3 Power Steps To Success In The Music Industry

Any aspiring musician is looking to get the most out of their career. A lot of the times, however, approaching the music industry is daunting to say the least. There is a quote by Hunter S. Thompson – “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” How exactly do we go about achieving success in such a doubtful industry?

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Creating Small Goals For Maximum Success In 2017

Are you looking towards the end of 2016 and wondering why you didn’t achieve more? Why didn’t your band get signed to a label? Why didn’t you get added to a major music festival? Why didn’t more fans support your music?

When you look at goals from a large-scale point of view and evaluate how you did on your quest to achieve them, it’s easy to get discouraged. It’s easy to say, “What’s the point anyway?” Big-picture goals are fantastic and it’s important to dream big, but sometimes you need to take a step back to look at ways to create forward momentum.

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5 Steps To Creating An Effective Music Marketing Plan

This post was written by Jon Ostrow and originally appeared on the Bandzoogle Blog.

Whether you’re a brand new musician establishing yourself online for the first time, or an already established band with a dedicated fan base, there is one thing that love it or hate it, all musicians will have to do. That, my friends, is marketing your music.

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The 5 Most Important Questions Every Serious Musician Needs To Ask Themselves

At some point, every musician hits a wall. The worst part is, sometimes you don’t even realize it. You’re trudging along, so stuck in the day to day and what you need to do to keep your head above water that any room for growth is instantly stunted. And before you know it, you’re beating your head against the wall trying to figure out why there hasn’t been any real progress in six months.

When a venture is new and everything is still fresh and exciting, it’s easy to get swept up in the potential of it all. But when dreaming turns to reality, and the stress of day-to-day life hits us, we forget how essential it is to step back and really focus on the future – not just the now. So before you go throwing in the towel, try asking yourself these five questions.

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The Musician’s Guide To Setting And Achieving Goals For 2015

It is still the very top of a brand new year! It is an ideal time to set your goals. I see a marked difference between artists who set finite goals and those who do not. 

Ask yourself: Is this the year I want to make a difference for my musical career?  And if so – what difference and how? Then it’s time to reach into that treasure chest - your mind and formuate a KILLER PLAN for this year. 

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Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals for Your Music Career

This is a chapter from my book The Independent Musician’s Survival Guide. You can see more chapters here.

So now you know that it’s possible to make money from your music career, and you also know you should take things one step at a time. But before you go out and start trying to earn money from your career, it’s important you take time to set goals for what you want to achieve.

While it’s easy to say, “I want to get a lot more fans” you have to ask yourself, how is saying this actually going to help you achieve your goal? It’s a non-specific “want,” rather then a well thought out business plan.

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4 Steps to Convert Goals into Results

It’s not about the goal, it’s about the work you do in its honor. Cut yourself some slack. It’s hard to determine exactly how long it will take to achieve something. The goals you create are your game. You can change the rules, as long as you are still in the game.

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Are you reflecting on your goals as an artist?

The success of large Japanese manufacturing companies is largely attributed to the Eastern culture of reflection and open-mindedness. The leaders who design the future of companies like Toyota spend a great deal of time reflecting on the past and future – something that is not as highly valued in Western culture - where ‘action’ is the so called key to success.

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A Musician’s Guide To Setting And Achieving Goals For 2012

The last half of 2011 was intense for a lot of us.  The financial news across the world remained bleak, Occupy Wall Street was all over the news as the 99% spoke up to be heard.

The music business continued to take hits with Spotify’s arrival and news of more layoffs at record labels, management companies as we all scratched our heads to blog about positive things and good outcomes

Many of you may have seen this article (or another one) on setting goals as they crop up at this time of year.

It’s a new year and a clear slate is in front of all of us. The turning of the calendar from 2011 to 2012 is an ideal time to set your goals. I see a marked difference between artists who set finite goals and those who do not regardless of what is happening in the world and in the news.

Ask yourself: Is this the year I want to make a difference for my music career?  And if so – what difference and how?

Think of goal setting as if you were driving in a foreign place – You wouldn’t get where you expect to go without a clear set of directions. Goal setting is like drawing a map for yourself.

This article is designed to assist you in creating a personal roadmap for achieving what you would like with your musical career this year, whether you consider music your hobby and you do it part time or you are making a living out of it full-time.

I have included a few links from some of the best musician related posts on how to think about and achieve goals as well.  So, bookmark this long article and refer to it throughout the year!

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Goal Setting Workshop For 2012

Many people start thinking about their goals on New Year’s Day, many start thinking about this 3 months ahead and start gearing up for it and preparing to have it. This is the best time to start, it helps you think ahead, gives you more time to prepare and gives you extra time to think about strategy. 2012 is a few days away but of course it isnt too late to start thinking about what you want for the year!

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5 Easy Steps To Making Your Dreams Come True

Humans have the amazing gift of dreaming. It allows us to imagine things that are absolutely crazy, and completely out of our reach. Like flying, staying hours under water – or world domination. That’s what we do. Ambition is a great source of energy. Being able to dream big will give you guts and make smaller dreams feel much more attainable. Ambition will make you creative and more resourceful. Dreams are only dreams until you write them down. Then they become your goals. – Anonymous The difference between a dream and a goal is just a question of attitude. Dreams are by definition something that’s out of reach. A goal is something that you plan and work towards. If you start treating your dreams as your goals, then you have already taken the first step towards making them come true.

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A Musician's Guide To Setting And Achieving Goals For 2011

It’s a new year and a clear slate is in front of all of us. The turning of the calendar from 2010 to 2011 is an ideal time to set your goals. I see a marked difference between artists who set finite goals and those who do not.

Many of you may have seen a previous version of this article (or another one) on setting goals as they crop up at this time of year.

Ask yourself: Is this the year I want to make a difference for my musical career?  And if so – what difference and how?

Think of goal setting as if you were driving in a foreign place - You wouldn’t get where you expect to go without a clear set of directions.

Goal setting is like drawing a map for yourself.

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Tidings Of Comfort, Joy, Forgiveness & Success, A Four-Part Exercise For Musicians

After traveling to eight countries this year, teaching master classes and speaking on panels the thing that stands out for me is:

How hard we can be on ourselves.

It’s almost the end of the year, and it was a crazy year for most of us. Musicians and colleagues alike tell me that they were busier than ever before.

We have all had to come up with more creative ways to stay relevant and vital in the current music business either as musicians or entrepreneurs, so, this busy-ness makes a lot of sense.  

You constantly have to stay on top of not only your creative journey and output, writing, rehearsing, booking, touring, marketing, and managing all of your social media, recording and releasing music, not to mention keeping balance in your personal life as well.

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How To Make Your SXSW Sticky! Advice From The Indie Max 100 Experts on How To Keep Your Conference Alive

So you FINALLY went to SXSW, and now after days of music, food, panels and networking (*phew*), you’re back home. So what can you do now to maximize your time spent in Austin? Here are a few pieces of advice.  Plus a few photos I took at SXSW 2010 - Full album on Facebook

AFTER YOU GET HOME

Create Your Own Lasting Media
So, no blog covered your performance?  No photographer snapped your photo for Rolling Stone?  That’s OK!  Make your own media around your experience at SXSW.  Write up a blog about what you did, and who you met, and post it on your MySpace, Facbook and Last.fm. Snap photos and post them on Facebook and Flickr with tags, or record some videos for your YouTube Channel!  Let your experience live online for years to come!
- Ariel Hyatt

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