Musician or Producer? SaaS Tools to Amplify Your Craft
Musician or Producer? SaaS Tools to Amplify Your Craft
If you’re an independent artist, you’ll be wearing many hats as you build your music career. From the creative process to managing the business side of things, it can feel overwhelming to handle all the moving parts that go into growing a sustainable music career. While seasoned professionals have entire teams behind them, when you’re just starting out, all the responsibility falls on your shoulders. Luckily, there are many DIY tools that can help you propel your career forward and make the artist journey a little less stressful. Here’s a list of 17 essential DIY tools that every independent artist should know about, grouped into categories of content creation, streaming & promotion, productivity, and research.
Content Creation
Canva
Canva is a great DIY tool for branding campaigns throughout your music career. Independent artists can use it to design album artwork, logos, show flyers, merch, brand kits, social media calendars, and even your website. With pre-made templates and tutorials, you don’t have to be a design genius or talented visual artist to make Canva work for you. While digital design is its main service, Canva can also be used to batch social media content, plan a marketing campaign, and automatically schedule and post content. With the content planner feature, you can skip the extra step of using a separate social media scheduler. This helps you save time and stay consistent with putting out content across multiple platforms.
MusixMatch
Musixmatch provides licensed lyric features to Google, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and Instagram, among other publishers. The app helps artists expand the reach and depth of their music through accurate lyric translation and formatting across platforms. You’ll have full control over your lyrics and the ability to distribute your lyrics across all the major digital streaming services and social networks. Synced lyrics allow fans to connect more deeply with your music and story, making your music more memorable and impactful.
Storyblocks
This DIY tool provides stock footage, b-roll, and an effects library useful for creating music and lyric videos. Independent artists can create a music video on a budget with access to unlimited royalty-free stock video. No hiring a videographer or crew, or shelling out money for expensive lighting and film equipment. Save yourself thousands of dollars while maintaining creative control.
Maastr
Maastr puts professional-quality mastering at the fingertips of independent artists or producers. If you don’t have the resources to hire a mastering engineer to put the finishing touches on your music, Maastr is a great DIY tool. Achieve beautiful and professional-sounding mixes in minutes, and edit and refine until your song is perfect.
Lume Cube
Lume Cube acts as an LED panel light, useful for photo and video shoots. It’s compact and easy to use, providing great light quality for different settings. Whether you need to take a Zoom call in the backseat of a van or film content in your dimly lit dressing room, Lume Cube is a great device to have on-hand. It goes with me on tour and is crucial when filming interviews at home and on the go for my podcast The Record Process.
Streaming & Promotion
Linktree
Instead of having a million links in your social media bio, compile all your resources in one place with Linktree. You can have one smart link that houses your website, merch store, music streaming platforms, social media profiles, upcoming shows, and any other content you wish to share. You can also use it to collect payments or create your own QR code for promotions.
DistroKid
DistroKid puts your music into online stores and streaming services like Spotify. It allows you to upload unlimited music at one price and keep all your earnings. Plus, it’s an easy and legitimate way to distribute cover songs without getting into legal trouble. Click HERE to use my exclusive VIP link to get 30% off your first year’s membership!
Drip
Drip is an email marketing automation platform designed to help businesses engage with their audience and grow their customer base through targeted and personalized email campaigns. The platform has a user-friendly interface and drag-and-drop campaign builder that makes it easy for anyone to create effective email campaigns.
PlaylistSupply
PlaylistSupply allows independent artists to grow streaming numbers with a customized music promo campaign. Finding and reaching out to the right Spotify playlist curators and playlist owners to build a fanbase can feel like a shot in the dark. PlaylistSupply provides an easy way to build your own list of potential playlists to pitch your music. The platform works by scouring Spotify and finding the best playlists for your genre. They also provide contact information so you can contact the curator and request a spot on their playlist.
Kickstarter
For independent artists without the deep pockets of a record label, crowdfunding is one of the best DIY tools to help raise money to record, tour, and produce work, while boosting your band’s online presence. Kickstarter is one of the best platforms with high success rates, especially in the music category. It’s a great way to interact directly with fans and incentivize them to support your band.
Productivity
Byta
Byta is a private music sharing service. The platform lets anyone send and receive digital audio in a quick, simple, and secure way. It’s helpful for sharing music files during the pre-release process and for collaboration with bandmates, producers, labels, etc.
Buffer / Hootsuite / Later
A social media scheduling tool allows you to plan content in advance and free up time to focus on other tasks. You can schedule posts for hours, weeks, and even months ahead. This maintains content flow and encourages consistency.
Calendly
Calendly is perfect for scheduling and time management. You can set up the times and days that are convenient for you to take meetings or calls and block off time when you’re not available.
Trello
Trello is a simple task manager app that enables you to organize projects and everything related to them into boards. This makes it easier for your band or management team to keep track of to-do lists and progress toward goals.
Gigwell
Gigwell is a booking management software that lets you negotiate contracts, manage travel logistics, and collect payments online all in one place. This DIY tool makes the gig-booking and tour management process easier for independent artists, taking your productivity and organization to the next level.
Loop
Building good habits is a key component of establishing effective systems that can help us be more productive. Loop is a simple-to-use habit tracking app that allows you to analyze your day-to-day behaviors and see how much you’re actually getting done. You can create systems for success and keep yourself accountable and consistent.
Bandsintown
Bandsintown lists every gig, concert, and music event that’s happening in your area. It’s a great way to discover show openers and connect with new local artists.
Research
Roadtrippers
Roadtrippers is perfect for touring musicians. It shows you all the hotels, fuel stations, points of interest, venues, and restaurants in the area. It can make planning a tour easier, whether it’s a cross-country adventure or a short weekend trip.
Every Noise at Once
Every Noise at Once is an algorithmically-generated map of the music genre space. It offers genre feedback and an unbiased “assistant” to help you properly position your music by targeting the best possible artists. It’s a useful source for understanding where you fit in and making your music more discoverable.
Chartmetric
Chartmetric is one of the only analytics platforms that caters to the music industry. It offers comprehensive streaming, social, and audience data all in one place to help you create a successful music career.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a free chatbot that uses AI to generate human-like text responses. It can help unlock your creativity and spark new ideas when you hit a songwriting roadblock. While it’s not a substitute for human communication and networking skills, it can assist with booking gigs, researching venues, and more.
These DIY tools are invaluable for independent musicians and producers looking to amplify their craft and grow their music career. Each tool serves a specific purpose, from content creation to productivity and research. Whether you’re a musician or a producer, incorporating these tools into your workflow can make a significant difference in your journey to success.
Conclusion
In conclusion, whether you’re a musician or a producer, the right SaaS tools can truly amplify your craft. With the help of Subscribed.FYI, you can easily navigate the complexities of SaaS tools and expenses, empowering you to make informed decisions about the best options for your specific requirements. By signing up for free, you can unlock secret deals on over 100 SaaS tools, saving you up to $100,000 per year. Additionally, Subscribed.FYI offers a centralized platform to manage all your subscriptions in one place, making it easier to track expenses and take control of your financials like never before.
If you’re ready to take your music or production to the next level, be sure to check out Subscribed.FYI and start enjoying the perks of their free member-only deals. With their comprehensive insights and comparison tools, you can make informed decisions about the SaaS tools that will best amplify your craft. Don’t miss out on this valuable resource that can help you streamline your workflow and enhance your productivity. Visit Subscribed.FYI and Subscribed.FYI Deals today to unlock the savings and management solutions you need to succeed in the music industry.
For further insights into this topic, you can explore these additional resources:
- Top 15 Tools that Musicians Should Use to Expand Their Music
- AI-Powered Content Creation
- Top 21 DIY Tools to Grow Your Music Career
- Subscribed.FYI
- Subscribed.FYI Deals
These resources provide further insights and recommendations for musicians and producers looking to enhance their craft and career.
