The music industry, as we all know, is constantly changing. That’s a dead issue. Forget about digital downloading and piracy, they can both be overcome with the correct business strategies. So, what I want to talk about instead is a observation I’ve been noticing for a while now; There is a serious lack of business knowledge in the music industry.
When I say this, I’m not really talking about major labels (Although some of their signings do make you wonder), I’m more about the grass route independent musicians. There are many with enough talent to satisfy even the harshest critics, yet they’ll never quite fulfil their potential. It may be that they’re not sure how to effectively promote their music, or it may be that they’re not sure how to manage their budget. Either way, without at least some business knowledge you won’t get very far at all.
The thing is, a lot of musicians don’t realise they have to take the time to learn business side of the music industry. Many just go with the flow and learn as they go along. Now personally, I’ve never been of fan of making mistakes and THEN learning from them. If it happens, so be it. But I’d much rather learning as much as I can in the beginning so I can get things done correctly the first time around. This’ll keep your journey sailing smoothly, and save a lot of time and effort on re-doing things from previous mistakes.
The reality is, the business aspect of things isn’t that hard to grasp. It does however require the desire to learn and a bit of patience. As with most things in life, having business knowledge won’t allow you to achieve your goals over night. What it will do however, is allow you to manage your work load better and choose the best opportunities to progress your music career. To many people end up spending too much time and money to achieve too little, wasting months and years in the process.
If you make music but don’t actively seek better practices of doing things, now is the time to start looking. Don’t learn how to promote your music and you may as well keep making music in your bedroom. But I’m sure your music is worth more then that… To our success!
Shaun Letang is the founder of the Independent Music Advice website, a website dedicated to helping musicians learning the business aspect of the music industry. If you want years of music business experience at your finger tips and don’t want to learn the industry the hard way, what are you waiting for? Come and get advised!