I abandoned my "top ten list of rules to succeed in business (as it applies to music)". It wasn’t on purpose – I just had a few life things get in the way. This was a list I got from Janet Attard at http://www.businessknowhow.com/startup/startupsuccess.htm.
The main reason why I want to finish this list is because of these last few “rules”.
7. Treat your vendors, manufacturers and service providers with respect and let them know you appreciate them. I think that those of us in the music industry get too much at odds with each other. Sure SOME club owners and industry professionals such as promoters, agents and record executives are snakes. We all understand that. But I think it’s important in life to forge relationships with people who get you and who you get. The clubs are a little more difficult. Sometimes you have to work with a jerk. The best way I’ve found is to smile and move on. Decide if you can deal with it or not – but don’t let your ego or attitude get in the way. My rule of thumb in dealing with people is the golden one. Treat them how you’d like to be treated. This includes not letting them walk all over you. But remember that ANY business is about relationships. Period.
8. Embrace the web. THIS is one of the biggest reasons for sharing these “rules” with you. The modern musician doesn’t understand how much power he/she has today. GONE are the days of signing record deals and becoming a star (small or large). Today the playing field is much more leveled and if you are starting out, the best thing you can do for yourself is invest in a good computer and figure out how to specialize in things like photo and video editing, blogging, social networking, and HTML. It seems daunting at first. There’s so much you could do. EXACTLY. Put yourself out everywhere. Think of it as putting out trotlines. The more you put out, the more of a chance you have of catching fish. Because what you want nowadays is not to sell a million records. Hardly anyone is doing that anyway. What you want is to grow your fanbase. Fans have ALWAYS driven the music industry. The record labels have forgotten that. They think that they drive the fans. Incorrect. Fans discover the music and support artists. They go to your shows. They buy CDs. They download mp3s. They give you ideas of where to play in their area. They tell their local club all about you. Fans are 100X more valuable than any CD you sell. Why do you want to focus on that one sale? Focus on who your customer is – the FAN. Give them what they want. Treat them like gold. They will stay with you forever.
So how do you get web savvy?
a) Social networking is still huge. A lot of people are moving to Facebook because companies are too stupid to realize that myspace is not the only social networking utility out there. Folks can’t get on myspace at work, but they’re not blocked from Facebook. Through social networking you can stay in touch with your fans – email them, comment on their pages, post blogs and bulletins, keep your calendar.
b) You can have a blogsite – a lot of bands are moving to this format. I like it because I can update everything myself. I can also post my blogs and keep fans updated with what’s going on with me. I will say one thing, though – whether you do a blogsite or a website, you NEED one. I would not do just a MySpace.
c) Twitter. I was slow to jump on this one – just like I was with Facebook. But I’m starting to get into it more. Update your status on facebook and myspace, but get into Twitter. How cool is it to stay in touch with your fans through tweets throughout the day?
d) Cdbaby.com – I like these guys for selling CDs because they do tons of stuff for you. You don’t have to go out and sign up with iTunes and other large digital distributors. They do it for you. You can get a credit card machine through them to use for credit card sales at shows. They help you get UPC barcodes and ISBN numbers that you use for uniquely identifying your CDs and songs. They stay on top of new ways of selling your music that you might not be able to keep up with
e) Bloggers. It is my belief that bloggers are the new DJs and critics. They are more invested than a DJ or a critic – they’re real music fans. And the people that read their blogs are real music fans. No offense to the critics, but very few fans are going out and buying a CD because of a review in a major market newspaper. But if a blogger gives you a good write-up about your CD, you WILL see sales in CDs and downloads.
f) Podcasts. These guys are in the same category as bloggers. They’re an online DJ. Bloggers with sound.
g) Email newsletters. Set a signup list out at all of your shows. I abandoned this practice for awhile and picked it up again. This is such a great way for you to stay in touch with your fans about shows and band news. And it’s a little bit of a measurable tool for you to know what your fanbase is.
h) ANYWHERE you can get on. Try to go for sites that are generating the most activity, but don’t discount anyone or anything on the web. Whoever wants to review your CD, whoever wants to write an article, whoever shows an interest. Think about it this way – if you send out 1 CD to someone and they review it, you at least break even if only 1 person buys a CD. The other way I look at it? Sometimes small articles on small websites have led to another website reposting it and going from there. Viral and word of mouth marketing is your friend.
9. Don’t expect miracles. The writer of the article, Janet Attard, writes, “Yes, people do make money in their sleep or while they're away on vacation -- the Internet makes that possible. But only after they've invested a lot of time , effort, and money in building the business and building the team that keeps it going and growing.” I started this band in April of 2004. I am still not able to make a living playing music. The music business takes a ..LOT.. of time, energy and patience. It should start with good music. But building your business happens 1 fan at a time. There’s not a forum out there for building hundreds of fans at a time. This business takes talent, hard work and perseverance. Just remember that if you stay with it you have the possibility of making it. If you quit, there’s NO chance you’ll accomplish anything.
10. Remind yourself that one is the loneliest number in business. I’m gonna quote Janet again: “One product, one service, one main client, and all your records stored on one computer hard drive without regular off-site backups is a recipe for failure. If you only have one product or service you're missing out on the chance to profit by selling more things to people who already know and trust you.” I thought hard about this. I don’t think that you apply this by playing more than one genre of music. That’s just stupid. I have had people suggest I should add rock to my repertoire. . . . a little difficult with fiddle, steel and upright bass in your band. I do see one application, though. As an artist, it is important to continually provide music. How do you do this when you are releasing a CD every 1-2 years? I think that the times are a-changing and we are entering a time when it becomes important for us to be releasing music constantly. I believe that digitally releasing singles is the wave of the future. I am NOT saying that the CD will die (although many people in the industry do believe this). But I believe that you as an artist need to continually put new things on your website and social networking sites that your fans can get into. Upload videos of your shows, digitally release new songs, upload photos from shows, blog about what’s going on.
The new era of the music business is about a real relationship between an artist and a fan. The artist releases music, video, etc. The fan responds. The artist responds again with a blog, or additional music or video.
Maybe we’ll all still be driven by some amount of mainstream commercialism. Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus will still be able to reach our children through the Disney Channel. Maybe some other artists will break through in similar forums – reality shows, movies, etc.
But I still believe that it all comes down to the music. The artist. The fan. The challenge today is to figure out how to connect all of us. I think the record labels have started to figure out that forcefeeding music down everyone’s throats has a flaw. . . . you may create some buzz and generate some sales. But you have not elicited the emotional response that is usually required for a true fan. There’s no connection that creates a lasting relationship. This has had a negative effect on the artist and consequentially the record labels. It’s time now for the artists to take control. To go back to the basics. To focus on the music, find the real fans – and connect.
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Posted by: my Website | November 23, 2013 at 07:10 PM