The Business of Music....Bettering Your Odds
So you’ve decided that your life’s work is being a musician (substitute songwriter for musician if you choose.) You feel the call to live your life as a musician.
You've got real talent. You've mastered your instrument, practiced, played in front of mega audiences and honed your craft.
I've got some advice for you. The best advice I can give you about making it in the music business.
Be Realistic about the Odds
But, first we’re going to talk about the realities of the music business. I do this to help you prepare. I’m not trying to discourage you or talk you out of your dream, even though the first few paragraphs might make you think that.
There are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people in this country alone, who would like to make their careers in making music. Then there are the people in other countries,. There are plenty of them I can assure you. I get several packages a week from artists all over the world looking for help with their careers. In the US and the rest of the world there millions who share your dream.....you know the lyric...”money for nothin’ and the chicks for free.”
A small percentage of the people who have the dream also have talent. A smaller percentage have real talent that makes them stand out....BIG TALENT.
Not all the people who want to make their living with their music are going to be successful.
I know, that’s not you.....you’ve got the karma...you play like a god....you can sing....you look good....your talent grows exponentially by the day. Here is the first revelation. There are a lot of people with BIG TALENT who will never succeed, because talent is only part of the equation that leads to success.
A fact of life is 99.9% will not succeed, they will have to give up their dream. Some will continue to play but will be forced to take other jobs to live, and most will give up music all together. You must face the fact that the odds of you living your dream are pretty dismal.
About a year ago I was having breakfast right before a big music conference and a waiter at the Waffle House in Nashville (Music City,) asked me “How do you get a musician off your porch.” The answer was “pay him for the pizza.”
There are a lot of “musicians” delivering pizza, working at Blockbuster or Wal Mart to put food on the table , because there are a lot more musicians than opportunities.
Let’s look at this a little closer so the picture gets a little clearer. We’ll take just one genre of music for a moment.
There are 35,000 song writers living in Nashville, Tennessee. That’s not counting the musicians, just songwriters. And that doesn’t count the country songwriters who don’t live in Nashville. If each of those songwriters only writes one song per year that’s 35,000 songs. There are about 100 songs each year that make the national country charts.
You can figure out the odds by yourself, of writing a country song and have it be a hit.
If you are serious about making “musician” your life’s work you must face the facts that the odds are against you....just being able to make a living playing music.
To sign a major label deal, tour internationally, and be a “STAR” your odds are much worse.
Now the music business is changing, and there are those who predict that it will be a lot more opportunities for more musicians
I think changes are coming....not as fast and or as much as I see quoted in lots of articles on the net, but changes are coming, over time.
Even with those changes, a lot more people will have the dream than will make the dream a reality. And lets face it, even if the net does level the playing field some, the folks who spend a million dollars are going to get more accomplished than those who spend a couple of thousand.
It doesn’t hurt to dream the dream that you are going to be discovered....that a major label will put big money behind you....and you will become a STAR!
Just don’t forget, while you’re dreaming.... to work hard on the business of music and not just the art of playing good music. Because working on the business of music will help you be successful at every stage in your career.
If the editors of this publication allow me to write this column in future months I’ll discuss these changes in more detail. These changes will give more people more opportunities to have a career in music. But the changes make what I am about to reveal to you even more important than ever before.
Every step of the way in your career, you are going to need to be smarter in business than your fellow musicians.
Earlier I mentioned I was going to give you the most valuable information for anyone wanting to make their living playing music.
Here it is. The bad news is......the secret isn’t about music. It’s about business.
You should get the name and other information of every person who ever comes to your shows. You also should capture the information of everyone who visits your web site or your profile on MySpace, or any of the other music/social sites.
That information is GOLD to you.
Don't wait. Start doing it today. If you can find someone who will do a good job of doing it for you (girlfriend, brother, sister, groupie, fan) then pay someone or do it yourself.
Don't make the mistake of announcing from the stage, " Please come over to the table and sign up for our list" Very few people will do that. You want someone to go to every table in the place and hit up all the folks standing around and at the bar too!
And if there is a turnover in the crowd, go around and do it again.
An established principal of direct marketing is that it is easier to get money, get more money from a customer, than getting someone new to buy from you. The information that you get...those names etc., you will make your living from them the rest of your career if you work it right, they are your existing customers.
Working Bars
When you are polishing your talent, if you are old enough you will probably be working in bars. Working in bars these names become invaluable to you. Here is a fact to learn about the bar business. See 99% of bars don’t care very much about your music...what kind it is and how well you play it....bars care about whether you put bodies in the door. Will you fill up their establishment with people who will eat, drink and tip the staff.
A mediocre band that can put 500 party people in the place will get booked again and again before a great band that makes great music but only brings in 100.
That's why bands that do covers play bars a lot more (and often make more money) than bands that mostly play their own originals. The normal bar crowd doesn't know your originals. They come to dance to songs they know and drink. It's easier for them to have fun if they know the songs.
So if you want to play your originals you want to have the bar full of people who know your stuff.
How do you get people to show up at your shows? You take the information that you collected and email the people. Tell them you need to see them at the show. Make them feel special.
And each and every time you gig you go around from table to table and around the room to gather even more names.
Merchandising
Merchandising is a great way to raise the extra money you need to pay for recordings, preparation of demo packages etc.
And, everyone wearing a t-shirt or cap with your name on it is free advertising and a great way to expand the number of people who are aware of you.
The person who goes around and gathers your names can also sell merchandise at the gigs (but not to the exclusion of getting the names.)
But you shouldn't stop there. You have to sell to your direct marketing customers. Who are they? They are the accumulated list. When you communicate with your email list be sure to offer specials on merchandise. You add to your merchandising total sales by selling to your list.
Touring
As your talent and ambitions grow, you may want to tour, or at the very least to play outside your regular locales so that you can add new folks to your fan base.
Before you head out...check your list to see if you already have folks from the areas where you are heading. You can contact them to help pave the way for you, invite their friends, put up posters, be your advance street team.
When you play in a new area you need to have someone collecting names there too! Next big tip! Be sure to play in the same area/ place again within 45 to 90 days and email the list gathered from your last gig. Put more bodies in the place so the venue owners can see that your crowd is growing. You can bet they will have you back again. And encourage these folks not only to return but to bring their friends. And some of them can be recruited to be on your street team, letting even more people know about you and your music.
Putting out a CD
If you decide to put out a CD or a single, you can promote to your fan list to get them to go the record store (if you have distribution) or to your web site to buy. If you are going after radio play you can get your fan list to phone and email the radio station asking them to play your music.
You can ask your fan list to go to sites like Yahoo Music and rate your music highly. You can also get your fan list to help spread the work about you and your music on MySpace and other music/social sites.
Going after a label
Having a large fan list will help you when you are trying to generate music label interest. Today, few labels are willing to invest in artist development. As they cut costs the artist that has already built a fan base and communicates with them will be much more valuable to them. They realize that building a fan base can be a costly thing to do for them...but if you already have done much of the work then all they have to do is expand on it. Show them an active fan base, one that goes to your gigs and buys your CD's. It gives you points over the act that can't demonstrate them come with a fan base.
I'll say it one more time for emphasis. Here's the best advise I can give you about making it in the music business.
Where are you going to find people to help you reach for your dreams? From the names that you gathered at your shows.
Build a list. Be sure to sort it by state and city.
Communicate with them. Offer them special deals. Have a chat session set up so you can interact with them.
The guy playing on the stage with you....he won’t be the most important person to your being successful. In fact....some of the most important people to you being successful will never set a foot on the stage.
The most important person to your future just might be the person getting the names of people who come to your shows. A close second will be the administrator of your web site/fan club.
This item was adapted from one originally published in Saint Louis Sound, a magazine which promotes live music in Saint Louis, Missouri....in the USA.
You've got real talent. You've mastered your instrument, practiced, played in front of mega audiences and honed your craft.
I've got some advice for you. The best advice I can give you about making it in the music business.
Be Realistic about the Odds
But, first we’re going to talk about the realities of the music business. I do this to help you prepare. I’m not trying to discourage you or talk you out of your dream, even though the first few paragraphs might make you think that.
There are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people in this country alone, who would like to make their careers in making music. Then there are the people in other countries,. There are plenty of them I can assure you. I get several packages a week from artists all over the world looking for help with their careers. In the US and the rest of the world there millions who share your dream.....you know the lyric...”money for nothin’ and the chicks for free.”
A small percentage of the people who have the dream also have talent. A smaller percentage have real talent that makes them stand out....BIG TALENT.
Not all the people who want to make their living with their music are going to be successful.
I know, that’s not you.....you’ve got the karma...you play like a god....you can sing....you look good....your talent grows exponentially by the day. Here is the first revelation. There are a lot of people with BIG TALENT who will never succeed, because talent is only part of the equation that leads to success.
A fact of life is 99.9% will not succeed, they will have to give up their dream. Some will continue to play but will be forced to take other jobs to live, and most will give up music all together. You must face the fact that the odds of you living your dream are pretty dismal.
About a year ago I was having breakfast right before a big music conference and a waiter at the Waffle House in Nashville (Music City,) asked me “How do you get a musician off your porch.” The answer was “pay him for the pizza.”
There are a lot of “musicians” delivering pizza, working at Blockbuster or Wal Mart to put food on the table , because there are a lot more musicians than opportunities.
Let’s look at this a little closer so the picture gets a little clearer. We’ll take just one genre of music for a moment.
There are 35,000 song writers living in Nashville, Tennessee. That’s not counting the musicians, just songwriters. And that doesn’t count the country songwriters who don’t live in Nashville. If each of those songwriters only writes one song per year that’s 35,000 songs. There are about 100 songs each year that make the national country charts.
You can figure out the odds by yourself, of writing a country song and have it be a hit.
If you are serious about making “musician” your life’s work you must face the facts that the odds are against you....just being able to make a living playing music.
To sign a major label deal, tour internationally, and be a “STAR” your odds are much worse.
Now the music business is changing, and there are those who predict that it will be a lot more opportunities for more musicians
I think changes are coming....not as fast and or as much as I see quoted in lots of articles on the net, but changes are coming, over time.
Even with those changes, a lot more people will have the dream than will make the dream a reality. And lets face it, even if the net does level the playing field some, the folks who spend a million dollars are going to get more accomplished than those who spend a couple of thousand.
It doesn’t hurt to dream the dream that you are going to be discovered....that a major label will put big money behind you....and you will become a STAR!
Just don’t forget, while you’re dreaming.... to work hard on the business of music and not just the art of playing good music. Because working on the business of music will help you be successful at every stage in your career.
If the editors of this publication allow me to write this column in future months I’ll discuss these changes in more detail. These changes will give more people more opportunities to have a career in music. But the changes make what I am about to reveal to you even more important than ever before.
Every step of the way in your career, you are going to need to be smarter in business than your fellow musicians.
Earlier I mentioned I was going to give you the most valuable information for anyone wanting to make their living playing music.
Here it is. The bad news is......the secret isn’t about music. It’s about business.
You should get the name and other information of every person who ever comes to your shows. You also should capture the information of everyone who visits your web site or your profile on MySpace, or any of the other music/social sites.
That information is GOLD to you.
Don't wait. Start doing it today. If you can find someone who will do a good job of doing it for you (girlfriend, brother, sister, groupie, fan) then pay someone or do it yourself.
Don't make the mistake of announcing from the stage, " Please come over to the table and sign up for our list" Very few people will do that. You want someone to go to every table in the place and hit up all the folks standing around and at the bar too!
And if there is a turnover in the crowd, go around and do it again.
An established principal of direct marketing is that it is easier to get money, get more money from a customer, than getting someone new to buy from you. The information that you get...those names etc., you will make your living from them the rest of your career if you work it right, they are your existing customers.
Working Bars
When you are polishing your talent, if you are old enough you will probably be working in bars. Working in bars these names become invaluable to you. Here is a fact to learn about the bar business. See 99% of bars don’t care very much about your music...what kind it is and how well you play it....bars care about whether you put bodies in the door. Will you fill up their establishment with people who will eat, drink and tip the staff.
A mediocre band that can put 500 party people in the place will get booked again and again before a great band that makes great music but only brings in 100.
That's why bands that do covers play bars a lot more (and often make more money) than bands that mostly play their own originals. The normal bar crowd doesn't know your originals. They come to dance to songs they know and drink. It's easier for them to have fun if they know the songs.
So if you want to play your originals you want to have the bar full of people who know your stuff.
How do you get people to show up at your shows? You take the information that you collected and email the people. Tell them you need to see them at the show. Make them feel special.
And each and every time you gig you go around from table to table and around the room to gather even more names.
Merchandising
Merchandising is a great way to raise the extra money you need to pay for recordings, preparation of demo packages etc.
And, everyone wearing a t-shirt or cap with your name on it is free advertising and a great way to expand the number of people who are aware of you.
The person who goes around and gathers your names can also sell merchandise at the gigs (but not to the exclusion of getting the names.)
But you shouldn't stop there. You have to sell to your direct marketing customers. Who are they? They are the accumulated list. When you communicate with your email list be sure to offer specials on merchandise. You add to your merchandising total sales by selling to your list.
Touring
As your talent and ambitions grow, you may want to tour, or at the very least to play outside your regular locales so that you can add new folks to your fan base.
Before you head out...check your list to see if you already have folks from the areas where you are heading. You can contact them to help pave the way for you, invite their friends, put up posters, be your advance street team.
When you play in a new area you need to have someone collecting names there too! Next big tip! Be sure to play in the same area/ place again within 45 to 90 days and email the list gathered from your last gig. Put more bodies in the place so the venue owners can see that your crowd is growing. You can bet they will have you back again. And encourage these folks not only to return but to bring their friends. And some of them can be recruited to be on your street team, letting even more people know about you and your music.
Putting out a CD
If you decide to put out a CD or a single, you can promote to your fan list to get them to go the record store (if you have distribution) or to your web site to buy. If you are going after radio play you can get your fan list to phone and email the radio station asking them to play your music.
You can ask your fan list to go to sites like Yahoo Music and rate your music highly. You can also get your fan list to help spread the work about you and your music on MySpace and other music/social sites.
Going after a label
Having a large fan list will help you when you are trying to generate music label interest. Today, few labels are willing to invest in artist development. As they cut costs the artist that has already built a fan base and communicates with them will be much more valuable to them. They realize that building a fan base can be a costly thing to do for them...but if you already have done much of the work then all they have to do is expand on it. Show them an active fan base, one that goes to your gigs and buys your CD's. It gives you points over the act that can't demonstrate them come with a fan base.
I'll say it one more time for emphasis. Here's the best advise I can give you about making it in the music business.
Where are you going to find people to help you reach for your dreams? From the names that you gathered at your shows.
Build a list. Be sure to sort it by state and city.
Communicate with them. Offer them special deals. Have a chat session set up so you can interact with them.
The guy playing on the stage with you....he won’t be the most important person to your being successful. In fact....some of the most important people to you being successful will never set a foot on the stage.
The most important person to your future just might be the person getting the names of people who come to your shows. A close second will be the administrator of your web site/fan club.
This item was adapted from one originally published in Saint Louis Sound, a magazine which promotes live music in Saint Louis, Missouri....in the USA.
posted by Rev Charles "Max" E. Million D.D.,D.M.., PDM, RHy., T.Th at 6:35 AM
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