Best of the Web: 5 Must-Read Music Biz Posts (Nov 3rd - 9th)

Almost Famous Music scour the web for five of the most useful, insightful or purely entertaining posts that could help you on the way to a kick ass music career.

• How To Use One Superfan To Spread The Word To Millions
  The very excellent digital media blog Techdirt gives us this compelling case study of how band the xx gained millions of streams for their new album simply by sending the link to one lucky fan, who in turn shared it with the world through social media.


• 13 Extremely Scary Things About the Music Industry Today...
  99.9% of DIY artists aren't making minimum wage according to this troubling post from Digital Music News which also lists 12 other frighting things its useful to be aware of if you're even remotely involved in the music biz.


• How Musicians Can Save Money When Buying Instruments
  What's the most important thing all musicians need to be successful? Well, musical instruments, obviously. Here, Barry Gardner gives us some great advice on how to get the best value when buying new gear that lasts.


• 5 Things You Can Learn From Your Day Job in Your Music Career
  Somewhere in the none-too-distant past, we included another article about why your day job may be the best weapon in your mission to conquer the world through your music. Here, Simon Tam expands on the subject to offer us five invaluable lessons we can take from the 9-5.


• Free Music: It's Not Enough to Win Fans Anymore...
  'Even the artists that are resigned to giving away their music for free are finding that it's still not enough to hook new fans.' according to another great post from Digital Music News.