JasonShadrick

Music Success in Nine Weeks is a book that tells you exactly what is found inside.  Author Ariel Hyatt is a music publicist who specializes in developing an online presence for independent artists.

First, let me tell you what this book isn’t.  This book isn’t a collection of case studies of artists who were in the right place at the right time. Nor is this book a way to make your music better.  This book gives you the tools and strategies to use the Internet to make you a more successful independent musician.

I love how this book is organized. Each chapter covers a list of tasks that you are to accomplish over the course of a week.  Topics such as developing your pitch, understand Web 2.0 tools and getting into blogging are covered.  Along with those tasks, Ariel gives you worksheets, quick tips and assignments to make sure you keep on the ball as you are developing. This is an EXTREMELY practical guide (something I wish more books strived to be) and anyone who picks this book up will find something useful immediately.

The best part of the advice Ariel gives is that it applies to more than just musicians. If you are a freelancer of any kind, these exercises and methods will work just as well for you. I found a few ideas that I am going to put to use with this blog.

Essentially, this is one of the best books of it’s kind around.  Ariel is great at what she does and this is a handy DIY version of her more expansive CyberPR Campaigns.

Make sure to check out Ariel and everything she does at www.arielpublicity.com.

Disclosure: Ariel is a good friend and she sent me a free copy of this book for review purposes. She is great at what she does and you should take a serious look at this book if you want to spread your gospel.

Before I started here there were a few blogs that really inspired me to start my own.  Considering my job, many people were asking me to somehow document all the great musicians I come in contact with on a regular basis.  Here are 9 blogs that helped me figure out how to blog, why to blog and what makes a blog succesful.

In no particular order:

GuitarNoize.com is one of the first guitar centric blogs I started to read on a regular basis.  It has a great look and feel and is a great place to find the latest guitar news that sometimes is overlooked by the mainstream.

Ariel Hyatt is a publicity wizard.  She was the first one to tell me how to make Twitter work for me and for that I am grateful.  If you are an independent musician, please do yourself a favor and check her out.

GuitarVibe.com is a really great site for concert reviews, gear reviews and some really nice interviews.  Since Zach is in the the tech industry, I really like the reviews on some of the guitar technology that is out there.

What is it with Australia and amazing guitar blogs? iHeartGuitar is a guitar news blog that features both some incredible interviews (Dave Mustaine, Ace Frehley, etc.) but lessons, album reviews and more.  I am really looking forward to finally meeting Peter at NAMM next January.

The Rock House Method Blog is not only a place to keep up on the latest Rock House news but a great resource for tons of lessons, articles and more from other websites and blogs.

John is one of our instructors at NGW and is always willing to help students (and fellow bloggers).  He has some great coverage from the summer and is one of the best examples of how to leverage the internet to create a great teaching studio.

Easily one of the most read music business blogs around, Hypebot is a great way to learn more about what is changing daily about the music business.  Bruce Houghton and his staff really do a great job of explaing complicated concepts in an easy to understand way.

Bob Lefsetz is a longtime commentator on the music industry.  Starting out as an actual letter and then progressing to an emai list, his blog is read by a large amount of the music industry.  He posts A LOT, so I would recommend checking it out from time to time and catch up.

Derek Sivers is the guy who started CDBaby and in turn empowered a generation of DIY musicians.  Much like his hero, Seth Godin, Derek’s blog is full of short useful posts that really make you think.  If I had to choose one of this list, this would be it.  HIGHLY recommended.