’ve been on my own, making money and getting my own gigs, for YEARS. You’d think being a freelance composer and an independent artist (not to mention a personal trainer back in the day) would require mad discipline and skills to overcome the temptations of procrastination. So why have I been feeling so stuck lately??
The answer came to me recently while developing an E-course for independent musicians looking to make new strides in their careers. Through this process, I had to examine my own practices and habits. I learned that the moments of feeling stuck in my career were usually followed by moments of occupational breakthroughs. Seemingly insignificant opportunities, where I was dragging my feet to complete small tasks, opened up bigger doors. Just knowing that feeling stuck is my personal way of resisting the success that lies ahead has allowed me [read more]
New album reviews from all over: Belgium’s “Roots Time” (if you speak the language), The New York Optimist, and the UK’s “All Gigs”!