What Diy Music PerformerS Can Do To Advance Their Career And Get The Support Of Music Professionals
How does an performer move forward in the music business without the support of business professionals backing their career? How does an performer get noticed by the business professionals and get them to promote the performer’s music? Whether your objective is to have a individual manager, a booking agent, a publicist or be signed to a record label, there is only one way to do it. And that’s doing it all yourself 1st. Taking care of all the business behind your career so that if, and when, the business professional comes on board, they use your progress and could take it to the next level.
This means- you are your own manager, booking agent, record label, distributor, marketing director, publicist, street team and more. Do each to the perfect of your ability. When you invest your time and resources into your career, you learn the ropes of the music business and get a better perspective and appreciation for the work the professionals do. In addition, when you invest in yourself, it inspires others to invest in you as well. imagine yourself as an octopus. One central body, but multiple arms all working at the same time.
The first arm of your business will be THE MUSIC. This is the part of your business that’s the least business- like, but the the majority critical to moving forward as a business. Talent & tunes are what drive this business. Work on performership, songwriting, and production. Write and record excellent tunes. The quality of your sound should be able to compete with commercial tracks on the Billboard charts. Figure out how to classify your type of and write a clear description of your musical style.
The second arm is MANAGEMENT. This is where you truly use the business side of your brain. Get outside of your music (and your ego) and try to evaluate your music and its ability to compete in the music industry. Evaluation and career preparing need to take place. There are multiple books and Web articles on Artist Management. Start by getting career do’s and don’ts and direction by considering acts that have come before you and have achieved the success you would like to get. What did they do that you might emulate? Then determine who your fans are and how you will reach them. Attend workshops on the music business and read Web articles to get more career advice. Managers love to work with an musician who has been previously self-managed. The musician might make business decisions, and will appreciate and respect the manager’s tutelage.
The third is the RECORD LABEL/ DISTRIBUTION arm. If you’ve tunes and product, you want to get it out to the public, to as many individuals as possible. It’s never wise for an artist to wait to get signed to do this, as labels take notice now when you, Mr. Independent, are making a buzz selling a large number of albums. Plus you might start making some resources from your music. Sell your CDs on your website, from a Regional retailer who will take you on consignment, to all your friends and family, at your live shows, etc…Think about where you buy music, and then get your music to those places. Distribution? Thanks to the Internet you might have world wide distribution. Get that CD up on CD Baby, and be sure to choose Digital Distribution. Yes, you, Mr. Regional Guy, will soon be getting song sales in faraway places prefer Bangladesh!
The fourth arm is BOOKING/TOURING. Virtually all performers I know want a booking agent. It’s a hard job, which includes capture ing a skill agency license, so there are not an abundance of agents waiting to sign a new act that has no obvious fan base and touring history. You will need to capture your own bookings. Your goal is to book yourself at shows so you can share your music, build your fan base, and make money from your music. Don’t forget, the optimum way to learn how to do this is to find books and Online articles that tell you step-by-step how to get bookings at venue s, festivals, and national tours. Strengthen your “sales pitch” about not only what a great live show you have, but mainly how you plan to get a large fans to come see your show. Once you have consistent shows and fans are coming out steadily, you are much more attractive to a booking agent to begin working with you. You will be so happy to give up that job, and the agent will be happy to take on the can hem. A win-win.
The final octopus arm is the MARKETING arm. Whether you’re working with no budget, a small budget or unlimited source s, you may be gin your marketing campaign as soon as you’ve either 1) a live show or 2) an album. Your goal is to reach your target listeners, and to use effective ways to excite them about what you’re promoting. Make a list of where your listeners is, and ways to reach them. Think outside the box, get creative! What is your story- what makes you unique- why should people care about you or your music? Answer those and you might start to encourage. No money? Use the Internet to spread the word, make flyers and give out them yourself, put on a free show, reach out to music reviewers for compact disc reviews and newspaper & magazine writers for stories and reviews. Small budget: think about advertisement or printing merchandise to sell while touring. Getting a publicist interested in working with you is possible following you’ve identified yourself as a “newsworthy” act. Having an exciting story, being a tremendous talent, having a buzz….will get a buzz in their ear and make them take notice in you.
many performers feel unsure of how to work the music business alone. They will, unfortunately, wait on moving forward in hopes a music professional will come along and steer them, encourage them and help them. But the music industry of today is a truly DIY industry. The number of independent acts releasing material daily far outweighs the number of qualified music professionals in the business. It’s perfect for the performer to get started in all the above areas, hopefully inspiring enthusiastic fans to become the performers street team and following some progress inspiring music professionals to get involved. While the performer gets business savvy and builds their momentum, they also put themselves in a more convincing position for negotiating with the music professionals/ businesses. Not only will the performer have started their career, but when a music professional joins forces with the artist, the career could really truly thrive.