Success. We all hope for it. We all aspire to achieve it in some fashion. But what does it mean to become a successful independent musician? And how do we get there? Welcome to a new series of episodes as we unpack these concepts, questions, and yes, some helpful answers along the way, as we dive into this fascinating yet elusive topic we all call "Success".

Cassettes are back? From its meteoric rise in 1963, surpassing the popularity and portability of vinyl, to its eventual demise at the hands of the mighty CD, the little audio cassette has had an interesting and historical impact on the music industry. Suddenly, after all these years, there's a steady and undeniable resurgence in popularity of this once great listening format. Believe it or not, cassettes are back! What sort of impact will they have again for the independent musician just like you? Let's find out!

This episode features singer and recording artist Dennise Nichole Dittman talking about her musical journey from a young girl singing in churches to a 16-year career as an opera singer to her current work as a Christian musician. Along the way, she discusses how performing music has changed over the years and how she finally found fulfillment after leaving secular music for a Christian music ministry with her husband in 2010. Dennise also offers advice to independent musicians on marketing their music and how to be more creative with their content.

Technology has truly leveled the playing field for the independent artist. What used to be costly, time-consuming, and difficult (recording your own music) is now largely accessible to the masses. But if you've spent time, energy, and money on recording, producing, mixing, mastering, and distributing your music and still feel like you're not getting the results, or the response, you had hoped for, it might be your lack of marketing. Love it or hate it, marketing and promoting yourself as a musician is paramount nowadays, especially for the independent artist. Let's talk about some of the roadblocks you might be facing, how to overcome them, and how to go about promoting yourself in today's saturated artist pool.

Being a DIY musician with a DAY job can be challenging. Balancing work life, family, bills, and a whole host of other responsibilities can make it tough to pursue your musical career. In this episode we discuss some practical tips for juggling all of those challenges without sacrificing your dreams.

With over 2.35 billion users and counting, Instagram is one of the premiere social media platforms for independent musicians to engage with fans, connect with fellow musicians, and promote their music around the world. Whether your brand new to the platform or have been using it for a while, let's dive into some of the key features and benefits of this powerful tool for musicians.

We're back with some more social media tips for independent artists! Check out Episode #66 for the first part of this discussion and follow along here to learn how you can take more simple, yet effective steps to jump start or improve your online presence and reach.

We've all been there. We have a brand-new song or album ready for release and we can't wait to share it with the whole wide world. But then, once it's out there, suddenly we get hit with a sinking feeling. Maybe it's fear. Maybe it's depression. Maybe it's a combination of things. But the feelings are real and seem to hit every one of us at some point in our careers. What causes these "post-production blues"? What can we learn from them? And how can we turn them around in our favor? Tune in to this episode of the Artist Impact Podcast.