Music business · Independent artists

Real-world music business guidance for independent artists.

Twenty-plus years in the U.S. and Canadian music scenes, turned into books, checklists and a free weekly newsletter on releases, streaming, fans, money and touring.

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Book cover: The Artist's Flight Manual by Ron Majiros (opens Amazon in a new tab)

New release · Paperback

The Artist's Flight Manual

A pre-flight checklist for independent musicians to plan releases, grow streams, own your fans and book profitable tours.

  • 9 chapters, 5 phases, 1 closed-loop release system
  • Step-by-step checklists you can actually work through
  • Flight Log write-in pages to track four complete release cycles
Find it on Amazon (opens in a new tab)Free Companion Flight Log

Start here

New to the newsletter? Pick a leg.

Twelve of the most useful posts from Making It in the Music Business, grouped by where you are in your career.

LEG 01

Releases & streaming

  1. The Fall Release Blueprint: Planning Your Q4 Campaign in August (opens Substack in a new tab)
  2. Streaming Strategy 2026: What the Algorithms Actually Want (opens Substack in a new tab)
  3. The Comeback: How to Relaunch After a Hiatus (opens Substack in a new tab)

LEG 02

Fans & audience

  1. Your Email List Is Your Bank Account: Building a Fan Base That Can't Be Taken Away (opens Substack in a new tab)
  2. The 2026 Social Media Audit: What to Keep, What to Drop, What to Start (opens Substack in a new tab)
  3. The Video Comeback: Why Long-Form and Visual Content Are Your Next Frontier (opens Substack in a new tab)

LEG 03

Money & rights

  1. The Publishing Playbook: How Songwriters Keep Their Pieces of the Pie (opens Substack in a new tab)
  2. Sync Licensing Deep Dive: How Independent Artists Are Landing Film & TV Placements (opens Substack in a new tab)
  3. Merch That Moves: Turning T-Shirts Into a Sustainable Revenue Stream (opens Substack in a new tab)

LEG 04

Live, team & touring

  1. The Nashville Writer's Round: Etiquette, Strategy, and How to Get Invited Back (opens Substack in a new tab)
  2. The Touring Tech Stack: Efficiency on the Road in 2026 (opens Substack in a new tab)
  3. Building Your Team: The Right People at the Right Stage (opens Substack in a new tab)

Browse the full archive on Substack →

The books

Field manuals, written from the inside.

Available on Amazon and from book retailers worldwide.

Portrait of Ron Majiros

About Ron

A long career across music, public service and business.

Ron spent more than twenty years in the U.S. and Canadian music scenes, through the shift to digital distribution and the rise of social media. Alongside music he has spent three decades in environmental protection and emergency response planning, helped found and lead a Tennessee botanical garden, run businesses, built data systems, and flies as a pilot. That habit of checklists and pre-flight planning runs through everything he writes.

Read the full story