The Guidebook to Self-Releasing Your Music
- Master Self-Releasing Your Music: Learn the secrets to cutting through the noise and building a thriving music career on your own terms.
- Empower Your Music: Gain the knowledge and tools you need to take control of your music, from recording to streaming success.
- Learn to Budget: Understand how much it costs to get your music out there
- Harness the Power of Tech: Discover how to leverage digital tools and platforms to maximize your self-release campaign.
A must-have resource for anyone looking to release their music–equally valuable for first timers as well as for seasoned experts who want the latest information on technology and industry developments. Matthew Whiteside focuses on areas musicians can manage themselves, and highlights–with humour and encouragement–the potential benefits and pitfalls along the way. He shares his experiences gained through setting up a record label and releasing his own music over the last 10 years.
Chapter Headings
Chapter 1 – How to use this book
Chapter 2 – Choosing the best people
Chapter 3 – Budgeting
Chapter 4 – Funding and Earned Income
Chapter 5 – Choosing the best place to record
Chapter 6 – Preparing for the recording session
Chapter 7 – Postproduction
Chapter 8 – Understanding your rights
Chapter 9 – Registrations, licences, and codes
Chapter 10 – Choosing a distributor
Chapter 11 – Design, branding, and printing
Chapter 12 – Public relations
Chapter 13 – Marketing and advertising
Chapter 14 – Using social media to promote your music
Chapter 15 – Synchronisation
Industry Thoughts
Chapter 16 – The ethics of streaming
Chapter 17 – The Long Tail
Chapter 18 – Record companies as investors and royalty-earners
About the Author
Matthew Whiteside is a composer and Artistic Director of The Night With… concerts based in Glasgow. He was one of The List’s Hot 100 for 2019 and in 2020 was named ‘One to Watch Classical’ by The Scotsman. He won the Scottish Music Industry Award for Creative Programming at the Scottish Awards for New Music for the 2019 season of The Night With…, and in 2021 won the Award for the Recording of New Music sponsored by VoxCarynx for his work on The Night With… Live Vol. One.
His 2019 album Entangled, featuring three string quartets with electronic interludes, was described as “effective and unsettling” by BBC Music Magazine and as “post-minimal bold sparseness” by The Herald. Arcana.fm said, “It is refreshing to encounter a composer making albums with new classical music in this way, for when used imaginatively the format still has much to give”.
Other works include Night Thoughts, commissioned by Crash Ensemble for New Music Dublin and shortlisted in the 2021 Scottish Awards for New Music; the short opera, Little Black Lies, commissioned by Scottish Opera Connect, with libretto by Helene Grøn; Quartet No. 4 (Entangled), commissioned by the Institute of Physics for the Northern Ireland Science Festival; This Too Shall Pass, for Juice Vocal Ensemble; and Ground, Air, Life, commissioned by the Glasgow Barons.
Matthew also regularly lectures on music, composition, sound design, and the music industry as a whole. His focus is on promoting a DIY mentality within the art.
Along with his concert compositions, he composed the music for Michael Palin’s Quest for Artemisia, broadcast on BBC 4, and has scored two feature films (Anna Unbound and The Loudest Sound) along with numerous shorts. His music was also used in Citizens Theatre production, The Macbeths.
Matthew is also an avid Scuba diver who frequently shares his underwater experiences on social media.
Paperback £15: ISBN 978-1-7384581-0-3
Ebook £10: ISBN 978-1-7384581-1-0
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The book is printed by Ingram Spark and distributed to resellers on my behalf. Trade and bulk discounts available.