DON'T PUT YOUR CART BEFORE THE HORSE
Building Your Music Career
The biggest mistake I see independent artists, songwriters, musicians make over and over again is...
...putting the cart before the horse
Getting your music career off the ground can seem like an overwhelmingly daunting task when you look at it from the perspective of your living room to the Super Bowl HalfTime Show stage. How do I even start? Who will even want to listen to my music? How can I afford to make an album?
Probably the most common mistake I see artists make is doing things in the wrong order. Such as;
Going to the studio to record before your songs or vocals are ready
Finish recording and producing a single with no forethought about branding including photography, wardrobe, graphics for album art, etc.
Invest in years of lessons with no set goals
Is this you?
It may help if you look at it as more of a process than a big giant unattainable dream. I’ve come up with some tips for how you can build a music career one step at a time. This is an interactive exercise, however and not just a blog to lazily read while drinking your morning beverage of choice. So get out a note pad or a piece of paper when you have some time to sit and think about this. Then write out the answers to each one of these questions.
#1 Find your purpose: What is your why? What is your passion with making music? Is it the writing? Is it the performing part? Production? Playing? Touring? Connecting with fans? And why music? Keep asking why until you get to the very bottom of your “why”.
#2 Define what success looks like to you: Without regard for what others might think, visualize in your mind what success will look like to you. Does it mean touring with your band in a pretty nice van, playing medium-sized, packed venues to 500 adoring fans? Or is it selling out stadiums? Is it creating music all day long in your home studio space? Is it traveling the world as an in-demand studio musician? Describe in detail what that snapshot of time when you feel like you have “made it” looks like.
#3 Discover what it is about you and your music that makes you different: What is your story? What is your style? Are you soft and lacy? Are you bold with edges? Colors, adjectives, vision boards, etc. Find what makes you different so that you can create your own niche. Don’t try to fit in. Separate yourself from the crowd.
#4 Change your mindset from “chasing my dreams” to “building my business”:
You are building a business which requires some understanding about your product (you and your content) and your consumer.
Who is your audience? Understand them like a business. Where do they listen to music? Where are they discovering new music? What is important to them? Shows? Comments on socials? Videos?
Create your new daily routine - practice, networking, exercising, mental health. Sketch out a daily, weekly, monthly schedule for yourself
Create a business plan including funding your business - investors or percentage of your income? Crowdfunding or patreon? If you are paying for it out of your current income source, what amount per month can you budget that goes toward your business?
Part of starting and running a business is knowing how to be a savvy business person. Here are some basics for you to consider;
How you answer emails, texts and phone calls matters. Be prompt and professional
Do not spam
Do. Not. Ghost.
Learn how to make cold calls (I said calls not texts) and then practice
Maintaining professionalism at all times under all circumstances
Website and email lists and why you need them
Think outside the box (creating “events” rather than shows, doing house concerts, writing custom songs, find new ways to connect with fans) Since you haven’t created an album yet (right?!) then at this point, just throw down ideas for future events and fan reach ideas that fit your brand
No one should be working harder on your business than you
#5 Write better songs: Write down what you think is lacking in your songs right now and some ideas for how to improve them.
No fillers
Test out at open mics
Co-write
Read songwriting books
Dealing with writer's block
#6 Check yo-self: Are your vocal and/or musician chops up to where they need to be? Write down areas you need to improve. Go back and look at your new schedule and be sure you have allotted enough time for developing these skills. You may even need to rework the budget to be sure you have enough funds for additional lessons to bring you up to that pro level.
Vocals
Playing your instrument
Playing to a click track
Practice recording. Try it at home with GarageBand and a USB mic just to test it out.
Feedback and Coaching - Are you teachable?
Are you really ready to record??
All of this before hitting a studio!
These next few steps are less of a writing exercise for you but next steps after you feel you are ready to start creating your project; be it an EP, a single, a full length album with music videos or whatever.
#7 Find a producer that is already producing music in your genre at the level you want your music to be at:
Not all producers are created alike. Find one or more that you connect with musically and personally. Read this blog then do some research and find the right one for you and your music. http://www.voxfoxstudios.com/news-blog/2016/10/28/music-producers-what-they-do-and-how-to-pick-the-best-ones-for-your-music
#8 Create your visual branding: While working in the studio creating music, begin putting your visual elements together; photoshoots, graphics, socials, etc.
#9 Create a timeline for the creation of the project, preferably with your producer:
Remember, consistency is king! This process should not be rushed. Realistically, this timeline takes place over a 12 month period.
Make your financial plan and make payments as agreed
Musicians and producers for hire, agreements signed
Pre-production work and demo sketches
Branding, pre-release strategies and content calendar
Recording and production - you and your producer will come up with the strategy that best fits you and your team. You may want to work on one song at a time from scratch tracks to the final mix or you may want to keep all songs moving through each phase (demos, pre-production, vocals, mix) at the same time
Schedule of releases
Release events and promotion
Release - target date that you are willing to change if necessary
Continued PR - what you do after the release is just as important as what you do before the release!
Sign up on my email list and I will email you 2 free guides!
https://mailchi.mp/c7d9b1aad3a2/vfsfreeguides
I promise, I email about once a month or less so don’t worry about spam.
#10 Get it in writing! Just to reiterate...
Work for Hire agreements
Split sheets
Producer/Artist agreements involving points
Never skip this part.
#11 Understand royalties: where they come from and how they are paid. The absolute best, non-lawery breakdown I’ve found is from Ari’s Take’s blog https://aristake.com/post/what-is-soundexchange-ascap-bmi-pros-hfa-mechanicals-and-how-to-get-all-your-royalties
Be careful with the word “publishing”. It has such a different meaning in music than other industries. For example, “publishing a book” or “publishing a website” simply means “making public”. When we are talking about “Music Publishing” we are actually referring to ownership and rights regarding the composition of a musical work.
Important note; if you haven’t yet signed up for a PRO, I suggest BMI because they will collect your songwriting AND publishing royalties 100% without the need of a publishing company. ASCAP requires you to establish a publishing company to collect publishing performance royalties. Not a big deal but just another pain in the butt and another $50 charge.
#12 Choosing a Distributor: Once again, Ari’s Take blog has a great comparison. They all have pros and cons so it is important to understand what each one offers and what you give up in return. https://aristake.com/post/cd-baby-tunecore-ditto-mondotunes-zimbalam-or
The only problem with “Ari’s Take” is that he strongly advises you to register your songs with an admin publishing company like CDBaby Pro, Songtrust or TuneCore Publishing. This is all fine unless you are interested in seeking out opportunities for sync placements. Then stay the *f* away from them because you could lose opportunities, simply because a music library won’t want to deal with untangling that 25% of your publishing that is tied up. It has literally happened to me. Same with the YouTube content ID option. Someone was interested in using my song in a trailer for a feature animated film. Signed up for YouTube content ID tracking through Distrokid, they said “Never mind”. Ouch. So, choose wisely, my friends.
#13 Don’t forget the PR! The best resource I have found on doing your own “Public Relations” is Ariel Hyatt’s book “The Ultimate Guide to Music Publicity” https://www.cyberprmusic.com/book/ultimate-guide-music-publicity/
Press releases
Local radio shows and TV shows
Social Media ugh
Touring (start small)
YouTube
Consistency, consistency, consistency
A final word about pursuing this journey; make sure you have at least one or two mentors within the industry that you call on once in a while for help. It can feel lonely and confusing. But if you are willing to ask questions of a trusted source, it can make the journey less so.
Resources
CD Baby - cdbaby.com
Discmakers - discmakers.com
Ari’s Take - aristake.com
Hypebot - hypebot.com
Taxi - taxi.com
Ariel Hyatt Cyber PR - cyberprmusic.com
Bree Noble Female Entrepreneur Musician Podcast and Academy - femusician.com
SmartistU (artist management series but she gives away some great content for artists and bands) - smartistu.com
