Andy Lykens

Innovating and operating through growth

Search Results for: music industry

How To Start Crucial Music Industry Conversations

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What do you mention when talking about what you’re up to musically? Anything! As an indie musician you need to be highly versatile and agreeable to ANYTHING that has to do with music. A friend wants a band to play at a party? Someone else needs a DJ for their wedding? Your boss needs help choosing music for her kids? Yes, yes, and yes.

Get used to saying yes to everything that has to do with music. Even if you’ve NEVER done it before. Even if you don’t have the right equipment. Say YES and figure it out.

This is a key insight into the minds of some of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs. They see someone with a need and find a way to fill that need for that person. Eventually their reputation grows as a problem-solver and soon enough they’re making money – or even building a company – by simply having capitalized on the opportunities all around them.

Here’s how it could work:

Your friend’s friend needs a band to play at a party.

You say YES, figure out what kind of music they want, and do it.

When you go to the party, use it as an opportunity to:

    a. Talk about your upcoming EP release.
    b. Subscribe people to your mailing list.
    c. Chat with a few individuals and mention all the capabilities you have as a musician.
    d. Say YES to any other opportunities that arise.

Sure, you may get nothing or you might meet a bunch of people who work in accounting firms who seemingly can’t help. However, if you convey your message clearly, it makes your message easy to remember and easily repeatable. They can then relay your skills to their friends. You can see how literally anyone becomes a great new lead. Plus you might need an accountant some day anyway!

Here’s another more basic setting:

Your friend needs some new music for their daily workout.
You say “I know a TON of great workout music, what kind of stuff do you like?”
You put a playlist together, put yourself in the meta-data in iTunes with your email address, and tell your friend to spread the playlist around if they like it.
– This could potentially lead to a few new fans or mailing list subscriptions, or just some new friends-of-friends who loved your choices, who can now think of you when they think of music.

Saying “yes” is also a great way to learn new skills and develop side projects and alternate revenue streams as you pursue your passions – all because your friends know that when they think “music,” they should think of you.

But this email is titled “what to say” and I know how most of you feel when it comes to self-promotion. You think of it as annoying or contrived and it may make you feel uncomfortable. Well the great news is if you’re starting with friends and colleagues conversations are immediately more comfortable.

But the key when talking to anyone is to thinking about talking UP!

U – Updated
P – Positive

This means that everything you say about your career should be some new detail with a positive spin. Let’s say you’re currently trying to find a music publisher. When your friends ask “hey how’s it going” you could respond by saying:

“It’s going really well, thanks for asking! I actually reached out to a few different music publishers last week about my new EP!”

Your friend might ask what a music publisher is, or ask to hear your new songs, or maybe they just change the subject. Whatever they do, if they engage in a conversation later and music comes up, you can bet they’ll say “oh yeah my friend’s in a band – in fact, I think he just recently was talking to a music publisher about his new EP.”

Simple phrases like that go a very long way. From here it’s possible your friend’s friend could want to get in touch and ask how you did what you did. Maybe they need advice because they’re starting to record their own EP. Or maybe it’s something simple like they’re looking for a new guitar player. This means potentially being able to advise them about publishing, helping produce their EP, or getting an extra gig with their band.

Either way you can see how each time you simply mention what you’re working on in a positive way, the response can lead to a situation where your skills become relevant, interesting, and useful.

Why is it so important to be positive?

Well, check out this response to the same question of “how’s it going?”

“Pretty good I guess. I tried emailing some publishers but I haven’t heard anything back yet. It’s really frustrating. The music business is so tough to get into. I’m not even sure my new EP will get listened to by anyone.”

WHOA! Big difference right? This statement sure says A LOT about how you feel about your own music, and how successful your friends perceive you to be. What do you think your friend might say to their friend now? Do you think they’ll relay a simple, positive statement that gets the person they’re talking to interested? Probably not.

Furthermore, how do YOU feel when someone talks to you in this fashion? How does someone who is positive affect you? Start paying attention to it today – you’ll be blown away.

Here are a few more examples of updates you can give to friends when they ask you “what’s going on?”:

  • Invites to upcoming live shows (that you’re either playing or attending).
  • New gear you bought.
  • New songs or bands you love, or how you’re re-discovering a classic (this one is really easy)
  • Some new tool you use on the business side of your efforts (maybe you started using Evernote for keeping an archive of industry contacts)
  • New songs you’ve written or co-written (feel free to talk UP co-artists too!)

You might even mention that you dig working your day-job because every paycheck brings you 10% closer to your next studio day or an awesome effects pedal or whatever.

Finally, I’d like to talk about when you really don’t want to, or can’t say “yes.” Keep in mind you can always TRY to help. Let’s say someone loves Neil Young and wants to meet him. Well, unless you know Neil or his manager, it’s unlikely you can help, right? But what you might do is head home, hit up the internet and see if you can find a few tips others have used to meet famous people. Then fire off an email with a link.

It might not be an intro to Neil Young himself, but you never know how it can help someone until you try.

Action Step: Write down an example phrase you can use no more than 2 sentences long for each of the 5 examples above. Then, just like you would when working on a song lyric, edit them relentlessly until they are positive, precise, and clear. Start putting one or two of them to use immediately the next time someone asks you “How’s it going?”

We covered a lot in this email, but I hope you found it useful. If you have, please pass it along to a friend, or tweet it and mention my name (@andylykens). I would very much appreciate it!

In the final LHF article we’ll be covering WHO the best people are to find when it comes to advancing your career, and how to find them more quickly through genuine connections to build strong relationships.

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.

Being a standout music industry candidate.

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The music industry is an interesting landscape to navigate. In the last 8 months I have met with a great many companies in the industry from EMI to Warner, from Amazon to some well-reputed independent shops large and small. I’ve met with ad agency contacts who need music, have done music marketing consulting, and interviewed for jobs. To top it off I have started my own independent music publisher and began producing my first artists this month. There are flaws everywhere in the music industry – some companies are aware of them and some are not. Some actively work to try to right their course, while others live it up in the old ways. The flaws are usually how they approach business development.

Many companies are greatly focused on themselves. How much value they have, what they’re worth, how cool they are. Others are starting to realize that their ways are the old ways. I have been writing for years about how the industry needs to change and needs a different approach. Most of the adjustments have to do with a loss of focus on their clients. Sooner or later, the client gets what they want. Someone supplies that demand. Simple.

Right now, the majors are STILL in a state of flux. Some are hiring more MBAs (which I think is a good first step because MBAs better understand the value of the client relationship) and ousting their old leadership. But knowing how the majors function, there’s a long way to go and it will take a long time to get there. And even when they arrive, will their relationships be salvageable?

Independents are all over the place. While they may definitely have a client focus, some may still be operating in the old music industry. Some are lead by stereo-typical creative personalities who may not understand how effective great business development and client relationship skills can be. Their hiring processes may be less defined and therefore makes it hard to attract top talent or find the right fit for their company.

For all these reasons if you find yourself applying for a job in the music industry it is important to be highly diligent in ANY meeting preparations. Whether it’s an interview, a freelance opportunity, or a gig. Have an idea of what problems the company is looking to solve BEFORE you show up. Prepare material that’s relevant to their needs and request to meet with heads of departments at companies BEFORE there are job openings (digging up a CEO or VP’s email is very easy).

If you really are a cut above the rest, show up with the ammunition to blow them away. There are a TON of problems to solve in the industry and the well-prepared can capitalize on the all of the great opportunities.

A quick brainstorm on the current music industry vs. Apple.

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Comparing and contrasting these two industries is an interesting exercise. One continues to fail in most all areas, while one continues to grow in most all areas. One focuses mainly on lawsuits and legislature. One focuses on perfectionist design.

Subscription content continues to make meager headway into the mass market. Music publishing (licensing) continues to generate growth. RIAA continues to try using the law to restrict access to copyright. Major labels are still run mostly by lawyers and boards of trustees who have little to no knowledge of music licensing, how it works, and why its successful. Steve Jobs and Apple have ALWAYS put design first and will continue to do so. Apple has just had it’s first $50-billion quarter. Streaming is inconvenient when no wireless connection is available. Apple products go out of their way to make things convenient – not free – but convenient. Apple just passed RIM in their market share. Apple sells copyrighted content and devices that access, and utilize that content seamlessly. The music industry has access to loads of copyrighted content and executes its exploitation poorly. The music industry consecutively sees revenues fall.

What can the music industry learn from a company like Apple? What can Apple learn from companies like WMG and EMI? If you had to rate Pandora as a music provider, what would you give it on a scale of 1 to 10? How would you rate Apple as a music provider? If you had to rate your iPod as a music player and content purchasing device, what would you rate it? How would you rate Pandora as a music retailer? How do you rate a major label as a music retailer? Post your thoughts to the comments!

Taco Bell Probably Threw Away $250,000 – How Brands Waste Marketing Dollars On Music

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Brands using a recognizable piece of music in an ad is no longer big news, cool, or revolutionary to the music industry.

We’ve been hearing for years about how the next hit single could be due to a brand’s inclusion of the song in a TV spot. How such-and-such band really broke based on a commercial they were in.

While some bands have definitely gotten some great success by being in an ad, I’m here to ask a different question – what are the brands getting?
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Why You Should Be Thankful For Your Lack Of Music Licenses

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It’s a really special time in United States culture this weekend, Thanksgiving. While most of the folks reading this will be preparing for a turkey dinner with family and friends, a lot of my readers across the globe will be carrying on with their lives as normal.

Either way I hope you’ll find today’s thought interesting and useful.

Many times when talking to artists I hear “I really want to get my music on TV.”

It’s awesome and I love it. It means they’ve done some homework and have discovered music licensing. They’re starting the arduous but rewarding path it presents.

It’s a long journey, equally frustrating and inspiring – this is true whether its your own music, someone else’s catalog, or your new role working in the music industry.

Today it’s important to remember how incredible it is to be able to focus on something like music licensing, no matter how challenging it gets, instead of having to worry about basic needs like food and shelter.

It’s very easy to tell ourselves a story about how difficult things are, but this really just boils down to an excuse we use to pardon ourselves from doing the work.

Today, give thanks – among all the other great things in our lives – for challenges, inspiration, success, and learning experiences (sometimes called failures).

The more we treat obstacles as opportunities, the more likely we are to accomplish real goals.