For the December Post of the Month, rather than choose a new blog, I decided I would highlight some of my favorite posts of the year.

So this month will be more of a “2010 Post of the Year” than a December Post of the Month.

I think the major theme presented throughout 2010 in my posts has been for artists to take ownership in themselves, their career, and their brand.

Through the Post of the Month column on V11, we have encouraged artists to educate themselves about important business issues, make plans to market themselves, think about how they will brand themselves, build their fanbase, connect with fans, and sharpen skills needed to accomplish these tasks.

We’ve aimed to show artists how much they are capable of doing themselves and hopefully given them some tools that can help them accomplish their goals.

Here are my favorite 2010 Posts of the Month:

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Crucial Music is a one-stop agency for licensing independent music to films, TV shows, and commercials.

One of the premier services of its kind, Crucial has secured many feature placements for independent artists in highly rated television shows, feature films, and advertising.

I recently got the opportunity to sit down with Tanvi Patel, one of the founders of Crucial Music, to ask her about what Crucial Music does for artists, and what artists should know before signing with a non-exclusive catalog.

What is your professional background and how did you get involved in Crucial Music?

I started in radio, in broadcasting. I have a degree in communications. Right out of college I went into the radio business and specifically public radio. I was a DJ and did some event planning as well for the radio station. I decided that I wanted to be in the record business because I was spinning records.

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Isn’t it your dream as a musician to make music, but also your goal to have a music career?

You likely use a variety of methods to promote your music: email lists, a website, word of mouth, MySpace, Facebook and any number of other social networking sites.

You probably put your music online, write press releases, supply a bio, provide photos or create an electronic press kit combining all of these.

All are effective and necessary ways to promote your career.

But are you harnessing the power of online movies to promote your music?

In order to stay ahead of the competition, many businesses are using online movies as part of their online promotional strategy. As a musician, there is no reason you can’t do the same to build your music career.

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Should an artist sign a 360 deal?

This question is addressed by music manager Peter Malkin in a video blog.

What I like about this video is that in six minutes, Malkin addresses the major issues artists should be concerned with when they are considering signing a 360 deal. While Malkin seems to be on the “against” side of the argument about 360 deals, I think this video can be helpful to anyone who wants to learn about the basics of a 360 deal.

First, Malkin defines a 360 deal as a contract that allows a record company to participate in all of an artist’s revenue streams.

Next he asks- Is the record company putting up additional money for those rights?

Then he discusses the topics that artists should consider when deciding whether to partner with a record company in a 360 deal: Will they provide any expertise, services or funding for anything other than selling records, such as:

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This post was originally published January 7 earlier this year. However, as with many articles on this site, the point remains valid. Reconsider – what are you doing non-musically to support your band?

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You are in a band because you offer something musicially to the group you are playing with. But what else do you bring to the table?

In this day and age, it isn’t enough to just play bass or just play guitar.

Having computer skills, the desire to oversee some online marketing endeavors, the ability to maintain or write code for your website, or simply the ability and desire to personally network in your local music community – these are all important additional traits that are helpful and necessary for young bands.

Every member must have a role.

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Brushing up on your writing skills may not be something you think about when you are working on sharpening your skills as an artist, but “7 Reasons Why Writing Well Will Help Your Music Career” by Mike Venti will make you want to add it to your to do list.

Sometimes, the person you are trying to reach will read what you have written before they will ever listen to your music! So it is worth the effort to take the time to ensure your writing will draw in readers in the same way that your music does.

The first benefit of writing well is that it can help you get more blog reviews.

Venti points out that to get a blogger’s attention, “you need to create a personal, well targeted email directed solely at [the specific blogger]. If your message looks like it’s been cut and pasted to 500 other blogs, you probably won’t get many reviews.”

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For those of you who missed part 1, you can check it out here.

Thanks again to Danny Dee for sharing some really great advice on Social Media Marketing and how to make it as an independent artist. For more info on Danny Dee, you can visit his websites http://www.digipendent.com/ and http://dannydee.com/, or follow him on Twitter, http://twitter.com/DannyDee.

YOU STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF ARTISTS HAVING A WEBSITE. CAN YOU TELL US WHY IT’S SO IMPORTANT FOR AN ARTIST TO HAVE A WEBSITE?

So it goes back to the whole thing of knowing exactly who your consumer, who your fan is, and being able to own that fan.

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This month Grassrootsy addressed a question a lot of artists have, “Where Do I Start? How Do I Get Album Reviews?”

I love this article for the same reason that usually attracts me to an article- it gives artists a good starting point to accomplish a goal.

Many articles discuss what artists should aspire to, but great articles show artists ways to work towards their goal.

According to Grassrootsy, step 1 is Mimic.

I like this advice because it’s premise is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

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For this month’s blog post of the month I picked an article called How To Cover a Song – HFA by Rick Goetz of MusicianCoaching.com.

I like this article because it addresses a very basic business& legal issue that independent musicians should know how to address- how to obtain a license to cover a song.

A while back a musician friend of mine told me about he was recording a cover song. I asked whether he obtained a license. Cause you know, I’m dorky like that and I’m interested in licensing.

And this was his answer- No, but there are compulsory statutory licenses, right? They have to give you a license to record the song, so if the owners of the song noticed he’d recorded the song, he’d just start paying the statutory fees. *insert visual of my jaw dropping here*

In case any of you are nodding your head in agreement right now- Stop! My friend is WRONG!

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Everyone once in a while a posting resonates simply because it touches upon a basic truth. This recent article from Rick Goetz at MTT drives home the point of constiency and continuing forward with the goal in mind, relentlessly.

VolumeEleven.net and other websites like it have been created to help musicians get the most out of their time and energy spent on the business side of music. DIY has created this need.

Nevertheless, there is still no substitute for a focused goal, and the hard work and determination to wake up every day and help yourself get there.

Most successes in life are achieved because of little incremental advances taken on a daily basis.

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