January 10, 2013 8 Steps To A More Successful Music Career In 2013 (Free Ebook Download)
Hey my Music Think Tank gang, I hope you had a good new year. That said, the turkey’s done, and it’s time to pull sleeves up and get our music business grind back on!
With that in mind, I’ve written up a guide for anyone looking for some motivation and a way to move their music career forward this year. What’s more, I’ve made it available as a free (And very pretty) ebook for you to download!
So start reading this guide below, and if you feel it could be helpful to you and want to read the rest, simply click the ebook link at the bottom of this post and download the full version.
Before I go, I want to say a big thank you to everyone that’s read my posts on Music Think Tank over the last year or so. I can without doubt say this is one of the best music business discussion platforms on the internet, and I’m looking forward to giving a lot more to the readers in this up and coming year.
But without any further ado, let’s get on with it. :)
*****
Hey you sexy musicians, it’s 2013 and we’re still here! I hope 2012 was a good year for you and your music career. I know some of you just started out last year and are getting your feet wet in the world of music. Others of you have been doing this for a number of years, and have plenty of experience and largely know what to expect from the industry. Regardless of your situation however, there is one thing you will all have in common:
This year, you can do SO much more if you are willing and you put the work in!!
That’s right guys, even if 2012 was your most successful year in terms of music so far, you can still make this one even better. So why would you aim to do any less?
I know though that it’s not always easy to know what to do in terms of moving your music career forward. Fear not however, as that’s why I’m here! In fact, I’ve put together a guide with 8 things you can implement in the coming month or two to give yourself the best chance of improved results this year. Some of them you may be doing already, others you won’t. But either way, read through them all and put into practice anything you’re not already implementing.
So if you want to know how to get started in the music industry in 2013, read on and act upon what you learn. Feel free to let me know how you get on.
Shaun Letang,
Music Industry How To.
Note: If you find this guide useful and want to say ‘thank you’, please share this guide via Facebook, Twitter, or anywhere else you feel it may be useful for other musicians. Thank you.
1. Write Down, Visualize, And Map Out Your Aims
If you want to do well in 2013, the first thing you need to do is make it clear what you hope to achieve in the coming 12 months. Make sure these aims are realistic, and that you have a real way of achieving what it is you hope to do.
Once you’ve thought of all the major things you want to achieve this year, the next step is to write these aims down. Next, print up this piece of paper if typed up, and stick it to a clearly visible place on your wall.
By seeing what you need to do on the wall everyday, you’ll make it easier for yourself to focus on what needs to be done. Often it’s all to easy to stray from an original plan, whether intentional or not. If you’ve got your goals and tasks in black and white in front of you however, it makes everything that much more easy for your to follow.
So once you’ve finished reading this guide, I urge your to make a list of your music related goals for 2013. You can use all the aims mentioned in this guide (Recommended, all of the below points work best when done together) or you can pick and choose which ones are best suited to you. You can also add your own aims and goals as required.
As well as writing down your goals, be sure to mention how you’re going to achieve each of them. I can’t overstate how important this point is; by writing down and viewing a actionable plan daily, you will make things that much easier for you.
Without writing down how you’re going to achieve each aim, you’re not doing much more then dreaming and stabbing in the dark. By making things measurable for yourself however, you’re allowing yourself to see what’s working and what’s not.
I talk a lot more about aims, objectives, target setting and the like in the first lesson of my course the IMA Music Business Academy. If you want a better idea of how to do that, I suggest you check it out.
2. Learn To Market Your Music Effectively
If you’ve read more then 5 posts on Music Industry How To, chances are you’ve heard me talking about marketing. This is because alongside talent, this is one of the biggest factors that will effect how far your go in your music career. In fact, in some ways marketing is even more important.
We can all think of a few acts that aren’t as talented as a load of other musicians in the same genre, yet they’re doing a lot more and are a lot more well known. If they’re not as talented as their competition, why do you think it is they’re doing so much more? That’s right, because they’ve learned how to market themselves properly, or at least they’ve got someone to market them on their behalf.
That said, music marketing is something that’s so often overlooked. When recording your first product, it’s easy to think that creating a great CD will mean it’ll fly of the shelves. Unfortunately, that’s simply not true.
All to often I’ve seen acts investing money into recording their product, getting cool artwork and getting their product into shops. What they fail to do however is leave themselves a budget for marketing. This often leads to a flop release, simply because they’re don’t extend their reach to the right kind of customers when their music is available to buy.
So yer, that’s basically a long way of saying “learn how to market your music or face an uphill struggle”. :)
If you want to learn how to promote your music effectively, check out my music marketing guide. In there you’ll get a load of good tips and advice on how to get this part of your music career on lock!
3. Start A Gigging Campaign
In 2013, you’ll want to work on both your online and offline music promotion efforts. When it comes to making movements offline, one of the easiest things you can start seeing real results from is gigging.
Everyone talks about ‘face to face interaction with fans’ as a plus point to gigging, and this is one of the benefits. That said, there’s a lot more to it then just that. First of all, gigs are a great way to bring in additional income to your music career. Not only can you get paid for gigging (Hard initially, but gets easier as you’ve got a few shows under your belt), but you can also make money by selling your merchandise at gigs, and by collecting royalties from any original songs you perform at these events.
CD sales often go down well, even if it’s the first time the audience have heard of you. By playing showcase events and letting people know they can buy your CD at the end of your set, you will often get people taking you up on this offer. So go round after your set is done, and let people know you have CDs for sale if they liked your music. Perform well and fall on the right crowd, and you can end up selling a good few CDs each show.
If you give people a way to contact you after a show as well (A business card leading to your website, flyers etc) then gigs will be one of those all round beneficial tools for your music career. They make money, they get you new fans, and they help change up your routine so things don’t start getting boring. If you’re not already gigging, you definitely need to start in 2013!
*****
Want to read this rest of this guide? Then download the free ebook I’ve just together for all ye’ Music Think Tank faithful. I genuinely hope you find it useful, feel free to share it round with any other musician you feel it may help.
Once again happy new year, let’s make it a big one for you music career!
Shaun Letang,
Music Industry How To.
Music Marketing World.
My Facebook.
Reader Comments (9)
I just wanted to say... thank you for this information.
"This year, we're got to overcome that fear!"
Not trying to get down on "the product," but it would probably hold more weight had it been proofed more thoroughly.
That aside, this website is supposed to be a "think tank," right? But this e-book revolves around generalities that 10,000 other "marketing mavens" have already covered... as it stands this is just an advertisement for another e-book that you'd like people to pay for. Perhaps pay closer attention to your own advice and "learn how to sell."
Hodan, it was my pleasure. :)
Chris, I appreciate you pointing out that mistake. It was proof read, but obviously things can still slip through.
That said, it's a shame you feel like that about what I'm doing. I get people emailing me / contacting me on social networks every day telling me all the advice I've put out there for free has helped them. Most of these people will never spend a cent on any of my products.
If my material isn't relevant to you, fair enough. But there are thousands of people who read my hundreds of free guides every day, and I'm glad I can help them. I have no problem offering a paid product as it took me almost a year to complete. There is never any pressure for anyone to buy it, although they can if they want additional info on (Like I said) the hundreds of guides I have put out for free.
As long as my writing keeps helping musicians start out and moving in the right direction, I will keep writing.
HI Shaun, I just finished reading your 8 steps..Nice and simple..and to the point..I enjoyed reading them. I am also a contributing writer to www.canadianmusician.com a national bi-monthly music industry magazine published out of toronto. I wrote an article like yours on how to sell music in simple steps. the article will be out in the March edition. I wanted to write you to tell you that I really liked your simple approach to the marketing process. we need to start somewhere and get the ball rolling and your article shows and inspires this. good piece of writing. take care and thanks, Mark
Hi Shaun, thank you so much for this information, your articles are helping me so much,
I am a young black female from South Africa and i manage artists and your articles are seriously improvimg my management skills and i am now looking at things differently.. My vision is to make my artists global brands and i believe that i am going to achieve with guys like you in the world it is going to be possible,
Thanks Mark, glad you liked my approach to marketing. I think a lot of musicians feel like it's more difficult then it is to get going. I'm not saying that it's super easy or that big results will be seen over night, but it's easy for every one of us to get started and can be incorporated into music careers with less effort then is often expected. Thanks for your comment. :)
You're very welcome Keke, good luck with achieving your vision! :)
Hi Shaun,
Thanks for posting this information.
I think for anyone that considers writing a part of their day-to-day, it is very important to know the difference between "then" and "than", "to" and "too", "effect" and "affect", etc. I do believe your writing would benefit greatly from the aforementioned tweaks.
It is somewhat debatable that touring is quite as profitable as you make it out to be. It's a necessary part of a musician's efforts, especially anyone that wants to get signed, but without a solid, entertaining and engaging show most musicians will find that they can't make a lot of money or even sell much of their merchandise. There are hundreds if not thousands of acts who are willing to take the stage that don't have adequate skills or even a basic understanding of live performance. I'm all for using live performance to gain experience, but in that case hit the open mics and small coffee shops. Hone your chops and when you're ready, start looking for better gigs.
good stuff y'all got here