Thanks for watching this course!

I love the music scene of Austin, TX, and I hope this provides some value and insight to those in my community and beyond.

It's my honor to provide this resource as a gift of service to you, my friends and colleagues, with the sponsorship and support of Austin Texas Musicians.

If you feel you got something out of this, would like to support me in return, and happen to have the means to do so, it would be greatly appreciated.

My donation options are:

http://paypal.me/lexland

lexlandmusic.com/love

With the assistance of Austin Texas Musicians, this course will be available for free from March 22, 2020 until September 30, 2020.

Please share it with anyone you feel might gain some insight from it.

Below, I've compiled a list of some apps, software, books, and other content that I recommend. They've been of tremendous help for me in my productivity and music-business journey, and I hope they'll be of some assistance to you.

*btw none of these are affiliate links, just sharing stuff that has been helpful for me*

Apps and Software for Streaming Specifically:

Pages - FB Page App for Mobile Devices (find on your native app store)

OBS - Open Broadcaster Software for badass tech-y Streams, for the overachievers and tech-savvy

Tools for peak productivity:

Airtable - a mind-blowingly powerful, yet free, cloud-based database and spreadsheet service, useful for form entry of just about anything, song cataloging, fan contact info, and a multitude of other things where you need to collect data

TextExpander - expand video descriptions, email and document templates, links, hashtags, filenames (with fillable fields), and anything else you can think of using quick keyboard shortcuts on your desktop or mobile device

Spark - a free, and great, mail client for mobile and desktop, with email template builders and natural gestures for quick organization, so you can spend more time "doing things" and less time "doing email." Pair this with filter rules in your regular mail client (like Gmail), and you'll be an email-machete-master.

Hazel - if you use a Mac, Hazel is about to be your new best friend. "Automagically" file documents to where they belong, clear out your trash occasionally, organize your desktop, the list goes on and on...

Launchbar - another Mac app, though I've heard there are similar ones for PCs. It's similar to "spotlight" search, but can do a lot more, like allowing you to search websites, move files to folders, and launch files and applications all with just a few keyboard strokes (without having to lift your hand to move your mouse)

Omnifocus - a crazy impressive task management system, if you're someone who has a million things going on, this might be worth the investment. Great digital tool for those who use the GTD* method.

Canva - most folks are familiar already with this free online designer tool. I like it because you can build templates with it to make easy work of creating promo images in all the different formats for social media platforms. Looking for an easy thing to use on your phone? I prefer WordSwag.

An analog Planner - this one is probably obvious, but any notebook where you can keep thoughts, ideas, checklist and to-do lists, or even just brain-drain... the act of writing is incredibly powerful and healing. Add some strategy and forethought to your future days, weeks, quarters, months, years, and you'll already be way ahead of many. I've tried just about every type of planner and notebook on the planet, but I have been using this one lately, and I like it.

Productivity Books that have kinda changed my life:

Getting Things Done* - if you're not already familiar with this, drop everything you're doing right now to start "decluttering" your mind and finally move the needle toward your goals.

The ONE Thing - "What's the ONE thing you could do right now that would make everything else easier or unnecessary?"

Deep Focus - We're constantly bombarded by distractions, those created outside of us and those that we create for ourselves. It takes time and dedicated practice, just like with learning any skill, to sink into "flow" and get meaningful work done.

My Favorite Productivity Podcasts:

Focus On This - a quick, maybe-kinda-cutesy yet informative show to help walk you through planning sessions and get a grip on your goals in an actionable and manageable way.

Automators - iOS and Mac nerds unite! This podcast will give you tons of ideas on how to automate mundane tasks using technology so you can create more.

Music Marketing Resources I Would Recommend:

Indepreneur.io - hours and hours of free content espousing techniques that have been successfully tried and tested by independent artists (through both their podcast Creative Juice and their YouTube channel Full Stack Creative). Get even more real with it by becoming a member of their education community full of deep-dive courses on creating effective campaigns that will ultimately drive more fans and customers to your music business.

Music Marketing Manifesto - Want to dip your toe into some of the psychology and basics of music marketing, but be able to create a straightforward, yet effective and fast campaign that will nurture warm leads into customers? Here's an option you might like.

CD Baby DIY Musician Podcast - more of a light-listen (IMO) for general insights and helpful advice on running your music business... particularly for those who maybe are "newer" to the music industry.

How to Make It in the New Music Business: Practical Tips on Building a Loyal Following and Making a Living as a Musician - a relevant/recent book with a lot of helpful and insightful information

This course is sponsored by Austin Texas Musicians (501c4) - a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to being the trusted voice of Austin’s musicians. 

For more information on how to become a member, please visit atxmusicians.org or follow @atxmusicians on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.