Category Archives: music business

Resources for Music Marketing and Music Licensing

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This is part 4 of a four part series on treating your career in the music business or as a professional musician like an entrepreneur.
Click here for Part 1 – Being A Music Industry Entrepreneur
Click here for Part 2 – Goal Setting in the Music Industry
Click here for Part 3 – Craft A Plan

Have you noticed that when some people talk about a person who’s become a success they create a lot of reasons for their accomplishments that make their achievements seem unique to their situation? We hear about artists that achieve “overnight success,” or “well-connected” producers that get a hit song on a record. Well guess what? Most of those phrases and stories are complete B.S. It’s like going to a movie that’s “based on a true story” and believing that every last detail occurred.

There is no such thing as an overnight success. People put in TONS of hard work to get where they are, and then probably twice as much to STAY where they are. They didn’t do just one thing or have one good connection unique to their situation. These people have struggled, strived, and probably have made just as many bad decisions as good ones. Today we’re going to focus on the final area of the Music Business Entrepreneur Series and it directly relates to the above. I’m talking about when people use a phrase like:

Excuses

I could totally do that if I had _________ .

or something like:

If it weren’t for _________, I could do that too.

You’ve heard it a million times. You’ve probably said it yourself. I used to do it often. I’d make excuses about how my situation wasn’t fair or how much more talented I was than someone else, I just didn’t have fill-in-the-blank-with-an-excuse-that-allowed-me-to-not-work-hard.

First, let’s identify some key items that we usually “don’t have” when we talk about achieving goals:

  • Money
  • Contacts
  • Special Knowledge

As you look at this list, you can pretty much see how most things we’d come up with would fit into one or more of these broad categories. The interesting thing is that all of these are 100% achievable. There is no reason why you can’t make money, meet people, or are not able to acquire whatever knowledge you need to complete a goal.

MoneyMoney – Duh, get a job. Even if you’re a barista at Starbuck’s, waiting tables, or pumping gas. Obviously the more you get paid, the faster you will have resources. However, there is NOTHING stopping you from saving at least 10% of whatever you make except yourself. Already have a job? Cool, go get another one. I’m dead serious. Money is probably the most over-rated resource out there. On top of that, people constantly try to get bargains or get stuff cheap. Why not make more money instead? If you need $5,000 to be able to create an album or EP, you should be able to get that in under 6 months if you start busting your butt.

Contacts – This can take a little longer, but realistically you should be able to add to your network relatively quickly. I talk more in depth about in The Low Hanging Fruit Series. But the long and short of it is if you’re effectively talking about your current projects to the people you interact with frequently, you’ll be setting yourself up to create and capitalize on opportunities. Those opportunities can result in money, more contacts, or special knowledge (or any combination thereof). In fact, I would rate this category as the most effective way to advance your career.

Special Knowledge – First, you’d be surprised at how little ‘special knowledge’ matters. Or for that matter, what little conventional education most successful people have. Typically you can find someone who has knowledge to partner with, or pay someone to apply their special knowledge to your situation. However, there also tons of benefits of being self-sufficient or to at least know enough to be able to make educated decisions. Typically you can buy books, courses, or seminars and educate yourself. The nice part about courses or events is that you can meet other people, thereby increasing your contacts.

When it comes to resources in general, you need to remember to replace your excuses with one simple phrase:

How CAN I make this happen?

Once you give your brain a sensible question instead of some dumb-ass excuse ( “My high-tops aren’t sparkly enough!”) you’d be surprised at what it comes up with. It will definitely take more time than you might anticipate, and it will DEFINITELY require A LOT of hard work, but at least you’ll be working towards a dream instead of resigning yourself to complacency. If you’re waiting for the perfect pair of sneakers to complement your wardrobe for a once-in-a-lifetime meeting with THE ONLY person that can help you learn the secrets of music licensing – well, you’re a jackass.

jackass

Careers don’t develop because of one unique event or situation. It may SEEM that way, but it’s NEVER the case.

Work 5 times harder than you are now. Meet more people on purpose. Read more books about what you want to do.

Action Steps: Write down the following phrase –

“I would be able to ________ if I only had ________ .”

Try to come up with 3 ways to complete that phrase with various elements. Now try this one 3 times –

“I can’t do ________ because ________ .”

Now, after each of the above, add the following –

“…but if I had to come up with a way to get/do it, I could try ________ , ________ , or ________ .”

Fill in the blanks with as many words/phrases as you like. Finally, for the rest of the week, listen for excuses that you create, or that others create for themselves. Then try saying “wait, that’s not true. How CAN I make that happen?”

You just might surprise yourself (and I hope you do).

Low Hanging Fruit in the Music Business: Part I – Find Opportunity Anywhere

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There are HUGE opportunities you’re blowing. Massive. The bad news is I have no idea what they are specifically. The good news is they’ll still be there tomorrow, and the next day, and probably until whenever it is you get your act together, focus your efforts and decide to take some action steps.

The even better news is that in the next 3 articles, I’ll help you take real steps to move towards your goals. To understand how to best be aware of opportunities that will crop up throughout your lifetime, there’s a simple concept called “Low Hanging Fruit” that you may have heard. Low Hanging Fruit is a sales concept which means that we need to be sure we’re harvesting in the places where the fruit is ripe, and easy to pick.

While the metaphor is obvious it exists for a reason: we often get so focused on some large, grandiose plan that we tend to miss out on the easy-wins that surround us everyday. Or, we get focused on contacting just a few people we don’t even know!

This is especially true in the music industry and getting music licensed. Yes, it’s insanely competitive. Yes, there is a TON of information. Yes, there are a LOT of things you “need” to do. So we focus on major projects or outreach looking for that big score – music in a commercial, a music publishing deal, some mega-artist recording our song. But what would we see if we looked for the low-hanging fruit first? What does low-hanging fruit look like when you’re an indie musician trying to do as much as you can on your own?

Friends. That’s what low-hanging fruit looks like. Maybe relatives too, but mostly friends.

“But I don’t have any friends in the music business.”

Cool, how far do excuses and lame responses like this get people? This next bit is SUPER important:

The goal of low-hanging fruit, or in fact, ANY connection, will almost never be a 1-step process to achieving one of your ultimate goals.

Think about that. It means that when you talk to a friend or connection, you realistically cannot expect that because of one conversation, all of your dreams will come true. Instead, you should expect that it leads to ONLY ONE MORE step toward whatever goal you’re trying to achieve.

It also means that you don’t NEED to know someone super important to take a step in the right direction with your music career.

Action Step: Write down 1 major goal you have for your career, then work backwards and fill in as many steps as you can to som first steps or an initial action. Don’t worry about getting them “right” or if you don’t know what all the steps may be – just fill in as many as you can.

How many steps did you come up with? I bet it was more than one.

Alright moving back to your friends and how they can help you take the next step.

You may not know anyone directly in the music industry, but I bet there’s a great chance that you know someone who knows someone, or knows someone who knows of a conference or event where you can meet people, to start making real strides toward your goal.

What does this really mean though? That you need to be some sleezy, sales-y, douche-bag handing out business cards and CDs to any and everyone you meet?

No, quite the opposite (this is why your friends are great contacts – they’ll make funny faces or throw bagels at you if you’re being creepy and weird). The point is you can never look ahead into the future to see where things may lead. So, even if you think your friends don’t know anyone it’s important to just talk about what you’re up to as far as music goes. Then, if they ever hear of someone needing a musician or song or something related to music, they immediately think “oh wait, my good friend can help!”

In the next two emails I’ll cover what to talk about in these conversations, and the types of key words to listen for when you talk to friends or meet new people. That way you’ll be prepared to help with any music-related scenario in your friendsphere. But, I want you to really digest this info over time. If you haven’t already, do the action step now. Here it is again:

Action Step: Write down 1 major goal you have for your career, then work backwards and fill in as many steps as you can to som first steps or an initial action. Don’t worry about getting them “right” or if you don’t know what all the steps may be – just fill in as many as you can.

And here’s another one to get you ready for the next email:

Action Step: Make a list of friends you can start talking to about your current music projects. Next to each name, see if you can come up with 1 or 2 things they may not know that you do or are capable of.

Do it now.

Planning Music Industry Goals

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This is part 3 of a four part series on treating your career in the music business or as a professional musician like an entrepreneur.

Click here for Part 1 – Being A Music Industry Entrepreneur

Click here for Part 2 – Goal Setting in the Music Industry

Click here to register for the newsletter to be sure you don’t miss out on the rest of the series…

Crafting a plan for any music industry project is key. It allows you to materialize an action plan, gives you a tangible list of tasks that act as a checklist and can present to potential partners, and allows you to lay out risks and pitfalls in order to nip problems in the bud.

The key element to ANY music business plan starts with your end goal in mind. We talked about setting goals in the last newsletter so if you missed it, click here. Clearly state the specific goal you have and then list a few of the positive outcomes it will create. Your goal can include acquiring new fans, creating a fanbase mailing list, getting in touch with music supervisors about music licensing opportunities, or even your next EP or album project. Let’s use creating a mailing list as an example.

Example: Create a mailing list based on email addresses acquired at live shows of at least 50 fans over the next 4 gigs.

Once you have your goal stated clearly, you can then consider the steps it might take in order to achieve the goal:

  • Register for an email service
  • Research and choose a way to collect emails at gigs (ie: apps, sign-in sheet at door, collect after the show)
  • Outreach to local venues to get more gigs
  • Write, edit, and practice mic banter for asking for emails at gig
  • Create 4 emails to be sent to the list, 1 per week for the next month
  • Promote email list sign-up via social media and website

Your list might look very different than mine for this particular project, but you get the idea. You’ve got a goal, you’ve got action steps. An excellent start to any plan. What’s next? Adding a deadline of course!

We already know we want to populate the list with at least 50 people over the course of 4 gigs. We can take this 1 step further by adding something like “or in 1 month, whichever comes first” (although, without a live gig it might be tough to populate an email list).

Then take a look at your other tasks, and work them into that time frame. Once you’ve got it planned set calendar reminders on your phone or laptop, write it down on a calendar near wherever you work, or just refer to it in the plan anytime you boot-up your computer. I will say here it is DEFINITELY a good idea to have it in front of you physically and having your phone beep at you once in a while so you don’t lose sight of your project.

Great! We’ve got our goal, our plan, our schedule, what could go wrong? Exactly! That’s what’s next. Let’s try and come up with as many things that can go wrong along with at least 1 solution for each. It might look something like this:

  • Band member has to leave town – get a back-up player for each band member lined up for gigs
  • After 1st gig, email collection is poor – consider giving away an EP or band sticker in exchange for an email sign-up
  • Not able to get more than 1 or 2 gigs – ask some other musicians about getting an introduction to a venue booker in order to facilitate getting a gig

Again, your solutions and dilemmas may look different than this, but the key is to find reasons why you CAN achieve the goal despite setbacks. This helps break barriers. Again keep in mind, you won’t find the BEST process for goal-planning immediately. It will take time to learn how long it takes to do things, and what things work best as far as accomplishing certain goals. Once you find some processes that work for you, iterating the process and tweaking it to increase your success rate.

Whatever you do, remember to craft a plan, and get started. You may not hit your mark exactly at first, but like we said in the last email, there really is no such thing as failing. Learning, improving, and tweaking is all part of the process.

Two Terrible Emails To Ensure You Will Not Get Your Music Licensed

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Lately, as my mailing list has grown and my twitter following increases, I’ve been getting emails from some of you. The crazy part is despite the writing I do, I still get some of the most ridiculously crappy emails you’ve ever seen in your life. Today I want to quickly highlight two such emails and I encourage the folks that sent them to write down any complaints, put them in a letter, address an envelope, and then crumple it up and throw it away. There’s no helping you if the kind of outreach you’re doing is EXACTLY what I say NOT to do.

Here is the first email I got (I happened to see it on my phone first):

BadEmail1

Seriously? They haven’t even changed their default mail name from “Yahoo! Mail” – and, oh yeah, they SPELLED MUSIC WRONG. Are you serious? How does this person expect me to respond? Here are a few things that went through my brain:

1. NO!
2. YES, I am able to, but I won’t.
3. What the hell is “muaic?”
4. Dear Yahoo Mail, I wasn’t aware that non-living computer entities were even self-aware, much less writing compelling “muaic” that I may or may not be able to listen to! Yes PLEASE tell me more!

Look. If you can’t write a complete sentence, give up now. If you can’t do an inkling of homework BEFORE you reach out to someone, give up now. People will tell you to follow your dreams – I am telling you to stop immediately following your dreams if you can’t even follow simple protocol – you’re wasting everyone’s time. I’m more compelled to open spam emails than garbage like this.

Alright, moving on to email number two (which is about as effective as sending someone a number 2). This person can at least write sentences and has included their name. Big improvement. However, they COMPLETELY miss the point of one of my FIRST key elements of marketing your music: they make it all about them. I’ve blurred out the info but take a look:

BadEmail2

Do you see why people aren’t listening to your music? Do you get it? If I sent you an email that never offered any sort of worthwhile content or didn’t want to genuinely help you, would you ever open it? No, you wouldn’t. You’d sigh heavily, throw your sandwich across the room and run to cry under your bed.

Action Step: Re-write these emails in the comments and see if you can do better. Remember, your goal is to get the person to listen to your music, but you want to be relevant to the person you’re writing to. For this exercise’s sake, pretend it’s someone who works as a music supervisor. If you need to, refer back to my post about what to focus on when reaching out to people cold.